I heard yesterday, while dining with the King, that one of the

unfortunate Infantas of Spain whom their mother so cruelly placed in a

convent, had escaped with a Polish refugee, but had been caught at

Brussels; a fine escapade for a princess! It seems impossible to

repress Spanish blood at the age of twenty. The King also said that

Espartero had been proclaimed sole regent and dictator in Spain.

_Berlin, May 20, 1841 (Ascension Day)._--Yesterday I went from Berlin

to Potsdam by the first train. The King had asked me to be present at

a great parade. It was a fine spectacle. The weather was propitious,

the troops splendid, and the music magnificent, but the day was

somewhat fatiguing.

The day before yesterday I dined with the Princess of Prussia and in

the evening I went to a rout given by Countess Nostitz, the sister of

Count Hatzfeldt. All that I have to do is to go about, to show good

temper, kindliness and gratitude for my many kind receptions; at the

same time, when I can return to my idle life I shall be delighted.

_Berlin, May 21, 1841._--There is a great monotony about life here;

dinners with princes, etc. Yesterday I dined with Princess Charles,

after spending an hour with the Princess of Prussia, whose

conversation is lofty and serious. In the evening I spent some time by

the arm-chair of the old Countess of Reede and with her daughter

Perponcher. I was then obliged to show myself at the Werthers, who are

at home on Thursdays.

_Berlin, May 22, 1841._--Yesterday evening I went to the Wolffs to

meet various learned men, artists and literary people. At Berlin the

upper-middle-class society provides the pleasantest opportunities for

conversation.

The present King has great ideas for adorning his capital, and is

giving a remarkable stimulus to Art.

Life proceeds much as usual. Yesterday I dined with Princess William

the aunt, and spent the first part of the evening with the Princess of

Prussia and the latter part of it with Madame de Perponcher, where a

distinguished artist, Hensel, showed us his sketch-book, which was

full of strange portraits. The heat was unusual.

Princess Frederick of Dusseldorf, who is not quite right in her head

at times, was dining with Princess William. She must have been rather

pretty, and there is nothing unusual about her.

Pauline writes from Paris that she is going to Geneva for change of

air and to try her strength, and that if she feels better, she will

travel through Bavaria and meet me at Vienna.

I am returning this morning to Potsdam, where I have promised to spend

the day, and shall come back to-morrow. How pleasant it would be to

find myself once more in my little manor house at Touraine.

_Berlin, May 24, 1841._--As the evening party at Potsdam was over at

ten o'clock, I was able to return here in the evening by the last

train, after spending the day with the Queen. She improves greatly

upon close acquaintance, as is usually the case with persons who are

simple and somewhat reserved. We had a pleasant drive in the evening,

and an interesting conversation at tea-time under the portico of the

Charlottenhof, when the King talked much upon the state of Art in

Germany.

_Berlin, May 25, 1841._--Yesterday I went to the manœuvres with the

Princess of Prussia, her young son and Princess Charles. The King's

staff was most brilliant, our position was excellent, the weather was

perfect, and the sight of the troops, of the spectators who had come

from the town in crowds, of the ladies' carriages, and in short of the

whole gathering, made the subject worthy of the brush of Horace

Vernet; nor did the business last long, an hour and not more. The

Princess of Prussia took me back to lunch with her and kept me talking

almost until dinner-time. Madame Perponcher came to fetch me to dine

near her mother's chair, as her gout still keeps her somewhat of a

prisoner. I then went to the Radziwills to the jubilee festival of the

Academy of Singing. The Academy is composed of four hundred and fifty

members, amateurs of every class: by their rules they are not allowed

to use any instrument but a piano and may perform only sacred music.

The institution thus resembles the Ancient Music at London, but the

performance here was infinitely better, and was marked by a unity, an

accuracy and a majesty truly remarkable. None but Germans could thus

sing the most complicated fugues without the help of an orchestra and

with such tremendous tone.

I then went to an evening reception given by the Countess Neale, where

Lord William Russell told me that his Ministry had suffered a heavy

defeat in Parliament, but he did not seem to think they would resign.

He told me that poor Mitford, whom I recently met unexpectedly as he

was leaving the diligence at Fulda to meet his wife at Wiesbaden,

found that she had deserted him with Francis Molyneux of all people.

She is not very young or very beautiful, and she has several children.

My son, Valençay, writes that the races at Chantilly were most

brilliant and fashionable. He stayed at the Château, and is loud in

his praises. He says that the Infanta who was caught and brought back,

is now staying with Madame Duchâtel, the wife of the Minister of the

Interior, as she positively refuses to return to her mother, whom she

fears would beat her. She persists in saying that she married the

Pole, but refuses to disclose the name of the priest who married them.

