The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1883-07-06
Stories .About Talleyrand.


Mr.. Greville's most Interesting stories
are about Talleyrand. whom he knew;
very WE'LL. Stories about Talleyrand are
almost always good; 1t is, difficult to re-
member whether or not they are new.
Some verses Of his. written when he
y as q priest and in love, are mentioned,
but not printed. "He was very proud Of
q definition he had made of 81 Amour"
Love is a reality in the realm of the
imagination" It does not sound much
to be proud of-in English. Tue anec-
dote about NJ. de Narbonne Is not new,
but it is good. This gentleman was very
tedious, and one day, when driving
with Talleyrand across the Pont Neuf,
was particularly dreary. Talleyrand
saw man yawning at q distance, and
said to his companion: "Don't speak so
loud, we are overheard" He SAID Of
Lady Holland. "She pretends to tnow
every thing, to make herself of inluor.
lance, and when she does not know she
invents"-the consequences Of her in
vention being ill-natured stories. Ma
poleon, according to Talleyrand, had mo-
ments in which he played the moralist
among the ladies of his court, The EN-
peror thought the conduct Of the Mare
chale Ney ''trop fort" which gives one
an unholy desire to know what the
Marechale could possibly have been do
ing. Madame de Genlis enraged Mad
anne de Stael (and no wonder) by saying,
Isl Madame de Stael await etc elevee,
ellie aurait etc tres superieur." Talley-
raid said that Louis XVIII used to cut
irreverent jokes on Sunday afternoon,
which was very ungrateful conduct in
that monarch. Otherwise Louis XVIII
was very agreeable and well read, par
ticularly well acquainted with Horace,
and extremely proud of big beauty. and
pope; but etiquette demandeg that they
should he said to have done SO, because
town countil does not stand on the same
level of dignity as the Cortes, whose
members are supposed to kiss hands
when they take leave. The three let
ters B. s. P. (beso sus pies), which mean
II kiss your feet" are still used by gen.
tlemen In Spain when signing letters ad-
dressed to ladies, and by subjects to
their king. The letters B. s. NJ. (baso
sus manos), which are used by men
writing to men, and by ladies to ladies,
would seem too cavalier from a gentle.
man to lady, and downright imperti-
nence from subject to his sovereign.
One of the chief reasons of the Duke
d'Aosta's unpopularity during the brief
reign which he closed with voluntary
abdication, was that he would take no
pains to study the complicated etiquette
Of the grace with which he took off and
put on his hat. In this respect his Maj
esty considered himself the most accom-
plished man in his own dominions. Ma
poleon, oddly enough, was very fond of
theology. 1t was not so much that he
was truly pious or a devout believer,
but that he had natural taste for the
illogical study. His library was peculiar
ly rich in books of divinity. So far there
was certain resemblance between the
Emperor apd Lord Byron. He, kept
three bishops with whom he used to ar
que on these serious and difficult topics.
This was almost culpable luxury, and it
shows how self-indulgent the Emperor
was and could afford to be, that not one
or two bishops could satisfy his curiosity
about divine things. Talleyrand admit.
ted that he himself was "not wholly des-
titute of religious belief" 80 open was the
mind of this really clever man. In ear
lier days he had some very odd exper-
fence of revolutionary society. He was
at meeting of the Directoire when Bar
ras gave Carnot the lie; the lie was re-
torted, not courteously, and Barras re-
piled in the style of an unpublished coal
HEAVIER. II had never seen anything
like it," said Observation-Disclosures News