piety—­a mask soon, however, to be torn aside by Philippe of Orleans in the wild saturnalia of the Regency.  The Abbe de Bernis was also a constant visitor at the house of Madame d’Etioles; he was, in the parlance of the time, the _Abbe de la Maison_—­it is true he had no other benefice—­but little thought then, either the abbe of the house or the mistress of the house, that within ten years from that time they would reign over France as absolute ministers.  There was one other individual of this brilliant circle worthy of a passing notice, and this was an amiable and simple-minded poet, of good appearance and the best temper in the world, named Gentil Bernard.[A] Madame d’Etioles used to pet him like a spoiled child.  Some said he was her lover.  However that may be, Madame de Pompadour, who, whether she had or had not a secret penchant for the poet, never forgot her old friends, procured for him, as soon as she came into power, the appointment of librarian to the king at the chateau de Choisy, where she built him, at her own expense, a little cottage _ornee_, named by the poets of the time, the Parnassus of the French Anacreon.  This appointment was a complete sinecure, for we know that the king never opened a book, and we are equally assured that Bernard never put his foot inside the library.

[Footnote A:  Pierre Bernard, nicknamed Gentil Bernard by Voltaire[1] was born at Grenoble about the same time as Louis XV.  “It is strange,” said Madame de Pompadour later, “that two lovers should be born for me during the same season—­a king and a poet.”  Bernard ever refused all favors, and was singularly devoid of ambition.  “What can I do for you, my dear poet?” Madame de Pompadour is reported to have said on her coming into Power.  Bernard contented himself with kissing the hand of the marchioness.  “Go to,” returned she, “you will never get on in the world.”

  [Footnote 1:  This nickname was given in a poetical invitation to
  a supper-party at Madame Duchatelet’s, sent by Voltaire to the poet: 

    “Au nom du Pinde et de Cythere
      Gentil Bernard est averti,
      Que l’Art d’Aimer doit Samedi
    Venir souper chez l’Art de Plaire."]]

We have already named the Abbe, afterward Cardinal, de Bernis; and as he was the only individual who ever succeeded in being admitted into the entire confidence of the royal favorite, a brief notice of his birth, and rise and fall at court, may not be altogether out of place, so closely linked for many years were his fortunes with those of Madame de Pompadour.

Joachim de Pierres, abbe de Bernis, was born at Saint-Marcel, near Narbonne, in the month of May, 1715.  His family, which was of the most ancient noblesse, was allied to the king through the house of Rohan; a circumstance, however, which did not prevent it being one of the poorest in the kingdom.  As his relatives had nothing to give Joachim, they made him an abbe.  Like Bernard, he came when very young to Paris, confiding in his lucky planet, smiling on every one, and reaping a plentiful harvest of smiles in return.  He was then a handsome young man, with a bright eye and an animated mouth.  In figure he was herculean, and here we find, in contradiction of Buffon’s saying, that the style was not the man, no more than it was with Bernard, who was also of large stature.