![his books—beautifully bound in morocco, delicately tooled—and also, by a
curious inconsistency, with the serenity of a great statesman, of another
Richelieu, full of a generous grief that he could no longer play his part in
those great affairs which had rendered his life illustrious. He was anxious to
assure the prosperity of the kingdom after his death. "Sire," he said to the
young Louis XIV, "I owe you everything, but I think I can in a manner
discharge my debt by giving you Colbert."[62]
At the very point of death he was conferring with the King in secret
conversations, which caused Foucquet great anxiety, precisely because they
were concealed from him. Then, at length, the light of eyes which had so
long sought for gold and sumptuous draperies, and pierced the hearts of
men, was finally extinguished.
On the 9th March, 1661, as Foucquet, leaving his house of Saint-Mandé,
was crossing the Gardens on foot to go to Vincennes, he met young
Brienne, who was getting out of his couch, and learned from him the great
news.
"He is dead, then!" murmured Foucquet. "Henceforth I shall not know in
whom to confide. People always do things by halves. Oh, how distressing I
The King is waiting for me, and I ought to be there among the first! My
God! Monsieur de Brienne, tell me what is happening, so that I may not
commit any indiscretion through ignorance."[63]
The day after Mazarin's death the King of twenty-three summoned
Foucquet, with the Chancellor, Séguier, the Ministers and Secretaries of
State, and addressed them in these words: "Hitherto I have been content
to leave my affairs in the hands of the late Cardinal. It is time for me to
control them myself. You will help me with your counsels when I ask you for
them. Gentlemen, I forbid you to sign anything, not even a safe conduct, or
a passport, without my command. I request you to give me personally an
account of everything every day, to favour no one in your lists of the
month. And you, Monsieur le Surintendant, I have explained to you my
wishes; I request you to employ M. Colbert, whom the late Cardinal has
recommended to me." Foucquet thought that the King was not speaking
seriously. That error ruined him.
He believed that it would be easy to amuse and deceive the youthful mind
of the King, and he set to work to do so with all the ardour, all the grace
and all the frivolity of his nature. He determined to govern the kingdom and
the King. Foucquet did not know Louis XIV, and Louis XVI did know](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-43-320.jpg)
![Foucquet. Warned by Mazarin, the King knew that Foucquet was engaged
in dubious proceedings, and was ready to resort to any expedient. He
knew, also, that he was a man of resource and of talent. He took him apart
and told him that he was determined to be King, and to have a precise and
complete knowledge of State affairs; that he would begin with finance; it
was the most important part of his administration, and that he was
determined to restore order and regularity to that department. He asked
the Superintendent to instruct him minutely in every detail, and he bade
him conceal nothing, declaring that he would always employ him, provided
that he found him sincere. As for the past, he was prepared to forget that,
but he wished that in future the Superintendent would let him know the
true state of the finances.[64]
In speaking thus, Louis XIV told the truth. He has explained himself in his
Mémoires. "It may be a cause of astonishment," he says, "that I was willing
to employ him at a time when his peculations were known to me, but I
knew that he was intelligent and thoroughly acquainted with all the most
intimate affairs of State, and this made me think that, provided he would
confess his past faults and promise to correct them, he might render me
good service."
No one could speak more wisely, more kindly; but the audacious Foucquet
did not realize that there was something menacing in this wisdom and this
kindness. He was possessed of a spirit of imprudence and error. He was
labouring blindly to bring about his own fall. Day by day, despite the advice
of his best friends, he presented the King with false accounts of his
expenditure and revenue. For five months he believed that he was
deceiving Louis XIV, but every evening the King placed his accounts in the
hands of Colbert, whom he had nominated Intendant of Finance, with the
special duty of watching Foucquet. Colbert showed the King the
falsifications in these accounts. On the following day the King would
patiently seek to draw some confession from the guilty Minister, who, with
false security, persisted in his lies.
Henceforth Foucquet was a ruined man. From the month of April, 1661,
Colbert's clerks did not hesitate to announce his fall. He began to be afraid,
but it was too late. He went and threw himself at the King's feet—it was at
Fontainebleau—he reminded him that Cardinal Mazarin had regulated
finance with absolute authority, without observing any formality, and had
constrained him, the Superintendent, to do many things which might
expose him to prosecution. He did not deny his own personal faults, and](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-44-320.jpg)
![admitted that his expenditure had been excessive. He entreated the King to
pardon him for the past, and promised to serve him faithfully in the future.
The King listened to his Minister with apparent goodwill; his lips murmured
words of pardon, but in his heart he had already passed sentence on
Foucquet.
Is it true that some private jealousy inspired the King's vengeance?
Foucquet, according to the Abbé de Choisy,[65] had sent Madame de
Plessis-Bellière to tell Mademoiselle de Lavallière that the Superintendent
had twenty thousand pistoles at her service. The lady had replied that
twenty million would not induce her to take a false step. "Which astonished
the worthy intermediary, who was little used to such replies," adds the
Abbé. However this may be, Foucquet soon perceived that the fortress was
taken, and that it was dangerous to tread upon the heels of the royal
occupant. But in order to repair his fault he committed a second, worse
than the first. Again it is Choisy who tells us. "Wishing to justify himself to
her, and to her secret lover, he himself undertook the mission of go-
between, and, taking her apart in Madame's antechamber, he sought to tell
her that the King was the greatest prince in the world, the best looking, and
other little matters. But the lady, proud of her heart's secret, cut him short,
and that very evening complained of him to the King."[66]
Such a piece of audacity, and one so clumsy, could only irritate the young
and royal lover. Nevertheless it was not to a secret jealousy, but to State
interest, that Louis XIV sacrificed his prevaricating Minister.
His intentions are above suspicion. It was in the interest of the Crown and
of the State alone that he acted. Yet we can but feel surprised to find so
young a man employing so much strategy and so much dissimulation in
order to ruin one whom he had appeared to pardon. In this piece of
diplomacy Louis XIV and Colbert both displayed an excess of skill. With
perfidious adroitness they manœuvred to deprive Foucquet of his office of
Attorney-General, which was an obstacle in their way, for an officer of the
Parliament could be tried only by that body, and Foucquet had so many
partisans in Parliament that there was no hope that it would ever condemn
him.
Louis XIV displayed an apparent confidence in Foucquet and redoubled his
favours; Colbert, acting with the King, was constantly praising his
generosity. He was, at the same time, inducing him to testify his gratitude
by filling the treasury without having recourse to bargains with supporters,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-45-320.jpg)
![which were so burdensome to the State. Foucquet replied: "I would
willingly sell all that I have in the world in order to procure money for the
King."
Colbert refrained from pressing him further, but he contrived to lead the
conversation to the office of Attorney-General. Foucquet told him one day
that he had been offered fifteen hundred thousand livres for it.
"But, sir," answered Colbert, "do you wish to sell it? It is true that it is of no
great use to you. A Minister who is Superintendent has no time to watch
lawsuits." The matter did not go any farther at that time; but they returned
to it later, and Foucquet, thinking himself established in his sovereign's
favour, said one day to Colbert that he was inclined to sell his office in order
to give its price to the King. Colbert applauded this resolution, and
Foucquet went immediately to tell Louis XIV, who thanked him and
accepted the offer immediately. The trick was played.[67]
The King had done his part to bring about this excellent result by making
Foucquet think that he would create him a chevalier de l'Ordre, and first
Minister, as soon as he was no longer Attorney-General. Here is a deal of
duplicity to prepare the way for an act of justice! Foucquet sold his office
for fourteen hundred thousand livres to Achille de Harlay, who paid for it
partly in cash. A million was taken to Vincennes, "where the King wished to
keep it for secret expenditure."[68]
Loret announced this fact in his letter of the 14th August:
Ce politique renommé
Qui par ses bontés m'a charmé,
Ce judicieux, ce grand homme
Que Monseigneur Foucquet on nomme,
Si généreux, si libéral,
N'est plus procureur général.
Une autre prudente cervelle,
Que Monsieur Harlay on appelle,
En a par sa démission
Maintenant la possession.
As a further act of prudence, and in order completely to lay Foucquet's
suspicions to rest, Louis XIV accepted the entertainment which Foucquet
offered him in the Château de Vaux. "For a long time," said Madame de
Lafayette, "the King had said that he wanted to go to Vaux, the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-46-320.jpg)
![Superintendent's magnificent house, and although Foucquet ought to have
been too wary to show the King the very thing that proved so plainly what
bad use he had made of the public finances, and though the King's natural
kindliness ought to have prevented him from visiting a man whom he was
about to ruin, neither of them considered this aspect of the affair."[69]
The whole Court went to Vaux on the 17th August, 1661.[70]
These festivities exasperated Louis XIV. "Ah, Madame," he said to his
mother, "shall we not make all these people disgorge?" Infallible signs
announced the approaching catastrophe. In his Council, the King proposed
to suppress those very orders to pay cash which served, as we have said,
to cover the secret expenditure of the Superintendents. The Chancellor
strongly supported the proposal. "Do I count for nothing, then?" cried
Foucquet indiscreetly. Then he suddenly corrected himself and said that
other ways would be found to provide for the secret expenses of the State.
"I myself will provide for them," said Louis XIV. Nevertheless, Foucquet,
though deprived of the gown, was still a formidable enemy. Before he could
be reduced his Breton strongholds must be captured. The prudent King had
thought of this, and presently conceived a clever scheme. As there was
need of money, it was resolved to increase the taxation of the State
domains. This impost, described euphemistically as a gratuitous gift, was
voted by the Provincial Assemblies. The presence of the King seemed
necessary in order to determine the Breton Estates to make a great
financial sacrifice, and Foucquet himself advised the King to go to Nantes,
where the Provincial Assembly was to be held.[71] Foucquet himself helped
to bring about his own ruin. At Nantes he had a sorrowful presentiment of
this. He was suffering from an intermittent fever, the attacks of which were
very weakening. "Why," he said, in a low voice to Brienne, "is the King
going to Brittany, and to Nantes in particular? Is it not in order to make
sure of Belle-Isle?" And several times in his weakness he murmured:
"Nantes, Belle-Isle!" When Brienne went out, he embraced him with tears in
his eyes.[72]
The King arrived at Nantes on the ist of September, and took up his abode
at the Château. Foucquet had his lodging at the other end of the town, in a
house which communicated with the Loire by means of a subterranean
passage. In that way he could reach the river, where a boat was waiting for
him, and escape to Belle-Isle.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-47-320.jpg)
![Qu'est-il besoin que je retrace
Une garde au soin non pareil,
Chambre murée, étroite place,
Quelque peu d'air pour toute grâce;
Jours sans soleil,
Nuits sans sommeil;
Trois portes en six pieds d'espace!
Vous peindre un tel appartement,
Ce serait attirer vos larmes;
Je l'ai fait insensiblement,
Cette plainte a pour moi des charmes.
Nothing but the approach of night could have dragged me from the spot."
[73]
On the 31st December, Foucquet reached Vincennes. As he passed he
caught sight of his house at Saint-Mandé, in which he had collected all that
can flatter and adorn life, and which he was never again to inhabit. He was,
indeed, to remain in the Bastille until after his condemnation; that is to say,
for more than three years; and he left that fortress only to suffer an
imprisonment of which the protracted severity has become a legend.
The public anger was now loosed upon the stricken financier. The people
whose poverty had been insulted by his ostentatious display wished to
snatch him from his guards and tear him to pieces in the streets. Several
times during the journey from Nantes, D'Artagnan had been obliged to
protect his prisoner from riotous mobs of peasants. In the higher classes of
society the indignation was fully as bitter, although it was only expressed in
words.
Society never forgave Foucquet for having allowed his love-letters to be
seized. It was considered that to keep and classify women's letters in this
manner was not the act of a gallant gentleman. Such was the opinion of
Chapelain, who wrote to Madame de Sévigné:
"Was it not enough to ruin the State, and to render the King odious to his
people by the enormous burdens which he imposed upon them, and to
employ the public finances in impudent expenditure and insolent
acquisitions, which were compatible neither with his honour nor with his
office, and which, on the other hand, rather tended to turn his subjects and
his servants against him, and to corrupt them? Was it necessary to crown
his irregularities and his crimes, by erecting in his own honour a trophy of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-49-320.jpg)
![favours, either real or apparent, of the modesty of so many ladies of rank,
and by keeping a shameful record of his commerce with them in order that
the shipwreck of his fortunes should also be that of their reputations?
"Is this consistent with being, I do not say an upright man, in which
capacity, his flatterers, the Scarrons, Pellissons and Sapphos, and the whole
of that self-interested scum have so greatly extolled him, but a man merely,
a man with a spark of enlightenment, who professes to be something better
than a brute? I cannot excuse such scandalous, dastardly behaviour, and I
should be hardly less enraged with this wretch if your name had not been
found among his papers."[74]
We can admire such generous indignation, but it is hard to be called "self-
interested scum" when one is merely faithful in misfortune.
The truth is that Foucquet still had friends; the women and the poets did
not abandon him. Hesnault, to whom he had given a pension, was not a
favourite of the Muses, but he showed himself a man of feeling, and his
courageous fidelity did him credit. He attacked Colbert in an eloquent
sonnet, which was circulated everywhere by the prisoner's friends:
Ministre avare et lâche, esclave malheureux,
Qui gémis sous le poids des affaires publiques,
Victime dévouée aux chagrins politiques,
Fantôme révéré sous un titre onéreux:
Vois combien des grandeurs le comble est dangereux;
Contemple de Foucquet les funestes reliques,
Et tandis qu'à sa perte en secret tu t'appliques,
Crains qu'on ne te prépare un destin plus affreux!
Sa chute, quelque jour, te peut être commune;
Crains ton poste, ton rang, la cour et la fortune;
Nul ne tombe innocent d'où l'on te voit monté.
Cesse donc d'animer ton prince à son supplice,
Et près d'avoir besoin de toute sa bonté,
Ne le fais pas user de toute sa justice.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-50-320.jpg)
![This sonnet was circulated privately. It was generally read with pleasure, for
Colbert was not liked, and it will not be inappropriate to cite here an
anecdote for which Bayle is responsible.[75]
When the sonnet was mentioned to the Minister, he asked: "Is the King
offended by it?" And when he was told that he was not, "Then neither am
I," he said, "nor do I bear the author any ill will."
If Molière kept silence, Corneille, on the contrary, now gave proof of his
greatness of soul; by praising Pellisson's fidelity, he showed that he shared
it:
En vain pour ébranler ta fidèle constance,
On vit fondre sur toi la force et lat puissance;
En vain dans la Bastille, on t'accabla de fers,
En vain on te flatta sur mille appas divers;
Ton grand cœur, inflexible aux rigueurs, aux caresses,
Triompha de la force et se rit des promesses;
Et comme un grand rocher par l'orage insulté
Des flots audacieux méprise la fierté,
Et, sans craindre le bruit qui gronde sur sa tête,
Voit briser à ses pieds l'effort de la tempête,
C'est ainsi, Pellisson, que dans l'adversité,
Ton intrépide cœur garde sa fermeté,
Et que ton amitié, constante et généreuse,
Du milieu des dangers sortit victorieuse.
Poor Loret found it difficult at first to collect his bewildered wits and relate
the catastrophe. It was a terrible affair; he didn't know much about it, and
he says still less. But, far from accusing the fallen Minister, he was inclined
to pity and esteem him. This was courageous; and his bad verses were a
kind action:
Notre Roi, qui par politique
Se transportait vers l'Amorique,
Pour raisons qu'on ne savait pas,
S'en revient, dit-on, à grands pas.
Je n'ai su par aucun message
Les circonstances du voyage:
Mais j'ai du bruit commun appris,
C'est-à-dire de tout Paris,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-51-320.jpg)
![Que par une expresse ordonnance,
Le sieur surintendant de France
Je ne sais pourquoi ni comment,
Est arrêté présentement
(Nouvelles des plus surprenantes)
Dans la ville et château de Nantes,
Certes, j'ai toujours respecté
Les ordres de Sa Majesté
Et crû que ce monarque auguste
Ne commandait rien que de juste;
Mais étant rémemoratif
Que cet infortuné captif
M'a toujours semblé bon et sage
Et que d'un obligeant langage
Il m'a quelquefois honoré,
J'avoue en avoir soupiré,
Ne pouvant, sans trop me contraindre,
Empêcher mon cœur de le plaindre.
Si, sans préjudice du Roi
(Et je le dis de bonne foi)
Je pouvais lui rendre service
Et rendre son sort plus propice
En adoucissant sa rigueur,
Je le ferais de tout mon cœur;
Mais ce seul désir est frivole,
Et prions Dieu qu'il le console.
En l'état qu'il est aujourd'hui,
C'est tout ce que je puis pour lui.[76]
In time poor Loret did more; he tried to deny his benefactor's crimes. "I
doubt half of them," he said in the execrable style of the rhyming
Gazetteer:[77]
Et par raison et par pitié,
Et même pour la conséquence
Je passe le tout sous silence.
Pellisson was admirable. He wrote from the Bastille, where he was
imprisoned, eloquent defences in which, neglecting his own cause, he](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-52-320.jpg)
![sought only to justify Foucquet. His defence followed the same lines as that
of Foucquet himself. He pleaded the necessities of France, the need of
provisioning and equipping her armies and of fortifying her strongholds. He
imagined a case in which Mazarin himself might have been criticized for the
means by which he had procured money for the war and ensured victory.
"In all conscience," he said, "what man of good sense could have advised
him to reply in other than Scipio's words: 'Here are my accounts: I present
them but only to tear them up. On this day a year ago I signed a general
peace, and the contract of the King's marriage, which gave peace to
Europe. Let us go and celebrate this anniversary at the foot of the altar.'"
