The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-10-05
OLD.TIME FRANCE.

him by a vast crowd of servitors. 1t tool
grand almoner, eight chaplains, eigh
clerks, a sacristan and chapel master tc
provide his spiritual necessities. The
grand master of the household had large
retinue of servants at his command. L
was his duty to see to the proper furnish
ing forth of the royal table; and he was
sort of household prime minister, who
held cabinet council of maitres IL hotel,
controllers and masters of the counting.
house every week. The duty of provid-
ing the household was divided into seven
dcpartments-the goblet, the kitchen, the
pantry, the wine-cellar, the common
kitchen, the fruitery and the pinfold; and
over these presided the first maitre IL hotel.
Under him were twelve assistants, whose
duty it was to put the meats upon the
royal table, and to hand the King the wet
napkin which he used before eating.
There were three masters of the counting
house for dlsbursing the expenditures
and there was an officer whose sole duty
It waste take charge of the royal plate.
Another great department of the palace
WAS that of the grand chamberlain. He
was a grand gentleman indeed, usually
Il Duke or Marquis of high descent: even
the first gentleman OF the chamber, his
lieutenant, is represented in the pictures
OF the time as gorgeous creature, all vel
Vet and satin, with wig of magnificent
proportions, and an ample wealth of lace
in his neckcloth and rutfics, and of plumes
in his hat. There were twenty-six of
these gentlemen of the chamber to aid
the chamberlain in his arduous duties
OF attending to his Most Chris
tian Majesty's personal wants; and
these in turn We're assisted by
four blue blooded Wallets, who
slept by turns below the Kings bed, ready
10 serve his slightest wish. Under the
granu-chamberlaln, too, were sixteen ush-
rF>, thirty-two sub-valets, twelve bearers
OF the mantle, two arquebusiers, eight
BARRIERS, dentist, eight upholsterers, three
watchmakcrs, six grooms, two chairmen,
besides painters and sculptors, kennel
men and glaciers The department of the
wardrobe was supplied by grand-mas-
ter, twenty-valets, Il trunk bearer, four
and three laundresses. "When the King
dressed says La Croix, " the grand mas
ter assisted him to put on his under
wai>tcoat, his blue sash, and his justau-
c"tps: when the King undressed, he
handed him his nj dress, nightcap and
handkerchief; while other masters of the
wardrobe were in attendance to give the
King his handkerchief, gloves, cane and
hat, or to assist him in emptying his
pockets when he came in to change his
dress Then there were the officers of
the cabinet-the four secretaries, the four
readers, the two ushers and the interpret
crs and translatOrs; there was a grand
falconer with another set of servants; a
large number were employed in the care
and decoration of the Kings palaces,
among them four or five architects, three
surveyors, two treasurers, and others; of
gardeners, coachmen, footmen, riders,
there were many. There were various
corps devoted more especially to royal
recreations. I'VE find for the Versailles
canal a regular fleet, with captain, first
officer, mariners, gondoliers and calkers;
ana among the staff employed in the gar
denS was cleaner of the statues and a
mole catcher"
The expense of this gorgeous establish
ment-and it must not be forgotten that
the king had many others, such as Marty,
Meudon, Fontainebleau, Compiegne, St.
Cloud, where the same royal state was
prcserved-and of the >fetes and pageants
OF the courts, was, as may we'll be be-
lieved, enormous. The statement of few
OF the salaries and other expenditures will
StlNC " ldtC W "ldt eAlCul Door
France was burdened and bled to sustain
the pomp of its vain and dissolute ROYALTY.
The department of the first gentleman of
the bedchamber cost one hundred thou
sand dollars a year, that of the first maitre
dh0tel eighty thousand dollars. The
whole household were lodged, fed and
clothed at the expense of the royal trea.
sury; and, besides these, the captain of
the grcyhounds got twenty-five hundred
livres "A year, and the "keeper of the
fancy dogs" fifteen hundred. On one oc-
casion Louis XVI, who was far from
being a spendthrift by nature, laid out
over half million dollars in repairing
his furniture; and this was an annual ex-
penditure. An excursion to Marty for
three weeks involved an extra outlay of
twenty thousand dollars, by reason of the
mere transfer of the court. The mere
moving of the king from place to
place cost him half million francs
year. The military corps attending
on majesty, comprising infantry, cav
airy, body guards, French guardsmen,
Swiss guardsmen, the Gent Suisses,'
light horse guards, gendarmes of the
guard, gate guardsmen," all nearly ten
thousand men, were an expense OF over
million and a half dollars year. In
those vast royal stables at Versailles, of
which Tame says that they were $50 am
pie and beautiful that, even under Louis
XIV himself, they sometimes served as
cavalcade circus for the princes, some
times as theater, and sometimes as
ballroom" were nearly two thousand
horses, over two hundred vehicles of va
rious sorts, and fifteen hundred coachmen,
groOms and other stable servants Here
WOO ttpv,, fpr &l,os >f
purse of over a million dollars a year.
Throughout the eighteenth century the
chase was the favOrite pastime Of the
French Kings. the princess and the court.
10 be considered an accomplished cava-
ller, noble must prove himself q grace
full and dashing horseman. His majesty
had three hundred horses exclusively de-
voted TO hunting. This sport cost him a
quarter of million dollars year. Hors-
es' food cost fifty thousand dollars, and
that of the hounds ten thousand. For
thirty miles around Paris the King in
cluded his game preserves; no one could
shoot within that circle unless he were SO
fortunate as to be of the royal party.
Miles OF forest land about Versailles and
Marty, Fontainebleau and Compiegne,
were excluded from cultivation to minis
ter to these pleasures. The Kings boast
OF tnelr quantities OF game. 80 Louis XIV.
and his court ran down 5000 stags in a
year; even his unsportsmanlike grandson
glories in his 400 head in day, and his
10000 pieces in q year. The hunting.
goes on necessarily in the season. THE
King" writes NJ. de Luynes, in 174S,
has been hunting every day of the past
and present week, except to-day and on
Sundays, killing, since the beginning,
I0n 6Ooo ~ "hn,,
hunting, some other. luxurious recreation
awaits the pleasure of the King and court.
One day, it is the comedians of the
French theater; another, it is the Italian
opera, performed in that historic >theater
OF Versailles; these days are eked out by
the gaming at the tables.of the jsss de fos,
by, splendid suppers in the banqueting
hall, by garden .Jetes, with Examinations
and play of waters in the park, and BY
dress:b balls and glittering masquerades,
which the rising sun catches in full