re very slightly to be distinguished,
either by their manners or appearance, from their rustic retainers.

It will easily be imagined, then, that Mirabeau, who was gifted with
brilliant natural qualities, cultivated and polished by education--a man,
moreover, who had seen much of the world, and had been engaged in several
strange and perilous adventures--occupied the most conspicuous post in this
society, many of the component members whereof seemed to have barely
reached the first degrees in the scale of civilization. His vigorous
frame; his enormous head, augmented in bulk by a lofty frizzled
_coiffure_; his huge face, indented with scars, and furrowed with seams,
from the effect of small-pox injudiciously treated in his childhood; his
piercing eyes, the reflection of the tumultuous passions at war within
him; his mouth, whose expression indicated in turn irony, disdain,
indignation, and benevolence; his dress, always carefully attended to, but
in an exaggerated style, giving him somewhat the air of a traveling
charlatan decked out with embroidery, large frill, and ruffles; in short,
this extraordinary-looking individual astonished the country-folks even
before he opened his mouth. But when his sonorous voice was heard, and his
imagination, heated by some interesting subject of conversation, imparted
a high degree of energy to his eloquence, some of the worthy rustic
hearers felt as though they were in the presence of a saint, others in
that of a devil; and according to their several impressions, they were
tempted either to fall down at his feet, or to exorcise him by making the
sign of the cross, and uttering a prayer.

Seated in a large antique arm-chair, with his feet stretched out on the
floor, Mirabeau often contemplated, with a smile playing on his lips,
those men who seemed to belong to the primitive ages; so simple, frank,
and at the same time clownish, were they in their manners. He listened to
their conversations, which generally turned upon the chase, the exploits
of their dogs, or the excellence of their horses, of whose breed and
qualifications they were very proud. Mirabeau entered freely into their
notions; took an interest in the success of their sporting projects;
talked, too, about crops; chestnuts, of which large quantities are
produced in the Limousin; live and dead stock; ameliorations in husbandry;
and so forth; and he quite won the hearts of the company by his
familiarity with the topics in whic