Real Father of Louis XIV, King of France; being a Minute Account of the
Measures taken to give an Heir to the Throne of France, the Influences at
Work to bring this to pass, and the Denoument of the Comedy'.

This libel ran through five editions, bearing date successively, 1692,
1693, 1696, 1722, and 1738. In the title of the edition of 1696 the
words "Cardinal de Richelieu" are inserted in place of the initials "C.
D. R.," but that this is only a printer's error everyone who reads the
work will perceive. Some have thought the three letters stood for Comte
de Riviere, others for Comte de Rochefort, whose 'Memoires' compiled by
Sandras de Courtilz supply these initials. The author of the book was an
Orange writer in the pay of William III, and its object was, he says, "to
unveil the great mystery of iniquity which hid the true origin of Louis
XIV." He goes on to remark that "the knowledge of this fraud, although
comparatively rare outside France, was widely spread within her borders.
The well-known coldness of Louis XIII; the extraordinary birth of
Louis-Dieudonne, so called because he was born in the twenty-third year
of a childless marriage, and several other remarkable circumstances
connected with the birth, all point clearly to a father other than the
prince, who with great effrontery is passed off by his adherents as such.
The famous barricades of Paris, and the organised revolt led by
distinguished men against Louis XIV on his accession to the throne,
proclaimed aloud the king's illegitimacy, so that it rang through the
country; and as the accusation had reason on its side, hardly anyone
doubted its truth."

We give below a short abstract of the narrative, the plot of which is
rather skilfully constructed:--

"Cardinal Richelieu, looking with satisfied pride at the love of Gaston,