Pompadour, vous embellissez
La cour, le Parnasse et Cythère.
Charme de tous les yeux, trésor d’un seul mortel,
Que votre amour soit éternel!
Que tous vos jours soient marqués par des fêtes!
Que de nouveaux succès marquent ceux de Louis!
Vivez tous deux sans ennemis
Et gardez tous deux vos conquêtes!”[40]
So many madrigals were not enough. Both verse and prose were needed. In addressing to the Marquise a copy of the Précis du siècle de Louis XV. Voltaire inserted in it a passage, gravely congratulating her upon that treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which had so grievously offended the national sentiment:—
“It must be owned that Europe may date its felicity from the day of this peace. People will learn with surprise that it was the result of the urgent counsels of a young lady of high rank, celebrated for her charms, her singular talents, her wit, and an envied position. It was the destiny of Europe in this long quarrel that a woman began it and a woman ended it. The second has bestowed as many benefits as the first caused harm.”