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Et ..!/."
\
MADAME DE MAINTENON
41
Madame de Maintenon
BY
EMILY BOWLES
\/
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., i, PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1888
X
r^
754
{The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.)
PREFACE.
Early in last year (as Mr. Oxenham pointed out in an
able article in the April number of the National Review),
Dr. Dollinger gave a remarkable lecture at Munich on
Madame de Maintenon as "the most influential woman
in French History." And yet, as every one knows, French
history, and especially the history of the seventeenth
century, in which she lived, absolutely bristles with in-
fluential and distinguished women. Nor is Dr. Dollinger
in any way given to indiscriminate admiration or uncritical
praise.
During last year also M. A. Geffroy published in Paris
two admirable volumes of selected letters and conver-
sations of Madame de Maintenon, annotated with great
care, and throwing much valuable light upon the calumnies
to which she has been subjected, as well as upon her real
. character and motives.
The volume now published — much delayed by an
interval of great sorrow — was undertaken three years ago
with the same object of representing Madame de Maintenon
VI PREFACE.
as she really was, and thus allowing her to vindicate herself
from the slanders principally perpetuated by St. Simon
and the Duchess of Orleans. It seems almost impossible
now to believe that it is only comparatively of late years
that Madame de Maintenon has been credited with her
genuine marriage with Louis XIV., or has even been
cleared from the imputation of beginning her career as the
mistress of Scarron.
The general impression of her, in fact, has been rather
that of a woman who largely, though demurely, sowed her
wild oats while she could, and when that pleasant con-
dition of existence was no longer possible, turned to the
opposing excitements of religious fanaticism, and became
difemme d/vote, jealously and equally bent upon preserving
her position at Court and " making her soul."
Of the unique, wide-spreading influence of Madame dc
Maintenon there can be no historical doubt, but what has
chiefly been sought to represent now is that character
which was summed up in speaking of her by a man not
much her friend, the Regent Orleans, " EUe a fait du bien
4 tout le monde tant qu'elle a pu, et n'a jamais fait tort k
personne."
It is not necessary to embody in this volume any
account of the complicated wars of Louis XIV., but it may
be well to note certain dates as landmarks to the letters.
Beginning in 1665, when Louis laid claim to Brabant, and
an alliance was made between England, Holland, and
Sweden, till the Treaty of Nimeguen in 1678, incessant
successful wars brought France to be the first power in
PREFACE. vii
Europe. From 1678 to 1685, the date of the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV. reigned undisputed as the
greatest monarch of his age. A league was formed by
Spain, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Savoy, and at last
England, against him, when the consequent wars were,
concluded by the Peace of Ryswick in 1697. In 170 1,
the War of the Spanish Succession broke out, which lasted
for ten years.
Louis XIV. and the Emperor Leopold of Germany,
both grandsons of Philip III. of Spain, had both also
married daughters of Philip IV. Charles II. of Spain had
no children, and in 1701 a will was made, naming the
Duke of Anjbu, second son of the Dauphin of France and
grandson of Louis XI V, heir to the Spanish crown. Louis
himself, and England and Holland, at first acknowledged
Philip V. of Spain, but the two latter Powers soon joined a
treaty with the Emperor Leopold, under the title of the
" Grand Alliance." The succeeding victories of Marlborough
and Prince Eugene reduced France to the greatest distress,
and after Louis XIV. had twice before (1706 and 1709)
offered the most honourable terms of peace, and the
claimant of the Spanish crown having become Emperor of
Germany, the war was ended by the signing of the Treaty
of Utrecht, 171 3. By that treaty Philip V. was acknow-
ledged in Spain, and Louis XIV., abandoning the Stuarts,
recognized the settlement of the English crown.
The authorities consulted are these : —
I. " La Famille d'Aubignd et TEnfance de Madame de
Maintenon suivi des M^moires Inddits de Languet de
Vlll PREFACE,
Gergy, Archeveque de Sens, sur Madame de Maintenon et
la Cour de Louis XIV." LavalUe.
2. " Histoire de la Maison Royale de Saint Cyr, 1686-
1793." Lava/l/e.
3. " Histoire de Madame de Maintenon et des Principaux
Evdnements du Rtgne de Louis XIV." M. le Due de
Noailles.
4. " Madame de Maintenon d'aprts sa Correspondance
Authentique. Choix de ses Lettres et Entretiens."
A. Geffroy, Membre de Flnstitut.
It may be allowed, perhaps, here to acknowledge, in
regard to this last, the kindness and never-failing courtesy
of M. Gustave Masson, who contributed the unpublished
letters from the British Museum to M. Geffroy's excellent
collection.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
i55o-i63a
Origin of the d'Aubign^ Family in Poitou, Maillezais
Agrippa d'Aubign^ .
D*Aubign^ takes the Huguenot Side
D*Aubign^'s Capture and Escape
D*Aubign^ is saved from Suicide
D'Aubign^'s First Campaign
D'Aubigne regains his Property
D'Aubign^ escapes the Massacre of St. Bartholomew
D'Aubign^ goes over to the Catholic Party .
D'Aubign^ marries, and is driven from Maillezais to Geneva — His Death
FAGB
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
lO
CHAPTER II.
1585—1649-50.
Constant d'Aubigne .......
Constant imprisoned in Chateau Trompette .
Constant marries Jeanne Cardilhac
Fran9oise d'Aubign^ born in the Prison at Niort .
Constant goes to Martinique .....
Jeanne d'Aubigne and her Children ....
Fran9oise d'Aubigne is sent to her Aunt, Madame de Villette
Fran9oise is claimed by Madame de Neuillant
Fran9oise is sent to the Ursulines at Niort .
Fran9oise writes to Madame de Villette
Fran9oise is reconciled to the Catholic Church
II
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
X CONTENTS,
CHAPTER HI.
1649-50—1664-65 .
Fran9oise goes to her Mother in Paris ....
Fran9oise marries Scarron ......
Madame Scarron and her Husband ....
Letter to Madame de Villarceaux ....
Scarron's Death . . ' .
Madame Scarron's Life in Paris .....
Madame Scarron chooses Abb6 Gobelin as her Director
Abb^ Gobelin's Direction ......
Madame Scarron's Acquaintance with Madame de Montespan and Princess
de Chalais .......... 30
PAGE
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
CHAPTER IV.
1664-65—1679.
Madame Scarron takes Charge of Madame de Montespan's Children . 31
Madame Scarron's Life in the Rue Vaugirard . . . . -32
Madame Scarron's Sufferings and Difficulties . . -33
Madame Scarron wishes to retire from Court . . . . -34
The King acknowledges Madame de Montespan's Children . . -35
Madame Scarron buys the Property of Maintenon and takes the Title . 36
Madame de Maintenon's Increased Perplexities . . . '37*38
The King begins to discern Madame de Maintenon's True Worth . . 39
Madame de Maintenon goes to Bareges with the Due du Maine . . 40
Madame de Maintenon's Rule of Life ....... 41
Abbe Gobelin urges Madame de Maintenon to remain at Court . . 42
Madame de Montespan is sent to Clagny ...... 43
The King is still entangled in Intrigues . . . . ' . 44
The Dauphin's Marriage with the Princess Palatine . . . -45
Madame de Maintenon undertakes the Charge of her Brother Charles
D'Aubign^'s Wife 46-48
Madame de Maintenon suggests Rules of Life to her Brother . 49-52
CHAPTER V.
1679— 1683.
The King sends Madame de Maintenon to Madame de Fontanges . . 53
Madame de Maintenon submits her Plan of Life to Abb^ Gobelin . . 54
Madame de Fontanges is dismissed from Court . • • • • 55
CONTENTS,
XI
PAGE
Madame de Maintenon*s Efforts to convert her Family . , . '56
Mdlle. de Mursay — Madame de Maintenon*s Influence with the King . 57
The King seeks Madame de Maintenon's Society . . . . '58
Madame de Maintenon urges the King to lead a Good Life . . • 59
Renewal of Affection between the King and Queen .... 60
The King at the Height of his Power . . . . . . .61
Birth of the Duke of Burgundy ........ 62
Great Joy at the Duke of Burgundy's Birth ...... 63
Foundation of a Girls' School at Rueil . ... . . .64
Letters to Madame de Brinon and M. de Villette . . . . '65
Death of the Queen 66
Innocent XI. sends Relics from the Catacombs to Madame de Maintenon 67
Madame de Maintenon at the Crisis of her Life . . . . .68
CHAPTER VI.
1683— 1685.
The King's Note, and Madame de Maintenon's Answer
Motives for the King's Choice ....
Extraordinary Position of Madame de Maintenon
Madame de Maintenon and others go with the King
Her Note to the King ....
Marriage of the King and Madame de Maintenon
Extreme Secresy of the Marriage
The Great Honour paid to Madame de Maintenon
Madame de Maintenon's Conduct and Simple Habits
Encouragement from the Bishop of Chartres
Madame de Maintenon's Intercourse with the King
The Way in which the King consults Madame de Maintenon
Madame de Maintenon chiefly intervenes in Religious Matters
to Valenciennes —
69
70
71
72
7Z
74
75
76
17
78
79
80
CHAPTER VIL
1685— 1686.
The School at Rueil removed to Noisy 81
Letter to Madame de Brinon ........ 82
Letters to Abb^ Gobelin 83, 84
Motives for founding a Noble Girls' School 85
Noisy fitted up .......... 86
The Education 87
Xll
CONTENTS,
PAGE
Madame de Brinon 88
The King goes to Noisy 89
A Great Foundation decided upon ....... 90
St. Cyr 91
How St. Cyr was built 92
King's Note of the Constitution 93
CHAPTER VIII.
1686— 1687.
Revenues of St Denis made over to St. Cyr
St. Cyr fitted up ... .
St. Cyr first as a College .
Constitutions as first drawn up .
Community of Dames de St. Louis .
The Pope approves the House of St. Louis
The King's Intention
Organization of the Teaching Body .
The House solemnly transferred from Noisy to St. Cyr
Madame de Maintenon's Work at St. Cyr
Visitors to St. Cyr ....
The King visits St. Cyr for the first time
What the King felt at his Reception .
The First Burial at St. Cyr
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
lOI
102
103
104
105
106
107
CHAPTER IX.
1687— 1690.
The Standard aimed at at St. Cyr 108
The Enlarged System of Instruction ....... 109
Madame de Maintenon cultivates the Girls herself . . . .110
Madame de Maintenon proposes a Play to Racine . . . .111
"Esther" ... 112
How ** Esther" was got up 113
Departure of Madame de Brinon — The King witnesses " Esther " . 114
Brilliant Gathering for the next Representation of " Esther" . • "S
Madame de S^vign^'s account of the last Representation of " Esther " . 116
Madame de Maintenon as Spiritual Superior of St. Cyr . . '117
Mdlle. d'Aubign^ 118
The Bishop of Chartres — The Dauphine dies . . . . .119
Letter to M. Manceau 120
CONTENTS,
XUl
CHAPTER X.
1690 — 1692.
The King joins the Army — Notes to Madame de Maintenon
Madame de Maintenon's Prayer ....
The King makes a Foundation for Girls leaving St. C)rr
Madame de Loubert Superior of St. Cyr .
Great Respect shown by the Pope to Madame de Maintenon
The King's Visit to St. Cyr . ...
Essential Changes made at St. Cyr ....
The Dames make a Second Novitiate under Mother Priolo
Madame de Maintenon's Change of View .
Entrance of Madame de Maisonfort to St. Cyr ,
Madame de Maintenon accompanies the King to Dinant
PAGE
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129, 130
• 131
132, 133
CHAPTER XI
1692 — 1694.
The King's Visit to St. Cyr after the Novitiate .
Account of the King's Visit ....
Letter of the Visitandine Nuns upon St. Cyr
Madame de Fontaines canonically elected Superior
The King again visits St. Cyr ....
Madame de Maintenon studies the New Constitutions
Letter of Madame de Maintenon to Madame de P^rou
Choice of Confessors for St. Cyr
Brief sent to Madame de Maintenon by Pope Alexander VIII.
135.
134
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
CHAPTER XH.
1694— 1695.
Madame Guyon .....
Madame Guyon at St. Cyr
** Le Moyen Court " . . . .
The Conference at Issy ....
Madame Guyon is sent to the Bastille
The King receives the ** Maximes des Saints "
F^nelon is ordered to leave his Diocese
The King again visits St. Cyr .
Madame de Maintenon gives up ** Le Moyen Court "
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
152
XIV CONTENTS.
The " Maximes des Saints '* condemned — ^Fenelon's Submission .
Madame de Maisonfort and two other Dames sent away from St Cyr
The King speaks to the Dames de St Louis ....
Madame de Maintenon guards St. Cyr frt)m Jansenism
Madame de Maintenon*s Letter to a Mistress at St. Cyr
Madame de Maintenon's Ejcample at St. Qyr ....
PACK
153
154
155
156
157
158
CHAPTER XIII.
1695— 1696.
The Bishop de Noailles, of Chalons, becomes Archbishop of Paris . 159
Letter to Madame de Fontaines 159,160
Difficulties with Pere de la Chaise 161, 162
State of Social Manners 163
Madame de Maintenon and Pere de la Chaise 164
Letters to the Archbishop of Paris 165
Advice to Madame de Radouay .166
The Duke of Savoy's Daughter betrothed to the Duke of Burgundy . 167
Madame de Maintenon*s Letters to the Duchess of Savoy . . .168
The King asks Madame de Maintenon to take Charge of the Duchess of
Burgundy .......... 169
Letter of the Bishop of Chartres— Madame de Maintenon accepts the
Charge of the Duchess of Burgundy 1 70
The Duchess of Burgundy gambles at Cards 171
Madame de Maintenon*s Notes for the Duchess . . . 1 72
Bossuet's Charity to Madame de Maisonfort . . '173
CHAPTER XIV.
1696— 1704.
Origin of Quietism 1 74
Bossuet, the Bishop of Chartres, and the Jesuits oppose Quietism . -175
Quesnel's " Reflexions Morales " . . . . . . .176
Cardinal de Noailles upholds the ** Reflexions " . . . . '177
Madame de Maintenon urges Cardinal de Noailles to submit his Judg-
ment ........... 178
Cardinal de Noailles is Furious with the Jesuits . . • 1 79
Letters to Madame de Gruel . . . . . . .180
A Request for a Sermon from P^re Massillon 181
Advice to Madame de Glapion . . . . . .182
Letter to Madame de Beaulieu . . . . . . . .183
Spiritual Counsel to Madame de Glapion ..... 184-186
CONTENTS,
XV
CHAPTER XV.
1704— 1705.
Madame de Maintenon makes over Maintenon to her Niece
Princess dcs Ursins goes to Madrid as Camarera Mayor
The King insists on Princess des Ursins leaving Spain.
Madame de Maintenon writes to the Queen of Spain . . . 19O3
Letter to the Due de Noailles .....
Madame de Caylus out of Favour with her Aunt .
Madame de Caylus gives up her Jansenist connections
Conversation between Madame de Maintenon and Madame de Glapion
at St. Cyr 195-203
PAGE
187
188
189
191
192
193
194
CHAPTER XVI.
1705 — 1706-7.
Death of the Duke of Brittany ........ 204
Letters to Madame de Caylus and the Due de Noailles . . . 205
Letter to the Due de Noailles . . . . . . . . 206
An Arranged Marriage ......... 207
Madame de Maintenon undertakes the Reform of the Abbey of Gomer-
fontaine ........... 208
The Abbess of Gomerfontaine brought up at St, Cyr .... 209
Madame de Maintenon urges Cardinal de Noailles to make Peace with
the Jesuits . . . . . . . . . . 210
The Due de Noailles in Catalonia 211
Madame de Maintenon complains of Cardinal de Noailles . . . 212
Letters to Madame de Caylus 213
Princess des Ursins again at Madrid . . . . . . 214,215
CHAPTER XVn,
1707.
Another Conversation with Madame de Glapion
Letters to Princess des Ursins .
Strange Description of Spanish Ladies
The Duchess of Burgundy . . .
Princess des Ursins and the Nurses .
Madame de Maintenon upon the Court Ladies
Anxieties caused by the Duchess of Burgundy
216, 217
218, 219
220
221
222
223
224
xvi COyTENTS.
rAGB
Madame de Sfaintenon writes to Madame de Dangeaa about the Dachess
ofBorgandj . 225
Letter of the Duchess of Bnrguidy to Madame de Maintenon 226
The Chapter of the Doll 227
The Menagerie ......... 228, 229
CHAPTER XVIII.
1707 — 1708.
The Prince of Astnrias is baptized " Loois "...,. 230
Mdlle. de S^ 231
The King refuses to allow Mdlle. de Sery a Post at the Spanish Court . 232
The Chapter of the Doll again ........ 233
Madame de Maintenon suggests Private Theatricals at Madrid 234
Expedition of the Chevalier St. George to Scotland .... 235
Failure of the Chevalier's Attempt on Scotland ..... 236
Account of a Runaway Marriage ...... 237, 238
Madame de Maintenon at Fontainebleau, and a Note to Madame de
Dangeau .......... 239, 240
CHAPTER XIX.
1708.
A Third Conversation with Madame de Glapion 241-244
Letters to the Due de Noailles — Marshal de Noailles* Death 244, 245
A Fourth Conversation with Madame de Glapion . . 246-249
Difficulties of Madame de Maintenon with the King and at St. Cyr 250, 251
CHAPTER XX.
1709.
Conditions of Peace with the Grand Alliance broken off . .252
War between France and Allies continued with Great Privation . 253
Dearth of Food and Money — De Chamillart dismissed .... 254
The Chevalier St. George joins the French Army .... 255
Cardinal de Noailles refuses Faculties to the Jesuits .... 256
Madame de Maintenon writes to Cardinal de Noailles . . 256, 257
Madame de Maintenon writes to the Due de Noailles .... 258
Letter of the Queen of Spain to the Duke of Savoy .... 259
Letter to the Duke de Noailles alluding to the Duke of Orleans . 260, 261
Marshal de Boufflers — Letter to Marshal de Villars .... 262
lyCtter after the Battle of Malplaquet 263, 264
CONTENTS,
XVll
CHAPTER XXL
1710 — 1711.
The Due de Noailles* Success in Spain
Praise of the Duchess of Burgundy .
Gerona capitulates to the Due de Noailles .
The King's Delight at the Account of the Reign .
The Due de Fronsac .....
Marriage of the Due de Fronsac to Mdlle. de Noailles
The Due de Fronsac's Disgrace
** Monseigneur " dies of the Small-pox
Account of the Death to Princess des Ursins
The New Dauphin and Dauphine . .
PAGE
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273» 274
• 275
Complaints of Cardinal de Noailles and others upon the Jansenist Question 276
CHAPTER XXn.
1711— 1712.
Consequences of " Monseigneur's " Death
Letter to Madame de Perou about Avon
Madame de Dangeau's Room at Marly
Philip V. retains the Crown of Spain.
The Approaching Peace of Utrecht .
The Great Popularity of the Dauphine
The Duchess de Berry
The Dauphine's Death
Account of the Dauphine's Illness
The Dauphin's Illness
Death of the Dauphin
Madame de Maintenon's Words about the Dauphine
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
CHAPTER XXIH.
1712— 1713.
Leave-taking of the Chevalier St. George .
Account of the Leave-taking by Madame de Maintenon
Dignified Rebuke to Cardinal de Noailles .
Princess des Ursins takes to the Distaff
Madame de Maintenon's Opinion of the Distaff
The King's Account of his Childhood
Letter to Princess des Ursins
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
XVUI
CONTENTS.
Princess des Ursins asks for a French Principality
Madame de Maintenon's Room at Fontainebleau
The Bull Unigenitus upon Jansenism expected .
Madame de Maintenon*s Note after a Lottery
PAGE
296
297
298
299
CHAPTER XXIV.
1713— 1715.
Death of the Queen of Spain ....;.
Philip v., of Spain, marries Princess Elizabeth, of Parma .
The Sulpicians ........
Failure of Prince de Chalais' Mission to Madame de Maintenon
The Duke of Brittany's Frock sent to St. Cyr
Another Representation of ** Athalie" at St. Cyr
300
301
302
303
304
305
CHAPTER XXV.
1715.
Disgrace of Princess des Urs»ins ....
Princess des Ursins is banished from France
Princess des Ursins retires to Rome ....
The " Temoignage ^ la V^rite " . . . .
Madame de Maintenon pleads for Secular Congregations
Doubts as to the Author of ** Temoignage ^ la V^rit^ .
306
307
308
309
310
3"
CHAPTER XXVI.
1715.
The King is attacked by his Last Illness .
He sends for the Dauphin . . . ^ .
His Last Words to the Dauphin ....
His Farewell to the Gentlemen of his Court
His Preparation for Death .....
He looks over his Papers with Madame de Maintenon, and commends
her to the Duke of Orleans ....
Cardinal de Noailles asks to see the King .
The King takes leave of Madame de Maintenon .
Madame de Maintenon goes to St. Cyr — The King dies
312
313
314
315
316
3i«
319
320
CONTENTS.
XIX
CHAPTER XXVII.
1715— 1716.
PAGE
Why Madame de Maintenon left Versailles . . . . .321
Marshal de Villeroy sends Madame de Maintenon in his own Coach for
Safety ........... 322
Madame de Maintenon sees the whole School ..... 323
The Duke of Orleans goes to St. Cyr ...... 324
How the Duke of Orleans behaved to Madame de Maintenon — Last
Letter to Marshal de Villeroy ....... 325
Last Letter to Princess des Ursins ....... 326
The King's Will annulled, and Marshal de Villeroy deprived of the
Governorship of the Dauphin ...... 327, 328
CHAPTER xxvnr.
I7I7.
Letter to Madame de Dangeau .....
The Princess des Ursins in Rome ....
Visit of Peter the Great to Madame de Maintenon
Last Visit of Marshal de Villeroy to Madame de Maintenon
329
330
331
332
CHAPTER XXIX.
1717-1719.
Madame de Maintenon*s Life at St. Cyr
Instructions to the Novices and Children .
Madame de Maintenon's Last Illness . . * .
Madame de Maintenon's Death ....
The Funeral and Assembly of People ....
* * I have spared others, but I have never spared myself "
Vertot's Epitaph
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
INDEX TO LETTERS.
•o* •
Fran9oise d'Aubign^ to Madame Villette .
Madame Scarron to the Marquise de Villarceaux
Madame Scarron to Abb^ Gobelin
To the Same .
To the Same .
To the Same .
To the Same .
To the Same .
To the Same .
To the Same .
Madame de Maintenon to M. d*Aubign^
To Mdlle. de Guignonville . . .
To Abbe Gobelin
To the Same .......
To the Same .......
To Madame de Brinon .....
To M. de Villette and Madame de Brinon .
To Madame de Brinon .....
The King to Madame de Maintenon, and her Reply
To the King .......
Fenelon and the Bishop of Chartres to Madame de Maintenon
To Madame de Brinon .....
To Madame de Glapion .....
To Abbe Gobelin and a Dame de St. Louis
To Madame de Brinon .....
To the Superior of St. Cyr and the Due de Richelieu
To M. Manceau ......
The King to Madame de Maintenon .
To Madame des Fontaines ....
To Madame de Maisonfort ....
To Madame de Veilhaut .....
PAGE
20
25
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
43
•45-52
53
54
56
5«
64
65
67
69
72
77
84
86
117
118
119
120
121
129-131
• 131
132, 133
INDEX TO LETTERS. xxi
To Madame de Brinon 138
To Madsme de Pirou 140-142
To the Bishop (deNoaiUes) of Chalons 145
To tbe Same 147
The King to the Community of Si. Cyr 154
To the Community ofSt.Cyr 156
To a Clnss-Mistress of Si. Cyr 157
To Madame des Fontaines ........ 159
To the Archbishop (de Noailles) of Paris 161
Letter attributed to Fenelon lo ihe King 163
To the Archbishop of Paris 163
To the Same 164
To tbe Same 165
To Madame de Radonay ......... 166
The King 10 Madame de Miuntenon ....... 167
To the Duchess of Savoy ......... 167
To the Same ■. . j68
The Bishop of CharCres to Madame de Mainienon .... 170
The Duchess of BurgunJy to Madame de Majnienon .... 171
Tolhe Archbi.ihopofPatis 178
To the Counted' Ayen ......... 179
To Madame dc Gruel 180
To Cardinal de Noailles 181
To Madame de Glapion ......... igi
To Madame de Beaulieu 183
To Madame de Glapion .....,.,. 184
To the Duchess de Noailles 187
To the Queen of Spain 190
To the DucdeNoailles 192
To Madame Caylus 193
To the Same 194
To the Superior of St. Cyr 204
To Madame de Caylus and the Due de Noailles ..... 205
To the Due de Noailles 206
To Madame de Caylus and Madame de Dangeau .... 207
To Madame de Dangeau ......... 209
To Cardinal de Noailles . . . ■ . . . . . 210
To the Due de Noailles 211
To Madame de Caylus 213
To the Due de Noailles 214
To Princess des Utsins 218
Princess des Ursins to Madame de Maiutenon ..... 220
To Princess des Ursins j2o
To the Same 221
xxii INDEX TO LETTERS.
Princfss des Ursins to Madame de Maintenon ..... 22Z
To Princess des Ursins Mj
To Madame de Dangeaa 225
The Duchess of Burgundy to Madame de Mainlenon . . . . 226
To Madame de Caylus ..,....., 227
To Madame de Dangeau 218
To Princess des Ursins . ....... 230
To Madame de Caylus ......... 233
To Princess des Ursins 234
To the Same ...,,..,,.. 236
To the Same ........... 237
To the Same 238
To Madame de Dangeau 239
To the Due de Noailles 244
To the Same 245
To the Same ........... 252
To Marshal de Viltars 255
To (he Bishop of Auiietre ........ 256
To Cardinal de Noailles 256
To the Due de Noailles 258
The Queen of .Spain to Ihe Di>ke of Savoy 259
To the Due de Noailles 260
To Marshal de Villars 262
To Madame de Perou and the Due de Noailles ..... 263
To (he Due de Noailles 265
To Princess des Ursins 266
To the Due de Noailles 267
To Princess des Ursins 269
To the Same 270
To Cardinal de Noailles and Princess des Ursins. .... 272
To the Due de Noailles 275
To Madame de P^rou 278
To Madame de Dangeau ......... 279
To Princess des Ursins 2S0-283
To the Doc de Noailles 283
To Princess des Ursins 285
Madame de Caylus to Princess des Ursins ...... 2S6
To Princess des Ursins ......... 287
To the Due de Beauvilliei 287
To the Due de Noailles 2SS
To Princess des Ursins 289
To Madame de P^rou ......... 290
To Cardinal de Noailles ......... 291
To Princess des Ursins ......... jgj
INDEX TO LETTERS, XXlii
PAGE
To Princess des Ursins ......... 295
To the Same 296
To the Same and to the Due de Noailles 298
To Madame de Dangeau ......... 299
To Cardinal de Noailles . . . . . . . . 300
To Abbe Languet de Gergy ........ 302
To Princess des Ursins 303
Princess des Ursins to Madame de Maintenon 304
To Madame de Ventadour ........ 304
To Princess des Ursins ......... 305
To the Same ........... 307
To Abb^ Languet de Gergy 308
To the Same 309
To Princess des Ursins ......... 326
To Marshal de Villeroy 327
To Madame de Dangeau ......... 329
To Marshal de Villeroy ......... 330
To Madame de Caylus 331
To Madame de Dangeau 332
MADAME DE MAINTENON.
■•o*-
CHAPTER I.
1550— 1630.
Among the little known regions of the vast extent of
France, perhaps even less known than the great delta of
the Rhone, with its lagoons and salt marshes, there is a
strange tract of country lying on the western coast of
Poitou, formed by the rivers Sevre and La Vendue, with
their affluents, and still called the " Marais." As in
Holland, this wide tract of monotonous dreariness is cut
and slashed by numberless dykes, canals, and fosses, which .
have come to be the natural roads of the country. From
field to field, from island to island, the inhabitants have
gone about their business in boats, and by degrees the
whole district has been made fertile in grain and green
crops and rich pasture.
One of the largest and most remarkable of these islands
of the Marais is the lie de Maillezais, which lies farthest
from the sea, and nearest to the drier regions of Poitou
known as " the Plain." The He de Maillezais is reached
by a good road from Fontenay, passing through the
B
2 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
hamlet of Port de Tile, once strongly fortified, and where
the remains of towers and a drawbridge are still to be
seen.
On the highest ridge of Maillezais stand the ruins of the
magnificent abbey, founded in the eighth and rebuilt with
great splendour in the fourteenth century, within which
the counts of Poitou had their burial-place. Like many
of the abbeys and churches in France, it became a strongly
fortified military position, and any traveller, approaching
it from Fontenay, is struck with admiration at the desolate
grandeur of the vast tower and walls standing out against
the sky, and seeming to defy the ravages of men and time.
The abbey was sacked and burnt by the Huguenots
during the wars of the League, leaving only parts of the
transept and magnificent towers, the refectory, now used
as a farmhouse, and the vaulted room that is said to have
been the library of the most famous of the lords of
Maillezais, Agrippa d'Aubignd.
This remarkable man was so thoroughly the growth of
his times, and so fully represents the conflicting and chaotic
state of France under the last Valois kings, that it is
instructive to follow the details of his strange career.
Theodore Agrippa d'Aubignd, who derived his strange
name — quasi cegri partus* — from the fact that his birth
cost his mother her life, was born at St. Maury, in Saintonge,
in the year iSSO.i" The family was first known in Anjou,
and spread from there into Poitou and Guienne. In the
year li6o, Geoffroy d'Aubignd, or d'Aubigny, was lord of
Aubign^, near Saumur, and held the rank of knight.
Agrippa's mother being dead, his father married again, and
* De Noailles, "M6moires." f Or 1552.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 3
as his step-mother took a dislike to him, he was sent away
from home to be educated.
The early years of his life certainly did not smile on
this boy, who yet became one of the most remarkable and
distinctive men of his age. At five, he was put under
a harsh, stern master, who forced him into the absurd
curriculum of the College of France at that time,* which
was to study Latin, Greek, and Hebrew all at once. At
six years old, Agrippa could read in four languages, and
at seven and a half was construing Plato, so that his father
was able to enter him at the University of Paris to " finish
his studies " at ten years old. At that famous university,
the resort of the most able and turbulent spirits of the time
from all corners of Europe, this precocious, keen-witted,
and hardened boy soon became another element of marked
disturbance. He threw himself at once into the thick of
the conflicting religious discussions, and was enlisted by his
stern Huguenot father on the Calvinist side.
One day, when the father and son were riding together
under the walls of Amboise, on which the heads of the
Huguenots engaged in the " Consph-acy of Amboise "
were bleaching on pikes, the elder d'Aubignd indignantly
exclaimed, " Butchers ! They have beheaded France ! "
Laying his hand on Agrippa's head, he added, " My son,
you must not spare your own head, next to mine, to
avenge these honourable chiefs. If you spare yourself in
this matter, my curse rest on you ! "
A number of people, who were grouped about and
heard the seditious words, rushed upon them, and the two
d'Aubign^s only saved themselves by spurring their horses
♦ Founded by Francis I., 1530,
4 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
sharply through the crowd. Agrippa laid up these words
of his father's, and fully carried out his wishes. At Paris,
he was put under a famous Italian, Beroaldi, full of learn-
ing, but suspected of heretical opinions. In fact, he was
soon afterwards on that account forced to fly from Paris,
taking the boy Agrippa and some others with him. The
party were all tracked to Coutances, where they were
arrested and imprisoned ; but Agrippa*s only grief in the
matter was that he lost his little sword and a sword-belt
with silver chains.
The officers who had arrested the party were so sorry to
see this mere child in prison, that they carried him off to
the captain's room, where, however, he was brutally told
that his companions would be burnt at the stake. Agrippa
boldly made answer that his horror of the Mass was far
greater than his dread of any stake or burning.
It was a strange scene, well worth painting. At the end
of the room, two men were playing on the violin, while
some of the officers danced ; and after a while the captain,
whose name, Dachon, has been preserved, ordered Agrippa
also to stand up and dance a galliard, which the boy did,
so gracefully as to be loudly applauded by the officers.
Then the ecclesiastical inquisitor broke in upon the
party, and ordered the boy, with angry and cruel abuse, to
be taken back to the prison cells. Agrippa and his com-
panions, however, soon afterwards escaped by connivance
from the cells, and took refuge with the widowed Duchess
of Ferrara, Ren^e d'Este,* whose Calvinist opinions had
banished her from Italy, and she was now living at
Montargis. From there, Agrippa was passed on to Orleans,
* Daughter of Lpuis XII. of France ; married Hercules d'Este. .
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 5
where his father held some post, and where the boy fell ill
with the " plague " — a malignant fever with which France
was much scourged at that time. Agrippa had no sooner
recovered than he rushed into all the disorderly licence
of the garrison, and, his father soon afterwards dying,
he was sent by his guardian to a school at Geneva, for
he was still only a boy of fourteen. But iGeneva was
then a very hotbed of Calvinism, the " holy city " of the
reform party, and Agrippa's fiery partisanship soon attracted
the notice of Theodore Beza, who, nevertheless, roundly
rebuked him for his vicious life. Agrippa was too unruly
to bear the slightest reproof, and soon made his escape
from his tutor's house, and went to Lyons, where he applied
himself seriously to study ; but, giving way at the same
time to his unbridled curiosity, he took up between whiles
the books of magic or sorcery, as the subject was developed
in the Middle Ages. After thus meddling with forbidden
subjects, he became so wretched, that he made several
attempts to shorten his own life ; and one day, wandering
out to end his brief, unbridled career by drowning himself
in the Sa6ne, he met a relation who had been sent by the
Calvinists on a mission to Geneva, and Agrippa was thus
unexpectedly saved.
He even went back of his own accord to his former
tutor ; but as this master saw that Agrippa was past
contrbl, and vehemently insisted on going into the army,
he unwisely kept him in strict confinement in his room,
even taking away his clothes and shoes every night. But
when the " Third Civil War " between the League and the
Huguenots broke out in 1569, men were again aflame with
passion and unbridled licence in what they called the cause
6 MADAME DE MAINTENOX,
of religion, and there was very little difference, if any,
bet\veen the acts of Catholics and Calvinists in the cruel
outrages committed.
A number of wild, half-grown young men of d*Aubign6*s
acquaintance were setting out to join the Huguenot bands,
and, at his vehement appeal, they agreed to give him
notice by letting off an arquebuse in front of his tutor's
house as they passed by to their place of mutiny. Hearing
this shot one night soon afterwards as he lay in bed,
Agrippa jumped up, knotted up his bedding into cords,
and let himself down into the street, when he began to
run as fast as he could, in his shirt and barefoot, after
the vanishing troop. The captain of the band was amazed
to see the white figure racing after them, and, finding that
his feet were cut and bleeding from the stones, rebuked
him roundly, but at last took him up behind him on his
own horse, and gave him his cloak to sit on.
As soon as the troop had reached their meeting-place,
the officers decided to send Agrippa back ; but he hid
himself, and managed to escape, and soon afterwards made
his first campaign under Asnieres, having thus thrown
himself headlong into the civil war on the Huguenot side.
DAubign6 fought in the fierce assault on Angouleme, at
Pons, Jamac, and what is known as the "skirmish of
Roche-la-Belle " in 1569. Glorying even above his wild
comrades in the unbridled savagery, the burnings, pillage,
and atrocious outrages on women and children of that
hideous time, Agrippa spent whole days and nights in the
saddle and under arms, verifying to the full the common
saying that "there was nothing too hot or too cold for
him." In this life of unceasing bloodshed and cruelty he
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 7
" neither stinted nor stayed " till the end of the war in
1570.
When peace was then made, or rather a truce of utter
weariness, d'Aubigne found that all his plunder and the
fruits of unjust extortion had, as usual with such gains, run
through his hands, and that the whole of his worldly
possessions was one bond upon his own property in the
Landes, which his tutor had given him to keep.
With this bond he started, and got as far as Blois, to
prove his ownership of this property, when he learnt that
some followers of the Due de Longueville had seized the
lands, and had witnessed by oath that d'Aubignd had been
killed in a skirmish at Savignac. He could not find a
single witness to his own identity, his relations turned
their backs upon him on the ground of his Huguenot
opinions, and, in a kind of despair, he embarked in a boat,
and was carried more dead than alive to Orleans, where
he suddenly appeared in the court of justice, and asked
leave to plead his own cause and prove that he was
himself.
A strange scene then took place, for Agrippa pleaded
with such passionate energy and touching earnestness for
the possession of his rights, that the judges sprang to their
feet with one accord, and exclaimed, "There is no man
living who could speak like that but old d'Aubignd's
son ! " They granted his plea, and confirmed the bond on
his own property, so that he stood at last on firm ground.
It was characteristic of the man that, being now at
leisure to feel, he attached himself firmly to a girl above
him in position, named Diana Salviati, and then for the
first time proved that his early culture had not been rooted
8 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
Up by his rough soldier's life. Out of the stem crust of •
granite and ironstone, blossoms and verdure suddenly put
forth, and Agrippa surprised the world by a series of verses
that were appropriately called " d* Aubignd's Springtide." *
Just at this critical moment of his life d'Aubigne had an
extraordinary escape. He had gone to Paris to receive his
commission from the King of Navarre t that he might
serve at Mons (1572), and, with his usual insolence, had
provoked a quarrel with two gentlemen, and received a
challenge from each. Being liable on this account to
arrest, Agrippa fled in haste from Paris, and thus narrowly
escaped the horrors of St. Bartholomew's Day.J
That atrocious massacre gave the key-note to number-
less other cruelties towards the Huguenots throughout
France ; and while he was hiding in various obscure towns,
Agrippa went in constant peril of his life. During one of
these intei*vals, he was living concealed by Diana Salviati's
father, and the old man reminded him of his having
papers in his possession that would compromise the
celebrated Chancellor THdpital of having been concerned
in the Conspiracy of Amboise, and, with true Italian craft,
he suggested that they might be made use of to obtain
money before they were given up. Agrippa answered him
never a word, but went to his own room, and fetched thence
an old velvet bag, full of papers, which he took out and
held up before Salviati's eyes, and then threw into the fire,
taking care that even the least fragment should be burnt
to ashes. Salviati abused him fiercely for throwing away
* " Le printemps d'Aubigne." f Afterwards Henri IV.
X Henry of Navarre had gone to Paris to marry Marguerite de Valois,
sister to Charles IX., August i8th, and the massacre took place August 24th.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 9
such a chance of securing money, when Agrippa made an
answer that showed what true faith and a certain grandeur
of honour lay under his wild life and many vices :
" I have burnt the papers lest they should burn me.
For I might have given in to the temptation."
Salviati was so struck and roused by this magnanimity,
that he then and there promised Agrippa that Diana
should be his wife ; but the girFs other relations broke off
the marriage on account of d'Aubignd's Huguenot opinions
One of the most singular features of that wild, surging,
chaotic time was the fashion of suddenly changing sides.
Almost immediately after Agrippa had been wading in
bloodshed with the Huguenot army, he returned to Paris
and became the constant companion of the Due de Guise
as well as of Henry of Navarre, who had always shown a
great liking for the witty and outspoken soldier. For the
amusement of these two d'Aubignd put forth all his re-
sources, and wrote for them poems, satires, ballets, and
plays, among which a kind of tragic opera, called " Circe,"
was acted at the marriage of the Due de Joyeuse.
The aspect of that city of marvels, Paris, was very
marvellous at that moment. The blood-stains of St. Bar-
tholomew's Day were scarcely dried in the streets, and men
were " everywhere ready to cut each other's throats, going
about with mail-shirts under their clothes, and with knives
and daggers in their hands." * Yet the Court was never
gayer with masques and revels and brilliant, fantastic
dances, and men behaved with a reckless mirth and wild,
passionate licence that seemed born of Italy rather than
of France. D'Aubign^, in his own person, was a full
, * Letter of the King of Navarre : de Noailles, ** M^moires."
lO MADAME DE MAINTENON.
illustration of the time, being poet, historian, satirist, theo-
logian*, and plundering free-lance all in one, and bearing
himself in the Court of Henry IV. with the peculiar fascina-
tion and sway of the %xq,2l\. frondeurs of the Valois reigns.
It was well for Agrippa that he succeeded in marrying
at last (1583) a Mademoiselle de Lezay, who owned
property in Poitou ; and after the marriage (1588) he took
possession of the little town and castle of Maillezais, where
he said he would rest from his toils and live in peace.
But in 1593, Henry of Navarre, then Henri IV.,
formally abjured Calvinism, and became reconciled to the
Church, a most bitter blow to d'Aubign^ and the other
Huguenot leaders, who seldom afterwards saw their former
master. And when Henri IV. had been murdered by
Ravaillac, Louis XIII. took such strong measures against
the Huguenots, and so filled Poitou with troops, that
d'Aubign^ found it safer to fly. He left the strong
castle of Maillezais, where he had really lived peacefully
for some years, and took refuge at Geneva, where he
bought a property called Crest. His first wife, Suzanne de
Lezay, had been dead some time ; and at Geneva, when he
was seventy-three years old, d'Aubignd married a young
widow named Ren^e Burlamacchi, an Italian exiled on
account of her religious opinions, with whom he lived
happily for seven years. At the age of eighty, the old
frondeur died, and was buried at Geneva, where his tomb
is to be seen at this day.
From this second marriage the present family of Swiss
d*Aubignds descend.
CHAPTER II.
1585—1649-50.*
The eldest son of Suzanne de Lezay was named Constant ;
and as it is with his children only that we have to do, we
muist look back awhile to the details of his sad life. He was
most carefully educated by his father, who hoped to see
his son reward him by the success of his brilliant talents ;
but from his earliest years Constant fell into bad company,
showed vicious tendencies, and then made an unfortunate
marriage. He contracted enormous debts, and unblushingly
took money from any hands to discharge them, and was
foremost in every sort of loose, disreputable adventure.
He had none of the more generous qualities and rough
nobility of his father, and, without the slightest real belief,
gave himself out as a Catholic at Court, and bore the
reputation, with Louis XIII. and the Queen- Regent, of
frequenting the society of the Jesuit Fathers.
Constant d'Aubign^ was a handsome man, frank and
pleasant-mannered, full of talent, apt at music and verse-
making, and playing well on the lute and viol, to which he
sang his own verses with much taste. But the charm was
all on the outside. He lived only for pleasure, and gambled
* Constant was born in 1585. Many of the dates of this time are very
tincertain as to a year or two.
12 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
away all the money he acquired, making himself so com-
pletely a slave to this fatal indulgence, that when his father
got him away from Paris and his companions. Constant set
up a regular mint for false coin at Maillezais, with which
to gamble without stint. His downward course was swift
and easy, and, having murdered his wife in a fit of jealousy,
he fled to Paris to beg a pardon, and was base enough to
obtain it by the promise to seize his father's castle of
Maillezais, [and to hand it over to the royal or Catholic
party. Agrippa was, however, a match for his son, fore-
stalling him by making over his own property on excellent
terms to the Due de Rohan, who was then in arms against
the king. Then, to end the matter, Louis invaded Poitou
as a conqueror, and took the castle of Maillezais, when
Agrippa fled for the last time from France and went to
Geneva. Constant afterwards actually raised money on
his father's Swiss property, and assumed the arms and
title of Baron dc Crest ; but, as he had begun to tamper
with the English force then in France, he was arrested
in 1627, and sent to the fortress of Chdteau Trompette.
The governor, or sub-governor, of the fortress, Pierre de
Cardilhac, was a Catholic of a poor but noble family of
southern France, whose wife was a de Montalembert.
They had one daughter, Jeanne, who, in some way un-
known to history, became acquainted with and strongly
attached to her father's prisoner. Constant d'Aubignd It
is difficult to understand, but unhappily it is no new thing,
that this carefully educated and protected girl, of a noble
stock, should fall under the influence of a battered rake of
forty-three, ruined by gambling debts, cursed by his father,
the murderer of his wife, and with other bloodshed on his
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 1 3
hands — a wretch detested and despised by both Catholic
and Protestant parties alike.
Yet so it was, that this abandoned man, with his
handsome face and charming manners, his viol-playing, and
his rich, sweet voice, ensnared the girl's heart, and they
were married in the prison.
Constant's false, gasconading habits followed him
thither, and in the marriage-contract this pinchbeck lord
figures as " Chevalier, Seigneur, et Baron de Surineau, en
Poitou, fils de haut et puissant Seigneur Theodore Agrippa
d'Aubigny, Seigneur de Crest." The poor, deluded young
wife soon awoke to the knowledge of what her worthless
husband really was, and in less than a year afterwards we
find her pleading at Niort for a separation, which was
granted, and soon after her first child was born, interest
was made at Court for Constant's release, when he went
back to his evil life more eagerly than ever.
In 1630, as has been said, his father Agrippa died at
Crest, being then eighty years old, and it is pleasant to
read his young widow's words at the time. She wrote to
his children : —
God has withdrawn to Himself our good lord and loving
father, and to me also a father and husband so dear and well
beloved, whom I think myself happy to have been able to serve,
and miserable that I may serve him no more. Alas ! he has
been taken away so suddenly that I can scarcely believe the blow
has fallen. I shall never see him again.
Agrippa left a will, disinheriting Constant for " being a
destroyer of his family honour by his enormous crimes," but
left his own only patrimony to his grandson, " if there were
any lawfully born grandson." He probably shared the
14 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
current opinion of the time, that his son and Jeanne do
Cardilhac were not really married.
This, as is fully known now, was not true ; but Agrippa
himself left a natural son, Nathan, from whom the Merle
d'Aubign^ family of Geneva descend.
Constant d'Aubigne was not long at liberty. We find
him in prison at Poitiers, and then at Niort, where, actually
within the prison-walls, his faithful wife gave birth to a
little girl. As Frangois de la Rochefoucault stood god-
father for her, she was baptized Frangoise, and her aunt
Madame de Villette, who had already taken charge of her
brother's boys, now offered a home to Frangoise also, and
gave her the same nurse as her own child.
Jeanne d*Aubign^ stayed a year with her husband, and
then left him, to try if anything could be saved or secured
from his property for his three children. She settled
herself in great poverty in Paris, where she plunged into a
troubled sea of lawsuits with every member of the d'Aubign^
family, in which her miserable husband sided against her.
Richelieu's death in 1642 brought about a new state of
things. It was Mazarin's policy to open the prisons, and
among the enemies of Richelieu that obtained freedom,
d'Aubign^ was one. He immediately set off to Paris to
join his wife, taking with him his little seven-year-old
Frangoise, who was called in Poitou " Bignette." She had
not seen her mother since her birth, and finding her a cold,
stern, reserved woman, began to cry immediately for her
aunt Villette. Bignette was a very pretty little girl, with
nice manners and great sweetness and evenness of temper ;
but underneath the quiet sweetness there was a very strong
will, and Jeanne d'Aubign^ did not set about her treatment
MADAME DE MAINTENON, IS
of the child wisely. She forced long lessons in the Catholic
Catechism upon her, and obliged her to go to Mass ; upon
which Bignette refused the Catechism altogether, and
turned her back upon the altar in church. Her mother
twisted her round with a sound buffet, which Bignette bore
with great coolness, and said it was a glorious thing to
suffer in the cause of religion.
Meanwhile Constant, being now sixty years old and
overwhelmed with debt, was at his wits* end for some kind
of employment, and at last interest was made for him with
a company trading to the West Indies, then called the
American Isles, who were generally in some difficulty to
find governors for the lesser islands. They offered Constant
the governorship of the island Marie Galante,* which he
immediately accepted, and set sail with his wife and three
children. When they reached Martinique, poor little
Bignette was so ill that she fell into an unconscious state,
not seeming even to breathe, and was just going to be
coffined preparatory to burial at sea, when her mother,
hanging about her to the last, found an artery feebly
pulsating, and exclaimed, " My daughter is not dead 1 "
Long afterwards, the Bishop of Metz referred to this
incident, when he said to Bignette in very different circum-
stances, " Ah ! madame, people are not brought back from
that point for nothing."
When the d'Aubign^ family landed at Martinique,
which was the ship's destination, Constant learnt that the
island of Marie Galante was quite uninhabited by any
white people, and was given up to a lawless tribe of native
Caribs, and obtained leave to remain at Martinique, where
* Between Guadeloupe and Dominica.
1 8 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
sufferings at this time, cannot be realized by any readable
description now. Let those who have the courage wade
through the memoirs of the League wars and their results.
Had it not been for the eminent Frenchwomen on both
sides, who stand out like beacon-lights in the darkness, the
whole framework of society would probably have collapsed.
To the last hour of her life, hereafter to be so changed,
Frangoise never spoke of her aunt without reverential emo-
tion as one of the holiest women she had known, and her anni-
versary was unfailingly kept by her in silence and prayer.
But Frangoise was not allowed to remain with her aunt
in that happy and beneficent home. A certain Madame
de Neuillant, with whom Jeanne d'Aubignd had placed her
son Charles as page, represented to the Queen-Mother,
Anne of Austria, that a Catholic girl of family ought not
to be left exposed to Calvinist influences, and she obtained
a royal order to have the charge of Fran^oise made over to
herself It was a sad change ; for Madame de Neuillant
was a consummate miser, and she obliged Frangoise and
her own daughter to dress like peasant girls and take care
of her poultry. In this way, with masks over their noses to
keep them from reddening, with two little baskets of coarse
food on their arms, a book of verses to learn from by heart,
and two huge sticks in their hands, these poor girls were
sent out for the livelong day, to keep the flocks of geese
and turkeys from straying at their own sweet will.
After a while, Madame de Neuillant bethought her that
the care of turkeys did not exactly fulfil the limits of
religious instruction upon which she had based her applica-
tion for the care of Fran9oise, and she resolved, having
tried various harsh measures herself, to send the girl to an
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 19
Ursuline convent at Niort. But, at the same time, she
characteristically applied to Madame de Villette to pay the
pension of the school for her niece. Madame de Villette
said she was quite willing to supply Fran5oise with clothes
and her personal wants, but, being a Huguenot herself, she
did not think it consistent to pay for her being taught in a
convent. The poor nuns, therefore, received no pension at
all for many years, and bestowed every care upon Francoise,
without the slightest return. Frangoise, however, did all
she could to make them some return herself. There was a
nun in the community, Mother Celeste, whom she came to
love above all the other nuns, and for whose sake she not
only studied diligently herself, but took charge of the
younger and idler girls, hearing their lessons, teaching
them to spell, write, and do their sums before the classes
began. And very often she would get up in the night and
iron the under-garments of the little girls, that they might
look neat and clean in class, and save their mistress trouble.
Her greatest reward was to see the poor nun's astonish-
ment at finding her toil so lightened to her hands.
Long years afterwards, when the poor little convent
schoolgirl had become a very great lady, she asked leave of
absence from Court to travel a hundred and fifty miles to
see the face of Mother Celeste once more. And yet, not-
withstanding all this deep and unalterable love, Frangoise
d'Aubignd could not, at that time of her girlhood, be won
over to the Church. Her reason was still wedded to the
Huguenot side by the sterling influence of her aunt's
character and life.
When this Ursuline community found, after patient
trial, that no religious success ensued by educating and
20 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
boarding Fran9oise for nothing, they sent her back to
Madame de Neuillant, who, as her apostolic zeal had
evaporated, returned Frangoise to her mother's care.
Unfortunately, poor Jeanne d'Aubignd was a mother only
in name, and the world-weary, haggard, buffeted woman,
still absorbed in pursuing her husband's relations from
court to court in bitter lawsuits, had no place in her heart
or life for her daughter. Accordingly, Fran9oise was
quickly packed off to another Ursuline convent in the
Faubourg St. Jacques, where there seems to have been a
conspicuous absence of Mothers Celeste. Fran9oise speaks
of " rudoiements^ duret^Sy et faqons cruelles " as having been
her portion, and the treatment became so unbearable to the
high-spirited girl of thirteen, " tall, strong, and very reso-
lute," that she wrote the following touching letter to Madame
de Villette, the first known of one of the largest and most
admirable collections of letters to be found in the world : —
Madame and Aunt,
The remembrance of the remarkable favours that
fell from you upon some poor little forsaken ones causes me
to stretch out my hands to you, and implore you to use your
credit and means to take me away from these people, among
whom my life is worse than death. Ah I madame and aunt, you
cannot imagine the hell that this so-called house of God is to me,
and the roughness, harshness, and cruel usages of those who have
been made the keepers of my body, and of my soul also, if it were
not that they cannot reach this. Rivette will tell you the whole
tale of my anguish and sufferings, she being the only person I can
trust here. I beg of you again, madame and aunt, to take pity on
the daughter of your brother and your humble servant,
Francoise d'Aubigny. *
Paris, Oct. 12, 1649 (?).
* The more ancient form of the name.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 21
Whether Madame de Villette ever got this letter is very
doubtful, or who the " Rivette " was to whose hands it was
entrusted. It is more likely that it was intercepted, and
that the Ursulines were brought by it to see the wisdom
of changing their course. At all events, they did change
it, and began to treat Frangoise with much kindness and
consideration. They no longer obliged her to attend
Mass, or to abstain on meagre days ; and before long,
compulsion having ceased to stir up her opposition,
Frangoise asked leave to hear the chief religious differences
argued before her, which was done for several days. Find-
ing that the Huguenot minister blinked certain scriptural
references treating of chief doctrines, while the Catholic
priest argued throughout by appeal to the Bible, Fran9oise,
unasked, declared herself at length to be satisfied, and
begged that she might be reconciled to the Catholic Church.
Her own knowledge of the letter of the Scriptures was
wonderful for her age, and those who had to deal with her
testify that in thoughtful clearness and solidity of judgment
she surpassed the generality of grown-up women. It was
exceedingly characteristic of her that she delayed her
abjuration for a further period of prolonged thought, and
desired first to be distinctly assured that she should not be
required to believe, or rather to profess, that, on account of
her Huguenot opinions, Madame de Villette would be
eternally lost
CHAPTER III.
1649-50 — 1664-65.
After her abjuration, Frangoise left the convent and went
home to her mother, who was then living in one small
room in the Rue Tournelles in Paris, and subsisting chiefly
by needlework. It may well be imagined that the advent
of a tall, handsome girl, with a healthy appetite, and look-
ing as if she were eighteen, was not the most welcome
circumstance in Madame d'Aubignd's life ; and Fran5oise,
who thoroughly appreciated her mother's unmotherly cold-
ness, showed by her proud silence and sullen countenance
that she did so. The ill-assorted companionship was,
happily, not of long continuance, and it came to an
end in a remarkable way. A near neighbour of Madame
d'Aubignd was a dramatic author, of great repute in the
salons of Paris for his incisive writings, his caustic wit
and drollery, and his grotesque deformity of figure. He
had once asked Madame d'Aubignd for information about
Martinique, where he had thoughts of going; and, to
avoid receiving him in her miserable lodging, she went
with Frangoise to his rooms. There the poor sensitive girl
found herself, in a very shabby frock much too short for
her, in the midst of a group of well-dressed, fashionable
ladies, and she was so overwhelmed with shame that
she burst into tears. The kind-hearted little cripple was
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 23
touched by the contrast between the girl's noble beauty
and her extreme poverty and suffering, and offered to
supply her with whatever money she needed. Fran9oise
refused his offer decidedly and with great haughtiness, but
this only seemed to increase the little man's interest in her.
Almost immediately afterwards, Madame d'Aubignd went
away from Paris, and returned to Niort, as a sort of last
refuge, where she fell ill and died, thus bringing to an end
one of the saddest and most pitiable lives on record, even
among the annals of women.
Nothing remained for Frangoise but to go back to her
miserly protector, Madame de Neuillant, who, in about a
year's time, rid herself of the charge by making up a
marriage between Frangoise and the crippled comic poet,
Scarron. There was a universal outcry among their
acquaintances at her sacrificing this beautiful girl at fifteen,
of great talents and promise, to a hunchback past middle
age ; but Madame de Neuillant was triumphant. Scarron
himself showed the finest qualities of character. He offered
Frangoise the choice either to become his wife and the
nurse and comfort of his old age, or to receive from him a
dowry sufficient to take her to any convent she liked to
choose. Frangoise had learnt true wisdom from her
untoward childhood, and, knowing that she had not the
slightest sign of any call to be a nun, she consented, even
with grateful joy, to become Scarron's wife. They were
married in 1652, and most truly did Fran5oise soon show
herself to be the comfort of his life. Before very long she
was able to do even more for him than this, in return for
the shelter of his home.*
* Lavall^e, ** La Famille d'Aubign^ et I'Enfance de Madame de Maintenon."
24 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
In that home she became his right hand for every sort
of work, his secretary and his pupil, learning of him Latin,
Italian, and Spanish, and writing at his dictation. Her
beauty, conversation, and noble simplicity of manners
made her house a gathering-place for the most eminent
men and women in Paris, and Scarron delighted to see
among the crowd the Due de Vivonne, the Marquis
de CoHgny, Marshal d'Albret, and Mdlle. de S.cud^ry.
Scarron's own tales show abundantly that the conversation
of the day was free to the grossest licence, and it became
his wife's aim to correct both his tongue and his manners.
Frangoise was courtesy itself to his friends, but her exceed-
ing modesty and noble reserve affected them so strongly
that the wildest rake and wit among them paid her the
respect of bridling his tongue. One of the chief of these
Paris gallants once said that he would rather offend the
queen by free speech than Madame Scarron, and Fran^oise
was resolute in her determination to uphold the position
she had gained. Little by little, Scarron himself yielded
to her admirable influence, ceased to jest loosely and to
use the gross language of the day, and exchanged the
coarse buffoonery of his verses for a more restrained gaiety
and wit. It was a most rare and signal triumph for a
wife in her girlhood to achieve over the formed habits
of middle age, and it was won entirely by the sweet and
wifely influence that never made a wound.
Not long before her husband's death, Madame Scarron
wrote a letter to Madame de Villarceaux that abundantly
proves what her position had become in the society of Paris.
On the grand entry of Louis XIV. with his bride Marie-
Th^r^se, Madame Scarron was in a balcony at the H6tel
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 2$
d'Aumont with the Queen-Mother, Henrietta Maria of
England, the Princess Palatine, Cardinal Mazarin, and
some of the greatest ladies of the Court. She was then
just five and twenty. This is part of the account she
gives : —
Paris, 27th August, 1660.
The household of the Cardinal was not among the ugliest (in
the procession). It began with seventy-two baggage mules, the
first four and twenty with housings ordinary enough ; the next four
and twenty with finer, more beautiful and vivid trappings than
the most beautiful tapestry you ever saw ; and the last four and
twenty had red velvet embroidered in gold and silver, with silver
bits and bells ; in fact, their magnificence astonished everybody.
Then came twenty-four pages and all the gentlemen and officials
of the house, quite a number of them ; after that twelve coaches
and four, and then the guards, so that the household was more
than an hour passing by. Then came the household of Monsieur.
I forgot to say that among the Cardinal's there were twenty-four
led horses, magnificently trapped, and so beautiful themselves
that I could not take my eyes off" them. Monsieur's household
after that looked very pitiful, but then came the King's, truly
royal, for nothing in the world could be more beautiful. You
know better than I what it contains, but you cannot imagine the
beauty of the horses upon which the pages of the great and little
stables were mounted. They bounded along, and were managed
in the prettiest way in the world. Then came all the musketeers
with their different plumes — the first white ; the second yellow,
black, and white ; the third blue, white, and black ; and the fourth
green and white. After them the pages of the chamber, in flame-
coloured velvet tunics covered with gold ; then M. de Navailles *
at the head of the light horse, most magnificent ; then Vardes t at
the head of the Cent-Suisses, in green and gold, and very hand-
* Philippe de Montault, Duke and Marshal of France,
t Marquis de Vardes.
/
26 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
some. . . . The marshals of France preceded the King, before
whom a canopy of brocade was borne . . . [four pages of manu-
script are here wanting] ; then the Chancellor [Seguier] appeared
in a robe and cloak of gold brocade, surrounded by lackeys and
pages in violet satin thick with silver, and covered with plumes.
... I could not say which of the gentlefolks looked the best ; but
if I had to give the prize, it should be to the horse that carried
the seals. . . . The Chevalier de Gramont * was all flame-colour,
and very splendid. I have just heard that the King gave the
keys of the city to M. de Viesmes, who immediately sent them to
Madame de Navailles.
How little did this young Madame Scarron, in a few
months to be a widow, think that, in after-years, she should
be no less certainly the wife of Louis XIV. than the royal
princess now triumphing beside him !
They lived in this way for eight years, and when
Scarron died in 1660, his wife's first act was to found a
perpetual mass for his soul's rest at the Church of the
Jacobins in the Rue St. Dominique. Madame Scarron at
that time lived in the Rue Vaugirard, and she was left a
very handsome widow at the age of five and twenty.t
Mdlle. de Scud^ry's inventory of her charms, according
to the unimaginative descriptions of her time, is still worth
repeating : —
" She was tall, and had a fine figure, but not so tall as
to be forbidding, and only such as to give her a good
/ presence. ... A smooth, beautiful skin, light, pretty chest-
nut hair, a well-shaped nose, a clean-cut mouth, a noble,
sweet, modest expression, and, what made her beauty more
striking, the finest eyes in the world." And again : " Her
* The subject of Count Hamilton's Memoirs.
t Languet de Gergy, ** M^moires sur Madame de Maintenon."
MADAME DE MAINIKSOW 2J
mind was just suited to her beauty ; large, gentle, pleasant,
and well balanced. She never put herself forward aa a /
beauty, though she had a thousand undeniable charms ;
so that, joining her good qualities to her beauty and wit, it
must be owned that she was worthy of all the admiration
she excited."
Madame Scarron was held in such high esteem, in fact,
that Madame de Thianges and the Due d'Aiguillon invited
her to stay with them after her husband died, and made
such interest for her with the Queen-Mother that her
husband's annual pension of two thousand livres was settled
upon her. She then prudently settled herself as a boarder,
first at the Hospitaliirc, Place Royale, and then with the
Ursulines, Rue St Jacques, where she had been reajnciled
to the Church, and where she could with propriety receive
her best and most desirable friends. She dressed always
at that time in diamine, a woollen material much used by
gentlewomen of moderate means, and, with sixHlessly clean
linen and pretty aprons and shoes, was reckoned f^mn ^/f tlje
best-dressed women of the day. At the same time her
scrupulous economy enabled her to afford all tliat she and
her maid required, and yet have money to spare U^r the
poor. She might well say, as she did, that thet>e "Hitv^
some of the happiest days of her life. \\i^x visits were
chiefl3' to the great JiOtels, de Kichelieu and d'Albret,
where the cream of the courtly and polished 6^>ciety of tlic
time assembled, and where literary men showed tliemseheti
at their best. Here the universal respect paid to Madame
ScarroD was due, not only to her delightful conversation,
self-respect, and power of gently restraining others, but
also, as the notorious Bussy Kabutin testifies, to her
28 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
"glorious and undeniable poverty," which in those con-
ditions of society meant far more than is expressed. Even
as it was, Madame Scarron's good name was called in
question by many powerful and envious slanderers, notably
by St Simon himself ; and of these she could proudly say,
" Those who slander me do not know me. ... It is sad to
end life among those who have never known its beginning."
Speaking of herself at that time in her after-years,
Madame Scarron says, in her calm, self-dissecting way,
'* Women were fond of me because I was gentle and more
intent upon others than upon myself. Men were attracted
because I still had the charm of youth. I saw something
of all kinds of society, but always passed through them
with honour. ... I had no desire to be specially cared for
by anybody. I wished to be liked by all, to be well spoken
of, to be singled out and approved by good people ; for that
waSy in a way, my idoL For that I could have done or
suffered anything. I put a restraint upon my wishes in
many ways, but that cost me nothing, provided that I was
in great repute. I did not care for wealth, but it was
necessary for me to be respected."
Probably this strong desire for approbation at this time
of her life alarmed Madame Scarron, and she chose as her
director the Abb6 Gobelin, a doctor of the Sorbonne, an
austere man, whom she consulted how she should lead
a stricter life.
He soon saw that this demure, staid, neatly dressed
young widow was greedy of praise and good repute, while
full also of good aspirations, and he counselled her to make
herself less agreeable in society and to retrench the worldli-
ness of her dress. Upon this last subject Madame Scarron,
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 29
somewhat aggrieved, remonstrated. Her dress, she said,
was only what the better sort of middle-class women wore,
of simple stuff, never of any kind of silk or trimmed with
lace. Probably Madame Scarron had deluded herself as to
the manipulation of her " simple " materials, for the Abb6
replied, with the charming mingled acuteness and unfailing
courtesy of the French ecclesiastic, " I do not know how it
is, most honoured lady, but when you come to confession
I see a great quantity of stuff falling at my feet, which has
altogether the air and effect of too much grace and style."
On one occasion Madame Scarron said to him, "I do
not know anything about sins. I have certain moral
qualities and good dispositions which incline me to do
little harm, and I so much desire to be esteemed that it is
my safeguard against yielding to passion."
These words probably furnish the chief key to her life
at that time.
Abbd Gobelin imposed silence and reserve in society so
effectually upon Madame Scarron, that it excited the notice
of a certain keen-eyed frequenter of the great salons^ Abbd
Testu, and he inferred from the change in her that she
intended to become a nun. Hence he suddenly one day
observed to her, " Madame, I have no wish to know any of
your secrets ; but you are dealing with a director who is
wanting in prudence."
Abbd Gobelin was no doubt imprudent in treating
Madame Scarron so harshly, for his manner was so abrupt
and forbidding that she nearly fell into despair. She left
off going to confession, and even neglected her usual
devotions. Then, taking her courage in both hands, she
went to him, told him everything she had felt and all she
30 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
had left undone, so that henceforward he became her most
trusted, constant, and valued friend till he died. He had
in truth the utmost esteem for her, and was so bent upon
rooting out the faults that stood in the way of her spiritual
progress, that he one day said to her, " I ought to give you
as a practice to go and kiss the sacred pictures and devout
objects in the churches before all the people, just as poor
women do."
