First Day of the Trials.--Much blustering, but no riot.--All
alarm subsided.--Proposal for inviting Lord B----m to plead
at the Trial.--Society.--Charm of idle conversation.--The
Whisperer of good stories.
6th May 1835.
The monster is hatched at last! The trials began yesterday, and we are
all rejoicing exceedingly at having found ourselves alive in our beds
this morning. What will betide us and it, as its scales or its plumes
push forth and gather strength from day to day, I know not; but
"sufficient for the day is the evil thereof;" and I do assure you in
very sober earnest, that when Galignani's paper arrived this morning,
the party round the breakfast-table was greatly comforted by finding
that nothing more alarming than a few republican demands on the part
of the prisoners, and a few monarchical refusals on the part of the
court, took place.
This interchange of hostilities commenced by some of the accused
refusing to answer when their names were called;--then followed a
demand for free admission to the chamber, during the trials, for the
mothers, wives, and all other females belonging to the respective
families of the prisoners;--and next, a somewhat blustering demand for
counsel of their own choosing; the body of legal advocates, who, by
general rule and common usage, are always charged with the defence of
prisoners, not containing, as it should seem, orators sufficiently of
their own _clique_ to content them.
This was of course stoutly refused by the court, after retiring,
however, for a couple of hours to deliberate upon it--a ceremony I
should hardly have supposed necessary. The company of the ladies, too,
was declined; and as, upon a moderate computation, their numerical
force could not have amounted to less than five hundred, this want of
gallantry in the Peers of France must be forgiven in favour of their
discretion.
The gentleman, however, who was appointed, as he said, by the rest, to
request the pleasure of their society, declared loudly that the demand
for it should be daily renewed. This reminds one of the story of the
man who punished his wife for infidelity by making her sit to hear the
story of her misdeeds rehearsed every day of her life, and pretty
plainly indicates that it is the plan of the accused to torment their
judges as much as they conveniently can.
One of the prisoners named the celebrated Abbé de Lamennais, author of
"Les Paroles d'un Croyant," as his advocate. The _procureur-général_
remarked, that it was for the interest of the defence that the rule
for permitting lawyers only to plead should be adhered to.
Next came a demand from one of the accused, in the name of all the
rest, that permission for free and unrestrained intercourse between
the prisoners of Lyons, Paris, and Marseilles should be allowed. This
was answered only by the announcement that "the court was adjourned;"
an intimation which produced an awful clamour; and as the peers
quitted the court, they were assailed with vehement cries of "We
protest! ... we protest!... We will make no defence!... We protest!
... we protest!" And so ended the business of the day.
I believe that the government, and all those who are sufficiently
connected with it to know anything of the real state of the case, were
perfectly aware that no public movement was likely to take place at
this stage of the business. Every one seems to know that the restless
spirits, the desperate adventurers engaged in the extensive plot now
under investigation, consider their trial as the best occasion
possible for a political _coup de théâtre_, and that nothing would
have disturbed their performance more than a riot before the curtain
rose.
Everything like panic seems now to have subsided, even among those who
are farthest from the centre of action; and all the effects of this
mighty affair apparently visible at present are to be seen on the
faces of the republicans, who, according to their wont, strut about
wherever they are most likely to be looked at, and take care that each
one of their countenances shall be
"Like to a book where men may read strange matters."
I thank Heaven, nevertheless, that this first day is so well over. I
had heard so over-much about it, that it became a sort of nightmare to
me, from which I now feel happily relieved. It is quite clear, that if
the out-of-door agitators should think proper to make any attempts to
produce disturbance, the government feels quite equal to the task of
making them quiet again, and of insuring that peaceable security to
the country for which she has so long languished in vain.
The military force employed at the Luxembourg is, however, by no means
large. One battalion of the first legion of National Guards was in the
court of the palace, and about four hundred troops of the line
occupied the garden. But though no show of force is unnecessarily
displayed, every one has the comfort of knowing that there is enough
within reach should any necessity arise for employing it.
I was told the other day, that when Lord B----m was in Paris, he was
so kind as to visit M. Armand Carrel in prison; and that, on the
strength of this proof of sympathy and affection, it has been
suggested to the prisoners at the Luxembourg, that they should
despatch a deputation of their friends to wait upon his lordship,
requesting the aid of his eloquence in pleading their cause against
the tyrants who so unjustifiably hold them in durance.
The proposal, it seems, was very generally approved; but nevertheless,
it was at last negatived on the representation of a person who had
once heard his lordship argue in the French language. This is the more
to be regretted by the friends of these suffering victims, since their
choice of defenders is to be restricted to members of the bar: and
this restriction, narrow-minded and severe as it is, would not exclude
his lordship; a legal advocate being beyond all question a legal
advocate all the world over.
It was not till we had sent out in one or two directions to ascertain
if all things were quiet, that we ventured to keep an engagement which
we had made for last night to pass the _soirée_ at Madame de L*****'s.
I should have been sorry to have lost it; for the business of the
morning appeared to have awakened the spirits and set everybody
talking. There are few things I like better than listening to a full,
free flow of Paris talk; particularly when, as in this instance, the
party is small and in a lively mood.
