There was one element of their happiness, one ingredient in their cup of prosperity; that must not be passed over. They had a state-religion, which, though it professed self-denial as the very essence of it, and forbade unlicensed carnal pleasure under the penalty of an eternity of carnal pain, was dear to them as the very pleasantest of their vices. There was a pungency of pleasure indescribably refreshing to a faded appetite, in revelling amid forbidden joys under the very eyes of the hierarchs of the Church that forbade them. It was true, the strict text was clear in regard to respect of persons. But the living commentators could expound the paradox. The ascetic precepts of their state-religion might be good, very good for men at large, but correctly interpreted they were clearly not intended for persons of their quality, and they might perhaps be of the opinion of a court lady[1] of the time of Louis XIV. who, when doubts of the salvation of the King's brother were expressed in her presence, said very gravely, "I assure you that with respect to people of that quality, God thinks twice before damning them."
- ↑ Madame la Maréchale de Meilleraye. Nouveaux Mémoires de Dangean, p. 82.
presenting the most formidable combination for warlike purposes to be found recorded in the world's history."
