Cagliostro—Voltaire—The Marquis de J—— 122 CHAPTER V. Childhood and Juvenile Years of Talleyrand 168 CHAPTER VI. Mirabeau—The Princess T——.—The Mayor of Valençay 214 CHAPTER VII. Recollections of Early Life by Prince Talleyrand 260 CHAPTER VIII. The Countess de la Motte, of Necklace Notoriety 307 REMINISCENCES OF THE LATE PRINCE TALLEYRAND. CHAPTER I. TALLEYRAND AT VALENÇAY. It was during the autumn of 18—, that, passing through Paris on my way to the south of Europe, I ventured to pay my _visite de rigueur_ to that hallowed shrine—that Mecca of all young diplomatists—the Hôtel Talleyrand, in the Rue St. Florentin, to obtain, as it were, a blessing and an imposition of hands from the high-priest of the diplomatic craft, ere I ventured, novice and without guile as I then was, to put forth on the unknown sea of politics. Perhaps there lingered in my mind a latent hope of acquiring some new information concerning the hidden rocks and shoals, the under-currents, which were not yet marked down in the very imperfect chart at that time existing in my brain, and by the aid of which I might, by steering aright, gain more quickly than my colleagues the glorious port of ambassadorship. I had once had the good fortune to form part of a company, assembled by the owner of P—— House, to meet the Prince de Talleyrand, during the very last Easter vacation which he had spent in England; so that it was not as a complete stranger that I now ventured, all trembling and awe-struck, to seek the presence of his excellency. The hour was somewhat late for a morning visit, when I called at the hotel; but I had been told by one who knew him well, that his hour of _confidence_ and kindness, his hour of _benevolence_, in short, was decidedly the one hour before dinner; and so already, even in the smallest matter, beginning to move professionally, I had acted entirely upon the strength of this friendly warning. I was not disappointed; for I found the veteran diplomatist enjoying the _otium cum dignitate_, after the fatigues of the day. He was seated in his easy chair, reclining with that peculiarly easy grace which, in spite of his lameness, characterized his every attitude and movement. A bundle of newspapers lay upon the table before him; some were scattered on the floor around; but he had evidently forgotten, for the moment, the world and all its fretful politics, and was gazing with fond affection at the gambols of his fair young niece, who was on her knees upon the floor by his side, her arm resting upon the elbow of his chair, teasing and provoking the large English spaniel, Carlo, the delight of the prince, and his constant companion.