_Berlin, May 26, 1841._--The old King of the Low Countries, who is

here incognito as the Comte de Nassau, is in very bad health, and is

said to be attacked by senile gangrene. His wife,[26] who is very

kindly treated by the Prussian Royal Family, takes great care of the

King who cannot do without her for a moment. She never leaves his

side. People say that she is really very bored and disgusted by this

illustrious marriage which Holland will not recognise in spite of the

old King's fury. The refusal to give recognition in Holland is based

upon the fact that the marriage banns were not published, nor did any

one venture to publish them, as the most violent public demonstrations

were feared.

[26] The Comtesse d'Oultremont.

Yesterday morning I accompanied the Wolffs and Herr von Olfers, the

Director of the School of Fine Arts, to the studio of Wichmann, to

whom I had given an order to copy a charming model that I had seen of

a nymph drawing water. It will be finished in a year.

The Prince of Prussia paid me a long and interesting visit. He talked

a great deal about the state of the country and the difficulty of

government. Difficulties there certainly are, but there is also here a

solid basis on which to rest.

_Berlin, May 28, 1841._--Yesterday morning was spent with Herr von

Wolff discussing business. Our conversation was interrupted by the

Court High Marshal, who brought me a very touching present from the

King. It is a copy in iron of a statue which I had admired last year

at Charlottenhof; a young faun upon a pillar in the midst of a basin

pouring water out of an urn upon which he is crouched. The whole work

is six feet high and very pretty. The King told me that he would ask

me to have it placed upon one of the terraces of Rochecotte, which

shall certainly be done.

I dined with Princess Albert. Her father is better, and she is

starting with him shortly for Silesia. Her husband wearied me, and she

herself is like a colt broken loose. In fact the whole household was

not to my taste. Herr and Frau von Redern, who were also dining there,

took me to their box to hear Seidelmann in the part of the Jew.[27] He

is now the fashionable actor, but he compares unfavourably with my

recollections of Iffland.

[27] In Shakspere's _Merchant of Venice_.

_Berlin, May 30, 1841._--The Radziwills most kindly arranged a musical

matinée at their house in a pretty vaulted room opening on to their

splendid garden. Goethe's _Faust_ was performed which had been set to

music by the late Prince Radziwill, the father of the present

generation. Devrient, the first tragedian from the Berlin theatre,

declaimed certain passages to musical accompaniments, and a large body

from the Conservatoire gave the choruses. The general effect was

excellent and gave me real pleasure.[28]

[28] Prince Anton Radziwill had been sent to Göttingen to

conclude his studies, and while he was then staying in Germany in

1794, he made the acquaintance of Goethe, who was already working

at the first part of _Faust_. Prince Radziwill was profoundly

attracted by the beauty of this work, and as he was himself a

most enthusiastic musician he undertook to put certain scenes of

the great poet's creation to music, and completed the work of

composition by degrees. The Prince was on terms of personal

intimacy with Goethe, who slightly modified the garden scene

between Faust and Margaret at his request. The first performance

of _Faust_ with Prince Radziwill's music was given at Berlin in

1819, at the Palace Theatre of Monbijou, before the whole of the

Prussian court. The Berlin Academy of Music, to which the Prince

presented his work, has performed it almost annually since that

date.

_Berlin, May 31, 1841._--I propose to leave here to-morrow for Dresden

and to proceed thence to Vienna.

Yesterday I went to the High Mass of Pentecost which was very well

performed and sung in the Catholic church, but the church was so

crowded and the heat so suffocating that I thought I should be ill.

However, on leaving Mass I had to appear at the farewell audiences of

the Princess of Prussia and of Princess Charles, and then to dine with

an old friend. While we were at table I received an invitation to go

to tea at Schönhausen, the summer residence of the King, two leagues

from Berlin. I was fortunately able to reach Schönhausen in time, and

after tea I stayed on to supper which was served in the open air under

a verandah lighted by lamps. Apart from the Royal Family and the

officials on duty there were the Duke and Duchess of Leuchtenberg,

Herr von Arenberg, myself, Rauch, Thorwaldsen and the chief director

of the museum, Herr von Olfers. It was an agreeable and interesting

party. Thorwaldsen has a fine head resembling that of Cuvier, but he

wears his hair in a strange manner, long white locks falling over his

shoulders. I prefer the features of Rauch which are better

proportioned, and in my opinion nobler and simpler. The Duchess Marie

of Leuchtenberg is extremely like her father, the Emperor Nicholas,

though with a very different expression: her head is classical in

form, but too long for her body which is small; she is as white as a

lily, but her finical and fantastic manners did not charm me. The

Queen had mentioned me to her, and the King introduced me to the Duke

of Leuchtenberg, who is strikingly like his sister, the Duchess of

Braganza, though his general appearance is common and does not justify

the marriage he has made. At Schönhausen I paid my last farewells.

