Historical Characters. Henry Bulwer
gentleman had been menin to the Dauphin, son of Louis XV. He subsequently commanded a regiment in the Seven Years’ War, and rose to be lieutenant-general in the King’s armies. He bore an excellent character, but was never considered to have any ability.
6
This singular fact is mentioned by M. Mignet in a short and able memoir, which after M. de Talleyrand’s death he read to the French Academy.
7
“And who are you, my friend?” “I am your coachmaker, my lord.” “Ah! you are my coachmaker; and what do you want, my coachmaker?” “I want to be paid, my lord.” “Ah! you are my coachmaker, and you want to be paid; you shall be paid, my coachmaker.” “And when, my lord?” “You are very inquisitive!”
8
Sieyès, in a celebrated pamphlet published at this period.
9
Evêque d’Autun, archévêque de Bordeaux, Lally, Clermont-Tonnerre, Mounier, Sieyès, &c., &c.
10
“Our souls were then intoxicated by a gentle philanthropy, which induced us to seek passionately the means of being useful to humanity, and of rendering the condition of man more happy.”
11
“This man has made himself great by placing himself always by the side of the little, and a
1
Many of those works confound dates and names, and make the most absurd, as well as the most malignant, accusations; but here and there they relate facts which authentic documents have since confirmed, as well as anecdotes which I have heard contemporaries repeat, and of which I shall therefore take advantage.
2
“It is a terrible advantage to have done nothing; but one must not abuse it.”
3
There seems to be some difficulty in ascertaining the date of M. de Talleyrand’s birth with exactitude. I have been told, on apparently the best authority, that he was born on the 7th of March, on the 1st of September, and on the 2nd of February. This last is the date I have selected, having reason upon the whole to believe it the correct one. With respect to the year there is no dispute.
4
The Countess de Talleyrand lived to 1809; and was very proud of the talents of her son, but regretting, it is said, the use he had made of them.
5
This gentleman had been
6
This singular fact is mentioned by M. Mignet in a short and able memoir, which after M. de Talleyrand’s death he read to the French Academy.
7
“And who are you, my friend?” “I am your coachmaker, my lord.” “Ah! you are my coachmaker; and what do you want, my coachmaker?” “I want to be paid, my lord.” “Ah! you are my coachmaker, and you want to be paid; you shall be paid, my coachmaker.” “And when, my lord?” “You are very inquisitive!”
8
Sieyès, in a celebrated pamphlet published at this period.
9
Evêque d’Autun, archévêque de Bordeaux, Lally, Clermont-Tonnerre, Mounier, Sieyès, &c., &c.
10
“Our souls were then intoxicated by a gentle philanthropy, which induced us to seek passionately the means of being useful to humanity, and of rendering the condition of man more happy.”
11
“This man has made himself great by placing himself always by the side of the little, and aiding those who most needed him.”
12
“La motion du clergé lui a conquis cette place.” —
13
The presidency was only for fifteen days; but the consideration in which this dignity was held may be estimated by the fact that Mirabeau, notwithstanding his utmost efforts, was unable to obtain it until the subsequent year.
14
“Each of the two nations should by this means form its standards, which it ought to preserve with the greatest care, so that if, at the end of several centuries, any variation in the sidereal year should be perceived, the standards might serve to ascertain its extent, and in this way to connect this important point in the system of the universe with a mighty epoch, such as that of the National Assembly. Perhaps, even we may be permitted to foresee in this co-operation of two nations, together interrogating nature to obtain from her an important solution, the principle of a political union brought about by the intervention of the sciences.”
15
“La popularité de M. de Lafayette qui s’était élevée si haut commençait à décliner de ce jour là (14 July): un mois plus tard, les cris ‘à bas Lafayette!’ avaient succédé aux cris de ‘Vive Lafayette!’” – (
16
“I should be inconsolable if the severity of our decrees as to the clergy should not produce as its result the salvation of the State.” – See
17
“Saying is quite a different thing from doing: the preaching and the preacher must be considered apart.”
18
A defence has been set up for Mirabeau, viz., that the work, though written by him, was published without his knowledge by a bookseller’s wife, his mistress. But besides the utter improbability of this story, there is the fact that Mirabeau remained until his death on the best terms with the person who would thus have betrayed a most sacred trust and merited his bitterest contempt and indignation.
19
See
20
See
21
When M. Mercy, the Austrian ambassador, and for a long time the intermediate agent between the court and Mirabeau, left Paris, M. de Montmorin, the minister of foreign affairs, was, without the knowledge of his colleagues, admitted into the secret of the court’s engagements, and authorised to correspond with Mirabeau concerning their execution.
22
“I shall be what I have always been, the defender of the monarchical power, regulated by the laws; the apostle of liberty, guaranteed by the monarchical power.”
23
“The brief of the Pope arrived last Thursday. De Talleyrand-Périgord, the late Bishop of Autun, is suspended from all functions and excommunicated, if after forty days he has not repented.”
24
“The ministers, the royalists of the Assembly, were all left in ignorance of the King’s intentions, and exposed to great peril. Such was the situation, not only of the National Guards and their officers, but also of the most devoted of the King’s friends, the Duc de Brissac, commander of the Swiss Guards, and M. de Montmorin, who had unwittingly given a passport in the name of the Baroness de Korff.”
25
“Ce prince (Louis XVI.) dont on ne peut trop déplorer le manque de bonne foi dans cette occasion, lui donna les assurances si positives, si solennelles, qu’il crut pouvoir répondre
26
“The Duc d’Orléans is the vase into which people have thrown all the filth of the Revolution.”
27
M. de Rulhières, l’ancien secrétaire du baron de Breteuil à St. Pétersbourg, le confident du maréchal de Richelieu, le poëte de la duchesse d’Egmont, narrateur fort redouté de Catherine