[78]
Mademoiselle de Scudéry distinguished herself by her zeal on behalf of her
friend, formerly so powerful, and now so unfortunate. Pecquet, whom the
Superintendent had chosen as his doctor, in order that he might discourse
with him on physics and philosophy, the learned Jean Pecquet, was
inconsolable at having lost so good a master. He used to say that Pecquet
had always rhymed, and always would rhyme with Foucquet.[79]
As for La Fontaine, all know how his fidelity, rendered still more touching by
his ingenuous emotions and the spell of his poetry, adorns and defends the
memory of Nicolas Foucquet to this very day. Nothing can equal the divine
complaint in which the truest of poets grieved over the disgrace of his
magnificent patron.
ÉLÉGIE[80]
Remplissez l'air de cris en vos grottes profondes,
Pleurez, nymphes de Vaux, faites croître vos ondes;
Et que l'Anqueil[81] enflé ravage les trésors
Dont les regards de Flore ont embelli vos bords.
On ne blâmera point vos larmes innocentes,
Vous pourrez donner cours à vos douleurs pressantes;
Chacun attend de vous ce devoir généreux:
Les destins sont contents, Oronte est malheureux[82]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-53-320.jpg)
![Vous n'avez pas chez vous ce brillant équipage,
Cette foule de gens qui s'en vont chaque jour
Saluer à longs flots le soleil de la cour:
Mais la faveur du ciel vous donne en récompense
Du repos, du loisir, de l'ombre et du silence,
Un tranquille sommeil, d'innocents entretiens,
Et jamais à la cour on ne trouve ces biens.
Mais quittons ces pensers, Oronte nous appelle.
Vous, dont il a rendu la demeure si belle,
Nymphes, qui lui devez vos plus charmants appas,
Si le long de vos bords Louis porte ses pas,
Tâchez de l'adoucir, fléchissez son courage;
Il aime ses sujets, il est juste, il est sage;
Du titre de clément, rendez-le ambitieux;
C'est par là que les Rois sont semblables aux dieux.
Du magnanisme Henri[83] qu'il contemple la vie;
Dès qu'il put se venger, il en perdit l'envie.
Inspirez à Louis cette même douceur:
La plus belle victoire est de vaincre son cœur.
Oronte est à présent un objet de clémence;
S'il a cru les conseils d'une aveugle puissance,
Il est assez puni par son sort rigoureux,
Et c'est être innocent que d'être malheureux.[84]
La Fontaine, not satisfied with this poem, addressed an ode to the King on
Foucquet's behalf. But the ode is far from equalling the elegy.
... Oronte seul, ta creature,
Languit dans un profond ennui,
Et les bienfaits de la nature
Ne se répandent plus sur lui.
Tu peux d'un éclat de ta foudre
Achever de le mettre en poudre;
Mais si les dieux à ton pouvoir
Aucunes bornes n'ont prescrites,
Moins ta grandeur a de limites,
Plus ton courroux en doit avoir.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-55-320.jpg)
![. . . . . . .
Va-t-en punir l'orgueil du Tibre;
Qu'il se souvienne que ses lois
N'ont jadis rien laissé de libre
Que le courage des Gaulois.
Mais parmi nous sois débonnaire:
A cet empire si sévère
Tu ne te peux accoutumer;
Et ce serait trop te contraindre:
Les étrangers te doivent craindre,
Tes sujets te veulent aimer.
These verses refer to the attack made by the Corsicans on the Guard of
Alexander VII, who, on the 20th August, 1667, fired on the coach of the
Due de Créqui, the French Ambassador.
L'amour est fils de la clémence,
La clémence est fille des dieux;
Sans elle toute leur puissance
Ne serait qu'un titre odieux.
Parmi les fruits de la victoire,
César environné de gloire
N'en trouva point dont la douceur
A celui-ci pût être égale,
Non pas même aux champs où Pharsale
L'honora du nom de vainqueur.
. . . . . . .
Laisse-lui donc pour toute grâce
Un bien qui ne lui peut durer,
Après avoir perdu la place
Que ton cœur lui fit espérer.
Accorde-nous les faibles restes
De ses jours tristes et funestes,
Jours qui se passent en soupirs:
Ainsi les tiens filés de soie
Puissent se voir comblés de joie,
Même au delà de tes désirs.[85]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-56-320.jpg)
![La Fontaine submitted this ode to Foucquet, who sent it back to him with
various suggestions. The prisoner requested that the reference to Rome
should be suppressed. Doubtless he did not understand it, not having heard
in prison of the attack upon the French Ambassador at the Papal Court.[86]
He also disapproved of the allusion to the clemency of the victor of
Pharsalia. "Cæsar's example," he said, "being derived from antiquity would
not, I think, be well enough known." He also noted a passage—which I do
not know—"as being too poetical to please the King." The last suggestion
speaks of a true nobility of mind. It refers to the last passage, in which the
poet implores the King to grant the life of "Oronte." Foucquet wrote in the
margin: "You sue too humbly for a thing that one ought to despise."
La Fontaine did not willingly give in on any of these points; to the last
suggestion he replied as follows: "The sentiment is worthy of you,
Monsignor, and, in truth, he who regards life with such indifference does
not deserve to die. Perhaps you have not considered that it is I who am
speaking, I who ask for a favour which is dearer to us than to you. There
are no terms too humble, too pathetic and too urgent to be employed in
such circumstances. When I bring you on to the stage, I shall give you
words which are suitable to the greatness of your soul. Meanwhile permit
me to tell you that you have too little affection for a life such as yours is."
It was in the month of November only that a Chamber was instituted by
Royal Edict with the object of instituting financial reforms, and of punishing
those who had been guilty of maladministration. Foucquet was to appear
before this Chamber. It met solemnly in the month of December. The
greater part of it was composed of Members of the Parliament, but it also
included Members of the Chambre des Comptes, the Cour des Aides, the
Grand Council and the Masters of Requests. The magistrates who
composed it were, to mention those only who sat in it as finally constituted:
The Chancellor Pierre Séguier, first President of the Parliament of Paris, who
presided; Guillaume de Lamoignon, deputy president; the President de
Nesmond; the President de Pontchartrain; Poncet, Master of Requests;
Olivier d'Ormesson, Master of Requests; Voysin, Master of Requests;
Besnard de Réze, Master of Requests; Regnard, Catinat, De Brillac, Fayet,
Councillors in the Grand Chamber of the Paris Parliament; Massenau,
Councillor in the Toulouse Parliament; De la Baulme, of the Grenoble
Parliament; Du Verdier, of the Bordeaux Parliament; De la Toison, of the
Dijon Parliament; Lecormier de Sainte-Hélène, of the Rouen Parliament;
Raphélis de Roquesante, of the Aix Parliament; Hérault, of the Rennes](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-57-320.jpg)
![of the prosecution and of the defence were produced, the recorders
prepared summaries for the judges.[87]
It is obvious that in such a case the reporters, who are the necessary
intermediaries between the magistrates and the parties to the case,
possess considerable influence, and that the issue of the lawsuit depends
largely on their intelligence and their morality. Consequently, the King
wished to reserve to himself the right of appointing them, although
according to tradition, this belonged to the President of the Chamber.
Messieurs Olivier d'Ormesson and Le Cormier de Sainte-Hélène were
chosen by the Royal Council, and their names were put before the First
President, Guillaume de Lamoignon. This magistrate apologized for being
unable to accede to the King's wish, alleging that M. Olivier d'Ormesson and
M. de Sainte-Hélène would be suspected by the accused; at least, he feared
so. "This fear," replied the King, "is only another reason for appointing
them." Lamoignon—and it did him honour—gave way only upon the King's
formal command.
That was quite enough to make Lamoignon suspected by Foucquet's
enemies. Powerful as they were, he did nothing to reassure them; on the
contrary, he saw that the accused was granted the assistance of counsel,
and that the forms of procedure were scrupulously observed. When one
day Colbert was trying to discover his opinions, Lamoignon made this fine
reply: "A judge ought never to declare his opinion save once, and that
above the fleurs-de-lys."[88]
The King, growing more and more suspicious, nominated Chancellor
Séguier to preside over the Chamber. Lamoignon, thus driven from his seat,
withdrew, but unostentatiously, alleging as his reason that Parliamentary
affairs occupied the whole of his time.[89]
In vain the King and Colbert, alarmed at having themselves dismissed so
upright a magistrate, endeavoured to restore him to a position of
diminished authority; he was deaf to entreaties, and was content to say to
his friends: "Lavavi manus meas; quomodo inquinabo eas?"[90] Old Séguier,
who though lacking in nobility of soul possessed brilliant intellectual
powers, grew more servile than ever. Feeling that he had not long to live,
he prompdy accepted dishonour. In this trial his conduct was execrable and
his talents did not, on this occasion, succeed in masking his partiality. Great
jurisconsult though he was, he did not understand finance, and this](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-59-320.jpg)
![order to watch him as he was being reconducted to the Bastille, used to
repair, masked, to a house which looked on to the Arsenal. Madame de
Sévigné was there. "When I saw him," she said, "my legs trembled, and my
heart beat so loud that I thought I should faint. As he approached us to
return to his gaol, M. d'Artagnan nudged him, and called his attention to
the fact that we were there. He thereupon saluted us, and assumed that
laughing expression which you know so well. I do not think he recognized
me, but I confess to you that I felt strangely moved when I saw him enter
that little door. If you knew how unhappy one is when one has a heart
fashioned as mine is fashioned, I am sure you would take pity on me."[91]
All that was known about his attitude intensified public sympathy. The
judges themselves recognized that he was incomparable; that he had never
spoken so well in Parliament, and that he had never shown so much self-
possession.[92]
The last Interrogatory, that of the 4th December, turned on the scheme
found at Saint-Mandé, and was particularly favourable to the accused.
Foucquet replied that it was nothing but an extravagant idea which had
remained unfinished, and was repudiated as soon as conceived. It was an
absurd document, which could only serve to make him ashamed and
confused, but it could not be made the ground of an accusation against
him. As the Chancellor pressed him and said, "You cannot deny that it is a
crime against the State," he replied, "I confess, sir, that it is an
extravagance, but it is not a crime against the State. I entreat these
gentlemen," he added, turning towards the judges, "to permit me to
explain what is a crime against the State. It is when a man holds a great
office; when he is in the secret confidence of his Sovereign, and suddenly
takes his place among that Sovereign's enemies; when he engages his
whole family in the cause; when he induces his son-in-law[93] to surrender
the passes and to open the gates to a foreign army of intruders in order to
admit it to the interior of the kingdom. Gentlemen, that is what is called a
crime against the State."
The Chancellor, whose conduct during the Fronde every one remembered,
did not know where to look, and it was all the judges could do not to laugh.
[94] The cross-examination over, the Chamber listened to the opinion of the
reporters and pronounced sentence. On the 9th of December, Olivier
d'Ormesson began his report. He spoke for five successive days, and his
conclusion was perpetual exile, confiscation of goods and a fine of one](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-62-320.jpg)
![hundred thousand livres, of which half should be given to the Public
Treasury, and the other half employed in works of piety. Le Cormier de
Sainte-Hélène spoke after Olivier d'Ormesson. He continued for two days,
and concluded with sentence of death. Pussort, whose vehement speech
lasted for five hours, came to the same conclusion.
On the 18th December, Hérault, Gisaucourt, Noguès and Ferriol concurred,
as did Le Cormier de Sainte-Hélène, and Roquesante after them, in the
opinion of Olivier d'Ormesson.
On the following day, the 19th, MM. de La Toison, Du Verdier, de La Baume
and de Massenau also expressed the same opinion; but the Master of
Requests, Poncet, came to the opposite conclusion. Messieurs Le Féron, de
Moussy, Brillac, Regnard and Besnard agreed with the first recorder. Voysin
was of the opposite opinion. President de Pontchartrain voted for
banishment, and the Chancellor, pronouncing last, voted for death. Thirteen
judges had pronounced for banishment, and nine for death. Foucquet's life
was saved.
"All Paris," said Olivier d'Ormesson, "awaited the news with impatience. It
was spread abroad everywhere, and received with the greatest rejoicing,
even by the shopkeepers. Every one blessed my name, even without
knowing me. Thus M. Foucquet, who had been regarded with horror at the
time of his imprisonment, and whom all Paris would have been
immeasurably delighted to see executed directly after the beginning of his
trial, had become the subject of public grief and commiseration, owing to
the hatred which every one felt for the present Government, and that, I
think, was the true cause of the general acclamation."[95]
On the 22d of December, this same Olivier d'Ormesson having gone to the
Bastille to give D'Artagnan his discharge for the Treasury registers, the
gallant Musketeer embraced him and said: "You are a noble man!"[96]
Foucquet, as a matter of form, protested against the sentence of a tribunal
whose competence he did not recognize. And the sentence did not please
the King, who commuted banishment into imprisonment for life in the
fortress of Pignerol. Such a commutation, which was really an aggravation
of the sentence, is cruel and offends our sense of justice. Nevertheless, one
must recognize that such a measure was dictated by reasons of State.
Foucquet, had he been free, would have been dangerous. He would
certainly have intrigued; his plots and strategies would have caused the
King much anxiety. The religion of patriotism had not yet taken root in the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-63-320.jpg)
![heart of the great Condé's contemporaries. The strongest bond then uniting
citizens was loyalty to the King. Foucquet was liberated from that bond by
his master's hatred and anger. It was to be expected that the fallen Minister
would probably have conspired against France with foreign aid. These
previsions justified the severity of the King, who throughout the whole
business appeared hypocritical, violent, pitiless and patriotic.[97]
The wisdom of the King's action is proved by Foucquet's conduct at
Pignerol, where he arrived in January, 1665. There, in spite of the most
vigilant supervision, he succeeded in carrying on intrigues. He could not
communicate with any living soul. He had neither ink nor pens, nor paper
at his disposal. This able man, whose genius was quickened by solitude,
attempted the impossible in order to enter into communication with his
friends. He manufactured ink out of soot, moistened with wine. He made
pens out of chicken bones, and wrote on the margin of books which were
lent to him, or on handkerchiefs. But his warder, Saint-Mars, detected all
these contrivances. The servants whom the prisoner had won over were
arrested, and one of them was hanged.
In the end, these futile energies were defeated by captivity and disease.
Foucquet became addicted to devotional exercises. Like Mademoiselle de la
Vallière, he wrote pious reflections.[98]
It is even thought that he composed religious verses, for it is known that he
asked for a dictionary of rhymes, which was given to him.
For seven years he had been cut off from living men. Then a voice called
him. It was Lauzun,[99] who was imprisoned at Pignerol, and who had
made a hole in the wall. Lauzun told his companion news of the outer
world. Foucquet listened eagerly, but when the Cadet de Gascogne told him
that he held a general's commission, and that he had married La Grande
Mademoiselle, at first with the approval of the King, and then against it,
Foucquet considered him mad and ceased to believe anything that he said.
About 1679, Foucquet's captivity at length became less severe; he was
permitted to receive his family. But it was too late; those fourteen cruel
years had irreparably undermined his strong constitution; his sight had
grown weak; he was losing his teeth; he was suffering pain in his whole
body, and his piety was increasing with his weakness. He died in March,
1680, just as he had received permission to go and drink the waters of
Bourbon. His body, which had been laid in the crypt of Sainte-Claire de](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-64-320.jpg)
![Pignerol, Madame Foucquet had transferred the following year to the
church of the Convent of the Visitation in the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-
Antoine. The register of this church contains the following entry: "On the
28th March, 1681, Messire Nicolas Foucquet was buried in our church, in
the Chapel of Saint-François de Sales. He had risen to the highest honours
in the magistracy; had been Councillor in Parliament, Master of Requests,
Attorney-General, Superintendent of Finance, and Minister of State."[100]
Whatever may be said to the contrary, posterity does not judge with equity,
for it is partial; it is indifferent, and makes but hasty work of the trial of the
dead who appear before it. And posterity is not a Court of Justice; it is a
noisy mob, in which it is impossible to make oneself heard, but which, at
rare intervals, is dominated by some great voice. Finally, its judgments are
not definitive, since another posterity follows which may cancel the
sentence of the first, and pronounce new ones, which again may be
revoked by a new posterity. Nevertheless, certain cases seem to have been
definitely lost in the court of mankind, and I find myself constrained to rank
with these the case of Foucquet. He was an embezzler, and was definitely
condemned on this point—condemned without appeal. As for extenuating
circumstances, it is not difficult to find them. Illustrious examples, even
more, perpetual solicitings and the impossibility of observing any regularity
in troubled times, impelled him to steal, both for the State and for certain
great men. Of his thefts he kept something; he kept too much. He was
guilty, doubtless, but his fault seems greatly mitigated when one
remembers the circumstances and the spirit of the time.
I am going to say something which is a kind of redemption of Nicolas
Foucquet's memory; I will say it in two charming lines which are attributed
to Pellisson, and which appear to have been written by Foucquet's friend,
the fabulist. Pellisson, in an epistle to the King, said of Foucquet:
D'un esprit élevé, négligeant l'avenir,
Il toucha les trésors, mais sans les retenir.
This it is which redeems and exalts this man. He was liberal, he loved to
give, and he knew how to give, and let it not be said in the name of any
morbid and morose morality that, even if he had taken the State's money
without retaining it, he was only the more guilty, uniting prodigality to
unscrupulousness. No, his liberality remains honourable; it showed that the
principle which prompted his embezzlements was not a vile one, that, if this
man was ruined, the cause of his ruin was not natural baseness, but the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-65-320.jpg)
![[1] Cf. Les amateurs de l'ancienne France: Le surintendant Foucquet, by Edmond
Bonnaffé. Librairie de l'Art, 1882. The book contains particulars drawn from
Peiresc's unpublished manuscript. During the course of this work we shall have
frequent occasion to quote from this excellent study of an accomplished
connoisseur.
