A great many young German Gentlemen come hither for the sake of learning French, and their Exercises, but I don't think they are a jot the better for it, because the Masters of their Exercises are not better Scholars here than they are in many Towns of Germany; and as to the French, they speak it very ill in this City; for the Inhabitants talk High-Dutch, and our young Sparks are so pleas'd to hear their own Language spoke that they neglect to learn any other. Besides they always herd together, and too easily catch one another's Vices as well as Virtues. As they have not many Parts to shew, they spend their time at the Billiard-Table, the Coffee-House, and often at other Places not so honest, of which there are but too many here, this being a City as noted for Libertines as any in Europe.
I am, &c.
The Speech of Cardinal de Rohan to the Queen, before the Celebration of the Marriage.
MADAME,
'While I see you in this sacred Temple approaching to our Altars to contract that illustrious Alliance which is to unite you to the greatest of Kings and the most amiable of Princes, I
adore what God designs you for, and admire with Transport the Course that Providence is steering to conduct you to the Throne which you are going to ascend. You are descended, Madame, from a Family illustrious for its Antiquity, for its Alliances, and for the eminent Employments which the great Men it has given to Poland have fill'd successively with so much Glory. You are the Daughter of a Father, who, thro' the various Events of a busy Life, chequer'd by good and bad Fortune, has always shewn himself the Gentleman, the Hero, and the Christian. You have for your Mother, and your Grandmother, Princesses, who like to Judith, and to that virtuous Woman whose Character is drawn in the Scriptures, have attracted the Veneration and Respect of the whole World, by the Fidelity with which they always walk'd in the Fear of the Lord. In your Person, Madame, are center'd all the Accomplishments that can be form'd by a happy Birth, and an admirable Education, supported by Examples equally strong and affecting. In you, that Goodness, that Mildness, and those Charms are predominant, which gain Love at the same time as they inforce Respect; that Integrity of Heart which nothing can resist; that Superiority of Understanding and Knowledge which are conspicuous, as it were in spite of you, and in spite of that Modesty and noble Simplicity which are natural to you; and finally that which is the Crown of so much Merit, that Taste for Piety, and that Attachment to the true Principles of Religion, which animate your Actions, and regulate your Conduct. Adorn'd with all these Virtues, what Crown is there to which you might not reasonably aspire, exclusive of the Custom which in some measure obliges Kings to look no farther than round the Throne for Princesses that they have a mind would reign with them?
He who disposes of Empires puts the Sceptre of Poland into the hands of a Prince to whom you owe your Being, and by giving the Father that Splendor conducts the Daughter insensibly to the sublime Station he is preparing for her. But, O God, how impenetrable are thy Designs, and how far above human Prudence are the Means thou makest use of to bring about thy wise Purposes! This Prince was scarce seated on the Throne in which the Choice of the Grandees, and the Affection of the People had plac'd him, but he was oblig'd to quit it: He is abandon'd, betray'd, persecuted; one fatal Shot bereaves him of the Hero his Friend, and the chief Stay of his Hopes: He submits to the necessity of the Times without abating in his Courage: He seeks refuge in a Country which is the common Shelter of unfortunate Kings: He comes to France, and thither, Madame, you are following him. All that see you there, touch'd with your Misfortunes, admire your Virtue, the Odour of which spreads to the Throne of a young Monarch, who, such is the Lustre of his Crown, the Extent of his Power, and above all, the Charms of his Person, might have made his choice out of all the Princesses of the World: But being guided by wise Counsels, he fixes it upon You; and here the Finger of God is plainly visible in improving that very Misfortune which separates the King your Father from his Subjects, and takes you out of Poland to give Us in your Person, a Queen who shall be the Glory of a Father and of a Mother, of whom she is now the Comfort and Delight; a Queen, who shall render that Nation happy which most richly deserves it, at least for its Respect and its Fidelity to its Sovereigns; a Queen, who being inviolably attach'd to her Duty, full of Tenderness and Respect for her Husband, and her King, and wisely
employ'd in what is capable of procuring her solid Happiness, will revive to us the Reign of the Empress Flaccilla, of whom History says, that having always kept the Precepts of the Divine Law in her view, she conferr'd thereupon daily with the great Theodosius, and that her Words like a fruitful Rain, water'd with success those Seeds of Virtue which God had sown in the Heart of her Husband. Come then, Madame, Come to the Altar. May the Engagements you are going to enter into, sacred of themselves, (since according to the Apostle, they are the Symbol of the Union of Jesus Christ with his Church) may they be also sanctify'd by your own Disposition. May you be so sensible of what you are going to be, that you may acknowledge that in crowning your Merits, he crowns his Gifts: And may you Christians that hear me, when you see the shining Rewards that are bestowed in this World upon true Virtue, learn to respect and love it.'