No More Learning

He soon grew to love his


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12711
―――
wife: "She exceeded all that was promised of her, and all that I
myself had hoped. "
He received Jesuit training in youth, and was always a strict
Catholic; retiring once a year to the monastery of La Trappe for a
period of prayer and meditation, and to confess and receive absolution
from his dear friend, the Abbé de La Trappe. Then feeling himself
morally purged for the time being, he returned to his usual life with
apparently never a thought of changing his conduct or avoiding the
faults he had just confessed. Like his fellow courtiers who could
quarrel over questions of precedence at the communion table, he
made no clear distinction as to the relative value of religious feeling
and religious observances.
He was primarily a courtier, and frankly self-seeking; but too
tactless to win royal favor. Louis XIV. never cordially liked him,
but he maintained a place at court chiefly through the friendship of
the princes. The early death of the dauphin- previously Duke of
Burgundy - he felt as most disastrous to his fortunes. But he allied
himself to the Duke of Orléans, and was of the council of the Re-
gency. He did his best to reform the profligate prince, and in return
was offered the position as governor of young Louis XV. , or that of
Guard of the Seals, both of which he refused. He had entered upon
public life very young, and most of his early associates who were
older died before him. So did his wife and eldest son. Left to him-
self, he fell into debt. Finally it was intimated to him that his pres-
ence was no longer desired at court; and he went away to spend his
remaining years either at his country seat, La Ferté, or at his hotel
in Paris, and to busy himself in revising his memoirs.
In writing these, Saint-Simon had found the greatest interest of his
life. He was only nineteen when, while serving upon one of his Ger-
man campaigns, he began the work that was to extend over nearly
thirty years, from 1694 to 1723. Memoirs had a peculiar fascina-
tion for him; and after reading those of Marshal de Bassompierre, he
decided to keep a close account of people and events. He was too
shrewd not to realize that no sincere expression would be possible if
his enterprise were known; so throughout his long life he accom-
plished his daily record in secret. He wrote for a posterity whom he
wished to have know the truth. Even Voltaire thought it unpatriotic
to dim the glory of Versailles by showing what was base in its royal
inmates. But Saint-Simon was no idealist. He considered himself a
philosopher, a statesman, a historian; but he hardly merits these
titles. Like La Bruyère, this "little duke with his cruel, piercing.
unsatisfied eyes," was pre-eminently a portrait painter. But La Bruy-
ère was not a nobleman, nor of the company he describes, but there
on sufferance as a retainer of the haughty Condés. Saint-Simon, on


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SAINT-SIMON
the contrary, felt his noble birth as a fact of vital importance, for
which he must force recognition. The ruling thought of all his work
is this insistence upon precedence. All his life he labored to extend
the privileges of the peerage; and bitterly resented any social ad-
vance on the part of a bourgeois, as though with instinctive presenti-
ment of the change even then impending. Even talent, when of
humble origin, was contemptible in his eyes. Of Voltaire-whom he
calls Arouet - he says slightingly: "The son of a notary who was
my father's lawyer, and has been mine. " He was supremely happy
when he had brought about the Bed of Justice and effected the abase-
ment of the illegitimate princes. He had long hated them because
they took precedence of peers. To him the lower classes, the mass
of the nation, only existed as a pedestal for nobility, and he never
considers them as a factor in society.
What would they all have done, - selfish adulated Louis, dignified
Madame de Maintenon, hiding her resolute will under determined
tact, the hoydenish princesses, the toadying lords and ladies,—if they
had known of the presence of this "spy" upon their every gesture?
He cared little for nature. Even Lenôtre's beautifully convention-
alized gardens pleased him less than a salon. "I examined everybody
with my eyes and ears. ” He notes the courtly manners, the gor-
geous robes, the royal magnificence; and he also notes the underly-
ing treachery and corruption. "He is like those dogs, which, without
seeing him, scent and discover a robber hidden under a piece of
furniture," said Sainte-Beuve.
He excels in sketching individuals, and in communicating to us
their manner, appearance, personality. He can paint a great canvas
too, and show us the entire court gathered for a ball in the Salle
de Glaces, or about the bed of a dying prince. Instead of the flaw-
less, magnificent pageant others have shown as the court life of Louis
XIV. , he stamped verisimilitude upon his glittering yet grewsome
representations.
THE MARRIAGE
From the Memoirs >
Α"
LL this winter my mother was solely occupied in finding a
good match for me. Some attempt was made to marry me
to Mademoiselle de Royan. It would have been a noble
and rich marriage; but I was alone, Mademoiselle de Royan was
an orphan, and I wished a father-in-law and a family upon whom
I could lean. During the preceding year there had been some


