Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n
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A62321
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Scarron incens'd, or, His appearing to Madam de Maintenon, his late wife, reproaching her amours with Lewis the Great, present King of France and discovering several secrets of that court / written by a lady in French.
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Lady.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing S838; ESTC R13231
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50,349
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146
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much Youthfulness That she was there only as a Spectatrix for that she had a long time ago bid adieu to the Pleasures of the World Nor was her Answer to be wonder'd at for in truth that Lady is at this day the Greatest Pattern of Piety in France However it were never were the French Ladies so forwardly eager to make their Magnificence glitter in the Eyes of Foreign Princes as they were at that time Toward Midnight several Pleasing Metamorphoses took place every one appearing in disguize and Masquerade The Prince of Danemark disguiz'd himself like a Moresco Slave attended by Eight Lords that accompany'd him in the same disguize The Prince's Patron taking upon him to personate a Bashaw presented him to all the Ladies of the Court to see who would buy him which occasion'd the most pleasing Pastime in the World and twelve young English Lords sent by King James appear'd at the same time like Quakers which made all the Company Laugh and was an Extraordinary Addition to the Spectatours delight After so many various Metamorphoses at length appear'd a Lord disguiz'd like a Devil Nothing ever appear'd so hideously dreadful the Dismal Appearance was so terrible to the Ladies but more especially the Dutchess of Chartres that they were forc'd to take a world of Pains before they could allay the Commotions of her Fear and in regard of her Condition not so seasonable for such sort of Spectacles they were in terrible Fears that she would have miscarry'd but it so fell out that she was more afraid then hurt Madam de Maintenon by this time perceiving 't was past one a Clock retir'd first of all Incognito and being got into her Chamber she call'd La Caverna one of her Damsels who spread her Toilet and brought her all her Accoutrements to pass away the Night Now Madam de Maintenon is a Woman proper and delicately shap'd plump full Visag'd lovely Eyes and about five and forty Years of Age but still appearing Young Learned and extreamly Witty well vers'd in the Lives of the Saints but particularly in that of St. Lewis to which she applies her self with extraordinary Attention reading in it every day an Hour or two before she goes to Bed By such Pious Exercises as these she has render'd her self worthy the tenderness of the Holy Society and Lewis the XIV from whom the Merit of this Lady could not be conceal'd has vouchsaf'd her both his Heart and his Affections which gives us a perfect Demonstration of the nice and delicate Judgment of that Prince as having never ty'd himself but to Persons of her Character Consider him in the Choice of his first Mistress Mademoiselle de Machini who was by no means handsome and had the worst Air in the World but she was infinitely witty and they that had heard her but speak forgot all her other Defects Mademoiselle de la Valiere had no less the Ascendant over the Heart of this Monarch even to the raising of Violent Passions in his Breast But let us leave this Prince to his Tender Affections and set what became of our Heroess Madam de Maintenon After some moral Considerations she took up a Book entituled Reflections upon the Mercy of God by Madam de Valiere This devout Damsel having written the most curious Thoughts that ever were and with Expressions enough to move the most worldly minded in those Meditations it was that our Pious Marchioness was Exercising her Thoughts when she heard a noise in her Chamber She thought at first it had been Diana her little Bitch but looking behind her she saw a Man with a Night-Cap upon his Head wrap't up in a Winding-Sheet Who should it be but her Husband Scarron that Famous Author whose touring Genius and his Verses have made such a noise upon the Earth and who is still no less good Company in the Kingdom of Pluto accompany'd with three of his Friends Rancune carrying a Folio entitl'd The Annals of Hell wherein are contain'd all the most Secret Actions of Mortals La Rapiniere who carry'd the Contract of Marriage before God and their Consciences pass'd between Lewis XIV King of France