„ M I R 
Breze, grand-mafter of the ceremonies, Mirabeau rofe, 
and, addreffing Breze in authoritative language, bade him 
go and acquaint thofe who fent him, that they were affem- 
bled by the will of the people, and that nothing but the 
bayonet thould feparate them. This bold fpeech con¬ 
firmed the tiers-etat in their refiftance to the royal au¬ 
thority ; and Mirabeau followed it by a decree declaring 
the inviolability of the perfons of the members. 
It ismot eafy to trace the plan of his political condubl, 
which feems to have varied according to the fluctuations 
of parties and events. He is confidently affirmed to have 
at firft devoted himl'elf to the duke of Orleans, and to have 
participated in his moll criminal views; though the ex¬ 
perience of that chief’s total incapacity to carry into ef- 
f'edt any bold and decifive fcheme, led him in the end to 
withdraw himfelf from his counfels. Though apparently 
a friend of order, he was thought fecretly to have been 
the infti gator of the violences committed by the mob, over 
whom he poffeffed a greater influence than any other in¬ 
dividual. The death of his father in 1790 was of no im¬ 
mediate advantage to his fortune, on account of the em- 
barraffment in which he had left his affairs ; yet he found 
means to pay off large debts, and to live in a fplendid ftyle, 
which was attributed to the donations of the duke of 
Orleans. In the infancy of the Jacobin club he was a con- 
ftant attender upon its meetings; but, when he became 
acquainted with the extent of their fubverfive defigns, he 
delerted and oppofed them. In May 1790, he was a warm 
advocate for the right of peace and war, as inherent in the 
executive power; and from that period it is generally 
fuppofed that he had fold himfelf to the court. This opi¬ 
nion was fo prevalent, that a pamphlet was hawked about 
the ftreets, proclaiming “ The grand Treachery of the 
Count de Mirabeau and his popularity was for fome 
time much impaired. By verfatile politics and his ufual 
arts he recovered his influence; ftill, however, retaining 
his enmity to the Jacobins, whom he treated with great 
contempt. It is fuppofed that he was engaged in a plan 
to procure the difl'olution of the national aflembly, and 
the liberty of the king, by means of an appeal to the na¬ 
tion, when he was attacked by a violent difeafe, which 
proved fatal. Examples have rarely occurred in which 
the danger of a private individual has excited fuch a ge¬ 
neral alarm. All Paris crowded round his door, with en¬ 
quiries ; and the king himfelf fent meffages to learn the 
ftate of his health. His difeafe appears to have been an 
inflammation of the bowels ; and, though poifon was 
ftrongly fufpe&ed by the public to have been the caufe, 
no ground for the fufpicion appeared upon diffe&ion. 
He died on April 2, 1791, at the age of forty-two. The 
honours paid to his memory were almoft unprecedented. 
All public f'peClacles were fufpended till his funeral, 
which was attended by all the minilters and deputies, and 
a vaft number of other perfons, to the Pantheon, or church 
of St. Genevieve, where his body was depofited by the fide 
©f that of Delcartes. His buff was placed in the halls of 
molt of the municipalities of the kingdom, and funeral 
fervices were performed for him in feveral of the provin¬ 
cial capitals. Yet, (fuch were the mutations of the public 
mind during the revolutionary period !) in the very next 
year, when republicanifm was triumphant, his buffs were 
deftroyed, and his remains were taken up and diffipated. 
What would have been the future career of fuch a man it 
is difficult to conje&ure ; but his death was at the time a 
public evil, fince it made way for the influence of men 
more violent, equally unprincipled, and certainly lefs en¬ 
dowed with political wilidom. Befides his works above- 
mentioned, and a variety of pamphlets, there have been 
published his “ Original Letters,” written from the prifon 
of Vincennes, in which the eloquence of paffion and len- 
timent is fcarcely exceeded by the Julie of Rouffeau. In 
perfon, Mirabeau was grofs and repul five; in manners, 
when not under controul, paffionate and brntal ; his cou¬ 
rage has been called in queftion on account of his declin¬ 
ing fome challenges; but it never feems to have failed 
Voi. XV. No. 1065. 
M I R 553 
him in the momentous occurrences of his political life. 
