“The second is to place a barrier across the tide. It is Genius and Popularity in one dam: and it is named Mirabeau.”
“The King looked Gilbert in the face as though he had misunderstood him; then turning to the portrait, he said:
“What would you have replied, Charles Stuart, if when you felt the ground quake beneath your feet, some one had suggested your leaning on Cromwell?”
“He would have refused, and rightly; for there is no likeness between Cromwell and Mirabeau.” Such was Gilbert’s answer.
“They were both traitors.”
“Sire,” replied the other with profound respect but invincible firmness; “neither were traitors: Cromwell was a rebellious subject, and Mirabeau is a discontented nobleman.”
“What is he discontented with?”
“With his father, who locked him up in prison; the courts which condemned him to death; with the King who miscomprehended and still miscomprehends his genius.”
“The spirit of a public man is honesty,” said the King quickly.
“The reply is fine, worthy of Titus, Trajan or Marcus Aurelius, unluckily many examples arise to the contrary.”