of life. Mme.
de Pompadour is said to have taken possession of the very existence of
Louis XV.

"She appropriates and kills his time, robs him of the monotony of
hours, draws him through a thousand pastimes in this eternity of ennui
between morning and night, never abandoning him for a minute, not
permitting him to fall back upon himself. She takes him away from
work, disputes him to the ministers, hides him from the ambassadors.
In his face must not be seen a cloud or the slightest trace of care of
affairs; to Maurepas, in the act of reading some reports to the king,
she says: 'Come now, M. de Maurepas, you turn the king yellow....
Adieu, M. de Maurepas'; and Maurepas gone, she takes the king, she
smiles upon the lover, she cheers the man."

In 1747, two years after her installation, she interested the king in
a theatre, and inaugurated the famous representations at the Theatre
des Petits Appartements; she herself was one of its best actresses,
singers, and musicians. All the members of the nobility vied with one
another in procuring admission to these performances, as auditors or
actors. Her contemporaries say that she was without a rival in acting,
for in that art she found opportunity to show her vivacity, her
_esprit_ of tone, and her malice of expression, the effect of which
was heightened by her voice, graceful figure, and tasteful attire,
which became the envy of every court lady.

[Illustration 4:
_MME. DE POMPADOUR AND A CLERICAL LOBBYIST
After the painting by A. Casanova_
_Her influence and usurpation of power bore heavily upon every
department of state; she appointed all the ministers, made all
nominations, managed the foreign policy and politics, directed the army
and even arranged the plans of battle. She was forced to receive foreign
ambassadors and ministers; she had to meet in the Cabinet de Travail and
give council to the generals who were her proteges; the clergy went to
her and laid before her their plaints, and through her the financiers
arranged their transactions with the state. She was the greatest
patroness of art that France ever possessed, giving to it the best hours
of her leisure; it was her pastime, her consolation, her extravagance,
and her ruin._]

Almost all rising young artists and men of letters were encouraged or
pensioned by Mme. de Pompadour. Her salon would have become one of
the most distinguished of the period, as she was, herself, the most
remarkably talented and beautifu