monarchs-from-france

"For my part, I remained a close prisoner, without a visit from a single person, none of my most intimate friends daring to come near me, through the apprehension that such a step might prove injurious to their interests. Thus it is ever in Courts. Adversity is solitary, while prosperity dwells in a crowd; the object of persecution being sure to be shunned by his nearest friends and dearest connections."

"Besides, I had found a secret pleasure, during my confinement, from the perusal of good books, to which I had given myself up with a delight I never before experienced. I consider this as an obligation I owe to fortune, or, rather, to Divine Providence, in order to prepare me, by such efficacious means, to bear up against the misfortunes and calamities that awaited me. By tracing nature in the universal book which is opened to all mankind, I was led to the knowledge of the Divine Author. Science conducts us, step by step, through the whole range of creation, until we arrive, at length, at God. Misfortune prompts us to summon our utmost strength to oppose grief and recover tranquillity, until at length we find a powerful aid in the knowledge and love of God, whilst prosperity hurries us away until we are overwhelmed by our passions. My captivity and its consequent solitude afforded me the double advantage of exciting a passion for study, and an inclination for devotion, advantages I had never experienced during the vanities and splendour of my prosperity."

"Frenchmen, and you above all, Parisians, inhabitants of the city that His Majesty's ancestors were pleased to call the good city of Paris, beware of the suggestions and lies of your false friends; return to your king; he will always be your father, your best friend: what joy he will have in forgetting all the personal insults he has suffered, and in seeing himself once more in your midst, when a Constitution - freely accepted by him - ensures that our holy religion is respected, that the government is established on a stable footing, and that, through its actions, the property and status of each individual will no longer be threatened, that the laws will no longer be broken with impunity, and that, finally, liberty will be established on firm and unshakeable foundations."

"You can always rely on my affection... I am most satisfied, I agree to the establishment of the citizens' guard... Monsieur Bailly, I am very glad that you should be Mayor and M. de La Fayette commander-in-chief."

"Si la bonne foi était bannie du reste du monde, il fallait qu’on la trouvât dans la bouche des rois."

"When the French king saw the Englishmen, his blood changed, and (he) said to his marshalls, "Make the Genoese go on before, and begin the battle in the name of God and St. Dennis." [...] When the Genoese were somewhat in order, and approached the English, they set up a loud shout, in order to frighten them; but they remained quite still, and did not seem to attend to it. They then set up a second shout, and advanced a little forward; but the English never moved.—They hooted a third time, advancing with their cross-bows presented, and began to shoot. The English archers then advanced one step forward, and shot their arrows with such force and quickness, that it seemed as if it snowed. When the Genoese felt these arrows, which pierced their arms, heads, and through their armour, some of them cut the strings of their crossbows, others flung them on the ground, and all turned about, and retreated, quite discomfited. The French had a large body of men at arms on horseback, richly dressed, to support the Genoese. The king of France, seeing them thus fall back, cried out, "Kill me those scoundrels; for they stop up our road, without any reason." You would then have seen the above mentioned men at arms lay about them, killing all they could of these runaways."

"Under his reign France was great and the French wretched."

"To his enemy, Bernard Saisset, he was neither man nor beast, but a statue, "the handsomest man in the world, but unable to do anything but stare fixedly at people without saying a word.""

"If some among them are innocent, it is expedient that they should be assayed like gold in the furnace, and purged by proper judicial examination."

"Iesu Christi, quem Chrotchildis praedicat esse filium Dei vivi, qui dare auxilium laborantibus victuriamque in te sperantibus tribuere diceris, tuae opis gloriam devotus efflagito, ut, si mihi victuriam super hos hostes indulseris et expertus fuero illam virtutem, quam de te populus tuo nomine dicatus probasse se praedicat, credam tibi et in nomine tuo baptizer. Invocavi enim deos meos, sed, ut experior, elongati sunt ab auxilio meo; unde credo, eos nullius esse potestatis praeditos, qui sibi oboedientibus non occurrunt. Te nunc invoco, tibi credere desidero, tantum ut eruar ab adversariis meis."

"Femina consilio prudens, pia, prole beata, Auxit amicitiis, auxit honore virum."

