Transcriber's note: Obvious printer errors have been repaired, but
spelling has not been standardized.
MEMOIRS OF THE
DUCHESSE DE DINO
[Illustration:
_Duchesse de Dino,
After a miniature by Agricola,
in the possession of the Princesse Antoine Radziwill._]
MEMOIRS OF THE
DUCHESSE DE DINO
(_Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan_)
1831-1835
_Edited, with Notes and Biographical Index, by_
THE PRINCESSE RADZIWILL
(_NÉE CASTELLANE_)
_WITH PHOTOGRAVURE FRONTISPIECE_
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1909
_Printed in England_
PREFACE
This history is composed of notes made in England during the Embassy
of the Prince de Talleyrand and of fragments of letters addressed by
my grandmother, the Duchesse de Dino (afterwards Duchesse de
Talleyrand et de Sagan), during a period of thirty years, to M.
Adolphe de Bacourt, who gave them to me by her desire.
Some months before her death in 1862 my grandmother, who was then
fully aware of her condition, herself told me of the precious legacy
which would be transmitted to me when she was gone by M. de Bacourt,
her executor, and added her final instructions and advice.
A just judgment on conspicuous ideas and persons is possible only
after the lapse of many years, and so I should willingly have
postponed the publication of these Memoirs. But some years since, my
niece, the Comtesse Jean de Castellane, published the story of the
early years of the Duchesse de Dino, and as many readers desire to
have the continuation, I have decided not to withhold it any longer,
and it will be found in the following pages.
The book throws more light on the last years of the Prince de
Talleyrand than any previous publication, and it speaks so well for
itself that I need say nothing for it. The place which the Duchess
occupied in the European Society of the first half of last century is
also too well known to need to be recalled here. Her personal charm,
like her intellectual distinction, has rarely been equalled, but the
moral fascination which she exercised on all who knew her is less well
known. Intellect is a great source of strength, but nobility of soul
is a greater; and it was assuredly this which helped the Duchess in
many difficult passages in her history.
It is this sense of nobility and distinction which, in my opinion, is
the chief characteristic of her Memoirs.
CASTELLANE, PRINCESSE RADZIWILL
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Paris, May 9--A crowded drawing-room--Eridge Castle--Trouble 1
in Paris--A Naval Spectacle.
CHAPTER II
A Visit from the Duke of Wellington--Politics at Paris--The 12
King's Birthday--The Princess Victoria--European
complications.
CHAPTER III
M. Thiers' Marriage--Talleyrand summoned to Paris--Return 19
to London--Lady Jersey and the Duc d'Orléans--Dinner
with the King.
CHAPTER IV
Warwick Castle--Queen Adelaide--The Duke of Wellington--London 27
at its best--Woburn Abbey--M. de
Lieven's recall--A rift in the Cabinet--Lord Brougham--Dinner
with Palmerston--Lord Grey's difficulties--Palmerston's
methods--Oxford and the Duke--Kings
in exile--A jovial monarch--Mirabeau--Talleyrand's
Memoirs--The King's health--Don Carlos and
Court--A Schism at Almack's--Resignation of Lord
Grey--Don Carlos escapes--Lord Melbourne's position--Revolutionary
politics--European politics--Spanish
affairs--Palmerston's incivility--A scene at the levée--Last
days in England--Talk with Louis-Philippe--George
Sand--English visitors--A royal visit--M. de
Talleyrand resigns--Lord Brougham in Paris--A State
trial--Talleyrand's successor.
CHAPTER V
A Court at the Tuileries--Cabinet making--Triumph of 224
M. Guizot--Talleyrand and Church--Fieschi's crime--English
politics--Thiers' difficulties--The King's
courage--General Sébastiani--A clever secretary--Marriage
projects--State prisoners--British affairs.
APPENDIX I 287
APPENDIX II 288
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 291
MEMOIRS OF THE
DUCHESSE DE DINO
CHAPTER I
1831
_Paris, May 9, 1831._--I am bewildered by the tumult of Paris. There
is such a babel of words, such a crowd of faces, that I hardly
recognise myself, and have the greatest difficulty in collecting my
thoughts so as to discover where I am, where others are, whether the
country is doing well or ill, whether the physicians are skilful
enough, or whether the malady is beyond their art.
Twenty times I have stopped to think of Madeira; sometimes, too, my
thoughts are of Valençay; but I can find no fixed resting-place, and
it seems to me quite futile to prejudge anything before the great
electoral crisis which preoccupies everybody. _A propos_ of
everything, people here say "after the elections," just as the gay
world of London used to say "after Easter."
