The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh; and the Irish Sketch BookThackeray, William Makepeace
General
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh; and the Irish Sketch Book
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Ireland -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Description and travel
In the year 1681, then, the great king, with bag and baggage,--with
guards, cooks, chamberlains, mistresses, Jesuits, gentlemen, lackeys,
Fénelons, Molières, Lauzuns, Bossuets, Villars, Villeroys, Louvois,
Colberts,--transported himself to his new palace: the old one being left
for James of England and Jaquette his wife, when their time should come.
And when the time did come, and James sought his brother’s kingdom, it
is on record that Louis hastened to receive and console him, and
promised to restore, incontinently, those islands from which the
_canaille_ had turned him. Between brothers such a gift was a trifle;
and the courtiers said to one another reverently,[14] ‘The Lord said
unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies my
footstool.’ There was no blasphemy in the speech; on the contrary, it
was gravely said, by a faithful believing man, who thought it no shame
to the latter to compare his Majesty with God Almighty. Indeed, the
books of the time will give one a strong idea how general was this
Louis-worship. I have just been looking at one, which was written by an
honest Jesuit and _protégé_ of Père la Chaise, who dedicates a book of
medals to the august Infants of France, which does, indeed, go almost as
far in print. He calls our famous monarch ‘Louis le Grand:--1,
l’invincible; 2, le sage; 3, le conquérant; 4, la merveille de son
siècle; 5, la terreur de sea ennemis; 6, l’amour de ses peuples; 7,
l’arbitre de la paix et de la guerre; 8, l’admiration de l’univers; 9,
et digne d’en être le maître; 10, le modèle d’un héros achevé; 11, digne
de l’immortalité, et de la vénération de tous les siècles!’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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