10 Fred Morroio Fling 



colonies^ and finally secured a lettre de cachet^ by means of 

 whicli Mirabean was shut up in a fortress on the island of Rhe. 

 After a residence here of several months, he was released to 

 take part as a volunteer in the campaign of 1769 on the island 

 of Corsica, and distinguished himself by his bravery. On his 

 return to France, he sought out his uncle, the Bailli, and in a 

 short time won the good man's affections. Moved by the 

 pleadings of his brother, the Marquis agreed at length to take 

 the prodigal back into his good graces. A brief sojourn in 

 Paris and two trips to the south of France, filled out the short 

 period of harmony between father and son. The Marquis held 

 the purse strings too close to suit the young man who deter- 

 mined to avail himself of the only avenue of escape — matrimony. 

 Following his father's example he fared fully as well. He 

 paid his suit to Mile. Marignane, drove all suitors from the 

 field,- and won her heart, hand, and fortune, only to lose them 

 all in a marvelously short time. The Marquis had opposed the 

 marriage,^ but finally yielded and Mirabeau and his wife took 

 up their residence on the paternal estates in the Provence. 

 To all appearances, the young man's stormy career was at an 

 end; in reality, it had but begun. 



Both the young people were extravagant and Mirabeau was 

 in debt at the time of his marriage. At the end of a year 

 there came a crisis, and to save his son from his creditors the 

 Marquis secured a lettre de cachet and placed him in easy 

 durance at Manosque. It was during his residence here that 

 Mirabeau wrote his "Essai sur le despotisme."^ An escapade 



^ "Ce mot fit une profonde impression sur moi ; il a prodigieusement 

 influe sur le reste de ma vie."' Lettres de Mirabeau, Paris, 1789, vol. II, 

 p. 105. 



2 "En huit jours, M. de la Valette fut congedie: en huit autres, je fus 

 propose, et j'avais un parti dans la famille de la demoiselle! Lettres de 

 Mirabeau, II, 114. 



=* Lettres de Mirabeau, I, 117. 



* Memoires de Mirabeau, Paris, 1834, vol. IV, p. 4, note. Decrue is in 

 error when he states that the work was composed at Joux (Revue histori- 

 que, XXI, 278.) 



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