Penny though formerly they went for Liards or Farthings and still bear that Inscription their Carolus's or pieces of five Doubles are absolute though still used in reckoning their Sols or Pence called Sols Marqués or marked Pence of a mixt Metal that went in the War time for five Farthings but now but for a Penny then they have their three pence half-penny pieces that go in England but for three pence half three pence half-penny pieces five penny pieces fifteen pence pieces or Quart-D'ecu's Half-Crowns or thirty pence pieces and Crowns which are reckoned here at four shillings six pence or fifty four pence Sterling though they be worth sixty Sols French whereas an English Crown is valued there at sixty five pence and a pound Sterlin at thirteen Livers Tournois or pounds French contrary to what is set down in most Books Their Golden Coins are at present Crowns of Gold weighing a Dram and are worth five Livers and fourteen pence Lys D'or which are but rare worth seven Livers ten pence half Lewis's worth five Livers ten pence whole Lewis's worth eleven Livers and valued here at seventeen shillings and a groat and sometimes six pence Double Lewis's Quadruples and Octuples but the two last are unusual Besides these most of the Monies of Spain both Gold and Silver are here current and the gold pieces are more numerous than the French viz. the Pistols half Pistols double Pistols Quadruples and Octuples of the same value as the Lewis's half Lewis's double Lewis's c. The silver Spanish Coins are Crowns Ducats and other lesser pieces Gold Coins are more frequent in payments than Silver and though the Peasants be poor there is a vast quantity of money always moving in the Kingdom among the Courtiers Tradesmen and Merchants but Spanish pieces are seldom taken without weighing first Their Weights are different as are likewise their Measures the most remarkable and necessary to be known by Merchants and Strangers are those of Paris Roüen Bordeaux Lyons and Marseilles 1. The Weights of Paris are the Ounce the Pound and the Quintal which is accounted a hundred Gross but is found to make a hundred pound of London Suttle two per Cent more or less and is of Lyons weight of sixteen Ounces a hundred and sixteen Lastly There is the Cargo or Great Quintal which is three hundred pound Troy weight Their Measures of length called Aulns or Ells are two one for Linnen and the other for Silks and are much about the length of the vantaged and unvantaged Aulns but seldom used in Gross because Silks and Stuffs c. in this City are generally sold by weight which makes recompence to the Buyer for any defect in them Their Concave Measures for Wine are the Pint which is about a London Quart the Chopine which is a London Pint and the Demysthier which is half a Pint the Citern which is eight Pints or a Paris Gallon ninety six of which make a Tun and a Muid which contains two hundred and eighty Pints But in the Country about these Measures are almost double to Paris liquid Measure 2. At Roüen their Weights are chiefly the Kings Beam or Viconte being about a hundred twenty six pounds English Their Measure of length is the Auln accounted something better than forty six Inches their other Measures are such as are common through France 3. At Bordeaux their Weight called a Quintal of a hundred pounds makes a hundred and ten pounds English their Wines are computed by Hogsheads and Terces and sold in Retail by Measures more than doubling those of Paris 4. At Lyons the Weights most in use are the Kings Beam containing a hundred pounds which is larger than the largest Town-Beam by eight per Cent by which the Customs are proportioned than there is in the greater Town-Beam weighing a hundred pounds of sixteen Ounces to the pound used for gross goods And the lesser Town-Beam called the Pound-Mark containing a hundred pounds at fifteen Ounces to the pound used for weighing Silks The Measure of Lyons for length is the Auln which is forty six English Inches seven of them making nine English Yards and a hundred pounds suttle of London makes in Lyons ninety six pounds and a half silk weight 5. At Marseilles their weight is the Pound of sixteen Ounces a hundred of which make a Quintal three Quintals the Cargo the Quintal is eighty eight and a half English pounds Their Measures of length are the Cane which they divide into eight Palms which make two English Yards and one eighth part Their Concave Measure for Corn Salt c. is the Mine which makes little above the third part of the English Quarter But Weights and Measures general for the whole Kingdom are the Mark by which are weighed Gold Silver and great Pearls containing eight Ounces each Ounce containing twenty four Deniers and each Denier twenty four Grains The Mark weighs three Carats each Carat being reckoned for the third part of an Ounce and is used by the Changers For Corn and Salt they have their Minots their Muids and their Boisseaux or Bushels the Boisseau or Bushel is little more than an English Peck Their Inch is something bigger than ours and consequently their Foot which is larger by half an Inch than the Roman Foot their Lands are measured by Arpents an Arpent of Paris contains a hundred Perches square every Perch containing twenty two Feet the distances of places are measured by Leagues the least Leagues contain twelve thousand Paris Feet and the greater twenty thousand like Feet As for their Buildings in France they are generally of Stone and at Paris very high made mighty strong with Timber and the Floors of Plaister of Paris or paved with pretty Tiles or else covered with Wood wrought with inlaid work all which the better and neater sort keep well rub'd Their Noblemens Houses are all very spacious regular and magnificent with stately Portals and fine Courts and Gardens and handsome stabling behind or on the side The chief Buildings in France are the Palaces of the Kings of which more in their place some Cathedrals Colledges Hospitals and Religious Houses of Modern Foundation in which the perfection of Architecture is to be seen the Foundation of many of which is attributed to the English CHAP. II. Of the Inhabitants of their Laws Religion Manners and punishments of their Number Language Stature Diet Attire Recreations Names and Surnames and of their Computation and manner of Numbring THE present Inhabitants are the French who are a mixture of the ancient Gauls Romans Goths Burgundians and Francs from which last they derive their name who sometime before they seised on France had seated themselves about Franconia in Germany and hovered about the Rhine a long time being till then no setled but an Ambulatory People as many Authors of note affirm nay some make them to have been but ancient Colonies of the Old Gauls who after they had rambled through several parts of the
as soon as the King has changed his Shirt he lets in the Nobility and the Officers in order as he sees them more or less qualified If any speak too loud in the Chamber the Usher Commands Silence They carry Flambo's overlaid with Vermilion gilt before his Majesty when he goes out or in any where or from Chamber to Chamber or when he goes up or down Stairs in any of the Apartments of the Louvre but when he goes any further into the Courts they quit him at the Door and leave only the Pages to light him to whom it only belongs The Ushers have the Priviledge to wait with their Swords by their sides and their Cloaks on their Shoulders Upon the Annual Festivals and on all Dayes of Solemnity as at Te Deums on the Dayes of the Kings Majority Coronation or Marriage when he touches for the Evil when he follows the Processions when he fits on his Bed of Justice in Parliament or at the Creation of the Knights of his Orders and at all the Kings first Entries into any Towns two of these Ushers carry before his Majesty two silver guilt Maces letting the tops of the said Maces lean gently on their Shoulders and every time they carry these Maces there is due to them a Fee of 150 l. which is punctually paid them by express Order at the Treasure-Royal But when the King goes to Parliament besides the 150 l. they have out of the Treasure Royal the Chief President Orders a like summe to be paid them out of the Fines In like manner at the Kings first Entry into any Cities there is due to them from the Officers of the said Town a Mark of Gold being the value of 400 l. besides their said constant Fee of 150 l. out of the Treasure Royal. These two Maces are carried every where after the King in the Chests of the Wardrobe At Coronations and Creations of Knights the two Ushers that bear the Maces are habited in white Sattin Doublets with Sleeves slashed in several rows and their Shifts swelling out of the said slashes with Trunk-Breeches and Cloaks of the same with silk Pearl-Colour'd Stockings Shoes covered with white Sattin and white Velvet or Sattin Caps or Bonnets They have their share in the Fees and Presents given by Governours and Lieutenants of Towns or Provinces Great Officers of the Crown and those of the Kings Houshold the Chief Presidents of Parliaments the Eschevins or Sheriffs of Paris or others when at their several admissions they take the Oath of Fidelity to his Majesty 'T is the Ushers Duty to make them that are in the Chamber get out of the way whether it be to keep them from standing in his Majesties light when he is Dressing or Undressing him or to clear his passage when he goes from his Chair to his Praying-Desk from that to his Closet or when he goes from one side of his Chamber to the other No Body ought to have his Hat on in the Kings Bed-Chamber though it be at certain hours when there is but two or three Officers there And the Ushers are to see too that no Body Combs themselves there or sit down upon the Seats the Table or the Rails of the Alcove They have their Ordinary at the old Table of the Great Master which is now that of the Masters of the Houshold and those four that are in Waiting have every day to their Breakfast a Bottle of Wine and a Loaf They are allowed every day out of the Eruitry a Flambo of white Wax of half a pound weight On Council-Days if the Council be held in the Bed-Chamber they go from his Majesty to give notice to the Secretaries of State and in the absence of the chief Valets de Chambres they keep the Doors of the Council-Chamber They have the Honour to carry in their Arms the Children of France during their Infancy The two Ushers of the Chamber that wait at the Dauphins have each of them a Crown a day for their Diet one of the four Ushers that are in Waiting at the Kings goes every day and waits on the Duke of Burgundy and he that stays with that Prince in the Kings absence has a Crown a Day for his Diet and the Officers of the Kings Counting-House or Green-Cloth diminish so much as his Ordinary comes to at the Table he should otherwise eat it and discount it to his Majesties profit Another Usher likewise appointed to wait on the Duke of Anjou has the like allowance which will be the rule for all the Children the Dauphin shall have When the Usher asks any one that would come in his Name whoever he be he ought not to take it ill because he is obliged by his Office to know who he lets in It is to be observed that any person that would enter into the Bed-Chamber the Anti-Chamber and the Closets when the Doors are shut must scratch gently at the Door and not knock hard and when he would go out he is not to open the Door himself but to call to the Usher to open it for him When the King any Queens Children of France and their Wives or any Ambassadors that go to or come from Audience come in or go out of the Chamber the Usher presently opens to them both the Leaves of the Door the same is done by the Usher of the Anti-Chamber and by the Sentinel at the Door of the Guard-Chamber There are besides two Ushers of the Closet that wait six Months each who have 660 l. Salary and a gratuity of 600 l. at the Treasure Royal. They eat at the Masters of the Housholds Table If on a Council-Day the Council be held in any of the Closets then 't is the Usher of the Closets Duty to give notice of it from the King to the Secretaries of State There two Ushers of the Anti-Chamber who have a yearly Salary of 500 l. each They eat at the Valets de Chambrés Table and are allowed Bread and Wine too for their Breakfast At New-years-tide the Queen when there is one gives for a New-Years Gift 4 l to the Ushers a 100 l. at each Station that is to say 100 l. among the Ushers of the Anti-Chamber as much to him that keeps the Closet and as much among those of the Bed-Chamber By which means he that keeps the Cabinet that day and that is in waiting the first half year beginning in January has as much alone as the two Ushers of the Anti-Chamber and the four Ushers of the Bed-Chamber And formerly when the two Ushers of the Anti-Chamber waited by turns each their half year he whose turn it was to wait at New-years-tide had the whole 100 l. to himself but since they have been both made ordinary and serve all the year round the said summ is usually parted among them which Order was made about twenty years ago The Porte-Manteau ' s or Cloak-Carriers Are twelve in number and serve quarterly three each quarter and have yearly 660 l.