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12713
talk of the eldest daughter of Maréchal de Lorges for me. The
affair had fallen through, almost as soon as suggested; and now,
on both sides, there was a desire to recommence negotiations.
The probity, the integrity, the freedom of Maréchal de Lorges
pleased me infinitely, and everything tended to give me an
extreme desire for this marriage. Madame de Lorges by her
virtue and good sense was all I could wish for as the mother
of my future wife. Mademoiselle de Lorges was a blonde, with
complexion and figure perfect, a very amiable face, an extremely
noble and modest deportment, and with I know not what of
majesty derived from her air of virtue and of natural gentleness.
The Maréchal had five other daughters; but I liked this one best.
beyond comparison, and hoped to find with her that happiness
which she since has given me. As she has become my wife, I
will abstain here from saying more about her, unless it be that
she has exceeded all that was promised of her, and all that I
myself had hoped.
My marriage being agreed upon and arranged, the Maréchal
de Lorges spoke of it to the King, who had the goodness to
reply to him that he could not do better, and to speak of me
very obligingly. The marriage accordingly took place at the
Hôtel de Lorges, on the 8th of April, 1695; which I have always
regarded, and with good reason, as the happiest day of my life.
My mother treated me like the best mother in the world. On
the Thursday before Quasimodo the contract was signed; a grand
repast followed; at midnight the curé of St. Roch said mass,
and married us in the chapel of the house. On the eve, my
mother had sent forty thousand livres' worth of precious stones
to Mademoiselle de Lorges, and I six hundred louis in a corbeille
filled with all the knick-knacks that are given on these occasions.
We slept in the grand apartment of the Hôtel de Lorges.
On the morrow, after dinner, my wife went to bed, and received
a crowd of visitors, who came to pay their respects and to grat-
ify their curiosity. The next evening we went to Versailles,
and were received by Madame de Maintenon and the King. On
arriving at the supper-table, the King said to the new duchess,
"Madame, will you be pleased to seat yourself? "
His napkin being unfolded, he saw all the duchesses and
princesses still standing: and rising in his chair, he said to
Madame de Saint-Simon, "Madame, I have already begged you
to be seated;" and all immediately seated themselves. On the


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SAINT-SIMON
12714
morrow, Madame de Saint-Simon received all the court in her
bed, in the apartment of the Duchesse d'Arpajon, as being
more handy, being on the ground floor. Our festivities were fin-
ished by a supper that I gave to the former friends of my father,
whose acquaintance I had always cultivated with great care.
THE PORTRAIT
From the Memoirs >
I
HAD, as I have already mentioned, conceived a strong attach-
ment and admiration for M. de La Trappe. I wished to
secure a portrait of him; but such was his modesty and humil-
ity that I feared to ask him to allow himself to be painted.
I went therefore to Rigault, then the first portrait-painter in
Europe. In consideration of a sum of a thousand crowns, and
all his expenses paid, he agreed to accompany me to La Trappe,
and to make a portrait of him from memory. The whole affair
was to be kept a profound secret; and only one copy of the pict-
ure was to be made, and that for the artist himself.
-
My plan being fully arranged, I and Rigault set out. As soon
as we arrived at our journey's end, I sought M. de La Trappe,
and begged to be allowed to introduce to him a friend of mine,
an officer, who much wished to see him. I added that my
friend was a stammerer, and that therefore he would be impor-
tuned merely with looks and not words. M. de La Trappe smiled
with goodness, thought the officer curious about little, and con-
sented to see him. The interview took place. Rigault, excusing
himself on the ground of his infirmity, did little during three-
quarters of an hour but keep his eyes upon M. de La Trappe;
and at the end went into a room where materials were already
provided for him, and covered his canvas with the images and
the ideas he had filled himself with. On the morrow the same
thing was repeated; although M. de La Trappe, thinking that a
man whom he knew not, and who could take no part in conver-
sation, had sufficiently seen him, agreed to the interview only out
of complaisance to me. Another sitting was needed in order to
finish the work; but it was with great difficulty M. de La Trappe
could be persuaded to consent to it. When the third and last
interview was at an end, M. de La Trappe testified to me his


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surprise at having been so much and so long looked at by a
species of mute. I made the best excuse I could, and hastened
to turn the conversation.
The portrait was at length finished, and was a most perfect
likeness of my venerable friend. Rigault admitted to me that
he had worked so hard to produce it from memory, that for sev-
eral months afterwards he had been unable to do anything to
his other portraits. Notwithstanding the thousand crowns I had
paid him, he broke the engagement he had made by showing the
portrait before giving it up to me. Then, solicited for copies, he
made several; gaining thereby, according to his own admission,
more than twenty-five thousand francs: and thus gave publicity
to the affair.
I was very much annoyed at this, and with the noise it made
in the world; and I wrote to M. de La Trappe, relating the
deception I had practiced upon him, and sued for pardon. He
was pained to excess, hurt, and afflicted; nevertheless he showed
no anger. He wrote in return to me, and said I was not ignor-
ant that a Roman Emperor had said, "I love treason but not
traitors;" but that as for himself, he felt on the contrary that
he loved the traitor but could only hate his treason. I made
presents of three copies of the picture to the monastery of La
Trappe. On the back of the original I described the circum-
stance under which the portrait had been taken, in order to show
that M. de La Trappe had not consented to it; and I pointed out
that for some years he had been unable to use his right hand,
to acknowledge thus the error which had been made in repre-
senting him as writing.
MADAME DE MAINTENON AT THE REVIEW
From the Memoirs'
HE King wished to show the court all the manœuvres of war;
the siege of Compiègne was therefore undertaken, according
to due form, with lines, trenches, batteries, mines, etc. On
Saturday, the 13th of September, the assault took place. To wit-
ness it, the King, Madame de Maintenon, all the ladies of the
court, and a number of gentlemen, stationed themselves upon an
old rampart, from which the plain and all the disposition of the


