Mirabeau an Oiyjponent of Ahsolutism 15 



beside a large number of letters to Mme. de Monnier, and to 

 friends and relatives, letters and memoires addressed to Mira- 

 beau's father, to the king and to various ofHcials. The letters 

 have an interesting history and it is because of this history that 

 they can be employed only with extreme caution. 



When Mirabeau was incarcerated at Vincennes, his father's 

 orders were that he should see no person from the outside 

 world and should correspond with nobody. The young man 

 succeeded, however, in evading the last order. His letters 

 were submitted to the officer in charge of the prison, who after 

 reading them sent them to Mme. de Monnier. She was not 

 allowed to retain them, but returned them after they had been 

 read. They were preserved at police headquarters in Paris 

 where Manuel claimed that he found them. He undoubtedly 

 corrupted them by supplying material, dates, etc., but to what 

 extent, it will be, of course, always impossible to tell. This 

 uncertainty does not add to the reliability of the material. 



The last of the works referred to, "Des lettres de cachet et 

 des prisons d'etat," was the last of the series of assaults upon 

 arbitrary authority. The lettre de cachet was the symbol of 

 absolutism and no man in France knew better than Mirabeau 

 the evils resulting from its use and abuse. The treastise is in 

 two parts, the first being devoted to "Des lettres de cachet." 

 The first edition appeared in 1782 and although it bears the 

 imprint "AHambourg," really issued from the press at Neuf- 

 chatel, the censorship of the press in France rendering this 

 deception necessary. This work has been attributed to the 

 Bailli, but without any good reason. 



Such is the material upon which this paper is based. The 

 works contain little original matter but are filled with a mass 

 of citations, a propos and mal a propos, from the writers of all 

 times. In his earliest years Mirabeau acquired the habit fnat 

 has given rise to so much animated discussion between his 

 friends and foes, that of appropriating the literary goods of 



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