Star.
London, England, 1824-02-18 00:00:00

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ory
-Secret Memoirs of Me Court.of Louis Xii.... _ _ ,of illiel,
gency. • Extracted front the' German ecttespfnident
. of the Duchess of Orleans, Mother of the Rtgent, iffc.
B,c. Bvo. pp. 472. •
_
The very title of this volume and the name of the au-
. thor Would alone command the perusal of many, in the
expectation of finding a correct picture of the :morals
. and manners of the Corn of Louis le Grand, when thlel
aiwienreriine wit: in she 'zenith of its glory ; nor in the.'l
expectation will. the Reader be disappointed: but dip
• volurnehas other claims to attention.,--presenting many
curious historical facts not to be found elsewhere.
The Duchess waa daughter of ,the Elector Palatine,
and.born on the 7th of July, 1652. That she is an im-
partial wi iter we may infer from the frankness with
- 'which she gives her' own ptirtrait--," I am (saysislie)
unquestionably. very ..ugly : -I have rio .features; my
. eyes are small, my nose is short and thick, my lips long
mand•flat4 ithese.do not tonstitute much of a . physiog..
norny.: I have Fr7eat hanging cheeks and a latge
face,-
;**'iiattilre IS *.hOrt and stout, my body and my
thighs too are short, cud upon -00 whole I anl 'truly a
.Wery • iSgix lktleArbject. ,•If ; I had not 'a ; good heart, no
one-could endure me.:, 'TO litiOw whether my eyes give
tokens. of Mfpossessitig Wit; -they must be ' etemined
, .with a microscope, or stiultarldbe difficult to jedge.—
• ILisds...pi* tigly, than fidari:',are,not perhaps• to be
' found on'the whole globe: The King has 441c1-told
lerand me.. laugh at it heartily ; for not
- pg.able to tatter evert..myself that I possessed any
dfie acing which could:lie called pretty, I resolved, to he
_.,ttle (Ira to ,lxqich at •my • own ugliness: this has . suc.
~.. ceded as w4l as I could have wished, and I must con.
.s.
i
esi....thati have seldom been at a loss for something to
1.
..tigh .a.t."—.—Again—
.,f Alf my lif4 even from my earliest years, I thought
iuySCIF so ugly that I did not like• to be looked at. I
peccfore cared little for dress, because jei*els rind deco.
,;:ition attract attention, As Monsieur loved to be co-
,...yprfd with diamonds, it was fortunate that I did not
4egatil them, for otberwise,wp. should have quarrelled
?bout Oro was to wear „siseass.::Qo grand occasions,
l'iliiiisi..-- - _ • in red; I
• I always
~always or.•
cheeks himself,
', very heartily
that you
everybody

top great a
myself' look as

I
-

•

felt as if I
Palatine went
_ good a lam!
. upon the affair as was possible; I saw very well that I
did not please my husband much,. Mid. indeed that
could not.be wondered
.at, considering my ugliness i
however, I resolved to conduct myself in such a meatier
towards Monsieur that he should-become accustomed
me by my attentions, and eventually should be. c
to. endure me."
. . TheVochessgives a rather curious character of hee '
husband, who appears to have been a somewhat dish
.agreeable" sleeping partner: for; she says,. " ha could(
;not bear any one to touch him when be was asleep, so
- that I-was libliged to lie on the very edge of the bed,
Whence it. sometimes happened that I fell out like a
sack ;" she adds, that he was a good sort of man, not-
Withstanding his weakness. The Duchess's account of
hesself is by no. means voluminous, and. she concludes
• it by saying, " but this is enough, as M. Iliermann said,
after having .preached four hours together." Her cha-
ruler 'of Louis XIV. is favourable, which is very na-,
tural, as the Monarch had some good qualities, . and
treated her with kindness. She says:
• " When. the King pleased, he could be one of 'the
most agreeable and amiable men in the world; but it
was first necessary that he should he intimately lie-.
qaainted with persons. Ile used to joke ill a very comi-
cal and amusing manner. . • .
" The King, though by no means perfect, possessed'
some great and many fine qualities; and by no means;
deserved to be defamed and despised by his subjectsi
after his death. .
" While he lived he. was flattered, even to idolatry. ,
" He was so much. tormentecton my account, tbetgl
could not have wondered if he had hated me inost.coe‘
dially. However, he did not; but, on the contrary, be
discovered, that all which was -said against me :sprang
from malice and jealousy.: ' -,, •i .
" If he had not. been so unrortunate as to fall into the
hands of two of the worst women in the world, blontes-
pan, aod.that old Maintenon, who was even worse than
the other, he would have been one of the hest Kings that
eveetlteesi; for all the evil that he ever did proceeded
fro'. these two women, and not from himself. •
,"
.the king used to take.off his hat to women of all
des erlihions, even the common peasants." . ;_- -i
' The. ignorance of Louis XIV. is proverbial The Du-
chess Says.-- ' .
4.' Relative good natural wit, but was extremely ig-
norant i- and •wrieso much ashamed of it, that it became,,
the fashion for his courtier's to turn learned men into ri-
dicule.: Lhuis XIV. could not endure to bear .polities
talked: he was what they call in this country franc der
calliel-11‘. - • trt•:.7.-• • •
dr SObis XIV. as well as the rest of his family, with
the exception of my son, Sated reading. Neither tbe:
-King nor Monsieur had been taught anything s they'
scarcely knew how to react and write. The King ,
the most pAlite Man in his kingdom, but his milt and_ his
grand-children were the most rude."• _ .
Those who wish to take a Peep behind the curtain,
and to become acquainted with the characters of the
males antrfemales who figured in the COurt .Of Louis
my. we thust afar tO the work itself.—Let ut hope
that'the giyar Courts of our times exhibit a very dif-
ferent picture. .•• .. •
We . • .otheloilOwhig statement for its singularity :
speartaWfotii.PeOins of quality who were beheaded
—....11011mi-ei them, mho. might have escaped by flying
ii; -le Spaip,.wcuild not ivi. Whets he was asked why, he
rsidit .bald- been' predicteskthat le should die by sea (de
la:steavi: r .lust•beforelit was executed, he asked the
h.• 4ftitl what Wei 14 isitinc?-.,‘. M. y .name „i$ La
11 r'.,..l4...agioacseljd !Ise, ixi;.in. ...,erbeu,' said the Nobleman,
i
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• r•'"/I ,)' ' - -z'
...1.:4?; •;',..- .. . - ~ . • •/ 'i : ~.., , :juvivi4lA 4
..
r • ir". - ''-''''rf th
lott.luscii•ous HOOK i$ reported wise -the Authqr of 0
the tortiftkqesing Work, entitled Saying and Doings ;
or, geetcAes from Life. to
-Secret Memoirs ofthe Court.of Louis XI V. alst I oftheße- M

"STO;sieu--.7; used formerli.to make me dens i
did so, hut much against my inclination, for
hated 4vbaterer was.inconzenient to me. He al
,-.4erestysiltecxs,and- used to paint my cheek!
-4; tbe CAantess o& Sorrow; laugh ver
t! tome
vililce• !jil . al is it, Madame.
'Revel 100 ajmirror who.jyou, pass it, as e
cl°ei-L, • 7•
.!.IJ4Kalne have w!
.reguro or fu,Theif tote hod cof- Awing myseli
:141Y as • '"' • • -
Alluding to her own marriage, she adds—
. ‘.!.l.Jpoir my Arrival at Saint-Germain, I fel
'hadfallea from the clouds. The Princess Pala
to Parii, and there fixed me: .1 put as go!