It was the King’s wish that the grounds of the little “porcelain house” at Trianon be chosen as the scene of the second fete, which took place a week later.  In an open-air enclosure, decorated by “a prodigious quantity of flowers,” the guests listened to the “Eglogue de Versailles,” composed for the occasion by Lully, leader of the Petits-Violons, Louis’ favorite Court orchestra.  Afterwards all the nobles and their fair companions returned to sup at Versailles in a wood where the Basin of the Obelisk now is.

Seven days later, at the third fete of the series, the King gave a banquet to ladies in the pavilion at the Menagerie.  The guests were conveyed in superbly decorated gondolas down the Grand Canal.  In a large boat were violinists and hautboy-players that made sweet music.  Finally, in a theater arranged this time before the Grotto, all the ladies were regaled with a performance of “La Malade Imaginaire,” the last of Moliere’s comedies.

For the fourth festal day, the twenty-eighth of July, the King commanded a fete of surpassing beauty.  The feast was laid in the center of the Theatre-d’Eau.  The steps forming the amphitheater served as tables for the arrangement of the viands.  Orange trees heavy with blossoms and golden fruit, apple trees, apricot trees, trees laden with peaches, and tall oleanders—­all set out in ornamental tubs; three hundred vessels of fine porcelain filled with fruit; one hundred and twenty baskets of dried preserves; four hundred crystal cups containing ices, an uncounted number of carafes sparkling with rare liqueurs—­all created a picture of colorful luxury, which, we are assured, struck those that looked upon it as “most agreeable.”  Threading their musical murmurings through all the laughter and badinage, the tossing jets of the pyramidal fountains fell away to pools and green-bordered streams.

Lully’s opera, “Cadmus et Hermione” Was sung in a theater arranged at the end of the Allee of the Dragon.  At its close every one made a tour of the park in open vehicles, lighted by torches carried by lackeys, and all assisted at an exhibition of fire-works on the canal.  The evening ended with a supper in the Marble Court.  Here an illuminated column was placed on an immense pedestal, while around it was disposed a table with seats for fifty persons.

The fifth gala day was marked by the presentation to the King of one hundred and seven flags and standards that Conde, the illustrious general, had taken at the battle of Senef.  In the evening the company toured the park of Versailles, occupying thirty six-horse carriages.  After a supper served in a forest retreat the invited ones witnessed a performance of “Iphigenie,” a new tragedy by Racine, which was most admirably played by the royal troupe, and much applauded by the Court.  There followed a grand illumination of the great fountain at the head of the canal—­a display whose beauty and