Bossuet himself was prevailed upon to give instruction to the young Duke. This famous prelate was always greatly admired by the Grand Condé. Upon one occasion we are told that he entered the Church of the Minimes, when the great philosopher happened to be preaching. Bossuet, who was arguing upon the vanity of the glories of this world to which Condé had sacrificed so much, suddenly perceived the hero among the audience. Whereupon, with his customary skill, on the spur of the moment he introduced an appropriate compliment by pointing out how the Prince de Condé, after having been so long the ornament of his century, was now also endeavouring to attain Eternal Life—an immortality more lasting than that which worldly fame affords.
In early life Condé had been a member of a society of free-thinkers, to which the Princesses Marie and Anne de Gonzague had also belonged. He had studied Spinoza, and had approved of his pantheistic doctrines; then, gradually leaving Spinoza, he took up Descartes. Later the example of his sister, Madame de Longueville—who, from leading a worldly life, had become a pious Jansenist—made a deep impression upon him: as did also the death of Anne de Gonzague, who, after a life of wildest excitement, had before her end become a sincere and devout penitent. In his old age he often sought the company of a friend of his early youth and college-days at Bourges, who had distinguished himself as a brilliant orator. Shortly before his death, in company with this friend, Condé went to receive the Holy Communion at his parish church of Saint-Sulpice; and on leaving was met by the plaudits of the people of Paris. His own adherence to the Catholic Faith did not, however, change his friendly attitude towards the Huguenots, nor did it alter in any way his mode of living at Chantilly. Madame de Langeron at that time did the honours of his house, and the freedom of thought which reigned there so much appreciated by men like La Bruyère and Bossuet, was never interfered with. Saint-Évremond sang Condé’s praise in the following characteristic verses:
À ta vertu, Condé, tu t’es enfin soumis
Tu n’étais pas encore au comble de ta gloire,
Senef, Lens, Fribourg et Nordlingen et Rocroi
N’étaient que des degrés pour monter jusqu’à toi.
Le vainqueur s’est vaincu, c’est la grande victoire.
. . . . . . . . . .
Tranquil et glorieux,
Il vit à Chantilly comme on vit aux cieux.
Bossuet has described the last moments of the hero: “Such as he was in his warrior days, resolute, quiet, always occupied, without anxiety for what had to be done, such was he in his last hour. Nor did death seem to him any more repulsive or terrible now than in the midst of battle and victory.”
Whilst his family and friends shed copious tears as his end approached, he continued to give all necessary orders; and he remembered everyone, from the highest to the lowest of his friends and attendants, showering gifts upon them all with a munificence fully in accordance with his high rank and generous heart.
CHAPTER VIII
THE LAST CONDÉS
WHEN Henri Jules de Bourbon succeeded to the Condé inheritance, he continued with filial piety to carry out all the improvements and additions to Chantilly which his father had planned. François Mansart, the most fashionable architect of the period, had by that time nearly completed those unfortunate alterations which transformed the ancient feudal fortress into a species of Versailles. This Prince also built the parish church on a site presented by the Grand Condé to the inhabitants of the hamlet which had begun to form itself around the castle. He completed the menagerie and by his orders Mansart built an orangery ending in a pavilion called by him Le Pavillon d’Oronthée. Statues of the Grand Condé, of Bossuet, of Molière, of Le Nôtre, and of La Bruyère, executed by the most famous sculptors of the day, were placed along the Terrasse du Connétable; whilst marble copies of celebrated antiques were set up in the gardens and park. He spoke of Chantilly as “ses delices” and was never weary of planning improvements there. He also directed that the famous deeds of his father should be recorded on canvas by Sauveur Lecomte in accordance with directions left by that hero himself.
In 1688 the Prince de Condé entertained at Chantilly the Grand Dauphin, only son of Louis XIV, with whom he was on terms of great intimacy; and the apartments in the Petit Château occupied by that Prince were those once inhabited by the Grand Condé himself. A description of the entertainments given upon this occasion may be read in the Mercure de France of that year, as follows: “A great battue had been arranged, and the Dauphin appears to have been delighted by the enjoyment of such splendid sport. Luncheon was served on a big stone table in the middle of the forest.[12] On the centre of the table was placed a basket containing the most exquisite fruit, and during the repast mythological deities made their appearance whilst dances were performed to the sound of appropriate music. Every day—and the Dauphin remained for seven—some new diversion was contrived.”
As Henri Jules de Condé grew older he seldom left Chantilly. His temper became more and more violent and difficult; and during his last years he rarely appeared at Court. He died in 1709, leaving a legacy to the Hospital at Chantilly, which had been founded by his grandmother, Charlotte de Montmorency.
The Duc de Bourbon, generally known as Louis III, Prince de Condé, died soon after his father. Louise Françoise, his wife, had presented him with six daughters and three sons; of whom the eldest, Louis Henri, succeeded to the title of Prince de Condé at the early age of eighteen.[13] He, like his predecessors, also spent great sums on the embellishment of Chantilly. By him were built the great stables—a monument unique of its kind—in which vast buildings more than two hundred horses and packs of hounds for fox, deer, and boar hunts, were housed. In the adjoining courtyards were lodged their numerous attendants—piqueurs, chasseurs, and stable-boys—and the carriages, coaches, etc., needed for such an establishment. The central cupola of this stupendous edifice was originally adorned with a statue of La Renommée, but this was destroyed by a cannon-ball during the Revolution of 1792.