"Not at all," replied the Emperor; and then, drawing in his breath in a significant manner indicative of universal relief, he replied, "They'll say, 'Whew!'"[1285] IV.

His Bad Manners.
His bearings in Society .-- His deportment toward Women .-- His disdain of Politeness.
There are very few monarchs, even absolute, who persistently, and from morning to night, maintain a despotic attitude.

Generally, and especially in France, the sovereign makes two divisions of his time, one for business and the other for social duties, and, in the latter case, while always head of the State, he is also head of his house: for he welcomes visitors, entertains his guests, and, that his guests may not be robots, he tries to put them at their ease .-- That was the case with Louis XIV.[1286]--polite to everybody, always affable with men, and sometimes gracious, always courteous with women, and some times gallant, carefully avoiding brusqueness, ostentation, and sarcasms, never allowing himself to use an offensive word, never making people feel their inferiority and dependence, but, on the contrary, encouraging them to express opinions, and even to converse, tolerating in conversation a semblance of equality, smiling at a repartee, playfully telling a story--such was his drawing-room constitution.

The drawing-room as well as every human society needs one, and a liberal one; otherwise life dies out.

Accordingly, the observance of this constitution in by-gone society is known by the phrase savoir-vivre, and, more rigidly than anybody else, Louis XIV.