To compleat my Happiness I was afflicted with a Redundancy of Choler, which was follow'd with the Jaundice, a Distemper that brought me to the very Brink of the Grave. My Friends did not forsake me; and among others I may say, that I had more than ordinary Obligation to the Abbé d'Asfeldt, who desir'd me to reflect on my State; and as he knew that I was not a Roman Catholic, and that the Prejudices in which I had been bred up, gave me great Prejudice to the contrary Party, he conjur'd me to permit him to discourse me about Religion, only one Hour in a Day; to which I consented with pleasure. Every body knows with what
an Energy he speaks, and with what a winning Grace. He continued his Visits all the time of my Sickness, which by degrees went quite off. I was so affected with what he said to me, that I promised him I would receive Instruction when I was recover'd; and as soon as I got abroad, I was as good as my Word. He brought me acquainted with Father Denis, a barefooted Carmelite, who in some Conferences with me finish'd what the Abbé d'Asfeldt had begun; so that in a little time after, I made public Profession of my Faith to Father Denis[56], in presence of an infinite number of Persons of Quality. The Marquis d'Asfeldt and the Abbé his Brother were my Witnesses, and sign'd my Confession of Faith along with me. When the Ceremony was ended, I was accosted on all sides with Embraces from abundance of People, of whom three parts in four were quite unknown to me; yet their Zeal for Religion made them fond of expressing how glad they were to see me admitted into the Bosom of the Church. I receiv'd the Communion the same Week, upon the Festival of All-Saints: And at length I waited on the Cardinal de Noailles, who made a very fine Speech to me, exhorting me to continue stedfast in the Religion that I had embrac'd.
The News of my Conversion was soon spread in Germany, and Luther and Calvin themselves could not have exclaim'd against it more than my good Cousin did. The same Princess who had formerly recommended me so heartily to Madame, wrote
to her again to tell her, That she ought not to be surprised at my changing my Religion, and that 'twas nothing but a Ceremony which I had perform'd two or three times before. But tho' she gave it this Turn, it made little or no Impression upon Madame. And for my own part I did not give much heed to what my Enemies said; and that I might not be in the way of hearing it, I left off going to the Royal Palace, where Madame resided after she quitted St. Cloud.
I spent the Winter of 1717 very disagreeably, that is to say, I wanted Money; and without that current Metal, a Man may live as well in the remotest Desert as in Paris. I was quickly oblig'd to by down my Equipage, and at last to sell some of my Clothes to satisfy my clamorous Debtors: Yet for all this I could not stave off an Affront from one of them, who to be sure was more hungry than the rest; for tho' he had promis'd to give me a Month longer, he caus'd me to be arrested in the little Market of the Suburb of St. Germain, and all at once was I hurried to the Abbey. This might have prov'd a very fatal Misfortune to me, if I had not been assisted that very day by M. de N—— a Counsellor of Parliament, to whom I sent word of it the very Moment I was in Hold; upon which he came immediately, and offer'd his Bond for the Debt: But my Creditor would hear of no Terms except the Money down, and refus'd to take his Security. M. de N—— was so exasperated at this Denial, that he wrote a Line to the First President desiring him to set me at liberty, which I obtain'd accordingly upon the Spot, without Money, or so much as giving the Creditor any manner of Security. M. de N—— too, in order to oblige me to all Intents and Purposes,
was so good as to get a Writ of Protection for me, after which my Creditors could not touch me: And indeed, considering the Situation I was then in, that was the greatest piece of Service that could be done for me.
I was no sooner got out of this Scrape but I fell into another, not altogether so vexatious indeed, yet very perplexing. In my Visits to the President de P——'s Lady, I became acquainted at her House with a Widow, who tho' old, ugly, covetous and silly, and to crown all, terribly fond of Law, was so rich, that all those amiable Qualities were over-look'd by a number of pleasant Companions, who strove to make Love to her, in hopes of contracting a Marriage which seem'd so likely to make their Fortunes. The Widow could not tell how to fix her Choice; not that she was averse to Matrimony, but the Conditions she requir'd were so extraordinary, that the very mention of them made her Gallants take their Leave of her. The President de P——'s Wife, who knew the Lady very well, and my Circumstances even better, advis'd me to try my Luck; and for my Encouragement she promis'd to serve me: and serve me she did so effectually, that the Lady was not displeas'd with the Pains which she perceiv'd I took to make my self acceptable to her. She offer'd me an Apartment in her House; in short, she made me to understand that I need not despair of any thing. I had some Reluctance to accept of that Offer, altho' it was so advantagious; and for this Reason chiefly, the Want of Money, because I did not care to be at her House without being better equip'd. By good Luck my Landlady, who was one of those intriguing Dames with which Paris swarms, help'd me out
of this Difficulty. She discover'd all in an Instant what was the matter, and in concert with an Italian Valet de Chambre, who had liv'd with me for some time, she help'd me without any Difficulty to every thing that was necessary for my Appearance with Splendor. I then hir'd more Servants, bought very fine Liveries; in short, all my Equipage was in a few days more gay than ever. 'Tis true it was all upon Tick; but our old Lady, as covetous as she was, would not let me suffer upon that score. In the mean time I had a very difficult Game to play; for I was oblig'd to counterfeit being over head and ears in Love with the most disagreeable Woman upon the Face of the Earth; and at the very time too when I was still courting Madame de R——, who without dispute was as handsome a Woman as any whatsoever. Nor was this all; for the old Lady, to be like the fine Women forsooth, affected to be jealous; and whenever I ventur'd to leave her, which was but very seldom, she was sure to set on a Spy to watch me. We generally went abroad together. By eight o'clock in the Morning we us'd to be at the Palais importuning the Judges, or else provoking the Attorneys and Sollicitors to scold like Madmen. When we had done there, the good Lady return'd home and sat down to her Toilet, and I us'd to sit by her in an Arm-chair till I was quite tir'd. At first indeed I had some Pleasure in being so near a Spectator of the Art by which a very disagreeable Face may be sometimes made tolerable. My old Lady's was all artificial from the Forehead to the Chin; and I question whether a Picture takes up more Colours than she made use of to dawb her Features with? Her Apparel was rich, but as much dy'd and daub'd as all the
rest. A Correspondence so tiresome as this was, gave me a horrid Disgust; but yet when I reflected what a Pass I had reduc'd my self to by my Extravagance, I thought it was not my Interest to break it off. I continu'd therefore to play the Part of an amorous Suitor. And at last, fearing that I should sink under the Fatigue, I began to talk strenuously of Marriage; but the good Lady still said it was yet too soon, and that she was willing to have further Tryal of me. She resolv'd at length to consent to it; but 'twas upon such extraordinary Terms, that really I should have renounc'd any other Match upon that score, if it had been twenty times more advantagious. I resolv'd therefore to have no more to say to the silly Woman, and to retire. I thought of making another Tour to Berlin to settle my Affairs, and to sell my Land if Mademoiselle de Pollnitz would give her Consent; but I put off my Departure for a little time in hopes of seeing the Czar of Muscovy, who was shortly expected at Paris.
This Monarch, from no other Motive but Curiosity, came from one of the Extremities of Europe to see the Court of France. They would have had him make a public Entry; but he desir'd to be receiv'd without Ceremony. Verton the King's Chief Steward met him on the Frontier, and conducted him to Amiens, where the Marquis de Nesle complimented him in the Name of the King, and then went with him half way to Paris. The Marshal de Tesse, who was charged to accompany the Prince all the time he was to stay in France, went also to meet him. The Czar arriv'd at the Louvre by ten o'clock at Night, and was conducted to the Queen Mother's Apartment, which had been sumptuously