An operation of this kind absorbs him who undertakes it as well as those who undergo it.  A nobility for useful purposes is not transformed with impunity into a nobility for ornament;[37] one falls himself into the ostentation which is substituted for action.  The king has a court which he is compelled to maintain.  So much the worse if it absorbs all his time, his intellect, his soul, the most valuable portion of his active forces and the forces of the State.  To be the master of a house is not an easy task, especially when five hundred persons are to be entertained; one must necessarily pass one’s life in public and all the time being on exhibition.  Strictly speaking it is the life of an actor who is on the stage the entire day.  To support this load, and work besides, required the temperament of Louis XIV, the vigor of his body, the extraordinary firmness of his nerves, the strength of his digestion, and the regularity of his habits; his successors who come after him grow weary or stagger under the same load.  But they cannot throw it off; an incessant, daily performance is inseparable from their position and it is imposed on them like a heavy, gilded, ceremonial coat.  The king is expected to keep the entire aristocracy busy, consequently to make a display of himself, to pay back with his own person, at all hours, even the most private, even on getting out of bed, and even in his bed.  In the morning, at the hour named by himself beforehand,[38] the head valet awakens him; five series of persons enter in turn to perform their duty, and, “although very large, there are days when the waiting-rooms can hardly contain the crowd of courtiers.” — The first admittance is “l’entrée familière,” consisting of the children of France, the princes and princesses of the blood, and, besides these, the chief physician, the chief surgeon and other serviceable persons.[39] Next, comes the “grande entrée;’ which comprises the grand-chamberlain, the grand-master and master of the wardrobe, the first gentlemen of the bedchamber, the Ducs d’Orleans and de Penthièvre, some other highly favored seigniors, the ladies of honor and in waiting of the queen, Mesdames and other princesses, without enumerating barbers tailors and various descriptions of valets.  Meanwhile spirits of wine are poured on the king’s hands from a service of plate, and he is then handed the basin of holy water; he crosses himself and repeats a prayer.  Then he gets out of bed before all these people and puts on his slippers.  The grand-chamberlain and the first gentleman hand him his dressing-gown; he puts this on and seats himself in the chair in which he is to put on his clothes.  At this moment the door opens and a third group enters, which is the “entrée des brevets;” the seigniors who compose this enjoy, in addition, the precious privilege of assisting at the “petite coucher,” while, at the same moment there enters a detachment of attendants, consisting of the physicians and surgeons