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SAINT-SIMON
troops could be seen. I was in the half-circle very close to the
King. It was the most beautiful sight that can be imagined, to
see all that army, and the prodigious number of spectators on
horse and foot, and that game of attack and defense so cleverly
conducted.
- was
But a spectacle of another sort-that I could paint forty
years hence as well as to-day, so strongly did it strike me
that which from the summit of this rampart the King gave to all
his army, and to the innumerable crowd of spectators of all kinds
in the plain below. Madame de Maintenon faced the plain and
the troops in her sedan chair, alone, between its three windows
drawn up; her porters having retired to a distance. On the left
pole in front sat Madame la Duchesse de Bourgogne; and on the
same side, in a semicircle, standing, were Madame la Duchesse,
Madame la Princesse de Conti, and all the ladies, and behind
them again, many men. At the right window was the King,
standing, and a little in the rear a semicircle of the most distin-
guished men of the court. The King was nearly always uncov-
ered; and every now and then stooped to speak to Madame de
Maintenon, and explain to her what she saw, and the reason of
each movement. Each time that he did so she was obliging
enough to open the window four or five inches, but never half-
way; for I noticed particularly, and I admit that I was more.
attentive to this spectacle than to that of the troops. Sometimes
she opened of her own accord to ask some question of him: but
generally it was he who without waiting for her, stooped down
to instruct her of what was passing; and sometimes, if she did
not notice him, he tapped at the glass to make her open it. He
never spoke save to her, except when he gave a few brief orders,
or just answered Madame la Duchesse de Bourgogne, who wanted
to make him speak, and with whom Madame de Maintenon car-
ried on a conversation by signs, without opening the front win-
dow, through which the young princess screamed to her from.
time to time. I watched the countenance of every one carefully:
all expressed surprise, tempered with prudence, and shame that
was, as it were, ashamed of itself; every one behind the chair
and in the semicircle watched this scene more than what was
going on in the army. The King often put his hat on the top
of the chair in order to get his head in to speak; and this con-
tinual exercise tired his loins very much. Monseigneur was on


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12717
horseback in the plain with the young princes. It was about
five o'clock in the afternoon, and the weather was as brilliant as
could be desired.
Opposite the sedan chair was an opening with some steps cut
through the wall, and communicating with the plain below.
It
had been made for the purpose of fetching orders from the King,
should they be necessary. The case happened. Crenan, who
commanded, sent Conillac, an officer in one of the defending
regiments, to ask for some instructions from the King. Conillac
had been stationed at the foot of the rampart, where what was
passing above could not be seen. He mounted the steps; and as
soon as his head and shoulders were at the top, caught sight of
the chair, the King, and all the assembled company. He was not
prepared for such a scene; and it struck him with such astonish-
ment that he stopped short, with mouth and eyes wide open,—
surprise painted upon every feature. I see him now as distinctly.
as I did then. The King, as well as the rest of the company,
remarked the agitation of Conillac, and said to him with emotion,
"Well, Conillac! come up. " Conillac remained motionless, and the
What is the matter? >>
King continued, "Come up.
Conillac,
thus addressed, finished his. ascent, and came towards the King
with slow and trembling steps, rolling his eyes from right to left
like one deranged. Then he stammered something, but in a tone
so low that it could not be heard. "What do you say? " cried
the King. "Speak up. " But Conillac was unable; and the King,
finding he could get nothing out of him, told him to go away.
He did not need to be told twice, but disappeared at once. As
soon as he was gone, the King looking round said, "I don't know
what is the matter with Conillac. He has lost his wits: he did
not remember what he had to say to me. " No one answered.
Towards the moment of the capitulation, Madame de Main-
tenon apparently asked permission to go away; for the King
cried, "The chairmen of Madame! " They came and took her
away; in less than a quarter of an hour afterwards the King
retired also, and nearly everybody else. There was much inter-
change of glances, nudging with elbows, and then whisperings in
the ear. Everybody was full of what had taken place on the
ramparts between the King and Madame de Maintenon. Even
the soldiers asked what meant that sedan chair, and the King
every moment stooping to put his head inside of it. It became
necessary gently to silence these questions of the troops. What


