Produced by David Widger MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XIV AND HIS COURT AND OF THE REGENCY BY THE DUKE OF SAINT-SIMON CONTENTS OF THE 15 VOLUMES VOLUME 1. CHAPTER I Birth and Family.--Early Life.--Desire to join the Army.--Enter the Musketeers.--The Campaign Commences.--Camp of Gevries.--Siege of Namur. --Dreadful Weather.--Gentlemen Carrying Corn.--Sufferings during the Siege.--The Monks of Marlaigne.--Rival Couriers.--Naval Battle.-- Playing with Fire-arms.--A Prediction Verified. CHAPTER II The Kingâs Natural Children.--Proposed Marriage of the Duc de Chartres.-- Influence of Dubois.--The Duke and the King.--An Apartment.--Announcement of the Marriage.--Anger of Madame.--Household of the Duchess.--Villars and Rochefort.--Friend of Kingâs Mistresses.--The Marriage Ceremony.-- Toilette of the Duchess.--Son of Montbron.--Marriage of M. du Maine.-- Duchess of Hanover.--Duc de Choiseul.--La Grande Mademoiselle. CHAPTER III Death of My Father.--Anecdotes of Louis XIII.--The Cardinal de Richelieu.--The Duc de Bellegarde.--Madame de Hautefort.--My Fatherâs Enemy.--His Services and Reward.--A Duel against Law.--An Answer to a Libel.--M. de la Rochefoucauld.--My Fatherâs Gratitude to Louis XIII. CHAPTER IV Position of the Prince of Orange.--Strange Conduct of the King.--Surprise and Indignation.--Battle of Neerwinden.--My Return to Paris.--Death of La Vauguyon.--Symptoms of Madness.--Vauguyon at the Bastille.--Projects of Marriage.--M. de Beauvilliers.--A Negotiation for a Wife.--My Failure.-- Visit to La Trappe. CHAPTER V M. de Luxemhourgâs Claim of Precedence.--Origin of the Claim.--Duc de Piney.--Character of Harlay.--Progress of the Trial.--Luxembourg and Richelieu.--Double-dealing of Harlay.--The Duc de Gesvres.--Return to the Seat of War.--Divers Operations.--Origin of These Memoirs. CHAPTER VI Quarrels of the Princesses.--Mademoiselle Choin.--A Disgraceful Affair.-- M. de Noyon.--Comic Scene at the Academie.--Anger and Forgiveness of M. de Noyon.--M. de Noailles in Disgrace.--How He Gets into Favour Again. --M. de Vendome in Command.--Character of M. de Luxembourg.--The Trial for Precedence Again.--An Insolent Lawyer.--Extraordinary Decree. CHAPTER VII Harlay and the Dutch.--Death of the Princess of Orange.--Count Koenigsmarck.--A New Proposal of Marriage.--My Marriage.--That of M. de Lauzun.--Its Result.--La Fontaine and Mignard.--Illness of the Marechal de Lorges.--Operations on the Rhine.--Village of Seckenheim.--An Episode of War.--Cowardice of M. du Maine.--Despair of the King, Who Takes a Knave in the Act.--Bon Mot of M. dâElboeuf. CHAPTER VIII The Abbe de Fenelon.--The Jansenists and St. Sulpice.--Alliance with Madame Guyon.--Preceptor of the Royal Children.--Acquaintance with Madame de Maintenon.--Appointment to Cambrai.--Disclosure of Madame Guyonâs Doctrines.--Her Disgrace.--Bossuet and Fenelon.--Two Rival Books.-- Disgrace of Fenelon. VOLUME 2. CHAPTER IX Death of Archbishop Harlay.--Scene at Conflans.--âThe Good Langres.â-- A Scene at Marly.--Princesses Smoke Pipes!--Fortunes of Cavoye.-- Mademoiselle de Coetlogon.--Madame de Guise.--Madame de Miramion.--Madame de Sevigne.--Father Seraphin.--An Angry Bishop.--Death of La Bruyere.-- Burglary by a Duke.--Proposed Marriage of the Duc de Bourgogne.--The Duchesse de Lude.--A Dangerous Lady.--Madame dâO.--Arrival of the Duchesse de Bourgogne. CHAPTER X My Return to Fontainebleau.--A Calumny at Court.--Portrait of M. de La Trappe.--A False Painter.--Fast Living at the âDesert.â--Comte dâAuvergne.--Perfidy of Harlay.--M. de Monaco.--Madame Panache.--The Italian Actor and the âFalse Prudeâ. CHAPTER XI A Scientific Retreat.--The Peace of Ryswick.--Prince of Conti King of Poland.--His Voyage and Reception.--King of England Acknowledged.--Duc de Conde in Burgundy.--Strange Death of Santeuil.--Duties of the Prince of Darmstadt in Spain.--Madame de Maintenonâs Brother.--Extravagant Dresses. Marriage of the Duc de Bourgogne.--The Bedding of the Princesse.--Grand Balls.--A Scandalous Bird. CHAPTER XII An Odd Marriage.--Black Daughter of the King.--Travels of Peter the Great.--Magnificent English Ambassador.--The Prince of Parma.-- A Dissolute Abbe.--Orondat.--Dispute about Mourning.--M. de Cambraiâs Book Condemned by M. de La Trappe.--Anecdote of the Head of Madame de Montbazon.--Condemnation of Fenelon by the Pope.--His Submission. CHAPTER XIII Charnace.--An Odd Ejectment.--A Squabble at Cards.--Birth of My Son.-- The Camp at Compiegne.--Splendour of Marechal Boufflers.--Pique of the Ambassadors.--Tesseâs Grey Hat.--A Sham Siege.--A Singular Scene.-- The King and Madame de Maintenon.--An Astonished Officer.-- Breaking-up of the Camp. CHAPTER XIV Gervaise Monk of La Trappe.----His Disgusting Profligacy.--The Author of the Lordâs Prayer.--A Struggle for Precedence.--Madame de Saint-Simon.-- The End of the Quarrel.--Death of the Chevalier de Coislin.--A Ludicrous Incident.--Death of Racine.--The King and the Poet.--King Pays Debts of Courtiers.--Impudence of M. de Vendome.--A Mysterious Murder.-- Extraordinary Theft. CHAPTER XV The Farrier of Salon.--Apparition of a Queen.--The Farrier Comes to Versailles.--Revelations to the Queen.--Supposed Explanation.-- New Distinctions to the Bastards.--New Statue of the King.-- Disappointment of Harlay.--Honesty of Chamillart.--The Comtesse de Fiesque.--Daughter of Jacquier.--Impudence of Saumery.--Amusing Scene.-- Attempted Murder. CHAPTER XVI Reform at Court.--Cardinal Delfini.--Pride of M. de Monaco.--Early Life of Madame de Maintenon.--Madame de Navailles.--Balls at Marly.--An Odd Mask.--Great Dancing--Fortunes of Langlee.--His Coarseness.--The Abbe de Soubise.--Intrigues for His Promotion.--Disgrace and Obstinacy of Cardinal de Bouillon. CHAPTER XVII A Marriage Bargain.--Mademoiselle de Mailly.--James II.--Begging Champagne.--A Duel.--Death of Le Notre.--His Character.--History of Vassor.--Comtesse de Verrue and Her Romance with M. de Savoie.--A Race of Dwarfs.--An Indecorous Incident.--Death of M. de La Trappe. VOLUME 3. CHAPTER XVIII Settlement of the Spanish Succession.--King William III.--New Party in Spain.--Their Attack on the Queen.--Perplexity of the King.--His Will.-- Scene at the Palace.--News Sent to France.--Council at Madame de Maintenonâs.--The Kingâs Decision.--A Public Declaration.--Treatment of the New King.--His Departure for Spain.--Reflections.--Philip V. Arrives in Spain.--The Queen Dowager Banished. CHAPTER XIX Marriage of Phillip V.--The Queenâs Journey.--Rival Dishes.-- A Delicate Quarrel.--The Kingâs journey to Italy.--The Intrigues against Catinat.--Vaudemontâs Success.--Appointment of Villeroy.--The First Campaign.--A Snuffbox.--Prince Eugeneâs Plan.--Attack and Defence of Cremona.--Villeroy Made Prisoner.--Appointment of M. de Vendome. CHAPTER XX Discontent and Death of Barbezieux.--His Character.--Elevation of Chamillart.--Strange Reasons of His Success.--Death of Rose.--Anecdotes. --An Invasion of Foxes.--M. le Prince.--A Horse upon Roses.--Marriage of His Daughter: His Manners and Appearance CHAPTER XXI Monseigneurâs Indigestion.--The King Disturbed.--The Ladies of the Halle.--Quarrel of the King and His Brother.--Mutual Reproaches.-- Monsieurâs Confessors.--A New Scene of Wrangling.--Monsieur at Table.-- He Is Seized with Apoplexy.