and may bear their Coats of Arms timbred On Maundy-Thursday they serve together with the Princes of the Blood and other great Lords of the Court in carrying to the King those Dishes which his Majesty on that day serves up to the thirteen poor people he then entertains those who are called the Children of the Holy Supper They have rank and place at all great Ceremonies as at the Kings Coronation his solemn Entry into Paris and at the Christning of the Dauphin They wait with their Swords by their sides and may be present in the first Office of every quarter in which they have place and voice next after the Masters of the Houshold according to the Regulations set down in the Ordinances made for that purpose They were formerly more in number till his present Majesty by a Declaration of the Month of April 1654. they were reduced to thirty six who take the Oath of Fidelity in presence of the Grand Master or of those who as we have said in his absence supply his place They likewise and their Widows enjoy an exemption from all Taxes and Impositions They are ranked upon the Book of the Establishment at the rate of 700 l. per annum Wages though they receive but half that sum and they have all their Diet at Court at the Table called the Kings Water-Servers or Voiders Table and those that serve at the Dauphins eat likewise at his Highnesses Water-Servers or Voiders Table After these we may conveniently place the Serdeaus who are the Water-Servers or Voiders who are six in number and serve every one in their turns two Months each they had formerly 300 l. a piece yearly Wages but now but 225 l. which is paid by the Treasurers and 18 l. more paid at the Chamber of Deniers They are called Serdeaus or Water-Servers because they present the chief Officers of the Houshold and Kitchin with Water to wash their hands before they serve up the Meat to his Majesties Table they may likewise be stiled Voiders or Deservers because they receive all the Dishes as they are taken from his Majesties Table and see them conveyed to the Gentlemen Waiters Hall where they serve them likewise with Water and such as dine with them at their Table After them are the Ushers of the Hall who after they have Conducted the Kings Meat from the Kitchin of the Mouth to the Anti-Chamber where his Majesty dines in publick take on them the keeping of that Door from the time the Table is spread till the Cloth be taken away they are twelve in number waiting three and three quarterly they have 300 l. a piece yearly Wages and eat with the Gentlemen-Waiters and he that serves the Dauphin in the same quality has 226 l. Wages Of the Order observed in serving the King when he Dines in Publick As soon as the Usher of the Hall has received Order to have the Kings Table spread he goes to the Life-guard Chamber and knocking at the Door of their Hall he cries aloud Gentlemen Spread the Kings Table here Thence taking a Guard with him he goes to the Goblet or Buttery then the chief of the Officers of the Goblet bring the Nave the others the rest of the Table Furniture the Guard marching near the Nave and the Usher of the Hall with his wan in his hand before them carry the two Table-Cloths And when they come all to the Preparation-Table as they term it the Usher of the Hall himself alone spreads one of the Cloths upon the Side-Bord which done the Officer of the Goblet and the Usher of the Hall together spreads the other on the Preparatory-Table of which the Usher receives one end being decently cast into his hands by the Officer of the Goblet who keeps the other end to himself After that the other Officers of the Goblet place the Nave and make an end of covering the Table then the Gentleman-Waiter whose turn is that day to attend the Preparatives cuts out the Essays or tasts of the Bread already prepared at the Goblet and causes one of the Officers of the Goblet to take a taste of the Kings two little Loaves and of his Salt he touches likewise with one of his Slices of Essay the Kings Napkins Spoon Fork Knife and Tooth-pickers giving afterward the said Essay to an Officer of the Goblet to eat which is called making the Preparatives And the said Gentleman Server having thus taken possession of the Preparatory-Table continues to keep it These Preparatives being made one of the Officers of the Goblet and the Usher of the Hall go to the Table where the King is to eat and lay the Cloth on it in the same manner as is above expressed which done one of the Gentlemen-Waiters spreads on it a Napkin letting one half of it hang down on that side next his Majesty and upon that Napkin he places the Kings Cover or Service viz. His Plate and the stand on which are the two Manchets his Spoon Fork and Knife over which he lays the Kings Napkin neatly folded with little Tassels Then the same Gentleman-Waiter folds back over the whole that part of the Under-Napkin that hung down and so goes on to place the stands for the Plates and the Carving-Knife Spoon and Fork which he is to use in the service wrapping these three last pieces in a Napkin folded between two Golden Plates Which having done he stays at the Table to look after the Kings Cover till Dinner be served up An Extract taken out of the Ordinances made for the Kings Houshold renewed and signed by the King the 14th of April 1665. When his Majesties Meat is to be served up to Table whether at Dinner or at Supper two Archers or Serjeants of the Kings Life-guards are to march before then the Usher of the Hall and next the Master of the Houshold with his Staff after whom are to follow the Gentleman-Waiter the Controuler General the Clerk of the Offices and others that carry the Dishes and besides them the Usher of the Kitchin and the Keeper of the Plate behind all which are to march two Archers more of the Guards who are always to appear in their Coats and with their Halbards or Arquebusses and are to suffer none to come nigh the Kings Meat After the Serdeau or Water-Server has given Water to the Master of the Houshold to the Gentleman-Waiter and to the Comptroller to wash their hands with in the Office of the Mouth The Usher of the Mouth places the Dishes upon the Office-Table and presents two Essays or tasts of Bread to the Master of the Houshold that is to tast the first Service who after he has touched the Meat with the said two Essays of Bread eats one himself and gives the other to the said Usher of the Mouth to eat Then the Gentleman-Waiter takes the first Dish the Comptroller the next and the Officers of the Mouth the rest In this Order the Master of the Houshold with his Staff in
his hand marches at the head of them some steps before whom goes the Usher of the Hall with his Wand in his hand which is the mark of his Office and when the Meat is brought to the Table guarded by three of the Life-Guards with their Carabines on their Shoulders The Master of the Houshold makes a bow to the Nave and the Gentleman-Waiter that carried the first Dish sets it on the Preparatory-Table and having received an Essay of the Gentleman-Waiter that makes the Preparatives he eats it and sets his Dish upon the said Table after which the Gentleman-Waiter that makes the Preparatives takes the rest of the Dishes out of the hands of the Comptroller and others that brought and places them likewise on the said Table giving every Man a tast of the Dish he brought which done the other Gentlemen-Waiters take the said Dishes off the Preparatory-Table and carry them to the Kings Table The first Course being thus served up upon the Table the Master of the Household with the Usher of the Hall going before him with his Wand in his hand goes and gives his Majesty notice the said Master of the Houshold when there carries his Staff as a mark of his Office but in his absence the Gentleman-Waiter that officiates his place carries only for a mark of his present Function a wer Napkin between two golden Plates that his Majesty may see by that the Meat is on the Table then he comes back marching before the King to the Table where his Majesty being arrived the Master of the Houshold or in his absence the Gentleman-Waiter presents him the said wet Napkin to wash withal according to an Order of the King for that purpose of the 5th of September 1676. upon occasion of the dispute that happened thereon in the Queens Houshold the said Master of the Houshold or Gentleman-Waiter ought likewise when he takes the said wet Napkin of the Officer of the Goblet to make him make trial of it Thus much for the first course as for the others you may observe that the Gentleman-Waiter that has the charge of the Preparatory-Table continues all along to make the Officers of the Mouth and Goblet tast of every thing they bring up at each course which the other Gentlemen-Waiters come and take and serve up to the Kings Table when his Majesty calls for them But the other Gentlemen-Waiters after they have brought up the first course go no more down to the Office but having washed their hands with Water given to them by the Officer of the Goblet at the Side-Bord in the Anti-Chamber or some other place come back and wait at the Kings Table on that side opposite to his Majesty and not behind where commonly Noblemen and Ladies stand Upon New-Years-Day in the year 1674. his Majesty having been pleased to Order that for the future none but the Gentlemen-Waiters should serve him at Table and that they should wait five at a time that the Service might be the more exactly performed Since that time one of them always waits at the Preparatory or Testing-Table as we have said till the last course be served up after which he quits it and going to the Officers of the Goblet or Buttery he takes of them the second wet Napkin after he has made them make trial of it and holds it ready for the King to wash his hands with at the end of his stepast and the other four wait always at the Kings Table while his Majesty is eating He that serves as Cup-Bearer when the King askes for Drink cryes out presently aloud Some Drink for the King and then bowing to his Majesty goes to the Side-Bord and takes from the hands of the Chief Butler of the Mouth a golden Plate on which are placed a Glass with a Cover and two Caraffes or larger Glasses of Christal one of Water and one of Wine and then comes back the Chief Butler and his Aid or Assistant of the Goblet of the Mouth going before him to the Kings Table where being all three come and having made Obeisance to the King the said Chief-Butler steps on one side and presents a Vermilion-Taster to the Gentleman-Waiter who likewise turns himself toward him and pours out of the two Caraffes some Wine and Water into the said Taster being a little Cup of Vermilion gilt in the Chief-Butlers of the Goblets hands after which the said Chief-Butler pours out the half of what was filled into the Taster in his hands into another like Vermilion presented him by his Aid or Assistant then giving the first into the Gentleman-Waiters hands and taking the other out of his Assistants he drinks that off first after which the Gentleman-Waiter drinks his and returns it to the Chief-Butler who returns them both to his said Assistant Having thus tasted the drink in the Kings sight the Gentleman-Waiter bows again to his Majesty and giving him the Glass takes off the Cover and presents him at the same time the Plate or Stand on which are the Caraffes out of which his Majesty fills himself Wine and Water or Wine alone as he likes and when he has drunk sets the Glass on the Stand again which the Gentleman-Waiter covers again and taking up the Stand with what is upon it bows once more to the King and then gives it back into the Chief Butlers hands who carries it to the Side-board It is to be remarked that when the Nave is placed on the same Table on which the King eats when the King asks for drink the Gentleman-Waiter goes to the Side-board with a Guard before him and fetches the Plate or Stand with the Glass as aforesaid If the Nave be placed on the same Table at which the King eats every time the King changes Napkins which is at every course at least after the Almoner has opened the Nave one of the Gentlemen-Waiters is to lift up the sweet or perfumed Bag which lies over them to make room for another of his Companions to take them out after which the first Gentleman is to put in the Sweet-Bag again and the Almoner to shut the Nave He that Officiates for the Chief-Carver after he has washt his hands and taken his place as is abovesaid at the Table is to present to his Majesty the Dishes to uncover them and to take them off when his Majesty makes him a sign so to do to the Serdeau or Water-Server and gives the King clean Plates from time to time and Napkins at the coming in of any Inter-Messes or choice Dishes twixt Course and Course and Carves the Kings Meat unless he please to carve it himself At Great Ceremonies when the Great Pantler Great Cup-Bearer and Great Usher-Carver serve in Person they do all the forementioned Duties themselves From the time the Cloth is laid till his Majesty rises from Table the Usher of the Hall is to keep the Door of the Room where his Majesty Dines in Publick at Home and if the Nave be there
