Note 1434 — Chapter VIII · (continued 2)

‘When at Paris, in 1786, I received the following anecdote from a person connected with the encyclopædists. During his residence in that capital, D'Aranda had frequently testified to the literati with whom he associated, his resolution to obtain the abolition of the Inquisition, should he ever be called to power. His appointment was, therefore, exultingly hailed by the party, particularly by D'Alembert; and he had scarcely begun his reforms before an article was inserted in the Encyclopædia, then printing, in which this event was confidently anticipated, from the liberal principles of the minister. D'Aranda was struck on reading this article, and said, “This imprudent disclosure will raise such a ferment against me, that my plans will be foiled.” He was not mistaken in his conjecture.’ Coxe‘s Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. iv. p. 408.