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f desirous of doing well the duties of my place as since I; lost it. This vast picture of so illustrious an age turnsmy head. If Louis XIV . be not great, at least hisage is. It is an immense work: I shall revise it se-verely, and shall endeavour, above all, to render the; truth neither odious nor dangerous.
: Besides this great undertaking, he corrected his tra-
gedies. As usual, he infected all round with his loveof the drama. A theatre was established at court ; thebrothers and sisters of the king took parts in his plays,
; and submitted to his instructions. This was a speciesof flattery well suited to turn a poet’s head ; yet soon,very soon, the dark cloud appeared in the horizon, and[ : his attention became roused to assure himself whether
j indeed he heard the far off thunder of an approachingf storm. These dawnings of fear and distrust are inge- jj 0 v.; nuously detailed in his letters to his niece. “ It is e.
I known, then, at Paris,” he writes, <r that we have acted 1750 .
‘i the death of Caesar at Potzdam ; that prince Henri is
[ a good actor, has no accent, and is very amiable;
and that pleasures may be found here. All this istrue — but — the suppers of the king are delicious —seasoned by reason, wit, and science — liberty reignsover them — he is the soul of all ■— no ill-humour, noclouds — at least, no storms ; my life is independentand occupied ; but — but — operas, plays, carousals,suppers at Sans-souci — warlike manoeuvres, concerts,study, readings; but — but — the weather, my dear
child, begins to be very cold-”
Such were the first expressions of distrust inspiredby observing a certain degree of deceit in the king.
He found that he could turn those into ridicule whomhe flattered most to their face ; and he also found thatsuch blowing of hot and cold with the same breath,which is deemed almost fair in some societies, wasfertile of annoyance when practised by a king whoseword is law, whose smiles are the ruling influence ofthe day, whose slightest remark is reported, magnified,and becomes the rule of action to all around; and he