Great Chamberlains Table He has a Super-intendence over all the Officers of the Kings Bed-Chamber of his Wardrobe of his Closets and Anti-Chamber when the King Dresses himself he gives him his Shirt which honour he parts not with to any but to the Sons of France the Princes of the Blood or Sons Legitimate of France When the King eats in his Bed-Chamber 't is his Duty to wait on him and give him his Napkin and in short he performs all the Honours and Chief Ceremonies of the Bed-Chamber At all Solemnities Balls and other Assemblies as likewise at Chappel when the King goes to hear a Sermon one of the Yeomen of the Bed-Chamber brings always a Chair out of the Kings Chamber for the Great Chamber placing it behind the Kings and another for the Chief Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber Of the four Chief-Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber The Chief Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber which now are four exercise as I have said by turns under that new Title the Office that was formerly performed by the Camerier or Chamber-Man There was at first but two of them but the late King Lewis the XIII made them up four They serve By turns each one their Year The present Chief Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber are 1. The Duke of Aumont 2. The Duke of Gevres 3. The Duke of Crequi 4. The Duke of St. Aignan They take the Oath of Fidelity to the King in Person and he of them that is in Waiting Sweats all the other Officers of the Bed-Chamber that are admitted into his years Waiting In the absence of the Great Chamberlain they supply his Place in all things They give Order to the Usher what Persons he is to let in and deliver Certificates of their Service to all the Officers of the Bed-Chamber They perform likewise many other Duties at the Kings rising going to Bed and Dressing He that is in Waiting lodges in the Louvre The King does them the Honour to give them a Place in his own Coach They used formerly to lie in the Kings Bed-Chamber as appears by the 9th and 82d Articles of the Ordinance of Charles the Seventh that are addressed thus To the Chamberlains lying in our Bed-Chamber c. They bespeak all the first Mourning at Court and all Cloths and Habits used in Masques Balls and Playes and other Divertisements for his Majesty They have the sole ordering of all the Expences allotted in the Establishments or Account-Books of the Argenterie or Privy-Purse for the Kings Person or otherwise as likewise of those allowed in the Establishments for the Kings Pocket Expences and affairs of his Bed-Chamber Under them are the Intendants Comptrollers and the Treasurers General of the Kings Privy-Purse and of the Pocket Expences and the rest of the Officers of the Bed-Chamber It is to be noted That there are many that out of courtesy are stiled Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber that have neither Place nor Salary as such and many Gentlemen in Ordinary of the Kings Houshold of which we shall speak in their proper place Next these are the Pages of the Bed-Chamber who are in number twenty four and serve constantly all the year long each Chief Gentleman being allowed six of them though they may if they please take a greater number over whom the King for better regulation maintains Governours and Under-Governours and Masters of all sorts to teach them all Exercises requisite for Persons of Quality These Pages go every Morning and Evening with the other Officers of the Bed-Chamber into the Kings said Chamber to give his Majesty his Slippers and on Evenings and Mornings too when 't is dark they carry white Wax-Flambo's before his Majesty when he walks on Foot out of his Anti-Chamber or when he crosses either on Foot or in a Sedan the Courts of any of his Palaces and in Summer they carry over him an Vmbrello In the Armies where the King is present they serve as Aids de Camp under the Kings own Aids de Camp as likewise do the Pages of the Kings Great and Lesser Stables Of other Inferiour Officers of the Bed-Chamber There are four Officers that are called the Ordinary or Chief Valets de Chambre which last Title though omitted in their Patents was since confirmed to them by a Brief from his Majesty Their places are worth counting all things about 2000. Crowns a Year They serve indifferently as they can agree one in the place of another and have all things common among them though the Eldest usually chuses his Quarter They perform several honourable Duties in the Chamber as keeping the Door of the Council and giving the accustomed Orders to the Ushers in the absence of the Chief Gentlemen c. They lie at the Kings Beds Feet and keep the Keys of his Trunks They are allowed at present in Money for their Table 1750 l. each Under these there are thirty two other Valets de Chambre that serve quarterly eight each Quarter their Salary is 660 l. yearly they diet at the Table called the Valets de Chambrés Table The quality of Esquires has been confirmed to them by several Orders and particularly by an Order of the Council of State of the 25th of April 1669. By which the Sieur de la Faye one of the Kings Valets de Chamber was maintained in the said Quality of Esquire They perform several Functions about the King when he is Dressing or Undressing as giving him his Chair holding his Morning-Gown and putting it on his Shoulders presenting the Looking-Glass c. They make the Kings Bed the Upholsters standing at the Beds-Feet to help them The Valet de Chambre that is in Waiting is to keep all day within the Rails of the Alcove to watch the Kings Bed They are to see the Officer of the Goblet tast the Wine and Bread that he brings up to the Kings Chamber before it is presented to his Majesty When the Court is on the march in the Country one of the Valets de Chambre goes before to conduct the Kings Bed and is then allowed a Crown a Day Extraordinary When the King quits only for a few days any of his Royal Palaces the Valet de Chambre that stays there to keep the Kings Bed is allowed a Crown a Day for his Diet. The three Valets de Chambre that wait on the Dauphin have each of them likewise a Crown a Day for their Diet. The last year the King supprest all the Supernumerary Valets de Chambre that waited but every other year The Vshers There are sixteen Ushers of the Chamber that serve Quaterly four each quarter They have 660 l. Salary and 300 l. gratuity In their Patents they are written Esquires As soon as the King is out of his Bed and has got on his Morning-Gown and is set down in his Chair the Ushers in Waiting come into his Chamber and one of them taking immediately possession of the Door takes notice what persons of Quality present themselves to come in which having observed
his Bed-side upon a Cushion laid for him by his Almoner and when he has said his Prayers he comes back and sits down in his Chair where the Master of the Wardrobe draws off his Strait-Coat and Vest and Blue-Ribban as likewise his Cravat There are four Chief Valets of the Wardrobe that wait quarterly they present his Majesty his Socks and Garters in the Morning and at Night tie the Ribbans of his Shirt Their Salary and other allowances from the King amount to 2935 l. yearly and from the Dauphin to 862 l. Sixteen other Valets of the Wardrobe that are allowed by the King a Salary of 520 l. and their Diet at the Valets de Chambres Table and at the Dauphins when they wait there a Gratuity of 260 l. and a Crown a day for their diet Over these there is one Valet of the Wardrobe in Ordinary whose Salary is 1200 l. The Valets of the Wardrobe bring the King his Cloths and their particular Office is when the King rises to give him his Breeches his Stockings and his Boots when he puts on any They always draw off the Shoe Stocking or Boot from his Majesties left Leg. Besides this they give the great Master or the other Masters of the Wardrobe the Cloths they are to dress his Majesty with and present and put them on themselves in their absence or in the absence of the chief Valets of the Wardrobe on all other occasions when the King shifts any of his Cloths in the day time or when he plays at Tennis or comes from Hunting the Valets of the Wardrobe perform the same Duties At Night when the King is going to Bed and in the Morning when he rises before day the Chief Valet de Chambre gives one of the Lords then present that the King names to him the Wax-Light to hold whilst his Majesty is Dressing or Undressing There is one Mail-Carrier who has for Wages Diet and other allowances 2405 l. yearly When the King is on the march he is obliged to mount on Horseback with his Mail covered with a Horse-Cloth Embroidred with his Majesties Arms and Motto in gold In this Mail he carries a Suit of Cloths Linnen Ribbans a loose Gown and other things necessary to shift his Majesty He is mounted at the Kings Stables and has fresh Horses provided for him at every Stage where the King takes any that he may be able to follow him and not be obliged to quit him There are four Yeomen in Ordinary of the Wardrobe they have care of all the Kings Cloths and Linnen they have a yearly allowance of 80 Crowns paid them quarterly at the Treasure Royal and at the years end the Great Master of the Wardrobe gives them the greatest part of the Cloths his Majesty left off that year They also have the keeping of several wearing things set with precious Stones as of Swords garnished with Diamonds Crosses of the Kings Orders likewise set with Diamonds and the like rich Cloths They eat at the Valets de Chambre's Table All the whole Body of the Wardrobe that is all the Officers of it have the priviledge of the first Entry that is they are of the number of those that first enter into the Kings Chamber even before the King is out of his Bed or before he be come out of the Queens Chamber when there is one that they may have in readiness his Majesties Cloths The Taylors Are three in number their yearly allowance counting Wages Gratuities and all things is 1200 l. They make all the Kings Cloths and one of them is to be always at the Kings rising to be ready to do any thing belonging to his Function if there be need and they always put on the Kings new Cloths the first time he wears them There is one Starcher of the Body whose Salary is 600 l. and he has his Diet at Court And two Landrers of the Body serving six Months each whose Salary is 528 l. 15 d. There are besides these several other Officers for the Kings Cloths as Embroiderers Furriers Linnen-Drapers and others that furnish the Silver and Platework His Majesty by a Brief dated the 25th of July 1673. having given leave to the Great Master of the Wardrobe to entertain Tradesmen of all sorts that contribute to the furnishing of the Wardrobe to enter them upon the Books of the Establishment and let them enjoy all the Priviledges of Tablers in the Kings Houshold of which there are about 222 retained all at the rate of 60 l. yearly Salary The Intendants and Comptrollers General of the Chamber-Treasury and Privy-Purse They regulate all the Expences of the Chamber and Wardrobe There are two of them Their Wages and Fees are fixed in the Establishments of the ordinary Expences of the Chamber-Treasury besides which they are allowed 1200 l. yearly each for their Diet which is paid at the Chamber of Deniers They are called Intendants and Comptrollers of the Chamber-Treasury and of the Privy-Purse They examine the particulars of all that is brought into or delivered out of the Chamber-Treasury and the Privy-Purse and all the ordinary and extraordinary Expences thereunto belonging as well for the person as besides the Person of the King and keep a Register of them of which they give an account first before the Chief Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber and afterwards to the Chamber of Accompts in the accustomed manner according to the Rolls particular Accounts and Acquittances comptrolled The expence for the Kings Person comprehends all Cloths Linnen and Jewels or other Ornaments for his Majesties own Wearing The expence besides his Person comprehends all Furniture and Silver or Plate-work for the Kings Apartments and all Extraordinary Expences made at Balls Comedies Mascarades Carouzels Turnaments and other Divertisements as likewise at Christenings Consecrations and Coronation of Kings and Queens Marriages Funeral Pomps Buryings Services for them when dead and Anniversaries They take the Oath of Fidelity before the Chancellor and at the Chamber of Accounts where they are sworn likewise to return into the said Chamber at the end of every Year their Comptrol of the Receit and Expence both Ordinary and Extraordinary of the Chamber-Treasury and Privy-Purse Of the Officers of the Cabinets or Closets and first of the Closet of Dispatches In the Closet or Cabinet of Business and Dispatches which by way of Excellence is simply called the Cabinet There are four Secretaries which in the Book of Establishment are stiled Secretaries of the Chamber and Closet who have for their Salary Diet and all things 9250 l. yearly They Stile themselves Councellours in Ordinary to the King in his Councils They serve the King in all his private Dispatches The Couriers of the Closet are appointed by the Secretaries of State and sent about on several businesses and dispatches Of the Closet of Books The King has a Closet of Books called otherwise the Library of the Kings Person in the Palace of the Louvre at Paris to which by