[2] Mémoires de Choisy, Ed. Petitot et Monmerqué, p. 262.
[3] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, Vol. II, p. 60. The unknown author of the
dialogues attributed to Molière by M. Louis Auguste Ménard brings Mme. Foucquet
on to the stage and makes her utter words in keeping with those pious sentiments
which were well known to her contemporaries. The fictitious scene which
confronts her with Anne of Austria is a paraphrase of the words I have quoted in
my text from the Mémoires de Choisy.
[4] Histoire du Dauphiné, by M. le baron de Chapuys-Montlaville. Paris, Dupont,
1828, 2 vols. Vol. II, pp. 460 et seq.
[5] Cf. Les premiers intendants de justice, by S. Hanotaux, in La Revue Historique,
1882 and 1883.
[6] Of Fronde.—Trans.
[7] Mazarin's note-book, XI, fol. 85, Biblioth. Nat.
[8] Unpublished Diary of Dubuisson-Aubenay, cited by M. Chéruel in the Mémoires
sur N. Foucquet, Vol. I, p. 7.
[9] Histoire de Colbert et de son administration, by Pierre Clement. Paris, Didier,
1874, Vol. I, p. 15.
[10] Mémoires sur la vie publique et privée de Foucquet, by A. Chéruel, Inspector-
General of Education. Paris, Charpentier, 1862, Vol. I, pp. 86-88.
[11] Bibliothèque Nationale, MSS. collection Gaignieres. This letter is quoted by
Chéruel, I, p. 183.
[12] Histoire financière de la France, by A. Bailly. Paris, 1830, Vol. I, p. 357.
[13] In 1651, Foucquet received from Marie-Madeleine de Castille, the daughter of
François de Castille, his wife, one hundred thousand livres, the house in the Rue
du Temple, the abode of the Castille family, as well as the buildings adjoining,
which were let at 2200 livres. (Cf. Jal, Dictionnaire, article on Foucquet)
[14] Cf. Eug. Grésy, Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Melun, 1861.
[15] Archives de la Bastille, Vol. II, p, 171 et seq.
[16] Anne of Austria (trans.)
[17] Her son, Louis XIV (trans.)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-67-320.jpg)
![[18] And are now in Austria, Germany and elsewhere.—Editor.
[19] Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art français, note by M. Guiffrey, July,
1876, p. 38.
[20] Saint-Simon adds: "She was the widow of Nicolas Foucquet, famous for his
misfortunes, who, after being Superintendent of Finance for eight years, paid for
the millions which Cardinal Mazarin had taken, for the jealousy of MM. Le Tellier
and Colbert, and for a slightly excessive gallantry and love of splendour, with
thirty-four years of imprisonment at Pignerol, because that was the utmost that
could be inflicted on him, despite all the influence of Ministers and the authority of
the King."—Mémoires du duc de Saint-Simon, éd. Chéruel, Vol. XIV, p. 112.
[21] Mémoires. Collection Petitot, Vol. LX, p. 142.
[22] It is the portrait which is reproduced at the beginning of the French edition,
because it seems to us at once both the truest and the happiest picture of the
extraordinary man who, both in letters and in art, inaugurated the century of Louis
XIV. The head, three-quarter profile, is turned to the left. It is a medallion
inscribed with the words: "Messire Nicolas Foucquet, chevalier, vicomte de Melun
et de Vaux, Conseiller du Roy, Ministre d'État, Surintendant des Finances et
Procureur général de Sa Majesté." Signed "R. Nanteuil ad vivum ping. et
sculpebat, 1661." The style is at once soft and firm, the workmanship pure and
finished, the rendering of the colours excellent. This engraving was executed after
a drawing or a pastel which Nanteuil had done from life, and which is lost. This
work, and the engraving which perpetuates it, seem to me to form the origin of a
whole family of portraits, of which we will mention several.
(1) A shaded bust, on a piedouche, bearing Foucquet's arms. The arrangement is
bad, the inscription:
Ne faut-il que l'on avouë
Qu'on trouve en luytous ce qu'on espérait.
C'est un surintendant tel que l'on désirait.
Personne ne s'en plaint, tout le monde s'en louë.
Signed: "Van Schupper faciebat. P. de la Serre."
(2) The head in an oval border. Raised hangings which reveal a country scene,
with dogs coursing. The inscription:
"Messire Nicolas Foucquet, chevalier, vicomte de Melun et de Vaux, Ministre d'État,
Surintendant des finances de Sa Majesté et son procureur général au Parlement de
Paris."
(3) A much damaged copy. The face is pale and elongated, the expression
melancholy and sanctimonious. It is an oval medallion, 1654, without signature,
Paris, chez Daret.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-68-320.jpg)
![(4) An imitation. Signature: "Larmessin, 1661." Finally, we must mention a full-
length portrait, which seems inspired by the foregoing. The Superintendent is
standing, wearing a long robe; he holds in his right hand a small bag, in his left a
paper. A raised curtain displays, on the right, a country scene, with a torrent, a
rock and a fortified château. In the sky, Renown puts a trumpet to her mouth. In
her left hand she holds another trumpet with a bannerette on which is written:
"Quo non ascendet?" Inscription:
A quel degré d'honneur ne peut-il pas monter
S'il s'élève tousjours par son propre courage?
Son nom et sa vertu lui donnent l'advantage
De pouvoir tout prétendre et de tout mériter.
[23] A summary of the inventory at Saint-Mandé: MS. of the Bibliothèque Nat.
Manusc. Suppl, fr. 10958, cited by M. Edm. Bonnaffé, Les Amateurs de l'ancienne
France.—Le Surintendant Foucquet, librairie de l'Art, 1882.
[24] Loc. cit., pp. 61 et seq.
[25] Description of the city of Paris, 1713, p. 60.
[26] Mémoire des Académiciens, Vol. I, p. 21. Bonnaffé, loc. cit., p. 15.
[27] Preface to Œdipe, Collect. des grands écrivains, Vol. VI, p. 103.
[28] With great pomp.
[29] The original edition has plainte.
[30] Œuvres complètes de La Fontaine, published by Ch. Marty Laveaux, Vol. III
(1866), p. 26 et seq.
[31] The inventory of the 26th February, 1666 (Bonnaffé, loc. cit., p. 61), classes
them as follows: "Two antique mausoleums representing a king and queen of
Egypt, 800 livres."
[32] At least, this is the hypothesis propounded by M. Bonnaffe. It is founded on
the fact that an anonymous document of 1648, published in Les Collectionneurs de
l'ancienne France (Aubry, ed. 1873), mentions le sieur Chamblon, of Marseilles, as
a professor "of Egyptian idols to enclose mummies." But it seems as if the
anonymous document referred not to sarcophagi of marble or basalt, but rather to
those boxes of painted and gilt pasteboard, with human faces, which abound in
the necropolises of ancient Egypt. The port of Marseilles must at that time have
received a fairly large number of such. We must remember that the mummy was
in those days considered as a remedy, and was widely sold by druggists.
[33] Cf. Mlle, de Scudéry, Clélie. "Méléandre (Lebrun) had caused to be built, on a
small, somewhat uneven plot of ground, two small pyramids in imitation of those
which are near Memphis."](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-70-320.jpg)
![[34] See note, p. 10.**
[35] Description of the city of Paris, by Germain Brice, ed. of 1698, Vol. I, p. 124
et seg.
[36] Recueil d'antiquités dans les Gaules, by La Sauvagère, Paris, 1770, p. 329 et
seq.
[37] D.5.D. 78.
[38] In this story, I have followed M. Bonnaffé. Loc. cit., p. 57.
[39] Inventory and valuation of the books found at Saint-Mandé on the 30th July,
1665. Biblio. Nat. MSS., p. 9438. The whole was valued at 38,544 livres.
[40] Conseils de la Sagesse, p. x.
[41] Lines presented to Monseigneur le procureur général Foucquet,
Superintendent of Finance, at the opening of the tragedy of Œdipe, 1659.
[42] One of the earliest French theatres. It was founded by the Confrères de la
Passion in 1548.
[43] Cf. La Vie de Corneille, by Fontenelle.
[44] Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de La Fontaine, by Mathieu Marais, 1811,
p. 125.
[45] Ouvrages de prose et de poésie des sieurs de Mancroix et La Fontaine, Vol. I,
p. 99.
[46] There are two blank spaces in the 1685 edition. I have filled them with the
two names in brackets. For the first I have put the name of Foucquet, which is
given in the Œuvres diverses (Vol. I, p. 19). To fill the second space I have
followed the suggestion of Mathieu Marais. Walkenaer puts Pellisson, which is not
admissible.
[47] Edit Marty-Laveaux, VOL V, pp. 15-17.
[48] No one can answer for the correctness of the text of these two poems.
Chardon de La Rochette published them from memory in 1811 (Histoire de la Vie
et des Ouvrages de La Fontaine, by Mathieu Marais, p. 125). He had possessed
the receipts for both in Pellisson's own hand-writing, but had not kept it, because,
he said, he did not think "that it was worth it." This sagacious Hellenist set little
store by a Pellisson autograph, in comparison with the Palatine MS. of the
Anthologia. And he was right. But it is odd that he should have known the verses
by heart, and that, having neglected to preserve them in his desk, he should have
retained them in his memory.
[49] Promettre est un, et tenir promesse est un autre.
[50] Mémoires de Choisy, coll. Petitot, p. 211.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-71-320.jpg)
![[51] Ibid., loc. cit., p. 230.
[52] Bussy, II, p. 50.
[53] "Jamais surintendant ne trouva de cruelle."
[54] Bussy, II, p. 50.
[55] Letter of the 25th May, 1658.
[56] Letter of 18th January, 1660.
[57] Loret, Muse historique, letter of the 28th of December, 1652.
[58] In 1661 (?) Papiers de Foucquet (F. Baluze), Vol. I, pp. 31-32.
[59] Maurepas Collection. Vol. II, p. 271.
[60] Letter of the 11th November, 1661.
[61] Gourville, in Monmerqué, Vol. II, p. 342.
[62] Mémoires de l'abbé de Choisy, p. 579.
[63] Mémoires de Brienne, Vol. II, p. 52.
[64] Mémoires de Choisy, p. 581. Chéruel, Mémoires sur Nicolas Foucquet, Vol. II,
p. 97.
[65] Mémoires de Choisy, p. 249.
[66] Mémoires de Choisy, p. 249.
[67] Choisy, p. 586. "I learnt these details," said Choisy, "from Perrault, to whom
Colbert related them more than once."
[68] Ibid., p. 586. Cf. also Guy Patin, letter to Falconnet, 2nd September, 1661.
[69] Histoire d'Henriette d'Angleterre, by Mme de Lafayette. Paris, Charavay frères,
1882, p. 53.
[70] See Part II for the story of this entertainment.
[71] Cf. Mémoires sur Nicolas Foucquet, by Chéruel, Vol. II, pp. 179-180.
[72] Mémoires de Brienne, Vol. II, p. 153.
[73] La Fontaine, letter to his wife, Ed. Marty-Laveaux, Vol. III, p. 311 et seq.
[74] This letter was published for the first time in Les Causeries d'un curieux, VOL
II, p. 518.
[75] Dictionnaire Antique. Article on Hesnault.
[76] Letter of the 10th of September, 1661.
[77] Letter of the 2nd October, 1661.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-72-320.jpg)
![[78] Second Speech to the King, in Les Œuvres diverses, p. 109.
[79] Cf. Mélanges, by Vigneul de Marville.
[80] Such is the title of the original edition, printed in italics, without date or
address, on three quarto pages.
[81] "The Anqueil is a little river which flows near Vaux." (Note by La Fontaine.)
[82] Variant:
La Cabale est contente, Oronte est malheureux.
[83] Variant:
Du grand, du grand Henri qu'il contemple la vie.
(Original edition.)
[84] Edition quoted, Vol. V, pp. 43-46. One contemporary copy, preserved in the
Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, contains a text altered by one of Foucquet's enemies.
Instead of the two lines:
Voilà le précipice où l'ont enfin jeté
Les attraits enchanteurs de la prospérité,
we read in this copy:
Il se hait de tant vivre après un tel malheur,
Et, s'il espère encor, ce n'est qu'en sa douleur,
C'est là le seul plaisir qui flatte son courage,
Car des autres plaisirs on lui défend l'usage.
Voilà, voilà l'effet de cette ambition
Qui fait de ses pareils l'unique passion.
[85] Edition cited: Vol. V, pp. 46-49. Published for the first time by La Fontaine in
his collection Poésies chrétinnes et diverses, 1671, Vol. Ill, p. 34.
[86] La Fontaine, Letter to Monsieur Foucquet. Edition cited: Vol. Ill, pp. 307-308.
This letter was published for the first time in 1729.
[87] Cf. Le procès de Foucquet, a speech pronounced at the opening of
Conférence des Avocats, Monday, 27th November, 1882, by Léon Deroy, advocate
in the Court of Appeal. Paris, Alcan Lévy, 1882.
[88] Recueil des arrêtés de G. de Lamoignon, Paris, 1781. Vie de M. le premier
président, by Girard, p. 14. (The fleur-de-Iys was very largely employed in the
decoration of the walls, floors, ceiling, etc., of the Parliaments, etc.—Ed.)
[89] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, Vol. II, p. 26.
[90] Recueil des arrêtés, already cited.
[91] Madame de Sévigné, letter of the 27th November, 1664.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-73-320.jpg)
![[92] Ibid., letter of the 2nd December.
[93] "The Duc de Sully, the son-in-law of the Chancellor, Séguier, had, in 1652,
yielded the crossing of the bridge of Mantes to the Spanish Army." (Note by M.
Chéruel.)
[94] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, Vol. II, p. 263. Letter from Mme. de Sévigné,
9th December.
[95] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, VOL II, p. 282. Letter from Mme. de Sévigné,
9th December.
[96] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 283.
[97] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 286.
[98] The Comte de Vaux, Foucquet's eldest son, having obtained his father's MSS.
from Pignerol, published extracts entitled: Conseils de la Sagesse ou Recueil des
Maximes de Salomon. Paris, 1683, 2 vols.
[99] The Duc de Lauzun, said to have married La Grande Mademoiselle, Mlle, de
Montpensier, cousin of Louis XIV. (Trans.)
[100] Delort, Détention des Philosophes, Vol. I, p. 53.
PART II
THE CHÂTEAU DE VAUX
During his trial Foucquet declared that he had begun the building of
his house at Vaux as early as 1640. On this point his memory
betrayed him. Reference to the inscription on an engraving by
Pérelle, after Israël Silvestre, assigns the commencement of work
upon the house to the year 1653, but there is no doubt that Israël
Silvestre planned the château on lines which were not absolutely
final. Nor was the ne varietur plan, signed in 1666, exactly followed.
[1]
It is not until 1657 that the registers of the parish of Maincy attest
the presence of foreign workmen who had come to undertake
certain building operations on the estate of Vaux.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-74-320.jpg)
![The architect, Louis Levau, employed by Foucquet, was not a
beginner. He had already built "a house at the apex of the island of
Notre-Dame,"[2] which is none other than the Hôtel Lambert,[3] the
ingenious novelties of which were greatly admired. Especially
noteworthy was the chamber of Madame de Torigny, on the second
floor, which Le Sueur had decorated with a grace which recalls the
mural paintings of Herculaneum. This chamber was called the Italian
room, "Because," said Guillet de Saint-Georges, "the beauty of the
woodwork and the richness of the panelling took the place of
tapestry."
Levau, born in 1612, was forty-three years of age when he signed
the ne varietur plan. We know little about the life of this man whose
work is so famous. A document of the 23rd March, 1651,[4]
describes him as "a man of noble birth, Councillor and Secretary to
the King, House and Crown of France." He then lived in Paris, in the
Rue du Roi-de-Sicile, with his wife and his three young children,
Jean, Louis and Nicolas.
Besides the Hôtel Lambert and the Château de Vaux, we are
indebted to him for the design for the Collège des Quatre-Nations,
now the Palace of the Institute; the Maison Bautru, called by Sauvai
"La Gentille," and engraved by Marot; the Hôtel de Pons, in the Rue
du Colombier (to-day the Rue du Vieux-Colombier), built for
President Tambruneau; the Hôtel Deshameaux, which, according to
Sauvai, had an Italian room; the Hôtel d'Hesselin in the He Saint-
Louis; the Hôtel de Rohan, in the Rue de l'Université; the Château de
Livry, since known as Le Rainey, built for the Intendant of Finances,
Bordier; the Château de Seignelay; a château near Troyes; and the
Château de Bercy.[5]
We may add that Louis Levau, having become first architect to the
King, succeeded Gamard in directing the works of the church of
Saint-Sulpice, and that he, in his turn, was succeeded by Daniel
Gillard in 1660.[6]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-75-320.jpg)
![Louis Levau died in Paris. His body was carried to the church of
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, his parish church, on Saturday, the nth
October, 1670, as attested by the register of this church. There,
under the above date, may be read: "On the said day was buried
Messire Louys Levau, aged 57 or thereabouts, who died this morning
at three o'clock. In his life a Councillor of the King in his Council,
general Superintendent of His Majesty's buildings, first Architect of
his buildings, Secretary to His Majesty and the House and Crown of
France, etc., taken from the Rue des Fossés, from the ancient Hôtel
de Longueville."[7]
In the Archives de l'Art français (Vol. I) there is a document relating
to Louis Levau:
"There has been submitted to us the plan and elevation of the
building of the Cathedral Church of Saint-Pierre of Nantes, of which
the part not already constructed is marked in red. This church is one
hundred and eleven feet high from the floor to the keystones of the
vaults at the meeting of the diagonals, and the lower aisles and
chapels are fifty-six feet, measured also from the floor.
"It is desired to finish the said church, and to respect its symmetry
as far as may be, and to make the lower aisles and chapels around
the choir like those which are on the right of the nave.
