"_Mémoires d'un Homme d'Etat_" (Vol. vi., pp. 412. 588.).--There seems to
be sufficient reason for believing in the disavowal of Prince Hardenberg
being the author, made by his friend and agent Privy-Counsellor Schoell, to
whom the prince, at his death, had confided his genuine _Mémoires_. M.
Schoell thought the best care would be taken of them by placing them under
the official safeguard of the Prussian minister; and his decision was, that
they were not to be published till after the lapse of fifty years from the
prince's death, which took place in 1822. Copies, however, of the original
_Mémoires_ had been surreptitiously taken before their seclusion from the
public eye; and from these copies, important and extensive extracts are
said to have been undoubtedly made, and form part of the printed
_Mémoires_. In editing them, several well-known literary men were employed;
among whom are enumerated, Alphonse de Beauchamp, A. Schubart, and Count A.
F. D'Allonville. A Mons. Montveran (the author, I believe, of a work on
English jurisprudence) announced, some years ago, a publication, in which
he promised to disclose the original sources of the _Mémoires_ and the
compilers' names; but, so far as I can discover, M. Montveran has never
redeemed his promise.