The Arkansas advocate., 1834-10-24
From Block,eood's Maaasiac.
MEMo1Rs OK cfs A.EEs4rrJegaxD


 TENDED TO BE PosTHUMoUs How, then. have we got peep at their contents in the following manner Monsieur de Chat eaubriand has but short time ago regaed a select circle of his friends with the high treat of hearing him read these Memoirs at his retreat at the .atbage GU Boae We need hardly say that they were heard with the liveliest sensations of delight, and nov ed his audience often even to tears. Of l this favored audience one doubtless not without the permission of Monsieur de Ghateaubriand--has communicated to the Rerae de Paris certain passages and frag- ments of the MSS, from recollection, at $ said. These recollections are nest vivid. and have ali the appearance of being faith l ful ,; but there Is often more than recolec- ] tions--whole extracts from the Memoirs 1 themselves. These we are now about to 1 lay before our readers. But we must not omit previously to notice the ItSiameatd1q 1 Pretaee" Of Monsieur de Chateaubriand, lately published in the 6aotidienne. This IS certainly the most eloquent preface that ever was written; in itself piece of high ] biographical interest. If Monsieur de Chat eanbriand's name were not alone sufficient, 1t would serve to show the deep, varied, and enirainaat interest of the legacy he Is to bequeath to postelify. May this bequest be yet long delayed. May the ilIustrious testator continue long not only to serve his country by his splendid talents, but to adorn humanity by his brilliant example of what ever is high and chaste in enthusiasm, of whatever IS pure and lofty in principle The following is the preface. It Is dated August l, 1882, and has this motto pre- fixed:
 t sieut nubes, quasi navis, yelut umbra."
 As 1t is impossible for me to forsee the moment of my end-as it my age the days granted 10 man are days of grace, or rather of rigour, am about, lest Death should surprise me, to explain the nature of a work whose prolonsaton is destined to be- guile the ennai of these last deserted hours, which interest no one, and of which know not how to dispose.
 The Memoirs, al the head of which this preface will be read. embrace or will embrace, the entire course of my life. They have been begun since the year 1sll, and continued till the present day. have related in that which is finished, and shall relate ill that which is only planned, fiiy isl@ fancy, my education, my early youth, my entrance in the service, my arrival in Paris, my presentation to Louis XVI, the com mencement of the Revolution, my travels in America. my return to Europe, ny em- grafton 10 Germany and England, my re- turn to France under the Consulate, my occupations and my works under the En- pire, my journey 10 Jerusalem, my oecu- patons and works under the Restoration; and, finally, the complete history of the Restoration, and is fall.
 1 "I have met almost all the men who, Tn my time, have played any fart, small or great, both in foreign countries and at home, 1 from Washington to Napoleon, from Louis XVIII. to Alexander, from Pious VII. to Gregory XVI; from Fox, Burke, Pitt, Sheridan, Londonderry, Capo dlstria, to Maesherbes, Mirabeau, &c. &c.; from Nelson, Bolivar, Mehemet, Pacha of Egypt, to Suf1rien, BougainyilIe, La Perouse, Mo- reau, &c. &c. have made part of tri- umvirate which had never before an exam- pie. Three poets, of opposed interests and nations, found themselves nearly at the same time, Ministers of, Foreign Affairs myselfin in France, Mir. Canning in England; and Martinez de la Rosa, in Spain. l have traversed, successively, the vacant years of my youth, the crowded years of the Republic, the pomps of Napoleon' and the reign oflegitimacy.
 ssI have explored the seas of the Old and New World, and trodden the soil of the four quarters of the globe. After having 1 sheltered under the hut of the lroquols. un- der the tent of the Arab, in the wigwams of the Hurons, in the ruins of Athens, of Je- rusalem, of Memphis, or Carthage, of Grenada, with the Greek, the Turk, the Moore, among forests and ruins; alter having donned the bear-skin casque oi the savage, and the silken cafetan ot the Marn- eluke; after having suffered poverty, hun per, thirst, and exile, have sat down min- ister and ambassador, embroidered With gold, and covered with decorations and ribands al iie table off of kings, and fetes oi princes and princesses, only to tall agaln into indigence and to experience the Pf'son. :. aI have been in relation with crowd oi passengers, illustrious in armies, ID ine church, in politics, in the magisffacy, Tn sciences, and in arts. possess immense. materials, more than four thousand pfIyates, letters, the diplomatic correspondence ot my different embassies, especially some relating to my appointment as Minister oi Foreign Affairs, among which are several remarkable pieces concerning particularly l ----i l ..i 1 ha1ln carried