He was replaced by the
comte d'Aranda, who was in a manner in disgrace with his royal
master: this nobleman arrived preceded by a highly flattering
reputation. In the first place, he had just completed the destruction
of the Jesuits, and this was entitling him to no small thanks and
praises from encyclopedists. Every one knows those two lines
of Voltaire's--
"Aranda dans l'Espagne instruisant les fideles,
A l'inquisition vient de rogner les ailes." *
*"Aranda in Spain instructing the faithful
at the Inquisition has just clipped wings."
--Gutenberg ed.
The simplicity of comte d'Aranda indemnified us in some degree
for the haughty superciliousness of his predecessor. Although no
longer young, he still preserved all the tone and vigor of his
mind, and only the habit which appeared to have been born with
him of reflecting, gave him a slow and measured tone in speaking.
His reserved and embarrassed manners were but ill-calculated
to show the man as he really was, and it required all the
advantages of intimacy to see him in his true value. You may
attach so much more credit to what I say of this individual, as I
can only add, that he was by no means one of my best friends.
When Louis XV heard of the nomination of the comte d'Aranda to
the embassy from Spain to France, he observed to me,
"The king of Spain gets rid of his Choiseul by sending him to me."
"Then why not follow so excellent an example, sire?" replied I; "
and since your Choiseul is weary of Chanteloup, why not command
him upon some political errand to the court of Madrid.
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