Of Chorolois Of Roussillon Their Wages are different There are besides several Pursuivants whose Salaries are likewise different At all publick Ceremonies the King at Arms and the rest of the Heralds are clad with their Coats of Arms of Violet-Coloured Velvet died upon Crimson set before and behind with three Flower deluces of Gold and as many on each Sleeve whereon the name of their Province is Embroidered in Letters of gold And the King at Arms Mount-joye St. Denis wears on his Coat for distinction a Crown Royal over the said Flower-deluces They wear Bonnets of Black-Velvet with a golden Hat-band and in Ceremonies of Peace they use only Buskins but in those of War they wear Boots At Funeral Pomps of Kings or Princes they wear over their said Coats of Arms long Mourning Robes trailing on the ground and bear a Staff called a Caducée covered with Blue-Velvet and Embroidered with Flower-deluces of gold They also bear every of them one of the Kings Medals about their Necks The Pursuivants are habited almost in the same manner only they bear no Staves as having no Commands themselves but being only the Aids and Assistants of the Heralds Their Office is to Declare War or publish Peace to Summon Towns to yield to assist at solemn Oaths in the general Assemblies of the three Estates at the Swearing of Treaties of Peace and renewing of Alliances at Coronations where they bestow Largesses on the People of Gold and Silver Pieces and at Funeral Solemnities of Kings Queens Princes and Princesses of the Blood They march before the King when he goes to make his Offering on his Coronation-Day They assist at all Marriages of Kings and Queens at the Ceremonies of the Knights of the Holy Ghost at Royal Feasts as also at all Christnings of the Children of France where likewise they make Largesses to the people of pieces of gold and silver And at the Obsequies of Kings or Royal Persons there are always two Heralds that wait day and night at the Feet of the Bed of State where the Body of the Deceased or his Effigies in Wax lies to present the sprinkling Brush to the Princes Prelats and others of the Quality required for that Ceremony that come to throw holy Water on the said Body or Effigies They have likewise many other Functions at those Funerals There is likewise one Judge of the Arms and Blasons of France who is likewise Yeoman at Arms in the great Stable in which latter quality he has a Salary of 450 l. yearly Secondly There are several Sword-Bearers of State who have each a Salary of 500 l. Cloak-Carriers who have 300 l. and Porte-Gabans or Felt-Cloak Carriers who have 220 l. yearly Salary Thirdly There are twelve Trumpeters called the Trumpeters of the Chamber as likewise are the Drummers of which there is a like number who have every one 180 l. and the Cromorns or of the Chamber twelve Violins Hoboys Sackbuts and Cornets at the like pay Eight Players on Flutes Tabours and Bagpipes serving two every quarter at 120 l. one Player on the Base Cromorne and Trumpet Marine and one Treble Cromorne They have all Livery-Coats and are employed at all Balls Balets and Comedies and in the Apartments of the Kings House or elsewhere where there is occasion There are also two of them in the Musick of the Chappel at present the six Cromornes are 1. The Basse-Cromorne 2. The Counter-Tenour-Cromorne 3. The Treble-Cromorne 4. The Tenour-Cromorne 5. The fifth of Cromorne 6. A Base-Cromorne Of the little Stable and first Of the first or chief Querry or Master of the Horse and of the other Querries or Gentlemen of the Horse quarterly Waiters The first or chief Querry or Master of the Horse here has the charge of the Kings lesser Stable that is to say of all the Horses Coaches Caleches running Chairs drawn by Men and Sedans that he uses upon his daily and ordinary occasions He Commands the Pages and Footmen of the little Stable and makes use of them as he pleases He takes the Oath of Fidelity to the King himself This Office is almost as antient as that of the Great Querry or Master of the Horse it self For as we find that under Charles the Seventh one Pothon de Santrailles was made Great-Querry or Master of the Horse so we read too that Lewis the Eleventh his immediate Successour had at his Coronation in 1461. one Joachim Rouauld that was his Chief-Querry or Gentleman of the Horse The present Salary of the Chief-Querry is 3000 l. and 876 l. more Board-Wages The other Querries or Gentlemen of the Horse are One Querry in Ordinary who has 1200 l. Salary upon the Establishment of the Houshold and 1765 l. at the Great Stable Board-Wages for himself and two Pages and a Pension of 2000 l. at the Treasure Royal. Twenty Querries Quarterly Waiters who have every one a Salary of but 350 l. though they are Entred on the Books at 700 l. They wait five every Quarter and are Sworn by the Great Master of the Kings Houshold The Querry that is in Waiting is to attend at the Kings waking to know of his Majesty whether he will please to ride out that day or no And if the King be to ride a Hunting and to wear Boots he is to put on his Spurs and he likewise pulls them off most commonly As soon as his Majesty has his Spurs on it belongs to the Querry in Waiting to take his Sword when he puts it off as we have already mentioned in speaking of the Cloak-Carriers The Querry in Waiting together with the Lieutenant or Ensign of the Guards eat at the old Table of the Great Master as do the rest of his Companions during their Quarters Waiting and he that waits on the Dauphin has his Diet at his Highnesses Serdeau's or Water-Servers They follow the King all the day long and enter with him every where unless it be into the Council Chamber or when his Majesty has a mind to be private in a Chamber by himself and then they wait in the next Chamber to it When the King rides abroad a Horse-back or in a Coach the Querry follows next after the Kings Horse or Coach that in case his Majesty should fall or otherwise need his help he may be ready to help him up and remount him or lend him his hand when he has a mind to alight or remount which is his peculiar Office so that when his Majesty passes through any narrow passage whether it be in Hunting or otherwise the Querry is to follow immediately after the King and to pass in those Rencounters before the Captain or Officer of the Guards himself then upon Duty The Querry likewise often leads his Majesty when he is walking Upon a day of Battel 't is the Querries Office to put on the Kings Armour At Funerals of Kings one of the Querries carries the Spurs another the Gantlets a third the Coat of Arms of France Encompassed with the Collars of
the Kings Order and a fourth holds up the other end of the Coat of Arms And the chief Querry or in his absence the eldest Querry carries the Helmet or Head-piece adorned with a Crest-Royal The five Querries in Waiting that Quarter march a breast all in Mourning next after the Herse or Waggon of Arms which is drawn with Horses covered with Black-Velvet set with Crosses of White-Satin having about them several Pages in Mourning There are in the little Stable almost the same kind and the same number of Officers as in the great one viz. Three Querries in Ordinary where the Court is and a fourth at Paris The Pages there at present are twenty five besides two Hunting Pages All the Pages the King has in his Chamber Stables or elsewhere serve in the Armies as Aides de Camp under His Majesties own Aides de Camp The Pages of the little Stable when it is dark always carry before the King a white Wax-Flambo and when he goes a Hunting they help the Arquebuse or Arms-Carrier to carry his Majesties Fowling-pieces or Fusils One Governour of the Pages One Tutor of the Pages who has a Salary of 225 l. and an annual gratuity of 200 l. and his Lodging and Diet at the little Stable a Horse at command and a Servant in a Livery to wait on him One Almoner or Chaplain of the little Stable who has a Salary of 400 l. and his Lodging and Diet with a Horse and a Servant at the little Stable Four chief Valets or Waiting-men of the Pages waiting Quarterly who have every one 75 l. Wages and 50 l. gratuity One Cash-Keeper or Pay-Master who has a Salary of 300 l. and an annual gratuity of 1200 l. besides his Diet Lodging and Horse in the said little Stable One Physician four Chyrurgions one Apothecary one Vaulting-Master two Dancing-Masters two Fencing-Masters One Ambling-Master one Porte-Gaban or Felt-Cloke Carrier They have also other Masters to teach them all other necessary Exercises as for the Mathematicks Designing Blazoning and Writing and handling the Pike and Musket c. Four Harbingers Quarterly Waiters who have every one of them a Salary of 165 l. and a gratuity of 100 l. with their Diet Lodging and each of them a Horse One Usher in Ordinary of the Kitchin Two Servants or Grooms of the Pages in Ordinary Seventeen Footmen in Ordinary of the little Stable which are only so by Commission and not as standing Officers Four working Farriers quarterly Waiters twelve Masters or Head-Grooms Quarterly Waiters by six every other Quarter and 50 Aids or Helpers Several Chair-men or Sedan-men The King has at present twenty five gallant Sets of Horses consisting of ten Horses apiece and as many Master-Coachmen or Drivers of Coaches and Calcehes with their Postillions and Servants To know what Livery Officers belong to the Great and what to the little Stable as well Pages as Foot-men and others you must take notice which way their Coat-Pockets are made for the Officers of the Great-Stables Pockets are slit Cross-ways their Liveries and the others long-ways downward CHAP. XVIII Of the Chief-Surveyor or Super-Intendant of the Royal Buildings and of the Architects and other Officers under him and of the Keepers of the Kings Houses Parks and Forests THE Super-Intendant is stiled Super-Intendent and General Orderer of the Buildings of the Royal Houses and of his Majesties Gardens and Tapstries and of the Arts and Manufactures of France of which last he is the Great Monopolizer under the King and is at present Monsieur Louvois Secretary of State He is sworn at the Chamber of Accounts in which he has both Voice and Place Monsieur Louvois when he was sworn took his place there above the Dean of the Masters of the Accounts There are three other Intendents or Surveyors of the Building that serve yearly every one his year at 6000 l. Salary Three Comptrollers of the Buildings who have each of them a Salary of 5500 l. One Chief Architect who has a Salary of 6000 l. and a gratuity of 4000 l. Two Treasurers Of the Royal Houses and first of the Louvre This Palace was called the Louvre that is to say as some will have it L'oeeuvre that is The Work by way of Excellence as if it were a Master-piece of Architecture and from that the French call all their Kings Palaces and those of other Kings in other Countries Louvres in ordinary Speech The old Palace of the Louvre at Paris was begun by the Predecessors of Philip Augustus and was finished in his Reign in the year 1214. of which Building there still remained in the time of Francis the First a Tower called the Iron Tower which was in the middle of the Court which the said King caused to be demolished because it darkened the Palace In the year 1364. Charles the Fifth rebuilt and enlarged that Palace of which the Porches are still remaining About the year 1545 Francis the First begun to build the Great Hall of the Louvre which was finished by Henry the Second in 1548 Charles the Ninth and Henry the Third continued this Building but Henry the Great built those Magnificent and long Galleries that go from the Louvre to the Tuilleries by the Water-side and the Gallery of the Painters which was burnt down by a Fire that hapned on the 6th of February 1661. which likewise did some dammage to the other Galleries but all has been since repaired Queen Catharine of Medicis built the Apartment that Fronts the Tuilleries in 1564. Lewis the Thirteenth built the other side of the old Court of the Louvre and the Continuation of it from the Great Dome in the middle under which the Councel of Finances and of the Farms is held Lewis the Great at present happily reigning has built on both sides of the old Louvre what remained unfinished He likewise has built a Dome at the Corner of his Chamber and of the Gallery of the Painters which is as we have said at present rebuilt and larger than it was before Besides he has rebuilt the whole Palace of the Tuilleries and the Hall of the Machines or Engines And he has likewise caused much to be done in the inclosure of the first Court of the Louvre at the Portal and in several other places There are at the Palace of the Louvre as at all other Royal Houses A Captain of the Palace who has a Salary of 1200 l. upon the Revenues of Paris A Lieutenant at 400 l. Salary out of the same Revenues A Keeper of the Palace of the Louvre who is Porter of the first and second Gates who has a Salary of 120 l. paid out of the Crown-Revenues of Paris A Keeper of the Tennis-Court One Gardiner Four Morte-Paies or Standing Guards that wear the Kings Livery who have every one a Salary of 90 l. upon the general Revenue of Paris several Porters and a Clock-Keeper that have Wages and Diet and enjoy the usual Priviledges of the Kings menial Servants A
