Eaton Weekly Democrat

An Eccentric Character.

One of the most eccentric personages of the eighteenth century, the Marquis de Bacqueville, is described in an article in the Revue de Normandie. On one occasion he had ordered a clock to be made; it was of difficult construction and doubtful taste. "I must have it by such a day," said he to the clockmaker, "else I will not take it." The time was short, but the Marquis was a liberal paymaster, and therefore the clockmaker took special pains, hired additional hands, and finished the clock on the appointed day; but it being too late to deliver it, he deferred doing so until the next morning. On the morrow he presented himself with the clock before the marquis, but the latter refused to receive it. "If you had brought it yesterday, even at midnight, I would have received it; but now it is too late." The clockmaker, in despair, represented the loss of time, labor and money he had incurred in the work, and the marquis, who sometimes showed a kind heart in the midst of his crotchets, said: "Here, take your money, but carry away the clock; I have vowed not to accept it."

One of his horses having made a false step, the marquis caused him to be hanged on a gibbet, and made his other horses walk past the suspended carcass every day, all the while recommending them to take warning by the example.

He had about fifty or sixty of the prettiest canaries, thrushes, bullfinches, and other singing birds, and, having consulted some dealers in birds as to the quantity of seeds which a bird ought to consume in a year, he had a large measure filled with the exact quantity, and then had as many similar measures put into the aviary as there were birds. "Now, my pets," said he to them, "I have given you enough to last you a year; you must manage accordingly, for you will have no more food until the year is out." At the end of three months, perhaps less, it was all gone. The birds had done as men do; having abundance to begin with, they had squandered it. Part of it was consumed, part was lost, and part had become rotten. When he saw this he said to them, "I forewarned you of it, and this is how you profited by my advice! Now, live how you can, and die if you will." And die they all did. He had not the humanity even to let them go free, to shift for themselves, fancying that they were being justly punished for their extravagance!