[1] Despite d'Argenson's distinguished place among the worthies of his time, the literature relating to him is singularly meagre. Apart from his own works, it consists entirely of—

(a) Brief introductions to the two editions of his Journal.

(b) A few literary notices of the Journal by M. Scherer ("Études," III.), and Sainte Beuve ("Causeries du lundi," XII. and XIV.); and an admirable review by M. Aubertin in the "Esprit Public."

(c) Incidental notices in the more general works which deal with d'Argenson's ministry. The most important are those by M. le duc de Broglie and M. Zevort.

[2] Fontenelle, "Éloge de Marc René d'Argenson," Oeuvres (1818), I. p. 311.

[3] In a letter dated from Amiens, June 7, 1646. "Lettres de Mazarin" Cheruel, Imprimerie Nationale, 1889.

[4] "Je suis bien ayse de la constance des Catalans. J'attribue en partie cela à la prudence et à l'adresse avec laquelle vous les sçavez gouverner" (Letter of July 16, 1643). In another of September 4th, in the same year, Mazarin speaks to him of "la reconnaissance que vos services méritent." Mazarin was not the first great minister whose appreciation d'Argenson won. There exists a letter of Richelieu, such as is only written to a man upon whose regard one can lean and upon whose strength one can rely. (Tarascon, July 30, 1632.) (Alfred Barbier, "Notice Biographique sur René de Voyer d'Argenson." Poitiers, 1885. [Bibliothèque Nationale.])

[5] He was taken prisoner at Milan, and ransomed for ten thousand crowns. Alfred Barbier, "Notice Biographique." Barbier's date is 1639.

[6] See "Biographie Universelle," V. 44, and "Notice Biographique" above.

[7] "Biographie Universelle," ibid.

[8] His name, by decree of the Senate, was inscribed in the Book of Gold, and he was authorised to add to his escutcheon the arms of Venice. Henceforth the arms of d'Argenson bear the lion of St. Mark. See Daru, "Histoire de Venise," XXXIII., p. 16, and Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS. 4161 "Généalogie de M. le Marquis d'Argenson."

[9] D'Argenson, Journal (Rathery), I. p. 2.

[10] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 2. "Il paraissait se complaire à être maltraité."

[11] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 2.

[12] M. Hippolyte de Laporte, "Biographie Universelle," V. 44.

[13] D'Argenson himself said of him: "Je compte que son petit-fils ne démérite pas, ayant tourné son zèle à la dévotion à l'état et à sa chère patrie" (Journal, Rathery, I. p. 3, note).

[14] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 8, cf. St. Simon, "Mémoires," XIV. p. 316.

[15] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 7, cf. St. Simon, XIV. p. 315.

[16] Ibid, I. p. 6.

[17] Fontenelle, "Éloge de Marc René d'Argenson," Oeuvres, I. p. 314. "L'âme, toujours agissante et presque inconnue, de ce grand corps."

[18] Fontenelle, "Éloge," I. p. 315.

[19] St. Simon, VII. p. 71; and Fontenelle, ibid.

[20] St. Simon, VII. p. 143, cf. Marais, "Journal," I. p. 287.

[21] "Du 21 mai, 1717, 10 heures du matin. François Mario Arouet, âge de vingt-deux ans, ayant aucune profession." Procés-verbal at the Bastille, see Voltaire, Édition Garnier, I. p. 299; and Buvat, "Journal," I. p. 514.

[22] Buvat, I. p. 517.

[23] Oeuvres, I. p. 315.

[24] St. Simon, XIV. p. 368.

[25] Fontenelle, I. p. 318.

[26] St. Simon, XIV. p. 369.

[27] Ibid., XIV. p. 368.

[28] Ibid., XIV. p. 315.

[29] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 7.

[30] St. Simon, XVII. p. 102; XVI. p. 369; cf. Marais, I. p. 272.

[31] He was the real creator of the administration, which St. Simon says he managed "d'une manière transcendante," XIV. 314.

[32] "Une figure effrayante qui retraçoit celle des trois juges des enfers" (St. Simon, XIV. p. 315).

[33] "Au milieu des fonctions pénibles, l'humanité trouvoit aisément grâce devant lui" (St. Simon, ibid.).

