It was enough to kill you to have only
one of them, and you may imagine the torture of being bored with
both. The duke had promised Louis XV to be as amusing as possible
too! After a conversation of three hours, which his majesty (of
course) said had appeared but of a moment, he left me delighted
with his person, wit, and manners.
When Louis XV saw me, he inquired my opinion of his Danish majesty.
"He is," I replied, "a well-educated king, and that they say is a rarity."
"True," said Louis XV, "there are so many persons who are
interested in our ignorance, that it is a miracle if we escape out
of their hands as reasonable beings."
I went on to tell the king our conversation.
"Ah," cried he, "here is one who will increase the vanity of the
literary tribe: they want it, certainly. All these wits are our
natural born enemies; and think themselves above us; and the
more we honor them, the greater right do they assume to censure
and despise us."
This was the usual burden of his song: he hated men of learning.
Voltaire especially was his detestation, on account of the numerous
epigrams which this great man had written against him; and Voltaire
had just given fresh subject of offence by publishing "
Roi Petaud" ("The Court of the King Petaud," ) a satire evidently
directed as strongly against the king as your humble servant. M.
de Voltaire had doubtless been encouraged to write this libel by
the Choiseul party.
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