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The Comte de Mirabeau was born in 1749. He suffered imprisonment many times, both at his father's hands and those of the law. At thirty-one, however, he had sowed his wild oats, and began to attract attention by a series of brilliant political pamphlets. In 1786 he was sent upon a secret mission to Prussia, with the aim of reporting to the Ministry the effect which would be produced in Prussia by the expected death of Frederick the Great; and also to sound the inclinations and temper of Frederick's successor. With his usual push, Mirabeau made his way into the good graces of the aged king, and was present at his death, and at the inauguration of Frederick William II. It was during this time that he wrote the remarkable series of letters now known to English readers as Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin and St. Petersburg. They sum up with much accuracy the personal traits of the dying Frederick the Great, and the character of his successor, Frederick William II. Included in them also are many personal details of the inner life of Catherine II of Russia, whose career, he intimates, is tarnished with the breath of scandal.

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9781410207340

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