There was a little article in the _Moniteur_ of yesterday; the
attitude of the Ministry and that of the general public are both just
and flattering to M. de Talleyrand, but reason is not the fashion
nowadays, and less so in this country than elsewhere. In fact, if I
were to let my thoughts wander over the thousand and one small
complications which spoil and embarrass everything, the only
conclusion I could arrive at would be that the country is very ill but
that the doctor is excellent!...
_London, September 10, 1831._--From Paris letters it appears that the
indestructible Bailli de Ferette has at length taken his departure;
likewise Madame Visconti, another extraordinary relic of the past.
I hear there have been _émeutes_ of women; fifteen hundred of these
horrible creatures made a commotion, and because of their sex the
Garde Nationale would not use force. Fortunately, the rain settled the
matter.
Yesterday came an express with a rigmarole about Belgium asking that
the Dutch should retire still further, that Maestricht should be
garrisoned by Dutch alone, expressing impatience at General Baudrand
having had direct conversations in private with the English Ministers,
and recalling him forthwith. He will not go, however, till after the
Drawing-room.
Nothing new about Poland.
The _Times_ tells of the ill-starred attempt in Portugal. A malison on
Dom Miguel! What a shame it is that he should have triumphed!
The only news in London is that on the occasion of the coronation,[1]
the King allowed the Bishops to lay aside their ugly wigs. This has
made them quite unrecognisable for the last week, for they were in
such a hurry to avail themselves of the permission that they did not
allow time for their hair to grow again. The result was that they cut
a very odd figure, and were the delight of all the guests at the
King's dinner.
[1] Of King William IV.
_London, September 11, 1831._--Everybody is still talking of nothing
but the coronation; the Duke of Devonshire's return on foot all
splashed with mud; the acts, words, and appearance of everyone are
discussed, embellished, distorted, and reviewed with more or less
charity: that is to say, with no charity at all. The Queen alone is
left untouched; everyone says that she was perfect, and they are quite
right.
I saw the Duke of Gloucester yesterday, and could get nothing out of
him except that they had been trying to avoid having Van de Weyer (who
makes the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar swoon) at the great diplomatic
dinner to-day at Saint James's. They, therefore, hit on the plan of
asking, besides ambassadors, only such ministers as are married; I
thought this rather stupid.
All the venerable survivals are disappearing; there is Lady
Mornington, mother of the Duke of Wellington, who died yesterday at
the age of ninety. This event can make little difference to her son.
The Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg and the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen left
yesterday by the steamer for Rotterdam; the Duchess of Cambridge
leaves to-day for the Hague viâ Bruges. The great preoccupation of
them all is to avoid Brussels.
Lady Belfast describes very amusingly the visit of the English yachts
to Cherbourg and the welcome they had there. They were received by the
authorities, who could not in the least understand what a Gentleman's
Yacht Club in which the Government had no concern could be; in fact,
they were near taking the members for pirates. However, they gave them
a dinner and a ball. Lord Yarborough wished to return their
hospitality on board his yacht, but all the provincial fair ladies
declared that nothing would induce them to dance on the sea, that they
would be certain to be horribly sick, and that the proposal was
altogether barbarous. Finally, Lord Yarborough was obliged to yield,
and gave his ball in a Cherbourg tavern, where, however, he managed to
spend ten thousand francs in a single evening.
_London, September 13, 1831._--Yesterday's Drawing-room was more
crowded than ever, and consequently so long and fatiguing that Mexico,
Spain, and Naples were successively placed _hors de combat_. The
diplomatic ranks were so much thinned by these ladies fainting one
after the other that one had to exert oneself more than usual.
Madame de Lieven boldly seated herself on the steps of the throne,
whence she passed into the King's room, where she had lunch. She came
back and told us that she was neither tired nor hungry. She all but
added that our legs should be rested because hers were, and our
stomachs satisfied because hers had been stayed.
The peeresses, as a rule, looked well in their robes. One unhappy
creature paid dearly for the pleasure of exercising her right as a
peeress to be received by the King whether he will or no. Lady Ferrers
had been practically kept by her husband as his mistress before he
married her, so Lord Howe told Lord Ferrers that the Queen would not
receive his wife. Lord Ferrers replied, however, that peeresses had
the _entrée_, and that could not be denied. He was warned, however,
that the Queen would turn away as Lady Ferrers passed, and this is
what happened. I must observe that even in this the Queen showed her
kindness of heart, for she pretended to begin a conversation with the
Princess Augusta just before Lady Ferrers came opposite to her. She
did not interrupt her conversation, and it was possible to think that
the poor woman had passed unperceived and not insulted. I thought it
was very nice of the Queen.
