Louis de Tillemont

“ LOUISE LIVINGSTON HUNT TO TILDEN " (Jan. 21, '77.)
"Dear Governor Tilden,—I have just received a letter from my brother in New Orleans, a portion of which I copy, because I feel sure it will interest you as an evidence of the genuine feeling at present in Louisiana.
"He says: 'Our people are in an admirable temper, and will do their whole duty. You will find Nichols all that you pronounce him, and I agree with you in thinking he has outshone even Hampton. The latter made a bad mistake in writing to the Pretender Hayes. Has not Mr. Tilden proved himself? ”

“ He was brother to my lady's mother, the Countess Juliana. At the time of the match my late lord was thought to have disparaged his blood by mating with a Flemish lady of no more than gentle family. But as Count Tilly rose in the world first to be commander of the Bavarian armies and later to be Generalissimo of the forces of the Empire and a knight of the Golden Fleece, we heard less and less of this. The sneer lost its force until we became glad, Calvinists though we were, to lie secure under his shadow ”

“ Tillotson looked up, his face puckered into a smile, and nodded his head in affirmation of his words.
"You believe in the life to come?" said Spode, and immediately flushed for shame at the cruelty of the words. ”

“ Mandragore all said charming things.
Dinner was served; the party took their places. Lord Badgery sat at the head of the table, with Mr. Tillotson on his right hand and Sir Herbert Herne on his left. Confronted with Bomba's succulent cooking and Bomba's wines, Mr. Tillotson ate and drank a good deal. He had the appetite of one who has lived on greens and potatoes for ten years among the black beetles. After the second glass of wine he began to talk, suddenly and in a flood, as though a sluice had been pulled up. ”

“ Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 112-123, p. 335-347,) Zosimus, (l. iii. p. 168-180,) and Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat iv. p. 113, 144.) The military criticisms of the saint are devoutly copied by Tillemont, his faithful slave. ”

“ He wrote an article on Tillotson in the World's Review—one of those charming, witty articles couched in the tone of amused patronage and contempt with which one speaks of the great men of 1840. Nor did he neglect Tillotson himself. He used to go to Holloway almost every day to listen to the old man's endless stories about Asia Minor and the Great Exhibition of '51 and Benjamin Robert Haydon. ”

“ Maladetto! but you rate your services high."
"Because I rate them myself."
"The vilest rogue will always bring a goodly sum if sold at his own valuation," muttered Tilly, with one of his hideous smiles. I believe sincerely, that nothing would have afforded his cynical heart greater delight than to see the high-bred and accomplished Ernestine mated to the ruffian (if such a catastrophe were possible) , from the very incongruity of such a union, and to humble the high military pride and boasted spotlessness of character possessed by the count, her father. ”

“ That the League achieved the successes which it actually did, was to the credit of Tilly and his men rather than to any action of the allied princes. It may be that Tilly cannot be considered as great a soldier as Wallenstein; it should, however, be borne in mind that the League army never possessed the prestige of an imperial force: that Tilly was repeatedly thwarted by political considerations, and that, even so, the hardest part of the task was achieved by the League army. ”

“ He's a back number, really!" He checked himself, remembering how dangerous such heresies were in New Canaan. "Don't you find it dull working alone?" he asked hastily, "and rather uphill?"
"It is often very hard."
"Often? Then you have been doing it for some time?"
"Yes," Tillie answered hesitatingly. No one except the doctor shared her secret with Miss Margaret. Self-concealment had come to be the habit of her life—her instinct for self-preservation. And yet, the teacher's evident interest, his presence so close to her, brought all her soul to her lips. ”

“ Harry Lossing made all the arrangements. Tilly was satisfied. But, then, Tilly had not heard Harry's remark to his mother: “Alma says Miss Louder is trying to make the old lady move against her will. I dare say it would be better to give the young woman a chance to miss her mother and take a little quiet think.”
Tilly saw her mother off on the train to Baxter, the Fergusons' station. Being a provident, far-sighted, and also inexperienced traveller, she had allowed a full half-hour for preliminary passages at arms with the railway officials ”