He was unqueftionably the moft fplendid figure in the 
earlierTcenes of the French revolution ; but, like a meteor, 
he dazzled and difappeared without leaving any laffing 
traces of Iris exiftence. See the article France, voi. vii. 
P- 7 <> 4 > 777 - 
The Vifcount de Mirabeau, brother of the preceding, a' 
military man of reputation, was deputy from the nobility' 
of Limofm to the ffates-general, and always aCted warmly 
with the royal party. He emigrated, and ferved under the 
prince of Conde at the head of a legion levied by himfelf. 
He died at Friburg, in 1792. The vifcount was a man of 
wit and courage, extraordinarily bulky, and addicted to 
intemperance, whence he was called Mirabeau Tonneau.' 
He wrote feveral fatirical fongs on the changes at the be-' 
ginning of the revolution. Di6lion. des Homines Murquans. 
Gen. JBiog-. 
MIR'ABEL, a town of France, in the department of 
the Drome : four miles fouth-fouth-weft of Nions. 
MIR'ABEL, a town of France, in the department of 
the Lot: nine miles north of Montauban, and eighteen 
fouth of Cahora. 
MIRABEL'LA, a town of Naples, in the county of 
Molife: fourteen miles fouth-eaft of Molife. 
MIRABEL'LA, a town of Naples, in Principato Ultra 5 
ten miles fouth-eaft of Benevento. 
MIRABEL'LA, a town of Sicily, in the valley of Noto ; 
four miles north-eaft of Piazza. 
MIRAB'lLE, /. in mineralogy, a genus of the clafs of 
falts ; and called, from the fame of its firft and principal 
fpccies, Wonderful or Admirable Salt. —Generic cha- 
radters : Of a bitter tafte; not eafily foluble in cold water, 
and the folution not made turbid by a mixture of foda ; 
not effervefcing with any acid; expofed to a white heat 
with powdered charcoal, producing an alkaline fuiphur. 
There are four fpecies. 
1. Mirabile genuinum, Glauber’s fait, or fulphat of 
foda: of a cooling tafte, eafily melting in the fire; when 
diffolved and flowly evaporated, crystallizing into very 
tranfparent unequally fix-fided prilms, which moulder in 
the air. Found in many mineral waters of Britain and 
other parts of Europe, fometimes dry, rarely in a cryftal- 
lized ftate, fometimes in a ftate of white efflorefcence on 
moift walls, in vaft quantities under the furface of the 
earth in the neighbourhood of Aftracan, and in fummer 
at the bottom of lakes: it is feldom found pure, but ufu- 
ally mixed with foda, common fait, Epfom fait, or fele- 
nite. The Tides of the cryftals are commonly grooved ; 
and, when expofed to a warm atinofphere, they foon lofe 
their tranfparency and water of cryftallization, and fall 
into a white opake powder. When expofed to heat, it 
firft melts, and after the evaporation of its water becomes 
a white powder, and in a red heat melts. Its ufe as a 
cooling purgative is fufficiently known. 
2. Mirabile potaffinum, or fulphat of potaffi : of a bit- 
teriffi tafte, decrepitating when placed on hot coals, and 
melting in a red heat; foluble in fixteen times its weight 
of cold water, its cryftals not mouldering in the air. Found 
in various parts of Spain; of a greyiffi-white colour, and 
fometimes luminous in the dark. When its diluted folu¬ 
tion is evaporated, it affords fix-fided pyramids, or ffiort 
hexangular prilms terminated by one or more hexangu- 
lar pyramids. The fuperfulphat of potaffi, from its ex- 
cefs of acid, turns blue vegetable juices red, and is folu¬ 
ble in twice its weight of water. It was formerly ufed as 
a purgative, under the name of Jal poiyehrejl and vitrio- 
lated tartar. Specific gravity, 2 - 298. Contains acid 40, 
potalh 52, water of cryftallization 3 , according to Berg¬ 
man. 
3. Mirabilis femivolatile : of an acrid tafte, evaporating 
in fumes when heated, deliquel’cing in the air, emitting 
an alkaline odour when rubbed together with quicklime. 
Found rarely in the vicinity of volcanic mountaihs. 
4. Mirabile fulphilreum, or fulphat of ammoniac : eva¬ 
porating in fumes when heated ; deliquefcing in the air; 
7 B wheq, 
