TALBOT
434
TALLETRAND-FERIGORD
moment." For two years Dr. Talbot endured with
heroic constancy all the sufferings of his painful
disease and the hardships and filth of his loathsome
dungeon. He died in prison in the beginning of
November, 1680. Ormond, in a postscript to a letter
of 20 Nov., 1680, addressed to Lord Sutherland,
writes: "I have for two or three posts forgot to ac-
quaint your Lordship that Peter Talbot, the Titular
.\rchbishop of Dublin, is dead, and that care was
taken to have the body looked upon by some that
knew him." It is the tradition that he was in-
terred in the churchyard of St. .'V.ndeon's, close by
Lord Portlester's tomb. From his prison cell Dr.
Talbot had written on 12 April, 1679, petitioning
that a priest be allowed to visit him, as he was bed-
ridden "these six months past" and was now in
imminent danger of death. The petition was re-
fused, but the Venerable Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop
of .Armagh, was a prisoner for the Faith in an ad-
joining cell, and on hearing of Dr. Talbot's dying
condition forced his way through the warders and
administered to the dying prelate the last consola-
tions of religion. Dr. Talbot may justly be ctyled
a confessor of the Faith and a true martjTof Christ.
WRiTiNfis. — Dr. Talbot, whilst living on the Con-
tinent, published several works, as well before his ap-
pointment to the See of Dublin, as during his years of
exile. His principal writings are: "A Treatise on the
Nature of Catholic Faith and Heresy with Reflexions
upon the Nullity of the English Protestant Church
and Clergy" (8 vols., Rouen, 1657); "The Politician's
Catechism", by N. N., printed at Antworp (sic) in
the year 1658; "The Nullity of the Prelatique
Clergy" (Brussels, 16.59); "The Duty and Com-
fort of Suflfering Subjects" (a pastoral letter to the
Irish Catholics), Paris, 1674; "Blackloanae Hseresis,
Historia et Confutatio, Auctore M. Lomino Theologo,
Gandavi anno 1675" (mainly directed against Dr.
Sargent; in the appendix is inserted a letter of the
nuncio in Paris of 26 July, 1676, congratulating Dr.
Talbot on his excellent work and intimating that
Sargent had retracted his erroneous propositions);
"Primatus Dublinensis, vel summa rationum quibus
innititur ecclesia Dublinensis in possessione et
pro.secutione sui juris ad primatum Hyberniae. In-
sulis, Ex Officina Nicolai de Raohe, sub Bibliis aureis,
1674" (an exceedingly rare work ; there is a copy in
the library of the College of Propaganda at Rome,
with the inscription, "Ex libris Jacobi Eustachii,
Dublinensis, 1683").
Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran.
Talbot, Thomas Joseph, b. 14 February, 1727; d. at Hotwells, near Bristol, 24 April, 1795. Brother of the fourteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, and of Bishop James Talbot (q. v.), he was sent to Twyford School, and thence to Douai (1739). In 174.5^6, together with his brother James, he made the grand tour under the tutelage of Alban Butler. He returned to Douai to study theology ; and after ordination he spent some time with Alban Butler at Norwich. In 1754 he was placed at Brockhampton. On the expulsion of the Jesuits from France, Talbot was named President of the College of St. Omer's by the committee of the Parliament of Paris (August, 1762), a post which he accepted only after much hesitation and with great reluctance. He was cimsccrateil to the titular See of Aeon (March, 1766) as coadjutor to Bishop Horn- yold, whom he succeeded in the government of the Midland District (26 December, 1778). His rule fell in a time of transition, when the desire and pros- pect of relief from the Penal Laws led many prominent Catholics to adopt a policy of excessive compromise, the period of the C3atholi(^ Committees and the Cis.alpine Club, for the difficulties of which his peace- ful character was b\it ill-adapted. Although he joined the three other vicars Apostolic in condemning
the proposed oath in 1789, he hesitated to promulgate
the condemnation in his district, and in the second
condemnation which the other vicars .-Apostolic pub-
lished in 1791 he thought it neither expedient nor
justifiable to concur. The explanation of this action
is to be found in his conviction that peace and con-
cord could only be restored to the distracted Catholics
by means of mutual concession and charity, a sen-
timent which almost all his letters manifest. Cer-
tainly the most memorable, as also the most per-
manent, act of his administration was his invitation
to Dr. John Bew (November, 1793) to take charge of
the mission of Oscott and to undertake there the
training of students for the priesthood, whereby
was made the beginning of Oscott College. Deeply
characteristic of the man is his only recorded literary
publication, a small treatise on "Almsgiving" which
he translated from the French. He was buried in
the vault under Trenchard Street church; in 1906
his remains were removed to Downside Abbey.
Bkadt, Episcopal Succession (London. 1S77): Kirk, Biog- raphies of English Catholics (London. 1909); W'ard, Dawn of Catholic Revival in England (2 vols., London, 1909) : Idem, His- tory of St. Edmunds' College (London, 1893); Bcbton, Life of Bishop Challoner (2 vols., London, 1909) ; Amherst, History of Catholic Emancipation (London, 1886) ; Idem, History of Oscott in Oscotian: Knox, Douay Diaries,
J. L. Whitfield. Talisman. See Amulet.
Talleyrand- Perigord, Charles- Maurice de. Prince of Benevento, Bishop of Autun, French minister and ambassador, b. in Paris, 13 February, 1754; d. there, May, 1838. The eldest of an ancient French family, he was destined for Holy orders, owing to an accident which had made him lame. After having completed his studies at the College d'Harcourt, he went to St-Sulpice and, against his inclination, be- came an abbe. He then read the "most revolution- ary books", and at length, giving up his priestly life, plunged into the licentiou-sness of the period. Having, nevertheless, been ordained priest (1779) and ap- pointed general agent of the clergy (1780) he rapidly acquired a reputation as a man of ability. The As- sembly of the Clergy of France of 1782 appointed him their promoter, and in 1785 he became secretary. Owing to his notorious immorality he obtained an episcopal see only through a promise ^\Tung from the dying king by his father, Comte Daniel de Talley- rand. Consecratefl on 16 January, 1789, and pro- moted to the Bishopric of .\utun, he appeared in his diocese only to be elected a member of the "Etats Gen(5raux". He soon became one of the most im- portant personages in Europe, and utilized every op- portunity to advance his private interests.
Opposed in his heart to a revolution which he ac- cused of having "dismembered France", he first advised Louis XVI to dissolve the .\ssembly, but be- lieving the democratic movement irresistible he joined it. As a member of the Constitutional Committee, he took part in the "Declaration of the Rights of Man". He extolled the spoliation of the clergy and took the oath to the Civil Constitution. His chap- ter, however, having described him as deserving "infamy in this world and damnation in the next", he resigned his see. But he had consecrated sever.al constitutional bishops, gi\en Gobel the Bishopric of Paris, and was excommunicated bv pon- tifical Brief of 13 April. 1791. In 1792 he was sent to London on an unotficial diplomatic mission and en- deavoured to organize a Franco-English alliance. He did not, however, obtain more than a promise of neutrality. Finally banished by the Convention, he escaped to the T'nitcd Sl:iti's. He returned to Paris in March, 1796, and, owing to the influence of Barras,was ni)piiiiilcil Minislcrof Koreiiin .MTairs. He immediately wi-li-onicd Hoiuqiartc as tlie great auxiliary "who would make everything smooth". With Bonaparts
