TALBOT865

Rue du Houssaye
Chaussié d'Antin

17 Fevrier ¹

Caro mio ² -

In this season of events I cannot forget that you will want to hear something of that which has most interested us here. He ³ was the most unpopular of Princes & tout le monde contaient Milles traits de son humeur hautaine & tyrannique, ⁴ but (like many I have heard of) he died better than he had lived. The six hours he lasted, after the wound, were spent in taking leave of his family, blessing his child & forgiving his enemies, & the last words he uttered were to the King ⁵ "Grace grace pour l'homme qui m'a frappé" ⁶ The K. did not like to promise this & answered "nous verrons". ⁷ It was a singular thing & a curious sight all the Royal Family being assembled in the Foyer de l'Opera, ⁸ surrounding his bed & the Ministers of State mixed with the Surgeons & Priests & weeping Princesses The Duchesse de Berri ⁹ was much more attached to him than people supposed & in her first despair cut off her belle Chevelure ¹⁰ to be deposited in his coffin. The worse effects of all this is the new & severe laws that are going to be passed in consequence, affecting the liberty of the subjects & the liberty of the press, tho' it is rather ridiculous to suppose the latter has anything to do with it car l'assassin ne sait ni lire ni écrire. ¹¹ It has likewise been laid upon L'Enseignement Mutuel, ¹² in short there is nothing the ultras wont say. I was rather sorry for the D. of Kent, ¹³ but he would not have made a good King, he would have been too much a disciplinarian, too military for a free Country. Probably he would never have found a convenient moment to do you justice, he was criblé de dettes ¹⁴ which prevents generosity or even honesty. We drank your health on your birthday [missing text]¹⁵ 3 times 3!!!!!!

When do you come? - nothing can equal the firmness & calmness of the assassin, he was confronted with the body but betrayed no emotion, & his pulse was quite composed.

It is lucky for him the old law is abolished, or he would have been tiré à quatre chevaux ¹⁶ like Ravaillau. ¹⁷ Why dont you write to me? There is no end to the stories & lyes & inventions on this occasion, trying to make out a plot of the Buonapartists

W. H. Fox Talbot Esq^r
Trinity College
Cambridge