_Dresden, June 2, 1841._--The day before yesterday I left Berlin

overwhelmed and spoilt with kindness, but wearied by the dreadful

heat. The Baron von Werther whom I saw on my last day at Berlin, told

me he feared that M. Bresson had not been entirely happy during the

last years of his stay; that his speech had caused much displeasure

and inspired great distrust; that he was ill-informed if he thought

the contrary; and that all his reliable sources of information had

been closed since the death of the old King. The Princess of Prussia

and Madame Perponcher spoke to the same effect. I also learnt that

when the treaty of July 15 was made known here, M. Bresson committed

an inconceivable outburst, drove down the _Unter den Linden_ and

shouted war in the wildest manner. I am really sorry that he should

re-enter upon a position that he has spoilt.

_Dresden, June 3, 1841._--Yesterday evening I went to the theatre to

see the new auditorium which has a great reputation throughout

Germany. It is, in fact, of considerable size, pretty and well

decorated. The boxes are convenient, the seats comfortable and there

is an air of grandeur about the whole. The decorations are fresh, the

costumes brilliant and the orchestra good, but the singers so bad that

I could only stay for half an hour.

_Prague, June 5, 1841._--Prague is not without interest for me. I

there spent the year of mourning for my father with my mother and

sisters and afterwards revisited the town upon two occasions shortly

after the Congress of Vienna. I have been spending to-day there and

think I have driven round to every object of interest: the chief

churches, the tomb of Tycho Brahé and his observatory; all the

offerings in honour of St. John Nepomucenos, his relics, the old

castle, the Calvary from whence Prague is to be seen as a panorama;

Wallenstein's war horse, which has been stuffed, and the various

traces of the Hussite war and of the Thirty Years War; the bombs

thrown by Frederick II.; the chapel where Charles X. prayed twice a

day and which was restored by him, bears the arms of France and of

Navarre. Prague, like Nuremburg, is one of the oldest towns in

Germany: the latter may be more interesting to artists, but the former

is more attractive to the archaeologist, and I am one of the latter

class. Prague contains sixteen convents, every class of monk is to be

found there, and though upon a much larger scale it reminds me of

Friburg in Switzerland. Especially characteristic are the large

residences, almost all kept by the great Bohemian lords who own them

and who are generally deserting Prague in favour of Vienna. I was

curious enough to look in at the theatre of the Leopold Stadt to see a

local farce played by a Vienna company. The auditorium which was by no

means beautiful, was crowded and the laughter was loud and long; I

stayed only a short time as it was too hot and the Vienna lazzi are

not to my taste. I do not understand them.

_Vienna, June 8, 1841._--I had a most unpleasant journey from Prague

hither. The weather had broken: it was cold, stormy, and damp; I spent

the first night in my carriage and the second in a small inn,

eventually arriving here at three o'clock this afternoon. I am staying

in rooms which my sisters had engaged for me. I have already seen my

quondam brother-in-law, the Count of Schulenburg, whom I shall make my

major-domo, for which position he is exactly suited.

It is strange to be once more at Vienna.[29] The whole of my destiny

is contained in the name of this city, and here my life of devotion to

M. de Talleyrand began and that strange and unusual association was

formed which could only be broken by death, though broken is the wrong

word; I should have said interrupted, for I have constantly felt

during the past year that we shall meet elsewhere. At Vienna I entered

upon that troublesome and attractive life of publicity which rather

wearies than flatters me. I found much amusement here and many

occasions for tears: my life became complicated and I was involved in

the storms which have so long roared about me. Of the many who turned

my head and provided me with amusement and excitement, none remain.

Old and young, men and women, all have disappeared; indeed the whole

world has undergone two changes since that time. My poor sister with

whom I was to live, is also dead. Prince Metternich alone remains; he

has sent me very pleasant messages and I shall probably see him

to-morrow.

[29] The author had accompanied the Prince de Talleyrand to

Vienna for the Congress of 1815, and the Prince refers to the

incident in his Memoirs as follows: "I also thought that it was

necessary to destroy the hostile prejudice with which imperial

France had inspired the high and influential society of Vienna;

for this purpose the French Embassy must be made a social centre.

I therefore asked my niece, the Comtesse Edmond de Périgord, to

accompany me and do the honours of my house. Her readiness and

tact caused general satisfaction, and were highly useful to me."

(Vol. II. p. 208.)

I doubt if I shall sleep to-night; I am greatly disturbed by the

ghosts which haunt these scenes and which all speak with one voice of

the vanity of the things of this world.

_Vienna, June 10, 1841._--The choice of M. de Flahaut as French

ambassador here, which recent news from Paris represents as

increasingly possible, has aroused general dissatisfaction. Madame de

Flahaut wrote to Lord Beauvale, the English ambassador, to try and

disarm this opposition and said that people need not be afraid of her

husband's appointment as she would not be able to follow him for a

long time. This is certainly an unusual method of seeking popularity.

