DOI Heft:
December 23, 1882
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17753#0295
December 23, 1882.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
289
HISTORY RE-VIEWED.
By Whyte Washcher,
No. III.—Louis the Eleventh, the Type op Unselfishness.
The general impression, relative to the character of this great and good King,
has been for many centuries dreadfully unfavourable. He has been accused of
meanness, deceit, heartlessness, fraud, and even murder. He is frequently
supposed to have caused the death of his father, and to have poisoned many of
bis nearest relatives. It is needless to state to those well conversant with the
real facts of the case, that these rumours and reports are of a distinctly libellous
character—quite needless. But those who have not made the reign of the
Eleventh Louis their study, those, in fact, who know nothing whatever about it,
may be safely informed that these scandalous biographical incidents are largely
adulterated with exaggeration. The subject of this sketch may have had his
faults (who has not ?), but they were all on the surface, and were the outcome
of a great, a thorough, a sublime unselfishness.
At sixteen, he organised a scheme for soothing the declining years of his
father, which, had it been successful, would have put him to great personal
inconvenience. The idea was to induce Charles the Seventh to resign the
throne, and so arrange matters that he should pass the remainder of his days in
a fortress, a monastery, or some other retreat equally retired and peaceful.
And yet, had Charles (through the instrumentality of his son) been dethroned
or murdered, Louis would have had to reign in his stead—this at an age when
Mutual Confidence.
the restrictions and formalities of Court-etiquette would have been more than
usually irksome. But the good son did not allow these considerations to influ-
ence him in the least, and was quite ready to assist at his father’s enfranchise-
ment. The scheme failed, and Charles insisted upon treating the Dauphin’s
companions as traitors. Rather than vex his father by opposition, Louis
accepted this view of the case, and received the news of their fate with resigna-
tion and even cheerfulness. A. few years later, the good young man was accused
by a certain Count Dammartin of having attempted to bribe him to murder a
person who was known to be obnoxious to the former. Fortunately for Louis’s
good name, there was conclusive proof that the Count, in this matter, had been
guilty of deliberate falsehood. The proof rested upon the firmest ground—the
Prince’s own word. Louis settled the matter once and for ever, by promptly
denouncing Dammartin as a “naughty storyteller.” Strange to say, Charles
refused to believe his own son, ana the Dauphin was banished from Paris for
four months. Louis did not return, but went to the Court of the Duke of
Burgundy, who received him with the greatest kindness. - While there, he
amused the people by sowing dissensions between his host and his eldest son.
This was an act of pure unselfishness, as, had his tactics been discovered, he
would undoubtedly have got into disfavour with both parties.
But it must not be imagined that he had forgotten his absent parent. Always
mindful of his father’s, comforts,_ Louis contrived to provide Charles with a
number of little delicacies, of which he deprived himself, through the hands of
his domestics. For some time the King refused to eat them, but breaking his
rule one day, he died rather suddenly. So did Agnes Sorrel, a lady of the
King’s Court, who was also present at the banquet. And yet Louis did not
hesitate to furnish his father and his father’s friends with food that, had he
kept it for his own table, would have been sure to have produced a profound
sensation. And this is the man who has been painted as a monster of selfishness!
The moment Louis became king, he dispossessed his younger brother of every-
thing that had been given to him by their father, not for his own aggrandise-
ment, but because he wished to save the Duke of Berri from temptations
inseparable from rank and property. Moreover, to teach the Duke of Burgundy
this wholesome adage, “that you should treat your enemy as if some day he
will become your friend, and your friend as if he will some day become your
enemy,” he spent the greater part of hi3 long reign in
making hollow peace and real war with the man who had
shown him kindness in his youth, when sympathy was
more than usually valuable. And yet this disinterested
conduct has been condemned by the thoughtless as
treacherous and ungrateful! It was neither. It was
the ambition of Louis to make the Duke of Burgundy
one of the greatest masters of strategy of his age. Under
his tuition he became so. On one occasion the King was
unwise enough to place himself in the power of the Duke
at a time when he (the King) was bribing the servants of
the Duke to betray their master. Louis was anxious to
see what the Duke would do. His pardonable curiosity
was speedily gratified. The Duke made his guest his
prisoner, and only granted him his liberty on condition
of his assigning certain provinces to his brother, the
Duke of Berri. The King was profuse in his liberality.
He not only made over the provinces, but gave his
brother a very fine peach. After the Duke of Berri had
eaten the peach, he died ; and Louis, overwhelmed with
grief, kept the provinces as a memento of his poor
brother’s sudden decease.
