The Sun.
London, England, 1832-10-24 00:00:00

M. DE TALLEYRAND.

The character of M. de Talleyrand was de-
cided by—his feet. His parents finding him
lame, decided that he should enter the church,
and that his younger brother should be the head
of the family. M. de Talleyrand donned his
priest's habit as if it were armour, and embarked
in his profession with a determination to reap
from it what harvest he might.
Up to the revolution his reputation was merely
that of a wit and a man of gallantry. On his
becoming a member of the' Constituent Assem-
bly, he at once attached himself to the mino-
rity of the nobles, and took his place between
Sieyes and Mirabeau. Perhaps he was then
sincere ; every man has been sincere at some
epoch or other of his existence. Besides, at
that particular period a man might be sincere and
yet s uiwenca etshe
nde
e,
Ac
eb
ssessceaamr uy
Assembly,
el
tyo, opinionblaubivuir
hadialerddTi nianit
leeryoe
rsratdnewdr e
trioes
then in accordance.
t
elesasdletntially indolent: to make amends he pos-
sessed a—l know not what to call it—imperato-
rial talent to make others work for him.
I saw him on his return from America, when
he was without fortune, and in bad odour with
the authorities, and limped about in the streets
in going to make his court at this and that salon.
Notwithstanding all that, 40 persons awaited
him every morning in his ante-chamber, and his
levee was that of a Prince.
He was not engaged in the revolution but by
his interest. Great was his astonishment when
he saw the result to him of that revolution was
his proscription, and his being compelled to fly
from France. Embarked for England, he fixed
his eyes upon the shore he was just quitting, and
exclaimed—" You will not again catch me en-
gaged in a revolution for others !"
He has kept his word.
Very unjustly compelled to leave England, M.
de Talleyrand sought for refuge in America,
where he pined away three years. The com-
panion of his exile and misfortune was also a
member of the Assembly,. the Marquis de Bla-
cous, a wit and a desperate gamester, who;• bn' his
return to Paris, ended his days by blowing out

his brains, weary of his life and his creditors. M.
de Talleyrand passed with him through all the
towns of America, leaning on his arm, for he
could not walk alone. When Talleyrand became
Minister, M. tie Blacous, having returned to
France, invited by hi►; petitioned for a place of
some 600 livres' value. No answer from M. de
Talleyrand ; he is not received by him, and
Blacous kills himself. A common friend, moved
by his desperate end, accosted Talleyrand--;
" You are the cause of the death of Blacous,
and vehemently reproached him for his conduct.
Talleyrand, leaning against the chimney, listened,
to him unmoved, and his only reply was, yawn-
ing, " Poor Blacous."
Having learned, while he was in America,
that Madame de Stael had returned to France,
he charged his friends to fill her
.head with the
projects of his return. This was by no memo;
a difficult matter ; of all women Madame de
Stael is she who most loves rendering services.
She seems to believe that they are things not to ,
be refused,—as if there was anything which
could not be refused in the world. She exerted
herself with admirable zeal in favour of M. de
Talleyrand. Thanks to her efforts, Chevier,
painted him to the Chamber as the purest of re'.
publicans, the sworn foe of monarchy in all
times, &c. &c. The Convention, which at that
epoch voted with equal enthusiasm for the pro'
scription of its friends and the recall of its end',
mies, voted the recall of M. de Talleyrand.
Once restored, he soon wanted to become Ml'
nister, and Madame ,de Stael was once more his'
nstrument.—Portraits et Souvenirs, par Bee'
jamin Constant. Le Livre de Cent-et-01
.ome vii. •

CORONER'S INQUEST. SHOCKING CASZ.