"The difficulty is that, in order to finish this work, it is necessary to
pull down the walls of the town, and to carry it out into the moat,
and it is desirable to take as little ground as can be, in order not to
diminish too greatly the breadth of the moat. Wherefore it is
proposed to do away with the three chapels behind the choir,
marked by the letter H.
"But, if those three chapels are removed, it will be seen that the
flying buttresses which support the choir will not have the same
thrust as those which support the nave; the strength of these
buttresses will be diminished, and the symmetry of the church
destroyed, in a place where the church is most visible.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/26613-250313165304-36f2705a/85/EXCEL-Microsoft-Boost-Your-Productivity-Quickly-Learn-Excel-Spreadsheets-Formulas-Shortcuts-Macros-2nd-Edition-2021-76-320.jpg)
EXCEL Microsoft Boost Your Productivity Quickly Learn Excel Spreadsheets Formulas Shortcuts Macros 2nd Edition 2021
- 1. Read Anytime Anywhere Easy Ebook Downloads at ebookmeta.com EXCEL Microsoft Boost Your Productivity Quickly Learn Excel Spreadsheets Formulas Shortcuts Macros 2nd Edition 2021 https://ebookmeta.com/product/excel-microsoft-boost-your- productivity-quickly-learn-excel-spreadsheets-formulas- shortcuts-macros-2nd-edition-2021/ OR CLICK HERE DOWLOAD EBOOK Visit and Get More Ebook Downloads Instantly at https://ebookmeta.com
- 2. Microsoft: Boost Your Productivity Quickly! Learn Excel Spreadsheets, Formulas, Shortcuts & Macros
- 3. © Copyright 2015 – All rights reserved. In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. The information provided herein is stated to be truthful and consistent, in that any liability, in terms of inattention or otherwise, by any usage or abuse of any policies, processes, or directions contained within is the solitary and utter responsibility of the recipient reader. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly. Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher. Legal Notice: This book is copyright protected. This is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part or the content within this book without the consent of the author or copyright owner. Legal action will be pursued if this is breached. Disclaimer: Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Every attempt has been made to provide accurate, up to date and reliable complete information. No warranties of any kind are expressed or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice.
- 4. By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances are we responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, which are incurred as a result of the use of information contained within this document, including, but not limited to, errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.
- 5. Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: About Excel Chapter 2: Excel Basics Quick access toolbar Ribbon Formula bar Status bar Worksheet Workbook Formatting cells Find & select Graphs & charts Print Share Protection Compatibility mode Chapter 3: Essential Formulas SUM COUNT COUNTA LEN TRIM AVERAGE RIGHT, LEFT, MID
- 6. CONCATENATE IF statements AVERAGEIF, COUNTIF, SUMIF VLOOKUP Statistical analysis Standard t-test Paired t-test One-way ANOVA Linear regression Two-way ANOVA Chapter 4: Macros What is a macro? How to record a macro How to run a macro Visual Basic Editor (VBE) The Project window The Code window The Properties window The Immediate window The Locals window The Watch window How to write a macro Chapter 5: Shortcuts Basic shortcuts New file
- 7. Open an existing file Save a worksheet Print a file Close a workbook Close Excel Expand or collapse a ribbon Next ribbon Open selected control Help Undo Redo Copy cells Cut cells Paste Find option Replace Go to previous match Go to next match Create a chart Insert table Insert or edit comment Delete to end of line Add hyperlink Calculate worksheets Force calculate all worksheets Insert rows Group rows or columns Ungroup rows or columns Open spelling box Open thesaurus dialog box Open macro dialog box
- 8. Display shortcut menu Display control menu Navigation Move from one screen to the next Switch between workbooks Move to beginning of row Move to last cell in worksheet Move to first cell in worksheet Move one word right Move one word left Selection Select entire row Select entire column Select entire worksheet Add adjacent cells Extend selection one cell to the right Extend selection by one cell to the left Extend by one cell up Extend by one cell down Extend to the last cell on the right Extend to the last cell on the left Extend to the last cell up Extend to the last cell down Extend selection to start of row Extend selection to first cell Extend selection to last cell Select cells with comments Select one character right Select one character left Select one word to the right Select one word to the left
- 9. General formatting Apply format again Apply or remove bold Apply or remove italic Apply or remove underscore Apply or remove strikethrough Align to center Align to left Align to right Increase font size by one Decrease font size by one Add border Remove border Number formatting Currency Percentage Decimal Scientific Date Time Chapter 6: Data Entry & Management in Excel Cell references Data entry Widening columns Merge & center Wrap text on multiple lines Today Function Adding the date with the Today Function
- 10. Adding a named range Entering formulas Copying formulas by fill handle Number formatting Cell formatting Chapter 7: Excel Database & Data Entry Tips Creating a database file Data entry tips Data entry forms Chapter 8: Tips for Entering Data in Spreadsheets Plan out your worksheet Do not leave blank spaces in between data Save frequently Column and row headings Cell references and named ranges Protecting and locking cells Sort the data Conclusion
- 11. Introduction Excel is one of the most widely used spreadsheet applications, especially in the business world. Working in Excel lets you handle large volumes of data faster and makes you more productive. However, many people get frustrated and confused by Excel’s plethora of seemingly difficult functions and operations. Learning them may seem like a tedious task, but as this book will show you, Excel isn’t as hard as it looks. Once you get the hang of the formulas and the settings you will learn that Excel makes your life much easier. You’ll be surprised as how easy it can actually be. This book will guide through the use of Microsoft Excel right from the basics to complicated formulas. I hope you find this book informative and useful. Thank you for downloading and good luck!
- 12. Chapter 1: About Excel Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft. It can be used on both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Excel acts as an interface to organize any type of data. It is mainly used for storing, manipulating and organizing data. Excel includes tools to help with calculation, plotting graphs, and pivoting tables. As an additional feature it has a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. It is widely used across the world because it extremely useful in accounting, anything that involves complicated calculations and graphs, and business applications. Microsoft markets Excel as a part of Microsoft Office. The advantage of Excel lies in its flexible layout and structure. It allows you to work with numbers, text or just about any type of information you may come across. Excel is mainly used for finance-related work. It allows its users to calculate anything from a simple quarterly estimate to an annual report. Excel consists of spreadsheets that are called Workbooks. Each workbook can have multiple worksheets, which are in the form of rows and columns. The rows are numbered (1, 2, 3 et seq.) while the columns are letterer (A, B, C et seq.). Columns beyond 26 are identified by double letters such as AA, AB and so on. The intersection of a row and column is known as a cell. Thus a cell is represented by both a number and a letter. For example, a cell that is at the intersection of the third row and third column will be named “C3” with “C” representing the third column and “3” representing the third row.
- 13. A cell is where you enter the data that you need to organize or store. Cells will accept text or numbers or formulas. Excel also allows line graphs, bar graphs, pie charts, histograms and numerous other related functions. Along with these graphical representations it also allows you to perform statistical analysis on your data. Excel also allows you to convert your workbook into a Word document or PowerPoint. It allows you to use the graphs and pie charts in a PowerPoint presentation. Your spreadsheets can also be emailed directly from Excel using Microsoft Outlook.
- 14. Chapter 2: Excel Basics Excel is a powerful program that has a lot of applications for people who know how to use it. Let’s start with the basics of how to use Excel. First, we will have a look at the important aspects of Excel. As soon as you open Excel, you will notice five main things on your screen: quick access toolbar, ribbon, formula bar, status bar and workbook.
- 15. Quick access toolbar As it name suggests this toolbar lets you access any frequently used function quickly. It starts off with only save, redo and undo, but you can add more features to this toolbar as you wish. If you use formulas the most, then you can add that particular function to the toolbar so that you can access it easily.
- 16. Ribbon Ribbon is basically another name for a menu. It is an extended menu that includes all the functions that Excel has to offer. Since there are hundreds of features, they are grouped based on their functions into several tabs to make up a ribbon. Home, Formulas, Data, Page Layout and Insert are some of the tabs you find in a ribbon. A ribbon is found at the top of the Excel program as a bar. When you click on each tab all the features under that group are shown as a lower, wider bar. The home tab contains the most frequently used Excel commands such as paste, copy, cut, font format, font color, paragraph format, etc. This ribbon can also be minimized to get some space on the screen. Right click on the ribbon and an option to minimize the ribbon will appear; click on that and the ribbon bar will be minimized. Ribbons can also be customized by right clicking on the ribbon and clicking on the “Customize the ribbon” option. You can add a new tab by clicking on the option “new tab” and then selecting the functions that you want. You can also name the tab as you wish.
- 17. Formula bar The formula bar is where any formula or calculations that you enter will appear on the screen. It is located above your spreadsheet and you can enter or copy any data or function to it. It is represented by the symbol “fx”. It also shows the contents of the selected cell and allows you to create formulas.
- 18. Status bar The status bar is what tells you what is happening in Excel. It is located at the bottom of the window. It shows you when Excel is calculating a formula or recording a macro. The status bar also shows a summary of the various basic and frequently used mathematical functions that are available. For example, if you select a range of cells, the sum of these cells will be displayed by the status bar. When you right click on this status bar, you can also see the average, count, minimum and maximum.
- 19. Worksheet A worksheet is where all the data, charts and numbers are seen. Each Excel workbook can contain numerous worksheets. A spreadsheet has rows and columns, with the rows being numbered and the columns represented by letters. By default each workbook contains three worksheets, but you can add any number. To insert extra worksheets, click on the “Insert Worksheet” tab that is found next to the worksheet names at the bottom of the window. When you first open Excel, it automatically opens to a new Excel workbook that is labeled as Book1. It also automatically selects Sheet1. You can always change to another worksheet if you wish to. The worksheet option is found in a tab at the bottom of the window. The program names the worksheets Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3 by default, but you can always rename them by right clicking on the existing name. In the options that appear, click on “Rename” and then assign any name that you wish to that particular worksheet. You can also move a worksheet around. For example, Sheet1 can become Sheet3 and so on. It is very easy to do this. Just click on the sheet tab of Sheet1 and drag it to Sheet3. Deleting a worksheet is equally easy. You can delete a worksheet just by right clicking on the sheet name and selecting the option “delete” from the options that pop up. Let us consider a situation wherein you need an exact copy of any existing worksheet. Let us assume that you need to copy Sheet1 as it is into a new worksheet. Instead of typing in all the
- 20. details again, it is easier to just copy the entire worksheet. Right click on the Sheet1 tab and choose the option “copy” from the options that show up. A dialog box will open. In that box, choose the option “(move to end)”, check the option “Create a copy” and finally select “OK”. Now your Sheet1 will be copied as the last worksheet in your workbook.
- 21. Workbook A workbook is a collection of worksheets. It is basically another name for your Excel file. Excel creates a blank workbook by default when you open it. To open an existing workbook, click on the “File” tab on the ribbon bar. This will show you all the recently used workbooks as well as giving you the option of opening an older workbook that is saved on your drive. This part of Excel is called the backstage view and contains all the workbook related functions. You can either select a workbook from the “Recent” list or you can click on “Open” to select a workbook from your older files. People who are new to Excel sometimes think that closing a workbook means that Excel will close automatically, but this isn’t true. In your Excel window, you will notice two crosses (×) at the top right corner. The top × is to close the whole Excel program, while the bottom × is to close just that specific workbook. Hence, when you have multiple workbooks open, click on the bottom × to close only the specific workbook that you want to close while keeping the others open. If you want to create a new workbook after working on an old workbook, click on “New” in the “File” tab and then select the type of workbook you want to create. You can create a blank workbook or one using recent formats, sample templates or personalized templates. After you choose your option, click on “Create”, which is found in the right corner of the window.
- 22. Formatting cells You can change the appearance of a cell without changing the actual data by formatting the cell. Formatting lends a professional look to the worksheet and also makes specific data stand out so the user can interpret it easily. There are various types of formatting that can be applied to a cell. Number, font, border and alignment are some of the formatting types that can be used in Excel. When you enter a value into a cell, Excel uses a default format. To apply Number format you can use the “Format Cells” option. Right click on the cell in which you have entered the data and select the “Format Cells” option. In the dialog box that opens, select the Number tab. If you want to change your data into a currency format, then select the “Currency” option in the Number tab and click on “OK”. In the “Home” tab you can use the alignment group to center the number or the border group to add a border to that particular cell. If you click on the Percentage symbol in the Number group you can apply a Percentage format to the data. As in Microsoft Word, you can change the font or color of your data by using the Font group.
- 23. Find & select This basic feature of Excel can be used to find specific data in the worksheet and also replace it with other data. First let’s learn how to find specific text in a worksheet. On the “Home” tab, there will be a “Find & Select” option. Click on that button, select “Find” and a dialog box will open. When you type in the text or data that you want to find in the worksheet and click on “Find Next”, Excel will find the earliest occurrence of that data or text. Click on “Find Next” again to find the next occurrence of the same word. If you want to see all the occurrences at the same time, select the “Find All” option. The next use of this function is to replace specific text or data with new text or data. The process is similar to the find function. Click on the “Find & Select” option on the “Home” tab and select “Replace”. When the dialog box appears, type the data or text that you want to find in the “Find what” box and the word with which it is to be replaced in the “Replace with” box. Then click on “Find Next” to see the first word that needs to be replaced. To replace each occurrence individually, click on “Replace” when each occurrence is found. You can also use the “Replace All” function to replace all the occurrences. This function can also be used to find cells or data that use specific functions, formulas or comments. To find such cells, select a single cell, click on the “Find & Select” option on the “Home” tab and select “Go To Special”. Select “Formulas” and click “OK”. Now Excel will show you all the cells with formulas.
- 24. If you want Excel to search only a section of the worksheet rather than the entire worksheet, then select the range of cells within which you want Excel to search before you follow the steps mentioned above.
- 25. Graphs & charts Excel can also be used to create different types of graphs and charts such as line graphs, pie charts, bar graphs, etc. To create a graph you first need to make sure that all your data is in the Excel worksheet. Arrange your data into two columns, one X and the other Y. Once you know that you have all your data, you need to choose the type of chart that you want to create. Click on the “Charts” option in the “Insert” tab and click on the type of chart you want (column, bar, line pie, area, scatter and others). You also have the option to choose between a 3D graph and a 2D graph. Excel then shows your data in the form of a graph. You can tweak the two axes by right clicking on the axis and choosing the “Format Axis” option.
- 26. Print Printing your Excel worksheet can be useful when you have to submit or show your worksheet to another person. It is quite easy to print a worksheet. First, click on the “File” tab and select the option “Print”. On the right hand side of your window, you will be able to see a preview of how your worksheet is going to look when you print it. You can print more than one copy of the worksheet at a time by increasing the number of copies in the option box. You can also modify the way you want your worksheet to be printed, from the layout to the size of the paper. Finally, click on the Print button to print your worksheet. You can also print a section of your worksheet instead of printing the entire worksheet or workbook. Start by selecting the group of cells that you want to print, and then under “Settings” in the “Print” option, select the option of “Print Selection” and finally click on the Print button to print the group of cells that you want. When printing multiple copies of a worksheet, you have two printing options: Collated and Uncollated. The collated option will print each copy entirely before moving on to the next copy, while uncollated will print all copies of page 1 and then all copies of page 2 and so on. Thus you will have to arrange each copy individually if you use uncollated. The layout of your printout can also be changed. You can print either in the Portrait layout, which has fewer columns and more rows, or in the Landscape layout, which has more columns but fewer rows. This can also be adjusted in the “Print” option in the
- 27. “File” tab. You can also adjust the margins for your printout. Changing the margins can ensure that your worksheet fits on the paper that you want to print it on. To change the page margins, select one of the existing margin formats in the Margin list in the “Print” settings. You can also add your own custom margin formats to your worksheet. You can also downsize your worksheet into a single page using the “Fit Sheet on One Page” option in the “Print” section.
- 28. Share The share option allows you to share Excel data with others or in Word documents. The simplest way to add data to a Word document is by copying it from Excel and pasting it in the Word document. Select the data from your Excel worksheet that you want in the Word document. Right click on the data and select “Copy”. Then open the Word document where you want to insert the data. Go to the particular page, right click and select the option “Paste”. You can also paste a link to your Excel worksheet. The advantage of using a link is that if you make any changes to the worksheet, it will be updated in the Word document. Instead of directly pasting the data in the document, go to the “Paste Special” option in the “Home” tab in Microsoft Word. Click on “Paste link: HTML Format” in this option. Now the data will appear as it does when you paste it directly. The only difference is that if you make a change to the data in the Excel sheet you don’t have to make a change in the Word document; the link function will automatically make the change for you.
- 29. Protection You can protect an Excel file by encrypting it. Encryption basically means that the file can be opened only by someone who knows the password. To protect a file, first save it by going to the “File” tab and selecting the “Save As” option. When the box to save your file opens, select the tools button and choose “General Options”. You will then see a “Password to open” box. In this box enter the password and click “OK”. Reenter the password in the box and click “OK” again. After this, save the file under whatever name you wish. Every time you want to open that particular worksheet you’ll need to enter the password. Be sure not to forget this password, because there is no way to recover it.
- 30. Compatibility mode Compatibility mode comes into effect when you use a new version of Excel to open an Excel file that was created on an earlier version of Microsoft Excel. When you open such workbooks, they will appear in compatibility mode. The difference between compatibility mode and normal mode is that in compatibility mode certain features are not available. For example, if you open an Excel file created with the 2003 software, then only the functions and commands that were available in the 2003 version can be used, no matter which version you open the file on. To ensure that you can use all the features for your workbook, you need to convert it to your newer version of Excel. However, if you’ll need to give the file to people who do not have the latest version, then it is preferable to leave it in the older form. Also, converting a workbook might lead to some changes in layout of the workbook. To convert an Excel file, first click on the “File” tab and select the “Convert” command. When the “Save As” box appears, save the file under the name and in the location that you want. The file will now be saved as the newest format of an Excel file.