"What afflicts the church and excites the murmur of the people and diminishes their esteem for you, is that, in spite of the tears and lamentations of whole provinces, you have not sent a single nuncio. Often for matters of little importance your cardinals have been sent to remote parts with sovereign powers, but in this desperate and deplorable affair, you have not sent so much as a single subdeacon or even an acolyte. The kings and princes of the earth have conspired against my son, the anointed of the Lord. One keeps him in chains while another ravages his lands; one holds him by the heels while the other flays him. And while this goes on, the sword of Saint Peter reposes in its scabbard. Three times you have promised to send legates and they have not been sent. In fact, they have rather been leashed than sent [potius ligati quam legati]. If my son were in prosperity, we should have seen them running at his call, for they well know the munificence of his recompense. Is this the meaning of your promises to me at Châteauroux, made with so many protestations of friend-ship and good faith? Alas! I know today that the promises of your cardinals are nothing but vain words. Trees are not known by their leaves, nor even by their blossoms, but by their fruits. In this wise we have known your cardinals."

"My posterity has been snatched from me...The young king and the Count of Britanny sleep in dust. Their unhappy mother is forced to live on, ceaselessly tormented by their memory...I have lost the staff of my age, the light of my eyes."

"When you kill these Flemish boars, do not spare the sows; them I would have spitted."

"Young as I am, I can bear my own sword."

"Lart de faire des vers, deust on s’en indigner, Doit etre a plus haut prix que celui de regner. Tous deux egalement nous portons des couronnes; Mais, roi, je la reçus; et poete, tu les donnes."

"The art of verse-making (should one be complaining) Is higher at least than the talent of reigning: We each boast a crown, both the monarch and poet, Yet kings but receive it, while authors bestow it."

"The wound is yours: the pain is mine."

"La blessure est pour vous, la douleur est pour moi."

"Un prince est le premier serviteur et le premier magistrat de l’État."

"Après nous le déluge!"

"A prince is the first servant and the first magistrate of the State."

"The development of foreign ministries further restricted the scope for summitry. But rulers often retained their own private diplomatic networks. Louis XV was a prime example, while Frederick the Great of Prussia created his own Kabinett, or private office, and took over the most important business from the Foreign Office. Not surprisingly, Frederick also tried his hand at summitry: seeking a rapprochement with Austria after the Seven Years War, he met the emperor Joseph II at Neisse in 1769 and Neustadt in 1770."

"After us, the deluge!"

"When the Marechal de Belle-Isle’s son was killed in battle, Madame persuaded the King to pay his father a visit. He was rather reluctant, and Madame said to him, with an air half angry, half playful: ————Barbare! don’t l’orgueil Croit le sang d’un sujet trop pays d’un coup d’oeil.The King laughed, and said, “Whose fine verses are those?”—“Voltaire’s,” said Madame ———. “As barbarous as I am, I gave him the place of gentleman in ordinary, and a pension,” said the King."

"I took a pen, which lay on the Doctor’s table, and begged M. Duclos to repeat to me all the names he had mentioned, and the eulogium he had bestowed on each. “If,” said he, “you show that to the Marquise, tell her how the conversation arose, and that I did not say it in order that it might come to her ears, and eventually, perhaps, to those of another person. I am an historiographer, and I will render justice, but I shall, also, often inflict it.”—“I will answer for that,” said the Doctor, “and our master will be represented as he really is. Louis XIV liked verses, and patronised poets; that was very well, perhaps, in his time, because one must begin with something; but this age will be very superior to the last. It must be acknowledged that Louis XV, in sending astronomers to Mexico and Peru, to measure the earth, has a higher claim to our respect than if he directed an opera. He has thrown down the barriers which opposed the progress of philosophy, in spite of the clamour of the devotees: the Encyclopaedia will do honour to his reign.”"

"Sovereignty lies in me alone. The legislative power is mine unconditionally and indivisibly. The public order emanates from me, and I am its supreme guardian. My people is one with me."

