&c., 1823, by General Gourgaud, vol. 2, p. 239. "Vingt siècles, descendus dans l'eternelle nuit, "Y sont sans mouvement, sans lumière et sans bruit." (Twenty centuries fallen into eternal night Are there motionless, without light and noiseless) Chateaubriand, Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, vol v, p. 306, 1849-50 ed. The second line appears to have been taken by Chateaubriand from Pierre La Moyne's Saint Louys, ou la Sainte Couronne reconquise (Poème héroïque) bk. v, p. 145, 1658 ed. "Là sont les Devanciers joints à leurs Descendants; "Tous les Règnes y sont; on y voit tous les Temps; "Et cette Antiquité si célèbre en l'Histoire "Ces Siècles si fameux par la voix de la Gloire "Réunis par la Mort, en cette obscure nuit, "Y sont sans mouvement, sans lumière et sans bruit (These are the Ancestors joined to their Descendants; All Reigns are there; there are seen all Ages: And that Antiquity so celebrated in History Those Centuries so famous by the voice of Glory Reunited by Death, in this dark night, Are there motionless, without light and noiseless.) Songez que le soleil ne se couche jamais dans l'immense héritage de Charles-Quint(Remember that the sun never sets on the immense empire of Charles V.) NAPOLEON (1796-1821) to J. FOUCHÉ (1763-1820) c. 1808. Followed by (completing the sentence) "et que j'aurai l'Empire des deux Mondes," (and that I shall have the Empire of the two Worlds.) Fouché Mémoires, 1824, pt. 1. p. 366; Scott, Life of Napoleon, 1827, vol. vi, p. 141. Sorti de la légalité pour rentrer dans le droit. (Departed from legality to return to justice.) Formula used by PRINCE LOUISNAPOLEON (1808-73), then president "Elle of the republic, referring to the coup d'état of Dec. 2, 1851. "[France] a compris que je n'étais "sorti de la légalité que pour rentrer "dans le droit.' (She [France] has understood that I only departed from legality to return to justice). -Le Moniteur universel, Jan. 1, 1852, p. 2. It is said (Cf. L'Inter médiaire des Chercheurs et Curieux vol. xxvii, cols. 91-2) that the mot was suggested by a poor curate to his superior who passed it on to the bishop who used it in his letter of congratulation to Napoleon III. The latter at once appropriated it. See La légalité nous tue. Soutiens ma tête, Joseph, c'est la plus forte tête du monde ! (Support my head, Joseph, it is the strongest head in the world!) Last words attributed to MIRABEAU (1749-91), to his valet, who was standing at his bedside. Souvenez-vous, mon fils, que la royauté n'est qu'une charge publique, dont vous rendrez un compte rigoureux dans un autre monde. (Remember, my son, that royalty is only a public office, of which you will render a strict account in another world.) Dying words of LOUIS VI. surnamed "le Gros" (the Fat) (abt. 1078-1137) to his son. Souvenez-vous que je m'appelle Arcole. (Remember that my name is Arcole). Attributed to a young man (whose name, however, was JEAN FOURNIER) who with a flag in his hand rushed on the pont de la Grève, July 28, 1830. Ile fell dead immediately. Souvent femme varie. (A woman is often capricious). The following couplet is said to have been written with a diamond "Souvent femme varie, (A woman is often capricious. The second line is often quoted as "Bien fol qui s'y fie," but the sense is the same. Brantôme (Vie des Dames galantes, Discours IV) refers to the writing as simply, "Toute femme varie." (Every woman is capricious) and as being by the side of a window. This is more probable. V. Hugo introduces the couplet in Le roi s'amuse (act 4, sc. 2). Cf. "Mais quoi? le naturel des femmes est volage, "Et à chaque moment se change leur 44 courage. "Bien fol qui s'y abuse, et qui de loyauté Pense jamais trouver compagne une beauté." 179 -Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward, ch. xxx, (Louis to Des Comines). Surtout ne me manquez pas. (Above all, don't miss me). Last words of LOUIS ANTOINE HENRI DE BOURBON, DUC D'ENGHIEN (1772-1804) to the gendarmes, just before being shot at Vincennes, Mar. 21, 1804. See C'est plus qu'un crime, c'est une faute. Also, Ne me manquez pas ! Tant que je te la serrerai, je serai vivant. Après cela je ne saurai plus où je serai. (As long as I press your hand, I shall be alive. After that I shall no longer know where I am). Dying words of PROFESSOR A. TROUSSEAU (1810-67), taking hold of his daughter's hand at the time. -Nouveaux mémoires de Goncourt. Tant que je vivrai. je règnerai comme je l'entends; mais mon fils sera forcé d'être libéral. (As long as I live, I will reign as I like; but my son will be compelled to be liberal). NAPOLEON (1769-1821), referring to the tendencies of the time. Ta religion est bien malade, les médecins l'abandonnent. (Thy religion is very ill, the