Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/797

 France 7nider Louis XIV 687 discovered that the king's officials were stealing and wasting vast sums. The offenders were arrested and forced to disgorge, and a new system of bookkeeping was introduced, similar to that employed by business men. He then turned his attention to increasing the manufactures of France by establishing new in- dustries and seeing that the older ones kept to a high standard, which would make French goods sell readily in foreign markets. He argued justly that if foreigners- could be induced to buy French goods, these sales would bring gold and silver into the country and so enrich it. He made rigid rules as to the width and quality of cloths which the manufacturers might produce and the dyes which they might use. He even reorganized the old medieval guilds ; for through them the government could keep its eye on all the manufacturing that was done ; this would have been far more difficult if every one had been free to carry on any trade which he might choose. It was, however, as a patron of art and literature that Art and liter- Louis XIV gained much of his celebrity. Moliere, who was at J^gnof*^^ once a playwright and an actor, delighted the court with come- ^'°"^^ ^^^ dies in which he delicately satirized the foibles of his time. Corneille, who had gained renown by the great tragedy of The Cid in Richelieu's time, found a worthy successor in Racine, the most distinguished, perhaps, of French tragic poets. The charm- ing letters of Madame de Sevigne are models of prose style and serve at the same time to give us a glimpse into the more refined life of the court circle. In the famous memoirs of Saint-Simon, the weaknesses of the king, as well as the numberless intrigues of the courtiers, are freely exposed with inimitable skill and wit. Men of letters were generously aided by the king with pen- The govem- sions. Colbert encouraged the French Academy, which had {lirdetdop-^ been created by Richelieu. This body erave special attention to !?^"*^ ?V^^ ■' y o 1 French Ian- making the French tongue more eloquent and expressive by guage and determining what words should be used. It is now the greatest honor that a Frenchman can obtain to be made one of the forty members of this association. A magazine which still exists,