I went back to my house yesterday at two o'clock in the afternoon to

await Prince Metternich who had sent word to say that he would come at

that time. He kept his appointment and I did not find him greatly

changed. It is a real pleasure to see him again and to find him in

possession of all his freshness of mind, his power of judgment, his

wide knowledge of men and affairs and his genial kindness to myself

which has never varied. He stayed for two hours upon which I look back

with great pleasure. As a rule he never pays personal visits. His wife

sent to say that she would have come if she had not been afraid of

wearying me, as she was extremely anxious to make my acquaintance. No

one could have been kinder; I am dining with them to-day in their

suburban villa where they are spending the spring.

I hear that Schlegel, the platonic admirer of Madame de Staël, is at

Berlin to help in the publication of the works of Frederick the Great.

M. Thiers was expected there and I am glad to have missed him. It has

been decided to receive him as a member of the Academy and as a

historian, but not as a politician and certainly not as a statesman.

Meanwhile M. Guizot seems to be taking walks with the Princess de

Lieven at nine o'clock in the morning in the gardens of the Tuileries,

which is their mode of observing nature.

I found that Marshal Marmont had called when I came home yesterday

evening. I had seen him from a distance at the opera.

_Vienna, June 11, 1841._--Yesterday I dined with Prince Metternich. He

has a pretty house like a small edition of Neuilly, and has collected

many artistic objects which are tastefully interspersed with fine

flowers and many other things without any appearance of overcrowding.

There were at dinner, apart from the master and mistress of the house,

only the unmarried daughter of his first marriage, my sisters, the

Louis Saint-Aulaire, husband and wife, and the two Herren von Hügel,

who are constant visitors at the house. Princess Metternich is very

pretty, quite natural and attractive, an original character; and as

she was kind enough to be anxious to please me, she naturally

succeeded without difficulty. After dinner I called upon some members

of the Hohenzollern family who are here, and finally went to tea with

an old friend of my sisters'. There were a dozen people present who

were all unknown to me apart from Prince Windisch-Graetz, a Count

O'Donnel, a survivor of the Hotel de Ligne, and Marshal Marmont, who

did not seem to have changed.

_Vienna, June 12, 1841._--Yesterday morning I went with my sisters to

call upon their great friend Princess Amelia of Sweden, at whose house

I met her sister, the Grand Duchess of Oldenberg; she is going to

Munich with her husband to see the Queen of Greece, who has come there

in the course of a tour. I then called upon a Polish lady whom I had

known long ago at the house of Princess Tyszkiewicz at Paris, whose

niece she was. She was then called Madame Sobánska and enjoyed a

certain reputation. I found her considerably changed; she is a person

of wit and some beauty, but is rather spiteful and a gossip--a

character to be feared. I had hardly returned from these calls when

Marshal Marmont came in. He talked a great deal of his anxiety to

return to France, but I think pecuniary rather than political reasons

are the hindrance. He spends his life here at the French Embassy.

_Vienna, June 14, 1841._--Yesterday I went to hear mass at the Church

of the Capuchins, with the intention of afterwards seeing Father

Francis, who was with my sister in her last moments. I was anxious to

learn from him some details on the subject of religion which my other

sisters could not give me. I found him a pleasant and clever man, who

seemed to conceal beneath his mendicant friar's dress a considerable

knowledge of the world and a considerable power of making his way in

it. He is said to be the director here of all whose consciences are

divided between God and the world, a difficult task in which success

is not easy.

_Vienna, June 15, 1841._--Louis de Sainte-Aulaire came to see me

yesterday morning. He told me that the illness of Marshal Soult to

which the newspapers refer, is not so much connected with the law

concerning recruiting, against which the Duc d'Orléans publicly voted,

as due to an outbreak of paternal rage. He regards the nomination of

M. de Flahaut to Vienna as a slight upon his son; he threatened to

resign, and it is not yet known whether M. de Flahaut will have the

honour of dislocating the Cabinet or whether he will be obliged to

abandon Vienna. M. Bresson has started from Paris for Berlin in a very

bad temper.

_Vienna, June 16, 1841._--Yesterday I had a letter from Madame de

Lieven from Paris; she writes as follows: "Marshal Soult has caused a

small municipal crisis. The Duc d'Orléans voted against him upon the

recruiting law: the Marshal's views were rejected and he was extremely

angry; the result being a fit of palpitations with a possibility of an

apoplectic stroke; hence the threat to resign. It is very doubtful

whether he can be appeased, and his wife is most anxious about his

health. It is a great perplexity, as the two positions which he

occupied will have to be filled. M. Guizot has resolved not to become

President of the Council; however, there is some hope that the

Marshal will remain in office. In England there is a far more serious

crisis. Parliament will be probably be dissolved to-morrow, but the

electoral outlook is doubtful. Possibly a House of Commons may be

returned similar to the House now to be dissolved, in which case it

will be impossible for any one to govern the country. Meanwhile much

agitation prevails. The Eastern Question is by no means settled; on

the contrary, Turkey grows daily more disturbed.

"Lady Jersey is anxious for her daughter to marry Nicholas Esterhazy.

