 As such, he was not only in charge of managing the Royal Library (now the National Library of France), but he was also the chief censor in the kingdom, responsible for controlling the book trade and the press.Like his friend Malesherbes, he was a liberal and supported the philosophers of The Enlightenment, in particular Diderot and his "Encyclopédie", which he protected against the attacks of the ecclesiastical party.Antoine de Sartine was close to the party of the minister Choiseul, who had been disgraced by Louis XV in 1770 and ordered to retire to his estate.