I then informed him, that the
Comte de Mirabeau had undertaken to introduce it into the Assembly. At this
he expressed his uneasiness. "Mirabeau," says he, "is a host in himself;
and I should not be surprised if by his own eloquence and popularity only
he were to carry it; and yet I regret that he has taken the lead in it. The
cause is so lovely, that even ambition, abstractedly considered, is too
impure to take it under its protection, and not to sully it. It should have
been placed in the hands of the most virtuous man in France. This man is
the Duc de la Rochefoucauld. But you cannot alter things now. You cannot
take it out of his hands. I am sure he will be second to no one on this
occasion."
On my return to my hotel, I perused the outlines of the speech, which the
Comte de Mirabeau had lent me. It afforded a masterly knowledge of the
evils of the trade, as drawn from reason only. It was put together in the
most striking and affecting manner. It contained an almost irresistible
appeal to his auditors by frequent references to the ancient system of
things in France, and to their situation and prospects under the new. It
flowed at first gently like a river in a level country; but it grew
afterwards into a mountain torrent, and carried every thing before it.
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