ger prevails in society," says a correspondent of
Gustavus III[4244] "since it is that which forms public opinion.
Words have become actions. Every sensitive heart praises with joy
a publication inspired by humanity and which appears full of talent
because it is full of feeling." When Latude is released from the prison
of Bicetre Mme. de Luxembourg, Mme. de Boufflers, and Mme. de Stael dine
with the grocer-woman who "for three years and a half moved heaven and
earth" to set the prisoner free. It is owing to the women, to their
sensibility and zeal, to a conspiracy of their sympathies, that M. de
Lally succeeds in the rehabilitation of his father. When they take a
fancy to a person they become infatuated with him; Madame de Lauzun,
very timid, goes so far as to publicly insult a man who speaks ill of M.
Necker.--It must be borne in mind that, in this century, the women were
queens, setting the fashion, giving the tone, leading in conversation
and naturally shaping ideas and opinions[4245]. When they take the lead
on the political field we may be sure that the men will follow them:
each one carries her drawing room circle with her.

VI. Well-Meaning Government.

Infinite, vague aspirations.--Generosity of sentiments and
of conduct.--The mildness and good intentions of the
government.--Its blindness and optimism.

An aristocracy imbued with humanitarian and radical maxims, courtiers
hostile to the court, privileged persons aiding in undermining
privileges, presents to us a strange spectacle in the testimony of the
time. A contemporary states that it is an accepted principle "to change
and upset everything."[4246] High and low, in assemblages, in public
places, only reformers and opposing parties are encountered among the
privileged classes.

"In 1787, almost every prominent man of the peerage in the Parliament
declared himself in favor of resistance. . . . I have seen at the
dinners we then attended almost every idea put forward, which, soon
afterwards, produced such startling effects."[4247] Already in 1774,
M. de Vaublanc, on his way to Metz, finds a diligence containing an
ecclesiastic and a count, a colonel in the hussars, talking political
economy constantly[4248]. "It was the fashion of the day. Everybody was
an economist. People conversed together only about philosophy, political
economy and especially humanity, and the means for relieving the people,
(le bon peuple), which two words were in