[289] This is in allusion to an episode which occurred in 1834, of which the country-house of a ministerial deputy was the scene and M. Thiers, then Minister of the Interior, the hero. Dr. Bonnet de Malherbe, in his _Notes inédites sur M. Thiers_ (1888, p. 73) refers to it in the following words: "One episode especially, the feast of Grand-Vaux, at the _château_ of the Comte Vigier, which the newspapers called the 'Orgy of Grand-Vaux,' made a great stir at the time. M. Thiers, if the chroniclers of the time are to be credited, played a part in it which went far beyond the 'pranks' of the Marseilles school-boy, and 'showed himself' in a 'posture' which was not exactly that of which another minister spoke, with some emphasis, half a century later. The _Quotidienne_ published a very spicy article in this connection, nor was the _Charivari_ sparing in caricatures."--B. [290] Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes (_circa_ 104--_circa_ 180), a Greek rhetorician celebrated for his munificence. He erected many public works at his own expense and restored several decayed towns in various parts of Greece.--T. [291] Thiers had published his _Histoire de la Révolution française_ in 1823 to 1827. The _Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire_ did not appear till many years later (1845 to 1862).--T. [292] The remains of Napoleon were brought back to France in 1840.--T. [293] M. Thiers had said in the Tribune, under the Monarchy of July, in the course of the discussion of the law against the associations: "France abhors the Republic; speak of it to her, and she recoils in affright; she knows that that form of government turns to blood or imbecility." In 1872, Henry Reeve met him in Paris and describes the conversation as follows in his Journal: "M. Thiers' conversation on the war, the Commune and the siege was very interesting. He said to me: "'_Certainement je suis pour la République! Sans la République qu'est-ce que je serais, moi? Un bourgeois, Adolphe Thiers!_' "He described the withdrawal of the troops from Paris, which was his own act. Then the siege, which he claims to have directed, the battery of _Mouton Tout_, adding: "'_Nous avons enterré, en entrant à Paris, vingt mille cadavres!_'" (JOHN KNOX LAUGHTON: _Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Henry Reeve_, Vol. II., p. 202).--B. [294] At the same time that Chateaubriand was drawing this portrait of M. Thiers, another seer, Balzac, wrote in the _Chronique de Paris_, on the 12th of May 1836: "M. Thiers has always wished for the same thing, he has never had but one thought, one system, one aim; all his efforts have been constantly directed towards it: he has always thought of M. Thiers.... M. Thiers is a weather-cock which, in spite of its incessant mobility, remains on the same building."--B.