e
is a letter from him, addressed to Milord Marshal, ordering him to
acquaint a 'superieur' man of my kingdom (D'Alembert) that he has
granted him a pension;" and, looking at the letter, he read the
following words: "You must know that there is in Paris a man of the
greatest merit, whose fortune is not proportionate to his talents and
character. I may serve as eyes to the blind goddess, and repair in some
measure the injustice, and I beg you to offer on that account. I
flatter myself that he will accept this pension because of the pleasure
I shall feel in obliging a man who joins beauty of character to the most
sublime intellectual talents."

[George Keith, better known under the name of Milord Marshal, was the
eldest son of William Keith, Earl Marshal of Scotland. He was an avowed
partisan of the Stuarts, and did not lay down the arms he had taken up in
their cause until it became utterly desperate, and drew upon its
defenders useless dangers. When they were driven from their country, he
renounced it, and took up his residence successively in France, Prussia,
Spain, and Italy. The delicious country and climate of Valencia he
preferred above any other.

Milord Marshal died in the month of May, 1778. It was he who said to
Madame Geoffrin, speaking of his brother, who was field-marshal in the
Prussian service, and died on the field of honour, "My brother leaves me
the most glorious inheritance" (he had just laid the whole of Bohemia
under contribution); "his property does not amount to seventy ducats." A
eulogium on Milord Marshal, by D'Alembert, is extant. It is the most
cruelly mangled of all his works, by Linguet]

The King here stopped, on seeing MM. de Ayen and de Gontaut enter, and
then recommenced reading the letter to them, and added, "It was given me
by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to whom it was confided by Milord
Marshal, for the purpose of obtaining my permission for this sublime
genius to accept the favour. But," said the King, "what do you think is
the amount?" Some said six, eight, ten thousand livres. "You have not
guessed," said the King; "it is twelve hundred livres."--"For sublime
talents," said the Duc d'Ayen, "it is not much. But the philosophers
will make Europe resound with this letter, and the King of Prussia will
have the pleasure of making a great noise at little expense."

The Chevalier de Courten,--[The Chevalier de Courten was a Swiss, and a
man of talent.]--who had been