and Navarr sirnam'd God's Gift and Frances d'Aubigne Widow of Mr. John Scarron And Ragotin who carry'd the Flambeau but he out of Respect retir'd into the next Gallery Madam de Maintenon who was not a little dismay'd to see so much Funeral Pomp would fain have hid her self in her Closet had not the Ghost stopp'd her crying out Whither so fast Madam Pray stay here a little and hearken to the grievous Complaints of the most Unfortunate of all Men. Since the Fatal Sisters cut the Thread of my Life and my descent into the Lower Regions I have done nothing but pin'd away being all along tormented with Despair and unconceivable Pangs of Grief to hear every day by all that thick and threefold arrive in our Territories from the Middle Sides and both Ends of Europe the wicked Life you lead and the Mischief you have been the cause of by your dangerous and pernicious Counsels 'T is the Discourse of all the Infernal Court there is nothing talk'd of but your Name upon the River Styx and you are the Mirth for the most serious Souls in their Six-penny Passages by that Black Water You have utterly confounded my Reputation to my irreparable Damage in regard I am frequently in the Societies of the Poets who are the rankest Scoffers in the World and as often in the Assemblies of the Philosophers no less Satyrical and full of their Girds and Sarcasms One day as I was musing for some Thoughts proper for a certain Copy of Verses which Proserpine had commanded me to make in Honour of Vertuous Women that had been always Constant to their Husbands I flung out of that same dreary Academy dull and morose and not half so witty as I was wont to be in this World Upon that I walk'd a Turn or two in the Elysian Field to refresh my Brains where Pluto met me and swore to me like a Beau of an incens'd Deity that as soon as ever he had yee in his Clutches he would thrust yee into Tartarus the most dreadful Place in all his Dominions and there excruciate yee with all the most exquisite Torments that your Crimes have merited I was in a terrible Agony to hear him pronounce so dismal a Sentance Thereupon I besought him to grant me Audience to the end I might obtain the liberty to give you a Visit on purpose to admonish yee to alter your extravagant course of Life and to repent betimes in order to your avoiding Eternal Punishment And now that Tenderness all that is left and indeed the more Noble part which I always had for yee has made me take this long Journey with three of my Friends Anaximenes one o our Philosophers having given us Air as the Principal of all things that we might appear Corporeal Oh Sir ery'd Madam de Maintenon how am I surpriz'd at
Judgee of the Lower World and against the Sentiments of all disinterested Persons That Prince having broke the Truce which he made with the Dutch for Twenty Years banish'd all the Hugonots out of his Kingdom revok'd the Edict of France and acted a thousand other things contrary to the Peace of a State And not without good reason continues Scarron a part of those Mischiefs are chargeable upon you supported by Father La Chaise and the Archbishop of Paris the sworn Enemies of the Publick Peace so that the Dauphin has but too much reason to hate you and call you his Step-Mother You may remember many Affronts which you your self put upon the Dauphiness and which did not a little contribute to the Distemper that carry'd her off And King James II. of England is also indebted to you for the loss of his Three Kingdoms by your pernicious Counsels If the King has banish'd all the Hugonots from France says Madam de Maintenon it was only to immortalize his Name and Memory according to the Examples of his Predecessors Charles IX and Henry III. by endeavouring as they did to extirpate Herefie the King having a true Zeal for the Service of God The Reverend Father La Chaise and all the Cabinet-Counsel possess'd him with the Apprehensions of a general Ruine impending over his Kingdom if he did not intirely convert all those Hereticks and that he was never to expect the Blessing of God if he did not bring back all those poor Souls to our Holy Mother the Church The King whose Zeal for the Catholick Religion is Exemplary and which is altogether surprising in a Monarch who is at this day the Terrour of Europe and justly pretends that all other Sovereigns ought to submit to him and hold of his Empire subjects himself with a profound Obedience to all those things with which Piety inspires him And by the Foundation of St. Cyr this religious Prince has given a Proof how much Devotion has the Ascendant over him for we may see that Holy Places such as Churches subsist much longer in the Minds of the People then Palaces and