From these little anecdotes it may be gathered that he
was a good son and a kind brother—he was also an
affectionate father. He never allowed his son to go to
school, not because (as has been cruelly suggested by the
malicious) he wanted to keep him too ignorant to be
troublesome, but because he knew the Dauphin, boy-
like, preferred play to work, and did not wish to run
counter to his inclinations. And it speaks volumes for
the really affectionate nature of Louis that his son con-
trived to outlive him.
Finding them shunned by most of his other subjects,
he made his barber and hangman his constant com-
panions. He was never so happy as when he had them
in to tea. It was a pretty sight to see the good-natured
monarch entertaining these strange, weird guests, and
attempting by witty and amusing conversation to dispel
their gloom. And it says a great deal for the prejudices
of the age that these two persons never accepted an
I invitation to the palace without providing themselves
! with enormous bottles of antidotes. These merry
meetings used to take place in the royal library, which
was filled with volumes of the King’s favourite authors,
amongst whom were included practical jokers of all
descriptions, from the author of The Witticisms of Joe
Miller up to the inventor of the Thumb-screw and the
Scavenger’s Daughter.
In many other matters this monarch showed bis un-
selfishness. Fond of fighting, he yet bought off Edward
the Fourth and his army, when they spoke about the
hostile invasion of France, by arranging to marry the
English King’s eldest daughter. He subsequently denied
himself the extreme pleasure of wedding a bride he had
never seen by leading to the hymeneal altar some one else.
Again, politeness to ladies was his favourite hobby,
and yet, when he had a confidential letter from the
youthful Duchess of Burgundy, he did not hesitate for
a moment to hand it over to her subjects, although well
aware that she would consider the proceeding a sign of
the greatest discourtesy, as it would put her to grave
personal inconvenience.
But perhaps the best proof of his extreme thought-
fulness for others, and utter abnegation of self, was
afforded by his great exertions to keep alive. Although
extremely ill, he warded off death by every means in his
power to the very last moment, for the simple reason
that he was unwilling to give unnecessary trouble—to
the undertakers. And with this triumphant example of
his disinterestedness, this short memoir of his life is
brought to an appropriate conclusion.
Overheard at the “ Globe.”
He only said, “ The Play is dreary
When all is done and said.”
He said, “ I am aweary, aweary.
I would I were in bed ! ”
Mrs. Ramsbotham’s Uncle has had another severe
attack, but she tells us she has sent him La Physiologic
du Gout, by a French Physician, Dr. Brilliant Savarin,
a well-known authority on the complaint, so she hopes
it will do him a great deal of good.
i
289
HISTORY RE-VIEWED.
By Whyte Washcher,
No. III.—Louis the Eleventh, the Type op Unselfishness.
The general impression, relative to the character of this great and good King,
has been for many centuries dreadfully unfavourable. He has been accused of
meanness, deceit, heartlessness, fraud, and even murder. He is frequently
supposed to have caused the death of his father, and to have poisoned many of
bis nearest relatives. It is needless to state to those well conversant with the
real facts of the case, that these rumours and reports are of a distinctly libellous
character—quite needless. But those who have not made the reign of the
Eleventh Louis their study, those, in fact, who know nothing whatever about it,
may be safely informed that these scandalous biographical incidents are largely
adulterated with exaggeration. The subject of this sketch may have had his
faults (who has not ?), but they were all on the surface, and were the outcome
of a great, a thorough, a sublime unselfishness.
At sixteen, he organised a scheme for soothing the declining years of his
father, which, had it been successful, would have put him to great personal
inconvenience. The idea was to induce Charles the Seventh to resign the
throne, and so arrange matters that he should pass the remainder of his days in
a fortress, a monastery, or some other retreat equally retired and peaceful.
And yet, had Charles (through the instrumentality of his son) been dethroned
or murdered, Louis would have had to reign in his stead—this at an age when
Mutual Confidence.
the restrictions and formalities of Court-etiquette would have been more than
usually irksome. But the good son did not allow these considerations to influ-
ence him in the least, and was quite ready to assist at his father’s enfranchise-
ment. The scheme failed, and Charles insisted upon treating the Dauphin’s
companions as traitors. Rather than vex his father by opposition, Louis
accepted this view of the case, and received the news of their fate with resigna-
tion and even cheerfulness. A. few years later, the good young man was accused
by a certain Count Dammartin of having attempted to bribe him to murder a
person who was known to be obnoxious to the former. Fortunately for Louis’s
good name, there was conclusive proof that the Count, in this matter, had been
guilty of deliberate falsehood. The proof rested upon the firmest ground—the
Prince’s own word. Louis settled the matter once and for ever, by promptly
denouncing Dammartin as a “naughty storyteller.” Strange to say, Charles
refused to believe his own son, ana the Dauphin was banished from Paris for
four months. Louis did not return, but went to the Court of the Duke of
Burgundy, who received him with the greatest kindness. - While there, he
amused the people by sowing dissensions between his host and his eldest son.
