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85 - Story of Old France by H. A. Guerber · Story of Old France

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  Speaker 1: Section eighty four of the Story of Old Friends. This
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  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. The Story of Old Friends by H. A. Gerber,
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  Speaker 1: Section eighty four, Versailles. Mazarin was dead. The strong hand
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  Speaker 1: which had guided affairs of state so long, had dropped
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  Speaker 1: from the helm, and the subordinate ministers, not knowing what
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  Speaker 1: to do, turned in bewiderment to Lewis the fourteenths asking
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  Speaker 1: to whom shall we apply henceforth for orders. Louis the
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  Speaker 1: fourteenths than just twenty two, mindful of Mazarin's last recommendations,
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  Speaker 1: drew himself up and quietly answered to me the case
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  Speaker 1: king was ambitious and persevering, duly impressed by his important position,
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  Speaker 1: and determined to practice faithfully what he himself termed his
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  Speaker 1: trade as king. He therefore set immediately to work, and
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  Speaker 1: for fifty four years labored regularly eight hours a day
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  Speaker 1: at his self imposed task, presiding over every council, deciding
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  Speaker 1: every matter in person, and not allowing any paper to
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  Speaker 1: leave the palace without his approval. As lois natural abilities
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  Speaker 1: were far above the average disclosed attention to business bore
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  Speaker 1: good fruit. People soon began to see the truth of
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  Speaker 1: Mazarin's statements. There is in him s tough enough for
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  Speaker 1: four kings and for one honest man. And he may
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  Speaker 1: start out late, but he will go farther than any
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  Speaker 1: one else. This prediction's time was to verify, for the
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  Speaker 1: reign of Louis the fourteenth proved the most glorious as
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  Speaker 1: well as the longest in French history. From the death
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  Speaker 1: of Mazarin sixteen sixty one until his own death seventeen fifteen,
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  Speaker 1: Lois had no prime minister, but personally exercised the chief
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  Speaker 1: authority in the country. Because everything centery does in him
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  Speaker 1: he too, as well as friends. The first see page
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  Speaker 1: two hundred forty four is often considered the founder of
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  Speaker 1: absolute monarchy in France, or of the system generally known
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  Speaker 1: as the Old Regime. Indeed, it is even said that
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  Speaker 1: Louis the fourteenth once declared I am the state letta Simois.
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  Speaker 1: His first speech on assuming the government was Gentlemen, I
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  Speaker 1: have called you together to tell you that up to
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  Speaker 1: the present day, I have been willing to allow the
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  Speaker 1: deceased cardinal to regulate my affairs hereafter, I intend to
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  Speaker 1: be on my own Prime Minister. You will add me
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  Speaker 1: by your counsels whenever I shall ask for them. And
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  Speaker 1: I beg and command you, mister Chancellor, not to see
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  Speaker 1: any documents save by my orders, and you, my Secretary
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  Speaker 1: of State and Superintendent of Finances, never to sign anything
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  Speaker 1: save by my orders. Louis the fourteenths was so arbitrary
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  Speaker 1: because he believed in the divine right of kings, and
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  Speaker 1: because he was also firmly convinced that it is the
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  Speaker 1: will of God that he who is born a subject
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  Speaker 1: should bay and make no question. His overwinning opinion of
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  Speaker 1: his own position intelligence helped to make him a great
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  Speaker 1: historical figure, but later on led also to disaster. Because
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  Speaker 1: he had been frightened by the riots of the Front
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  Speaker 1: in his early childhood, Louis did not wish to settle
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  Speaker 1: in Paris, and because the palaces in the neighborhood, found
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  Speaker 1: on a blue Saint Germain et cetera, bore too clearly
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  Speaker 1: the imprint of previous kings, he resolved to transform his
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  Speaker 1: father's modest hunting castle at Versailles into a dwelling worthy
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  Speaker 1: of himself. In sixteen sixty one. Therefore the construction of
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  Speaker 1: the present palace was begun. The work was planted by
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  Speaker 1: famous architects, the ceilings and walls the career by the
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  Speaker 1: best painters of the day, the gardens laid out by
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  Speaker 1: a famous landscape gardener and adorned with statues by noted sculptors. Water,
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  Speaker 1: in profusion to feed the many fountains and artificial lakes,
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  Speaker 1: was brought from a distance through grown trees were transplanted
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  Speaker 1: from remote forests, and everything was done to create an
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  Speaker 1: abode which all the other sovereigns envied and sought to copy,
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  Speaker 1: and which served in a way as a model for
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  Speaker 1: the construction of countless other edifices in Europe. To accomplish
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  Speaker 1: all these in a barren plain required a host of
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  Speaker 1: workmen as well as a mint of money, but the
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  Speaker 1: king considered nothing but his pleasure. From sixteen sixty one
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  Speaker 1: to seventeen ten, additions and extensions were constantly made to Versailles,
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  Speaker 1: until the palace become one of the show places of
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  Speaker 1: the world. The cost of all this magnificence has been
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  Speaker 1: estimated at about four hundred million dollars of our money
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  Speaker 1: to day, so you can readily imagine that It is
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  Speaker 1: a place which must be seen if one wishes to
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  Speaker 1: have any conception of its extent and beauty. The creation
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  Speaker 1: of Lewis the fourteenth it bears at every turn the
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  Speaker 1: imprint of his taste. But since eighteen thirty seven it
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  Speaker 1: has been a national museum open to all, and has
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  Speaker 1: been filled with priceless treasures of art, in addition to
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  Speaker 1: those secured by its founder. In this palace there were
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  Speaker 1: apartments for all the members of the royal family, with
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  Speaker 1: quarters for their suits, guards and attendants. Beside's lodgings for
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  Speaker 1: the principal officers of the court, and for the guests
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  Speaker 1: and favorites of royalty. Nobles who were not lodged there
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  Speaker 1: built villas and palaces in their neighborhood, so as to
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  Speaker 1: be able to appear daily at court. For if nobles
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  Speaker 1: failed to pay frequent homage to the King, he was
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  Speaker 1: apt to remark coldly when their names were mentioned, I
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  Speaker 1: do not know them. The French court took up its
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  Speaker 1: aboute in Versail in sixteen eighty two, and for the
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  Speaker 1: next century this palace was not only the home of
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  Speaker 1: the king, but also the center of government in France.
