Pierre Philibert

“ La Corne St. Luc looked half approvingly at Philibert.
"Don't quarrel with him yet, Pierre! You cannot make a quarrel of what he has said."
Lady de Tilly listened uneasily, and said,--
"Don't quarrel with him at all, Pierre Philibert! Judge him and avoid him, as a Christian man should do. God will deal with Bigot as he deserves: the crafty man will be caught in his own devices some day."
"Oh, Bigot is a gentleman, aunt, too polite to insult any one," remarked Le Gardeur, impatient to defend one whom he regarded as a friend. ”

“ His aunt guessed too, that he had passed the night as the guests of the Intendant always passed it, and knowing his temper and the regard he had for her good opinion, she brought the subject of the Intendant into conversation, in order, casually as it were, to impress Le Gardeur with her opinion of him. “Pierre Philibert too,” thought she, “shall be put upon his guard against the crafty Bigot.”
“Pierre,” said she, “you are happy in a father who is a brave, honorable man, of whom any son in the world might be proud. The country holds by him immensely, and he deserves their regard. ”

“ Her cheek crimsoned, for a strange thought suddenly intruded--the boy Pierre Philibert, whose image and memory she had so long and innocently cherished, was now a man, a soldier, a councillor, trained in courts and camps! ”

“ I feel for her; I feel for you, too, Pierre." Philibert felt the tight clasp of the Governor's hand as he said this. He understood well its meaning. "And not less do I pity the unhappy youth who is the cause of such grief to his friends," continued he.
"Yes, your Excellency, Le Gardeur is to be pitied, as well as blamed. He has been tried and tempted beyond human strength."
La Corne St. Luc had risen, and was pacing the floor with impatient strides. "Pierre Philibert!" exclaimed he, "where is the poor lad? He must be sought for and saved yet. What demons have assailed him now? ”

“ Oh, I don't know! the nervous ones have all come with the men to the city; but I suppose the works are sufficiently advanced, and the men can be spared to return home. But what says Pierre Philibert to the order despatching him to Tilly? ”

“ The country holds by him immensely, and he deserves their regard. Watch over him now you are at home, Pierre. He has some relentless and powerful enemies, who would injure him if they could."
"That has he," remarked La Corne St. Luc; "I have spoken to the Sieur Philibert and cautioned him, but he is not impressible on the subject of his own safety. The Intendant spoke savagely of him in public the other day."
"Did he, Chevalier?" replied Philibert, his eyes flashing with another fire than that which had filled them looking at Amelie. ”

“ Not that Philibert ever intended to do anything so silly as spoil a site in Paris by such a freak of humour. He was a farceur if you like, but he had too much taste for that. He intended having his palace, and it was to be of such supreme beauty as to draw pilgrims from all over the world, but it was to be in harmony with its surroundings. The allusion to the House of the Doges was just his little happy joke. He was very cheerful in those days. People used to say—“Fifi does have luck. Look at him. Who is it now that adores him? Was ever a man so blatantly successful in his love affairs?” ”

“ Philibert [Pg 123] sometimes in moments of good humour alluded to her as his Byzantine Madonna.
I should defeat my own object in telling this story if I did not do Philibert justice. Yet how do him justice? If he were a centipede or a rare species of bird my task would be easier. But he lived on the earth in the guise of a human being, and he was not quite a human being. And it is difficult to be just to a brother such as Philibert. He always loathed the sight of me. I don’t blame him for that. I loathe the sight of myself. I am an ugly object. ”

“ Philibert stood transfixed with surprise and pain, as if an arrow had stricken his eyes. "You! you Le Gardeur de Repentigny? It is impossible! Le Gardeur never looked like you--much less, was ever found among people like these!" The last words were rashly spoken, but fortunately not heard amid the hubbub in the hall, or Philibert's life might have paid the penalty from the excited guests. ”