Lodgings are meant those Lords or other Great Persons who are recommended to be lodged in the Town by the Kings express order Note That the same Harbinger that makes the Body very often marks to the Lodgings for the Ranks and abovesaid preferred persons 3. Another Harbinger marks out the Ordinary of the Kings Houshold that is Lodgings for the Officers of it viz. For the first or chief Almoner for the chief Master of the Houshold for the Master of the Houshold in Ordinary for the Captain of the Guards of the Gate for the Lieutenant and Ensigns of the Life-guards and generally for all the other Officers of the Kings Houshold It often happens that besides the Harbinger that marks out the Stables in the Town there is another that takes up Stables in the Neighbouring Villages and provides Lodgings for the Equipages The King generally is prevail'd on with much facility to grant to the Marshals of his Lodgings and his other Harbingers Reversions of their Places in favour not only of their Sons but of their Grand-Sons Sons-in-Law Brother and Nephews He also grants them Briefs impouring them to retain or stop a certain summ to be deducted out of the yearly Revenue of their places and paid by their Successours for their Wives if they have no Children for their Daughters if they have no Sons or if they have neither Wives nor Children for the younger Brethren of their Family At the first Entries made by Kings into any Cities of their Kingdom the Officers of the Town are to pay a certain summ as a Fee to the Marshals and Harbingers of the Kings Lodgings or else the one half of the profits of the Triumphal Arches Porches Tapistries and all the Decorations is to fall to the Marshals and the other to the Harbingers of the said Lodgings The Marshals of the Queens Lodgings and of those of the Dauphiness of Monsieur of Madame and the particular Harbingers of the Princes of the Bloud of the Chancery and of other Bodies as also the Men or Messengers sent by other Princes Dukes and Peers and other great Lords to take up their Lodgings receive their Quarters or Lodgings from the Marshals and Harbingers in Ordinary of the Kings Houshold Whenever Monsieur or Madame happen to be travelling in Company with the Queen or the Dauphiness when the King is not there then the Marshals or Harbingers of the Queen or Dauphinesses Lodgings are to appoint Monsieurs or Madams Harbingers what Lodgings and Quarters they are to take up The Marshals and Harbingers in Ordinary of the Kings Lodgings are reputed to be of the Body of the Kings Gend'armes or Men at Arms as having been formerly drawn out of the antient Companies of the said Gend'armes and the late King Lewis the Thirteenth who under-stood exactly well the original of all the different Offices of his Houshold gave the Marshals of his Lodgings place in and incorporated them into his Company of Gend'armes at the Head of which his Majesty usually fights on a day of Battel or on any other occasion and made the Harbingers serve in his Company of Musketeers at the Siege of Corbie to which service he summoned all his whole Houshold that is the Arrire-ban of his Houshold which he placed by themselves in his Army This said number of Gend'armes detached out of the antient Companies was usually sent before to provide Lodging and Quarters for his Majesty and the Troops that were with him And still to this day the Marshals of the Kings Lodgings both in Town and Country give out the Orders for the quartering of the French Life-guards of the hundred Suissers of the Gend'armes of the light Horse of the Musketeers of the Regiments of the French and Swisse-guards when all the said Troops attend the King in his march And in effect the Marshals of the Lodgings in France are what the Quarter-Masters are in Germany who rise to the Highest Commands in Armies The Marshals and Harbingers of the Kings Lodgings were formerly likewise Marshals or Quarter Masters of the Camps and Armies and the same persons that provided Lodgings for the Kings Houshold always took up Quarters to for the Armies as have done several of them that are still living But some of their Body in the time of the late King Lewis the Thirteenth got themselves made Marshals peculiarly of the Camps and Armies and got Patents of it as of a distinct Office notwithstanding which the Marshals and Harbingers of the Lodgings of the Houshold serve still in the Armies either in the absence of the others who have Patents as is said for being Camp-Marshals or Quarter-Masters or when the number of these others is not sufficient for all the Armies the King has on Foot When the King is in an Army the Marshals of the Lodgings of his Houshold have priviledge to take at least two thirds of the room to lodge his Majesty and all the Officers of the Royal Houses and it was Ordered by the King that the remaining third should be disposed of by the said Marshals of the Lodgings or Quarter-Masters of the Camps and Armies for the general Officers and other Officers in the Army necessary to be near his Majesties Person I say the Marshals of the Kings Lodgings have power to take up at least two thirds for the King because if after they have divided the whole into three equal parts there should remain two or but one Lodging over and above those one or two so over and above or supernumerary are to be taken up likewise for his Majesty and his Court that they may be scanted As for Example It is true that where there is but thirty Lodgings the Marshals of the Lodgings of the Houshold are to take but twenty and the general Officers of the Army are to have the other ten but of fifty Lodgings or Lodgments the Marshals of the Kings Lodgings will take thirty four and the general Officers of the Army will have but sixteen and of forty Lodgments the Kings Marshals will have twenty seven and leave the general Officers but thirteen By the antient Order according to the Rules made for that purpose none but the Kings Harbingers can mark out Lodgings with white Chalk those of the Princes and others being obliged for distinctions sake to mark out theirs with a yellow Crayon with this further difference that the Kings mark only is put upon the Street-Doors and the others only upon the Doors of particular Chambers within side the House The Order observed in Quartering in an Army In an Army where the King is Present the first Quarter is for him or where he is not for the General and the next belongs to a Marshal of France to chuse or if there be two Marshals of France there together then he that Commands that Day or Week is to have the Choice for sometimes they agree to Command by turns one one Day or one Week and another another But if there happen to
Audiences and two other Deputies to take informations under the Lieutenants of the Short-Robe in the Field and out of the Kings Quarter and then they are obliged within twenty four hours to put up their informations into the Registry or Recorders Office and to cause their Prisoners to be brought up to be Examined by the Lieutenants of the Long-Robe and in their absence by the Lieutenants and Exempts of the short one who only have power to take cognisance of and judge criminal Causes among the Kings Retainers and in his Quarter All the Officers above-mentioned are Commoners or Tablers in the Kings Houshold and on the four chief Festivals of the year are allowed Bread Wine and Meat Candles on Candlemas and Corpus Christi days and Prayer-Books and Cloth in the Holy Week There are also twelve Proctors called Postulants One Chief Usher and twelve other Ushers that wear the Kings Livery and carry in their hands a blue Wand with Flower-deluces at the end They are Exempt from Taxes Subsidies and Loans and enjoy all the other Priviledges of the Commoners of the Kings Houshold There are likewise two Notaries and Keepers of the Royal Notes that follow the Court And One Usher Trumpeter at 272 l. 10 d. Salary And One Executioner of Criminal Sentences Besides these there are other Officers as they call them of the Short-Robe that are a kind of Medium between Civil and Military Officers which we shall add here viz. One Lieutenant-General Four Lieutenants officiating each two quarters in a year who have a Salary of 400 l. and a gratuity of 600 l. Four other Lieutenants quarterly Waiters The Lieutenant of the quarter beginning in January has the liberty if he will to serve and bear the Staff in the quarter beginning in July he of July quarter in January he of April in October and he of October in April In the absence of the Great Provost they receive Orders immediately from the King When the Lieutenant of the Sword or of the Short-Robe of the Provosts Court has a mind to go up to the Seat of the Audiences at Paris he sits on the right hand of the Lieutenant-General that is of the Long-Robe and that presides there and the Kings Proctor as a Counsellour by his place sits on his left This has been practised several times and lately on Saturday the 30th of August 1681. When the Sieur Barbier Lieutenant-General of the Long-Robe had at his right hand the Sieur Tournier Lieutenant of the Short-Robe and the Sieur Le Roy de Gomberville Proctor for the King on his left and in the absence of the Lieutenant-General of the Long-Robe the Lieutenant of the Sword presides and has the Kings Proctor on his left hand There is likewise another Lieutenant of the Provostship that ordinarily waits on the Chancellour where he has his Diet and 5500 l. Salary and gratuity They are likewise Commoners of the Houshold and enjoy the same Priviledges with other Officers of the same As for the Exempts and Guards belonging to the Provostship we shall speak of them among the Military Officers of the Kings Houshold There are belonging to the Provostship besides these one Chaplain called the Chaplain of St. Barbara One Marshal or Harbinger of the Lodgings Three Treasurers of the Provost-ship that pay all the Officers of it both Civil and Military they serve by turns each one his year CHAP. XXI Of the Great Master the Master and Aid or Assistant of the Ceremonies THE Great Master of the Ceremonies of France is Jule Armand Colbert Marquiss of Blainville he was sworn the 30th of January 1685. His Salary is 3000 l. He is sworn by the Great Master of the Houshold under him there is One Master of the Ceremonies who has 2000 l. Salary and is likewise sworn by the Great Master of the Houshold and One Aid or Assistant of the Ceremonies at 600 l. Salary The Great Master Master and Assistant or Aid of the Ceremonies exercise their Offices jointly at Royal Solemnities bearing in their hands a Staff of Ceremony covered with black Velvet with the handle and top tipt with Ivory The Assistant of Ceremonies is also sworn by the Great Master of the Houshold They are to be present at Coronations of Kings and at the opening of Assemblies of the Estates at Christnings and Marriages of Kings and Princes at the first and last Audiences of Ambassadours both Ordinary and Extraordinary at the conducting of Queens or Princesses and at their Obsequies and Funeral Pomps where they order all and take care to give every one their Rank and Precedence due to their quality They are clad in different habits almost at every one of those different Ceremonies When the Great Master the Master or the Aid of the Ceremonies go to carry any Order or Message to any of the Soveraign Courts after they have saluted them they take their place among the Counsellours but with this difference that if it be the Great Master of the Ceremonies himself he takes place above the last Counsellour but if it be the Master in Ordinary or his Aid he takes his Seat after them all and then upon a sign made to him by the chief President he speaks to them from his Seat with his Head covered his Sword by his side and his Staff of Ceremonies in his hand At the first and last Audiences of Ambassadours the Great Master the Master or Aid of the Ceremonies marches on the right hand of the Ambassadour a little before him from the bottom of the Stairs to the Guard-Chamber where being come he advances before him to give notice to his Majesty There is likewise an Exempt of the Kings Guards appointed to wait at Ceremonies who in the Book of the Establishment is called Major of the first Company of the Guards Commanded at present by the Duke of Noailles CHAP. XXII Of the Introductour of Ambassadours THere were formerly two of these Introductours or Conductours but by the present King they were reduced to one who is stiled the sole Introductour of Foreign Princes and Ambassadours to his Majesty who at present is Monsieur Michael de Chabenat Knight and Count de Bonneville c. His Salary is 1200 l. But he has another under him at a like Salary The Introductour of Ambassadours both for Audiences and all other things relating to his Office receives Orders only from the King He conducts receives and introduces into the Chamber of their Majesties or of the Children of France and Princes and Princesses of the Blood any other Kings Soveraign Princes and Princesses or Cardinals Ambassadours Ordinary and Extraordinary Gentlemen Envoys Residents Agents Heads of the Orders Foreign Deputies bearing any Character or making any publick Figure and generally all Foreign Persons of Quality when they come to the Kings Palace for Audience He likewise Conducts the Wives of any such persons abovesaid to the like Audience of the Queen CHAP. XXIII Of the Secretary of the Houshold and the Treasurers
