Part 25 (1/2)
”This is indeed,” said he, ”a ular history; and I think you have acted very wisely in putting an end to all such interference on the part of the police; for in such cases you frequently run great risks to procure a trifling gratification We have seen so of the same sort in our family”
This discourse excited my curiosity; and I entreated of hiht not to do so,” replied he; ”such transactions should be kept for ever concealed; but as more than half a century has elapsed since the event I allude to took place, I think I iously observed until now You are the only person I have ever mentioned it to, and I must bind you to the strictest secrecy”
This I faithfully pro as Louis XV lived I keptthe , ”it happened that Louis XIV, and ether soer, in order to ascertain whether the coood or ill to them As neither of them knehom to apply, in order to attain their object, madame de Maintenon was compelled to confide her wishes to her friend, ed to find for her the person she required; for, spite of the severity hich the law visited such practices, there was no scarcity of dealers in augury, who proly as they were paid for it
”Whilst this lady was ent search after one perfectly competent to satisfy , despite the superiority of their reatly disturbed at the probable consequences of the step they meditated Their desire to penetrate into futurity appeared to thes triumphed; and the result of their deliberations was that far fro the book of fate, they should lose neither pains nor trouble to attain their object; and to encourage each other, they reckoned upon their fingers the na to the court, who had derived profit and advantage from the predictions of fortune-tellers
”The minds of all at this period were still is, of which iven an We have become either more wicked or more sceptical, whichever you please to ters predicted were accoht serve to overthrow the finest argureatest philosophers, and which has indeed destroyed enious theories Doubtless the hidden laws of nature have reference to other beings than ourselves; and, beyond dispute, overn the creatures of an unknoorld as well as exercising control over poor ive you the precise wording, the king continued as follows:
”On the following day madame de Montchevreuil paid a visit to madame de Maintenon, in which she declared, that upon mature reflection, she could not proceed with the co Providence, and had better be abandoned This remonstrance had no effect upon madame de Maintenon, who shi+elded herself fro to herself, that she had pledged herself to join Louis XIV in the undertaking, and it would never do for her to forfeit her character for fir and capricious However, she feigned a see compliance with the advice of madame de Montchevreuil, whilst, in reality, herher project
”There was in her household a female as not i as such; one of those active, stirring persons, who thrust themselves into a noble family under the equivocal title of half servant, half lady This one had charge of all the necessary purchases of linen, Engaged the servants, kept watch over their conduct, procured for the ht require upon any subject; and took upon herself, in a word, any piece of service by which she could more firmly plant herself in the faes, but their absence was abundantly compensated in the numerous rich presents that were continuallyapart that of madame de Maintenon in the castle A person of this description (as may be readily supposed) knew the world too well to find any difficulty in procuring a ht be confidently relied on, it was resolved by her n
”Two days after, she had re an Italian priest, famed as the most skilful necromancer of his day, one who undertook to reveal the decrees of fate to all those who should consult him, as clearly and readily as tho' its leaves lay open, as a book before his eyes But this gifted person lived in the ut the notice of parliament, and exercised his art only under the strictest assurances of secrecy, in the most retired and secluded manner, with every precaution to prevent the possibility of a surprise
”These conditions were too gratifying toto theed, that the prophet and his new applicants shouldto the royal family, then in the occupation of madame Cerfol (the lady of whom mention has been already made) The marchioness was to repair thither at one o'clock in the le friend To have taken such a ht would have been to proclaim their secret to all Paris One person besides madame de Cerfol was necessarily admitted into their confidence, and that was the duc de Noailles, as charged, by the king's express orders, to take every possible precaution to ensure their safety, as far as it could be done without attracting public attention to so extraordinary an affair
”At the hour appointed e which awaited theates, and soon conveyed the night This wretched man had celebrated alone the sacrifice of theconfirmed the opinion, that the conjuror, up to the present moment, merely supposed himself sent for to satisfy the curiosity of some country nobleer to read their future fortune thro' his assistance I can only suppose, if he had been in ignorance of the real rank of those who addressed hi must have quickly undeceived him, as the conclusion of the story proves he well knehom he spoke when he delivered his prediction However this may have been, he was no sooner alone with the marchioness, than he commenced the necessary preparations for the performance of his sorceries and enchantments; he burned perfumes, offered prayers, and with loud invocations adjured the powers of hell to answer hi sound which pervaded the whole building, during the heavy swell of noises too dreadful to have arisen fro to and fro, he drew the horoscope of the king and madame de Maintenon He pros; and that, on the very day on which he spoke the words (the 2nd of October) one of his children had been called to the inheritance of an i him a small packet, wrapped in new parchment, 'The day in which you for yourself with the contents of this packet,' said he, 'will be the last of your prosperity; but if you desire to carry your good fortune to the highest pitch, be careful upon every great festival, that is to say, Easter, Whit-Sunday, the assue a pin in this talisman, so that the point shall pass directly thro' it; observe to do this, and you will live perfectly happy'
