ocacy of the King's then Catholic mistress, Madame de
Maintenon, and of his Jesuit Confessor, Pere la Chaise, overcame his
scruples, and the deed of Revocation of the Edict was at length signed
and published.

The aged Chancellor, Le Tellier, was so overjoyed at the measure, that
on affixing the great seal of France to the deed, he exclaimed, in the
words of Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen the salvation."

Three months later, the great Bossuet, the eagle of Meaux, preached
the funeral sermon of Le Tellier; in the course of which he testified
to the immense joy of the Church at the Revocation of the Edict. "Let
us," said he, "expand our hearts in praises of the piety of Louis. Let
our acclamations ascend to heaven, and let us say to this new
Constantine, this new Theodosius, this new Marcian, this new
Charlemagne, what the thirty-six fathers formerly said in the Council
of Chalcedon: 'You have affirmed the faith, you have exterminated the
heretics; it is a work worthy of your reign, whose proper character it
is. Thanks to you, heresy is no more. God alone can have worked this
marvel. King of heaven, preserve the King of earth: it is the prayer
of the Church, it is the prayer of the Bishops.'"[2]

[Footnote 2: Bossuet, "Oraison Funebre du Chancelier
Letellier."]

Madame de Maintenon also received the praises of the Church. "All good
people," said the Abbe de Choisy, "the Pope, the bishops, and all the
clergy, rejoice at the victory of Madame de Maintenon." Madame enjoyed
the surname of Director of the Affairs of the Clergy; and it was said
by the ladies of St. Cyr (an institution founded by her), that "the
cardinals and the bishops knew no other way of approaching the King
save through her."

It is generally believed that her price for obtaining the King's
consent to the Act of Revocation, was the withdrawal by the clergy of
their opposition to her marriage with the King; and that the two were
privately united by the Archbishop of Paris at Versailles, a few days
after, in the presence of Pere la Chaise and two more witnesses. But
Louis XIV. never publicly recognised De Maintenon as his wife--never
rescued her from the ignominious position in which she originally
stood related to him.

People at court all spoke with immense praises of the King's
intentions with respect to destroying the Huguenots. "Killing them
off" was a matter of badinage with