EARLY LIFE OF MIRABEAU. 9-5 



that of a parrot ; in fact, he is spoiling him, and I must take measures 

 to prevent it." 



The measures the marquis took were to separate his son from 

 Segrais, with whom he lived on a perfectly good understanding, and 

 who alone seemed to appreciate his great talents and to be capable of 

 giving them a proper direction, and to place him at a military school 

 or house of correction kept by the Abbe Choquart. Upon this he 

 writes with great satisfaction : (t My untractable son is at length 

 lodged as he deserves. The Abbe Choquart is a stern man, who 

 enforces punishments when they are needed. I have told him not to 

 spare them. If there is no amendment, as indeed I do not expect there 

 will be, I shall expatriate him. I did not choose that a name clothed 

 with some lustre should be dragged to the benches of a house of cor- 

 rection, so I had him enrolled under the name of Pierre Buffiere. 

 In vain he kicked against it, and wept and reasoned ; I told him to 

 deserve my name, and that I would not restore it to him without a 

 clear scutcheon." 



The gentle treatment of the Abbe Choquart was more effectual 

 than his punishment, in keeping within bounds the ardent and un- 

 governable disposition of Mirabeau. He applied to his studies with 

 ardour, and the rapidity and success with which he mastered every 

 branch was unexampled. From this place of correction, Gabriel 

 was transferred to the regiment of a severe disciplinarian, the Mar- 

 quis de Lambert, a kind of rough rider, who had converted his regi- 

 ment into a school for the reclamation of youth. In this new capa- 

 city Gabriel for some time gave more satisfaction and gr,ve proofs of 

 distinguished merit in a career to which he considered himself pecu- 

 liarly adapted, so that the marquis replied, " the news are good, I 

 intend getting him a commission," for as yet he was only a volunteer. 

 But this satisfactory mood was of short duration. Want of money 

 obliged Gabriel to contract debts, and a sum of forty louis lost at play 

 served to rouse afresh the anger of his father ; nor was this all. In 

 the town of Saintes lived the fair daughter of an inhabitant, who 

 attracted the admiration of the Marquis de Lambert. Gabriel of 

 course was not insensible to her charms, and he succeeded in sup - 

 planting his colonel. This was a serious offence, and the colonel took 

 care to make him smart for it. A caricature, the circulation of which 

 he countenanced, filled the measure of the indignities offered to 

 Gabriel ; he eloped from the regiment and betook himself to the 

 Marquis of Lambert at Paris. An explanation took place ; Gabriel 

 defended himself with eloquence, but he could not save himself from 

 a prison. His father procured a lettre de cachet from Choiseul, and 

 Mirabeau was confined in a fortress of the Isle of Rhe. He was 

 taken from his confinement to accompany an expedition to Corsica, 

 as his father thought it a good opportunity of getting rid of him. 



We must reserve the sequel for another article ]] 



