Book: Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV

F >> Francis Parkman >> Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV



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COUNT FRONTENAC

AND

NEW FRANCE

UNDER LOUIS XIV.

BY

FRANCIS PARKMAN,

AUTHOR OF "PIONEERS OF FRANCE IN THE NEW WORLD," "THE JESUITS IN NORTH
AMERICA," "THE DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST," AND "THE OLD REGIME IN
CANADA."




PREFACE.

The events recounted in this book group themselves in the main about a
single figure, that of Count Frontenac, the most remarkable man who
ever represented the crown of France in the New World. From strangely
unpromising beginnings, he grew with every emergency, and rose equal
to every crisis. His whole career was one of conflict, sometimes petty
and personal, sometimes of momentous consequence, involving the
question of national ascendancy on this continent. Now that this
question is put at rest for ever, it is hard to conceive, the anxiety
which it wakened in our forefathers. But for one rooted error of
French policy, the future of the English-speaking races in America
would have been more than endangered.

Under the rule of Frontenac occurred the first serious collision of
the rival powers, and the opening of the grand scheme of military
occupation by which France strove to envelop and hold in check the
industrial populations of the English colonies. It was he who made
that scheme possible.

In "The Old Regime in Canada," I tried to show from what inherent
causes this wilderness empire of the Great Monarch fell at last before
a foe, superior indeed in numbers, but lacking all the forces that
belong to a system of civil and military centralization. The present
volume will show how valiantly, and for a time how successfully, New
France battled against a fate which her own organic fault made
inevitable. Her history is a great and significant drama, enacted
among untamed forests, with a distant gleam of courtly splendors and
the regal pomp of Versailles.

The authorities on which the book rests are drawn chiefly from the
manuscript collections of the French government in the Archives
Nationales, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and, above all, the vast
repositories of the Archives of the Marine and Colonies. Others are
from Canadian and American sources. I have, besides, availed myself of
the collection of French, English, and Dutch documents published by
the State of New York, under the excellent editorship of Dr.
O'Callaghan, and of the manuscript collections made in France by the
governments of Canada and of Massachusetts. A considerable number of
books, contemporary or nearly so with the events described, also help
to throw light upon them; and these have all been examined. The
citations in the margins represent but a small part of the authorities
consulted.

This mass of material has been studied with extreme care, and peculiar
pains have been taken to secure accuracy of statement. In the preface
of "The Old Regime," I wrote: "Some of the results here reached are of
a character which I regret, since they cannot be agreeable to persons
for whom I have a very cordial regard. The conclusions drawn from the
facts may be matter of opinion: but it will be remembered that the
facts themselves can be overthrown only by overthrowing the evidence
on which they rest, or bringing forward counter-evidence of equal or
greater strength; and neither task will be found an easy one."

The invitation implied in these words has not been accepted. "The Old
Regime" was met by vehement protest in some quarters; but, so far as I
know, none of the statements of fact contained in it have been
attacked by evidence, or even challenged. The lines just quoted are
equally applicable to this volume. Should there be occasion, a
collection of documentary proofs will be published more than
sufficient to make good the positions taken. Meanwhile, it will, I
think, be clear to an impartial reader that the story is told, not in
the interest of any race or nationality, but simply in that of
historical truth.

When, at the age of eighteen, I formed the purpose of writing on
French-American history, I meant at first to limit myself to the great
contest which brought that history to a close. It was by an
afterthought that the plan was extended to cover the whole field, so
that the part of the work, or series of works, first conceived, would,
following the sequence of events, be the last executed. As soon as the
original scheme was formed, I began to prepare for executing it by
examining localities, journeying in forests, visiting Indian tribes,
and collecting materials. I have continued to collect them ever since,
so that the accumulation is now rather formidable; and, if it is to be
used at all, it had better be used at once. Therefore, passing over
for the present an intervening period of less decisive importance, I
propose to take, as the next subject of this series, "Montcalm and the
Fall of New France."

BOSTON, 1 Jan., 1877.




CONTENTS.


CHAPTER I.

1620-1672.

COUNT AND COUNTESS FRONTENAC.

Mademoiselle de Montpensier and Madame de Frontenac.--Orleans.--The
Maréchale de Camp.--Count Frontenac.--Conjugal Disputes.--Early Life
of Frontenac.--His Courtship and Marriage.--Estrangement.--Scenes at
St. Fargeau.--The Lady of Honor dismissed.--Frontenac as a Soldier.--
He is made Governor of New France.--Les Divines.