This was an act of pure unselfishness, as, had his tactics been discovered, he
would undoubtedly have got into disfavour with both parties.
But it must not be imagined that he had forgotten his absent parent. Always
mindful of his father’s, comforts,_ Louis contrived to provide Charles with a
number of little delicacies, of which he deprived himself, through the hands of
his domestics. For some time the King refused to eat them, but breaking his
rule one day, he died rather suddenly. So did Agnes Sorrel, a lady of the
King’s Court, who was also present at the banquet. And yet Louis did not
hesitate to furnish his father and his father’s friends with food that, had he
kept it for his own table, would have been sure to have produced a profound
sensation. And this is the man who has been painted as a monster of selfishness!
The moment Louis became king, he dispossessed his younger brother of every-
thing that had been given to him by their father, not for his own aggrandise-
ment, but because he wished to save the Duke of Berri from temptations
inseparable from rank and property. Moreover, to teach the Duke of Burgundy
this wholesome adage, “that you should treat your enemy as if some day he
will become your friend, and your friend as if he will some day become your
enemy,” he spent the greater part of hi3 long reign in
making hollow peace and real war with the man who had
shown him kindness in his youth, when sympathy was
more than usually valuable. And yet this disinterested
conduct has been condemned by the thoughtless as
treacherous and ungrateful! It was neither. It was
the ambition of Louis to make the Duke of Burgundy
one of the greatest masters of strategy of his age. Under
his tuition he became so. On one occasion the King was
unwise enough to place himself in the power of the Duke
at a time when he (the King) was bribing the servants of
the Duke to betray their master. Louis was anxious to
see what the Duke would do. His pardonable curiosity
was speedily gratified. The Duke made his guest his
prisoner, and only granted him his liberty on condition
of his assigning certain provinces to his brother, the
Duke of Berri. The King was profuse in his liberality.
He not only made over the provinces, but gave his
brother a very fine peach. After the Duke of Berri had
eaten the peach, he died ; and Louis, overwhelmed with
grief, kept the provinces as a memento of his poor
brother’s sudden decease.
From these little anecdotes it may be gathered that he
was a good son and a kind brother—he was also an
affectionate father. He never allowed his son to go to
school, not because (as has been cruelly suggested by the
malicious) he wanted to keep him too ignorant to be
troublesome, but because he knew the Dauphin, boy-
like, preferred play to work, and did not wish to run
counter to his inclinations. And it speaks volumes for
the really affectionate nature of Louis that his son con-
trived to outlive him.
Finding them shunned by most of his other subjects,
he made his barber and hangman his constant com-
panions. He was never so happy as when he had them
in to tea. It was a pretty sight to see the good-natured
monarch entertaining these strange, weird guests, and
attempting by witty and amusing conversation to dispel
their gloom. And it says a great deal for the prejudices
of the age that these two persons never accepted an
I invitation to the palace without providing themselves
! with enormous bottles of antidotes. These merry
meetings used to take place in the royal library, which
was filled with volumes of the King’s favourite authors,
amongst whom were included practical jokers of all
descriptions, from the author of The Witticisms of Joe
Miller up to the inventor of the Thumb-screw and the
Scavenger’s Daughter.
In many other matters this monarch showed bis un-
selfishness. Fond of fighting, he yet bought off Edward
the Fourth and his army, when they spoke about the
hostile invasion of France, by arranging to marry the
English King’s eldest daughter. He subsequently denied
himself the extreme pleasure of wedding a bride he had
never seen by leading to the hymeneal altar some one else.
Again, politeness to ladies was his favourite hobby,
and yet, when he had a confidential letter from the
youthful Duchess of Burgundy, he did not hesitate for
a moment to hand it over to her subjects, although well
aware that she would consider the proceeding a sign of
the greatest discourtesy, as it would put her to grave
personal inconvenience.
But perhaps the best proof of his extreme thought-
fulness for others, and utter abnegation of self, was
afforded by his great exertions to keep alive. Although
extremely ill, he warded off death by every means in his
power to the very last moment, for the simple reason
that he was unwilling to give unnecessary trouble—to
the undertakers. And with this triumphant example of
his disinterestedness, this short memoir of his life is
brought to an appropriate conclusion.
Overheard at the “ Globe.”
He only said, “ The Play is dreary
When all is done and said.”
He said, “ I am aweary, aweary.
I would I were in bed ! ”
Mrs. Ramsbotham’s Uncle has had another severe
attack, but she tells us she has sent him La Physiologic
du Gout, by a French Physician, Dr. Brilliant Savarin,
a well-known authority on the complaint, so she hopes
it will do him a great deal of good.
i