“‘These witlings are as troublesome as summer-flies,’ said the magnificent monarch one day to Colbert, who had reported to him an epigram which he had heard in the _salon_ of Madame Cornuel.
“‘Yes, sire, _and just as unconquerable_,’ replied Colbert.
“‘To which remark the greatest sovereign of the world could only answer with a sigh of mortified conviction. Not a privilege was granted during the reign, not a decree was passed, which had not first been debated in the circles of fashion, with as much bitterness and energy as it afterwards created in the royal council chamber. The memoirs of the time, the letters of Madame de Sevigné, bear ample evidence of this. The regent who succeeded, was himself of a spirit too near akin to the intrepid _causeurs_ of his reign to visit them with severity. He laughed with them and at them, while his harshness to those writers who displeased him was even greater than that of his predecessor. Louis Quinze encouraged not the persecution of authors, but loved to listen to the daily report of the “conversations” which took place, not only among the court circles, but even down to those of the lowest _bourgeoisie_. Madame de Pompadour complains bitterly, in one of her letters, of this extraordinary apathy concerning the libels which were published both against herself and him. “He cares not for what is written, only for what is said,” exclaimed she, “as if any consideration could restrain the tongues of ungrateful courtiers.”
“‘The author of the gross epigram upon Marshal Saxe was suffered to go scot-free, while the poor parrot who recited it at Madame de la Vaillière’s for the amusement of the company, was punished with the Bastille for life. Now compare all these _causeries_ and their results to the _conversations_ of the eighteenth century, and their gigantic issue—the great revolution. The displacing of a minister—the puerile questions of religious form—the end and aim of Télémaque—these were the kind of questions which had formed the subjects of debate during the reign of Louis Quatorze. The acrimony with which they were discussed, and the genius and passion which were displayed in the disputes to which they gave rise, sometimes went far enough to alarm the throne, without creating the slightest interest in the minds of the people.