doctors give it up.) Attributed to HENRY IV (15531610) and said to SULLY (1560-1641) à propes of a Huguenot doctor turned Catholic. Tenez, citoyen ministre, mon rôle est d'être pendu et non d'être bourreau. (Look here, citizen minister, my role is to be hanged and not to be hangman). Reply by ANDRIEUX (1759-1833) to FOUCHE (1763-1820), who offered him a post of cen-or. Tire la ficelle, ma femme! (Pull the string, wife!) Saying popularised by LEVASSOR at the Variétés (Paris) in 1839. In a comic sketch a showman uses the phrase to his wife every time he requires the scene of the panorama to be changed. Tirer vanité de son rang, c'est avertir qu'on est au-dessous. (To be vain of one's rank, is to show that one is beneath it). Saying of MARIE LECZINSKA (1703-68), wife of Louis XV. Tirez, chasseurs ce sont les ennemis. (Fire, men, they are the enemy). Said to have been uttered by the CHEVALIER D'ASSAS (born 1738) at Clostercamp in the night of Oct. 15-16, 1760, when he was killed.Comte de Rochambeau, Mémoires, 1809, vol. 1, p. 162. See A moi, Auvergne, voilà les ennemis. Note.-Facing the title-page of P. Baillot's Récit de la bataille de Marathon (Dijon 1791), are the following words: "Si tu parles, tu es mort.- Auvergne ! "feu, c'est l'ennemi. Le chevalier d'Assas." (If you speak, you are a dead man.Auvergne, fire, it's the enemy. The chevalier d'Assas.) Tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée. (Draw the curtain, the comedy is ended). 66 Usually regarded as RABELAIS' (1495-1553) last words. "Je m'en "vais chercher un grand peut-être ; "tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée.' (I am going to seek a great perhaps"; draw the curtain, the comedy is ended). Another anecdote is also told of Rabelais when dying. His cure in bringing him the Host is reported to have said: "Voilà votre Sauveur et votre maître, qui veut bien s'abaisser jusqu'à venir vous trouver; le reconnaissez-vous." "Hélas! oui, je le reconnais à sa monture. (There is your Saviour and Master, who is kind enough to stoop to come and see you; do you recognise him ?-Alas! yes, I recognise him by his steed). The authenticity of both the above sayings is, however, denied. See Je vais quérir &c. Cf. The grand Perhaps ! R. Browning-Bishop Blougram's Apology. The phrase is also attributed to PIERRE BAYLE, (1647-1706). Toujours Grétry. (Still Grétry). Reply by ANDRÉ GRÉTRY (17411813), to NAPOLEON (1769-1821), being tired of the latter asking his name week after week. Mme. de Rémusat. Mémoires vol. 2, ch. 10. Tous empires, royaulmes et provinces sans justice sont forests pleines de brigands. (All empires, realms and provinces without justice are CHEVALIER forests full of robbers.) Saying of the BAYARD (1475-1524). When asked what a good man should leave to his children, Bayard replied: "Ce "qui ne craint ni la pluie, ni la tempeste, ni la force des hommes, "ni la justice humaine: la sagesse "et la vertu." (That which fears neither rain, nor storm, nor man's might, nor human justice: wisdom and virtue.) Tous les changements que j'ai trouvés dans le monde depuis douze ans, c'est que les hommes n'ont plus de barbe et les chevaux plus de queue. (All the changes I have found in the world since twelve years ago are that men no longer have beards and that horses have longer tails). The MARECHAL DE BASSOMPIERRE (1579-1646)—imprisoned in the Bastille for 12 years and liberated Jan. 20, 1643. Tous les Français sont mes complices, et vous-mêmes l'auriez été si j'eusse réussi. (All Frenchmen are my accomplices, and you would your selves have been, if I had succeeded). GENERAL C.-F. DE MALET (17541812)-replying to the question as to the names and number of his accomplices.-Derniers momens, p. 257. Tout à l'huile! tout à l'huile ! (Oil with all of it! oil with all of it !) Order given by FONTENELLE (1657-1757) to the cook as to some asparagus. The ABBÉ TERRASSON (1670-1750), who only liked butter with it, had a fit before sitting down to dinner and the instructions previously given were for half to be served with butter and half with oil. --Grimm. Corresp. littéraire, Feb., 1757. An intimate acquaintance of Fontenelle, writing to the Journal de Paris (see March 16 and 17, 1778, pp. 297-9 and 301-2 respectively) denies that Fontenelle was the hero of the anecdote and asserts that being very fond of asparagus, he used to tell the story to his friends. Tout appartient à la patrie quand la patrie est en danger. (Everything belongs to the country when the country is in danger.) DANTON (1759-94)-in his speech in the Legislative Assembly, Aug. 28, 1792. Tout arrive en France. (In France, all things come to pass). The DUC DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULT (1613-80), Oct. 4, 