Talk:François Henri de la Motte

Wikifying
I have begun to wikify the article. I leave others to improve the writing style. DFH 09:46, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * After some further edits, I have removed the tag. DFH 13:46, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

"M. Dauberade"?
Using Google, I have not been able to find any reference to the "M. Dauberade" mentioned in the paragraph for Thackeray. Please check the spelling of this name. DFH 13:15, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Just corrected it to M. d'Auberade. DFH 13:29, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Date of birth ?
Does anyone know the exact date when François Henri de la Motte was born? All we know is that he was about 50 years old when he was tried for treason. DFH 13:48, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

French Wikipedia article?
As de la Motte was a French citizen, it would make sense to create a French Wikipedia page François Henri de la Motte. DFH 13:51, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Denis Duval
As yet there is no article about Thackeray's unfinished novel Denis Duval. Good idea for a new article. DFH 14:34, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

George Selwyn
As George Selwyn died in January 1791, he could not have witnessed de la Motte's execution in July that year. I have therefore removed the phrase, "It is not known, however, whether Selwyn was amongst the" and made minor corrections to the rest of the sentence. DFH 14:48, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * The reason for my edit was invalid. Selwyn died in 1791. de la Motte ten years earlier in 1781.  Even so, it is almost impossible to prove a negative, so I am letting the edit stand. DFH 18:06, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Need a cited reference for George Selwyn's diaries. Couldn't find them in COPAC. DFH 15:11, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Did you mean George Selwyn; his letters and his life, edited by E.S. Roscoe and Helen Clergue, London, 1899. DFH 15:16, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

"pour décourager les autres"
The final paragraph of the opening section ends with:

"..."pour décourager les autres", French for "to discourage others"."

Whilst this isn't incorrect, I believe the more usual idiom is the Voltaire quote "pour encourager les autres", which wouldn't need the subsequent qualification.

Pete Rieden