by Will Durant
At that moment the Parisians remembered his faults with a blinding clarity. They felt that his love of power and glory had led France to the brink of ruin. They resented the pride that had destroyed local self-government and had centered all rule in one unchallengeable will. They mourned the millions of francs and the thousands of lives that had been spent in beautifying Versailles; and they cursed the neglect with which the King had treated his turbulent capital. A small minority rejoiced that the persecution of the Jansenists might now cease; a large majority still applauded the expulsion of the Huguenots. In retrospect it was clear that the invasion of Holland in 1672, the invasion of Germany in 1688, and the hasty seizure of the barrier towns in 1701 had been massive blunders, raising a swarm of foes around France. But how many Frenchmen had condemned those invasions, or spoken a word of conscience about the double devastation of the Palatinate? The nation had been as guilty as its King, and held against him not his crimes but his defeats. Barring a few priests, it had not condemned his adulteries, and had shown no enthusiasm over his moral reform, his piety, or his fidelity to his morganatic wife. It forgot now that for many years he had graced his power with courtesy and humanity; 100 that, until the demon of war enthralled him, he had supported Colbert in developing French industry and trade; that he had protected Molière against the bigots, and Racine against the cliques; that his extravagant expenditures had not merely indulged his own luxury but had dowered France with a new heritage of art.
What the people felt most keenly and most justly was the immense price they had paid in blood and treasure for the glory that had now collapsed in the death of the King and the desolation of France. There was hardly a family in the nation that had not lost a son to the wars. Population had been so reduced that the government now gave rewards to the parents of ten children. Taxes had stifled economic incentive, war had blocked the avenues of commerce and had closed foreign markets to French goods. The state was not only bankrupt; it owed three billion francs. 101 The nobility had lost its usefulness by being turned from local administration to prancing about the court; it had shone only in its expensive dress and its martial bravery. A new nobility had been created by wholesale auction of titles to rich commoners; in one year alone the King had ennobled five hundred persons at six thousand livres each; so some ancient families fell vassal to the sons of serfs. As war became no distant contest of mercenaries and gladiators but a pervasive and exhausting test of national resources and economies, the middle classes rose in number and power to challenge the baron and the priest, and financiers prospered amid the general decline. For in modern states the men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things; and the men who can manage money manage all.
In judging Louis XIV we must remember Goethe’s humane dictum that a man’s vices are usually the influence of his time, while his virtues are his own; or, as the Romans had put it with characteristic brevity, vitium est temporis potius quam hominis—“vices are of the age rather than of the man.” 102 The absolutism, the persecuting bigotry, the lust for glory, the taste for war, were in him as a child of his time and his Church; his generosity and magnanimity and courtliness, his appreciation and stimulation of literature and art, his ability to carry a burden of concentrated and farreaching government, were his personal qualities, making him every inch a king. In Louis XIV, Goethe wrote, nature produced the consummate specimen of the monarchical type, and, in so doing, exhausted herself and broke the mold. 103 “Louis XIV,” said Napoleon, “was a great king. It was he who raised France to the first rank among nations. What king of France since Charlemagne can be compared with him in all his aspects?” 104 “He was,” in Lord Acton’s judgment, “by far the ablest man who was born in modern times on the steps of a throne.” 105 He waged devastating wars, indulged his pride extravagantly in building and luxury, stifled philosophy, and taxed his people to destitution; but he gave France an orderly government, a national unity, and a cultural splendor that won for her the unquestioned leadership of the Western world. He became the head and symbol of his country’s supreme epoch; and France, which lives on glory, has learned to forgive him for almost destroying her to make her great.
Bibliographical Guide
to editions referred to in the notes
AARON, R. J., John Locke. Oxford University Press, 1937.
ABBOTT, G. F., Israel in Egypt. London, 1907.
ACTON, JOHN EMERICH, LORD, Lectures on Modern History. London, 1950.
ADDISON, JOSEPH, and others, The Spectator, 8v. New York, 1881.
ALDIS, JANET, Mme. Geoffrin: Her Salon and Her Times. New York, 1905.
ALLEN, J. W., English Political Thought, 1603 to 1660. London, 1938.
ALTAMIRA, R., History of Spain, tr. Muna Lee. New York, 1955.
________, History of Spanish Civilization. London, 1930.
ANDRADE, E. N., Sir Isaac Newton. London, 1954.
ARNOLD, MATTHEW, Essays in Criticism, 1st series, New York, n.d.
ASHTON, JOHN, Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne. London, 1883.
