era.]

Madame de Pompadour presented her dear poet to the king, with a smile
which so charmed Louis XV. that he offered De Bernis, in the first
instance, an apartment in the Tuileries, and a pension of 1500 livres a
year; and so cleverly did the future cardinal play his cards, by
insinuating himself into the good graces of both the king and his
mistress, that, after a sojourn of two years at the chateau, he was
appointed ambassador from the court of France at Venice.

But it would appear that the Queen of the Adriatic did not suit the
inclinations of our abbe; he sighed for Versailles, and the _petits
soupers_ of Louis XV. After a very short sojourn in Venice he demanded
his recall from Madame de Pompadour, and on his return composed an
epistle to his fair protectress, the opening lines of which we give as a
fair specimen of his powers of versification:--

On avait dit que l'enfant do Cythere
Pres du Lignon avait perdu le jour;
Mais je l'ai vu dans le bois solitaire
Ou va rever la jeune Pompadour.
Il etait seul; le flambeau qui l'eclair
Ne brillait plus; mais les pres d'alentour
L'onde, les bois, tout annoncait l'amour.

For the space of ten years the Abbe de Bernis was the shadow of Madame de
Pompadour; he followed her everywhere, sometimes even too far. Louis XV.
would meet him in all parts of the palace, in the private as well as the
state apartments, which would make him say sometimes,--"Where are you
going, Monsieur l'Abbe?" Our abbe would bow and smile, but say nothing.
True to his character of abbe, he would listen at all the doors, saying
that the chateau of the Tuileries was for him but one huge confessional.
He ended, however, by knowing all things, and by sitting in council with
the king and his mistress; and a precious trio it must be owned they
made.

But evil times were coming on our abbe. In the ministry he was assailed
by showers of _chansons_ and epigrams. The Count de Tressan, above all,
overwhelmed him with a violent satire. He could no longer hold his
ground. Every one began to grow tired of him, even the fair president of
the council; this was the _coup de grace_. The Duc de Choiseul, after
replacing him in the good graces of Madame de Pompadour, succeeded also
to his portfolio as minister. As some compensation, however, they gave
him the cardinal's hat; a circumstance which elicited from some wit of
the day the following couplet:--

On dirait que Son Eminence
N'eut le