" And I should have done it," she afterwards said to her
friends at St Cyr, " whatever pain it had cost me, and even
if I had known that everybody was laughing at me."
After his death, it was found that Abbd Gobelin had
left all her letters to him to the community at St. Cyr,
excepting certain of them relating to the King, which she
had required of him to burn.
Among the wide variety of acquaintances made at the
H6tels de Richelieu and d'Albret, Madame Scarron became
intimate with Madame de S^vign^, Madame de Coulanges,
and, after some time, with the celebrated Court beauty,
Madame de Montespan, and the Princess des Chalais,* after-
wards the Princess des Ursins, who played so large a part in
the affairs of Spain, This princess was extremely jealous
of Madame de Montespan, whose splendid beauty and
brilliant, daring tongue was attracting Louis XI V.J just
freed from his ties with Mdlle. de la ValH^re, and ripe
for some new passion.
♦ First known as the Princess Bracciano — ** de Braquiane " in Madame
de Maintenon's letters. ** Ursins " is the French translation of Orsini.
CHAPTER IV.
1664-65 — 1679.
As is well known, after many struggles, more of pride than
principle, Madame de Montespan succeeded the unfortunate
Louise de la Vallitre as the King's mistress, and for years
bound him in her strong chains.
When she bore him her first child, the minister, de
Louvois, waited on Madame Scarron, and astonished her by
proposing that she should take charge of it and bring it up
m secret Finding that the King was, in truth, the father of
the child, Madame Scarron took counsel of Abb6 Gobelin
as to how far she was justified in undertaking such an
office ; and, acting on his advice, she sent word that if the
King ordered her to do so, she was willing to take charge
of the child.
Louis was actually not ashamed to send for Madame
Scarron to St. Germain, where the Court then was, and to
ask her as a favour to himself to bring up his illegitimate
child.
That child died ; but there were soon two more boys
and a girl, and Madame Scarron found that it would be
necessary to take a house and to enter upon a course of
difficulties and fatigue that she had little foreseen. She
*crefore removed herself and the children and their
32 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
nurses to a large, rambling house in the Rue Vaugirard,
standing some way back from the street, and surrounded
by a garden shut in by high walls.
It was not a pleasant ofRce in any sense, as her own
account of it vividly shows : —
The strange kind of honour [of the charge laid on her by
the King] cost me an infinitude of pain and trouble. Often I
was standing on ladders, doing the work of upholsterers and
workmen, who might not be allowed to come into the house. I
did everything myself, for the nurses did not put their hands to a
single thing, lest they should be tired and the milk not be good.
I often went on foot and disguised, seeking one nurse after
another, or carrying linen or meat, etc., under my arm. I would
often spend the whole night with one of the children who was ill
in a little house outside Paris. In the morning I would go home
by a little back-gate, and, after having myself dressed, would go
out at the front door to my coach, and drive to the Hotels de
Richelieu or d'Albret, that the friends whose society I frequented
might perceive nothing, or even know that I had a secret to keep.
Everybody saw how thin I became, but no one guessed the
reason. This is how God makes use of everything to fulfil His
plans, and how He leads us insensibly, without our knowing when
we are led.
Vague stories were, however, flying about, most of them
injurious to Madame Scarrbn ; and one day the minister,
Colbert, made his way to the retired house in the Rue
Vaugirard to see if he could pick up any clue to the
mystery. All he saw, however, was a nurse, who came in
and picked up one of the children as if it had been a bundle
of dirty linen, and carried it away tucked under her arm.*
M. Colbert, therefore, went away as wise as he came.
* Languet de Gergy ; LavaU^e.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 33
But Madame Scarron's chief difficulties were with ?
Madame de Montespan herself, who was never satisfied to
leave her children to her friend's wise care. She would
come at all sorts of hours, interfere with every plan, and
stuff the poor babies with all sorts of unwholesome food,
upsetting the nurses and the whole order of the house, and
flying into the wildest and most ungovernable passions.
She hated. Madame Scarron because of her consistent
piety, which was a tacit reproach, yet would never allow
her for an instant to think of giving up her charge of the
children. Once, when she wrote her a little note ordering
her to go to her, she added, "In God's name, do not make
any of your great eyes at me ! " So far from being of the
slightest use, once, when a fire broke out in the house and
Madame Scarron sent to her, she returned answer that
" she was glad of the fire, for it was a sign of good luck ! "
Poor Madame Scarron yearned to break her chains and
live in peace, that she might lead a higher and more regular
life, but no doubt Abb^ Gobelin saw clearly how these
troubles were breaking up her worldliness and love of
appreciation. She wrote to him very urgently and con-
tinually on the subject : —
To-day Madame de Montespan and I have had a very sharp
dispute, and, as I am the one to suffer, I have wept greatly, while
she gave her own version of it to the King. I confess that it
troubles me very much to remain in a position in which I may
have mischances like this every day, and that it would be very
sweet to be set at liberty. A thousand times I have wished to be
a nun, and the dread of repenting of it has made me pass
through many states of feeling that a thousand people would call
a vocation. For seven months I have been dying to go into
retirement, but the same fear hinders me from carrying it out
D
34 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
This is a cowardly prudence, and my life is consumed in strange
disturbance. I beg of you to think of it before God, and reflect
a little upon my rest I know that I can assure my salvation
here, but I think I could be more sure of it elsewhere. I cannot
think it can be God's will that I should endure Madame de
Montespan. She is incapable of friendship, and I cannot do
without that She cannot bear my opposition without hating me,
and she represents me to the King as she chooses, and makes me
lose his esteem. He looks upon me as an odd woman, who must
be humoured, and I dare not speak directly to himself, as she
would never forgive me \ and I owe to Madame de Montespan
too much to say anything against her. In this way I can do
nothing to remedy the suffering ; and meanwhile death is coming,
and both you and I shall deeply regret such a waste of time.
In another letter, she says : —
I beg of you to ask of God that He will guide my plans for
His own glory and my salvation. I make this my prayer every
day, and what gives me peace is that if any pious, sensible person
advised me to stay where I am, I should do so, cost me what it
would ; and if I were properly treated here, and had everything
as I wished, I would still leave, if it were desired. This in
difference makes me hope that God will bless me and not forsake
me.
The just, right-judging character thus laid entirely
open, holding firmly by the right course, and keeping itself
pure and clean among the smirched , companions of her
life, presents a very different picture to the scheming
temporizing woman held up to obloquy by St Simon.
Madame Scarron again wrote to Abbd Gobelin that she
was too old to'change her state of life (for that of a convent)^
and that, according to her means, she should try to establish
herself in great repose. The " means " alluded to was a
sum of a hundred thousand francs (;^4000) promised her by
MADAME DE MA2XTEyOS\ 35
Louis XIV. for the care of his children, but the payment of it
was delayed, for he had become aware of the strain between
her and the royal mistress, and was most reluctant to lose her
valuable aid. In fact, he was so delighted with the eldest
boy's conduct and knowledge, that he justly attributed so
great a success in training and education to the signal
qualities of his governess. In the end, therefore, to put a
stop to all difficulties, the King resolved to acknowledge
the children, and the declaration giving the boys the
titles of Due du Maine and Comte du Vcxin was regis-
tered in Parliament in 1673. The Due du Maine was
received at Court, and his governess was obliged to follow
him there, and was most honourably treated and received
with open arms by her old associates. Among the most
eminent of these was Madame de S^vign^, who thus wrote
of her: "Madame Scarron sups here every night. She
is delicious as a companion ! It is a pleasure to hear her
discuss [any subject]. She dresses in a modest but
sumptuous way. She is delightful, beautiful, pleasant, and
always quite at her ease.'*
In 1674, Madame de Maintenon wrote to Abb^ Gobelin: —
Our princes [Due du Maine and Comte du Vexin] are in
perfisct health, and are breaking the toys you sent them with
much delight
But Madame de Montespan, who had now quite changed
her tactics, and flaunted everywhere as the favourite who held
the King captive, was more oppressive and vexatious with
Madame Scarron than ever. She therefore pressed the King
very much for the payment of what he had promised, that
she might buy a small property and retire to live upon it.
36 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
Louis not only did this, but added a second sum of a
hundred thousand francs, and Madame Scarron,* completing
what was needed with forty thousand francs of her own
savings, 'bought the old property of Maintenon, carrying
with it the title of " marquise," and was thenceforth
known by her historical designation of Madame de
Maintenon. Honours, like misfortunes, do not come alone,
and Madame de Richelieu then suggested that her old
friend should marry a certain duke, who was looking about
for a suitable wife. About this Madame de Maintenon
wrote to Abb^ Gobelin : —
Madame la Duchesse de Richelieu and Madame de Montes-
pan are in treaty for a marriage for me, which, however, will not
be concluded. It is a duke [Due de Villars], a disagreeable and
very beggarly man.* . . . However, I have not broken off the
negotiation, for I should be very glad that Madame de Richelieu
should discern the coldness and indifference of Madame de
Montespan as to all that is essential to me.
Looking back for a few moments upon the last events
of Madame de Maintenon's life as Madame Scarron, much
might doubtless be said tending both to her discredit and
to that of Abbd Gobelin ; as if she were in truth upholding
the King in his vicious career, and sustaining the shameless
woman, once her friend, in her double adultery, and that
this lowering and discreditable position was not only con-
doned, but encouraged by her director. It is obvious that
in any attempt to unravel such difficulties as these the
whole light thrown upon them by the intervening time
must be set aside, and we must transfer ourselves to the
state of society in which the actors lived. The divinity
* "/^<?r/^'w^«j:" (Langiiet de Gergy ; Lavallee).
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 37
that hedges a king was then no metaphor of poetry, but
a deeply rooted belief and plain, accepted fact, and even
half-royal natural children were thus born to a certain
measure of the royal honour. Then, as Abbd Gobelin
himself said, these poor children were bound to be brought
up in a Christian manner, and with measures the more
carefully taken that their condition was full of dangers.
It is remarkable that at this time Louis XIV. still
rather disliked Madame de Maintenon than otherwise.
He spoke to her seldom, and to Madame de Montespan
alluded to her as " your learned lady " (J)el esprit), so that
as yet the behaviour of the royal mistress, though imperious
and uncontrolled, was not maddened by jealousy. Yet her
letters to Abb6 Gobelin breathe of nothing but the weari-
ness of her life.
M. le Due du Maine is always ill. ... I grieve to feel that
I love this child no less than the other,* and this weakness puts
me out so much that I was crying all through the Mass. There
is nothing so silly as to love to this excess a child that is not my
own, whose lot I can never dispose of, and who will finally
make me so unhappy that I shall die, and that will give great
pain to those to whom he belongs. In truth, there is a great
want of common sense in remaining in such a disagreeable
position. The coolness with which I am treated has much
increased since you left, and my friends perceive it, and com-
pliment me upon my disgrace. I spoke of it yesterday to
Madame de Montespan, and said . . . that I saw without doubt
that I was getting on very badly with her, and that she had set
me at variance with the King. She gave me some very bad
arguments in return, and we had a sharp interview, though ver}-
frank on both sides. Then I went to Mass, and returned to dine
with the King. They told M. de Louvois all about it, and sent
* The little prince who had died.
38 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
him to me in the evening to make me listen to reason. I thought
he quite understood my own arguments, and I expressed them
perhaps too frankly, but you know that it is not possible for me
to speak otherwise. I promised what he wished, and Madame de
Montespan and I are to talk over it this morning, which I will do
on my side very meekly ; but I stand firm as to my resolve to
leave them at the end of the year, and I shall spend this time in
praying to God to lead me to what is best for my salvation.
I am overcome with melancholy; they are killing these
poor children, and I am not able to hinder it. My love for
them makes me unbearable to those to whom they belong, and
the impossibility of hiding what I feel makes me hateful to the
people with whom my life is spent, and whom I have no wish to
displease if they were not what they are. Sometimes I determine
not to put so much energy into what I do, and to leave these
children to their mother's management ; then I scruple to offend
God by this neglect, and I begin over again that care of them
which increases my love, and which, when I shut myself up with
them, gives me a thousand causes for grief and pain. This is the
state I am in, which is one full of trouble. Nothing can give me
rest but a home, which I cannot have.
Again, she says : —
I am eaten up by sorrow and watching. I am perishing away
visibly, and I have the saddest fits of depression.
In January, 1675, she writes : —
I am always of the same mind and resolve. We must wait for
the journey to Barbges, and I must go if the little duke goes. He
is better, and the little count also. The princess is ill, and the
whole faculty cannot say whether she has the small-pox or not.
Everything else goes on its way ; the business about Maintenon is
over, and the creditors are being paid off every day. I have the
greatest wish to go there, but the children's illness keeps me. I
commend myself to your prayers.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. , 39
A week afterwards : —
I was more impatient to tell you about Maintenon than you
could be to hear of it. I went there for three days, which, with-
out exaggerating, seemed like a moment It is a fairly pretty
house, rather too large for the household I intend to have,
pleasantly situated, and with very good privileges. In a word, \
am very well satisfied, and I wish I were there. It is true that
the King has given me the [title] of " Maintenon."
A month later : —
Terrible scenes are going on between Madame de Montespan
and me ; the King was witness to them yesterday."
To go back a little, one day the King was resolved to
test the character and learning of the little Due du Maine,
who was five years old, by himself, and sending away all
the attendants and gentlemen of his suite, he shut himself
up with the child only. He questioned him, and talked to
him for a considerable time, and the little boy replied
with the utmost grace and openness, but with perfect
respect. The King then readmitted his suite, and told
them how delighted he was with the boy, and especially
with his exceeding reasonableness, showing how accurately
now he discerned Madame de Maintenon's characteristics,
and the real qualities of the "learned lady." The King
was at that time accustomed to write notes to Madame
de Montespan when he could not see her, and one day,
when she was occupied with company, she commissioned
Madame de Maintenon to answer the note for her. The
King instantly perceived the wide difference between the
two minds, and from that time rather took opportunities
of receiving notes from his children's governess, and of
talking to her whenever there was an opportunity. This,
40 , MADAME DE MAINTENON.
of course, raised up the fiercest jealousy in Madame de
Montespan, which added the last touch to her misconduct
to Madame de Maintenon. It was during one of the lively
passages of arms between the two ladies that the King
came into the room and begged to know what the quarrel
was about. Madame de Montespan, sobbing with passion,
could not even answer ; but Madame de Maintenon, with
perfect calm, begged his Majesty to step into another
room, and she would speak to him. He did so, and she
then told him that what she was now suffering from
Madame de Montespan was more than she could bear.
The King tried to excuse Madame de Montespan, and
begged Madame de Maintenon not to give up her office,
and to retain the charge of the children for the present.
The journey for the little duke's sake to Bareges, in the
Pyrenees, was then arranged, and during that time there
were four months' peace for Madame de Maintenon. Louis
sent his little son and his governess in great state, and
granted her leave to bestow bountiful alms on the road.
As the Huguenots had ravaged and plundered many of
the churches on their route towards the south, Madame de
Maintenon obtained leave from the various bishops to visit
the sacristies and see for herself what was wanting, and
then liberally presented them with chalices, ciboriums, and
other sacred vessels for the service of the altar. This
special form of almsgiving delighted the King, and he was
also exceedingly pleased with Madame de Maintenon's full
and frequent letters, giving an account of all that they did
and saw on the way. Madame de Maintenon renewed
acquaintance also with some of her own family, and she
made an opportunity to visit and make presents to the
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 4 1
Ursuline niins at Niort, who had been so good to her in
her forlorn childish days. Charles d'Aubignd was at that
time governor of Cognac, and he received the travellers
with a company of little boys armed and uniformed like
the royal musketeers, who formed themselves into a mimic
guard of honour for the Due du Maine, which gave the
little prince great pleasure. During this journey Madame
de Maintenon formed a lasting friendship with the duke's
physician, M. Fagon, a little, deformed man, full of culti-
vation and scientific acquirements.
Unfortunately, the waters at Bareges were of no service
to the little duke, and when the party returned to Versailles,
they found Madame de Montespan fiercer, more wrathful,
and more jealous than ever. Then, when Madame de
Maintenon went away to her own house for a day or two
to take breath, the capricious sultana wrote her caressing
and appealing notes, and could not be pacified until
Madame de Maintenon returned to Court, to be bullied
and teased over again.
About this time, she drew up for herself certain rules
of life, which she would observe if she were free of the
Court, which are too characteristic not to be given in full ; —
I should get up at seven o'clock in the summer and at eight
in the winter ; give an hour to prayer before calling in my women ;
then dress and see tradesmen, workmen, or attend to other busi-
ness ; and then go to church till dinner-time.
I should arrange to go out twice a week, either for pleasure
or necessary visits ; to sup with some fiiend on those days, and
come home at ten o'clock ; to stay at home twice a week, and
give dinner or supper to some special friends, men and women ;
to go to bed always at ten, have family prayers with the servants,
undress and be in bed by eleven.
42 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
I should give the other three days a week, one to visiting the
poor of the parish, another to going to the Hotel Dieu (hospital),
and another to some prison, and spend those evenings in needle-
work or reading alone.
I should never receive visitors on the eve of the great feasts,
or the eye or day of Communion. I would never fail in private
devotions, would dress modestly, and never wear gold or silver.
I should give the tenth of my income to the poor. This is
how I would begin, waiting for whatever else zeal might lead to.
I have said nothing about Sundays and holidays, as I take for
granted those are the first obligations.
This rule of life, remarkable as the secret aspiration of
a lady at the most splendid, luxurious, and scandalous
Court of the time, and still more remarkable as being
looked upon by her as a " beginning " only of her upward
way, she sent to Abbd Gobelin, with these words : —
See what you can find to say about this plan. I have left a
margin to see what you will add or cut off. . . . While waiting for
this time of repose and calm that looks to me so delicious, I am
doing nothing worth doing, and am giving myself up to such
idleness and discouragement as often make me afraid lest my
plans for devotion may not be like those for the furnishing of
Maintenon.
The Abb^ Gobelin neither added to nor cut off anything
from this carefully laid-out sketch of a Christian life, which
he probably looked upon as self-chosen, and therefore less
likely to be of service to Madame de Maintenon's soul than
the comfortless vexations she was then struggling through.
He strongly urged her, on the contrary, not to retire from
Court, but to sanctify the disagreeable obstacles that came
in her daily path ; and, unlike a good many other pious
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 43
women, Madame de Maintenon strictly followed his advice,
and found, in doing so, true peace of soul. At the
same time she seized every opportunity of doing good.
She paid the pensions of several poor, well-born girls at
school, sought out the poor around her who hid their dis-
tress, fed a number of starving families, and gave abundant
alms by the hands of others, without letting her own name
appear.
Meanwhile, the whole Court was stirred up by the fact
that a priest at Versailles had refused absolution to Madame
de Montespan, and that Bossuet had not only upheld him
in his right to do so, but had forcibly urged the King to
remove this scandal from him, and to make a good Easter
Communion. Madame de Montespan was therefore
ordered to leave the Court, and went to the splendid house
the King had»given her at Clagny.* The King then went
away to the Flanders campaign ; but, to soften the idea of
disgrace to his mistress, he gave the most lavish order for
decorating her house at Clagny. Madame de Sdvignd
describes the circumstances as usual with a few touches of
her magic pen : —
Certain ladies have been to Clagny. They found the beauty
so busy with her work and the enchanting things they are doing
for her, that, as for me, I could only think of Dido building
Carthage. You cannot picture to yourself how triumphant she is
in the midst of her workmen, twelve hundred in number. Apollo's
palace and Armida's gardens are only a slight description of it all.
* Clagny was a magnificent chateau built by Mansart, with large grounds
and a sheet of water, the gift of Louis XIV. to Madame de Montespan. It
passed to the Due du Maine and his two sons, the Prince de Dombes and the
Comte d'Eu. This last bartered it to Louis XV,, who ordered it to be
destroyed in 1769. Part of the northern district of Versailles is caUed
Quartier de Clagny.
44 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
It need scarcely be said that the King's chains were not
yet broken, and that Madame de Montespan returned to
Court for yet another while.
The Ducdu Maine reaped from Bareges this advantage,
that though he limped all his life, he was able to walk
alone for the first time, and it was a moment of great joy
to his father when he saw him come into his room holding
only Madame de Maintenon's hand. The minister, Louvois,
paid her a visit of congratulation in the evening, and she
supped at the H6tel de Richelieu, where her old friends
overwhelmed her with caresses and rejoicing. She was
also temporarily at rest from Madame de Montespan, who,
as the King was again away with the army (1676), had gone
to Bourbon, in Allier, for the waters. Madame de S^vigne
reports that the favourite's suite was of forty-six people ;
that she had a coach-and-six for herself, another for her
women, two fourgoiis^ six mules, and twelve mounted ser-
vants. At Moulins, she embarked in a brightly painted
and gilt barge, made gay with thousands of monograms
and streaming banners of France and Navarre. In this
same year Madame de Maintenon wrote that she and
Madame de Montespan were quite good friends.
For yet two years Louis XIV. remained bound to his
insolent mistress, but if it is possible to fix the date of
a letter from Madame de Maintenon to Abb^ Gobelin
as written in 1679, he was then entangled in the meshes
of a fresh intrigue with Madame de Fontanges. This
letter says, " You know what need I have for prayers ; I
ask yours again, and that you will pray and get prayers
for the King, who is on the edge of a great precipice." This
new passion quite destroyed the hopes of Madame de
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 45
Maintenon for a while ; for she had seen that the influence
of Madame de Montespan was declining, and had really
hoped that the King was about to regulate his life. It is •
certain that about this date all connection with Madame de
Montespan ceased, and she obtained the post of superin-
tendent of the Queen's household. At the same time, the
Dauphin married a Bavarian princess,* and Madame de
Maintenon received the much-coveted appointment of her
lady-in-waiting {dame (tatour\ which at once severed her
from all connection with and annoyance from the tyran-
nical discarded favouritcf
\ She made use of her well-earned rest to turn to her
brother Charles d'Aubignd's affairs. She had urged him
to marry as a means of regulating his unsteady life, but he
now overthrew all her hopes by a marriage with G^nevi^ve
Pi^tre, a girl of fifteen, wholly unsuited to his condition
of life. Madame de Maintenon offered to train this un-
promising young person, and to the untoward marriage we
owe two of her most characteristic letters. The last, which
gives the prices of food and living at that time, is of unique
value. Both letters are to M. d'Aubignd
February 28, 1678.
My affection for you makes me hope that you have not
married merely for the sake of being married, and that you will
try to make a sensible woman of your wife. Her youth gives me
courage to work at this ; and if you will not destroy what I shall
do here and while away, I hope we shall be able to achieve
something.
It seems to me that she is a girl who has been spoilt by
* The celebrated Elizabeth of Bavaria, Princess Palatine, spoken of in
Madame de Maintenon's letters as " la Palatine " or ** Madame."
t Languet de Gergy ; Lavallee.
46 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
being an only daughter [and as being of the middle class, who
always bring up their children the worst].* To begin with what
is most essential, she is religious, and you ought to strengthen her
in those good impressions. Your own interest in this is God*s
interest also ; and, plain-looking as she is, she will find means of
going wrong, if you deprive her of such restraints.
Do not, therefore, on any account prevent her from leading a
regular life. Do not let her get up late ; let her hear Mass every
day, and never go out alone ; but do not allow her to play the
great lady. Keep her in a middle position, in which she will not
be lowered, and in which you will also escape the ridicule that
must fall upon you if you assume too high a tone.
[She is insupportably rude : it is the unfailing consequence
of low birth, and her living at Cognac will finish her, if you do
not] keep your hand upon her to make her behave well, so that
when she is served by somebody else's footman (at table) she
does not thank him. . . .
I have begged her very earnestly not to allow any familiarity
from men, which is very dangerous, especially in the country, f
where they are so coarse as to pull people about, and sit down on
a woman's bed (when receiving). Such manners as these must be
avoided ; and if you will take my advice, you will often leave her
with Madame de Miossens, who will take care of her for my sake
and your own.
She is altogether disorderly. She will breakfast at eleven,
and eat no dinner. She must have preserves at collation, and
butter at breakfast. [In a word, she is the ideal of the shop-
keeping class, and just what is called a Paris gossip.]
She talks [like a market womanf] ; but that is the least of our
inconveniences, for she will learn to speak good French. She
seems to me to have a good idea of her appearance, [and her silly
parents are quite capable of thinking her pretty, which, as I have
told her, she is far from being]. She must be convinced of this,
* The bracketed phrases were cut out, probably for or at St. Cyr. — Geffroy.
t " En province." % ** A la Halle. '
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 47
that she may not make herself ridiculous. Otherwise, she is quite
right to make herself neat She is of an age to deck herself in
green and scarlet, and, if she neglected herself, would look very
badly ; but she must not spend two or three hours every morning
at the glass. [She has been very poorly fed ; yet, whether from
childishness or ignorance of the price of things], or whether she
has been given great ideas of us, she seems to think nothing of
expense, and sends to me to ask for something or other every
morning, as if it were the same to me to give her one gown or a
dozen. I think, until she grows wiser, you would do well to
make her an allowance. She would then learn how to manage,
and would see that if she paid too dearly for a petticoat, she must
go without shoes and ribbons. And another advantage would
follow which is, that if you or I should wish to give her some-
thing, she would be obliged to us, which she will not be as long
as she does not understand anything about expense or the state
of our affairs, for she will always think we do not give her enough.
If she were not now freshly dressed, and with a stock of every-
thingj I should advise you to give her a thousand francs (;^4o) a
year ; but as she has clothes for six months, I think eight hundred
francs would be enough, and you and I could always make her
some little present. You cannot think how many quarrels such
precautions would prevent. She has gowns that would be out of
season at Cognac, and only wants some thin ones. I will send
her what she asks for, and I will get her to pay me regularly for
what I do not want to make her a present of, for I should not
like her to think she can take me in.
I am sorry that she has two waiting-maids.* Even if they
should act as house-servants, which can never be done, it is
absurd for that little woman to have two waiting-maids. But it is
too late now to make any change.
I forgot to speak to you of a man who has been M. de
Montchevreuil's servant for ten years. He is very faithful, and
fit to be your steward ; an excellent man of business, who would
* "Demoiselles."
48 MADAME DE MAINTENOK
look after everything if he had a little boy under him. He was
trained under the late Madame Montausier, and was servant to
M. de la Bazini^re.
[If you think you can be happy with your wife, use your
discretion, and do not tire yourself with her. Take care not to
do coarse things before her, and prevent her from doing the same
before you] . . . Madame d'Aubign^ seems to be a modest woman ;
you must strengthen her in such good habits. ... If she is dis-
creet enough, and your house sufficiently orderly to have prayers
every evening, be sure that you ought to set this example to your
servants; everybody has them here, and God will bless you if
you serve Him. . . .
I beg of you not to let her see too much of Madame de Font-
mort She will turn her head, will talk of nothing but the Court, and
make her think herself miserable at not being a lady-in-waiting.
. . . Above all, do not see too much of her, lest you should weary
of her. Accustom her to do without pleasure, and to learn how
to stay in her room at work and reading good books. You will
perhaps think it absurd that a woman who has never been
married * should give you so much counsel and instruction upon
marriage ; but I can venture to tell you that the confidence that
has always been placed in me, and my experience of all that I
have seen, show me that people often make themselves miserable
about daily recurring trifles, which bring about real aversion in
the end. I most earnestly wish you to be happy, and there is
nothing I would not do to secure this.
With regard to your expenses, regulate them ; and be sure, my
dear brother, that it is only our vanity that makes us needy. If
you only wanted a good bed, what is necessary to eat, to be
clothed suitably to your condition, one carriage to save going afoot,
you, and so many others like us, would have amply enough.
Your former station ought to make you enjoy the present, and
♦ This unexpected and often-quoted remark has perhaps contributed largely
to the falsehood that Madame de Maintenon was never married to Scarron.
It probably signifies that the marriage was nominal, and that her functions
were those of a companion, secretary, and nurse.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. ^J)
should restiain that vanity of which I speak ; for yoii Attract envy
enough as it is [in all who have known you in want], withmu
adding extravagance and airs which have brought down upon you
a thoosand ridiculous remarks. You have never been nu>re
laughed at than by the people to whom you have ^ivcn maj^nifwvnt
dinners. . . . Every one has his fancies, and I am no more nuHcrly
than you, but I would have fifty thousand livres a year before I
would have a footman like Madame de Coulan^^es, or a bed
trimmed with gold lace; for the pleasure they give her is not
worth the ridicule they bring. . . .
This other letter from Madame de Maintenon to her
brother, giving full details of the way of life and the
prices current at that time, shows the extraordinary and
minute administrative faculty which eminently survives
among Frenchwomen.*
Versailles, September 25, 1679.
. . . You have done very well, and you cannot get rid of your
horses too soon, for what they would cost to feed will serve you
at Easter for drives and our journeys to Maintenon. My sister-
in-law will not go out this winter, and four horses will be enough
for you. . . . Your wife is not well, and is not now fit to
receive, and she must have a good fire in her room, lights,
jelly (of meat), and not many about her. In the summer there
will be nothing of all this, and then she must have horses and
footmen. I am telling you everything that comes into my head,
not that you should bind yourself to it, but that you may adopt
any of it that seems good ; and with the same intention I send
you a plan of expenditure such as I should follow myself if I were
not at Court, and upon which one can keep house. ... I think
to go to more than five hundred crowns for a house is too much ;
for remember that it will only be for yourself, and that I should
♦ There is a common French saying that if a man is ruined and marries a
Norman wife, he will die a rich man.
£
50 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
not sleep in it ten times a year ; that you want very few rooms,
and two coach-houses, if possible. . . . The whole quarter of de
Richelieu, of the Palais Royal, and the Louvre, and the whole of
St. Honors are very large (the houses). Do not hurry yourself as
to time ; you can stay where you are as long as you like. . . .
These are the daily expenses for twelve persons (master and
mistress, three women, four men, two coachmen, one valet) : —
Livres. Sous.
1 5 lb. of meat at five sous the lb. ...
... 3 15
Two pieces
for
roasting
2 10
Bread ...
••• ■•• ••• ■••
... I 10
Wine
• • ■
••• «•• ••• ■••
2 10
Wood ...
••• ••• ••• •••
... 2
Fruit
■ • ■
••• ••• ■•• •••
I 10
Candles
t*a ••• ••« •••
... 8
Tapers
• • •
••• ••• ••• •••
10
Total ... ... ... ... 14 13
This is about your expenditure, which ought not to go beyond
fifteen livres a day, one with another, or a hundred livres a week,
or five hundred livres a month. You see that I add something,
for one hundred livres a week would be only four hundred livres
a month ; but when you add washing, pitch-torches, salt, vinegar,
verjuice, spices, and small trifles, it will amount to that (five
hundred livres). I reckon four sous (a day) for wine for four
footmen and two coachmen, which is what Madame de Montes-
pan gives hers ; and if you have wine in your cellar [in cask], it
will not cost you three. ... I put candles at one livre a day ; that
gives eight : one in the anteroom, one for the women, one for the
kitchen, one for the stable. I scarcely see where else they are
needed ; but as the days are short, I put it at eight If Aim^e is
a good manager, and knows how to fasten the candle-ends together,
there will be a weekly saving of a livre. I reckon the wood at
forty livres for two or three months in the year. You want only
two fires, and let your own be a large one. Tapers at ten sous ;
those at six to the pound will last you three days. Fruit thirty
sous, as sugar is only eleven sous a pound, and you only want a
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 5 1
quarter of a pound for one compote. A dish of stewed pears and
apples will last the week by renewing some old leaves under them,
which would not cost ten sous a day. I allow two pieces of roast
meat, of which one would be saved in the morning when the
master of the house dines out, and one in the evening if the
mistress is not at home for supper ; but I have forgotten a fowl to
be boiled for soup. ... In the morning, you would have a good
soup with a fowl, when all the meat should be served with the
soup in a large dish, for in that mixed condition it is excellent.
Without going beyond the fifteen livres, you may have one day
an entrte of sausages, another a sweetbread or loin of mutton, and
in the evening the leg or shoulder, with a couple of good fowls.
I forgot the roast meat for the morning, which should be a good
capon or any other such thing you like, with the eternal pyramid *
and stewed fruit.
With all this that I have deliberately set down, and that I
have learned at Court, I am sure that your food ought not to go
beyond six thousand livres a year. I reckon one thousand for
Madame d'Aubignd's dress, and with what I give her she will
certainly have something over. She has a year's clothing in
advance, and has bought nothing since she married, unless I have
been deceived. I reckon another thousand for servants' wages or
clothes, a thousand for house-rent, though it will not be so much,
and three thousand for your own clothes, for the opera,t and
other expenses. Is not that fair ? . . . If one word of what I have
said is useful to you, I shall not regret my trouble, and, at all
events, I shall have shown you that I know something of house-
keeping. . . .
. . . Do not scatter yourselves all over that great house with
so few servants. If I were you, I should do the cooking in the
little hole near the room with the yellow bed. . . . Teach Madame
d'Aubign^ and her maids to know what I am like ; for though I
am glad to lend, I depend upon nothing being spoilt or broken,
* Not specified of what.
t Scratched across in the autograph, perhaps at St. Cyr.
52 MADAME DE MAINTE.VON.
and I have given orders to Nanon to take a list of everything,
from the velvet bed down to the pot-hanger.
Legros tells me that you have bought table-linea You must
have it marked, and take care that it is not changed at the wash.
You must speak of all these things before Madame d'Aubign^,
for she has the look of a plaster cast of which I should like to
get rid.
CHAPTER V.
1679-1683.
Being now entirely free, and more able to carry out what
she thought right, Madame de Maintenon often conversed
with the King, and besought him to break off his vicious
intrigues. The King evidently took delight in her conver-
sation, and put great confidence in her conscientious attach-
ment to himself and his welfare. He sent her once to talk
to Madame de Fontanges, who was in a state of fury, and
on the point of making some public scandal. Madame de
Maintenon urged her by every possible argument, but with
great respect and judgment, to break with the Kingi^
Madame de Fontanges at last broke out, " But, madame,
you advise me to give up a passion just as if it were taking
off a chemise ! "
While she was thus employed by Louis in difficult and
distasteful matters, Madame de Maintenon was clear-
sighted and resolute in her own small affairs. A charac-
teristic letter to one of the two sisters De Guignonville, who
looked after the house at Maintenon, shows this (1679) : —
As I am very straightforward, and do not like to be put out
more than can be helped, I would rather say it to you directly than
to others, that I have to find fault with you, and that you and M.
de Guignonville make a joke of all that I tell you [to do]. I sent
54 MADAME DE MAINTEXO.V.
him word positively not to allow the square tower to be touched
until I had made the bargain with him ; and to that he answers
that they are working at it, and that it will soon be finished. I
sent you word to distribute turf with Monsieur le Cure of St.
Pierre, and you speak to him about it when the whole thing is
done. These ways do not suit me at all, and I am too old not to
be mistress in my own house. M. de Guignonville and you have
been accustomed to manage Madame de Maintenon [the late
marquise] like a child, but that is not my fancy at all. If you do
not like to have orders from me, I will not give you any, and I
will send to you only for money ; but if you still wish to undertake
my affairs, big or little, you must, if you please, do them exactly
as I wish to have them done. ... I have sent to La Couture to
•
give away the rest of the turf.*
A letter to Abb^ Gobelin (1680) treats of very different
matters, but with equal clearness and straightforwardness
of mind. After giving a brief account of her almsdeeds,
she says : —
As to my dress, I am going to change it, and wear the same
as Madame de Richelieu. ... I was clad in gold when I spent
my days with the King, and his mistress j now I am going to
belong to a princess, I shall always wear black. If I left the
Court, I would dress like a convent portress, and the change
would not trouble me the least I have, in truth, spent too much
[money], because I am naturally neat and very little given to
saving. My days are now regular enough and very solitary. I
pray for a moment on getting up ; I go to two Masses on days of
obligation, and to one on week-days ; I say my office f every day,
and when I wake in the night a Laudate or Gloria Patru I
think often of God during the day, and offer Him my actions ; I
ask Him to take me away from here, if I cannot secure my
* A. Geffroy, " Madame de Maintenon d'apr^ sa Correspondance Authen-
tique."
t The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 55
salvation, and otherwise I do not know what my sins are. I have
that sort of morality and inclination to good that I do not do
much harm ; I have a wish to please and to be esteemed that is
a safeguard against passion ; so that I scarcely ever have deeds
to reproach myself for, but very human motives ; great liberty of
thought and judgments, and a restraint as to speech that is founded
only on human prudence. This is pretty much my condition;
Order what remedies you think most fitting. I cannot apparently
think of retirement ; I must work out my salvation here..*
It is probable that Madame de Maintenon's wish to
retire from Court had lessened imperceptibly (to herself)
since her intercourse v^ith the King had become a part of
her daily life. Bussy-Rabutin wrote at this time that
"no one was so agreeable to the King as Madame de
Maintenon," and during 1680 and 1681 her favour with
him steadily increased. He had now carefully watched
her life for some time, and found a new continual pleasure
in her frank, direct remarks and naive and bright, yet
pleasant conversation. Madame de Fontanges was finally
dismissed from Court in 1680, bruised and broken in health
and heart, and she died during the next year at the Abbey
of Chelles.
T'here is no sort of doubt that from the fury and hatred
of his mistresses,^i Louis XIV. turned with new eagerness
to the refreshment of Madame de Maintenon's unsullied
mind and friendship. As Madame de S^vignd wrote, she
opened up to him an entirely new country, hitherto un-
known — a friendship and intercourse entirely free and
without deceit, with which he was quite charmed. And
she adds the delightful word-play which must ever go
untranslated, "The courtiers whisper that Madame de
♦ Geffroy.
56 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
Mainten^« is Madame de Mainten^zw//' She generally at
this time spent two hours every evening with the King,
and M. dc Chamarande " brought her in and led her away
before the whole world." *
To the Abbd Gobelin she wrote towards the end of the
year to beg him to go and see her before Christmas : —
Also, if you could get for me a bound New Testament, it
would give me great pleasure. I should like to be able to carry
it in my pocket ; and if you think it well that it should be in
several volumes, they would be more convenient. They must be
bound in shagreen, with steel clasps ; and an " Imitation of
Christ," as well as the " Introduction to a Devout Life " t and
your book for Mass.} That will be all my library, which will not
take up much room. They must all be in shagreen, with the
same clasps. I beg your pardon for giving so many commissions,
but my wish to do what is right will console you for the trouble.
I am very well content, and even too content, for my salvation,
for I do not know what my cross is.
Madame de Maintenon determined to turn her new
conditions of too much well-being to good account, by
trying to convert some of the Calvinist members of her
family, beginning with the children of M. de Villette. M.
de Villette himself at first resisted all the tempting offers
that were made him if he would renounce Calvinism, and
then Madame de Maintenon made use of some of those
singular means that were warranted in the seventeenth
century, under the idea that " all is fair in war." M. de
Villette was induced to go on a long journey, leaving his
son behind him. The young man was first persuaded
* Languet de Gergy. t By St. Francis de Sales.
X Abbe Gobelin had written an exposition of the Mass, called "Breve
Intelligence de I'Ordre des Ceremonies de la Messe."
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 57
to leave the navy and abjure Calvinism, and he was then
sent to a school for the sons of the nobility. His sister,
Mdlle. de Mursay (afterwards Madame de Caylus), was
brought to Paris, with several of her cousins (de St. Hermine
and de Caumont), and carried off by Madame de Maintenon
to the Court, then at St. Germain. The child was so de-
lighted with the beauty and splendour of the King's Mass
in the Royal Chapel, that she was easily induced to be
reconciled to the Church, on condition that she should be
allowed to go to the Royal Chapel every day. At last, after
being exceedingly angry at the forcible carrying away of
his children, and the roundabout means used, M. de Villette
himself consented to hear the arguments for the chief
Catholic doctrines, and finally became reconciled to the
Church. Madame de Maintenon was also much occupied
with the King, who opened his mind more and more to her
gentle and continual remonstrances as to his irreligious
conduct, and to the light she threw upon the joy and peace
of a good life, beseeching him to reflect upon the true glory
of reigning over a happy and prospering people, and then
passing to eternity as a saint. Little by little her clear and
powerful faith as to the nature of God, of holiness, of sin,
and of eternal happiness, awakened his own, and induced
him to listen to the sermons and instructions of Pfere Bour-
daloue,* Bossuet, then Bishop of Meaux, some of the
Lazarist Fathers, and other spiritual teachers. Besides her
constant prayers and daily efforts to induce the King to
lead a really Christian life, Madame de Maintenon adopted
* The King listened willingly to his sermons, but it has been said of
Bourdaloue, "Austere dans sa conduite et son caractere, il etait cependant
comme pretre aussi indulgent que lui permettait ses devoirs. "
5 8 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
the use of many bodily austerities, having a sincere mistrust
of the comparatively easy and unruffled life she now led.
She asked and obtained permission of Abb6 Gobelin to
use the scourge or discipline, and to wear a sharp girdle
and armlets, unknown and unsuspected to even her most
intimate friends. She continued the use of these austerities
even to old age, when the Bishop of Chartres (Des Marais)
forbade her to do so any longer.
It is evident that the poor Queen, Marie-Th^r^se, was
not the help to Madame de Maintenon with the King that
she might have been. If she had been a pleasanter woman,
and brighter in her intercourse with Louis, she might have
preserved him from many falls. Madame de Maintenon
alludes to this in a letter (1682) to Abbd Gobelin : —
If the Queen had a director like you, there would be no good
that one might not hope from the union of the royal family ; . . .
but there has been a world of trouble about the mkdianoche^*
and to persuade her confessor, who leads her by ways (to my mind) ,
fitter for a Carmelite nun than a queen, f
Meanwhile Madame de Maintenon had received an
order from the King to transact all business and arrange-
ments for his children in his presence, while many of
the courtiers and Court ladies were watching maliciouslyV-
expecting every day to see her degraded to Madame de
Montespan's place with the King.)^ What communications
passed between him and Madame de Maintenon at that
time, it is not possible to say, as all the letters written to
Abb6 Gobelin upon this subject, and gradually leading up
to it, were destroyed at her desire. By the destruction of
* The midnight supper for the communicants at midnight Mass.
t Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 59
these letters a most interesting psychological study has
been for ever lost, for there is no doubt that her mind was
transmitted to her director with the reality and accuracy of
a photograph. She afterwards said that there is no greater
triumph than to preserve irreproachable conduct in walking
in slippery and crooked ways, and among people who,
while flattering and fawning, are secretly watching for a
fall. And there is no doubt that, intermixed with all her
sincere zeal for the King's salvation and the well-being of
the country, there was a powerful and essential strand of
ambition to rule and to be a great centre of influence, un-
recognized and in secret. But this was to be attained by
lawful, never by unlawful, means. All through the extra-
ordinary story it is evident that no amount of opportunity or
temptation, no giddiness of flattery or seduction of pleasure,
would ever have led Madame de Maintenon to lose sight
of God and His lawsjf'or to fall into the snare of giving
herself up to be the mistress of the King.;) The final
knowledge and certainty of this, no doubt, in the end
trebled his attachment to her.
It is very difficult now to realize what then was the
full scope of the work achieved by Madame de Maintenon
in thus leading Louis XIV. to turn to a Christian
life. France was then the head and front of Catholic
Christendom, and was not only the cynosure of all eyes,
but the source of influence to other powers. Wit is not an
exaggeration to say that from the Pope down to the least
and youngest cur^ in the French country villages, the whole
ecclesiastical world was at that time rejoicing at the banish-
ment of Madame de Montespan from her odious position.
None of his illicit connections had done the King and the
'J
60 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
nation so much harm as that, and the opposing influence
of Madame de Maintenon had therefore a corresponding
effect upon wholesome opinion and sympathy.^
\ She herself was fully aware of this universal burst of
regard among people who sought the King's real good, and
she modestly observed that she had been far too much
extolled {glorifi^e) for what was due only to motives given
her by God.
Yet in truth her services could scarcely be exaggerated,
for Louis was now in his forty-ninth year, and there could
no longer be a shadow of hope or excuse for " the follies of
youth." He was not only the head of the State, but the
very State itself, as he justly observed. His will and
hand were the sole dispensers of good and evil, happiness
and misery, to his twenty millions of subjects. He must
be himself the example or the scandal to the most powerful
Catholic nation in the world, and either lead his people
to illustrate and vivify their faith by Christian living, or
plunge them into practical unbelief by hopeless degrada-
tion and vice. Out of this slough, weakened and besmirched,
Madame de Maintenon had been the means of lifting him ;
had brought him to recognize his condition, and to strive
to be of a better mind ; had in part rent away the veil of
delusion — so common to men brought up by women — that
made him figure as a new Zeus on Olympus, and had opened
to him a knowledge of his duties as a Christian king.
This exceeding honour is due to her, and the renown of
it should ever cling to her name. The greatest change that
had come upon the Court was the cordial renewal of the
pleasant relations between the King and Queen. Louis
paid his long-neglected Queen such continual attentions
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 6 1
that she said she had never been so happy in her life. She
repeated again and again that God had raised up Madame
de Maintenon to be her friend and support, and that the
return of the King's friendship was wholly owing to her
good offices. But her great fear of her magnificent husband
was unconquerable, and was sometimes shown in a very
quaint way. Once, when the King was waiting alone to see
her, the Queen besought Madame de Maintenon to go with
her, as she should not know what to say. Madame de
Maintenon courteously acquiesced, went with the Queen to
the door of the room, and then, opening it, adroitly pushed
her in and went away.*
Louis XIV. made good use of his newly found happiness
by letting his people share it. He made several majestic
" progresses " through the provinces which he had freshly
acquired or enlarged, visited the ports of Flanders, Stras-
burg, his most precious acquisition, Alsace, and Burgundy.
At Metz and Brisach he established courts of jurisdiction,
to which the Elector Palatine, the King of Spain, and the
King of Sweden (as Due de Deux Fonts) were summoned.
Both the Elector Palatine and the Elector of Treves vainly
carried their complaints to the empire, and the absolute
power shown by Louis XIV. at that moment in Europe
led to Voltaire's remark, ** Since Charlemagne, no prince
has ever been seen to act in this way as the master and
judge of kings." f
In these progresses the Queen and a brilliant suite of
ladies, including Madame de Maintenon, accompanied the
King, although the Dauphiness was obliged to remain at
Versailles.
* De Noailles, *' Histoire de Madame de Maintenon." f Ibid.
62 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
This happy reunion of the royal family was heightened
by the birth of the Dauphin'^ son, the little Duke of
Burgundy, in 1682. v; AH 'the events of the little prince's
birth -Jv'ere most extraordinary, and it was miraculous that
either the Dauphiness or the child survived. The King
and Queen spent the night in her room, the King having
ordered a mattress to be laid for him on the floor. .As
soon as the child was born, the Kins: embraced its mother
and the Queen, and went out to tell the news himself; and
immediately the vehemence of joy brought such a crowd to
the door, that it was forced open, and courtiers, ladies, and
servants found themselves wedged together in the presence
of the poor Dauphiness. The little duke was baptized in
the same room a few moments afterwards, by Cardinal de
Bouillon, the Grand Almoner of France, and then the Mar6-
chale de la Mothe was brought in on a chair, received the
child, and carried him away still on her chair to the room
prepared for him. As soon as the King came out, every-
body embraced him, or kissed his hands or his clothes, and
Louis freely allowed them to do with him what they would.
The porters and Swiss guards completely lost their
heads, and began to burn the poles of the sedan-chairs, the
straw mattresses, and even the new parqueted flooring that
had been stacked to lay down in the great gallery. When
the King was told of this, he burst out laughing, and said,
** Let them do what they like ; we will get more parqueting."
The streets were soon full of bonfires, round which the
people danced and sang for pure joy; the houses were
brightly illuminated ; the streets lined with tables, at which
the inhabitants feasted everybody who passed by ; and the
road to Versailles became one moving crowd, going to the
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 6l
palace tx) see the King, who never denied himself to them,
and to clamour for the baby duke, whom Madame de la
Motile also took out into the balconies.*
Among the heart-stirring and really touching accounts
of the joy shown by this then great people on account of
their love for their kings, a very amusing incident occurred,
but still springing from their essential loyalty. As there
was as yet no settled body of tradespeople and shopkeepers
at Versailles, the churchwardens of the parish told Bontemps,
who had been made governor of Versailles, that they
wished to offer their congratulations to the King on the
Duke of Burgundjr's birth. The King was propitious, and
Bontemps ushered in his deputation.
He had got so far as " Sire, these are the shopkeepers
of Versailles," when the head of the party, a grocer, whose
name of Colette is worth recording, electrified by being
actually in presence of the King's majesty, burst out in a
loud voice with the chant after Mass, ^^ Dominey salvumfac
r^em / " to which all the rest sonorously responded, " Et
exaudi nos in die" etc, which filled the whole room with
the volume of sound.
The King, being utterly unprepared for such a salutation,
burst into a hearty laugh, in which all present joined, except
poor Bontemps, who drove the luckless deputation out of
the room, scolding them lustily.*
In this same year 1682, Madame de Maintenon was
happily occupied with settling at Rueil a number of young
girls who had been placed by her under the charge of
Madame de Brinon and her cousin, two Ursuline nuns
whose convent had been wrecked by the Huguenots. They
♦ De Noailles.
64 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
had first been settled at Montmorency ; but the house was
not large enough, and a much more convenient one was
found for them at Rueil, where Madame de Maintenon
also transported a detachment of poor children from some
cottages at Maintenon. In her letters to Madame de
Brinon she calls these "the little sisters." She was now
maturing in her mind ideas which she was afterwards to
carry out on a much larger scale at St. Cyr. The con-
nection thus formed with Madame de Brinon lasted for
many years. On New Year's Day, 1682, Madame de
Maintenon wrote to her as follows ; —
I give you good day, madame, and your dear cousin and all
our house, and I wish with all my heart that we may do all the
good that is possible. I can only furnish you with subjects, and
you are giving your life, while my own is very pleasant and
useless. . . . You will not have the Blessed Sacrament ; the King
does not approve of it. The Archbishop would like to take away
your crosses and the reciting of the office.* I have not wished
to tell you this, lest you should be amazed ; but I want you to
know that I do what I can. Your operas f will always be turned
into ridicule by people of the world ; but they amuse me, and I
quite enter into their usefulness to the little girls.
By the end of the year the house at Rueil had become
to Madame de Maintenon a harbour of refuge from all her
worries and anxieties. This is one of her notes to Madame
de Brinon : —
December 14, 1682.
I beg you not to let any one know that I am going to dine
with you to-morrow. I also ask you to make a little feast for me
* Madame de Brinon had apparently set on foot a kind of unauthorized
community life and dress.
t Little plays composed by Madame de Brinon.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 65
for our Sisters of the charity, and that I may see them dining in
good order. You know I have always asked that nothing may be
put out for me, and that they should not even see that I have
come. I shall go at once to teach catechism. Do not come [to
me] till you have nothing else to do, and treat me altogether as
one of the household. I shall take my pullet with me, and we
will eat it together. I am so glad to have a headache to-day, for
that makes it almost certain that I shall not have it to-morrow.
Madame de Maintenon wrote a playful letter to her
cousin, M. de Villette, early in the next year (1683), in
which, in answer probably to some inquiries as to making
her a present, she says : —
Versailles, January 30, 1683.
I always like scents, and do not care for any animal ; this is
what you asked Madame de Mursay to let you know. She is
very busy with her master ; not that I want to make her a blue-
stocking, but that she makes use of him in this way when she
could not be with me, and would only be learning nonsense with
the ladies' maids. Instruments will give her some taste for music,
dancing will give her grace, and she will speak French better for
learning the rules of a language. She grows very fast, and I am
asked every day for her hand in marriage [she was then twelve].
When that comes about in earnest, you will hear of it. She says
she would like to be a nun, but that is not true.
To Madame de Brinon a little later she writes : —
March, 1683.
The first physician to the Queen, and the most skilful in all
France [M. Fagon], is going to look after Jaquette [one of the
little girls at Rueil who was ill]. Make use of the opportunity,
and take his advice, which, joined to your own good sense, will
make you manage the children well. I should recommend your
furnishing that room that you have reserved at the gardener's,
and put up in it two tent-beds for those who are the most ill, and
begin by sending Jaquette there. The gardener's wife will most
66 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
likely be glad to earn what you would give, and you must make
the bargain once for all, so as only to have the number of days to
reckon, and the lodge-porters could carry them their food. You
have reason to believe that our angels communicate with each
other, for you answered my last letter an hour after it was written
and seven or eight hours before it went.
The provisions given to Andr^e, the examination of the pen-
sioner's goods, and, in a word, everything that has taken place,
gives me the greatest pleasure. . . . Courage ! let us bring up
children who will spread our good teaching when we are gone.
I have nothing to ask but that you will put nothing out when I
come, and that I shall take up what is doing instead of inter-
rupting what is going on. Here is an apron for Andrde, which I
beg you to give for me. . . . Abbd Gobelin is enchanted, edified,
and entirely wrapped up in our community. . . . Good-bye, my
very dear one. I love you with all my heart.
It was well that the King had been allowed to make
his Queen happy during the latter part of her life, for on
returning from Burgundy and Alsace she was seized with
sudden illness, which her doctors did not seem to under-
stand, and in three days she was dead. When he saw how
ill she was, Louis left her room quickly with the Dauphin
and the almoner, and went down to the chapel. There he
ordered that the wax-lights on the altar should be carried
with the sacred Host, to give the viaticum to the Queen,
and followed himself with great devotion. When she had
breathed her last, he said, with tears in his eyes, " This is
the first grief she has ever caused me."
Madame de Maintenon, who had been unwearied in
those days in her attention to the Queen, seeing that all
was over, was going to her own rooms, when the Due de la
Rochefoucauld took her by the arm and drew her towards
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 67
the King, saying, " This is not the time to leave him,
madame. In the state he is now he really wants you."
She accordingly remained for a short time, giving him, in
gentle words, all the comfort she could ; and then de
Louvois conducted her to her own quarters. The King
immediately went to St. Cloud, where he stayed a few
days, and thence went on to Fontainebleau, where Madame
de Maintenon, in attendance on the Dauphiness, followed.
She was clad in such deep mourning — then of a specially
hideous character — and looked so sorrowful, that Louis
departed from his usual good taste, and rallied her on her
extreme tokens of affliction, which he himself could not
pretend to feel.*
To mark his sense of the great good wrought by
Madame de Maintenon, the Pope (Innocent XL) sent her a
corpo santOy a martyr's body from the Catacombs, whom, as
is usual when the true name is unknown, he named St.
Candida.f A great deal was said about so distinguished
a mark of favour being sent to a private person, and that
person a woman. While she was at Fontainebleau she
wrote to Madame de Brinon about this : —
Fontainebleau, August 22, 1683.
I should have liked with all my heart to hide the gift I have
received from Rome, for I am so extolled in this world for certain
good intentions that I have received from God that I have reason
to dread being humbled and confounded in the next
The King had installed Madame de Maintenon in the
Queen's rooms at Fontainebleau, which was certainly a
strong measure to take ; and he showed his increased respect
* De Noailles, ** Histoire de Madame de Maintenon."
t Languet de Gergy.
68 MADAME DE MA2NTEN0N.
for her by seeing his councillors in her presence, and ask-
ing her opinion upon this or that measure proposed. She
had shown extraordinary agitation during the journey to
Fontainebleau, and no doubt was much shaken by the
conviction that this was a supreme moment for her as
well as for the King. Mdlle. de Mursay, who went with
her, notes that she was entirely changed, and that all her
fortitude and calmness were broken down. She scarcely
heard what was said, and shed floods of tears. She excused
herself to the other ladies of the party by saying that she
had a fit of uncontrollable vapeurs^ the conventional name
for all hysterical attacks; and as soon as she arrived at
Fontainebleau, got out of the coach, and went away into
the forest with one attendant. And not only then, but for
several succeeding days, Madame de Maintenon walked far
and fast through the green forest drives, with only Madame
de Montchevreuil as her attendant, whose amazement at
such unheard-of proceedings at that day on the part of a
Court lady must have been good to see.
CHAPTER VL
1683—1685.
The astounding remedies of so much fresh air and exercise
wrought their usual cure, and Madame de Maintenon
walked down her vapeurs so completely that they never
returned again. But as she was revolving within herself
her determination to quit the Court, and tread no more in
its difficult paths, she received the following note from the
King : —
God is punishing me, madame, and I submit to His will. I
have given that beautiful soul [the Queen] only too much cause
for complaint. Do not go away from us, dear Madame de
Maintenon, for I need comfort You can go when you are weary
of telling me the truth.
This was her answer : —
Sire, the Queen is in no way to be pitied ; she lived and died
like a' saint. The certainty of her salvation is a great consolation.
You have. Sire, a friend in heaven, who will implore God to
pardon your sins, and ask the intercession of the just May your
Majesty feed upon these thoughts. Madame la Dauphine is better.
Be as good a Christian, Sire, as you are great as a King.*
She wrote to Abbd Gobelin that her agitation of feeling
had passed away, or at least all outward manifestation of
* Languet de Gergy.
^Q MADAME DE MAINTENON,
it, and added the significant words : " Do not forget me in
the sight of God, for I greatly need the streftgth to make a
good use of my happiness'^ There is little doubt that her
marriage with Louis was settled during the visit to Fon-
tainebleau, and that, although she scrupulously destroyed
every letter that bore upon it, she told Mdlle. de Mursay
that she had seen it to be her clear and positive duty to
remain at Court, and that, however circmnstances might
have changed for her^ her spiritual life was exactly the same.
Madame de Maintenon was now forty-eight years old
— an age when much of a woman's charm has generally
vanished. Yet every contemporary witness declares that
she .was still beautiful, even to the keen and coldly judging
eyes of those who would gladly have witnessed her fall.
They report of her that her voice was still as marvellously
sweet, its gentle inflections as clear and pleasant, her brow
as fair and open, the gestures of her delicate hands as full
of natural grace, her eyes as bright, as in her early youth ;
and that every movement of her well-poised figure was so
full of graceful dignity, that she threw the most celebrated
Court beauties into the shade. " Pallas-like, the first im-
pression of her countenance is grave and severe," said one ;
" but when she speaks and smiles, it opens and softens with
a sunshine of its own."
It is abundantly clear, however, that what chiefly
fascinated Louis was not any mere external beauty, but
the graceful, pleasant goodness of Madame de Maintenon,
and her rare delicacy in conveying counsel and reproof,
which contrasted so refreshingly with the wearisome flattery
that surrounded him on all sides. And also the King's
mind was fully equal to grasping the steadfast purity of her
MADAME DE MAINTENON. J I
life, and her wide, yet temperate, aims for the welfare of
France. Churchmen of great eminence testify abundantly
to the solid usefulness of her influence, while expressing
themselves in the elaborate complimentary phrases then
in vogue. F^nelon himself says that in Madame de
Maintenon " Wisdom spoke by the voice of the Graces ; '*^
while the Abbe Choisy notes that, by setting eternal things
clearly before the King, she gained greater influence than
if she had not despised earthly interests. Madame de
S^vignd, as usual, summed up the circumstances in a few
words : " Madame de Maintenon's position is unique. There
never was one like it, nor ever will be again."
All France, indeed, stood in amazed and, as it were,
breathless expectation of what was to come next. Here
was the King, at fifty years old, who had hitherto lived
rather as a pagan emperor than a Christian sovereign,
returning to an orderly, strict, and edifying life, and occupy-
ing himself chiefly with the personal administration of his
kingdom. And this marvellous change had been effected
by the influence of the widow of a grotesque man of letters,
a woman as old as himself, and whose one single charm,
for him, was that she acted in all things from duty. It is
an irreparable loss that Madame de Maintenon's letters to
Abb6 Gobelin during this time were destroyed, together
with those received from him at this supreme crisis of her
life, as well as almost every line written by Louis himself.
This correspondence, over and above its historical interest,
would have revealed the links of the most delicate inter-
course, the most momentous and complicated temptations
of a woman's life.
She might well say that it required the utmost courage
J2 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
as well as caution to walk warily in such a course, for, as
she records in one letter, she sent away the King after their
conversations always sorrowful^ but never desperate, and he
returned to her again as his best and most faithful friend.
Madame de Maintenon herself suffered very much, but her
exceeding attachment to the King never shook her resolve
to make no false step.
In 1684, Luxembourg was besieged by the French, and
the King in person headed the army of forty thousand
troops. He lodged at Valenciennes, and took with him
the Dauphiness and her lady-in-waiting, Madame de
Maintenon, with others, leaving them at Valenciennes when
visiting his head-quarters. During the time when thus
absent, he continually wrote to Madame de Maintenon,
and one of her notes in return has been preserved. It lifts
the veil for a moment.
Sire, a single day of your Majesty's absence is an age to me.
I am satisfied as to your feelings, but I cannot rest in peace away
from you. My whole happiness, all the pleasure of my life, lie in
seeing your Majesty. Judge, then, what my anxiety is. After
receiving so many benefits and honours from you, I know not even
yet what my lot may be ; but I tremble with the deepest agitation
while writing your Majesty this note.*
It was most probably during his absence from Valen-
ciennes, and while he was more or less exposed to peril,
that Louis XIV. took his final resolve to secure Madame
de Maintenon as his friend and adviser for life on her own
terms. Yielding to the urgent desire of the Dauphiness,
who had also wished to secure her, he had offered Madame
de Maintenon the permanent post of lady-in-waiting to
* Languet de Gei^.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 73
that princess, just made vacant by the Duchess de
Richelieu's death. Madame de Maintenon declined the
exalted honour, for her sagacious mind told her that all
half-measures and compromising dignities must be sacrificed
at this momentous point of her career. She was most
truly willing to give her life for the King's use and good,
but it could only be done in the path of duty and by
casting aside all minor interests and ambitions.
She was right, and she obtained her desire. In the
very height of his power and greatness, in tlie utmost
magnificence of his absolute rule, the greatest monarch of
the greatest kingdom of Europe, with all his enemies at
his feet, Louis XIV. turned away from the brilliant alliances
offered him, to choose for his lifelong companion the sub-
ject who had dared to reprove him for his evil ways and
counsel him for his eternal good.
A few days after the Court had returned to Versailles, /
probably on the I2th of June, 1684, and the historian
distinctly says in the night, though there was Mass, seven
persons were seen gathered in secret within the Royal
Chapel at Versailles. These were the King, Frangoise
d'Aubignd de Maintenon, the Jesuit Pfere de la Chaise, who
said the Mass, the Archbishop of Paris (Harlay), with the
two marquises, de Louvois and de Montchevreuil, as
witnesses, and the same royal valet,* Bontemps, who, as
governor of Versailles, had introduced the churchwardens,
and who now prepared the altar and served the Mass.
No registry was inscribed of the marriage ; and, in fact, by
♦ Although holding the office of valet to the King, Bontemps was in truth
rather the confidential friend than servant to Louis XIV., and was a man full
of capacity in the management of affairs. Louvois was witness for the King,
de Montchevreuil for Madame de Maintenon.
74 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
agreeing to this omission, Madame de Maintenon knowingly
sacrificed her reputation for many years, in order to guard
the secret for the King. She afterwards immediately de-
stroyed every letter that could give proof of her being the
King's wedded wife, and except to her confessor, to the
Cardinal de Noailles, and to the Montchevreuils, she never
afterwards spoke of her marriage. Before the final step
had been taken, Bossuet and several other French bishops,
and lastly the Pope,* had been consulted, and had decided
that it was a good act, which sanctified the King's confi-
dence in Madame de Maintenon, raised her influence to
be a thoroughly lawful one, and was essentially for the
general good of France. Arnault speaks of the marriage
as an excellent act, binding the King to a person whom he
must esteem. "Would to God," he adds, "that the directors
of his conscience had never given him worse counsel ! "
Madame de Maintenon, however, for a long time, reaped
only the doubtful benefit of being " a riddle to the world,"
and even now, when her reputation has long been proved
stainless, and her motives from her point of view most
admirable, there is still much that will always remain
difficult to solve in the character of this remarkable woman.
Eye-witnesses of undoubted credit assert again and again
that she never showed the smallest wish to be declared
Queen. Probably even the outward apparatus of majesty
would only have wearied and tormented her, and possibly
she could not have borne to live in the midst of the env>'
and jealous grudging which such an astonishing elevation
would have excited. It is, however, to be put down to the
credit of the King, that at first he was thoroughly deter-
• Innocetit XI.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 75
mined to make the marriage public, and we must hope that
this resolve sprang from an unselfish wish to clear Madame
de Maintenon's name ; but she herself told her brother,
M. d'Aubign^, that she would not permit him to do this,
as it was so far above all her wishes and pretensions to
assume such a position openly before the world. It is
possible that she may have discerned that the mysterious,
half-acknowledged marriage would have a certain fascina-
tion for the fickle mind of the King, and in many other
ways she allowed him to heap what honours he chose
upon her. He always addressed her as " Madame," with
the most deferential affection, and the Dauphiness and
the royal princes always spoke and wrote of her and the
King as "the heads of the family." It followed as a
matter of course that the Court, the Parliament, the chief
cities, the provinces, and the army echoed the same voice ;
and even the French cardinals and bishops preferred to
approach the King through Madame de Maintenon.
Foreign powers wrote to engage her good-will, and the
Pope asked her to protect the nuncios and to interest
herself in all matters concerning the Church and religion.
Notwithstanding all this substantial honour, whenever
there was a question of any great public ceremony or
important foreign reception, Madame de Maintenon had
no specially assigned place or precedence, and took delight
in being lost among the other great ladies of the Court, a
position which exactly fell in with her wishes. St. Simon
relates how he saw her at Fontainebleau when the Queen
of England* was there, giving place quietly to nearly
everybody in the room ; courteous, pleasant, conversing
* Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I.
