Husband held his Commission he thought it a Picture sent from some other Lover and earnestly snatches the Box but his Jealous Curiosity was soon punished for in opening it it wrought the same effect on him the Husband design'd it should have done on his Wife This Adventure became a Town-talk The Gallant believing the Husband had sent the Box and soon after took away his Commission on a false pretence of ill management He returned to his Wife where he and the whole Family are expecting new Commissions which may one day put them in a condition to satisfie their mighty hopes Mounsieur the Marquiss de Villars has made his Publick Entry into Madrid with a great deal of Magnificence You know he is a very comely Gentleman excellently humoured and of a tried Valour and the choice made of him to be Ambassadour in Spain where such delicacy of Judgment is required is a certain evidence of his Abilities Mounsieur de Pompone is lately returned from Sweden and has already taken his Oath as Secretary of State His Worth is known to all the World since 't is that has raised him to this Dignity There is no person but is perswaded he will behave himself worthy of the Choice made of him by the Greatest and Wisest King of the World and great things are expected from him He writes with more spirit and life than can be observed in any of the most studied Letters of our Academians Letter V. SInce I have told you in my last I would use no more Complements but begin all my Letters with the Stories I intend to relate I will keep my word with you and begin An old covetous Fellow who had yet no Children and who was desperate fearful of any expence was almost ready to run mad when his Wife told him she believed she had conceived he began to cast up in his Brain all that a Child would cost him till it came to be thirty years of Age and framed so exact an accompt of it that he reckoned likewise the food they took in their Mothers Bellies alledging that Women with Child eat both for Themselves and their Children He added together all these sums and then cast up how much they would purchase if he laid them out in Rents and how much the Interest upon Interest would produce He found the total to amount so high that he repented a thousand and a thousand times the day that ever he was married and made a full resolution never to attempt getting any more Children deeming it a pleasure unbecoming a discreet and understanding man Whilst he was making these Accounts and these Reflections his Wife perceived certainly she was with Child and no more doubt to be made of it she told it to her griping Husband whose grief was twice as much as it had been before and from that very minute he began several Retrenchments in his House that his Thrift might help bear the charges of the coming Infant but how gripple soever he were he could save little this way since rather than a superfluity there was already a want of many necessary things But if his torment were great to see his Wife with Child it was doubled and redoubled when about the sixth month she told him that she believed she was with Child with two and that many knowing Women doubted it he was then ready to hang himself but one we call a Man-midwife a Friend of his eas'd him of this vexation by assuring him the contrary Soon after scolding with his Wife he told her 't was convenient to consider which would cost least to bring up a Boy or a Girl and after having well examined the matter and reckoned at their fingers ends the expence of one and the other they found that a Boy would cost least because he might make his own fortune but the Father and the Mother must make out the Girles by providing her a portion I will have you then said the Husband bring me a Boy That is neirher in your power nor mine reply'd the Wife It shall be as I tell you replyed the Husband It may be so indeed answered the Wife if Nature has thought good to make one Let Nature have made one or no cry'd the old Wreth in wrath I say you shall be brought to Bed of a Boy or at least the Child you bring forth shall appear to the eyes of the world whatever I will have it to be for if you be brought to bed of a Girl we will say 't is a Boy and bring it up under that habit The Woman was forced to consent and all the rest of her time they fortified themselves in this Resolution Her hour being come she was brought to bed of a Girl and to make it be believed a Boy they took those courses they had before contrived All that saw it were deceived and when it grew in years many young Maids fell in love with it This young Beauty being ill treated by her Father and worse fed resolved to leave the Covetous Miser and as soon as she found her self able to carry a Musquet enlisted her self and came to the Army where in the first Field she made her self be taken notice of All that saw her took a liking to her they could give no reason for and she had a kind of modest and obliging carriage which hindred those who were Enemies to Worth in all others from envying her She was always very retired and though she knew not her self what she was she lived as if she designed a concealment and it succeeded so happily that never any suspected it She was not yet grown to all the marks necessary to distinguish her for though she was pretty large she was very young and had strength enough to undergo the toyls of War In the first Garrison where she quartered her Landlords Daughter fell desperately in love with her and fearing her self to be already with Child by a Lover that was lately dead and willing to hide her shame by clapping up a Match with this Object of her New Love she omitted nothing might gain his good Will doing a thousand obliging things for this fair Souldier to bring her design to effect she followed him every where gave him meetings in an hundred different places that all the World might take notice of her love and speak of it to her Father Her plot took for those who spoke of it told him That after so much talk of this her Passion he would never find any one would marry her and therefore to salve his Reputation he must of force give her to him she loved so fervently The Good Man was of their opinion and after having a little chid his Daughter and given her some good Lessons he talked with her about marrying the young Souldier quartered with him It is to be observed that this Disguised Maid passed for a young Lad of a good Family and pretty rich who was come to the Army without his Friends Consent and