CHAPTER II.

1672-1675.

FRONTENAC AT QUEBEC.

Arrival.--Bright Prospects.--The Three Estates of New France.--Speech
of the Governor.--His Innovations.--Royal Displeasure.--Signs of
Storm.--Frontenac and the Priests.--His Attempts to civilize the
Indians.--Opposition.--Complaints and Heart-burnings.

CHAPTER III.

1673-1675.

FRONTENAC AND PERROT.

La Salle.--Fort Frontenac.--Perrot.--His Speculations.--His
Tyranny.--The Bush-rangers.--Perrot revolts.--Becomes alarmed.--
Dilemma of Frontenac.--Mediation of Fénelon.--Perrot in
Prison.--Excitement of the Sulpitians.--Indignation of Fénelon.--
Passion of Frontenac.--Perrot on Trial.--Strange Scenes.--Appeal to
the King.--Answers of Louis XIV. And Colbert.--Fénelon rebuked.

CHAPTER IV.

1675-1682.

FRONTENAC AND DUCHESNEAU.

Frontenac receives a Colleague.--He opposes the Clergy.--Disputes in
the Council.--Royal Intervention.--Frontenac rebuked.--Fresh
Outbreaks.--Charges and Countercharges.--The Dispute grows hot.--
Duchesneau condemned and Frontenac warned.--The Quarrel
continues.--The King loses Patience. More Accusations.--Factions and
Feuds.--A Side Quarrel.--The King threatens.--Frontenac denounces the
Priests.--The Governor and the Intendant recalled.--Qualities of
Frontenac.

CHAPTER V.

1682-1684.

LE FEBVRE DE LA BARRE.

His Arrival at Quebec.--The Great Fire.--A Coming Storm.--Iroquois
Policy.--The Danger imminent.--Indian Allies of France.--Frontenac and
the Iroquois.--Boasts of La Barre.--His Past Life.--His
Speculations.--He takes Alarm.--His Dealings with the Iroquois.--His
Illegal Trade.--His Colleague denounces him.--Fruits of his
Schemes.--His Anger and his Fears.

CHAPTER VI.

1684.

LA BARRE AND THE IROQUOIS.

Dongan.--New York and its Indian Neighbors.--The Rival Governors.--
Dongan and the Iroquois.--Mission to Onondaga.--An Iroquois
Politician.--Warnings of Lamberville.--Iroquois Boldness.--La Barre
takes the Field.--His Motives.--The March.--Pestilence.--Council at La
Famine.--The Iroquois defiant.--Humiliation of La Barre.--The Indian
Allies.--Their Rage and Disappointment.--Recall of La Barre.

CHAPTER VII.

1685-1687.

DENONVILLE AND DONGAN.

Troubles of the New Governor.--His Character.--English Rivalry.--
Intrigues of Dongan.--English Claims.--A Diplomatic Duel.--Overt
Acts.--Anger of Denonville.--James II. checks Dongan.--Denonville
emboldened.--Strife in the North.--Hudson's Bay.--Attempted
Pacification.--Artifice of Denonville.--He prepares for War.

CHAPTER VIII.

1687.

DENONVILLE AND THE SENECAS.

Treachery of Denonville.--Iroquois Generosity.--The Invading
Army.--The Western Allies.--Plunder of English Traders.--Arrival of
the Allies.--Scene at the French Camp.--March of Denonville.--
Ambuscade.--Battle.--Victory.--The Seneca Babylon.--Imperfect Success.

CHAPTER IX.

1687-1689.

THE IROQCOIS INVASION.

Altercations.--Attitude of Dongan.--Martial Preparation.--Perplexity
of Denonville.--Angry Correspondence.--Recall of Dongan.--Sir Edmund
Andros.--Humiliation of Denonville.--Distress of Canada.--Appeals for
Help.--Iroquois Diplomacy.--A Huron Macchiavel.--The Catastrophe.--
Ferocity of the Victors.--War with England.--Recall of Denonville.

CHAPTER X.

1689, 1690.

RETURN OF FRONTENAC.

