PARIS, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1680.
I think you extremely fortunate in the society of Madame du Janet, who
is come on purpose for you; this is a friendship that pleases me. I
am fully persuaded her whole employment will be to take care of your
health; pray embrace her for me. You give yourself very little concern
about the vanities of this world; I think I see you constantly retiring
and going to bed, leaving the rest to sing and dance by themselves; you
will have rest for your money, as I told you the other day.
Montgobert has related to me, very pleasantly, the maneuvers of the
beautiful Iris, and the jealousy of the count; I dare say he will often
see the moon with this beauty; he has revenged himself for this time,
by a very pretty song. Montgobert made me laugh at her respect for
M. de Grignan. She had written, that he came to the ball _la gueule
enfarinée_ (full of expectation): she recollected herself, erased
the _gueule_, and wrote the _bouche_, so that it is now _la bouche
enfarinée_.
The gendarmes are quite bewildered. My son goes to Flanders, instead
of meeting the dauphiness. The army is assembling, they say, to take
Charlemont.[175] We know nothing certain, except that the officers are
going to the army, and that in a month there will be an army of fifty
thousand infantry. The chevalier’s regiment is not one of them.
[175] One of the conditions of the treaty with Spain was, that
France, with other places that were given up to her, should have
either Dinant or Charlemont. But the emperor, whose consent
was necessary, having preferred keeping Dinant, France was
put in possession of Charlemont. There was only a military
demonstration. It was upon this acquisition of Charlemont, M. de
Coulanges wrote some verses ending with,
Louis est un enfant gâté; On lui laisse tout faire.
“Louis is a spoiled child; he is suffered to do what he pleases.”
This complaisance throughout Europe cost dear to France. The
king, habituated thus to have his own way, adopted three fatal
resolutions: he revoked the Edict of Nantes, protected James II.,
and accepted the testament of the King of Spain.
The chamber of the arsenal is again sitting. One of the committee,
whose name is not mentioned, said to M. de la Reynie: “But, sir, as far
as I see, we are only employed about sorceries and witchcraft, such
diabolical proceedings, of which the parliament of Paris never takes
cognizance. Our commission is, to try the case of poisoning; how comes
it that we inquire into any thing else?” La Reynie was surprised, and
said, “Sir, we have secret orders.” “Be so good, sir,” replied the
other, “as to communicate those orders to us, and we will obey them
as well as you; but, as we are without your knowledge, I think I say
nothing contrary to reason and justice, in thus expressing myself.” I
am of opinion you will not blame this man’s honesty, though he does not
wish to be known. There are so many, persons of worth belonging to this
chamber, that you will find it difficult to guess who he is.
The little Prince de Léon was baptized yesterday at Saint Gervais, by
a bishop of Brittany; M. de Rennes stood godfather, as representing
the States of Brittany; the duchess was godmother. The rest were all
Brittany folks: the Governor of Brittany, the Lieutenant-General of
Brittany, the Treasurer of Brittany, the Deputies of Brittany, several
Lords of Brittany, the Presidents of Brittany, father and son. In
short, had there been a dance, they would have danced Brittany dances;
and have eaten Brittany butter, had it been a meager day. I assure you,
my son feels all the secret power which attaches the Bretons to their
country; he is returned perfectly enchanted with it. He has begun,
for the first time in his life, to admire Tonquedec, and to think him
worthy of imitation. It would be like stopping the course of the Rhône,
to oppose this torrent, which carries him so far as even to dispose him
to sell his place. He said this to Gourville and several others, before
he mentioned it to me. He assigns very good reasons. He looks forward.
He fears the disgusts which may be occasioned by means of M. de la
Trousse. He is sorry for those who are appointed to the gendarmerie,
and has no wish to be ruined. The sum of the matter is, that by thus
discovering his inmost heart, he would reduce us to the necessity of
saying, “Certainly, he is perfectly in the right to sell his place.”
I can not reproach myself with concealing what my duty obliged me to
say on this strange resolution, in which I expressed myself with the
freedom I sometimes indulge myself in. I desired him to wait for at
least some pretext, some shadow of dissatisfaction; in short, to stay
for something that may serve to keep his real thoughts undiscovered.
But it was to no purpose; for all M. de la Garde and I have been
able to do, is to beg he will not interfere. We are overjoyed at his
absence, as it may be a means of preventing his doing injury to his
affairs, by decrying his own goods. I told him it was very unfortunate
to value commissions merely from whim and caprice, by his liking and
disliking; to pay an exorbitant price for the ensigncy, because he was
wild for it--to rate the sub-lieutenancy at nothing, because he is
disgusted with it. Is it thus we would buy and sell, unless we were
fools, ignorant of business, and wished to ruin ourselves? Adieu,
my beloved child; be not uneasy on this account. Let us adore the
dispensations of Providence, whose kindness sends us no greater subject
of complaint. I shall still possess my mind in liberty, for I shall
still be as much yours as ever. This will make no change in me; quite
the contrary, quite the contrary.