this was the chief Motive to make mine Host resolve to give him his Daughter I will not trouble you with all that passed till the wedding-day but onely bring this new-married Couple to Bed There 't is I believe you expect them The Bride's heart went pit-a-pat out of fear her Husband should discover another had reap'd those Favours should have been reserved for him But that fear soon vanished when she perceived too clearly that he was in a Condition to examine nothing thus from one danger she apprehended she fell into a worse from which she would soon have with-drawn her self if she had not been with Child by discovering all But however she did nothing and was so long consulting with her self what to do that her Great Belly appeared and now she thought it too late to speak But unhappily for her as she was in her Ninth Moneth and a bed with her pretended Husband one of her Kinswomen came into the Chamber while they were asleep and putting her hand on the bed to wake her Cousin who stirr'd not at the noise she made coming in she met with the Brests of the Maiden Husband which lay uncovered and presently it was known she was a Woman for the Kinswomans astonishment was so great that she cried our aloud what she had discovered This is the original of that Adventure has been of late so much talked of and which has made so many ignorant people publish That one Maid got another with Child Mounsieur the Chancellour finding himself much afflicted with his Distemper has ordered his Children to return the Seals into his Majesties hands fearing lest his Malady should hinder him from serving him with the same application he had done for this thirty nine years in which he had officiated in this important Charge Mounsieur the Duke of Coaslin carried word of it and did it in a way very satisfactory to his Majesty I know not Madam whether you have ever understood all the Worth of that Duke his Valour is well known and he esteemed one of the best men in the world and the most officious Friend earnest to do kindnesses and joyful when he has done them As for his internal parts the place he has in the Academy is a sufficient Testimony of them Paris 30 January 1672. Letter VI. I Am very doubtful Madam whether this Letter will have the good fortune to please you and I have a great deal of reason to doubt it since instead of finding as in the precedent some divertizing Story you will understand that such is my grief for the death of the good Chancellor that I am not in a condition to relate Adventures That great Chancellor is now no more nor had death so long spared him but to make France more sensible of his loss He was a man of eminent knowledge of admirable eloquence and a Prudence often put to the test in the Counsels of two of the greatest Kings in the world he was a great Benefactor to learning the Protector of all knowing men and for a Crown to all his glories he was the strongest prop and buttress of the Church that any age has known Nor do I say this but upon the credit of many Prelates who publish it as a truth Never did man better understand the Justice Ordinances and Laws of the Kingdom nor appeared more to value able men of whatever profession He sought with much labour and diligence to understand what belonged to his employment or to those Counsels he was obliged to give in affairs of State often acknowledging the search he had made of persons who might give him the least light though he had much more understanding then those he consulted with But if death hath ravished from us one great Minister The King has made another by giving Mounsier de Louvoy the quality of Minister of State he ows this advancement only to his worth for it is apparent that his vigilance exactness and good conduct in all things depending on his ministry have made his Majesty discern in him the most accomplished policies which obliged him to make choise of him to assist in all Counsels in the quality of Minister of State Though he be yet very young there shines in him all the prudence and sagacity of a Counsellor grown gray in affairs All his actions are beautified with an incorruptible fidelity and an exemplary strictness which may be observed in his seventy towards his dependants when they at any time faulter in their duty he is always ready to applaud and recompence good service but he is inexorable when men stray from their duty The choice he makes of those he puts into imployments under him justifies the good choise the King made when he left things to hir dispose and daily intrusts him with affairs of most concern both to the publick and to his own particular glory Death the day before yesterday snatcht from us Madam the Princess of Conty she was as you very well know daughter of Count Martinozzi and of a Sister of the late Cardinal Mazarine Though nature had given her a great portion of beauty her devotion made her neglect it she lived with Mounsier the Prince of Conty with that respect made her reguarded with much kindness and consideration Her great piety none are ignorant of and her plentiful Almes could not be hid from the world Her care in bringing up her Children was worthy so great a Princess and the fruits of her endeavours may be seen in those little Princes in whom may be observed qualities above the usual reach of such tender spirits Paris February 6. 1672. Letter VII I Believe Madam fame has already given you an account how since the death of the late Lord Chancellor the King would himself take the Charge of Keeper of his Seals but perhaps you have not yet heard that the first day he took that care upon him he imployed himself at it for near seven hours and yet that hindred him not from holding the same day two Counsels of more then three hours and a halfe each Never was Prince heard of that took so much pains or laboured so hard for the good of his Subjects his Majesty has since named to have care of the Seal with deliberative voice six ordinary Counsellors of state who are the Mesieurs D' Aligre de Seve Poncet Boucherat Pussort and Voisin he has nominated likewise fix Masters of Requests which are the Messieurs Barretin le Boulanger de Haqueville le Pelletier de Faucon de Lamoignon and Pellison The Kings prudence may be judged of by the merit of those he has named Monsieur D' Aligre is of Sixty Nine years of Age and Son of a Chancellor he has been Fifty years in the Counsel has passed through all Charges and been a long time Director of the Finances his honesty and uprightness are known and esteemed by all the world Monsieur de Seve has been Secretary of the Closet Master of
