Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1858-06-04
TALLEYRAND.


The following character Of Taleyrand, evil
IDENTIFY written by one acquainted with him in
England, has appeared in the Morning Post,
. and is worthy of remark:
"Talleyrand is certainly the most extraor-
dinary being of his kind the world has pro-
duced since the creation. Take him in his
physical conformation alone, and think of his
having outlived so long all the great and good
of his time.
"Talleyrand was born lame, and his limbs
are fastened to his trunk by an iron appara-
tus, on which he strikes ever and anon his
gigantic cane, to the great dismay of those
who see him the first time-an awe not un-
dimished by the look of his piercing gray
eyes, peering through his shaggy eyebrows,
his unearthly face marked with deep stains,
covered partly by his enormous muslin era
vat, which supports long protruding lip
drawn over his under lip, with cynical ex-
preston no painting could render add to
this apparatus of terror his dead silence,
broken occasionally by the most sepulchral
gutteral monosyllables Talleyrands pulse.
which rolls stream of enormous volume, in
termits and pauses at every sixth beat This
he constantly points out trumphantly as
rest of nature giving him at once a superiori-
ty over other men. Thus he says all the
missing pulsations are added to the sum total
of those of his whole life, and his longevity
and strength appear to support this extraor-
dinary theory. He likewise asserts that it is
this that enables him to do without sleep.
Nature, says he. sleeps and recruits herselfat
every intermission of my pulse. And, in
deed, you sec him time after time rise at 3
o'clock in the morning from the whist table.
then return home and often wake up one of
his Secretaries to keep him company or talk
of business.
"At he will go to bed, sitting nearly bolt
upright in the bed, with innumerable night
caps on his head to keep it warm, as he said.
and feed his intellect with blood but in fact
to prevent his injuring tho seat of knowledge
if he tumbles on the ground, and he sits up
right from his tendency to appoplexey, which
would no doubt seize him if perfectly recum-
bent. We may remember the newspapers stat
ing he was found few years ago, his head
having dropped from his pillow, so drowned
in blood that not a feature was to be seen.
Although he goes to bed so late, at or 7 he
wakes and sends for his attendants. He
constantly refers to the time when he was
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and when his
power to 60 without sleep enabled him to go
out and seek information as well as pleasure
in society till II or one o'clock. At that
hour he returned to his Office read over all
the letters that had arrived in the day, put
marginal indications of the answer to be Civ
en-, and then on waking again at read over
the letters written in consequence of his or
ders.
"When Talleyrand was engaged in the pro-
tocols he used to tire out all his young col
leagues and full well we know by expert
ence that at the time of the Quadruple Trea-
ty and on many other occasions, his eyes
were open while Lord Palmerston slept.
When the storm of the the three giorieuses
broke over Paris, too happy to escape from
France, Talleyrand came over to England
One cannot refrain from laughing on thinking
how he appeared then. He gave his audien-
ces to conntrymen in his salon in Hanover
square with a round hat ON his head, on the
front Of which was tri-colored cockade six
inches square while lying taut au long on
the sofas were three young sanscuioas of July
he had brought with him to give himself an
air Of Repubicanism.
''Louis Philippe got settled on his throne,
the tri-colored oockade was torn off the round
hat and thrown into the fire, and the new
born embryos of Republcanism were sent
back to Paris Talleyrand, freed from all fear
Of Republic, gave vent to all his natural
icspotism. lie then had the whole world at
lis feet; all the nobility sought his society
with eagerness the diplomatists Of every ma
lion bowed before him. Lord Palmerston
alone resisted Talcyrand, not only in great
things but in the most trihing and childish
affairs ralleyrand then used TO settle af-
fairs beforehand with Lord Grey and Hol-
land Lord Palmerston managed, however,
to annoy Talleyrand, who, tired of pickering
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