AUBREY, JOHN, Brief Lives, ed. O. L. Dick. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1957.
BABBITT, IRVING, The Spanish Character and Other Essays. Boston, 1940.
BACON, FRANCIS, Essays. Everyman’s Library.
________, Philosophical Works, ed. J. M. Robertson. London, 1905.
BAIN, F. W., Christina, Queen of Sweden. London, 1890.
BARINE, ARVÈDE, La Grande Mademoiselle, tr. Helen Meyer. New York, 1902.
BARON, S. W., Social and Religious History of the Jews, 3v. New York, 1937.
BAYLE, PIERRE, Dictionnaire historique et critique, 16v. Paris, 1820.
________, Selections from the Dictionary. Princeton, N. J., 1952.
BEARD, CHARLES, Port Royal, 2v. London, 1873.
BEARD, MIRIAM, History of the Business Man. New York, 1938.
BEBEL, AUGUSTE, Woman under Socialism. New York, 1923.
BELL, AUBREY, Portuguese Literature. Oxford, 1922.
BELL, E. T., Men of Mathematics. New York, 1937.
BENOIST, LUCIEN, Coysevox. Paris, 1930.
BERKELEY, GEORGE, A New Theory of Vision, and Other Writings. Everyman’s Library.
BESANT, SIR WALTER, London in the Time of the Stuarts. London, 1903.
BEVAN, EDWYN, and SINGER, CHARLES, The Legacy of Israel. Oxford, 1927.
BIDNEY, DAVID, The Psychology and Ethics of Spinoza. Yale University Press, 1940.
BISHOP, A. THORNTON, Renaissance Architecture of England. New York, 1938.
BISHOP, MORRIS, Life and Adventures of La Rochefoucauld. New York, 1951.
BLOMFIELD, SIR REGINALD, Three Hundred Years of French Architecture: 1494–1794. London, 1936.
BOILEAU-DESPRÉAUX, NICOLAS, Poèmes. Vol. VII of Poètes français. Paris, 1913.
BOISSIER, GASTON, Madame de Sévigné, tr. M. B. Anderson. Chicago, 1888.
BOSSUET, JACQUES, Oraisons funèbres et sermons. Paris: Librairie Larousse, n.d.
BOSWELL, JAMES, Life of Samuel Johnson. Modern Library.
BOULENGER, JACQUES, The Seventeenth Century. New York, 1920.
BOURGEOIS, ÉMILE, Le Grand Siècle: Louis XIV. Paris, 1896.
BOWEN, MARJORIE, William [III] Prince of Orange. London, 1928.
BOWLE, JOHN, Hobbes and His Critics. London, 1951.
_________, Western Political Thought. London, 1954.
BOYLE, ROBERT, The Sceptical Chymist. Everyman’s Library.
BRANDES, GEORG, Main Currents in Nineteenth-Century Literature, 6v. New York, 1905.
________, Wolfgang Goethe. New York, 1924.
BRERETON, GEOFFREY, Jean Racine. London, 1951.
BRETT, G. S., History of Psychology. London, 1953.
BREWSTER, SIR DAVID, Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton, 2v. Edinburgh, 1855.
BRINTON, SELWYN, The Gonzaga—Lords of Mantua. London, 1927.
BROCKELMANN, CARL, History of the Islamic Peoples. New York, 1947.
BROCKWAY, WALLACE, a
nd WEINSTOCK, HERBERT, The Opera. New York, 1941.
BROCKWAY, WALLACE, and WINER, BART, A Second Treasury of the World’s Great Letters. New York, 1941.
BROWNE, LEWIS, The Wisdom of Israel. New York, 1945.
BROWNE, SIR THOMAS, Religio Medici. Everyman’s Library.
BRUNSCHVIGG, LEON, Spinoza et ses contemporains. Paris, 1951.
BRYANT, SIR ARTHUR, King Charles II. London, 1955.
__________, Samuel Pepys. New York, 1934.
BUCKLE, HENRY THOMAS, Introduction to the History of Civilization in England, 4v. New York, 1913.
BUNYAN, JOHN, Entire Works, 4v. London: Virtue & Co., n.d.
__________, Pilgrim’s Progress. Everyman’s Library.
BURNET, GILBERT, BISHOP, History of His Own Times. Everyman’s Library.
BURNEY, CHARLES, General History of Music, 2v. New York, 1957.
BURY, J. B., The Idea of Progress. New York, 1955.
BUTLER, SAMUEL, Hudibras. Cambridge University Press, 1905.