”The king accepted this fatal present, and swore upon the Gospel never to open the packet; he richly rewarded the priest, who from that period lived in a retreat so well concealed as to evade the ht to discover it
”Some time after neas received, that on the very 2nd of October, 1700, na of Spain, had appointed in his will Philip of France, son of the dauphin, his successor and heir, an inheritance truly ier had foretold You hly this realization of the prediction inspired the king with confidence as to the fulfilment of the remainder: and, on his part, he never failed upon any saint's day or other solemn festival to stick the mysterious pin in the talisman upon which so much depended
”Nevertheless, spite of all these observances, his undertakings d id not invariably succeed, which astonished hi to be at ic and sorcery, necromancy and their horrible profanations; and he expressed hi andwhat to say, and began, for the first tiret their ith resolved to reveal their cri by his spiritual adviser was, that he should evince his contempt for the talismanic properties of the parch it
”Louis XIV did not by anyhis fault; and a sort of involuntary dread took possession of him, as, in obedience to the coic parcel, which he tore open in the presence of madame de Maintenon and father la Chaise The packet contained nothing but a consecrated wafer, pierced thro' with ashad received it At the sight of this horrible sacrilege randfather was filled with deep re tione s, and caused numberless masses to be said, that he felt hiht of his crime
”But all this was only the coeance: and those in the secret of this unfortunate affair rereat monarch lost from that time as many male descendants in a direct line as he had stuck pins into the holy wafer”
Louis XV here terular history, which struck ious terror I strove by every possible effort to dissi the eiven rise I contentedhis marvelous recital, I should only beprophet to the tranquillity he desired”
”It will be far best so,” added Louis; ”I know so many fatal results which have followed any indiscreet curiosity, that I am persuaded you had much better leave such mysterious affairs to work their own solution”
I promised to follow his advice, and we then conversed upon other subjects Since then this anecdote has recurred toto impeach the sincerity of Louis XV, I have asked myself, whether, by the opportune relation of this adventure, probably invented by himself, he did not seek to destroy the confidence I appeared to entertain in the predictions ofhad a peculiar readiness and facility in co down every circu froe collection of these legends, which he delighted in narrating; and this he did with an ease and grace of manner I have never seen equalled
About this period the prince de Conde, whose gallantry never failed, entreated the king to pay a second visit to Chantilly: and it was upon this occasion that Louis erased from the list of court ladies all those whose presence would be disagreeable toour stay at Chantilly One scene of pleasure followed another, and one fete succeeded another I acco him; and if hitherto there had existed any doubts as to the sincerity of the king's attachment, the most sceptical person would now have been convinced of the fact Louis XV was never frohtest wish; the princes of the court carefully followed his example; and such a life as I then led was abundant compensation for all the pains and anxieties I had endured from the malice and jealousy of certain females, as well as the sarcastic bitterness of men, who feared lest my influence should destroy theirs
I may, with truth, affirm that I received the honors and attention of a queen; verses, plays, all written to convey so testified the lively gratification it afforded hieneral solicitude, as well as of thedistinction His conduct towards the prince de Conde becaracious than it had ever been observed to be to the princes of the blood; for there existed a singular coolness in the royal fa looked upon it as vastly inferior to his own, because it had been separated from the throne before the accession of Henry IV to the crown; he even asserted, that there was much to be said upon this subject, and prudence compels me to pass over the many histories and circumstances related by him to me of this brilliant portion of his noble race
Neither the prince de Conde, whom I kneell, nor the prince de la Marche, entertained ard for their relations; and they had always so the posterity of Louis XIII There is one historical fact which has never been cleared up
One day I was conversing with the co the parlia my fear, that, if driven to desperate measures, the people would rise in open rebellion in favor of the istracy ”They would be still more clamororous,” replied he, ”if they knew all I could tell them”