第48章

Youmaywellthinkhowhighlythis

realizationofthepredictioninspiredthekingwithconfidence

astothefulfilmentoftheremainder:and，onhispart，henever

faileduponanysaint’sdayorothersolemnfestivaltostickthe

mysteriouspininthetalismanuponwhichsomuchdepended。

“Nevertheless，spiteofalltheseobservances，hisundertakings

didnotinvariablysucceed，whichastonishedhimgreatly；whenone

daythegreatBossuet，happeningtobeatmadamedeMaintenon’s，

theconversationturneduponmagicandsorcery，necromancyand

theirhorribleprofanations；andheexpressedhimselfwithsomuch

forceandenergy，thatthekingandmadamedeMaintenonlooked

ateachotherwithoutknowingwhattosay，andbegan，forthe

firsttime，tofeelcompunctionforwhattheyhaddone，andto

regrettheirimprudence。

Theytalkedofitmuchtogether，andat

lengthresolvedtorevealtheircrimetotheirconfessors。

The

punishmentimposedonthekingbyhisspiritualadviserwas，that

heshouldevincehiscontemptforthetalismanicpropertiesof

theparchmentpacket，byimmediatelyopeningit。

“LouisXIVdidnotbyanymeansadmirethismethodofexpiating

hisfault；andasortofinvoluntarydreadtookpossessionofhim，

as，inobediencetothecommandofhisconfessor，hewentto

procurethemagicparcel，whichhetoreopeninthepresenceof

madamedeMaintenonandfatherlaChaise。

Thepacketcontained

nothingbutaconsecratedwafer，piercedthro’withasmanypins

astherehadbeensaints’dayssincethekinghadreceivedit。

At

thesightofthishorriblesacrilegemygrandfatherwasfilled

withdeepremorseandconsternation，fromwhichitwasalong

timeereherecovered；anditwasnotuntilhehadundergone

manyseverepenances，fastings，andcausednumberlessmassesto

besaid，thathefelthimselfatallrelievedfromtheweightof

hiscrime。

“Butallthiswasonlythecommencementofthedivinevengeance:

andthoseinthesecretofthisunfortunateaffairremarked，that

thisgreatmonarchlostfromthattimeasmanymaledescendants

inadirectlineashehadstuckpinsintotheholywafer。“

LouisXVhereterminatedhissingularhistory，whichstruckmy

mindwithasortofreligiousterror。

Istrovebyeverypossible

efforttodissimulate，concealingfromthekingtheemotionsto

whichhisnarrationhadgivenrise。

Icontentedmyselfwith

observing，“thatafterhearinghismarvelousrecital，Ishould

onlybemoreconfirmedinmydeterminationtoleavemyyoung

prophettothetranquillityhedesired。“

“Itwillbefarbestso，“addedLouis；“Iknowsomany

fatalresultswhichhavefollowedanyindiscreetcuriosity，

thatIampersuadedyouhadmuchbetterleavesuch

mysteriousaffairstoworktheirownsolution。“

Ipromisedtofollowhisadvice，andwethenconversed

uponothersubjects。

Sincethenthisanecdotehasrecurredto

mymemory；andwithoutwishingtoimpeachthesincerityof

LouisXV，Ihaveaskedmyself，whether，bytheopportunerelation

ofthisadventure，probablyinventedbyhimself，hedidnotseek

todestroytheco