itle of the edition of 1696 the
words "Cardinal de Richelieu" are inserted in place of the initials "C.
D. R.," but that this is only a printer's error everyone who reads the
work will perceive. Some have thought the three letters stood for Comte
de Riviere, others for Comte de Rochefort, whose 'Memoires' compiled by
Sandras de Courtilz supply these initials. The author of the book was
an Orange writer in the pay of William III, and its object was, he says,
"to unveil the great mystery of iniquity which hid the true origin of
Louis XIV." He goes on to remark that "the knowledge of this fraud,
although comparatively rare outside France, was widely spread within her
borders. The well-known coldness of Louis XIII; the extraordinary birth
of Louis-Dieudonne, so called because he was born in the twenty-third
year of a childless marriage, and several other remarkable circumstances
connected with the birth, all point clearly to a father other than the
prince, who with great effrontery is passed off by his adherents as
such. The famous barricades of Paris, and the organised revolt led by
distinguished men against Louis XIV on his accession to the throne,
proclaimed aloud the king's illegitimacy, so that it rang through the
country; and as the accusation had reason on its side, hardly anyone
doubted its truth."

We give below a short abstract of the narrative, the plot of which is
rather skilfully constructed:--

"Cardinal Richelieu, looking with satisfied pride at the love of Gaston,
Duc d'Orleans, brother of the king, for his niece Parisiatis (Madame
de Combalet), formed the plan of uniting the young couple in marriage.
Gaston taking the suggestion as an insult, struck the cardinal. Pere
Joseph then tried to gain the cardinal's consent and that of his niece
to an attempt to deprive Gaston of the throne, which the childless
marriage of Louis XIII seemed to assure him. A young man, the C. D. R.
of the book, was introduced into Anne of Austria's room, who though a
wife in name had long been a widow in reality. She defended herself but
feebly, and on seeing the cardinal next day said to him, 'Well, you have
had your wicked will; but take good care, sir cardinal, that I may
find above the mercy and goodness which you have tried by many pious
sophistries to convince me is awaiting me. Watch over my soul, I charge
you, for I have yielded!' The queen having given herself up to love for
some time, the joyful news that she would soon b