It appears as if there were nothing like caution or reserve here in
any direction. Among those whom I have had the satisfaction of
occasionally meeting are some who figure amongst the most important
personages of the day; but their conversation is as gaily unrestrained
as if they had nothing to do but to amuse themselves. These, indeed,
are not likely to commit themselves; but I have known others less
secure, who have appeared to permit every thought that occurred to
them to meet the ear of whoever chose to listen. In short, whatever
restraint the police, which by its nature is very phoenix-like, may
endeavour to put upon the periodical press, its influence certainly
does not as yet reach the lips, which open with equal freedom for the
expression of faith, scepticism, loyalty, treason, philosophy, and
wit.
In an intercourse so transient as mine is likely to be with most of
the acquaintance I have formed here,--an intercourse consisting
chiefly, as to the manner of it, of evening visits through a series of
_salons_,--amusement is naturally more sought than information: and
were it otherwise, I should, with some few exceptions, have reaped
disappointment instead of pleasure; for it is evident that the same
feeling which leads the majority of persons you meet in society here,
to speak freely, prevents them from saying anything seriously. So
that, after talking for an hour or two upon subjects which one should
think very gravely important, a light word, a light laugh, ends the
colloquy, and very often leaves me in doubt as to the real sentiments
of those to whom I have been listening.
But if not always successful in obtaining information, I never fail in
finding amusement. Rarely, even for a moment, does conversation
languish; and a string of lively nothings, or a startling succession
of seemingly bold, but really unmeaning speculations, often make me
imagine that a vast deal of talent has been displayed; yet, when
memory sets to work upon it, little remains worth recording.
Nevertheless, there is talent, and of a very charming kind too, in
this manner of uttering trifles so that they may be mistaken for wit.
I know some few in our own dear land who have also this happy gift;
and, as a matter of grace and mere exterior endowment, I question if
it be not fairly worth all the rest. But I believe we have it in about
the same proportion that we have good actors of genteel comedy,
compared to the number which they can boast of the same class here.
With us this easy, natural style of mimicking real life is a rare
talent, though sometimes possessed in great perfection; but with them
it seems more or less the birthright of all.
So is it with the gift of that bright colloquial faculty which bestows
such indescribable grace upon the airy nothings uttered in French
drawing-rooms. To listen to it, is very like quaffing the sparkling,
frothy beverage native to their sunny hills;--French talk is very like
champagne. The exhilaration it produces is instantaneous: the spirits
mount, and something like wit is often struck out even from dull
natures by merely coming in contact with what is so brilliant.
I could almost venture to assert that the effect of this delightful
inspiration might be perceived by any one who had gained admission to
French society even if they did not understand the language. Let an
observing eye, well accustomed to read the expression so legibly,
though so transiently written in the countenances of persons in
conversation,--let such a one only see, if he cannot hear, the effect
produced by the hits and flashes of French eloquence. Allow me another
simile, and I will tell you that it is like applying electricity to a
bunch of feathers tied together and attached to the conductor by a
thread: first one, then another starts, flies off, mounts, and drops
again, as the bright spark passes lightly, gracefully, capriciously,
yet still all making part of one circle.
Of course, I am not speaking now of large parties; these, as I think I
have said before, are wonderfully alike in all lands, and nothing
approaching to conversation can possibly take place at any of them. It
is only where the circle is restricted to a few that this sort of
effect can be produced; and then, the impulse once given by a piquant
word, seemingly uttered at random, every one present receives a share
of it, and contributes in return all the lively thoughts to which it
has given birth.
But there was one gentleman of our party yesterday evening who had a
most provoking trick of attracting one's attention as if on purpose to
disappoint it. He was not quite like Molière's Timante, of whom
Célimène says,
"Et, jusques au bonjour, il dit tout à l'oreille;"
but in the midst of pleasant talk, in which all were interested, he
said aloud--
"_Par exemple!_ I heard the very best thing possible to-day about the
King. Will you hear it, Madame B...?"
This question being addressed to a decided doctrinaire, the answer was
of course a reproachful shake of the head; but as it was accompanied
by half a smile, and as the lady bent her fair neck towards the
speaker, she, and she only, was made acquainted with "the best of all
possible things," conveyed in a whisper.
At another time he addressed himself to the lady of the house; but as
he spoke across the circle, he not only fixed her attention, but that
of every one else.
"Madame!" said he coaxingly, "will you let me tell you a little word
of treason?"
"Comment?--de la trahison?... Apropos de quoi, s'il vous plaît?...
Mais c'est égal--contez toujours."
On receiving this answer, the whisperer of good stories got up from
the depth of his arm-chair--an enterprise of some difficulty, for he
was neither rapid nor light in his movements,--and deliberately
walking round the chairs of all the party, he placed himself behind
Madame de L*****, and whispered in her ear what made her colour and
shake her head again; but she laughed too, telling him that she hated
timid politics, and had no taste for any _trahisons_ which were not
"_hautement prononcées_."
This hint sent him back to his place; but it was taken very
good-humouredly, for, instead of whispering any more, he uttered aloud
sundry odds and ends of gossip, but all so well dressed up in lively
wording, that they sounded very like good stories.