All the glories of France flocked to Versailles as to a shrine where they did homage and were glorified in turn. At every step we meet the majestic figure of the Grand Monarque. See him at the top of the great stair, calling out to the Grand Condé, who toils painfully up the marble steps, bending under the weight of years and the fatigues of war: “Take your time, cousin; you are too heavily laden with laurels to walk fast; we can wait for you.” Not a room, or a terrace, or a gallery but has a witness to bring forth of the king’s courtesy or the king’s magnificence. There is the _cabinet du roi_, where he used to work at the affairs of state with his ministers, not one of whom worked as hard as the king himself. His ministers were not his tools nevertheless; despotic as he was, Louis let them hold their own against him, and when they had justice on their side he could yield gracefully to the opposition and respect the courage that prompted it. Witness the scene between him and his Chancellor Voisin, which took place in this same _cabinet du roi_. One of the most disreputable men of that not very reputable court, by dint of intrigue, obtained from Louis a promise of _lettres de grâce_. Next day, when the chancellor came in to his usual work, the king desired him to affix the great seals to the document, which was ready prepared. Voisin looked over it first conscientiously as was his custom, and then flatly refused to obey the king’s command, denouncing the grant of the _lettres de grâce_ to such a man as an abuse of the royal privilege. Louis replied that his word was pledged, and it was too late now to discuss the unworthiness of the subject; he put forward his hand, and, seeing that Voisin did not move, he took the seals himself and affixed them to the deed. The chancellor looked on in silence, but, when Louis handed him back the badge of office, he drew away his hand, and said haughtily: “They are polluted; I will never take them back.” “What a man!” exclaimed Louis, with a glance of frank admiration at his sturdy minister, and he flung the deed into the fire. Voisin quietly took up the seals, and went on with his work as if nothing had occurred to interrupt it. It was in the _cabinet du roi_ that Louis took leave of the Duc d’Anjou, on the eve of his departure for Spain, with those memorable words: “Partez, mon fils, il n’y a plus de Pyrénées!”(68)