- 31. Chapter 3: Essential Formulas The thing people dread the most about Excel are the horrendously tough formulas. But these formulas really make life easier once you understand them – and if you don’t, it could cause a lot of trouble if you try using Excel for a huge amount of data. This chapter will first talk about how to use formulas and then explain all the formulas that Excel offers, from the simple to the complex. First let’s discuss how to use formulas. A formula is basically a function that calculates a specific value of a cell. Most of the commonly needed functions are already available in Excel. For example, let us consider a situation where the cell A1 has the value 8 and A2 has the value 10. Now, the idea is to make A3 the sum of the previous two cells. This can be done by introducing a SUM function in A3. The function is given as “=SUM(A1:A2)”. You can also simply go to A3 and type in “=A1+A2” to execute an addition function. Since these functions are linked to the cells, when you change a value in one of the cells the final answer also changes automatically. When you need to perform various mathematical operations on the same set of cells, Excel follows the same BODMAS rule that is followed in mathematics. It first calculates values that are given in brackets, followed by orders (powers and roots), division, multiplication, addition and finally subtraction. Formulas can be copy pasted just as easily as text or data. Copying is by right clicking and selecting copy or by using Ctrl+C. Similarly, you can paste the formula by going to the cell where you want to paste it and pasting it by either selecting the Paste option or by using Ctrl+V.
- 32. The Insert a Function option helps you to remember exactly what functions to use to achieve which operation. To insert a function, first select a cell and click on the insert Function option. Once the dialog box opens, search for the function you require from the respective category. After this, a Function Arguments box appears, which allows you to select the range of cells in which you want this function to be applied. Now that we have discussed ways to enter, edit and insert a formula, let’s move on to the actual formulas that are available in Microsoft Excel.
- 33. SUM The SUM function allows you to add multiple numbers together. You can obtain the sum of a whole range of numbers while using this formula. This formula can be depicted in various ways. One way is to separate the actual values that need to be added by commas. For example, =SUM(10,13). You can also show it as a representation of the cells separated by a comma: =SUM(C2,D2). It can also be expressed as a range of cells. For example, =SUM(A1:F3), wherein the “:” denotes that all cells from A1 to F3 will be added to obtain a final sum.
- 34. COUNT This function is used to keep a count of the number of cells that contain numbers in a particular range of cells. This formula only counts the numbers and ignores spaces and cells with text. It is denoted as =COUNT(B1:B20), wherein all the numbers found within that specific range of cells are counted and a final number is obtained.
- 35. COUNTA COUNTA is similar to the COUNT function except that it counts all the non-empty cells in a specific range. It counts not just numbers, but also text and other data. It isn’t specific like COUNT and works with all data types. It is a count of the number of used cells in your worksheet. This function is inputted as =COUNTA(Xu:Yw) where X and Y stand for columns and u and w stand for row numbers. For example, if you want a count of used cells in the range of A1 to B13, then the function is given as =COUNTA(A1:B13).
- 36. LEN The LEN function is used to calculate the number of characters in a particular cell, including spaces. Let’s assume that you need the number of characters in B1. To calculate this use the formula =LEN(B1). The cell in which you entered the formula will now show the number of characters that are there in the cell B1.
- 37. TRIM Trim is a function that removes any space in a cell. It allows only data and a single space between words to remain. This function is extremely useful when you are copying data from another Excel sheet or any other file. It automatically eliminates all those unnecessary spaces that also mysteriously get copied. To use this function, just input =TRIM(A4) or =TRIM (B1) depending on the cell that you want to use it in. Now all the extra spaces in those particular cells will be deleted by the program.
- 38. AVERAGE This function gives the arithmetic mean or average of a group of cells. Like most Excel functions, you can input the function either as values or cell references or ranges. This function will acknowledge only those cells that have numerical data and ignore all those that have text or special characters. The function is given by the formula =AVERAGE(A11:A20). When this formula is entered in a particular cell, the cell will display the average or arithmetic mean of all the numbers found in the cells from A11 to A20.
- 39. RIGHT, LEFT, MID These functions give us the specific number of characters from a text string. The RIGHT function gives the number of characters from the right of the string while the LEFT function gives the number from the left of the string. The MID function gives the number of characters from the middle of the word. For the Mid function, you need to specify exactly where it has to start and it then gives the number of characters to the right of the start number. Formulas are given as: RIGHT(text/cell, number of characters); Example: =RIGHT(A2,3) LEFT(text/cell, number of characters); Example: =LEFT(A3,2) MID(text/cell, start number, number of characters); Example: =MID(A5,3,8)
- 40. CONCATENATE Concatenate is a function that is used to merge data from two different cells into a single cell. For example, if you have Basket in A1 and ball in B1 you can easily combine them into a single word in a single cell using the concatenate function. The formula for this function is =CONCATENATE(A1,””,B1). When you input this formula in a cell, it will show you the merged word from A1 and B1.
- 41. IF statements The IF statement is one of the most popular functions in Excel. An IF statement gives the program the power to make decisions on its own based on some basic criteria that is set by the user. In Excel, IF statements are useful in evaluating logical and mathematical expressions and giving evaluation-based output. This statement checks whether specific criteria set by the user are met. If the criteria are met than it returns a predefined value that denotes true; otherwise, it shows a value that denotes false. The basic formula for IF statement is =IF(Logic_Test, Value_if_True, Value_if_False). In this formula, Logic_Test refers to the expression to be evaluated, Value_if_True is the output that should be shown if the expression is TRUE and Value_if_False is the output that is to be displayed if the evaluation leads to a FALSE. This function can give only one output: either true or false. It can never give both at the same time. Let us consider an example of IF statements used in Excel. Consider a list of grades obtained by a set of students. If you want to separate the group into those who passed and those who failed, it is necessary to define the pass mark. Let us assume that those who score above 40 are considered to have passed while those with grades equal to or below 40 are considered failures. So the formula to separate the students who have passed from those who have failed is given by: =IF(C2<=40, “FAIL”, “PASS”). This formula can be interpreted as comparing the value in the cell C2 to the pass or fail criteria set by the user. If the value is above 40, then the verdict is PASS; otherwise, it is FAIL. We can use the same formula for the rest of the grades.
- 42. Other documents randomly have different content
- 43. his books—beautifully bound in morocco, delicately tooled—and also, by a curious inconsistency, with the serenity of a great statesman, of another Richelieu, full of a generous grief that he could no longer play his part in those great affairs which had rendered his life illustrious. He was anxious to assure the prosperity of the kingdom after his death. "Sire," he said to the young Louis XIV, "I owe you everything, but I think I can in a manner discharge my debt by giving you Colbert."[62] At the very point of death he was conferring with the King in secret conversations, which caused Foucquet great anxiety, precisely because they were concealed from him. Then, at length, the light of eyes which had so long sought for gold and sumptuous draperies, and pierced the hearts of men, was finally extinguished. On the 9th March, 1661, as Foucquet, leaving his house of Saint-Mandé, was crossing the Gardens on foot to go to Vincennes, he met young Brienne, who was getting out of his couch, and learned from him the great news. "He is dead, then!" murmured Foucquet. "Henceforth I shall not know in whom to confide. People always do things by halves. Oh, how distressing I The King is waiting for me, and I ought to be there among the first! My God! Monsieur de Brienne, tell me what is happening, so that I may not commit any indiscretion through ignorance."[63] The day after Mazarin's death the King of twenty-three summoned Foucquet, with the Chancellor, Séguier, the Ministers and Secretaries of State, and addressed them in these words: "Hitherto I have been content to leave my affairs in the hands of the late Cardinal. It is time for me to control them myself. You will help me with your counsels when I ask you for them. Gentlemen, I forbid you to sign anything, not even a safe conduct, or a passport, without my command. I request you to give me personally an account of everything every day, to favour no one in your lists of the month. And you, Monsieur le Surintendant, I have explained to you my wishes; I request you to employ M. Colbert, whom the late Cardinal has recommended to me." Foucquet thought that the King was not speaking seriously. That error ruined him. He believed that it would be easy to amuse and deceive the youthful mind of the King, and he set to work to do so with all the ardour, all the grace and all the frivolity of his nature. He determined to govern the kingdom and the King. Foucquet did not know Louis XIV, and Louis XVI did know
- 44. Foucquet. Warned by Mazarin, the King knew that Foucquet was engaged in dubious proceedings, and was ready to resort to any expedient. He knew, also, that he was a man of resource and of talent. He took him apart and told him that he was determined to be King, and to have a precise and complete knowledge of State affairs; that he would begin with finance; it was the most important part of his administration, and that he was determined to restore order and regularity to that department. He asked the Superintendent to instruct him minutely in every detail, and he bade him conceal nothing, declaring that he would always employ him, provided that he found him sincere. As for the past, he was prepared to forget that, but he wished that in future the Superintendent would let him know the true state of the finances.[64] In speaking thus, Louis XIV told the truth. He has explained himself in his Mémoires. "It may be a cause of astonishment," he says, "that I was willing to employ him at a time when his peculations were known to me, but I knew that he was intelligent and thoroughly acquainted with all the most intimate affairs of State, and this made me think that, provided he would confess his past faults and promise to correct them, he might render me good service." No one could speak more wisely, more kindly; but the audacious Foucquet did not realize that there was something menacing in this wisdom and this kindness. He was possessed of a spirit of imprudence and error. He was labouring blindly to bring about his own fall. Day by day, despite the advice of his best friends, he presented the King with false accounts of his expenditure and revenue. For five months he believed that he was deceiving Louis XIV, but every evening the King placed his accounts in the hands of Colbert, whom he had nominated Intendant of Finance, with the special duty of watching Foucquet. Colbert showed the King the falsifications in these accounts. On the following day the King would patiently seek to draw some confession from the guilty Minister, who, with false security, persisted in his lies. Henceforth Foucquet was a ruined man. From the month of April, 1661, Colbert's clerks did not hesitate to announce his fall. He began to be afraid, but it was too late. He went and threw himself at the King's feet—it was at Fontainebleau—he reminded him that Cardinal Mazarin had regulated finance with absolute authority, without observing any formality, and had constrained him, the Superintendent, to do many things which might expose him to prosecution. He did not deny his own personal faults, and
- 45. admitted that his expenditure had been excessive. He entreated the King to pardon him for the past, and promised to serve him faithfully in the future. The King listened to his Minister with apparent goodwill; his lips murmured words of pardon, but in his heart he had already passed sentence on Foucquet. Is it true that some private jealousy inspired the King's vengeance? Foucquet, according to the Abbé de Choisy,[65] had sent Madame de Plessis-Bellière to tell Mademoiselle de Lavallière that the Superintendent had twenty thousand pistoles at her service. The lady had replied that twenty million would not induce her to take a false step. "Which astonished the worthy intermediary, who was little used to such replies," adds the Abbé. However this may be, Foucquet soon perceived that the fortress was taken, and that it was dangerous to tread upon the heels of the royal occupant. But in order to repair his fault he committed a second, worse than the first. Again it is Choisy who tells us. "Wishing to justify himself to her, and to her secret lover, he himself undertook the mission of go- between, and, taking her apart in Madame's antechamber, he sought to tell her that the King was the greatest prince in the world, the best looking, and other little matters. But the lady, proud of her heart's secret, cut him short, and that very evening complained of him to the King."[66] Such a piece of audacity, and one so clumsy, could only irritate the young and royal lover. Nevertheless it was not to a secret jealousy, but to State interest, that Louis XIV sacrificed his prevaricating Minister. His intentions are above suspicion. It was in the interest of the Crown and of the State alone that he acted. Yet we can but feel surprised to find so young a man employing so much strategy and so much dissimulation in order to ruin one whom he had appeared to pardon. In this piece of diplomacy Louis XIV and Colbert both displayed an excess of skill. With perfidious adroitness they manœuvred to deprive Foucquet of his office of Attorney-General, which was an obstacle in their way, for an officer of the Parliament could be tried only by that body, and Foucquet had so many partisans in Parliament that there was no hope that it would ever condemn him. Louis XIV displayed an apparent confidence in Foucquet and redoubled his favours; Colbert, acting with the King, was constantly praising his generosity. He was, at the same time, inducing him to testify his gratitude by filling the treasury without having recourse to bargains with supporters,
- 46. which were so burdensome to the State. Foucquet replied: "I would willingly sell all that I have in the world in order to procure money for the King." Colbert refrained from pressing him further, but he contrived to lead the conversation to the office of Attorney-General. Foucquet told him one day that he had been offered fifteen hundred thousand livres for it. "But, sir," answered Colbert, "do you wish to sell it? It is true that it is of no great use to you. A Minister who is Superintendent has no time to watch lawsuits." The matter did not go any farther at that time; but they returned to it later, and Foucquet, thinking himself established in his sovereign's favour, said one day to Colbert that he was inclined to sell his office in order to give its price to the King. Colbert applauded this resolution, and Foucquet went immediately to tell Louis XIV, who thanked him and accepted the offer immediately. The trick was played.[67] The King had done his part to bring about this excellent result by making Foucquet think that he would create him a chevalier de l'Ordre, and first Minister, as soon as he was no longer Attorney-General. Here is a deal of duplicity to prepare the way for an act of justice! Foucquet sold his office for fourteen hundred thousand livres to Achille de Harlay, who paid for it partly in cash. A million was taken to Vincennes, "where the King wished to keep it for secret expenditure."[68] Loret announced this fact in his letter of the 14th August: Ce politique renommé Qui par ses bontés m'a charmé, Ce judicieux, ce grand homme Que Monseigneur Foucquet on nomme, Si généreux, si libéral, N'est plus procureur général. Une autre prudente cervelle, Que Monsieur Harlay on appelle, En a par sa démission Maintenant la possession. As a further act of prudence, and in order completely to lay Foucquet's suspicions to rest, Louis XIV accepted the entertainment which Foucquet offered him in the Château de Vaux. "For a long time," said Madame de Lafayette, "the King had said that he wanted to go to Vaux, the
- 47. Superintendent's magnificent house, and although Foucquet ought to have been too wary to show the King the very thing that proved so plainly what bad use he had made of the public finances, and though the King's natural kindliness ought to have prevented him from visiting a man whom he was about to ruin, neither of them considered this aspect of the affair."[69] The whole Court went to Vaux on the 17th August, 1661.[70] These festivities exasperated Louis XIV. "Ah, Madame," he said to his mother, "shall we not make all these people disgorge?" Infallible signs announced the approaching catastrophe. In his Council, the King proposed to suppress those very orders to pay cash which served, as we have said, to cover the secret expenditure of the Superintendents. The Chancellor strongly supported the proposal. "Do I count for nothing, then?" cried Foucquet indiscreetly. Then he suddenly corrected himself and said that other ways would be found to provide for the secret expenses of the State. "I myself will provide for them," said Louis XIV. Nevertheless, Foucquet, though deprived of the gown, was still a formidable enemy. Before he could be reduced his Breton strongholds must be captured. The prudent King had thought of this, and presently conceived a clever scheme. As there was need of money, it was resolved to increase the taxation of the State domains. This impost, described euphemistically as a gratuitous gift, was voted by the Provincial Assemblies. The presence of the King seemed necessary in order to determine the Breton Estates to make a great financial sacrifice, and Foucquet himself advised the King to go to Nantes, where the Provincial Assembly was to be held.[71] Foucquet himself helped to bring about his own ruin. At Nantes he had a sorrowful presentiment of this. He was suffering from an intermittent fever, the attacks of which were very weakening. "Why," he said, in a low voice to Brienne, "is the King going to Brittany, and to Nantes in particular? Is it not in order to make sure of Belle-Isle?" And several times in his weakness he murmured: "Nantes, Belle-Isle!" When Brienne went out, he embraced him with tears in his eyes.[72] The King arrived at Nantes on the ist of September, and took up his abode at the Château. Foucquet had his lodging at the other end of the town, in a house which communicated with the Loire by means of a subterranean passage. In that way he could reach the river, where a boat was waiting for him, and escape to Belle-Isle.
- 48. Summoned by the King, on the 5th September, at seven o'clock in the morning, he went to the Council Meeting, which was prolonged until eleven o'clock. During this time meticulous measures were taken for his arrest, and for the seizure of his papers. The Council over, the King detained Foucquet to discuss various matters with him. Finally, he dismissed him, and Foucquet entered his chair. Having passed through the gate of the Château, he had entered a little square near the Cathedral, when D'Artagnan, 2nd Lieutenant of the Company of Musketeers, signed to him to get out. Foucquet obeyed, and D'Artagnan read him the warrant for his arrest. The Superintendent expressed great surprise at this misfortune, and asked the officer to avoid attracting public attention. The latter took him into a house which was near at hand; it was that of the Archdeacon of Nantes, whose niece had been Foucquet's first wife. A cup of broth was given to the prisoner; the papers he had on him were taken and sealed. In one of the King's coaches he was conveyed to the Château d'Angers. There he remained for three months, from the 7th of September to the 1st of December. Meanwhile his prosecution was being prepared. Certain letters from women, found in a casket at Saint-Mandé, were taken to Fontainebleau, and given to the King. They combined a great deal of gallantry with a great deal of politics. Many women's names were to be read in them, or guessed at. Madame Scarron's was mentioned and even Madame de Sévigné's, but in an innocent connection. On the whole, only one woman, Menneville, was shown to be guilty. Foucquet was removed from Angers to Saumur. Taken on the 2nd of December to La Chapelle-Blanche, he lodged on the 3rd in a suburb of Tours, and from the 4th to the 25th of December remained in the Château d'Amboise. Shortly after Foucquet's departure, La Fontaine, in company with his uncle, Jannart, who had been exiled to Limousin, halted below the Château and swept his eyes over the fair and smiling valley. "All this," he said, "poor Monsieur Foucquet could never, during his imprisonment here, enjoy for a single moment. All the windows of his room had been blocked up, leaving only a little gap at the top. I asked to see him; a melancholy pleasure, I admit, but I did ask. The soldier who escorted us had no key, so that I was left for a long time gazing at the door, and I got them to tell me how the prisoner was guarded. I should like to describe it to you, but the recollection is too painful.