Versailles.--Frontenac and the King.--Frontenac sails for Quebec.--
Projected Conquest of New York.--Designs of the King.--Failure.--
Energy of Frontenac.--Fort Frontenac.--Panic.--Negotiations.--The
Iroquois in Council.--Chevalier d'Aux.--Taunts of the Indian
Allies.--Boldness of Frontenac.--An Iroquois Defeat.--Cruel
Policy.--The Stroke parried.

CHAPTER XI.

1690.

THE THREE WAR-PARTIES.

Measures of Frontenac.--Expedition against Schenectady.--The
March.--The Dutch Village.--The Surprise.--The Massacre.--Prisoners
spared.--Retreat.--The English and their Iroquois Friends.--The
Abenaki War.--Revolution at Boston.--Capture of Pemaquid.--Capture of
Salmon Falls.--Capture of Fort Loyal.--Frontenac and his
Prisoner.--The Canadians encouraged.

CHAPTER XII.

1690.

MASSACHUSETTS ATTACKS QUEBEC.

English Schemes.--Capture of Port Royal.--Acadia reduced.--Conduct of
Phips.--His History and Character.--Boston in Arms.--A Puritan
Crusade.--The March from Albany.--Frontenac and the Council.--
Frontenac at Montreal.--His War Dance.--An Abortive Expedition.--An
English Raid.--Frontenac at Quebec.--Defences of the Town.--The Enemy
arrives.

CHAPTER XIII.

1690.

DEFENCE OF QUEBEC.

Phips on the St. Lawrence.--Phips at Quebec.--A Flag of Truce.--Scene
at the Chateau.--The Summons and the Answer.--Plan of Attack.--Landing
of the English.--The Cannonade.--The Ships repulsed.--The Land
Attack.--Retreat of Phips.--Condition of Quebec.--Rejoicings of the
French.--Distress at Boston.

CHAPTER XIV.

1690-1694.

THE SCOURGE OF CANADA.

Iroquois Inroads.--Death of Bienville.--English Attack.--A Desperate
Fight.--Miseries of the Colony.--Alarms.--A Winter Expedition.--La
Chesnaye burned.--The Heroine of Verehères.--Mission Indians.--The
Mohawk Expedition.--Retreat and Pursuit.--Relief arrives.--Frontenac
Triumphant.

CHAPTER XV.

1691-1695.

AN INTERLUDE.

Appeal of Frontenac.--His Opponents.--His Services.--Rivalry and
Strife.--Bishop Saint-Vallier.--Society at the Chateau.--Private
Theatricals.--Alarm of the Clergy.--Tartuffe.--A Singular
Bargain.--Mareuil and the Bishop.--Mareuil on Trial.--Zeal of
Saint-Vallier.--Scandals at Montreal.--Appeal to the King.--The Strife
composed.--Libel against Frontenac.

CHAPTER XVI.

1690-1694.

THE WAR IN ACADIA.

State of that Colony.--The Abenakis.--Acadia and New England.--
Pirates.--Baron de Saint-Castin.--Pentegoet.--The English
Frontier.--The French and the Abenakis.--Plan of the War.--Capture of
York.--Villebon.--Grand War-party.--Attack of Wells.--Pemaquid
rebuilt.--John Nelson.--A Broken Treaty.--Villieu and Thury.--Another
War-party.--Massacre at Oyster River.

CHAPTER XVII.

1690-1697.

NEW FRANCE AND NEW ENGLAND.

The Frontier of New England.--Border Warfare.--Motives of the
French.--Needless Barbarity.--Who were answerable?--Father Thury.--
The Abenakis waver.--Treachery at Pemaquid.--Capture of Pemaquid.--
Projected Attack on Boston.--Disappointment.--Miseries of the
Frontier.--A Captive Amazon.

CHAPTER XVIII.

1693-1697.

FRENCH AND ENGLISH RIVALRY.

Le Moyne d'Iberville.--His Exploits in Newfoundland.--In Hudson's
Bay.--The Great Prize.--The Competitors.--Fatal Policy of the
King.--The Iroquois Question.--Negotiation.--Firmness of
Frontenac.--English Intervention.--War renewed.--State of the
West.--Indian Diplomacy.--Cruel Measures.--A Perilous Crisis.--
Audacity of Frontenac.

CHAPTER XIX.

1696-1698.

FRONTENAC ATTACKS THE ONONDAGAS.