The young people are extremely fond of one another. Paul Esterhazy is

trying to get out of the matter which is difficult.

"The Prince de Joinville was most warmly received at the Hague. The

King and Queen overwhelmed him with marks of violence. What impression

will this make at St. Petersburg?

"M. de Flahaut has been nominated as Ambassador to Vienna. The

proposal has been accepted but with no great warmth. In any case there

can be no further changes or nominations, for the London post remains

vacant, as Lord Palmerston will not conclude the eastern problem, and

nothing will be done until Sainte Aulaire has gone to London."

_Vienna, June 17, 1841._--Charles de Talleyrand came yesterday to tell

me the latest news from Paris. Marshal Soult's quarrel has been

settled: he will remain in office, and his son-in-law will go to Rome

as ambassador; the Marshal is to receive 600,000 francs in payment of

some loan which he professes to have made to the State. The

Turko-Egyptian business is settled: the act will be ratified and sent

to Alexandria, and the five Courts will meet at London if they have

not already come to an agreement.

_Vienna, June 18, 1841._--Yesterday evening I went to hear a German

tragedy and then to tea with Prince Metternich. At the end of the

evening the Prince began to talk over a round table, and was most kind

and interesting. Except on Sundays when they are at home he sees very

little society, and his house in my opinion is the pleasanter in

consequence. Marshal Marmont is there every day.

_Vienna, June 19, 1841._--Yesterday I went with my sisters to visit

the Imperial Picture Gallery. I am surprised that it is not better

known, for it contains some most beautiful works. It lies outside the

town in a palace called the Belvedere, which was built by Prince

Eugène of Savoy. The interior is very handsome.

I dined at the house of Princess Paul Esterhazy and with Prince and

Princess Metternich and their daughter, Prince Wenzel, Lichtenstein,

Schulenburg, Lord Rokeby, Count Haugwitz and Baron von Hügel. Princess

Esterhazy was very amusing with her fear of Lady Jersey as

mother-in-law. The marriage, however, has not been definitely settled.

_Vienna, June 21, 1841._--I am delighted to hear that you like

Fenelon's Letters.[30] They explain everything in a form which

illustrates the faithful and courageous devotion paid to this kindly

and holy Archbishop by the courtiers of the great King. He is able to

give a charm and a grandeur to religion, to make it at once simple and

attractive by its loftiness. If to read the story with his intercourse

with his friends does not produce conversion, at any rate no one can

fail to derive from it a love of goodness, of beauty, and a desire to

lead a better life as a prelude to a good death.

[30] Extract from a letter.

The _History of Port Royal_ by Sainte-Beuve is certainly interesting.

It is a great subject, but treated in a style which is neither

sufficiently serious nor simple, and cannot worthily represent the

austere and imposing figures of Jansenism.

_Vienna, June 25, 1841._--I propose to start next Wednesday and from

Prague to take the road which will bring me back to my nieces in

Saxony; from thence I shall go by Lusatia to upper Silesia to see my

sister Hohenzollern who will be there at that time, and shall

afterwards go to my own property at Wartenberg where I hope to be on

July 26.

_Vienna, June 26, 1841._--Yesterday I dined with Prince Metternich;

only the family were present. I went on to the theatre and afterwards

to the _Volksgarten_, a kind of Tivoli, where Strauss plays his

waltzes, where Styrians sing and all the good or bad society of Vienna

meets during this season. My sisters who were with me, then took me to

their house where we had tea.

Lord Palmerston rouses much discontent as he continually raises some

new obstacle when the Egyptian question is at the point of conclusion.

His conduct is strangely tactless. All kinds of conjectures are in the

air and much exasperation was displayed where I was dining yesterday.

_Vienna, June 28, 1841._--The weather here yesterday was most

remarkable: after midday a violent wind arose which raised clouds of

dust, completely shrouding the town and suburbs; the burning wind was

a real sirocco which withered and exhausted every one.

I went to mass at the Capuchin church to say goodbye to Father Francis

who gave me his blessing. I then returned home to wait for Marshal

Marmont who had asked permission to read me forty pages from the

manuscript of his memoirs which he has devoted to justifying his

conduct during July 1830. I was unable to refuse. I learnt nothing

particularly fresh, as I knew all the remarkable facts which clearly

prove that the imbecility of the Government was incomparable and that

the Marshal was very unfortunate in being called to conduct a business

both ill-devised and ill-prepared; so he needed no justification in my

eyes, but I was interested to hear full details of the scene with the

Dauphin, of which I knew nothing and the words and gestures of which

pass the powers of imagination.[31] The reading was interrupted by

various reflections and was further prolonged for the reason that the

Marshal reads slowly and continually stammers and hums and haws. His

delivery is extremely laboured.

