[531] I omit a stanza of eight lines quoted from Régnier-Desmarais.—T.
[532] George Neville, Archbishop of York (circa 1433-1476), a younger brother of Warwick the King-maker. He was Lord Chancellor from 1460 to 1467 and became Archbishop of York in 1465.—T.
[533] There is a play upon words here which I cannot render: butor, in French means a bittern and also a booby, a block-head, a dolt.—T.
[534] Cf. the Lettre à M. de Fontanes.—B.
[535] Johann Kepler (1571-1630), the German astronomer, inventor of the laws of planetary motion known as Kepler's Laws and author of De Motibus Stella Martis (1609).—T.
[536] Copernicus (1473-1543), the founder of modern Astronomy and author of De Orbium Cœlestium Revolutionibus (1543).—T.
[537] Karl Count von Chotek (1783-1868) was appointed Governor of the Tyrol in 1819, Court Chancellor in 1825 and Grand Burgrave of Bohemia in 1826; he retained this post until 1843.—T.
The Marquis de Villeneuve speaks of Count von Chotek as follows, in his Memoirs on Charles X. in exile:
"His title of Grand Burgrave corresponds in its functions with those of our prefects, with less additional burdens and less diversity in the matter of details. But his prefecture was a whole kingdom. He ruled four millions of inhabitants. Although he possessed an immense fortune, he occupied a modest house. His political opinions bore a strong impress of Liberalism."—B.
[538] Friedrich von Gentz (1764-1832), a German publicist and diplomatist (Cf. Vol. III. p. 79, n. 1), first in the Prussian and, later, in the Austrian service, was Chief secretary at the Congresses of Vienna (1814-1815), Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), Carlsbad and Vienna (1819), Troppau (1820), Laibach (1821) and Verona (1822).—T.