BUTTERFIELD, H., The Origins of Modern Science. New York, 1951.
CALVERT, A. F., Sculpture in Spain. London, 1912.
Cambridge History of English Literature, 14v. London, 1910.
Cambridge History of Poland, 2v. Cambridge University Press, 1950.
Cambridge Modern History, 12v. New York, 1907.
CAMPBELL, THOMAS J., The Jesuits. New York, 1921.
CARLYLE, THOMAS, Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches, 4v. New York, 1901.
CARTWRIGHT, JULIA, Madame: A Life of Henrietta, Daughter of Charles I, Duchess of Orléans. New York, 1901.
CASSIRER, ERNST, The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. Princeton, N. J., 1951.
_________, The Platonic Renaissance in England. Austin, Tex., 1953.
CASTIGLIONI, ARTURO, A History of Medicine. New York, 1941.
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1912.
CHESTERFIELD, PHILIP STANHOPE, EARL OF, Letters to His Son. New York, 1901.
CHURCHILL, SIR WINSTON, History of the English-speaking Peoples, 3v. London, 1957.
_________, Marlborough: His Life and Times, 2v. London, 1947.
CLARK, BARRETT, Great Short Biographies of the World. New York, 1928.
CLARK, G. N., The Seventeenth Century. Oxford University Press, 1929.
COLLINS, ANTHONY, A Discourse of Free-thinking. London, 1713.
COULTON, G. G., Life in the Middle Ages, 4v. Cambridge University Press, 1930.
COXE, WILLIAM, History of the House of Austria, 3v. London, 1847.
CRUTTWELL, MAUD, Madame de Maintenon. London, 1930.
CUNNINGHAM, W. C, Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects, 2v. Cambridge University Press, 1900–1902.
D’ALTON, REV. E. A., History of Ireland, 6v. Dublin, n.d.
DAMPIER, SIR WILLIAM, History of Science. Cambridge University Press, 1948.
DAY, CLIVE, History of Commerce. London, 1926.
DAY, LILLIAN, Ninon: A Courtesan of Quality. New York, 1957.
DEFOE, DANIEL, Journal of the Plague Year. Everyman’s Library.
_________, Moll Flanders. Everyman’s Library.
DESNOIRESTERRES, GUSTAV, Voltaire et la société française au xviii e siècle, 8v. Paris, 1871.
DEWEY, JOHN, and others, Studies in the History of Ideas, 2v. Columbia University Press, 1935.
DILLON, EDWARD, Glass. New York, 1907.
DISRAELI, ISAAC, Curiosities of Literature, 3v. London: Frederick Warne & Co., n.d.
DRYDEN, JOHN, Essays. Everyman’s Library.
__________, Poems. New York: Cassell’s National Library, n.d.
DUBNOW, S. M., History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, 3v. Philadelphia, 1916.
DUCLOS, CHARLES P., Secret Memoirs of the Regency. New York, 1910.
DUNNING, W. A., History of Political Theories from Luther to Montesquieu. New York, 1905.
EDWARDS, H. S., Idols of the French Stage, 2v. London, 1889.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed.
EVELYN, JOHN, Diary, 2v. Everyman’s Library.
FAGUET, ÉMILE, Dix-huitième Siècle: Études littéraires. Paris: Boivin et Cie, n.d.
___________, Dix-septième Siècle: Études et portraits littéraires. Paris: Boivin et Cie., n.d.
___________, Literary History of France. New York, 1907.
FELLOWS, OTIS, and TORREY, NORMAN, The Age of the Enlightenment. New York, 1942.
FÉNELON, FRANÇOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE-, Les Aventures de Télémaque. Paris, 1869.
FERGUSSON, JAMES, History of Modem Styles of Architecture. London, 1873.
FERVAL, CLAUDE, Life of Louise de La Vallière. New York, 1914.
FINKELSTEIN, LOUIS, ed., The Jews: Their History, Culture, and Religion, 2v. New York, 1949.
FIRTH, SIR CHARLES, Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans in England. Oxford University Press, 1953.
FISCHER, KUNO, Descartes and His School. London, 1887.
FLINT, ROBERT, History of the Philosophy of History. New York, 1894.
FLORINSKY, MICHAEL T., Russia: A History and an Interpretation, 2v. New York, 1955.
FOX, GEORGE, Journal. Everyman’s Library.
FOXE-BOURNE, H. R., Life of John Locke, 2v. London, 1876.
FRANCE, ANATOLE, Nicolas Fouquet. New York, 1930.
FRANCKE, KUNO, History of German Literature. New York, 1901.