“ Phihbert, a French saint of the seventh century, abbot of Jumieges, and founder of Nermoutier on the small island of Heis, though many miracles are imputed to him, is not recorded to have swollen the size of nuts, and it is therefore probable that these filberts were imported from one of the many villages or towns in Normandy and Brittany, bearing the name of St. Philibert, where the climate may have been propitious to their growth. There was a family of the name in England. King John and Henry III frequently employed Hugh de St. ”

“ You come of a young people. You believe in miracles. You seek perfection on earth. Believe me, I am old and wise, ideals are all very well, but one must be practical about life. Philibert has behaved very badly. He has made a scandal, but you can remedy that and maintain your dignity by disregarding his escapade, or at any rate treating it as nothing more than an escapade. And such it is, nothing more, believe me. The acts of men are never anything more. Mon Dieu, if we took what they did seriously, where should we be, we women? ”

“ I watched other men circle round her, keep coming back, hang forward humbly, shoulders hunched, heads bowed, waiting for a word from her, fascinated men who desired and pleased her. Philibert was among them, but he didn’t hang forward bowing. He stood near her, twirling his moustaches, talking to one and then another, making gestures, laughing, frowning, snubbing people, being impertinent, being amusing, flattering old dowagers, glaring at presumptuous youths, criticizing women with his cold eyes, and every now and then exchanging a look with Bianca. ”

“ He was thoroughly disgusted with all this lavish praise of Philibert. He suddenly recollected that he had an appointment at the Palace which would prevent him, he said, enjoying the full hour of absence granted to the Greek class of the Ursulines.
"Mademoiselle Angelique has of course gone to Belmont, if pressing engagements prevent YOU, Chevalier," said Louise Roy. "How provoking it must be to have business to look after when one wants to enjoy life!" ”

“ Piedmont, utterly prostrated by five-and-twenty years of foreign occupation, laid waste by the trampling of all the armies of Europe, required now the work of a constructive genius, and Emanuel Philibert was providentially fitted for the task. No man could better afford to be pacific than the conqueror of St. Quintin. ... See FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559. After the battle of St. Quintin, Emanuel Philibert had France at his discretion. Had his counsels been instantly followed, the Spanish army would have dictated its own terms before or within the walls of Paris. ... ”

“ Paris, 24 December.
CIVIS.
To Pomponius Mela.
Mela, the many errors in which you abounded have been cast forth; few are the faults that remain with you. Better far and more perfect in form do you stand forth now than formerly you did. This is the accomplishment of my small hand.
To Philibert Babou.
That my life for many years has been due to you, these two short verses, Philibert, now testify. Whatever 'alpha' belonged to me in my tender years, that your happy 'omega' wished to bear. ”

“ Certainly the Intendant does him but justice.”
This remark was not pleasing to Bigot, who hated Colonel Philibert equally with his father. “I merely said he had not participated in the riot, Colonel Philibert, which was true. I did not excuse your father for being at the head of the party among whom these outrages arise. I simply spoke truth, Colonel Philibert. I do not eke out by the inch my opinion of any man. I care not for the Bourgeois Philibert more than for the meanest blue cap in his following.” ”

“ Many people have been astonished at Philibert’s liaison with Bianca. They have considered the intimacy of these two people strange. I believe that Philibert’s feeling for Bianca was as simple as the feeling of a good man for a good woman, and as inevitable as if he and she were the only two white people in a world of black men. I believe that Philibert turned to Bianca in despair and clung to her out of loneliness. He and she were alone on the earth, as alone as if they had been gods condemned to live among men. ”

“ This is what I have figured out for Philibert. Of course he knows that he must marry some time; few men can escape matrimony. When he was plain future Count de Bresse he had a wider selection of ladies with whom he might wed. Now that he is the future Duke of Savoy, there is a smaller number from whom he may choose; for, though I never could see the justice of it, there always is more milk than there is cream."
"He is very young to be thinking of such things," said Marguerite coldly.
"When you come to age, he is no younger than your noble brother, who is to wed the Princess Juana ”

