Secret memoirs of the court of Louis xiv, and of the regency; extracted from the German correspondance of the duchess of Orleans

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Page 99 - ... slices of ham, a dish of pastry, and, afterwards, fruit and sweetmeats. The King and Monsieur were very fond of hard eggs. Louis XIV. understood perfectly the art of satisfying people, even while he reproved their requests, His manners were most affable ; and he spoke with so much politeness as to win all hearts.
Page 95 - ... cruelly ; but the latter rewarded her for this in exposing her falsehood and in unmasking her to the world. As soon as the King had undeceived Her Majesty with respect to this woman, her history became notorious, and the Queen amused herself in relating her triumph, as she called it, to everybody. The King and Monsieur had been accustomed from their childhood to great filthiness in the interior of their houses ; so much so, that they did not know it ought to be otherwise, and yet, in their persons,...
Page 80 - Pure la Chaise, had persuaded him that all the sins he had committed with Madame de Montespan, would be pardoned if he persecuted and extirpated the professors of the reformed religion ; and that this was the only path to heaven. The poor King believed it fervently, for he had never seen a bible in his life : and immediately after this, the persecution commenced.
Page 300 - ... the interior had answered to the exterior I should have had nothing to say against him. He was, however, a very bad man, and his friends were no better than he. Three or four years before my husband's death, and for his satisfaction, I was reconciled with the Chevalier, and from that time he did me no mischief. He was always before so much afraid of being sent away that he used to tell Monsieur he ought to know what I was saying and doing, that he might be apprised of any attempt that should...
Page 174 - Fitz-Morris and other persons respecting the succession to the crown of France, in the event of the death of Louis XV. The claim of Philip V. of Spain is there supported by a Jesuit among other persons ; but upon grounds so weak, that all the advantage of the dispute lies on the side of the Duke of Orleans.
Page 52 - He promised, and we were very well satisfied with each other. It was, besides, very disagreeable to sleep with Monsieur; he could not bear any one to touch him when he was asleep, so that I was obliged to lie on the very edge of the bed ; whence it sometimes happened that I fell out like a sack.
Page 446 - But," he said, turning himself slowly round, " who is the fool that asked me this question ? " Father Joseph was in great favour with Cardinal Richelieu, and was consulted by him on all occasions. One day, when the Cardinal had summoned Duke Bernard to the Council, Father Joseph, running his finger over a map, said, " Monsieur, you must first take this city ; then that, and then that." The Duke Bernard listened to him for some time, and at length said, " But, Monsieur Joseph, you cannot take cities...
Page 348 - Law : Aussitôt que Law arriva Dans notre grande ville, Monsieur le Régent publia Qu'il serait fort utile, Pour rétablir la nation, La faridondaine, la faridondon Mais, hélas ! il nous enrichit, Biribi, A la façon de Barbari, Mon ami.
Page 73 - But she did not tell me that she had done all in her power to persuade him of the contrary, and that the King spoke thus by way of reproaching her for the lies she had invented about me. I learned that afterwards from others. If the King had been my father I could not have loved him more than I did ; I was always pleased to be with him.
Page 404 - A knight of the Palatinate, who had served many years in India, told me at court in that country the first minister and the keeper of the seals hated each other mortally. The latter having one day occasion for the seals, found they had been taken from the casket in which they were usually kept. He was of course greatly terrified, for his head depended upon their production. He went to one of his friends, and consulted with him what he should do. His friend asked him if he had any enemies at court....

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