--The News Carried to Marly.--How Received by the King.--Death of Monsieur.--Various Forms of Grief.--The Duc de Chartres. CHAPTER XXII The Dead Soon Forgotten.--Feelings of Madame de Maintenon.--And of the Duc de Chartres.--Of the Courtiers.--Madameâs Mode of Life.--Character of Monsieur.--Anecdote of M. le Prince.--Strange Interview of Madame de Maintenon with Madame.--Mourning at Court.--Death of Henriette dâAngleterre.--A Poisoning Scene.--The King and the Accomplice. CHAPTER XXIII Scandalous Adventure of the Abbesse de la Joye.--Anecdote of Madame de Saint-Herem.--Death of James II. and Recognition of His Son.--Alliance against France.--Scene at St. Maur.--Balls and Plays.--The âElectraâ of Longepierre--Romantic Adventures of the Abbe de Vatterville. CHAPTER XXIV Changes in the Army.--I Leave the Service.--Annoyance of the King.--The Medallic History of the Reign.--Louis XIII.--Death of William III.-- Accession of Queen Anne.--The Alliance Continued.--Anecdotes of Catinat. --Madame de Maintenon and the King. VOLUME 4. CHAPTER XXV Anecdote of Canaples.--Death of the Duc de Coislin.--Anecdotes of His Unbearable Politeness.--Eccentric Character.--President de Novion.-- Death of M. de Lorges.--Death of the Duchesse de Gesvres. CHAPTER XXVI The Prince dâHarcourt.--His Character and That of His Wife.--Odd Court Lady.--She Cheats at Play.--Scene at Fontainebleau.--Crackers at Marly.-- Snowballing a Princess.--Strange Manners of Madame dâHarcourt.-- Rebellion among Her Servants.--A Vigorous Chambermaid. CHAPTER XXVII Madame des Ursins.--Her Marriage and Character.--The Queen of Spain.-- Ambition of Madame de Maintenon.--Coronation of Philip V.--A Cardinal Made Colonel.--Favourites of Madame des Ursins.--Her Complete Triumph.-- A Mistake.--A Despatch Violated.--Madame des Ursins in Disgrace. CHAPTER XXVIII Appointment of the Duke of Berwick.--Deception Practised by Orry.--Anger of Louis XIV.--Dismissal of Madame des Ursins.--Her Intrigues to Return. --Annoyance of the King and Queen of Spain.--Intrigues at Versailles.-- Triumphant Return of Madame des Ursins to Court.--Baseness of the Courtiers.--Her Return to Spain Resolved On. CHAPTER XXIX An Honest Courtier.--Robbery of Courtin and Fieubet.--An Important Affair.--My Interview with the King.--His Jealousy of His Authority.-- Madame La Queue, the Kingâs Daughter.--Battle of Blenheim or Hochstedt.-- Our Defeat.--Effect of the News on the King.--Public Grief and Public Rejoicing.--Death of My Friend Montfort. CHAPTER XXX Naval Battle of Malaga.--Danger of Gibraltar.--Duke of Mantua in Search of a Wife.--Duchesse de Lesdiguieres.--Strange Intrigues.--Mademoiselle dâElboeuf Carries off the Prize.--A Curious Marriage.--Its Result.-- History of a Conversion to Catholicism.--Attempted Assassination.-- Singular Seclusion CHAPTER XXXI Fascination of the Duchesse de Bourgogne.--Fortunes of Nangis.--He Is Loved by the Duchesse and Her Dame dâAtours.--Discretion of the Court.-- Maulevrier.--His Courtship of the Duchess.--Singular Trick.--Its Strange Success.--Mad Conduct of Maulevrier--He Is Sent to Spain.--His Adventures There.--His Return and Tragical Catastrophe. CHAPTER XXXII Death of M. de Duras.--Selfishness of the King.--Anecdote of Puysieux.-- Character of Pontchartrain.--Why He Ruined the French Fleet.--Madame des Ursins at Last Resolves to Return to Spain.--Favours Heaped upon Her.-- M. de Lauzun at the Army.--His bon mot.--Conduct of M. de Vendome.-- Disgrace and Character of the Grand Prieur. VOLUME 5. CHAPTER XXXIII A Hunting Adventure.--Story and Catastrophe of Fargues.--Death and Character of Ninon de lâEnclos.--Odd Adventure of Courtenvaux.--Spies at Court.--New Enlistment.--Wretched State of the Country.--Balls at Marly. CHAPTER XXXIV Arrival of Vendome at Court.--Character of That Disgusting Personage.-- Rise of Cardinal Alberoni.--Vendomeâs Reception at Marly.--His Unheard-of Triumph.--His High Flight.--Returns to Italy.--Battle of Calcinato.-- Condition of the Army.--Pique of the Marechal de Villeroy.--Battle of Ramillies.--Its Consequences. CHAPTER XXXV Abandonment of the Siege of Barcelona.--Affairs of Italy.-- La Feuillade.--Disastrous Rivalries.--Conduct of M. dâOrleans.--The Siege of Turin.--Battle.--Victory of Prince Eugene.--Insubordination in the Army.--Retreat.--M. dâOrleans Returns to Court.--Disgrace of La Feuillade CHAPTER XXXVI Measures of Economy.--Financial Embarrassments.--The King and Chamillart.--Tax on Baptisms and Marriages.--Vaubanâs Patriotism.-- Its Punishment.--My Action with M. de Brissac.--I Appeal to the King.-- The Result.--I Gain My Action. CHAPTER XXXVII My Appointment as Ambassador to Rome.--How It Fell Through.--Anecdotes of the Bishop of Orleans.--A Droll Song.--A Saint in Spite of Himself.-- Fashionable Crimes.--A Forged Genealogy.--Abduction of Beringhen.-- The âParvulosâ of Meudon and Mademoiselle Choin. CHAPTER XXXVIII Death and Last Days of Madame de Montespan.--Selfishness of the King.-- Death and Character of Madame de Nemours.--Neufchatel and Prussia.-- Campaign of Villars.--Naval Successes.--Inundations of the Loire.--Siege of Toulon.--A Quarrel about News.--Quixotic Despatches of Tesse. VOLUME 6. CHAPTER XXXIX Precedence at the Communion Table.--The King Offended with Madame de Torcy.--The Kingâs Religion.--Atheists and Jansenists.--Project against Scotland.--Preparations.--Failure.--The Chevalier de St. George.--His Return to Court. CHAPTER XL Death and Character of Brissac.--Brissac and the Court Ladies.--The Duchesse de Bourgogne.--Scene at the Carp Basin.--Kingâs Selfishness.-- The King Cuts Samuel Bernardâs Purse.--A Vain Capitalist.--Story of Leon and Florence the Actress.--His Loves with Mademoiselle de Roquelaure.-- Run--away Marriage.--Anger of Madame de Roquelaure.--A Furious Mother.-- Opinions of the Court.--A Mistake.--Interference of the King.-- Fate of the Couple. CHAPTER XLI The Duc dâOrleans in Spain.--Offends Madame des Ursins and Madame de Maintenon.--Laziness of M. de Vendome in Flanders.--Battle of Oudenarde. --Defeat and Disasters.--Difference of M. de Vendome and the Duc de Bourgogne. CHAPTER XLII Conflicting Reports.--Attacks on the Duc de Bourgogne.--The Duchesse de Bourgogne Acts against Vendome.--Weakness of the Duke.--Cunning of Vendome.--The Siege of Lille.--Anxiety for a Battle.--Its Delay.--Conduct of the King and Monseigneur.--A Picture of Royal Family Feeling.--Conduct of the Marechal de Boufflers. CHAPTER XLIII Equivocal Position of the Duc de Bourgogne.--His Weak Conduct.-- Concealment of a Battle from the King.--Return of the Duc de Bourgogne to Court.--Incidents of His Reception.--Monseigneur.--Reception of the Duc de Berry.--Behaviour of the Duc de Bourgogne.--Anecdotes of Gamaches.-- Return of Vendome to Court.--His Star Begins to Wane.--Contrast of Boufflers and Vendome.--Chamillartâs Project for Retaking Lille.--How It Was Defeated by Madame de Maintenon. CHAPTER XLIV Tremendous Cold in France.--Winters of 1708-1709--Financiers and the Famine.--Interference of the Parliaments of Paris and Dijon.--Dreadful Oppression.--Misery of the People.--New Taxes.--Forced Labour.--General Ruin.--Increased Misfortunes.--Threatened Regicide.--Procession of Saint Genevieve.--Offerings of Plate to the King.--Discontent of the People.