76 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
freely with all as one of themselves, yet taking no pro-
minent part in anything, though treated with all imagin-
able respect. It was, indeed, not only a unique position,
as Madame de S6vign6 had said, but also a unique
example of a woman without titles, rank, wealth, or any
special family, having complete ascendence at a Court
where these good things were wrestled for with absolute
fury, and with whatever lawful or even unlawful weapons
came first to hand. And what was more unique even than
her ascendency, was the fact that the fumes of such a
sudden elevation never intoxicated Madame de Maintenon's
brain. She continued to look upon herself, as she had
always done, as if she were some one else. " I am not
a great personage," she once observed to her friends,
the Dames de St. Cyr ; " I am only one who has been
raised."
Another remarkable trait in her was that, in the constant
presence of a Court rioting in personal luxury and bound-
less extravagance of splendour, Madame de Maintenon
retained all her simple habits of modest thrift in dress.
She continued to wear, says Languet de Gergy, some kind
of damask or fine woollen serge, generally of a dead-leaf
colour, without any of the trimmings of gold embroidery
which were then profusely used, and, in fact, she was never
so well dressed as many of the Paris shopkeepers' wives.
It seems impossible, indeed, to doubt that Madame de
Maintenon had most truly married the King, as she had
said, "for his salvation," and for the saving of the kingdom.
She was grounded in the logical Christian belief that if the
King purged his own life, and sought the help of God in
prayer, he would be better enlightened how to govern his
MADAME DE MAINTENON. JJ
people, and where to seek the only true glory of a king.
A year or two later, F^nelon thus wrote to her : —
You should make it your business to touch his heart, to
instruct him, ... to give him views as to peace, and, above all,
as to the relief of his people ; as to moderation, equity, a mistrust
of harsh and violent counsel, and a horror of acts of arbitrary
authority. In one word, you should be God's watchman in the
midst of Israel, so as to forward every good and repress evil
within the limits of your authority.
It was no small honour to a woman to be thus addressed
by such a man, and it was no slight mission that he put
before her. Like all true missions, it was also a heavy and
costly burden, for the King's conversion was very slow in
c ling about, nor could it ever be called thorough and
iplete. His habits were too fixed, and Madame de
ntenon herself sorrowfully said that he neither knew
-i^to humble himself nor be fully penitent, so that to the
ust he feared God and hated His punishments more than he
loved Him and His laws. Most happily for Louis, his
firm and genuine faith never failed him, and this stood him
in good stead in the end.
In regard to this very point, the Bishop of Chartres once
much encouraged Madame de Maintenon.
He has great faith, firmness in defending what is right, a good
deal of conscience according to the light given, an upright heart,
and much gentleness and wisdom. . . • I cannot believe that one
for whom so much prayer has been made, and to whom God has
given as by miracle so faithful and Christian a friend, should not
become a new man. . . . Labour on in peace, watchfully and
unfailingly, at this excellent work with which God has entrusted
you.
^S MADAME DE MAINTENON,
Madame de Maintenon did, in truth, labour, and her
whole future life might be summed up in the word. The
selfishness of her Olympian Jove was so ingrained that he
never seemed to conceive the idea of her being tired, and
he claimed her advice, her judgment, her work, and her
presence at all hours. " He loved me," she once said to
Madame de Glapion, " but only so far as lie was capable of
loving ; for if they are not led by passion, men are not very
tender in their affection."
Yet, with all that consummate sagacity and judicial
keenness which judged men as if they were glass, Madame
de Maintenon never varied in mood or manner with the
irritable, passion-worn autocrat to whom she had bound
herself and her life. At all times she was a friend ready
to listen, a wife prompt to sympathize, a servant quick to do
everything for his comfort, and, above all, a counsellor full
of wisdom and resource, suggesting or upholding the right
course to take, but without pretension or show of superiority.
She once said to the same friend, Madame de Glapion,
that her way of life astonished herself; for she was naturally
quick-tempered, prone to flash out indignantly at others,
and to give her opinion abruptly and without the least
reserve, and now she was always under restraint. Made-
moiselle d'Aumale records that she had continually seen
Madame de Maintenon, when tired, anxious, and ill in
body, entertaining the King with smiling pleasantness and
numberless little inventions and interests, and conversing
with him for three and four hours at a time, so as to keep
him amused, absorbed, fascinated, without once yawning,
and yet, most wonderful to say, without a single ill-natured
or detracting word of others. Often, after such exertions,
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 79
when the King left her room at ten o'clock, Madame de
Maintenon could only utter the words, " I have only time
to say that I am quite worn out."
It was grudgingly said that Madame de Maintenon x
governed France, but, in truth, Louis XIV. never let the \
reins for a moment out of his own hands. He liked to
read his letters and despatches in her room, and would
often read aloud to her some part of the contents, and say /
what he thought he should answer or command. And then
he would say playfully, "What does 'Reason' say to
that ? " or, " What does your Solidity advise as to this } "
but in every instance making his own decision. Next to
her first great consideration, the King's spiritual good, she
bent her efforts towards inducing him to check his ruinous
extravagance and waste of money, and strove to keep in
view the sufferings of his people ; but, unhappily, she did
not really succeed in either of these great aims. Madame
de Maintenon was twice present at a grand official council
of the ministers, when her calm, serene face, as she sat
rather apart at her spinning-wheel, must have been a con-
trasting picture to those of the ambitious and wily advisers
of worldly schemes. She herself said that if she were
forced to be often present at such meetings, she should die
of the pain. " How bad men are," she observed after-
wards, " and how much to be pitied are kings ! " All she
could do was to strive unweariedly to induce Louis to
gather men of principle about him, such as de Beauvilliers,
de Chevreuse, and especially Chamillart. When the latter
was made minister, the people at the church doors in Paris
said to one another, " For once there is a good man. He
loves the people ! "
8o MADAME DE MAINTENON,
In general, however, Madame de Maintenon restricted
herself to bringing influence to bear upon religious matters,
in which, though she did a great deal of good, she made
some very serious mistakes, probably owing to the
guidance or influence of others.
CHAPTER VII.
1685—1686.
There were works of practical usefulness undertaken by
Madame de Maintenon that were far more congenial, and
in which she wrought and enjoyed a large measure of
success. Her marriage with the King had filled her hand
with the power to carry out her long-cherished plans for
the education of girls, and the household at Rueil, which,
like Montmorency, had overflowed, was removed to the
spacious chateau at Noisy, which the King made over to
her use. He had it put entirely in order, and in 1684 one
hundred poor but nobly born little girls were comfortably
installed there, and were thenceforth to be styled " damoi-
selles,'* to mark that they were of good birth. "These
girls are more to be pitied in poverty," Madame de Main-
tenon had truly said, " than those who are born to it and
accustomed to its privations.'* Ahh6 Gobelin was to con-
tinue the spiritual director of Noisy, and Madame de Brinon
to be head of the house, but without Madame de St. Pierre,
her cousin, who preferred going to a convent to continuing
a life which gave her the idea of an uncertain compromise.
Madame de Maintenon wrote her condolence to Madame
de Brinon : —
G
82 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
September 26, 1685.
I am exceedingly sorry that the separation between Madame
de Sl Pierre and you should have taken place in my absence, for
I should have hoped to comfort you a little for the sorrow which
I quite understand. ... I have already sent word to you to go
out, and to divert yourself in every way that can lessen your pain.
... I am aware that the life you have undertaken is austere ; but,
in truth, I also think that there is something very delicious to a
Christian woman in working unceasingly for God, and in not
opening one's lips uselessly for the sake of His glory. I know of
no occupation so noble as yours ; and when I think that you will
have the greatest share in the institutions we are about to found,
I envy you. . . . Good-bye ; I am going to hunt the stag with
the King, who, thank God ! is almost as well as you could wish.
Think, for your consolation, of a hundred thousand souls being
converted in Guienne in one month [Huguenots who had been
reconciled] ; that the town of Saintes has been reconciled by public
declaration; that my brother harangued Cognac [where he was
governor] to induce them to follow this example ; that the King
spends largely for restoring the churches ; that he is writing every
day to the bishops to send out missions for instruction and relief;
that he has books for Mass distributed, which have a marvellous
effect upon the people, who have been told that we do not wish
them to know what the priests are saying ; that his Majesty orders
that no expenses are to be spared towards reconciling the people ;
and that those reconciled are to be relieved from taxation at his
expense, so that Catholics shall not be overcharged. From all
sides it is said that the effect of these things is miraculous. Is
that not enough, my dear, to make you rejoice ?
She wrote at the same date, v^hile at Chambord, to
Abb6 Gobelin : —
September 26, 1685.
I very much begged you to go to Noisy, and I had charged
Nanon* to take you there. Your visit there is very much
* Mdlle. Balbien, Madame de Maintenon's lady's-maid.
••'.'
MADAME DE MA INTEND N. 83
tieeded, and, whatever Madame Brinon's good-will may be, she
and the others want counsel. I beg of you to send word whether
it is absolutely necessary to make a novitiate before being
received into our community, I mean now, when a quite new one
has to be formed, for I am well aware that in the end the girls
must make one year's probation, or two [years], if it is thought
better. But just now, when there is no choir, ought they to make
their novitiate ? Under whom are they to make it ? Can it be
begun before the house is settled ? Send me instructions upon
these points, I beg of you ; and if you are not as much at home
in these matters as you are in many others, see some people who
are living in community, and tell me what they advise. I think
you would like me to send some news of the King. He is very
well, thank God, and is rejoicing in all the couriers who come in
bringing news of millions of conversions.*
During the next month she wrote to Abbd Gobelin
again : —
October 10, 1685.
I am very glad that you are satisfied with what you have seen
at Noisy, and you will do me a great pleasure by going again
before the cold weather. I should like you to see all who wish to
enter the community in private. I sent word to Madame de
Brinon to examine them all, but not to begin anything for the
novitiate till I go back. I have several reasons for that. She
does not allow them enough liberty of conscience, and her well-
grounded dread of the abuse of direction has made her restrict
them to one single Capuchin, who never says a word to them.
She thinks that the girls do not suffer, because they dare not com-
plain ; but, as they axe very free with me, they make known their
troubles.
For the future I hope to receive only girls brought up at
Noisy, but we must take others now ; all those that we have are
♦ General abjurations had been made at Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nlmes,
and Lyons, which decided Louis XIV. to revoke the Edict of Nantes.
84 MADAME DE MAISTESOX.
only children, who will not know how to govern for a long time
[as dass-mistresses, and fulfilling the offices of the house]. ... I
approfve, as yoa do, of a yearns trial for the girls ; bat it seems to
me that they would be much more useful if* instead of shutting
diem up in the novitiate to study their rule and to know their
obligations only in theory, they should pass that year in the
charges that they will afterwards filU and especially in ruling and
teaching the children, which is the foundation of their institution.
I know that they most not be so entirely bound that they would
not have time for prayer, meditation, silence, retreats, and con-
ferences ; but there might be a mingling, which would prove to
others and to themselves what they could da Busy yourself^ I
beg of you, with this matter, as you hope that it will be useful, and
because, as God and the King have laid it upon me, you ought to
help me to do it well.
You cannot preach humility too much, both publicly and in
private, to our postulants, for I am afraid that Madame de Brinon
may instil into them certain ideas that she has of grandeur ; and
that the neighbourhood of the Court, its being a royal foundation,
the King's visits, and even mine, may give them notions of being
canonesses and great ladies, which might pufif up their minds, and
be contrary to the good we wish to do. Other things, I think, are
going well ; but we have to strike the mean between arrogance in
our devotedness and the littlenesses of certain convents that we
want to avoid. I do not yet know what we are to be called. If
you have read the Constitutions, you will see that Madame de
Brinon calls them " Dames de St. Louis," which certainly cannot
be, as the King will not canonize himself, and, as he is the
founder, he will give the name. I think she wants to call them
" Dames," to distinguish them from the " Demoiselles." Tell me
what you think. As to the habit, it will be black, rather like the
dress that is worn, without hair or trimmings, such, I think, as
Sl Paul requires of Christian widows.
The King, however, being mindful of the fact, as, no
doubt, Madame de Brinon had been, that he had an ancestor
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 8$
already canonized, did eventually call the community, when
formed, the " Dames de St. Louis." The King had spent
thirty thousand livres on the house at Noisy, and had
promised to pay the pensions of one hundred girls. In
arranging the house, Madame de Maintenon carried out all
her own spirit of economy, while providing largely for what
was suitable and useful for her class of girls. The poor
children, originally from Maintenon, were comfortably
lodged in what had been roomy stables, and there they
were trained to cook, sew, do the work of the house, and
spin all the linen that was used.* Madame de Maintenon
spent her happiest hours in what she called her '* stables,"
catechizing and instructing the little girls while they
spun, or reading to them and telling them suitable
stories.
The long and disastrous wars in which Louis XIV.
was engaged, now on one frontier of France, and now on
another, had drained the chief nobility of their sons and of
their means. The cadets of most of the noble families
were posted in fortresses, or detailed in camps along the
frontiers, exposed to the idle licence and general demoraliza-
tion of garrison life, and the ruin of their fortresses and
break up of their families severely threatened the con-
tinuance of the loyalty which the King had so conspicu-
ously excited. It was suggested, partly by Madame de
Maintenon, and partly by some of the more disinterested
ministers, that military colleges for the sons of nobles
should be opened along the frontier, where they could
* Madame de Maintenon had largely introduced the spinning of linen into
the little town of Maintenon, and had brought in for the purpose a number of
Norman and Flemish spinners to teach women in the best manner (de Noailles,
"M^moires").
86. MADAME DE MAISTEXOX.
pursue their studies in the interests of militar}'- duty, and
repair the deficiencies of their interrupted education.
It was probably then that Madame de Maintenon's
strong bent and real genius for education took its final
shape at Noisy, and that she resolved to found a college
for girls also, an institution where the daughters of the
impoverished nobles should receive the full training and
advantages due to their positions, and of which circum-
stances had deprived them ; that they should be brought
up in every way religiously, but with a more liberal educa-
tion than was afforded by convents, and taught by women
accustomed to move in the world to fill any position in
which they might be placed with dignity and influence.
Thus the germ planted in the small house at Mont-
morency, and transferred to Rueil and Noisy, was now
ripening to its full development at St. Cyr.
Meanwhile, Madame de Maintenon's eye was on ever}--
thing, for, as she said to Madame de Glapion, who became
one of her most eminent teachers : —
I know what the King's architects are, and how they will do
their best to make everj'thing beautiful, and their worst for our
convenience. Do not let the commonest bench or the smallest
chair be thrown aside. Everything will come in for our use.
The house was fitted up with large airy rooms for
studies and dormitories, a pretty garden was tastefully laid
out by Le Notre, and a chapel was added. The school was
divided into four classes, which were distinguished by red,
green, yellow, and blue ribbons for the hair and sashes, and
the same division of classes and colours was afterwards
maintained at St Cyr. The girls all wore a uniform of
brown serge, a small linen cap with a muslin border and
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 8/
the distinctive ribbon, and the hair puffed and dressed in
the prevailing fashion. There was a lace or muslin frill
round the neck, and a little apron, trimmed with the^ same
coloured ribbon as the cap. It was then thought to be a
becoming dress, though quaint and somewhat savouring of
the charity-school to our present ideas.
As to the education given, there was a thoroughly
grounded and intelligent religious instruction, and a solid
knowledge of French, in which Madame de Maintenon was
a severe judge of style and purity of construction. There
was a little music taught, and a great deal of needlework.
Plain work of all kinds, knitting, lace-making, embroidery,
tapestry, were all carried to great perfection. The elder
girls even embroidered for the King a magnificent bed of
crimson velvet with gold and silver, the coverlet of which
is to be seen in the Museum of Versailles at this day.
They also made a set of vestments for the cathedral at
Strasburg, which was just then annexed to France.
Little wonder was it that Madame de Maintenon should
say this was her " place of delight." She found time to go
there part of every day, either visiting the children in the
infirmary, or seeing the food cooked in the kitchen, and
even sitting down to table with the girls, to see that every-
thing was properly served. At other times she was present
at the recreation, when she would practise the girls in their
curtsies, their way of walking and greeting each other, and
even in putting on a certain top-knot called ^fontange. In
a letter to her brother, she says, " Think of my delight at
coming back along the avenue, followed by the one hundred
and twenty-four girls who are there now ! " In the same
letter, she amuses him by relating that during that month
88 MADAME DE MAINTENON, .
there were given out of the Noisy wardrobe " one hundred
frocks, one hundred laces [frills], one hundred brushes and
combs, one hundred pairs of gloves, one hundred thousand
pins, one hundred caps, and one hundred top-knots, or
fontanges^ That very day she was going to take to
Noisy one hundred and twenty-four copybooks tied with
the crimson, green, yellow, and blue school ribbons, with
counters of the same colours for the girls* marks ; adding,
" You will see by all these details how entertained I am,
and I am sure you will not be annoyed by my telling
you."
The great help and mainstay of the young institution,
in its early stages, was the ex-Ursuline, Madame de
Brinon. Afterwards, as Madame de Maintenon partly
foresaw, her influence was found to savour of too much
worldliness to have a good effect ; but she was evidently
a woman of great gifts and unusual resource. She was
well bred and well bom — not always inseparable circum-
stances — and being, for that time, well read, and having a
great command of language, and graceful, polished manners,
she was a living pattern to the elder girls of what they
should strive to become. She was also extremely well
taught in religion, and gave the full catechetical instruction
to the school in the chapel. She catechized and explained
so admirably, in fact, that not only Madame de Maintenon,
but many of the ladies of the Court, came to Noisy to hear
" the new Bourdaloue " from the outer chapel. The Court
secret of the institution of Noisy, of course, leaked out like
other secrets, and Madame de Maintenon was besieged by
a polite mob, with petitions to be allowed to see the school.
The favoured ladies who obtained their request, of course.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 89
plumed themselves much upon it, and before long there
was one universal whisper of what the education and
" apostolate " of Noisy was doing for the general good of
France. The Dauphiness chose to spend one whole day
there, and coming back perfectly enchanted with the new
excitement, so stirred up the King's curiosity, that he had
his coach driven out to Noisy, with one or two carefully
chosen gentlemen of his suite, on whose perfect propriety
he could rely. When the royal coach drove up to the
gates of Noisy, and the attendants clamorously cried out,
" The King ! the King ! open the gates ! *' the portress
looked through the wicket, but, though scared and trembling
at her own boldness, said only that she would let the
Superior know, and hurried away, leaving the King quite
delighted at her perfect drill, and auguring from it the
general good discipline of the house. He chose to be
present at several of .the class lessons, visited the chapel
with the whole school, when his satisfaction was confirmed
by the fact that not a single girl's head was turned to look
at him, which was certainly a crowning triumph of discipline.
When he next saw Madame de Maintenon, he told her
how pleased he had been with the order of Noisy, and said
that he should like to do something more for the institu-
tion. With great discretion and self-restraint, for her
delight was extreme, she again put before him all the
reasons for endowing the school munificently, pointing out
the numerous instances that had come to her knowledge of
the poverty-stricken condition of their noblest old families,
and the neglected education of their daughters, upon whom
the future of France, as to the state of its wives and mothers,
so vitally depended. If the women of France were
90 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
ignorant, irreligious, and degraded, the consequences must
necessarily be disastrous to the whole kingdom.
The King heard her with great attention ; but on re-
ferring the subject to de Louvois, that great and almost
autocratic minister threw cold water upon entering on fresh
expenses, after spending so much upon costly wars. Louis
himself felt that this was a just plea, and he added to
Madame de Maintenon, "And there never yet has been
any Queen of France who undertook such a thing as this."
But upon this vital point there was no yielding in
Madame de Maintenon. Queen or no Queen, she knew
her object and its magnitude too well to be driven from it
by any obstacles. Without the slightest irritation, im-
patience, or undue insistence, she yet returned again and
again quietly to the subject, reminding the King of all
their former conversations upon the real good of the
country, and its restoration to a sound state, and with
heartfelt, yet respectful enthusiasm, declared that a
thoroughly good education for women would of itself
renew the whole kingdom to a solid Christian life.
Her victory at length was complete. Louis was not
only convinced, but won, and he laid the matter himself
before his council, where it was finally decided that funds
should be forthcoming for receiving two hundred and fifty
well-born young ladies into a sufficient house, where they
should be lodged, fed, clothed, and taught up to the age of
twenty years. Some suitable body or community of ladies
should be entrusted with this education, for which special
constitutions and rules should be framed, and consisting of
thirty-six nuns or religious women, and twenty-four lay
sisters to do the manual work.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, gi
The King's wish was to found this house in Versailles
Itself, but Madame de Maintenon wisely urged that it
would not be well to have the girls exposed to the frequent
visit of Court ladies and the dissipation of Court gossip,
and Louis therefore ordered de Louvois and Mansart, his
own architect, to make a complete search through the
neighbouring country for a suitable house. They fixed
upon the old abbey of St. Cyr, about three miles from
Versailles, where there was good water, a great requisite in
those days. But, excepting for this one advantage, it was
not a good selection, and probably de Louvois never took
heartily to the work, for the abbey land was bleak and
marshy, and, though a great deal of money was spent in
draining it and making it healthy, it was always damp and
cold. Part of the land belonged to the Marquis de Brisson,
and part to the ancient abbey of Benedictine nuns, said
to have been founded by le bon rot Dagobert Both the
buildings and the nuns seem to have become moss-grown ;
but when the King proposed to them to buy their abbey
and remove them to Paris, they raised a great outcry,
and besought him to leave them in their undisturbed
solitude. The imperious King was minded to carry the
matter with a high hand, but Madame de Maintenon gently
interposed, and begged that St. Cyr might not be founded
upon any acts of harshness or possible pain to these aged
women. The Marquis de Brisson's portion of the abbey
lands, therefore, were bought for ninety-one thousand
livres, and thus the school, or what we should now call the
College, of St. Cyr became a royal foundation in the year
1686.
Mansart received the King's orders to build the house,
92 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
and Louis would have had it designed with great magnifi-
cence, especially the chapel. But here, again, Madame de
Maintenon*s gentle counsels of wisdom prevailed, for, as
she said, " they did not want either a palace or a convent,
but only large space for convenience," and that money
ought not to be lavished upon outside show. Also, by one
of those inspirations which shows the true genius of the
King, he said that as the institution was intended to relieve
the military nobles of France and the chief officers of the
army, the army itself should be called upon to put a hand
to the work. For then, as now, French soldiers were con-
spicuous for an aptness for many trades, and for handling
tools well. There were chosen out, therefore, nine hundred
bricklayers, four hundred carpenters, four hundred stone-
cutters, and so on, till an army of two thousand five hun-
dred soldier-workmen was encamped about Versailles and
Bouviers, and priests to say Mass for them, during the
building of St. Cyr. For some unexplained reason, Mansart
did his part very badly, and instead of building upon the
slope of the hill, where the ground was dry, he laid his
foundations at the foot of it, in the marsh, so that the
building was continually delayed by the incoming water
and the necessity for constant repairs. He also neglected
to overlook the works, and carelessly allowed green wood
to be used, so that in ten years* time the whole of the roof-
trees had to be renewed. Probably he was annoyed by the
sense of Madame de Maintenon's antagonism, for she mis-
trusted him, and said that he never dealt honourably with
the King.
But while St. Cyr was building, as the French them-
selves say, tant Men que maly the King's whole mind was
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 93
engrossed with the constitutions to be drawn up for the
teaching community, and a note in his own hand, of which
the fac-simile is still in the archives of the Prefecture at
Versailles, shows his remarkable insight and sagacity.
CHAPTER VIII.
1686—1687.
Having taken this matter seriously in hand, Louis resolved
to leave nothing undone to make St. Cyr a solid and
permanent benefit to the country, so as to be as far as
possible independent of the moods of his successors. He
therefore made over to the foundation the seigneury or
lordship, with its rents and twenty thousand livres from
other property not belonging. He also suppressed the title
of the abbey of St. Denis, which had been of late chiefly
held by unworthy hands, latterly by the notorious Cardinal
de Retz, and obtained leave of the Pope to appropriate
the revenues of the abbey to St. Cyr. Then, as even these
rich endowments proved to be insufficient, a further annual
sum of thirty thousand livres was assigned from the taxes
of Paris to the new foundation.
The completion and furnishing of the interior of the
buildings were happily left in Madame . de Maintenon's
hands. She herself, her steward, and her most perfect
of French maids, Mdlle. Balbien, whom St. Simon calls
"a half fairy," whom the royal princesses delighted to
caress, and before whom even State ministers bent with
profound bows, made all the arrangements and fitted up
the house. They bought or fitted in beds, bedding, furni-
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 95
ture, carpets, hangings, linen, clothing, church vestments,
books, and all the infirmary appliances, at a cost of one
hundred and fifty thousand livres. Madame de Maintenon
was delighted to observe that there was not a single inch
of gilding or marble to be seen throughout the house,
except upon the altar of the chapel ; while her tasteful
arrangement of the four school colours in the various class-
rooms, wardrobe-rooms, carpets, and hangings, made
everything fresh and bright, and gay as a parterre of
flowers. One lady friend specially dilated upon the effect
produced by the neat display of the girls* frocks, with their
class-ribbons, in the open wardrobes, veritably making
them "like the shops in the Palais." That meant the
Palais de Justice, where the brilliant shop-windows then
delighted the eyes of the Parisians.
All these details of arrangement and organization, so
dear to the French mind, and so certain to be exquisitely
complete, were yet only child's play to the weighty work
of drawing up the constitutions and rules for the teaching
community.
Louis XIV. was never a cordial friend to convents or
nuns. Monastic life had not much attraction for him, and,
as far as he was able, he had sought to lessen the number
of religious houses in France. Nor, considering the sad
and humbling details, so copiously recorded in his reign, of
many of the abbeys and monasteries, is it surprising that
he should take this view, or act upon it ; for whatever his
sagacious eye saw amiss, his strong hand must at once put
down. The number of family " abbeys," both of men and
women, had often led to appointments of ecclesiastics and
the reception of nuns when only children and without the
96 MADAME DE MAIXTEyOX.
slightest vocation to the life. Consequently, utter weariness
and disgust had led to idle relaxation, profuse gossiping,
foolish and injurious intercourse \*'ith the outer worid, and
the commission of much gross sin. And perhaps, beyond
every other feeling, Louis held the education afforded to
girls by most of the existing convents in utter contempt.
The childish and inadequate books that were used, the
exclusion of everything like literature, the multiplication
of mere formal devotions, and the total ignorance of the
duties and claims of life in which the girls were brought up,
filled him with disgust, and he was at first firmly resolved
that St Cyr should never be erected into a convent, nor
should the community established in it practise conventual
rules, recite office, or wear a conventual habit As -there
was to be much genuine teaching and the fatigue of
watching over a great number of children, the way of life
should be made reasonably comfortable and easy, without
the austerities of a convent, and the women admitted to
form the community would be required to be fully per-
suaded that their first duty was to bring up young ladies
in the fear of God, and fitted in all ways to fill a distin-
guished position in the world.
Then came the great question of vows. Should they
be simple * or solemn vows ?
The King inclined to the simple, Madame de Maintenon
to the greater stability of the solemn vows ; and whatever
may be thought of the unconventional spectacle of a couple
of lay people sitting down to arrange the basis of a new
* Simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are taken generally for
a time, and can be dissolved by a bishop ; solemn vows are taken for life, and
can be dissolved by the Pope only.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 97
religious community, it must at least be conceded that they
were far more widely and accurately instructed upon such
subjects than the generality of men and women are now.
Madame de Maintenon largely shared the King's feelings
as to the idleness or silliness {sottise) of the generality of
nuns, and was as fully averse to making over St Cyr to
any existing community or body. She therefore relin-
quished her desire for solemn vows, " because it was neces-
sary to avoid the pettiness and narrowness of convents,
and a community bound by solemn vows, isolated alto-
gether from the world, would once more tend to bring up
the girls with only a conventual education and manners."
It seems that the matter was referred, at this stage, to
P^re de la Chaise, who supported this opinion : —
Girls are better brought up by people belonging to the [outer]
world. The object of the foundation [St. C)n*] is not to multiply
convents, which multiply enough of themselves, but to give well-
educated girls to the State. There are enough good nuns, and
not enough good mothers of families. St. Cyr will bring forth
great virtues, and great virtues, instead of being shut up in the
cloister, should be used to sanctify the world.
After this single ecclesiastical intervention, Madame de
Maintenon and Madame de Brinon set to work together
and drew up the constitutions of St. Cyr, the record of
which remains as witness to the sagacity, good sense, and
singular knowledge of the subject shown by all concerned
in the work. It will hereafter be seen that essential
modifications were made by the bishops consulted, and
that Madame de Maintenon had cause to forego many of
her most rooted prepossessions and repugnances.
When the sketch had been fully drawn out, the King
H
93 MADAME DE MAIXTEXOX.
sent for Madame de Brinon to his pri\Tite cabinet, where
it was read aloud and explained, and the comments of the
King were added. It is significant that the man's part in
the business was that "he struck out, above all, the minute
observances." The King was ver>' much in earnest about
the dress of the teaching body, who were, finally, to be
distinguished as " Dames de St Louis." This habit, which
was to be " grave and modest, without being conventual,"
was sketched out by the two ladies, and, being then modi-
fied and retouched by the King's own hand, was worn at
SL Cyr as long as he lived.
The Dames de St. Louis were never to be addressed as
"Mother" or "Sister," but always as " Madame," with the
family name. During the first year of the foundation, a
gold cross was ordered to be made, and offered by the
community to Madame de Maintenon, engraved with a
motto by Racine, applicable, in the questionable taste of
the day, both to the cross and the foundress of the house : —
** Elle est notre guide fidelle,
Notre felicite vient d'elle. "
Madame de Maintenon gave this cross to Madame de
Glapion when she became Superior of St. Cyr, and it was
carefully handed on to her successors.
The new constitutions were sent to the Bishop of
Chartres (Des Marais) and to Pere de La Chaise, and
afterwards to the Abbd Gobelin, to be read to Racine and
Despr^aux * for the correction of the language. Madame
de Maintenon at the same time wrote most characteristic-
ally to Racine, begging of him "not to spoil the ideas
and expressions for the sake of over-purity (purism) of
* Boileau.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 99
language ; for you know," she added, " that in anything
women write there are always a thousand faults of grammar,
but, with your leave, there is a charm in them that is rare
in the writings of men." It must have comforted her to
find that both Racine and Boileau much admired the
style of the constitutions as they were drawn up, only
altering the turn of a few sentences. They were then sent
to the Pope for his approval, which was cordially given.
Letters patent were taken out, issued by the King to the
" House and Community of St. Louis," and the terms of
the ordinance that founded this great institution are full of
dignity.
All the public acts of Louis XIV. are stamped with the
same vivid sense of the inherent grandeur, power, and
creative functions of kingship, and perhaps nowhere has
this sense formulated itself in stronger or nobler terms than
in these documents. So pregnant with life and reality are
the repeated terms in which he speaks of the glory of that
great kingship over a noble people, of the honour and
responsibilities of the French name, and of the lasting
consequences of a solid, elevated, and Christian education
to the women of France, that his words should have power
to stir up once more those grand traditions which now
seem buried in sleep or death.
Thirteen articles were finally drawn up, arranging, be-
sides all the regulations for the Dames de St. Louis, that
two hundred and fifty " damoiselles " should be received at
St. Cyr, from all parts of France, and fed, clothed, and
taught, absolutely free of cost, provided that they were
" noble " (able to prove four descents on the father's side),
that their fathers had borne arms for France, and that they
lOO MADAME DE MAINTENON.
themselves were not under seven or over twelve years
old. The said damoiselles could remain at St. Cyr till the
age of twenty, unless their parents arranged for them a
marriage at an earlier age, or there were grave reasons
for sending them home. No property or gifts of money
were to be received by any of the dames or damoiselles,
except from a king or queen of France, or " from Madame
de Maintenon, whose care and labour had founded the
community." If there happened to be any overplus from
the revenues, dowries might be given out of it for marriages
or vocations to a convent ; but, in the latter case, the
damoiselles must be received into the royal abbeys. Two
Masses were to be offered daily in the house for the follow-
ing noble and most touching intention : —
That it may please God to give Us and Our successors the
necessary light to govern the State according to the laws of justice,
and the grace of increasing His worship and exalting the Church
in Our Kingdom and the lands and lordships under Our obedience,
and to give Him thanks for the graces shed upon Us, upon Our
royal house and Our dominions. Given at Versailles in the
month of June, the year of grace 1686, and the forty-fourth of Our
reign.
(Signed) Louis.
(And lower down) By the King. Colbert.
The King offered Madame de Maintenon the title and
honour, publicly given, of " Foundress of the House of St.
Louis ; " but, while expressing her deep sense of gratitude,
she declined, as usual, anything that attracted public notice
and praise to herself. Louis therefore drew up a brief,
giving her the full powers, honours, and prerogatives of
foundress in the community, and rooms and maintenance
MADAME DE MAINTENON. lOI
for life in the house. With the Pope's approval, the Bishop
of Chartres also instituted her the " spiritual superior " of
the House of St. Louis, though it is not quite clearly
indicated what functions the title embraced, probably those
of supervision and appeal. Abb^ Gobelin was made the
ecclesiastical superior of the house, and M. Delpech the
first administrator or bursar for the temporal affairs, A
coat of arms was also blazoned for St Cyr, a cross semie
with fleurs-de-lys, surmounted by the royal crown.
Meanwhile Madame de Maintenon was closely occupied
with the teaching department, which was to be the core of
the work. She examined and chose out several of the
steadiest and most promising scholars at Noisy, and a few
young ladies that she knew who were attracted by the
work of teaching, and of these she formed the nucleus of a
kind of noviceship, under Madame de Brinon's care, for
nine months* probation and study. They were carefully
trained in the theory and practice of teaching, in the duties
of the house, retreat, prayer, conference on religious
subjects and their special life, and the nature of the three
vows to be thereafter made. In these instructions Madame
de Maintenon seems personally to have taken great part,
and throughout the whole story of St. Cyr we become
aware of a largeness of view and depth of knowledge and
sagacity in the ecclesiastics and women of the seventeenth
century that would be far to seek in our own day. One of
the young probationers, Madame de P^rou, says that it
was very much urged upon them in these instructions to
be upright, straightforward, and very true and simple in all
their dealings, for this was much and continually insisted
on by Madame de Maintenon.
102 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
When the nine months' probation was at an end, the
candidates were examined by the Grand- Vicar of Chartres,
who chose out four for profession. These four, therefore,
took the three simple vows, and a fourth vow to educate
girls. Madame de Maintenon gave them the veil, cross,
and cloak, after which they were ranked as choir-Dames,
with power to add to their number. They accordingly
elected eight others ; and these twelve, with Madame de
Brinon as superior and Madame de Loubert as her
assistant, formed the first community of the Dames de St.
Louis at St. Cyr.
There was no lack of publicity in establishing the new
royal foundation. From all parts of France applications
for the admission of girls had poured in, and a crowd of
the daughters of impoverished nobles and high officers of
the army had been brought to Paris and lodged in the
various convents, to be examined as to their qualifications
by the King himself, especially with regard to their
genuine poverty and the reality of their " four descents."
When this considerable business of two hundred and fifty
qualifications had been made out, an extraordinary cere-
monial took place at Noisy. The whole of the royal
coaches, crowded with glittering lacqueys and escorted by
the Swiss Guard, followed the ecclesiastical procession,
bearing the cross, with many banners, and the relics of St.
Candida. The Veni Creator was intoned ; the whole way
from Noisy to St. Cyr was lined with eager crowds of
spectators, and it was a general festival for an enormous
concourse of people.
The Dames themselves record that when they entered
the house at St. Cyr, they felt " as if they had come into
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I03
paradise." The vast, fresh rooms and corridors, the high,
airy dormitories, with their spotless beds, and the gay and
tasteful colouring of all that met the eye, delighted even
the most fastidious critics. The bedsteads painted in the
four colours ; the hangings of the same tints ; the vast stores
of exquisitely arranged house-linen, which are traditionally
said to have lasted for fifty years ; the walls covered with
bright maps, bookshelves, and pictures, arranged with neat-
ness and symmetry in order to form the taste of the
pupils, were indeed a pleasure to all eyes.
Madame de Maintenon herself said, " What gives me
such pleasure in looking round these walls is the knowledge
that here I see my refuge and my place of burial." It was
well for her that she possessed such superabundant courage
and strength, for the young community was so unformed
and so terribly ignorant that she was obliged to bear the
burden of the whole house on her one pair of shoulders.
Every other day it was found necessary for her to be at
St. Cyr from six o'clock in the morning till six in the
evening, going from class-room to class-room, from kitchen
to infirmary, where she alternately nursed, washed, and
dressed the children herself, and showed each ,one in
charge how to do her work.
It was also found necessary to bring in some of the
Sisters of Charity (St. Vincent de Paul) to give lessons in
nursing and making up and mixing medicines, and some
ladies from an Ursuline institution to teach the classes
properly. Madame de Maintenon herself gave lessons to
the young Dames in writing and spelling, as well as in
keeping up order and discipline without harshness. She
might w^ll say, towards the close of her laborious life, that
104 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
she was " able to swallow any amount of praise as to her
gifts for education, for she was sure she knew a great deal
about it" She was very much helped at that time by a
friend, who afterwards brought her much trouble, the
Chanoinesse Madame de Maisonfort, and by her devoted
maid, Nanon Balbien, who turned out to be an excellent
bursar and steward. Unfortunately Madame de Brinon
did not prove so satisfactory at this stage of affairs, and as
she was the only nun of the company, her failure was the
more unexpected and regrettable.
Either she had never had or had lost her special vocation,
and had become intoxicated with the King's approval and
with her elevation to be superior of the new royal house.
It is certain, in any case, that she acquired an inordinate
love of worldly, gossiping society, began to pose as a
great lady, and even as an " abbess,'* and did a vast amount
of mischief by her example in the house. Just now it is
undeniable that the train of visitors of high degree were
enough to upset even a strong brain. The troop was
headed by that august personage, second only to Louis
himself, Mdlle. de Montpensier, the " Grande Mademoiselle "
of France ; and next, in a sort of ironical contrast
which is very saddening, the disgraced King's mistress,
Madame de Montespan, who could not restrain her
curiosity to see with her own eyes what her supplanting
former friend had done. Probably the advent of both
these visitors had been made known beforehand to Madame
de Maintenon, as, for different reasons, she wished to avoid
receiving either. At any rate, she did not go to St. Cyr
on those several days. But she was there to receive with
open arms her own old special charge, the Due du Maine,
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I OS
then sixteen, who warmly expressed his boyish delight at
being initiated into the mysteries of the great unknown
world of a girFs school Then followed " all the other
princes " — royal, of course ; and next the great Court ladies,
bishops, and prelates of high birth and name.
All this time the King was laid up with serious illness,
and it was September* before he was able to pay that
culminating visit for which all St Cyr was impatiently,
nay breathlessly, waiting. It came at last ; and Louis,
accompanied by the Mesdames de Maintenon, de Mont-
chevreuil, and de Gramont, was met in the courtyard by
clergy and cross-bearer in full state, and at the doors of
inclosure by Madame de Brinon, who, still " the new Bour-
daloue," pronounced an address of her own composing,
with the Dames behind her in their long, trailing cloaks,
and with lighted tapers in their hands. When the King
reached the noble central corridor, all the school was there,
drawn up in two lines, dressed in full uniform, with eyes
modestly cast down, and in mortal terror lest any un-
becoming, inconvenable gesture should mar the effect.
The magnificent King passed very slowly down between
the lines, and those eagle eyes scanned the demeanour of
his damoiselles very keenly, while the Te Deum was being
chanted, and the whole cortige entered the chapel, where
the ceremonial ended with the ^^ Domine salvumfac regent''
The girls, then, led by their class-mistresses, filed before
the King, each making her profound and much-practised
curtsy, and passed out into the garden. When the King
shortly afterwards joined them there, he was deeply moved
as the burst of bright, fresh young voices went up in the
* St. Cyr was opened in July.
I06 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
anthem, so spirit-stirring to us all, and which was a house-
hold sound for more than a hundred years at St. Cyr : —
** Grand Dieu, sauvez le Roi !
Grand Dieu, vengez le Roi !
Vive le Roi !
Qu'k jamais glorieux,
Louis victor ieux,
Voye ses ennemis
Toujours soumis.
Grand Dieu, sauvez le Roi !
Grand Dieu, vengez le Roi !
Vive le Roi ! " •
After visiting the class-rooms, dormitories, and in-
firmaries minutely, and pointing dut several things still
capable of improvement, the King gathered the young
community about him in their own common room, and
discoursed to them admirably upon the responsibilities
and importance of education, specially observing that it
is one of the greatest austerities that can be practised,
inasmuch as it is lifelong and can never be relaxed.
Then he took leave of them, smiling graciously as he
passed again the crowd of young, bright faces that his own
hand had gathered together from all parts of France, and
took his seat in the coach. For the first time, then, Louis,
who, as St. Simon notes, " was always master of himself
and his countenance," gave way to his deep emotion, and,
bowing profoundly to Madame de Maintenon, said, " I
thank you, madame, for the pleasure you have given me
to-day."
* The controversy regarding the originality of this famous cantique cannot
be entered upon here. Whether Handel first heard it at St. Cyr in 1721, and
borrowed it for George I., or whether the French borrowed it from " God save
the King" cannot be argued. The Dames de St. Louis attributed the melody
to LuUi.
MADAME DE MAINTENOM, I07
In Striking contrast to this visit, and certainly a whole-
some reminder, was the death and burial, a few days
afterwards, of one of the community. It was a young
novice who had been ill at Noisy, and who now, after the
last sacraments and the unfailing ministrations of Madame
de Maintenon at her bedside, made her happy end. The
school again collected in the long corridor, kneeling with
lighted tapers as the processional cross and the train of
clergy passed, and followed the bier to the pretty burial-
ground outside the chapel. For more than a hundred
years afterwards, many an innocent child and many a
faithful and aged worker in the vineyard followed that
novice, the firstfruits of the community, and took their
place round the great stone cross of St. Cyr.
That solemn and beautiful burial-ground was desecrated
and despoiled at the Revolution of 1 793, till it became only
a sordid, dreary field, without a single indication to show
where the dead lay.
CHAPTER IX.
1687 — 1690.
The study of Madame de Maintenon's life and character
should not dwindle to a history of St. Cyr, but as it is
certain that this institution grew more and more to be
entirely the heart of her life, and an oasis of refuge from
her wearisome toil, it is not out of place to follow its de-
velopment. And it is the more interesting, because in
regard to it Madame de Maintenon not only made serious
mistakes, but humbly retrieved them, which is not very
common with highly cultivated and fastidious women.
Her great aim was, as has been seen, to avoid the scanty,
superficial education then afforded by convent schools, and
the narrow, unreasoning, external devotions inculcated by
the nuns. The instruction at St Cyr was to be "large,
solid, wide of range, free, and suitable to the tone of general
good society." The girls were therefore encouraged to a
good deal of choice as to their studies, their modes of
recreation, and their intercourse with each other and their
mistresses. Everything was done to train them to look at
things from a wide point of view, to aim at a lofty standard,
and to free themselves from minute details, too rigid obser-
vances, and anything like vulgar and narrow prejudices.
Manners, personal habits, and language were strictly
MADAME DE MAINTENON, lOQ
scrutinized, and even their tastes in dress were cultivated.
" Beauty is one of God*s gifts," said Madame de Maintenon
to them, and she therefore encouraged the girls to add
their own fancies and little vanities to the school uniform.
She herself made them presents of ribbons, laces, beads,
and many other pretty things, saying that "she liked to
see her girls even a little coquette** and growing up to
adorn such society as she herself had charmed in the salons
of her own early years. She watched her girls' conduct
and conversation with one another as the most careful
mother would have done, and reproved gently all displays
of temper, caprice, idleness, or self-seeking vanity. Her
whole teaching aimed at forming a noble, reasonable
character, which should help them as girls to sift out their
foolish pride and vanity, and make them upright, generous,
tender women, forbearing and useful to others.
It was, in truth, a most beautiful and elevated plan of
education ; but its very largeness contained within itself
failure, as it always must where large numbers of young
people are congregated together, and bad and good fish
narrowly inclosed in the one net. After some years it
was found necessary to introduce at St Cyr much more
restraint, and a large amount of alterations and restrictions
were eventually added to the original rules.
The world of letters, meanwhile, owed much to St. Cyr,
for to it is due the creation of Racine's grand and touching
dramas of " Esther " and " Athalie." The gift of language
had been so cultivated in France during the seventeenth
century, that it may almost be said to have been perfected.
The contrast between the ordinances of Louis XIV. and
the letters of the women of his reign, and the speech and
no MADAME DE MAINTENON,
spelling of the rule of our own William, Mary, Queen
Anne, and the first Georges, is indeed humiliating. In the
conversation of the salons^ language was polished to the
finest brilliancy, without degenerating into foppish or feeble
effeminacy. It is as brief, pregnant, and nervous in St.
Simon, Madame de S^vign^, and Madame de Maintenon,
as it is witty, sparkling with enjoyment, and full of point.
Madame de Maintenon was determined to secure this most
true and rare accomplishment of language for St. Cyr.
Racine notes that she obliged the girls to write compo-
sitions as conversations upon their various duties, the
events of the day, or the subjects of their reading, upon
which she commented and made corrections. They learnt
by heart and recited fine passages of poetry and plays, and
during the summer months Madame de Maintenon spent
much of the day in the gardens at St. Cyr, sitting under
the trees, and calling up first one group or class of girls
and then another, to hear them recite or to relate to them
scenes of her past experience in society, and opening their
minds to historical events, anecdotes and sayings of
eminent people, and passages of poetry. Madame de
Brinon, fired with emulation, then conceived the idea of
composing for the school tragedies of her own, " exceed-
ingly edifying," and chiefly on Scripture subjects. But
Madame de Maintenon finding both her ear and her
taste sadly disturbed by these fine plays, she gently
begged Madame de Brinon to lay them aside, and to
confine herself to the lighter subjects of Corneille and
Racine, herself carefully looking through the plays to be
given. *The girls were allowed to have " Cinna," " Andro-
maque," and " Iphig^nie," put into their own hands, but
MADAME DE MAINTENO.V. \ \ \
after acting the whole of " Andromaque " before Madame
de Maintenon, she thus wrote to Racine : —
Our little girls acted " Andromaque " yesterday, and acted m
well that they shall never do it again, nor any one of your play*,
But while thus earnestly bent upon shielding her flock
from the pernicious stirrings of latent passionn, Madanfa
de Maintenon yearned for some further means of expand-
ing and enlarging their repertory of ideas, and to »crvc a«
more serious and engrossing recreations, csiKrcially for the
elder girls, who during their last years at St Cyr, when
they were between the ages of sixteen to twenty, began to
find the school routine extremely monotonous and wcrari'
some. She had also much at heart the imminent dangler
of throwing young women, helple^usly innocent and un*
warned, into the evils of the society of that day, m this wa«
one of the chief dangers after the exiitting c^mytni educa^
tion was completed She consulted Racine, and tfrfg^
him to undertake for her girls some dramatic compo!$itiofi,
mingled with music, the subject of which %hmAA be religious.
Racine felt that to come down from tli^ cr^atiofi of \m
world-known tragedies to a scbool-girl's play wa$ too %f€^t
a descent to ask of him, and be, in his tnro^ took emsm^l
of BoSesm^ who at once advised a flat r€(m^ A Iht
refusal to Ifadanse de Haintenon va.<$, boore^^^ too ^i^jfm
a matter to be r&aHmrtA ^ispam^ m vmv ^A ttJftg^ Kiffi^, ;«wv^
Racine phm^gied Mto l^Mc^ r((5t<gatf'da(^y aunk^ fel 1 wj^m 1^
Book of Esltloeir^ ^sUdb M ^mo^ m^m^ if^ i^^^^m^^ Wm
good <»ppOfftosi!Diita(fi&
To begin wMa^ tSwai^ t»r»^ iSm j^^femk^ %iwr^ ^J^ efc
Idi^ in aft bii nMwia^ anaJ it&^ ^\V(V (<p(»»«$>, '^%c% w^oillr^
112 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
give scope for many delicate and flattering allusions. He
threw together a few scenes and read them to Boileau,
who was amazed at their beauty and promise, and became
as keen an advocate now for the play as he had before
urged against it Racine next carried his sketch to
Madame de Maintenon, whose acute mind at once seized
its value, and urged him to finish the play as soon as he
could. There was the framework of the Greek chorus in
Racine's mind, which he felt could be adopted satisfactorily
in " Esther,!* and would open effectively to the pupils the
fuller appreciation of the scope of the Greek drama. In a
few months' time the great play was actually completed,
and Racine at once, with the help of Boileau, went to St.
Cyr and cast the parts of the tragedy. It is impossible to
over-estimate the culture and general enlightenment to the
girls during the training that followed under such direction.*
The prologue was given to Madame de Maintenon's
niece, Mdlle. de Mursay, afterwards Madame de Caylus,t
* The names of the chief actors in ** Esther " were carefully preserved.
Esther, Mdlle. de Veilhenne ; Assu^rus, Mdlle. de Lastic ; MardocheCy Mdlle.
de Galpion ; Aman, Mdlle. d*Abancourt ; Elise, Mdlle. de Maisonfort. Five
of the principal actors afterwards became nuns.
t Mademoiselle de Mursay, afterwards Vicomtesse de Caylus, was a grand-
daughter of Madame de Maintenon's Huguenot aunt, Madame de Villette, and
was thus her niece only according to the reckoning of relationships in Brittany,
being the daughter of her first cousin. Her beauty, and still more her extra-
ordinary grace and charm, won the heart of M. de Boufflers, afterwards Duke
and Marshal of France. But Madame de Maintenon, true to the last particular
to her virtue of moderation, when M. de Boufflers made his petition, answered
him in these words: ** Sir, my niece is not a match good enough for you, but
I feel what you have done out of regard to me none the less, and I shall always
look upon you as my nephew."
Madame de Maintenon took special charge also of another granddaughter
of Madame de Villette, Mdlle. de Sainte-Hermine, who also married (the
Comte de Mailly) from St. Cyr. .
It was most grievous that, after all the love and care lavished upon her.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. II3
then just seventeen, who afterwards played in the part of
Esther before the King.
There never was (says St Simon) so spiriiuel^ so touching, so
speaking a face, as hers; never such freshness, such grace, or
such mind ; never such gaiety or charm. Never was any creature
so bewitching. . . . She surpassed all the most famous theatrical
actresses, and surpassed even herself when acting Esther in pre-
sence of the King.
Madame de Maintenon was most anxious at that time
to wean Louis XIV. from his love of costly and ruinous
public spectacles, to which he had accustomed himself,
chiefly as a distraction to that terrible disease of ennui^
of being weary of his life from having exhausted all its
sensations and experience. She was determined to make
the entertainment at St. Cyr such as he would both ap-
prove and relish. " Esthfer " was therefore splendidly got
up and put upon the stage. The dresses were all of silk
(very costly then), and set off with very good paste and
genuine jewellery and gold. The scenes were beautifully
painted by Borin ; the King's own musicians were in the
orchestra ; and Nivers, the musical professor, accompanied
on the harpsichord. The theatre was arranged on the
second floor of the house, at the top of the grand staircase,
which ended in a spacious landing, divided for the occasion
into stage and auditorium. The community and school
filled three tribunes, and the girls were ranged according
to their own colours. The whole theatre was lit with large
chandeliers in the pretty old style, with cascades of falling
lustres that multiplied the lights of the wax candles.
Mdlle. de Mursay*s marriage was one of the worst that she could have made.
The Vicomte de Caylus was a rake, a spendthrift, and a drunkard, and his wife
was obliged to leave him.
114 MADAME DE MAINTENOy,
The splendid preparations, with all the excitement and
confusion they involved, no doubt precipitated the necessity
for many of the fast-approaching restrictions in the schools,
and it is sad to have to relate that before the great climax
of the representation of " Esther " in the royal presence, the
" new Bourdaloue," her sermons, her tragedies, and her
theology, had all vanished from St. Cyr. Madame de
Brinon, served with a lettre de cachet^ had been deposed, and
had gone away,* and there was scarcely time to regret the
loss, for the breathless announcement was made that the
King had fixed the day for witnessing the representation
of "Esther " by the school. To be exact upon so momentous
a date, it was January 26, 1689, at two o'clock in the
afternoon. Again the gold-liveried outriders and runners
preceded the glittering coaches, and pealed at the gates of
St. Cyr, and this time Louis was accompanied by the
Dauphin, the Prince de Cond^, the Bishops of Meaux
(Bossuet) and Chalons, and a circle of the discreetest
gentlemen of the Court. An arm-chair was placed just a
little behind the King's seat, on one side, for Madame de
Maintenon, that she might conveniently answer all his
questions and attend to his remarks.
The representation was an immense success. The
* Madame de Brinon *s character, long discerned with such perspicacity by
Madame de Maintenon, had rapidly deteriorated while superior at St. Cyr.
She assumed a great haughtiness of manner, arrogated 4he position of being
the only exponent of the rules, and led the elder girls to a tone exactly opposing
that which Madame de Maintenon had laid down. There was no weakness
of temporizing in her when this had become clear, and the lettre de cachet was
acted upon so swiftly and quietly, that Madame de Brinon was many miles on
her journey before her departure was known. She finally retired to the abbey
of Maubuisson, where the Princess Palatine was superior ; and there, in the
high society she truly loved, and in a learned correspondence with Leibnitz
and Bossuet, she found and ended her natural career.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. II5
King was absorbed throughout, enchanted with the pure
flow of the exquisite verse, the perfect young voices and
their harmonious enunciation, the exactness of the chorus,
and the delicate allusions to himself and his victorious wars.
When it was over, he spoke even warmly of the pleasure
it had given him to the community, to the actors, whom
he playfully called round him as his " young daughters of
Sion," and to Racine himself, who, with his simple and
characteristic piety, had gone to the chapel door, to pour
out his fervent thanksgiving that all had gone so welL In
fact, the King could speak and think of nothing but
** Esther," and the whole upper society of Paris raised one
unanimous petitioning cry to be allowed to witness the
play at St. Cyr. Madame de Sdvignd wrote, " The play or
tragedy of * Esther ' has been acted at St. Cyr. The King
thought it admirable. M. le Prince (the Dauphin) shed
tears. Racine has never done anything finer or more
touching. There is a prayer of Esther for Assu^rus that
quite carries one away. I was rather disturbed that a little
girl should act that king, but they say it was very good."
At the next representation there were present, besides a
large royal party, eight Jesuits and the celebrated Madame
de Miramion, whom Madame de S^vign^ calls " a mother
of the Church." On that occasion Madame de Caylus acted,
and filled the part of Esther, Four more representations
followed, and the little girls had become so full of the play
and their parts, that they used to kneel down behind the
scenes and say some prayers that they might make no
mistakes. By this time St. Cyr and " Esther " had become
one of the chief interests of the Court circle, and bishops.
State ministers, men of letters, wits, and Court beauties
Il6 MADAME DE MAJNTENON,
alike, clamoured for admittance. The King's consideration
was so great for Madame de Maintenon and the com-
munity, under these extraordinary circumstances, that he
stood one afternoon himself at the inner door of the
auditorium, barring the entrance with his cane, till all those
whose names were on the list had passed in.
The last representation of " Esther " had the pathetic
interest of being witnessed by our own unfortunate
James 11. and his admirable queen, Mary of Modena, who
had been generously lodged in the palace of St. Germain
by Louis XIV., and treated with great kindness. There
were then three crowned heads among the audience, and
there was also Madame de S^vign^ whose account of the
event, so often told, bears to be told again : —
The King, with that air of being at home which gave him even
a too charming sweetness, came towards our seat ; and when he
had turned, said to me, " Madame, I am sure that you have been
pleased." Without being taken by surprise, I replied, *^ Sire, I am
charmed; I feel more than I can put into words." The King
observed, " Racine has great talents j " and I said, " Sire, he has ;
but, indeed, these young people have also a great deal [of talent],
for they enter into the matter as if they had never done anything
else." His Majesty replied, " That is quite true ; " and he left me
an object of envy, for, as I was almost the only one who had not
been there before, the King was rather pleased to see my real
admiration without fuss or parade. M. le Prince and Madame la
Princesse (Dauphin and Dauphiness) came to say a word to me,
and Madame de Maintenon gave me a lightning flash as she
went away with the King. I made each of them an answer, for I
was in good cue.
That same year Madame de Maintenon wrote to Abb^
Gobelin : —
MADAME DE MAJNTENON. 11/
July 27, 1689.
Do not make yourself uneasy about St. Cyr ; everything there
is going on wonderfully. . . . Piety increases every day, and it is
cultivated in a way that ought to make one hope it will not be a
passing fervour. To-morrow is the Feast of St. Anne and the
birthday of our superior [Madame de Loubert]. She will entertain
the whole house. This is how relaxation and work are mingled.
I am perfectly satisfied. I am not so much satisfied with myself,
and our dear Dames leave me far behind them.
Another letter of that year to one of the Dames shows
Madame de Maintenon fulfilling her office of spiritual
superior of St. Cyr : —
1689.
I shall keep your questions for M. de Fenelon.* . . . He is
writing something for me — and consequently for you — now ; but
in the meanwhile I cannot help telling you that there are many
things in the letter I gave Madame la Chanoinesse [de Maisonfort]
which will answer what you have asked me. That abandonment
to God's will, that perfect indifference to any sort of employment,
provided that these employments belong to our duties and state
of life ; the certainty, if we leave for His sake what seemed to
bring us nearest to Him, that He will be with us and accompany
us in all our actions ; — this confidence, I say, ought to give great
peace to those who live in a large community, and wish to fulfil
their duties without being distinguished from the others. They
will fulfil those duties very perfectly if, after offering up in the
morning, the whole day, and placing themselves again from time to
time in the presence of God, they preserve this peace and spirit
of indifference. They will go with the same good-will to visit the
blue-ribbons,t or to go about the house with a workman ; it will
be equal to them to receive the doctor and to mix the medicines ;
and this indifference as to one occupation' or another will not
hinder their doing their very best in each, leaving success in the
hands of God.
* Fenelon had that year beeik made tutor to the Duke of Burgundy,
t Les bleues — the elders or upper class, so distinguished.
Il8 MADAME DE MAJNTENON,
As to thoughts, it seems to me that there is a sure rule for
knowing whether they come from God, which is to see if they lead
us to our duties. If they disgust us with them, and would per-
suade us that other duties are better, then most certamly those
thoughts are not from God. . . .
Madame de Maintenon still continued to correspond
with Madame de Brinon, and to speak of St. Cyr and her
other interests : —
February 22, 1690.
We are settling the missionary priests [the Lazarist Fathers
Brisacier and Tiberge] at St. Cyr. We have a bishop [of Chartres],
and a holy bishop too. We are obliged to build for the mis-
sionaries ; we have the consent from Rome. You see how much
all this occupies me, without counting the business indoors. I
gave your letters to the Chanoinesse [de Maisonfort] to distribute.
She is more devout, more absent, more delightful, and giddier
than ever. Mdlle. d'Aubign^ is very pretty. She is old for her
age, a very good girl, well taught, and full of her religion. These
are all the news of St. Cyr.
That from Versailles is good, for the King is wonderfully well.
His health and his devoutness grow stronger day by day, and piety
has become the fashion. May God make it real in all those who
profess it ! We are going in a week's time to Compibgne, which
I could well dispense with; but we learn every day from a number
of holy people whom we sometimes see that we must renounce
our own way, and do God's will with a good heart. Mdlle.
Marsilly * makes out that this is what they do at St Cyr; but you
know we could find out that it is older than that . . .
Madame de Maintenon took the greatest interest in
this Mdlle. d'Aubign^ her brother's child. She was put
under the special charge of Nanon Balbien, who chiefly
taught her herself, under her aunt's careful supervision.
After her school life she was married to Comte d'Ayen,
* Madame de Villette, and then Lady Bolingbroke.
MADAME DE MA/XTEXOM \ 10
son of the Due de Noailles. On her approaching mArriA^jr,
Madame de Maintenon wrote to the superior at Sl» I'yr : -
Recommend Mdlle. d'Aubign^ heartily to the pntyon< of
all the house, and ask of God rather to take her otil of this
world than that she should imbibe its spirit. The King Uar
made her a great lady; may it please Ck)d to make her a gotui
Christian !
The new Bishop of Chartres (Des Marais) was ajipohitctl
chiefly by Madame de Maintenon's influence. lie had
been a poor priest of St. Sulpicc (the Sulpicianw wrr(^
beginning to create a new spirit of zeal and piety amofijj
the French clergy), who was much amazed and cxccrdltifjly
averse when he learned the dignity that awaited hirn. He
proved to be a most excellent and vahiabic bishop, And
was a Arm and useful friend to Madame de Maintrnon n^
long as he lived.
That same year the Dauphinefts died. The m«rrin(rr
of the Dauphin to this princess,. the dati^htrr of thr FCl^rf<>r
Ferdinand of Bavaria and Adelaide ffcnriette of Savr»y,
which had promised so much, had not been in any way
successful The Dauphiness shut herself up (frnrrftlly with
a German waiting-woman, callerl Bc*;^*';!?!, with whom shr*
talked German, even when ** Monsei^neur " was prr'*«/'nt,
who did not understand what was said. Uf*f n^m** w^r^
the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Anjoii, and fh^ f /nk^»
of Berry. The Dukeof Anjou hyvtame ovontt»jilly Plillip V.
of Spain. Madame de Maintenon wroff^ on th^ ^/<r?mi/rf»
to the Due de Ridielieu : —
You will have learnt the d/»ath <ff M-id^rn^ !« I ftiuphinf*
Evocy one had been long prepared ff^r if, M»t wr* fVu) nM fWw^ if
I20 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
would come so soon. Please God that she herself was not taken
by surprise. She showed piety and courage. The King saw her
expire, after praying for an hour at the foot of her bed. You
will have heard of the pension he gives Bessola. There is already
a talk of Monseigneur marrying, who has felt more than he has
shown. Good-bye, Duke. The world passes away and we are
passing away with it. The right thing is to think of this. You
know it better than any one, and I do not know what you have
not taught me about these things. I do not forget those happy
times. . . .
She wrote to M. Manceau, her man of business, or agent,
at Maintenon at this time, a letter so full of characteristic
touches and suggestions that it is worth giving entire.
Madame de St. Bazile, of whom she speaks, had been
with Madame de Brinon at Rueil, and left to become the
superior of the Hospitaliferes in the Rue Royale, where, as
Madame Scarron, Madame de Maintenon had once lodged.
1690.
All that you have said to Madame de St. Bazile is right, and
according to what I wished. I strongly approve of your being at
the meeting on Saturday as representing me. It is known that I
wish to support the house, and my position scarcely allows me to
do any good works except at the sound of the trumpet. Take
notice of this, in order that what is given should be givein
thoroughly well; and in working with Madame de St. Bazile,
suggest to her plain, straightforward, and simple methods of
management. She is well-inclined, but people become spoilt
by seeing others act in a different way. It is not enough under-
stood what an art it is to have nothing to reproach one's self with,
nothing to hide, and nothing to fear. Even worldly honour would
give these views ; but we must carry them further, and do every-
thing for God. Do not grudge your time ; it will be well spent,
and you know well how to give it to Him Who alone is worthy to
be served.
CHAPTER X.
1690^-1692.
Early in 1691 the King went to join the army then
besieging Mons, but before he left he went to St. Cyr,
where Madame de Maintenon was to remain in strict
seclusion while he was away. The Dames de St. Louis
were assembled to receive him, and he said to them, indi-
cating Madame de Maintenon, "I am leaving you the
dearest thing I have." She wrote continually to him, as
well as to the Dauphin and the Due du Maine, who
accompanied the King. All the letters of the two last are
preserved at Versailles and Mouchy, but of the King's only
two little notes remain. The whole series of Madame de
Maintenon's are lost.
These are the King's notes : —
April 9, 1691,
Half-past one in the morning.
The capitulation is signed, which ends a very great affair.
To-inorrow I am to have one gate by noon, and the garrison will
go out to-morrow, Tuesday. Return thanks to God for the favours
He has shown me. I think you will be pleased to do so.
Ten o'clock in the morning,
The camp before Mons.
I am writing this note not to lose the ordinary [the daily
courier], for I shall soon send off Delisle, who will take you what
122 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
I think [necessary] for your journey. I am going to visit part
of the army to-day, and shall be ready to set out on Thursday
morning to reach Compi^gne on Saturday evening, when I
shall have the pleasure of seeing you. I hope it will be in good
health.*
During this time of solitude and welcome repose at St.
Cyr it is generally supposed that the well-known prayer
was composed, which bears in itself alone amply con-
vincing evidence of Madame de Maintenon*s real ties with
Louis XIV. :—
O Lord my God, Thou hast placed me where I am. I desire
to worship during all my life Thy providential dispensations
towards me, and I submit myself to them without reserve. Give
me, O my God, the grace fit for the state to which Thou hast
called me, that I may bear in a Christian way its weariness, that
I may sanctify its pleasures, that I may seek in all things Thy
glory, that I may uphold that glory before the princes among
whom Thou hast placed me, and that I may minister to the
King's salvation I Let me never give way to the trouble and
restlessness of an unquiet mind, which grows weary and slackens
in the duties of its state, envying the fancied happiness of other
conditions of life. May Thy will and not mine be done, O
Lord ! The one single good of this life and the next is to submit
to that without reserve. Fill me with that wisdom and those
gifts of Thy Spirit which are needful to me in that high station in
which Thou hast bound me, and make those talents fruitful which
Thou hast bestowed upon me. Thou who holdest the hearts of
kings in Thy hand, open the King's heart that I may instil into
it the good Thou desirest; and grant that I may please him,
comfort him, strengthen him, and even afflict him, when it shall
be for Thy glory. Grant that I may never hide from him what
he ought to know through me, and which others may not have the
courage to tell him. Grant that I may be saved with him, that I
♦ Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 23
may love him in Thee and for Thee, and that he may love me in
the same way. Grant us to walk together in Thy justice, without
reproach, till the day of Thy coming.*
Surely no loving and faithful wife ever breathed a
nobler prayer !
