Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/209

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OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
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man, as he had lived;—that much praise is due to his memory, but that does not prevent me from relating a story concerning him which is a proof the more of the inconsistency displayed by some of our illustrious faiseurs during the Revolution. The incident occurred under my own eyes, and I laughed heartily at it, as everybody else did.

This ex-Vicomte had a deed drawn up at Philadelphia by one of the notaries of the city, and when it was read over to him, he perceived that he was mentioned therein by the name of M. de Noailles. He was exceedingly angry at this, and insisted that the deed should be re-written and none of his titles forgotten—Vicomte, Knight of Saint Louis, Knight of Malta, etc The next day, the newspapers were impertinent enough to repeat—con licinsa superiori—what had passed in the office, and an Philadelphia knew of the quarrel of the Vicomte with his notary. The story was accompanied by a note to this effect: "It is Angular that a member of the Constitutional Assembly, who proposed the