[34] Fontenelle, Oeuvres, I. pp. 314-15.

[35] Martin, "Histoire de France," XV. p. 40: St. Simon, XIV. pp. 316, 317.

[36] St. Simon, XVI. p. 48. "Quand tout fut posé et rassis, le garde des sceaux demeura quelques minutes dans sa chaire, immobile, regardant au dessous, et ce feu d'esprit qui lui sortoit des yeux sembloit percer toutes les poitrines." It is one of St. Simon's finest episodes.

[37] "Le roi veut être obéi, et obéi sur-le-champ" (St. Simon, XVI p. 51).

[38] Fontenelle, "Éloge," I. p. 316.

[39] Ibid., I. p. 317.

[40] See Buvat, I. p. 312; cf. I. p. 318, where the Regent speaks of him as "un tartufe et un insolent."

[41] Martin, "Histoire de France," XV. pp. 61, 62.

[42] Marais, "Journal," I. p. 283.

[43] Ibid., II. p. 148.

[44] It was drawn more briefly by the rude daring of the "esprit gaulois." Among the caricatures which accompanied his fall, we find—

"Sixty thousand livres reward!

Lost, between the Rue St. Antoine and the Palais Royal or the Palais des Tuileries an old black dog with a red collar" (the cordon rouge of the order of St. Louis), "who was to be seen about the neighbourhood. Anyone returning the same will receive the above reward. Apply the Abbey of La Madeleine de Traisnel, in the Faubourg St. Antoine" (Buvat, II. p. 102: cf. Marais, I. p. 320).

[45] St. Simon, XVII. p. 102.

[46] "Le ministère gêné et passager:" Voltaire, "Siècle de Louis XIV.," Édit. Garnier, XIV. p. 503.

[47] Marais, II. p. 128.

[48] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 23.

[49] It is a little perplexing to find this incident related under date 1718. It is clear from the tone of the passage that d'Argenson is little more than a boy, without ordinary official experience, and by no means a man of twenty four, on the eve of receiving an Intendancy. Suspicions of the date are confirmed by the fact that for only twenty-seven days of the year 1718 was his father Chief of Police at all. The incident probably occurred some time between 1712, when he appears to have left school, and 1716, when his public career began. A mistake of the kind might naturally arise, as the earlier part of the Journal was not written until long after the events recorded—probably about 1730.

[50] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 18.

[51] His mother's ideas in this matter seem to have followed the liberality of the prevailing fashion. In an unsigned letter to Madame d'Argenson's sister, the Marquise de Balleroy, we come across the following passage:

"Il vient d'y avoir un grand changement entre plusieurs nobles dames et messieurs, tant de la ville que de la cour.... Madame d'Argenson, vacante par la mort du chevalier d'Oppède, a choisi pour consolation le marquis d'Alleurs, jeune homme d'une discrétion au-dessus de son âge" (December 27, 1717). As we have seen, her husband did not go comfortless. See p.16.

[52] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 15.

[53] A number of d'Argenson's early drawings are preserved in the Library of the Arsenal (MS. 6164). They are distinguished chiefly by care of execution, and a natural loyalty to the ancestral domain. They consist principally of views of the family seats in Touraine.

[54] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 16.

[55] Ibid., I. p. 17.

[56] Émond, "Histoire du Collège Louis-le-Grand."

[57] "Des gens du monde à bonnes fortunes" (Journal, Rathery, I. p. 17).

[58] Ibid., I. p. 17.

[59] Ibid., I. p. 17. The metaphor is of d'Argenson's compounding.

[60] The man who is known to history for having reviled the young Voltaire, now one of d'Argenson's schoolfellows, as the future coryphæus of deism in France.

[61] We are indebted to St. Simon for this explanation of the young d'Argensons' escape. See "Mémoires," XIII. pp. 213, 214. The incident aptly illustrates the mysterious power which the Chief of Police exercised.

[62] "Je me trouvais trop sot de n'en avoir profité, et j'en ai eu depuis de longs repentirs" (Journal, Rathery, I. p. 19).

[63] "L'épopée royale" (Arsène Houssaye, "La Régence," p. 4).

[64] See Martin, "Histoire de France," XIV. pp. 366-617.

