The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England. volume 5 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 5Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
History
The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England. volume 5 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 5
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de, 1768-1848
This is a very proud revolt on the part of M. Cadet de Gassicourt
against "this lady" and her "father-in-law:" what a progress in
enlightenment and philosophy! What indomitable independence! Messieurs
Fleurant and Purgon dared not look people in the face except upon their
knees[390]; he, M. Cadet, says, with the Cid:
"Then we rise up!"
His liberty is the more courageous inasmuch as that "father-in-law"
(in other words, the descendant of St. Louis) is an outlaw. M. de
Gassicourt is above all that: he despises equally the nobility of time
and of misfortune. With the same contempt for aristocratic prejudices,
he takes away my "de" and assumes it for himself, as though it were
a conquest snatched from the petty gentry. But could there not have
been some ancient historic quarrels between the House of Cadet and the
House of Capet? Henry IV., the ancestor of that "father-in-law" who is
no more King than that "lady" is a Royal Highness, was one day passing
through the Forest of Saint-Germain: eight lords were lying in ambush
there to kill the Bearnese; they were taken.
"One of those gallants," says L'Estoile, "was an apothecary who
asked to speak with the King, of whom His Majesty having enquired
of what condition he was, he answered that he was an apothecary.
"'What!' said the King. 'Is it the habit to perform the condition
of an apothecary here? Do you lie in wait for the wayfarers to...?'"
Henry IV. was a soldier, modesty troubled him but little, and he ran
away from a word no more than from the enemy.
I suspect M. de Gassicourt, because of his ill-humour towards the
descendant of Henry IV., of being himself the descendant of the
apothecary-Leaguer. The Mayor of the 4th Ward had doubtless written to
me in the hope that I would engage him in mortal combat; but I do not
care to engage M. Cadet in anything: I hope that he will forgive me for
leaving him this little token of my remembrance.
Since the days when the great revolutions and the great
revolutionaries passed before my eyes, everything had shrivelled
greatly. The men who caused the fall of an oak, replanted when too old
to take root, applied to me; they asked me for a portion of the widow's
mite to buy bread: the letter from the Committee of the _décorés de
Juillet_, or "Knights of July," is a document worth noting for the
instruction of posterity.
"PARIS, 20 _April_ 1832.
"Please address your reply to M. Gibert-Arnaud, "Manager and
Secretary to the Committee, "3, Rue Saint-Nicaise.
"MONSIEUR LE VICOMTE,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account