rtment, to assist at her toilet, and
the Doctor came in. Madame said to him, "You must be much concerned at
the disgrace of your friend Mirabeau. I am sorry for it too, for I like
his brother." Quesnay replied, "I am very far from believing him to be
actuated by bad intentions, Madame; he loves the King and the people."
"Yes," said she; "his 'Ami des Hommes' did him great honour." At this
moment the Lieutenant of Police entered, and Madame said to him, "Have
you seen M. de Mirabeau's book?"--"Yes, Madame; but it was not I who
denounced it?"--"What do you think of it?"--"I think he might have said
almost all it contains with impunity, if he had been more circumspect as
to the manner; there is, among other objectionable passages, this, which
occurs at the beginning: Your Majesty has about twenty millions of
subjects; it is only by means of money that you can obtain their
services, and there is no money."--"What, is there really that, Doctor?"
said Madame. "It is true, they are the first lines in the book, and I
confess that they are imprudent; but, in reading the work, it is clear
that he laments that patriotism is extinct in the hearts of his
fellow-citizens, and that he desires to rekindle it." The King entered:
we went out, and I wrote down on Quesnay's table what I had just heard.
I them returned to finish dressing Madame de Pompadour: she said to me,
"The King is extremely angry with Mirabeau; but I tried to soften him,
and so did the Lieutenant of Police. This will increase Quesnay's fears.
Do you know what he said to me to-day? The King had been talking to him
in my room, and the Doctor appeared timid and agitated. After the King
was gone, I said to him, 'You always seem so embarrassed in the King's
presence, and yet he is so good-natured.'--'I Madame,' said he, 'I left
my native village at the age of forty, and I have very little experience
of the world, nor can I accustom myself to its usages without great
difficulty. When I am in a room with the King, I say to myself, This is
a man who can order my head to be cut off; and that idea embarrasses
me.'--'But do not the King's justice and kindness set you at
ease?'--'That is very true in reasoning,' said he; 'but the sentiment is
more prompt, and inspires me with fear before I have time to say to
myself all that is calculated to allay it.'"

I got her to repeat this conversation, and wrote it down immediately,
that I might not forget it.

An anonymous letter was add