March of Frontenac.--Flight of the Enemy.--An Iroquois Stoic.--Relief
for the Onondagas.--Boasts of Frontenac.--His Complaints.--His
Enemies.--Parties in Canada.--Views of Frontenac and the
King.--Frontenac prevails.--Peace of Ryswick.--Frontenac and
Bellomont.--Schuyler at Quebec.--Festivities.--A Last Defiance.

CHAPTER XX.

1698.

DEATH OF FEONTENAC.

His Last Hours.--His Will.--His Funeral.--His Eulogist and his
Critic.--His Disputes with the Clergy.--His Character.

CHAPTER XXI.

1699-1701.

CONCLUSION.

The New Governor.--Attitude of the Iroquois.--Negotiations.--Embassy
to Onondaga.--Peace.--The Iroquois and the Allies.--Difficulties.--
Death of the Great Huron.--Funeral Rites.--The Grand Council.--The
Work of Frontenac finished.--Results.

APPENDIX




[Illustration: Map of Canada and Adjacent Countries towards the Close
of the 17th century.]




CHAPTER I.

1620-1672.

COUNT AND COUNTESS FRONTENAC.

MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER AND MADAME DE FRONTENAC.--ORLEANS.--THE
MARÉCHALE DE CAMP.--COUNT FRONTENAC.--CONJUGAL DISPUTES.--EARLY LIFE
OF FRONTENAC.--HIS COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.--ESTRANGEMENT.--SCENES AT
ST. FARGEAU.--THE LADY OF HONOR DISMISSED.--FRONTENAC AS A
SOLDIER.--HE IS MADE GOVERNOR OF NEW FRANCE.--LES DIVINES.


At Versailles there is the portrait of a lady, beautiful and young.
She is painted as Minerva, a plumed helmet on her head, and a shield
on her arm. In a corner of the canvas is written _Anne de La
Grange-Trianon, Comtesse de Frontenac_. This blooming goddess was the
wife of the future governor of Canada.

Madame de Frontenac, at the age of about twenty, was a favorite
companion of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the grand-daughter of Henry
IV. and daughter of the weak and dastardly Gaston, Duke of Orleans.
Nothing in French annals has found more readers than the story of the
exploit of this spirited princess at Orleans during the civil war of
the Fronde. Her cousin Condé, chief of the revolt, had found favor in
her eyes; and she had espoused his cause against her cousin, the king.
The royal army threatened Orleans. The duke, her father, dared not
leave Paris; but he consented that his daughter should go in his place
to hold the city for Condé and the Fronde.

The princess entered her carriage and set out on her errand, attended
by a small escort. With her were three young married ladies, the
Marquise de Bréauté, the Comtesse de Fiesque, and the Comtesse de
Frontenac. In two days they reached Orleans. The civic authorities
were afraid to declare against the king, and hesitated to open the
gates to the daughter of their duke, who, standing in the moat with
her three companions, tried persuasion and threats in vain. The
prospect was not encouraging, when a crowd of boatmen came up from the
river and offered the princess their services. "I accepted them
gladly," she writes, "and said a thousand fine things, such as one
must say to that sort of people to make them do what one wishes." She
gave them money as well as fair words, and begged them to burst open
one of the gates. They fell at once to the work; while the guards and
officials looked down from the walls, neither aiding nor resisting
them. "To animate the boatmen by my presence," she continues, "I
mounted a hillock near by. I did not look to see which way I went, but
clambered up like a cat, clutching brambles and thorns, and jumping
over hedges without hurting myself. Madame de Bréauté, who is the most
cowardly creature in the world, began to cry out against me and
everybody who followed me; in fact, I do not know if she did not swear
in her excitement, which amused me very much." At length, a hole was
knocked in the gate; and a gentleman of her train, who had directed
the attack, beckoned her to come on. "As it was very muddy, a man took
me and carried me forward, and thrust me in at this hole, where my
head was no sooner through than the drums beat to salute me. I gave my
hand to the captain of the guard. The shouts redoubled. Two men took
me and put me in a wooden chair. I do not know whether I was seated in
it or on their arms, for I was beside myself with joy. Everybody was
kissing my hands, and I almost died with laughing to see myself in
such an odd position." There was no resisting the enthusiasm of the
people and the soldiers. Orleans was won for the Fronde. [Footnote:
_Memoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier_, I. 358-363 (ed. 1859).]