[65] See p. 15; St. Simon's "Mémoires," VII. p. 71; and Fontenelle, I. p. 315.

[66] With this, the most famous society of the time, d'Argenson was only remotely connected. He tells us ["Loisirs d'un Ministre," I. p. 187 (1785)] that he had met and talked with Chaulieu occasionally at the Duchesse de Maine's, whither the "Anacreon of the Temple" was attracted by his passion for the famous Mdlle. de Launay.

[67] E.g., Journal (Rathery), I. p. 186.

[68] Ibid., I. p. 6, cf. p. 16.

[69] See p. 17., cf. Journal (Rathery), I. p. 42.

[70] See p. 16., cf. St. Simon, XIV. p. 315.

[71] We are continually sensible of the sulphurous atmosphere through which Marc René d'Argenson is seen in contemporary memoirs.

[72] E.g., one which crops up incidentally in a letter of the Marquis de Balleroy, July 26, 1722. "Effectivement tout le monde dit qu'il fait son intendance à merveille, et mieux que bien des gens qui ont l'esprit plus brillant que lui" (Barthélemy, II. p. 270). Cf. also a letter of St. Pierre to d'Argenson, quoted p. 41.

[73] The father of the famous Controller-General.

[74] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 125.

[75] The edition here cited is that of Count Édouard de Barthélemy, lately published in two volumes. The edition consists of a series of extracts from certain of the letters, and represents only a fraction of the whole correspondence, which occupies eight volumes. (Bibliothèque Mazarine, MS. 2341).

[76] See Lacroix, "xviii. Siècle—Le Libraire."

[77] The great "Constitution Unigenitus," which served as a rallying cry for the rival factions for half a century.

[78] Martin, "Histoire de France," XV. p. 109.

[79] St. Simon speaks of Marc René d'Argenson's efforts to break the weight of the religious persecution; and the modest expression of gratitude which closes Fontenelle's "Éloge" was evoked by the protection d'Argenson had given him in the storm which gathered round the "Histoire des Oracles."

[80] Marais, "Journal," I. p. 287. "A la vérité, il disait, et c'est à moi- même qu'il l'a dit, que les jésuites étaient des fripons aussi, et qu'il avait la preuve de l'un et de l'autre."

[81] Barthélemy, I. p. 141.

[82] Martin, "Histoire de France, XV. p. 40.

[83] Barthélemy, I. p. 208.

[84] Martin, "Histoire de France," XV. p. 65.

[85] Cf. Aubertin, "L'esprit public," chap. iii.

[86] Cf. Journal (Rathery), I. 123.

[87] Journal (Rathery), I. 23.

[88] See p. 18.

[89] See pp. 71-3.

[90] November 12, 1719. Barthélemy, II. p. 83.

[91] Martin, "Histoire de France," XV. 55.

[92] Ibid., XV. p. 56.

[93] Buvat, "Journal," II. p. 35.

[94] D'Argenson became Master of Requests on his marriage with Mademoiselle Méliand, who brought him the position as part of her dowry. See Journal (Rathery), IV. p. 29.

[95] Barthélemy, II. p. 130.

[96] St. Simon, "Mémoires," XVI. p. 435. "On n'avait jamais oui parler d'un conseiller d'état et intendant de Hainaut de vingt-quatre ans; ni d'un lieutenant de police encore plus jeune." D'Argenson, as a matter of fact, was twenty-six.

[97] D'Argenson's first notice of his Intendancy is dated April (Journal, Rathery, I. p. 35). We have however a letter written by him to Madame de Balleroy from Valenciennes on March 22nd. He says so little as to suggest that he had just arrived, and had little pleasant to say. On April 7th he writes the charming letter, part of which is quoted below.

[98] See Martin, "Histoire de France," XV. p. 64. In a witty satire upon the System which appeared upon the walls at this period, we read: "Jean Law, médecin empirique, directeur des hôpitaux; d'Argenson, chirugeon-major" (Arsène Houssaye, "La Régence ").

[99] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 43, and note. See also Buvat, II. p. 195.