“ Philibert and I were like two runaway horses harnessed together, and running blindly, with the smart showy vehicle of our empty life rattling and lurching behind us, and poor little Jinny inside it.
His extravagance that winter was colossal. I did not try to restrain it. He felt the inertia of old age coming on him, and was having a last desperate fling: I felt sorry for him. His parties were fantastic. He bought the servants’ under-linen at Doucet’s; I only laughed when he told me. Money? Why not spend it! ”

“ Philibert laughed at the classical reminiscences of his guide; but, fearing that Pothier might fall off his horse, which he straddled like a hay-fork, he stopped to allow the worthy notary to recover his breath and temper.
"I hope the world appreciates your learning and talent, and that it uses you more gently than that horse of yours," remarked he.
"Oh, your Honor! it is kind of you to rein up by the way. I find no fault with the world if it find none with me. My philosophy is this, that the world is as men make it." ”

“ But it is past the hour for the Council, and still Bigot delays! He must have forgotten my summons.”
“I think not; but he might have to wait until Cadet, Varin, Deschenaux, and the rest of them were in a condition fit to travel,” answered Philibert with an air of disgust.
“O Philibert! the shame of it! the shame of it! for such thieves to have the right to sit among loyal, honorable men,” exclaimed, or rather groaned, the Governor. “They have the real power in New France, and we the empty title and the killing responsibility! ”

“ Philip's Safety Razor
Up to the time of Philip's obsession there cannot have been in all the world a happier couple than he and his wife. As everybody knows, the ecstasy of life has its home in the imagination, and Philip and Phœbe Partington lived almost exclusively in those realms which were illumined by the light that never was on sea or land. ”

“ Phillips is, in private life, aside from his abolition and sectional prejudices, a worthy, accomplished gentleman. He is the most eloquent and graceful speaker to whom we ever listened. He seems to distill manna and ambrosia from his lips, but is all the while firing whole broadsides of hot shot. "He is his own antithesis"—an infernal machine set to music. ”

“ Philps’ first vision, as a bride, of the English Lakes, the tone of her voice as she talked about all these things.
The getting together and sitting about and laughing in the little room would never be to her like being in a world that was independent of all the other worlds. She would not want to go again and again and sit, just the four women, at tea, talking. The silent, beautifully kept, experienced old furniture all over the house would not fill her with fear and delight and strength. ”

“ Born in the highest possible position in America, Mr. Phillips has all the advantages that birth can give to one in that country. Educated at the first University, graduating with all the honours which the College could bestow on him, and studying the law and becoming a member of the bar, he has all the accomplishments that these advantages can give to a man of a great mind. Nature has treated him as a favourite. His stature is not tall, but handsome; his expressive countenance paints and reflects every emotion of his soul. ”

“ Philp is not forgetful of the fact that the handmaids of religion, architecture, music, etc., have also their influence on the people. He has endeavored to promote their cultivation in available forms, and his efforts in the direction of improving the ecclesiastical structures over which he has had control, and the erection of others, have been peculiarly successful. ”

“ Philip was five days in Ypres, and harangued the people in the open market-place, to encourage them and to keep them steady to their engagements, telling them that the King of France was coming to destroy them without the least shadow of right. “Good people,” said Philip, “do not be alarmed if he should march against us; for he will never be able to cross the river Lis, as I have had all the passes well guarded, and have ordered Peter du Bois to Commines with a large body of men: he is a loyal man, and one who loves the honor of Flanders; and{325} Peter le Nuitre I have sent to Warneton. ”

“ Phillips among the most genial and sunny of human beings, really incapable of any malign passion, he would fool the reactive sting of this invective in his own bosom, and so become fearful of indulging it. ”

“ On leaving school Philp was placed, in 1835, with a printer at Bristol, and afterwards settled as a newsvendor in Bath, where, for selling a Sunday newspaper, he was fined, and, on refusing to pay, was condemned to the stocks for two hours. He joined the chartist movement, and edited a paper called ‘The Regenerator,’ and, with Henry Vincent [q. v.] , ‘The National Vindicator,’ a Bath weekly newspaper, which appeared from 1838 to 1842. In 1839 Philp began lecturing as a chartist of moderate opinions. ”