Houses for Civil Use In the mean time Madam answers Scarron we see that for the most part those Princes who have ruin'd their Countries and People are those who have caus'd most Churches and Monasteries to be built witness Justinian who fill'd Italy and Greece with 'em after he had ruin'd and pillag'd all the Provinces of his Empire And John Galeas Duke of Milan who founded the Charter-house of Pavia the finest in Christendom Devotion is not always the true Mark of the Vertue and Bounty of Princes Charles IX and Henry III. his Brother being cruel Kings Men of ill Conduct and no Justice yet were the greatest Bigots imaginable in every thing by which they could merit Heaven as going Bare-foot on Pilgrimages in Pentients Habit in the Streets of Paris wearing coarse Hoods having Death's Heads embroider'd upon their Cloaths and shutting themselves up in Oratories with Hermits yet all this external Devotion could not hide their bad Lives and ill Government It 's always Glorious for a King to shew good Example to his Subjects but Lewis XIV is so far from doing so that he imitates the Infidels in every thing The strict Alliance betwixt the French Court and the Ottoman Port makes it apparent that that Prince follows the vitious Manners of the Turks insomuch that he copies their greatest Crimes and has made himself a perfect Mussulman We need go no further then St. Cyr which may truly be call'd a Seraglio under the Title of a Religious Nunnery and I have no reason to doubt Madam that you are the scandalous Instrument of a thousand criminal Intrigues which that Prince carries on there And by this means you also procure to your self a great number of Creatures throughout the Kingdom among those of Eminent Birth and Merit who make their Court to you for an Alliance with those Ladies in hopes of obtaining considerable Employments by your Favour Ah! Sir cries Madam de Maintenon away with Thoughts so impious and be not guilty of such an Outrage against the Modesty of that Holy Place The King having entrusted me with the Conduct of that Spiritual Militia you wound me sensibly and sin also against the Vertue of that Religious Prince 'T is the Noblest and most Glorious Charity that ever was heard of to have so many young Damsels that want Estates bred up at the Expence of that great Monarch and though that agreeable Retirement be within a League of Versailles it may well be call'd a Holy Solitude where nothing troubles their Repose There is nothing there of that Magnificence which is to be found in the Palaces of Kings but a noble Simplicity is its chief Ornament and yet there appears in the same a thousand beautiful Charms When you see all those young Ladies and hear them sing the Praises of Jesus with so much Modesty you cannot but conceive an Idea of the blessed Angels and holy Martyrs in Heaven and to speak sincerely there 's no Religious-House where more of Order and Piety is to be seen All things are so well dispos'd in that Society that Idleness is entirely banish'd thence There they pray to God Day and Night and those Damsels seeing nothing but good Example are bred incomparably better then they could have been in the most pious and regular Families The King who is the sole Founder of that School of Christianity will always be the Admiration of his People and by that Sacred Place his Name and Memory shall be render'd Immortal In fine Madam replies Scarron seeing the time when I must leave you draws near and that Rancune and Rapiniere my Friends do signifie as much unto me Pluto not having allow'd us any more time then what I have spent with you we cannot go beyond his Orders and I observe also that Ragotin's Flambeaux is also burnt out Make good Use of the Conversation which I have had with you consider that your Life passes away like a Dream and that in a little time you may be summon'd before our severe Judges Rhadamanthus and Minos who will pronounce your Eternal Sentence In what a terrible Condition will you find your self if you come to sojourn in the bottomless Abyss for not having reflected seriously upon the Vain-Glory of the World and the Counterfeit-Lustre which attends its Honour I perceive you are engag'd to follow the Course of the Great Ones but if you have any remainder of Shame left I advise you to sacrifice the Interest of the Court and the King's Embraces to your own Honour and mine Retire into a Convent as did La Valiere and spend the rest of your days in the Service of God The King being accustom'd to change will treat you in the same manner as he hath done his other Mistresses I assure you Sir says de Madam Maintenon that I have profited extremely by the good Advice which you have given me and