[31] This lamentable scene, the sad event which marked the last

evening which Charles X. and the Dauphin spent at Saint-Cloud, is

related at length in the memoirs of the Duc de Raguse, to which

reference is here made (Vol. VIII. Book XXIV.), and is partly

reproduced in a book by M. Imbert de Saint-Amand, entitled The

_Duchesse de Berry and the Revolution of 1830_, which appeared in

1880.

I then went with my brother-in-law, Schulenberg, to dine with the

Countess Nandine Karolyi at Hitzinger, a village near Schönbrunn. I

was by no means anxious to go but as she had been so kind as to ask

me, I could not refuse. She lives in one half of a charming cottage

which belongs to Charles von Hügel, the traveller whose infatuation

for Princess Metternich drove him to spend seven years in the East. On

his return he built this house and has filled it with curiosities from

India. He lives in one half of the house and Nandine in the other. It

is prettily situated, surrounded with flowers and looks quite English.

I was by no means delighted with the dinner. The mistress of the house

is eccentric, an exaggeration of the Vienna type, and the gentlemen

about her corresponded. I went away as soon as possible and spent an

hour in farewell talk with Princess Louise of Schönburg.

_Vienna, June 29, 1841._--Yesterday at night-fall I went with my

sisters, Schulenberg and Count Haugwitz to the Volksgarten where the

whole of Vienna does its best to enjoy the dew amid clouds of tobacco

smoke. Fireworks and Strauss were the amusements provided. One

positive refreshment was the ices, of which an enormous quantity

seemed to be consumed. The population of Vienna are quiet,

well-dressed, entirely respectable and very mixed, for in these

amusements the aristocracy take part. There was no sign of a

policeman, nor were any needed.

_Vienna, June 30, 1841._--I am leaving Vienna this evening. The heat

continues to be extreme and will make my journey very unpleasant. I

shall not send off this letter until I reach Dresden; correspondence

is more certain outside the Austrian states. I do not mind people

reading my expressions of affections, but my impressions and opinions

are another matter. I trust therefore that I have been prudent in this

respect during my stay here.

_Tabor, July 1, 1841._--I left Vienna yesterday at seven o'clock in

the evening. In the afternoon I had a visit from Prince Metternich. He

was kind and confidential, and the idea that he has deteriorated is

quite wrong. Perhaps he expresses himself more slowly and vaguely

than he used to do, but his ideas are in no way confused, his opinions

are firm and decided, he remains moderate and gentle in temper, and in

short is entirely himself. He strongly advised me to return by way of

Johannisberg, whither he will go from Königswart in the month of

August and stay until September. His wife urged me to do the same and

showed me the utmost kindness. Her beauty strongly appeals to me,

though it is a style often spoilt by harshness of voice, common

manners or vulgar language. She is generally disliked at Vienna to my

astonishment, for I think she is good-hearted though unpolished.

Several people kindly came to say good-bye at the last moment. My

sisters, with Schulenburg and Count Maurice Esterhazy, who is the

smallest and liveliest of the family, accompanied me two leagues

beyond Vienna, where my travelling carriage was waiting for me. Count

Esterhazy is the same who was at Paris; he was afterwards attached to

the Austrian embassy at Berlin, where I last saw him. This post he

left a few days before I came to Vienna, as he is going to Italy,

where his mother is now lying ill. He is a close friend of my

sisters', somewhat malicious like all very small men, but a pleasant

talker and far more civilised and in better taste than people

generally are at Vienna, especially the men, who are usually very

ignorant. On the whole I prefer Berlin to Vienna society. At Vienna

people are richer and more high and mighty and their naturalness is

affected: at Berlin I admit there is more affectation, but there is

much more culture and intellectualism. Life at Vienna is extremely

free and easy: people do anything they please without being regarded

as eccentric, but though no one is surprised at his neighbour's doings

slander is as commonly current as elsewhere, and I am ready to assert

that a false good nature of a very dangerous kind is prevalent. At

Berlin life is more formal and more attention is paid to a certain

decorum: the consequence is some stiffness, but words are more

carefully weighed, and as there is less reason for backbiting there is

more real kindliness. Personally I have nothing but praise for the

hospitality of either town and remain entirely grateful to them both.

I was especially struck at Vienna by the manner in which men and women

commonly address one another by their baptismal names; however slight

acquaintanceship is, provided people belong to the same clique, family

names disappear, and to use them is thought a mark of bad taste. Women

are constantly kissing one another and invariably upon the lips, which

I think horrible. Men continually kiss ladies' hands, and at first

sight society seems to be composed of brothers and sisters. Perhaps

twenty people in speaking to me or in reference to me would say

"Dorothea;" those less familiar would say "Duchess Dorothea;" the most

formal would use the term "dear Duchess," but no one would say

"Madame" or "Madame la Duchesse." I am astonished that anything

remains of my hands; and my cheeks, which I try to substitute for my

lips, have suffered a perfect martyrdom. The coquetry of the women at

Vienna is obvious, nor is any attempt made to disguise it, though the

churches are full and the confessionals besieged; but there is no

appearance of real devotion, and the sincere and active faith of the

Royal Family has no influence upon society, which displays its

independence by habitual opposition to the Court.

