1833
_Valençay,[12] October 12, 1833._--M. Royer-Collard passed part of the
morning here. He was at once original and witty, serious and
vivacious, showed much affection for me, and made himself very
pleasant to M. de Talleyrand. He does not openly carp at the present
situation, but it is not pleasing to him, and he speaks ill of it in
his solitude.
[12] Valençay, where the Duchesse de Dino had just gone, is
situate in the Department of the Indre. The château and the park
are magnificent, and the ornamental water is very fine. The house
was built in the sixteenth century by the d'Étampes family, from
the designs of Philibert Delorme. In 1808 and 1814 it served as
the prison of Ferdinand VII. and the Spanish Princes when they
were detained by Napoleon I. The Prince de Talleyrand, who had
bought the property at the end of the eighteenth century, was
very fond of the place and lived there a great deal.
M. de Saint-Aulaire writes from Vienna: "My summer holiday which I
have been spending at Baden has not been disturbed by the meetings at
Téplitz and Münchengraetz,[13] because I was not given anything to do,
and because, for my part, I feel no anxiety about them. But M. de
Metternich has just got back to Vienna; we must put our affairs in
order, and my holiday is near an end. The measures considered
advisable for Germany are apparently very sharp; were they otherwise
the attempt would be futile. Will France be content to look on and do
nothing? I think so, unless some independent sovereign cries for help
in maintaining his independence. The King of Hanover would be a good
leader in a movement of this kind, but if he will not come forward, I
have no confidence in Prince Lichtenstein. I know that in England they
think M. de Metternich has tricked us, and that he went shares with
Russia in the Treaty of Constantinople of the 8th of July last. But I
persist in maintaining that he was the dupe, not the accomplice. I
hope I am right, not so much for my own self-satisfaction as because
the game to play must vary according as the good understanding of
Austria and Russia is apparent or real. Frederick Lamb told me
yesterday in detail of the Duke of Leuchtenberg's campaign in Belgium.
I had heard something of it from the rumours of the town, but not a
word from the Cabinet, which has the bad habit of keeping us the worst
informed of the diplomatists of any country."
[13] The three great allied powers--Austria, Prussia and
Russia--held meetings in three successive years either at Téplitz
or at Münchengraetz for joint deliberation on the European
situation. There by a new secret compact they guaranteed to each
other their respective possessions in Poland, whether against
external aggression or internal revolution. They also considered
the affairs of France and Italy, and the constant activities of
Italian societies and refugees in French territory, which were
then causing serious anxiety about the tranquillity of the
Peninsula. It was finally decided that the Cabinets of Austria,
Prussia and Russia should each send a separate note to the
Government of King Louis-Philippe, urging a more careful
surveillance of the revolutionary propaganda.
_Valençay, October 23, 1833._--The Duchesse de Montmorency is quite
fresh on the subject of Prague, her eldest daughter having told her
much about it. Charles X. himself took his two grand-children to their
mother at Leoben with the precise object of preventing the Duchesse de
Berry from coming to Prague; from Leoben it is said she will return to
Italy. M. le Dauphin[14] and Mme. la Dauphine refused to go.
[14] Louis-Antoine, Duc d'Angoulême (1773-1844), eldest son of
King Charles X., married during the emigration in 1799 his cousin
Marie Thérèse Charlotte, daughter of King Louis XVI. and Queen
Marie Antoinette, but had no children. After 1830 the Duc
d'Angoulême ceded his rights to his nephew, the Duc de Bordeaux
(Comte de Chambord), and retired into private life.
They say that Charles X. is much broken, and the Dauphine is aged and
very thin and nervous, always in tears. Certainly, however strong her
character may be, her misfortunes have been such as to break the
highest courage and the most masculine spirit. Beyond doubt she has
been more persecuted by destiny than any character in history.
M. de Blacas is in supreme command of the little Court, and is more
opposed than any one to the proposal that the Duchesse de Berry should
settle there.
I have seen a letter from M. Thiers, who says, referring to his
marriage: "The great moment is at hand. I am agitated, as is proper;
and I am fonder of my young wife than is fitting at my age. This shows
I was right to make up my mind at thirty-five rather than at forty,
for then I should have been even more absurd. In any case it matters
little; I can banish false shame, but there _is_ one thing which I
find insupportable, and that is to expose those who are dear to me to
the insults and the malice of the world. For myself I am inured, but
(great as is the necessity) I shall never become inured to the
sufferings of those I love. The world must work its will; it would be
foolish to wish that so huge a machine should alter its eternal motion
to suit one's convenience."
I sincerely hope that his philosophy will not be tried too severely;
but, as the proverb has it, "the sin brings its own punishment."
