Requests and since Provost of the Merchants he is at this present one of the Eldest Councellors of State and has ever been one of the most zealout Servants of his King The many different Charges undergone by Monsieur Poncet have got him a great fame and made his merits be acknowledged Monsieur Boucherat is well known by the great imployments he has had and the many important Commissions he has always discharged to his Majesties content particularly in Britany where he has been often Commissioner of the States for the King he is a man of great Learning Monsieur Pussort is estemable for many things and particularly for the invention of new Laws and Ordinances which may deliver the French from oppression Monsieur Voisin has Signalized himself in many occasions respecting his Ministry he has been Provost of the Merchants where he deserved the place of Ordinary of the Counsel with which he was honoured Monsieur Barretin is sometime since returned from the Super-intendence of Poictou he is Master of the Requests and President of the great Counsel I know Madam you are sensible of his worth and therefore shall say no more of it Monsieur le Boulange de Haqueville is a man whose uprightness is well known in the Council he has a great deal of wit and makes himself be distinguished by a particular way of reporting affairs Monsieur le Pelletier de la Houssaye is fearless a good Judge and who knows how to value a good Cause Monsieur de Lamoignon is Son to Monsieur the premier President The great worth of his Father and the care he had of his Childrens Education would sufficiently of themselves speak advantagiously of him if he had not of himself given particular Evidences of his merit He has Signalized himself in the Parliament and continues to do so every day in the Council thereupon his Majesty has chosen him an Assistant of the Seal Monsieur Pellisson is known by all the world his judgment and his uprightness are indisputable and though he had every where left Evidences of them the Favours he continually is receiving from the King would be an assured Testimony for him The Young Marchionesse whom you know very well who began to play so well on the Lute is fallen into despair some dayes since Monsieur Gaultier who taught her had assured her she should in a little time play as well as Madam Moiselle de Lenclos 'T was a bold word that but he was one might give decisions in those sort of Affairs Those were the last words that great Master spoke about playing on the Lute For at his going from this young Marchionesse he fell sick of a distemper which he is since dead of She no sooner heard the News but resolving her Lute should not survive so great a Master she broke it all in pieces and has determined never to play more I will not discant on this action but leave you to judge of it But if the death of Monsieur Gualtier hinders her from ever playing on the Lute so well as Madam de Lenclos she may yet endeavour to resemble her in her wit and judgment with which you know that excellent person is infinitely well stored Paris February 13 1672. Letter VIII I Cannot tell Madam whether you may have yet heard of any Adventure happened sometime since in this City and which has been occasion of much pleasant discourse this Carnaval in all the Balls at Paris A young married man being one afternoon with some of his Friends told them that that Evening he had a Meeting at his house and that he gave a Ball to a Sister of his Wives that sojourned with her One of the most pleasant fellows of the Company perswaded to go in Masquarade and told the young married man His pleasure would be much the greater if he came along with them in a disguise He consented and they presently sent for Habits of Masquerade The Hour of the Ball being come they all went thither and their Gentee carriage made many Conquests The young Husband made one which in the end pleased him not at all for his Wife fell in love with him without knowing him she staid not long before she gave him signs of it tenderly sweezing his hand and he answered his kindness in the most loving manner he could for the Adventure had a little Chilled his Blood and never was man so vexed to be taken for another yet he was resolved to see how far the business would go but he found all things so well disposed that it was no mighty task to make himself happy I mean happy in quality of Gallant for he was not so as Husband His wife who had doubtless heard some good Gossips say That a favourable occasion must never be lost For it is a hard matter to find again those we let scape thought best to make use of this opportunity which the Ball presented and since the confusion of so many people as were there gave her the means of stealing safely from them without being perceived she thought it a duty to love and nature to slip à side with her new Gallant and 't was no sooner thought then done She led him up a private pair of Stairs into a Chamber where they could not be surprized I will not tell you all that passed there but the Lady was very well contented yet it somewhat troubled her that he would not speak to her and that for fear to be known he had put out the light before he unmatched himself She asked him many times the reason of it He would not then answer her but as soon as he had proceeded far enough to convince her of disloyalty he broke silence and began to reproch her with her falseness She was so much the more bold to answer him because there was no light to discover any change of Countenance and having thereby time to recover from any surprize She told him she knew him as soon as he came into the house and that she only contrived this to laugh a little with him He was not at all satisfied with these but would and will pass for what other men are so afraid of being accounted and though it were done by himself yet he believed himself as substantial a Cuckold as any man in the world could make him He would never see his Wife from that time and designs to sue out a separation from her I leave you to judge whether he or I have reason and pass to other News The King willing to acknowledge the merits of Monsieur Pauchau and recompence his services gave him some days past a Commission to be one of the Masters of acccounts and joyned a considerable sum to that gift his Majesty likewise let him know that he should attend to the same services under Monsieur Pompone he had formerly done under Monsieur de Lyon The Messieurs de Vendosme are lately returned from Italy where they have gained repute in all places where they