_Dresden, July 3, 1841._--I have now returned to my starting point of

a month ago. I came here from Tabor without stopping, except for

dinner at Prague and for lunch this morning at Teplitz. I am never

wearied by the country between Teplitz and Dresden. It is Saxony in

all its beauty, rich and smiling and pleasantly united to the strength

and wildness of Bohemia. It is the only picturesque part of the

journey between Vienna and Dresden apart from Prague and its

neighbourhood.

At the gates of Teplitz I saw a procession of pilgrims descending from

a chapel upon a hill with rosaries in their hands, singing psalms; it

was a touching sight and I should like to have gone up to worship in

my turn but the approach of a storm obliged me to continue my journey

without stopping.

I am reading the _History of the Life, the Writings and the_

_Doctrine of Luther_ by M. Audin. It is the most learned, impartial,

interesting and Catholic study of the subject that I have come across.

As I left Vienna I finished the _Life of the Saint Dominic_ by the

Abbé Lacordaire, which is written with a view to effect and pleased me

only moderately.

I hear in the inn that M. Thiers has been expected for the last three

days. I hope he will not arrive until after my departure to-morrow. I

propose to reach Königsbruck this evening and to stay a few days with

my nieces.

_Königsbruck, July 5, 1841._--I reached here yesterday at five

o'clock. At Dresden I had a call from Duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar who

was staying in the same hotel as myself. He was coming from Berlin

where he had been spending a fortnight with his niece, the Princess of

Prussia.

In the same hotel I also met Countess Strogonoff, formerly Countess

Ega, whom I had seen last year at Baden and who then pleased me

greatly. She told me that as soon as I had left Baden, Madame de

Nesselrode spent every evening until she started for Paris at the

public gaming-table, playing Benacet, opposite the old Elector of

Hesse, and that she lost or won during the evening with the same

imperturbable calmness the twenty louis which she had made her limit.

What a strange person!

At Dresden during mass I saw the widow of Prince Maximilian of Saxony,

who had returned from Rome where she married her chamberlain, a

certain Count Rossi, a cousin of the husband of Fraulein Sontag. She

is obliged to return to Dresden from time to time under the terms of

her marriage settlement. Her husband accompanies her and continues to

act as chamberlain. She seems to me to be neither young nor pretty,

well made nor fashionable; he is a tall man with an imperial beard and

the air peculiar to the husband of a princess.

I also found here the Count of Hohenthal, his wife and Fanny, my two

nieces, who received me most affectionately and were full of their

travels in Italy. The weather is beautiful and the peace and silence

of the country are delightful. I have also found letters from Paris.

M. Molé writes four pages which seem to contain no news except that

Madame de Lieven reigns and governs at Paris, to say the least of her.

The Duchesse d'Albuféra tells me that the Princesse de Lieven is

giving little musical evenings to bring out her niece, Countess

Annette Apponyi. The princesse is resuming all the tastes of her youth

and happiness. It will be fortunate if the powers of M. Guizot would

also revive the destinies of France and make them flourish.

The Duchesse de Montmorency writes to say that the Vicomtesse de

Chateaubriand has gone to take up her duties with the Duchesse de

Berry. Would any one have suspected that she was a court lady? She has

sought this distinction long ago. She took with her the nurse of the

Duc de Bordeaux, the one who was only able to nurse him for three

days. It is a strange journey and I do not understand the meaning of

it.

The Duc de Noailles writes to say that in view of Eastern events

brought about by the successive revolt of the provinces, a movement at

Paris is being prepared similar to that which took place to meet the

case of Greece some years ago. A committee is being formed for the

relief, that is to say, for the revolt of the Christian populations in

the East. This committee is composed of men from the Left and the

Centre; the Legitimists have been asked to join and have been offered

the presidency which would be given to the Duc de Noailles himself.

The question has been complicated by the Royalist party which also

wished to act in the same direction but tactlessly began upon too

small a scale.

My son, M. de Dino, informs me that a recent decree issued by the

Archbishop of Paris, orders that there are to be no doors in the

middle of the confessionals. This is said to be thought very

ridiculous. It is a somewhat humiliating precaution for the clergy and

is also quite superfluous, for the sides of the confessional boxes are

shut in so that the penitents and the confessors are always separated

and when the middle is closed the confessor can listen to the

penitents without distraction. Mgr. Affre can devise nothing that is

not ridiculous.

_Königsbruck, July 6, 1841._--I am grieved to hear the news which has

just reached me of the death of the Queen of Hanover;[32] another

figure of my London life thus disappears.

[32] The Queen of Hanover was the Duchess of Cumberland, by birth

a Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She died on June 29, after

suffering for three months from a form of consumption.

