(_Eustache le Noble._)
Having been favoured by Mr. Gancia, of 73. King's Road, Brighton, with
an opportunity of examining the following work, I venture to send you a
notice of its contents, with some account of the author. Such books
have, I conceive, their utility to historians and historical readers. We
gain through them an accurate idea of party spirit, are brought into
more immediate communion with the opinions of the times to which they
refer, and can thus trace more closely the means by which parties
worked, were consolidated, and advanced their schemes. Even from their
personalities, we gain some gleams of truth. In this case, I am assured
that perfect copies of the work are _very scarce_. I cannot find that
any other copy has recently been offered for sale. This appeared to me
an additional reason for submitting a notice of it to your readers.
LE PIERRE DE TOUCHE POLITIQUE, OU PASQUINADES. By Eustache le
Noble. Rome (Paris), Octobre, 1688; Novembre, 1691. 5 vols. 12mo.
Each of the twenty-eight pieces which compose the work should have an
engraved title, and a separate pagination. The place of publication is
fictitious, and in general satirical. The first volume has a portrait.
The following is a collation from what is understood to form a perfect
copy:
"Tome 1. Rome, chez Francophile Alétophile. Octobre, 1691.
Le Cibisme, Le Songe de Pasquin.
Londres, Jean Benn, 1689.
Le Couronnement de Guillemot et de la Reine Guillemette,
avec le Sermon du grand Docteur Burnet.
Londres, 1689.
Le Festin de Guillemot, 1689.
La Chambre des Comptes d'Innocent XI.
Rome, F. Alétophile, 1689, with portrait.
"'These five dialogues have for interlocutors Pasquin and
Marforio, under which names the dialogues are sometimes
introduced, as also under the title of Pasquinades.' (Quérard,
art. _Le Noble._)
"Tome 2. Title (no engraved title). Janvier, 1690.
Janvier. La Bibliothèque du Roi Guillemot.
Londres, Jean Benn, 1690.
Février. La Fable du Renard.
Leyde, 1690.
Mars. La Diète d'Augsbourg.
Vienne, Peter Hansgood, 1690.
Avril. La Lotterie de Pasquin.
Basle, Eugene Tyrannomostix, 1690.
Mai. L'Ombre de Monmouth.
Oxford, _James Good King_, 1690.
Juin. Les Medaillez.
Amsterdam, Eugene Philolethe, 1690.
"Tome 3. Title.
Juillet. La Clef du Cabinet de Neufbourg.
Heidelberg, Neopolo Palatino, 1690.
Août. Le Triomphe.
Fleuruz, chez Valdekin Bienbattu, 1690.
Septembre. Les Ombres de Schomberg et de Lorraine.
Dublin, chez Le Vieux, Belle Montaigne.
Octobre. La Lanterne de Diogène.
Whitehall, chez La Veuve Guillemot. 1690.
Novembre. Les Mercures, ou la Tabatière des Etats d'Hollande.
Hermstadt, chez Emeric Hospodar, 1690.
Décembre. Le Roy des Fleurs.
A Bride, chez Leopol la Dupe.
"Tome 4. Title.
Janvier. Les Estrennes d'Esope ('burnt at Amsterdam, by the
hand of the hangman, by order of the States-General.
The dialogue had its origin, probably, in the
proscription of the History of the Republic of Holland
by the same author, which was seized wherever it was
found.'--_Peignot._).
Bruxelles, chez Jean Gobbin, 1691.
Février. L'Ombre du Duc d'Albe, with illustration.
Anvers, Antoine Maugouverne, 1691.
Mars. Le Carnaval de la Haye, with illustration.
A la Haye, chez Guillaume l'Emballeur, 1691.
Avril. Le Tabouret des Electeurs, with illustration.
Honslar dük, Guillemin Tabouret, 1691.
Mai. Le Reveille Matin des Alliez, with illustration.
A Monts, Guillaume le Chasseur, 1691.
Juin. Les Lunettes pour le Quinze Vingts.
Turin, Jean sans Terre, 1691.
"Tome 5. Title.
Juillet. Nostradamus, ou les Oracles, with illustration.
A Liege, Lambert Bonnefoi, 1691.
La Fable du Baudet Extraordinaire, with illustration.
A Asnières, chez Jean le Singe, 1691.
Août. L'Anneau des Giges, with illustration.
A Venise, Penetrante Penetranti, 1691.
Septembre. L'Avortement, with illustration.
Gerpines, chez Guillaume Desloge sur le Quai des
Morfondus au Pistolet qui prend un Rat, 1691.
Octobre. Le Jean de Retour, with illustration.
A Loo, chez Guillaume Pie de Nez, rue Perdue au Bien
Revenu, 1691.
Novembre. Le Prothée, with illustration.
Chez Pedre l'Endormy, 1691."
Eustache le Noble, Baron of St. George and of Tenelière, the author of
this work, was born at Troyes in 1643, of a good and ancient family. His
natural abilities and attainments, combined with political influence,
readily obtained for him, at an early age, the post of Procureur-Général
to the Parliament at Metz. But a dissolute life soon brought on its
consequent evils--duties neglected and discreditable debts--and he was
compelled to sell his appointment. The proceeds were insufficient, and
he had recourse to forgery to satisfy his creditors. To be successful in
such a case, more than ability is required. Le Noble was suspected,
arrested, confined in the Châtelet, and condemned to nine years'
imprisonment. Upon his appeal, he was removed to the Conciergerie, a
place destined to become another scene in his life of uniform villainy.
