160 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"^ S. VIII. Aug. 20. 'o&. 



volution, which terminated with tlie death of Charles I., 

 had obliged many Englishmen to seek an asj'lum on the 

 other side of the Channel; these refugees had subse- 

 quently taken back with them the habits, the frivolous 

 tastes, and the literature of their new friends ; the policy 

 of Charles II. was identified with that of Louis XIV., and 

 the court of* London aimed at being as near as possible 

 an imitation of that of Versailles. Hence it is that Gram- 

 mont's memoirs, though originallj' written in French, are 

 considered by many almost as an English book ; for they 

 contain a description of English life and London society, 

 and we find there the adventures of those fair ladies who 

 still stare at us in the apartments of Hampton Court 

 from the canvass of Sir Peter Lely. We need not there- 

 fore dwell at any length on the merits of the present edi- 

 tion, except just for the purpose of stating that, like the 

 other work noticed above, it is got up in the most scholarly 

 manner. 



III. Correspondance de Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, 

 avec sa Famille et ses Amis (1679 — 1686), nouvelle E'dition 

 revue sur les Manuscrits et augmentee d'un tres grand Nom- 

 bre de Lettres inidites, avec wie Preface, des Notes et des 

 Tables, par Ludovic Lalanne. 12". vol. 5. 



This is not the first time that we meet with the name 

 of Bussy Rabutin. We have already noticed M. Lalanne's 

 edition of his correspondence. The fifth volume, recently 

 published, contains 586 letters from the pen either of Ra- 

 butin himself or of some of his very numerous friends. A 

 great many of these documents relate to important events 

 in the reign of Louis XIV. Thus the mysterious poison- 

 ings with which the Duchesse de Bouillon, the Countess 

 of Soissons, and other high personages were connected, 

 are discussed, and difierent incidents relating to the trial 

 form the topic of three or four letters. Madame de Bouil- 

 lon's character was one which might well give rise to 

 suspicions against her ; but she made up by her wit what 

 she wanted in principle, and one of Bussy's correspond- 

 ents. La Rivifere, alluding to the manner in which she 

 had undergone her examination, says, "Je trouve que 

 Madame de Bouillon a soutenu son interrogatoire comme 

 une grande dame innocente et spirituelle." This reminds 

 us of the following passage in Voltaire's Siecle de Louis 

 XIV. : " La Reynie, I'un des presidents de la chambre 

 ardente, fut assez malavis^ pour demander h, la Duchesse 

 de Bouillon si elle avoit vu le diable. Elle repondit 

 qn'elle le voyoit en ce moment, qu'il etoit fort laid et fort 

 vilain et qu'il ^toit d^guise en conseiller d'etat." 



Bussy's correspondence, however, in this as well as in 

 the preceding volumes, is chiefly full of complaints about 

 his disgrace, and of expostulations which are neither dig- 

 nified nor always correct. He had been, it is true, ba- 

 nished from court ; but his sarcastic disposition was the 

 cause of this. He could not resist the temptation of say- 

 ing a sharp or biting word ; and it is not likely that a 

 monarch such as Louis XIV. would allow to pass unno- 

 ticed and unpunished remarks which were often directed 

 against the most influential persons of the court. It is 

 rather singular that Bussy had sent to the King the MS. 

 of his memoirs and of his correspondence; he hoped 

 they would be placed before him, and we find him con- 

 stantly inquiring, " si le roi est content des manuscrits 

 que vous avez pr^sent^s de ma part h. Sa Majesty, et si 

 elle souhaite que je lui en envoie la suite." Now, it is 

 after having read these MSS. that the King said one day 

 to Father La Chaise, who was speaking on behalf of 

 Bussy Rabutin, " Savez vous bien qu'il n'a fait toute sa 

 vie que d&hirer tout le monde." In fact, the very me- 

 moirs which Bussy thought so admirably calculated to 

 obtain for him the favour he had lost were full of the 

 bitterest satire, and the President Briilart, to whom he 

 lent them, had felt it his duty to give him a hint in the 



following gentle manner : " Je sais bien que la 



verity ne connoit personne ; mais vous vivez, monsieur, et 

 vous avez une famille qui a et aura besoin d'amis, et nous 

 ne^ sommes plus au temps des philosophes. Je consens 

 meme a de plus fortes verites que celles que vous avez 

 ecrites, pourvu qu'elles ne voient k jour que cinquante ans 

 apres que vous ne le verrez plus." 



With so honest a declaration before his eyes, if Bussy 

 Rabutin could still believe in the propitiatory qualities of 

 his memoirs, we have only to say that he had absolutely 

 lost all sense of what an ill-timed joke really is. At all 

 events he was made to suffer for it. Gustaye Masson. 



Harrow-on-the-Hill. 



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T. C. Surely the lines quoted by Richardson shoiv our correspondent 

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