Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-08-23
Testamentary Preface.

of INV dissolution, and as, at my advanced age,
the DAYS of man are days Of grace, or rather
DAYS Of pain, intend to explain myself on the
subject of work undertaken to cheer the gloom
of those last hours of mans lite, which no one
values or knows how to employ.
The Memoirs at the head of which this pre-
face will be placed, embracethe whole course OF
nv hfe They were begun in 1911, and con-
tinued up 10 this time. | have sketched, and
will fill up more accurately, the history OF my
childhood, my education, my youth, my enter
ing the army my arrival at Paris, presentation
to Louis XVI, the beginning of the Revolution,
nv voyages to America, my return to Europe,
my emigration to Germany, and to England,
nv return to France under the Consulate, my
occupations, and my writings, during the lmpe-
rial sway, my visit 10 Jerusalem, my occupations
and my writing under the Restoration; finally;
the complete history OF that Restoration, aud its
fall.
| have seen and known all the men who have
played any distinguished part in my day, either
in my own country or IN others, from w ashlng-
ton to Napoleon, from Louis XVIII to Alexan.
der from Plus VII to Gregory XVI, from Fox,
Burke, Pitt Sheridan, Londonderry, Capo DIS
tria to Malesherbes, Mirabeau, &c, from Nelson,
Bolivar, Mehemet, the Egyptian Pa cha, TO Suf-
fern, Bougainviile, La Porous, Mareau, &c.
formed one of Trumvirate, without precedent
among nations; three poets of opposite interests
and countries were al the same time ut the head
of foreign affairs, Mr.. Canning. in England, /,
in France. and Martinez de la Rosa, in Spain.
I have successfully journeyed through the
idle years of my youth, and the busy years of
the Republican era, the splendid pageant of Buo-
naparte, and the reign of the legitimates
have explored the seas of the old and the
new world, aud modden the soil of the tour quar-
tiers of the world: after having emcamped I'M
der the hut of the Irouqois the tent Of the Arab,
in the wigwams of the Hurons; among the ru-
~c af aln of nf "A
thage, ofGrenada; among the Greeks, the Turks,
the Moors; among forests and ruins; after wear
ing the bearskin of the savage, the silk caftan
of the Mameuke; after enduring poverty, hun
ger, thirst and TOLL | have assisted as Minister
and Ambassador, covered with gold, glittering
with ribbons and orders, at the feasts OF Princes
and Princesses, to return to poverty, and
breathe the air of prison.
Ihave been intimately connected with num-
Der of celebrated persons in the army, the
church, politics, the bar, the arts and sciences.
have immense materials more than four thou
sand private letters, the diplomatic correspon-
dence OF my various embassies, that Of my pro-
ceeding s as Minister of Foreign Affairs, among
which are some papers OF my own hitherto new
er known; have borne alternately the musket
of soldier the staff of traveller, the scrip OF
a pilgrim; as mariner my fate has shifted like
my sail, and, haicyon like, built my nest upon
the waters.
/ have had much to do both with war and
peace; I have signed treaties and protocols,
and published, as | journeyed on, numerous
works; have been initiated in the secrets of
parties, of is, of state; have viewed close
Nv the greatest miSfortuneS and the greatest men;
Ihaye assisted at seiges at con crosses conciavsS,
and at the putting up and pulling down Of
thrones; have myself been al object OF history,
and | could have written il, and my solitary,
dreaming, poetiCa life, glided on aE.io this
Of of Of ffu n
noise, with the sons of my dreams, Ca0cfos,
Rene, Eudose, Aicahdmet, and with the daugh-
tiers Of my fancy AHatd, Anett0, CIGRG0, Gel
ledd, BymOdOce-form,ng par;. yet withontthe
pale Of my age, perhaps exerted over ir.with-
out knowing or seeking for II triple influence,
religious, political, and literary.
have only round me now four Or five con-
temporaries of long lived fame. A!fieri Ca
nova, Monti have passed away. Or that bright
galaxy, Italy retains only Pledmonte, and Man
Zoni. Pellico sighed away his years in the dun
geoGs of Spielberg. The genius of the country
of Dante is doomed to silence, or forced to lam
guish IN a foreign land. Lord Byron and Mr..
Canning dedyoung. Walter Scott seems about
to follow: Goethe, covered with years and glo-
ry. has sunk into the tomb France has none
left or that glorious age; SIZE is beginning a new
era, while remain to bury my age like the old
priest at the storming of Bezieres. who was to
ring the bell to announce the fall of the last
citizen. before he himself died.
When death drops the curtain behind me and
the world it will be found that my drama con-
tains three acts. From my early youth until
1900 was soldier and traveller; from 1900
until 1914, under the Consulate and the Empire.
nv life was literary one; from the Restoration
until the present day my life has been politi-
cal one In my three successive careers, i'm
posed upon myself great work. AS travel !
Ter aspired to the discovery of the polar re-
gions; as literary man, endeavored to re-es-
establish religion upon its own ruins; as a |
endeavored 10 give to the people |
The true representative monarchical system,
with its various privileges. l at least helped to
conquer that which is worth them ALL which |
Ices away the need of constitution-the lioer
y of the press. If often failed in my underta-
ings, it was the fault Of my destiny. The TO-