Company two Gallons of Table-Wine twelve Loaves out of the Kings own Pantry a Side of Veal a whole Sheep and four Fowls And in the Holy Week they have Prayer-Books and Linnen-Cloth given them and on Candle-mass and Corpus-Christi Days Wax-Gandles they enjoy the same Priviledges as Commoners of the Kings Houshold and are Squires by their Places that Quality having been confirmed to them by several Declarations and Decrees Of the Guards called the Guards de la Manche or of the Sleeve They are twenty five in number counting the Chief or first Man at Arms of France who has 300 l. Salary The other twenty four have 570 l. yearly allowance and their Diet at the Kings Serdeau's or Water-Servers Table They are divided into six Brigades allowing six to each Brigade When any of these Guards de la Manche fail to come and do Duty the King causes their Places to be supplied by some of the Gentlemen of his Life-Guards They wait two and two always at the King's Sleeve whence they have their Name only at Great Ceremonies they are six They are chosen out of the Scotch Company of Guards Their particular Functions are as follows When the King is to go to any Church or Chappel to hear Mass Vespers Tenebres or Sermon or to assist at any Christning or Marriage two Guards of the Sleeve or Manche always goes thither before and wait for the King in their white Hoquetons or Jackets set with Gold and Silver Spangles with Partisans fringed with silver in their hands with Damaskt Blades When his Majesty is come they keep on each side of him always standing but only just at the time of the Elevation with their Faces towards the King to have an Eye on all sides upon his Sacred Person When the King eats in publick at home either alone or with the Queen or any other Royal Person whether at Dinner or Supper two Guards of the Sleeve Habited and Armed after the same manner keep always on each side of him in the same posture that is to say standing upright with their Faces turned towards his Person Every two Nights in three one of the Guards de la Manche or of the Sleeve goes at Midnight to the Principal Gate of the Louvre or of any other of the Kings Palaees some time before the Watch is called that is to say the Officers and Guards that are to compose the Court of Guard that are to do Duty that Night at the Gate where he receives the Keys from the hands of one of the Guards of the Scotch Company to whom only the Guards of the Gate deliver the Keys at six a Clock every Night And he is to keep these Keys till the Watch be called and then he is to shut all the Doors and when he is called by the Clerk of the Watch to answer in Scotch I am here and at the same time to present the Keys to the Captain of the Guards then in Waiting if he be present when the Watch is called or in his absence to the Commander in Chief But it often happening that after the Watch is called there are still several persons to go out of the Louvre The Guard of the Sleeve opens it to all that would go out and shuts it again till it be time to shut it for good and all which being come after the Brigadier with a Torch in his hand and accompanied by the Aid-Major has visited all places and warned every one with a load Voice to go out the Guard of the Sleeve shuts all the Doors and then taking with him the said Brigadeer that carries the Torch and the Aid-Major He carries all the Keys to the Captain then in Waiting or in his absence to him that supplies his place and puts them under his Bolster in their presence I say they do this every two Nights in three because every third Night 't is a Scotch Brigadeer that does those Duties and then the Guards of the Steeve begin again till it come again to the Brigadeer and so all along It is likewise a Scotch Brigadeer that goes and takes the Keys again of the Captain or Commander every Morning at six a Clock The Guards of the Sleeve wait Monthly two every Month. On Maundy-Thursdays they wait for the King at the Door of the Hall where the usual Ceremony of the Day is performed keeping always on each side of his Majesty during the time of the Sermon and Absolution and following him along the Hall while his Majesty is washing the poor Peoples Feet and serving up their Meat to the Table When the King assists at any Processions as on Corpus Christi Day Candlemas Palm-Sunday and at the Assumption of our Lady and when he touches for the Evil two Ushers of the Chamber bearing Maces march only before his Majesty but the Guards of the Sleeve march close by his sides and when the Sacrament was carried in 1666. to the Queen Mother Anne of Austria these Guards Accompanied the King all the way as he went on Foot from the Louvre to the Church and back again At Extraordinary Ceremonies as when his Majesty is pleased to appear in an Extraordinary manner in Parliament at the Creation or Instalment of Knights at Coronations and Marriages of Kings at the Christning of their Children and at Royal Funerals When his Majesty is minded to sit in Parliament they go to the Palace and wait at the Door at the top of the Great Stairs called the May-Pole Door and conduct him as far as the Entry of the Bar in the Great Chamber And when the King hears Mass at the Holy Chappel as he commonly does before he goes to Parliament they wait on him at his sides in the manner above-described and when Mass is done conduct him thence to the Great Chamber where they stay for him at the Entry of the Bar of the said Chamber whence when he comes out they reconduct him to the top of the said Great Stairs or else to his Coach At the Creation or Instalment of Knights six of these Guards wait for the King three days one after another at the Door of the House where the Assembly of the Knights is held and Accompany the King step by step from thence to the Church and every time he moves from his place they march always close by his sides At the Coronation of any King six Guards of the Sleeve having under their Hoquetons or upper Jackets short-truss'd white Satin-Coats with Bonnets and Silk stockings answerable wait without the Door of the Kings Chamber from eight in the Morning till his Majesty comes out to go to Church whither and where-ever else he goes they continually accompany him At the Kings Wedding they have new and very rich Hoquetons or Jackets At the Kings Funeral they wear Mourning Suits under their Hoquetons or Jackets and keep guard night and day about the Body or Effigies of his Majesty as long as it lies in State They onely are to put
into six Divisions or Parcels called Escouades consisting of sixteen men each whereof one is chosen by the Captain to be Corporal of the rest There are two of these Divisions ordinarily in Waiting at a time that is to say one by day and the other by night which are relieved every Sunday by two other Divisions so that in three Weeks time the whole Company does Duty round of which each Couple of Divisions are a Week upon Duty and rest the other Fortnight The Division that does duty in the night is called the Division of the Watch whereof twelve are called the Suissers of the Straw-Bed because in the night they lie on the Straw-Beds in the Guard-Chamber among the French Life-Guard Men. Those of the other Division appointed for the Day-guard a little before night go off the Guard in order out of the Kings Palace with an Officer at the head of them and go and lie at their own Quarters and the next Morning precisely at eight a Clock they Rendevouz again at the Captains Door or some other place appointed them and march in the same order back again into the Kings Palace with an Officer at the head of them where they are received by the twelve Suissers of the Watch that have lain with the French Life-Guard Men the foregoing Night who receive them in Arms making a Lane for them to pass through in their Guard-Chamber they are intermixed with the French Guards out of Policy to prevent Treachery that if one Nation should be corrupted the other might discover them or defeat their purpose They lie but twelve of them at a time in the French Guard-Chamber because by reason of their number there is hardly convenience for more the others have a Hall apart and separated as far as convenience will permit from the French Guard-Chamber and remain there only in the day time upon Sundays and other Holy-Days observed in the Diocess where the Court happens to be as likewise at some Extraordinary Solemnities as at the first and last Audiences of Ambassadours and other like occasions all the six Divisions wait all together in a Body on the King Out of this Company the Captain by the Kings Order Selects six to wait on the Queen when there is one viz. one out of every Division who are then Commanded by the Officer of the French Life-Guards then in Waiting on her Majesty which fix besides their allowance in the Kings Service have every one 18 d. a day from the Queen besides their Watch Bread and Wine and Wood and Candle and they always wear the Kings Livery except when the Queen is a Widow and Regent of the King and then they wear Mourning and their number is augmented to twelve These places are commonly purchased of the Captain by six of the Company The Dauphiness is likewise allowed six Suissers viz. one out of every Division drawn out for that purpose every Month by the Captain who in the time of their duty in that Service are allowed besides the Kings pay 10 d. a day When the Court removes to any distance leaving the Duke of Burgundy or other of the Dauphins Children behind the Captain of this Company detaches six Suisser's to wait on each of them One Suisser is likewise appointed by the King to wait on the Lord High Chancellour who upon that account is exempted from going upon the Watch and other Military Functions of this Company The Great Master of the Horse also who is the sole Orderer of all the Liveries of the Kings Houshold may keep a Suisse of his own in the same Livery with the Kings or if he pleases he may take one of the hundred but if he take one of them he so taken by him must either in Person or by some of his Companions perform his Watch and other duties of the Company when it comes to his turn When the Chancellour dies he that succeeds him is not obliged to make use of the same Suisser that waited on his Predecessour but may if he please ask the King for any other he has a mind to The Captain of this Company has always one of the said Company too to wait on him There are three Treasurers that are paid by the King to pay the hundred Suissers every Month their Months pay beforehand so that on the first second or at furthest on the third day of every Month the hundred Suissers receive their full pay for the Month then begun wheresoever the Court happens to be There belong besides to this Company one Almoner one Physician one Chyrurgeon one Apothecary one Merchant furnishing Cloth Stuff and other necessaries for their Cloaths and three Taylors The Chyrurgeon Apothecary and Taylors have the priviledge to keep open Shop at Paris or elsewhere though not Masters and the Taylors are allowed ten Crowns for making each Suissers Suit At the Kings Coronation the Commission Officers of this Company are Clothed in White-Satin with Cloth of Silver underneath the Slashes The Harbingers are in Blue and the rest of the Suissers in Velvet They are likewise allowed Extraordinary habits at other great Solemnities when their Colours march as at Kings Marriages and Christnings of the Dauphins or first Sons of France and at the first Entries of Kings and Queens into any of their great Towns or Cities Ever since the year 1679. they have reassumed their ancient Habit which they wear every Sunday and Holy-Day They wear Velvet Bonnets incircled round with Plumes of White Feathers with little tufts before composed of four Sprigs of Feathers of the same Colour starched Laced Ruffs and Cloths flashed upon Taffety which swells out of the slashes the Hilts of their Swords are gilt and very large and fastned to them with Eâ—â—s or rather other kind of Sword-Supporters after the ancient Mode fringed on the sides they wear Fringed-Gloves Blue and Red Garters and Roses of the same Coloured Ribbands on their Shoes their great Coats called Brandenburgs are garnished with red and white Buttons with Tails all of the Kings Livery in one of their hands they bear Halbards upon which is wrought a golden Sun which is the Kings Devise or particular Emblem and in the other hand great Canes garnisht with Silver at both ends They with their Officers march before the King when he is walking on Foot or passing leisurely along either in his own House or in the Town where he for the time being resides Every day when the King goes to Mass the Suissers of this Company place themselves in two ranks making a Lane from the Quire to the outward Door of the Church or Chappel where he is and on Sundays and Holy-Days they appear in the same order with their Velvet Bonnets and Habits of Ceremony or Holy-Day Cloaths with their Drums and their Flute which they sound as soon as the King comes and march thus to the middle of the great Churches into which the King goes and to the very Door and inclosure of the Quire the
