Whether we agree or not with the idea that the character of a man, or of a nation, may be, in a certain measure, gauged from the character of his or their domestic surroundings, certain it is that the theory advanced receives striking demonstration in the styles in decoration and furniture which were originated and prevailed in France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as during the earlier years of the nineteenth. The reign of Louis the Fourteenth, at the work of which we have glanced in the preceding chapter, was one of national reorganisation and empire building; conquests abroad, and the rehabilitation of affairs at home, were the order of the day, and these were accompanied by a spectacular display of pomp and magnificence of which the complete history never has been, and probabiy never will be, written. It was pomp and magnificence in the fullest sense of the words; for, while the eye was delighted with the splendours by which the court and all that appertained to national affairs were surrounded, the delight was ever tinged to a greater or less degree by a sensation of awe and oppression at the magnitude of it all. The spirit of domination and triumph pervaded the whole "setting," and it seemed to be the one particular aim of the artist, as well as of the statesman, to emphasise and perpetuate that theme to the utmost, doing all that was within his power to make it agreeable to the senses. Dumas sums up this phase of the matter admirably in writing of Versailles - that masterpiece of Mansart, Le Brun, and Le Notre - when he says: "Louis the Fourteenth, the creator of etiquette, a system which shut up each individual within bounds beyond which he could not pass, desired that those initiated into the magnificence of his regal life should be struck with such veneration that ever afterwards they could only regard the palace as a temple and the King as a presiding deity." And what a word-picture he paints of the royal palace, in which was materialised, so to express it, the very spirit of the reign. "Versailles," he writes, "like everything really great, is, and will long be, a fair and lovely scene. Though moss should cover its mouldering walls, though its gods of marble, bronze, and lead lie shattered around their broken fountains, though its broad alleys of clipped trees should remain in all the wild luxuriance of nature, though it should become but a heap of ruins, it will always present to the thinker and the poet a great and touching spectacle. Let such look from its circle of ephemeral splendour to the eternal horizon beyond, and it will be long ere thought and fancy sink to rest again. . . Versailles" (at the commencement of the reign of Louis the Fifteenth) "was fair to look upon, when its gay and thoughtless population, restrained by the crowd of soldiers still more gay than themselves, thronged its gilded gates, when carriages lined with velvet and satin, blazoned with armorial bearings, thundered over its pavements at the full speed of their prancing steeds, when every window, blazing with light like those of an enchanted palace, exposed to view the moving throng, radiant with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and bending to the gesture of one man, as bends before the wind a field of golden corn with its flowers of crimson, white, and blue. Yes, Versailles was brilliant indeed when its gates sent forth couriers to all the Powers of the earth, when kings, princes, nobles, generals, learned men, from all parts, of the civilised world, trod its rich carpets and its inlaid floors! But when, for some great ceremony, all its sumptuous furniture was displayed and its sumptuousness doubled by the magic of a thousand lights, even the coldest imagination must have glowed on beholding what human invention and power could do."

With all this, Louis the Fourteenth was far from contemptuous of the lighter pleasures of life; he indulged in them freely, particularly at the commencement of his reign, and let nothing stand in the way of the satisfaction of his desires in that direction. In the palace at Versailles he was, to all intents and purposes, a deity; but in his leisure moments, even Le Grand Monarque deigned to be a man, and, as a relief from the overwhelming splendour of the court, he caused the Trianon to be erected to serve as a place wherein he could take his ease and breathe more freely. But, withal, he simply indulged in his pleasures by way of relaxation from sterner duties, and did not permit them to interfere too seriously with the attainment of the great object he had in view - the aggrandisement of France, and of himself at the same time; it would be difficult to say which came first in his estimation. His ministers and courtiers - had they known them - might well have uttered the Gilbertian words: "Duty, duty must be done; The rule applies to every one. And, painful though the duty be, To shirk the task were fiddle-de-dee!"

They knew that whatever respite they might be permitted to enjoy, must first be earned - that is to say, if they played any part in the manning of the ship of State. Does not the inanimate furniture of the period even convey an impression of all this? The very chairs seem to say: "Here we stand, ready for use. We may, perhaps, overpower you somewhat by our stately dignity, but you may sit upon us when you absolutely require rest from your duties; but remember we must be regarded with respect." That, at all events, is what they say to the writer.

On the decease of Le Roi Soleil in 1715, and the accession of his infant grandson, with the effeminate Philip of Orleans as Regent, with his rouge pots, essences, and cosmetics, what a change came over the scene. Of Philip, history tells us that he was handsome in person, amiable in disposition, and more effeminate than his brother Louis the Fourteenth. His mother, Anne of Austria, who would have been rejoiced to have had a daughter, almost found in this, her favourite son, the attentions, solicitude, and playful manner of a child of twelve years of age. The time which he passed with his mother he employed in admiring her arms, in giving his opinion upon her cosmetics, and receipts for compounding essences; he kissed her hands and eyes in the most endearing manner, and always had some sweetmeats to offer her, or some new style of dress to recommend.