“Beginning with the year 1664.,” he says, “the Duc de Beaufort had by his insubordination and levity endangered the success of several maritime expeditions.  In October 1666 Louis xiv remonstrated with him with much tact, begging him to try to make himself more and more capable in the service of his king by cultivating the talents with which he was endowed, and ridding himself of the faults which spoilt his conduct.  ’I do not doubt,’ he concludes, ’that you will be all the more grateful to me for this mark of my benevolence towards you, when you reflect how few kings have ever shown their goodwill in a similar manner.’” ( ’Oeuvres de Louis xiv’, vol. v. p. 388).  Several calamities in the royal navy are known to have been brought about by the Duc de Beaufort.  M. Eugene Sue, in his ‘Histoire de la Marine’, which is full of new and curious information, has drawn a very good picture of the position of the “roi des halles,” the “king of the markets,” in regard to Colbert and Louis xiv.  Colbert wished to direct all the manoeuvres of the fleet from his study, while it was commanded by the naval grandmaster in the capricious manner which might be expected from his factious character and love of bluster (Eugene Sue, vol. i., ’Pieces Justificatives’).  In 1699 Louis xiv sent the Duc de Beaufort to the relief of Candia, which the Turks were besieging.  Seven hours after his arrival Beaufort was killed in a sortie.  The Duc de Navailles, who shared with him the command of the French squadron, simply reported his death as follows:  “He met a body of Turks who were pressing our troops hard:  placing himself at the head of the latter, he fought valiantly, but at length his soldiers abandoned him, and we have not been able to learn his fate” (’Memoires du Duc de Navailles’, book iv.  P. 243)

The report of his death spread rapidly through France and Italy; magnificent funeral services were held in Paris, Rome, and Venice, and funeral orations delivered.  Nevertheless, many believed that he would one day reappear, as his body had never been recovered.

Guy Patin mentions this belief, which he did not share, in two of his letters:—­

“Several wagers have been laid that M. de Beaufort is not dead!  ’O utinam’!” (Guy Patin, September 26, 1669).

“It is said that M. de Vivonne has been granted by commission the post of vice-admiral of France for twenty years; but there are many who believe that the Duc de Beaufort is not dead, but imprisoned in some Turkish island.  Believe this who may, I don’t; he is really dead, and the last thing I should desire would be to be as dead as he",(Ibid., January 14, 1670).

The following are the objections to this theory: