The Pall Mall records that the German Ambassador in Mexico,
Count Enzeuburg, a great collector of autographs, has got M. Gnizot's, M. Tillers', and Prince Bismarck's autographs, all in the same page of his autograph album, and all of them are remarks on the subject of forgiving and forgetting. Guizot, naturally the most prolix of the three, wrote, " Daus ma longue vie fa/ appris deux sagesses ; l'une c'est de beaucoup pardonner, et l'autro de no jamais oublier." M. Thiers had added, " Un pen d'oubli ne nuit pas h la sinceritd du pardon." Prince Bismarck im- proved the sentiment by writing, " J'ai appris dans ma vie It moi de beaucoup oublier at de me faire beaucoup pardonner." Here Guizot is conventional and a little hollow ; Thiers caustic and pleasantly careless ; and Bismarck, weighty and frank with that large frankness which, after all, is policy as well. But he bad the advantage of both the others in coining after them. Even Guizot might have done better if he had had to improve on Thiers and Bismarck, instead of merely registering the point of departure for their criticisms.
Previous page
