rce himself
into his house, and lay forcible hands on him, as though he were a thief
or a felon. The whole of the pamphlet which related to this affair
was admirably written, and, like the "Barber of Seville," marked by a
strongly sarcastic vein. However, the thing failed, and the duc de la
Vrilliere, the sworn enemy of men of wit and talent, caused Beaumarchais
to be immediately confined within Fort l'Eveque. So that the offended
party was made to suffer the penalty of the offence.

In the same year the comte de Fuentes, ambassador from Spain to the
court of Louis XV, took leave of us. He was replaced by the comte
d'Aranda, who was in a manner in disgrace with his royal master: this
nobleman arrived preceded by a highly flattering reputation. In the
first place, he had just completed the destruction of the Jesuits,
and this was entitling him to no small thanks and praises from
encyclopedists. Every one knows those two lines of Voltaire's--

"Aranda dans l'Espagne instruisant les fideles,
A l'inquisition vient de rogner les ailes." *

* "Aranda in Spain instructing the faithful
at the Inquisition has just clipped wings."
--Gutenberg ed.

The simplicity of comte d'Aranda indemnified us in some degree for the
haughty superciliousness of his predecessor. Although no longer young,
he still preserved all the tone and vigor of his mind, and only the
habit which appeared to have been born with him of reflecting, gave
him a slow and measured tone in speaking. His reserved and embarrassed
manners were but ill-calculated to show the man as he really was, and
it required all the advantages of intimacy to see him in his true value.
You may attach so much more credit to what I say of this individual, as
I can only add, that he was by no means one of my best friends.

When Louis XV heard of the nomination of the comte d'Aranda to the
embassy from Spain to France, he observed to me,

"The king of Spain gets rid of his Choiseul by sending him to me."

"Then why not follow so excellent an example, sire?" replied I; "and
since your Choiseul is weary of Chanteloup, why not command him upon
some political errand to the court of Madrid."

"Heaven preserve me from such a thing," exclaimed Louis XV. "Such a
man as he is ought never to quit the kingdom, and I have been guilty
of considerable oversight to leave him the liberty of so doing. But to
return to comte d'Aranda; he has some merit I understand; still I