The dinner was magnificent, and the exuberance of the King's good
humour was really comic; he made several remarkable speeches in
French, and I hear that, when the ladies had gone, the grossness of
his conversation was beyond belief. I have never seen him so gay. I
think that certain despatches from Paris which arrived a little before
dinner, and brought to Lord Palmerston and M. de Talleyrand the news
that the French troops would begin the evacuation of Belgium on the
27th and would all be back in France by the 30th, had something to do
with the Royal hilarity. Lord Grey was radiant about it.
The news of the cholera is bad; it has got to Sweden _viâ_ Finland,
and at Berlin in three days thirty out of the sixty sick have died.
There has been enough ado about it in Paris for M. Perier to make his
appearance there on horseback in his ministerial uniform; his presence
had a good effect.
It seems that the Belgian business is definitely settled, and M. de
Talleyrand was saying yesterday that he would be in France at the end
of October. But I have already seen so many ups and downs in these
affairs that I no longer profess to predict anything a week ahead.
_Tunbridge Wells, September 16, 1831._--I have just been visiting
Eridge Castle,[2] which belongs to a rich and misanthropic
octogenarian much persecuted by misfortune. His title is Earl of
Abergavenny, but his family name is Neville. He is a cousin of Lord
Warwick; the celebrated "King maker" was a Neville, and Eridge Castle
was his. At a later date Queen Elizabeth was feasted there.
[2] Eridge Castle is in the county of Sussex, and still belongs
to the Abergavenny family.
The foundations of the castle are ancient, and it has been restored in
the ancient style, with great care, by the present owner. The effect
of the whole is perfectly harmonious, and every detail is rich and
elegant. The perfection of the carving and the beauty of the stained
glass are wonderful. Lord Abergavenny's own apartments are extremely
dismal. The castle occupies a very high point on the top of a hill,
with a lake twenty acres in extent at the foot. But the low ground is
surrounded by hills which are even higher than the one in the centre,
on which the castle stands, and which are all covered with trees so
splendid, so numerous, and stretching for so many miles, that they
form a veritable forest. I have never seen a prospect so romantically
wooded and at the same time so profoundly melancholy. It is not
English, still less is it French; it is the Black Forest, it is
Bohemia. I have never seen ivy like that which covers the towers, the
balconies, and indeed the whole building. In short, I rave about it.
In the park, in the heart of a clump of tall and very sombre
fir-trees, there is a mineral spring exactly like that at Tunbridge;
and the park itself is not only full of deer but has also stags, any
number of cows and sheep, and a fine herd of buffaloes.
Lord Abergavenny is very charitable. A hundred and twenty workmen are
constantly in his employment; but since the visitors from Tunbridge
came and damaged his garden he allows no one to see either his park or
his house. Some time ago he refused admittance even to the Princesse
de Lieven. Pleading notes from Countess Bathyány and from me touched
his heart. He was out when we came, but had left orders for the
servants to show us everything; we were guided through the woods by a
man on horseback. His people are very fond of him; they have much to
say of his goodness, and recount very impressively the story of the
misfortunes which have afflicted their unhappy old master.
_London, September 17, 1831._--On my way back from Tunbridge yesterday
I visited Knole, one of the most ancient castles in England, built by
King John. The oldest part of the existing building dates from this
time. Knole was for long in the possession of the Archbishops of
Canterbury, but Cranmer, finding that his magnificence excited popular
discontent, restored it to the Crown. Elizabeth gave it to the
Sackvilles, the eldest of whom she made Earl of Dorset; and it has
remained in that family until the present day. It has just come into
the hands of Lady Plymouth, sister of the Duke of Dorset, who was
killed in the hunting-field, and left no children. The present Duke of
Dorset, an old man, is the uncle of his predecessor; he has inherited
the title without the estate.
When I choose I can be as meticulous as anybody! I condescended to
read up the guide-book, and put myself in the hands of the
housekeeper. This ancient fairy-godmother is very good at showing off
the venerable and lugubrious house of Knole, which for melancholy has
no rival. Even the part which has been fitted up for the present
occupants is no exception to this; much more profound, therefore, is
the gloom of that which is given up to memories of the past.
Everything there is genuine antique; there are five or six bedrooms,
the hall, three galleries, and a saloon full of Jacobean furniture.
