too proud to
sue for favours, and there was much opposition on the part of many
members, who declared that their purposes were at war, as they had assumed
the task of composing the language, while he seemed to aim at its
decomposition; but Mme. de Tencin had set her mind upon making of him an
academician, and spared no pains to accomplish her purpose. The influence
of this brilliant, scheming, unprincipled, and headstrong woman, aided by
Bouhier, president of the parliament of Dijon, and likewise a warm
supporter of Marivaux, gained the day, and she had the pleasure of seeing
her old friend, upon his fifty-fifth birthday, February 4, 1743, received
within the ranks of the forty Immortals. Voltaire, although a dangerous
competitor, was not received until three years later; Piron, Le Sage, and
Crebillon _fils_, never.

Strangely enough, this painter of gay and brilliant society succeeded to
the _fauteuil_ of an ecclesiastic, l'abbe d'Houtteville, and was welcomed
by another, Languet de Gergy, archbishop of Sens. At his death his place
was filled by still another, a certain abbe de Radonvilliers. The task of
the archbishop was not one of the easiest, for it devolved upon him to
eulogize an author, many of whose works, by reason of his ecclesiastical
position, he was not supposed to have read. The acquaintance that he shows
with them, however, is rather too intimate to credit his assertion that
his judgment is drawn from hearsay: but with due deference to public
opinion and his supposed position, the archbishop lauds rather the
character of the man than the excellence of the author, declaring that it
is not so much for the multitude of his books, though welcomed by the
public with avidity, that Marivaux owes his election, as it is to
"l'estime que nous avons faite de vos moeurs, de votre bon coeur, de la
douceur de votre societe, et, si j'ose le dire, de _l'amabilite_ de votre
caractere."[159]

Along with much praise of the author's ability, with flattering
comparisons such as these: "Theophraste moderne, rien n'a echappe a vos
portraits critiques.... Le celebre La Bruyere parait, dit-on, ressusciter
en vous..." are criticisms upon the immoral influence of certain of his
works, particularly the _Paysan parvenu_, which claim to have a moral aim.
The archbishop suggests that his descriptions of licentious love are
painted in such "naive and tender colors" that they must create upon the
reader an impression other than that i