- 49. Qu'est-il besoin que je retrace Une garde au soin non pareil, Chambre murée, étroite place, Quelque peu d'air pour toute grâce; Jours sans soleil, Nuits sans sommeil; Trois portes en six pieds d'espace! Vous peindre un tel appartement, Ce serait attirer vos larmes; Je l'ai fait insensiblement, Cette plainte a pour moi des charmes. Nothing but the approach of night could have dragged me from the spot." [73] On the 31st December, Foucquet reached Vincennes. As he passed he caught sight of his house at Saint-Mandé, in which he had collected all that can flatter and adorn life, and which he was never again to inhabit. He was, indeed, to remain in the Bastille until after his condemnation; that is to say, for more than three years; and he left that fortress only to suffer an imprisonment of which the protracted severity has become a legend. The public anger was now loosed upon the stricken financier. The people whose poverty had been insulted by his ostentatious display wished to snatch him from his guards and tear him to pieces in the streets. Several times during the journey from Nantes, D'Artagnan had been obliged to protect his prisoner from riotous mobs of peasants. In the higher classes of society the indignation was fully as bitter, although it was only expressed in words. Society never forgave Foucquet for having allowed his love-letters to be seized. It was considered that to keep and classify women's letters in this manner was not the act of a gallant gentleman. Such was the opinion of Chapelain, who wrote to Madame de Sévigné: "Was it not enough to ruin the State, and to render the King odious to his people by the enormous burdens which he imposed upon them, and to employ the public finances in impudent expenditure and insolent acquisitions, which were compatible neither with his honour nor with his office, and which, on the other hand, rather tended to turn his subjects and his servants against him, and to corrupt them? Was it necessary to crown his irregularities and his crimes, by erecting in his own honour a trophy of
- 50. favours, either real or apparent, of the modesty of so many ladies of rank, and by keeping a shameful record of his commerce with them in order that the shipwreck of his fortunes should also be that of their reputations? "Is this consistent with being, I do not say an upright man, in which capacity, his flatterers, the Scarrons, Pellissons and Sapphos, and the whole of that self-interested scum have so greatly extolled him, but a man merely, a man with a spark of enlightenment, who professes to be something better than a brute? I cannot excuse such scandalous, dastardly behaviour, and I should be hardly less enraged with this wretch if your name had not been found among his papers."[74] We can admire such generous indignation, but it is hard to be called "self- interested scum" when one is merely faithful in misfortune. The truth is that Foucquet still had friends; the women and the poets did not abandon him. Hesnault, to whom he had given a pension, was not a favourite of the Muses, but he showed himself a man of feeling, and his courageous fidelity did him credit. He attacked Colbert in an eloquent sonnet, which was circulated everywhere by the prisoner's friends: Ministre avare et lâche, esclave malheureux, Qui gémis sous le poids des affaires publiques, Victime dévouée aux chagrins politiques, Fantôme révéré sous un titre onéreux: Vois combien des grandeurs le comble est dangereux; Contemple de Foucquet les funestes reliques, Et tandis qu'à sa perte en secret tu t'appliques, Crains qu'on ne te prépare un destin plus affreux! Sa chute, quelque jour, te peut être commune; Crains ton poste, ton rang, la cour et la fortune; Nul ne tombe innocent d'où l'on te voit monté. Cesse donc d'animer ton prince à son supplice, Et près d'avoir besoin de toute sa bonté, Ne le fais pas user de toute sa justice.
- 51. This sonnet was circulated privately. It was generally read with pleasure, for Colbert was not liked, and it will not be inappropriate to cite here an anecdote for which Bayle is responsible.[75] When the sonnet was mentioned to the Minister, he asked: "Is the King offended by it?" And when he was told that he was not, "Then neither am I," he said, "nor do I bear the author any ill will." If Molière kept silence, Corneille, on the contrary, now gave proof of his greatness of soul; by praising Pellisson's fidelity, he showed that he shared it: En vain pour ébranler ta fidèle constance, On vit fondre sur toi la force et lat puissance; En vain dans la Bastille, on t'accabla de fers, En vain on te flatta sur mille appas divers; Ton grand cœur, inflexible aux rigueurs, aux caresses, Triompha de la force et se rit des promesses; Et comme un grand rocher par l'orage insulté Des flots audacieux méprise la fierté, Et, sans craindre le bruit qui gronde sur sa tête, Voit briser à ses pieds l'effort de la tempête, C'est ainsi, Pellisson, que dans l'adversité, Ton intrépide cœur garde sa fermeté, Et que ton amitié, constante et généreuse, Du milieu des dangers sortit victorieuse. Poor Loret found it difficult at first to collect his bewildered wits and relate the catastrophe. It was a terrible affair; he didn't know much about it, and he says still less. But, far from accusing the fallen Minister, he was inclined to pity and esteem him. This was courageous; and his bad verses were a kind action: Notre Roi, qui par politique Se transportait vers l'Amorique, Pour raisons qu'on ne savait pas, S'en revient, dit-on, à grands pas. Je n'ai su par aucun message Les circonstances du voyage: Mais j'ai du bruit commun appris, C'est-à-dire de tout Paris,
- 52. Que par une expresse ordonnance, Le sieur surintendant de France Je ne sais pourquoi ni comment, Est arrêté présentement (Nouvelles des plus surprenantes) Dans la ville et château de Nantes, Certes, j'ai toujours respecté Les ordres de Sa Majesté Et crû que ce monarque auguste Ne commandait rien que de juste; Mais étant rémemoratif Que cet infortuné captif M'a toujours semblé bon et sage Et que d'un obligeant langage Il m'a quelquefois honoré, J'avoue en avoir soupiré, Ne pouvant, sans trop me contraindre, Empêcher mon cœur de le plaindre. Si, sans préjudice du Roi (Et je le dis de bonne foi) Je pouvais lui rendre service Et rendre son sort plus propice En adoucissant sa rigueur, Je le ferais de tout mon cœur; Mais ce seul désir est frivole, Et prions Dieu qu'il le console. En l'état qu'il est aujourd'hui, C'est tout ce que je puis pour lui.[76] In time poor Loret did more; he tried to deny his benefactor's crimes. "I doubt half of them," he said in the execrable style of the rhyming Gazetteer:[77] Et par raison et par pitié, Et même pour la conséquence Je passe le tout sous silence. Pellisson was admirable. He wrote from the Bastille, where he was imprisoned, eloquent defences in which, neglecting his own cause, he
- 53. sought only to justify Foucquet. His defence followed the same lines as that of Foucquet himself. He pleaded the necessities of France, the need of provisioning and equipping her armies and of fortifying her strongholds. He imagined a case in which Mazarin himself might have been criticized for the means by which he had procured money for the war and ensured victory. "In all conscience," he said, "what man of good sense could have advised him to reply in other than Scipio's words: 'Here are my accounts: I present them but only to tear them up. On this day a year ago I signed a general peace, and the contract of the King's marriage, which gave peace to Europe. Let us go and celebrate this anniversary at the foot of the altar.'" [78] Mademoiselle de Scudéry distinguished herself by her zeal on behalf of her friend, formerly so powerful, and now so unfortunate. Pecquet, whom the Superintendent had chosen as his doctor, in order that he might discourse with him on physics and philosophy, the learned Jean Pecquet, was inconsolable at having lost so good a master. He used to say that Pecquet had always rhymed, and always would rhyme with Foucquet.[79] As for La Fontaine, all know how his fidelity, rendered still more touching by his ingenuous emotions and the spell of his poetry, adorns and defends the memory of Nicolas Foucquet to this very day. Nothing can equal the divine complaint in which the truest of poets grieved over the disgrace of his magnificent patron. ÉLÉGIE[80] Remplissez l'air de cris en vos grottes profondes, Pleurez, nymphes de Vaux, faites croître vos ondes; Et que l'Anqueil[81] enflé ravage les trésors Dont les regards de Flore ont embelli vos bords. On ne blâmera point vos larmes innocentes, Vous pourrez donner cours à vos douleurs pressantes; Chacun attend de vous ce devoir généreux: Les destins sont contents, Oronte est malheureux[82]
- 54. "In a letter written under the name of M. de la Visclède, to the permanent secretary of the Academy of Pau, in 1776, Voltaire," says M. Marty-Laveaux, "quotes these verses, and adds: 'He (La Fontaine) altered the word Cabale when he had been made to realize that the great Colbert was serving the King with great equity, and was not addicted to cabals. But La Fontaine had heard some one make use of the term, and had fully believed that it was the proper word to use.'" Vous l'avez vu naguère au bord de vos fontaines, Qui sans craindre du sort les faveurs incertaines, Plein d'éclat, plein de gloire, adoré des mortels, Recevait des honneurs qu'on ne doit qu'aux autels. Hélas! qu'il est déchu de ce bonheur suprême! Que vous le trouverez différent de lui-même! Pour lui les plus beaux jours sont de secondes nuits, Les soucis dévorans, les regrets, les ennuis, Hôtes infortunés de sa triste demeure, En des gouffres de maux le plongent à toute heure Voilà le précipice où l'ont enfin jeté Les attraits enchanteurs de la prospérité! Dans les palais des Rois cette plainte est commune; On n'y connaît que trop les jeux de la fortune, Ses trompeuses faveurs, ses appas inconstants: Mais on ne les connaît que quand il n'est plus temps, Lorsque sur cette mer on vogue à pleines voiles, Qu'on croit avoir pour soi les vents et les étoiles. Il est bien malaisé de régler ses désirs; Le plus sage s'endort sur la foi des zéphirs. Jamais un favori ne borne sa carrière, Il ne regarde point ce qu'il laisse en arrière; Et tout ce vain amour des grandeurs et du bruit Ne le saurait quitter qu'après l'avoir détruit. Tant d'exemples fameux que l'histoire en raconte Ne suffisaient-ils pas sans la perte d'Oronte? Ah! si ce faux éclat n'eût point fait ses plaisirs, Si le séjour de Vaux eût borné ses désirs Qu'il pouvait doucement laisser couler son âge!
- 55. Vous n'avez pas chez vous ce brillant équipage, Cette foule de gens qui s'en vont chaque jour Saluer à longs flots le soleil de la cour: Mais la faveur du ciel vous donne en récompense Du repos, du loisir, de l'ombre et du silence, Un tranquille sommeil, d'innocents entretiens, Et jamais à la cour on ne trouve ces biens. Mais quittons ces pensers, Oronte nous appelle. Vous, dont il a rendu la demeure si belle, Nymphes, qui lui devez vos plus charmants appas, Si le long de vos bords Louis porte ses pas, Tâchez de l'adoucir, fléchissez son courage; Il aime ses sujets, il est juste, il est sage; Du titre de clément, rendez-le ambitieux; C'est par là que les Rois sont semblables aux dieux. Du magnanisme Henri[83] qu'il contemple la vie; Dès qu'il put se venger, il en perdit l'envie. Inspirez à Louis cette même douceur: La plus belle victoire est de vaincre son cœur. Oronte est à présent un objet de clémence; S'il a cru les conseils d'une aveugle puissance, Il est assez puni par son sort rigoureux, Et c'est être innocent que d'être malheureux.[84] La Fontaine, not satisfied with this poem, addressed an ode to the King on Foucquet's behalf. But the ode is far from equalling the elegy. ... Oronte seul, ta creature, Languit dans un profond ennui, Et les bienfaits de la nature Ne se répandent plus sur lui. Tu peux d'un éclat de ta foudre Achever de le mettre en poudre; Mais si les dieux à ton pouvoir Aucunes bornes n'ont prescrites, Moins ta grandeur a de limites, Plus ton courroux en doit avoir.
- 56. . . . . . . . Va-t-en punir l'orgueil du Tibre; Qu'il se souvienne que ses lois N'ont jadis rien laissé de libre Que le courage des Gaulois. Mais parmi nous sois débonnaire: A cet empire si sévère Tu ne te peux accoutumer; Et ce serait trop te contraindre: Les étrangers te doivent craindre, Tes sujets te veulent aimer. These verses refer to the attack made by the Corsicans on the Guard of Alexander VII, who, on the 20th August, 1667, fired on the coach of the Due de Créqui, the French Ambassador. L'amour est fils de la clémence, La clémence est fille des dieux; Sans elle toute leur puissance Ne serait qu'un titre odieux. Parmi les fruits de la victoire, César environné de gloire N'en trouva point dont la douceur A celui-ci pût être égale, Non pas même aux champs où Pharsale L'honora du nom de vainqueur. . . . . . . . Laisse-lui donc pour toute grâce Un bien qui ne lui peut durer, Après avoir perdu la place Que ton cœur lui fit espérer. Accorde-nous les faibles restes De ses jours tristes et funestes, Jours qui se passent en soupirs: Ainsi les tiens filés de soie Puissent se voir comblés de joie, Même au delà de tes désirs.[85]
- 57. La Fontaine submitted this ode to Foucquet, who sent it back to him with various suggestions. The prisoner requested that the reference to Rome should be suppressed. Doubtless he did not understand it, not having heard in prison of the attack upon the French Ambassador at the Papal Court.[86] He also disapproved of the allusion to the clemency of the victor of Pharsalia. "Cæsar's example," he said, "being derived from antiquity would not, I think, be well enough known." He also noted a passage—which I do not know—"as being too poetical to please the King." The last suggestion speaks of a true nobility of mind. It refers to the last passage, in which the poet implores the King to grant the life of "Oronte." Foucquet wrote in the margin: "You sue too humbly for a thing that one ought to despise." La Fontaine did not willingly give in on any of these points; to the last suggestion he replied as follows: "The sentiment is worthy of you, Monsignor, and, in truth, he who regards life with such indifference does not deserve to die. Perhaps you have not considered that it is I who am speaking, I who ask for a favour which is dearer to us than to you. There are no terms too humble, too pathetic and too urgent to be employed in such circumstances. When I bring you on to the stage, I shall give you words which are suitable to the greatness of your soul. Meanwhile permit me to tell you that you have too little affection for a life such as yours is." It was in the month of November only that a Chamber was instituted by Royal Edict with the object of instituting financial reforms, and of punishing those who had been guilty of maladministration. Foucquet was to appear before this Chamber. It met solemnly in the month of December. The greater part of it was composed of Members of the Parliament, but it also included Members of the Chambre des Comptes, the Cour des Aides, the Grand Council and the Masters of Requests. The magistrates who composed it were, to mention those only who sat in it as finally constituted: The Chancellor Pierre Séguier, first President of the Parliament of Paris, who presided; Guillaume de Lamoignon, deputy president; the President de Nesmond; the President de Pontchartrain; Poncet, Master of Requests; Olivier d'Ormesson, Master of Requests; Voysin, Master of Requests; Besnard de Réze, Master of Requests; Regnard, Catinat, De Brillac, Fayet, Councillors in the Grand Chamber of the Paris Parliament; Massenau, Councillor in the Toulouse Parliament; De la Baulme, of the Grenoble Parliament; Du Verdier, of the Bordeaux Parliament; De la Toison, of the Dijon Parliament; Lecormier de Sainte-Hélène, of the Rouen Parliament; Raphélis de Roquesante, of the Aix Parliament; Hérault, of the Rennes
- 58. Parliament; Noguès, of the Pau Parliament; Ferriol, of the Metz Parliament; De Moussy, of the Paris Chambre des Comptes; Le-Bossu-le-Jau, of the Paris Chambre des Comptes; Le Féron, of the Cour des Aides; De Baussan, of the Cour des Aides; Cuissotte de Gisaucourt, of the Grand Council; Pussort, of the Grand Council. It must be recognized that the creation of such a Chamber of Justice was in conformity with the rules of the public law as it then existed. Had not Chalais and Marillac, Cinq-Mars and Thou, been judged by commissions of Masters of Requests and Councillors of the Parliament? And, if our sense of legality is wounded when we behold the accusing Monarch himself choosing the judges of the accused man, we must remember this maxim was then firmly established: "All justice emanates from the King." By this very circumstance the Chamber of Justice of 1661 was invested with very extensive powers; it became the object of public respect, and of the public hopes, for the poor, deeming it powerful, attributed to it the power of helping the wretched populace, after it had punished those who robbed them. Such illusions are very natural, and one may wonder whether any government would be possible if unhappy persons did not, from day to day, expect something better on the morrow. Thus the tribunal constituted by the King was no unrighteous tribunal; yet there was no security in it for the accused. He was apparently ruined. Condemned beforehand by the King and by the people, everything seemed to fail him, but he did not fail himself. After having wrought his own ruin, Foucquet worked out his own salvation, if he may be said to have saved himself when all he saved was his life. His first act was to protest energetically against the competence of the Chamber; he alleged that, having held office in the Parliament for twenty- five years, he was still entitled to the privileges of its officers, and he recognized no judges except those of that body, of both Chambers united. Having made this reservation, he consented to reply to the questions of the examining magistrates, and his replies bore witness to the scope and vigour of a mind which was always collected. The Chamber, on its side, declared itself competent, and decided that the trial should be conducted as though Foucquet were dumb: that is, that there would be no cross-examination, and no pleading. By this method of procedure the Attorney-General put his questions in writing, and the accused replied in writing. As the documents
