Genuine History of Colonel M----rs, and his Sister, Madame du P----y,
the issue of the Hon. Ch----es M----rs. Son of the late Duke of R----
L----D. Containing many wonderful Accidents that befel them in their
Travels, and interspersed with the Characters and Adventures of Several
Persons of Condition, in the most polite Courts of Europe." The Preface
after the usual assurances that the work is compiled from original
documents and is therefore more veracious than "the many Fictions which
have been lately imposed upon the World, under the specious Titles of
Secret Histories, Memoirs, &c," informs us that the purpose of the
publication is to encourage virtue in both sexes by showing the
amiableness of it in real characters. Instead of exposing vice in the
actions of particular persons, the book is a highly moral laudation of
those scions of the house of Manners whose names are adumbrated in the
title. It cannot, therefore, be classed as a scandal novel or secret
history.

The latter term, though loosely applied to the short tale of passion for
the purpose of stimulating public curiosity, meant strictly only that
type of pseudo-historical romance which interpreted actual history in
the light of court intrigue. In France a flood of histories, annals,
anecdotes, and memoirs,--secret, gallant, and above all true,--had been
pouring from the press since 1665. The writers of these works proceeded
upon the ostensible theory that secret history in recognizing woman's
influence upon the destiny of nations was more true than "pure" history,
which took into account only religious, political, social, or moral
factors in judging the conduct of kings and statesmen. Did not Anthony
suffer the world to slip from his fingers for the love of Cleopatra?
Although the grand romances had a little exhausted the vein of classical
material, Mme Durand-Bedacier and Mme de Villedieu compiled sundry
annals of Grecian and Roman gallantry.[2] But the cycle of French secret
history was much more extensive. Romancing historians ferreted out a
prodigious amount of intrigue in every court from that of Childeric to
Louis XIV, and set out to remodel the chronicle of the realm from the
standpoint of the heart. Nearly every reign and every romantic hero was
the subject of one or more "monographs," among which Mme de La Fayette's
"Princesse de Cleves" takes a prominent place. The thesaurus and omnium
gatherum of the genus was Sauval's "Intrigues galantes de la