CHAPTER LXXIII

Early Life of Louis XIV.--His Education.--His Enormous Vanity.--His Ignorance.--Cause of the War with Holland.--His Mistakes and Weakness in War.--The Ruin of France.--Origin of Versailles.--The King's Love of Adulation, and Jealousy of People Who Came Not to Court.--His Spies.-- His Vindictiveness.--Opening of Letters.--Confidence Sometimes Placed in Him--A Lady in a Predicament.