Chapter CXXXII: Letter I

To-day, Monday, November the 17th, 1664, M. Fouquet was brought a second time before the chancellor. He seated himself without ceremony upon the sellette,[264] as he had done the first time. The chancellor began by bidding him hold up his hand. He replied, that he had already assigned the reasons which prevented him from taking the oath. The chancellor then made a long speech to prove the legal authority of the court, that it had been established by the king, and that the warrants had been confirmed by the parliament.

[264] Stool on which a prisoner sits.

M. Fouquet replied, that things were often done under the name of legal authority which were found upon reflection to be unjust.

The chancellor interrupted him: “What! do you mean to say that the king abuses his power?” M. Fouquet replied, “It is you, sir, who say it, not I; this was not my idea, and, in my present situation, I can not but wonder at your wishing to implicate me still further with his majesty; but, sir, you yourself well know that we may be mistaken. When you sign a sentence, you believe it just, yet the next day you annul that sentence; thus you see it is possible to change our opinion.”

“But,” said the chancellor, “though you will not acknowledge the power of the court, you answer and put interrogatories, and you are now upon the sellette.” “It is true, I am so,” he replied, “but it is not voluntarily; I am brought here against my will; it is a power I must obey, and a mortification which God has inflicted upon me, and which I receive from his hands; after the services I have rendered, and the offices I have had the honor to bear, I might have been spared this humiliation.”

The chancellor then continued the examination respecting the pension of the gabelles, to which the replies of M. Fouquet were extremely satisfactory. The examination will proceed, and I shall send you a faithful account of it; I am anxious to know whether my letters come safely to your hands.

Your sister, who is with our ladies at the Faubourg, has signed; she is now with the community, and seems perfectly satisfied.

Your aunt does not appear at all displeased with her; I did not think it was she who had taken the leap, but some other person. You know, of course, of our defeat at Gigeri,[265] and as those who formed the plan wish to throw the failure upon those who executed it, they intend to bring Gadagne to trial. There are some who will be satisfied with nothing less than his head; but the public is persuaded that he could not have advised otherwise than he did. M. d’Aleth, who excommunicated the subaltern officers of the king, who were for compelling the clergy to sign, is very much talked of here. This will ruin him with your father, while it will bring him into favor with Père Annat.[266]

[265] The first expedition against Algiers.

[266] A jesuit, confessor of Louis XIV.

Adieu! The desire of gossiping has seized me, but I must not yield to it; the narrative style should be concise.