A vagabond courtier; from the memoirs and letters of Baron Charles Louis von Pöllnitz . and religious controversiesand retaliations worried his last years. The Court of France, though very brilliant from thenumber of Princes and Princesses of which it is composed,was not so gay as I had imagined, found the throng of other idle courtiers he wanderedabout the sumptuous palace, admiring the marble-panelled walls, the pictures of old masters, framed ingold and bronze, and interspersed with splendid mirrors ;but since the disasters of war and the famine of thewinter of 1709, marble an
A vagabond courtier; from the memoirs and letters of Baron Charles Louis von Pöllnitz . and religious controversiesand retaliations worried his last years. The Court of France, though very brilliant from thenumber of Princes and Princesses of which it is composed,was not so gay as I had imagined, found the throng of other idle courtiers he wanderedabout the sumptuous palace, admiring the marble-panelled walls, the pictures of old masters, framed ingold and bronze, and interspersed with splendid mirrors ;but since the disasters of war and the famine of thewinter of 1709, marble and gilt tables and chandeliershad replaced those in solid silver, which had been sent tothe Mint. Most of all was Pollnitz impressed with the RoyalChapel, which was where the Salon dErcule and theroom beneath it now are. Nothing can be finer or in better taste. The prin-cipal picture represents God the Father in all his glory,as perfectly as the weakness of man may conceive it. Inever grew tired of admiring this piece of painting, andI always looked at it again with renewed LOUIS LE tlie Collection of A. il. Broadley. SO] THE VAGRANT 81 The King sat in a box facing the altar, and highabove it the organ, the orchestra, and the choir. Directlythe King entered with his cardinals and nobles in fineprocession, the splendid band struck up. The BodyGuard and a hundred of the Swiss Guard, in the galleryand the body of the chapel, played drums and fifes tillHis Majesty was seated. When the Princes and Prin-cesses came, which was unusual, they all knelt on thesame bench, but not near the King. The courtiers inthe chapel below turned their backs on the altar andfaced the King. (!) The King appeared to pray to God,and the Court to pray to the King. (!) When the Kingcommunicated the chapel was spread with four carpetsup to the altar, and the Swiss Guard ranged in twofiles behind him and the courtiers surrounded him. Atsermon-time, when Bossuet, Massillon, and Bourdalou
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcourtsandcourtiers
