Let us turn the weapons which the fanatical queen has sharpened
against us, against herself. But the accusations must be grave and
well-founded. The eyes of this foolish nation must be opened. We must
show to it that this woman, whom it worships as a chaste Lucretia, as a
beautiful saint, is nothing but a very pretty lady with a well-developed
form, endowed with little mind, but much coquetry, and who, so far from
being a saint, has a very human heart, and has had many an adventure. If
M. Lange is willing to write in this strain, I will pardon him.[20]
Tragedy must be sometimes transformed into a farce, that the stupid
people may laugh at what they were originally inclined to weep for. Ah,
that Queen of Prussia was bent upon waging war against me! She shall
have it. We will wage war against each other; let it be a mortal combat.
Did the Prussian ambassador accept our terms?"
[Footnote 20: Talleyrand's prediction was fulfilled. Threats of capital
punishment, and promises of ample rewards, transformed the editor of the
_Telegraph_ into as enthusiastic an admirer of Napoleon as he had
formerly been of Queen Louisa; and, after having hitherto written
nothing but fulsome eulogies, he now did not shrink from publishing the
most shameless libels against her. The immediate consequence was, that
the _Telegraph_ lost in a single day most of its subscribers. But Lange
continued publishing slanderous articles against Louisa, for the French
government paid him.
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