-- A Bread Riot, How Appeased. CHAPTER XLV M. de Vendome out of Favour.--Death and Character of the Prince de Conti.--Fall of Vendome.--Pursegurâs Interview with the King.--Madame de Bourgogne against Vendome.--Her Decided Conduct.--Vendome Excluded from Marly.--He Clings to Meudon.--From Which He is also Expelled.--His Final Disgrace and Abandonment.--Triumph of Madame de Maintenon. CHAPTER XLVI Death of Pere La Chaise.--His Infirmities in Old Age.--Partiality of the King.--Character of Pere La Chaise.--The Jesuits.--Choice of a New Confessor.--Fagonâs Opinion.--Destruction of Port Royal.--Jansenists and Molinists.--Pascal.--Violent Oppression of the Inhabitants of Port Royal. VOLUME 7. CHAPTER XLVII Death of DâAvaux.--A Quarrel about a Window.--Louvois and the King.-- Anecdote of Boisseuil.--Madame de Maintenon and M. de Beauvilliers.-- Harcourt Proposed for the Council.--His Disappointment.--Death of M. le Prince.--His Character.--Treatment of His Wife.--His Love Adventures.-- His Madness.--A Confessor Brought.--Nobody Regrets Him. CHAPTER XLVIII Progress of the War.--Simplicity of Chamillart.--The Imperialists and the Pope.--Spanish Affairs.--Duc dâOrleans and Madame des Ursins.--Arrest of Flotte in Spain.--Discovery of the Intrigues of the Duc dâOrleans.--Cabal against Him.--His Disgrace and Its Consequences. CHAPTER XLIX Danger of Chamillart.--Witticism of DâHarcourt.--Faults of Chamillart.-- Court Intrigues against Him.--Behaviour of the Courtiers.--Influence of Madame de Maintenon.--Dignified Fall of Chamillart.--He is Succeeded by Voysin.--First Experience of the New Minister.--The Campaign in Flanders.--Battle of Malplaquet. CHAPTER L. Disgrace of the Duc dâOrleans.--I Endeavor to Separate Him from Madame dâArgenton.--Extraordinary Reports.--My Various Colloquies with Him.--The Separation.--Conduct of Madame dâArgenton.--Death and Character of M. le Duc.--The After-suppers of the King. CHAPTER LI Proposed Marriage of Mademoiselle.--My Intrigues to Bring It About.--The Duchesse de Bourgogne and Other Allies.--The Attack Begun.--Progress of the Intrigue.--Economy at Marly.--The Marriage Agreed Upon.--Scene at Saint-Cloud.--Horrible Reports.--The Marriage.--Madame de Saint-Simon.-- Strange Character of the Duchesse de Berry CHAPTER LII Birth of Louis XV.--The Marechale de la Meilleraye.--Saint-Ruthâs Cudgel.--The Cardinal de Bouillonâs Desertion from France.--Anecdotes of His Audacity. CHAPTER LIII Imprudence of Villars.--The Danger of Truthfulness.--Military Mistakes.-- The Fortunes of Berwick.--The Son of James.--Berwickâs Report on the Army.--Imprudent Saying of Villars.--âThe Good Little Fellowâ in a Scrape.--What Happens to Him. CHAPTER LIV Duchesse de Berry Drunk.--Operations in Spain.--Vendome Demanded by Spain.--His Affront by the Duchesse de Bourgogne.--His Arrival.-- Staremberg and Stanhope.--The Flag of Spain Leaves Madrid.--Entry of the Archduke.--Enthusiasm of the Spaniards--The King Returns.--Strategy, of Staremberg.--Affair of Brighuega.--Battle of Villavciosa.--Its Consequences to Vendome and to Spain. VOLUME 8. CHAPTER LV State of the Country.--New Taxes.--The Kingâs Conscience Troubled.-- Decision of the Sorbonne.--Debate in the Council.--Effect of the Royal Tithe.--Tax on Agioteurs.--Merriment at Court.--Death of a Son of Marechal Boufflers.--The Jesuits. CHAPTER LVI My Interview with Du Mont.--A Mysterious Communication.--Anger of Monseigneur against Me.--Household of the Duchesse de Berry.--Monseigneur Taken Ill of the Smallpox.--Effect of the News.--The King Goes to Meudon.--The Danger Diminishes.--Madame de Maintenon at Meudon.--The Court at Versailles.--Hopes and Fears.--The Danger Returns.--Death of Monseigneur.--Conduct of the King. CHAPTER LVII A Rumour Reaches Versailles.--Aspect of the Court.--Various Forms of Grief.--The Duc dâOrleans.--The News Confirmed at Versailles.--Behaviour of the Courtiers.--The Duc and Duchesse de Berry.--The Duc and Duchesse de Bourgogne.--Madame.--A Swiss Asleep.--Picture of a Court.--The Heir- Apparentâs Night.--The King Returns to Marly.--Character of Monseigneur. --Effect of His Death. CHAPTER LVIII State of the Court at Death of Monseigneur.--Conduct of the Dauphin and the Dauphine.--The Duchesse de Berry.--My Interview with the Dauphin.-- He is Reconciled with M. dâOrleans. CHAPTER LIX Warnings to the Dauphin and the Dauphine.--The Dauphine Sickens and Dies.--Illness of the Dauphin.--His Death.--Character and Manners of the Dauphine.--And of the Dauphin. CHAPTER LX Certainty of Poison.--The Supposed Criminal.--Excitement of the People against M. dâOrleans.--The Cabal.--My Danger and Escape.--The Dauphinâs Casket. VOLUME 9. CHAPTER LXI The Kingâs Selfishness.--Defeat of the Czar.--Death of Catinat.--Last Days of Vendome.--His Body at the Escurial.--Anecdote of Harlay and the Jacobins.--Truce in Flanders.--Wolves. CHAPTER LXII Settlement of the Spanish Succession.--Renunciation of France.--Comic Failure of the Duc de Berry.--Anecdotes of M. de Chevreuse.--Father Danielâs History and Its Reward. CHAPTER LXIII The Bull Unigenitus.--My Interview with Father Tellier.--Curious Inadvertence of Mine.--Peace.--Duc de la Rochefoucauld.--A Suicide in Public.--Charmel.--Two Gay Sisters. CHAPTER LXIV The King of Spain a Widower.--Intrigues of Madame des Ursins.--Choice of the Princes of Parma.--The King of France Kept in the Dark.--Celebration of the Marriage.--Sudden Fall of the Princesse des Ursins.--Her Expulsion from Spain. CHAPTER LXV The King of Spain Acquiesces in the Disgrace of Madame des Ursins.--Its Origin.--Who Struck the Blow.--Her journey to Versailles.--Treatment There.--My Interview with Her.--She Retires to Genoa.--Then to Rome.-- Dies. CHAPTER LXVI Sudden Illness of the Duc de Berry--Suspicious Symptoms.--The Duchess Prevented from Seeing Him.--His Death.--Character.--Manners of the Duchesse de Berry. CHAPTER LXVII Maisons Seeks My Acquaintance.--His Mysterious Manner.--Increase of the Intimacy.--Extraordinary News.--The Bastards Declared Princes of the Blood.--Rage of Maisons and Noailles.--Opinion of the Court and Country. CHAPTER LXVIII The King Unhappy and Ill at Ease.--Court Paid to Him.--A New Scheme to Rule Him.--He Yields.--New Annoyance.--His Will.--Anecdotes Concerning It.--Opinions of the Court.--M. du Maine CHAPTER LXIX A New Visit from Maisons.--His Violent Project.--My Objections.--He Persists.--His Death and That of His Wife.--Death of the Duc de Beauvilliers.--His Character.--Of the Cardinal dâEstrees.--Anecdotes.-- Death of Fenelon. VOLUME 10. CHAPTER LXX Character and Position of the Duc dâOrleans--His Manners, Talents, and Virtues.--His Weakness.--Anecdote Illustrative Thereof.-- The âDebonnaireâ--Adventure of the Grand Prieur in England.--Education of the Duc dâOrleans.--Character of Dubois.--His Pernicious Influence.-- The Dukeâs Emptiness.--His Deceit.--His Love of Painting.--The Fairies at His Birth.--The Dukeâs Timidity.--An Instance of His Mistrustfulness. CHAPTER LXXI The Duke Tries to Raise the Devil.--Magical Experiments.--His Religious Opinions.--Impiety.--Reads Rabelais at Church.--The Duchesse dâOrleans.-- Her Character.--Her Life with Her Husband.--My Discourses with the Duke on the Future.--My Plans of Government.--A Place at Choice Offered Me.-- I Decline the Honour.