The Story Of Versailles - Taschenbuch

Statue of Louis XIV, the Builder of Versailles S 1 6 r y o Versailles BY FRANCIS LOBING PAYNE NEW YORK MOFFAT, YABD COMPANY 1919 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION xi OHAPTXB I. THE BEGINNING OF VERSAILLES . . 1 II. THE MAKING OF VERSAILLES. THE LUXURIOUS CHATEAU AND PARKLAND OF Louis XIV 9 III. THE LUXURY OF VERSAILLES ... 26 IV. THE GARDENS, THE FOUNTAINS AND THE GRAND TRIANON 43 V. A DAY WITH THE Smsr KING ... 68 VI. GOLDEN DAYS AND RED LETTER NIGHTS 91 VII. THE WOMEN OF VERSAILLES . . . 118 VIII. THE VERSAILLES OF Louis XV ., 142 IX. THE TWILIGHT OF THE BOURBON KINGS 156 X. THE SHRINE OF ROYAL MEMORIES THE SCENE OF WORLD ADJUSTMENTS. . 190 FOREWORD THE HALL OF MIRRORS I If you could speak what tales your tongues could tell. You voiceless mirrors of the storied past Do you remember when the curtain fell On him who learned he was not God at last II Do you still see the shadows of the great On powdered wigs and velvets, silks and lace Or dream at night a feted queen, in state, Accepts mens homage with a haughty face Ill A thousand names come tumbling to the mind, Of dead who gazed upon themselves through you, And went their way, each one his end to find In paths that glory or red terror knew. IV Voltaire and Rousseau and Ben Franklin here, YouVe seen hobnobbing with the highly-born Seen Genius smile, while, with a hint of fear, It gave to Birth not homage but its scorn. FOREWORD V Do you remember that Teutonic jaw Of Mm who crowned an emperor, that you Might know that Bismarck was above all law And free to do what victor vandals do VI Oh, Hall of Visions, now shall come anon A grander sight than you have ever seen Youve mirrored kings, but you shall look upon The mighty men whose edicts freedommean VII To races and to peoples sore oppressed The men who mould the future for a race That breathes a wind thats blowing from the West And youll forget the Bourbons evil face EDWARD S. VAN ZIUE. N. Y. Eve. Sun., Nov. 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Builder of Versailles . . . . Frontispiece FACING PAGE Versailles The Hall of Mirrors The Fountain at Versailles INTRODUCTION A TBAVELERS BEFLECTIONS ON VEKSAILLES FBOM the low heights of Satory we get a complete view of the plains of Versailles the woods, the town and the sumptuous cha teau. The palace on its dais rules the scene The village and ornamental environment have been constructed to augment its majesty. Even the soil has been molded into new forms at a monarchs caprice. Versailles is the expression of monarchy, as conceived by Louis XIV. It is the only epic produced in his reign a reign so fertile in the other forms of poetry, and in talent of all kinds. What epic ever chronicled the destiny of an epoch in a manner more bril liant and complete In this poem of stone the manners of heroic and familiar life mingle at every step. Besides the halls and xi Introduction galleries, the theaters of royal estate, there are mysterious passages and sequestered nooks that whisper a thousand secret his tories The palace has two voices, one grave and one gay and trifling. It is full of truths and fictions, tears and smiles. The person ages of its drama are as various as life itself kings, poets, ministers, courtiers, confessors, courtesans, queens without power, and queens with too much power ambassadors, generals, little abbes and great ladies nobles, clergy, even the people. For two centuries did this crowd continue to pass and re-pass over thesemarble floors and un der these gilded vaults and every day its flood became more impetuous, every day it gave way more and more to the whims and passions. And the palace heard all, saw all, spied all and has retained all, each action in its acted hour, each word in its place. During the two centuries of absolute mon archy, nothing took place that Versailles did not either originate or answer Every shot xii