MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE SAINT-SIMON.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 67, 18 March 1916, Page 17

MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE SAINT-SIMON.

An abridged translation with notes, by FRANCIS ARKWRIGHT. In sis vole., 10/6 net. Stanley Paul and Co. . " We liave already reviewed tile first two volumes of this intimate revelation of the inner life of the Court of Louis XIV. of France. The second and third volumes are now ready, and they deal with the War of the Spanish Succession, in connection with which there was fighting at Ghent and Lille, Mons Olid Vpres, and the great campaign in Central Europe, where the Duke of Marlborough achieved fame as one of the ablest of British generals. The story is also told from the French point of -view of the fortunes of the exiled Stuart King of England, and the expedition fitted out by Louie to place the Old Pretender on the throne. -Saint-Simon explains that ' "Hooke, formerly an English clergyman, who had become a Catholic, and devoted all his energies to the restoration'of the Stuarts, thought {he union between, England and Scotland afforded a. favourable opportunity for an enterprise in the latter country. The Jacobite party was strong in Scotland, where the people were in despair at seeing their ancient kingdom reduced to the level of a province of England." It was decided that an invasion of Scotland, supported by a rebellion in that country, would prevent tha English from sending any support to the enemies of France in ■ Flanders. Accordingly, the King gave the necessary orders. Thirty ships -were fitted out at Dunkirk and the neighbouring ports, under the command of the Chevalier de Forbin; 0000 men were brought to the coast, and 4,000,000 livres sent to defray their expenses. The secret was well""kept; unfortunately great delays occurred. The King of England was to be accompanied only by the . Duke of Perth, Middleton, the two Hamiltons, and a very few others. "Owing to the delay jn starting, the English got wind of the expedition, and a squadron, under Sir J. Leake, blockaded Dunkirk. Unluckily the Pretender fell sick with measles, which caused further delay. .When the expedition at last sailed, a fog enabled it to avoid the blockading English cruisers, but a furious storm compelled the French vessels to shelter behind the sandbanks at Ostend. They, were discovered and chased by twentyeix large English ships of war, and five days later t,he Pretender arrived back at Dunkirk with a few damaged vessels." Saint-Simon says of Chevalier de St. Georges, or the Pretender as he wae called in England, that "he shewed plenty of courage and determination, but they were rendered fruitless by the effects of his bad education, which had ' been narrow and austere. The Queen his mother, had brought him up in this manner partly from a mistaken view of relig.on partly to keep him in subjecton and dependence on herself, f O r with fo » pWty She Was fond of donuncer-

The feelings which the contending armies entertained towards each other at that period stand out in strong contrast to deadly hatred which has been aroueed by the ruthless acts of German barbarism during-ythe' present war. For instance, SainfSimou mentions that Biron, one of the French generals captured at Oudenarde wae almost immediately released on parole " on condition that he did not, when returning to Paris, pass by the French army. Biron, who was captured on the 11th of July, arrived at Fountainebleau on the 25th, and gave the' King an account of the 'battle. He informed SaintSimon that he dined with ■ MarlbbrougU on the day after his capture,, and"was' hospitably treated by Prince Eugene. Oα the eve of the -battle of Malpiaquet, Saint-Simon narrates: ."A few officers, apparently of no high rank, but "probably well selected) , approached our' entrenchments and entered into - conversation with the outposts.- They told our , officers that General Cadogan- was not far-off, and would be glad to speak witli our generals. __The' Marquis de Charoet, who was there,,declined, and sent word to the officers to withdraw, but. at this moment Albergotti came up, and .allowed himself less punctilious. - He allowed Cadogan to advance up to a certain, point, where he met him, each, accompanied by a few officers. Cadogan, after /many compliments, began talking about the prospect* of peace; Alber- . gotti replied that he iwas eorry Vilktrs was not there, ac he would have been giad to discuss the subject, - and lie thought that preliminaries would not be very difficult to arrange. This served as a pretext for a long conversation, dui\ ing which the group of officers gradually, became larger. . . . During this'- ridiculous colloquy, some' pi them- had' been busyrexamining our position and taking sketches of different parts of our «n----trenchmente, and next day they profited only ,too well by the knowledge thus acquired. We heard of this artifice after, the battle from some prisoners "of'war." The Duke of Saint-Simon wielded a caustic pen. He was a keen observer, and pilloried many of hie contemporaries in good round terms of personal abuel The ladies of the Court are ho more spared than the men. He frankly acknowledges that, like other courtiers, hie .main aim was to advance his own interests, and" extend his influence, while at the same time he ruthlessly lashes , othere who were engaged in similar intrigues. Princes and greajj dignitaries of the Church are treated with equal frankness. Writing of the death of one of Cardinal Mazarin's nieces, Sadnt-Simon saye: "Cardinal Mazarin provided his seven nieces with dowries; and it may foe imagined that they were not small ones to enable persons so obscurely born to make such splendid marriages. When .we think of this, and of the 28,000,000 livres he gave in addition to the Duchess de Mazarin, besides enormous wealth to M. de Kevere, when we consider the governorships and other offices given to his relations, and his immense i collection of jewels, pictures, statues, and other works of art, we begin to realise what it costs the Kinj and his subjects to have a Prime Minister. It must be coniessed, moreover, that this shameless plundering is the smallest of the evile caused 'by this system of government; perhaps it is not even the most dis- - graceful; tyit certainly, monstrous as it is, it is the least dangerous. IF the fathers of these nieces were of humble ■birth, the origin of the mothers was. if possible, still more obscure. No one ever euccecded in tracing the descent of the too-famous Cardinal beyond his father, nor has it been possible to ascertain his birthplace, or any particulars of 'his early youth."

The Memoirs retail the gossip current regarding notabilities at other European Courts besides that of Louis, and throw some interesting sidelights on the manners and customs of the oristocrasy in the early part of the eighteenth century.