--My Reason.--National Bankruptcy.--The Dukeâs Anger at My Refusal.--A Final Decision. CHAPTER LXXII The Kingâs Health Declines.--Bets about His Death.--Lord Stair.--My New Friend.--The Kingâs Last Hunt.--And Last Domestic and Public Acts.-- Doctors.--Opium.--The Kingâs Diet.--Failure of His Strength.--His Hopes of Recovery.--Increased Danger.--Codicil to His Will.--Interview with the Duc dâOrleans.--With the Cardinal de Noailles.--Address to His Attendants.--The Dauphin Brought to Him.--His Last Words.-- An Extraordinary Physician.--The Courtiers and the Duc dâOrleans.-- Conduct of Madame de Maintenon.--The Kingâs Death. CHAPTER LXXIII Early Life of Louis XIV.--His Education.--His Enormous Vanity.--His Ignorance.--Cause of the War with Holland.--His Mistakes and Weakness in War.--The Ruin of France.--Origin of Versailles.--The Kingâs Love of Adulation, and Jealousy of People Who Came Not to Court.--His Spies.-- His Vindictiveness.--Opening of Letters.--Confidence Sometimes Placed in Him--A Lady in a Predicament. CHAPTER LXXIV Excessive Politeness.--Influence of the Valets.--How the King Drove Out.--Love of magnificence.--His Buildings.--Versailles.--The Supply of Water.--The King Seeks for Quiet.--Creation of Marly.--Tremendous Extravagance. CHAPTER LXXV Amours of the King.--La Valliere.--Montespan.--Scandalous Publicity.-- Temper of Madame de Montespan.--Her Unbearable Haughtiness.--Other Mistresses.--Madame de Maintenon.--Her Fortunes.--Her Marriage with Scarron.--His Character and Society.--How She Lived After His Death.-- Gets into Better Company.--Acquaintance with Madame de Montespan.-- The Kingâs Children.--His Dislike of Widow Scarron.--Purchase of the Maintenon Estate.--Further Demands.--M. du Maine on His Travels.-- Montespanâs Ill--humour.--Madame de Maintenon Supplants Her.--Her Bitter Annoyance.--Progress of the New Intrigue.--Marriage of the King and Madame de Maintenon. CHAPTER LXXVI Character of Madame de Maintenon.--Her Conversation.--Her Narrow- mindedness.--Her Devotion.--Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.--Its Fatal Consequences.--Saint Cyr.--Madame de Maintenon Desires Her Marriage to be Declared.--Her Schemes.--Counterworked by Louvois.--His Vigorous Conduct and Sudden Death.--Behaviour of the King.--Extraordinary Death of Seron. CHAPTER LXXVII Daily Occupations of Madame de Maintenon.--Her Policy--How She Governed the Kingâs Affairs.--Connivance with the Ministers.--Anecdote of Le Tellier.--Behaviour of the King to Madame de Maintenon.-- His Hardness.--Selfishness.--Want of Thought for Others.--Anecdotes.-- Resignation of the King.--Its Causes.--The Jesuits and the Doctors.--The King and Lay Jesuits. VOLUME 11. CHAPTER LXXVIII External Life of Louis XIV.--At the Army.--Etiquette of the Kingâs Table.--Court Manners and Customs.--The Rising of the King.--Morning Occupations.--Secret Amours.--Going to Mass.--Councils.--Thursdays.-- Fridays.--Ceremony of the Kingâs Dinner.--The Kingâs Brother.--After Dinner.--The Drive.--Walks at Marly and Elsewhere.--Stag--hunting.--Play- tables.--Lotteries.--Visits to Madame de Maintenon.--Supper.--The King Retires to Rest.--Medicine Days.--Kings Religious Observances.--Fervency in Lent.--At Mass.--Costume.--Politeness of the King for the Court of Saint-Germain.--Feelings of the Court at His Death.--Relief of Madame de Maintenon.--Of the Duchesse dâOrleans.--Of the Court Generally.--Joy of Paris and the Whole of France.--Decency of Foreigners.--Burial of the King. CHAPTER LXXIX Surprise of M. dâOrleans at the Kingâs Death.--My Interview with Him.-- Dispute about Hats.--M. du Maine at the Parliament.--His Reception.-- My Protest.--The Kingâs Will.--Its Contents and Reception.--Speech of the Duc dâOrleans.--Its Effect.--His Speech on the Codicil.--Violent Discussion.--Curious Scene.--Interruption for Dinner.--Return to the Parliament.--Abrogation of the Codicil.--New Scheme of Government.-- The Regent Visits Madame de Maintenon.--The Establishment of Saint-Cyr.-- The Regentâs Liberality to Madame de Maintenon. CHAPTER LXXX The Young Kingâs Cold.--âLettres des Cachetâ Revived.--A Melancholy Story.--A Loan from Crosat.--Retrenchments.--Unpaid Ambassadors.--Council of the Regency.--Influence of Lord Stair.--The Pretender.--His Departure from Bar.--Colonel Douglas.--The Pursuit.--Adventure at Nonancourt.--Its Upshot.--Madame lâHospital.--Ingratitude of the Pretender. CHAPTER LXXXI Behaviour of the Duchesse de Berry.--Her Arrogance Checked by Public Opinion.--Walls up the Luxembourg Garden.--La Muette.--Her Strange Amour with Rion.--Extraordinary Details.--The Duchess at the Carmelites.-- Weakness of the Regent.--His Daily Round of Life.--His Suppers.-- How He Squandered His Time.--His Impenetrability.--Scandal of His Life.-- Public Balls at the Opera. CHAPTER LXXXII First Appearance of Law.--His Banking Project Supported by the Regent.-- Discussed by the Regent with Me.--Approved by the Council and Registered. --My Interviews with Law.--His Reasons for Seeking My Friendship.-- Arouet de Voltaire. CHAPTER LXXXIII Rise of Alberoni.--Intimacy of France and England.--Gibraltar Proposed to be Given Up.--Louville the Agent.--His Departure.--Arrives at Madrid.-- Alarm of Alberoni.--His Audacious Intrigues.--Louville in the Bath.-- His Attempts to See the King.--Defeated.--Driven out of Spain.--Impudence of Alberoni.--Treaty between France and England.--Stipulation with Reference to the Pretender. CHAPTER LXXXIV The Lieutenant of Police.--Jealousy of Parliament.--Arrest of Pomereu Resolved On.--His Imprisonment and Sudden Release.--Proposed Destruction of Marly.--How I Prevented It.--Sale of the Furniture.--I Obtain the âGrandes Entreesâ.--Their Importance and Nature.--Afterwards Lavished Indiscriminately.--Adventure of the Diamond called âThe Regent.â--Bought for the Crown of France. CHAPTER LXXXV Death of the Duchesse de Lesdiguieres.--Cavoye and His Wife.--Peter the Great.--His Visit to France.--Enmity to England.--Its Cause.--Kourakin, the Russian Ambassador.--The Czar Studies Rome.--Makes Himself the Head of Religion.--New Desires for Rome--Ultimately Suppressed.--Preparations to Receive the Czar at Paris.--His Arrival at Dunkerque.--At Beaumont.-- Dislikes the Fine Quarters Provided for Him.--His Singular Manners, and Those of His Suite. CHAPTER LXXXVI Personal Appearance of the Czar.--His Meals.--Invited by the Regent.-- His Interview with the King--He Returns the Visit.--Excursion in Paris.-- Visits Madame.--Drinks Beer at the Opera.--At the Invalides.--Meudon.-- Issy.--The Tuileries.--Versailles.--Hunt at Fontainebleau.--Saint--Cyr.-- Extraordinary Interview with Madame de Maintenon.--My Meeting with the Czar at DâAntinâs.--The Ladies Crowd to See Him.--Interchange of Presents.--A Review.--Party Visits.--Desire of the Czar to Be United to France. CHAPTER LXXXVII Courson in Languedoc.--Complaints of Perigueux.--Deputies to Paris.-- Disunion at the Council.--Intrigues of the Duc de Noailles.--Scene.-- I Support the Perigueux People.--Triumph.--My Quarrel with Noailles.-- The Order of the Pavilion. VOLUME 12. CHAPTER LXXXVIII Policy and Schemes of Alberoni.--He is Made a Cardinal.--Other Rewards Bestowed on Him.--Dispute with the Majordomo.--An Irruption into the Royal Apartment.