Philippe de France. The Duke of Orleans

Page 136. — 1. d e=par.

2 . Madame. The title of the wife of Monsieur. Moltere dedicated his £cole des Femmes to Henrietta, Racine his Andromaque . Fontenelle in his Vie de Corneille says that she suggested to Corneille and Racine respectively the subject for Tile et Ber inice and Berenice.

3. Le roi, dont le jugement, etc. Louis XIV did, in fact, show unusual good judgment in the earlier part of his reign. Part of the misunderstanding between Madame and Monsieur was occasioned by the admission of the former into secrets of state, about which the latter v*as never consulted. See pages 137-138.

NOTES

Page 137 . — x. en fit. The en is not a subjective genitive here, but, in imitation of the Latin construction, objective. The French term would be a leur sujet '.

a. d£grad£s. In its etymological sense, “ reduced in rank.”

3. le goftt des romans, etc. Allusion to the society novels in vogue, especially Mile de Scudery’s Grand Cyrus and Clelie . Cf. La Bruyfcre, “ De la Societe et de la Conversation,” No. 65.

4. Ils ressemblent. I Is means “men.” The reference is to Proverbs xxv, 28.

Page 138 . — x. le voyage d’Angleterre. See page 131, note 10.

2. Ce grand roi, etc. A radically different view of Charles II from the one now held. But Bossuet could have known of him only through the most partisan sources. Cf. page 151, lines 4-8.

Page 139 . — 1. 0 Dieu, dit le Roi Prophfcte, etc. Psalm xxxix, 5. In his Sermon sur la Mort Bossuet had already used this reference and given a like commentary. The idea of calling on a king (David) for a witness is also to be found in the " division ” of the Oration on Henrietta of France.