The
whole of the pamphlet which related to this affair was admirably
written, and, like the "Barber of Seville," marked by a strongly
sarcastic vein. However, the thing failed, and the duc de la
Vrilliere, the sworn enemy of men of wit and talent, caused
Beaumarchais to be immediately confined within Fort 1'Eveque.
So that the offended party was made to suffer the penalty of
the offence.
In the same year the comte de Fuentes, ambassador from Spain to
the court of Louis XV, took leave of us. He was replaced by the
comte d'Aranda, who was in a manner in disgrace with his royal
master: this nobleman arrived preceded by a highly flattering
reputation. In the first place, he had just completed the destruction
of the Jesuits, and this was entitling him to no small thanks and
praises from encyclopedists. Every one knows those two lines
of Voltaire's--
"Aranda dans l'Espagne instruisant les fideles,
A l'inquisition vient de rogner les ailes." *
*"Aranda in Spain instructing the faithful
at the Inquisition has just clipped wings."
--Gutenberg ed.
The simplicity of comte d'Aranda indemnified us in some degree
for the haughty superciliousness of his predecessor. Although no
longer young, he still preserved all the tone and vigor of his
mind, and only the habit which appeared to have been born with
him of reflecting, gave him a slow and measured tone in speaking.
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