The majority of young
patricians were being carried away either by fashion, or the love
of change, or the pleasure inherent in all opposition which is not
dangerous.
Opposition took a graver form and called for more serious work in the
case of the old nobles, and among the members of the parliaments. The
spirit of the League was alive again in the ranks of these ancient
patricians and these haughty magistrates, who for form's sake were still
supporting the tottering monarchy with one arm, while with the other
they gave considerable help to the invasions of philosophy. The
privileged classes of society were zealously lending a hand to the
imminent destruction of their privileges by complaining that these had
been curtailed by the kings. They were bringing up their children in
constitutional principles, because they imagined they were going to
found a new monarchy in which the people would help them to regain
their old position above the throne; and it is for this reason that the
greatest admiration for Voltaire and the most ardent sympathies with
Franklin were openly expressed in the most famous salons in Paris.
So unusual and, if it must be said, so unnatural a movement of the human
mind had infused fresh life into the vestiges of the Court of Louis
XIV, and replaced the customary coldness and stiffness by a sort of
quarrelsome vivacity. It had also introduced certain serious forms into
the frivolous manners of the regency, and lent them an appearance of
depth.
Pages:
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241