第7章

“Theobjectofyourattackapproaches，“saidLebeltome，“it

wouldbeaswelltoreconnoitrealittle。

Remember，notaword

ofhisrank，nocastdown，timidlooksathissovereignpower；

nobendingofknees，orfalteringofvoice。“

Theadvicethusgivenwasuseless。

ComteJean，whoborethe

reputationof，atleast，amanofmuchcoolimpudence，was，Iam

certain，moredeficientthanmyselfincourageupontheoccasion，

andIverilybelieve，askedhimselfseveraltimeswhetherhedared

appearbeforehisprincewithonewhomhewasfalselyasserting

tobehissister-in-law。

Howeverthesethoughtsmightormight

nothavedisturbedhim，weproceededonwardstillwereachedthe

apartmentwhereourinvitedfriendswereexpectingus；andhere

Iwill，withthereader’spermission，digressawhile，inorderto

sayafewintroductorywordsrespectingthefourpersonageswith

whomIhadthehonorofsupping。

Andfirst，LouisXVth，kingofFrance(orashewasuponthe

presentoccasionstyledthebarondeGonesse)，wasoneofthose

sentimentalegotistswhobelievedhelovedthewholeworld，his

subjects，andhisfamily；whileinreality，thesoleengrossing

objectwas。

Giftedwithmanypersonalandintellectual

endowments，whichmighthavedisputedthepalmwiththemost

livelyandengagingpersonagesofthecourt，hewasyetdevoured

byennui，andofthishewaswellaware，buthismindwasmadeup

tomeetthisennui，asoneofthenecessaryaccompanimentsof

royalty。

Devoidoftasteinliterarymatters，hedespisedall

connectedwiththe，andesteemedmenonlyin

proportiontothenumberandrichnessoftheirarmorialbearings。

M。deVoltairerankedhimbeneaththelowestcountry-squire；and

theverymentionofamanofletterswasterrifyingtohis

imaginationfromitsdisturbingthecurrentofhisownideas；he

revelledintheplenitudeofpower，yetfeltdissatisfiedwiththe

meretitleofking。

Heardentlydesiredtosignalizehimselfas

thefirstgeneraloftheage，andpreventedfromobtainingthis(in

hisopinion)highestofhonors，entertainedtheutmostjealousyof

FrederickII，andspokewithundisguisedspleenandill-humorof

theexploitsofhisbrotherofPrussia。

Thehabitofcommanding，andthepromptobediencehehadevermet

with，hadpalleduponhismind，andimpressedhimwithfeelingsof

indifferenceforallthingswhichthusappearedsoeasilyobtained；

andthissatietyandconsequentlistlessnesswasbymanyconstrued

intomelancholyofdisposition。

Hedislikedanyappearanceof

oppositiontohiswill；notthatheparticularlyresentedthe

oppositionitself，butheknewhisownweakness，andfearedlest

heshouldbecompelledtomakeashowofafirmnesshewas

consciousofnotpossessing。

Fortheclergyheentertainedthe

mostsuperstitiousveneration；andhefearedGodbecausehehada

stillgreateraweanddreadofthedevil。

Inthehandsofhis

confessorheconfidentlybelievedwaslodgedtheabsolutepower

toconferonhimunlimitedlicensetocommitanyoreverysin。

Hegreatlydreadedpamphlets，satires，epigrams，andtheopinion

ofposterityandyethisconductwasthatofamanwhoscoffsat

theworld’sjudgment。

Thishastysketchmaywithsafetybetaken

astheportraitofLouisXV，althoughmuchmightbeadded；yetfor

thepresentIwillconfinemyselftotheoutlineofmypicture，

whichIshallhavefrequentoccasiontoretouchinthecourseof

myjournal；itismyintentiontopresenthiminallpossiblelights

beforethereader，andIflattermyselfIshallproduceaperfect

resemblanceofthemanIseektodepict。

Letusnowproceedto

considertheducdeRichelieu。

Thisnobleman，wheninhisseventy-secondyear，hadpreserved，

eveninsoadvancedanage，allhisformerpretensionstonotice；

hissuccessinsomanyloveaffairs，asuccesswhichhenever

couldhavemerited，hadrenderedhimcelebrated；hewasnowa

superannuatedcoxcomb，awearisomeandclumsybutterfly；when

however，hecouldbebroughttoexercisehissensebyremembering

thathewasnolongeryoung，hebecamefascinatingbeyondidea，

fromthefinishedeaseandgraceofhismanner，andthepolished

andpiquantstyleofhisdiscourse；stillIspeakofhimasamere

manofoutwardshow，fortheduke’sattainmentswerecertainly

superficial，andhepossessedmoreofthejargonofamanof

lettersthanthesoundreality。

Amongotherproofsofconsummate

ignorancehewasdeficienteveninorthography，andwasfool

enoughtoboastofsodisgracefulafact，asthoughitconferred

honoronhim；perhaps，indeed，hefoundthattheeasiestwayof

gettingoverthebusiness。

Hepossessedamostignobleturnofmind；allfeelingsofan

elevatednaturewerewantingwithinhim。

Abadson，anunkind

husband，andaworsefather，hecouldscarcelybeexpectedto

becomeasteadyfriend。