Gabrielle Perreau, known under the name of "La Belle Epicière," was
confined here at the instigation of her husband, who indulged in the
hope of thus reforming her disorderly conduct. But a prison is hardly a
school of reformation, and La Belle Epicière and Le Noble were not
characters to receive, even in monastic seclusion, any such impression.
He won her affections, or the mastery over her passions: the husband,
frantic with jealous rage, obtained for himself the satisfaction of
immuring her in a convent of his own selection. From this she escaped,
and joined Le Noble, who had similarly evaded the vigilance of his
keepers. By living in the vilest and least frequented quarters of Paris,
by disguises, false names, and constant changes of residence, they
succeeded in baffling the pursuit of the police for three years, when Le
Noble was accidentally discovered; the judgment of the Châtelet was
confirmed, and he was reconducted to prison. It was then that his great
resources were displayed. He retained his gaiety, and assured his
friends he still enjoyed "une parfaite tranquillité d'esprit,
inséparable de l'innocence!" A man of this kind, with a venal and
capacious intellect, and a heart utterly unconscious of the slightest
moral feeling, could not with advantage be suffered to remain
unemployed. There was work to be done for James II., and the hireling
was worthy of his hire. It was simply to lie and libel with ability,
with caution, with the appearance of loyalty, and an ardent zeal for
religion. Le Noble was equal to the task. He had written histories burnt
by the hangman; Bayle had praised him for his skill in judicial
astrology; he had composed treatises on money, and on Catholic doctrine;
compiled historical romances, and translated the Psalms of David! In
poetry he had attempted to rival La Fontaine; written the Eulogy of the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and translated Persius,--substituting
French customs for the Roman, and praising, or censuring, his
contemporaries as though he were the Roman poet and not the Paris
scribe! An ability so various was at least well paid. He received from
the booksellers, and others by whom he was retained, a hundred pistoles
a month; Peignot states, in all, about one hundred thousand crowns.
There cannot be the least doubt this was but a portion of his earnings,
or that the work I have described was not written for the Jacobite
interest of James II. But no success in such characters is ever
accompanied with prudence. Although the penalty of banishment from
France was suspended, that his venal abilities might assist the designs
of others, he was always living between luxury and the direst want. As
he advanced in years, he was less useful, and was consequently driven
from doors where he had formerly been welcomed. D'Argenson allowed him a
louis-d'or for charity per week; but all other resources failed, until,
in his sixty-eighth year, after a long period of misery, and of the
uttermost mental and bodily degradation, he died on the 31st January,
1711, and was buried at the communal expense. It cannot be denied that
Le Noble united many pleasing qualities as a writer. He had read much,
could condense ably, and united to a strong memory a rare facility in
employing its resources. He touched with light ridicule the weaker
points of a case, and could wield both reason, sarcasm and polished
inuenda in misstating facts, or damaging the argument of his
adversaries. Such a man was well adapted to the French advisers of
James. Public attention was to be engaged and won by falsehoods in the
disguise of truth; bad designs were to be cloaked under moral purposes;
and the revolution was to be discredited in the name of loyalty and
religion. All this Le Noble did with infinite ability, and infinite
obliquity. I can give but a slight sketch of his work. The _Couronnement
de Guillemot_ is a violent tirade against William. Marforio and Pasquin
converse about his coronation, and the king is described as one "qui
vouloit estre le bourreau du Prince de Galles." Churchill is "l'infame
comblé de tant de bienfaitz par son bon maître, et qui l'a vendu, trahi
et livré." In the decorations of the abbey, consisting of tapestry, &c.,
there is stated to be a representation of Pilate placing Jesus Christ
and Barabbas before the people, and the choice of Barabbas by the
latter; James occupying, in Le Noble's opinion, the place of the former.
The people he describes as preferring even "ce voleur public, ce
scélérat, ce séditieux de Barabbas, ce meurtrier qui a poignardé les
_Withs_ (Witts), à cet aimable maistre qui n'a jamais eu pour eux que de
la douceur et de la bonté." The _Sermon du grand Docteur Burnet_ is very
clever, light, pungent, and satirical, especially against the king: the
text being "Dominus regnavit, exultet terræ, lætentur insulæ." In the
_L'Ombre de Monmouth_, William is described as wishing to be "le singe
du glorieux Cromwell;" Portland, Shrewsbury, Burnet, and Dykvelt, are
"ses quatre Evangélistes;" and the king is made to utter violent
complaints against the Parliament, which he calls "une étrange beste,"
and adds: "Si je n'avois pas cassé celui que j'ai rompu pour en
convoquer un autre, toutes mes affaires s'en alloient sens dessus
dessous." In the _Estrennes d'Esope_, which was burnt by order of the
States-General, there is the following description of England:
"L'Angleterre sous son Roi légitime et ne lui donnant qu'avec
epargne comme elle faisoit le nécessaire pour son entretien,
estoit justement comme ces sages et vertueuses femmes qui, fidèles
à leurs époux, gouvernen avec un prudent économie leur ménage
reglé, et cette mesme Angleterre, qui s'épuise pour satisfaire à
l'avidité d'un tyran, est aujourd'hui comme une de ces infames
debauchées qui, emportée de fureur pour une adultère qui l'enlève
à son mari, lui fait une profusion criminelle de son bien."
In illustrations such as these, Le Noble was most happy, as with the
vice he was most familiar. The length of this paper precludes my sending
to you a pasquinade, in the epitaph written for Innocent XI., which,
considering its purport, is of value as indicating the opinions of the
Jacobites against the policy of the Pope. This I will do in another
paper.