FROUDE, J. A, Bunyan. New York: Harper, n.d.
_________, Short Studies on Great Subjects, 2v. Everyman’s Library.
FÜLOP-MILLER, RENÉ, The Power and Secret of the Jesuits. New York, 1930.
FUNCK-BRENTANO, FRANTZ, L’Ancien Régime. Paris, 1926.
FUNK, F. X., Manual of Church History, 2v. London, 1910.
GARDINER, S. R., History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, 3v. London, 1901.
GARLAND, H. B., Lessing. Cambridge University Press, 1949.
GARNETT, RICHARD, History of Italian Literature. New York, 1898.
GARRISON, F., History of Medicine. Philadelphia, 1929.
GOOCH, G. P., English Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge University Press, 1927.
GOSSE, EDMUND, ed., A Volume of Restoration Plays. Everyman’s Library.
GRAETZ, H., History of the Jews, 6v. Philadelphia, 1891.
GRAMONT, PHILIBERT DE, Memoirs of the Comte de Grammont (by Anthony Hamilton). London, 1876.
GREEN, J. R., Short History of the English People, 3v. London, 1898.
GROOM, ARTHUR, History of Money. New York, 1958.
Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5v. New York, 1927.
GUERARD, ALBERT, Life and Death of an Ideal: France in the Classical Age. New York, 1928.
GUIZOT, F., History of Civilization, 3v. London, 1898.
__________, History of France, 8v. London, 1872.
HALLAM, HENRY, Constitutional History of England, 3v. New York, 1862.
__________, Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, 4v. in 2. New York, 1880.
HARDING, T. SWANN, Fads, Frauds, and Physicians. New York, 1930.
HARDY, EVELYN, The Conjured Spirit: Swift. London, 1949.
HARRINGTON, JAMES, Oceana, in Ideal Commonwealths. New York, 1901.
HAUSER, ARNOLD, Social History of Art, 2v. New York, 1952.
HAVENS, GEORGE, The Age of Ideas. New York, 1955.
HAZARD, PAUL, The European Mind: The Critical Years (1680–1715). Yale University Press, 1953.
HEARNSHAW, F. J., Social and Political Ideas of Some English Thinkers of the Augustan Age. New York, 1950.
History Today. London.
HOBBES, THOMAS, Elements of Law, Natural and Political. Cambridge University Press, 1928.
__________, Leviathan. Everyman’s Library.
__________, The Metaphysical System of Thomas Hobbes, ed. Mary W. Calkins. Chicago, 1913.
HOLZKNECHT, KARL, Backgrounds of Shakespeare’s Plays. New York, 1950.
HOOVER, HERBERT, and GIBBONS, H. A., Con
ditions of a Lasting Peace. New York, 1939.
HUME, DAVID, Enquiries concerning the Human Understanding and concerning the Principles of Morals. Oxford University Press, 1955.
___________, Essays, Literary, Moral, and Political. London: Ward, Lock & Co., n.d.
___________, History of England, 5v. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, n.d.
HUME, MARTIN, Spain: Its Greatness and Decay. Cambridge University Press, 1899.
HÜRLIMANN, MARTIN, Germany. London, 1957.
HUTCHINSON, F. E., Milton and the English Mind. New York, 1948.
JAMES, B. B., Women of England. Philadelphia, 1908.
Jewish Encyclopedia. New York, 1901.
JOHNSON, SAMUEL, Lives of the Poets, 2v. Everyman’s Library.
JORDAN, G. J., The Reunion of the Churches: A Study of G. W. Leibnitz and His Great Attempt. London, 1927.
JOSEPH, H. W., Lectures on the Philosophy of Leibniz. Oxford, 1949.
JUSTI, CARL, Diego Velazquez and His Times. London, 1889.
KAYSER, RUDOLF, Spinoza. New York, 1946.
KESTEN, HERMANN, Copernicus and His World. New York, 1945.
KING, JAMES E., Science and Rationalism in the Government of Louis XIV. Baltimore, 1949.
KIRBY, R. S., Engineering in History. New York, 1956.
KIRKPATRICK, RALPH, Domenico Scarlatti. Princeton, N. J., 1953.
KLUCHEVSKY, V. O., History of Russia, 3v. London, 1912.
KRONENBERGER, LOUIS, Marlborough’s Duchess. New York, 1958.
LA BRUYÈRE, JEAN DE, Characters. New York, 1929.
LACROIX, PAUL, The Eighteenth Century in France. London: Bickens & Sons, n.d.