Plot of ground about the breadth of the Ditch before the Principal Gate of the chief Court of the Palace where these Guards with their Officers place themselves in Order and make a Lane for his Majesty to pass through when the King goes out in a Coach with six Horses But when the King is at any Palace or other place where no such conveniency of ground is to be found then the Officers and Guards of the Provostship mark out for themselves as much ground next without the Gate as extends to the length of a Pike which the Regiments of French and Suisse-Guards or other Guards are obliged to leave them where they Post themselves in the manner aforesaid Note That the Sentinels already placed without the said Gate of the Palace whether they be taken out of the Regiments of French and Suisse-Guards or sometimes in their absence out of the Musketeers the Gensdarmes or Light Horsemen or out of any other Foot-Company keep still in the same Post they were placed in close by the outside of the Gate and the Officers and Guards of the Provostship place themselves in Ranks on both sides of the way from the said Sentinels forward as far as a Pikes length as is abovesaid and next them stands the Colonel of the Regiment of Foot-Guards or such other Head-Officer that Commands the Troops then upon the Guard without the Palace and then his Souldiers or Troopers placed in Ranks on each side the way These Guards wear Jackets or Hoquetons Embossed with massy silver upon a ground of the Kings Colours which are Carnation White and Blue with the Devise or Emblem of Henry the Great being a Hercules's Club with this Motto Erit haec quoque cognita Monstris i. e. And the Monsters shall also know or feel this They go up and down the Kings House to Execute the Orders relating to the Policy and Government of it and to clear it of Vagabond and suspicious Persons that can give no good account of themselves and attend to see whether the King will send them into the Town or any where out of the place where the Court resides to arrest any Body or take them into Custody There are likewise two supernumerary Guards of the Provostship that wait constantly on the Chancellour who have the same Salary as the others There is one Trumpeter at 272 l. Salary as for the other Officers we have named them in the other Chapter where we have spoken of the Great Provost as Judge of the Houshold CHAP. XXVIII Of the Guards without the Gate and I. Of the Gensdarms or Men at Arms of the Kings Guard THIS Company ought to consist of 220 Men at Arms that do duty quarterly Their Captain is the King himself under whom there is A Lieutenant Captain his pay in that quality is 1380 l. besides which the King allows him the Captains pay being 3280 l. and 2700 l. Extraordinary during their quarter Two Deputy-Lieutenants who have each of them 410 l. by the quarter and 1350 l. Extraordinary during their quarter Three Ensigns who have each of them 135 l. quarterly pay and 1080 l. Extraordinary during their quarter Three Guidons who have the same pay Note That the King in lieu of the Fees the Officers of this Company used to have at the reception of any new Officers or Souldiers among them and of the right of disposing the places vacant by Death gives them 26000 l. in Pensions viz. 13000 l. to the Lieutenant Captain 5000 l. to the Deputy-Lieutenant 4000 l. to the Ensign and 4000 l. to the Guidon So that for the future the places in this Company will be given gratis upon any vacancy by Death yet notwithstanding that the places of Men at Arms are fixed places and during their Lives they may dispose of them and resign them to others which the Light Horsemen cannot do There are two Marshals of the Lodgings or chief Quarter-Masters that have each 85 l. pay Quarterly and 600 l. Extraordinary Yearly One Commissary of the Conduct or Muster-Master whose ordinary pay is 3600 l. besides 240 l. for Taxations Ordinary and Extraordinary This Commissary Musters the Troop and receives the Oaths both of the Officers and Souldiers of it When a Horseman or Officer of Horse is sworn by him his Horse and his Pistols are his Fees and if he be a Foot-Officer his Corslet and Sword And when he himself is sworn by a Marshal of France he is to give the Captain six Ells of Black Velvet for his Fee The Commissaries of the Conduct or Muster-Masters have their place always fixed on the left hand of the Commander in Chief the Commissaries Horses Head advancing as far as the Commanders Stirrup both when they are on the march or engaged in a Battle And whether they be in the Field or quartered in Town or Country these Commissaries quarters are always next the Commanders so that they have always the second place in the Company about which there are many Rules and Orders Eight Brigadeers there being four Brigades and two Brigadeers to each Besides the pay they have as other Horsemen of this Company which is 680 l. apiece they have every one 600 l. Pension and 300 l. gratification at the end of their quarters service And the eldest among them that still does Service has 1000 l. Pension Eight Sub-Brigadeers who besides the common pay of 680 l. have every one a Pension of 500 l Besides these there is one Major Four Trumpeters one Kettle-Drummer one Harbinger or Under-Quarter Master in Ordinary and another Extraordinary one Almoner or Chaplain one Chyrurgeon one Sadler one Farrier all at 90 l. Salary apiece To pay all which there is one Treasurer and one Comptroller The whole Company consists of 220 Horsemen besides the great and small Officers and the Foot-men at Arms and their pay is 680 l. apiece There are added to them upon a new Roll twenty others who have the same pay The Devise or Emblem they bear in their Colours is thunder falling from Heaven with these Latin words Quo Jubet Iratus Jupiter i. e. Where angry Jupiter Commands The King has besides these other Companies of Gensdarmes in his Armies of which he is likewise Captain but these only are retained for the guard of his Person 2. Of the Company of Light Horse This Company is likewise composed of 220 Masters or Horsemen that serve quarterly To this belong A Captain who is the King A Lieutenant Captain and two Deputy-Lieutenants Four Cornets whose pay is 187 l. 10 d. Two chief Quarter-Masters or Marshals of the Lodgings whereof the first has 62 l. 10 d. and the other 125 l. a Month. Two other Harbingers or Quarter-Masters at 30 l. a Month each one Commissary of the Conduct or Muster-Master four chief Brigadeers who besides the ordinary pay of 30 d. or half a Crown a day all the year round and 20 d. a day more when they are upon actual duty have every one 600
Knights to thirty six but their number has now been a long time unlimited the late King Lewis the Thirteenth in the year 1633. at Fountainbleau gave the Order to fifty of his Lords and at the last Promotion that was made in 1662. there were Installed threescore and ten The Knights of this Order wear at present a silver Cross set on Orange-Coloured Velvet upon the left side of their Cloaks and Suits in the midst of which is a Dove Embroidered in silver with rays of Silver and at the Corners Flowerdeluces also of Silver with another Cross all of gold hung about their Necks with a Sky-Coloured Ribband which Cross is Enameld with white on the sides having at the Corners Flowerdeluces and in the middle the Figure of a Dove on both sides The Great Collar of this Order is composed of Flowerdeluces of gold Crowned with golden Flames Enameld with red enterlaced with three Cyphers likewise of gold Enamel'd with white The first Cypher is an H and a double A all double which may be read upward or downward the H standing for Henry the Third the Letter L for Lewise of Lorrain his Wife and another for something which is as yet a mystery The Cross of the Order is of Gold in the midst of which there is a Dove Enameld with white on one side and on the other side the Image of St. Michael On the last of June in the year 1594. Henry the Great took out of the Collar of the Order the Cyphers of Henry the Third his Predecessour and caused to be put in their place Trophies of Arms interlaced together and intermingled with Crowned H's Some assert that this Order was first Instituted by King Lewis of Scicily and that Henry the Third did but renew it The Knights upon the day of their reception or Instalment are clad in Cloth of Silver with Breeches tuckt up white Silk Stockings and Pumps of white Velvet their Bonnets of Black-Velvet and their Cloaks made with a Cape after the ancient Fashion of Black-Velvet uncut and their Ruffs stiff-starched When they are received their Capes are taken off and a long Green-Velvet Cloak is put on their Shoulders trailing on the ground wrought all over with Trophies of gold for the Knights and Flames for the Officers and lined with Orange-Coloured Satin They kneel down before the King who taking their joined hands between his own strikes them gently over the Shoulders with his Sword and Kisses them on the Cheek When the King Confers this Order in any Church he goes and sits down near the Altar in the middle of the Officers of the Order then the Great Master of the Ceremonies of the Order Accompanied with the Usher and the Herald goes and gives notice to the Lords which are to receive the Order who presently advance towards his Majesty one after the other or else by two and two and kneeling down take the usual Oath holding their two hands between his Majesties in the manner aforesaid and touching the Book of the Holy Gospels which is held by the Chancellour After which the Provost and Great Master of the Ceremonies present the King with Cloaks and Mantles to Invest the Knights and then his Majesty taking the Collars of the Order from the hands of the High Treasurer puts them about the Knights Necks saying to them these words Take from our hand the Collar of our Order of the blessed Holy Ghost c. In the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost CHAP. XI Of the Knights of the Order and Militia of the Holy Ghost 1. THE King Soveraign of the Order 2. The Dauphin to whom the Officers of the Order carried the Blue-Ribband presently after his Birth on the first of November 1661. Since which the King made him Knight on New-Years Day in 1682. 3. The Duke of Burgundy to whom the Great Treasurer of the Order being the Marquiss of Seignelay carried the Cross and Blue-Ribband presently after his Birth on the 6th of August 1682. 4. The Duke of Anjou had it likewise presently after his Birth on the 19th of December 1683. And 5. The Duke of Berry soon after he was Born on the last of August 1686. 6. The Duke of Orleans who had likewise the Blue-Ribband soon after his Birth and was afterward made Knight Where note that the Kings Sons Grand-Children or Brothers are Born Knights and wear the Blue-Ribband presently after their Birth though they be not fully and actually received as such till the King thinks fit The last King made a Promotion of Knights of this Order in the year 1633. of which remain only two Knights viz. the Duke of St. Simon and the Marquiss of St. Simon Of the Knights promoted in 1662. The Present King with the greatest Ceremony that perhaps was ever practised on the like occasion made a Promotion of several Knights of this Order in the year 1662. in which number were two Princes of the Blood nine Prelates and fifty nine other great Persons and Commanders Besides the King sent the Collar of his Orders of his Ambassadours at Rome and in Spain to Julius Cesarini Duke of Castel-Nove a Roman Baron and to the Prince of Conty Father of the present Prince of that Name and to the seven other Lords absent in the Southern Parts of France who repairing immediately to the then Prince of Conty who was Governour of Languedoc and kept his Residence at Pezenas were Installed the same year in Nôtre-Dame Church at Pezenas with the same Ceremonies that had been used in the Great Augustines Church at Paris the Order being Confer'd on them by the Duke d' Arpajon who was sent thither on purpose by the King where Monsieur Martineau and des Prés as Herald and Usher of the Orders officiated their Places Some dayes before the Ceremony of Installing the said Knights at Paris the King gave the Cross of the Order of the Holy Ghost to the late Duke of Beaufort in the Month of December 1661. who was then going out upon an Expedition to Sea who upon his return in 1663. received the Collar of the Order from his Majesty upon the Feast of the Assumption in the Chappel of Germains en Laye Those of them that are still alive are 1. Prince of the Blood 1. The Prince of Condé Prelates 1. The Archbishop of Arles 2. The Bishop of Mets. 3. The Archbishop of Paris 4. The Archbishop of Lyons Other Commanders are 1. The Duke de Chaunes 2. The Duke de Luynes 3. The Duke de Crequy 4. The Duke of Nevers 5. The Duke of St. Aignan 6. The Marquiss de Vardes 7. The Count de Beringhen 8. The Duke de Montausier 9. The Marquiss de Polignac 10. The Marquiss de Pompadour 11. The Marquiss de Gamaches 12. The Marshal Count d' Estrades 13. The Count de Guitault The rest are dead Since that his Maiesty was pleased to Confer the said Order on the Duke of Mecklenburg on the first of November 1664.
