The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-11-21
TALLEIRAND.
A Picture of the Celebrated French Dfplo-
mat-A Great Man.

A Picture of the Celebrated French Dfplo-
mat-A Great Man.
In the third and last volume of the
memoirs of Baron de Vitrolles, which
is to appear in this city in few DAYS.
there is a remarkable sketch of Talley-
rand and an allusion to the autobiog-
raphy of the distinguished diplomatist,
which, it will be remembered, was not
to see the light until a long period of
years after TalleyrandAs death. From
the proof sheets of this interesting vol
ume take the following story of how
Talleyrand came to write his memoirs;
and the train of thought which he
ayoWed on this occasion enables US to
foresee what the character of the great
mans revelations will be.
zone day." said the Baron de
Vitrolles, 81 was alone with Prince de
Talleyrand, and / could remember the
exact date if I tried. The Place
Louis XIV. was that day crowded by
thousands of persons, who We're hust-
ling each other, and. fighting with
weapons no more dreadful than nm
brellas or small canes. The throngs
swept back and forth from the Pont
Louis XVI, some crying, 'Vive lie Roll
others, 'Vive la Charte!' Because of
this tumult the gates of the courtyard
of NJ. De Talleyrand's hotel had been
closed, and I was alone with him for
several hours.
''After we had gazed for q time at the
mobs in the square he suddenly said to
me, without preamble:
did you ever notice that, in exam
lining divers epochs, one always finds a
man who, because of some particular
relation between his character and that
of his time, becomes the type, and, so
to speak, the representative of his CEN
fury? / am not speaking now of men
like LeonX. or Louis XIV; I will take
it in a more restrained sense. There are
certain traits bywhich tits easy to re-
cognize these plastic figures. Thepublic
pays them a good deal of attention,
knows all the anecdotes about their ca
reers; it is considered the thing to know
them; one is anxious to know what
they think, and all their bon mots are
cited. There is always man of that
Importance. Now in our generation
or almost so-we have had M. de
Choiseul; after which the Due dor
leans philippe Egalite.) Grouped
around these men one finds the VERT
able history of their time. 1t was for
this reason that to trace the character
of my generation wrote the two vol
umes of the Memoirs of the DUO de
Choiseul.' I then made book on the
Due d'Orleans, and then I wrote NV
Memoirs
s'And he ran, continued the Baron,
''to get a number of manuscript
volumes, from which he read me per-
haps sixty or eighty pages" Such was
the manner in which these famous
memoirs were first communicated to a
second party.
In the portions of the memoirs re-
lating to his own career there were
many singular passages, among them
the one relating to the great intrigue
of Erfurth. When he read it he smiled
maliciously:
You know, he said, that every
body has saved France, since it appears
that she is saved four or five times every
year, but at Erfurth it is pretty clear
that | saved Europe from the gem
eral upheayal. -
This little portrait of Talleyrand is
worth copying:
''In society he was extremely reserved,
never being in in haste to speak, and
never opening his lips without saying
something worth hearing. He avoided
with care all ready made phrases, vulgar
comparisons, trivial locations, and to
his latest day he detested the comment
vous, parlez vous. He never used the
phrase and never answered it not even
to his physician, fancy.
''His choice of anecdotes was always
felicitous; he~introduced his own per-
sonality only when it was quite neces-
sary, and his stories usually had amoral
which he did not need to point out.
Outside of these recitals he rarely went
beyond two or three phrases, especially
on serious topics. He never entered in
to discussion, even in the Councils;
his opinion was contained in few
words.
SIn the course of business he wrote
little himself, and only private letters,
but he chose his aids with skill. When
he wished dispatches or dramatic notes
written, he explained in few words
what they were expected to contain;
and when the work was brought to him
he examined it with great attention If
he was not entirely satisfied with it, he
folded the paper and handed it back to
the author, saying: That is motif, or,
This is not quite it, or perhaps, That
is not exactly it, without other expla-
nation. One had to guess his way until
he finally obtained the approving That
is it. "
Talleyrand's memoirs will make more
noise in France than this writer made
when he was living in power Cor.