New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-13

degree in his youth. and this. unfortunately "
The most prominent feature in his career rs r.
,,enobe-ad by The nation which In his later years
he tried II benefit Throughout all the serious
wears Of his life the frivol.ties and scandais "i
his carly years were cited by his enemies as
proof that he could not be trusted. Even III '"e
defence made by Professor Won HOIST can W
discerned fatal lapse In the make-up oI INV
GREAT statesman. His errors have ieit MN WIN"
out proper sclf-poso He Is apt 10 say "'o'-
than he means to say at moments when 'ne i"'
Of France ,rembles In the balance. Men Will 'o'
Weld to him. though they admire MS gehiuS' ~
cause they doubt the possibility -. Sood ldl'h ~
such character. Circumstances force MN To-
,,s,ifv ,boir distrust. He defends the revolution
o,d bones IN preserve everything that has been
GAINED bv If: nevertheless. he agrees with the
King to do what he can for the protection az
the monarchy. 1t Is clear at tnis point tna'
Mrabeau like Bacon has had to su1er from
change Of ideas due largely 10 his own iapors.
Neither he nor others like him had any intention
of destroying tho monarchy. Nothing could nave
been further from his thought than the opih-
ion that revolution meant repubcanism. Ihus'
what he did for the monarchy was wei within
the boundary of his convictions. But 10 later
generation. even to men Ct the same generation
al
the two terms were convertible. and they de-
nounced the man as a hypocriie who could think
otherwise To such people Mirabcaus conduct
In accepting pay from the King for services rem
dered was shocking. In his own eyes the Offer of
the King to pay his debts and give MN
monthly salary was promotion, frank
Acknowledgement of his merit and OF his in
fuence In the nation. In the eyes Of others he
81 nd converted into the tool or
ROYALTY Here again circumstances favored his
enemies BY the nature OF his agreement with
the King and by the exigencies OF time WREN
the Court was daily destroying It's hold upon
the people he was forced to a policy OF secrecy
which he could not maintain. He was 10 per-
form the part of Harley. Swift and Defoc all at
once While aiming to support Inc nine ne
must do so with the arguments OF the Kings
onnonents and he could not do this solely by
writing nor by that Of his suhordnates; he
must do 1t by speech in the convention. lie
needed to be shifty as Harley. as sharp as
Swift as ironcal as Dcfoe Possibly he was
Ills genius was boundlcss. But he could n1t
carry conviction - the minds OF the men who
must he persuaded II the Old France wnich
Mrabeau loved was to be preserved He could
not restrain his wrath. When he was ironical his
irony was too obvious When he was sarcastic
his sarcasm was too bitter. Bcaidts. MS sar-
casm was not read from the printed page. II
fell hot from his tongue like pois from ser
pent. and IT b,lstorcd whomsocver II touched.
Mr. Alrcn !nt.ma,es tina, Mira5eau's speeches
f. their written form were largely the production
II his secretaries. most OF whom wer" SWISS.
He comes 10 this point IN \ discussion ~ inc
fact hat the c'aeslc writer were 80 much
cuoiod Nv tn. orators - 'rc dan Mrabeau
vas rc,a->abic - -eoti m. since - iantry was
rigidiy iholgh perhaps in'o.scionsly. EXCLUDED
from his speeches. NJ. Age si'g tho SWISS
were responsible for Misaos-us escape from ina
prevalent literary vice. They ga no; care for
Greek and Latin. and hence they suggested no
fine phrases FOR him 10 use Professor Won
Hoist II he disputed this point al all wouih
probably say that Mirabeau dictated MS
sneeches that ne wns essentially man ahead
Of hi. tines and not behind them. and mat ne
ANTICIPATED the modern plainness Of speech. For
the key which he uses 10 unlock the secret OF
Nrabeau's character Is that tho great French
statesman was a man 10 whom the world was
overla,e Jus, because he was ahead of his
times he spoke language which his pontca'
contemporarics could not understand. They
coud no; see until after the fact dangers which
he discerned from the outset According to Pro-
his forecast Of political events. Anticipating 20
clearly what was 10 be. he was also resourceiul
I'm devisng remedies for future Ills. But NJ rare
IL succeeded I'm carrying out his plans Even
his friends could not see into the future o. ne
aid His enemies found IL easy 10 thvari MN.
He was obliged 90 work In secret. ana 'ha' "'S
unnatural to him The result was tha' III inc
heat Of public speech he destroyed the erect of
his own devices. Professor Won Hoist susiains
Mirabeau's estimate Of himself as. above all
statesman. His popular reputation Is that oi an
orator. But eloqucnce would n't nave 'h'"''
him 10 foretell with almost divine certainty me
successive steps from the Revolution To the n'S-
potism Of Bonaparte. Tradition, when cNaS-
cerates the qualities Of many man has lessened
those Of the man whom Professor Won Hoist calls
tho greatest son Of France IN the greatest period
Of her history.
Mr. Algor has collected number Of myths
and has carefully shown TINT they cannot be
true. IN spite Of the fact that they have been re-
no,tod for nearly one hundred years by numerous
writers OF every degree ~ credit For example
Gazette royalist. has been credited with
prophetic vision In which he announced the tate
az various persons who were afier"ard beheideh
including the Queen OF France. The vision was
said 10 belong to the year l7sS but Il became
hubble IN a writing of Laharpe. NJ Inc lp"t Oh
the manuscript there was an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
that f. was n pure invention of Iaharpc him-
self Nevertheless, the story was accepted Tor
wears. even By men who Ike Louis Blanc. could
not think Of believing the Hebrew prophets
Another attractive legend was to TN" effect that
when the Marquis do sombrcuil. Governor OF the
Hotel dcs lnvalides. was obtn to he killed ny
mob his life was saved by his daughter. who
Iln1 ustfl blood
Tho effort 10 trace this story to its origin led TO
the discovery thai tine young lady drank glass
O, water into which drop Of blood had fallen
from the nand Of the man who gave II to her
One % the most dastardly characters Of the
Revolutionary period was the locksmith Canaan.
lie had helped Louis XVI who was himself an
..-.. 1...rr.I,l In tn. cnnef rlctinn Of a secret