more than was the Constable The Provosts of the Marshals or Provost Marshals are Royal Judges established in every Province under the Authority and dependance of the Marshals of France They have Jurisdiction over all Vagabonds and people that are no House-Keepers and in many Cases over them that are House-Keepers too if they commit any Robberies on the High-way if they be Incendiaries Coiners of false money or be guilty of wilful Murther and other Crimes The Marshals of France were at first but two in number but since that the necessity of Affairs has given occasion sometimes to the doubling of that number There were four under Charles the Seventh who were afterward reduced to the old number Francis the First finding himself obliged to maintain three or four Armies to oppose the great Enemies which he had always to deal with revived again the number of four and soon after added a fifth who was Francis of Montmorency Son of the Constable of that Name by way of recompence to his Father for the Office of Great Master of France which he had resigned by his Orders to the Duke of Guise but with this condition that this fifth place should be supprest upon the Death of the First of the five that should die The Duke of Mayenne made three during the time he was head of the League and Henry the Great when by the acknowledgment of his Subjects he came to be peaceable Possessour of the Kingdom Created two of those three Marshals of France viz. Vrban de Laval Sieur de Bois Dauphin and Claudius de la Chartre Lewis the Thirteenth never limited the number of them and the Present has augmented it with several new ones Those of them that are still alive and that keep the Court of the Constablery at the Marble Table are these that follow according to the years of their Promotion Being The Marshals De Crequi in 1668. De Bellefonds in 1668. D' Humieres in 1668. De Schonberg in gone now to Portugal 1675. De Duras in 1675. De Vivonne in 1675. De la Feuillade in 1675. De Luxembourg in 1675. De Lorge in 1676. D' Etrées in 1681. Every of these Marshals is stiled Monseigneur-Messire or My Lord Messire in the List of them in the Court of the Constablerie and Marshals of France in the Palace at Paris which Title of Messire implies antient Nobility personal and eminent worth and something of a Soveraign Command The Marshals of France deceased whose Memory is still fresh were The Marshals De Guebriant deceased in 1643. De Bassompiere in 1646. Two Marshals de Chatillon whereof one died in 1646 the other in 1649. De Gassion in 1647. De Chaune in 1649. De Brezé in 1650. De Rantzau in 1650. De la Force in 1652. De Schonberg in 1656. De la Mothe Houdancourt in 1657. De Hocquincourt in 1658. De Castelnau in 1658. De Foucault in 1659. De l' Hopital in 1660. De Fabert in 1662. De la Meillerage in 1664. De Clerambaut in 1665. D' Estampes in 1668. D' Aumont in 1669. D' Etrées in 1670. De Schulembergz in 1671. The Famous de Turenne in 1675. De Plessis Prâlin in 1675. De Rochefort in 1676. D' Albret in 1676. De la Force the Son in 1678. De Grammont in 1678. De Grancy in 1680. De la Ferté Senneterre in 1681. De Navailles in 1684. De Estrades in February in 1686. There are several Widows of Marshals of France which still enjoy the Honours of the Louvre and other Priviledges we have mentioned to belong to them CHAP. XVI Of the Colonels-General Camp-Masters c. AFter the Death of the Duke d' Epernon which hapned on the 23d of July 1661. the Office of Colonel-General of the Infantry was supprest The Colonel-General used to bear behind his Coat of Arms as a mark of his Office four or six Standards of the Kings Colours which are White Carnation and Blue The Colonel-General of the light Horse is the Count of Auvergne Marquiss of Bergopzoom Lieutenant-General of the Kings Armies And the Camp-Master General is at present the Baron de Monctar the Lieutenant-Colonel is M. John d' Estampes Baron of Bellebrune The Colonel-General of the Suissers and Grisons is the Prince de Maine Monsieur de Mazarques was Colonel-General of the Corsicans but at present there are no Corsicans in the service And the Baron D' Eguenfeld was Colonel-General of the Foreign Troops but since his departure there has been no other substituted CHAP. XVII Of the Troops of the Kings Houshold of the Gensdarmes of the Light-Horse and of the other Regiments of Cavalry and Infantry THE first Troops of Cavalry are those of the Kings-Houshold of the Life-Guards Gensdarmes the Light-Horse of the Kings Guard and the Musketeers on Horseback which is called the Kings Houshold to which there is lately joined a Company of Granadeers on Horseback Commanded by Mr. Riotort We have set down before the four Companies of the Life-Guards the Company of Gensd'armes or Men at Arms that are of the Kings Guard of which the King is Captain and the Prince de Soubize Lieutenant-Captain as likewise the Company of Light-Horse of the Kings-Guard and another Company of Gensd'armes Commanded by the Duke de Chevreuse as Captain-Lieutenant and the two Companies of Musketeers on Horseback We come now to the other Forces First there is the little Gend'armerie or that which is simply called the Gend'armerie without other addition which comprehends 1. The Scotch Gensd'armes 2. The English Gend'armes 3. The Burgundian Gend'armes 4. The Flemish Gend'armes 5. The Queens Gend'armes 6. The Queens Light-Horse 7. The Dauphins Gend'armes 8. The Dauphins Light-Horse 9. The Gend'arms of Anjou 10. The Gend'arms of Orleans 11. The Light-Horse of Orleans Monsieur de St. Germain is Provost of the little Gend'armerie The Princes or eldest Sons of the Kings of Great Brittain having as Princes of Scotland a right to the Command of a Cavalry in France there was a Company of the Kings Scotch Gensd'armes Commanded by the Duke of York as Duke of Albany and in his absence by the Marquiss of Livourne as Captain-Lieutenant The Baron of Thauriac was Sub-Lieutenant the Ensign the Count d'Onseigne and the Guidon Monsieur Champrond 2. The English Gensd'armes which are now most Irish whose Captain-Lieutenant the Count de la Guette the Sub-Lieutenant the Chevalier de Crollis the Ensign Mr. O Brian and the Guidon the Marquiss of Beavau 3. The Burgundian Gend'arms whose Captain Lieutenant is the Marquiss of Flamanville 4. The Company of Flemmish Gensd'arms Created the 22d of November 1673. the Count de Masin is Captain-Lieutenant M. Gouffier de Rosamelle Sub-Lieutenant The King is Captain of all the abovesaid Companies whose Captain-Lieutenants Command over all the Camp-Masters The Queens have also their Companies of Gensd'arms and Light-Horse and so has the Dauphin besides which there are the Gensd'arms of Anjou and the Gensd'arms and Light-Horse of
or Barricado in any place then the Foot-Officers shall have the chief Command Note That in former time when the French King went to Fight they marched under the white Cornet of France Accompanied with several Lords Voluntiers But now it is no more in use This white Cornet was different from the Colonels Cornet of the Cavalry which is also white CHAP. XVIII Of the Great Master of the Artillery THE Present Great Master of the Artillery of France is Lewis de Crevant de Humieres Marshal of France who is stiled Great Master of the Artillery of France and Super-Intendant General of the Powder and Salt-Peter he is likewise Governour and Lieutenant-General of Flanders and of the other Conquests made in the Low-Countries since the Pyrenean Treaty He took the usual Oath for this Office in September 1685. The Great Master of the Artillery bears for a mark of his Office under his Coat of Arms two Canons or Culverins mounted on their Carriages Before the Invention of Canon there was a Great Master of the Cross-bows and Battery-Men called Cranqueneers who had the Super-intendance over all the Officers and Machines for Battery The Cranquins were certain Engines then in use for Battering the Walls and Gates of Towns not unlike those we read of in the stories of all Nations of those and elder times It is the common opinion that this Office has been ever since the time of St. Lewis and in 1411 under Charles the Sixth the Sieur de Hangest was Great Master of the Crossbow-Men in lieu of which afterwards was substituted a Captain-General of the Powder of the Artillery which Title was used till the time of Henry the Great who in the year 1610. Erected it into an Office of the Crown under the Title of Great-Master in favour of Maximilian de Bethune Duke of Suilly his Favourite At present in every Army of France there is a Lieutenant of the Artillery that has Command over all the Equipage of the Artillery and takes care of its conducting who depends of the Great Master The Great Master has the super-intendance over all the Officers of the Artillery as Canoneers Pioneers Wheel-wrights Rope-Makers and other small Officers of which he keeps a Muster-Roll in all the Kings Armies in every one of which he has his Lieutenants although in Cases belonging to their Offices the Marshals of France have likewise a Command over the said Officers It is the Great Master of the Artillery that gives Order for making all works in the Armies as well at Sieges of Towns and in their Marches and he has power over all the Arsenals of France He has also the charge of most of the Tents and Pavilions of the Army and has the Seat of his Jurisdiction in the Arsenal at Paris The Great Master of the Artillery is always Colonel of the Kings Fusileers All cast Mettal found in Conquered Towns or rebellious places at their taking belongs to the Great Master of the Artillery as his Fee who sometimes commands the very Bells to be taken down from the Steeples There are Lieutenant-Generals of the Artillery in the several Provinces and in every Army the principal at present are the Marquiss de la Frezeliere M. de Vigny Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fusileers and Bombardeers and M. de Mets Lieutenant-General of the Artillery of Flanders There is likewise a Comptroller-General of the Artillery M. Camus de Clos Intendant of Catalonia a Treasurer-General M. Stephen Landais a Guard-General M. Michael Pelletier a Commissary General of the Powder M ..... a Secretary-General M. Joachim Fautrier another Secretary M. Lewis Rousseau and lastly one Bayliff of the Artillery and of the Arsenal M. Noel Eustace Pean de Chesnay And because the King of France has his Wars by Sea as well as by Land having treated of the Constable and the Marshals of France who have succeeded in his Authority who are the chief Commanders of his Armies by Land we shall now proceed to speak of the Admiral who has the chief Command over the Naval Forces and all Maritime-Affairs CHAP. XIX Of the Admiral and of the Maritime Forces THE present Admiral of France is the Count of Toulouze Lewis-Alexander of Bourbon Legitimated of France who is stiled Admiral or Great Master of the Seas and chief and super-intendant of the Commerce and Navigation of France being Constituted so in the Month of November 1683. The Great Admiral bears for a mark of his Charge two Anchors passed Salteir-Wise behind his Coat of Arms. The Admiral is one of the Officers of the Crown and Commands in the Wars at Sea with the same Authority as did the Constable formerly and at present the Marshals of France in those by Land The Power of this Office is very Great and was much augmented by King Henry the Third in favour of the Duke de Joyeuse one of his Favourites that was then Admiral The Admiral grants out Commissions to Privateers to Arm and put out to Sea against the Enemies of the State and has Power to make Truce with them upon the Sea for three Weeks of his own private Authority without his leave no Vessels can enter into any Port he has the tenths of all the spoils taken at Sea He is Judge in all Maritime Causes and the Appeals from his Sentences are brought to the Parliament of Paris but he has no Place there by vertue of his Office His Chief Court is kept at the Marble Table in the Palace at Paris whither Appeals are brought from the Judges of his inferiour Courts and he has his Officers that take cognisance of all Delinquencies and Differences that arise as well about Contracts and Agreements made either for Warlike Affairs or for Merchandise Fishing and all other things whatever whether Civil or Criminal putting in under him what Lieutenant he pleases he gives safe Conducts and Pass-Ports by Sea and Licenses for Herring-Fishing and other Fishing and causes Watch and Ward to be kept on the Sea-Coasts when there is occasion by those who are subject to that Duty and appoints Men of War to guard the Fisher-Boats in time of Herring-Fishing The Name of Admiral was borrowed from the Arabians who came by Sea pouring in like an Inundation on the Christians in Europe and after having roved over all the Seas of this Quarter of the World Conquered Spain and from thence made descents into France by the Coasts of Guienne and Poitou during the space of such long Wars the French had frequent Communication with them and he that Commanded in Chief over all the other Commanders of that so potent and formidable Naval Army being commonly called in the Arabian Tongue Amiral Musulmin that is to say Prince of the True Believers for so those Infidels affect to call themselves the French who retained only the first Syllables of that Name took occasion out of the corruption of it to form the name of Amiral i. e. Admiral which is the Title they have ever since applied to