Coat glittering all over with Embroydery that it out-vy'd the Sun whereever he went he fancied all Eyes followed him and he could not doubt but his manly presence supported and set off with this Equipage of a Marquiss and of a Marquiss that was come from the Army must captive the stubbornest hearts and make the Ladies fall flat before him These magnanimous thoughts stirred up afresh his Courage in the Closet and he summoned all his Courage together and redoubled his blows against a Squadron of Horse that was in the Tapistry But O dire mischance blinded with too furious a height of Courage he unfortunately mist the Hangings and his Sword lighting upon one of the Looking-glasses broke it all in pieces he presently throws down his Arms with a resolution never to handle them more He believed now he should be unfortunate in the Army that he should certainly be slain and the broken Looking-glass was an infallible presage of it Well then Arms laid aside he takes up the Gown and cloaths himself like a Counsellour putting on a little Minikin Ruff and a short white Perriwig He consults with remaining Looking-glasses and thinks this Habit became him mighty prettily and begins to feel his Spirits exalted that way So he sets himself to examine the Advantages of this Profession which he finds very considerable All People that have Courage said he within himself do not come to be Marshals of France the number would then be too great and one must have exposed ones life a thousand times before one can justly pretend to that Dignity This thought made him frown and grow pale at once he found a Counsellours condition much better and securer and in time thinks he I may come to be a Judge without running any hazard of my Life He proposes to himself a thousand Pleasures and Delights before it came to that Fancies to himself an Anti-chamber and all the Stairs leading up to it full of Clients ready to cast themselves on their Knees before him and calling him My Lord. He smirks and smiles imagining he sees among them a great many pretty Women and these thoughts egg on others which fill his whole Brainpan full of a thousand ravishing Conceptions Here therefore he resolves to fix his Standard and to become a Counsellour but yet he will first put on the Rochet to see how it becomes him And now he admires his incomparable Gravity and being mightily taken with himself it comes into his head that he might one day arrive to be a Cardinal O then how should he look in a Scarlet Robe A Counsellour now seems to him but a Coxcomb in comparison of a Cardinal No no said he within himself I am not of the humour to undergo the toyls and labour which a man of the Long Robe must submit to what a thousand troubles doe continually haunt him after having spent a whole evening in reading over Breviates and perhaps the best part of the Night he must be rouzed by four or five a Clock in the morning with bawling and crying Good Sir Remember my cause Pray Sir Remember my cause and this din continues all the while he is within doors nor scapes he when he gets out but at every corner some are watching to catch him and ring their cause in his ears If I think to go eat or drink with my Friends they themselves grow my Tormentors and are recommending one Cause or another or if I go to court my Mistress and take an hours divertisement with her she is worse than all the rest and being gained by the almighty power of Presents I must not be admitted to the touch of her finger without the extracting some promise from me and if I promise her I must keep my word and then ten to one fall into injustice No no I will not be a Counsellour 't is too weighty a Charge 't is better being an Abbot they live as they please They He was about to inlarge himself upon the Advantages of this Profession when a beautiful young person whom he loved and was designed to be married too as soon as he was settled entred the Closet together with her Mother He believed he had shut the door very securely but alas he had left the Key in it his Brain was so overwhelmed with Imaginations and Whimseys concerning the Choice he was to make He could not be more surprized to see them come in than the Ladies were to see him in that posture They asked him what was the meaning of his being habited in that manner He told them he had determined to become a Church-man and had put on the Rochet to see how the Habit agreed with him He was hardly to be known for he had put off his Perruque his Hair reach'd but to his Ears and the square Cap he had put on almost covered them so that he look'd mighty ridiculously to the Ladies in that disguise They asked him again and again whether he would be stedfast in his Resolution to become a Church-man He told them Yes and that they could not justly complain of him if he took that Course for if he deserted his Mistress 't was for God alone and that since he left her not for any other beauty they ought not to be angry with him nor could not accuse him of Inconstancy They told him they believed they should be guilty of a great crime if they should endeavour by any considerations to divert him from so pious a design and soon after left him without seeming either glad or sorrowful at the accident The Mother who knew very well and had seen many evidences of his natural Inconstancy of Mind was glad to be so rid of him She had another Match ready for her Daughter and that fair Maid had some inclination for him she designed her so that things were easily concluded The pretended Abbot heard of it and was ready to run mad he comes and throws himself at his Mistresses feet protests That to enjoy her he would renounce all the Abbeys in the world and would embrace whatever profession she liked best But it was now too late and things were too far gone which did so much afflict him that he is since turned Monk I know not how long his unquiet and irresolute Spirit will suffer him to stay in the Convent but I believe to any one of his humour confinement will be very tedious and irksome Few people know this Adventure and I am confident Madam you will find it very extraordinary and though you may have some commiseration for our friends misfortune yet you cannot at the same time forbear laughing at his follies Never did one year produce so many excellent pieces for the Theatre and the famous Moliere has not deceived us in the hopes he inspired almost four years ago that there should be one day represented at the Place Royal a Comical piece after his own Mode which should be absolutely accomplished We are excellently divertized sometimes by those