--The Cardinal Thrashed.--Extraordinary Scene. CHAPTER LXXXIX Anecdote of the Duc dâOrleans.--He Pretends to Reform--Trick Played upon Me.--His Hoaxes.--His Panegyric of Me.--Madame de Sabran.--How the Regent Treated His Mistresses. CHAPTER XC Encroachments of the Parliament.--The Money Edict.--Conflict of Powers-- Vigorous Conduct of the Parliament.--Opposed with Equal Vigour by the Regent.--Anecdote of the Duchesse du Maine.--Further Proceedings of the Parliament.--Influence of the Reading of Memoirs.--Conduct of the Regent.--My Political Attitude.--Conversation with the Regent on the Subject of the Parliament.--Proposal to Hang Law.--Meeting at My House.-- Law Takes Refuge in the Palais Royal. CHAPTER XCI Proposed Bed of Justice.--My Scheme.--Interview with the Regent.-- The Necessary Seats for the Assembly.--I Go in Search of Fontanieu.-- My Interview with Hini.--I Return to the Palace.--Preparations.-- Proposals of M. le Duc to Degrade M. du Maine.--My Opposition.--My Joy and Delight.--The Bed of Justice Finally Determined On.--A Charming Messenger.--Final Preparations.--Illness of the Regent.--News Given to M. du Maine.--Resolution of the Parliament.--Military Arrangements.--I Am Summoned to the Council.--My Message to the Comte de Toulouse. CHAPTER XCII The Material Preparations for the Bed of Justice--Arrival of the Duc dâOrleans:--The Council Chamber.--Attitude of the Various Actors.--The Duc du Maine.--Various Movements.--Arrival of the Duc de Toulouse.-- Anxiety of the Two Bastards.--They Leave the Room.--Subsequent Proceedings.--Arrangement of the Council Chamber.--Speech of the Regent. --Countenances of the Members of Council.--The Regent Explains the Object of the Bed of Justice.--Speech of the Keeper of the Seals.--Taking the Votes.--Incidents That Followed.--New Speech of the Duc dâOrleans.-- Against the Bastards.--My Joy.--I Express My Opinion Modestly.--Exception in Favour of the Comte de Toulouse.--New Proposal of M. le Duc.--Its Effect.--Threatened Disobedience of the Parliament.--Proper Measures.-- The Parliament Sets Out. CHAPTER XCIII Continuation of the Scene in the Council Chamber.--Slowness of the Parliament.--They Arrive at Last.--The King Fetched.--Commencement of the Bed of Justice.--My Arrival.--Its Effect.--What I Observed.--Absence of the Bastards Noticed.--Appearance of the King. The Keeper of the Seals.-- The Proceedings Opened.--Humiliation of the Parliament.--Speech of the Chief-President.--New Announcement.--Fall of the Duc du Maine Announced. --Rage of the Chief-President.--My Extreme joy.--M. le Duc Substituted for M. du Maine.--Indifference of the King.--Registration of the Decrees. CHAPTER XCIV My Return Home.--Wanted for a New Commission.--Go to the Palais Royal.-- A Cunning Page.--My journey to Saint-Cloud.--My Reception.--Interview with the Duchesse dâOrleans.--Her Grief.--My Embarrassment.--Interview with Madame.--Her Triumph.--Letter of the Duchesse dâOrleans.--She Comes to Paris.--Quarrels with the Regent. CHAPTER XCV Intrigues of M. du Maine.--And of Cellamare, the Spanish Ambassador.-- Monteleon and Portocarrero.--Their Despatches.--How Signed.--The Conspiracy Revealed.--Conduct of the Regent.--Arrest of Cellamare.--His House Searched.--The Regency Council.--Speech of the Duc dâOrleans.-- Resolutions Come To.--Arrests.--Relations with Spain.--Alberoni and Saint-Aignan.--Their Quarrel.--Escape of Saint-Aignan. CHAPTER XCVI The Regent Sends for Me.--Guilt of the Duc de Maine.--Proposed Arrest.-- Discussion on the Prison to Be Chosen.--The Arrest.--His Dejection.-- Arrest of the Duchess.--Her Rage.--Taken to Dijon.--Other Arrests.-- Conduct of the Comte de Toulouse.--The Faux Sauniers.--Imprisonment of the Duc and Duchesse du Maine.--Their Sham Disagreement.--Their Liberation.--Their Reconciliation. VOLUME 13. CHAPTER XCVII Anecdote of Madame de Charlus.--The âPhillippaquesâ.--La Grange.-- Pere Tellier.--The Jesuits.--Anecdote----Tellierâs Banishment.--Death of Madame de Maintenon.--Her Life at Saint-Cyr. CHAPTER XCVIII Mode of Life of the Duchesse de Berry.--Her Illness.--Her Degrading Amours.--Her Danger Increases.--The Sacraments Refused.--The Cure Is Supported by the Cardinal de Noailles.--Curious Scene.--The Duchess Refuses to Give Way.--She Recovers, and Is Delivered.--Ambition of Rion. --He Marries the Duchess.--She Determines to Go to Meudon.--Rion Sent to the Army.--Quarrels of Father and Daughter.--Supper on the Terrace of Meudon.--The Duchess Again Ill.--Moves to La Muette.--Great Danger.-- Receives the Sacrament.--Garus and Chirac.--Rival Doctors.--Increased Illness.--Death of the Duchess.--Sentiments on the Occasion.--Funeral Ceremonies.--Madame de Saint-Simon Fails Ill.--Her Recovery.--We Move to Meudon.--Character of the Duchesse de Berry. CHAPTER XCIX The Mississippi Scheme.--Law Offers Me Shares.--Compensation for Blaye.-- The Rue Quincampoix.--Excitement of the Public.--Increased Popularity of the Scheme.--Conniving of Law.--Plot against His Life--Disagreement with Argenson.--Their Quarrel.--Avarice of the Prince de Conti.--His Audacity.--Anger of the Regent.--Comparison with the Period of Louis XIV.--A Ballet Proposed.--The Marechal de Villeroy.--The Young King Is to Dance.--Young Law Proposed.--Excitement.--The Young Kingâs Disgust.-- Extravagant Presents of the Duc dâOrleans. CHAPTER C System of Law in Danger.--Prodigality of the Duc dâOrleans.--Admissions of Law.--Fall of His Notes.--Violent Measures Taken to Support Them.-- Their Failure.--Increased Extravagance of the Regent.--Reduction of the Fervour.--Proposed Colonies.--Forced Emigration.--Decree on the Indian Company.--Scheming of Argenson. Attitude of the Parliament.--Their Remonstrance.--Dismissal of Law.--His Coolness--Extraordinary Decree of Council of State.--Prohibition of jewellery.--New Schemes. CHAPTER CI The New Edict.--The Commercial Company.--New Edict.--Rush on the Bank.-- People Stifled in the Crowd.--Excitement against Law.--Money of the Bank.--Exile of the Parliament to Pontoise.--New Operation.--The Place Vendome.--The Marechal de Villeroy.--Marseilles.--Flight of Law.-- Character of Him and His Wife.--Observations on His Schemes.--Decrees of the Finance. CHAPTER CII Council on the Finances.--Departure of Law--A Strange Dialogue.--M. le Duc and the Regent.--Crimes Imputed to Law during His Absence.--Schemes Proposed.--End, of the Council. CHAPTER CIII Character of Alberoni.--His Grand Projects.--Plots against Him.--The Queenâs Nurse.--The Scheme against the Cardinal.--His Fall.--Theft of a Will.--Reception in Italy.--His Adventures There. CHAPTER CIV Meetings of the Council.--A Kitten.--The Archbishopric of Cambrai.-- Scandalous Conduct of Dubois.--The Consecration.--I Persuade the Regent Not to Go.--He Promises Not.--Breaks His Word.--Madame de Parabere.--The Ceremony.--Story of the Comte de Horn. VOLUME 14 CHAPTER CV Quarrel of the King of England with His Son.--Schemes of Dubois.-- Marriage of Brissac.--His Death.--Birth of the Young Pretender.-- Cardinalate of Dubois.--Illness of the King.--His Convalescence.-- A Wonderful Lesson.--Prudence of the Regent.--Insinuations against Him. CHAPTER CVI Projected Marriages of the King and of the Daughter of the Duc dâOrleans-- --How It Was Communicated to Me.--I Ask for the Embassy to Spain.