Exciter tant de murmure,
Chacun juge le roi fou.”[43]
Nor did people content themselves with ballads. They likewise produced long pieces of emphatic verse, distilling venom and hatred. More or less skilful imitators of Juvenal composed satires full of gall and bitterness. What specially excited the indignation of the authors of these diatribes were the representations at the theatre of the little cabinets. One of them, addressing himself to Madame de Pompadour, exclaimed:—
“Parmi ces histrions qui règnent avec toi,
Qui pourra désormais reconnaître son roi?”[44]
Another thus expressed himself:—
“Sur le trône français on fait regner l’amour.
La fureur du théâtre assassine la cour.
Les palais de nos rois jadis si respectables,
Perdent tout leur éclat, deviennent méprisables;