But, in this limited circle of
speculative reason and of pure literary forms, it excelled; writings
and how to write furnished the ordinary entertainment of polite
society; every idea uttered by a thinker caused excitement in the
drawing-room: the talent and style of authors were shaped by its
taste;[50] it was in the drawing-rooms that Montesquieu, Voltaire,
Rousseau, d'Alembert, the Encyclopedists, great and little,
Beaumarchais, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Champfort, and Rivarol,
involuntarily sought listeners and found them, not merely admirers and
entertainers, but friends, protectors, patrons, benefactors and
followers. - Under the instruction of the masters, the disciples had
become philanthropists; moreover, the amenities of manners developed
in all souls compassion and benevolence: "Nothing was more dreaded by
opulent men than to be regarded as insensitive."[51] They concerned
themselves with children, with the poor, with the peasantry, setting
their wits to work to afford them relief; their zeal was aroused
against oppression, their pity was excited for every misfortune. Even
those whose duties compelled them to be rigid tempered their rigidity
with explanations or concessions.
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