--It Is Granted to Me.--Jealousy of Dubois.--His Petty Interference.-- Announcement of the Marriages. CHAPTER CVII Interview with Dubois.--His Singular Instructions to Ale.--His Insidious Object.--Various Tricks and Manoeuvres.--My Departure for Spain.--Journey by Way of Bordeaux and Bayonne.--Reception in Spain.--Arrival at Madrid. CHAPTER CVIII Interview in the Hall of Mirrors.--Preliminaries of the Marriages.-- Grimaldo.--How the Question of Precedence Was Settled.--I Ask for an Audience.--Splendid Illuminations.--A Ball.--I Am Forced to Dance. CHAPTER CIX Mademoiselle de Montpensier Sets out for Spain.--I Carry the News to the King.--Set out for Lerma.--Stay at the Escurial.--Take the Small--pox.-- Convalescence. CHAPTER CX Mode of Life of Their Catholic Majesties.--Their Night.--Morning.-- Toilette.--Character of Philippe V.--And of His Queen.--How She Governed Him. CHAPTER CXI The Kingâs Taste for Hunting.--Preparations for a Battue.--Dull Work.-- My Plans to Obtain the Grandesse.--Treachery of Dubois.--Friendship of Grimaldo.--My Success. CHAPTER CXII Marriage of the Prince of the Asturias.--An Ignorant Cardinal.--I Am Made Grandee of Spain.--The Vidame de Chartres Named Chevalier of the Golden Fleece.--His Reception--My Adieux.--A Belching Princess.-- Return to France. VOLUME 15. CHAPTER CXIII Attempted Reconciliation between Dubois and Villeroy.--Violent Scene.-- Trap Laid for the Marechal.--Its Success.--His Arrest. CHAPTER CXIV I Am Sent for by Cardinal Dubois.--Flight of Frejus.--He Is Sought and Found.--Behaviour of Villeroy in His Exile at Lyons.--His Rage and Reproaches against Frejus.--Rise of the Latter in the Kingâs Confidence. CHAPTER CXV I Retire from Public Life.--Illness and Death of Dubois.--Account of His Riches.--His Wife.--His Character.--Anecdotes.--Madame de Conflans.-- Relief of the Regent and the King. CHAPTER CXVI Death of Lauzun.--His Extraordinary Adventures.--His Success at Court.-- Appointment to the Artillery.--Counter--worked by Louvois.--Lauzun and Madame de Montespan.--Scene with the King.--Mademoiselle and Madame de Monaco. CHAPTER CXVII Lauzunâs Magnificence.--Louvois Conspires against Him.--He Is Imprisoned.--His Adventures at Pignerol.--On What Terms He Is Released.-- His Life Afterwards.--Return to Court. CHAPTER CXVIII Lauzun Regrets His Former Favour.--Means Taken to Recover It.--Failure.-- Anecdotes.--Biting Sayings.--My Intimacy with Lauzun.--His Illness, Death, and Character. CHAPTER CXIX Ill-Health of the Regent.--My Fears.--He Desires a Sudden Death.-- Apoplectic Fit.--Death.--His Successor as Prime Minister.--The Duc de Chartres.--End of the Memoirs. INTRODUCTION No library of Court documents could pretend to be representative which ignored the famous âMemoirsâ of the Duc de Saint-Simon. They stand, by universal consent, at the head of French historical papers, and are the one great source from which all historians derive their insight into the closing years of the reign of the âGrand Monarch,â Louis XIV: whom the author shows to be anything but grand--and of the Regency. The opinion of the French critic, Sainte-Beuve, is fairly typical. âWith the Memoirs of De Retz, it seemed that perfection had been attained, in interest, in movement, in moral analysis, in pictorial vivacity, and that there was no reason for expecting they could be surpassed. But the âMemoirsâ of Saint-Simon came; and they offer merits . . . which make them the most precious body of Memoirs that as yet exist.â Villemain declared their author to be âthe most original of geniuses in French literature, the foremost of prose satirists; inexhaustible in details of manners and customs, a word-painter like Tacitus; the author of a language of his own, lacking in accuracy, system, and art, yet an admirable writer.â Leon Vallee reinforces this by saying: âSaint-Simon can not be compared to any of his contemporaries. He has an individuality, a style, and a language solely his own.... Language he treated like an abject slave. When he had gone to its farthest limit, when it failed to express his ideas or feelings, he forced it--the result was a new term, or a change in the ordinary meaning of words sprang forth from has pen. With this was joined a vigour and breadth of style, very pronounced, which makes up the originality of the works of Saint-Simon and contributes toward placing their author in the foremost rank of French writers.â Louis de Rouvroy, who later became the Duc de Saint-Simon, was born in Paris, January 16, 1675. He claimed descent from Charlemagne, but the story goes that his father, as a young page of Louis XIII., gained favour with his royal master by his skill in holding the stirrup, and was finally made a duke and peer of France. The boy Louis had no lesser persons than the King and Queen Marie Therese as godparents, and made his first formal appearance at Court when seventeen. He tells us that he was not a studious boy, but was fond of reading history; and that if he had been given rein to read all he desired of it, he might have made âsome figure in the world.â At nineteen, like DâArtagnan, he entered the Kingâs Musketeers. At twenty he was made a captain in the cavalry; and the same year he married the beautiful daughter of the Marechal de Larges. This marriage, which was purely political in its inception, finally turned into a genuine love match--a pleasant exception to the majority of such affairs. He became devoted to his wife, saying: âshe exceeded all that was promised of her, and all that I myself had hoped.â Partly because of this marriage, and also because he felt himself slighted in certain army appointments, he resigned his commissim after five yearsâ service, and retired for a time to private life. Upon his return to Court, taking up apartments which the royal favour had reserved for him at Versailles, Saint-Simon secretly entered upon the self-appointed task for which he is now known to fame--a task which the proud King of a vainglorious Court would have lost no time in terminating had it been discovered--the task of judge, spy, critic, portraitist, and historian, rolled into one. Day by day, henceforth for many years, he was to set down upon his private âMemoirsâ the results of his personal observations, supplemented by the gossip brought to him by his unsuspecting friends; for neither courtier, statesman, minister, nor friend ever looked upon those notes which this âlittle Duke with his cruel, piercing, unsatisfied eyesâ was so busily penning. Says Vallee: âHe filled a unique position at Court, being accepted by all, even by the King himself, as a cynic, personally liked for his disposition, enjoying consideration on account of the prestige of his social connections, inspiring fear in the more timid by the severity and fearlessness of his criticism.â Yet Louis XIV. never seems to have liked him, and Saint- Simon owed his influence chiefly to his friendly relations with the Dauphinâs family. During the Regency, he tried to restrain the profligate Duke of Orleans, and in return was offered the position of governor of the boy, Louis XV., which he refused. Soon after, he retired to private life, and devoted his remaining years largely to revising his beloved âMemoirs.