Mirabeaa an Opponent of Ahsolutism 7 



able race of men. Passionate, impetuous in word and deed, 

 independent in the extreme, they possessed all the qualities 

 that have rendered notorious the most famous of their descend- 

 ents. Of all Mirabeau's ancestors, his grandfather was by far 

 the most eccentric. Although a soldier and every way fitted 

 for a high position in the army, he never attained it on account 

 of his innate dislike of the methods by which alone advance- 

 ment was possible in the latter days of Louis XIV. Aband- 

 oned as dead upon the battle field of Cassano, he recovered, 

 was "patched together," married a beautiful heiress of southern 

 France, and became the father of seven children. Three of 

 them, all boys, outlived him. The eldest was Mirabeau's 

 father. He entered the army at an early age, led a wild life 

 and spent money with such a lavish hand that he was soon at 

 the end of his resources. Fortunately for him the death of his 

 father put an end to his financial difticulties. It would appear 

 to be but natural for one who had been so great a sinner him- 

 self to be lenient toward others. Such was not the case. He 

 was most intolerant of those very things in his son wherein he 

 himself had been most remiss. 



The Marquis de Mirabeau — for such was the title of Mira- 

 beau's father — had a cherished idea that wrecked his own hap- 

 piness and that of his family as well. The Mirabeau family 

 was of probably plebeian origin but had secured a place among 

 the nobility of the Provence by industry, wealth, and shrewd- 

 ness. The Marquis de Mirabeau aspired to still higher things. 

 He wished to win for himself a position among the greater 

 nobility of the nation. This he proposed to do, not through 

 the favor of the king but by the acquisition of landed property. 

 The idea once conceived never ceased to haunt him. To this 

 idea he sacrificed everything else and first of all the possibility 

 of a happy wedded life. He married for land and signed Jjae 

 contract before he had had opportunity to speak a dozen words 

 with his fiancee. He regarded the property as the main thing, 



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