第21章

Hehadlargeandsingularlyexpressiveeyes；too

muchso，perhaps，fortheirbrilliancywasnotofgoodaugury；

andIwasnotsurprisedathearingsubsequentlythathisreason

hadabandonedhim，altho’hepossessedandexertedhiswitmost

perfectlyduringourconversation，inwhichhedisplayedthe

greatestgallantry。

Icouldnotreproachhimwithonesingle

expressionthatwasobjectionable，altho’thesubjectofconversation

wasdelicate。

Hediscoursedofthefeelingsofthekingtowards

me，andyetsaidnotawordthatwasunsuitedoroutofplace，

nothingbutwhatwasinthebesttaste，andexpressedwiththe

utmostdelicacy。

IaskedhimiftheladiesofDenmarkwere

handsome。

“Ithought，madame，“washisreply，“untilnow，that

theladiesofmykingdomwerethemostlovelyinEurope。“

Wedidnottalkofmyselfonly:ChristianVIIspokeofPariswith

enthusiasm。

“Itisthecapitaloftheworld，“heremarked，“and

ourstatesarebuttheprovinces。“

Hesoughtoutourmostcelebrated

and，andwasparticularlydelightedwith

d’Alembert，Diderot，laHarpe，andM。thecomtedeBuffon。

He

greatlyregrettedthatVoltairewasnotinParis，andexpressed

hisgreatdesiretoseeatFerneythegreatgenius(ashetermed

him)whoinstructedandamusedtheworld。

Heappearedwearyof

thefeteswhichweregiven，andespeciallywiththedeadly-lively

companyofthetwoDuras。

Itwasenoughtokillyoutohaveonly

oneofthem，andyoumayimaginethetortureofbeingboredwith

both。

ThedukehadpromisedLouisXVtobeasamusingaspossible

too！

Afteraconversationofthreehours，whichhismajesty(of

course)saidhadappearedbutofamoment，heleftmedelighted

withhisperson，wit，andmanners。

WhenLouisXVsawme，heinquiredmyopinionofhisDanishmajesty。

“Heis，“Ireplied，“awell-educatedking，andthattheysayisararity。“

“True，“saidLouisXV，“therearesomanypersonswhoare

interestedinourignorance，thatitisamiracleifweescapeout

oftheirhandsasreasonablebeings。“

Iwentontotellthekingourconversation。

“Ah，“criedhe，“hereisonewhowillincreasethevanityofthe

literarytribe:theywantit，certainly。

Allthesewitsareour

naturalbornenemies；andthinkthemselvesaboveus；andthe

morewehonorthem，thegreaterrightdotheyassumetocensure

anddespiseus。“

Thiswastheusualburdenofhissong:hehatedmenoflearning。

Voltaireespeciallywashisdetestation，onaccountofthenumerous

epigramswhichthisgreatmanhadwrittenagainsthim；andVoltaire

hadjustgivenfre