1650, CARDINAL MAZARIN (1602-61) having remarked that no one would have thought, a week before, that they would all four [the other 2 were the duc de Bouillon and Pierre Lenet] be in the same carriage. P. Lenet, Mémoires, p. 413. The saying has been attributed to TALLEYRAND (1754-1838). Tout beau, Jean le Blanc, voudrais-tu faire mourir en eau douce un général des galères ? (Gently, Jean le Blanc, do you want to drown in fresh water a general of the galleys?) Remark made by the DUC DE VIVONNE (1636-88) to the white horse (Jean le Blanc) he rode at the passage of the Rhine (1672). The horse nearly threw him into the river and he received a shot in the shoulder at the same moment. Another version is, "Au moins ne "t'avise pas de faire mourir un "amiral dans l'eau douce! (At all events don't take it into your head to drown an admiral in fresh water.) -Intermédiaire des Chercheurs, vol. xxxiii, col. 362. Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'il mérite. (Every nation has the government it deserves. COUNT J. DE MAISTRE (17531821) in a letter from St. Petersburg, dated August 27, 1811, à propos of the new constitutional laws of Russia. J. de Maistre, Lettres et Opuscules, Lettre 76. Toutes les fois que je donne une place vacante je fais cent mécontents et un ingrat. (Every time I fill a vacant post I make a hundred people discontented and one ungrateful. LOUIS XIV (1638-1715).Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XIV, ch. 26. See The gratitude of place-expectants &c. Tout est fini pour moi. Le roi de Prusse se charge de moi. (All is ended with me. The king of Prussia will take care of me). NAPOLEON III (1808-73), Sept 2, 1870, the day after Sedan. Tout est perdu fors l'honneur. (All is lost save honour.) The form in which an expression used by FRANCIS I (1494-1547) in a letter to his mother after the defeat at Pavia (Feb. 24, 1525), has come down to us. The letter begins, Madame, pour vous faire sçavoir "comme se porte le reste de mon infortune, de toutes choses ne m'est demeuré que l'honneur et la vie qui est saulve." (Madam, to let you know how I fare in my misfortune, nothing is left to me but honour and my life, which is safe).-A. Champollion-Figeac, Captivite du roi François 1er, p. 129. Three centuries later, another great personage was to repeat the phrase in all its brevity. When NAPOLEON, after the defeat of Waterloo, returned to Paris (June 21, 1815), the first person he met at the Elysée was M. de Caulaincourt; they shook hands in silence, but Drouot, who accompanied the Emperor, could not refrain from saying to those present: "Tout est perdu!" Napoleon added quickly, Excepté l'honneur." Cf. 66 "Charles Quint portait envie "A ce roi plein de valeur, "Qui s'écriait a Pavie "Tout est perdu fors l'honneur."" ("That mighty monarch Charles of Spain, "Was envious of the valrous king, "Who at Pavia did complain, "Save honour, I've lost everything.'") Béranger, Le bon Français. Tout est perdu, madame, et j'ai le malheur d'avoir conservé la vie! (All is lost, madam, and I have the misfortune to have preserved my life!) JOACHIM MURAT (1767-1815) May 19, 1815, embracing his wife, having visited his capital secretly. Derniers momens p. 289. He was shot Oct. 13 (?Sept. 29) in the same year. Tout est possible à Paris parce qu'il y a la comédie et du pain. (Everything is possible in Paris, because the theatre and bread are there). MME. DE MAINTENON (16351719) during a time of famine in 1710. Tout par raison. (Everything by reason). Saying attributed to CARDINAL RICHELIEU (1585-1642). Tout soldat français porte dans sa giberne la bâton de maréchal. (Every French soldier carries in his knapsack a marshal's bâton). LOUIS XVIII (1755-1824), after witnessing some manoeuvres by the students of the Ecole de Saint-Cyr, addressed them as follows: "Mes "enfants, je suis on ne peut "plus content; rappelez-vous bien "qu'il n'est aucun de vous qui "n'ait dans sa giberne le bâton de "maréchal du duc de Reggio, c'est "à Vous à l'en faire sortir." (My children, I could not be more pleased, remember that there is not one of you who has not the marshal's baton of the duc de Reggio in his knapsack, it is for you to bring it out). Moniteur universel, Aug. 10, 1819. Note. The title of duc de Reggio was conferred upon Marshal Oudinot (17671849) after the battle of Wagram. The famous phrase has also been attributed to NAPOLEON, but apparently without any justification. See La carrière ouverte aux talents &c. Tout vieillit ici, Monsieur, il n'y a que votre éloquence qui ne vieillit pas. (Everything ages here, Monsieur, there is only your eloquence which does not grow old). LOUIS XIV (1638-1715) to BISHOP MASCARON (1634-1703), who preached a last sermon to the Court in 1694. |