He had taken a liking to Duret, one of the indoor servants of the palace, who sharpened his tools, cleaned his anvils, pasted his maps, and adjusted eyeglasses to the King's sight, who was short-sighted.

This good Duret, and indeed all the indoor servants, spoke of their master with regret and affection, and with tears in their eyes.
The King was born weak and delicate; but from the age of twenty-four he possessed a robust constitution, inherited from his mother, who was of the House of Saxe, celebrated for generations for its robustness.

There were two men in Louis XVI., the man of knowledge and the man of will.

The King knew the history of his own family and of the first houses of France perfectly.

He composed the instructions for M.de la Peyrouse's voyage round the world, which the minister thought were drawn up by several members of the Academy of Sciences.