Panelling, furniture, and pictures all date authentically from this
period. The rooms occupied by James I. when he visited the first Earl
of Dorset are magnificent; they are decorated with Venetian mirrors;
there is a state bed of gold and silver brocade, a filigree
toilet-set, ivory and ebony cabinets, and many other curious and
beautiful things. There are portraits here of all England, and among a
vast quantity of rubbish some dozen splendid examples of Van Dyck and
Sir Robert Leslie. The park is large, but in no way remarkable; a
rapid visit is quite sufficient.
_London, September, 1831._--I am always unlucky in my return to
London. I got back the day before yesterday, in time to learn of the
capture of Warsaw;[3] and to-day I arrived from Stoke[4] to hear of
the new and serious disorders which had taken place in Paris on the
occasion of the defeat of the Poles. The condition of the city was
grave at the time of writing, from the details given in this morning's
_Times_. I may add that M. Casimir Perier bravely saved Sébastiani
from the gravest peril by taking him into his carriage. When they got
to the Place Vendôme they were forced to take refuge in the Hôtel de
l'État Major; there were loud cries of "_à bas Louis-Philippe!_"
[3] Warsaw, capital of the Duchy of the same name, had been ceded
to the Russians in 1815. In November 1830 a terrible insurrection
broke out there, which liberated Poland for several months; but,
in spite of a glorious campaign against Diebitsch, Warsaw was
finally retaken by Parkéwitch on September 8, 1831.
[4] Stoke is situate in the county of Stafford, and has a great
porcelain manufactory founded by Wedgwood.
To-day the fate of the Ministry will probably be decided in the
Chamber. I know that M. de Rigny was very anxious, the previous
sitting having been very unfavourable.
I have also received a very sad letter from M. Pasquin.
Our forebodings are turning out only too true.
_London, September 20, 1831._--Count Paul Medem arrived yesterday and
spent much of the day with me.
He left Paris on Saturday evening. I had plenty of time to question
him, and found his judgment sound and cold as usual; he thinks that in
France nothing as yet is either lost or saved. It is all, he thinks, a
matter of chance; and one can depend on nothing. He brings ill news of
the unpopularity of the King and of the ignorance and presumption of
everybody. He thinks nothing of anyone but Casimir Perier, and even he
makes no secret of his disgust at the little help he gets. I had a sad
account of the social and commercial condition of Paris. Everything
there is unrecognisable; dress, manners, tone, morals and
language--all is changed. The men spend their whole lives in the
cafés, and the women have vanished. New expressions have become the
fashion. The Chamber of Deputies is termed _La Reine Législative_; the
Chamber of Peers, _L'Ancienne Chambre_. The latter, as a power in the
land, has ceased to exist. It is said that the King was more ready
than anyone to abandon the hereditary principle in the peerage, hoping
in this way to gain popularity and get a better civil list. No one
supposes, however, that it will exceed twelve millions, and in the
meantime he is drawing fifteen hundred thousand francs a month.
Several theatres are closed; the Opera and the Italiens still draw,
but if the stars continue to appear on the stage it is only the seamy
side of society that is seen in the boxes.
It is understood that the Czar Nicolas will only put to death such
Poles as murdered Russian prisoners in the course of the sanguinary
scenes enacted at the clubs. Siberia will receive the others. What a
host of miserable creatures we shall see invading Europe, and more
especially France! It is natural to want to shelter them, but it must
be admitted that in the present state of France they can only be a new
element of disorder. They say that when an émeute occurs the refugees
from all countries always play a leading part.
The news from Rio de Janeiro is bad for the children[5] left by Dom
Pedro. A revolt of the negroes has led to much disorder.
[5] (1) Doña Jennaria, born 1819; (2) Doña Paula, born 1823; (3)
Doña Francisca, born 1824; (4) Dom Pedro, born 1825, who in 1831
became Emperor of Brazil under a regency.
The scenes in Switzerland[6] are deplorable.
[6] On the occasion of the Revolution in France in 1830, new
agitations arose in Switzerland. Bâle divided itself in 1831 into
Bâle-Ville and Bâle-Campagne.
Things have been happening at Bordeaux.
Miaulis[7] has blown up his fleet rather than obey Capo d'Istria.
[7] Miaulis had retired to Paros, and had put himself at the head
of the rebellious Hydriotes.
_London, September 21, 1831._[8]--The rioting began again in Paris on
Sunday evening, and lasted all Monday morning. There were ominous
symptoms of all kinds, and the aspect of the city was very serious.
