ABSTRACT
The France of Louis XIV doubtless impressed Germany by her political and military successes; but she had a powerful additional ally in the French language. In the old days the Germans were far more virtuous but in France they have learned all manner of disorders, especially unnatural vice, which is dreadful in Paris. The Court of France, although partially losing its characteristic strength and grandeur, preserved its prestige for elegance; the good taste of France long survived the reign which had given it birth. The Seven Years War cost the France of Louis XV some of the absolute empire she had inherited from the preceding reign. The French persisted in considering the Germans as barbarians and the Germans in seeing France as a nation of petits maitres and intriguers. French, substituted for German, had become the customary language for all men of culture.