“ Tilly's object in this bloody deed seems to have been to terrify the rest of Protestant Germany into submission. If so, he failed of his purpose. Gustavus promptly abandoned gentle measures, and by a threat of force compelled the Saxon elector to join him. He then met Tilly in a fierce battle near Leipsic and utterly defeated him. Tilly fled, and his army was almost annihilated, the fugitives who escaped the Swedes falling victims to the vengeance of the enraged Protestant peasantry. Few men who had taken part in the sack of Magdeburg lived long to boast of their achievement. ”

“ Tillie's eyes swept the faces before her, from the stern, set features of her father on her left, to the mild-faced, long-haired, hooks-and-eyes Amishman on her right. The room grew perfectly still as they stared at her in expectant curiosity; for her air and manner did not suggest the humble suppliant for their continued favor,—rather a self-confidence that instinctively excited their stubborn opposition. "She'll see oncet if she kin do with us what she wants," was the thought in the minds of most of them. ”

“ Across his shirt front lay the broad green ribbon of some unknown Order.
"Queen of the tambourine, the cymbals, and the bones,"
Mr. Tillotson concluded in a gnat-like voice before welcoming his visitor. "Well, Spode, here you are. I'm dressed already, you see. The suit, I flatter myself, fits very well, almost as though it had been made for me. I am all gratitude to the gentleman who was kind enough to lend it to me; I shall take the greatest care of it. It's a dangerous thing to lend clothes, 'for loan oft loseth both itself and friend.' The bard is always right." ”

“ Mr. Tillotson looked down complacently at his shirt front. "Ah, you 've noticed my order. It's a long time since I wore that. It was given me by the Grand Porte, you know, for services rendered in the Russo-Turkish War. It's the Order of Chastity, the second class. They only give the first class to crowned heads, you know—browned heads and ambassadors. And only Pashas of the highest rank get the second. Mine's the second. They only give the first class to crowned heads—"
"Of course, of course," said Spode.
"Do you think I look all right, Mr. Spode?" Mr. Tillotson asked, a little anxiously. ”

“ But, in the event of Tilly's defeat, the League had no second army to fall back upon, and Maximilian was too cautious to risk again the fate of his party on a single battle. With tears in his eyes, Tilly read the commands of his superior, which compelled him to inactivity. Thus his march to Franconia was delayed, and Gustavus Adolphus gained time to overrun the whole bishopric. It was in vain that Tilly, reinforced at Aschaffenburg by a body of 12,000 men from Lorraine, marched with an overwhelming force to the relief of Würtzburg. ”

“ Bigelow,—I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of yesterday, the 9th.
"The extract you make from the letter of F. O. Prince is quite intelligible to me. I remember all the circumstances.
"Mr. Tilden was very anxious, indeed, that my father should be the Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1876. Mr. F. O. Prince was then chairman, I think, of the Democratic committee; at any rate, he was influential. Mr. Tilden, as you very well know, was never at a loss when it came to handling men. ”

“ There is a biography of Ferdinand du Tillet, elaborated by the brilliant pen of Jules Claretie, in "Le Temps" of September 5, 1884, under title of "Life in Paris."
TILLET (Madame Ferdinand du) , wife of the preceding, born Marie-Eugenie de Granville in 1814, one of the four children of the Comte and Comtesse de Granville, and younger sister of Madame Felix de Vandenesse; a blonde like her mother; in her marriage, which took place in 1831, was a renewal of the griefs that had sobered the years of her youth. ”

“ How clearly I can see old Haydon pacing up and down! Much more clearly, indeed, than I see you, Mr. Spode. The eyes of memory don't grow dim. But my sight is improving, I assure you; it's improving daily. I shall soon be able to see those ankles." He laughed like a cracked bell,—one of those little old bells, Spode fancied, that ring, with much rattling of wires, in the far-off servants quarters of ancient houses. "And very soon," Mr. Tillotson went on, "I shall be painting again. Ah, Mr. Spode, my luck is extraordinary. I believe in it, I trust in it. And after all, what is luck? ”