Her duties, incessant as they were towards the King,
did not in any way hinder Madame de Maintenon from
fulfilling those to St. Cyr. She organized a council, con-
sisting of the superior, who presided, the assistant, novice-
mistress, and general mistress of the school, which met
every fortnight to deliberate on the rules, education,
discipline of the house, and general spiritual well-being of
the Dames. The King appointed an extra council for
business, which was placed under the superintendence of
some prudent statesman. Madame de Maintenon rarely
missed assisting at the house council, and was much
occupied during the early times of the foundation with
making arrangements for those girls who, having reached
the age of twenty, could not be returned upon the hands
of destitute parents.
The King was therefore induced to fund a sum of
sixty thousand livres, from which each girl of twenty who
was destitute could receive a dowry of three thousand livres,
that she might either marry or enter some convent. Every
effort was made to save from the house expenses for this
end, so that something could be added to the three thou-
sand livres. The King also persisted in retaining his
rigaks^ about which he was always at variance with Pope
Tlnnocent XI. ; and he thus appointed to the royal abbeys
girls who had been brought up at St. Cyr. Each of the
• Geffiroy. t Certain rights in the royal abbeys.
124 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
girls who left was provided with two good, quiet gowns,
and a supply of under-linen.
Upon Madame de Brinon*s departure there had been a
canonical election for a superior. Madame de Brinon had
been appointed for life, which was a vital mistake, but the
King's authority in her case was sufficient to set that
aside, as the house was not yet constituted under any
obligations of canon law. But as there was now to be a
valid election, and, according to the decrees of Trent, the
Dames were not of sufficient age to elect, the bishop
(Chartres) gave a dispensation, and Madame de Maintenon
as spiritual superior assembled the chapter, but took no
part in the election. Madame de Loubert was then elected
unanimously for three years, and the choice was universally
approved.
The King was delighted, for he knew that Madame de
Maintenon had carefully trained this lady, who had been
associated with her also at Court, and whom she thoroughly
knew. He drove to St. Cyr one day to take Madame de
Maintenon to drive and walk, as he often did, and, going
into the parlour, sent for Madame de Loubert to congratulate
her. He assured her of his regard and protection, and of
his great satisfaction at her election. Madame de Loubert
replied to his flattering courtesy with a modesty and quiet
self-possession that charmed the practised eye of the King,
and proved her to be a worthy pupil of Madame de
Maintenon.
The annexation of the abbey of St. Denis to St. Cyr
had not been accomplished without difficulty. Certain
bulls from Rome were granted to religious houses, in
return for which certain annates were yearly paid by the
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 25
houses to the Holy See. When any such house was to be
suppressed at the sovereign's wish, and its bulls withdrawn,
a lump sum had to be paid to the Pope as compensation.
The compensation sum for withdrawing or cancelling the
bulls for St Denis was fixed at eighty thousand livres, and
Innocent XL, who seemed generally to be at odds with
Louis XIV., positively refused to allow the annexation of
the abbey. He died, however, in 1689, and Alexander
VIII., who succeeded him, was most anxious to heal all
the breaches with France, and as one of his first acts
accorded the permission for St. Cyr.
Moreover, when the French ambassador, the Due de
Chaulnes, was told to notify the Pope's favour at Versailles,
he was also instructed to say that it was granted, not only
on account of the great services done by Louis XIV. for
the faith, but in recognition of the efforts made by Madame
de Maintenon for education, and on account of her general
good influence in France. The Due de Chaulnes wrote to
Madame de Maintenon himself, saying, " The Pope twice
commanded me to let you know that consideration for you
had a large part in his granting the favour." The King
insisted on carrying the whole account of the transaction
to St Cyr himself, and this visit is so characteristic, and so
eminently distinctive of France at that time, that it must
be related in full, as it stands in the annals of St Cyr : —
The King favoured us by coming to announce it himself [the
annexation of St Denis]. After doing us the honour of saluting
us with his usual goodness, he said, " Mesdames, I bring you
good news. The newly elected Pope has granted me the neces-
sary bulls for uniting the abbatial house of St Denis with yours.
The news reached me to-day, and you shall have it set on foot
126 MADAME DE MAINTENON'.
after my journey to Fontainebleau. I should like to be the
bearer myself. ... In the whole course of this establishment I
have had in view only the glory of God, the good of the kingdom,
and the help of the nobles. I conjure them [Madame de Main-
tenon and the Dames de St Louis] in God*s name to second my
views, by grounding themselves more and more in true piety and
in all the virtues and observances of their institute. Then I shall
have no anxieties as to their good education and care of the
young ladies. The chief point in this good work is that all the
Dames should be firmly rooted in the perfection of their state [of
life], or, at least, should continually tend towards it. I hear every
day what gives me pleasure on that point" Madame de Mainte-
non replied, " It is impossible that there should not be good nuns
of St. Louis after such solid instructions." The King made
answer, " I am not eloquent enough to exhort them well ; but I
hope that by dint of repeating to them the motives for this
foundation, I may be able to persuade and induce them to be
always faithful in carrying them out I shall spare neither my
visits nor my words, however little useful they may be, to bring
about this good result"
Madame de Maintenon then gave the King several interesting
details, both of the community and the children ; on which he
observed, "I am not surprised to find so much virtue among
ladies who have wholly consecrated themselves to God, and who
ought to be wholly occupied with perfecting themselves and
giving a good example to the whole house ; but what I admire,
and what edifies me exceedingly, is to find the same piety in
young ladies who are still only children."
Madame de Maintenon then said, " You ought not to regret,
Sire, all you have spent upon this foundation, since it has turned
out so happily for God's glory." " Far from regretting it," the
King replied, " if it were all to begin again, I should do the same
with all my heart" Madame de Maintenon went on, "We cannot
flatter ourselves that, out of so great a number of girls who will be
here, none of them should stray from the paths of piety and virtue
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 12/
in which we strive to make them walk ; but it will make it difficult
even for those, considering the holy maxims and virtues impressed
upon them, not to recollect themselves, and return to their duties
as true Christians. But that which ought to give your Majesty
great pleasure is that no doubt the greater number [of these girls]
will live and die in innocence, and that a quantity of them will
consecrate themselves to God" The King then replied, " Ah ! if
I could only give back to God as many [souls] as I have robbed
Him of by my bad example 1 " *
The annexation of St. Denis was followed by essential
changes in St. Cyr itself. The commission, or council,
appointed for the necessary arrangements consisted of
twelve eminent men, under the presidency of the bishop of
Chartres. Three other bishops, one of them Bossuet, Abbe
F^nelon, and several laymen in high office, constituted the
council, and the final result of their labours was not only
to annex the abbey of St. Denis, but to erect the House of
St Cyr itself into a convent, and make the Dames de St.
Louis a regular religious community under solemn vows.
This was no slight work, for, as has been recorded,
Madame de Maintenon, as well as the King, was strongly
opposed to the change ; but upon a careful understanding
of the lasting and certain benefits to be looked for, and the
inevitable and exceeding dangers of an uncertain and
indefinite community, Abb6 Gobelin ranged himself on the
council's side, and urged Madame de Maintenon to yield
her own wishes. The King was very loth to consent, on
account of what the world would say as to his changeable-
ness about his favourite institute ; but in the end his
m^nanimity conquered, and he said, " The world will say
that we have taken our measures badly, but that does not
* Languet de Ge^-.
128 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
matter ; we must act for the greater good, and let men say
what they like."
Several of the Dames, however, felt a great reluctance
to bind themselves to solemn vows, especially when they
learnt that they would be required to go through a complete
novitiate a second time. Those who had real objections
were offered the alternative of leaving the community,
which they did ; but the greater number valiantly put
themselves into Madame de Louberfs hands for the
appointed probation.
Madame de Loubert was fully equal to the task before
her. She gathered the community together, laid before
them the great merit to be gained by courageous self-
sacrifices, and, kneeling down on the floor before them,
begged pardon of all her flock for the faults she had com-
mitted as their superior, and laid down the office. Such
women as these were certainly worthy of a thoroughly
religious training, and Madame de Maintcnon wisely made
choice of some Visitandines, the holy and gentle daughters
of St. Francis de Sales and St. Frances de Chantal, to train
the community. The Visitation convent at Chaillot, not
far from Paris, was then governed by Mother Priolo, a
woman much esteemed for her holy life and spiritual know-
ledge ; and to her Madame de Maintenon now applied to act
as novice-mistress at St. Cyr. Mother Priolo was exceed-
ingly averse to undertake the charge, which was a far more
difficult office than Madame de Maintenon discerned. She
knew thoroughly the Visitation training and spirit, but the
women she was now asked to train were not to become
Visitandines, whom she knew, but Dames de St. Louis, whom
she knew not In the end, however, Madame de Maintenon
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 29
prevailed ; and, with the condition that she was still to con-
duct her own community, Mother Priolo chose two nuns
from Chaillot to accompany her, and took up her abode at
St Cyr. This was in the year 1692.
It is necessary, even at the risk of being tedious, to go
back to the previous year, to show why it was that Madame
de Maintenon had become completely convinced that there
were faults at the very root of the spirit at St Cyr, and
that she herself, with the best motives and intentions, had
fostered and intensified these very faults. The nature of
that spirit also explains other grounds of Mother Priolo's
reluctance to undertake the novitiate there. In 1691,
Madame de Maintenon wrote to one of the Dames (Madame
des Fontaines) these words : —
September, 1691.
The trouble the girls at St. Cyr have given me can only
be healed by time and a total change in the education that we
have given them up till now. It is just that I should suflfer from
this, as I more than any one have contributed to it, and I shall
be very happy if God does not punish me more severely. My
pride has spread through the whole house, and its root is so
strong that it overbalances even my good intentions. God knows
that my desire has been that virtue should be established at St.
Cyr ; but I have built upon the sand, not having that which alone
can make a solid foundation. I wished the girls to be clever, that
their hearts should be enlarged and their understanding formed.
In all this I have succeeded. They are clever, and they make
use of their talents against us. Their hearts are lifted up, and
they are prouder and haughtier than would become great
princesses, even speaking as the world speaks. We have formed
their understanding, and have only produced a set of talkative,
presumptuous, inquisitive, and daring girls. And so it is that we
succeed when we act out of a wish to excel. A simple, Christian
K
I30 MADAME DE MAIXTEyOX.
education would have produced good girls, put of whom we might
have formed good wives and good nuns, and we have produced a
set of pedants,* whom we cannot endure ourselves. This is our
misery, and I have had more to do with it than any one. Let us
come now to the cure of the mischief, for we must not be dis-
couraged. I have already proposed some remedies to Balbien,
which may appear to you very slight, but, with God*s grace, I
hope they will not be without effect. For, as several little things
foment pride, several little things will destroy it Our girls have
been too much considered, too much caressed, too much
humoured. We must forget them in their classes, make them
keep the regular order of the day, and not speak much of anything
else. They must not think I am displeased with them ; it is not
their sorrow that I want, for I am much more in the wrong than
they are. All I want is to repair the evil done by a contrary
course. The good girls have shown a greater excess of the
pride that needs correction than the naughty girls, and I have
been more scared by the arrogance and audacity of Mdlles.
de and and than of all that has been told me of
the rest of the class. f They are well-intentioned girls, who wish
to become nuns ; but with these intentions they nevertheless
speak and behave with such haughtiness and audacity as would
never be tolerated at Versailles in girls of the highest rank. You
see by these tokens that the evil has become second nature, and
that they do not see it themselves. Pray to God to change their
hearts, and give us all humility ; but, madame, you must not say
too much about it to themselves. Everything at St. Cyr turns to
talk. . . . Do not speak to them either about pride or raillery ;
they must be destroyed without a battle. . . . Their confessors
will speak to them about humility, and much better than we.
Do not let us preach to them any more. . . . We have wished
to avoid the littlenesses of certain convents, and God is punishing
♦ Beaux esprits,
t ** All that has been told me of the libertines of the class," in the original.
This was probably suppressed, as in the eighteenth century the word had
acquired another meaning than in the seventeenth.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, I3I
us for this pride. There is no house in the world that more
needs humility, both outward and inward, than ours. Placed
so near the Court, its size, its wealth, its high position, sense of
the favour that pervades it, the caresses of a great King, the
attention of a person of credit [herself], the example of vanity and
worldliness that is given by her in spite of herself by the force of
habit, are all such dangerous snares that we ought to take very
contrary measures to those hitherto adopted. . . . Let us ask
continually of our Lord fo change the depths of our hearts, to
take from our house the spirit of loftiness, of mockery, of subtlety,
of curiosity, of freely judging and advising upon every subject,
and of meddling with the offices of others at the risk of wounding
charity. Beg Him to take from us our fastidiousness and im-
patience at the least discomfort. . . .
During the next year, 1692, Madame de Maisonfort,
the Chanoinesse so often spoken of and so much loved by
Madame de Maintenon, finally made up her mind, through
a forest of difficulties, to enter the community of St. Cyr,
but to bind herself only by the simple vows. It was
F^nelon who finally decided her to this step, perhaps hop-
ing that her restless, versatile, somewhat capricious mind
would become calmed and strengthened in community life.
Madame de Maintenon was overjoyed at this step, little
foreseeing what pain and anxiety the Chanoinesse would
eventually cause her. She wrote to her immediately: —
February, 1692.
I cannot tell you, madame, the joy I feel to see that it has
been decided for you to stay at St. Cyr, and I could not wait till
Tuesday to tell you so. Be now at peace. I have felt what pain
you were in during these last days. Give yourself to God and to
us with a good heart and great courage to work for your own
sanctification and for that of others. How happy you are to be
able to offer and give yourself effectually at this very tijme of the
132 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
offering made by the Blessed Virgin ! [the day after the Feast of
the Purification]. It is very difficult to me not to envy you for
flying so high, while we drag ourselves along in God's service,
and think we are doing a great deal when we do not fall headlong
down the precipices which we everywhere see. Good night, my
very dear one j you must soon be my daughter, for every day I
become more and more your mother.
The King soon afterwards carried away Madame de
Maintenon to a very different side of life. He took the
command of the army besieging Namur, and Madame de
Maintenon and several other ladies, and part of his usual
suite, accompanied him. The ladies were all lodged at
Dinant, not far from Namur. From there Madame de
Maintenon wrote the following letter to Madame de
Veilhant at St. Cyr: —
Dinant, June 2, 1692.
If one could conscientiously wish for a nun outside her con-
vent, I should like you to see the warlike places through which
we are passing just now. If one could change one's nature, I
would assume for the time that warlike character which makes you
love powder and cannon. You would be enchanted, madame, at
smelling nothing but tobacco, at hearing nothing but drums, at
eating nothing but cheese, at seeing nothing but bastions, demi-
lunes, counterscarps, and touching only such rough and coarse
things as are most contrary to the sensuality above which you are
raised by your courage and inclinations. As foV me, who am so
very womanish,* I would gladly yield you my place, to be work-
ing tapestry with our dear Dames. I hope to have that pleasure
soon, and that Namur will prefer to surrender rather than be
wholly ruined.
You think of nothing but the war, and do not tell me a word
about the retreat or how you are. It is too good of me after that
* Trls femmelctte.
MADAME DE MAINTENOl/. 1 33
to tell you that the King is perfectly well, though he has a little
gout ; and that, having been kept in bed for two days, he [thence]
gives orders for the siege of Namur [here], for his other army
against the Prince of Orange, for Marshal de Lorges to invade
Germany, for M. de Catinat to drive back M. de Savoy [the Duke
of Savoy was then at war with the King], for M. de Noailles to
prevent the Spaniards from acting, for M. de Tourville to defeat
the enemy's fleet if he has a favourable wind ; and, besides all
this, that he is governing the whole kingdom at home. I take
leave of you, after this picture, which ought to fill your mind.
CHAPTER XL
1692 — 1694.
From this lively interlude Madame de Maintenon returned
with even greater eagerness to her labours at St/Cyr,
which, under Mother Priolo's rule, became indeed a changed
house. Far away in the dim past now seemed the feverish
excitements of " Esther " and " Athalie," of the King's
courteous exhortations in the community-room, the honeyed
compliments of Court ladies, and the profound bows of
silken prelates and abb^s. The novices' time was spent in
retreat and meditation, manual works in silence, practices
of humility, spiritual conferences, and in that absolute
obedience in the slightest details which is carried out so
perfectly and so gaily under the " Visitation " rule.
The King, of course, could never be banished. Upon
his return to Versailles, he went to visit Mother Priolo and
her assistants, and, courteously saluting the novice-mistress,
said to Madame de Maintenon, with his royal faculty of
never mistaking a face or a name, " Is not that Mother
Marie Constance ? " The nun observed that she had been
greatly edified by the good example she had seen in that
house. To this the King pleasantly answered, " I do not
require so much as that. All I ask is that they should
follow yours, and profit as much as possible by your
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 135
instruction, for they will not always have it." He looked
keenly at the other Visitation nun, Mother Lamoinne, who
was probably wishing herself back at Chaillot, and said
interrogatively to Madame de Maintenon, " That is the one,
is it not, whose fervour and modesty charm you so much ? '*
The King then asked for his old friend, Madame de
Loubert, and was told that it was scarcely possible ever to
find her, such pains did she take to be completely effaced
and hidden in the lowest ofSces of the house. He was
exceedingly pleased on being told this, and said, " This is
the way a good nun should act, and give an example of
humility on all occasions." On Madame de Maintenon
observing that Madame de Loubert was always the first
to offer herself for all kinds of rough housework, the King
said, " Humility requires of us to do for ourselves whatever
we are in the habit of ordering others to do for us."
Madame de Maintenon remarked that Madame de Bouju
at seventeen was at that moment the superior of her old
class-mistress, Madame de Maisonfort, who was now going
through her second novitiate. The King was delighted
at this, and replied, " Madame la Chanoinesse must now
practise the humility that she has preached to others."
On the whole, the King relished his afternoon at St.
Cyr very much, and before the visit ended, Madame de
Maintenon offered him a small blank sheet of paper and
writing materials, begging him to be good enough to write
down some remark for the house to profit by. Louis
wrote, " Good postulants. Regularity T
Mother Priolo told him that a whole crowd of the girls
had been eagerly asking to be admitted as novices, upon
which he wisely replied, " It is well to make them ask for
136 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
some time, and, above all, take none but good postulants."
Madame de Maintenon observed, " You have that much at
heart. Sire, as you lose no opportunity of urging it." The
King replied, " Yes ; that and regularity."
Madame de Maintenon smilingly said that it was ver}'
pleasant to be instructed by a preacher in gay embroidery ;
upon which Louis replied that " Those ladies knew how he
ought to be dressed, and would not be disedified at his
clothes ; " and then he observed, on looking at the time-
table, that on account of his visit the Litany of the Holy
Name after Compline had been omitted. Madame de
Maintenon exclaimed, " You would be an excellent over-
looker, Sire, for you not only lean towards exactness in the
religious duties, but are also a little severe upon that point."
" Yes," replied the King again, " and also as to great
regularity." *
It speaks volumes for Madame de Maintenon and the
Dames, as well as for the " preacher in fine embroidery,"
that the nuns from Chaillot spoke of St. Cyr as they did.
For there is no possibility of ever doubting the testimony
of the Visitation. No earthly consideration would ever
lead them to laud pinchbeck as gold. This is what they
wrote about the novices whose charge they so unwillingly
undertook : —
9
Their minds were so prepared that we had no difficulty in
making them enter into everything that was most regular and fit
to establish the religious spirit in their house, such as having all
the habits, linen, furniture of the cells, and all that they have, in
common ; not to have any private marks ; to go always with a
companion to the parlour; to wear their veils lowered in the
* Xianguet de Gergy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 1 37
presence of men ; and the other practices which are special to
ourselves, such as the two daily obediences,* the manner of
receiving correction and warnings, penances in the refectory,
having two overlookers (admonitresses) for the superior, the
being reminded of the presence of God at recreation, the accounts
given after the spiritual reading, and the manifestations of con-
science to the superior. These practices have been added to
their constitutions and rules, and these rules contain the sum of
Christian and religious perfection. . . . We can say to their credit
that we found them very unlike the portrait given to us of them.
We had been, in truth, very much afraid of them, for we expected
to find them proud women, puffed up by the favour shown them,
priding themselves on their cultivation of mind, accustomed to
make studied discourses on the Gospels, and the like. We can
bear witness that, though they were not nuns, they were not
behindhand in practising the essentials of religion, for it is certain
that there is no community, even of regulars, who lived so entirely
apart from the world. They went rarely to the parlour, and
scarcely ever except to [see] their nearest relations, and for a
short time. They scarcely ever spoke to the ladies who visited
the house, and avoided them so much that they had the reputa-
tion of being savagely shy {farouches). They were simple and
without pride, and we cannot imagine what can have set about
what was said. When the tragedies of " Esther " and " Athalie "
were acted there before the King and his Court, they [the Dames]
went up into the tribunes to pray, and it needed the King's
express order to make them come in [to ^he theatre], when it was
observed that their eyes were cast down, and that the greater part
of them were praying or telling their beads, f
During the time that this excellent novitiate was in
progress, Madame de Maintenon took upon her shoulders
* The Visitation nuns go for orders as to the spending of their time twice
daily — in the morning and after dinner,
t Languet de Gergy.
138 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
the whole burden of the house and of the two hundred
and fifty girls. She put Nanon Balbien in the general
mistress's place, and engaged a number of the teaching
sisters, who had formerly taken part in the school, to teach
the classes for the whole of that year. In 1693, she wrote
to Madame de Brinon : —
I go to St. C)n: nearly every day before it is light. The King
is in my room when I come back, and I have great need of rest
after he is gone. These are the only reasons, madame, why I do
not write to you as often as I wish.
At the end of the year's novitiate, the Dames de St.
Louis made their profession of vows under the changed
rule, which, like that of the Visitation, was grounded on
St. Augustine. St. Cyr, in fact, virtually became a Visita-
tion convent, but at the King's wish the graceful and
becoming habit was not changed for fourteen years.* The
vows were taken in presence of the Bishop of Chartres,
whose efforts to obtain a solid foundation of piety at St.
Cyr had been unremitting. The bishop also nominated
the new superior, as the Dames now, under canonical
regulations, could not vote for four years. At the last
moment, Madame de Loubert begged not to be obliged to
take solemn vows, but to remain as she then was, the last
and lowest in the house. The bishop, therefore, appointed
Madame de Fontaines,t who was much esteemed by the
community. When the King heard that the election was
over, he sent word that he was coming to visit the house,
where the following account of it was preserved : —
* The Visitation habit was adopted in 1 707.
t Anne Fran9oise Gautier de Fontaines, a woman of great spiritual know-
ledge and extraordinary beauty.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 39
Mother Priolo, no longer superior, still remained some months
[at St. Cyr] to advise our Mother de Fontaines ; and before her
returning to Chaillot, the King did her the honour of commg on
purpose to express his satisfaction at what she had done. Madame
de Maintenon brought his Majesty into the community-room,
where we were all assembled, and he was so good as to tell us
to sit down as usual. After thanking Mother Priolo and the
other Mothers in the handsomest and most agreeable way for all
the good they had done, he said, "I advise you to be very
firm in seeing that all that has been settled should be observed,
and to accompany that firmness with great gentleness. I hope
the Dames will always bear witness by their submission and
obedience that they have consecrated themselves to God with a
good heart and full liberty, and that they will not be content with
the profession only, but that they will be very perfect religious
from their hearts, for it is necessary that every one should strive
to attain perfection in his state {of life], and, above all, those who,
like you, mesdames, make your state a special study." Speaking
then of his original plan that there should be only thirty-six
members of the community, the King said, " I can well see and
understand that this number is not enough for all the offices, and
it is much better that you should serve yourselves than that you
should have a greater number of lay-sisters to serve you ; for not
only are things better done in that way, but also it is more
suitable for people consecrated to God to add the practice of
humility to all those usually observed in religious houses." He
again impressed upon them the careful choice of postulants, saying,
"One bad member is enough to spoil all the good established
here ; perhaps even to destroy it entirely. Never give in to any
weakness or to the wishes of others on this point. I dread every-
where an evil-disposed mind, but above all in this house, where
it would cost trouble."
Madame de Beauvais could not refrain from complimenting
the King upon his extraordinary knowledge of the religious spirit
and duties; upon which he replied pleasantly, "Whenever you
140 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
like, I will have a conversation with you upon that subject. You
will not need to prepare for it, but I am not ready to bear my part
in public" The King then begged Mother Priolo not to forsake
SL Cjrr altogether, but to help the Dames by her good counsel from
Chaillot ; and, finally, Madame de Maintenon took up the discourse,
and spoke at some length in very handsome terms of the nuns from
Chaillot and the way the Dames had profited by their influence.*
And in this way, with many courteous phrases and
repeated thanks and praise, the King took his leave, and
the whole train went their way.
Madame de Maintenon entered most heartily into the
study of the new constitutions, admirably arranged by the
Bishop of Chartres, and it was found that she became as
capable of instructing the Dames in their interior life and
progress, as in their regularity, union, and simplicity of
conduct. The young professed nuns consulted her and
wrote to her whenever they wished, and never failed to
find in her clear, luminous suggestions as great an aid to
their spiritual difficulties and puzzles as to their teaching
and training of the girls. A part of one of her letters to
Madame de P^rou is very characteristic of her way of
giving help. It was from Compi^gne. She was accompany-
ing the King and the princesses once more to the army in
Flanders, and they stayed two days at Compifegne for
Corpus Christi, which that year fell in May.
Compiegne, May 21, 1693.
I spent part of the feast day with the Carmelites, with whom
I am much edified. They are poor, and delight in being poor ;
their house and garden are small, but they have no wish to
enlarge them. They only ask for the means of most frugal living,
and think that the dowries as now arranged are magnificent,
* Languet de Gei^.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I4I
whereas most of the convents are grumbling at them. These
good women have only a little room for their chapel, and another
like it for their choir. Everything breathes cleanliness and
poverty, and I assure you that I have never seen anything that so
excites one's devotion. I thought so much of you [all], to whom
my thoughts return in all I see, and I conjure you to love poverty.
You are bound to it by vow, and ought to practise it in all things.
God has allowed the most magnificent King that ever was to build
you a very plain house, which has no beauty but its size, which
was necessary to contain so many people. I beseech you never
to allow it to be decorated under any kind of pretext. Let your
sacristy be suitably furnished, but without riches ; and when you
are making your vestments, let them also be plain. It is not by
splendour that God is honoured, but by that sound piety which
will, I hope, be found in your community. The Lazarists celebrate
the services with a grave majesty which ought to kindle fervour,
and the ceremonies are beautiful. Be satisfied with that, and
never let a false zeal crowd your chapel and altars with decoration.
Under that pretext all hands are opened to beg and receive,
which is forbidden to you, and God has allowed such precautions
to be taken as point out His will. Be poor in all things, my dear
daughters, live frugally, and set that example to the girls you
bring up. Save for them, and, whether your revenues dwindle or
increase, live like women who have made a vow of poverty, and
are determined to restrict themselves to necessaries that their
charities may be increased. I beseech you to give edification by
your simplicity in all things ; try to suffer something for poverty's
sake, either in food or in clothing, or by depriving yourselves of
comforts, either for yourselves or those under your charge, and
profit by the excellent teaching that you had on this subject from
a sermon by M. TAbb^ de F^nelon. I own that I have a very
great desire for your sound piety, and that you do not make it
consist in a multitude of prayers in the choir, but in the continual
prayer of doing all your actions in God's presence.
I should like you to do a great deal of needlework. It is a
142 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
useful austerity, a saving, and a cause of regularity. I think that
manual labour is a kind of penance ; that it tends to give lowli-
ness of mind, and therefore humility, and is a help to recollection,
supposing it to be carried on in silence, according to your rules.
There is nothing in needlework to lift up the mind, or to flatter
self-love, especially in work of a simple, common, and coarse
character, as ours would be ; for you will never, I think, do costly,
useless things, but restrict yourselves to what is wanted for the
house. I imagine that for the future the young ladies will learn
in the first classes all that they ought to know, and that in the last
they could be trained to needlework. This would be no slight
advantage to them for the rest of their lives.
The good women here [the Carmelites], with whom I am so
delighted, make all that they need. They spin the linen and
material for their habits, make their own bread, grow their own
vegetables, etc., and scarcely ever have a workman brought in. I
do not say this for you, whose institution is different, and obliges
you to occupy yourselves with the young ladies ; but it is certain
that, if you work with them, you will save a great deal, and
prevent the coming in of many working men and women. Our
Lord worked long at a trade ; the Blessed Virgin was always at
work ; St. Paul laboured with his hands. How can people corre-
spond with such examples, who despise all labour but the intel-
lectual, which is often as dangerous as that other is harmless ? . . .
A point that had much troubled Madame de Maintenon
in regard to St. Cyr was the proper choice of chaplains and
confessors. Hitherto they had been chosen from the secular
clergy, who were, in many instances at that time, neither of
the stamp nor the competence that was necessary. After
much consultation with the King and Abb^ Gobelin, choice
had been made of the newly established " Priests of the
Missions," commonly called the Lazarist Fathers, whom the
King had appointed to serve his own chapel at Versailles.
He much approved of their also serving St. Cyr ; and the
MADAME DE MAINTENOK 1 43
Lazarists accordingly opened a little seminary there, which
was largely helped by Madame de Maintenon. This school
was afterwards transplanted to Chartres by the bishop, and
affiliated to his own seminary for the whole diocese.
In 1692, a brief had been sent to Madame de Maintenon
by Pope Alexander VI 1 1., addressed * To our very dear
daughter. in Jesus Christ, the noble woman, lady of Main-
tenon." It opened in these terms : " Dear daughter in
Jesus Christ, noble lady, your highest virtues and com-
mendable prerogatives are so well known to us, that they
lead us to give you some very special marks of our
fatherly affection," etc. This brief, a most extraordinary
and signal proof of regard from the Holy See, was accom-
panied by a letter from Cardinal Ottoboni, who was
charged with sending it, with the words, " I kiss your
Excellency's hands." Madame de Maintenon, as usual,
carefully concealed the honour she had received ; and it
was only after reiterated officious inquiry, and copies of
the brief being obtained from the Dateria at Rome, that
it became known. Two years afterwards, Alexander VIII.
again wrote to Madame de Maintenon, begging her to
interest herself in some important business with the King.
Later on, two other briefs from Innocent XII. and
Clement XI. show in what way her extraordinary position
and influence were recognized by the Holy See.
The singular love of self-effacement practised by
Madame de Maintenon was largely communicated to
Madame de Loubert, and it has cost us a great historical
loss ; for she burnt all the notes she received from Louis
XIV., fearing that the honour of being often written to by
the King might tend to vanity and self-esteem.
CHAPTER XII.
1694—1695.
In 1694, the first note was struck of a great trouble both
to the King and Madarae de Maintenon ; although, like
most of the difficulties and trials that assail religious
foundations, it showed how much good was being done at
St Cyr. Worldliness and vain-glory having been bravely
overcome and rooted out, the community was now threat-
ened by the more insidious evil of spurious piety.
A young lady, named De la Mothe, of Montargis, had
married at eighteen a certain wealthy man, named Guyon,
who left her a widow at twenty-eight, endowed with all
his fortune. Being young, very gifted, and full of energy
in the service of the poor, Madame Guy on devoted herself
entirely to piety and good works ; but, unfortunately, she
had put herself under the complete direction of a certain
Pere Lacombe, a Barnabite monk, whose preaching attracted
crowds, but who was deeply infected with the special
errors of Molinos, afterwards known as Quietism. P^re
Lacombe had gone to Paris in 1689, carrying Madame
Guyon with him, and hoping by her means to influence
some of the eminent women of that time. He was success-
ful in obtaining for her the notice of the three Duchesses
of de Beauvilliers, de Chevreuse, and de Mortemart, who
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I4S
were not only of the highest station, but were leaders in
all the piety and charities of the day ; and by their intro-
duction Madame Guyon was caressed and made much of
by a large circle of good women in Paris. Instructed by
P^re Lacombe, she began to write pamphlets and leaflets
upon pious subjects, which she distributed everywhere,
and then obtained the secret printing of a small book
called " Le Moyen court et facile de faire TOraison," which
soon attracted serious attention.
Madame Guyon was related to the Chanoinesse de
Maisonfort, and often visited her daughter (the Elise of
" Esther ") at St Cyr, where she at length became ac-
quainted with Madame de Maintenon. Whispers as to the
tenour of " Le Moyen court " having gone abroad, Madame
de Maintenon wrote confidentially to the Bishop of
Chalons : —
St. Cyr, June 22, 1694,
If you had any pretext for coming here, sir, it would give me
exceeding pleasure to see you. It would be of consequence to
the good of the Church if I could have the honour of receiving
you. If you should think it best not to take this journey, I beg
of you to write me your opinion upon Madame Guyon's books,
one called " Le Moyen court et facile de faire TOraison," and the
other, " L'Exposition du Cantique des Cantiques." I ask you,
sir, to give me your opinion upon them, so that I can show it if it
should be necessary. Do not give any address ; keep my secret.
Believe, sir, that there is no one in the world who more
esteems and respects you than your very humble and very obedient
servant.
The Archbishop of Paris, de Harlay, though unfortu-
nately a man of relaxed morals, was thoroughly instructed
in his ecclesiastical duties, and when complicated scandals
146 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
arose on account of P^re Lacombe and Madame Guyon,
he ordered the Barnabite monk to be detained in the
monastery of his order in Paris, where he was strictly
examined as to his doctrines. As this examination and
the monk's obstinacy proved very unsatisfactory, Pere
Lacombe was sent first to the Bastille, and then to
Vincennes, where he died in 1698. The King ordered
Madame Guyon also to be confined in the Visitation con-
vent in the Rue St. Antoine, where she contrived to repre-
sent herself as a very simple, ignorant woman, seeking
instruction and solely delighting in prayer. The matter
came to be looked upon, therefore, by many people, as a
persecution by the not very saintly Archbishop of a saintly
woman ; and this opinion was so urged upon Madame de
Maintenon privately by one of the Lazarists, that she
besought the King to set Madame Guyon at liberty.
Madame Guyon was, of course, overflowing in expres-
sions of gratitude and lowly respect to her benefactress,
and instead of chance visits now and then to the parlour
at St. Cyr, Madame Guyon became a frequent guest in the
house. She was allowed the liberty of talking to the
Dames in private, of distributing her books among the
community, especially " Le Moyen court," and " L'Expo-
sition du Cantique des Cantiques," so that in a few years
the unconscious Dames de St. Louis were steeped in the
insidious Quietist flood, and had imbibed all the latent
errors in regard to free-will which it involved. In 1694, in
order to suppress the agitation about her books, Madame
Guyon offered to retire to a convent in the diocese of
Meaux, and put herself under Bossuet's direction. Madame
de Maintenon then wrote again to the Bishop of Chalons : —
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 1 47
The last day of the year 1694,
M. de Meaux grants everything, and we are going to send
Madame Guyon to him. The King will tell the Archbishop
[Harlay] this, and will speak to him with the idea that this
business need not be spoken of again. I hope after that this
prelate's zeal will cool down. I have just written to M. de
Meaux, which I have not done during these few days, as I have
been troubled a good deal with a cold. I have pressed him to
finish the affair, and to make known to his friends what he thinks
of this woman's opinions. I have represented to him that after
that he will have plenty of time to examine all the writings he has
[of hers], and to answer them as he thinks fit. . . .
It had been already proposed to raise F^nelon — who
had too easily accepted some of Madame Guyon's writings
— to the archbishopric of Cambrai, and thus to stifle the
increasing agitation, but neither the King nor Madame de
Maintenon were the least aware of the many issues of
Quietism, nor how deeply it had taken root in France.
The Bishop of Chartres was, as usual, one of the first to
be fully alive and keen to the mischief, and early in 1695
a conference was summoned at Issy, joined by Bossuet,
which lasted from eight to ten months, in which Madame
Guyon's writings were carefully discussed. Fenelon at-
tended from time to time, to explain and justify certain of
the expressions or opinions, and during these months he
was raised to the see of Cambrai, and wrote his celebrated
" Maximes des Saints." The examiners at Issy drew up
thirty-four articles condemning Madame Guyon out of her
own books, and hoped that Fenelon would assent ; but he
still maintained that the articles were strained beyond the
meaning of her words. The Bishop of Chalons published
a mandate including the thirty-four articles under censure.
148 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
and the Bishop of Chartres still more solemnly and par-
ticularly condemned the opinions, as tending to discourage
and discontinue prayer, good works, the avoidance of
temptation, and the practice of Christian virtues. For, as
he said, under the pretext of " quiet of the soul " — in other
words, absolute spiritual idleness and indifference — fatalism
must be the inevitable result.
Madame Guyon subscribed, even by oath, to the con-
demnation of her own books, and swore also to write
nothing more, and it was thought that she had fully and
truly renounced her error. But the truth was not in her,
and she was only trying to escape from restraint. She
persuaded Bossuet to let her leave Meaux, under pretence
of taking some baths for her health ; but instead of going
to those waters, she returned to Paris, and hid herself in
a little house in the Faubourg St. Antoine. After long
search, the King's officer, Desgrez,* found her out by
observing that no one knocked at the door of the house,
and yet that various people let themselves in with a key.
He forced an entrance, and found Madame Guyon sit-
ting in one of the rooms, with two girls and a certain Abb^
Couturier, who was shortly afterwards unfrocked for his
irregular life. Madame Guyon was taken by the King's
orders to the Bastille.
Fdnelon, however, still refused to yield, and the Bishop
of Chartres made another visitation of St. Cyr, when he
took away with him every religious book and manuscript
in the house, even F^nelon's letters to Madame de Maison-
fort, who so deeply resented their capture, that Madame de
Maintenon was obliged to intervene and write to her from
• Officier du guet.
MADAME DE MAJNTENON, 1 49
Marly that obedience was now her one single safeguard.
Fdnelon himself had told her that certain of his writings
were " not for everybody," which had not seemed satis-
factory to Madame de Maintenon.
Bossuet accordingly, at her wish, opened a series of
conferences on spiritual subjects at St. Cyr, after which
any of the Dames were at liberty to see him in private, to
make objections to what he had preached, or to ask
questions. Madame de Maisonfort took full advantage of
this opportunity, and, finding herself shaken, she wrote to
Fdnelon to say so, and to ask if she should see Bossuet
again. Fdnelon signified his disapproval, and told her that
he had long ago answered the difficulties she spoke of
himself Bossuet continued his instructions upon the new
notions on " passive prayer," and Madame de Maisonfort
made up her mind never to see F^nelon again.
All this time the chief movers in the agitation had
made the fatal mistake of keeping the King in ignorance
of the lengths to which it had gone, and how deeply
Fdnelon was involved. Even Madame de Maintenon, con-
trary to her usual clear-sighted and straightforward way of
dealing, had been persuaded by the bishops to keep silence,
on the ground that his Majesty was much tried and occu-
pied with the fresh complications in Spanish affairs. When
F^nelon's " Maximes des Saints " came out, and when M.
de Beauville gave a copy of it to the King, the comptroller-
general, M. de Pontchartrain, communicated to him certain
facts, which at once opened his eyes.
Bossuet was immediately sent for, when the King obliged
him to relate the whole course of the Quietist difficulties,
and was exceedingly angry with him for concealing that
I50 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
his own grandchildren's tutor was tainted with religious
error. He was almost equally wrathful with Madame de
Maintenon, and it was for a while doubtful whether she
would not be banished from Court, for having dared to
conceal from him what was of such vital importance. Most
truly had it been said of Louis XIV. that "he held re-
ligion in regard above all other things." He prized
obedience to the Church, he hated sectarian teaching and
everything the least akin to it, dreading the very shadow
of religious error. He had made great sacrifices (mistakenly,
but firmly believing it his duty) to banish the Huguenots
from his kingdom, had on all occasions pursued and striven
to root out Jansenism, and had been led to believe that
the danger from Quietist errors was extinguished by
Madame Guyon's retractation and the imprisonment of
P^re Lacombe. Yet now this false teaching had pene-
trated his own palaces, was sitting side by side with the
princes, his children's children ; and this in the person of a
prelate whom he had loved to honour, and who, by the
distinction of his great talents and reputation, was able to
form a powerful party and to kindle a most destructive fire
in his kingdom. The King, however, was always able to
control his anger, and all that he did was to order Fdnelon
to leave his diocese, and to deprive two abbes and several
gentlemen about the young princes of their posts, as being
Fdnelon's intimate friends.
It is a relief to turn from these religious troubles, and
go back a little to a certain visit the King made to St. Cyr
between 1695 and 1696, first attending Vespers, which he
praised very much for the dignity and exactness of the
ceremonial. Madame de Maintenon said that it was a
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I SI
great advantage to the community to have them sung
every day. A long conversation in the community-room
followed, during which Madame de Maintenon observed
that the rules were now being finally put into shape, and
that each person consulted had a different voice upon
them. The King, with his marvellous sagacity, replied : —
" I have exhorted them all to make as few objections as
possible, but simply to state their opinion, and to hold inviolably
to what has been decided and settled, even when it is contrary to
their own counsel. For one man should never presume to think
his own opinion better than that of the greater number, and he
should have uprightness and integrity enough to sustain and
value what has been lawfully established even against his own
views." Madame de Maintenon remarked that some of the Dames
were very young for the offices they filled, and she handed the
King a list of these offices, with the names of those who held
them. He observed," There is not an office in the house that is
not important, and the Dames must discharge them faithfully and
not superficially ; it is desirable that they should all be experi-
enced, but as it is difficult to combine that experience with the
strength and vigour of youth, the young Dames here must listen
to the elder, and follow their advice." Madame de Maintenon
went on to say that one of their difficulties was the assembling of
all the Dames together for chapter or conferences, because the
girls could never be left alone. Then, as the King began to
say, " In such a difficulty ," Madame de Maintenon broke in
quickly with, " And what might not happen while they were left
alone ? " But the King tranquilly went on, " I am well aware
that everything must be dropped sooner than leave them [the
children] a moment by themselves. But I think that in that case
the nuns left with them could give their votes in writing, or that
the secretaries of the chapter could go to them with the voting-
boxes, which the superior could first lock, and of which she
would keep the key." *
• Languet de Gergy.
152 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
And it was exactly in this way that the collecting of
the voices of the whole community was thereafter carried
out, until, at the great Revolution, St. Cyr became a
desecrated and dismantled ruin. Madame de Maintenon
showed very characteristic resolution in striving to root
out the last remains of religious error from St. Cyr. She
was personally much attracted to Madame Guyon, and
always carried in her pocket a copy of ** Le Moyen court ; "
but when the Bishop of Chartres carried off the books, she
gave up her own copy, and promised that not a single one
should remain at St. Cyr, and from that moment she also
rooted out her friendship for the author. She was accused
by St. Simon of continually taking up and putting down
her friendships, and changing from hot to cold ; but, in
truth, she was guided more by principle and reason than
feeling, and if once a thing was seen by her to be a duty,
whether it was easy or hard, pleasant or repugnant, the
duty was fulfilled.
She now anxiously sought to be more fully instructed
upon the forbidden opinions, that she might more clearly
expose the danger to the Dames de St. Louis. She con-
sulted M. Joly, the superior of the Lazarists, the Bishop of
Chalons, the superior of St. Sulpice, and P6re Bourdaloue,
the Jesuit. Each of these spiritual guides severally gave
her the same reasons and opinions, which she carefully
examined, and then imparted fully to the Dames. The
chief stumbling-block with them, as with many others, was
Fdnelon's obstinate refusal to submit to the decisions of
Issy.
Finally, the matter was carried to Rome, when, after
due deliberation, twenty-three propositions from F^nelon's
MADAME DE MAINTENON, I S3
*• Maximes des Saints " were set out, and condemned as "rash,
scandalous, ill-sounding, offensive to pious ears, pernicious
in practice, and even erroneous." As soon as this out-
spoken decision by the supreme authority was made
known, the true character of Fdnelon shone out, as the
scales fell from his own eyes. Rome had spoken, and the
matter was finished. He announced the decree himself
from the pulpit of his own cathedral, withdrew the con-
demned passage of his book, and declared his perfect
obedience and submission. As an earnest of this submis-
sion, and as a perpetual memorial and example, he gave
a rich monstrance to his cathedral for exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament, representing an angel holding the sun,
which contained the crystal for the Host, and trampling
under foot various books, on one of which was clearly
engraved, "Maximes des Saints." This monstrance was
seen in the cathedral treasury at Cambrai by Languet de
Gergy many years afterwards.
Louis XIV., now fully awakened to the mischief that
had been done at St. Cyr, and resolved that nothing
regarding that house for the future should be hidden
from him, on any pretext whatever, strictly questioned
Madame de Maintenon and the superior of the house.
He then, for the first time, learnt how attached the
Chanoinesse (de Maisonfort) had been to Fdnelon's
guidance, and how unwilling she was to yield to any counter-
influence, and he determined to pluck up this possible
source of continued evil by the roots. Madame de Maison-
fort, with her intimate friends, Madame du Tour and
Madame de Montaigle, received lettres de cachet, and were
sent away to separate convents at a considerable distance.
154 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
and the Bishop of Chartres agreed that this was not too
strong a measure to secure the well-being of the house.
The King, at the same time, wrote to St Cyr this letter : —
The special interest that I take in your house, and knowing
how prejudicial it would be to it if the Dames du Tour, de
Maisonfort, and de Montaigle — who have left it by my commands
and in obedience to the Lord Bishop of Chartres, for reasons
known to me and communicated to him — should some day re-enter
[the house], obliges me to make it hereby known that my inten-
tion in sending them away is that there should be no hope of
return, and to shelter you from any designs they may make upon
you for the future. After having well thought it over, I forbid
you, by all my authority as king and as founder, ever to permit these
three Dames to return among you under any pretext whatever. I
have no doubt that all those who might wish to receive them
again hereafter will be restrained from so doing by such an
express declaration of my will.
Done at Compi^gne, September 5, 1698.
(Signed) Louis.
The King did more than merely signify his will, and
in his way of doing it showed the same intrinsic greatness
and magnificent loyalty to his faith. After giving due
notice, he went to St. Cyr with the young Duchess of
Burgundy,* and found the whole community assembled,
with Madame de Maintenon.
The King took the chair prepared for him, and, making every-
body sit down, spoke to them with much feeling and eloquence of
his grief in being obliged to banish from the house Dames whom
he knew were beloved, and for whom he himself had a strong
regard. But he had a greater regard still for the purity of doctrine
and for the true teaching of the Church, and when anything like
• Marie Adelaide of Savoy.
MADAME DE MAINTENOK 155
religious error, or opinions even of doubtful tendency, found their
way into a great educational house, every private consideration
must be sacrificed to root out the evil. In that house, girls from
all parts of his kingdom were gathered, and if they imbibed un-
sound teaching the whole kingdom might be infected. He had
made great efforts and done his best to root out false doctrine
throughout France, and this house of St. Cyr was so especially
dear to him that he was obliged to guard it by the strongest
measures, lest at his death another spirit, false and unsound,
might be brought in and prevail.
When the King adverted to his death, which, though
he was not more than sixty years old, he seemed to fore-
cast as near at hand, the young Duchess of Burgundy
burst into tears, and the Dames were also deeply moved.
These tears, so sudden and unexpected, seemed to put a
solemn seal upon a day never forgotten at St. Cyr, when
the King thus took his place like a father among them,
and spoke with the doctrinal eloquence of a preacher as
well as the majesty of a true King.
The remedy had been sharp, and no one bowed to it
more submissively, or felt it more keenly, than Madame de
Maintenon, who, long afterwards, wrote to one of the
Dames, " You will never weep for your sisters as much as
I have done for four or five years." It was the last time
that St. Cyr was ever troubled with novelties of religious
teaching, and Madame de Maintenon at the same time
cleared away many obstacles from her own spiritual course.
She was a woman upon whom none of the real lessons of
life were ever lost, and these trials and failures only stirred
up her courage and singleness of resolve to mount ever
upwards to better things. She had been most warmly
attached to Madame de Maisonfort, who had been her
156 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
stand-by in many difficult circumstances, but she was never
led astray by her attachments when principle demanded
their sacrifice. On this point she showed a courage and
determination rarely to be found.
She had always been careful to ground herself in sacred
history and the letter of the Scriptures, but henceforward
she used the New Testament continually, and urged the
Dames to do the same. She chose out the simplest and
most practical spiritual books for daily use, much preferring
the writings of St. Francis de Sales. She wrote to the
Dames : —
I beg of you, my dear daughters, to be very simple in your
choice of books. Attach yourselves to what you find in the books
and not to the language. Read for profit, and have nothing else
in view, for to have that is a vain and dangerous thing, and we are
too happy in being obliged by our sex and our ignorance to be
humble and submissive, which is the easiest as well as the safest way.
As to reading the New Testament, she gave the Dames
this excellent advice : " Read with a simple mind. If there
is anything you do not understand, reverence it, and be
satisfied with practising what you do understand."
Madame de Maintenon had seen a good deal of the
Jansenists, and had imbibed a sincere dread of their subtle,
refining evasions, and the address with which they eluded
obedience to the Church while professing a reverential
submission. She kept a strict watch now on all who came
and went at St. Cyr, and herself dismissed a lady of great
gifts and piety, with considerable wealth, who offered her-
self as a postulant, but who had shown signs of Jansenist
tendencies. She particularly disliked, in society, the con-
versation of women who professed to keep entirely aloof
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 1 57
from the subject, and only to watch the course of Jansenism
as having no part in the question. A lady having objected
to her one day that she wished to be neutral on this point,
Madame de Maintenon exclaimed quickly, " What ! would
you be neutral between the Church and what the Church
condemns ? It is true we must not meddle with discus-
sions, but we must enter into every subject when there is a
question of obedience and of giving an example." Once,
when Bossuet had been telling Madame de Maintenon
how far the Jansenists were making head in France, and
that they had of late been speaking disparagingly of holy
pictures and rosaries, and even of devotion to the Blessed
Virgin, she spoke of it during recreation at St. Cyr, and
added, " Since I heard that, I feel that I should like to
be surrounded by sacred pictures, to cover the walls of my
room with them ; and I shall always carry a rosary about
with me, that, in case of dying suddenly, I should be known
as a true daughter of the Church."
One of the class-mistresses at St. Cyr asked her to
come to her class, and give a few words of instruction to
the girls upon Jansenism ; to which Madame de Maintenon,
in her wise way, replied : —
I can easily tell them all I know on the subject, for it is very
little ; and we are too happy in being women and not obliged to
know in order to decide. It is enough that we submit and obey.
But this I do know, that the Jansenist opinions upon predesti-
nation and the death of Jesus Christ are practically very dangerous ;
for as they say that Jesus Christ died only for a very small number
of elect, while the rest of the faithful are deprived of the means of
meriting heaven, it would be such a discouragement as would
prevent numbers of men from attempting to secure their salvation.
158 MADAME DE MAIXTEXOX.
This spirit of utter abn^ation of the right to decide
and teach characterized Madame de Maintenon more and
more as life went on. The Bishop of Chartres almost
delegated to her his own authority at St Cyr, making over
to her in writing the government of the house, spiritually
as well as temporally. But she continued to consult him
upon every point that arose, "at all times and for all
things," saying that " this was the sure means of drawing
down upon the house and upon herself the blessing of
God." After the death of Abb^ Gobelin he became her
director, and she made a list every day of the faults she
had committed, and laid the whole account before him
every month. More than one of these summaries of her
examinations of conscience are given by Bonhomme.*
In regard to giving up her own will she was indeed
well trained, for as she once said to the Dames, " Have I
not also my * obediences ' and rules that I must follow,
not according to my own will, but the will of others } I
am neither mistress of my time nor of my actions. At ten
o'clock at night I do not know what I shall do on the
morrow, and [only] when the King leaves my room do I
receive my * obedience ' from him." When she was at St.
Cyr she went to the choir, to the refectory, and the recrea-
tion as punctually as the Dames, and if she was late at
any of the community duties, she never failed to report
herself to the superior ; so that she was, as they all said, a
spur and an example to the whole house.
• " Madame de Maintenon et sa Famille. "
CHAPTER XIII.
1695 — 1696.
It is necessary to look back a little, to bring up the course
of general events. In 1695, the Archbishop of Paris, Harlay
de Champvallon,* died suddenly, and Madame de Main-
tenon used all her influence to obtain the see for the Bishop
(de Noailles) of Chalons. In doing this she had acted
entirely from her earnest desire to give a holy and exemplary
archbishop to the diocese and a trustworthy adviser to the
King. He was a man of singular piety and the mos't
austere morals, but, unfortunately, also of a peculiar cast
of mind and great obstinacy, which afterwards brought
him into serious difficulties. It would have been far better
if Madame de Maintenon had not exerted her powerful
influence in this matter, as she many times acknowledged
in after-years. He was raised to the greater see, and
received the crosier as Archbishop of Paris.
That same year Madame de Maintenon wrote to
Madame des Fontaines from Fontainebleau : —
September 21, 1695.
... I was not very sorry not to bid good-bye to our Sisters ; I
could not do it without pain. I beg of you to bless them. Let
each one of them advance in that perfection I know they seek,
♦ So spelt by Languet de Geigy, by Geffroy " Chanvalon."
l60 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
that altogether they may make up a community living like the
angels ; that they may be humble, silent, and zealous for the
spiritual good of their institute ; that they may be willing to
mortify themselves, and that their superior may take thought how
to keep them innocently happy ; that they may become simple ;
that the recreation may be bright and general; that they may
avoid particular friendships, which are the source of all kinds of
trouble ; that they may love their superiors, who tenderly love
them. But after having desired so many gifts for them, I beseech
of them to ask God to give me what they think I most need, of
which they can judge far better than I. It is not enough to
exhort our daughters — we must give them examples of perfection.
Here is one which I have found, by an author who is neither to
be suspected nor disliked by them [F^nelon],
" You have charge, madame, of a large community of daughters,
and it interests you to watch examples of perfection. Here is one
of regular discipline, which I lay before you. Every nun in the
abbeys for nobles in this neighbourhood [Cambrai] is endowed under
the custom of spending one month every year with her family,
and going to visit all her relations. It is a regularly instituted
courtesy. When I go to any convent, the superior comes out
into the'street to receive me, and all strangers are received in the
parlour without any grating or enclosure. When I go in, I am taken
to the church, the choir, the cloisters, the dormitory, and, lastly,
to the refectory, with all my suite. Then the superior offers me a
glass, and we drink together, she and I, to one another*s health.
The community then also pledge me, and my grand-vicar and
clergy come to my rescue. All this passes with a simplicity that
would delight you. In spite of this rude simplicity, our good
Sisters live in the most charming innocence. They scarcely ever
receive any visitors but their nearest relatives \ the parlours are
empty, the outer world profoundly ignored, and there reigns
throughout a most edifying rusticity. There is no more refinement
here in piety than in other things; virtue is as rough as the
exterior, but the foundations are good. In the Flemish middle
MADAME DE MAINTENON. l6l
class there is less good and less evil than in France ; neither vice
nor virtue are carried to such lengths, but the generality of people,
and especially of nuns, are more candid and innocent."
You see, my dear mother, what emulation I feel for you after
reading this, and how thoroughly glad I should be to see you
drinking with Monseigneur the Bishop of Chartres, and Sister de
Veilhan pledging his grand-vicar. You will think leisure abounds,
as I have undertaken to copy such a long letter ; but you know
it is a feast, and the King is entertaining Marshal de Boufflers,
who is inconsolable at having lost Namur. Good-bye, my dear
daughter.
Madame de Maintenon found it a considerable consola-
tion for some time to be able to write fully to the new Arch-
bishop of Paris, and she made free use of her opportunity.
Her letters to him abundantly show how powerful her
influence was in religious affairs, and how wearisome and
at times unhopeful was her life with the King. She was
often at issue with the King'^s confessor, P^re de la Chaise,
who possibly thought that she had too much to say about
public and ecclesiastical affairs. In a letter to the Arch-
bishop, she says : —
St. Cyr, December 27, 1695.
Shall you not try, monseigneur, to cure P^re de la Chaise, or
at least to make him ashamed of his maxim that pious people
{les dbvots) are good for nothing ? It is very true that there are
pious people who are not fit to rule, but that is from the stamp of
their minds, not on account of their piety. The good Father's
maxim is public, therefore you can speak of it freely to him. Shall
you not touch his honour by saying that he ought to be the pro-
tector of piety, instead of making it seem as if we did not agree,
since I love pious people, and he cannot endure them ? I think
there is nothing in that that he can carry to the King that would
not tell against himself. . . .
It is a misrepresentation of what passed between iheLKii\g and
nr
1 62 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
me, the evening before he went to his duties,* to say that it was
" conversation," for I never could get him to speak. I related
something out of St Augustine, to which he listened with pleasure.
Upon that I took the opportunity of saying that I did not under-
stand why he would never have some reading that would instruct
and even entertain him, and that I thought P^re de la Chaise
was against it. He said he had not said anything against it, but,
on the contrary, he had proposed it to him. I replied that it was
difficult to believe this when I recollected his having pressed me
to read to him things written by M. de Fdnelon, to read some of
St. Francis de Sales, of his praying with me and being so touched
that he had wished to make, and indeed had made, a general
confession. That all this had fallen through in four and twenty
hours, and that he had never spoken a word to me since about
devotion. All his answer was that he was not a man who
followed things up,t meaning to say that he followed out nothing.
I do not believe he is untruthful, therefore it is not P^re de la
Chaise who comes between us in regard to piety.
But, monseigneur, if P^re de la Chaise is cleared, what con-
clusion must we come to ? What a misfortune it is if the King is
afraid that I should speak to him ! He has a scruple at wishing
to please you by giving a holy bishop to Chalons [another of the de
Noailles family], and at the same time he gives one without piety
to Langres, if I may believe the cure who has just spoken to me.
I am very glad that you find the letter I have trusted you
with too harsh. It has always appeared so to me. Do you not
recognize the style ? . . . I think I see by a letter I have received
from the Bishop of Chartres that, provided I contribute towards
making good bishops, he will let me off for everything else.
The " harsh letter " alluded to is supposed to be the
celebrated one either written by Fenelon and suppressed,
or ascribed to him, containing bitter truths very un-
pleasantly conveyed to Louis XIV. : —
* Confession and communion.
t ^''Jene suis pas homme de suited
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 63
You have spent your life, Sire, astray from the paths of truth
and justice. . . . Your people are dying of hunger. The tillage
of the earth is almost abandoned ; the towns and villages are
depopulated ; all trades languish and do not give food to the work-
men. Commerce is destroyed. • . . You do not love God, you
fear Him only with a slavish fear. Your religion consists only of
superstition and some superficial practices. You centre everything
in yourself. . . . Madame de Maintenon and the Due de Beau-
villier at least could make use of your trust in them to undeceive
you, but their weakness and cowardice dishonour them. What
are they good for, if they do not prove to you that you ought to
give back the countries that do not belong to you ? *
There is a letter of the following year from Madame de
Maintenon to the Archbishop, which gives a curious insight
as to the state of social affairs, and the effect that the
King's changed life had upon the Court : —
March 8, 1696.
. . . Monsieur [the Dauphin] is the one who seems most
troubled by the piety. He told the King the other day that there
had been plenty of balls and masquerades, and that he had been
forbidden to gamble at the fair ; f that the duke had asked for
dice, and they had been refused him, and then he asked for a
totam [teetotum] ; that they did not like any one to eat and
drink [at the fair] ; that the picklocks and water-carriers could not
show themselves now on Sundays ; and in all these complaints,
which he made without adding any comments, one could see
that he thought he was with people who think very much as you
* The later writers on the manuscripts of this reign, as M. Arthur de
Boislisle and M. Geffroy, who quotes him, do not believe in the authenticity
of this letter. Yet Fenelon was undoubtedly accused and convicted of much
imprudent and impulsive writing.
t The fair of St. Germain was held upon the land dependent on the abbey
of St. Germain-des-Pres, between that church and St. Sulpice. There were
theatres, games of all sorts, and drinking booths. These were frequented as
much by the nobles as the people, and a saturnalia reigned, which ecclesiastical
censures and police regulations were alike powerless to check.
164 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
do, and would hinder him from saying more. The King made
scarcely any answer ; but when Monsieur had gone, he told me
that you had said nothing to him about gambling, but he was
afraid nevertheless that you had forbidden it, and he has told me
since that gambling was included in the prohibitions of M. de la
Re)aiie.*
The King is wise ; he respects you, he will not resist you. He
told me the other evening that he would not have it on his
conscience to oppose what you wished. This is his state of mind.
And otherwise he is afraid of novelty in anything, but when he is
accustomed to things they will not be novelties.
In the same year, she writes again : —
April 25, 1696.
P^e de la Chaise loses no opportunity now of coming to see
me. He came to tell me yesterday that the King is going to
make Abb^ de Caylus his chaplain. We had afterwards a long
conversation. I saw that the King is not so docile as I thought,
and that the good Father gives him very good advice. He exhorted
me to preach to him, assuring me that no one can do it better
than I. We offered incense to one another, and we were of the
same mind ; but when I began to speak of the love of God, and he
tried to persuade me that a very perfect [love] could be found in
fear, we separated, after having had some dispute.
She wrote to the Archbishop again during the next
month from Marly : —
Mariy, May 18, 1696.
What would I not give to assist at the consecration next
Sunday, and to witness the delight of Madame de Noailles ! \
These, it seems to me, are the feasts and pleasures allowed to
Christian people, God has not willed to give me such consola-
* La Reynie was the celebrated head (lieutenant) of the police of that
time. Louis XIV. put unbounded confidence in him, and almost raised his
office to the rank of a ministerial position.
t The duchess was the mother of the Archbishop, who was to consecrate
his brother, the Bishop of Chalons.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 65
tions, but I shall ask Him most heartily to shower His graces
upon the consecrator and the consecrated, and to be their strength
to bear the toils of the episcopate.
Ask Him for me, monseigneur, the strength to bear the toils
of Court pleasures. I have been enduring them now for a week,
and there are so many that I am overwhelmed with the dreariness
of never hearing a single rational conversation. The chapter of
peas still goes on. The intense desire to eat peas, the delight of
having eaten peas, and the joyful expectation of eating yet more
peas — these have been the three points of discussion for the last
four days. There are even ladies who, after having supped, and
well supped, with the King, find more peas to eat when they get
home before they go to bed. You have some strange sheep,
monseigneur. Forgive this outburst of annoyance to my pastor,
and, if you Uke, share it with the Bishop of St Cyr [Chartres].
The King has erysipelas in the face, which is a trifling matter.
He is to be bled on Monday, will rest on Tuesday, be physicked
on Wednesday, and go on Thursday to the Trianon. . . .
Madame de Maintenon wrote to the Archbishop with
admirable brevity, and in her usual straightforward way,
about a confessor for the Duchess of Burgundy : —
Marly, August 5, 1696.
. . . Two days ago, as I was leaving my room, the King said
to me, " I am going to see a man whom you think a good man
but stupid;" and he mentioned P^re de la Chaise. I replied,
" You think so even more than I do, for you see him oftener."
The King replied, " It is true ; and my opinion lowers * every day."
I thought it a good opportunity, and I said to him, " Do not give
me some stupid man as a confessor to the princess [the Duchess
of Burgundy], and order P^re de la Chaise to consult the Arch-
bishop, who has a great respect for some members of the Society
[the Jesuits].| He said, " Find out some good person, and I will
* Cela baisse,
t It was the custom to choose a Jesuit Confessor for the princes and
princesses.
1 66 MADAME DE MAINTENOX,
ask for him." I am therefore able to consult you, monseigneur,
the first time I have the honour of seeing you.
Do not come here, for the King regrets every moment
spent out of the gardens. He will not go to Trianon again.
We shall go on Saturday, please God, to Versailles. We shall
be there about a week, and go thence to Meudon. I see with
pleasure that the King has resumed his old familiarity with your
brother.
There is a pleasant interlude in the same year of a
letter to Madame de Radouay, Dame de St. Louis : —
October [or November], 1696.
I beg of you to profit, for yourself and for others, by your
experience of quinquina [quinine was first known as " Jesuits'
bark" in Europe in 1639]. Nothing is more unreasonable than
your prejudices, which in our time extend to everything. There
is no one now who will not be a doctor, there are scarcely fewer
who do not meddle with [spiritual] direction. Everybody decides
upon everything ; women meddle with criticism on books, sermons,
and the government of spiritual and temporal affairs. Modesty is
no longer the fashion ; no one knows how to answer, " I do not
know ; it is not for me to judge.*' No one stops short upon any
subject. An unbearable assumption takes the place of knowledge
and intelligence, and never was there greater ignorance. Do not
admit or permit this quality among you, but say at once that you
do not know. Let yourself be guided by confessors, doctors,
superiors, magistrates, and the King ; and teach this modesty of
spirit to your girls, by whom this letter is more needed than by
you.
I am delighted that the "red ribbons " wish to please me, and
how charming it will be if, at the first visit I can pay them, you
are able to tell me that they are all extremely good ! They will
attain this happiness if they beg it from God, and may they serve
Him with their whole hearts !
In 1696, the Duke of Savoy, whose wife was niece to
MADAME DE MAINTENOX, 167
Louis XIV.,* broke off his alliance with the European
powers at war with that king, and concluded a separate
peace on his own account. It had been upon that occasion
that his eldest daughter, Marie Adelaide, was betrothed to
the Duke of Burgundy, and sent to the French Court to
finish her education. The princess, then only eleven years
old, was to have been ceremoniously received at Fontaine-
bleau, but the King was so impatient to see her that he
went on to Montargis with the Court. Thence he wrote
to Madame de Maintenon a letter, which was preserved
until the miserable revolt of the Commune in 1871, when
so much of the priceless library at the Louvre was burnt
Happily a copy of it had been published by the Bibliophilist
Society in 1822. It contains one of the usual seventeenth-
century inventories by way of description of the princess : —
She has the best grace and the finest figure I have ever seen.
