corps, the trumpeters and the
musicians, covered with gold and silver lace, are dazzling to look at;
the kettledrum suspended at the saddle-bow, overcharged with painted
and gilded ornaments, is a curiosity for a glass case; the Negro
cymbal-player of the French guards resembles the sultan of a fairy-tale.
Behind the carriage and alongside of it trot the body-guards, with sword
and carbine, wearing red breeches, high black boots, and a blue coat
sewn with white embroidery, all of them unquestionable gentlemen; there
were twelve hundred of these selected among the nobles and according to
size; among them are the guards de la manche, still more intimate, who
at church and on ceremonial occasions, in white doublets starred with
silver and gold spangles, holding their damascene partisans in their
hands, always remain standing and turned towards the king "so as to
see his person from all sides." Thus is his protection ensured. Being
a gentleman the king is a cavalier, and he must have a suitable
stable,[2113] 1,857 horses, 217 vehicles, 1,458 men whom he clothes,
the liveries costing 540,000 francs a year; besides these there were
20 tutors and sub-tutors, almoners, professors, cooks, and valets to
govern, educate and serve the pages; and again about thirty physicians,
apothecaries, nurses for the sick, intendants, treasurers, workmen, and
licensed and paid merchants for the accessories of the service; in
all more than 1,500 men. Horses to the amount of 250,000 francs are
purchased yearly, and there are stock-stables in Limousin and in
Normandy to draw on for supplies. 287 horses are exercised daily in the
two riding-halls; there are 443 saddle-horses in the small stable, 437
in the large one, and these are not sufficient for the "vivacity of the
service." The whole cost 4,600,000 livres in 1775, which sum reaches
6,200,000 livres in 1787.[2114] Still another spectacle should be seen
with one's own eyes,--the pages,[2115] the grooms, the laced pupils,
the silver-button pupils, the boys of the little livery in silk, the
instrumentalists and the mounted messengers of the stable. The use
of the horse is a feudal art; no luxury is more natural to a man of
quality. Think of the stables at Chantilly, which are palaces. To
convey an idea of a well-educated and genteel man he was then called an
accomplished cavalier;" in fact his importance was fully manifest only
when he was in the saddle, on a blood-horse like himself.--Another
ge