_Valençay, November 3, 1833._--I am greatly surprised that the Duc de
Broglie has not once written to M. de Talleyrand. He has written three
times to me on private affairs, and each time promised a letter for M.
de Talleyrand, which has never come.
Mme. Adélaïde has written twice, very kindly expressing her desire
that M. de Talleyrand may go back to London, but without any definite
inquiry on the subject. I think, however, that she and the King wish
it much more than the Duc de Broglie does; and I believe that it is
owing to some intrigue between Lord Granville and Lord Palmerston that
the King's wishes have not so far been more clearly expressed.
M. de Talleyrand has come to no decision. There are so many real
inconveniences in entering on active political life. On the other
hand, there are so many real inconveniences in staying in France that
even if I wished to advise I do not know what advice it would be best,
in the interests of M. de Talleyrand, to give him. He fears--and I
think with reason--the isolation, the _ennui_ of the provinces, and
the slackness of country life. Paris he thinks impossible, as he
would there be invested in the eyes of the people with political
responsibilities which it would not be either in his interest or in
his power to discharge. On the other hand, he is under no illusions as
to the gravity and the difficulty of the situation which he would find
on his return to London, and which would be aggravated by the
character of the people with whom he would have to deal on both sides
of the Channel. Finally, he knows quite well how easily he might lose,
on the turn of a single card, all that he has so miraculously gained
during the past three years.
All this agitates him greatly; and me, on his account, even more. We
have every reason to apply to ourselves what M. Royer-Collard said in
1830 of the struggle between the Polignac Ministry and the country:
"An end there will surely be, but I see no issue."
_Valençay, November 10, 1833._--M. de Talleyrand has just heard from
the Duc de Broglie and from King Leopold. The former says that the
King of the Netherlands is making overtures at Frankfort, that the
Germanic Confederation and the Duke of Nassau are on the point of
giving way, and that in less than a fortnight Dedel will receive
instructions to resume active participation in the Conference. The
Duke, and the King also, are most anxious that M. de Talleyrand should
come to Paris to settle everything, hear the details of the Conference
at Münchengraetz on the affairs of Spain, and then return to London.
King Leopold writes to say that Belgium will pay Holland nothing; this
quasi-manifesto being enveloped in a mass of honeyed compliments.
_Valençay, November 11, 1833._--The following is the general sense of
M. de Talleyrand's answer to the Duc de Broglie: "My dear Duke,--You
overrate the goodness of my health, but you will never overrate the
warmth of my friendship for you or of my devotion to the King. I
cannot give you a better proof of this than by dragging my eighty-two
years out of their idleness and retirement in midwinter and getting to
Paris by December 4, as I promise you I shall. As to going to London,
is it really necessary? I am very old, and another would now do as
well, perhaps better, than I.
"We shall discuss matters at Paris, and out of my 'long experience,'
which you are so good as to consult, I will tell you frankly what I
think of all you have to tell me of political affairs. That is all I
am good for nowadays. If by any chance you so far flatter my vanity as
to make me believe that I am still indispensable for a time in this
business, I shall, of course, feel it my duty to do what you ask. But
once it is over I shall at once return to my den to resume the torpor
which is alone appropriate to my present condition.
"In any case, no harm will be done by leaving things for a week or two
in the hands of M. de Bacourt, who, I am sure, is justifying more and
more, by his energy and sagacity, all the good that I have said to you
of him. Adieu!"
_Valençay, November 12, 1833._--People are beginning to be anxious
about the situation in Spain. The Northern provinces are all for Don
Carlos. Madrid, Barcelona, Cadiz, and almost all the South are for the
Queen, on condition that the revolution takes its course. This is what
is chiefly agitating the French Government.
The anticipation of the attitude of the Chambers is making the
Ministry rather nervous. It will present itself just as it is, but not
without fear, for there is a certain difficulty in facing a Chamber
which must wish to court popularity if it hopes to be re-elected. The
huge expenditure of Marshal Soult, the very slight reduction (in some
cases none at all) in other Departments, are difficulties which may
become serious embarrassments.
_Paris, December 9, 1833._--Our return to London is settled. When I
arrived here yesterday I found M. de Montrond on the steps, M. Raullin
on the stairs, and Pozzo in the cabinet. I am to dine with him
to-morrow. He has a careworn look, and fulminates against Lord
Palmerston, who is said to be out of favour everywhere. M. de
Talleyrand does not think that the Duc de Broglie lets himself be
carried away by Lord Granville as much as his Lordship would like,
and he has expressed himself in clear terms about this.