Dressed like a picture, and her head to match. The eyes bright
and very beautiful; black and admirable eyelashes; the skin
smooth, red and 'white, just as one would have it ; the most
beautiful and abundant black hair that one can see ; a very red
mouth, full lips ; the teeth white, long, and very irregular ; well-
made hands, but of the colour of her age. ... I am quite satisfied.
... I hope you will be so too. ... A noble style, polished and
pleasant manners. I am glad to speak well of her, for I think,
without prepossession or flattery, I am obliged to do so.f
At five o'clock in the morning, after receiving two
letters from the King, Madame de Maintenon wrote to
the Duchess of Savoy : —
November 5, 1696.
I wish I could be allowed to send your Highness the letter I
have just received from the King. He could not wait till this
* Daughter of ** Monsieur " and Henrietta of England, his first wife,
t Geffroy.
1 68 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
evening to tell me what he thought of the princess, for he is
charmed with her, and is sure, from what he sees, that her
education has not been neglected. He exclaims about her style,
her grace, her good breeding, her self-control, her modesty. . . .
Ever since the princess arrived I have never ceased wishing that
your Royal Highness could have seen how she was received, and
how extremely satisfied the King and Monseigneur [Duke of
Burgundy] are with her. It is not possible for any one else to
have gone through the interview as she has done. She was perfect
throughout, which is a very agreeable surprise in a girl of eleven
years old. I do not wish to mingle any admiring words of mine
with such as ought to count, but nevertheless I cannot refrain
from saying to your Royal Highness that this child is a prodigy,
and that, according to all appearance, she will be the glory of her
time.
The next day, Madame de Maintenon wrote again to
the Duchess of Savoy in the same strain of what looks like
affected eulogy, but which was then only looked upon as
the utmost refinement of good manners. This letter is
very charming in its natveU and delicacy of touch : —
November 6, 1696.
Here is a letter which is in no way suitable to the respect due
to your Royal Highness ; but I believe she* will forgive everything
in the transports of our joy at the treasure we have received, for
the Duchess of Lude, who only speaks of it with tears in her eyes,
says that the disposition [of the princess] is as perfect as every-
thing we see externally ; that she has only to speak to show her
intelligence, and her manner of listening and all the changes of
her face sufficiently show that nothing escapes her. Whatever
may be told, your Royal Highness will not credit how far the
King's satisfaction goes. He did me the honour yesterday to tell
* In the letters of Madame de Maintenon to people of greater distinction
than usual, as to the Queen of Spain and Mary Beatrice of England, the
persons are invariably mixed in this way.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 69
me that he was obliged to keep guard over himself lest it should
be thought excessive. She thinks Monsieur [the Dauphin] rather
fat, but as for- Monseigneur [Duke of Burgundy], she thinks him
slender, and that the King has the finest figure in the world. She
is so polite that she cannot bear to say the least disagreeable
thing. Yesterday I demurred to the caresses she was giving me,
on the ground that I was too old, and she replied, '* Ah, not so
very old ! " She came to me when the King had gone out of his
room, doing me the honour to kiss me. Then, having very soon
noticed that I cannot remain standing, she made me sit down ;
and, putting herself coaxingly almost on my lap, she said, " Mamma
charged me to say a thousand kind things to you for her, and to
t)eg you to be a friend to me. Pray teach me everything that I
must do to please." These were the words, madame, but the
sweetness, the gaiety, the grace which went with the words,
cannot be put into a letter.
This letter is signed " Fran^oise d'Aubignd Maintenon."
Notwithstanding her great and sincere admiration for
the future Duchess of Burgundy, Madame de Maintenon
was most reluctant to accede to the King's wish that she
should superintend her education. Nor can this be won-
dered at when we see how her time was swallowed up, her
strength overburdened, her brain and her feelings over-
taxed and strained by the needs of the Dames de St. Louis
and St. Cyr, the religious dissensions among those she
most revered, the miseries of the people, and, besides all
these, and ever-increasingly, the claims of the King, whose
exquisite and courteous selfishness never admitted the idea
of her being fatigued.
Madame de Maintenon did, in truth, need, in her few
spare moments, the repose of the chapel at St. Cyr ; but
upon consultation with her constant stay, the Bishop of
\yO MADAME DE MAINTENOK.
Chartres, he decided against even this moderate and
reasonable indulgence. It must be admitted that his letter
is couched in a strain of flattery that sounds a little ex-
cessive to our ears : —
Hold yourself, madame, under the yoke of obedience. You
owe this to the King ; you owe it to the ministers of Jesus Christ,
to whom Providence has submitted you. Be obedient, then, to
the first as to your master and chief, and to the second as to your
guides and those who hold the place of God to lead you to the
way of salvation. Labour in the vineyard which is put in your
charge, and offer yourself quite afresh to the toil and fatigue and
annoyance of your position. Not only is your own soul your
vineyard, but the peace of the kingdom is your vineyard, the
princess .[of Savoy] is your vineyard, St. Cyr is your vineyard.
Go down, then, into your vineyard, and bear the burden and the
heat of the day. The Master of the vineyard promises you a
great reward. Oh, how great is the place you fill in the kingdom
of God ! How easy it is for you to press forward, if you will !
You are a great spectacle to angels and to men.
Madame de Maintenon, as usual, implicitly obeyed the
call to fresh duties and toils. She gave up a good deal of
time to amusing and interesting the girl-princess, studying
her character and inclinations, that she might lead her to
fill her future position well, and be of vital service to
France. The princess in these early years fully responded
to all the eflforts of her able instructor, and, having become
intimate with Mdlle. d*Aubignd (Duchesse de Noailles),
who always addressed Madame de Maintenon as "aunt,"
she adopted the appellation, and declared herself Madame
de Maintenon's niece for life. At this time, being sixt}'
years old, Madame de Maintenon had still the most
winning and engaging manner with children and young
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I/t
people. She took Marie Adelaide to St. Cyr, and she
soon went in and out of the house, spending whole days
there, and submitting herself in all ways to the routine and
discipline of it, as the elder girls did. When not there, the
princess spent her evenings from six o'clock till ten in
Madame de Maintenon*s rooms, often dined with her, and
went in and out, interrupting her letters and occupations
just as she liked. Some years later, after her marriage,
when the wife of fourteen and the husband of sixteen often
fell out, Madame de Maintenon became the refuge, the
arbiter, and the comforter, both of the girl-wife and boy-
husband.
According to the miserable frivolity of the time, when-
ever intellectual companionship and pursuits were not
relished, gambling became the resource, and the young
princess very early gave herself up to the excitement.
Madame de Maintenon spoke and wrote to her seriously
about the ruin and demoralization she was bringing upon
her own life and her husband's by this vice ; and there are
several letters of hers to Madame de Maintenon which
show how strong a hold she had obtained over the im-
pulsive, unstable, affectionate, and most charming girl.
Monseigneur [her husband] had invited me (she writes) to go
to Meudon again on Tuesday, because I could not walk out
to-day, and there we could do so if it is fine, and if the weather is
bad we should play cards. Now, my dear aunt, what would you
like me to do ? If you do not wish me to go, I will send word to
Monseigneur that I must beg him to excuse me, for I cannot go.
Indeed, there is nothing I would not do to be able to preserve
your friendship for me, and I flatter myself that it is not yet
quite lost
In another letter, she speaks of "that accursed lansquenef
172 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
as having given Madame de Maintenon great pain, and
wishes that the King would forbid her to play.
About this time Madame de Maintenon wrote down a
series of admirable notes for the use of the princess, which
when the King saw, he begged that they might be preserved
for her children. Madame de Maintenon, however, modestly
objected to this, and got back the manuscript into her own
hands. Whether she wished to destroy it is not certain ;
but happily she handed it over to the Dames de St. Louis,
who preserved it with the other treasures of St. Cyr.
But while Madame de Maintenon had been giving up
even the last fraction of her time and rest to the education
in the highest sense of the Duchess of Burgundy, the dis-
tant and long-murmuring storm produced by Quietism
burst upon her head, and for a while entirely destroyed her
peace by its effects upon .the community at St. Cyr. The
results of these convulsions, in the lettres de cachet given
by the King, we have seen ; but, as regards Madame de
Maisonfort, M. GefTroy points out that Madame de Main-
tenon did not show the kindness, consideration, and charity
that so illuminate the life of Bossuet in these miserable
religious disturbances. Although Madame de Maisonfort
was the chief offender — the ringleader, so to speak — of the
malcontents at St. Cyr, the great Bishop of Meaux gave
her a refuge within a convent in his diocese, where he
replied to her lengthy, hair-splitting, and often opinionated
objections with a patience, a fulness, and a scrupulous care
that never relaxed or wearied. Madame de Maintenon
had engaged to support this poor lady, v/hom she had
persistently urged, almost to driving, into the religious bonds
of the community of St. Louis ; but the allotted pension
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 1 73
was seldom paid, and the bishop never asked for it, but
supported Madame de Maisonfort himself. Bossuet's fame
as a writer and a great and successful defender of the faith
is known far and wide, but probably no work of his has
crowned him with greater reward than his patient and
loving charity to the poor Chanoinesse, whom her once too
flattering friend seems to have strangely deserted in her
needs.
CHAPTER XIV.
1696 — 1704.
Before the subject of Quietism is finally dismissed, it
will be well to note a few points of its progress in France,
and how it came about that eminent ecclesiastics, like
Fdnelon and Cardinal de Noailles, became involved in its
meshes. Pasquier Quesnel, a Father of the French Oratory,
wrote a little book called " Reflexions Morales sur le Nou-
veau Testament," covertly defending certain vices and inter-
pretations of Jansenius. The Fathers of the Oratory detected
the insidious nature of the " Reflexions," and insisted on
QuesneFs signing the Pope's condemnation of Jansenius
and his works. Quesnel refused to do this, left the Oratory,
and went to Holland in 1678. The first small issue of the
" Reflexions," which seemed a pious little book, had been
approved by the Bishop of Chalons in 1671, and in this
first edition five only of the propositions condemned by
Clement XL were to be found. But this first little work
was increased by Quesnel to four bulky volumes, to which
he cunningly prefixed the same approbation given by the
Bishop of Chalons in 1671, though the bishop himself had
been dead twelve years, and the opinions put forth had not
only been largely added to, but abounded with more vital
error. Unfortunately, without knowing the circumstances,
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 1 75
and probably acting upon the approbation, which could
then only have been called fraudulent, the Archbishop of
Paris (de Noailles) gave his approbation also to the " Re-
flexions " in 1695, ^"d it was this act which aroused the
stormy dissensions that agitated France from one end to
the other for many years.
Bossuet and the Bishop of Chartres, with the whole
Society of the Jesuits, sustained the King and Madame de
Maintenon in upholding the orthodox side, which by that
time had additional evidence of the gradual deterioration
of Quesnel and his party. Quesnel had strictly allied
himself in Holland with Arnaud, and was accustomed to
make stolen visits into France, sometimes disguised as a
Benedictine monk, at others as a priest of St. Genevieve.
Wherever he went, he and those associated with him
spread a flood of pamphlets, leaflets, and copies of, or
extracts from, the " Reflexions," full of new religious errors.
Bossuet drew up a list of one hundred and one of these
errors, which he submitted to the Archbishop of Paris,
who, with blamable weakness and indiscretion, sent it on to
Quesnel. Quesnel impudently returned as an answer that
these hundred and one errors were a hundred and one capital
truths, and that the " Reflexions " needed no correction at
all ; and overweening self-love, as well as the persistent
obstinacy of the Archbishop, led him to sustain the reputa-
tion of a book of which he had once approved. In 1700,
the Archbishop was offered the cardinal's hat, and went to
Rome to assist at the election of Clement XL, which threw
discouragement upon the orthodox side for a while. The
Bishop of Chartres, however, firmly held his position, and,
with great respect, told the Archbishop that he would now
176 MADAME DE MALVTENOX.
feel doubly the condemnation of the " Reflexions " by the
Holy See. The Archbishop was so carried beyond his
self-control by his obstinacy, that he exclaimed in reply,
" If that should happen, I shall make a schism ! " which
might have happened had not a long course of events
proved him to be better than his passionate words. Four
years passed away, and then the Bishop of Apt (1704)
boldly condemned the " Reflexions," and complaints of the
Cardinal-Archbishop's obstinacy were carried to Rome ;
while he, on his side, declared that the whole matter was
stirred up by the Jesuits, whom he called his bitter
enemies. Clement XI. had long known the secret wiles
of Jansenism, and, though he was personally a warm friend
to Cardinal de Noailles, he ordered the Inquisition to
examine the " Reflexions " thoroughly. According to their
wont, the Inquisitors gave full time to the work, and in
1708 declared that the book "Reflexions Morales" of
Qucsnel was "founded on a bad and condemned version
of the Scriptures [the Bible of Mons] ; that it held seditious,
rash, pernicious, erroneous, and already condemned opinions,
distinctly savouring of the heresies of Jansenius." The
decree of the Holy Office was immediately made public by
the Pope's orders ; yet, though deeply moved and wounded,
Cardinal de Noailles would not retract his opinion, and
declared that the Jesuits had obtained the decree out of
personal hatred to him, and upon distorted representa-
tions.
P^re de la Chaise died the year after the decree (1709) ;
and the King, having declared that he would never choose
any other confessor than a Jesuit, referred the matter, as
usual, to Madame de Maintenon and her adviser, the Bishop
MADAME DE MAINTENON, m
of Chartres, of whose orthodoxy and wise decision he
was sure. These two consulted the cur^ of St. Sulpice, an
eminently holy man, and it was decided that P^re le Tellier
should be chosen as the King's director. He was a plain
man, of quite low birth, very learned, and exceedingly
jealous against the innovations of Jansenism. Cardinal de
Noailles was furious at the appointment of one of his
enemies to be the King's spiritual guide, and he had soon
fresh mortifications to suffer. Emboldened and encouraged
by the decree from Rome, the Bishops of Lugon, La
Rochelle, and Gap publicly condemned the " Reflexions,''
and a pastoral publishing the condemnation was pasted up
on the cathedral of N6tre Dame, the Archbishop's palace,
and the gates of Paris.
Cardinal de Noailles took the pitiful revenge of ordering
the superior of St. Sulpice to expel the nephews of the
Bishops of Gap and Lugon, who were then studying in the
seminary. The aggrieved bishops appealed to the King,
as did also the Cardinal on his side and in person. The
King received him very kindly, and promised him a special
and leisurely audience at Marly, where he was going
shortly. But the Cardinal, with his usual haughty in-
temperance, brooked no delay, and published a manifesto,
condemning the pastorals of the three bishops, and for-
bidding them to be read in the archdiocese.
The King was naturally much displeased at this
assumption of the Archbishop, and sent him word by the
Secretary of State, Pontchartrain, that, as he had taken it
upon himself to do justice, he had nothing further to ask
of the King, and forbade him to appear at Marly. Then
the Cardinal wrote most urgently to his firm friend,
N
1 78- MADAME DE MAINTENON.
Madame de Maintenon, beseeching her to plead his cause.
But she was now too well acquainted with his character,
and so well aware how it behoved her to repress his
presumption, that she answered only in a few wise words : —
Yesterday in the salon [reception] at Marly, people were saying
that hitherto they had been sorry for you, but that now you were
without excuse. . . . And now again, once more, do not quarrel
with the King. You know how religious he is, how kind to all
your family, and how specially he esteems yourself. Is it possible
that you could wish to add to his sorrows, and that any personal
interest could make you break with him ?
Even after this letter the Cardinal persecuted her with
pleadings to be allowed to see the King, who was so weary
of the whole miserable course of the religious dissensions,
added to the calamities and starvation of his people, that
he referred the matter to the Dauphin. Once more
Madame de Maintenon wrote to Cardinal de Noailles : —
This is the last time I shall wish to write to you upon this
miserable business, for I have too many reasons for not meddling
in it. I shall resume my own proper office, which is to pray that
God may turn all to His glory, to the good of the Church, and to
your own benefit, monseigneur, in which I am keenly interested.
Madame de Maintenon kept her word, feeling most
bitterly how much better it would have been for her to
have restricted herself to this office from the beginning,
instead of moving Heaven and earth to obtain the appoint-
ment of this most troublesome Archbishop.
Meanwhile the commission under the Dauphin advised
Cardinal de Noailles to condemn the " Reflexions ; " but
his self-love was still in the ascendant, and he answered
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 79
by again accusing the Jesuits of having maligned him. His
arrogance even went the length of begging the King to
" unmask the Jesuits," and to give up P^re le Tellier as
his confessor, writing vehement letters to Madame de
Maintenon to obtain the same end. To these outrageous
letters she returned calm, moderating answers ; and the
Dauphin wisely advised the King to refer the whole ques-
tion to Rome, which he did.
During the course of these religious battles, Madame de
Maintenon's pen was never idle, nor did she discourse idly
with it. There are charming letters to the Comte d'Ayen,
one of the best members of the great de Noailles family.
In one of these letters she mentions a diversion which
seems dear alike to great and little people : —
December 19, 1700.
The bouts rimh seem to us very good, and gave us some little
pleasure, for we began to weary of the monotony of the evenings,
and of seeing it always noted, " They drew, and then played at
brklan " [a game of cards]* The King of Spain * shows from
time to time that he has some taste for intellectual games, and I
have no doubt others would also, were it not for the miserable
passion for cards, which, without giving great pleasure to any-
body, disgusts others. We were surprised to discover a poet in
M. d'Heudicourt M. de Noailles is of great use to the young
people, for he never loses an opportunity of speaking of wisdom.
I am afraid, my dear count, that this journey will not turn out
so pleasant as you hope, but I comfort myself with the thought that
you will get out of it all that can be got I beg of you to give
my very humble thanks to Monseigneur the Duke of Berry for
the quince marmalade he sent me. I see plainly that he is a
sensible man, who prefers making presents to paying compliments.
... I think it was you whom they were galloping after at seven
* The Duke of Anjou had succeeded to the Spanish crown as Philip V.
l80 MADAME DE MAIN'TENON,
o'clock in the morning,* for I have scarcely any one left since my
equerry failed me. . . .
In 1701, Madame de Maintenon found time, among all
her correspondents — which then included the King of
Spain (Philip V.) — to write to Madame de Gruel, one of
the Dames de St. Louis, about her manner with the children.
She certainly was fully capable of giving what Madame de
Gruel herself would have called un rude savon,
1 701.
You admire what I do for your class a great deal too much ;
but such as it is, you do not imitate it enough. You speak to
your children with a bluntness, harshness, and abruptness which
will close all their hearts to you. They ought to feel that you
love them, that you are sorry for their faults on their account, and
that you are full of hope that they will be corrected. You must
manage them with skill, encourage them, praise them; in one
word, you must make use of every means with them except rough-
ness, which will never lead any one to God. You are too much
the same with everybody, and you would live admirably with
saints ; but you must learn how to suit yourself to all sorts of
people, and especially to the ways of a good mother who has a
large family of children whom she loves all alike.
There is another letter to Madame de Gruel of the
same year : —
1701.
I have always forgotten to tell what I observed, a few days
ago, when I heard you explaining the Gospel I thought that you
embraced too many subjects, whereas children need only a few.
You say too much yourself, and I think you should make them
speak more, that you may see if they [both] hear and understand.
* Madame de Maintenon herself usually started for St. Cyr at seven o'clock,
and the Comte d'Ayen had several times galloped alongside her coach ; to
which she refers.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. l8l
I discovered also that you are very eloquent For instance, you
told the girls that they must be eternally divorced from sin. It is
true, and it was very well said, but I do not believe there are three
girls in your class who know what a divorce is. Be simple, and
think only of making yourself thoroughly understood. I think, my
dear daughter, that you would like me to advise you according to
what I have seen you do. I beg of you to suggest to your children
all those practices of piety that I have always wished to see among
you — z. horror of sin, the sense of God's presence, docility of
conduct I beg of you once more to lead them according to the
spirit of the Church, and I have drawn up a little abridgment *
which should be followed. Keep one uniform method during the
classes, as far as possible, and let us know everything you .do.
You can scarcely conceive how easy you will make the conduct of
the classes for the mistresses by this means. Good-bye, my dear
daughter.
At the beginning of the next year Madame de Main-
tenon wrote a few words to Cardinal de Noailles, carefully
avoiding controversial topics : —
February 26, 1702.
... I know of nothing new since I had the honour of seeing
you, but I forgot to ask you for a sermon from P^re Massillon for
St. Cyr. He could choose his own day and preach as he liked.
He would be in a chair at the grating. There would be only
ourselves, and I should not let any externes know. If you should
make this petition from me, monseigneur, say something good of
the Dames de St I^ouis, and tell him that at St Cyr one breathes
only the spirit of simplicity, teachableness, and humility. If,
after saying all that, it does not suit him to preach to us, I Shall
be quite able to take a refusal
Madame de Maintenon wrote at much greater length
to her old friend Madame de Glapion towards the end of
the same year : —
♦ On the methods to be used for the different feasts of the year.
1 82 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
November 9, 1702.
. . . You will never be satisfied, my dear daughter, till you love
God with your whole heart, and I do not say this on account of the
profession to which you are bound. Solomon told you long ago
that, after having sought and found and tasted of all pleasure, he
acknowledged that everything b vanity and vexation of spirit,
except loving and serving God. Why cannot I give you all my
own experience? Why cannot I show you the weariness that
devours the great ones of the earth, and the trouble they have in
filling up their days ? Do you not see how I myself am dying of
sadness under brighter circumstances than can easily be imagined,
and that it is only by God's help that I do not fall under it ? Once
I was young and pretty ; when I grew older I spent some years in
intellectual enjoyment; then I came into [high] favour; and I
declare to you, my dear daughter, that all these conditions of life
[only] left a frightful blank weariness, and a craving desire for
some new thing, because in all of them there was nothing to
satisfy fully. We are never at rest till we have given ourselves to
God, and with that determined will of which I have sometimes
spoken to you. Then we feel that there is nothing more to seek,
and we have reached all that is good on earth. We have sorrows,
but we have also a solid satisfaction and peace of heart in the
midst of the greatest troubles.
But you will say to me, " Can we be religious at our will ? "
Yes, my dear daughter, we can, and we are not allowed to think
that God will fail us. " Seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it
shall be opened to you." These are His words, but we must seek
Him with humility and simplicity. St. Paul may well have known
more than Ananias, but he went nevertheless to find him, and
learnt through him what he was to do. You will never know it
of yourself; you must humble yourself. You have in you the
remains of pride, which you disguise to yourself as a taste for
intellectual things. You ought not to have it, and still less should
you seek to satisfy it with a confessor. The simpler he is, the
better for you, and you should submit yourself like a child. How
will you bear the crosses that God will send you through life, if
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 83
you stumble at the Norman or Picard accent, and are disgusted
with a man because he is not as sublime as Racine ? That poor
man would have edified you if you had seen his humility in
his illness,* and his penitence as to intellectual self-seeking. He
did not send then for any fashionable director, and only saw the
good priest of his parish. I have seen another great man die,
who had written the finest works one can see, but had never
allowed them to be printed, not wishing to assume the name of
author. He burnt everything that he ever wrote, and only a few
fragments remain in my memory.f Do not let us occupy ourselves
here with what we must sooner or later give up. You have not
lived very long, yet you have to renounce the tenderness of your
heart and the fastidiousness of your mind. Go to God, my dear
daughter, and everything shall be given you. Write to me as
often as you like. ... I should be well pleased to lead you to
God. I should thus contribute to His glory, I should make one
happy whom I particularly love, and I should render a great
service to an institution not indifferent to me. •
There is an interesting little letter to another Dame de
St. Louis, Madame de Beaulieu, first mistress, of the follow-
ing year : —
October 10, 1703.
A first mistress should make a good figure at the recreation,
and should be the one to tell my news to the others ; but I have
nothing bright to say. My heart is heavy with the sorrow of our
princess [the Duchess of Burgundy] since Monsieur de Savoie
[Duke of Savoy] declared war with the King.
Oh, my dear daughters, how happy you are to have left the world !
It promises joy and gives none. The King of England [James,
the Chevalier de S-t. George] was playing yesterday in my room
with the Duchess of Burgundy and her ladies at all sorts of games.
Our King and the Queen of England [Mary Beatrice of Modena]
* Racine died in 1699.
t It was never known to whom this alludes. — Geffroy.
1 84 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
were looking on. There was nothing but dancing, laughing, and
transports of pleasure, and yet almost all there were stifling keen
pain at their hearts. The world is certainly a delusion; you
cannot be too grateful to God for having taken you out of it.
Early in 1704, Madame de Maintenon wrote again to
Madame de Glapion a letter so full of spiritual common
sense as to be of lasting value : —
April 24, 1704.
I pray with all my heart that God will give His blessing to
your retreat Do not doubt that the difficulty you have in giving
an account of yourself to your confessor comes from the want of
humility. This is the virtue that costs you most, and therefore is
the one most necessary for you. Ask it of God at this most fitting
moment for receiving His grace. My dear daughter, you are a
Christian and a nun; your life ought to be hidden, mortified,
stripped of pleasure, chaste in all things, and contenting you with
the part you have chosen. You do not repent having done so ;
take It, then, with its austerities and its safeguards. You would
have had more pleasure in the world, but, according to all appear-
ances, you would have been lost. Racine would have entertained
you, and would have dragged you into Jansenist cabals. Mon-
seigneur de Cambrai [F^nelon] would have satisfied and even
increased your fastidious taste, and you would have become a
Quietist. Rejoice now in the happiness of security. Would you
rather that your house should be dazzling than sound ? What
would it have served you to have shone in it if you were to be
buried under it ? I desire for you, my dear daughter, what I wish
for myself, for I am in a position to choose, and have the same
confessor as yourself. God gives me grace to prefer his discourse
to the finest sermons I could ever hear. Sacrifice your dislikes
on this head, and you will gain more by that than by all the
austerities that you do not ask to practise and yet are troubled by
not asking for. You speak very well at the recreations ; do not
lose the fruit of what you say by spreading your discontent, for
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 85
that is one of the greatest wrongs you can do your Sisters and
your institute. All the good that is done must be effected by the
confessors and superiors ; therefore love them yourself and make
them beloved, respect them and make others respect them.
Commit as few sins as you can yourself, my dear child, but, above
all things, never be responsible for the sins of others.
May God preserve you from a confessor in whom you should
feel delight ! You are well off when he leads you wisely. You
need nothing, and all you do is meritorious so long as you are in
the spirit of faith.
Why has God given you an intellect and such powers of
reason ? Do you believe that it is to talk well, to read pleasant
books, to criticize prose and poetry, to compare clever writers and
authors with one another ? Such plans could not proceed from
Him. He has gifted you in this way to serve a great work
established for His glory ; therefore turn your mind towards this
idea, as solid as the others are frivolous. Come back from your
retreat altogether large, strong, and zealous for the good of your
foundation ; leave childish ideas to children, and come and help
to establish a house that will do great good Everything you
have received is for you to make profit by, and you must give an
account of it. I have not observed the much speaking of which
you complaia It is necessary to say a good deal to form other
minds and to make them hear reason.
Do not fancy that you are harsh towards the sick and their
weaknesses. You are charitable and gentle, but you wish to make
them reasonable, and they ought to be so. The wish to be
approved is natural; try to love good for its own sake, and to
look to God alone. Self-love will glide in everywhere, but you
will not consent to it
Why can you not bear to study the Catechism ? Does it not
contain the whole of religion ? The necessity of making all
Christians learn it has caused whatever we believe to be put in
questions and answers, to make it easier, more intelligible, and
shorter \ but in whatever way our mysteries [of faith] are spoken
1 86 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
of, are they not always the same? What do you see in the
Catechism that lowers them? These ideas are the remains of
vanity, that does not fit in with things common to everybody, and
that is always seeking something higher. The sublimest theology
could not speak to you of the Trinity otherwise than it is explained
in the Catechism ; and in what you feel about this there is still
matter for sacrifice, and yoiur mind must become as simple as
your heart What do you wish to learn, my dear daughter ? I
can answer for it, after much experience, that when you have read
a great deal, you will see that you know nothing. Your religion
ought to be the whole of your knowledge.. Your time is no
longer your own. God has given you all the intelligence that
reading gives to others.
As to pleasure, I should like you to have it It is necessary to
you ; but content yourself with that which suits your state of life.
Set your mind, not toward distastes, but towards being pleased
with what God has settled for you. What book is it that you
should like to read and do not ?
I should not have been as strict as your confessor as to music,
but he has his reasons. I thank God that you love prayer and
the Office. I scarcely ever see you at those times that I do not
regret not being a nun. Amuse yourself with your little girls ;
you will always be extremely useful to them. The matter that
concerns myself need not give you the least pain ; only offer
yourself to God for the more grievous privations. You ought to
wish to satisfy me as long as I have a mission to help you. Do
not trouble yourself as to your want of fervour, and that you have
no desire for austerities. If God had required many of these, He
would not have put you in a house where they are not used. Love
and serve your institute, and He will be satisfied with you ; the
violence you do your nature, which leads you to form friendships,
is better than all hair shirts and disciplines. I do not spare you,
but I depend so strongly on your opinion that I do not try to see
your faults. . . .
CHAPTER XV.
1704— 1705.
The Comte d'Ayen, who had so often played equerry in
the early mornings to Madame de Maintenon, had married
Mdlle. d'Aubign^ in 1698 ; and in 1704 the Due de
Noailles made over the title to his son. At the same
time Madame de Maintenon gave her niece the use of
the Maintenon estate as a residence, retaining, however,
the life interest for herself. She wrote to the young
duchess on her going there : —
October 3, 1704.
I am very glad you should go to Maintenon, I have sent
word to Lacouture [the housekeeper] to make over to you every-
thing that is there, and to tell you of anything wanting, that you
may supply it You know me so well that you will believe me
when I say that it will not cost me a penny to receive you there.
Make great friends with Lacouture ; she ought to serve you as
long as she lives, and you ought to take care of her always. I
have heard that you do not do much for poor little Maligny,* and
that she is desolate enough ; that Madame de Champeron will not
take charge of her, and that the child seems to be misbom. If
all this is true, she must be sent back to Madame de St. Remi des
Landes, who will know how to take care of her and is very fond
* Perhaps one of Charles d*Aubign^'s children ; an orphan adopted by
Madame de Maintenon — Gefiroy.
1 88 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
of her. Do not think I am vexed about this ; I can easily take
her away. I am full of pain at the Due de Noailles' state.* I am
afraid he will not last long. Try to comfort him, my dear niece.
You fill the position of a good wife. How will you live without
Mdlle. de Noailles ? They say that you love one another to excess ;
and you are quite right I am better than I ought to be, and I
love you as tenderly as you can wish. I know that this is saying
a good deal, but I am able to bear out what I say.
That same year, 1704, it fell to Madame de Maintenon's
lot to write a much more important letter, which was laid
up in the archives of the French Foreign Office.
The younger sister of the Duchess of Burgundy, the
still more charming Marie Louise of Savoy, had, in 1701,
married the King of Spain, Philip V., formerly Duke of
Anjou. This beautiful and graceful girl was called upon,
at the age of thirteen, to marry a weak king of eighteen,
and to wear the thorny crown of a great, but still only
partially civilized and deeply prejudiced country, full of
jealousies and cabals, and then chafing under the necessity
of accepting a king of French blood. There was given to
the young Queen, to conduct her to Madrid, a former friend
of Madame de Maintenon, the Princess des Ursins, who
remained in Spain as camarera mayor. She was a woman
distinguished, even among her seventeenth-century con-
temporaries, for her beauty (which was still brilliant at
seventy), her wit, her knowledge of the world, and her
extraordinary gifts of attracting and winning those whom
she chose to win. Princess des Ursins became a constant
resource and support to the young Queen, and in scarcely
less measure to the indolent, pleasant, and affectionate
young King, her husband.
* The old duke.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 89
This was extremely displeasing to the French am-
bassador, Cardinal d'Estr^es, who had, on his part, an
intense love of absolute rule, and who conceived that the
King should be entirely under his own guidance. Thence
followed innumerable heartburnings, jealousies, and quarrels
The Cardinal accused the camarera of prejudicing the
young Qiieen against the Spaniards at Court, and of ex-
citing in the country an increasing hatred of France. There
raged so fierce a war between the ecclesiastic and the lady,
that Louis XIV. desired his grandson to dismiss Princess
des Ursins and send her back to France. The King was
obliged to obey, but his young Queen was inconsolable.
She could not live without her princess ; and she demanded
her return so vehemently, and with such petulance of
reproach, that Louis XIV. was deeply offended. He had
already, to please the Queen of Spain, recalled Cardinal
d'Estr^es, and replaced him as ambassador by the Due de
Gramont — a most agreeable and conciliatory man ; but
Marie Louise refused to be conciliated. The King then
wrote to her himself a very stately and kinglike letter, in
which he blamed Princess des Ursins for having interfered
overmuch in public affairs, and reproved the Queen for her
unwise and excessive partiality to a favourite. " People in
our position,'* he said, "ought to rise above private quarrels,
and to rule their conduct according to their own interest
and the good of their subjects, which are, in fact, the
same." But the King spoke in vain ; and hence the letter
which was sent her by Madame de Maintenon, who had
never spoken with such severe majesty, or, in spite of the
curious interchange of persons which sounds so inaccurate
to us, more entirely to the purpose : —
190 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
October 5, 1704.
I am touched by your Majesty's suflferings, but I should be
much more so, if I saw that she were indifferent to the things said
about her which she does me the honour to write. Nothing could
be more derogatory to your Majesty ; and as she desires me to
speak freely, I shall venture to agree with her that to make
people imagine that she does not love the King, her grandfather
[Louis XIV.], is to accuse her of every sort of fault He does,
indeed, deserve the esteem and affection of your Majesty, and I
think the King of Spain has not allowed her to remain ignorant
of what our King is. But, madame, however powerful you all
[kings and queens] may be on earth, you cannot prevent wicked
people from wishing to sow discord everywhere, as your Majesty
says. It seems, from everything that comes back to us from your
Court, that it is full of cabals ; everybody writes according to his
own prepossession, and it is difficult, from so far away, to unravel
the truth. As for myself, I have never believed that your Majesty
did not love the King [Louis XIV.], or that she had a great
dislike to the French people. She herself is half a French woman,
she has a French husband, whom she warmly loves, and her
interests are bound up with France. She has had near her one
who could not hate her own nation, and who has not separated
your Majesty from it I have always looked upon these reports
as coming from either ill-affected Spaniards or from ill-judging
Frenchmen who desired to be preferred by your Majesty to
Spaniards, which ought never to be. Your Majesty sees by the
King's conduct [Louis XIV.] how much he desires that you
should make yourself beloved in Spain, and how quickly he recalls
Frenchmen who have given you the least trouble.
What cure is there for these adverse reports and the trouble
they have given your Majesty ? I see none but their confidence
in the King's ambassador ; and how can business be conducted
in any other way ? This ambassador is the King's choice ; he
has no interest in Spain ; he can only wish to satisfy his master
and to succeed in his office, and he can only succeed in it by
uniting your Majesties more and more [with the King], which
MADAME DE MAINTENON. I9I
ought not to be difficult, as there is already the tie of blood and
union of interests. Since your Majesty has done me the honour
to command my advice, I have no other to give than to put trust
in the principal persons sent by the King, her grandfather, and to
act with them in such strict concert that no intrigue or [adverse]
reports can disturb it I am certain that the King depends only
upon what he hears from his ambassador. Would he be likely to
send him false reports, which could only give pain and trouble ?
The bad understanding between Monseigneur d'Estrees and
Madame des Ursins has done mischief which must be repaired ;
but I beseech your Majesty not to think that there is any wish to
ruin Madame des Ursins, or that she is accused of anything but
of having wished to rule exclusively, and thus to render the King's
ambassadors useless. There is no bitterness against her, and
every day will give your Majesty cause to know it It is true
that there is no wish to enter into her self-justification against
Monseigneur d'Estr^es, nor to see the whole Court divided between
the two parties. Nothing is thought of but the benefit of both
the kings ; the rest is their own private afiair, and the result of
old quarrels which are said to have lasted ever since they [the
Cardinal and princess] were at Rome. Otherwise, nothing is
more praiseworthy than your Majesty's friendship for this princess,
whose faithful service in her office does her honour ; but this
friendship should have its limits, and neither disturb her own
peace nor her good understanding with the King. It is very true,
madame, that I meddle in nothing and that I can do nothing :
but it is also true that I am deeply interested in everything ; that
I earnestly desire your union [with Louis XIV.], your happiness,
your firm footing in Spain, and your [public] reputation ; that I
desire that your Majesty should never derogate from the idea we
have formed of her, widely different indeed from the reports of
which she complains, and that are most assuredly not listened to
here. The Due de Gramont is an honourable man, and so is
Marshal Tessd ; they only desire what is right I hope God will
support your Majesties, and that everything will turn out to their
192 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
satisfaction. I have really abused your Majesty's patience, but
it seemed to me that she would wish me to express myself freely
to her. There is nothing that she would not forgive me if she
knew the sincerity of my respectful attachment to your Majesties.
The day after writing thus at length to the young
Queen of Spain, she sent one of her short, characteristic
notes to the Due de Noailles (as the Comte d*Ayen now
was), enclosing a letter of a M. de Valincour, a friend of
Racine and Boileau, and secretary to the Admiral Comte
de Toulouse.
October 6, 1704.
How is it, my dear duke, that I hear nothing of you, and that
I myself — wretched, low-spirited, ill, and overburthened with
vexations — am obliged to prick you up and remind you that I am
still in this world ? Here I am, indeed, doing everything I would
not do, and scarcely anything that I should like to do. I cannot
make up my mind to burn M. de Valincour's letter without any
one having seen it There is no one but you to whom I can
show it, and I am not afraid of your making mischief between
him and M. Pontchartrain [then minister of naval afifairs]. Good-
bye, my dear duke.
The letter she sent to the duke, which remained as it
was, attached to that of Madame de Maintenon in M. de
Longuerne's manuscript edition, fol. 15, contained a certain
eulogy of herself, which, though affected and adulatory, is
worth preserving : —
For a long time, madame, I have been under the idea that
it was necessary to pay court to you in the same way as to those
angelic beings who see and hear everything, but whom no one
sees and to whom no one can speak, and whose very existence is
known only by the favours received from them ; whom the
greatest events never cause to forget the smallest, and who are
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 1 93
busy at the same time with the needs of the general world and
those of the least private person. In a word, who have no occu-
pation in the lower universe but that of hindering all the evil
possible, and doing all the good that can be done. Therefore,
whenever I shall henceforth see you go by in that great black
hood in which you are wrapt as in a cloud, I shall believe that
you can read my heartfelt wishes, madame, that you may yet
enjoy for several years, and in better times than these, the pleasure
of doing good and protecting deserving people wherever they
are to be found. This is your only worthy reward.*
Here is a cold little letter of the same year to Madame
de Caylus, which shows how sadly the miserable religious
divisions of Jansenism had crept in between the most
loving relations and friends : —
November 15, 1704.
What is this forgetfulness that you complain of? Is it that I
did not write to you after the death of M. de Caylus ? You know
whether I felt it or not, and we ought not to need any compli-
ments. I am so ill and so old that for some time past I have
brought down my letters to such as are necessary, and I never
write any out of politeness only. Besides, why should you wish
to depend upon me ? You are more than of an age when you
are able to conduct yourself rightly. What would you have changed
on the very eve of my death ? It is true that you might have
been a great comfort to me if you had acted so that I could have
had full intercourse with you, which can only be when there is
oneness of mind. However, madame, I will see you whenever
you like to spend a Sunday at St. Cyr ; that is the day when I
am most often there. But I should like to be told beforehand ;
for perhaps you might find some of your enemies, or I might have
arranged for some one to come to me there.
Good-bye, my dear niece. I think I must call you so, lest
you should think I w^ere angry with you.
♦ Geffroy.
O
194 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
Madame de Caylus, who had given her aunt a great
deal of pain by putting herself under the direction of a
certain Pire de la Tour, suspected of Jansenist tendencies,
gave him up soon afterwards, and returned to her old
companions and to her affectionate intimacy with Madame
de Maintenon, who always delighted in her talents and
charm, and evidently soon found that she had time to write
as before to her niece : —
January 14, 1705.
I have just received your letter of the nth of this month
[January], Take a middle course between giving yourself up to
pleasant society and plunging yourself into seclusion. This last
you will not be able to bear, and the former will separate you
more from God and your children than the Court would do.
Abb^ Gobelin, who was very sensible, was delighted when I left
off frequenting the Hotel de Richelieu to settle at St Germain,
and I often see how right he was. I do not disapprove of your
meetings with Abb^ Testu ; Madame la Chanceliere is the best
woman in the world, and the society [of the people] you tell me
of is excellent, though I could have wished that they were not
so numerous. . . . Good-bye. Do not be afraid of writing to me,
but do not reckon on having always such prompt answers.
There is another letter to Madame de Caylus in April : —
April I, 1705.
You do the commissions eiven vou with such dil::^nce that
it requires a good deal of money to proride for them. I can
scarcelv believe that there could be a more cosdv stuff than the
one you have sent me, but anything is bearable for a petdcoat.
I have nothing new to say, but the irritation [about you] stil: goes
on. You only became pious frx)m pohdcal motives, and your one
idea is of marrying again — these are the topics upon which soi=:e-
thing fresh is embroidered every day. Do not worry abou: them,
my dear niece. If your conduct is pleasing to God yoiir enemies
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 195
will be forced into silence, and a reputation will be established
which will be worth more than all the treasures of this world. I
am much troubled about Madame la Princesse des Ursins,* and
very sorry not to be able to show her attentions which would
prove my interest in her well-being, both for herself and for Spain.
I embrace you heartily. Just now I am very well."
The same date is given, even the same month — April,
1705 — to a very remarkable conversation f between Madame
de Maintenon and Madame de Glapion at St. Cyr, which
perhaps, of all the written accounts that remain, furnishes
the fullest and most astonishing record of Madame de
Maintenon*s capacity for work and self-sacrificing devoted-
ness to what came before her as her duties.
Madame said to me (says Madame de Glapion), " It gives
me great joy to see the gate shut when I come in here [St. Cyr],
and I never go away without pain. Often, on returning to Ver-
sailles, I think, *This is the world, and to all appearance the
world for which Jesus Christ would not pray % on the eve of His
death.' I know that there are several good souls at Court, and
that God has saints in all conditions of life ; but it is certain that
in general that is the central point of what is called the world ;
that there all the passions are living — self-interest, ambition, envy,
love of pleasure, etc. This is the world so often condemned by
God. I assure you that these thoughts give me feelings of sadness
and a horror of the place where, nevertheless, I am bound to
live.'' ... I said that at least she saw none of these things in this
house, and that everything went so well here that it was a place
of rest for her, where she could be solaced for all that she found
elsewhere. Madame replied, " That is exactly so. What should
I do without this house ? I should not be able to live. I believe
* Princess des Ursins had obtained leave to return to Versailles, and was
restored to favour.
+ Written down by Madame de Glapion. % St. John xvii. 9.
196 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
God has granted it me not only to secure my salvation, but also
for my resting-place; for it not only serves me for prayer and
recollection, but also for recreation ; it makes me forget all other
business. When I am busy here, when we are in council or some
one comes to speak to me, I do not feel in truth as if there were
any Court, and this gives me time to breathe."
" I thought this morning," I said to her, *•' when I saw you at
Communion, that it was perhaps a long time since you had such
a morning, when you could pray to God and meditate at ease."
** That is very true," said madame, " and I have often told you
that I am obliged to choose a time for my Mass and prayers when
every one else is asleep. If I did not, I could not go to Mass at
all; for when once people begin to come in to me, I cannot
reckon again on being my own mistress; not a moment is left
me." I told her that, without making comparisons, I fancied that
her room was like those great shops which when once opened are
never empty, and oblige the shopkeepers to stay there all day.
Madame replied, " That is indeed so. They begin to come about
half past seven. First there is M. Mardchal [the King's first
physician]. He has no sooner gone out than M. Fagon comes
in [the ordinary physician]. He is succeeded by M. Bloin [the
King's first valet], or some one else who comes to ask how I am.
Then there are some exceedingly urgent letters that I am obliged
to write at that time. Next come people of the greatest con-
sequence ; one day M. de Chamillart [the Minister], another the
Archbishop ; to-day some general in command of an army, who
is just starting ; to-morrow an audience that has been asked for,
and almost always this is under circumstances when it is impos-
sible to put it off, as when officers and others are going away [from
Paris]. The Due du Maine waited in my ante-room the other day
till M. de Chamillart had finished. When he was gone, the Due
du Maine came in, and kept me till the King arrived. For there
is even a sort of tacit agreement that they need not go till some
superior comer drives them away. When the King comes in, of
course everybody else leaves, and he remains with me till he goes
to Mass. I do not know if you are taking in that in the midst
MADAME DE MAJNTENON. 197
of all this I am not yet dressed ; if I were, I should not have had
time for my prayers. I am still, therefore, in my nightcap, but
my room, notwithstanding, is just like a church. It is a regular
procession ; everybody passes through, and the comings and
goings are perpetual.
" When the King has heard Mass he comes back again to my
room. Then the Duchess of Burgundy comes with a great many
ladies, and they stay while I am at dinner. It seems that now,
at least, there might be some time allowed for myself, but you
will see in what way. I am apprehensive lest the Duchess of
Burgundy should do something awkward, and [I want to know]
if she is well with her husband. I try to make her say a word to
this one, and am watching whether she is treating that other one
well. It is necessary to entertain the company, and in some way
to keep them all in union. If anybody does anything indiscreet,
I feel it ; I am worried by the way something that is said is taken.
There is a strife of minds that is unlike anything else. I am
hemmed in by a circle of ladies, so that I cannot ask for anything
to drink. I look round at them sometimes, and while I look I
say, * I am very much honoured, but nevertheless I wish I had
a footman.' Then every one of them wants to serve me, and
hurries to bring me what I want, so that it creates a fresh worry
and annoyance. At last they go away to their own dinner, for
I dine at twelve o'clock with Madame d'Heudicourt * and Madame
de Dangeau, who are ilL So at last I am left with them only ;
everybody else has gone. If there were only one day when I
could amuse myself, as it is called, for a moment, it would be,
then, either to chat or play trictrac [backgammon] ; but usually
Monseigneur [the Dauphin] takes that time to come and see me,
because he either is not going to dine, or has dined early to go
a-hunting. He comes, therefore, after the others, and he is the
* Intimate as Mdlle. Bonne de Pons with Madame de Maintenon as
Madame Scarron in the Hotels de Richelieu and d*Albret. When married
to the Marquis d'Heudicourt, she made one of a pious little society of Court
ladies set on foot by Madame de Maintenon, of which she says in a letter to
the Duchess de Ventadour in 1692, "All the convent is scattered." — Geflfroy.
1 98 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
most difficult man in the world to entertain, for he never says
a word. It is necessary, however, that he should be entertained,
as I am in my own home. If I were at any one else*s house, I
should only have to take a chair behind the others and say nothing
if I wished. The ladies with me can do this if they like, but as
I am in my own room, I must pay for [the honour] personally,
and find topics for conversation, which is not very amusing.
" Then they come back from dinner. The King, with all
the princesses and the whole royal family, come into my room,
and make it frightfully hot. There is conversation, and the King
remains about half an hour, and then goes away, but he only ;
all the rest are there still, and as the King is no longer there, they
draw nearer to me. They all get round me, and I must listen to
some jest of the Mar^chale de C , the witty saying of this one,
the story told by that other. None of these good ladies have
anything to do ; they look very fresh; and have not done a single
thing all the morning. It is very different for me, who have
plenty of other things to do but chatter, and often I am suffering
inwardly from some sorrow, some bad news. For instance, this
attack upon Verrue * which must be made. I have all this on my
mind ; I am thinking that perhaps a thousand men are dying, and
others suffering." I interrupted madame by saying, " I was just
now thinking, madame, while you were speaking, that there was
at least one advantage in all this press of occupations and busi-
ness, which is that as they follow one another [so quickly] you
have not time to think of sad things." " It would seem so,"
replied madame ; " but they do not hinder me from dwelling upon
them and bearing every day a burthen which makes my heart
ache, yet I must nevertheless laugh, which is most painful. But
to end my day. After they have stayed some time like this, they
go away to their homes, and then what do you think happens ?
Some one of the ladies wishes to speak to me in private. She
takes me by the hand, and leads me into my little room, often to
tell me extremely disagreeable and tiresome details. For you may
imagine that they never want to speak of anything that concerns
* Taken by the Due de Vend6me a few days afterwards.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 199
myself ; it is of matters passing in their own families. One has
had a quarrel with her husband, another wants to beg something
of the King ; one has had some evil turn done her, another has
suffered from some misunderstanding ; some mischief to this one,
some family disturbance to that. I am obliged to listen to it all,
and those who are not friendly to me do not restrain themselves
any more than others. I must go through the whole scene for
each, and speak for her to the King. The Duchess of Burgundy
has to speak to me sometimes, and she also wishes me to speak
with her in private. All this makes me sometimes think, upon
reflection, that mine is a very peculiar position, and must indeed
be ordained by God. I see myself there in the midst of them
all — this person, this old person, the sole object of their attention !
I am the one whom they address, through whom everything
passes. And God gives me the grace never to see my own
position on its dazzling side ; I only feel the pain of it, and it
seems to me — God be thanked ! — that I shall not be dazzled, that
He lets me see it just as it is, and that I shall not be blinded by
the greatness and favour that surround me. I look upon myself
as an instrument of which God makes use to do good ; that all this
influence that He permits me to have ought to be used to serve
Him and to help any one I can — to bind all these princes together
in union, etc. I think sometimes of the natural hatred I have to
the Court ; for this is no new thing, but has always been the same.
Nevertheless, if God intended me for this life, why has He given
me such an aversion to it ? It must be because He willed me to
live this life and yet to be saved. Madame de Montespan, on the
contrary, really loved the Court, not only for those ties that kept
her here, but the Court life itself. How, then, does God act ?
He binds to it the one who hates it, and banishes from it the one
who loves it, and apparently for the salvation of both. Ah ! how
good it is to let Him do as He wills, to abandon one's self to
Him, to live from day to day doing all the good that can be done !
He knows better than we do what is good for us, and most
certainly He is the best guide. We have only to give ourselves
up to His guidance. Now let us go on.
200 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
" When the King comes home from hunting, he comes to me.
Then the door is shut, and no one comes in again. I am thus
alone with him. If he has any troubles, I must share them ; his
sadness, his depressed spirits. Sometimes he is subject to fits of
uncontrolled weeping; at others he is unwell. There is no
conversation. Some minister perhaps comes with bad tidings,
and the King is obliged to go to work. If he wishes me to be a
third person at such a consultation, he calls me ; if he does not
want me, I go a little apart, and sometimes say then my afternoon
prayers [probably the Little Office], and pray for about half an
hour. If the King wishes me to hear what is said, I cannot do
anything else. Then I sometimes learn that matters are going
amiss ; there comes a courier with bad news, and that grieves me,
and prevents my sleeping at night.
" While the King is doing business, I take my supper ; but it
does not happen to me once in two months to eat it in comfort
I know that the King is alone, or I have left him sad ; or, when
M. de Chamillart is ready to leave him, the King asks me to make
haste. Another day he wants to show me something. So that I
am always hurried, and all I can do is to eat very quickly. I have
my fruit brought in with' my meat to make the greater haste, and
always eat as quickly as I can. I leave Madame d'Heudicourt
and Madame Dangeau at table, as they are not able to do as I do,
and it sometimes makes me also ill.
" After all this, you may think how late it is. I have been up
ever since six o'clock in the morning, and have not had time to
breathe all day. I am worn out ; I have fits of yawning ; and,
more than all the rest, I begin to feel the effects of age, and I am
at last so tired that I can do no more. The King sees it, and
says to me sometimes, * You are very tired, are you not ? You
must go to bed.* I go to bed. My women come to undress me,
but I feel that the King wants to speak to me, and is waiting till
they are gone away, or some minister is still waiting, and he is
afraid that the women may hear. This puts him out, and me too.
What is to be done ? I hurry, and I hurry so much that I feel
ill; and you must know that all my life I have hated being
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 201
hurried. When I was five years old I felt exactly the same, and
it always did me an injury to be hurried, because I am naturally
very quick, and thus hurry myself as far as I can ; and I also am
very weak, so that I feel breathless, and suffer as I have told you.
At last I am in my bed, and my women are sent away. Then the
King draws near, and sits down at the head of the bed.* Can
you imagine how it is with me there ? I am lying down ; but I
may be in need of many things, not being yet a glorified body.
There is no one there whom I can ask to give me what I need.
Sometimes I want some clothes to be aired, but there is no
woman present. It is not that I could 'not have them, for the
King is full of kindness, and if he thought I wanted women, he
would endure ten of them ; but he has no idea that I am putting
the least restraint upon myself. As he is always and everywhere
master, and does whatever he wishes, he cannot imagine that
any one should be different from himself, and thinks, if I have
no women about me, it is because I do not want them. You
know that my maxim is to spend myself and spare others. Great
people are not usually like this. They never put themselves out,
and they never even think that others are putting themselves out
for their sake, and they are not much obliged to them, because,
being used to see everything done for them, it does not strike
them. Sometimes, when I have had a very severe cold, I have
been nearly suffocated by keeping in the cough ; and once M. de
Pontchartrain, who saw me getting scarlet, said to the King,
* She cannot bear it any longer ; we must call some one,' etc.
" The King stays with me till he goes to supper, and, about a
* It must be remembered, to deepen the sense of what Madame de
Maintenon endured, that at Versailles her bed was in an alcove or dressing-
room of her ordinary sitting-room. Within that alcove she was undressed and
put to bed by her women, while the King and often one or two ministers
were in the room outside.
M. Edmond Sch^rer, in one of four articles of great interest on Geffroy's
volumes, says that though this apartment in the palace at Versailles was un-
fortunately partly destroyed when the museum was arranged, there still remain
the fireplace near which Louis XIV. wrote, and the large closet or dressing-
room in which stood Madame de Maintenon's bed.
202 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
quarter of an hour before then, the Dauphin and the Duke and
Duchess of Burgundy come in. At ten or a quarter past ten
o'clock everybody goes away. I am at last by myself, and can
refresh myself according to my needs ; but the anxieties and
fatigue of the day often hinder me from sleeping."
I told madame several times (continued Madame de Glapion)
how I felt these annoyances for her, and that I was not surprised
that it had been said that she was one of the unhappiest women
in the world. She replied, " And yet it might also be said, * Is
she not a happy woman ? She is with the King from morning till
night' But people forget when they say so that princes and
kings are like other men : that they have their pains and troubles,
and that one must share these with them. And, more than this,
there are a thousand things that our people [at Court] never think
of, and that fall upon me. For instance, the Princess des Ursins
is going away again to Spain. I am obliged to see a great deal of
her, and by my attention and all that I can do for her to make her
amends for the coldness of the Duchess of Burgundy, the King's
dryness, and everybody's indifference towards her. I go to call
upon her, I give her time with me, I listen to a thousand things I
have nothing to do with ; and all this that she may go away
pleased with them all, able to speak well of them, especially the
Duchess of Burgundy; that she may have reason to praise our
Court, and speak altogether well of it. They are too careless
about these things [the royal family], and it falls upon me to
make up for them, and so of a thousand other things."
While we were talking, I asked madame if she were not often
very impatient, and she answered, "Ah, indeed! 5^es, I am.
Sometimes I am impatient to the very lips ; but one must go on,
and then it is all ordered by God. When I reflect upon my
position, and feel overpowered with troubles and vexations, I
think what my life might be without them. If, with all this
magnificence, wealth, and ease of living, I had nothing to trouble
me, could there be anything in the world more likely to destroy
my soul? Such a height of greatness, combined with ease of
living, leads very quickly to forgetfulness of God. I am always
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 203
lodged like the King, my furniture is magnificent, I live in
abundance ; but in the midst of all this. He shows His mercy by
mingling with it troubles and disagreeables which serve as a
counterpoise, and make me come back to Him." ... I said,
** One thing, madame, which seems to me to make your life more
painful, is that much of it appears to be of no use, as, for instance,
the conversations when no apparent good is done, and the time
is spent in pure loss." Madame answered, "That is true; and
not only as to the conversations which you speak of, but when I
find myself at some game, when there are often cards up to this
height round me. In truth, I think sometimes, * Would any one
say this is a Christian woman's room ? There is nothing to be
seen but splendour, nothing heard but pleasure.' Still, I comfort
myself with the thought that, if it were not going on in my room,
there might be thirty men with those women, and much evil
might be said and done ; while now whatever passes is at least
innocent, and no men are there except the princes. And then
that young princess [Duchess of Burgundy] must be amused, and
I think I ought not to dwell so much on what I do myself as
what would be done under other circumstances."
CHAPTER XVI.
1705 — 1706-7.
In 1705, the little Duke of Brittany, a most interesting and
promising child, died, and Madame de Maintenon's letter
to the superior of St. Cyr best describes the circumstances.
The conditions of his mother's life were certainly not such
as to produce healthy children. The little duke was not
quite a year old.
April, 1705.
Nothing can be so touching as the sorrow of our princes, and
nothing more instructive than their way of bearing it. The King
has thought only of the child's happiness, considering the diffi-
culties of salvation for those in a high position. The Duke of
Burgundy feels like Abraham ofifering his son. The duchess in
her grief is so great, so holy, so wise, so sweet, that not a word
has fallen from her that every one is not delighted with. The
Duke of Berry's eyes are in a state that show his deep feeling.
The whole Court is in affliction. I have my own good share, but
God gives me grace not to sink under it, and to will as He wills,
cost what it may, though it touches just now the softest part in my
heart Good-bye, my dear children. Strengthen yourselves in
faith and good works ; there is much to suffer as long as we are
on earth, and we greatly need to be strengthened in God. Do
not be saddened by our troubles ; God will not always be angr}-,
and I trust that He will comfort us.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 20$
Madame de Maintenon wrote to Madame de Caylus
from St Cyr during that same month : —
St Cyr, April 32, 1 705,
The King has the gout, and the Duchess of Burgundy fever.
I have come out here to dinner and then go back. You are
reasonable, my dear niece, and I rejoice with you. We shall now
have only pleasant intercourse. Send me some news of the
family I recommended to you ; I have only the most comfortless
recollection of them. I must not appear in the matter, but they
ought not to want. I am pretty well in the midst of all our
trouble. I embrace you with all my heart. How wise you are to
leave everything to God without so much forecasting ! It is very
useless. We do not know either what we want or what we are
doing, and it seems as if God is pleased often to upset our little
arrangements. Each day is enough for its own evils. You are
very happy to think as you do so soon. ...
From Marly in the same month there is a letter to the
Due de Noailles : —
Marly, April, 1705.
«
I have no doubt that the marshal [De Noailles] keeps you
well informed as to the King's health,* and all the other news ;
therefore I shall cut mine short, which is bad enough to deserve
being at Bourbon f as much as anybody else. If I live much
longer in the King's room I shall become paralyzed. There is
not a door nor window that shuts ; one is blown upon by a wind
that reminds me of American [West Indian] hurricanes. One
may mention foreign parts when one has travelled. I have
rheumatics in my head and all over me, and as I have only my
dressing-time, I make use of it to dictate a letter to Nanon
[Mdlle. Balbien]. I shall be well satisfied if you go on [getting
better] as you have begun, for I have already had letters from
* Louis XIV. was kept at Marly from April till May by his gout,
t The duke was at Bourbon for the waters.
206 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
Mdlle. de Gralin, from my niece, and from you. Good-bye,
duke. I commend to your care M. Treillh, the confessor at
St Cyr, and to Madame d'Heudicourt, a very good man, whom
I like much. I beg of you to do the honours of Bourbon for him
as well as you can.
Another letter to the Due de NoaiUes followed in
May : —
St. Cyr, May 2, 1705.
The King has the gout still, but as it is slight enough to allow
of his being carried out into the gardens, he cannot make up his
mind to leave Marly. On the other hand, he sees so many of his
people tired of Marly that he thinks of spending a few days at
Trianon. It will be as God pleases. I can only be here by
snatches, so that I scarcely find any more leisure here than else-
where. I assure you that if I do not write it is not because I do
not often think of you, or that I do not see a thousand things
every day that bring you to my mind. Not always by their
likeness.
I am more uneasy about M. Fagon than about the King.
This poor man, who is devoted to his duty, has not slept for a
fortnight, and spends all his nights in watching the slightest ail-
ment one [the King] can have. I, too, am very much worn out
by the assiduous attention that draws me out of my nest * and
gives me a great deal of rheumatism. Patience is a very needful
virtue. Get well, my dear duke, and that will be a great comfort
to me. I have already commended M. Treillh to you. Madame
de Montespan is always going to start for Bourbon. They are of
different values \mkrites\
A few days afterwards Madame de Maintenon wrote to
Madame de Caylus, also from Marly : —
* Madame de Maintenon suffered so much from draughts that she had had
a sort of hood or nest built round her chair.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 20/
Marly, May 9, 1705.
No, my dear niece, I cannot make up my mind to the em-
broidery, and if you cannot send me what I ask for, send me what
you can. It is not possible that I can be the only old woman in
the world. Send me what you can, provided that it does not
make me look ridiculous, and that it is a brown and light gown.
. . . Why are you in such haste about a commission that I am
not the least in a hurry about ? The King gets better and better,
but I think we shall still be here a week longer. I am often
suffering, but always about.
The following, from St Cyr to Madame de Dangeau,
gives a curious glimpse of the perfectly Eastern fashion in
which all classes of marriages were then arranged : —
St. Cyr, June i8, 1705.
I have written to the Dean of Chartres for dispensation of
banns, for our adviser affirms that what we ask is according to
rule. Without some such intimation, I should have doubted if
our wedding could have been so speedy. The bride * is solely
occupied with the lack of headgear ; I have assured her that she
can be married in a cap. I have given her a beautiful black
damask, and an apron so splendid that it suits her far better than
it does me. La Fert^ tells me that the hunchback is very kind,
and that he has beautiful teeth. Congratulate yourself upon the
success of this good work ; I am giving nothing that costs me as
much as the delay of my pleasure in seeing you, but we are going
to Trianon and thence to Meudon. I ought to go to Paris on
St. John's Day to see my Capuchiness,t but I cannot make up my
mind to take that journey without you, madame, and as you are
away now on my account, the least I can do is to wait for you.
My God, madame, what joy there is in doing good ! The whole
♦ A young girl in Madame de Maintenon's service whom she found out to
be of ** gentle " birth, and married her to a hunchbacked gentleman, M. des
Fertons. Madame de Dangeau undertook to make all the arrangements.
t Mdlle. de Montalembert, one of the girLs at St. Cyr, who had gone
to the Capucines.
208 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
of Versailles could not give me as much as I feel in settling
in life a poor young lady who would have been in the street when
I die. I am sure you will be delighted at this wedding, and that
you will find M. des Fertons very good company. But as you
know better than anybody how to mingle wisdom with gaiety, be
sure to give plenty of advice to Agnes, who will be an excellent
housekeeper, but has very little sense. You see, madame, that I
do not know what I am writing, and I am interrupted every
moment about this girl, who is very much astonished at her own
sudden departure. Do not get knocked up at the wedding. I
wanted to write you a volume, but everything has had to be done
by letters. I had to send for gloves, ribbon, my smartest hood ;
I have taken quassia ; Madame de Chailly wishes to come in to
see me ; I must send Mdlle. de Mdrinville away. I really want
rest, and I should like to say my prayers. They expect me early
at Trianon, and here is a letter from Versailles, which must be
answered. And in the midst of all this I am expected to be
perfectly calm 1 The worst of it now is that the bride must have
some pistoles [ten-franc pieces] which I am just going to give her.
About the same year Madame de Maintenon enlarged
her interests and increased her already more than voluminous
correspondence by undertaking to send an abbess and
several companions to the relaxed and decayed abbey of
Gomcrfontainc. The abbess chosen v^as Madame de Vief-
ville, a relation of the Cardinal-Archbishop de Noailles,
who had been educated at St. Cyr. St. Simon, whose
keen and exquisitely barbed tongue was always more
waspish than usual where Madame de Maintenon was
concerned, declares that " she thought herself the universal
abbess ; it was her favourite occupation ; " and that this
idea led her into " a sea of frivolous, delusive, wearisome,
sham occupations, an infinity of letters and answers, the
direction of chosen souls, and all sorts of childishness."
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 20g
For, in truth, Madame de Maintenon's steadily increasing
and enduring influence with the King and at Court was a
continual thorn in St. Simon's side. So keen an insight as
his, so consummate a penetration into character, could not,
however, fail to strike at times through the weak joints of
even the finest coat of mail, and there is no doubt that, in
spite of the difficulties she had involved the house at St. Cyr
in with Madame Guyon, Madame de Maintenon was not
yet cured of her keen relish for spiritual direction. Old as
she now was, .and sensitively feeling the infirmities of her
age, she engaged in the business of reviving and reforming
Gomerfontaine with all her ancient energy. There actually
remain in manuscript at Versailles ninety long letters from
her to the abbess, Madame de Viefville, besides others to
those of her companions who went from St. Cyr to help
in this most admirable work. In these letters Madame de
Maintenon retraces the whole ground of the rules and
instructions for teaching at St Cyr, and, besides carefully
pointing out tHe plan and scope of education for girls, gives
the most detailed and practical spiritual counsel to the
nuns.
M. Geffroy gives the date of 1705 to some pretty little
notes to Madame de Dangeau : —
I am going to St. Cyr, where I shall have business till four
o'clock ; after that time, madame, I am at your service. Come
alone, or come with others ; the garden, the bees, the little girls,
will all be for you. Either driving, or picquet at Trianon, will be
good in your company.
Will Mesdames the Marchionesses de Dangeau, D'Heudicourt,
and Montgon [Madame d'Heudicourt's daughter] dine together
to-morrow wherever they please, so as to start at one o'clock for
P
2IO MADAME DE MAINTENON.