with a false Beard and coming thus to Zenakhoub was at his entrance amazed to find her in such a serious meditation but was much more when with many sighs and interrupting sobs she told him of her Marriage and that she onely sent for him to take her last leave of him He was astonished at first not being able to speak a word sadness had so seiz'd his Soul but during his silence his Eyes gave evidence to Zenakhoub of the extream Grief he felt within At last both having for a good while entertained each other by looks Zenakhoub with a great sigh gave him notice 't was time to part I 'll not tell you what they might say on this occasion for besides the recital would be too long I will ease you of the grief I felt when he made me the Rehearsal and you may imagine that but you cannot think what happened to them He held Zenakhoub fast by the hand and he has swore to me that he thought verily the fire of his kisses would have burnt her if the tears he had shed from above had not allayed and moderated their flame To speak all in a word that at last the violences of his love had transported him beyond those bounds of respect which that virtuous Maid had set him and within which he had always kept he would have kist her mouth but she who felt her Soul almost yielding to her Passion and her Reason now at last gasp fearing her Resistance would at length too weakly defend her Modesty with a strange and sudden motion drew forth a Dagger she had at her Girdle and presenting it to him conjured him by all the most obliging Considerations rather to take away her Life than attempt to offend her Honour All our Lovers heat at this was turn'd to Ice but being again by little and little warmed with this Amorous Contestation as he was about to disarm her pressing down her hand he struck the Dagger into her Thigh so that what with the sight oâ— her Bloud and the other Agitations of her Soul she fell into a swound The shreek he gave seeing her in that condition was heard by the Woman of the House who run in presently to whom they could not refuse opening the Chamber-door but before they got in Zenakhoub's Nurse had shut up in an Alcove him that had been the cause of all this noise and the blow having onely raced the Skin those that found it having carried Zenakhoub into a Balcony to give her fresh air imputed it onely to a little faint-heartedness Mean time some were run to look for her Mother who came in great haste and found her Daughter just recovering her spirits with the help of cold Water thrown into her face but she was about to fall again into her swoun upon seeing her self in her Mothers Arms and in the doubts and fears she was in for her Lover 'T was well for her she was thought to be so weak she had otherwise given too apparent Testimonies of the cause of her trouble but before she was fully come to her self she observed her Mother testified more kindness than anger and judged both by it and by her lamenting her mishap that she knew neither of the Author nor Cause Yet she was not out of fear for her Lover who for his part past the time no better and heard no one come near the place where he was but he imagined they came to him and he gave himself over to discovery when the Jew feigning to look out some Cloaths threw him a Womans Habit to disguise himself in I believe now that you would be glad to be rid of your fears you are in for him and to that purpose it will be enough to tell you that favoured by that disguise he got out of the house but his love not thus satisfied foryed him to another hazard again to see Zenakhoub before he left her for ever and which I almost tremble at when I but think of it made him take the boldness to go in where she was and to whisper something in the Jew's Ear as if he had been a Slave sent to her about some business If Zenakhoub's Mother had not been otherwise employ'd or prepossess'd with grief or had taken the least notice how the Jew was astonished and grew pale at his entrance or how her Daughter changed Countenance which on a sudden was all in a flame it had possibly put any other thoughts into her head than what she feared that this sudden change was a symptome of Zenakhoub's distemperature But she suspected nothing and the sick Lady having called the Jew to her as if she desired some assistance from her to help her to raise her head upon the pillow she commanded her immediately to carry away that rash man to give some ease to her Spirit tossed and perplexed betwixt Fear and Love They departed immediately and Zenakhoub's Wound being more favourable than hurtful served onely for a pretence to retard the Marriage But let us return to the Author of Bajazet whose Work has occasioned the recital of this Adventute I have nothing to say to you of his Worth It is so Great that there is no place left on Parnassus worthy to offer him His Friends would seat him between Sophocles and Euripides in whose Works Diogenes Laertius would make us believe Socrates had the greatest share in the sublimest parts The Rivals of this French Euripides or Socrates would I doubt not be willing to see him gone to those great Personages among the Greeks though upon condition that his memory were as glorious as theirs ever deserved to be Paris 9 January 1672. Letter III. I Cannot tell Madam whether my Letters have the good fortune to please you but I assure you I am very diligent to inform my self of the most curious Novelties and most surprizing Adventures and I believe this wherewith I am about to entertain you will appear no less wonderful than the former It happened sometime since in one of the Provinces of this Kingdom where it is yet the whole subject of Discourse Celiantes a Person of Quality handsome witty valiant and who had given Evidences of his Judgment and Valour in an Age when others seem but to peep into the World fell deeply in love with the young Lydiana You may think now I am going to paint her out like a Heroine in a Romance and intend to tell you she was the fairest Person in the World but since I am to relate a true story I will leave the Curiosity of those pretty Imbellishments to the Ingenious Inventers of Romances wherewith the pleasant Wits of France have often diverted the whole World All that I can say for Lydiana's advantage is that she had a well-shap'd Body and had a great deal of Wit and if she did not pass for a Beauty she must needs have some pleasing Features which though all the World could not find out appeared so at least in the Eyes of
