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Rh time. Disliking the clerical profession, which his family obliged him to adopt, he was as unprincipled as those necessarily must be upon whom hypocrisy is forced. It is difficult to imagine a more thoroughly bad person. Profligate, selfish, false, and profane, his moral character had but one excuse—that of circumstance. His hypocrisy was matter of necessity, and his faults were those of his day; but his talents—perhaps the surest mark of talents—were eminently suited to the times which called them forth. Ready-witted, he had a resource for every emergency; and whatever was his purpose, he perceived intuitively the best methods of effecting it. He was both eloquent and persuasive, and few men ever better understood the delicate science of flattery. A temper originally violent was kept under by the strong curb of interest; though what it naturally was when unchecked by the all-potent fear—that of consequences—may be inferred by an anecdote.

The Princess de Guimenée deserted Paris on the first breaking out of the disturbances. De Retz's connexion with her had been of long continuance; her timidity savoured, therefore, of treachery. On her return, he himself states, "I was so transported with rage, that I caught her by the throat!"