St. Cyr, go to the blue class-room, and see " Esther " acted ;
not laugh at several of the ugly faces of actors and singers, then
say their prayers and go on to Marly? My coach, which has
nothing else to do, will await their orders, and they can send it
back to St Cyr. They could bring me six bottles of hippocras
for the actresses, which M. L^ger will give them. If all this does
not suit them we can put it off to another day. Good-bye, my
children ; my head is splitting.
What is our sweet princess [Duchess of Burgundy] doing ?
Do you think I would not as soon be with her as behind M. de
Pontchartrain's back?* Send me word, madame, at least how
she is, and leave nothing undone to comfort her.
Madame de Maintenon was obliged to turn from these
snatched moments of rest, with the bees and the little girls
at St. Cyr, to the thankless task of trying once more to
soften the Archbishop of Paris.
Marly, January 5, 1706.
I have not answered the letter sooner you did me the honour
to write, monseigneur, because I wished to speak about it to the
King. He assures me that the Jesuits wish for peace, and that
they promise exemplary chastisement to any of their body who
shall write the least thing against you. First, then, we must
ascertain the facts ; after that we shall see what they do. Until
then, monseigneur, war must not be declared against them. I am
quite of your mind when you prefer open war to civilities which do
not hinder secret complaints. It is the greatest annoyance on all
sides that everybody is interfering with writing upon the subject, but
we must get used to hearing all sorts of contradictions. I am in
constant intercourse with the negotiator [Abb^ Testu], but though
we are both old enough to speak seriously, we feel it difficult
[sometimes] not to fall into the tone of the Hotels de Richelieu
♦ When the King held council in her room, Madame de Maintenon sat
a little apart, spinning.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 2 1 1
and d'Albret. But you know, monseigneur, that the business he
has undertaken is not indifferent to me. I have many reasons for
wishing for a sincere reconciliation. It seems to me that this
affects the glory of God, and that irreligious people are enchanted
to see holy men differing to the extent of breaking up their old
friendships. I am breathing peace on all sides, though I have
very little time to enjoy it. I had not hoped that you could come
to Versailles so soon, and I fear that you are never much inclined
to do so. It should be enough for you to hold on your way firmly
and with dignity. I reckon on the honour of seeing you, then,
monseigneur, to-morrow week, and I assure you I shall be
delighted.
Madame de Maintenon wrote next two letters to the
Due de Noailles. Extracts only are given.
St. Cyr, February 22, 1706.
In less than an hour I had the news of your second daughter
and your entry into Catalonia [the duke had gone to Spain in
1705, and was commanding in Catalonia]. I was interested in
both events. I should have liked you to have a boy, but, thanks
be to God, you will find in Him and in yourself cause of consola-
tion. Yes, certainly, I have seen the particulars of what you have
done, and heard with joy what the King has told me in private as
to your conduct May God bless these happy beginnings ! It is
impossible that they should not make a happy change in the
affairs of Spain. So you are now going to besiege Barcelona. If
you succeed, could we not hope for peace ?
I am very glad the Duke of Berwick * is going to Spain, and
I hope that he will do well there, but I fear he is very weak. . . .
The Princess des Ursins scolded me a little because I commended
you to her, and makes out that she was in her right in commend-
ing you to me. The mardchale [the duke's mother] brought
Mdlle. de Noailles [his eldest girl] to see me ; she is the prettiest
plain child that could ever be seen. She did not act all the
* A natural son of our King James II., and a brave and good soldier.
212 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
pieces she knew ; her attention was taken up with a little Moses
that she saw in the tapestry. ... I went yesterday to see your
wife, who is very unwell, but of whom the mar^chale takes great
care. I cannot get well ; I catch a fresh cold every day, because
of the constant change of dwelling and because I am always made
to talk. People go from one extreme to the other, either believing
that I am in my agony or in perfect health. I am really more or
less convalescent.
Many things have taken place about the embassy to Rome.
The Due de St Simon * has been proposed, and then M. [the
Due] d'Antin. The King inclined to the last, but heard from
responsible people that there were two powerful parties interested
in these gentlemen ; that the Jesuits wished for the Due de
SL Simon, and the Jansenists for M. d'Antin, and that Madame
de Montespan was at the head of the latter clique. I own that
I was astonished to hear of M. d'Antin being accused of Jansenism ;
but, however, all this disturbance has occasioned delay, and in
the meanwhile Abb^ de la Trdmoille will be entrusted with the
business. It is not difficult to make your court to our princess ;
I see how she always esteems and regards you. She and her
husband go on perfectly well together, and I should be quite
pleased with her were it not for lansqiunet ... I cannot yet
write myself. Pray excuse my secretary's mistakes ; she does not
understand all the words in this letter, f I embrace you, my dear
duke ; be sure you keep well, which is all there is to wish for you
just now. ...
April 3, 1706.
Cardinal de Noailles and I fall out every day more and more.
He would like to make me answerable for the annoyances other
people bring upon him, and he behaves so unjustly to one of my
friends [the Bishop of Chartres] that I should be disgusted at
such conduct to my footman.J I am fated to die of bishops, for
• The celebrated author of the ** Memoirs."
t " Jansenistes " was spelt *'Jean Senistes." — Geffroy.
X SHI lesfesoit d mon laquais.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 21 3
you know what Monseigneur de Cambrai [Fenelon] made me
suflfer. It is much worse to be wrong with one's archbishop. . . .
In the same month, two letters to Madame de Caylus
revert amusingly to the question of her own and other
people's gowns: The English refugees friendly to the
Stuarts were in great distress.
Marly, April, 1706.
The little that I can do in charity for the English women in
the Chant d'Alouette [Quartier St. Marcel] has been done through
M. Vacherot, which I thought you knew. I beg of you, my dear
niece, to send them twenty louis, for I know they are in great
want. Do not make a mistake, for there are several poor English
convents in Paris. These are in the Chant or Champ de TAlouette.
I shall be glad to know which of these it is.
The price of my stuff frightens me so much that I do not
think I shall ever make up my mind to put it on my old body. Is it
not a great pity that the Chevalier d'Heudicourt should have died
before I could give the purple gown to Madame d'Heudicourt ? *
She would have liked it better than the mourning she must now
put on, but which will soon be brightened up by some apron.
She has not been afraid of him. . . . t
St. Cyr, April 25, 1706.
The battle won in Italy [Calcinato, Due de Vendome] deter-
mined me to put on my gown. If they take Barcelona, I shall
dress in green, and if the archduke is taken prisoner, in rose-
colour. I wish I could have you here just now, for I am just in
the mood for enjoyment. Go on >^ith the monthly payments to
* Madame d'Heudicourt, related to Marshal d*Albret, was very beautiful.
When brought out by the Marechale d'Albret, the King was so struck with
her that he hesitated between making advances to her or to Mdlle. de la
Valli^re. Seeing this, the marechale suddenly carried her away from Versailles.
Some years afterwards she used to speak of this flight to the King, and even,
says St. Simon, spitefully, to let him see how she regretted it.
t Madame d'Heudicourt was afraid of seeing the spirits of the dead she
knew. — Geffroy.
214 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
the poor light-horseman's wife, just as if you had given nothing.
I send you the nine hundred and eighty-nine francs ; not to pre-
vent your coming, but because I am afraid you may be in want of
money.
Give a louis to each of the young ladies at Conflans to spend
and enjoy as she likes. Good-bye, my dear niece ; I am very
well.
The next letter was written after the Due de Noailles
had been very ill : —
St. Cyr, April 28, 1706.
You have given me a great fright, my dear duke ! Still I
have always had hopes from the warm climate, and I see that
God has preserved you from greater danger by this very illness.
I was alarmed only by seeing how the Mardchale de Noailles was
struck down ; for she has been as much and truly stricken and
broken down now as you have seen her calm during your past
illnesses. It was a great joy yesterday, to all who care for you, to
know that you were out of danger, and even to be set at rest as
to your good looks, of which it seems M. Rouvart [his doctor]
thinks a great deal.
I beg of you, monsieur, to thank him much for managing you
so well. He has made many good people very glad. This
morning I saw a holy cardinal who was much moved. There
have been many prayers for you ; but I am more afraid lest you
should get well too soon, and I was not sorry to see by your
letter that your head is still weak. Do not get well till Barcelona
is taken. . . .
It will be remembered that a very great lady, a former
friend and contemporary of Madame de Maintenon in the
salons de Richelieu and d'Albret, Princess des Ursins, had
gone with the young Queen of Spain to Madrid ; that she
had there fallen out with Cardinal d'Estrees and even with
the courtly Due de Gramont, and had been recalled to
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 215
France. Madame de Maintenon had been charged with
the duty of rebuking and instructing the princess, and it
was probably through her influence that she was restored
to favour, and was allowed to return with flying colours to
Madrid. A number of interesting letters then passed
between the two ladies, which must be omitted for want of
room.
CHAPTER XVIL
1707.
Early in 1707 there was a meeting between Madame de
Maintenon and four bishops at St. Cyr, to consult on
measures for opposing the progress Jansenism was making,
and the former afterwards had a conversation with Madame
de Glapion about that and the royal family.
February, 1707.
I felt saddened and my mind was already full of sorrowful
ideas (said Madame de Maintenon), when, on reaching Versailles
and my own room, to add to ever}'thing else I had the dis-
comfort of being present at a conversation between the King
and the Dauphin which gave me extreme pain. I spend my life
in tr}*ing to bring them together, and to do away with everj'thing
that might lead to misunderstanding between them, and I see
them always ready to fall out for a trifle. Monseigneur [the
Dauphin] wishes to give a public ball to which all sorts of people
should be asked ; he is absolutely determined upon it, and that
the Duchess of Burgundy should be there. The King, ndth
charming gentleness, objected to this, representing to him that if
he wished the Duchess of Burgundy to be present, it would not
be proper for all sorts of men and women to be there too. She,
on her side, did not see the least impropriety, and is as ready to
dance with an actor as ^-ith a prince of the blood. I cannot tell
you what this little dispute made me suffer, and what a night I
had afterwards. I reproach myself for my excessive sensibility ;
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 21/
but, on the other hand, it seems to me that I have not been wrong,
and that God desires, for instance, that I should tremble at the
idea of losing the faith, that I should desire the union of the royal
family, and that I should dread — with a King of seventy and a
Dauphin of six and forty — anything that could put them at issue,
and add a civil war to the one now general. As to the King's
gentleness, you could never believe how far he carries it, and
I am more free in telling him when he does wrong than I am
with a thousand other people. Some days ago, for instance, when
there arose something important, I said to him frankly, "You
have not done well, Sire, in that ; you have been very wrong.*'
He took this admirably, even humbly, from me. The next day,
when it was necessary to speak of what had been so ill done,
I wanted to let it pass quietly by, saying, " That is past. Sire ; we
must not think of it again." He replied, " Do not make excuses
for me, madame ; I was very wrong." Am I not right in saying
that he is humble ? He has no opinion of himself ; he never
thinks that he is necessary ; he is persuaded that some one else
would do as well as himself, and even in many things would do
better. He never ascribes to himself any of the wonderful things
done in his reign ; he looks upon them as the providential deal-
ings of God with him ; he does not feel as much pride in a year
as I do in one day.
In the following month, Madame de Maintenon wrote
a short letter to Princess des Ursins. The Langlde of
whom she speaks was the son of one of Queen Anne of
Austria's maids, of whom St. Simon thus speaks : " Com-
plaisant to everybody, always ready to lend money, he was
to be found at all the expeditions, parties, and festivities of
the day. He had made himself so completely master of
fashion, taste, and the best way of entertainment, that,
beginning with the princes and princesses of the blood, no
one gave any parties without his direction, nor was there
2l8 MADAilE DE MAIXTEXOX.
a house built or bought without his having the management
of the bargain, the decorations, and the furniture." He
had been great friends \*Tth Madame de Montespan, for
whom he had designed a very famous gown, worked and
embroidered all over in gold.
Marly, March 5, 1707.
M. Langl^e is sending you the account, madame, of what he
has already done towards executing your orders. He is alarmed
at the cost, on account of the great size of the Queen's room, and
would propose that you should save in tapestry by making use of
your pictures. Think that what you wish him to do, and the
baby-clothes Madame de Beauvillier will provide for you, will cost
fifty thousand crowns. It is nothing as regards the Queen and
the Prince of Asturias, but it is a good deal for the state of affairs.
Nothing can be finer, madame, than your description of the
ceremony that has taken place at Madrid.* I seem to have seen
it, and I think nothing could be pleasanter in the spectacle than
that young, brilliant queen, who was both the greatest personage
and the finest adornment there. The caniarera mayor [Princess
des Ursins] did not spoil the effect, and I think that for the time,
at least, she was content, as the fatigue was not so great as to
spoil the pleasure. . . .
In the same month, another letter was written to
Princess des Ursins : —
St. Cyr, March 27, 1707.
Marshal de Noailles is rather better. His son left yesterday
to our great regret ; for he is good in all ways, and his absence
* The Queen had gone to the shrine of Our Lady of Atocha, as is
customary with the queens of Spain, to return thanks for the expectation of
a child. ** She was in one chair," wrote Princess des Ursins, ** and I was in
another, and the ladies of honour in a coach. All the streets were dressed
with beautiful tapestry, and at intervals silver ornaments, mirrors, and pictures
were fastened to crimson damask. . . . Crowds of people sang the praises of
thcvKing and Queen, some weeping for joy, and praying that their Majesties
might have fifty children, etc., etc." — Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 219
leaves a blank. It will comfort me if he is useful to our kings.
His good-will is unlimited ; he is a good man who loves goodness
for itself, who puts his heart into what he does, and is disinterested.
They say that I want to make him a general, but neither he nor
I think of it ; and I flatter myself^ madame, that you would answer
for my wishing him rather to serve usefully as a captain, than to
be a useless general. I am certain that he would not gainsay me.
You will hear from all sides by this day's post that a party
from Courtray, made up of more than twenty officers commanded
by a colonel, had laid a plan to seize one of our princes who are
always outside [the walls], and do not like to be attended by great
suites. They lay in wait for the opportunity near Versailles, and
on the eve of Notre Dame [Annunciation], about seven o'clock,
they seized the first equerry [de Beringhen], and carried him
away without seizing anything or hurting his people. They thought,
apparently, by the liveries that they had one of our princes.
Couriers were despatched in all directions, and they were caught
at Ham. The first equerry sent word to his wife that the gentle-
men had behaved so well to him that he was going to bring them
back with him. . . . You will believe, madame, that the idea of
seeing one of our princes carried off has put the French into
something of a commotion. I had a feverish attack half an hour
after hearing the news. The Duchess of Burgundy had a shiver-
ing fit for four and twenty hours, for she is very sensitive, tender,
and timid. She told us yesterday, however^ with her charming
simplicity, that she should rather like to be carried away herself,
to see what everybody would say and do.
Princess des Ursins wrote a long account to Madame
de Maintenon of the social condition of the Spanish ladies
at that time, which abundantly proves the extraordinary
social superiority of France to the rest of Europe, England
not excepted, though on very different grounds. It seems
almost incredible that such women could exist in the same
century with Madame de S^vign^ Madame de Maintenon,
220 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
Madame de Caylus, and a crowd of other intellectual ladies
of the time, whose names are so well known.
These ladies (says the princess) cannot appear at the i>alace
before five o'clock. They usually get up at eleven or twelve, dine
at two or three, and then take their siesta. When they come into
the Queen's room, after kneeling to kiss her hand, they take low
seats (the wives of the grandees on cushions, and the others on
the floor). If her Majesty and I do not keep up the conversation
with real effort, it would quite come to an end. We ask if there
are none among them who dance, who sing, who play upon some
instrument, who like to go out walking, or who are fond of cards.
They answer, " No." . . . What they really can do wonderfully well
is to ask favours for themselves, their friends, and their servants.
. . . Some of them wear rosaries round their necks, Agnus * upon
their shoulders, and hold little crosses, relics, and chaplets in
their hands. These customs, madame, may have their merits,
but it must be admitted that they are not amusing.
St. Cyr, April lo, 1707.
The description you give me of the Spanish ladies is not
pleasant, madame, although it is most pleasantly given. It makes
me exclaim afresh that the Queen is happy in having you with
her. I own that I cannot pity her as to society, when I think
what [resource] she finds in you. The rest is easy to bear when
it is made up in private with one like yourself. I know more
unhappy people. . . . The Comtesse de Gramont,t since her
* Agnus Dei are commonly worn by pious Catholics (not as ornaments, or
visibly) out of devotion to our Lord as the Lamb of God. They are waxen
medallions containing some martyrs' dust from the Catacombs, and are blessed
by the Pope every year.
t The Comtesse de Gramont was the sister of Count Anthony Hamilton
of witty memory. She was educated at Port Royal, and kept up a continual
correspondence with Fenelon. She never broke off relations with Port Royal,
in spite of which her charm of manner and conversation were so great that the
King never showed displeasure at her Jansenistic intimacies, and affected her
society so much that St. Simon accuses Madame de Maintenon of being jealous
of her (Geffroy).
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 221
slight apoplexy, has sunk into a state of depression, a dread of
death, and constant shedding of tears. We see nothing of her
superior mind and English courage. She is altogether weak.
Her husband's death afflicts her ; she thinks herself forsaken, and
nothing can be more changed than she is since her attack. . . .
Our King is calm, firm, equable, gentle, and exactly the same as
when you left. He is very well, he occupies himself in the same
ways, and there is nothing to show that events have taken place
which give him pain. It is astonishing, and I am always sur-
prised at it
Our princess [Burgundy] makes strenuous efforts to amuse
herself, and only succeeds in bewildering and tiring herself out.
Yesterday she went to dine at Meudon with four and twenty
ladies ; afterwards they were to go to the fair and to see some
very famous rope-dancers, then go back to supper at Meudon,
and no doubt would play cards till daylight. She will have come
home this morning either ill, or at least very serious, as she always
is after her dissipations.
Our prince [Bretagne] grows very pretty, and I wish the Queen
one like him. She will occupy herself then more than her sister
does, and she will do well. Still, these babies are very tiresome ;
they ought, at least, to have some intelligence. . . .
Another letter to Princess des Ursins quickly fol-
lowed : —
St. Cyr, May 8, 1707.
It is indeed right to thank the God of battles for the one He
has gained for us [Almanza]. You are quite right as to the
King's joy and that of all the royal family. I cannot refrain from
giving you the details. You know Marly and how I am lodged.
The King was by himself in my little room, and I was just sitting
down to table in my closet, through which every one passes. An
officer of the guards called out at the door of the room in which
the King was, "Here is M. de Chamillart." "What, himself?"
answered the King, because in the natural course of things he
222 MADAME DE MAINTEXOX.
f^ould not have come in person. I threw down my napkin , quite
excited, and M. de Chamillart said to me, " That is good ! " and
came in at once, followed by ^L de Lilly, whom I did not know.
You may be sure, madame, that I went into the room too. Then
I heard of the defeat of the enemy's army, and went back to
supper in high good-humour. The Dauphin, who had either
been plajdng cards or looking on, came in very quickly to see the
King, and the Duke of Burgundy also with a billiard [cue] in his
hand. Madame [of Orleans] then came, as they had hurried
away to tell her that the Duke of Orleans had won a battle. I
told her that he was not present [he arrived the day after the
battle], at which she was very angry, and I heard that she said,
'' I shall hear soon that my son has hung himself ! " Madame de
Dangeau left the table to write to her husband, who was in Paris,
and Madame d'Heudicourt went to the door of my closet to court
a little rest . . .
No one can doubt that if St Simon's rude criticism of
Princess des Ursins was not altogether untrue — that " she
poked her nose into everybody's business " — she still showed
real genius in her position at Madrid. In expectation of
the great coming event of the Queen's confinement, when
everybody was resolved beforehand that the Prince of
Asturias was about to appear. Princess des Ursins had sent
for twelve wet-nurses to the palace, who were to be kept
and entertained there till the momentous event The doctor
and nurse had been sent from France,* but the wet nurse
or nurses were to be Spanish women, and were to be chosen
out of the twelve.
The princess wrote to Madame de Maintenon : —
Then the nurses were to have their supper ; and, that they
might get used to me, I sat down at one end of the table on a very
* Clement, the famous accoucheur^ and Madame de la Salle, who had
attended the Duchess of Burgundy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 223
pretty straw chair, while they sat on the carpet, after the manner
of the country. Then I tasted what was served to them to see if
it was too highly flavoured or too greasy, and finding it to my
taste, I took advantage of it and supped with them. We drank
to the health of all the royal family and the prince to be born. It
was then, madame, that I watched the expression of fear or hope
in the faces of all the candidates.
Madame de Maintenon was not slow to answer : —
St. Cyr, June 12, 1707.
I do not believe, madame, that any one has ever carried kind-
ness, politeness, and regard towards our blood royal so far as you
have done at your reception of the nurses for the Prince of Asturias
— for I hope it will be a boy. Indeed, I wish I could have been at
the festivity, for I know of few feasts that would please me more.
You do everything admirably, and certainly you will find an
admirer in me. . . . Madame de Caylus has been spending a few
days at Versailles, and will soon come again. To-day the Duchess
de Noailles is with me. ... I admit, madame, that the women of
our time are to me unbearable. Their senseless, immodest mode
of dress, their snuff, their wine, their greediness, their coarseness,
and their idleness are all so opposed to my tastes, and, I think,
to what is right, that I cannot bear it. I like women who are
modest, sensible, gay, ready either for serious or sportive talk,
polished, able to rally others in a way that yet implies praise,
whose hearts are good and whose conversation is amusing, and
with simplicity enough to own that they have recognized this like-
ness, which I have drawn without intending it, but which I think
is a very good one.
Another less interesting letter to Princess des Ursins
quickly followed :—
St. Cyr, June 19, 1707.
. . . The Due de Bretagne goes out every fine day. He came
yesterday to Trianon in very good health. Cardinal Janson could
not refrain from speaking of his pleasure the other day in seeing
224 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
in one group the King, Monseigneur [the Dauphin], the Duke of
Burgundy, and the Due de Bretagne. The Duchess of Alva was
maintaining to the Marechale de la Motte * that the Prince of
Asturias would be a finer child, and did not pay her court well to
our governess [of the royal children]. . . . M. d'Antin has told
me about Madame de Montespan's death. He was with her
during the last three days of her life.f She was as calm as here-
tofore she has been troubled at the approach of death, which no
one ventured to speak of while she was in health. She did not
say a word to any one present, nor to her son. She only said to
the Father-guardian % of the Capuchins, who was present, ** Father,
exhort me as you would any ignorant woman, as simply as you
can." . . . The Duchess of Burgundy does everything she possibly
can to destroy her health ; she will only believe this when she is
past remedy.
Madame de Maintenon was unwearied in her watch-
ful and loving pursuit of this imprudent, impulsive, be-
witching, and irritating princess, who loved her with the
warmest affection, even while wounding her to the heart
by her gambling and infatuation for almost compromising
pleasures. Indeed, her thirst for pleasure of any kind led
her to actions which seriously displeased the King. The
lady of whom Madame de Maintenon speaks as " Madame
la Duchesse" was the wife of Duke Louis de Bourbon
Cond^, and daughter to the King by Madame de Montes-
pan. The Duchess of Burgundy had been seen by the
King, after hunting, gambling with a gay party at La
Bretesche or Saint Nom-la-Bretesche, a little village between
Versailles and Marly, upon which Madame de Maintenon
wrote to Madame de Dangeau : —
♦ Governess or chief nurse to the Duke of Brittany.
t Her son. St. Simon says he was there only for a few hours.
X The superior.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 22 5
July i6, 1707.
Madame de Vaudemont is only a pretext, madame, and I have
asked you to put off your journey to Paris that you may speak to
the Duchess of Burgundy. The King told me yesterday evening
that he had been surprised to see the gamblers at La Bretesche.
I found from that that the Duchess of Burgundy had deceived
me. She told me that Madame la Duchesse had invited herself
to that dinner, but I see that it was a thing arranged. The King
told me that she had asked the duchess to come, and M. de
Lorges was one of the first to arrive. I replied that it was natural
enough that the duchess should be with her brother ; but as for
the gambling, I was more sorry for it than anybody.
The King said to me, " Were not a dinner, a ride on horse-
back, a hunt, and a collation enough for one day ? " Then, after
reflecting a little, he added, " I had better tell those gentlemen
that they do not make their court wisely to me by gambling with
the Duchess of Burgundy." I said I had always been afraid that
lansquenet would lead her to go to places that would be bad for
her, and put her in a wrong position. Then we spoke of other
things ; but the King came back to the subject, and said, "Should
I not do well in seeing that those gentlemen are spoken to ? " I
replied that that way of managing it might be injurious to the
Duchess of Burgundy, and that it would be better to speak to
herself, and keep the matter secret. He said that be would do
this to-day ; and it is that you may prepare her, madame, that I
have begged you to remain at home. And now we shall come to
that estrangement that I have always dreaded, and sooner than
I expected. The King will feel that he has displeased her by
breaking up the lansquenet^ and will be cooler towards her. I
shall feel the same thing, while treating her with the respect that
is her due ; but I am not yet so free from human respect as to
be willing for it to be supposed that I approve of such conduct.
The Duchess of Burgundy will be pitied by Madame la Duchesse,
which recalls to my mind the snares laid by her mother [Madame
de Montespan] for the Queen and Madame de la Valli^re, that
Q
226 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
what they did might be afterwards reported to the King. If you
could come to St. Cyr, madame, after having spoken [to the
duchess], I shall be delighted, but after the vexatious conversa-
tion you may have, I doubt if you will be able to appear. If it
is possible for you to sound the Duchess of Burgundy, you might
give her my letter, that she may be ready to answer the King, and
this evening you could talk to her at greater length. You can
imagine, madame, what sort of night I have had. We must pray
for our princess, who is drowning herself in a glass of water.
M. Geffroy, with his usual literary insight, connects with
this letter and the King's conversation with Madame de
Maintenon the following undated note of the Duchess of
Purgundy : —
I am in despair, my dear aunt, at always doing foolish things
and giving you cause to be displeased with me. I am really
resolved to amend, and not to play any more at that wretched
game, which is good for nothing but to injure my character and to
lessen your affection, which is more precious to me than anything
else. I beg of you, my dear aunt, not to speak, in case I keep to
the resolution I have taken. If I once fail, I shall be delighted
that the King should forbid me to play, and to try how that feeling
would act [as a safeguard] against myself. I am overwhelmed by
all your goodness, and by what you have sent me to finish paying
my debts. I have been very sorry not to speak to you about it
sooner. I am in despair at having displeased you. I have for-
saken God, and He has forsaken me. I hope, with His help,
which I ask with my whole heart, that I shall cure myself of all
my faults.
In the midst of all her vexations, difficulties, and real
sorrows, Madame de Maintenon never lost possession of
that deep, inward spring of gaiety which constituted one
of her chief charms. She gave Madame de Caylus a com-
mission to buy and dress for her an expensive doll, which
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 227
was to be a present to her great-niece, the little de
Noailles. Madame de Caylus, who was also full of spright-
liness and wit, dressed the doll in the most exaggerated
caricature of the prevailing fashion at Court, and sent it
to Madame de Maintenon. She exhibited this doll with
great pleasure, and though it was "a far cry," the com-
motion excited was echoed even at the Court of Spain.
Princess des Ursins wrote that Madame de Caylus had sent
her such an amusing account of the dolFs dress and its
consequences, that she had read it to the King and Queen,
who enjoyed a hearty laugh over the letter. Madame de
Maintenon wrote to Madame de Caylus : —
St. Cyr, August 21, 1707.
The doll has amused the Duchess of Burgundy, who thought
it very well dressed. You will be sure, after this, that I shall not
regret the expense. I have not seen Madame de Noailles yet > I
think she is in Paris, ... To set up your health you ought to
come to Versailles when we are there. Hunting, for a change,
would do you a great deal of good. ... If you see Madame de
St Gdran, beg of her to add to the commissions she is so good as
to undertake some flame-coloured ribbon for Jeannette's cap,
which will go well with the apron and tippet.*
Adjoining the huge palace at Versailles, a building had
been added on for the safe lodging of rare and specially
prized wild beasts, on which account it was called "The
Menagerie." To this Menagerie had further been added
a kind of pavilion and other rooms, so as to make it a sort
of pleasure-house, which Louis XIV., after his favourite
fashion, richly decorated and gave to the Duchess of
* Jeannette Pincre was one of the many girls Madame de Maintenon partly
adopted, and for whom she found husbands.
228 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
Burgundy. After a while, rooms both for summer and
winter were built on to it, which were really sumptuously
decorated by the best painters of the day — Andran, AUe-
grain, etc. It was fitted up merely with pretty sitting-rooms,
where the duchess and her friends used to play cards and
games and eat fanciful collations. There was a farm
attached to the pavilion, which led the duchess to forestall
Marie Antoinette in her favourite game of acting dairy-
maid. The farm remains a farm still ; and those who care
to do so may trace out the plan of the little chiteau by its
ruins, which once so often echoed to the bright laughter
and merry games of the Savoyard princess and her com-
panions. From this gay little house Madame de Maintenon
wrote to Madame de Dangeau. The day of the month is
not given.
The Menagerie, September, 1707.
I am at the Menagerie, to please Madame d*Heudicourt, who
proposed it, . . • rather than to take my nieces to St. Cyr, and
to play a little backgammon. But, madame, how different these
parties are from those at which you are present ! I have not quite
made out whether it is because of the pleasantness you bring to
them, or to the noise you make ; but we are certainly much too
quiet. We thought of making a pool to prolong the game, and I
won it first, to the great displeasure of the ladies, and however
glad I may have been of the money, I was a little sorry to see our
pool come to an end without you. I should like to have kept it
back for you, and you would have been delighted to argue out the
expedients for your winning it You would have proposed a
hundred things, plans, each worse than the other, for M. de la
Rochefoucauld teaches us that there never is more than one good
plan. Our princess, in a religious habit, received yesterday [at St.
Cyr] the Queen of England, by whom she was recognized at once.
She did not cease acting the part of a Dame de St. Louis, and
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 22g
waited on the Queen and the princess * during the collation ; for
it was necessary to give one, which did not afford me much satis-
faction. The Duchess of Burgundy tired herself very much at St.
Cyr, taking part in all the offices of the house, and from there she
came to join the Duke, who was waiting for her here and getting
supper ready. She returned tired out to Versailles, having
changed her dress four or five times. I do not know why I have
undertaken to tell you a story which is as tiresome as the actors
in it were tired. It would be much better worth telling to say
that our prince has cut a tooth, and that Mrs. Nurse has received
more than two or three hundred pistoles, with which she is very
much pleased. You wrote me a wonderful letter. As I have the
honour of knowing how little you are given to mystery, I read it
aloud on coming back from St. Cyr, and all the party were
charmed, especially M. Fagon, whose taste is not to be despised.
. . . Good-bye^ madame ; I am going to play cards again. Come
back in good condition to do something on Wednesday, and
believe that not having seen you now makes me happier than when
I cease to see you.
* Princess Louise of England.
CHAPTER XVIII.
1707 — 1708.
Meanwhile, the Queen of Spain had given birth to a son
[August 25], and the much-reckoned-on Prince of Asturias
was at last duly welcomed into the world. But the young
Queen, not well advised in this matter also by Princess des
Ursins, had insisted on his being baptized Louis, which
was an offence to the Spaniards. The princess wrote to
Madame de Maintenon, giving her reasons, and Madame
de Maintenon replied as follows : —
Fontainebleau, October 10, 1707.
I will read your letter to the King, madame, which is all I
can do. It is full of force, and, I have no doubt, full of truths also.
It is true that it is very difficult to destroy certain impressions
here, and in my own case I am tempted to believe that all French
customs are unpleasant to Spaniards, and that nothing pertaining
to etiquette should have been changed. It is difficult to count
the grandees as nothing ; but it would not be the least difficult to
me to yield to your opinion, and I wish with all my heart that
everybody here was of the same mind. I do not think there were
any Austrians ; but it may well be that they are too much attached
to their own ways of thinking, and that their policy is treacherous.
I cannot picture to myself anything more delightful than your
Queen carrying her son herself to present him to God, and I beg
of Him with all my heart to bless so pious a family. This is my
hope, and I cannot believe that He will forsake them. I feel
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 23 1
M. Amelot*s grief more than I have told you.* His life and
everything you have mentioned and written have given me such a
regard for him that I look upon him as one of my best friends, for
esteem acts with me as intercourse does with others.
I am charmed with the letter the King of Spain has done me
the honour to write. . * . I cannot have the honour of answering
it by this post It will be the same thing, I think, as to the
subject of Mdlle. de Sery,t for I do not know whether I can see the
King before my letter goes. If he grants what you ask, madame,
it will be as a very great favour to the prince, for nothing can be
worse than the position that woman holds here, through her own
conduct. She sustains her pretensions with such insolence as to
shock everybody, and induces the person attached to her to do
such foolish things as injure him more than I can say. The King
has spoken several times to his nephew about her. Her going to
Grenoble, and the weak way in which he shut himself up with her,
destroyed all the honour he gained at Turin, where all the misery
fell upon others, and not the least upon him. This creature has
the impudence to establish herself in the Palais Royal, taking up
her dwelling opposite the windows of the Duchess of Orleans.
She has carried off a great quantity of the furniture from St Cloud,
about which Madame [Duchess of Orleans] disputed with her for
a long time, and she replied with the same insolence. She is
* M. Am clot's second son had been shot while hunting near St. Denis, by
Comte de Clermont, son of Comte de Tonnerre. It was given out to be an
accident, but guilt must have been proved, as the Marquis de Dangeau says,
** The King has pardoned Comte de Tonnerre. He is to be put into the
Bastille for a year ; to give ten thousand francs in alms that Cardinal de
Noailles will distribute to the poor ; he is never to go to any house where
M. Amelot i^, and if M. Amelot comes to any house where he [De Tonnerre]
is, he is to^eave it at once." St. Simon says De Tonnerre was half-
witted — hibiti, — Geffroy.
t The Duke of Orleans' mistress, who had started off in the most open and
exaggerated publicity to Grenoble, when the duke lay there wounded at the
siege of Turin. The duke had applied to Princess des Ursins to beg the title
of lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Spain for Mdlle. de Sery. It was necessary
to ask permission of Louis XIV.
232 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
destroying the prince's life by keeping him away from the Court,
and making him spend his time in the worst possible company.
Do not think, madame, that I am speaking to you like an old
dhote, frightened at this woman's sins ; but you know perfectly
well that even in wickedness itself there is a difference of manners.
I do not know how the matter might be taken in Spain, but I can
answer for its having a very bad effect here, both for our King and
yours. His piety and the Queen's goodness ought to prevent such
a scandal from being honoured, and it is very pitiable that the
Duke of Orleans should ask such a reward for his services. . . .
I was interrupted at the first word that I wanted to say to the
King about Mdlle. de Sery, and I assure you, madame, that I had
great difficulty in making hi-m listen to that part of your letter.
I am told that if you could be on the spot to hear what is said
here about that woman, you would not feel about her as you do.
It is much more to be desired, madame, that you should use the
influence you have with that prince to withdraw him from a con-
nection that is doing him a great (ieal of harm, and that sooner or
later will bring him into the utmost difficulties. Those about the
Court would say exactly what I am telling you, and everybody
sees with pain how so many great qualities are spoiled by conduct
which cannot be approved. It is even maintained that the Duke
of Orleans himself is, in the main, tired of the connection, and that
it is only a mistaken generosity and kindness that make him bear
the weight of it.
The King will never yield this point, madame, and you must
spare him any renewed urgence, which will only make the matter
worse. This is the first time that I have not thought you right.
. . . The King is coming into my room, and this makes me finish
my letter sooner than I should wish.
The chapter of the charming doll, dressed by Madame
de Caylus, was by no means finished ; and nothing more
exhaustively shows the littleness of the ordinary stamp of
** Court lady " of the time, than the offence this poor doll
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 233
occasioned. Madame de Maintenon wrote again about it
to her niece : —
October 12, 1707.
Madame de Dangeau and Madame d'Heudicourt have written
to you about the doll. I never could have believed that any of
my commissions should have brought you troubles, and I thought
I might be allowed to ask my niece few what I wanted to have. I
had not the least idea of sending the doll into society ; but
I could not refuse her to the Dauphine and the Prince de Conti,
who asked for her. In the end this trifling business stirred up all
the ladies, and gave rise to every sort of talk that could make
people quarrel with me. People are irritated with you for having
turned into ridicule ladies whom they mention by name, according
to their plan of trying to incense them against you ; and they are
most frankly angry with me because I have dared to attack the
fashions. I beg of you not to mind this more than I do. Madame
de Bouzols gave me to understand this to-day by saying that you
were extremely sensitive to what is said of you ; but, my dear
niece, we must always take things calmly when we are not in the
wrong. Do you think I might ask you for a pattern of black
moir^, with the price, without committing you with the public ?
They are those wavy moires, like the English kinds. I saw one
upon Madame de Chatillon which made me envious, considering
the great people about me. I have always maintained that it was
not M. d'Hamilto^ [Count Anthony] who wrote the story of the
doll ; there is too much difference between the style and his, and
I have still taste enough not to make a mistake in this. We miss
you very much here. Sometimes they play backgammon and
picquet, and sometimes they find it very dull. I am very well.
I saw Marshal d'Harcourt to-day ; he was very keen about your
affairs. I embrace you, my dear rdece.
Madame de Maintenon opened the next year with two
letters to Princess des Ursins, from which some extracts
only are given : —
234 AfADAAfE DE MAINTENON.
St. Cyr, January 22, 1708.
. . . The amusement you speak ofi madame [theatricals], is
very innocent I should have liked to introduce it at our Court,
for I think these representations are more wholesome than con-
tinual card-pla)dng and intemperate dinners. I should like just
now to send you Madame de Caylus and five or six young ladies
from St C)n- ; for declamation is always kept up there, and at this
moment " Esther " is being played in my anteroom. It would be
very unfair to laugh at the good people who are kind enough to
divert the King and Queen, and they ought to have good sense
enough not to be put out by it. Would it be contrary to etiquette
for the King and Queen to act themselves ? I have seen in the
theatre of my room at Versailles a very pretty troupe, consisting of
the Duchess of Burgundy, the Duchess de Noailles, Marechale
d'Estrdes, and Mdlle. de Melun, the Duke of Orleans, the Due de
Noailles, the young Comte de Noailles, and the Duke of Berry.
But the latter, I think, only acted comic parts. You will find it
difficult to amuse the King of Spain, but all these things might
divert the Queen ; and you only admit whom you please. That
was done in my room, because there was so little space ; but it is
true that in the end one gives offence to those who are not asked,
and that is why I left off" the plays at St Cyr. . . .
The only subject here now is balls. There is one two days
hence. The King of England [James Stuart] and the princess
are coming. The Queen has the gout still. The King was to
have gone to see her to-day. She does not want for visitors when
the Court is at Marly. . . .
In the other letter, begun at St Cyr, she says : —
St. Cyr, March 4, 1 708.
M. de Chamillart has resigned like a man of integrity, without
either contention or keeping anything for himself, with a straight-
forwardness that is beyond praise.
The letter ends at Versailles : —
I came back here, madame, to finish my letter, and to ask the
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 23 S
King's leave to tell you of the Scotch expedition, which puts me
into a state of great excitement You will, no doubt, hear all the
details ; but, in a word, madame, the King of England starts on
Wednesday, the 7 th of this month, so as to be at Dunkirk
towards the 9th, and will embark on the loth. " The King gives
him six thousand men. The great Scotch lords have written
several times that they will receive him. You will see, madame,
that if God blesses this undertaking, it will make a great diversion,
and perhaps bring about peace. If you have any holy people in
Spain, set them to praying. The thing is public now, but people
maintain that the enemy has not had time enough to hinder the
expedition. My long sight, however, discerns them at Dunkirk
ready to prevent the embarkation, or if they embark, I see them
intercepting our troops before they can be landed. To-day the
wind is in the north, which is the most contrary for us. Never-
theless, I am willing with all my heart that you and the Queen
shall see the King of England setting sail with a south wind,
which shall bring them to Edinburgh in four days ; that he shall
there be received and proclaimed King of Scotland ; that Queen
Anne shall be obliged to recall her troops, and that we shall take
advantage of the recall. I am quite willing, also, that the fleet
shall take Marlborough prisoner in passing, as he is going to
Holland for a fortnight.
I went yesterday to St. Germain. The Queen [Mary Beatrice
of England] is in a pitiable condition. She has gout, fever, and
a severe cold, and is in a state of agitation that you can imagine.
She is enchanted at this ray of hope, and dreads the dangers
which her son the King will run. He is full of joy at starting.
The princess has the measles, and knows nothing as yet. The
King and Monseigneur [the Dauphin] go there to-morrow, and our
princess [Burgundy] on Tuesday. It will be a great thing if it
succeeds, and I am thinking of it day and night.
Not much more than a month elapsed before this day-
dream, like so many others of the poor widowed Queen of
James II., had also vanished among the things that might
236 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
have been, and again Madame de Maintenon wrote to
Princess des Ursins : —
St. Cyr, April 22, 1708.
. . . Your grief at the Scotch news adds to my own. I had
at first hoped to bear it very patiently, and I inwardly admired my
own courage ; but the next day the fever began again, and rose in
proportion to what caused it, so that M. Fagon distinguished it
from the others I had had, and called it the Scottish fever. It
lasted ten days. Just now there is a good interval, which will last
while God wills, and it may perhaps end this evening after a con-
versation I shall have with the Queen of England, who is to come
to supper at Marly, with her son the King. I have not seen her
since her new affliction, not having been in a state to go to St.
Germain. Never did any expedition meet with such approbation
as that one. It was only (between you and me) the King who
had always a bad opinion of it, but he gave in to the public voice,
for from the Dauphin down to the lowest errand-boy at Court
and the fishwomen of La Halle, everybody was for going to
Scotland. But, madame, God did not will it. He sent the
measles to the King of England, which kept him ten days at
Dunkirk ; the wind changed an hour after they had set sail, and
kept him four and twenty hours at Ostend ; they blundered the
entry into the river of Edinburgh [Firth of Forth], so that every-
thing combined to bring our enemy there at the same time as our-
selves. The skill and good fortune of the Chevalier de Forbin
saved our fleet ; he sailed to windward of the enemy, and we only
lost one ship. They thought three small vessels were lost, but
yesterday they heard that they are at Brest, and have brought
back the remainder to the troops. The English troops which .
had passed by have not returned, and, contrary to my usual habit,
I flatter myself that there is a stir in Scotland, and that the fright
we have given the English has made some little diversion [in
affairs].
I am delighted, madame, at what you say of your health. It
must have a good foundation when you can be cured by fasting as
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 237
rigorous as that of La Trappe. This example will never be
followed at our Court, and the King will be very sorry for you
when I tell him how you have been living. I believe, madame,
that you must have eaten largely of spinach, but I wish you could
have had good butter, and to do that you have only to shake the
day's cream in a bottle. It is true that you get only a little at a
time, and those who sell it always want a great deal. They tell
you it is only just shaken out, and they may speak truly ; but the
cream is several days old, which makes the butter bad. As I am
very fond of butter, I have studied this matter thoroughly. . . .
There is then another letter to Princess des Ursins : —
St. Cyr, June 3, 1708.
. . . We have had a great scene at Marly. Madame de
Roquelaure sent to beg me to let her into my room by a back
door ; and I found her all in tears, saying that she had come to
ask justice of the King for the carrying away of her daughter by
Prince de L^on.* These are the facts. The marriage was
arranged between this prince and Mdlle. de Roquelaure, and after
it was negotiated it was broken off because the Due de Rohan
would not give his son enough [to settle]. However, as it had
been a very long negotiation, the two parties met and made a
mutual promise of marriage. The young lady was in a convent of
la Croix, Faubourg St. Antoine, with her governess, who had orders
never to let her go out except with Madame de Viefville. The
Prince de Ldon had the arms and livery of that lady put upon a
coach, and [it was sent] to ask for Mdlle. de Roquelaure to take
her to her mother, who was with Madame de Viefville. She got
into the coach with her governess, who, perceiving that they were
not taking the right road, began to call out, but they stopped her
mouth with a handkerchief. They then took up Prince de L^on,
and all went together to a little country house belonging to the
Due de Lorges. A priest said Mass there and married them.
They [the bride and bridegroom] were shut up together for four
* The eldest son of the Due de Rohan-Chabot.
238 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
hours, and Mdlle. de Roquelaure was then taken back to the
convent with her governess. This is what the Prince de L^on
wrote to the Due d'Aumont, "I beg of you, monsieur, to tell
Madame de Roquelaure that I have married her daughter, and
taken back Princess de L^on to her convent, where I hope she
will not remain long." You know, madame, what courtiers' charity
is. This adventure pleased them all very much. The Duchess
of Burgundy was beside herself about it, declaring that she loved
events. This girl is about five and twenty, tired to death of being
in convents. They say she is very clever, but hump-backed and
very ugly. They say that M. de Roquelaure wishes to prosecute
with the utmost rigour, but that it cannot be treated either as
abduction or rape. I hope after all the disturbance everybody
will calm down, and I think the best plan would be to marry
them with the usual forms. . . . The Duke of Burgundy is making
a very good beginning [with the army in Flanders]. He makes
himself beloved by the officers, and is feared when discipline is
relaxed. He enters into all the details, and asks for advice from
all sides. I am not telling you this as flattery, for I hear it from
those who would say the contrary if he deserved it. The Duke of
Berry seems now to like his present life. ... I must say a word
about the Chevalier de Saint George,* with whom everybody,
seems much pleased, and who perfectly fills his position. Though
I am much pleased with myself, madame, when I agree with you
and M. Bedmar and your genius, I can well understand that the
King of England makes a better figure in the army than if he
were at the Dunkirk campaign. • . •
In her next letter to Princess des Ursins Madame de
Maintenon says : —
July, 1708.
M. and Madame de Rohan make fresh cavils every day about
the conclusion of the marriage [of their daughter and Prince de
* James Stuart of England took this name when he went to serve in the
French army in Flanders.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 239
Leon], but the King has sent them word that he is determined it
shall be completed.
Whenever Madame de Maintenon was at Fontainebleau
she filled up the time she used to spend at St. Cyr in
going to see poor people in the hamlets and villages near.
Mdlle. d'Aumale, her loving and faithful secretary, gives
a full account of one of these days. She and Madame
de Dangeau were her usual companions.
At half-past seven she went to Mass ; at half-past eight she
began her mission, first to Avon, to the boys' school, where she
taught for nearly an hour ; then to the girls', for quite as long.
When she speaks of God to these peasants, you see a great glad-
ness in her face, and a very strong wish to make them know Him.
At eleven o'clock she went away to the lodges to hear another
Mass, and there she dined very moderately. At three o'clock she
went to St. Aubin, a hamlet belonging to Avon ; there she gave
help to four or five families. Thence to Valoin, where she went
into six poor peasants' houses, each worse than the other. To
some she gave money for com ; to others for bread, for clothes for
their children, and to pay their dues. In the last one she gave a
good deal of linen to a poor woman. Her husband was rather an
evil-liver, but she half converted him, and God and she herself
will finish the work. He had no respect for the cur^^ nor would
he obey him, but she softened him very much. She came home
about seven o'clock, very tired, but well in health.
This account of Mdlle. d'Aumale will throw its due
light on the following little note to Madame de Dangeau : —
Fontainebleau, August, 1708.
The Duchess of Burgundy wishes to dine with us, and also that
the dinner should be in the Duchess de Noailles' rooms. After
dinner she will go to play cards with Monseigneur, and if you
like, madame, we will go and preach at Avon. Our people will
240 MADAME DE MAINTEXON.
come so late that we shall be able to return to recreation at about
six o'clock. If this plan suits you, we will carry it out ; but if you
wish to throw it over, I am ready for whatever you command, and
I will do my own will to-morrow.
During the following month (September, 1708), Madame
de Maintenon had another very interesting talk with
Madame de Glapion, who recorded the conversation in her
usual way, as follows in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XIX.
1708.
September, 1708.
The Duchess of Burgundy having come to St Cyr to see Madame
de Maintenon, began by saying to her, " My heart is very heavy,
my dear aunt; I am afraid of being troublesome, but I should like
to shed tears with you." She did so in truth ; and Madame de
Maintenon wept with her, and then strove to comfort her. Madame
de Glapion told her the next day that she was grieved for her, for
it was so sad to be obliged to share everybody's sorrows, and
showed her the verse of the " Imitation " which she was just then
reading — " What shall I do, O my God, amid so many afflictions
that wound my heart, if Thou dost not deign to strengthen me
with Thy Word ? " " What, indeed, should I do," said Madame
de Maintenon, " if all my resource were not in God ? For I find
myself almost always in difficulties, without knowing what side to
take, which happened to me the other day. The King had heard
a piece of bad news, which he told me the same evening, about
half an hour before he left me. The Duchess of Burgundy, who
was very sorry for the news, was present also. At the same time,
a man came to beg me to ask the King to do something which it
was not right for him to do at all, and which yet he could not
refuse without driving the man to desperation, and without putting
himself, too, to extreme pain, as he might stand in need of that
man. I had to tell the King about it, and I knew how puzzled
I should be myself. I did not know which side to take, and I
said to our Lord, * Lord, help me, for I do not know what to do,
R
242 MADAME DE MAINTENOI^,
nor how to do it ! * " Madame de Glapion said that she was to be
pitied for not being able to take advice of any one about it
" Thank God," said Madame de Maintenon, " I have a sensible
director, who helps me, as it were, in a general way to decide
what I ought to do, and when he has once told me what I can do
with a safe conscience, or what I should avoid doing, I keep to
what he has laid down ; otherwise I could not live, and I should
be in endless suffering." " You have, it seems to me," said Madame
de Glapion, " a great liberty [of conscience] with God." " That
is true,'* she replied, " and I think one is allowed to have it when
one feels that one belongs truly to Him ; and I hope that is my
state, for I desire truly the glory of God, the salvation of those to
whom I am bound, and my own. Thanks be to His goodness, I
have no passions ; that is, I do not love any one so far as to do
anything to displease God. I have no hatreds, no desire for
vengeance, no special interest, no ambition ; I do not crave any-
thing for myself. I think it is rather the good of the thing itself
than inclination which decides me to do good to others." "You
owe much to God," said Madame de Glapion, " for there are
few people who could so bear witness to themselves." ** And
therefore, my daughter," she replied, " I never cease thanking
Him and giving praise for the singular protection He gives me in
the midst of difficulties ; for on the one hand I may say that
there are exceeding greatness and favour, and on the other an
excess of trouble and sorrow ; for God only knows how I feel the
troubles of the King, the princes, and the country." " In that
you are more to be pitied than they, madame," said Madame de
Glapion, "for in general great people do not feel things much.'*
"That is," she answered, "because I am not a great person. I
am only raised ; but God, Who has ordered all states, and mine
specially, ordains that it shall stand me in stead of all the
penances and austerities that I could perform. I have always in
my mind Spain nearly lost, peace further and further off, the
misery of the country that I hear of on all sides, and a thousand
people who suffer before my eyes and that I cannot help. In
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 243
regard to piety, I think of the present excesses, drinking, greedi-
ness, excessive luxury of living, etc ; and in regard to religion
[the faith] I see the possible dangers. I do not know whether I
should influence the King to push matters [with severity] in this
respect, or whether to moderate him ; for who knows whether too
much severity will not embitter men's minds, raise up revolt, or
even bring about a schism ? On the other hand, who can tell
whether God makes use of this human prudence and the policy
of man when the Church is in question ? All this troubles me
inconceivably. I say to myself^ * Who will assure me that the
King will not make himself answerable for all that, and for all the
evil consequences that may befall ? I am seized with exceeding
dread as to his salvation when I think what his obligations are ;
for we are bound to do all the good that God asks of us, and shall
have an account to give of all the harm we could have prevented.
How can I tell in what way He will judge it all ? In truth, my
head seems at times to grow giddy, and I think, if my body should
be opened after my death, my heart will be found all twisted and
dried up like that of M. de Louvois.' *
" I do not say these things to grieve you, my dear daughter; on
the contrary, to make you love your own state more and more,
and that you may the more appreciate the sweetness, peace, and
security of it" Then, as she went out of her room to pray [in
the chapel], she said, " I do not know how it is that one recovers
in prayer from all the evils I suffer from. I find nothing does so
much good ; it rests and strengthens both the heart and mind at
the same time. The presence of God is also a great relief in
suffering, and it seems to me that it becomes almost natural, and
that everything about us recalls it unceasingly ; sorrow, that we
may be comforted by Him ; joy, because we have to thank Him
and beg of Him not to forsake us. The praise of men recalls it,
because we must ask to be delivered from the vanity and weakness
of yielding to it ; contradictions recall it, that we may beg to make
* Louvois died quite suddenly, of pulmonary apoplexy, and Madame de
Maintenon was calumniated to the extent of being accused of having poisoned
him.
244 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
a holy use of them and not fall. In a word, I find that every
hour, every moment, we are meeting with occasions which realize
for us God*s presence, and lead us to that holy intercourse with
Him which soflens all the bitterness so plentifully scattered through
life, and keeps us fix>m the falls to which we are always exposed."
There is a letter to the Due de Noailles of the same
month, from which an extract must be given : —
St. Cyr, September lo, 1708.
. . . Our King is the only person who always keeps himself
in the same equableness of mind, temper, and occupations. Our
sweet princess is only too sweet, and I begin to think she is too
good. You would be delighted with her way of going on, and I
wish she had some companions like you ; for few of those about
her are capable of valuing what she feels, and I often hear her
praised very unreasonably. These are subjects for conversation
for this winter, if you still find me here. I still go on in spite of
my extreme weakness of body and mind, or, to speak more justly —
for I cannot speak to you in all sorts of languages — God supports
me, and will support me as long as it pleases Him to make me
suffer. You know my crosses, and they are imperceptible to
others, but that does not signify ; the really important thing is to
bear them well I am not satisfied about your father's health. I
love him truly, and I know what you will suffer when you lose
him. He sleeps a good deal, and has no appetite. People laugh
at me for being alarmed about him, and I hope they may laugh
for a long time. . . .
Early in the next month Marshal de Noailles died, and
Madame de Maintenon again wrote to his son : —
St. Cyr, October 7, 1708.
You are seldom out of my mind, my dear duke, and you have
so clearly showed me what your affection for your father was, that
your sorrow is always present to me. You have to bear it alone
and in sickness, but religion, courage, and your reason furnish
MADAME BE MAINTENON. 245
you with resources. It is true that [even with these] one scarcely
suffers the less. Religion leads us to accept the penalty, courage
sustains the exterior, and right reason furnishes some feeble
reflection to oppose to our feelings. We must agree, too, that it
is exceedingly reasonable to shed tears for a father, especially such
a father as yours. I feel it more than I can tell you. The King
gives me hopes of seeing you after All Saints. Your family needs
you very much to give it shape again. Our Cardinal has felt
deeply, and does his best to sustain the others. ..."
There was in December a magnificent requiem for
Marshal de Noailles at Notre Dame, at which nearly all
the Court nobles and ladies were present. Madame de
Maintenon was too weak to venture, but she wrote to his
son : —
Versailles, December 3, 1708.
I have never felt the burthen of old age so much as to-day,
when it has prevented my rendering Marshal de Noailles and all
his family a duty which touched my heart much more than my
sense of what was owing to them. Pray represent my sorrow for
this to the Cardinal and the mar^chde, my dear duke, and be
surety for me that I should never willingly fail in anything due to
them. I know of nothing new, and we have nothing good to look
for. When you come back, I hope to have a quiet talk with you
before you go into quarters. I have begged your wife to write to
me sometimes, but I would not take up a moment of the time
you can be in Paris. It is much fitter for you to be there than
here.
In another short letter, Madame de Maintenon thanks
the Due de Noailles for certain acts of charity : —
I thank you, my dear duke, for what you are willing to do for
Madame de Barneval.* If you give her warm lodgings, you will
* Mrs. Barnwell, or Bamwall, was an Irish lady who had followed the
fortunes of James II. and his noble Queen.
246 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
save her life. I am better than I ought to be, considering where
my heart is.
Just before Christmas Madame de Maintenon again
wrote a long letter to Princess des Ursins.
M. Geffroy gives the date of 1708 to the following un-
dated conversation between Madame de Maintenon and
Madame de Glapion, which has generally been assigned to
the year 171 1. He is guided partly by what is said of the
Duke of Burgundy's disastrous campaign and the suffer-
ings of his poor duchess.
" My God ! my daughter, what wonderful things I see in the
country in which I am obliged to live ! It seems to me that I am
rather like people behind the scenes in a theatre, who see the
reality of what is represented. Whilst those who are in front of
the stage are transported with admiration, they see that what looks
like an enchanted palace is nothing but a sheet of waxed canvas,
and that those wonderful machines and beautiful illuminations
are nothing but ropes and ugly slips full of wax and lamp-black.
In this way I see the world in all its ugliness, while a thousand
people who are looking upon it without sounding the depths
are dazzled with its splendour. I see passions of all kinds —
treachery, baseness, senseless ambition ; here some frightful spirit
of envy ; there people eating out their hearts, ready to tear each
other to pieces; in a word, a thousand evil doings, and often
only for trifles. Would not these things suffice to induce me to
banish myself to the ends of the earth, and go back to America
[the West Indies], if I were not continually told that God wills me
to be where I am ? These are not my only troubles, and I am
assailed by a thousand difficulties of thought and conscience. I am
afraid for the King's salvation, for our princes, for the Duchess of
Burgundy. There are a thousand circumstances, as I have already
said, in which I do not know which side to take between what
would be most for God's glory and the danger of disgusting all
MADAME DE AfAINTENON. 247
tliese people [the royal family] with piety. For instance, that music
which is the only real pleasure the King has, and in which one
hears nothing but ideas absolutely contrary to the Gospels and
Christianity, it would be right, it seems to me, to give it up or
change its character. If I say a word, the King replies directly,
' But it has always been so ; the Queen my mother and the
Queen, who went to Communion three times a week, looked on
at it [the opera] as I do.' It is true that upon him personally
these ideas make no sort of impression, for he is taken up
entirely with the beauty of the music, the sounds, the instrumen-
tation, etc ; and he is often singing his own praises without an
idea that they are addressed to himself, simply out of liking for
the melodies. But it is not the same thing for the rest of the
spectators, among whom it is impossible that there should not be
some whom these thoroughly pagan ideas impress too much.
Formerly the King took exceeding pleasure in the beautiful
cantiqnes of ' Esther ' and ' Athalie ; ' but now he is almost ashamed
to have them sung, because he feels that they are tiresome to the
Court people.
" Is it not deplorable that among Christians, and with a King
who assuredly would not willingly offend God, who fears Him,
who is really religious, there should be such practices? No doubt,
if the King were quite determined to have holy, or at any rate
innocent, words sung, instead of the diabolical subjects scattered
through the operas, clever men would be eager to compose them ;
but he dreads setting up a new thing which the public would not
like."
Madame de Glapion observed that she had read somewhere,
on this subject, that those who say that what is heard at the opera
goes in at one ear and out at the other, forget that the heart is
between the two.
" That is very well said," answered Madame de Maintenon,
"and I am certain that no one is so able to resist the occasions
of sin on leaving these entertainments as after going away from
Vespers, In regard to this, I said one day to the Duke of
Burgundy, who is a saint, ' What shall you do, Monseigneur, when
248 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
you are ruler ? Shall you forbid operas, plays, and such entertain-
ments, for many people maintain that, if there were none, there
would be still worse dissipations ? ' He replied, * I should carefully
weigh the for and against ; I should examine the disadvantages
there might be on both sides ; and I should maintain that which
had the least' Is not this wonderful goodness in so young a
prince ?
" What astonishes me," she added, " when I think of it — but
without disturbance, for I know that God can derive His own
glory from the defeat of His plans as well as from their success —
is to find that a quantity of things I have done with the greatest
wish to procure His glory, the good of the Church, and the
salvation of the King, have turned out badly. For instance, I
desired that the Due de Beauvilliers and M. de Chevreuse should
be the King's friends, that he might see good men who were
capable of giving him a love of virtue, and of drawing him away
from the corrupt ideas and flattery that surround him. It turned
out badly, and I am very sorry for it, without regretting what
I did, because, in truth, my only aim was to do a good thing for
God's glory and the King's salvation.
" I intended to do good also when I obtained the nomination
of MM. de Noailles and de Fenelon as Archbishops of Paris and
Cambrai ; but I was so grieved about them in the end that the
King said to me, * Well, madame, are we to see you die for this
matter ? ' I feel no less troubled about Monseigneur de Noailles
now ; but what comforts me is that I intended to do what was
right, and the late Monseigneur de Chartres thought of these two
men as I did, and looked upon them as holy persons, well fitted
to serve the Church.''
After thinking a little, she said, " Princes will never face any
sad things. They are accustomed to have them always kept out of
sight, and I see myself brought by conscientious duty, by my
friendship for the King, and the true interest I take in everything
that concerns him, to tell him the truth, not to flatter him, to let
him see that he is often deceived, and that bad advice is given
him. Think what a position it is to be obliged in this way to
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 249
distress one who is beloved, and whom one would like never to
displease. Yet this is what I am obliged to do. I grieve him
often when he comes to me only to be comforted. On the other
hand, the Duchess of Burgundy, who has really dreadful troubles,
brings them all to me. For instance, she came to me yesterday,
just as I was going to bed, not being able to bear any longer the
excessive fatigue. She threw herself upon me, and kept me a
long time, telling me her troubles. I was obliged to remain half
undressed, because, if I had got into bed, she could not have
spoken to me freely; as the table where the King was writing is
close to my bed. She is good enough to ask me if she is in my
way ; but with all the liberty she gives me, begging me to treat
her as my daughter, it is impossible to deal with her as a nobody,
or not to pay her every sort of attention. All our princes think
that I am not the least under restraint with them, and, indeed,
they would let me be quite at ease ; but I think more of them
than of myself, and I only do what I feel to be suitable to them.
They are under the idea, too, that when I have seen them I do not
want to see any one else ; and when they are going away, they
generally say, * I shall shut the door, shall I not ? You are going
to be alone ? You do not want to see anybody else ? ' "
"That is exactly what Monseigneur de Cambrai [F^nelon]
reproached them with," said Madame de Glapion, " when he told
them they thought seeing them was the Beatific Vision." Madame
de Maintenon laughed, and said, " Yes, I fancy they think it all-
sufficient, and takes the place of everything else."
It is very difficult indeed, notwithstanding all her plain
speaking to this real friend, to reproduce to ourselves
the extraordinary difficulties under which Madame de
Maintenon laboured ; but unless we do so in some degree,
it is impossible to do her justice. On the one hand there
was the King, harassed in his declining years by misfortune
and defeat, the ruin of his long-cherished prosperity, and
not knowing how to meet the expenses of his disastrous
250 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
wars ; while the greater part of his Court secretly ridiculed
his devoutness and his regular life, scoffed at his loyal
affection for his admirable wife, and strove by every con-
ceivable allurement to detach him from the bonds of
Christian life. On the other hand, the Archbishop of Paris,
on account of his miserable obstinacy in religious matters,
had withdrawn himself from kindly intercourse with the
King and Madame de Maintenon. Instead of helping
them to stem the growing torrent of frank irreligion and
the reckless profligacy which was tending more and more
to degrade the noble families and make them hated by
the people, he was strengthening the Jansenist party by
defying the Holy See and insisting upon a certain rigorous,
gloomy prohibition of innocent amusements, that opened
a wider gulf between good Catholics and the " world," and
created a spirit of defiance that sometimes broke into insult.
About this time the Archbishop of Paris forbade not only
the plays at St. Cyr, but prohibited all plays in convents.
There is no doubt that St. Cyr, like all other good
things, was subject to many drawbacks from its nearness
to the Court at Versailles. One day, when the Duchess
of Burgundy was in the chapel — probably during Vespers —
she saw a number of people outside the chapel grating
pushing their walking-sticks and fans through it, so as to
put aside the curtains and allow them a full view of the
girls. The duchess, much shocked at this insulting rude-
ness, got up from her place, and not only drew the smaller,
ordinary curtains, but the large heavy hangings, which,
together with the rebuke of her grave, displeased face,
covered the impertinent wrong-doers with confusion.
Another day the duchess went to St. Cyr for the
MADAAfE DE MAINTENON. 251
Tenebrce in Holy Week, when the Court pages, who must
have been sadly in want of a strict discipline, brought all
sorts of rattles to spring after the Benedictus, when the
last candle of the triangle is always put out. No sooner
was the usual slight noise * made on that occasion than all
the rattles were suddenly sprung at once, making the most
frightful din, which was added to by peals of rude laughter
from the pages. The duchess gave them a sharp repri-
mand when she left the chapel ; but one of the pages had
the impudence to write a note to Mdlle. de Puitbare, one
of the girls, saying how much he was struck with her
beauty. The poor girl, who was not in any way to blame,
was excessively angry.
* While the last antiphon at Tenebra is being recited, the last candle of the
triangle of lights is taken out and hidden, symbolizing the approaching death
of Christ as Light of the World. After the following Miserere and prayer a
slight noise is made — usually with the office-books — by the choir, typifying the
general sorrow and confusion at the betrayal and Passion. The antiphon is,
Traditor autem dedit eis signum^ dicens : Quern osculatus fuero ipse est, tenetc
eum.
CHAPTER XX.
1709,
The overtures of peace made by Louis XIV. to the Grand
Alliance — the Emperor, the States-General, and England —
in 1709 were met by conditions so humiliating to France,
that every true Frenchman, as Madame de Maintenon said,
was crying out that war should be continued. But the
misery and starvation of the overburdened country were so
terrible that a counter-current of feeling set in. To this
Madame de Maintenon alludes in the following letter to
the Due de Noailles : —
St. Cyr, June 9, 1 709.