Allwhomhefeared，hehesitatednotto

trampleunderfoot；andhisfavoritemaxim，whichhehasa

hundredtimesrepeatedtome，was，that“weshouldneverhesitate

tosetourfootuponthenecksofallthosewhomightinanyway

interferewithourprojects——deadmen[hewouldfurtheradd]tell

notales！“

Therewasoneperson，nevertheless，whomhedetested

andflatteredatthesametime，andthiswasVoltaire，whowell

repaidhiminlikecoin。

HecalledtheducdeRichelieu，the

tyrantofthetennis-court*()，andthedukereturnedthe

complimentbyinvariablydesignatinghim“Scoundrel“and“Poetaster“；

theonlydifferencewasthattheducdeRichelieuonlytreatedthe

poetthusin，whilstM。deVoltairesoughtnotto

conceal，eitherinhiswritingsorconversation，hiscandidopinion

oftheillustriousdukeandpeer；andhemightjustlyaccusethe

dukeofingratitude，forhe，nodoubt，owedaconsiderableportion

ofthereputationheenjoyedasageneral，tothebrilliantverses

inwhichVoltairehadcelebratedhisexploits。

*——tr。

ThemarquisdeChauvelinwasequallyskilfulasawarriorand

diplomatist。

Gentle，graceful，andwitty，hejoinedtothemost

extremeversatilityoftalenttheutmostsimplicityofcharacter。

Onceknown，hecouldnotfailofbeingvaluedandesteemed，and

thekingentertainedthemostlivelyregardforhim。

Thenoble

mindedmarquiswasfarfromtakingadvantageofhissovereign’s

favor，farfromit；heneitherboastedofit，norpresumedupon

it。

Thistrulywonderfulmandied，unhappily，toosoonforme，

forthekingonwhomhebestowedthesagestcounsels，andfor

foreigncourtswhoknewandappreciatedhisworth。

Ishallhave

occasiontospeakofhimhereafter；hehadabrother，awicked

littlehump-backedcreature，braveasCaesar，andabitterenemy

totheJesuits，whomhedidnotalittlecontributetooverturnin

theparliamentofParis，towhichhebelonged。

Thekingdetested

thismanasmuchashelovedandcherishedthebrother，andthat

issayingnotalittle。

ThefourthguestwastheducdelaVauguyon，thereally

tutortotheprincesofFrance，forhehadeducated

foursuccessively。

Hehaddisplayedinthearmybothbraveryand

talent，buthewasaconfirmedJesuit，andconductedhimself

towardsmeuponthestrictestprinciplesofhisorder。

Hewill

appearagainonthescenehereafter，butforthepresentImust

layhimaside，whilstIreturntomytothesaloon，which

Iwasabouttoenter。

ImmediatelyafterLebelhadconductedmeintoit，hewascalled

away，andquittedus。

Thekingroseandapproachedme，saluting

mewiththemostadmirablegallantry，andaddressingtomethe

mostencouragingandgratifyingwords。

Hisgentle，yetpolished

manners，finecountenance，nobleair，andthefreeandunrestrained

glancesofadmirationwhichsparkledinhiseyes，communicated

tomeafeelingofsupportandconfidencewhicheffectually

reassuredme，androusedmefromtheinvoluntaryemotionIhad

feltatthemomentwhenIfirstappearedinhispresence。

The

kingaddressedafewwordstocomteJean，andthenregardedhim

steadily，astho’heweretryingtorecallhisfeatures；buthis

eyequicklyturnedonmeagain，uponwhomhebestowedthemost

intoxicatingattention。

Neverwasfirstsightmoreeffective，and

neverdidaflamesorapidlyincreaseasdidthepassionofmy

nobleadorer。

Erewehadseatedourselvesatthesupper-table，

hewasagesgoneinlove。

Itwouldhaveprovokedasmilefromanycountenancetoperceive

howtherespectandadmirationwithwhichthethreecourtiers

regardedmeincreasedinproportionasthesentimentsoftheking

towardsmebetrayedthemselvesmoreandmore。

AtfirstIhad

beenconsideredasapersonoflittleornoimportance。

Soon，

however，astheirsagaciouseyesdiscoveredthestateoftheir

master’smind，theairoffamiliaritywithwhichtheyhadregarded

megaveplacetoamorestudiedpoliteness，which，initsturn，as

mattersprogressed，wassupersededbythemostdelicateattention；

anderewerosefromtablethesegentlemenwatchedmylookswith

themosteageranxietytoobtainthehonorofmynotice，andhopes

offuturepatronagefromonewhomtheyeasilyforesawwouldbe

fullyqualifiedtobestowit。

ComteJeanobservedallthatwas

passinginprofoundsilence。

Asforme，Italkedandlaughedwith

perfectfreedomfromrestraint，andmyfrankunaffectedmirth

appearedtoenchanttheking；Iknewthathewaswearyofthe

niceformalitiesofcourtlybeauty，anddesiredtorefreshhis

eyesandearswithsomethinglessrefined，andIgratifiedhim

tohisheart’swish。

Theconversationbecamelivelyandanimated，

themeritsofmenofletterswerediscussed，theFrenchand

Italiantheatrepassedinreviewbeforeus，andfinally，weamused

ourselveswithanecdotesrelativetotheintriguesofcourt。