- 59. of the prosecution and of the defence were produced, the recorders prepared summaries for the judges.[87] It is obvious that in such a case the reporters, who are the necessary intermediaries between the magistrates and the parties to the case, possess considerable influence, and that the issue of the lawsuit depends largely on their intelligence and their morality. Consequently, the King wished to reserve to himself the right of appointing them, although according to tradition, this belonged to the President of the Chamber. Messieurs Olivier d'Ormesson and Le Cormier de Sainte-Hélène were chosen by the Royal Council, and their names were put before the First President, Guillaume de Lamoignon. This magistrate apologized for being unable to accede to the King's wish, alleging that M. Olivier d'Ormesson and M. de Sainte-Hélène would be suspected by the accused; at least, he feared so. "This fear," replied the King, "is only another reason for appointing them." Lamoignon—and it did him honour—gave way only upon the King's formal command. That was quite enough to make Lamoignon suspected by Foucquet's enemies. Powerful as they were, he did nothing to reassure them; on the contrary, he saw that the accused was granted the assistance of counsel, and that the forms of procedure were scrupulously observed. When one day Colbert was trying to discover his opinions, Lamoignon made this fine reply: "A judge ought never to declare his opinion save once, and that above the fleurs-de-lys."[88] The King, growing more and more suspicious, nominated Chancellor Séguier to preside over the Chamber. Lamoignon, thus driven from his seat, withdrew, but unostentatiously, alleging as his reason that Parliamentary affairs occupied the whole of his time.[89] In vain the King and Colbert, alarmed at having themselves dismissed so upright a magistrate, endeavoured to restore him to a position of diminished authority; he was deaf to entreaties, and was content to say to his friends: "Lavavi manus meas; quomodo inquinabo eas?"[90] Old Séguier, who though lacking in nobility of soul possessed brilliant intellectual powers, grew more servile than ever. Feeling that he had not long to live, he prompdy accepted dishonour. In this trial his conduct was execrable and his talents did not, on this occasion, succeed in masking his partiality. Great jurisconsult though he was, he did not understand finance, and this
- 60. stupendous trial was altogether too much for an old man of seventy-four. He was always impatiently complaining of the length of the trial, which, he declared, would outlast him. With audacity and skill Foucquet held his own against this violent judge. Brought up in chicanery, the accused was acquainted with all the mysteries of procedure. He made innumerable difficulties; sometimes he accused a judge, sometimes he challenged the accuracy of an inventory, sometimes he demanded documents necessary for the defence. In short, he gained time, and this was to gain much. The more protracted the trial, the less he had to fear that its termination would be a capital sentence. The King was not at all comfortable as to its issue; his activity was unwearying, and he never hesitated to throw his whole weight into the balance. The public prosecutor, Talon, was not an able person; he allowed himself to be defeated by the accused, and was immediately sacrificed. He was replaced by two Masters of Requests, Hotmann and Chamillart. One of the recorders caused the Court a great deal of anxiety; this was the worthy Olivier d'Ormesson. Efforts were made to intimidate him, but in vain; to win him over, but equally in vain. He was punished. His offices of Intendant of Picardy and Soissonnais were taken away from him. Finally, the idea was conceived of enlisting his father, and of trying to induce the old man to corrupt the honesty of his son. Old André would not lend himself to these attempts at corruption; he replied that he was sorry that the King was not satisfied with his son's behaviour. "My son," he added, "does what I have always recommended him to do: he fears God, serves the King, and he renders justice without distinction of person." The Court and the Minister were, indeed, exceeding all bounds; Séguier, Pussort, Sainte-Hélène and others displayed the most odious partiality. False inventories were drawn up; the official reports of the proceedings were falsified. The King carried off the Court of Justice with him to Fontainebleau, fearing lest it should become independent in his absence. This was going too far; Foucquet grew interesting. Public opinion, at first hostile to the accused, had almost completely turned in his favour, when, more than three years after his arrest, on the 14th October, 1664, the Attorney-General, Chamillart, pronounced his conclusions, which were to the effect that Foucquet, "attainted and convicted of the crime of high treason, and other charges mentioned during
- 61. the trial," should be "hanged and strangled until death should follow, on a gallows erected on the Place de la Rue Sainte-Antoine, near the Bastille." The trial was generally regarded as being overweighted. Turenne said, in his picturesque manner, that the cord had been made too thick to strangle M. Foucquet. The financiers, always influential, having recovered from their first alarm, tried to save a man who, in his fall, might drag them down with him. For, in so comprehensive an accusation, who was there that was not compromised? Colbert was now detested; as a result his enemy appeared less black. As for the Chamber itself, it was divided into two parts, almost of equal strength. On the one hand there were those who, like Séguier and Pussort, wished to please the Court by ruining Foucquet, and on the other those who, like Olivier d'Ormesson, favoured the strict administration of justice, exempt from anger and hatred. It was on the 14th November, 1664, that Nicolas Foucquet appeared for the first time before the Chamber, which sat in the Arsenal. He wore a citizen's costume, a suit of black cloth, with a mantle. He excused himself for appearing before the Court without his magistrate's robe, declaring that he had asked for one in vain. He renewed the protest which he had made previously against the competency of the Chamber, and refused to take the oath. He then took his place on the prisoners' bench and declared himself ready to reply to the questions which might be put to him. The accusations made against him may be classified under four heads: payment collected from the tax-farmers; farmerships which he had granted under fictitious names; advances made to the Treasury; and the crime of high treason, projected but not executed, proved by the papers discovered at Saint-Mandé. Foucquet's defenie, which disdained petty expedients, was powerful and adroit. He confessed irregularities, but he held that the disorders of the administration in a time of public disturbance were responsible for them. According to him, the payments levied on the tax-farmers were merely the repayment of his advances, and that the imposts which he had appropriated were the same. As for the loans which he had made to the State, they were an absolute necessity. To the insidious and insulting questions of the Chancellor he replied with the greatest adroitness. He was as bold as he was prudent. Only once he lost patience, and replied with an arrogance likely to do him harm. He certainly interested society. Ladies, in
- 62. order to watch him as he was being reconducted to the Bastille, used to repair, masked, to a house which looked on to the Arsenal. Madame de Sévigné was there. "When I saw him," she said, "my legs trembled, and my heart beat so loud that I thought I should faint. As he approached us to return to his gaol, M. d'Artagnan nudged him, and called his attention to the fact that we were there. He thereupon saluted us, and assumed that laughing expression which you know so well. I do not think he recognized me, but I confess to you that I felt strangely moved when I saw him enter that little door. If you knew how unhappy one is when one has a heart fashioned as mine is fashioned, I am sure you would take pity on me."[91] All that was known about his attitude intensified public sympathy. The judges themselves recognized that he was incomparable; that he had never spoken so well in Parliament, and that he had never shown so much self- possession.[92] The last Interrogatory, that of the 4th December, turned on the scheme found at Saint-Mandé, and was particularly favourable to the accused. Foucquet replied that it was nothing but an extravagant idea which had remained unfinished, and was repudiated as soon as conceived. It was an absurd document, which could only serve to make him ashamed and confused, but it could not be made the ground of an accusation against him. As the Chancellor pressed him and said, "You cannot deny that it is a crime against the State," he replied, "I confess, sir, that it is an extravagance, but it is not a crime against the State. I entreat these gentlemen," he added, turning towards the judges, "to permit me to explain what is a crime against the State. It is when a man holds a great office; when he is in the secret confidence of his Sovereign, and suddenly takes his place among that Sovereign's enemies; when he engages his whole family in the cause; when he induces his son-in-law[93] to surrender the passes and to open the gates to a foreign army of intruders in order to admit it to the interior of the kingdom. Gentlemen, that is what is called a crime against the State." The Chancellor, whose conduct during the Fronde every one remembered, did not know where to look, and it was all the judges could do not to laugh. [94] The cross-examination over, the Chamber listened to the opinion of the reporters and pronounced sentence. On the 9th of December, Olivier d'Ormesson began his report. He spoke for five successive days, and his conclusion was perpetual exile, confiscation of goods and a fine of one
- 63. hundred thousand livres, of which half should be given to the Public Treasury, and the other half employed in works of piety. Le Cormier de Sainte-Hélène spoke after Olivier d'Ormesson. He continued for two days, and concluded with sentence of death. Pussort, whose vehement speech lasted for five hours, came to the same conclusion. On the 18th December, Hérault, Gisaucourt, Noguès and Ferriol concurred, as did Le Cormier de Sainte-Hélène, and Roquesante after them, in the opinion of Olivier d'Ormesson. On the following day, the 19th, MM. de La Toison, Du Verdier, de La Baume and de Massenau also expressed the same opinion; but the Master of Requests, Poncet, came to the opposite conclusion. Messieurs Le Féron, de Moussy, Brillac, Regnard and Besnard agreed with the first recorder. Voysin was of the opposite opinion. President de Pontchartrain voted for banishment, and the Chancellor, pronouncing last, voted for death. Thirteen judges had pronounced for banishment, and nine for death. Foucquet's life was saved. "All Paris," said Olivier d'Ormesson, "awaited the news with impatience. It was spread abroad everywhere, and received with the greatest rejoicing, even by the shopkeepers. Every one blessed my name, even without knowing me. Thus M. Foucquet, who had been regarded with horror at the time of his imprisonment, and whom all Paris would have been immeasurably delighted to see executed directly after the beginning of his trial, had become the subject of public grief and commiseration, owing to the hatred which every one felt for the present Government, and that, I think, was the true cause of the general acclamation."[95] On the 22d of December, this same Olivier d'Ormesson having gone to the Bastille to give D'Artagnan his discharge for the Treasury registers, the gallant Musketeer embraced him and said: "You are a noble man!"[96] Foucquet, as a matter of form, protested against the sentence of a tribunal whose competence he did not recognize. And the sentence did not please the King, who commuted banishment into imprisonment for life in the fortress of Pignerol. Such a commutation, which was really an aggravation of the sentence, is cruel and offends our sense of justice. Nevertheless, one must recognize that such a measure was dictated by reasons of State. Foucquet, had he been free, would have been dangerous. He would certainly have intrigued; his plots and strategies would have caused the King much anxiety. The religion of patriotism had not yet taken root in the
- 64. heart of the great Condé's contemporaries. The strongest bond then uniting citizens was loyalty to the King. Foucquet was liberated from that bond by his master's hatred and anger. It was to be expected that the fallen Minister would probably have conspired against France with foreign aid. These previsions justified the severity of the King, who throughout the whole business appeared hypocritical, violent, pitiless and patriotic.[97] The wisdom of the King's action is proved by Foucquet's conduct at Pignerol, where he arrived in January, 1665. There, in spite of the most vigilant supervision, he succeeded in carrying on intrigues. He could not communicate with any living soul. He had neither ink nor pens, nor paper at his disposal. This able man, whose genius was quickened by solitude, attempted the impossible in order to enter into communication with his friends. He manufactured ink out of soot, moistened with wine. He made pens out of chicken bones, and wrote on the margin of books which were lent to him, or on handkerchiefs. But his warder, Saint-Mars, detected all these contrivances. The servants whom the prisoner had won over were arrested, and one of them was hanged. In the end, these futile energies were defeated by captivity and disease. Foucquet became addicted to devotional exercises. Like Mademoiselle de la Vallière, he wrote pious reflections.[98] It is even thought that he composed religious verses, for it is known that he asked for a dictionary of rhymes, which was given to him. For seven years he had been cut off from living men. Then a voice called him. It was Lauzun,[99] who was imprisoned at Pignerol, and who had made a hole in the wall. Lauzun told his companion news of the outer world. Foucquet listened eagerly, but when the Cadet de Gascogne told him that he held a general's commission, and that he had married La Grande Mademoiselle, at first with the approval of the King, and then against it, Foucquet considered him mad and ceased to believe anything that he said. About 1679, Foucquet's captivity at length became less severe; he was permitted to receive his family. But it was too late; those fourteen cruel years had irreparably undermined his strong constitution; his sight had grown weak; he was losing his teeth; he was suffering pain in his whole body, and his piety was increasing with his weakness. He died in March, 1680, just as he had received permission to go and drink the waters of Bourbon. His body, which had been laid in the crypt of Sainte-Claire de
- 65. Pignerol, Madame Foucquet had transferred the following year to the church of the Convent of the Visitation in the Rue du Faubourg-Saint- Antoine. The register of this church contains the following entry: "On the 28th March, 1681, Messire Nicolas Foucquet was buried in our church, in the Chapel of Saint-François de Sales. He had risen to the highest honours in the magistracy; had been Councillor in Parliament, Master of Requests, Attorney-General, Superintendent of Finance, and Minister of State."[100] Whatever may be said to the contrary, posterity does not judge with equity, for it is partial; it is indifferent, and makes but hasty work of the trial of the dead who appear before it. And posterity is not a Court of Justice; it is a noisy mob, in which it is impossible to make oneself heard, but which, at rare intervals, is dominated by some great voice. Finally, its judgments are not definitive, since another posterity follows which may cancel the sentence of the first, and pronounce new ones, which again may be revoked by a new posterity. Nevertheless, certain cases seem to have been definitely lost in the court of mankind, and I find myself constrained to rank with these the case of Foucquet. He was an embezzler, and was definitely condemned on this point—condemned without appeal. As for extenuating circumstances, it is not difficult to find them. Illustrious examples, even more, perpetual solicitings and the impossibility of observing any regularity in troubled times, impelled him to steal, both for the State and for certain great men. Of his thefts he kept something; he kept too much. He was guilty, doubtless, but his fault seems greatly mitigated when one remembers the circumstances and the spirit of the time. I am going to say something which is a kind of redemption of Nicolas Foucquet's memory; I will say it in two charming lines which are attributed to Pellisson, and which appear to have been written by Foucquet's friend, the fabulist. Pellisson, in an epistle to the King, said of Foucquet: D'un esprit élevé, négligeant l'avenir, Il toucha les trésors, mais sans les retenir. This it is which redeems and exalts this man. He was liberal, he loved to give, and he knew how to give, and let it not be said in the name of any morbid and morose morality that, even if he had taken the State's money without retaining it, he was only the more guilty, uniting prodigality to unscrupulousness. No, his liberality remains honourable; it showed that the principle which prompted his embezzlements was not a vile one, that, if this man was ruined, the cause of his ruin was not natural baseness, but the
- 66. blind impulse of a naturally magnificent temperament. Thus Foucquet will live in history as the consoler of the aged Corneille, and the tactful patron of La Fontaine. No one will deny his faults, the crimes he committed against the State, but for a moment one may forget them, and say that what was truly noble, and even nobly foolish in his temperament, half atones for the evil which has been only too thoroughly proved.
- 67. [1] Cf. Les amateurs de l'ancienne France: Le surintendant Foucquet, by Edmond Bonnaffé. Librairie de l'Art, 1882. The book contains particulars drawn from Peiresc's unpublished manuscript. During the course of this work we shall have frequent occasion to quote from this excellent study of an accomplished connoisseur. [2] Mémoires de Choisy, Ed. Petitot et Monmerqué, p. 262. [3] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, Vol. II, p. 60. The unknown author of the dialogues attributed to Molière by M. Louis Auguste Ménard brings Mme. Foucquet on to the stage and makes her utter words in keeping with those pious sentiments which were well known to her contemporaries. The fictitious scene which confronts her with Anne of Austria is a paraphrase of the words I have quoted in my text from the Mémoires de Choisy. [4] Histoire du Dauphiné, by M. le baron de Chapuys-Montlaville. Paris, Dupont, 1828, 2 vols. Vol. II, pp. 460 et seq. [5] Cf. Les premiers intendants de justice, by S. Hanotaux, in La Revue Historique, 1882 and 1883. [6] Of Fronde.—Trans. [7] Mazarin's note-book, XI, fol. 85, Biblioth. Nat. [8] Unpublished Diary of Dubuisson-Aubenay, cited by M. Chéruel in the Mémoires sur N. Foucquet, Vol. I, p. 7. [9] Histoire de Colbert et de son administration, by Pierre Clement. Paris, Didier, 1874, Vol. I, p. 15. [10] Mémoires sur la vie publique et privée de Foucquet, by A. Chéruel, Inspector- General of Education. Paris, Charpentier, 1862, Vol. I, pp. 86-88. [11] Bibliothèque Nationale, MSS. collection Gaignieres. This letter is quoted by Chéruel, I, p. 183. [12] Histoire financière de la France, by A. Bailly. Paris, 1830, Vol. I, p. 357. [13] In 1651, Foucquet received from Marie-Madeleine de Castille, the daughter of François de Castille, his wife, one hundred thousand livres, the house in the Rue du Temple, the abode of the Castille family, as well as the buildings adjoining, which were let at 2200 livres. (Cf. Jal, Dictionnaire, article on Foucquet) [14] Cf. Eug. Grésy, Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Melun, 1861. [15] Archives de la Bastille, Vol. II, p, 171 et seq. [16] Anne of Austria (trans.) [17] Her son, Louis XIV (trans.)
