France was long a “Despotism tempered by Epigrams.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian

The French Revolution: A History, Part 1, Book 2, ch. 4 (1.2.4) (1837)
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Though given in quotation marks, Carlyle is apparently "quoting" himself.

This quotation is commonly given on its own, though, since Carlyle's thesis at this point in his history is that the royal government had largely become irrelevant in the nation, he continues:

... and now, it would seem, the Epigrams have got the upper hand.
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