ss and absolve her from all the sins she had
committed at court. Pere de Sacy, the priest alluded to, had, though a
Jesuit, preserved in some sort the habits and feelings of a man of the
world; he could, when it suited his purpose, be of his century, and would
occasionally laugh a little at the severities of his order. To him, then,
the Prince do Soubise proceeded. At first he showed himself rather
restive.

"Recollect," said the prince to him, "from the confessional of the
marchioness to the confessional of the king there is but a step."

Pere de Sacy could not resist the temptation of such an attractive
position; he went to the marchioness. Madame de Pompadour, proud of
having for a confessor a man who had been appointed Procureur-general of
the Missions, received him most graciously. She had other reasons also
for seeking to conciliate the Jesuit--her principal one was this:--Up
to this time the Jesuitical party that had risen against her at
Versailles, the queen, the dauphin, Pere Griffet, Cardinal de Luynes,
the Bishop of Verdun, and M. de Nicolai, had hoped to drive her from
court as a miscreant. Now, once declared worthy of heaven by a Jesuit of
such high standing as Pere de Sacy, would she not become in some sort
inviolable and sacred? With these designs, then, she put in force all her
arts of seduction against her confessor; never did she display more
grace, wit, or beauty. Pere de Sacy, who allowed himself to be taken
captive unresistingly by the battery of charms thus brought to bear upon
him, visited her seven or eight times to speak of confession, without,
however, coming to any conclusion upon the subject. As the good city of
Paris had not at the moment any matter of graver importance wherewith to
occupy its attention, it began to grow witty on the subject of this
confession; a thousand chansons were composed upon the father confessor
and his fair penitent. Piron arrived one evening at the Cafe Procope,
exclaiming that he had news from Versailles.

"Well," inquired some one, "has the marchioness confessed?"

"No," replied Piron; "Madame de Pompadour cannot agree with Pere de Sacy
as to the style of confession."

The following day there was a great uproar among the Jesuits; the
procureur-general of the missions was summoned before their Council of
Ten, and was obliged to confess himself. He received a severe
reprimand from the superior of the order, and, as the price of his
absolution, was commanded to