The peace which Louis dictated to Europe at Nimeguen, February 5, 1679, raised him to his highest point of power and glory. The headship of the world seemed to be within his grasp, if indeed it was not already attained. His courtiers worshiped him as a demigod; two triumphal arches were erected to his honor in Paris; foreign governments regarded him with keen apprehension or with servile awe. He excited wonder and fear throughout the continent, for his ambitious projects of still vaster dominion seemed to threaten the safety and independence of all his neighbors. He was possessed of a strong mind, a resolute will, considerable sagacity and penetration, much aptitude for business, and an indefatigable industry. His powers of application were remarkable. When he gave direction in 1661 that he would be his own prime minister, that all business should pass through his hands, and all questions be decided directly by himself, every one expected that he would soon tire of the drudgery which this would impose; but he kept it up till the end of his life, laboring regularly in his cabinet eight hours a day. He had the most extravagant ideas of the royal prerogative. He was an absolute, irresponsible monarch, accustomed to say and mean, “The State: it is myself.” Even the property of the realm he considered as his. In an instruction to his son he declared, “Kings are absolute lords and have naturally the full and free disposal of all the goods possessed, as well by Churchmen as by laymen, to use them at all times according to the general need of their State.” Having this conception of his power, regarding his authority as delegated immediately from heaven, he surrounded himself with those who would be subservient to his will, and the one avenue of advancement was his favor; without this, virtue and merit had little or no chance of recognition. He made his court at Versailles a very splendid one, everywhere praised and admired as the model of taste and refinement. It became the center of fashion for Europe, and the only place of high attraction in the kingdom. Henri Martin, in his “History of France,” says: “Whoever had once tasted this life so brilliant, so animated, so varied, could no longer quit it and return to his native manor without dying of languor and ennui. Everything seemed cold and dead away from this place of enjoyment, which appeared, to town and province, as the very ideal of human life.” It is estimated that a sum, equal to more than 400,000,000 francs at the present rate, was laid out on the palaces and pleasure-grounds of Versailles, transforming an unsightly district into fairy-land.