I do not know if your courier will let me know when he starts,
but I am going to write to you on that understanding. Your
situation is on a small scale what that of Marshal Villars is on a
great one. It is maintained that things are better in Dauphine
and Germany. As to the miserable commission that the King laid
before you when you left, there is no more question of it.* Peace
will not be made ; and supposing it were made, the King of Spain
will not return [here] ; but our own King, after reading your letter,
ordered me to send you word that in no case should you be em-
ployed in such an office. It would not suit you, and would alarm
me exceedingly. . . . When it was known that the King had
* Louis XIV. had proposed to the Due de Noailles, who was going to
command at Roussillon, to go on into Spain and let the King know that it
might be necessary for France to sacrifice the Spanish alliance as a condition
of peace (Geffroy).
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 253
refused the shameful proposals for peace that the enemy made to
M. de Torcy, everybody applauded and demanded war ; but that
agitation did not last, and people soon fell back into the discourage-
ment which you witnessed. When you were here, how many times
have you heard it said, " Why is our plate left untouched ? We
should be delighted if the King had it all." But ever since the
most zealous have set the example, others are alarmed and discon-
tented. They think it is for the King to begin to draw in, and
everybody grudges him his expenditure. His journeys to Marly
are the ruin of the country ; they would like to deprive him of his
horses, his dogs, his servants ; they fall upon his furniture ; and,
in a word, he is to be the first stripped. These murmurs are
uttered at his very door, and people would like to stone me,
because they imagine that I never tell him anything disagreeable,
lest it should give him pain. Nevertheless, the King has lowered
his table at Marly ; he has sent his gold plate to the mint, and his
jewels to M. Desmaretz to see if they can be pledged ; but no one
takes account of anything but what is not done. I confess to you
that this state of things make me shiver with fear, and that you
are very much needed here by me.
The irritation against you know who * increases daily, and is
extended to his master. He cannot make up his mind to give
him up, because he pities him so much, and because he is wearing
himself out just now in his service.
The King's children seem to be awake to the state of things.
The Dauphin talks more and listens. He even carries to the
King the complaints made to him ; but after that he says, " I
spoke about it," and by that means causes his father to be more
blamed. The Duchess of Burgundy is even more depressed than
I am. It is her natural bent, and she knows too much of the
causes and circumstances of her condition. She loves the King,
she loves her husband, she loves her father, and she loves her
sister. They are all sources furnishing matter enough for anxieties,
without reckoning those of every day, each one of which passes
* M. de Chamillart.
254 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
slowly. . . . Our princes will not join the army; food is too
uncertain. The Chevalier de St George is going to Flanders, if
he can find [money] enough to start with ; and, anyhow, it could
not be given him. The Queen * is no longer paid ; everything
has come to the last state of need.
I was one of the first to send away my plate [sold or pledged
for the public expenses]. You will lose more by this than I shall,
and you would not have made a single objection. There was
enough to bring thirteen or fourteen thousand firancs. If we had
only to eat off earthenware we should get quit very cheaply.
... It seems to me that all possible orders have been g^ven
for com. Some has come to Dunkirk; it comes in from all
quarters ; there is a great deal upon the quays at Paris. Not-
withstanding all this, the price of bread is not lowered, and there
are often riots in the markets. An order has been issued that
only two sorts of bread are to be made — one brown, for the poor,
at a low price, and one seconds [half white], for the rich, which
would be rather dearer. It is necessary to consult so many people
about this that the business lags, and the jealousies among the
various officials make it still worse.
People are a little scandalized at the favours shown to M. de
Vendome at Meudon by the Dauphin,f and our princess, keeping
up her character, is not in haste to go there. ...
On coming back to my room from St Cyr yesterday, I found on
the table a letter from M. de Chamillart, telling me of his dismissal.
The King at the same time gives him all possible tokens of kind-
ness. M. de Beauvillier took him the message. He is free to go
wherever he likes, so long as it is not to Court He has a very
large pension and one for his wife. His son's is continued, and
he is to have the office at Cavoie in survival [of his father].
M. Voysin came this morning, and the King made known to him
that he was appointed to the post [Minister of State]. I pity him
♦ Louis XIV. had generously paid a pension to Mary Beatrice of England
up till this time.
t The Dauphin did not like his son, the Duke of Burgundy, and was fond
of showing favour to his enemies.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 255
more than his predecessor. It was Monseigneur [the Dauphin]
who finally decided the King.
I was taken with fever at St. Cyr, and I still have it. Take
care of your own fever, I implore you ; you are not as strong in
body as in mind. Good-bye. I can say no more. I reckon on
you, my dear duke ; count upon me.
A letter to Marshal de Villars gives a few vi^ords, pain-
fully showing the change of feeling towards the unfortunate
royal family of Stuarts at St. Germain : —
Marly, June 14, 1709.
. . . You must have been sorry for the resignation of M. de
Chamillart, but the King was obliged to yield to the public voice.
I hope M. Voysin will be less given to discouragement and will
serve with greater energy. . . .
The Queen of England ordered me yesterday to implore you
from her to treat the Chevalier de St. George well.* You will
have him on Tuesday. He marches with very little baggage, he
can eat coarse food, and I am assured that he will give you very
little trouble. He has a passionate wish to follow you wherever
you go, and the King says that if that is genuine he will show
some energy. He is an adventurer who does not know very well
what to do. If he dies, he will want nothing again ; if he lives
and follows you, he will make a reputation that will contribute to
his restoration. The Queen asks you to advise him, to reprove
him when he fails in any way, and to urge him on as far as is
right. You will, I hope, find him well disposed. . , .
Leaving aside for the moment her correspondence with
the rulers of Europe and those who ruled them, Madame
de Maintenon turned to one of her many good works, for
one of the poor servant-girls brought up separately from
the school at St. Cyr. The Bishop of Auxerre, to whom
she wrote, was brother-in-law to Madame de Cajdus.
* He had gone to serve in the French army in Germany,
256 MADAME DE MAISTEKOX,
St- CjT, Jttne 26, 1709.
I begin by thanking you, sir, for what you would like to do
for Margaret Cl^et I have learned from the Dames de St. Cyr
what her powers are, and they say that she is a very good girl,
knowing how to read, but not to write, very well instracted in her
Catechism, expressing herself well, gende and patient, with very
little mind If, after this description, you think she will be of any
ii»e to you, I will give her with the heartiest pleasure the pistoUts
[pieces of ten francs] I am offering her. Even if I had spent my
life with you, sir, and if you had the greatest wish to please me,
you could not have said anything better as to my inclinations,
which all lean towards teaching and soup ; for the want of both is
»o great that the bishops cannot provide too much of them. You
touch justly also, sir, upon the misery of our present condition.
ICvcry day there is greater want among the poor, while the means
of helping are lessened among the wealthy, because the whole evil
xpringH from the same causes. It would not be bearable if it did
not come from the hand of God. . . .
(^'irdinal de Noailles was so embittered by the loyal
i^ppoHition of the Jesuits to his obstinate adherence to
f^ucMficI, that, with a few exceptions, such as Pere le Tellier,
the Kind's confessor, and one or two others, he refused
them faculties for hearing confessions in his diocese.
Lotiin XIV, begged him to withdraw his prohibition, and
the (.ardinal asked for an audience to plead his own
cau.sc, at the same time writing copiously to Madame de
Main tenon. Her answer is as full of dignified respect as
of the characteristic wisdom by which she so essentially
Hcrvcd the cause of religion : —
St. Cyr, July 3, 1709
Our departure is put off till the 13th of this month, and I
think, monseigneur, you can choose between next Wednesday or
the Wednesday that we go, as it will not be till after dinner, to
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 257
avoid the heat. If the King orders it otherwise, you shall be told
of it
You will never be mistaken, monseigneur, when you reckon
upon what you call my kindness. I can never cease to respect
my archbishop, to esteem your virtues, and, if I may venture to
say so, to feel affection for yourself; but it is true that these feelings
now only give me bitter pain.
I shall not answer all the subjects of your letter, because we
have spoken of them a hundred times uselessly.
There is one [subject] that you do not touch upon, mon-
seigneur, that of the Jesuits, which the King does not look
upon as concerning your conscience, but purely as a feeling of
revenge, which you could sacrifice for him, either whether you
wished in truth to be revenged upon them, or whether you thought
it a duty to punish them for their want of respect for you.
These are all subjects of sacrifice that you could make in so
many instances that it would be tiresome and useless to go over
them again.
If the King grows more and more bitter [upon this subject] it
can only be within himself, for I think he does not speak of it. I
have no doubt that you pray for him, monseigneur ; for you are
too good a Frenchman not to desire him to live, and your kind
heart must suffer very much when you give him cause for sorrow.
My own is great, and I am not without sympathy for your dear
nephew's grief.
In the following letter to the Due de Noailles, Madame
de Maintenon alludes to some touching efforts made by
the Queen of Spain to detach her father from the league
against Louis XIV. M. Geflfroy is inclined to believe that,
in spite of the diflference of date, the letter he gives may
be the one alluded to, especially as it is only a copy,
and the dates of that time are often very inaccurate.
The political baits held out to the Duke of Savoy were
probably suggested by Princess des Ursins, and the letter
S
2S8 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
rather bears the stamp of her exuberant imagination, but
the postscript may certainly be accepted as the Queen's
only.
St. Cyr, July 28, 1708.
. . . The dearth of com and money exhausts our best
endeavours and all possible ingenuity. Marshal Villars by his
good generalship has arrested the enemy and changed their plans,
but he finds himself always on the edge of perishing for want of
food. You on your side feel the same want. Still it is quite true
that our affairs would take a new face if the harvest of barley and
oats causes the price of com to fall, if nothing worse than the
taking of Tournay or some other place happens in Flanders, and
you hold your ground fairly in Spain. Everybody is convinced
that there is more money in Paris than there has ever been. If
M. Desmaretz can re-establish some degree of credit by annulling
bills of exchange (paper-money), we should have time to make
arrangements for the next campaign. I am certain that M. Voysin
will be of great use. M. de Chamillart lost everything by his
obstinacy. He would absolutely reckon on peace, and made no
preparations for war. This has brought us into our present
dangerous position. That poor man [Chamillart] does not manage
his loss of power better than his prosperous days. He asks to see
the King ; he makes a display of his marked kindness, and there
is pretence made of his return [to power], which is not likely, but
which nevertheless does mischief to those now in office. This, I
believe, is what causes the continual change of officials in Paris,
where there seems to be no settled condition.
You may be sure that the Duchess of Burgundy saw that part
of your letter that referred to her, and that she was not untouched
by it. She is now laid up in bed for a fortnight. . . .
I do not know what the letter is that the Queen of Spain has
written to the Duke of Savoy. That prince begins to waver,* but
the Duke of Berwick does not seem uneasy about it.
The Spaniards are not treacherous, and I should reckon much
♦ As to continuing the war against Louis XIV. with the aUies.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 259
upon their attachment to the King if they were not as moneyless
as ourselves. They will feel the loss of M. Amelot, who seems to
me to have acted ably in all that has happened since he has been
ambassador. Princess des Ursins is not coming back yet, but she
may easily become suspected by the Spaniards. They will be
irritated with her, but I can bear witness that her conduct has
been very noble and upright.
A Norman bishop, I think of Lisieux [it was Bayeux] (he is
named Nesmond), having heard that three battalions were going
by and were without food, sent them a thousand francs for each
battalion. My Archbishop of Rouen * thrust himself bravely into
the midst of three thousand rioters and helped to pacify them ;
but what is still finer is that the governor, the Archbishop, the first
president and steward [of Rouen] are all united in doing their best
for the King. It is not so at Paris. Our magistrates are divided
in opinion as to what to do to obtain bread, the price of which
rises every day. The people are always on the edge of rebellion.
I am not surprised that you write to me in haste. Why do
you not dictate while you rest a little, especially when you are not
well ? My health is not very bad ; I am withering away visibly,
but I am fairly well. I am rather less depressed, and I have more
hope. The siege of Toumay goes on, the garrison makes
energetic sallies, and the floods are wonderful. . . .
This is the letter of the Queen of Spain to which
Madame de Maintenon refers : —
Madrid, January 31, 1708.
Why do you think, my dear father, that I do not care for you
any longer, that I have even forgotten you, as you sent me word
some time ago by my mother ? I am very much offended, being
so far from such a fact For I can indeed assure you that I have
always tenderly loved you. It seems to me that I have much
more reason to reproach you, for you are doing your best to seize
* D'Aubign6, Madame de Maintenon*s cousin, or soi-disant cousin, had
been translated (1707) from Noyon to Rouen. — Geffroy.
26o MADAME DE MAINTENON,
my crown, and thus do not give me any proofs of the love you
ought to feel for me. I hope that in the end you will allow
yourself to be softened by a daughter who is pierced with grief at
all that is going on, who truly loves you, and who wishes every-
thing to turn to your advantage. You will find it to be so if you
will be friends with us. I promise you that your dominions shall
be enlarged either by giving you the whole [state] of Milan, which
will be easily recovered as soon as you come to an understanding
with us so as to let our troops return to that territory. If that is
not enough for you, I will undertake to arrange with the two kings
to give you the title of King of Lombardy. This is how I should
like to revenge myself upon you. ... I repeat that I can make
good what I promise, and that this is between you and me,
without the intervention of any minister. I shall wait very
impatiently for your answer. Let it comfort me, and prove your
love, which I do deserve so much, my dear father, on account of
mine for you,
Marie Louise.
I believe you will never leave oflf being astonished when you
think of your Louison, the name I have had so long, and reading
a letter from her like this ; but you make me grow grave in spite
of myself. I have become so grave, indeed, after despatching
what I have to-day, that I think I shall never again be allowed to
call you my dear papa. But do be this to me, and let me be your
Louison, and let us love each other like two good friends.
In the following letter to the Due de Noailles, Madame
de Maintenon refers very slightly to the disgraceful con-
duct of the Duke of Orleans, whom she was too much
inclined to defend, together with other public matters of
interest : —
St. Cyr, September 3, 1709.
You will not be surprised, my dear duke, that I begin my
letter in one place and go on with it in another. \Vhere it will
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 26 1
be finished I do not know. In the interval, we have learnt that
the citadel of Tournay capitulated on the last day of August.
Marshal de Boufflers does all he can to uphold M. Surville's
defence. Marshal de Villars finds great fault with it. As a battle
may be feared, the King has sent Marshal de Boufflers to Arras on
account of what may befall Marshal de Villars. . . , The general
ought not to be displeased that M. de Boufflers should be in one
wing, but I do not know how the matter will be disentangled.
We are staking heavily upon this battle, my dear duke. God
only knows what is going to become of us !
Starvation will soon reach even ourselves. We have not a
penny, and com rises every day. You will feel the King's suffer-
ings and those of all about him.
The respect that I owe the Duke of Orleans makes me feel
that I cannot say a word about his affair.* I. am sorry to see how
injurious it is to him. On the other hand, he leads a publicly
scandalous life. The King suffers from this both in affection
and conscience. Whichever way we turn, it is all affliction.
Your proposal has been thought sound, fine, and well planned out,
but means fail us on all sides. I do not know which is the most
pitiable, to serve far away with the difficulties you have, or to
witness close at hand the state we are in. May God grant us
patience in the same measure as we have our trials !
... I am much pleased with Madame de Chatillon ; it seems
to me that the Duchess de Noailles gets on very well with her.
And then she leads the most innocent life in the world She
spends her days in her own room or at St. Cyr ; she works, she
sings, and it seems to me that she would rather be at home than
abroad. • . .
Marshal de Boufflers, who, as has been shown, was
♦ The Duke of Orleans had, in fact, betrayed the cause of the King of
Spain, whom he had been sent to serve. Finding that cause nearly desperate,
he lent ear to certain malcontents who proposed to place the duke himself
upon the throne. With this view, he entered into treasonable correspondence
with the English commander ; but, having employed a subaltern officer to carry
on the n^otiations, his papers were seized and sent to France. — Geffroy.
262 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
aged and in very bad health, and whom all circumstances
justified in taking his well-earned repose, had that year
volunteered to serve under Marshal de Villars in any
capacity he chose. Marshal de Villars welcomed the old
general warmly, and wrote a short letter to the King, in
which he said : —
The proofs he [the marshal] gives of his zeal and energy in
such important circumstances are the best means of awakening the
slackening energies of others. ... I am sure that nothing could
have a better eflfect It shows Frenchmen what they owe to your
Majesty, to the State, and to themselves.
Upon reading this letter, Madame de Maintenon imme-
diately wrote to Marshal de Villars : —
St. Cjrr, September 7, 1709.
Nothing can be finer, sir, than what Marshal de Boufflers has
done ; but no one could be so deeply touched by it as you are,
unless he were capable of the same act in like circumstances. I
have seen with great pleasure what you have written about it, as
well as the satisfaction to Him* whom you wished to please.
May God reward your uprightness by some fortunate event, or
by hindering some great disaster from the enemy ! I am always
expecting this, and it is a time of great anxiety. Allow me, sir,
by my great interest in all that concerns you, to entreat you not
to be too much irritated with M. de Surville,t for you will make
all his friends and relations your enemies by it [your anger]. If
you had been able to save Tournay or the rest of the campaign, it
would have been well to sacrifice your own interest to the King or
the State ; but now what is done is done. Depend upon my speak-
ing, sir, only for your sake. . . .
Three days afterwards, Madame de Maintenon wrote
to Madame de Pdrou, superior of the Dames de St. Louis,
* The King. The capital letter is Madame de Maintenon's.
t The commander who had surrendered Tournay.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 263
on the eve of the dreadful defeat of the French army at
Malplaquet : —
September 10, 1709.
The armies have met in Flanders; a courier came to announce
this to the King at five o'clock this morning. Set the whole
house to praying, I beseech you, and let everybody go to the ten
o'clock Mass to oflfer the holy sacrifice to God for our protection.
Do not forget to invoke the Blessed Virgin.
A letter rapidly follows to the Due de Noailles : —
St. Cyr, September 14, 1709.
The news of your little victory* arrived at Versailles yesterday,
a quarter of an hour after that of the loss of the battle in Flanders,
and you will know, my dear duke, that our grief was greater than
our joy. Still, I heard what was said to the King — that what you
did was well planned, well led, and well carried out. M. Voysin
has written nearly the same thing to me, sending me the details of
the action.
You will easily believe that I am rather cast down by the
scenes I have gone through during these three days. I am not
indifferent to the general interests, and I am scarcely less touched,
by those of individuals. I have witnessed the affliction of the
greater number of the wives of the killed and wounded, which
still are not so very many for a battle that lasted eight hours, and
which wavered from side to side from the valour that grew to fury.
From what is told of the details, it seems that we might have won
had not Marshal de Villars been wounded, as the wing that he
commanded gave way when he left it. Infantry was despatched to
that wing, by which ground was left undefended, which the enemy
immediately occupied. The wound [Villars*] is dangerous, and I
am very much afraid we shall lose him. I have not heard that a
single word of blame has been given as to his whole conduct
either at Court or in the army. He received Marshal de Boufflers
in a way that has greatly increased my regard for him — I mean
* In Catalonia.
ir^
MA/>AM£ DE MAINTENON.
KUnthiil do VilKnrs, His wife is going to join him. As to
Mrtr^hrtl do Uouftlors, he has heaped upon himself glory that he
hrttl lU) nood of. There is not a regiment at the head of which he
dill not charge. He was a very lion in courage, and gave his
conuuiuuls as OiX>lly as if he had been in his own room. M.
trArlngnan had three horses killed under him, and distinguished
hiiuticlf very much, not only by his bravery, but by his conduct [in
attack]. The King of England [James Stuart] was there, with
fovor \\\^\\ hira, and did wonders.
Marshal de Houfflers has written a letter to the King, of which
I un\ toUl there are to be copies given. I hope one will be sent
to you with a list of the killed or wounded, which will, no doubt,
luj n\uch increased when we know more particulars. I am very
unhappy about Madame de Dangeau ; there is very little appear-
ance of her son*s recover}'.* • . .
You may well believe that I am rather worn out, and have
been obliged to use Mdlle. d'Aumale*s hand to write you such a
long letter. Your absence seems to me very long, and you would
be a help and comfort to me. It is not God's will, but He does
will that I should love you with great esteem and affection.
Marshal de Boufflers calls the battle that has been fought
[Malplaquet] "glorious and disastrous."
These two last lines are in Madame de Maintenon's
own hand.t
♦ The Marquis de Courcillon, whose leg was carried away by a cannon-ball,
t Geffroy.
GHAPTER XXI.
1710-1711.
The Due de Noailles distinguished himself very much by
his gallant and rapid movement from Roussillon to join
M. de Roquelaure, who was threatened by an invasion
upon the coast of Provence. He drove the opposing force
from Cette, and obliged it to put to sea again. Madame
de Maintenon wrote to him, overflowing with joy : —
Versailles, August 17, 17 10.
You think then, duke, that we are all fools here, and that no
one has heard of the marvels and skilfulness of your generalship ?
You hiake a mistake. When your simple, brief letter came, the
King said, " He did not want to give the details of what happened.
He has. left it to the commander and the chief lieutenant to send
particulars." That letter was weighed, therefore, with all the
circumstances to the very end, where you so affectionately beg of
the War Minister to let your relations know the news. I should
have been really offended if there had been anything else for me.
When the courier or M. de Roquelaure's orderly gave me two
letters, I said that they would be from M. de Roquelaure and
M. de Baville. You see, sir, that we have some discernment,
and that you are known a little. No man has ever been more
praised than you have been. The not waiting for commands, the
resolution taken at once, your serving as a subaltern, the orders
that were given, the incredible quickness, the provisioning the
troops, the swiftness of the attack, the enthusiasm of the army,
266 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
their love for their general, your return to Roussillon — all these
things have been well weighed, and I have not yet heard of any
grudging slaps. I say nothing of your bravery, for that would
offend youj but the two brothers have been named. Give my
compliments to the canon.* He would not have had such a
success at Notre Dame.
I dined with your wife, who ought soon to be put to bed. She
has suffered a great deal from toothache. . . • Our union with
Spain is the only thing spoken of here ; and the ladies, putting
their caps f together, discuss whether or not there will be a treaty.
It will be very different at Marly, where we go on the 20th.
I am more solitary than ever. I saw P^re de la Rue % yester-
day, who wished you were made constable. He loves you most
dearly. Good-bye, my dear duke. I reckon on you. Do the
same for me.
An extract merely must be given from a letter some
months later from Madame de Maintenon to Princess des
Ursins : —
St. Cyr, December 15, 1710.
. . . Pray think well of my speaking freely to you of the
Duchess of Burgundy. After having bome much talk as to the
false measures I took during her education ; after being blamed
by everybody for the freedom with which she was running about
from morning till night ; after having seen her hated by everybody
because she never would utter a word ; after having heard her
accused of horrible dissimulation as to her affection for the King,
and the goodness with which she honoured me, I now find the
whole world singing her praises, extolling her excellent heart,
* Count de Noailles had been intended for the Church, but being made
very young a canon of Notre Dame, he " left the priest's collar (^/iV collet) for
the sword."
t Rayons, Madame de Maintenon alludes to the enormous headdresses in
the shape of rays.
X P^re de la Rue was the Duchess of Buigundy*s Jesuit confessor — ^a good
preacher, writer, and cultivated man of letters — Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 267
admiring her talents, and agreed on all hands that she knows how
to command the respect of a great Court. I see her worshipped
by the Duke of Burgundy, tenderly loved by the King, who has
just put her house into her own hands to do with as she will,
publicly saying at the same time that she would be capable of
governing in much greater things.* I am sharing my joy about
this with you, madame, because I am convinced that you will be
very glad to know it, for you discerned sooner than others the
great qualities of this princess.
The Due de Noailles, who had been besieging Gerona
amidst great difficulties, obliged it to capitulate in January,
171 1, and the news was received with great rejoicing at
the French Court. Madame de Maintenon wrote almost
immediately to the duke : —
Marly, February 6, 171 1.
I am very joyful, and I have bought the joy by much pain,
not from the stupid talk I have heard as to the siege being raised,
but from other causes ; such as the delay caused by the deluge
of wet, the scarcity of your food, the difficulty of getting any, the
small skill of your engineers, the capacity of M. de Staremberg,t
the rage of the people, your anxieties and fatigue. All this, my
dear duke, has made me pass very bad nights, as I was often
fancying myself in your place, which was extremely bad for me.
At last Gerona is taken, and all the difficulties now make for
your renown. Madame, J who has just left my room after com-
plimenting me upon it, assured me that you were still loved and
heartily praised, and we have come to the conclusion that if you
go on, you may easily come to be hated and blamed.
M. Voysin was announced at the same moment that the
captain of the guard came to give notice about the meat. You
know who is in my room at that time [the King], and we ex-
* Louis XIV. said, ** I leave her absolute mistress of her own house. She
would be capable of more difficult and important things."
t The general commanding for the Archduke of Austria.
X The Dowager Duchess of Orleans.
268 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
claimed that there was news of Gerona. M. Voysin came in,
followed by a little man with a great beard, who began his story
in a voice and tone that delighted our princes. Great was
the joy when it was known that the forts had surrendered, for we
had reckoned only on the taking of the town. I shall not tell you
about M. Planqu^'s account of the whole attack, holding a map
in his hand. The King took a singular pleasure in this account,
and I sat up and heard it without any difficulty.* What I
remembered best is what was said of you. M. Planque said,
" I have served under all your generals, and you have not one
that comes near this one. He has the prudence and foresight of
Turenne, the valour and watchfulness of Cr^quy, the same under-
standing of artillery as Freseliere, and the knowledge of detail
of Jacquier." Everybody then went away to bed, or rather, I
should say, to supper. I lay awake a long time very happily, and
then had an exceedingly good night.
The next day the King told me that your despatch was
wonderful ; that he had never known so many orders so well
given ; that there was not a single officer who did not know what
he had to do; and that you had carried foresight so far as to
forbid the soldiers to press too far into the town, as there were
entrenchments and hindrances in the houses, and that they must
advance step by step. We are expecting the courier from you to
tell us what you are going to do. I am very sure that you will
not quarrel with M. de Vendome as to the matters which the
Court ladies maintain; but I should be a little afraid of your
difference of opinion upon the siege of Barcelona, and that in
Spain they should not ascribe to you something of the King's
opposition, who very naturally thinks as you do.
This letter was dictated, but Madame de Maintenon
added in her own hand : —
The King had begun to be uneasy about Gerona. He is
enchanted and most truly satisfied with you. It seems to me that
* Madame de Maintenon alludes to her increasing deafness.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 269
he has done everything you wished for the officers. As to your-
self, that will come by-and-by, and I am very certain that you
will be satisfied so long as he is. He has some fear of little
difficulties, and I answered that you were sure to reply for yourself,
and that I knew you well enough to be certain what you thought.
I am enchanted that you have put M. de Brancas [the French
ambassador in Spain] in the way of favours, and I beg you to give
him my compliments upon what, he has received.
The Duchess de Noailles is to come here for some balls, but
she has never seemed less eager for them. Good-bye, my dear
duke. I came to "The Rest" to write to you more at leisure,
but the cold drives me away. You do not wish me to die, and
you are right, for certainly you would lose what is scarcely ever
to be found again.
In tHe next letter to Princess des Ursins, Madame de
Maintenon speaks of a personage who afterwards became
celebrated as Marshal Due de Richelieu, Voltaire's friend
and the hero of Port Mahon. This budding celebrity she
elsewhere describes as follows : —
There has appeared [at Court] for the first time a young
courtier, the son of M. de Richelieu, who is called Due de Fronsac.
He is sixteen, but looks twelve; and little as he is, he has the
prettiest figure in the world. He has a fine face and a perfectly
beautiful head ; he is one of the best dancers, rides well, plays,
[cards], likes music, and is good in conversation. He is respect-
ful, very polite, and is capable of pleasant raillery; he is grave
when it is necessary, and every one thinks of him much as I have
described him. He is to be married as soon as we go to Ver-
sailles, to Mdlle. de Noailles, . . . who will have a fortune of five
hundred thousand crowns. She is plain, but has a good figure, is
sensible, and eighteen.'*
Mdlle. de Noailles was first cousin to the duke. This
future Due de Richelieu, who married first at fifteen and
2/0 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
a half, was a bridegroom for the third time at eighty-
four.*
Versailles, February 23, 171 1.
I received your letter, madame, yesterday evening, and I see
that your secretary has changed your ink, and that my eyesight
is not worse. . . .
I very much doubt if the King will allow the Due de Noailles
to accept the grandeeship,t for I see he is very much determined
that no Frenchmen shall again enjoy that honour. It is true that
peace is much longed for here, and that we are suffering greatly
from the want of money. It is avarice, not abundance, that causes
our courtiers to gamble. They stake everything to get a little
money, and the lansquenet tables are more like some kind of
dreary trading than amusement. . . .
The Due de Fronsac is as pleasant as I have told you, but
up till now he has not seemed dangerous to the ladies. He is
fifteen, and does not look twelve ; one would like to caress him
as if he were a pretty child, and I was upon the point of taking
him yesterday by the chin when he begged me to sign his marriage
contract 1 . . .
In another quickly following letter to Princess des
Ursins in the same month, Madame de Maintenon says : —
The King has not yet declared his intention as to the Due de
Noailles' grandeeship. He says he is waiting to hear from him,
and I think I can give a good guess as to what will be in the
letter. . . . We have seen Madame de Fronsac, who is perfectly
ugly. They say she is clever and sensible. . . .
The favour with which the amorino Due de Fronsac
had been received was short-lived, and in a month's time
Madame de Maintenon wrote the following letter to the
Due de Noailles : —
* Geffroy.
f It was proposed by Philip V. to make the duke a grandee of Spain.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 27 1
St. Cyr, March 22, 171 1.
They are going to send off to you our little prodigy, who is
no longer prodigious. They find fault with him now as much as
he was praised at Marly. I know nothing positive about him
except that he fell into a snare laid for him at play. He lost
twenty or thirty thousand francs at quinze with one man, who,
it is declared, was joined with a good many others who had shares
in his game. However that may be, my dear duke, the burden
falls upon you. The Due de Richelieu thinks that after this
prank he must send him further away than he would be in
Flanders; that the Marquis de Noailles, who is now the great
object of his admiration, will look after him under you ; that he
will learn his trade perfectly, and that it is fair to take advantage
of having such a first cousin. I have thought that all this is well
considered, and I hope it will not annoy you more than is reason-
able. He is the prettiest doll that one can see.
Princess des Ursins is always writing about the ease and
advantage of besieging Barcelona, but no one thinks that it is so
here. We are well persuaded that the enemy cannot touch us in
Flanders. The general is not in a hurry to go there, having a
dread of breaking into our magazines. Finance and war do not
quite fit in [Desmaretz and Voysin], There has been a little dis-
turbance, but I am assured that nothing will come of it. I am
more troubled than ever about your uncle [Cardinal de Noailles].
He has enemies, and he gives them the best opportunities of
putting him at variance with his master. I am more shut up than
ever. I cannot reconcile myself to what I see, and I have become
unbearable to every one about our princess. She is keener for
amusement than she ever was. I go to St. Cyr as much as I can.
I have made a mistake in folding my paper, and I have not
the courage to repair it . . .
The poor Dauphin, " Monseigneur," who never seems
to have been of much use or pleasure to anybody during
his life, and had, indeed, by his weakness lent himself to
272 MADAME DE MAINTENOAT,
dangerous cliques, was sincerely mourned by the King at
his death. He died of that then most deadly plague, the
small-pox, during the next month, April, 171 1. Madame
de Maintenon wrote on this occasion the following short
note to Cardinal de Noailles : —
Marly, April 15, 1711.
Come when you like, monseigneur, to pay your sorrowful
compliments. The King is cast down, but, thank God ! he is not
ill. The infected air will prevent the due honours being paid to
the body. It will be carried to St Denis in a coach, with one
chaplain, the first gentleman of the chamber, twelve guards, and
twelve torches. It will not be opened [for embalming], and as
soon as they arrive it will be placed in the vault. I have not
strength, monseigneur, to say anything more.
Madame de Maintenon soon, however, regained her
power of writing, and the following day a long letter to
Princess des Ursins was despatched : —
Marly, April 16, 17 11.
A worse feverish attack than usual, and Mdlle. d'Aumale's
absence hindered me from writing to you by the last post, and
answering your long letter of March 30, for which I return you
a thousand thanks. I assure you, madame, that I never find them
long enough.
But what subject can I treat of to-day, madame, in order to
give you an account of the state of our Court, and of so many
people in whom you are interested ? You will have heard, madam,
that after three days' illness, in which the doctors thought there
was some malignity, small-pox declared itself on Saturday, the
nth, at half-past six in the morning. We were uneasy at the
way it came out, as there was great lethargy ; but at eight o'clock
it had much increased, the fever lessened, there was very favour-
able perspiration, and we remained in a state of hope and joy
until Tuesday, when the King came into my room, followed by
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 273
M. Fagon, and said, " I have been to see my son, who has touched
me so much that I thought I must have shed tears. His head
has swelled during the last three or four hours prodigiously, he is
scarcely recognizable, his eyes are nearly closed; but they tell
me this is just what happens in smallpox, and Madame la Duchesse
[Bourbon-Cond^] and Princess de Conti say that they were in
exactly the same state. His head is quite clear, and he told me
that he hoped to see me in a better condition to-morrow."
Thereupon the King began to work [at business of the State]
with M. Voysin and M. Desmaretz.
As you are aware, madame, I am not naturally inclined to be
deceived, and I thought I saw some uneasiness in M. Fagon's
face, but dared not question him on account of the King. I only
sent to Princess de Conti to assure her of my sorrow, and Madame
Durf6 had the kindness to come to tell me from her that she knew
perfectly well the state Monseigneur was in from having passed
through it herself She has not left him, and has taken care of
him with much affection and courage.
The King went to supper just as usual, with these two prin-
cesses and the ladies of their suite, for our princess and she who
is now called the Dauphine [Duchess of Burgundy] had stayed
at Versailles by the King's orders. About eleven o'clock they
came to fetch him, saying that Monseigneur was very ill. He
went down, and found him in convulsions and unconscious. The
curk of Meudon arrived before P^re le Tellier, whom the King
had had the foresight to keep at Meudon, and he exclaimed,
" Monseigneur, are you not very sorry for having offended God ? "
Mardchal, who was holding him, asserts that he answered, " Yes."
The curt went on: **If you were in a state to make your con-
fession, would you not make it ? " The prince answered, ** Yes."
P^re le Tellier says that he pressed his hand, after which he gave
him absolution.
But what a sight I beheld, madame, when I came into Mon-
seigneur's large dressing-room ! The King sitting on a couch,
without shedding a tear, but shivering from head to foot; the
duchess in desperate grief; Princess de C • -all
274
MADAME DE MAINTENOI^.
the courtiers silent, a silence broken by the sobs and exclama-
tions that were heard from the room every time it was thought
that he had breathed his last.
The King had gone into the room three or four times before
I got there to see if there were not a moment when Pfere le Tellier
could come in, and they could send word for extreme unctioa
Then the King's carriages came. I had sent notice to the Duchess
of Burgundy to be in the road the King would take, as she wished
to come to Marly with him ; for I must tell you in passing that her
conduct is wonderful. She divides herself incessantly between
the King, the Duke of Burgundy, and the Duke of Beny. The
King took the first coach that came, putting himself into it with
the duchess [Bourbon] and Princess de Conti, and he wished me
to have the honour of accompanying them.
The princesses implored him on the road to put no constraint
on himself, and to give way to tears, being afraid of some seizure, but
he could not shed a tear. The duchess uttered the most piercing
cries, and then fell into a terrible silence. The Duchess of
Burgundy was met with between the two stables, and she came
quickly towards our coach. The King implored her not to get
in, as it was filled with people who had just come out of Mon-
seigneur^s room, and her first duty was to go to the Duke of
Burgundy and tell him of the death. We reached Marly, where
no one expected us, and where no one had anything that he
required. We waited with the King for what was necessary till
four o^clock in the morning, when he went to bed.
When Monseigneur expired, his whole body was purple, which
makes it necessary for him to be buried without ceremony. He
will not be opened ; he will be carried in his own coach ; a first
gentleman of the chamber, a chaplain, twelve guards, and twelve
torches will accompany him, and on arriving at St. Denis he will
be put into the vault This is where all greatness ends !
. . . Monseigneur was much beloved. All Paris is grieved
Two fishwomen of La Halle went to see him, and he made them
come in. They promised him to go and have a Te Deum sung
for the good state in which they found him. He told them that
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 2^$
it was not time for that yet. He was throughout struck with his
own age, saying, " I am fifty, yet I have the small-pox ! " He
was in great trouble because the King exposed himself so many
times to the infected air.
Good-bye, madame. I hope the King will do well, however
sorrow-stricken he may be, though he takes pains to hide it He
was so changed yesterday morning that he was hardly recognizable,
but he was much better in the evening, because he had been out
in the air. He said yesterday to the Dauphine * that he could
not bear to be separated any more from her, or that our princes
should have other houses of amusement than his. These com-
mands were not displeasing to her.
A few days afterwards Madame de Maintenon wrote
to the Due de Noailles : —
Marly, April 27, 171 1.
I shall not forget your name, my dear duke; I hear it too
often, and I believe, in truth, that you are being too much praised.
You increase my anxiety about the Queen [of Spain], whose illness
seems to me serious. We are impatiently expecting news of her,
and I hope shall have some by your courier. It seems that you
and M. de Vendome are of one mind, which I did not expect,
and am enchanted to find myself mistaken.
You will have heard of Monseigneur's death, the account of
which I sent to Princess des Ursins. M. d'Antin distinguished
himself by his attentions as long as he lived, and Messieurs de
Roche-Guyon, de Roucy, and de Sainte-Maure by their grief at
his death. The Dauphin and Dauphine t fill a great position. Our
princess says she feels herself growing bigger every minute, but
all these events excite her so much that they impair her health.
She is very much changed. Many things will have occurred to
your mind at the Emperor's death. J I flatter myself that God
will grant us peace, but it will not be so soon as I could wish.
* Duchess of Burgundy.
t The Duke of Bui^ndy, Monseigneur*s eldest son, was now Dauphin.
{ Joseph I.^ Emperor of Austria*
2/6 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
The Jansenists, Jesuits, Cardinal de Noailles, the Archbishop
of Cambray, and several bishops, are making a great noise. If
you wish to know my mind about it, I shall tell you that they are
all very much in the wrong. Cardinal de Noailles has asked leave
to come here to make his formal complaint, and I am much afraid
that this audience will be a great annoyance to him who grants
it and to him who has asked for it
Nothing can equal the grief of the duchess [Bourbon-Conde].
She has fallen from a great height Princess de Conti has been
ill ever since Monseigneur's death. . . . The Duchess de Noailles
is shut up in her room, not willing to see anybody, and only going
out to Mass on Sundays. St Cyr is forbidden her because there
are a hundred and twenty girls there with measles. I fancy that
the Duchess de Guiche has not left you in ignorance about
M. and Madame de Boufflers, whose condition is very near to
that of Job.* . . . You do not need to be exhorted to do your
best 1 only ask of you to recollect that there is no one but God
who deserves such service as you give. I am very well, and
I love you every day more and more.
♦ They had lost their eldest son, and the famous marshal himself died
during the next August
CHAPTER XXII.
1711-1712.
The death of Monseigneur broke up the worst and most
dangerous of the cabals that disturbed the reign of
Louis XIV. The weak, passive, and unintelligent character
of the Dauphin had allowed him to be surrounded and
mastered by a circle of violent, ambitious people, who
ruled him by turns. At their head was "Madame la
Duchesse'* (de Bourbon-Condd), the daughter of Louis
XIV. and Madame de Montespan, who largely inherited
her mother^s character. The Prince of Lorraine and the
Due de Vend6me supported the intrigue for reasons of their
own, knowing that the Dauphin had no love for his son
the Duke of Burgundy, or much for his charming wife.
The marriage of his third son, the Duke of Berry, had
aggravated the evil The duchess was the daughter of
Philip II. of Orleans, the future regent of disastrous renown,
and was, as St. Simon says, " a prodigy of talent, pride,
ingratitude, folly, and wickedness." She at once mastered
Monseigneur, and widened the breach with his son and
daughter-in-law. All these intrigues and their schemes fell
to the ground at his death.* During the next month
* Geffroy.
2/8 MADAME DE MAINTENONi
Madame de Maintenon sent one of her old familiar letters
to Madame de P^rou, superior at St. Cyr : —
Fontainebleau, September, 171 1 (day not given).
Our return is always put off by the pleasures of hunting and
the beautiful weather. We must stay here without having any
other will or wish but that of the master. My taste, however, will
not lead towards stag-hunting. My attraction for Avon is very
much blunted by the opposition I find to everything. Mathurin
Roch cannot reconcile himself to my ignorance, nor I to his
learning. I know all that I can teach or that he can learn, and
he reads everything he can, and plunges my children into the
depths of theology. They teU me every day that no one else ever
says a word to them of what I teach them, and yet it seems to me
that they never learn anything more. I should be comforted if
there were only more of them. Frangoise Payen cannot win over
her father and mother, nor rid herself the least bit of her own
attachment* ... I can only see my friends on Sundays, because
they take their goods to market, or go out to look for work [in
the week], and Sunday has to be divided between my prayers and
the company who come to dine with me. Everywhere there are
annoyances, except as to the King^s health, which, without any
exaggeration, improves very much. The prayers of our dear
Dames may well contribute to this.
I have just received the pretty things [presents] from our girls,
which are indeed most charming. I expect as many more
to-morrow, and should never be tired of receiving them. I shall
share them with Madame de Caylus, who admires them as much
as I do. But this letter is a serious one, and to finish it as I
have begun, my dear daughter, I beg of you to scold M. de
Poitiers for asking me for a benefice. I think you can see things
near enough to be certain that I do not rule P^re le Tellier.
* A poor girl at Avon in whom Madame de Maintenon took great interest,
who had an attachment that her parents opposed, but with the greatest gentle-
ness. They never said a harsh word to her, so that Madame de Maintenon
says, "They do not speak as well as we do, and we do not act as well as they
do." Mathurin Roch Was the magister or prefect of Avon. — GefTroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 279
The distribution of ecclesiastical benefices was generally
made by arrangements between the King and his confessor,
to which Madame de Maintenon alludes in mentioning the
Bishop of Poitiers and P^re le Tellier, the King's Jesuit
director, over whom, as she justly says, she never had the
least control.
Nothing is more remarkable in Madame de Maintenon's
enormous collection of letters than the variety of their
style, which she so delicately adapted to her correspondents,
that their characters are reflected in them for us, as in
highly sensitive photographic negatives. They come before
us, a whole gallery of finely distinguished portraits, to
which we feel attracted or repelled as we should have been
by the originals. Among them all, there is no one so
marked with the frankest and quaintest charm as the
Marquise de Dangeau, who invariably drew forth her
friend's prettiest letters.
This Monday morning, from a delicious place,* October, 171 1.
The King has allotted you, madame, Mdlle. d'Armagnac's
bedroom ; I have come in to look at it, and I have the honour of
writing to you now from it. It looks toward the sunrise, it is
warm, it is dry, it is opposite my windows ; every morning I could
bid you good-day with some pleasant gesture. You have nothing
to fear, madame, but my wearying you out ; for without reckoning
the pleasure of seeing you, which I count upon indefinitely, you
will perhaps save my life by the air I shall breathe here, and keep
me fi'om several sins of impatience which my own room causes.
M. de Dangeau will be lodged with M. du Maine, and will only
have one step to mount, which is easier than his own [quarters].
In one word, madame, you will recover your health here. We
* M. Geffroy thinks that this must have been Marly, where Madame de
Maintenon had a dreary room, of which she often complained.
28o MADAME DE MAINTENON,
shall allow you all your [usual] failings — wadded gown, scarf, cap,
and a napkin over your head ; these are all that I know of This
room is white, like you, and as dry as I am."
The next letters to Princess des Ursins are all full of
the approaching, long-deferred ratification of the peace of
Europe. As it had been determined by the allies that
the imperial and Spanish crowns could not be held by the
same person, a great obstacle was removed to a settlement
of Spanish affairs by Philip V. retaining the crown. There
remained still the difficulty of the Stuart rights in England,
but it was then confidently hoped by France, secretly sup-
ported by Marlborough, that Queen Anne would name
Prince James Stuart as her successor.
St. Cyr, November 30, 171 1.
I have no news by this post, madame, and it is perhaps
delayed by the inundations from all sides ? For a whole month
it has rained every day and every night ; but it is of no con-
sequence — we shall apparently have peace.
Here are the passports sent, and the Dutch have begun to
change their ideas. Philip V. and his good descendants will reign
in Spain. I have always hoped for a miracle in his favour, and it
is in consequence of this that we profit by what is happening to
him now, and which he deserves much better than we do. Old
as I am, I hope to see the King of England also return to his
kingdom.
How glorious it is, madame, for our King to have sustained
war for ten years against the whole of Europe, to have gone
through all the miseries that have happened, to have suffered
famine and pestilence that have carried away millions of people,
and to see it ended by a peace that gives the crown of Spain to
his family, and re-establishes a Catholic King on his throne !
For I should never doubt that this will be the consequence of the
peace. The King is enjoying health that makes us hope he will
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 28 1
long profit by the rest that he will have now, and I believe that
you are Frenchwoman enough, in spite of all my insults, to make
me rejoice at this with you.
They say that the passports which come to us from England
will take ten or twelve days more to arrive, and if I am to be
believed, our plenipotentiaries will start a quarter of an hour after
they have come.
The Dauphine enters keenly into such a cause of joy ; she
tastes it to the very utmost. She pictures to herself the Queen's
gladness and yours. The day peace is concluded she would like
to do something that has never been done before, and that she
could only do that once. She has not yet found out what this
thing is to be, but in the meanwhile she is going to the Te Deum
at Notre Dame ; then to dine with the Duchess de Lude in her
beautiful, quite new house ; then to the opera and supper with
the Prince de Rohan in that magnificent Hotel de Guise ; then,
card-playing and a ball the whole night long ; and as the time of
her return will be very much that of my getting up, she has asked
to breakfast with me when she comes in. I think, madame, that
you would find this a pretty long day, in spite of its pleasures.
. . . Madame de Grancey died almost in Marshal de Villeroy's
arms, but very well prepared.* . . .
Versailles, December 28, 171 1.
My hopes [of peace] are a little troubled by all that comes to
us from the Dutch and the Emperor. We must hope that England
will be firm. They say that the Queen [Anne] has begun very
well by declaring to her Parliament that peace must be made.
I have put into Marshal de Villeroy's hands all the letters you
have honoured me with. I should not have given them to the
Due de Noailles if I had thought there was the least word th^it
could wound any one ; but it seems to me, madame, that you treat
no one badly but myself by your reproaches and raillery. Other
* St. Simon speaks of this lady accordinf^ to \\\% w<mt, %% ''an olil pUntn
cast, who had been beautiful and gay, and could not make u)> lufr mind luit
to be so any longer."
282 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
wise there is only praise of your princes and ours. ... In a
word, madame, I have obeyed you, and that is enough for me.
For the future I shall burn what [letters] I receive ; but I only
kept those others for special reasons in regard to all that took
place in Spain before you came here.* . . .
Versailles, January ii, 17 12.
... It is true, madame, that the Dauphine suffers much in
her youth, but I cannot but hope that she will go to great lengths
in amusing herself, for she has in herself an inexhaustible source
of gaiety, and if we are so happy as to have peace, she will most
likely be very happy. Her great gaiety does not prevent her keen
sensibility to misfortune ; she has felt deeply for the Catholic King
and Queen [Spain] in their uncertain life ; she suffers much on
account of her father, and there is not a French woman more
bound up than she is with the well-being of this country ; so that
there will be no holding her iii when all these causes of sorrow
are removed. She has good reasons for being happy. She is
well married, much beloved by the King and the Dauphin, and
is most truly the delight of the Court. A few days ago she had
a feverish attack, and the courtiers were all in consternation,
crying out at what might be their irreparable loss. The people
love her because she allows herself to be easily seen ; she has the
sweetest children that one can wish for, less beautiful than your
boy, but very sturdy and real pictures, sweet-mannered like her-
self, and showing much .cleverness. It seems to me that this is
a very happy condition to be in. If we can form an opinion of
the King's life by the present state of his health, we may hope
that it will last as long as that of the Marquis de Mancera, as
their manner of life is very much the same.f There has been
* Princess des Ursins had asked Madame de Maintenon to send back all
her letters, but as they had been in the hands of the Due de Noailles, who
was a. great collector, probably copies had been left in France. But from this
date of 171 1 till 1714, the letters are missing in Bossange. — Geffroy.
t This grand old Spanish gentleman, who lived to be over a hundred, was
in his bed when his master, Philip V., was driven from Madrid in 17 10,
Being brought before the English general Stanhope, who asked him to
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 283
nothing cut off from the meals that you know so well ; no change
of looks, in the way of walking, and in the whole face, which, as
you know, madame, is beyond any other we have ever seen. . . .
I see, not without pain, that Queen Anne has consented to
receive Prince Eugene in London. It already alarms me ; but
you know, madame, that I am naturally thus inclined.
The bad weather has prevented our going to Marly, but now
there is a thaw, which may take us there. The King is a little
disgusted at the quantity of people who ask to go there, but the
Dauphine would like to have even more, though she would not
lodge them so well. She must be excused for paying very little
attention to their comfort, because she does not care for it herself,
and would willingly agree to put five or six ladies of the palace in
her own room. . . . You will hear of a little scene at the Duchess
of Berry's, which has given a good deal of pain to Madame
[dowager] and the Duchess of Orleans. We must hope for a
change in a girl of sixteen. . .. .
The " little scene " was a fit of terrible passion and
violence to which the Duchess of Berry treated her mother
because she would not give her a famous collar of pearls
that she wished to have for her own. It was a most un-
fortunate marriage. There is one more letter to the Due
de Noailles, before the terrible disasters of the next
month : —
St. Cyr, January 23, 17 12.
The King has long been silent about the Cardinal, which
looks to me very suspicious. You know that he is not moved to
anger at first, but it becomes stronger upon reflection. I have
spoken to M. de Meaux and the cure of St. Sulpice about it, to
acknowledge the Austrian archduke as King of Spain, the marquis replied,
** I have a great respect for the archduke from the house he belongs to, but
I have not lived for more than a century to die in dishonour. There is one
God, one faith, and one king, Philip V. , who is my king. And now, sir, as
I am very weak, pray allow me to go back to my bed," — Geffroy.
284 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
urge them to find some expedient for settling or softening these
sad matters. Yesterday evening I found that I had not been
mistaken in my opinion. The King said to the Dauphin, without
having shown me anything [letters], that he must bring the matter
to an end with the Cardinal ; that he could not bear it any longer ;
that he thinks he is a Jansenist ; that he is the first of his subjects
who has made head against him, and that he will speak to him
and then break off all intercourse. You may imagine that it was
an angry conversation The Dauphin, on his side, is angry
because it is spread about in Paris, and even at Rome, that he is
on the Cardinal's side, that he condemns the bishops, and that
that party [Jansenists] will find support from him. It seemed to
me that he would not put aside the idea of making his opinion
public, and would not think it the least derogatory to his great
rank. Again, certain obscure people assure me that they know
from the subalterns of the Archbishop^s palace that the Cardinal
is preparing some work in secret that shall satisfy the King, but
that he would not go on with it if he thought any one knew of it
I have told no one of this communication, for which I will not
guarantee, but I thought that it was part of my duty and friendship
for you to impart what is going on and what I am afraid of. It
will always be most disadvantageous to the Cardinal to oppose
a king who is religious, and who upholds the good cause. ... I
shall never speak of this again, and shall confine myself to my
own place, which is to beg of God to bring us peace on all sides.
Into the very midst of these religious troubles burst sud-
denly that storm of overwhelming disaster upon Louis XIV.,
by which most nien would have been entirely crushed.
The Dauphine, with all her bright, gay charm, her loving
respect for the King, and her unspeakable fascination even
during her wildest impulses, died on the 12th of February.
Her husband followed her six days afterwards, and the
little Duke of Brittany, who was the joy of all that knew
him, on the 8th of March. The three bodies were borne
MADAME DE MAINTENON, .285
together to St. Denis. The first letter that follows to
Princess des Ursins was written or dictated by Madame
de Maintenon, but the second she was obliged to resign
entirely to Madame de Caylus.
Versailles, February 7, 17 12.
I do not know how I shall find- strength, madame, to write to
you of all the horrors that surround us. Measles has ravaged
Paris. A young man named Vigno, whose high play is known to
all the Court, died suddenly ; the Chevalier d'H^utefort quickly
followed him. M. Gondrin [son-in-law to the Mar^chale de
Noailles] was buried last evening. His wife has the measles and
fever. . . . The Dauphine has an inflammation which has settled
painfully between the ear and the jaw. . . . She is in convulsions,
and cries out like a woman in labour, and at intervals in the same
way. She was bled twice yesterday, and has twice taken opium,
and» seems just now a little quieter. I am going to see her, and
I shall not close up this letter till the latest moment, to give you
news of her.
I believe as you do, madame, that affection, gratitude, and
courtesy should lead the Catholic King to put entire confidence
in the King, his grandfather. This is the best and the shortest
way of securing peace. The news that was yesterday brought
from England adds more and more to our hope. Queen Anne
seems to be well informed. She received Prince Eugene coldly,
and it is said that he will not be there long. . . . There is no fear
now for the duke's life, but there is no doubt that he will lose
one eye.*
Seven o'clock in the evening.
After having taken a fourth dose of opium, bruised and smoked
with tobacco, the Dauphine feels a little better. I have just heard
that she has been asleep for an hour, and says that she hopes to
go to sleep now for a long time. The Due de la Tremoille has
* The Duke of Berry, while practising firing with the Due de Bourbon-
Cond^, had shot him in the eye. — Geflfroy.
286 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
the measles. He is lodged very near to the Dauphine ; but the
King will not have him moved, on account of the inflammation
of his chest. Madame de Gondrin is still very ill Madame
de la Vrilli^re has the measles, and here we all are in the midst
of the infected air, after having taken flight the whole summer to
avoid it I have a very severe cold, and am so depressed by
everything that I see and hear, that I cannot brighten my letter
anywhere. . . .
This is Madame de Caylus* letter : —
Marly, February 14, 17 12.
How Strange and fatal is the event, madame, that brings me
once more into communication with you ! And what pleasure it
would have given me if my aunt had thus commissioned me upon
another subject I could not describe to you the state we are in,
nor would I if I could. The fact alone is more than enough to
afllict you, well knowing, as I do, the tenderness of your heart,
your affection for the King, and your friendship for my aunt.
And then there is the Queen^s grief, who loses a sister so worthy
of her. I do not think I could give them any truer or nobler
praise than by thus comparing them together.
Everything is dead here, madame; the life is taken out of
everything. That princess animated and charmed us all, and
we are still, as it were, senseless and stunned by our loss, which
we can only feel daily more and more keenly. One cannot look
at the King or think of him without perpetual alarm as to his
health. As for my aunt, I can only speak of her to obey the
orders she gives me. She is not able to have the honour of
writing to you, which you will easily understand. She will speak
to M. Clement;* but some of your letters must be lost. You
say in your l^st that you wrote to her for a nurse, and this is the
first time she has heard of it The Dauphin has had two attacks
of fever, which looked like a quartan attack, but the third having
come on to-night [late] instead of this evening, they do not know
* A famous accoucheur.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 28/
what to call it. It is apparently a fever of grief, for his state,
madame, you can imagine. Neither absence nor silence can
make me forget the kindness you have always honoured me with.
I am always affectionately and respectfully attached to you.
Madame de Maintenon soon wrote to the princess a
short note herself : —
Versailles, February 29, 17 12.
I see by the Queen's letters and by yours, madame, how much
you felt the accident of the Duke of Berry and the duke. You
will hear in their turn of greater disasters, of which it is impossible
to give you any particulars. The King's grief is too great ; all
France is scared, . . . The King [of Spain] loses a saint by losing
his brother [February 18]. The Queen is very happy in never
having known the Dauphine.* . . . Good-bye, madame. I cannot
send you a single particular.
It will be remembered that the Dauphin (Duke of
Burgundy) had been accused of leaning towards Jansenism,
partly on the grounds of certain papers he had drawn up,
but probably chiefly on account of his scrupulously religious
and austere life, which had aggravated his father's distaste
to a son who was to him a perpetual reproach. Madame
de Maintenon alludes to some of these papers, found in the
Dauphin's private casket, in the following note to his friend
the Due de Beauvillier : —
St. Cyr, March 15, 17 12.
To put your mind at rest, sir, I have taken copies of all your
writings, and I send you back everything without exception.
Your secret would have been kept, but occasions may arise which
make everything known. We have just had sad experience of
this. I wanted to have sent back everything of yours and M. de
Cambray's [F^nelon], but the King wished to bum them himself.
♦ The Queen of Spain was quite a child when her sister left Turin.
288 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
I own that I much regretted this, for nothing more beautiful or
more good could be written. If the prince we are lamenting had
some faults, they were not from his being too timidly advised, or
too much flattered. We may say that those who walk in a straight
path can never be confounded.
In a letter to the Due de Noailles in April, 171 2,
Madame de Maintenon makes use of some remarkable
words in regard to the Dauphine : —
Be comforted ; let yourself be led toward God. During my
whole life I shall mourn for the Dauphine, but every day I find
out things which make me believe that she might have displeased
me very much. God has taken her in His mercy.
M. Geffroy has probably unravelled the meaning of these
last most weighty words of Madame de Maintenon's letter.
Dudos pretends that the Duchess of Burgundy had betrayed
France to Savoy during the war, but her letters to her
father remain in the archives of Turin to show that there
was no trace of such deceit. St. Simon, who almost wor-
shipped the princess, gives a clue by saying that she did
not return the passionate love of her husband, and had
allowed herself to show favour to Count de Nangis,
Madame de Caylus says, at the most by receiving some
notes or looks of admiration. At such a Court, and sur-
rounded as she was by incessant admiration and flattery,
it is indeed marvellous that this was all that could be said
in her disfavour; but Madame de Maintenon's watchful
love was unerring in its judgment, and it was a genuine
matter of rejoicing, not of grief, that this bright and
beautiful creature was taken away from possible evils.
CHAPTER XXIII.
17 1 2-1 7 13,
During July of the year 171 2 there is a letter to Princess
des Ursins, which alludes to two most stirring and touching
events. One was that the King of Spain, in a numerous
council of his ministers and grandees, made known to them
that he had renounced the crown of France that he might
never be called upon to abandon his faithful subjects in
Spain.* Madame de Maintenon disapproved of this
renunciation. The other was the final leave-taking of
Louis XIV. with the Chevalier St George. The abandon-
ment of the Stuart cause and recognition of Queen Anne
was a necessary prelude to the Peace of Utrechtf
Fontainebleau, July 17, 17 12.
We receive none but good news as to the peace, and I see
no one who does not think that it will be almost immediately
sealed with England, and generally during the year ; but all moves
so slowly that eager characters have something to suffer. . . .
It gives me no trouble to believe, madame, that what the
King [of Spain] has declared at his council made a most heroic
and touching scene. Our times have furnished some that would
be thought almost too fabulous in a novel.
* Failing the Dauphin of two years old, the King of Spain was the next
heir, being the Duke of Burgundy's brother. The account of this council is
given by Dangeau.
t The Chevalie: St. George retired to Lorraine.
U
290 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
A few days ago I witnessed the King's farewell to His
Britannic Majesty. The King spoke to him most admirably of
his friendship for him, and the services that he would always
render him when he could, and ended by exhorting him to be
faithful to his religion and to avoid all innovations upon what
could never need addition. A great King is an excellent preacher.
The King of England answered upon all these points in the most
perfect manner, and commended the Queen, his mother, to the
King in a very touching way. This prince is most sensible, and
far in advance of his years. The Queen then said everything
possible as to their gratitude to the King, and her submission to
God's will. She is so sorrowful that the hardest hearts must pit)'
her. . . . The Court is not yet large here. There is a great deal
of hunting, and it is the most beautiful weather in the world. I
am just the same to you, madame, everywhere, though I wish
never to love anything again in this world.
Marshal de Villars, during that same month of July,
forced the lines of Denain, took Marchiennes, and saved
France. That no means of help might be wanting to
his success, Madame de Maintenon wrote to Madame
de P^rou at St. Cyr : —
July 24, 1712.
Something is taking place in Flanders of which nothing must
be said ; but I beg of you to set all the house praying to-morrow,
and to forget nothing yourself, my dear daughter, to obtain of
God a happy ending to this miserable campaign.
Cardinal de Noailles could not give up the hope of
ultimately winning over Madame de Maintenon to his side,
and wrote her another long letter in the autumn, urging
his cause rather violently against the Jesuits. Madame
de Maintenon*s reply is full of dignity, and is thoroughly
worthy of her.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 29 1
St. Cyr, October 9, 1712.
I have received your long letter, monseigneur, and I do not
know how to answer it. I am enough interested in the subject
not to keep silence, and yet I cannot write what I have had the
honour of telling you a hundred times. My heart will not let me
make up my mind to flatter you, and piy respect will not allow
me to express myself with truth.
You are well aware, monseigneur, what the King's religion is,
and how far removed he is from putting his hand upon the
censer ? * But, monseigneur, you both think very differently. You
treat this affair of the Jesuits as a spiritual matter, touching your
conscience, and for which you must give an account His Majesty
looks upon it as a private matter of revenge upon people whom
you think, and who, in fact, have offended you. It is this feeling
of revenge that the King wishes you to sacrifice to what is due to
him, and to the friendship he has always felt for you ; for as to
saying that the Jesuits are incapable of hearing confessions, it is
not possible, monseigneur, that they could have become so in a
moment.
The Jesuits have a great many enemies, and there are many
badly disposed people who love strife and division. All these
people will applaud you ; but good Christians, whether friendly or
averse to the Jesuits, will bless you if you make peace, and do
away with this cause of pain to the King, and make an end of the
scandal. It has lasted so long that we have had time to hear it
spoken of, and you are well aware, monseigneur, that you know
of good priests and enlightened men who do not think with you.
If it is your own opinion that guides you, ought you not to mis-
trust it in the present circumstances, when you have had so much
cause for irritation ? If you are following the advice of others,
monseigneur, look well into the interests and tempers of those
who are advising you.
My frankness, my affection for you, and the wish to see the
King delivered from suffering carry me beyond the respect that
is due to you. I shall end, therefore, by assuring you of the
♦ Incensing with flattery.
292 MADAME DE MAINTENOK,
prayers that you have commanded me, and which I shall offer
with all the earnestness 1 can.
Borne down as she was to the very ground at the loss
of the wise and admirable Dauphin, whose excellent life
opened such promise for the future, and of her own special
and well-beloved child, the Dauphine, with the boy who
evidently inherited her character, Madame de Maintenon
nevertheless held the reins of her life steadily in hand,
and kept her usual keen watch upon all who approached
her by word or letter. For some unexplained reason,
Princess des Ursins had tried to pay her some renewed
court, and thinking to do so by adopting her own ways of
life, had spoken to her of learning to spin, and had given
Mdlle. d' Aumale the commission to send her a spinning-
wheel. But Madame de Maintenon was too far-seeing not
to discern the depth of this new fit of industry, and wrote
the princess two letters, in which she amusingly refers to it
January 20, 1 713.
And now I have come to that fine passage in your letter,
which speaks of spinning. I confess that my imagination* refuses
to picture you with a distaff beside you. You have every gift but
that of handiwork, which does not fit in with the dignity of your
figure ! Content yourself, madame, with occupying yourself with
the King and Queen and their sweet children, their business,
their health, their amusements, the ladies of the palace, the cere-
monies, the music ; all of which, it seems to me, ought to furnish
enough to fill your day.
Marly, February 27, 1 7 13.
I am very glad, madame, that your illness, which prevented
you from writing more fully, has not been long. . . . Most
certainly you deserve to live, and you are not useless on earth.
I can well understand that you grumble about things sometimes.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 293
It is impossible to wish everything to be in order without falling
across those that are out of order. I have often taken the liberty of
scolding the Duchess de Lude * because she did not scold enough.
But this office would be a more disagreeable duty to you than to
most people, for I think you are naturally very sweet tempered.
Mdlle. d'Aumale has shown me the letter you have honoured
her with, and is looking about for a spinning-wheel for you. You
shall have to the very last point what you have asked for, and
nothing more. I am not going to pride myself upon sending you
twenty livres worth of wool, as much of silk, and as much of flax.
You only want specimens of each, and your work will never go
beyond them.
The public affairs in which you are interested — the business of
occupying and entertaining their Christian Majesties, the education
of two great princes, and the intercourse with so many people
who honour you — are worth more, in sight of God and man, than
the merit of spinning at your distaff.
. . . There is great talk of Count de Roncy's marriage with
Mdlle. de Monaco, and of a son of Marshal Tallard with the
third daughter of the Prince de Rohan. There are three
daughters. The eldest is rather lame; the second has a very
pretty figure, but is determined to be a nun ; the third was a very
pretty -child. They all have that beautiful complexion of Madame
de Soubise.
I am well aware, madame, of the comfort of putting on a corps
[stays], but it cannot be spoken of in France. A beautiful great
princess has put an end to them without there being help for it.
She has not spoilt her own figure, but she has spoilt a good many
others; and there is nothing to be seen now but fat, dumpy
women.
As the King of England was leaving France, he wrote the
King the most beautiful letter in the world. There never was a
better mingling of the terms of respect, gratitude, and submission
♦ The Duchess de Lude was lady of honour to the Duchess of Burgundy
from her very first coming as a child from Turin.
294 MADAME DE MAINTENOX,
with the dignity of a great king. There is nothing but his restora-
tion that would make me wish to live so long.
The Dauphin came here two days ago, smart, covered with
jewels, and the prettiest thing in the world, as 1 am told, for I
was at St Cyr myself. The Duchess du Maine contributes greatly
to the pleasures of Paris by the plays, balls, and masquerades that
she is just now giving with great splendour. The marionettes act
the siege of Douay, the boasting swagger of M. de Villars, and
mention all our officers by name. Everybody goes to see them.
