The sun., 1891-12-13

| cited great sympathy in France. Il IL An IN
| teresting faot that TalleyrAnd tried 70 arous,
interest In Enrisnd In favor OF the Poles. bu
| he was met BY coldness and opposition. No
only were the Tories unfavorAble to Poland
but Lord Grey. the Whig Minister. influenced
by Nine. do Leven. soughtfor pretexts to avoit
all Intervention on the part OF England In q
CAUSE that was looked upon ~ doomed. Ons
should give every man his due. and We suppose
that Talleyrand must be credited with asin.
eere and abiding liking for the roles We are
reminded in those memoirs OF the efforts thai
he made in 1907. and again at the Congress oi
Vienna In 1915. for tho resuscitation Of theis
nationality.
Talleyrand had his share Of opposition and
annoyances In England. As the representa-
tive OF Louis Philippe he could no longer
count on tho political support Of his Tory 40
oualntances. who regretted the blow given by
the revolution OF 1890 to the system establish.
cd By tho Congress Of Vienna On the other
hand. the cooperation Of the Wings. who were
then In power. was lukewsrm and unstable
We have referred to the influence exerted over
Lord Grey by Nine do Lieven. but Lord Palmer
ston also was alienated from Talleyrand by a
caricature entitled "The lame leading the
blind" It was nevertheless at this very period
that remarkable public tribute OF respect
was paid 10 Talleyrand. considered as patriot
and ss gentleman. There con scarcely have
been more nattering incident In the whole
course Of his life than that which occurred
In the House Of Lords on Sept n 1881. On
that day the Marquis OF Londonderry. broth
or Of the deceased Lord Csstiereaeh and a
member OF the Tory opposition. described
Talleyrand. In o speech directed against
France. as crafty diplomatist. and declared
that he did not think another such character
could be found In the whole world. After
pointing out that Talleyrand had been suo-
cessively tho Minister Of Napoleon. OF Louis
XVIII. and OF Charles K. Lord Londonderry
declared that when one saw the English MIN.
listers going ono after the other TO consult such
a person. one was naturally hlled with disgust.
These aspersions were repellod not only BY
Lord Holland. member Of the whig Ministry.
but also by the Duke Of Wellington.
the head OF the Dry opposition. Lord
Holland said that forty years acquaintance
with Talleyrand enabled him to bear testi-
mony to the fact that, although those forty
years had been passed during o tim pecu-
liarly iraught with calumnies Of every de-
scYiptlon. no mans private character had
been more shamefully traduced and no mans
public character more mistaken and misrep-
resented than the private and public char
actor OF Prince do Tslleyrand These were
strong and loyal words and they were forti-
fed BY corresponding declaration from the
Duke Of wellington. who. whatever may have
been his private failings. was conspicuous for
uprightness and for truthfulness Referring to
his own frequent and intimate trans
actions with Tslleyrand. from the time OF
the Vienna Congress- down to the date
at which he spoke. tho Duke said that no man
could have conducted himself with more firm
ness and ability with regard to his own coun-
try. or with more integrity and honor In his
communications with the Ministers OF other
countries than Prince de- Talleyrand The
Duke added that he felt himself bound to pro-
claim his sincere and conscientious belief that
no mans public and private character had
ever been no much belied as had that OF the
individual in question. Tho avowals Of re-
spect made BY such distinguished English
men on this occasion havo boon made the
most Of by the spologists for Tallpyrand.
We should point out to the publishers that
the usefulness OF this volume to historical
students is materially impaired by the lack.
not only of an index, but OF table Of contents,
in which the subjects Of particular letters are
referred to the pages on which they may be
found. Tho English translator and American
editor have not even takcn tho trouble to place
at the head OF Apase q caption indicative OF
the matter presented thereon. In the COM
plete absence OF such facilities for consulta-
tion. book must be regarded as printed
rather than published.