To-day, Monday, November the 17th, 1664, M. Fouquet was brought a
second time before the chancellor. He seated himself without ceremony
upon the sellette,[264] as he had done the first time. The chancellor
began by bidding him hold up his hand. He replied, that he had already
assigned the reasons which prevented him from taking the oath. The
chancellor then made a long speech to prove the legal authority of the
court, that it had been established by the king, and that the warrants
had been confirmed by the parliament.
[264] Stool on which a prisoner sits.
M. Fouquet replied, that things were often done under the name of legal
authority which were found upon reflection to be unjust.
The chancellor interrupted him: “What! do you mean to say that the king
abuses his power?” M. Fouquet replied, “It is you, sir, who say it, not
I; this was not my idea, and, in my present situation, I can not but
wonder at your wishing to implicate me still further with his majesty;
but, sir, you yourself well know that we may be mistaken. When you
sign a sentence, you believe it just, yet the next day you annul that
sentence; thus you see it is possible to change our opinion.”
“But,” said the chancellor, “though you will not acknowledge the power
of the court, you answer and put interrogatories, and you are now
upon the sellette.” “It is true, I am so,” he replied, “but it is not
voluntarily; I am brought here against my will; it is a power I must
obey, and a mortification which God has inflicted upon me, and which
I receive from his hands; after the services I have rendered, and the
offices I have had the honor to bear, I might have been spared this
humiliation.”
The chancellor then continued the examination respecting the pension
of the gabelles, to which the replies of M. Fouquet were extremely
satisfactory. The examination will proceed, and I shall send you a
faithful account of it; I am anxious to know whether my letters come
safely to your hands.
Your sister, who is with our ladies at the Faubourg, has signed; she is
now with the community, and seems perfectly satisfied.
Your aunt does not appear at all displeased with her; I did not think
it was she who had taken the leap, but some other person. You know,
of course, of our defeat at Gigeri,[265] and as those who formed the
plan wish to throw the failure upon those who executed it, they intend
to bring Gadagne to trial. There are some who will be satisfied with
nothing less than his head; but the public is persuaded that he could
not have advised otherwise than he did. M. d’Aleth, who excommunicated
the subaltern officers of the king, who were for compelling the clergy
to sign, is very much talked of here. This will ruin him with your
father, while it will bring him into favor with Père Annat.[266]
[265] The first expedition against Algiers.
[266] A jesuit, confessor of Louis XIV.
Adieu! The desire of gossiping has seized me, but I must not yield to
it; the narrative style should be concise.