M. de Villars has been himself, quite entering into the joke. The
Duchess of Berry made them come to Versailles. . . .
Writing in April, 171 3, to Princess des Ursins, Madame
de Maintenon mentioned the careless way in which Louis
XIV. had been attended to as a child. He had given heF
himself the curious details. As is well known, he began to
reign when he was three years and a half old, and said that
his governesses amused themselves all day long together,
and left him to the care of the ladies* maids. He was
accustomed to run into the kitchen and pick up all sorts of
odds and ends to eat, and especially if there were omelettes
frying, he and his lesser brother. Monsieur [Orleans], used
to catch the pieces of egg that fell, and run off to a corner
to eat them. Their usual companion was a little girl
whose mother was lady's-maid to the ladies' maids. He
always called her " Queen Mary," because when they played
the old game of " Madame," she took the part of the Queen,
while the King was page, valet, or lacquey, and obeyed her
orders and brought her what she wanted. Probably these
few years of hearty, natural, spontaneous play were of
great service to Louis XIV. In her next letters to Princess
des Ursins, Madame de Maintenon mentions one or two
matters of interest : —
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 295
April 29, 1713.
... I should like very much to have some society, but there
is none for one who occupies a position.* Do you recollect,
madame, when you were very young how you envied me because
grave people took me away into a corner to tell me their affairs ? t
I myself was very sorry for it, for I would much rather have been
laughing with Mdlle. de Pons J and Mdlle. Martel, who were
amusing themselves excessively. Years have not changed my
tastes. I like society better than anything, and I cannot have
XL* • • •
The King was good enough to hold the son of the Due de
Noailles [at the font]. The whole family were gathered, and
there never were seen such a number of them, or so many
duchesses, who stood all round the King's foot-cloth. I did not
see it, for my old age shut itself up at St Cyr.
Marshal de Villeroy shall not throw your spinning-wheel into
the fire ; but he says it may very well be that you will yet give
us thread to spin. You will have to make him tell us what he
means. . . .
Marly, May 31, 1713.
. . . The Duke and Duchess of Berry have honoured me by
coming to see me separately. The prince seems to me quite as
usual. He is thinner, but all the better for it. The duchess is a
little taller, very much bigger, rather paler, looking very well, and
exactly fitted to seem beautiful to the people. She talked very
well and of good things, and is as witty as can be imagined. She
expresses herself en Mortemart §
Every time you praise me for my capacity for educating children,
I shall swallow your praises wholesale, for I am truly convinced
that I know a great deal about it I think you are much less at a
loss than we are to find a governor [for the princes] from the kind
of life you lead. The King, the Queen, and you, madame, ought
to do more than half his work ; for I think you will not leave your
♦ Probably she means such a position as her own.
t At the H6tel d'Albret. % Madame d'Heudicourt.
§ Madame de Montespan*s family.
296 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
princes so in the hands of their governors as to see them only a
quarter of an hour ceremoniously in the week.
We have a very precious Dauphin, and I do not know, under
the present circumstances, whether it will be necessary to wait till
he is seven years old * to give him men [as masters]. . . .
To-morrow peace is to be declared publicly in Paris. Some
of the ladies at Marly are going. The bonfire is to be on
Thursday, and the Te Deutn, . . .
Two letters follow to Princess des Ursins, from the
manuscripts in the British Museum, which had never been
published till they appeared in M. Geffroy's volumes.
Several matters of interest are mentioned ; and the last
alludes to the extraordinary ambition of the princess in
stipulating in the treaty of peace for a separate sovereignty
to be created by Philip V. for herself, in the Low Countries.
Louis XIV. at first gave assent to this proposal, but, as
it (naturally) excited great opposition, it was dropped, and
the Treaty of Utrecht was signed without it. But it was
not so easy to dispose of Princess des Ursins. She insisted
then upon a separate sovereignty in Touraine, and actually
ordered a splendid chdteau to be built, under the super-
intendence of her faithful friend and agent D'Aubigne.
Then came her last disgrace, and D'Aubignd kept the
chateau for himself. Chanteloup eventually fell to the
Dues de Choiseul.t
Marly, July 23, 1713.
Yes, madame, I have been to Rambouillet,J and spent all the
time I was there in bed. I shared none of the amusements, but
very much of the noise and riot of the young people, who were
not satisfied with amusing themselves all day, but were on the run
throughout the night. The King was pleased with the hunting,
* The age of reason. t Geffrey.
X Belonging to the Count de Toulouse.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 297
and has planned a journey [there] for October. The room I am
in there is very hot in summer and very cold in the winter. I
have tried it already. You can well understand, by this little
account, that it does not give me much pleasure to change my
quarters. We are, however, going to Fontainebleau, where I
have a very beautiful apartment, but subject to the same heat and
the same cold, as it has a window the size of the largest arcades,
to which there are neither shutters, sashes, nor outside blinds, lest
they might spoil the symmetry of the window. My Solidity * has
something to suffer, as well as m^ health, from living with people
who only like appearances and lodge themselves like gods. The
only comfort one can draw from it — and it is not small — is that
there is nothing that puts the King to inconvenience, and that,
judging^ others by himself, he lodges the people that he honours
by his visits and friendship just as he lodges himself. . . .
It has been sufficiently shown that whatever the King
did, Madame de Maintenon never complained, and always
put herself aside ; but on some of these occasions, even St.
Simon, who could not endure her, bore witness to the
extraordinary, almost inconceivable, selfishness of her royal
master.
Whatever condition Madame de Maintenon was in (he says),
the King went to her at his usual time, and carried out in her
room whatever he had planned to do. Even when she was in her
bed, and perspiring in great drops, the King, who liked air and
was afraid of hot rooms, would be astonished on coming in to
find the windows shut. Then he would have them opened, and,
though he saw the state she was in, he would not have them shut
till he went to supper at ten o'clock. f
In the next letter to Princess des Ursins, Madame de
Maintenon says : —
* The name given her by Louis XIV.
t Geffroy; St. Simon, "Memoires."
298 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
Do not imagine, madame, that I can put outside blinds to my
great window. One cannot arrange one's room as one will when
the King comes to it every day, and it is necessary to perish with
symmetry.
And in the same letter : —
Cardinal de la Tr^moille sends word that the constitution is
drawn up [the bull Untgenitus], that we shall receive it in a week's
time, and that he can assure us there is nothing in it to make any
change in our liberties [of the French Church], God grant that
the miserable business of the two parties may be brought to an
end, even if they should begin again some day ! For we cannot
hope that this heresy [Jansenism] should not return.
The Due de Noailles had gone to his chdteau with his
wife, and was there enjoying his well-earned rest. Madame
de Maintenon wrote to him there during the autumn : —
October 4, 1713.
. . . Madame de Dangeau and Madame de L^vis started this
morning for Paris, intending to go very fast, and arrive in good
time for dinner. I have laid a wager that they will go very
slowly, get there very late, dying of hunger, and finding that all
the family have dined. . . . Cardinal de Noailles has asked that
the Assembly should be put off for a week, but the King did not
wish it. I do not understand why the Cardinal should have asked
for it. There was a rumour that the King had sent to tell
Cardinal d'Estr^es that he did not wish him to be present at the
Assembly, but I have denied the fact. I asked M. d'Antin to
give a little musical party this evening. He said he should obey,
but that he had never dared to have one without orders, or even
to propose it. Timid people are pitiable to me.
To whom are you doing the honours of your chateau ? Have
you any visits on hand ? I thought you were quite alone. Why
do you tell me nothing about your oxen ? I should be very sorry
to leave this life, if I could be a lady in the country. Embrace
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 299
my dear niece. I like to think of her as she is now — a grand
lady in her chateau, with her husband, who has not always been a
country gentleman, and who has served [in the army] in his time.
She is full of talent, fond of her duties, and busied with good
works, and, if I dared, I should say with bringing children into
the world ; but I will not vex her. . . .
Your master is in perfect health, and your very humble
servant is very tired, having spent a sleepless night on account of
the noise on all sides.
There exists a pretty little note, which might be called
the concentrated essence de Maintenon, which is labelled
on the outside by an unknown hand : " Madame de Main-
tenon wrote this note to Madame Dangeau, with the money
sent back that she had won of her at cards." But Geffroy
ascribes the note to another incident Dangeau says that
in that November of 17 13, Madame de Maintenon won
some special prize at a lottery in her own rooms, which she
sent the next day to her old friend, " with a charming note."
November, 171 3.
Pray take it well, madame, that I should make amends for
Fortune's blindness, who declared in my favour yesterday, after the
only dispute I ever had with you.
CHAPTER XXIV.
1713-1715-
During the February of the year 1714, the young Queen
of Spain died at the age of five and twenty. She had been
married at thirteen, and had four children.
Madame de Maintenon made yet one more attempt to
soften Cardinal de Noailles. It was perfectly true that he
was not only " casting a bitterness " over her own life, but
was seriously affecting the health of the King.
It was to express my grief, monseigneur, that I asked you
if you wished to undermine the King's health, for I am convinced
that you would like his days to be prolonged. 1 have nothing to
say as to the rest of your letter ; my ignorance and the respect
due to you prevent my answering it I can only beg of God to
enlighten those who are prejudiced ; but, monseigneur, you have
the opinion of the Pope and of many other bishops against you,
and in that case our own should be doubted by us, I did not
wish to say so much on the subject . . .
During the summer of 17 14, Princess des Ursins seems to
have given the reins to her overweening ambition. It was
evidently not without ground that Madame de Maintenon
had told her that people were remarking upon her keeping
the King of Spain in the country that he might see nobody
but herself. She had in truth so shut up the poor weak
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 3OI
Philip V. after his queen's death, that it was credibly
reported that she intended to be his Madame de Maintenon.
The princess was then seventy-two, though still handsome
and always fascinating, and Philip V. was about thirty. It
was beyond even her skill to commend herself as a wife to
this still young man, and she therefore resolved to make
such a marriage for him as should give him a queen who
would be always grateful to her and under her influence.
Cardinal Alberoni, who had remained in Spain after the
Duke de Vend6me's death, suggested Elizabeth of Parma
to the princess, and she despatched her nephew, the
Prince de Chalais, to Paris, to ask the consent of Louis XIV.
to the marriage. She also wrote to Madame de Maintenon,
no doubt urging her cause with her ; but she was far too
well aware of the princess's character to play with such
edged tools, and Prince de Chalais* " mission " fell to the
ground.
The next letter is one of forty that were written by
Madame de Maintenon to the Abb^ Languet de Gergy, cur^
of St. Sulpice, brother to the Bishop of Sens of the same
name, from whose interesting memoirs of Madame de
Maintenon so much of the earliest and latest parts of this
volume are taken. The Church of St. Sulpice, dear to all
haunters of Catholic Paris as the focus of good works and
the favourite resort of those engaged in them, played a
very conspicuous part in the seventeenth century. The
parish was in a very poor and densely populated quarter, to
which the St. Germain fair yearly attracted all that was
most vicious and disorderly in Paris. For thither flocked
princes, nobles, the noblesse de la robe and students, as
well as the most desperate and dangerous tramps, criminals,
302 MADAME DE MAINTENON',
and purveyors of vice. Hence the curh of St. Sulpice of
that time were generally men possessed of an apostolic
zeal, capable of kindling it in others. The Abb^ Olier, the
friend of St. Vincent de Paul, there founded the world-
known seminary of St. Sulpice, which has been the con-
tinual source of a stream of admirable, self-sacrificing
priests. One of this Sulpician community was Godet des
Marais, who became Bishop of Chartres, and was so long the
guide and friend of Madame de Maintenon. Seeing what
men were formed by the community, she became an earnest
advocate of the Sulpician priests, and after the bishop's
death chose two successive ctir^s of St. Sulpice as her
confessors. One was Abb^ de la Ch^tardie, the other
Abb^ Languet de Gergy. She entirely entered into AbW
Olier's plan of raising up a body of self-denying, well-
instructed clergy, much recruited from the lower middle
classes, in place of the old body of entirely aristocratic
priests, whose only merit and claim was often high birth,
which many among them degraded by their pride, luxurious
habits, and evil-living.
Marly, June 24, 1 714.
It is, indeed, sir, my will to have made you cure of St Sulpice,
for I shall hope to obtain some of the good that God will work
there through you. I shall take the most special interest in it
[the parish], and I hope that your holy predecessor [de la
Chdtardie] will be my guarantee as to the esteem he has taught
me to feel for you, and of my love for St Sulpice. How happy
we should be, sir, if sickness only costs us his resignation, and if
he might live still some time longer for the Church and his
friends ! * It is quite right that he should rest now, and that you
should work. I beg of you to send me word truthfully of his
♦ Abb^ de la Ch^tardie died a few days afterwards (Geffroy).
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 303
State. Some people tell me he is dying, and others that he may
yet live for some time. Does he suffer ? Cannot he write at all ?
You see, sir, that I write to you without ceremony. I beg of you
to treat me in the same way, and to write to me.
Madame de Maintenon wrote a very deprecating letter
on the subject of Prince de Chalais to Princess des Ursins,
to which that haughty dame returned an amusingly dis-
dainful answer. It is a great pity that the chief part of
her letters were destroyed, probably by Madame de Main-
tenon herself, who strove to conciliate her in vain, while
telling, from time to time, some very home truths.
Marly, July 9, 17 14.
I speak the truth, madame, in assuring you that I am not
mistress of my actions in public affairs, and you speak the truth
when you think that I do not like them, and that I get out of
them whenever it is possible. If you could see me, madame,
you would agree that I should do well to hide myself. I can
scarcely see at all ; my hearing is still worse ; I cannot be heard,
because the loss of my teeth prevents distinct pronunciation ; my
memory wanders ; I do not recollect the proper names ; I mix
up one time with another, and our disasters, joined to my age,
make me shed tears like all the old women you have ever seen.
You can imagine, madame, whether any one in such a condition
would wish to be brought forward, and whether it is not a misery
to be always on the stage, in a theatre that runs from morning till
night. Notwithstanding all this, madame, I should have been
enchanted to see M. de Chalais, and to talk of the Catholic King
[of Spain], whom I love dearly and disinterestedly. Do you think,
madame, that I should not have been glad to know what you do
from morning till night, and all the details of your pleasant Court ?
No one would have believed, however, that I stopped short at
this, and would even have related our [imagined] conversations.
. . . The intercourse between you and me would certainly not be
304 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
insipid, if we told each other all that we think. I should expect
very little praise of ourselves, and you would hear plenty of blame
for the solitude in which you keep the Catholic King, and your
total exclusion of the whole nation that has never given signs of
being absolutely undeserving. But of what use would be all these
disputes? . . .
You will have heard of our change of chancellors.* This one
is my very good friend. He has a good head, and is a most
honourable, straightforward maa He is less quick than his pre-
decessor. . . .
Happily Princess des Ursins' reply to this letter escaped
destruction. It is charmingly characteristic : —
The portrait you draw of yourself, madame, is not too full of
vanity, but it must not be taken to the letter. You can hear what
you choose, you can see what you like to see, you can express
your opinion or keep silence just as you think it convenient. I
have so often had experience of this that it would be my own
fault if I were not sure of it.
There is a pleasant little note of this time from Madame
de Maintenon to the Duchess de Ventadour, in return for
a present she made to the Dames de St. Louis of the last
baby- frock the Duke de Brittany had worn. It was
probably written from St. Cyr.
August, 1 714.
Indeed, my dear duchess, you have the prettiest art of inven-
tion as to making presents and for charming these poor women
whom people try to convince that there is nothing pleasant in the
world ! They cannot believe this when they think of you, and
they are enchanted at having in their possession a frock that the
precious Dauphin has worn. It will always be an honour to this
house, and may well redouble the fervour of the prayers that are
* Pontchartrain- had asked leave to retire, and Voysin took over the
chancellorship as well as keeping the Ministry of War.
MADAME DE MAINTENOK 3OS
offered for him. You have adorned this frock with everything
you can, and trimmed it ever)nvhere with point-lace to make it still
more valuable. You must let me share their gratitude, and let
me flatter myself that some of the pleasure you wished to give was
for me. But nothing can add to the affection which you know,
madame, I have long felt for you.
There is one more long letter in December to Princess
des Ursins, in which are these passages : —
From the way the Queen * [of Spain] is spoken of, she will
have something to suffer from His Christian Majestj^ if she has
delicate health, for great princes are accustomed to judge of others
by themselves. They say that she is taking with her a confessor and
a physician that she wishes to keep. I cannot undertake to tell
you all that comes back to us here ; every place through which
she passes has its own tale, all quite different, but as they are not
worth believing, I do not listen much to them. I shall reserve
myself, madame, for what you will say when you have seen her. . . .
They are acting " Athalie " to-day at Sceaux. You know how
beautiful the play is, and they say that it will be perfectly acted.
Some retired actors are to play it with Madame du Maine. La
Beauval plays Athalie; Baron, Mathan ; M. de Malezieu, the
High Priest ; Madame du M.3mt, /osabeth ; Le Comte d'Eu, the
Little Kingj etc
To this last piece of information Princess des Ursins
replied : —
However good may be the actors who are playing " Athalie "
at Sceaux, the High Priest that I saw at St. Cyr will yet be
wanting.
This was Madame de Caylus, of whom, when acting in
that play, St. Simon had so raved.
* Elizabeth of Parma,
X
CHAPTER XXV.
1715-
And here ends, with a sudden catastrophe, the Spanish
career of Princess des Ursins. It will be remembered that
Cardinal Alberoni had suggested to her the Princess
Elizabeth of Parma as a second wife to the King of Spain,
and that the princess acceded, believing that Elizabeth
would be ever grateful to her for her elevation. Cardinal
Alberoni, however, had quite made up his mind that
Princess des Ursins and himself could not agree, as they
were both resolved upon undivided power. He had therefore
set the young Queen against her, and paved the way with
the weak-minded Philip for her disgrace. When Princess
des Ursins went to meet the Queen at Quadraque, she
accused her of covert insolence in her compliments ; and
then, bursting out into well-prepared passion, ordered her
from the room, had her forcibly conducted to a carriage,
and driven beyond the Pyrenees. The King had passed
from the rule of the Princess to that of his young wife
and Alberoni. The surprise in France at this sudden
change was very great, but there had long been a g^eat
irritation and disgust at the assumption of the princess,
and Louis XIV. would not interfere.*
* Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 307
The next letter here given to Princess des Ursins from
Madame de Maintenon, has been published only by M.
Geffroy from the manuscript in the British Museum : —
Versailles, February 15, 1715.
No, madame, I shall not shut my door to you, and though we
have nothing but sad subjects to speak of, I am very impatient to
find myself in perfect fireedom with you. Let yourself be guided
by your friend [de Villeroy], No one ever had a better, and if
he should be believed, madame, you would be upon a pinnacle
more honoured and considered than you have ever yet been.
Every one is not of the same opinion. I find few things to write
because I shall have much to say, for I do not think, madame,
that I need make firesh protestations of my sincere and respectful
affection. It is a miracle to find you travelling without being
inconvenienced. Your courage must support you. .
Meanwhile the King of Spain became reconciled to the
Duke of Orleans, entirely at Princess des Ursins' expense.
They vied with each other in accusing her of having
invented intrigues against the Duke of Orleans, and made
unmitigated mischief The weak King was glad to con-
ciliate a prince who would probably be Regent of France,
and the Duke of Orleans was pleased at being flattered.
Poor Princess des Ursins had but a short interview with
the King and Madame de Maintenon at Versailles, and
was then forbidden to remain anywhere in France, lest she
should encounter the Duke or Duchess of Orleans. She
went for a while to Genoa, and finally returned to the
universal home of exiles, Rome. There she met with the
Chevalier St. George and Queen Mary Beatrice ; and
attaching herself to them, according to her wont, became
their ruling power. It v/as, as St. Simon says, only " the
phantom of a Court and a flavour, of aflfairs," but it seemed
308 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
to content her in her latter days. She died in 1722, eighty-
seven years old, and full of health, strength, power of
intellect, and love of the world.* Princess des Ursins,
though she in all things strongly contrasted with Madame
de Maintenon, was nevertheless, like her, one of the most
remarkable figures of her time.
Madame de Maintenon wrote on the subject to Abb^
Languet de Gergy : —
February 24, 17 15.
I have just received your letter, sir, of the 21st. I was sure
you would be pleased with the King. Nothing can be added to
his kindness. He esteems you very greatly. His religion is not
external, and whatever happens he will live and die Catholic,
Apostolic, and Roman. It will always give me pleasure, sir, if
you will communicate what you hear, and I hope that I shall
never commit you. The Duke of Orleans is in despair at Madame
des Ursins' return. He wishes to go to Paris because he is afraid,
if she should come in his way, that he should not be sufficiently
master of himself not to insult her, which would be terrible in the
King's house. That prince is very badly advised. He looks
upon me as his deadly enemy, and thinks that I have prevailed
to bring Madame des Ursins here ; and all the while I have been
contriving to prevent her even sleeping at Versailles, and to get
her out of France as soon as possible. It is thus that people are
so often mistaken.
You are very good, sir, to the House of St Cyr. It flourishes
now in great splendour, but there will come a day when it will
be much in need of your protection, and I beg you to %\\t it
I knew St. Joseph f well when Madame de Montespan took
• Geffroy.
t The Convent of St. Joseph in Paris was a community of women sup-
ported in great part by Madame de Montespan, and where she retired when
she finally left the Court. Young girls of a middle class were brought up there,
and taught trades, especially beautiful embroidery and needlework for Church
vestments and hangings. — Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 309
care of it (for, notwithstanding her irregularities, she loved good
works). I do not think there can be anything bad there. They
work hard, which is a great preservative. I am delighted that
you have so much intercourse with the house ; it seems to me to
make it safe.
It is true that Rome, up till now, does not wish for a council.
The party [Jansenists] are very much afraid of it. The Cardinal
and his supporters seem more obstinate than ever.
What can my influence do with the Cardinal when he stands
out against the King, his master, his benefactor, prepossessed even
by his esteem and attention for him, who has used every means
to recall him, even to his tears and imploring petitions when our
princes died ? He resisted all this, and is well pleased with himself
for it, for he is unceasingly flattered * on this ground. It is certain
that he is shortening the King's life, whose feelings are torn between
religion and the rights of his kingdom. Say whatever you like,
sir, I shall not gainsay you, but I believe you will speak in vain.
Another letter to Abb^ Languet de Gergy spoke of a
certain congregation of secular people (not bound by-
vows), in which the curi of St. Sulpice was much interested,
and also to a book which was falsely attributed to the
superior of the " Missions Etrang^res," but was in truth by
the Oratorian La Borde, superior of the seminary of St
Magloire. The book was aimed at the bull Unigenitus^ and
made an enormous outcry. The " Temoignage k la V^rit^ "
was first censured by the clergy assembled, and then
suppressed by the Parliament. The French Oratoire^
which had no connection with the Oratory of St. Philip
Nerl, was, almost from the first, tainted with Jansenism.
St. Cyr, March 24, 17 1 5.
Your letters, sir, are never wearisome to me. I receive them
with pleasure, and I read them eagerly. I am delighted to have
* By the Jaosenist leaders.
3IO MADAME DE MAINTENON.
this intercourse with a saint, and I feel as if it rectified all that I
have with people who are not saints. The simple truth is that
I cannot always answer as quickly as I should like. I should
reckon myself too happy, if I could be of service to you in your
good works ; but it is certain that the Jesuits govern absolutely
[the King], and therefore, in spite of any influence one may
have, it is necessary to reckon with them. Two or three days
ago, before he [the King] had seen P^re le Tellier, he told me
that he had ordered everything to be done for St. Thecla that you
had asked for. You see how that order has succeeded ; and how
can one arrive at throwing light upon the various interests which
act upon all who are meddling with the matter ? The procurator-
general has always been much opposed to secular communities
[congregations]. Some years ago, he drew up a very fine memorial
about them, which he presented to the King. I did not fail to
take the liberty of contradicting him. He supported the nuns,
and attacked the secular congregations, which, it seems to me,
are more useful and less burthensome than convents. As long as
congregations have not got their patent letters, they give them-
selves to the works entrusted to them ; but as soon as they obtain
them, they think of nothing but of buying land, building, in-
creasing their numbers, and setting up fine houses. But when
they do not succeed, it is easy to disperse them. It is not so with
convents, and I think there are only too many of them. I should
not be surprised if the procurator-general should fail in keeping
his word to you, for St. Sulpice is more esteemed than beloved.
There is no fault to be found in its doctrine and in its morals,
and that is enough to stir up envy. I shall read your letter to
the King, because it seems to me very reasonable. It will not
be, however, till I have read it again more than once, for great
precaution is necessary with the good Father [le Tellier].
It would be a great disaster if the gentlemen of the " Missions
^^trang^res " were really Jansenists, for they hear the confessions
of a quantity of people, and more than one would think. I found
out one day that M. Tiberge directed Princess de Vaudemont,
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 3II
who is at Milan, whom he certainly never knew in France, for she
left it when quite young. It is very desirable to know if M.
Tiberge is the author of " Temoignage \ la V^rit^ ; " for, if he
should be, I do not think he ought to stay in peace in the midst
of Paris, with the liberty of writing whatever those gentlemen
choose. I am most truly grieved at all that is going on in the
Church. Old as I am, I am afraid of seeing irregularity driven to
extremes. I sympathize largely also with your difficulties, yet
can scarcely give you any help.
CHAPTER XXVI.
1715.
The hour of Madame de Maintenon*s crowning help and
support to her royal husband — that which may be said to
be the greatest of her good works — was now at hand. In
August, 1715, Louis XIV. was attacked by his last illness,
and she never left him till he was no longer conscious of
her presence.
Languet de Gergy, the Bishop of Soissons, became
afterwards Archbishop of Sens, and his "Memoirs of
Madame de Maintenon," published for the first time by
Lavall^e, contain also the most absolutely truthful and
touching account of the last days and death of Louis XIV.
In this account we see how, faithful to the end, in spite of
her age, infirmities, and unspeakable weariness, his admirable
wife ministered to him to the last, and as she had most
truly showed him the right way to walk, and by every
bond of influence hindered him from straying from it in his
later years, so she now strove to soothe and soften the way
through the valley of the shadow of death.
As soon as Louis XIV. fell ill, Madame de Maintenon left
him no more. She even wished to watch beside him through the
night ; but the King ordered a room to be prepared for her close
to his own, where she could lie down during the night while
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 313
being at hand to give him her care. She made use of all the
time she spent with the King to suggest Christian reflections to
sanctify his illness, and prepare himself for whatever end might
be planned by God. As soon as she knew that it was dangerous,
she did not hesitate to give warning of it to the King, and pro-
posed to him to receive the sacraments of the Church. That
prince was neither offended nor alarmed at her words, and thanked
her heartily, saying, " There is plenty of time, for I feel well ; but
it is always good to be provided with these helps." In fact, he
lived for nearly a week after receiving the holy viaticum.
During those last days, as long as he was conscious, the King
spent the time in thoughts proper to his salvation ; and besides
his confessor, who often suggested acts suitable to his condition,
Madame de Maintenon brought to his mind acts of patience, con-
trition, and submission to God's will. The Prince beheld the
approach of death with a truly Christian fortitude, and said to the
princesses, his daughters, who were weeping round his bed, " How
is this ? Did you think I was immortal ? Must I not give back to
God the tribute of my life which belongs to Him ? " He begged the
princes and princesses to be always united, and, as he knew that
there had been quarrels between two of them, he spoke to them,
exhorting them to be reconciled, which they were that day.
When he was told that one of his legs was mortifying, he proposed
at once that it should be cut off, if it were necessary ; but when
he was frankly answered that it would not remedy the evil, as
mortification was in the blood, he submitted without disturbance
to the end that must therefore be foreseen.
He caused his great-grandson, the Dauphin, to be brought to
him to give him his blessing, and then spoke these beautiful
words : —
" My dear child, you will soon be king of a great kingdom.
What I most strongly lay upon you is never to forget the obliga-
tions you owe to God. Remember that you owe to Him every-
thing you are. Try to be at peace with your neighbours. I have
been too fond of war ; do not imitate me in that, or in spending
314 MADAME DE MAINTENONi
SO much money as I have. Always take counsel about everything,
and try to know and follow the best way.
" Try all you can to help your people, and do what I have
been so unhappy as not to do myself. Never forget your great
obligations to Madame de Ventadour." And, turning to her, he
added, " I am much grieved not to be in a state to show you ray
gratitude."
He ended by saying to the Dauphin, " My dear child, I give
you my blessing with my whole heart," and kissed him twice with
great emotioa A few minutes afterwards, the King again said to
the Dauphin " that he must not imitate him in the wrong things
he had done ; " and, again, " to take notice from the condition in
which he now saw him to be, how little all human greatness was
worth."
The young prince, who was only four and a half years old, was
more touched than is usual at that age. He wept all that day,
and hid himself that he might the more freely shed tears.
The Cardinals de Rohan and de Bissy being together at the
Mass that was said in his room, he said to them that " he was
satisfied with the zeal they had had for the good cause [against
Jansenism], and exhorted them to the same course after his
death, and that he had given good orders for their support." He
added that **God knew of his good intention and his earnest
desire to establish peace in the Church in France ; that he had
hoped he had procured it, but it had not been God's will to give
him that satisfaction ; that perhaps that great matter would be
brought to an end more happily in other hands than his ; that,
however upright his conduct had been, it might be thought that
he had been prejudiced, and had carried his authority too far, and
in this way it would be better that another should finish it. He
exhorted both the Cardinals to show themselves always as brave
as hitherto, and added that he wished to die, as he had lived, in
the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion, and that he would
sooner lose a hundred lives than these opinions." The cure of
Versailles, who was also assisting the King, told him of the
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 315
prayers the whole people were making for his recovery. The
King replied, " The question is not of my life, but of my salvation,
and I beg of you to ask this earnestly for me, for I have confidence
in your prayers."
Some time after this, the King sent for the princes and noble-
men who were in the next room to come to his bedside, and said
to them, " Gentlemen, I have to beg you to forgive me for the bad
example I have set you. I have to thank you for the way in
which you have served me, and the faithfulness you have always
shown me. I am sorry not to be able to do for you everything I
could wish. I ask you to be as faithful to my grandson [great-
grandson] as you have been to me. I hope that you will pro-
mote union ; * and if any one shall wander from it, that you will
help him to come back. I feel moved myself, and that you too
are moved, and I beg your pardon [for distressing them]. Fare-
well, gentlemen ; I reckon upon your bearing me sometimes in
memory."
All these words were carefully gathered up by Madame de
Maintenon, and immediately afterwards related to Mdlle. d'Au-
male, who was with her at Versailles ; and she took care to write
them down as Madame de Maintenon related them. I find it
also noted that the King sent for Marshal de Villeroy, and said
to him, ** Marshal, I am going to give you a fresh proof of my
friendship and confidence while I am dying. I make you the
Dauphin's governor, which is the most important office after my
death. You will learn, by my will, what you must do in regard
to the Due du Maine. I make no doubt that you will serve me
after my death as you have during my life. I hope that my
nephew [the Duke of Orleans] will treat you with the consideration
and confidence that he ought to have for a man whom I have
always loved. Farewell, marshal. I hope that you will remem-
ber me." The King applied himself with the same fortitude
to the arrangements for the ceremonial of his funeral and the
Dauphin's mourning, and, while speaking of him, sometimes
* Probably referring to Jansenism.
3l6 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
gave him the name of " King." Hearing this, those present could
not repress a shudder, which he saw, and said to them, " Why
so? It gives me no pain." And in the same firm voice he
said to the Secretary of State, M. de Pontchartrain, " Get a brief
drawn up like that for the King my father, without changing
anything in it, that my heart may be taken after my death to the
Jesuits." His constancy and calm were so great that he said
again, " I am the happiest man in the world, for I hope that God
has granted my salvation." Another time he said, ** We have one
only thing to do in this world, which is to gain our salvation ; but
we work at it too late." He was deeply penetrated with humility,
and was often heard to repeat, " O my God, have pity on me
according to Thy great mercy ! " He made within himself acts of
desire of going to Him, and once was heard to say, " O my God,
when wilt Thou grant me the grace of being delivered from this
miserable life ? So long have I desired this, and ask it of Thee
with my whole heart." He then fainted and became quite un-
conscious; but came to himself again, and immediately begged
Pbre le Tellier to give him a general absolution. The Father,
hearing him often from time to time murmur the Pater and Ave^
directed his attention specially to those words, ** Pray for us now
and at the hour of our death," as suitable to his present state.
The King repeated them several times, and, calling Madame de
Maintenon, said to her, " Yes, now and at the hour of my death."
His head became confused a little while afterwards; but when
his confessor spoke to him of God, and suggested acts of faith,
love, contrition, and hope, he seemed to come to himself. The
last words that he was heard to say distinctly were those of the
Psalm, " Have mercy upon me, O my God ! Come unto my
aid ; make haste to help me ! "
From that moment no one could distinguish anything he said,
though he was seen to be praying, and sometimes struck his
breast, as is done in saying the Confiteor,
Madame de Maintenon was almost always at the King's bed-
side. In spite of the grief which pierced her, she did not shed
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 317
tears before him ; but when she found that she could not keep
them from falling, she went away, but soon came back to suggest
some pious thought likely to prepare his mind for death; and
when the King was making ready for his last confession, she
reminded him to accuse himself of several faults she had observed,
and that she was afraid he would forget. And he thanked her for
this with great feelings of humility and penitence. At times he
desired to be alone with her, or with his confessor, to talk freely
about eternity and the mercies God had shown him. He took
advantage of one of these intervals with Madame de Maintenon to
look over his private caskets, and burn whatever papers were of
no use. He made her carefully bum some memorials, which he
told her might make ill-will between two ministers if they were
seen. He was cheerful enough to laugh over some other papers
that would be of no use after his death, and, finding a rosary
upon looking into one of his pockets, he gave it to Madame de
Maintenon, saying, " This will not be a relic, but, at least, it will
be a remembrance."
The King made arrangements for the affairs of State, and
everything pertaining to the regency during his successor's
minority. He held several conversations with the Duke of
Orleans alone, specially about State matters and the conduct to
be maintained to preserve the kingdom in peace. At one of
these interviews Madame de Maintenon was present, and Mdlle.
d'Aumale with her. Those four only were in the room. After
having spoken to the Duke of Orleans of several objects pertain-
ing to the country, the King mentioned Madame de Maintenon,
and said these words : " My nephew, I recommend Madame de
Maintenon to you. You know what consideration and esteem I
have entertained for her. She has never given me any but good
counsel. I should have done well if I always had followed it.
She has been useful to me in everything ; but, above all, in regard
to the salvation of my soul. Do everything that she asks you to
do for herself, for her relations, and for her friends. She will
never encroach upon you. Let her apply to yourself directly for
3l8 MADAME DE MAINTENOJST.
everything she wants." He added that she was poor, and needed
the pension that he paid her, and which he desired the Duke of
Orleans to continue to her.
The Duke of Orleans was kneeling beside the bed that he
might hear more exactly and receive with greater respect the
King's commands. When he heard what the King said as to
Madame de Maintenon, he turned towards her, bowing pro-
foundly, as if to assure her of the feelings with which he would
regard her, and, indeed, which he already had, as will be seen in
the end.
Meanwhile Cardinal de Noailles had not ventured to go to
Versailles, and he was grieved at not being able to pay his duty
to his master and benefactor. He wrote about this to Madame
de Maintenon, who communicated with Cardinal de Rohan the
Grand Almoner of France, and the Chancellor Voysin, and they
spoke in concert to the King, asking him if he had any feeling
against the Cardinal. " No," replied the King ; " and if he will
come at once, I will embrace him with all my heart, provided
that he submits himself to the Pope ; for I will live and die as I
have lived. Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman." At the same time,
he ordered the chancellor to tell him this from him. The chan-
cellor wrote to the Cardinal at once that " he had been witness
to the faithful account given to the King by Madame de Main-
tenon, of the grief suffered by His Eminence at not paying his
duty, and even of having reason to fear that some resentment
against the Cardinal might remain with His Majesty. That the
King had commanded him immediately to write him word that
there remained no personal feeling against him either in his heart
or in his mind, as His Majesty had made the sacrifice to God of
everything regarding his authority in the resistance His Eminence
had made to carrying out the King's orders for the reception and
publication of the constitution [the bull Unigeniius against Jan-
senism] after it had been accepted by more than one hundred and
fifteen bishops of France. That His Majesty would receive him
with pleasure, and would feel it a special consolation to die in his
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 319
Archbishop's arms." The minister noted the condition, that he
should sincerely promise to make his acceptation according to the
plan sent to the Due de Noailles during the preceding month of
May. The chancellor added that, if the Cardinal was ready to
agree to this condition, he could come immediately ; that he would
be received with open arms, and that nothing would give the King
keener pleasure; but so long as he should be of the mind to
separate himself from the body of the pastors, neither willing to
defer to the authority of the Holy See nor to the example of
nearly all the bishops of the kingdom, nor to the King^s authority,
which His Majesty only put forth on this occasion to support the
decision of the Church, His Majesty would not think it right that
His Eminence should come to see him, lest he should seem by
this last action to authorize His Eminence in his conduct.
A courier was despatched immediately to the Cardinal to take
him this answer ; but it had no effect upon his mind, which was
too much attached to its own opinion to yield to the most just
exhortation of his master.
Meanwhile the King grew weaker, and Madame de Maintenon
continued her work as a Christian friend, who, though without
hope of his living, wished to see him die with the purest feelings
of the love of God and of penitence. The King, thinking
himself nearer death than he was, bade adieu to Madame de
Maintenon, and said, " There is no one that I regret to leave but
you, and we shall soon see one another again." Madame de
Maintenon stopped him by bidding him think of God only, and
not of her, who was nothing." Another time, when the King saw
her there alone, he begged her to forgive him for not having lived
well with her, ^.nd that he had not made her happy, though he
had always loved and esteemed her just the same. He was much
moved while saying this, and shed tears. Then he asked if any
one were in the room, and Madame de Maintenon assured him
there was no one. Then he said, " If any one should hear of my
being so moved with you, he would not be surprised." In spite
of all her efforts, the tears streamed from Madame de Maintenon's
320 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
eyes, and she went away that the King might not be excited
again and injure himseK Another time the King said to her,
"What will become of you? You have nothing." Madame de
Maintenon said, with the same disinterestedness, modesty, and
generosity which she had shown in the most brilliant moments of
her life, and without anxiety for the future, " I am nothing ; pray
occupy yourself with God alone." But when the King pressed
her, she asked him to commend her to the Duke of Orleans,
which the King did soon afterwards, as has been related.
The last day that she saw the King was on Thursday, the 29th
of August The King drew towards his end, and it was thought
that he could not live beyond that day, though he was fully con-
scious. He conversed with his confessor, and responded to the
acts that he suggested. Casting his eyes upon Madame de
Maintenon, he said, ** I admire your courage and your friendship
in being here always and looking on at so sad a sight." But as
that very day the King entirely lost consciousness, and it was
even believed that his agony had begun, Madame de Maintenon
thought of going away. She had sent for M. Briderey, her con-
fessor, and had begged him to examine what state the King was
in, and to tell her if he were yet able to receive any help from
her. The pious missionary having told her that her presence
could not thenceforth be of the slightest use, Madame de
Maintenon left the palace and set out at once for St. Cyr. The
King, however, remained for two days in the same state, ... but
it was observed that he never ceased saying prayers to himself
At last this great prince expired on Sunday morning, the ist of
September, aged seventy-seven years.
CHAPTER XXVII.
1715-1716.
Much has been said by the enemies of Madame de Main-
tenon as to her " desertion " of the King on his death-bed,
and at first sight it does seem strange that she could have
made up her mind to leave that bedside while there was
the faintest possibility of his recognizing her presence.
But as it was not in Madame de Maintenon to give way to
weakness, fatigue, or suffering while the least good to others
was to be gained by it, so it also belonged to her not to
indulge feeling when no essential benefit to others was
to be obtained. Having done the very utmost to guide
and sustatin the King in that long preparation, going with
him literally step by step down into the dread valley of
death, now that he could no longer be sustained, her active
faith reverted to the next help possible to be given, which
were prayers for the agonizing and the dead. As she got
into the coach with her faithful companion, Mdlle. d'Aumale,
she said to her, " My grief is great indeed, but it is a softened
and tranquil grief. I weep, but they are sweet tears, for I
feel a great joy in my heart for the King's Christian death.
I have already offered my thanksgiving for it to God ; I
have never asked for him to live during his illness ; I have
only begged for his salvation." Then, as they were on the
Y
322 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
road, she said, " We are now going to weep for him and
labour to hasten his glory in Heaven by our prayers,
and then we must think only about our own salvation and
doing some good works." *
It must be remembered, also, that Madame de Main-
tenon's position was by no means ascertained and assured
then, as it is now. The Duke of Orleans had, it is true,
shown her courtesy beside the dying King, but hitherto he
had been no friend to her. He well knew how she had
looked upon his evil life and intrigues. There was a large
party at the Court, represented by the cynical, malignant
St. Simon, who had always detested her influence with
Louis XIV., and had striven in every underhand way to
blacken her name and her motives. The Duchess Dowager
of Orleans and the Duchess de Bourbon-Cond^ hated her
position, her goodness, her influence, and, above all, her
unspotted life. The ecclesiastical party adhering to the
Cardinal-Archbishop were deeply irritated at her steady
resistance to Jansenism, and repeated everywhere the false
cry that she was bound hand and foot by the Jesuits, from
whom, as we know,- she had stood aloof, though always
with respect. By remaining longer at Versailles in the
uncertain position in which the King's death left her as his
unacknowledged wife, she might have been subjected to
insult, and not impossibly to some risk of her life.
She was even so alive to some such danger that she
spoke of it to her faithful and most noble friend, Marshal
de Villeroy, who immediately had the royal guards posted
along the road at certain distances between Versailles and
St. Cyr, and lent Madame de Maintenon his own coach in
* Languet de Gergy ; Lavallee.
MADAME DE MAINTENOjST, 323
which to make the journey. Happily for the reputation of
all whom it involved, Madame de Maintenon was com-
pletely unmolested, and the people of Versailles paid her
every respect.
As soon as they came towards St. Cyr, Madame de
Maintenon said, sighing, "This house is losing both its
father and mother, for I shall be quite useless to it now,
after having been able to do everything for it." Marshal
de Villeroy sent a messenger every hour to St. Cyr with
the account bf the King, so that if there had been the least
need of her she could have returned to Versailles. The
whole of Sunday she spent in tears and prayers, which the
whole house, down to the least of the little girls, fully
shared. Madame de Maintenon had sent for the children
as soon as she arrived, and spoke to them all ; after which
she said, " I hope I shall see you by-and-by without all
this emotion, my dear children, but to-day it is impossible
to be otherwise." A few hours afterwards she said to the
Dames, "All the rest of life must be devoted to inspiring
our girls with the same solid piety that he had for whom we
are now lamenting." *
On the Sunday morning, no one dared to tell her that
the King was dead. Mdlle. d'Aumale only told her that
the whole household were praying in the chapel, and she
understood the reason and went to the church, where she
assisted at the reciting of the Office for the Dead, and
thenceforth only thought of sanctifying her grief by prayer.
Meanwhile she was almost entirely without money, and
did not know in the least how she should be treated by
the Regent ; but she thought of this only as tending towards
* Languet de Gergy.
324 AfADAME DE MAINTENOISr,
her sanctification and eternal welfare, and had not the
slightest anxiety as to her future lot.
The Bishop of Chartres* and the Archbishop of
Rouen t arrived at St. Cyr soon after the King's death,
with Madame de Maintenon's confessor, M. Briderey. She
sent for them to her room, and, kneeling down, asked the
Bishop of Chartres for his blessing, saying, " I put myself
into your hands as my superior, and in your hands [as her
bishop] I shall probably die." The bishop, who was a
young man, was so pained by seeing this venerable lady of
eighty years old kneeling at his feet, that he would not
give her his blessing till urged by the Archbishop of
Rouen. Then he raised her up, and they talked for some
time, all shedding tears at the irreparable loss sustained by
the kingdom, by religion, and by this House of St. Cyr.
On the 8th of September, the Duke of Orleans went
to St. Cyr, and behaved very well to Madame de Maintenon,
making on that occasion the often-noted remark that " she
had done all the good she could to everybody, and never
wronged any one." He had already sent her word that the
pension paid her by Louis XIV. would be continued to
her, which was the modest sum of four thousand livres a
month. On arriving at St Cyr, he went immediately to
Madame de Maintenon's room, where he found her on her
bed, quite worn out. As soon as he had left, she told
Mdlle. d'Aumale the whole conversation, who recorded it
in her usual exact way : —
He told me that he had taken measures for my being paid
exactly what the King gave me from his budget ... I thanked
him very humbly, said that it was too much in the present state
* De Meiinville, nephew of Godet des Marais. f D*Aubign^.
MADAME DE MAINTENOX. 325
of the finances, and that I had never wished for so much. He
replied that it was only a trifle, but that it was true the finances
were in a bad state. I said that what he gave me would be used
for obtaining prayers for him that God might give him the help
he needed He replied that he began already to feel the burden
of the load he carried. I told him he would soon feel it much
more. He said he would be at Vincennes * as often as he could,
but that business called him much to Paris ; that he was going
to do everything possible to put them right, which was his only
ambition, and that he should think himself too happy if in a few
years' time he could give up the kingdom to the young King in
a better condition than it was now. I said that this was a very
glorious aim. He told me that no one had so much interest as
himself in the preservation of the young prince ; that he himself
now had all authority, and that he should be delighted to make it
over to him, to enjoy then the rest and honours which he should
have gained. I replied that if he had not the insatiable desire of
ruling <3f which he had always been accused, that which he planned
was a hundred times more glorious. He answered that if they
should lose the young King he could not reign in peace, and
there would be war with Spain. I begged him not to listen to
anything that might be imputed to me on his account ; that I was
aware of men's malice ; that I had not a word to say ever again
[on public matters] ; that I only intended to shut myself up, and
that the obligation I was under for his benefits must of itself bind
me in honour never to do or say anything against him ; that I
might still be accused of interference as to Spain, that it would
be entirely false, and that I should never think of public affairs
except to pray for the welfare of France.
He renewed all kinds of protestations as to myself and St. Cyr,
and bade me always to apply to him directly. I replied that my
most earnest petitions would be to have the foundation of St. Cyr
finished.
Then he asked to see the Dames in the community-room, and
* Versailles?
326 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
said to them, " I have asked to see you, mesdames, to assure you
of my continual protection. I have nothing to say that would
convince you of this ; it is enough that the King has recommended
you. I know the value of your house, useful as it is to the nobles
and the kingdom. Whatever you wish for, mesdames, and what-
ever Madame de Maintenon may wish, you can apply to me for,
and I shall always be ready to render you any service in my
power, and this I am now come to assure you. I commend
myself to your prayers, that God may give me the strength and
light needed to bear the terrible burden that is laid upon me."
When the Regent had left, Madame de Maintenon related
to the Dames, who had been in anxiety as to her pension,
that he had secured it to her, and that if anything now
could comfort her, it was the thought of being still able to
help the poor, and especially the poor nobles.*
Two letters, or rather a note and a letter, the last ever
written to Princess des Ursins, of which the manuscripts
are in the British Museum,* are here given together : —
Marly, September ii, 17 15.
You are very good, madame, to have thought of me in the
great event which has happened. There is nothing to be done
but to bow one's head to the Hand that has struck us.
1 wish with my whole heart, madame, that your condition were
as happy as mine. I have seen the King die like a saint and like
a hero. I have left the world which I did not love, and I am in
the pleasantest retreat that I could wish for. And wherever I
am, madame, I shall be all my life, with the respect and aflfection
that I owe you, your very humble and very obedient servant.
St. Cyr, December 27, 17 15.
It is true, madame, that I keep myself as far as possible from
the world, and if my friends were less good to me, I should never
* Languet de Gergy ; Lavallee.
* These letters have been published only by M. Geffroy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON, 327
see any one. But it is also true that I do not forget those whom
I have esteemed, loved, and honoured, and that I often think of
you, wishing for you what I believe to be best. I should have
thought, madame, that you would go to Rome, and I was very
glad of that on account of your eyes. My own eyes have had
a very different lot I have left off spectacles, and I am working
tapestry day and night, for I sleep little. My retreat is peaceful
and complete. . As to society, it is impossible to have that with
people who have no knowledge of what I have seen, and who
know only the rules of this house in which they have been
brought up.
There is no state on earth, madame, that has not its sufferings,
but your strong mind, your courage, and your sweet disposition
have always lessened yours. I scarcely ever see our marshal
[de Villeroy] but he does something for me every day of his life.
He is the refuge of all the miserable. You would be glad to hear
the public talk of his worth, and I know people who do not like
him, who are yet unable to deny that he fills a great place [in
life]. . . .
The Parliament of France annulled the will of Louis
XIV., and both the Due du Maine and Marshal de Villeroy
were deprived of the positions and consideration that he
had planned for them. Madame de Maintenon alludes to
this in her letter to Marshal de Villeroy, from which one
or two passages are given : —
Pari», January 5* ^7'^'
. . . May God grant that the prince fthc King] may continue
in those idea* of religion and justice which yrju sf^eak of as dis-
cernible in him ! He wmjld f^in xtm\\ in nil w«ys, , , , Let us
admit, after fully satisfying what is due to J'fime.ss des Ursins,
that she is Uh) (moUmn Un hef \fimium nn(\ her «ge/ 1 fievet
ask any \p^r\!uMUf^ n\H/iti fh« VMf^.inW^f (k f4t. (ittrt^ef hut on)y
generally i(Uh tttt'ftif^ w* ^^^ "^ ^^" ' ' '
328 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
you complain, and find any ground of consolation, but I admit
that I think you are very unfortunate, and that there is no remedy,
or, at least, the remedy is very far off. I have not at all a pleasant
idea of your conversations with M. du Maine, whose condition is
still worse than yours. These thoughts often disturb the repose of
my retreat The more one reflects upon the state of France the
more one hopes that the young King will live, and it is not the
enemies of the Duke of Orleans who desire this. . « • It is true,
sir, that it is not becoming for me to receive visits, but I assure
you with equal sincerity that it annoys me not to have the honour
of seeing you, and I am very sorry it is impossible.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
1717.
In the next letter to Madame de Dangeau, nearly a year
afterwards, Madame de Maintenon seems to have regained
her old cheerfulness, and writes with even more than her
usual affectionate unreserve : —
January 14, 171 7*
I cannot tell you, madame, how touched I am by your letter ;
it is full of friendship and good sense. ... I cannot be content
to have you in the house and not to see you, and as soon as you
have even opened the door I do not want to lose a moment of
the time you can give me. While you are here, my prayers will
not be without distractions, and if I were obliged, on account of
my weakness, not to say a word, I should still listen to you with
pleasure. You are too humble, madame, if you think my head
better than your own. I do not know any one so solid as you
are, and if you mingle some raillery with the sense it is only an
added charm. But there is nothing frivolous in your conduct, nor
superficial in your goodness ; the only fault I find is that it is a
little too austere for yourself and for those whom you love. We
will talk of this at your first visit, but I beg of you not to let it be
till the first days of Lent. The weather will be finer, and the
night will not come so quickly to separate us. Lose no oppor-
tunity, madame, of persuading our friends to look upon me as no
longer existing. I should be much grieved if they obliged me to
refuse their coming here. . . . Nothing seems harder to me in my
330 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
retirement than not to live with you any longer, madame, and
nothing has ever been more flattering to me than the liking I have
always felt that you have for me. God knows where we feel the
most, and it is exactly there that He often touches us, and we
must submit Yesterday I had all the d'Aubign^ family ; they are
still scared by the danger that poor woman [Madame d'Aubignd]
has been in. I wish she could see some sensible woman and
would dress her head as you do. She came here a few days ago
in a little cap which made her look quite ridiculous. She is not
suited to wear a headdress like a mad woman, but in other wa>'s
she is what can be desired to her family. . . . Good-bye, you
most sweet, most estimable, most respected [friend] there is in
the world This is not the most intelligent way of saying it, but
it is the depth of my heart . . .
There is one last letter to Marshal de Villeroy which
touches upon the fatal weakness of the Regent in regard to
the Jansenist party, who immediately began to feel the
difference of the hands that held the reins. Madame de
Maintenon also alludes to the ironical chances which had
brought Cardinal del Guidice and Princess des Ursins face
to face in Rome. The Cardinal had considerably helped
Alberoni in the matter of the princess's dismissal, but after-
wards was disgraced and dismissed himself from Spain,
when he also took refuge in Rome.
February 20, 17 17.
It seems, sir, that neither attention to business nor weariness
of body and mind can prevent you from giving me tokens of the
honour of your friendship, and I perceive, by one word in your
letter, that there are even some fresh troubles. This gives me
cause to wish that you would come and visit me, in spite of my
prudence, for I shall be uneasy till I know what they are.
I have never had any hopes from Cardinal de Noailles, but
you cannot think how I pity the Regent. It is evident that he
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 33 1
earnestly and sincerely wishes for the peace of the Church, and
he cannot obtain this without declaring himself for the good cause.
Then he would soon see those difficulties, which are now daily
increasing, come to nothing ; for the liberties of the Church are
made the pretext, and our King showed on many occasions that
he was as jealous for them as it was right to be. M. Voysin had
well cleared up this, though he, like others, was prejudiced when
he entered into these matters.
Princess des Ursins' letter has given me a little pleasure, sir.
She seems to be tolerably happy, which I hoped she would be.
Between ourselves, I should be happier than I am myself if I
had any society \ but that cannot be here, and, however clever
a nun may be, she has no knowledge of what has occupied us
all our lives. Cardinal del Guidice*s adventures are now com-
plete, and if they meet one another, their talk would be good to
hear. . . .
In a letter of the same year, or rather fragment of a
journal, to Madame de Caylus a sufficiently startling an-
nouncement is made by Madame de Maintenon of a visit
from Peter the Great, who was certainly a strange in-
gredient in the daily life at St. Cyr, and among the polished
dukes and marshals of her courtly life. The account of
it is quite unique.
June II, 171 7.
I am sending for news of you, my dear niece, and of your
good friends. I have nothing to say about ourselves, for I see
no one. M. Gaudry has just told me that the Czar carries a
woman about with him, to the great scandal of Versailles, Trianon,
and Marly. I cannot believe this tale. . . . M. Gabriel has just
come in, saying that M. Bellegarde sends me word that, if I think
well of it, he — that is to say, the Czar — wishes to come here to-day
after dinner. I dared not say no, and I am going to receive him
on my bed. They tell me nothing more,-, and I do not know if
332 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
I ought to go and receive him with ceremony, if he will like to
see the house, the young ladies, go into the chapel, etc I leave
it all to chance.
The Czar came at seven o*clock, and sat down at the head of
my bed He caused me to be asked [by the interpreter] if I were
ill, and I answered, " Yes." He asked what was the matter with
me, and I answered, "Very great age and a weak constitutioa"
He did not know what to say, and his interpreter did not seem to
understand me. His visit was very short He is still in the
house, but I do not know where. Good-night, my dear niece
I am just going to take my milk. ... I forgot to tell you that the
Czar had the foot of my bed opened [the curtains] that he might
see me. You will believe that he must have been pleased.
Marshal de Villeroy paid his last visit, probably, at the
end of that year, and Madame de Maintenon's last letter
was to Madame de Dangeau ; but the last but one, being
more characteristic, is given here : —
I renew willingly the intercourse you wish to have with me,
madame, although my part in it cannot be but tiresome to you.
You are at the source of all that is going on in the world, and I
see nothing but my needlework. There are two things that have
remained in my mind since our last conversation. I am afraid,
madame, that you may discourage M. de Dangeau. You are
austere, and you do not enter into the force of habit I have
seen Madame de Montchevreuil in anxieties like yours. She
drove her husband to despair by the bitterness of her piety. She
came here and was directed by a very good man, and I recollect
that she sent me this message one evening : " What will you say
to me? To-morrow is Easter Day, and I shall spend the evening
in playing backgammon with M. de Montchevreuil." Everybody
is not capable of the recollection, madame, that you insist upon,
and you ought to be satisfied with a man who has faith, who has
not a vice, and who is naturally good and not weak.
CHAPTER XXIX.
1717-1719.
Madame de Maintenon had some time since disposed
of her men-servants, and when she dismissed them she
thanked them all for their faithful service, and shared
among them a good deal of her furniture, linen, and
various useful things. She had been persuaded at first to
keep her coach that she might get some air, but she said,
soon afterwards, " I cannot be giving food to horses while
so many nobles are dying of hunger." The horses and
coach, therefore, followed the rest of her goods. She kept
two maids and a young man to go out on errands, etc.
She cut down her table to one dish, and instead of the
former regular supper with meat, she had for some time
taken only a cup of chocolate. But as soon as she was
settled at St. Cyr, even the chocolate was cut off, and at
dinner she insisted upon sharing whatever was cooked for
the house. And although, as foundress, her lodging and
food had been expressly arranged for by Louis XIV.,
Madame de Maintenon paid the nuns a munificent pension
as long as she lived, " lest she should be a burden to the
house."
Soon after her retirement to her beloved House of St.
Louis, Madame de Glapion was elected superior, which
334 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
was a real joy to Madame de Maintenon. She put herself
into her hands as one of the community, obedient to the
letter, and punctual to all the offices like the Dames them-
selves. When not in the chapel, she employed herself in
the class-rooms, looking over the girls* exercises, examining
their work, instructing them, and hearing their lessons.
When she was no longer able to go to the class-rooms, she
asked leave for the girls to go to her room to be taught
reading, writing, needlework, and catechism. She attached
herself also to the novices, with whom her great experience
was of signal use, and they were allowed to go singly to
her room to talk of their duties, their difficulties, and the
meaning of their vows.* It is on record from enlightened
and learned ecclesiastical testimony that this widowed
lady, who had spent nearly all her life at the most brilliant
and dissipated Court in Europe, thoroughly understood
conventual life, and shed a flood of light upon the
obligations of poverty, chastity, and obedience that guided
a number of women on their spiritual way.
But Madame de Maintenon's chosen pleasure was
having the youngest of the little girls in her room, and
teaching or hearing them taught by Mdlle. d'Aumale. The
least of these was Mdlle. de la Tour, who went to St. Cyr at
six years old. She was mentioned in Madame de Main-
tenon's will, and died a Dame de St. Louis.
These were the after-dinner occupations, but Madame
de Maintenon spent many hours in the chapel. She got
up at six o'clock for the first Mass, then dressed, when the
New Testament or the Psalms of the Office were read
aloud to her, and then went back to the church for a
* Languet de Gergy ; Lavallee.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 335
second Mass. At four o'clock she went again to the
chapel, and remained till six. One day in each month
was spent in retreat, to " sift her soul," and prepare herself
for death. One of the community once wished her a long
life, because she was so necessary to such a number of
people. To this Madame de Maintenon replied, " If I am
necessary, well and good ; if not, the sooner I die the
better."
Her last letter to Madame de Dangeau speaks of the
fever which consumed her. It was dated February 9,
1719.
The fever continued and increased, with a renewal of
violent cough and cold, and Madame de Maintenon clearly
discerned that this sickness would be her last. She told
the Due de Noailles her conviction, for, after the death of
Voysin, he had obtained permission of the Regent to take
his place as temporal guardian of St. Cyr.
The Bishop of Chartres had ordered Mass to be said in
Madame de Maintenon's room when she became too
feeble to go to the chapel, and, as far as she was able, she
continued all her usual devotions in her bed. She humbly
begged pardon of the superior and Dames de St. Louis,
and even of the lay-sisters, for the trouble she was giving
them, exactly as if she had been an object of their charity.
When the weather became again excessively cold, she at
once had inquiries made and sent out money to buy fuel
for the poor.
At Easter, Madame de Maintenon made her Com-
munion in bed, and grieved exceedingly that she was not
able to assist at the public services. She thought of the
little sums she was accustomed to pay to deserving people,
336 MADAME DE MAINTENON,
and made Mdlle. d'Aumale pay them in advance. She
sent for her writing-case, looked over her will, and resealed
it, writing with her own hand on the cover, and playfully
remarked upon the little she had to leave behind her.
On the 14th of April, she seemed to rally so much
that the whole house was in rejoicing at her recovery.
Her colour returned, she was gay and bright, and those
who saw her showed their joy. "Yes," she said, "I am
better, but I am still going." One of the Dames brought
her a letter, and she thanked her, saying, " That is done
with, my daughter ; I am going away."
Towards evening, a violent thunderstorm came on, and
affected Madame de Maintenon so much that at midnight
the priest was sent for to give her the viaticum, after
which she became unconscious. But the next morning,
when she was told that she was to receive extreme unction,
she came to herself immediately, and said, " Is there nothing
to prepare by my bed ? " And once again, " I have a great
devotion to extreme unction." She received it with the
greatest fervour, gathering up all her strength for this last
supreme act, and answering all the prayers most fervently.
Then her confessor asked her to give a blessing to all her
daughters, and she replied, " I am not worthy ; " but as he
urged it, she obediently lifted up her hand in the attitude
of blessing, no longer able to utter a word. She was quite
unconscious thenceforward, and tranquilly passed away at
dawn, without the slightest change or movement, and as if
in a calm sleep.*
She was then eighty-four years old, and had survived
Louis XIV. nearly four years.
* Languet de Gergy.
MADAME DE MAINTENON. 337
For two days, the body of Madame de Maintenon lay
on her bed, still as if in the sweetest sleep, and on the
17th it was buried in the nuns' choir. She had begged
to be allowed to rest in the common cemetery of the
convent, but the Dames would not consent to their foundress
being so interred.
The Due de Noailles then opened the will and
administered it, and took all the funeral arrangements upon
himself. The Bishop of Chartres, the General of the
Lazarists, and all the Lazarist Fathers in the neighbourhood,
to the number of forty, gathered to the funeral, and recited
the whole Office for the burial ; for the poor Dames de St.
Louis could do nothing but weep and sob, and were not
able to utter a single note.*
The next day, an immense concourse of people came to
the Mass for the Dead, when the same number of priests
were present. Throughout the solemn chants of the
ceremony a strange undertone of stifled sobs and weeping
was heard, and this living testimony of genuine sorrow was
the one single pomp that celebrated the death of Fran5oise
d*Aubign^ de Maintenon.
A vast epitaph, in the sumptuous language of the
time, was drawn up by Vertot himself, and remains a
monument of that special form of French which can so
poorly be tranAferrcd to Engli<jh that ft \% gJveii m M^
ori^mi U/rm. It mW ht fAy^^rvtd ih^i, n(Amih^iHnd\t)^
iU »(mn4i^<^ ^ff^y fA tpHhti^ HfH\ itiifihiiit<i, there h mA n
tb(SJ Km^;^ mi^,. ^:h^. Wl ^nim4 ^^ to the ea^i het mti
/,
if J
338 MADAME DE MAINTENON.
words : " I have spared others, but I have never spared
myself." She had shielded others from difficulties and
pain, but at the cost of taking all the difficulties and pain
upon herself. The final rescue of Louis XIV. in his down-
ward course and her incessant toil for what she believed to
be the good of France remained her only rewards.
Whatever interpretation may be put upon the value of
her work or upon the issues that it raised, it is at least due
to her that the motives with which it was carried out to
the end should be appreciated, and that a just estimate
should be formed of the character and true position of
Madame de Maintenon.
MADAAfE DE MAINTENOy, 339
This is the epitaph : —
CI g!t
MADAME FRANCOISE D'AUBIGNE, MARQUISE DE MAIXTENON,
FEMME ILLUSTRE, FEMME VRAIMENT CHR^TIEXXE,
CETTE FEMME FORTE QUE LE SAGE CHERCHA VAINEMENT DAXS SON WVJ I h,
ET QU'lL NOUS EUT PROPOSfi POUR MODftLR
S'lL EUT VECU DANS LE NOTRE.
SA NAISSANCE PUT TRfeS-NOBLE.
ON LOU A DE BONNE HEURE SON ESPRIT ET PLUS ENCX^RE SA VRfeT'; ?
LA SAG ESSE, LA DOUCEUR, LA MODESTIE,
FORMOIENT SON CARACTfeRE, QUI NE SE DEMENTIT JAMAIS.
TOUJOURS £GALE DANS LES DIFFfiRENTES SITUATIONS DE SA VI R,
m£mes principes, m£mes r]^gles, m£mes vertus:
FIDt.LE DANS LES EXERCISES DE PI£t£,
TRANQUILLE AU milieu DES agitations DE LA COUR,
SIMPLE DANS LA GRANDEUR,
PAUVRE DANS LE CENTRE DBS RICHESSES,
IIUMKLK AU COMDLB DES HONNEURS,
RKVI^.Rl^.E I)K LUUIS LE GRAND,
ENVIR0NNf!:B DB SA GLOIRE,
AUrORISI^.K, PAR SA PLUS INTIME CONFIANCE,
DI^J'OSITAIRK DE SES GRACES,
()\)\ n'a JAMAIS FAIT USAGE DE SON POUVOIR
gl/E PAR SA KONTR;
UNU AUTKE KHTIIKK DANS LA FAVRUR,
t;NK AI/TKf. JUDITH DANS LA RETRAITB ET L'ORAISON,
i.A WkViV. DBS PAUVRKS,
l/Afill.K TOUjotJUH SUK DBS MALIIBURBUX,
UNK :*l ILM/VIUK VIK A f^TI^ TKUMINUR PAR UNB MORT SAINTE,
wv vMtnv,\)m dkvant diru.
siON <:OMpi» Ke»T MICST^ DANS CK'iTR MAISON,
DON'! HM-K Avon J'MOCUHl^ L'^TAJILISSKMBNT,
V:\' KLI.K A LAIsjs^ll A |.'i/f^lV(Lb4 l'kXRMPI.K DR SRS VERTUS.
Dt.CtfDp.V. l.V. 15 AVMMi I7IUI N^K I.K 37 NDVKMnRK.. 1635.
TliK KNM.
DC 130 -M2 BS
Madame de Malntenon
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