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SAINT-SIMON
effect this sight had upon foreigners present, and what they said
of it, may be imagined. All over Europe it was as much talked
of as the camp of Compiègne itself, with all its pomp and pro-
digious splendor.
A PARAGON OF POLITENESS
From the 'Memoirs>
HE Duc de Coislin died about this time. I have related in its
proper place an adventure that happened to him and his
brother, the Chevalier de Coislin: now I will say something
more of the duke. He was a very little man, of much humor
and virtue, but of a politeness that was unendurable, and that
passed all bounds, though not incompatible with dignity. He had
been lieutenant-general in the army. Upon one occasion, after
a battle in which he had taken part, one of the Rhingraves who
had been made prisoner fell to his lot. The Duc de Coislin
wished to give up to the other his bed, which consisted indeed
of but a mattress. They complimented each other so much, the
one pressing, the other refusing, that in the end they both slept
on the ground, leaving the mattress between them. The Rhin-
grave in due time came to Paris and called on the Duc de
Coislin. When he was going, there was such a profusion of
compliments, and the duke insisted so much on seeing him out,
that the Rhingrave, as a last resource, ran out of the room and
double-locked the door outside. M. de Coislin was not thus to
be outdone. His apartments were only a few feet above the
ground. He opened the window accordingly, leaped out into the
court, and arrived thus at the entrance door before the Rhin-
grave, who thought the Devil must have carried him there. The
Duc de Coislin, however, had managed to put his thumb out
of joint by this leap. He called in Félix, chief surgeon of the
King, who soon put the thumb to rights. Soon afterwards Félix
made a call upon M. de Coislin to see how he was, and found
that the cure was perfect. As he was about to leave, M. de
Coislin must needs open the door for him. Félix, with a shower
of bows, tried hard to prevent this; and while they were thus
vying in politeness, each with a hand upon the door, the duke
suddenly drew back; - he had put his thumb out of joint again,
and Félix was obliged to attend to it on the spot! It may be


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SAINT-SIMON
12719
imagined what laughter this story caused the King, and every-
body else, when it became known.
There was no end to the outrageous civilities of M. de Coislin.
On returning from Fontainebleau one day, we- that is, Madame
de Saint-Simon and myself - encountered M. de Coislin and his
son, M. de Metz, on foot upon the pavement of Ponterry, where
their coach had broken down. We sent word, accordingly, that
we should be glad to accommodate them in ours.
But message
followed message on both sides; and at last I was compelled to
alight and to walk through the mud, begging them to mount
into my coach. M. de Coislin, yielding to my prayers, consented
to this: M. de Metz was furious with him for his compliments,
and at last prevailed on him. When M. de Coislin had accepted
my offer, and we had nothing more to do than to gain the coach,
he began to capitulate, and to protest that he would not dis-
place the two young ladies he saw seated in the vehicle. I told
him that the two young ladies were chambermaids, who could
well afford to wait until the other carriage was mended, and then
continue their journey in that. But he would not hear of this;
and at last, all that M. de Metz and I could do was to compro-
mise the matter by agreeing to take one of the chambermaids
with us. When we arrived at the coach, they both descended,
in order to allow us to mount. During the compliments that
passed, and they were not short, I told the servant who held
the coach-door open, to close it as soon as I was inside, and
to order the coachman to drive on at once. This was done; but
M.
de Coislin immediately began to cry aloud that he would
jump out if we did not stop for the young ladies: and he set
himself to do so in such an odd manner that I had only time to
catch hold of the belt of his breeches and hold him back; but he
still, with his head hanging out of the window, exclaimed that
he would leap out, and pulled against me. At this absurdity I
called to the coachman to stop; the duke with difficulty recovered
himself, and persisted that he would have thrown himself out.
The chambermaid was ordered to mount, and mount she did, all
covered with mud, which daubed us; and she nearly crushed M.
de Metz and me in this carriage fit only for four.
-
M. de Coislin could not bear that at parting anybody should
give him the "last touch": a piece of sport, rarely cared for ex-
cept in early youth, and out of which arises a chase by the per-
son touched, in order to catch him by whom he has been touched.