“ Wallenstein was able to dictate his terms, and to make himself secure against a second dismissal. His army was his own. He meant to obey while obedience suited his purpose, and to act for himself when it did not. Unlike Tilly, the aims of his life were political, not ecclesiastical. With so many reasons for distrust on one side and resentment on the other, a catastrophe could hardly be averted. ”

“ The artist's life is a hard one."
At eleven Mr. Tillotson was talking about the Preraphaelites. At a quarter past he had begun to tell the story of B. R. Haydon all over again. At twenty-five minutes to twelve he collapsed quite speechless into his chair. Most of the guests had already gone away; the few who remained made haste to depart. Lord Badgery led the old man to the door and packed him into his second car. The Tillotson Banquet was over; it had been a pleasant evening, but a little too long.
Spode walked back to his rooms in Bloomsbury, whistling as he went. ”

“ Tilly has a great army of old lads with iron faces that dare look an enemy in the eye; they are confident of victory, have never been beaten and do not know what it means to fly. Tilly tells his men he will beat me and the old man is as likely to do it as to say it.”—Gustavus Adolphus. ”

“ But he came to Tirant and asked him for permission to use his arms and steed. He begged so well that Tirant was unable to refuse. In this contest the youth slew the Senyor de Escala Rompuda. The king chided him for having entered the lists without permission, but the young Constable answered that it was not right that he should be denied the privilege of following the footsteps of his valiant father, William, Earl of Warwick. The Countess sent for Tirant and begged him never again to do anything that might cause her to lose the only joy and comfort that she had in this life. ”

“ On the 4th day of August, and only eight days after the date of the preceding letter, I received the following telegram from George W. Smith, then Mr. Tilden's private secretary, and by his will to become one of his executors and Trustees:
"Greystone, Aug. 4, 1886.
"Mr. Tilden died this morning at 8."
S. J. T.
(Greystone, August 4, 1886.)
Once more, O all-adjusting Death!
The nation's Pantheon opens wide;
Once more a common sorrow saith
A strong, wise man has died. ”

“ But he had little money, his own military force had been wasted by the wars in Bohemia, Austria and Hungary, and there was no other commander of sufficient renown to attract men to his standard. Yet it was necessary that Tilly should be reinforced as soon as possible, or his scheme of crushing the whole of Germany, and laying it, as a fettered slave, at the feet of the Roman Church, might fail, and at the very moment when success seemed sure. ”

“ Tilden was a dear old bachelor who lived in a fine old mansion in Gramercy Park. Though 60 years old he seemed in the prime of his manhood; a genial and overflowing scholar; a trained and earnest doctrinaire; a public-spirited, patriotic citizen, well known and highly esteemed, who had made fame and fortune at the bar and had always been interested in public affairs. He was a dreamer with a genius for business, a philosopher yet an organizer. ”

“ Once disembarked at the port of Delft, the Marchioness of Tremblay regained her spirits, that the fright of the tempest had upset, and she remembered often to have met in Paris a certain Monsieur Tilly at the house of Monsieur Van Orbek, a rich Dutchman, who, emulating in sumptuous display the famous contractor Samuel Bernard, gave the handsomest feasts in the world, whither both court and town crowded. On such occasions, Monsieur Tilly more than once gallantly offered the Marchioness the hospitality of his house in The Hague, if she should ever happen to visit that city ”

“ This general, who could boast as yet of never having suffered a defeat, the conqueror of Mansfeld, of Duke Christian of Brunswick, of the Margrave of Baden, and the King of Denmark, was now in the Swedish monarch to meet an opponent worthy of his fame. Descended of a noble family in Liege, Tilly had formed his military talents in the wars of the Netherlands, which was then the great school for generals. He soon found an opportunity of distinguishing himself under Rodolph II. in Hungary, where he rapidly rose from one step to another. ”