The young Countesses of Frontenac and Fiesque had constantly followed
her, and climbed after her through the hole in the gate. Her father
wrote to compliment them on their prowess, and addressed his letter _à
Mesdames les Comtesses, Maréchales de Camp dans l'armee de ma fille
contre le Mazarin_. Officers and soldiers took part in the pleasantry;
and, as Madame de Frontenac passed on horseback before the troops,
they saluted her with the honors paid to a brigadier.

When the king, or Cardinal Mazarin who controlled him, had triumphed
over the revolting princes, Mademoiselle de Montpensier paid the
penalty of her exploit by a temporary banishment from the court. She
roamed from place to place, with a little court of her own, of which
Madame de Frontenac was a conspicuous member. During the war, Count
Frontenac had been dangerously ill of a fever in Paris; and his wife
had been absent for a time, attending him. She soon rejoined the
princess, who was at her chateau of St. Fargeau, three days' journey
from Paris, when an incident occurred which placed the married life of
her fair companion in an unexpected light. "The Duchesse de Sully came
to see me, and brought with her M. d'Herbault and M. de Frontenac.
Frontenac had stopped here once before, but it was only for a week,
when he still had the fever, and took great care of himself like a man
who had been at the door of death. This time he was in high health.
His arrival had not been expected, and his wife was so much surprised
that everybody observed it, especially as the surprise seemed to be
not at all a pleasant one. Instead of going to talk with her husband,
she went off and hid herself, crying and screaming because he had said
that he would like to have her company that evening. I was very much
astonished, especially as I had never before perceived her aversion to
him. The elder Comtesse de Fiesque remonstrated with her; but she only
cried the more. Madame de Fiesque then brought books to show her her
duty as a wife; but it did no good, and at last she got into such a
state that we sent for the curé with holy water to exorcise her."
[Footnote: _Memoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier_, II. 265. The
curé's holy water, or his exhortations, were at last successful.]

Count Frontenac came of an ancient and noble race, said to have been
of Basque origin. His father held a high post in the household of
Louis XIII., who became the child's god-father, and gave him his own
name. At the age of fifteen, the young Louis showed an incontrollable
passion for the life of a soldier. He was sent to the seat of war in
Holland, to serve under the Prince of Orange. At the age of nineteen,
he was a volunteer at the siege of Hesdin; in the next year, he was at
Arras, where he distinguished himself during a sortie of the garrison;
in the next, he took part in the siege of Aire; and, in the next, in
those of Callioure and Perpignan. At the age of twenty-three, he was
made colonel of the regiment of Normandy, which he commanded in
repeated battles and sieges of the Italian campaign. He was several
times wounded, and in 1646 he had an arm broken at the siege of
Orbitello. In the same year, when twenty-six years old, he was raised
to the rank of _marechal de camp_., equivalent to that of
brigadier-general. A year or two later, we find him at Paris, at the
house of his father, on the Quai des Celestins. [Footnote: Pinard,
_Chronologie Historique-militaire_, VI; _Table de la Gazette de
France_; Jul, _Dictionnaire Critique, Biographique, et d'Histoire_,
art. "Frontenac;" Goyer, _Oraison Funebre du Comte de Frontenac_.]

In the same neighborhood lived La Grange-Trianon, Sieur de Neuville, a
widower of fifty, with one child, a daughter of sixteen, whom he had
placed in the charge of his relative, Madame de Bouthillier. Frontenac
fell in love with her. Madame de Bouthillier opposed the match, and
told La Grange that he might do better for his daughter than to marry
her to a man who, say what he might, had but twenty thousand francs a
year. La Grange was weak and vacillating: sometimes he listened to his
prudent kinswoman, and sometimes to the eager suitor; treated him as a
son-in-law, carried love messages from him to his daughter, and ended
by refusing him her hand, and ordering her to renounce him on pain of
being immured in a convent. Neither Frontenac nor his mistress was of
a pliant temper. In the neighborhood was the little church of St.
Pierre aux Boeufs, which had the privilege of uniting couples without
the consent of their parents; and here, on a Wednesday in October,
1648, the lovers were married in presence of a number of Frontenac's
relatives. La Grange was furious at the discovery; but his anger soon
cooled, and complete reconciliation followed. [Footnote: _Historiettes
de Tallemant des Réaux_, IX. 214 (ed. Monmerqué); Jal, _Dictionnaire
Critique_, etc.]