â The autograph manuscript, still in existence, reveals the immense labour which he put into it. The writing is remarkable for its legibility and freedom from erasure. It comprises no less than 2,300 pages in folio. After the authorâs death, in 1755, the secret of his lifelong labour was revealed; and the Duc de Choiseul, fearing the result of these frank revelations, confiscated them and placed them among the state archives. For sixty years they remained under lock and key, being seen by only a few privileged persons, among them Marmontel, Duclos, and Voltaire. A garbled version of extracts appeared in 1789, possibly being used as a Revolutionary text. Finally, in 1819, a descendant of the analyst, bearing the same name, obtained permission from Louis XVIII. to set this âprisoner of the Bastilleâ at liberty; and in 1829 an authoritative edition, revised and arranged by chapters, appeared. It created a tremendous stir. Saint-Simon had been merciless, from King down to ladyâs maid, in depicting the daily life of a famous Court. He had stripped it of all its tinsel and pretension, and laid the ragged framework bare. âHe wrote like the Devil for posterity!â exclaimed Chateaubriand. But the work at once became universally read and quoted, both in France and England. Macaulay made frequent use of it in his historical essays. It was, in a word, recognised as the chief authority upon an important period of thirty years (1694-1723). Since then it has passed through many editions, finally receiving an adequate English translation at the hands of Bayle St. John, who has been careful to adhere to the peculiarities of Saint-Simonâs style. It is this version which is now presented in full, giving us not only many vivid pictures of the authorâs time, but of the author himself. âI do not pride myself upon my freedom from prejudice--impartiality,â he confesses--âit would be useless to attempt it. But I have tried at all times to tell the truth.â VOLUME 1. CHAPTER I I was born on the night of the 15th of January, 1675, of Claude Duc de Saint-Simon, Peer of France, and of his second wife Charlotte de lâAubepine. I was the only child of that marriage. By his first wife, Diana de Budos, my father had had only a daughter. He married her to the Duc de Brissac, Peer of France, only brother of the Duchesse de Villeroy. She died in 1684, without children,--having been long before separated from a husband who was unworthy of her--leaving me heir of all her property. I bore the name of the Vidame de Chartres; and was educated with great care and attention. My mother, who was remarkable for virtue, perseverance, and sense, busied herself continually in forming my mind and body. She feared for me the usual fate of young men, who believe their fortunes made, and who find themselves their own masters early in life. It was not likely that my father, born in 1606, would live long enough to ward off from me this danger; and my mother repeatedly impressed on, me how necessary it was for a young man, the son of the favourite of a King long dead,--with no new friends at Court,--to acquire some personal value of his own. She succeeded in stimulating my courage; and in exciting in me the desire to make the acquisitions she laid stress on; but my aptitude for study and the sciences did not come up to my desire to succeed in them. However, I had an innate inclination for reading, especially works of history; and thus was inspired with ambition to emulate the examples presented to my imagination,--to do something and become somebody, which partly made amends for my coldness for letters. In fact, I have always thought that if I had been allowed to read history more constantly, instead of losing my time in studies for which I had no aptness, I might have made some figure in the world. What I read of my own accord, of history, and, above all, of the personal memoirs of the times since Francis I., bred in me the desire to write down what I might myself see. The hope of advancement, and of becoming familiar with the affairs of my time, stirred me. The annoyances I might thus bring upon myself did not fail to present themselves to my mind; but the firm resolution I made to keep my writings secret from everybody, appeared to me to remedy all evils. I commenced my memoirs then in July, 1694, being at that time colonel of a cavalry regiment bearing my name, in the camp of Guinsheim, upon the old Rhine, in the army commanded by the Marechal Duc de Lorges. In 1691 I was studying my philosophy and beginning to learn to ride at an academy at Rochefort, getting mightily tired of masters and books, and anxious to join the army. The siege of Mons, formed by the King in person, at the commencement of the spring, had drawn away all the young men of my age to commence their first campaign; and, what piqued me most, the Duc de Chartres was there, too. I had been, as it were, educated with him. I was younger than he by eight months; and if the expression be allowed in speaking of young people, so unequal in position, friendship had united us. I made up my mind, therefore, to escape from my leading-strings; but pass lightly over the artifices I used in order to attain success. I addressed myself to my mother. I soon saw that she trifled with me. I had recourse to my father, whom I made believe that the King, having led a great siege this year, would rest the next. I said nothing of this to my mother, who did not discover my plot until it was just upon the point, of execution. The King had determined rigidly to adhere to a rule he had laid down-- namely, that none who entered the service, except his illegitimate children, and the Princes of the blood royal, should be exempt from serving for a year in one of his two companies of musketeers; and passing afterwards through the ordeal of being private or subaltern in one of the regiments of cavalry or infantry, before receiving permission to purchase a regiment. My father took me, therefore, to Versailles, where he had not been for many years, and begged of the King admission for me into the Musketeers. It was on the day of St. Simon and St. Jude, at half-past twelve, and just as his Majesty came out of the council. The King did my father the honour of embracing him three times, and then turned towards me. Finding that I was little and of delicate appearance, he said I was still very young; to which my father replied, that I should be able in consequence to serve longer. Thereupon the King demanded in which of the two companies he wished to put me; and my father named that commanded by Maupertuis, who was one of his friends. The King relied much upon the information given him by the captains of the two companies of Musketeers, as to the young men who served in them. I have reason for believing, that I owe to Maupertuis the first good opinion that his Majesty had of me. Three months after entering the Musketeers, that is to say, in the March of the following year, the King held a review of his guards, and of the gendarmerie, at Compiegne, and I mounted guard once at the palace. During this little journey there was talk of a much more important one. My joy was extreme; but my father, who had not counted upon this, repented of having believed me, when I told him that the King would no doubt rest at Paris this year. My mother, after a little