The interpellations announced by Mauguin and Laurence were postponed
for twenty-four hours, because it was thought that a partial, if not a
complete, dislocation of the Ministry was imminent. Heavenly powers!
Where have we got to and whither are we tending!
[8] From March to September 1831 insurrection, or at least
agitation and tumult, was almost continual in the streets of
Paris.
In this connection it is confidently asserted that the troops at
Madeira are ready to submit to Doña Maria. The name of Madeira
pronounced (thrown out one might say) six months ago without much
thought will turn out to have been prophetic. It is there that we will
betake ourselves for refuge!
Jules Chodron[9] is appointed Second Secretary of Legation at
Brussels.
[9] M. de Courcel.
_London, September 23, 1831._--There was a splendid day yesterday for
the ceremony at Woolwich at which I was present. It was very
impressive to see the launch of a great ship of war, and to see it
towed afterwards into the dock where it is to be rigged.
We were on a platform near the King's; there were crowds and crowds of
people, a multitude of steamers and rowing boats, bands, bells and
salvoes of cannon without end. It was almost sunshine. The uniforms
and dresses were brilliant; in fact, there was everything which
contributes to produce an air of high festivity.
The King took a small detachment of the diplomatic corps, which I
accompanied, to see a miniature frigate, a present to the King of
Prussia. It is a charming little thing made entirely of copper and
mahogany. Then he took us to lunch on board the _Royal Sovereign_, an
old yacht of the time of George III., much gilded and bedizened. His
Majesty addressed himself to me in drinking the health of the King of
the French, and to Bülow in proposing the toast of His Prussian
Majesty. He forgot Madame Falk, on which the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar,
who was much annoyed, could not refrain from tears, and the King had
to apologise to Madame Falk, and drink the health of the King of
Holland.
I dined with the Duke of Wellington, who was in very good spirits. He
hopes that the Reform Bill will be thrown out by the House of Lords on
the Second Reading, which will take place on October 3. Lord
Winchelsea, having declared that he would vote against it, was
requested by the Ministry to resign his place at Court, but the King
would not accept his resignation.
Yesterday evening came an express from Paris, dated the 20th,
announcing that the riots are at an end, and that the Ministry has
prevailed in the Chamber of Deputies; but, on the other hand, it is
said that what has been passed proves that the Belgian treaty must be
on the basis proposed in the despatch of the 12th.
_London, September 25, 1831._--We have got the details of the sitting
of the Chamber at which the Ministry triumphed. The victory was won on
an order of the day; worded in a manner honourable to the Government,
and carried by a majority of 85. There voted 357--221 for M. Perier,
136 against. Things, therefore, have for the moment resumed some sort
of equilibrium, but I have little confidence in the event. The new
Chamber has still to show what it means to do about hereditary
peerages, about the civil list and the budget, and it does not seem to
me to be prepared either to say or to do any good thing.
People are still writing to me praising the high courage of M. Perier,
and representing the country as being in a critical condition, and
Pozzo as very nervous in spite of his nephew's marriage, with which he
is delighted.
Three gentlemen from Arras, introduced by the Baron de Talleyrand,
have been dining with us. They belong to the French middle class, and
are very proud of the fact. One of the three was a little man of
seventeen in the rhetoric class of the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, who is
here for his holidays, and is already as talkative and as positive as
could be wished. He gives every promise of one day bellowing most
conspicuously in the Chamber.
_London, September 27, 1831._--Yesterday the Conference agreed on a
protocol, and heaven knows what will be the result! The Dutch and the
Belgians could not come to any agreement, or even within sight of one.
So the Conference, in order to prevent the resumption of hostilities
to settle finally this difficult, delicate and dangerous question, and
to avert the conflagration which is always imminent, constituted
itself arbitrator, and will protect the results of its arbitration
which is to proceed forthwith. How will this be received at Paris? M.
de Talleyrand thinks they will be annoyed at first and will then give
way, especially as there was nothing else to be done. "It is," he
says, "the one and only way of settling the business."
_London, September 29, 1831._--M. de Montrond came yesterday. He
speaks with the utmost contempt of Paris, and all that is going on
there. He tells me that the King is going to live at the Tuilleries,
after a severe battle with his ministers, who on this occasion also
have forced his hand. They had a hard task to overcome the Queen's
unwillingness, but they have overcome all obstacles and the thing is
to be.
It is said that at the Palais Royal the King cannot stir without being
greeted with the most cruel epithets. He is received with cries of
"_Bavard!_" "_Avare!_" &c. They thrust knives through the inside
railings and threaten him. The situation, in short, is horrible.