Coat glittering all over with Embroydery that it out-vy'd the Sun whereever he went he fancied all Eyes followed him and he could not doubt but his manly presence supported and set off with this Equipage of a Marquiss and of a Marquiss that was come from the Army must captive the stubbornest hearts and make the Ladies fall flat before him These magnanimous thoughts stirred up afresh his Courage in the Closet and he summoned all his Courage together and redoubled his blows against a Squadron of Horse that was in the Tapistry But O dire mischance blinded with too furious a height of Courage he unfortunately mist the Hangings and his Sword lighting upon one of the Looking-glasses broke it all in pieces he presently throws down his Arms with a resolution never to handle them more He believed now he should be unfortunate in the Army that he should certainly be slain and the broken Looking-glass was an infallible presage of it Well then Arms laid aside he takes up the Gown and cloaths himself like a Counsellour putting on a little Minikin Ruff and a short white Perriwig He consults with remaining Looking-glasses and thinks this Habit became him mighty prettily and begins to feel his Spirits exalted that way So he sets himself to examine the Advantages of this Profession which he finds very considerable All People that have Courage said he within himself do not come to be Marshals of France the number would then be too great and one must have exposed ones life a thousand times before one can justly pretend to that Dignity This thought made him frown and grow pale at once he found a Counsellours condition much better and securer and in time thinks he I may come to be a Judge without running any hazard of my Life He proposes to himself a thousand Pleasures and Delights before it came to that Fancies to himself an Anti-chamber and all the Stairs leading up to it full of Clients ready to cast themselves on their Knees before him and calling him My Lord. He smirks and smiles imagining he sees among them a great many pretty Women and these thoughts egg on others which fill his whole Brainpan full of a thousand ravishing Conceptions Here therefore he resolves to fix his Standard and to become a Counsellour but yet he will first put on the Rochet to see how it becomes him And now he admires his incomparable Gravity and being mightily taken with himself it comes into his head that he might one day arrive to be a Cardinal O then how should he look in a Scarlet Robe A Counsellour now seems to him but a Coxcomb in comparison of a Cardinal No no said he within himself I am not of the humour to undergo the toyls and labour which a man of the Long Robe must submit to what a thousand troubles doe continually haunt him after having spent a whole evening in reading over Breviates and perhaps the best part of the Night he must be rouzed by four or five a Clock in the morning with bawling and crying Good Sir Remember my cause Pray Sir Remember my cause and this din continues all the while he is within doors nor scapes he when he gets out but at every corner some are watching to catch him and ring their cause in his ears If I think to go eat or drink with my Friends they themselves grow my Tormentors and are recommending one Cause or another or if I go to court my Mistress and take an hours divertisement with her she is worse than all the rest and being gained by the almighty power of Presents I must not be admitted to the touch of her finger without the extracting some promise from me and if I promise her I must keep my word and then ten to one fall into injustice No no I will not be a Counsellour 't is too weighty a Charge 't is better being an Abbot they live as they please They He was about to inlarge himself upon the Advantages of this Profession when a beautiful young person whom he loved and was designed to be married too as soon as he was settled entred the Closet together with her Mother He believed he had shut the door very securely but alas he had left the Key in it his Brain was so overwhelmed with Imaginations and Whimseys concerning the Choice he was to make He could not be more surprized to see them come in than the Ladies were to see him in that posture They asked him what was the meaning of his being habited in that manner He told them he had determined to become a Church-man and had put on the Rochet to see how the Habit agreed with him He was hardly to be known for he had put off his Perruque his Hair reach'd but to his Ears and the square Cap he had put on almost covered them so that he look'd mighty ridiculously to the Ladies in that disguise They asked him again and again whether he would be stedfast in his Resolution to become a Church-man He told them Yes and that they could not justly complain of him if he took that Course for if he deserted his Mistress 't was for God alone and that since he left her not for any other beauty they ought not to be angry with him nor could not accuse him of Inconstancy They told him they believed they should be guilty of a great crime if they should endeavour by any considerations to divert him from so pious a design and soon after left him without seeming either glad or sorrowful at the accident The Mother who knew very well and had seen many evidences of his natural Inconstancy of Mind was glad to be so rid of him She had another Match ready for her Daughter and that fair Maid had some inclination for him she designed her so that things were easily concluded The pretended Abbot heard of it and was ready to run mad he comes and throws himself at his Mistresses feet protests That to enjoy her he would renounce all the Abbeys in the world and would embrace whatever profession she liked best But it was now too late and things were too far gone which did so much afflict him that he is since turned Monk I know not how long his unquiet and irresolute Spirit will suffer him to stay in the Convent but I believe to any one of his humour confinement will be very tedious and irksome Few people know this Adventure and I am confident Madam you will find it very extraordinary and though you may have some commiseration for our friends misfortune yet you cannot at the same time forbear laughing at his follies Never did one year produce so many excellent pieces for the Theatre and the famous Moliere has not deceived us in the hopes he inspired almost four years ago that there should be one day represented at the Place Royal a Comical piece after his own Mode which should be absolutely accomplished We are excellently divertized sometimes by those