France -- History -- Louis XVI, 1774-1793; France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799
Much lay therein! Thereby, for one thing, could D’Aiguillon
postpone the rebuilding of his Château, and rebuild his fortunes
first. For stout Choiseul would discern in the Dubarry nothing
but a wonderfully dizened Scarlet-woman; and go on his way as if
she were not. Intolerable: the source of sighs, tears, of
pettings and pouting; which would not end till “France” (La
France, as she named her royal valet) finally mustered heart to
see Choiseul; and with that “quivering in the chin (_tremblement
du menton_)” natural in such case,[5] faltered out a dismissal:
dismissal of his last substantial man, but pacification of his
scarlet-woman. Thus D’Aiguillon rose again, and culminated. And
with him there rose Maupeou, the banisher of Parlements; who
plants you a refractory President “at Croe in Combrailles on the
top of steep rocks, inaccessible except by litters,” there to
consider himself. Likewise there rose Abbé Terray, dissolute
Financier, paying eightpence in the shilling,—so that wits
exclaim in some press at the playhouse, ‘Where is Abbé Terray,
that he might reduce us to two-thirds!’ And so have these
individuals (verily by black-art) built them a Domdaniel, or
enchanted Dubarrydom; call it an Armida-Palace, where they dwell
pleasantly; Chancellor Maupeou “playing blind-man’s-buff” with
the scarlet Enchantress; or gallantly presenting her with dwarf
Negroes;—and a Most Christian King has unspeakable peace within
doors, whatever he may have without. “My Chancellor is a
scoundrel; but I cannot do without him.”[6]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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