Among other proofs of consummate
ignorance he was deficient even in orthography, and was fool
enough to boast of so disgraceful a fact, as though it conferred
honor on him; perhaps, indeed, he found that the easiest way of
getting over the business.
He possessed a most ignoble turn of mind; all feelings of an
elevated nature were wanting within him. A bad son, an unkind
husband, and a worse father, he could scarcely be expected to
become a steady friend. All whom he feared, he hesitated not to
trample under foot; and his favorite maxim, which he has a
hundred times repeated to me, was, that "we should never hesitate
to set our foot upon the necks of all those who might in any way
interfere with our projects--dead men [he would further add] tell
no tales!" There was one person, nevertheless, whom he detested
and flattered at the same time, and this was Voltaire, who well
repaid him in like coin. He called the duc de Richelieu, the
tyrant of the tennis-court* (
), and the duke returned the
compliment by invariably designating him "Scoundrel" and "Poetaster";
the only difference was that the duc de Richelieu only treated the
poet thus in , whilst M. de Voltaire sought not to
conceal, either in his writings or conversation, his candid opinion
of the illustrious duke and peer; and he might justly accuse the
duke of ingratitude, for he, no doubt, owed a considerable portion
of the reputation he enjoyed as a general, to the brilliant verses
in which Voltaire had celebrated his exploits.
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