"I, one day, found Quesnay in great distress. “Mirabeau,” said he, “is sent to Vincennes, for his work on taxation. The Farmers General have denounced him, and procured his arrest; his wife is going to throw herself at the feet of Madame de Pompadour to-day.” A few minutes afterwards, I went into Madame’s apartment, to assist at her toilet, and the Doctor came in. Madame said to him, “You must be much concerned at the disgrace of your friend Mirabeau. I am sorry for it too, for I like his brother.” Quesnay replied, “I am very far from believing him to be actuated by bad intentions, Madame; he loves the King and the people.” “Yes,” said she; “his ‘Ami des Hommes’ did him great honour.” At this moment the Lieutenant of Police entered, and Madame said to him, “Have you seen M. de Mirabeau’s book?”—“Yes, Madame; but it was not I who denounced it?”—“What do you think of it?”—“I think he might have said almost all it contains with impunity, if he had been more circumspect as to the manner; there is, among other objectionable passages, this, which occurs at the beginning: Your Majesty has about twenty millions of subjects; it is only by means of money that you can obtain their services, and there is no money.”—“What, is there really that, Doctor?” said Madame. “It is true, they are the first lines in the book, and I confess that they are imprudent; but, in reading the work, it is clear that he laments that patriotism is extinct in the hearts of his fellow-citizens, and that he desires to rekindle it.” The King entered: we went out, and I wrote down on Quesnay’s table what I had just heard. I them returned to finish dressing Madame de Pompadour: she said to me, “The King is extremely angry with Mirabeau; but I tried to soften him, and so did the Lieutenant of Police. This will increase Quesnay’s fears. Do you know what he said to me to-day? The King had been talking to him in my room, and the Doctor appeared timid and agitated. After the King was gone, I said to him, ‘You always seem so embarrassed in the King’s presence, and yet he is so good-natured.’—‘I Madame,’ said he, ‘I left my native village at the age of forty, and I have very little experience of the world, nor can I accustom myself to its usages without great difficulty. When I am in a room with the King, I say to myself, This is a man who can order my head to be cut off; and that idea embarrasses me.’—‘But do not the King’s justice and kindness set you at ease?’—‘That is very true in reasoning,’ said he; ‘but the sentiment is more prompt, and inspires me with fear before I have time to say to myself all that is calculated to allay it.’”"

"Le silence du peuple est la lecon des rois."

"A people's silence is a lesson to their kings."

"The Duc de V—— was a nobleman of high rank and great wealth. He said to the King one evening at supper, “Your Majesty does me the favour to treat me with great kindness: I should be inconsolable if I had the misfortune to fall under your displeasure. If such a calamity were to befall me, I should endeavour to divert my grief by improving some beautiful estates of mine in such and such a province;” and he thereupon gave a description of three or four fine seats. About a month after, talking of the disgrace of a Minister, he said, “I hope your Majesty will not withdraw your favour from me; but if I had the misfortune to lose it, I should be more to be pitied than anybody, for I have no asylum in which to hide my head.” All those present, who had heard the description of the beautiful country houses, looked at each other and laughed. The King said to Madame de Pompadour, who sat next to him at table, “People are very right in saying that a liar ought to have a good memory.”"

"Qui ne sait dissimuler, ne sait régner."

"Divide et impera."

"Divide and conquer."

"He who does not know how to dissemble, knows not how to reign."

"When pride and presumption walk before, shame and loss follow very closely."

"Louis XI, the great Spider King of France, had a weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he admired, until one day the man predicted that a lady of the court would die within eight days. When the prophecy came true, Louis was terrified, thinking that either the man had murdered the woman to prove his accuracy or that he was so versed in his science that his powers threatened Louis himself. In either case he had to be killed. One evening Louis summoned the astrologer to his room, high in the castle. Before the man arrived, the king told his servants that when he gave the signal they were to pick the astrologer up, carry him to the window, and hurl him to the ground, hundreds of feet below. The astrologer soon arrived, but before giving the signal, Louis decided to ask him one last question: “You claim to understand astrology and to know the fate of others, so tell me what your fate will be and how long you have to live.” “I shall die just three days before Your Majesty,” the astrologer replied. The king’s signal was never given. The man’s life was spared. The Spider King not only protected his astrologer for as long as he was alive, he lavished him with gifts and had him tended by the finest court doctors. The astrologer survived Louis by several years, disproving his power of prophecy but proving his mastery of power."

"A aucuns les biens viennent en dormant."

