Extracts from the Speech of the Bishop of Autun, on the Occasion of his Motion on the Subject of Ecclesiastical Reform, on the 10th of October, 1789 322 Opinion of the Bishop of Autun on Banks, and on the Re-establishment of Order in the French Finances 326 INDEX 347 REMINISCENCES OF THE LATE PRINCE TALLEYRAND. CHAPTER I. THE DUC D’AIGUILLON AND MADAME DUBARRI—TALLEYRAND’S RETURN FROM AMERICA—CHÉNIER, MADAME DE STAËL, AND MADAME DE LA BOUCHARDIE. “You have begun, _malgré vous_,” said I to C., the next time we met _tête-à-tête_, “the _vie anecdotique_ of the prince, which I have always felt sure would prove so full of interest. Your strange story of Madame de la Motte is quite sufficient to excite curiosity in those who love to see the _truth_ established where prejudice and falsehood have reigned so long. It would be a curious study to follow in the same manner, step by step, the life of the Prince de Talleyrand, and give to those who seek for _truth alone_ (and they are many) the real impressions made upon a powerful organization, like his own, by the wondrous changes in which he bore so conspicuous a part; the conduct of those with whom he co-operated in the great reform which, from the very outset of his career, it is evident he had at heart; and his own conduct with regard to the confederates with whom the strange circumstances amid which he found himself compelled him to associate sometimes, ‘_malgré lui et à son corps defendant_.’” “It would be difficult,” replied C., “to destroy prejudices which have taken root. Mankind in general cling to them with tenacity, and adopt ready-formed opinions with the greatest facility in proportion as they are improbable and absurd. The Prince de Talleyrand has been the victim of many such errors. From the great reserve, partly natural to his character, and no doubt strengthened by his clerical education, the motives by which he was guided, unexplained by himself, have been left to the interpretation of the mass; and the mass will ever be loth to yield conviction save to the evidence of facts alone. One of the most extraordinary delusions which exist in the public mind with regard to the prince, founded I should think upon no better authority than a brutal attempt at wit made by Napoleon, has been often adopted as a basis for the judgment of his character. ‘Kick Talleyrand behind,’ said the coarse-minded _sabreur_, ‘and look in his face, you will perceive no indication of any sense of the insult.’ The _dictum_, which was first uttered by the chattering buffoon of a Parisian _salon_, has been gravely quoted by more than one historian, and has in many cases gone forth as the standard whereby to judge one of the proudest characters that the Almighty ever sent among mankind!