1805.] Memoirs of Mr. Necker, by his Daughter. HI 



ceptible, mvoliintary, undefinable move- Mr. Necker for direaor of the royal trea- 



nienis, to «hich art wouM be blind, and fury; during a very fhort illnefs ot Mr. de 



which nature ref.rves for the oilcovei iesof Maurtpas, my father tranlafled bufinefs 



genius*. I have faid that Mr. Ntcker alo.e wiih the king tor the firft time, and 



was iuccef.ral in captivating all thole he ob.ained from him the appointment of the 



was defirousof pleafin? j and if he had not Marechlde Cait.ies as miniller of the ma- 



fometimes given way to adillaite to theac nne. The Maiechalde Callnes wasa nn2i» 



tive and limited concerns of real life, his generally tfteemed, but the king had little 



influence en mankind would have been knowledge of him, and an hour before he 



much greater. As a fimpie reprelentative faw my father on the hibjeft he had no 



of the republic of Geneva he had excited thought of appointing him. Tins inllancc 



fuch an atTeaion in Mr. de Choifeul, then of the credit my father had acquired with 



the mcft powerful minifter of France, that the king in lo fliort a time, became the 



the government of Geneva h iviiig once de- principal caufe of the J^alouly of Mr. de 



figned io lend a man of repute t - condua a Maurt-pas agninft him. The C^ieen, till 



particular trea'v wiih Mr. de Choifeul, the moment A-hen every fentiment was tn- 



ihe latter wrote to Mr. Necker, " Tell ven med by the violence of pasty, tookun- 



your Genevans, that their envoy extraordi- u'ual pl^alure in my Lv.her s co:.verlanon. 



nary fnall not let his foot in my houfe, and In "lort, I have nlw^iys (our.d hi.n beLved 



that I will have nothing to do wi:h any by men of mediocre minds, vvhenever he 



one but you." My father told me that became known to .hem, and by fupeiicr 



this firft fuccefs of his political life, was minds as foon as ne had unfolded his ta- 



what gave him the molt lively pleaCure. lems. Men loved him in prcportion to 



When fpe.kmg of hin.felf, and of the their own ideas and theii; own (cntiments ; 



emotions of ambition or of felf l'..ve which the more tbey pofleffcd in tl.^nlelves, the 



he had experienced, he «as aUavs inter- "lo^e they oilcoverea in him. 

 efting, becaufe imagination blended with I" fuppo'' °} Y"'' opinion, I fhall cite 



all his imprcffions, and he was fucceffively o'^e trait, leleaed at raixlom amang many 



wearied with every thing he had obtained : "''^'^rs. Mr. de Mirabeau, an excel.ent 



not from a dcfire of obtaining more, but 

 from that rcrfiliility •.'md elevation of foul 

 which exterior events can ticver faiisty. 



Mr.de Mauiepas tound two converfa- 

 tions fufficient \o deiermine him topropolc 



• My father wrote fome comedies in his 

 youth, whith contain much ot what may be 



termed corr.ic ftrenglh, anii thisco.nic ftiength ^„, „ ^ , _, . - 



always fuppofesa great knowledge of the hu- under. landing, not to iecl one day the ne 



roan heart ; he had then an idea of getting ccffiiy of this fupport : till that moment 



autliority in point of w.t, hut who wil 

 not be charged with any prejudices ;n fa- 

 vour of mcralit) — Mr. de Mirahcan had 

 a confeience with my father about the end 

 of the year 1789, to engage him to get him 

 appointed a minifltr. My father, in of- 

 fering every homage to Mr. de Mirarieaii's 

 talents, declartd he could not be his col- 

 leigue. My llietjgth, faid he to Mirabeau, 

 confi.'s in nniaiity ; you have too much 



them reprefentcd, but bufinefs prevented him. 

 He has often told me firice, that if he had 

 given thofe pieces (o the theatre, thccouife 

 of his life would have been a ltoj;et her changed, 

 for in France they would have never chofea 

 for a minifter of ftate, a man who had written 

 comedies of a caft not at all fcrious, and which 

 confiiled only in fcenes of pleafantry, and 



arrive, the king may tiiink proper under 

 prefcnt ciicumltance , to have you his mi- 

 ni ter, but vi-e mult ii'it be together. On 

 his return, Mr. de M;r-.beaii made fome 

 ni;ies on this convtriation which have been 

 communicated to me, and in which he de- 

 claies how mu^h he was ihuck with Mr. 



ftrong humour, however excellent in their N.cker's loperionty of m;nd. 



kind. It is a finguhr contiall too, that a man He ordered his bud ior the purpofe of 



of the mod imyofing manners, the mofl: ma- placing it in h s c ur.try luufe, where he 



jeftic In ills ftyle, the moft nitlar:clioIy in his neant to re. ire. I b ight this bull of the 



fentiments, had, when he pleafed, a fort of rta u.iry, of whom Mirabeau bad oidered 



gaiety fo original, and fu ftriki t^, that it it a fhort timt before his death. I thought 



would have excited burOs of laii|;hter in an 

 aflembly even of the lower cl.iUcs of people ; 

 this whim, or fomcihing more, fcemed to me 

 fo engaging, that I was once tempted to pub- 

 lish thcfe plays ; but I have never felt myfclf 

 in the temper to prepare the work ; befidcs 

 that the children of a great man rtiould ceafe 



it curious to pofiel* t'nis lecrct tciiimony 

 of tile real opinion of Mirabeau, when the 

 cakiiil itions of his ambition had fo often 

 prompted him to belie it in the tribune. 

 If I have inlilled on this talent of my 

 father's of knowing and captivating men' 



toexift, that no hopes of wounding them may minds, it is bet auie fome ot his (upeificr-il 

 ke aftytJed by atiackinii hiii memory. friends pretend that U did not belong to 



him 