- 68. [18] And are now in Austria, Germany and elsewhere.—Editor. [19] Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art français, note by M. Guiffrey, July, 1876, p. 38. [20] Saint-Simon adds: "She was the widow of Nicolas Foucquet, famous for his misfortunes, who, after being Superintendent of Finance for eight years, paid for the millions which Cardinal Mazarin had taken, for the jealousy of MM. Le Tellier and Colbert, and for a slightly excessive gallantry and love of splendour, with thirty-four years of imprisonment at Pignerol, because that was the utmost that could be inflicted on him, despite all the influence of Ministers and the authority of the King."—Mémoires du duc de Saint-Simon, éd. Chéruel, Vol. XIV, p. 112. [21] Mémoires. Collection Petitot, Vol. LX, p. 142. [22] It is the portrait which is reproduced at the beginning of the French edition, because it seems to us at once both the truest and the happiest picture of the extraordinary man who, both in letters and in art, inaugurated the century of Louis XIV. The head, three-quarter profile, is turned to the left. It is a medallion inscribed with the words: "Messire Nicolas Foucquet, chevalier, vicomte de Melun et de Vaux, Conseiller du Roy, Ministre d'État, Surintendant des Finances et Procureur général de Sa Majesté." Signed "R. Nanteuil ad vivum ping. et sculpebat, 1661." The style is at once soft and firm, the workmanship pure and finished, the rendering of the colours excellent. This engraving was executed after a drawing or a pastel which Nanteuil had done from life, and which is lost. This work, and the engraving which perpetuates it, seem to me to form the origin of a whole family of portraits, of which we will mention several. (1) A shaded bust, on a piedouche, bearing Foucquet's arms. The arrangement is bad, the inscription: Ne faut-il que l'on avouë Qu'on trouve en luytous ce qu'on espérait. C'est un surintendant tel que l'on désirait. Personne ne s'en plaint, tout le monde s'en louë. Signed: "Van Schupper faciebat. P. de la Serre." (2) The head in an oval border. Raised hangings which reveal a country scene, with dogs coursing. The inscription: "Messire Nicolas Foucquet, chevalier, vicomte de Melun et de Vaux, Ministre d'État, Surintendant des finances de Sa Majesté et son procureur général au Parlement de Paris." (3) A much damaged copy. The face is pale and elongated, the expression melancholy and sanctimonious. It is an oval medallion, 1654, without signature, Paris, chez Daret.
- 69. (4) The same, chez Louis Boissevin, in the Rue Saint-Jacques. (5) The same, with this quatrain: Si sa fidélité parut incomparable En conservant l'Estat, Sa prudence aujourd'huy n'est pas moins admirable D'en augmenter l'éclat. (6) Medallion. The picture is much disfigured; the inscription: Qu'il a de probité, de sçavoir et de zelle, Qu'il paroit généreux, magnanime et prudent, Que son esprit est fort, que son cœur est fidelle, Toutes ces qualités l'on fait Surintendant. (7) Medallion, with drapery. Very bad. Signature: "Baltazar Moncornet, excud." (8) The same, with a frame of foliage, 1658. (9) A small copy, reversed, executed after Foucquet's death, the date of which is indicated, 23rd March, 1680. It is old, hard, dark and damaged. Signature: "Nanteuil, pinxit, Gaillard, sculpt." A portrait of Lebrun deserves honourable mention after that of Nanteuil. The features are practically the same as in the engraving by Eugène Reims; but the expression is not so keen, nor so cheerful. The head, three-quarter profile, is turned to the right. This picture is the original of the three following engravings: (1) A large oval. Signature: "C. Lebrun pinx, F. Poilly sculpt." Inscription: Illustrissimus vir Nicolaus Foucquet Generalis in Supremo regii Ærarii Præfectus: V. Comes Melodunensis, etc. In a later copy, Foucquet's arms replace the Latin inscription. (2) A spoiled and softened copy, very careless workmanship. Signature: "C. Mellan del. et F." (3) An imitation. Foucquet, seated in a straight-backed armchair, with large wrought nail-heads, with a casket on the table beside him. He holds a pen in his right hand, and paper in his left. Inscription: Magna videt, majora latent; ecce aspicis artis Clarum opus, et virtus clarior arte latet, Umbra est et fulget, solem miraris in umbra Quid sol ipse micat, cujus et umbra micat. Signature: "Œgid. Rousselet, sculpt., 1659."
- 70. (4) An imitation. Signature: "Larmessin, 1661." Finally, we must mention a full- length portrait, which seems inspired by the foregoing. The Superintendent is standing, wearing a long robe; he holds in his right hand a small bag, in his left a paper. A raised curtain displays, on the right, a country scene, with a torrent, a rock and a fortified château. In the sky, Renown puts a trumpet to her mouth. In her left hand she holds another trumpet with a bannerette on which is written: "Quo non ascendet?" Inscription: A quel degré d'honneur ne peut-il pas monter S'il s'élève tousjours par son propre courage? Son nom et sa vertu lui donnent l'advantage De pouvoir tout prétendre et de tout mériter. [23] A summary of the inventory at Saint-Mandé: MS. of the Bibliothèque Nat. Manusc. Suppl, fr. 10958, cited by M. Edm. Bonnaffé, Les Amateurs de l'ancienne France.—Le Surintendant Foucquet, librairie de l'Art, 1882. [24] Loc. cit., pp. 61 et seq. [25] Description of the city of Paris, 1713, p. 60. [26] Mémoire des Académiciens, Vol. I, p. 21. Bonnaffé, loc. cit., p. 15. [27] Preface to Œdipe, Collect. des grands écrivains, Vol. VI, p. 103. [28] With great pomp. [29] The original edition has plainte. [30] Œuvres complètes de La Fontaine, published by Ch. Marty Laveaux, Vol. III (1866), p. 26 et seq. [31] The inventory of the 26th February, 1666 (Bonnaffé, loc. cit., p. 61), classes them as follows: "Two antique mausoleums representing a king and queen of Egypt, 800 livres." [32] At least, this is the hypothesis propounded by M. Bonnaffe. It is founded on the fact that an anonymous document of 1648, published in Les Collectionneurs de l'ancienne France (Aubry, ed. 1873), mentions le sieur Chamblon, of Marseilles, as a professor "of Egyptian idols to enclose mummies." But it seems as if the anonymous document referred not to sarcophagi of marble or basalt, but rather to those boxes of painted and gilt pasteboard, with human faces, which abound in the necropolises of ancient Egypt. The port of Marseilles must at that time have received a fairly large number of such. We must remember that the mummy was in those days considered as a remedy, and was widely sold by druggists. [33] Cf. Mlle, de Scudéry, Clélie. "Méléandre (Lebrun) had caused to be built, on a small, somewhat uneven plot of ground, two small pyramids in imitation of those which are near Memphis."
- 71. [34] See note, p. 10.** [35] Description of the city of Paris, by Germain Brice, ed. of 1698, Vol. I, p. 124 et seg. [36] Recueil d'antiquités dans les Gaules, by La Sauvagère, Paris, 1770, p. 329 et seq. [37] D.5.D. 78. [38] In this story, I have followed M. Bonnaffé. Loc. cit., p. 57. [39] Inventory and valuation of the books found at Saint-Mandé on the 30th July, 1665. Biblio. Nat. MSS., p. 9438. The whole was valued at 38,544 livres. [40] Conseils de la Sagesse, p. x. [41] Lines presented to Monseigneur le procureur général Foucquet, Superintendent of Finance, at the opening of the tragedy of Œdipe, 1659. [42] One of the earliest French theatres. It was founded by the Confrères de la Passion in 1548. [43] Cf. La Vie de Corneille, by Fontenelle. [44] Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de La Fontaine, by Mathieu Marais, 1811, p. 125. [45] Ouvrages de prose et de poésie des sieurs de Mancroix et La Fontaine, Vol. I, p. 99. [46] There are two blank spaces in the 1685 edition. I have filled them with the two names in brackets. For the first I have put the name of Foucquet, which is given in the Œuvres diverses (Vol. I, p. 19). To fill the second space I have followed the suggestion of Mathieu Marais. Walkenaer puts Pellisson, which is not admissible. [47] Edit Marty-Laveaux, VOL V, pp. 15-17. [48] No one can answer for the correctness of the text of these two poems. Chardon de La Rochette published them from memory in 1811 (Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de La Fontaine, by Mathieu Marais, p. 125). He had possessed the receipts for both in Pellisson's own hand-writing, but had not kept it, because, he said, he did not think "that it was worth it." This sagacious Hellenist set little store by a Pellisson autograph, in comparison with the Palatine MS. of the Anthologia. And he was right. But it is odd that he should have known the verses by heart, and that, having neglected to preserve them in his desk, he should have retained them in his memory. [49] Promettre est un, et tenir promesse est un autre. [50] Mémoires de Choisy, coll. Petitot, p. 211.
- 72. [51] Ibid., loc. cit., p. 230. [52] Bussy, II, p. 50. [53] "Jamais surintendant ne trouva de cruelle." [54] Bussy, II, p. 50. [55] Letter of the 25th May, 1658. [56] Letter of 18th January, 1660. [57] Loret, Muse historique, letter of the 28th of December, 1652. [58] In 1661 (?) Papiers de Foucquet (F. Baluze), Vol. I, pp. 31-32. [59] Maurepas Collection. Vol. II, p. 271. [60] Letter of the 11th November, 1661. [61] Gourville, in Monmerqué, Vol. II, p. 342. [62] Mémoires de l'abbé de Choisy, p. 579. [63] Mémoires de Brienne, Vol. II, p. 52. [64] Mémoires de Choisy, p. 581. Chéruel, Mémoires sur Nicolas Foucquet, Vol. II, p. 97. [65] Mémoires de Choisy, p. 249. [66] Mémoires de Choisy, p. 249. [67] Choisy, p. 586. "I learnt these details," said Choisy, "from Perrault, to whom Colbert related them more than once." [68] Ibid., p. 586. Cf. also Guy Patin, letter to Falconnet, 2nd September, 1661. [69] Histoire d'Henriette d'Angleterre, by Mme de Lafayette. Paris, Charavay frères, 1882, p. 53. [70] See Part II for the story of this entertainment. [71] Cf. Mémoires sur Nicolas Foucquet, by Chéruel, Vol. II, pp. 179-180. [72] Mémoires de Brienne, Vol. II, p. 153. [73] La Fontaine, letter to his wife, Ed. Marty-Laveaux, Vol. III, p. 311 et seq. [74] This letter was published for the first time in Les Causeries d'un curieux, VOL II, p. 518. [75] Dictionnaire Antique. Article on Hesnault. [76] Letter of the 10th of September, 1661. [77] Letter of the 2nd October, 1661.
- 73. [78] Second Speech to the King, in Les Œuvres diverses, p. 109. [79] Cf. Mélanges, by Vigneul de Marville. [80] Such is the title of the original edition, printed in italics, without date or address, on three quarto pages. [81] "The Anqueil is a little river which flows near Vaux." (Note by La Fontaine.) [82] Variant: La Cabale est contente, Oronte est malheureux. [83] Variant: Du grand, du grand Henri qu'il contemple la vie. (Original edition.) [84] Edition quoted, Vol. V, pp. 43-46. One contemporary copy, preserved in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, contains a text altered by one of Foucquet's enemies. Instead of the two lines: Voilà le précipice où l'ont enfin jeté Les attraits enchanteurs de la prospérité, we read in this copy: Il se hait de tant vivre après un tel malheur, Et, s'il espère encor, ce n'est qu'en sa douleur, C'est là le seul plaisir qui flatte son courage, Car des autres plaisirs on lui défend l'usage. Voilà, voilà l'effet de cette ambition Qui fait de ses pareils l'unique passion. [85] Edition cited: Vol. V, pp. 46-49. Published for the first time by La Fontaine in his collection Poésies chrétinnes et diverses, 1671, Vol. Ill, p. 34. [86] La Fontaine, Letter to Monsieur Foucquet. Edition cited: Vol. Ill, pp. 307-308. This letter was published for the first time in 1729. [87] Cf. Le procès de Foucquet, a speech pronounced at the opening of Conférence des Avocats, Monday, 27th November, 1882, by Léon Deroy, advocate in the Court of Appeal. Paris, Alcan Lévy, 1882. [88] Recueil des arrêtés de G. de Lamoignon, Paris, 1781. Vie de M. le premier président, by Girard, p. 14. (The fleur-de-Iys was very largely employed in the decoration of the walls, floors, ceiling, etc., of the Parliaments, etc.—Ed.) [89] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, Vol. II, p. 26. [90] Recueil des arrêtés, already cited. [91] Madame de Sévigné, letter of the 27th November, 1664.
- 74. [92] Ibid., letter of the 2nd December. [93] "The Duc de Sully, the son-in-law of the Chancellor, Séguier, had, in 1652, yielded the crossing of the bridge of Mantes to the Spanish Army." (Note by M. Chéruel.) [94] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, Vol. II, p. 263. Letter from Mme. de Sévigné, 9th December. [95] Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson, VOL II, p. 282. Letter from Mme. de Sévigné, 9th December. [96] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 283. [97] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 286. [98] The Comte de Vaux, Foucquet's eldest son, having obtained his father's MSS. from Pignerol, published extracts entitled: Conseils de la Sagesse ou Recueil des Maximes de Salomon. Paris, 1683, 2 vols. [99] The Duc de Lauzun, said to have married La Grande Mademoiselle, Mlle, de Montpensier, cousin of Louis XIV. (Trans.) [100] Delort, Détention des Philosophes, Vol. I, p. 53. PART II THE CHÂTEAU DE VAUX During his trial Foucquet declared that he had begun the building of his house at Vaux as early as 1640. On this point his memory betrayed him. Reference to the inscription on an engraving by Pérelle, after Israël Silvestre, assigns the commencement of work upon the house to the year 1653, but there is no doubt that Israël Silvestre planned the château on lines which were not absolutely final. Nor was the ne varietur plan, signed in 1666, exactly followed. [1] It is not until 1657 that the registers of the parish of Maincy attest the presence of foreign workmen who had come to undertake certain building operations on the estate of Vaux.
- 75. The architect, Louis Levau, employed by Foucquet, was not a beginner. He had already built "a house at the apex of the island of Notre-Dame,"[2] which is none other than the Hôtel Lambert,[3] the ingenious novelties of which were greatly admired. Especially noteworthy was the chamber of Madame de Torigny, on the second floor, which Le Sueur had decorated with a grace which recalls the mural paintings of Herculaneum. This chamber was called the Italian room, "Because," said Guillet de Saint-Georges, "the beauty of the woodwork and the richness of the panelling took the place of tapestry." Levau, born in 1612, was forty-three years of age when he signed the ne varietur plan. We know little about the life of this man whose work is so famous. A document of the 23rd March, 1651,[4] describes him as "a man of noble birth, Councillor and Secretary to the King, House and Crown of France." He then lived in Paris, in the Rue du Roi-de-Sicile, with his wife and his three young children, Jean, Louis and Nicolas. Besides the Hôtel Lambert and the Château de Vaux, we are indebted to him for the design for the Collège des Quatre-Nations, now the Palace of the Institute; the Maison Bautru, called by Sauvai "La Gentille," and engraved by Marot; the Hôtel de Pons, in the Rue du Colombier (to-day the Rue du Vieux-Colombier), built for President Tambruneau; the Hôtel Deshameaux, which, according to Sauvai, had an Italian room; the Hôtel d'Hesselin in the He Saint- Louis; the Hôtel de Rohan, in the Rue de l'Université; the Château de Livry, since known as Le Rainey, built for the Intendant of Finances, Bordier; the Château de Seignelay; a château near Troyes; and the Château de Bercy.[5] We may add that Louis Levau, having become first architect to the King, succeeded Gamard in directing the works of the church of Saint-Sulpice, and that he, in his turn, was succeeded by Daniel Gillard in 1660.[6]
- 76. Louis Levau died in Paris. His body was carried to the church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, his parish church, on Saturday, the nth October, 1670, as attested by the register of this church. There, under the above date, may be read: "On the said day was buried Messire Louys Levau, aged 57 or thereabouts, who died this morning at three o'clock. In his life a Councillor of the King in his Council, general Superintendent of His Majesty's buildings, first Architect of his buildings, Secretary to His Majesty and the House and Crown of France, etc., taken from the Rue des Fossés, from the ancient Hôtel de Longueville."[7] In the Archives de l'Art français (Vol. I) there is a document relating to Louis Levau: "There has been submitted to us the plan and elevation of the building of the Cathedral Church of Saint-Pierre of Nantes, of which the part not already constructed is marked in red. This church is one hundred and eleven feet high from the floor to the keystones of the vaults at the meeting of the diagonals, and the lower aisles and chapels are fifty-six feet, measured also from the floor. "It is desired to finish the said church, and to respect its symmetry as far as may be, and to make the lower aisles and chapels around the choir like those which are on the right of the nave. "The difficulty is that, in order to finish this work, it is necessary to pull down the walls of the town, and to carry it out into the moat, and it is desirable to take as little ground as can be, in order not to diminish too greatly the breadth of the moat. Wherefore it is proposed to do away with the three chapels behind the choir, marked by the letter H. "But, if those three chapels are removed, it will be seen that the flying buttresses which support the choir will not have the same thrust as those which support the nave; the strength of these buttresses will be diminished, and the symmetry of the church destroyed, in a place where the church is most visible.
- 77. "With this plan we send the elevation of the pillars and buttresses to show how they are constructed in the neighborhood of the nave. "The whole of this is in order to ascertain whether the three chapels can be dispensed with, and the safety of the choir and the whole edifice secured." To create the estate of Vaux in its prodigious magnificence, it was necessary to destroy three villages: Vaux-le-Vicomte, with its church and its mill, the hamlet of Maison-Rouge and that of Jumeau. The gigantic works which were necessary are hardly imaginable; immense rocks were carried away; deep canals were excavated. Foucquet hurried on the work with all the impatience of his intemperate mind. As early as 1657 the animation which prevailed in the works was so great that it was spoken of as something immoderate, as though more befitting royalty. Foucquet felt that it was of importance to conceal proceedings The following is in Levau's own hand:— "In order to reply to the above questions I, Le Vau, architect in ordinary of the King's buildings, certify that, having inspected the plan and the elevation of the flying buttresses of the church of Nantes, which have been sent me, having carefully examined and considered the whole, and having even made some designs for altering and dispensing with the chapels H H H; after having considered all that can be done in this matter, I have come to the conclusion that it cannot be accomplished without weakening and considerably damaging the pillars of the choir, and the other aisles, and destroying all symmetry; in a word, ruining it. I therefore do not submit the design that I have made, for my opinion is that the original design should be followed, and that the church should be finished as it was begun; as nothing else can be done save to the great prejudice of the said church. In attestation of which I sign. 'LE VAU.'"