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SAINT-SIMON
One evening when the court was at Nancy, and just as every.
body was going to bed, M. de Longueville spoke a few words in
private to two of his torch-bearers; and then touching the Duc
de Coislin, said he had given him the last touch, and scampered
away, the duke hotly pursuing him. Once a little in advance,
M. de Longueville hid himself in a doorway, allowed M. de Cois-
lin to pass on, and then went quietly home to bed. Meanwhile
the duke, lighted by the torch-bearers, searched for M. de Longue-
ville all over the town; but meeting with no success, was obliged
to give up the chase, and went home all in a sweat.
He was
obliged of course to laugh a good deal at this joke, but he evi-
dently did not like it overmuch.
With all his politeness, which was in no way put on, M. de
Coislin could when he pleased show a great deal of firmness,
and a resolution to maintain his proper dignity worthy of much
praise. At Nancy, on this same occasion, the Duc de Créqui, not
finding apartments provided for him to his taste on arriving in
town, went in his brutal manner and seized upon those allotted
to the Duc de Coislin. The latter, arriving a moment after,
found his servants turned into the street, and soon learned who
had sent them there. M. de Créqui had precedence of him in
rank; he said not a word, therefore, but went to the apartments
provided for the Maréchal de Créqui (brother of the duke), and
serving him exactly as he himself had just been served, took up
his quarters there. The Maréchal de Créqui arrived in his
turn, learned what had occurred, and immediately seized upon
the apartments of Cavoye, in order to teach him how to provide
quarters in future so as to avoid all disputes.
On another occasion, M. de Coislin went to the Sorbonne to
listen to a thesis sustained by the second son of M. de Bouillon.
When persons of distinction gave these discourses, it was cus-
tomary for the princes of the blood, and for many of the court,
to go and hear them. M. de Coislin was at that time almost
last in order of precedence among the dukes. When he took his
seat, therefore, knowing that a number of them would probably
arrive, he left several rows of vacant places in front of him, and
sat himself down. Immediately afterward, Novion, Chief Presi-
dent of the Parliament, arrived and seated himself in front of
M. de Coislin. Astonished at this act of madness, M. de Coislin
said not a word, but took an arm-chair; and while Novion turned
his head to speak to Cardinal de Bouillon, placed that arm-chair


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SAINT-SIMON
12721
right in front of the Chief President, in such a manner that he
was as it were imprisoned, and unable to stir. M. de Coislin then
sat down. This was done so rapidly that nobody saw it until
it was finished. When once it was observed, a great stir arose.
Cardinal de Bouillon tried to intervene. M. de Coislin replied,
that since the Chief President had forgotten his position he must
be taught it; and would not budge. The other presidents were
in a fright; and Novion, enraged by the offense put on him,
knew not what to do. It was in vain that Cardinal de Bouillon
on one side, and his brother on the other, tried to persuade M.
de Coislin to give way. He would not listen to them. They
sent a message to him to say that somebody wanted to see him
at the door on most important business. But this had no effect.
"There is no business so important," replied M. de Coislin, "as
that of teaching M. le Premier Président what he owes me; and
nothing will make me go from this place unless M. le Président,
whom you see behind me, goes away first. ”
At last M. le Prince was sent for; and he with much per-
suasion endeavored to induce M. de Coislin to release the Chief
President from his prison. But for some time M. de Coislin
would listen as little to M. le Prince as he had listened to the
others, and threatened to keep Novion thus shut up during all
the thesis. At length he consented to set the Chief President
free, but only on condition that he left the building immediately;
that M. le Prince should guarantee this; and that no "juggling
tricks" (that was the term he made use of) should be played off
to defeat the agreement. M. le Prince at once gave his word
that everything should be as he required; and M. de Coislin then
rose, moved away his arm-chair, and said to the Chief President,
"Go away, sir! go away, sir! Novion did on the instant go
away, in the utmost confusion, and jumped into his coach. M. de
Coislin thereupon took back his chair to its former position, and
composed himself to listen again.
>>>>
On every side M. de Coislin was praised for the firmness he
had shown. The princes of the blood called upon him the same
evening, and complimented him for the course he had adopted;
and so many other visitors came during the evening that his
house was quite full until a late hour. On the morrow the
King also praised him for his conduct, and severely blamed the
Chief President. Nay more: he commanded the latter to go to
M. de Coislin, at his house, and beg pardon of him. It is easy to
XXII-796


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SAINT-SIMON
comprehend the shame and despair of Novion at being ordered
to take so humiliating a step, especially after what had already
happened to him. He prevailed upon M. de Coislin, through
the mediation of friends, to spare him this pain; and M. de Cois-
lin had the generosity to do so. He agreed therefore that when
Novion called upon him he would pretend to be out, and this
was done. The King, when he heard of it, praised very highly
the forbearance of the duke.
He was not an old man when he died; but was eaten up with
the gout, which he sometimes had in his eyes, in his nose, and
in his tongue. When in this state, his room was filled with the
best company.
He was very generally liked, was truth itself in
his dealings and his words, and was one of my friends, as he
had been the friend of my father before me.
A MODERN HARPY
From the 'Memoirs'
THE
HE Princesse d'Harcourt was a sort of personage whom it is
good to make known, in order better to lay bare a court
which did not scruple to receive such as she. She had
once been beautiful and gay; but though not old, all her grace
and beauty had vanished. The rose had become an ugly thorn.
At the time I speak of she was a tall, fat creature, mightily brisk
in her movements, with a complexion like milk-porridge; great,
ugly, thick lips, and hair like tow, always sticking out and hang-
ing down in disorder, like all the rest of her fittings-out. Dirty,
slatternly, always intriguing, pretending, enterprising, quarreling,
- always low as the grass or high as the rainbow, according to
the person with whom she had to deal,- she was a blonde Fury,
nay more, a Harpy: she had all the effrontery of one, and the
deceit and violence; all the avarice and the audacity: moreover,
all the gluttony, and all the promptitude to relieve herself from
the effects thereof; so that she drove out of their wits those at
whose house she dined; was often a victim of her confidence;
and was many a time sent to the Devil by the servants of M. du
Maine and M. le Grand. She was never in the least embar-
rassed, however, tucked up her petticoats and went her way; then
returned, saying she had been unwell. People were accustomed
to it.