M. de Talleyrand does not believe in the possibility of war except
between England and Russia, and will make every effort in his power to
prevent it. He seems to me on the best possible terms with Pozzo, and
to stand extremely well with the King and Madame Adélaïde, who are
beginning to distrust Palmerston and Lord Granville and to consider
that Broglie is wanting in insight; and, moreover, that he treats them
without sufficient consideration and respect. He is certainly behaving
with great lack of frankness and confidence towards M. de Talleyrand,
but one's financial position must be revealed to those who are to
invest one's money.
Lady Jersey has been to the Tuileries; the Duc d'Orléans has been in
all things her humble servant. At the palace, indeed, where they are
rather badly off for society, everyone was charmed by the arrival of
the fair aristocrat from the other side of the Channel, which has been
quite an event.
The Faubourg Saint-Germain is more irreconcilable than ever. Napoleon
had places which he could bestow, estates which he might restore: he
could threaten confiscations. There is nothing of that sort nowadays;
and so they all sulk with an easy insolence which is quite
indescribable. The fact is that if one is not compelled to go there
the Court is too mixed to be attractive. I am sorry about it for the
sake of the Queen, whom I both love and honour.
It seems that Baron de Werther is much annoyed with Palmerston and the
Duc de Broglie. Certainly there is a great deal of ill-humour in the
air, but M. de Talleyrand still says that it will not find its outlet
in shot and shell.
_Paris, December 11, 1833._--Yesterday I dined, along with M. de
Talleyrand, at the Thiers'. There was no one but himself, his wife,
his father and mother-in-law; Mignet, who talked platitudes about
Spain, and Bertin de Veaux, who talked of nothing but the bull-fights
he saw at Saint Sebastian.
Madame Thiers, who is only sixteen, looks nineteen. She has a fine
colour, pretty hair, a good shape, large eyes which have as yet
nothing to express, a disagreeable mouth, an unpleasing smile, and a
too prominent forehead. She says nothing herself, hardly answers when
she is spoken to, and she seemed thoroughly bored with us all. She has
no presence, and no idea of how to behave in society, but no doubt she
may acquire all this. Perhaps she will take only too much trouble for
other people than her little husband, who is very much in love and
very jealous--ashamed of it too, I gather, from what he told me. The
looks his young wife bestows on him are very cold; she is not shy, but
inclined to be sulky, and not at all inclined to make herself
pleasant.
I used to think Madame Dosne had the remains of beauty, but I thought
on this occasion that she never could have been good looking. She has
an unpleasing laugh, which is ironical without being gay. Her
conversation is witty and animated, but her dress was pink and
girlish, and affectedly simple to a degree which quite astonished me.
_Paris, December 15, 1833._--Yesterday I dined with the King. M. de
Talleyrand was dining with the Prince Royal. During dinner the King
spoke of nothing but traditions and memories of the past and ancient
castles. I was quite at home. First we exhausted the topic of
Touraine: he promised stained glass and portraits of Louis XI. and
Louis XII. for Amboise. He will buy back the remains of Montrichard,
and will prevent the ruin of the Château de Langeais. If he does all
this my dinner will not have been in vain! He then told me about the
restorations he is having done at Fontainbleau, and ended by
explaining to me his great plan for Versailles, which is really great
and worthy of a great-grandson of Louis XIV. But will it come to pass?
The conversation then turned on the new work which he has had done at
the Tuileries themselves. He gave orders for the whole palace to be
lit up, and after dinner he took me all through it.
Everything is really fine, very fine; and if the staircase, which is
rich and elegant, were only a little broader, it would be quite
perfect. This promenade took us from the Pavillon de Flore to the
Pavillon de Marsan. Here the King asked me if I would like to pay a
visit to his son, and I said, of course, that I would follow the King
anywhere. We found the Duc d'Orléans playing whist with M. de
Talleyrand, whose friends the Prince had invited to meet him.
The Prince's apartments are too beautifully furnished for a man's;
that is the only criticism one can make, for they are full of lovely
things found in the Royal garde-meuble, where all the fine pieces of
the time of Louis XIV. were placed at the Revolution, and it did not
occur to anyone at the time of the Restoration to take them out. The
Duc d'Orléans has put a great many of them in his rooms. It is curious
how often I have been at the Tuileries without ever suspecting the
presence of the interesting things collected there. Thus, on this
occasion in the King's room, among other things with which I was
unfamiliar, I saw a portrait of Louis XIV. as a baby represented as a
sleeping Cupid, and another of Anne of Austria as Minerva. I also saw
some allegorical wood-carving of the time of Catherine de Medici, who
built the Tuileries.
The King is an admirable guide to his palaces. I wondered during all
our conversation how a man could know the traditions of his family so
well and be so proud of them, and yet----. However!
I leave the day after to-morrow for London.