M. le Duc d’Orleans, following out the traditions of the Palais Royal, had acquired the detestable taste and habit of embroiling people one with the other, so as to profit by their divisions.  This was one of his principal occupations during all the time he was at the head of affairs, and one that he liked the best; but which, as soon as discovered, rendered him odious, and caused him a thousand annoyances.  He was not wicked, far from it; but he could not quit the habits of impiety, debauchery, and deceit into which Dubois had led him.  A remarkable feature in his character is, that he was suspicious and full of confidence at the same time with reference to the very same people.

It is surprising that with all his talents he was totally without honest resources for amusing himself.  He was born bored; and he was so accustomed to live out of himself, that it was insufferable to him to return, incapable as he was of trying even to occupy himself.  He could only live in the midst of the movement and torrent of business; at the head of an army for instance, or in the cares that arose out of the execution of campaign projects, or in the excitement and uproar of debauchery.  He began to languish as soon as he was without noise, excess, and tumult, the time painfully hanging upon his hands.  He cast himself upon painting, when his great fancy for chemistry had passed or grown deadened, in consequence of what had been said upon it.  He painted nearly all the afternoon at Versailles and at Marly.  He was a good judge of pictures, liked them, and made a collection, which in number and excellence was not surpassed by those of the Crown.  He amused himself afterwards in making composition stones and seals over charcoal, the fumes of which often drove me away; and the strongest perfumes, which he was fond of all his life, but from which I turned him because the King was very much afraid of them, and soon sniffed them.  In fact, never was man born with so many talents of all kinds, so much readiness and facility in making use of them, and yet never was man so idle, so given up to vacuity and weariness.  Thus Madame painted him very happily by an illustration from fairy tales, of which she was full.

She said, that all the fairies had been invited to his birth; that all came, and that each gave him some talent, so that he had them all.  But, unfortunately, an old fairy, who had disappeared so many years ago that she was no longer remembered, had been omitted from the invitation lists.  Piqued at this neglect, she came supported upon her little wand, just at the moment when all the rest had endowed the child with their gifts.  More and more vexed, she revenged herself by rendering useless all the talents he had received from the other fairies, not one of which, though possessing them all, in consequence of her malediction, was he able to make use of.  It must be admitted, that on the whole this is a speaking portrait.