The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-03-08

benefit. IL no more than turpitude. VICE.
| the ~ Ter Of crime. enters into domestic
service. Suppose NJ. de Talleyrand a
! plebeian. poor, obscure, having. besides his
immortality. nothing save his incontesa DC
I drawing-room wit; We should certainly
never have heard speak Of him. TAKE
away from NJ. de Talleyrand the debased
great lord, the married priest. the degraded
Bishop: what remains TO himf His reputa-
ton and his SUCCESSES have depended on
that treble depravhy.'
Elsewhere we are told that incapable
Of writing q single sentence unaided' M
de Talleyrand made men work competent'y
under him: when. by dint OF erasions and
alterations, his secretary had succeeded
In drafting his dispatches to b. hkine'
he copied them out with his own hano'
I have heard him read from the memoirs
which he began a few pleasing details
about his youth. An he varied In his tastes
detesting tomorrow what he loved yester-
day, II those memoirs exist In their en-
tirety. which doubt. and II he has pre-
served the opposite versions, II Is probable
that his Judgments on the same fact. and
especially on the same man, will contra
dict each other outrageousfy. do not BE-
lisve In the story that the manuscripts
have been deposited in England. Tie
order which. they pretend. has been gwen
to publish them not before forty years
hence seems to me a piece of posthumous
jugglery' ChAteaubriand was justified
by the event. When Tsleyrand's memoirs
were published In is9i-oo they proved
EXTERNALLY disappointing.
What, then. did Talleyrand amount TOT
4, - ~, a an ,hrio nd who In al known
him long and well, he was unable TO keep
up q serious conversation. The third
time that he opened his lips, his ideas ovar-
grated. His life was perpetual deception
knowing what he lacked IN respect Of knowl-
edge and brains, he ihu med everybody
who was likely to detect him. His coE-
slant study was not 10 allow his measure
to be taken. He withdrew into silence at
seasonable times, during which be inwardly
worded come effective phrase. inspired by
a pamphlet Of the morning or a conversatit
of the evening. In word, sham. How.
then. did II happen that a man essentially
empty imposed on anybody? Chat, ALL
BRAND answers: A great manner, which
came from his birth, strict observance OF
the niceties. a clld and disdainful air, con'
tributed to keep up the Illusion that SUR
rounded the Prince do Per 4vente. His
manners exercised an empire over secon6-
rate people and the men Of the new society
to whom the society Of the old days was
unknown. Formerly one met persons at
every turn whose ways rescmbled NJ. de
Talleyrand's, and one took no notice OF
them; but, almost alone In the field In the
the midst Of democratic customs, he ap-
in IN
to the yoke OF his forms. II suited se!f-love
TO ascrbe to the Minister'S wit the ascend-
enoy exercised by his breeding" u war
common seventy years ago. as II Is still. to
hear people say Of Talleyrand that, while
he was doubtless very immoral, he was
also a very able man. Chsteaubriand
denies that he possessed any remarkable
ability. Talleyrand. he says, was no politi.
cal Warwick. His arm lacked the strength
that lays low and raises thrones. He was
not even a demon. Beyond certain nego-
tiations, at the bottom Of which he was clever
enough to place his personal interests in
the foreground. there was nothing 20 be
expected Of Talleyrand. He kept up a
few habits and q few maxims for the use OF
the sycophants and worthless fellows Of
his intimate circle His toilet in public,
copied after that Of a Minister in Vienna,
was Q triumph In diplomacy. He boosted
OF never b ing in q hurry, He used 10 say
that time il our enemy, and that We must
kill II. by this he reckoned to be occupied
f)r only few moments, A., however. in
the last result NJ. de Talleyrand did not SUE
O .ed In Transforming his idleress into a
masterpiece, IL is probable that he was mi =.
To- - hx, 70 nf NAT ~
rid OF time: we triumph over time only by
creating immortal things; with works that
have no future. with frivolous distractions.
we do not kill il. We waste it.
~.
At the time when the pages Of these
memoirs, which are dedicated TO George
Sand were written. namely, toward thu
end Of 1884 she had published only N liam :
syal mt n, -sIel a. the S ecre: a ire in i'm,
and .Jacqu So She had sent two q the
books o Cnatsauoriand. and. in an accom-
panving lettar, said; The fairest privilege
OF a universally accepted glory ik. your
own In 20 welcom. and encourage AZ their
start those inexperienced writers for whom
there can h. no lasting success without
YOUR patronage ChAtsaubriand made a
courteous reply. and here in his memoir
expres.ee the opinion that Nine. Dudevant
sposs..s-ss C. talent of the first order; her
descriptions have the truth Of those Of
Rouss au In his Revere. aid ~ Bernardin
de Saint Pierre Ia his r. nd : Her frank
.,yle 10 tainted with none o. the faults Of
the day Una though Iainful To rad
and Offering none ~ the delicious ssnes
"A A.. H..