YesterdayiiGs, eivnentihneg inquistion was
orem of
taken before
wbeefo;
Mr. iG
house of Sr. James, 'Westminster, in Poland-street,:
on the body of a woman named Mary Phillips, aged
65, who, it appeared, died in the wretched back
attic at No. 6, Church-passage, Piccadilly, and
where, extraordinary as it must appear, her remain°
continued undiscovered (although the house Ole
fully occupied) till they had become one entire tnal°
of putrefaction.
Mrs. Ne.bitt, of No. 6, Church-passage, Pic
dilly, and her husband, occupied the front attic,en!
the deceased the back attic. Witness had lived
in the house four years, and knew the deceased
the whole of that time, but never saw the inside
of her room till since the door had been broken
open. She was very close and reserved, seldom
ate anything at home, and admitted no one into
her room, not even her own nephew. She kW';
every crevice of her room carefully stopped up 11
all times. Her habits were very dirty. She wool,'
frequently absent herself for months, and witneee
has seen her eating her meals on the steps of different
doors. Witness bad frequently heard her in her rootn
moving about for three weeks together, without once
seeing her. From these circumstances witness was tine
surprised at not hearing or seeing anything of her fa
4
several weeks past. Her first alarm was producel
on Friday, when the deceased's nephew called, and
inquired for her. Witness till then had thought eh:
was staying with him. Witness, a twelvemont°
back, had, from motives of curiosity, bored a hole in
the wainscot of the deceased's room, which the dv
ceaed pasted a piece of paper over on the tM
side, immediately en discovering it. This PP;
witness pierced through on Friday, after the neplies
had left, and fancied she saw the deceased lying.%
the floor. She alarmed the neighbours, and I,
hole being enlarged, they could distinctly see 1:
lying on the fluor on a quantity of rags. Inforin
tion was given to the beadles, who broke open'
door. The body was quite putrid. She
clothed in mere tatters. The deceased was a Yerf,
sober woman. Witness did not know whether aL
pursued any occupation, but she had been told 14
several, persons they 110 seen her begging, and .P.d.
believes she used to collect rags, bones, and broli7
bottles. i 0
B -njamin Webb, a beadle of St. James
consequence of information he received at lt,
borough-street, went to the house on Monday s°o
noon, and broke open the door. The deceased //1
stretched on some rags on the floor, vermin 0f.,;
kind 3 were most abundant, and the stench so 050
ribly offensive that he was compelled to retire. do
recovering he again went into the room, end'Ag,
lifting a kind of garment fastened round her awed,
he found the entrails were completely destroy of
and the cavity filled with vermin. Thousands.)
large maggots were crawling about in all part O
the room. He sent for an undertaker, and nwitlt
being procured, and the men supplied well to
brandy, they were at last prevailed on to lift the
body into it. He had previously sprinkled ttei
room with chloride of lime. He saw no appall/II
of food in the room. Beneath where the decesso,4
head was lying there were found a tea-caddyogh
a small box. In the former was 163. 6d. in 61
and in the latter 45.; and in another part oft
room they found a box with a crown piece
Verdict—" Died by the visitation of God.

14005 e
Ever. OMEN.—In the journals of the
of Commons, during the reign of Queen ELizAarri';,oo
pears the following entry :—" This day a blaekdaj,
came into the House, which was considered as
omen."—Mirror. A de
Peterborough-bridge narrowly escape" pp%
truction a few days ago. A kettle of pitch w'ss stipflie,t
over the fire in a boat, when it boiled over, and theA
set fire to the boat, and comrnunic ited to the irs';',tre6'
of the bridge. Had the wind been brisk the wboteiarrir
tuie would, doubtless, have been destroyed.--1".1
ton Free Press.ds
CURIOUS LAW SUIT.—At the Rotee IV,
Court-leet, on Friday week, a case was brought beit'A'bot'
court, arising under the following circumstances :"*"1, 10eA
seven years ago, a gentleman of Rochdale made his h":111;i
keeper a present of two pairs of top boots, which et". l
ceased to wear. But " ladies not wearing we bhal icjf':
housekeeper sent her perquisities to a dealer in for
with a request that he would dispose of thee' ',°b 05:
The honest Crispin po'ished the boots, expose(' .he/it;
his shop for sale, but at the end of two years' %gill
them still upon his hands, be stowed thews tey re;
lumber-room, along with other lumber. Here time r
mairaed about four years, at the end of which ket,r'ej
itinerant merchant made his appearance in the in° ,110,1
chased seventeen pairs of boots of the dealer betbreteof°,„,'
to, including one of the pairs in question, at the ra doe
shilling sterling per pair. No sooner bad the we e od)o
ceived the money than he sent one shilling and t• log
'
pair of boots to the original vendor, politely dtells
oritt.o el •
charge anything for polishing, commission, ‘vot Ph')
room. The lady, however, thought the boots 'l3 d
been sold for more than a shilling, and that her sg, 000
played her false ; she therefore brought the pres;f°dia °OO
to recover the (fancied) difference. The plaint' VI 1,0(
adduce any evidence to warrant her suspicion', to it'ece
journeymen thought with her that the boots ,„0
fetched more than twelve-pence, and " the twe"o-00 DC
kept in deliberation two hours before an unani'l the Dt
diet was come to, when they decided in favour of 001
fondant. We believe the fair plaintiff's costs Nil
to at least IN.—Macclesfield Courier.
- .
BIRTH
On the 23d inst. the lady of Phili C. Moore, EA' °f
0"
1
Commons, of a daughter.
t R RIED. P 4,1 tif'e
On the 22d inst. at Badminton, George Fineh,.oe,qG
Lady Louisa Elizabeth Somerset, fifth daughter of
Beaufort. OtOtriVi
On the '23(1 inst. at St. James's Church, Robert otoa,
Esq., of Castle Otway and Lisson Hall, in the coej tt, t 3
rare, to Sophia, eldest daughter of Sir Francis 13,0" e „p!li
DIED.
On the 20th inst. Sir William Rowley, Bart., et r pio,o 0
In May last, at Nussooree, in the Hinudah Moun Ae.‘e
Thomas, the infant son of Colonel Harry Thoinso!l;,sre,,Oio,
On the 3d of June last, at Qossoor,
_near I.3aool;ent '
few days' illness, Lieut. Anthony Brady, 33d Reg' of ft
Infantry, Madras. loth Ye3roV
On the 13th inst. at Malvern Wells, in the --„der9o
age, Julia Harriet, fifth daughter of William SO"
Wandsworth.
„ SO S
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