[203] Casimir, Comte de Montrond (1768–1843). He was incarcerated during the Terror, and met in prison Mlle. de Coigny (Duchesse de Fleury), the Jeune Captive of André Chénier, whom he soon afterwards married. After his divorce he became the bosom friend of Talleyrand, and was one of the best known men in French society until obliged to fly the country in 1812 on account of intrigues against Napoleon.
[204] Arcadi Ivanovitch Markoff, the favourite of Catherine II. He was appointed Ambassador to Paris in 1801, but was recalled ere long at the instance of Napoleon, who feared his diplomatic skill and finesse. He held several other diplomatic posts, and died at a great age.
[205] Perhaps Pierre Marie, Marquis de Grave (1755–1823), successor to Narbonne as War Minister. He only held the post a few months, as he was obliged to leave the country on account of his devotion to Louis. Trotter says Madame Roland describes him in one of her works as ‘a good-natured little man, unfit for an ordinary situation—rolling his blue eyes and falling asleep over his coffee.’
[206] Edouard Dillon, son of Robert Dillon, and his second wife, Miss Dicconson; one of a family of thirteen.
[207] Joseph François Talma (1763–1826), the friend of David. He was educated as a dentist, and first went on the stage in 1787. He quite overcame a certain thickness of speech and stiffness of manner, and was later justly celebrated for the purity of his accent.
[208] Roch Amboise Sicard (1742–1822), the head of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum in Paris initiated by the Abbé de l’Épée. The objective of this institution, which still exists, has been to educate the inmates so as to fit them to go out into the world and earn their own living.
[209] Possibly Antoine Henri Bertrand the sculptor. He worked for some years in Italy with Canova.
[210] Charles de Noailles, afterwards Duc de Mouchy (1771–1834), eldest son of Philippe de Noailles, Prince de Poix. He left France in 1792 and came to England, where he remained till the Consulate. On his return he continued his career in the army, and became Field-Marshal in 1815. He was the bearer of the message from the Provisional Government in 1814 asking Louis XVIII. to return to France.
[211] With the battle of Austerlitz, late in 1805, ended all hope of a successful European coalition against Napoleon. The wavering counsels of the Prussian Cabinet were decided once and for all by the action of their envoy, Haugwitz, who concluded a treaty with Napoleon upon receipt of news of the battle. The Austrians had to take the best terms they could obtain, and by the Treaty of Presburg, in December, retired from the struggle bereft of their fairest provinces. Napoleon, who had given the kingdom of Naples to his brother, Joseph, now turned to make peace with England. He found Fox, the new Foreign Minister, less pliant than he had hoped. The restitution of Hanover, which had been handed over to Prussia a few months before, was insisted upon, as well as the maintenance in Sicily of Ferdinand. To the former demand Napoleon agreed, and seemed inclined to accede to the latter request, until he found that the Russian envoy, d’Oubril, was prepared to throw over England, and sign a separate treaty. He then changed his tone and demanded the cession of Sicily to Joseph; but by so doing lost the opportunity for peace with both countries, for the Czar repudiated the preliminaries signed by d’Oubril, and Fox recalled his envoy from Paris. The failure of these negotiations put an end for the moment to Napoleon’s designs on Portugal. A large portion of the French army never actually reached Bayonne, but was elsewhere employed against the Prussians. Lord St. Vincent remained with his fleet at Lisbon until it was evident that the danger of an invasion of Portugal was past; and a large force of troops, under Lord Rosslyn, who had been assembled at Plymouth to await eventualities, was at the same time disbanded.
[212] Three months (Annual Register for 1806, Chapter ix.).