When the King entered this house, he laid aside that air of Majesty which regal pageantry obliged him to keep up elsewhere. I was always a gainer by this metamorphosis, as it rendered him gayer than usual; and his satisfaction, which increased mine, spread an air of joy over our conversation. There was, besides, another difference, which was, that at Bellevüe the King talked to me of his taste, of his appetites, and other things that tended to his pleasure; whereas at Versailles he never entertained me with any thing but disputes upon religion, the refusal of sacraments, or other matters, which were far from being agreeable to him.
This retreat gave him frequent occasion to speak of the advantages that accompanied private life. He discovered in it charms, that the perplexity of public business, and the tumults of the throne, made him the more sensible of.
The King, desirous of giving me marks of his particular protection, created the estate of Marigni, which belonged to my brother, into a marquisate. I thanked him for this favour, which appeared to me the greater, as Vandiere had not done any thing yet to deserve it.
Let us return to general affairs. America, which was upon the point of exciting universal war, began already to display some sparks of that blaze which was to inflame Europe. The English made the first complaints. The Earl of Albemarle represented to the court of France, that the French in Canada committed hostilities, contrary to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
The court of France replied, that they were ignorant of such proceedings: but that to prevent any misunderstanding, they would send orders to suppress these first differences, on condition that the English would, on their side, act in the same manner. Both nations promised, but neither kept their word. They were mutually deceived, as most usually happens upon these occasions.
I remember that when the English made these first complaints to our court, a foreign minister said to me, that the cabinet of Versailles and that of St. James’s knew very well they were going to war; but that they would not say so, to make the thing more mysterious.
“In that case, Sir,” said I to him, “the King is not in the secret, for he does not know a syllable about this war which you foretel.” In fact, Lewis was quite ignorant that he was at the eve of engaging in a long succession of sieges and battles. He was well informed of the motives which induced the English to complain: but he had not been acquainted with their resolution of having recourse to arms.
Whilst the misunderstandings in the new world were the subject of conversation, the religious war still continued in the kingdom. The King, who, in order to restore tranquility to the state, had done every thing that was desired of him, had the mortification to find that nothing was done that he desired. He was obliged to exile the Archbishop of Paris. I was witness of the affliction he was under, from the necessity of giving this order. He had endeavoured to bring this prelate back to his duty, by all the methods which his goodness, and his beneficent soul, could suggest to him; and it was not till after he had in vain essayed them, that he resolved upon sending him to Conflans.
The conduct of this Archbishop, who had openly disobeyed his Sovereign’s orders, irritated the courtiers to that degree, that the Monarch was advised by several of them to have him seized by the military power, and to keep him closely confined: but Lewis XV. was of too gentle a disposition to put such rigorous counsel into execution. I have often heard him say, that Kings should punish, but never think of revenge. He entrusted the letter de cachet to one of his ministers, with orders to signify it to the Archbishop as privately as possible.
The King found himself again obliged to banish the bishops of Orleans and Troyes, two prelates whose sentiments were too conformable to those of the Archbishop of Paris. These two might be considered as the fire-brands of the kingdom. They prepared the people’s minds for disobedience, in showing themselves rebels to their Prince’s orders. One of these, from the extremity of his exile, insulted the court and the state by a mandate, wherein he forbad all his diocesans to have recourse, in the case of administration, to any other priests than those whom he prescribed; and it was necessary that these priests should be vicars, or curates. This was constraining the extent of priesthood; but as soon as the episcopal authority is the least attacked, the Princes of the church are always ready to undertake any thing. Marshal Saxe said, “That if God were to limit the power of bishops in France, these bishops would, in turn, allot bounds to the power of God.”