She went to Versailles to see the Court when M. de Torcy and M. de Seignelay, both very young, had just been appointed Ministers.  She saw them, as well as Madame de Maintenon, who had then grown old.  When she returned to Paris, some one asked her what remarkable things she had seen.  “I have seen,” she said, “what I never expected to see there; I have seen love in its tomb and the Ministry in its cradle.”

The elder Margrave of Anspach was smitten with Mademoiselle d’Armagnac, but he would not marry her, and said afterwards that he had never intended to do so, because the familiarities which had passed between her and the Marquis de Villequier (1716) had disgusted him.  The lady’s mother would have liked nothing better than to surprise the Margrave with her daughter in some critical situation:  for this purpose he had sufficient opportunities given him, but he was prudent, and conducted himself with so much modesty, that he avoided the snare.  To tell the truth, I had given him a hint on the subject, for I was too well acquainted with the mother, who is a very bad woman.

The Cardinal de Richelieu, notwithstanding his wit, had often fits of distraction.  Sometimes he would fancy himself a horse, and run jumping about a billiard-table, neighing and snorting; this would last an hour, at the end of which his people would put him to bed and cover him up closely to induce perspiration; when he awoke the fit had passed and did not appear again.

The Archbishop of Paris reprimanded the Bishop of Gap on the bad reputation which he had acquired in consequence of his intercourse with women.  “Ah, Monseigneur,” replied the Bishop of Gap, “if you knew what you talk of, you would not be astonished.  I lived the first forty years of my life without experiencing it; I don’t know what induced me to venture on it, but, having done so, it is impossible to refrain.  Only try it for once, Monseigneur, and you will perceive the truth of what I tell you.”

[This Bishop, whose name was Herve, had lived in prudence and regularity up to the age of fifty, when he began, on a sudden, to lead a very debauched life.  They compelled him to give up his Bishopric, which he did on condition of being allowed to stay at Paris as much as he chose.  He continued to live in perpetual pleasure, but towards the close of his career he repented of his sins and engaged with the Capuchin missionaries.]

This Bishop is now living in the village of Boulogne, near Paris:  he is a little priest, very ugly, with a large head and fiery red face.

Our late King said, “I am, I confess, somewhat piqued to see that, with all the authority belonging to my station in this country, I have exclaimed so long against high head-dresses, while no one had the complaisance to lower them for me in the slightest degree.  But now, when a mere strange English wench arrives with a little low head-dress, all the Princesses think fit to go at once from one extremity to another.”