## p. 12723 (#137) ##########################################

SAINT-SIMON
12723
Whenever money was to be made by scheming and bribery,
she was there to make it. At play she always cheated, and if
found out stormed and raged; but pocketed what she had won.
People looked upon her as they would have looked upon a fish-
fag, and did not like to commit themselves by quarreling with
her. At the end of every game she used to say that she gave
whatever might have been unfairly gained to those who had
gained it, and hoped that others would do likewise. For she
was very devout by profession, and thought by so doing to put
her conscience in safety; because, she used to add, in play there
is always some mistake. She went to church always, and con-
stantly took the sacrament, very often after having played until
four o'clock in the morning.
One day when there was a grand fête at Fontainebleau, Ma-
dame la Maréchale de Villeroy persuaded her out of malice to
sit down and play, instead of going to evening prayers. She re-
sisted some time, saying that Madame de Maintenon was going:
but the Maréchale laughed at her for believing that her patron
could see who was and who was not at the chapel; so down they
sat to play. When the prayers were over, Madame de Maintenon,
by the merest accident for she scarcely ever visited any one.
went to the apartments of the Maréchale de Villeroy. The door
was flung back, and she was announced. This was a thunderbolt
for the Princesse d'Harcourt. "I am ruined," cried she, unable
to restrain herself: "she will see me playing, and I ought to have
been at chapel! " Down fell the cards from her hands, and down
fell she all abroad in her chair. The Maréchale laughed most
heartily at so complete an adventure. Madame de Maintenon
entered slowly, and found the princess in this state, with five or
six persons.
The Maréchale de Villeroy, who was full of wit,
began to say that whilst doing her a great honor, Madame was
the cause of great disorder; and showed her the Princesse d'Har-
court in her state of discomfiture. Madame de Maintenon smiled
with majestic kindness, and addressing the Princesse d'Harcourt,
"Is this the way," said she, "that you go to prayers? " There-
upon the princess flew out of her half-faint into a sort of fury:
said that this was the kind of trick that was played off upon
her; that no doubt the Maréchale knew that Madame de Main-
was coming, and for that reason had persecuted her to
play. "Persecuted! " exclaimed the Maréchale: "I thought I could
not receive you better than by proposing a game; it is true you.
-
―――――――


## p. 12724 (#138) ##########################################

12724
SAINT-SIMON
were for a moment troubled at missing the chapel, but your
tastes carried the day. This, madame, is my whole crime," con-
tinued she, addressing Madame de Maintenon. Upon this, every-
body laughed louder than before. Madame de Maintenon, in
order to stop the quarrel, commanded them both to continue
their game; and they continued accordingly, the Princesse d'Har-
court, still grumbling, quite beside herself, blinded with fury, so
as to commit fresh mistakes every minute. So ridiculous an
adventure diverted the court for several days; for this beautiful
princess was equally feared, hated, and despised.
Monseigneur le Duc and Madame la Duchesse de Bourgogne
continually played off pranks upon her. They put, one day,
crackers all along the avenue of the château at Marly, that led
to the Perspective where she lodged. She was horribly afraid
of everything. The duke and duchess bribed two porters to be
ready to take her into the mischief. When she was right in the
middle of the avenue the crackers began to go off, and she to
cry aloud for mercy; the chairmen set her down and ran for it.
There she was, then, struggling in her chair furiously enough to
upset it, and yelling like a demon. At this the company, which
had gathered at the door of the château to see the fun, ran
to her assistance, in order to have the pleasure of enjoying the
scene more fully. Thereupon she set to abusing everybody right
and left, commencing with Monseigneur and Madame la Duchesse
de Bourgogne. At another time M. de Bourgogne put a cracker
under her chair in the salon, where she was playing at piquet.
As he was about to set fire to this cracker, some charitable soul
warned him that it would maim her, and he desisted.
Sometimes they used to send about twenty Swiss guards, with
drums, into her chamber, who roused her from her first sleep by
their horrid din. Another time-and these scenes were always
at Marly - they waited until very late for her to go to bed and
sleep. She lodged not far from the post of the Captain of the
Guards, who was at that time the Maréchal de Lorges. It had
snowed very hard, and had frozen. Madame la Duchesse de
Bourgogne and her suite gathered snow from the terrace which
is on a level with their lodgings; and in order to be better sup-
plied, waked up to assist them the Maréchal's people, who did
not let them want for ammunition. Then with a false key and
lights, they gently slipped into the chamber of the Princesse
d'Harcourt; and suddenly drawing the curtains of her bed, pelted
-


## p. 12725 (#139) ##########################################

SAINT-SIMON
12725
her amain with snowballs. The filthy creature, waking up with
a start, bruised and stifled in snow, with which even her ears
were filled, with disheveled hair, yelling at the top of her voice,
and wriggling like an eel, without knowing where to hide, formed
a spectacle that diverted people more than half an hour; so that
at last the nymph swam in her bed, from which the water flowed
everywhere, slushing all the chamber. It was enough to make
one die of laughter. On the morrow she sulked, and was more
than ever laughed at for her pains.
Her fits of sulkiness came over her either when the tricks
played were too violent, or when M. le Grand abused her. He
thought, very properly, that a person who bore the name of
Lorraine should not put herself so much on the footing of a
buffoon: and as he was a rough speaker, he sometimes said the
most abominable things to her at table; upon which the princess
would burst out crying, and then, being enraged, would sulk.
The Duchesse de Bourgogne used then to pretend to sulk too;
but the other did not hold out long, and came crawling back to
her, crying, begging pardon for having sulked, and praying that
she might not cease to be a source of amusement! After some
time the duchess would allow herself to be melted, and the prin-
cess was more villainously treated than ever; for the Duchesse
de Bourgogne had her own way in everything: neither the King
nor Madame de Maintenon found fault with what she did, so
that the Princesse d'Harcourt had no resource; she did not even
dare to complain of those who aided in tormenting her: yet
it would not have been prudent in any one to make her an
enemy.
The Princesse d'Harcourt paid her servants so badly that they
concocted a return. One fine day they drew up on the Pont
Neuf; the coachmen and footmen got down, and came and spoke
to her at the door in language she was not used to hear. Her
ladies and chambermaid got down and went away, leaving her
to shift as she might. Upon this she set herself to harangue the
blackguards who collected, and was only too happy to find a
man who mounted upon the seat and drove her home. Another
time, Madame de Saint-Simon, returning from Versailles, over-
took her walking in full dress in the street, and with her train
under her arms. Madame de Saint-Simon stopped, offered her
assistance, and found she had been again left by her servants
on the Pont Neuf. It w volume second of that story; and


## p. 12726 (#140) ##########################################

12726
SAINT-SIMON
even when she came back she found her house deserted, every
one having gone away at once by agreement.
She was very
violent with her servants, beat them, and changed them every
day.
Upon one occasion, she took into her service a strong and
robust chambermaid, to whom, from the first day of her arrival,
she gave many slaps and boxes on the ear. The chambermaid
said nothing, but after submitting to this treatment for five or six
days, conferred with the other servants; and one morning, while
in her mistress's room, locked the door without being perceived,
said something to bring down punishment upon her, and at the
first box on the ear she received, flew upon the Princesse d'Har-
court, gave her no end of thumps and slaps, knocked her down,
kicked her, mauled her from her head to her feet, and when she
was tired of this exercise, left her on the ground, all torn and
disheveled, howling like a devil. The chambermaid then quitted
the room, double-locked the door on the outside, gained the stair-
case, and fled the house.
Every day the princess was fighting, or mixed up in some
adventures. Her neighbors at Marly said they could not sleep
for the riot she made at night; and I remember that after one of
these scenes, everybody went to see the room of the Duchesse de
Villeroy and that of Madame d'Espinoy, who had put their beds
in the middle of their room, and who related their night vigils
to every one.
Such was this favorite of Madame de Maintenon; so insolent
and so insupportable to every one, but who had favors and pref-
erences for those who brought her over, and who had raised so
many young men, amassed wealth for them, and made herself
feared even by the prince and minister.


## p. 12727 (#141) ##########################################

12727
ADAM DE SAINT VICTOR
(TWELFTH CENTURY)
BY MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN
HE Latin hymns or sequences of Adam de Saint Victor came
from that great period, the Middle Ages, so wonderful and
so misconceived. They belong to literature because they
reflect the vital motive of the time, Faith; because they are expres-
sions of the personality of their author; and because their style is
governed by delicate canons of art little understood by the modern
world of poetry-lovers.
To the strict classicist, to the man who reverences Horace and
Catullus, their rhymes are an abomination. But to one who ap-
proaches these sacred poems of the twelfth century remembering
that they were part of that greater religious poem, the daily sacrifice
of the Catholic Church, they are worthy of critical study, and they
will amply repay it. They can neither be studied nor even dimly
appreciated through the medium of translations. They are as intri-
cate and technical as the Gothic architecture of the time which pro-
duced them; they have the sonorousness and aspirational cadence,
without the simplicity, of the Gregorian chant which their music
seems to echo; and above all, they are musical.
The sequence was sung between the Epistle and Gospel of the
Mass. It was called "a prose," too, because in no regular metre;
but in the Middle Ages these sequences, which were at first merely
prolongations of "the last note of the Alleluia," were arranged for
all feasts of the Church in such profusion that much weak and care-
less "prose" crept in. The consequence was that by the revision
of the Roman Missal in the sixteenth century, only the 'Victimæ
Paschali (for Easter), the 'Veni Sancte Spiritus' (for Pentecost),
'Lauda Sion' (for Corpus Christi), and 'Dies Iræ' (in masses for the
dead), were retained. In this revision, the thirty-nine sequences of
Adam de Saint Victor disappeared from general usage. M. Félix Clé-
ment, in an enthusiastic notice of Saint Victor's poetry, regrets this,
and welcomes M. Charles Barthélemy's edition of the sequences as an
act of reparation to a genius too long misunderstood.
There is no doubt that the almost merciless precision of Adam
de Saint Victor's rhyme had a great influence on French poetry,


## p. 12728 (#142) ##########################################

12728
ADAM DE SAINT VICTOR
although neither his rhythm nor rhyme ever reaches the monotony
of the later French recurrences; and some of the poems are most
exquisitely lyrical, artificial, and intricate, yet with an appearance of
simplicity that might easily deceive the unlearned in the metrical
modes of the twelfth century. Take for instance the sequence begin-
ning Virgini Mariæ Laudes. ' It is a marvel of skill; it has the
quaintness of an old ballad and the play on words of a rondeau. It
is modeled on the Easter sequence of the monk Notker, with, as
M. Clément says,
"extraordinary skill. " It is untranslatable: no
prose version can represent it, and no metrical imitation reproduce
its unique shades of verbiage. In the sequence Of the Holy Ghost,'
occur the famous lines which were part of the liturgy of France for
four centuries:-
"THOU who art Giver and the gift,
Who from the naught all good didst lift,
Incline our hearts thy name to praise,
And form our words thy songs to raise,-
Thee, thee high lauding. "
(Tu qui dator es et donum,
Tu qui condis omne bonum,
Cor ad laudem redde pronum,
Nostræ linguæ formans sonum,-
In tua præconia. )
---
Adam de Saint Victor was born in the twelfth century, and he
died in either 1177 or 1192. It is certain that he was a canon regu-
lar of the Abbey of Saint-Victor-les-Paris; he composed certain trea-
tises, and lived, honored and admired, for a part of his life under the
rule of the Abbot Guérin, and was regarded as the foremost poet of
his time. He drew his inspiration from the sacred Scriptures; and
he applied both the teachings and the splendid figures of the Bible
with the force and fervor of Dante. Modern hymn-writers who
seem to grow weaker every year- would do well to study the eleva-
tion and harmony of Adam de Saint Victor: he is a mine of riches.
In the 'Carmina e Poetis Christianis (Songs from Christian Poets),
etc. , by M. Félix Clément (Paris, Gaume & Co. ), and in an appendix
to M. Charles Barthélemy's translation into French of the 'Rationale
Divinorum Officiorum' (Rationale of Divine Services), the material
for a study of this poet's work may be found. An analysis of the
sequence Of the Resurrection of Our Lord,' a prose version of which
is given below, will show the skill with which it is constructed, - a
skill as technical as that of a Petrarcan sonnet. The rhythm is as
marked as the time of a military march.
-


## p. 12729 (#143) ##########################################

ADAM DE SAINT VICTOR
12729
DE RESURRECTIONE DOMINI
MUNDI renovatio
Nova parit gaudia;
Resurgenti Domino,
Corresurgent omnia,
Elementa serviunt
Et autoris sentiunt
Quanta sint solemnia.
Ignis volat mobilis,
Et aër volubilis,
Fluit aqua labalis,
Terra manet stabilis,
Alta petunt levia,
Centrum tenent gravia,
Renovantur omnia.
Cœlum fit serenius,
Et mare tranquillius,
Spirat aura levius,
Vallis nostra floruit,
Revirescunt arida,
Recalescunt frigida,
Post quas ver intepuit.
Gelu mortis solvitur,
Princeps mundi tollitur,
Et ejus destruitur,
In nobis imperium,
Dum tenere voluit
In quo nihil habuit
Jus amisit proprium.
Vita mortem superat;
Homo jam recuperat
Quod priùs amiserat,
Paradisi gaudium.