25/99 The Ordinary Readers at Paris had to conform to the usages of the Catholic Church. On his side, Bruno appears to have conceived high admiration for the king's ability. In the _Cena della Ceneri_ and the _Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante,_ composed and published after he had left France, he paid him compliments in terms of hyperbolical laudation. No one conversant with French society at that epoch could have been ignorant of Henri's character and vicious life. No one could have pretended that his employment of the kingdom's wealth to enrich unworthy favorites was anything but dishonorable, or have maintained that his flagrant effeminacy was beneficial to society. |