"Throughout history, security as much as status has been an obstacle to summitry. In 1419 France was in turmoil from war with the English and a power struggle provoked by the periodic insanity of King Charles VI. On September 10 the dauphin, Charles’ son, conferred on a bridge near Rouen with their archrival, John, Duke of Burgundy. Both men were well attended by guards and a barrier had been erected in the middle, with a wicket gate bolted on either side to allow passage only by mutual consent. During the conference Duke John was persuaded to come through the gate—only to be cut down by the dauphin’s bodyguard. The dauphin, inheriting the throne as Charles VII, recovered much of France from the English. When his son, Louis XI, met the Yorkist king Edward IV at Picquigny near Amiens in 1475 to conclude a peace treaty, the fate of Duke John was much in mind. The chronicler Philippe de Commines tells how this conference was held on a bridge over the Somme. Louis insisted that across the middle of the bridge and along its sides his carpenters should build “a strong wooden lattice, such as lions’ cages are made with, the hole between each bar being no wider than to thrust in a man’s arm.” The two kings somehow managed to embrace between the holes and conducted their meeting in secure cordiality."

"This insurrection had something in common with the ideas of the doctrinaires, of the liberals who had drawn up the Address, and of the middle classes who had elected them. It was an explosion of sentiments which Charles X had wished to appease through the glory of conquest; but Algeria was a ridiculous diversion for a people so addicted to tradition. The republican and Bonapartist ideas were confounded with the hatred for the treaties of 1815. "The combatants of the days of July," said Emile Bourgeois, "were not engaged in a riot like that of 1789. They had taken up arms against Europe at least as much as against Charles X and dreamed, above all, of a victorious Republic and of the Empire.""

"More attractive than Louis XVIII, but less prudent also, his brother, the Count d'Artois, Charles X, did not know, as he did, how to be patient. He suffered and grew impatient over the reproach that liberals hurled at the monarchy, and which was their most efficacious weapon, that it had returned in "the caissons of the enemy," and that it had given its support to the shameful treaty of 1815. To efface these treaties as much as possible and to give grandeur and glory to France was the dominant idea of Charles X. He believed that he could in that way disarm an opposition whose "systematic" character he did not perceive."

"[You are] the son of Saint-Louis."

"Where are you going, foreign traitor? Is this were you belong, misplaced bourgeoisie? Return to your little town, or you will perish by my hand."

"It is a fact that universal suffrage, formerly feared by the Government as a species of monster, no longer frightens it to-day. Instructed by the examples of Napoleon III and Bismarck, statesmen finally came to understand that universal suffrage was essentially an approbative and ratificatory suffrage, while all the limited or property suffrages were disputative, unstable, and anarchical. In France two monarchies, the Restoration and the July Monarchy, made the experiment of the limited suffrage, and died of it; so that a wit was inspired to remark, not without justification, that if Charles X had granted the right of the vote to every Frenchman he would still have been on the throne."

"Thanks to Louis's Charte France had its first real experience of parliamentary monarchy... Louis was a genuinely constitutional monarch."

"Charles X, that much-diffamed King, and of whom M. Émile Ollivier was enabled to say that he was "aflame for the national revival," retook the road of exile without manifesting a shadow of the surprise and sorrow expressed by his minister Villèle, when he said that the Restauration had put France back in her place in Europe, giving her again order, rest, prosperity, though France did not seem to be aware of these benefits."

"It anti-clericalism] was the major current in a rising tide of hostility against Charles X and his government."

"My government was liable to commit errors: perhaps it did commit them. There are times when the purest intentions are insufficient to direct, or sometimes they even mislead. Experience alone could teach; it shall not be lost. All that can save France is my wish."

"[The reign of Louis XVIII is] among the most glorious in the history of France."

"It is not enough to groan beneath the yoke of your oppressors; you must be assisted in shaking it off. Show the world how the French, restored to their senses, can obliterate faults, in the commission of which their hearts were not concerned: Prove, that as Henry the Great has transmitted to us with his blood, his love of his people, so are you also the descendants of that people, one part of whom, always faithful to his cause, fought to restore him to his Throne; and the other part, abjuring a momentary error, bathed his feet with the tears of repentance:—Remember that you are the Grandsons of the Conquerors of Ivry and Fontain Francaise."