At court, she opposed all foolish extravagance, such as the endless fetes and amusements of all kinds which had become so popular under Mme. de Montespan—­a procedure which caused her the greatest difficulties and provoked revolts and quarrels in the royal family.  By her prudence, tact, wisdom, and the loyalty of her friendship, she won and retained the respect and favor—­if not the love—­of everyone.  Her reputation was never tarnished by scandal.  “When one reflects that Louis XIV. was only forty-seven years old and in the prime of life and Mme. de Montespan in the full blaze of her marvellous beauty, that this woman of humble birth, in her youth a Protestant, poor, a governess, the widow of a low, comic poet, should win so proud a man as Louis XIV., seems incredible.”

When one considers that throughout life her one aspiration was an irreproachable conduct, that her manner of action was always defensive, never offensive, that her chief aim was to restore the king to the queen (who died in her arms) and not to replace his mistress, one cannot withhold admiration and esteem from this truly great woman who accomplished all those honorable designs.

The obstacles to be conquered before reaching her goal were indeed numerous, but she managed them all.  There were so many persons hostile to her,—­mistresses and intriguers, bishops and priests, courtesans and valets, princes and members of the royal family,—­to overcome whom she had to be on her guard, make use of every opportunity, show a rare knowledge of society and court, a profound skill and address, resolution and will; and she was equal to all occasions.

Her greatest defect was the narrowness of her religious views.  Entirely in the hands of her spiritual advisers, obeying them faithfully and blindly, she was not inclined to theological investigation, but was sincerely devout.  More interested in the various persons than in doctrines, she showed a passion for making bishops, abbots, and priests, as well as for negotiating compromises, reconciling amours propres and doing away with all religious hatred.  Lacking, above all else, clearness of conception, promptness and firmness of decision, she was finally persuaded to encourage the bigotry of Louis XIV. and his intolerance toward those who differed from him.  Hence, in 1685, she permitted that fearfully destructive persecution of the Protestants, which caused over three hundred thousand of France’s most solid people to leave the country; and by her fanaticism and false zeal, she caused the king to be a party to that awful catastrophe.

“This one act of hers counterbalances nearly all her virtues, and we remember her more as the murderess of thousands of innocents than as the calm and virtuous governess.  But we must remember the nature of her advisers and the eternal policy of the Catholic Church, which are ever identical with absolutism.  To uphold the institutions and opinions already established, was the one sentiment of the age; innovation, progress, were destructive—­Mme. de Maintenon became the watchful guardian of royalty and the Church.”  Such is the verdict of English opinion.  M. Saint-Amand judges the affair differently: