The society also provided a venue where young men of the élite could meet and become known to established political figures.

[1] Four founders were members of the council of state: Mortimer Ternaux, Achille Guilhem, Prosper Hochet and Édouard Bocher.

Charles His and the Count of Cambis were embassy secretaries, and Grille de Beuzelin was a functionary in a ministry.

A mock bill was tabled by a member, examined in committee and then presented to the general assembly.

[7] The Conférence Molé was an important training group for future political leaders in the July Monarchy.

[10] The Molé tended to be moderately conservative under the July Monarchy, and was critical of the authoritarian regime of the Second French Empire.

[7] It was one of the rare places where some degree of free public discussion was allowed under the Empire.

[13] Léon Gambetta was admitted to the Molé in 1861 and wrote to his father, "It is no mere lawyers club, but a veritable political assembly with a left, a right, a center; legislative proposals are the sole subject of discussion.

At that time the Molé met in the Café Procope in the Rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie, the oldest coffee house in Paris.

Other active members during this period included Ernest Picard, Clément Laurier and Léon Renault.

[5] Under the French Third Republic many members of the Molé became parliamentary leaders, so membership was sought after by aspiring politicians.

[7] The society was less active in the 1880s, but experienced a revival in the 1890s when it was stimulated by competition and the introduction of new debating techniques.

[12] On 30 April 1897 Félix Faure, President of France, decreed that the Conférence Molé-Tocqueville was an "establishment of public utility".

[10] The conference was revived in the 1990s to discuss involvement of civil society in the French economic and social fabric.

Lawyers included René Bérenger, Louis Buffet, Marc Antoine Calmon, Jules Cazot, Jean Clamageran (president in 1858), Henry Didier, Albert Grévy, Édouard René de Laboulaye and Ernest Picard (president in 1853).

Of 230 who gave their professions, 138 were advocates or magistrates, 30 in the Council of State, 16 in public office and 11 diplomats.