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  Speaker 1: It may interest you to hear how Louis the fourteenths
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  Speaker 1: spent his days in this ideal residence and to learn
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  Speaker 1: what etiquette ruled his court. The first thing in the morning,
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  Speaker 1: the doors were flung wide open to admit the waiting
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  Speaker 1: crowd of courtiers. These were the grand entries Grandzantries, when
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  Speaker 1: all who wished to see the king flocked into an
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  Speaker 1: empty chamber known as the Beau's Eye aid Beeuf on
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  Speaker 1: account of its oval window. His special favorites were thence
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  Speaker 1: admitted to the King's bedroom to witness his morning toilet,
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  Speaker 1: but t livy. As soon as this was over, the King,
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  Speaker 1: richly clad, emerged to greet the waiting throng, and, attended
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  Speaker 1: by an obsequious court, proceeded to chapel to hear mass.
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  Speaker 1: After service, he was escorted back in a state to
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  Speaker 1: the room, where he gave audience to those waiting to
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  Speaker 1: confer with him before presiding over his counsel. Being very
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  Speaker 1: punctual himself, Louis always insisted upon great promptness, and once,
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  Speaker 1: when one of his ministers entered the council room by
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  Speaker 1: another door just as he appeared, he hotly remarked, Sir,
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  Speaker 1: I almost had to wait it was customary for the
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  Speaker 1: King to eat his one o'clock dinner in state. He
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  Speaker 1: sat alone at a table under the royal canopy, while
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  Speaker 1: the various members of the royal family, the princess and
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  Speaker 1: invited guests dined at other tables. During this meal, any one,
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  Speaker 1: if clean and neatly dressed, was allowed to pass through
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  Speaker 1: the hall to gaze at the king, and the courtiers
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  Speaker 1: made it a point to be in attendance for the
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  Speaker 1: king's brother, or, in the case of his absence, the
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  Speaker 1: next in rank had the exalted privilege of handing Lewis
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  Speaker 1: the fourteenth his napkin. After dinner, the crowd followed the
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  Speaker 1: King down the great staircase to the beautiful grounds for
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  Speaker 1: an afternoon walk, the gentlemen being granted permission to don
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  Speaker 1: their hats until then held in the hand or tucket
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  Speaker 1: under the arm by a gracious jesture and the words
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  Speaker 1: your hats, gentlemen. After a walk, drive, or hunt for
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  Speaker 1: the sake of sociability and exercise, the King was again
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  Speaker 1: closeted with his ministers, and the busy day was followed
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  Speaker 1: by a concert, play or ball, the sumptuous royal supper,
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  Speaker 1: to which the King invited. Any guest he pleased was
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  Speaker 1: always served at ten o'clock at bed time. After taking
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  Speaker 1: ceremonious leave of the main part of his courtiers in
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  Speaker 1: the ante chamber, the King was solemnly escorted to his
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  Speaker 1: room by a select few, and one courtier was finally
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  Speaker 1: allowed each evening to hold the royal candlestick while his
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  Speaker 1: Majesty said his prayers and climbed into bed. All day long,
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  Speaker 1: the Versailles courtiers vied with one another in attentions to
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  Speaker 1: the King and to the court ladies, conversing gaily and
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  Speaker 1: exchanging witty remarks. In fact, life at court was so
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  Speaker 1: brilliant that the worst disgrace which could befall a member
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  Speaker 1: of the aristocracy was to incur royal displeasure and to
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  Speaker 1: be banished from Versailles. There was therefore no extravagance that
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  Speaker 1: lords ladies were not ready to commit to win the
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  Speaker 1: King's attention or favor, and no flattery too folsome to
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  Speaker 1: be lavished upon him. One courtier, walking with the King
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  Speaker 1: in the gardens of Marlee and overtaken there by a shower,
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  Speaker 1: was hurried to assure his master, Ah Sire Marlee reigned,
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  Speaker 1: does not wet. When Louis became old and complained that
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  Speaker 1: he had no teeth, a young lord, though himself well
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  Speaker 1: supplied with them, boldly exclaimed, ah, sire, who is there then,
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  Speaker 1: that has any teeth? Even a cook committed suicide because
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  Speaker 1: the fish one day did not arrive in time for
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  Speaker 1: the king's dinner. And of Section eighty four