very men who, by the mere force of ideas, were destined to overthrow that throne on which she herself was seated!  Thus we find also the various painters of the time, in their several portraits of the favorite, never failing to represent her surrounded with all the more celebrated revolutionary books of the day, such as the Encyclopaedia, the Philosophical Dictionary, the Spirit of Laws, and the Social Contract.

Madame de Pompadour, woman-like, loved revenge; and this, it must be said, was her worst vice.  For a word she sent Latude to the Bastille; for a couplet she exiled the minister Maurepas.  Frederick of Prussia took it into his head one day, in a moment of gayety, to call her Cotillon II., instead of Madame la Marquise de Pompadour, and styled her reign of favor le regne de Cotillon; a witticism which so incensed her, that, according to some writers, we may trace to this petty cause the origin of the disastrous seven years’ war.

The position of Madame de Pompadour at court as first favorite was, by all accounts, far from being an enviable one; as years rolled on she found herself necessitated to stoop to all kinds of meannesses, and to endure all sorts of humiliations, to preserve her already tottering empire.  In order to make friends for herself in the parliament, she suppressed the Jesuits; and she afterward exiled the parliament in order to conciliate the clergy.  Again, to prevent her royal, but most fickle minded lover, from choosing another mistress out of the ranks of the court ladies, she contrived that seraglio, the notorious Parc-aux-cerfs, “the pillow of Louis the Fifteenth’s debaucheries,” as Chateaubriand called it; at the last, hated and despised by all France, Madame de Pompadour said to Louis XV., “For mercy’s sake, keep me near you:  I protect you; I take upon myself all the hatred of France; evil times are come for kings; so soon as I am gone, all the insults which are now leveled at Madame de Pompadour will be addressed to the king.”

Among the many desperate attempts which were made from time to time to dethrone her, the following is the most curious:—­

M. d’Argenson and Madame d’Estrade had resolved upon raising to the throne of the favorite the young and beautiful Madame de Choiseul, wife of the court usher.  The intrigue was conducted with so much art that the king granted an interview.  At the hour fixed upon for the meeting a great agitation reigned in the cabinet of the minister.  M. d’Argenson and Madame d’Estrade awaited the event with anxiety; Quesnai, physician to the king and to the favorite, was also present.  All at once Madame de Choiseul rushed into the room; Madame d’Estrade ran to meet her with open arms.

“Well!” she exclaimed.

“Yes,” replied Madame de Choiseul; “I am loved; she is going to be dismissed.  He has given me his royal word on it.”

A burst of joy resounded through the cabinet.  Quesnai was, as we know, the friend of Madame de Pompadour; but he was at the same time the friend of Madame d’Estrade.  M. d’Argenson imagined that in this revolution he would remain neuter at least, but he was mistaken.