The happiness of the newly wedded pair was short. Love soon changed to
aversion, at least on the part of the bride. She was not of a tender
nature; her temper was imperious, and she had a restless craving for
excitement. Frontenac, on his part, was the most wayward and
headstrong of men. She bore him a son; but maternal cares were not to
her liking. The infant, François Louis, was placed in the keeping of a
nurse at the village of Clion; and his young mother left her husband,
to follow the fortunes of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who for a time
pronounced her charming, praised her wit and beauty, and made her one
of her ladies of honor. Very curious and amusing are some of the
incidents recounted by the princess, in which Madame de Frontenac bore
part; but what is more to our purpose are the sketches traced here and
there by the same sharp pen, in which one may discern the traits of
the destined saviour of New France. Thus, in the following, we see him
at St. Fargeau in the same attitude in which we shall often see him at
Quebec.

The princess and the duke her father had a dispute touching her
property. Frontenac had lately been at Blois, where the duke had
possessed him with his own views of the questions at issue.
Accordingly, on arriving at St. Fargeau, he seemed disposed to assume
the character of mediator. "He wanted," says the princess, "to discuss
my affairs with me: I listened to his preaching, and he also spoke
about these matters to Préfontaine (_her man of business_). I returned
to the house after our promenade, and we went to dance in the great
hall. While we were dancing, I saw Préfontaine walking at the farther
end with Frontenac, who was talking and gesticulating. This continued
for a long time. Madame de Sully noticed it also, and seemed disturbed
by it, as I was myself. I said, 'Have we not danced enough?' Madame de
Sully assented, and we went out. I called Préfontaine, and asked him,
'What was Frontenac saying to you?' He answered: 'He was scolding me.
I never saw such an impertinent man in my life.' I went to my room,
and Madame de Sully and Madame de Fiesque followed. Madame de Sully
said to Préfontaine: 'I was very much disturbed to see you talking
with so much warmth to Monsieur de Frontenac; for he came here in such
ill-humor that I was afraid he would quarrel with you. Yesterday, when
we were in the carriage, he was ready to eat us.' The Comtesse de
Fiesque said, 'This morning he came to see my mother-in-law, and
scolded at her.' Préfontaine answered: 'He wanted to throttle me. I
never saw a man so crazy and absurd.' We all four began to pity poor
Madame de Frontenac for having such a husband, and to think her right
in not wanting to go with him." [Footnote: _Mémoires de Mademoiselle
de Montpensier_, II. 267.] Frontenac owned the estate of Isle Savary,
on the Indre, not far from Blois; and here, soon after the above
scene, the princess made him a visit. "It is a pretty enough place,"
she says, "for a man like him. The house is well furnished, and he
gave me excellent entertainment. He showed me all the plans he had for
improving it, and making gardens, fountains, and ponds. It would need
the riches of a superintendent of finance to execute his schemes, and
how anybody else should venture to think of them I cannot comprehend."

"While Frontenac was at St. Fargeau," she continues, "he kept open
table, and many of my people went to dine with him; for he affected to
hold court, and acted as if everybody owed duty to him. The
conversation was always about my affair with his Royal Highness (_her
father_), whose conduct towards me was always praised, while mine was
blamed. Frontenac spoke ill of Préfontaine, and, in fine, said every
thing he could to displease me and stir up my own people against me.
He praised every thing that belonged to himself, and never came to sup
or dine with me without speaking of some _ragoút_ or some new
sweetmeat which had been served up on his table, ascribing it all to
the excellence of the officers of his kitchen. The very meat that he
ate, according to him, had a different taste on his board than on any
other. As for his silver plate, it was always of good workmanship; and
his dress was always of patterns invented by himself. When he had new
clothes, he paraded them like a child. One day he brought me some to
look at, and left them on my dressing-table. We were then at Chambord.
His Royal Highness came into the room, and must have thought it odd to
see breeches and doublets in such a place. Préfontaine and I laughed
about it a great deal. Frontenac took everybody who came to St.
Fargeau to see his stables; and all who wished to gain his good graces
were obliged to admire his horses, which were very indifferent. In
short, this is his way in every thing." [Footnote: _Mémoires de
Mademoiselle de Montpensier_, II. 279; III. 10.]

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