[100] The translation here is from d'Argenson's handwriting (Bibliothèque Mazarine, MS. 2341, V. fol. 130). The passage is rendered by Barthélemy (II. p. 153): "Un très joli lansquenet, un bon picquet, quadrille et même brélan." The manuscript has: "Nous avons un très joli lansquenet, ombre, picquet, cela ne manque en province, quadrille et memo brélan." It is without stops, but otherwise there is no difficulty.

[101] Letters are addressed to her at her château "near Bayeux."

[102] See Aubertin, "L'esprit public," chap. iv.

[103] The Chevalier's letters are sufficiently amusing, but not sufficiently frequent. He has sometimes to apologise for remissness on the old ground of lack of news.

[104] Barthélemy, I. p. 257.

[105] "La proposition n'est peut-être pas encore bien mesurée" (Barthélemy, I. p. 256). The word is more probably "proportion."

[106] Barthélemy, II. p. 475.

[107] Ibid., II. p. 475.

[108] For a sketch of the Caumartin character, see Aubertin, "L'esprit public," chap. iv.

[109] For a slight reflection of the feeling with regard to him, see Marais, "Mémoires," I. p. 308.

[110] Barthélemy, I. pp. 110, 111.

[111] Louis XIV. was dead, and his ministers were deserted.

[112] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 66.

[113] Édouard Goumy, "L'Abbé de St. Pierre," p. 50.

[114] D'Argenson, Journal (Édition Jannet), IV. p. 341.

[115] A remark of Marais (" Mémoires," III. p. 74) in expressing surprise at d'Argenson's resignation: "On dit que c'est volontairement, et qu'il aime mieux se reposer au conseil à trente ans, que de régir cet intendance, plus militaire que de justice et de finance."

[116] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 35.

[117] Ibid., I. 36.

[118] Ibid.

[119] Buvat, "Journal," II. p. 421.

[120] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 45.

[121] Cf. a very significant remark of the Marquis de Balleroy in a letter of July 26, 1722. See note 72.

[122] See p. 33.

[123] Journal (Rathery), IV. p. 30.

[124] Journal (Rathery), IV. pp. 28, 29. Cf. also Caumartin de Boissy's letters of May 12 and 14, 1721. (Barthélemy, II. pp. 328, 329.) See also Marais, II. p. 147.

[125] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 58.

[126] Ibid., I. pp. 55-61.

[127] The word is d'Argenson's, and characteristic of him.

[128] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 57.

[129] Ibid., I. p. 49.

[130] Ibid., I. p. 58.

[131] Count d'Argenson had become chief of police in succession to Machault in the spring of 1720. In June he was involved in his father's disgrace: see p. 34. Shortly afterwards he received the Intendancy of Touraine, and only returned to Paris in the early part of 1722, when he resumed the direction of the police. In the autumn of 1723, he became chancellor of the Orléans household, and held that position at the Regent's death in December. His dismissal from the police followed a few weeks afterwards: see below (Marais, "Journal," III. p. 73). Before the end of January 1724, through the influence of the young Duke of Orléans, he was provided with a seat at the Council of State.

[132] Mentioned by d'Argenson in the course of the letter of January 4 quoted below. Cf. Marais, "Journal," III. p. 77, and Barbier.

[133] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 59.

[134] Marais, "Journal," III. p. 73.

[135] Journal (Rathery), I. p. 59.

[136] Ibid., I. p. 63

[137] Ibid., I. p. 60.

[138] Ibid., I. pp. 64-67

[139] Ibid., I. p. 44.

[140] Ibid., I. pp. 67-70

[141] Ibid., I. p. 53.

[142] Ibid., I. p. 54.

[143] "L'esprit public au XVIII. siècle," p. 197. See also par. p. 200.

[144] As d'Argenson himself admits ("Essais," II. pp. 84,85).

[145] "Essais dans le goût de ceux de Montagne," (Montaigne) II. p. 84 (1785).

[146] Ibid., II. p. 86.

[147] These papers, after a chequered career, fell into the hands of the Abbé d'Olivet, Voltaire's correspondent, who published a selection of them as "Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de Louis XIV., par le feu M. l'Abbé de Choisy, de l'Académie Française" ("Essais," II. p. 86).

[148] The essay in which he refers to it was written some years after the suppression of the Entresol.