The Parisians liked the open and frank character of this Prince, which they considered national, and showed real affection for him.
The dominion that the Queen gained over the King's mind, the charms of a society in which Monsieur displayed his wit, and to which the Comte d'Artois--[Afterwards Charles X.]--gave life by the vivacity of youth, gradually softened that ruggedness of manner in Louis XVI.

which a better-conducted education might have prevented.

Still, this defect often showed itself, and, in spite of his extreme simplicity, the King inspired those who had occasion to speak to him with diffidence.

Courtiers, submissive in the presence of their sovereign, are only the more ready to caricature him; with little good breeding, they called those answers they so much dreaded, Les coups de boutoir du Roi .-- [The literal meaning of the phrase "coup de boutoir," is a thrust from the snout of a boar.] Methodical in all his habits, the King always went to bed at eleven precisely.

One evening the Queen was going with her usual circle to a party, either at the Duc de Duras's or the Princesse de Glumenee's.