vexation and pouting at finding me enrolled by my father against her will, did not fail to bring him to reason, and to make him provide me with an equipment of thirty-five horses or mules, and means to live honourably. A grievous annoyance happened in our house about three weeks before my departure. A steward of my father named Tesse, who had been with him many years, disappeared all at once with fifty thousand francs due to various tradesfolk. He had written out false receipts from these people, and put them in his accounts. He was a little man, gentle, affable, and clever; who had shown some probity, and who had many friends. The King set out on the 10th of May, 1692, with the ladies; and I performed the journey on horseback with the soldiers and all the attendants, like the other Musketeers, and continued to do so through the whole campaign. I was accompanied by two gentlemen; the one had been my tutor, the other was my motherâs squire. The Kingâs army was formed at the camp of Gevries; that of M. de Luxembourg almost joined it: The ladies were at Mons, two leagues distant. The King made them come into his camp, where he entertained them; and then showed them, perhaps; the most superb review which had ever been seen. The two armies were ranged in two lines, the right of M. de Luxembourgâs touching the left of the Kingâs,--the whole extending over three leagues of ground. After stopping ten days at Gevries, the two armies separated and marched. Two days afterwards the seige of Namur was declared. The King arrived there in five days. Monseigneur (son of the King); Monsieur (Duc dâOrleans, brother of the King); M. le Prince (de Conde) and Marechal dâHumieres; all four, the one under the other, commanded in the Kingâs army under the King himself. The Duc de Luxembourg, sole general of his own army, covered the siege operations, and observed the enemy. The ladies went away to Dinant. On the third day of the march M. le Prince went forward to invest the place. The celebrated Vauban, the life and soul of all the sieges the King made, was of opinion that the town should be attacked separately from the castle; and his advice was acted upon. The Baron de Bresse, however, who had fortified the place, was for attacking town and castle together. He was a humble down-looking man, whose physiognomy promised nothing, but who soon acquired the confidence of the King, and the esteem of the army. The Prince de Conde, Marechal dâHumieres, and the Marquis de Boufflers each led an attack. There was nothing worthy of note during the ten days the siege lasted. On the eleventh day, after the trenches had been opened, a parley was beaten and a capitulation made almost as the besieged desired it. They withdrew to the castle; and it was agreed that it should not be attacked from the town-side, and that the town was not to be battered by it. During the siege the King was almost always in his tent; and the weather remained constantly warm and serene. We lost scarcely anybody of consequence. The Comte de Toulouse received a slight wound in the arm while quite close to the King, who from a prominent place was witnessing the attack of a half-moon, which was carried in broad daylight by a detachment of the oldest of the two companies of Musketeers. The siege of the castle next commenced. The position of the camp was changed. The Kingâs tents and those of all the Court were pitched in a beautiful meadow about five hundred paces from the monastery of Marlaigne. The fine weather changed to rain, which fell with an abundance and perseverance never before known by any one in the army. This circumstance increased the reputation of Saint Medard, whose fete falls on the 8th of June. It rained in torrents that day, and it is said that when such is the case it will rain for forty days afterwards. By chance it happened so this year. The soldiers in despair at this deluge uttered many imprecations against the Saint; and looked for images of him, burning and breaking as many as they could find. The rains sadly interfered with the progress of the siege. The tents of the King could only be communicated with by paths laid with fascines which required to be renewed every day, as they sank down into the soil. The camps and quarters were no longer accessible; the trenches were full of mud and water, and it took often three days to remove cannon from one battery to another. The waggons became useless, too, so that the transport of bombs, shot, and so forth, could not be performed except upon the backs of mules and of horses taken from the equipages of the Court and the army. The state of the roads deprived the Duc de Luxembourg of the use of waggons and other vehicles. His army was perishing for want of grain. To remedy this inconvenience the King ordered all his household troops to mount every day on horseback by detachments, and to take sacks of grain upon their cruppers to a village where they were to be received and counted by the officers of the Duc de Luxembourg. Although the household of the King had scarcely any repose during this siege, what with carrying fascines, furnishing guards, and other daily services, this increase of duty was given to it because the cavalry served continually also, and was reduced almost entirely to leaves of trees for provender. The household of the King, accustomed to all sorts of distinctions, complained bitterly of this task. But the King turned a deaf ear to them, and would be obeyed. On the first day some of the Gendarmes and of the light horse of the guard arrived early in the morning at the depot of the sacks, and commenced murmuring and exciting each other by their discourses. They threw down the sacks at last and flatly refused to carry them. I had been asked very politely if I would be of the detachment for the sacks or of some other. I decided for the sacks, because I felt that I might thereby advance myself, the subject having already made much noise. I arrived with the detachment of the Musketeers at the moment of the refusal of the others; and I loaded my sack before their eyes. Marin, a brigadier of cavalry and lieutenant of the body guards, who was there to superintend the operation, noticed me, and full of anger at the refusal he had just met with, exclaimed that as I did not think such work beneath me, the rest would do well to imitate my example. Without a word being spoken each took up his sack; and from that time forward no further difficulty occurred in the matter. As soon as the detachment had gone, Marin went straight to the King and told him what had occurred. This was a service which procured for me several obliging discourses from his Majesty, who during the rest of the siege always sought to say something agreeable every time he met me. The twenty-seventh day after opening the trenches, that is, the first of July, 1692, a parley was sounded by the Prince de Barbanqon, governor of the place,--a fortunate circumstance for the besiegers, who were worn out with fatigue; and destitute of means, on account of the wretched weather which still continued, and which had turned the whole country round into a quagmire.
{'title': 'Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Complete by Saint-Simon', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}