FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152  
153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   >>   >|  
is dying to listen to a comedy in five acts." Our collector has treasured up two or three tolerable anecdotes of that artfullest of "dodgers," Talleyrand, which, though not new to every body are likely to have a novelty for some, and there fore may bear quoting. After the Pope had excommunicated him, he is reported to have written to a friend, saying, "Come and comfort me; come and sup with me. Every body is going to refuse me fire and water; we shall therefore have nothing this evening but iced meats, and drink nothing but wine." When Louis XVIII., at the restoration, praised Talleyrand for his talents and influence, the latter modestly disclaimed the compliment, but added, with an arch significance, "There is, however, some inexplicable thing about me which prevents any government from prospering that attempts to set me aside." The next is exquisitely _diplomatic_. A banker, anxious about the rise or fall of stocks, came once to Talleyrand for information respecting the truth of a rumor that George III. had suddenly died, when the statesman replied, in a confidential tone, "I shall be delighted if the information I have to give be of any use to you." The banker was enchanted at the prospect of obtaining authentic intelligence from so high a source; and Talleyrand, with a mysterious air continued, "Some say the King of England is dead; others, that he is not dead; for my own part, I believe neither the one nor the other. I tell you this in confidence, but do not commit me." No better parody on modern diplomacy could easily be written. A CURIOUS PAGE OF FAMILY HISTORY. The Chambellans were an old Yorkshire family, which once had held a high place among the landed gentry of the county. A knight of that family had been a Crusader in the army of Richard Coeur de Lion; and now he lay, with all his insignia about him, in the parish church, while others of his race reposed in the same chancel, under monuments and brasses, which spoke of their name and fame during their generation. In the lapse of time the family had become impoverished, and gradually merged into the class of yeomen, retaining only a remnant of the broad lands which had once belonged to them. In 1744-5, the elder branch of the family, consisting of the father, two sons, and a daughter, resided at what had once been the mansion-house. It had been built originally in the reign of Stephen, and was a curious specimen of different kinds of architect
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152  
153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Talleyrand
 

family

 

banker

 

information

 

written

 
landed
 
Richard
 

Crusader

 
gentry
 

knight


Yorkshire

 

county

 
confidence
 

England

 
commit
 

CURIOUS

 
FAMILY
 
Chambellans
 

HISTORY

 

easily


parody

 

modern

 

diplomacy

 

monuments

 

branch

 

consisting

 

father

 

remnant

 

belonged

 

daughter


resided

 
curious
 

Stephen

 

specimen

 

architect

 
originally
 

mansion

 
retaining
 

yeomen

 
reposed

chancel
 

church

 
parish
 
insignia
 

brasses

 

impoverished

 
gradually
 

merged

 
generation
 

replied