transformed with
impunity into a nobility for ornament;[2137] one falls himself into the
ostentation which is substituted for action. The king has a court which
he is compelled to maintain. So much the worse if it absorbs all his
time, his intellect, his soul, the most valuable portion of his active
forces and the forces of the State. To be the master of a house is
not an easy task, especially when five hundred persons are to be
entertained; one must necessarily pass one's life in public and all the
time being on exhibition. Strictly speaking it is the life of an actor
who is on the stage the entire day. To support this load, and work
besides, required the temperament of Louis XIV, the vigor of his body,
the extraordinary firmness of his nerves, the strength of his digestion,
and the regularity of his habits; his successors who come after him grow
weary or stagger under the same load. But they cannot throw it off; an
incessant, daily performance is inseparable from their position and it
is imposed on them like a heavy, gilded, ceremonial coat. The king is
expected to keep the entire aristocracy busy, consequently to make a
display of himself, to pay back with his own person, at all hours, even
the most private, even on getting out of bed, and even in his bed. In
the morning, at the hour named by himself beforehand,[2138] the head
valet awakens him; five series of persons enter in turn to perform their
duty, and, "although very large, there are days when the waiting-rooms
can hardly contain the crowd of courtiers."--The first admittance is
"l'entree familiere," consisting of the children of France, the princes
and princesses of the blood, and, besides these, the chief physician,
the chief surgeon and other serviceable persons.[2139] Next, comes the
"grande entree;' which comprises the grand-chamberlain, the grand-master
and master of the wardrobe, the first gentlemen of the bedchamber, the
Ducs d'Orleans and de Penthievre, some other highly favored seigniors,
the ladies of honor and in waiting of the queen, Mesdames and other
princesses, without enumerating barbers tailors and various descriptions
of valets. Meanwhile spirits of wine are poured on the king's hands from
a service of plate, and he is then handed the basin of holy water; he
crosses himself and repeats a prayer. Then he gets out of bed before
all these people and puts on his slippers. The grand-chamberlain and the
first gentleman hand him his dressing-gown; h