The Duchesse d'Albuféra writes that the Princesse de Lieven is leading

quite a pastoral life in her little house at Beauséjour, where she

spends the day. She has a little garden which she waters with little

watering-pots which M. Guizot was seen to bring to her door in the Rue

Saint-Florentin. He goes to dinner at Beauséjour every day. At the

funeral of M. Garnier-Pagès, the radical deputy, the crowd was so

great that the procession extended from the Bastille to the door of

Saint-Denis. The speeches delivered over the tomb were all full of

revolutionary and religious maxims in the style of _The Words of a

Believer_ by M. de Lamennais. The editor of the _Peuple_ wrote, "We

offer you our regrets, but these are not enough, we offer you also our

promises!" Such is my delightful news from Paris.

_Hohlstein, July 11, 1841._--I left my nieces the day before yesterday

after dinner and arrived here yesterday morning.[33] I crossed the

whole of Lusatia which is a fine province. The weather had cleared up

but as soon as I arrived here the rain began furiously; it has rained

all night and is now falling heavily, to the detriment of the fine

view which I ought to have from my bedroom windows which look upon the

Silesian mountains.

[33] Hohlstein was the estate of the Princess of Hohenzollern

Hechingen, by birth a Princess of Courlande.

_Hohlstein, July 13, 1841._--Yesterday I took advantage of several

intermissions in the bad weather to visit the park, the kitchen garden

and the surroundings. It is all pretty and well kept and sometimes

picturesque. I have a letter from Madame d'Albuféra from which I

extract the following: "Madame de Flahaut is starting to-morrow with

her daughters for Ems. She is deeply grieved concerning the talk

about her husband. Yesterday she was in tears at Beauséjour while

visiting Princesse de Lieven. It does not seem to be entirely settled

whether they will go to Vienna or not. There is a general idea that M.

Bresson will be appointed to Vienna and that the Marquis of Dalmatia

will take his place at Berlin. Turin and Madrid will then remain

vacant. Madame de Flahaut told me that if either of them were offered

to her husband, she would be inclined to refuse but that the decision

would lie with him. I know that his friends would advise him to

accept. He is staying at Paris to see the end of the business and

hides his agitation better than his wife; but he is plainly ill at

ease for several reasons. Naples is out of the question, as it is said

that the King will not have them there.

"Events in England increase the depression of Madame de Flahaut. The

triumph of the Tories appears certain and the overthrow of the Whigs

inevitable. The Granvilles are at La Jonchère[34] awaiting the result.

Lord Granville cannot move and can only speak with difficulty, but his

mental powers are unimpaired."

[34] La Jonchère was the property of M. Thiers at La Celle

Saint-Cloud.

_Hohlstein, July 21, 1841._--The newspapers give official news of the

date when the plenipotentiaries of the five Courts signed the joint

protocol referring to the East.[35] I imagine that this will enable

the final rearrangement of the French diplomatic body to be made.

[35] This protocol, which concluded the Egyptian question, was

signed on July 13, 1841, by England, Austria, Prussia, Russia,

and Turkey. The Straits Convention, which was signed at the same

time, added the signature of the French plenipotentiary to the

rest.

I have a long letter from M. de Chalais which speaks only of his

private life and gives me no news except that the Princesse de Lieven

has written a long letter to the Duc de Noailles asking that she might

be allowed to appoint him her executor in her will, as she says that

she has an intuition that she will die at Paris. Meanwhile she seems

to be excellently well.

M. Royer-Collard writes as follows in reference to the speech before

the Academy of M. de Sainte-Aulaire: "I must say a word concerning the

reception of Sainte-Aulaire; the newspapers flatter him; the audience

was very brilliant but the speech of the new member colourless and

cold. M. Roger's speech was more successful than it deserved to be; so

much the worse for the public." M. Royer-Collard also told me that

after paying a visit to Versailles with his daughter, he had another

attack of the fever which nearly carried him off a few years ago at

Châteauvieux. It is obvious that his system then received a shock from

which it will never recover.

_Günthersdorf, July 27, 1841._--I left Hohlstein the day before

yesterday in the morning and reached Sagan at two o'clock. After

dinner I went to the castle to select certain family portraits of

which I wish copies to be made for Rochecotte. I then went to the

church to decide the place and the form of the little monument which

is now to be erected in memory of my father. It is time that this was

done, as he has now been buried in the church for forty years, and

apart from tradition no one knows the place of his burial. Yesterday I

went at an early hour to the little church which is picturesquely

situated at the end of the park of Sagan, in the vault of which the

remains of my late sister have been laid. Mass was said there at my

request for the repose of her soul. The church was filled with

beautiful flowers and rare plants brought by the castle gardener; a

considerable number of people were also present. I then set out for

Deutsch-Wartenberg which belongs to me and came on here in the evening

with Herr von Wolff who is staying for two or three days, to meet Herr

von Gersdorf whom I expect. They have to settle between them the legal

questions which have arisen between my sons and my sister

Hohenzollern, concerning the allodial claims of the latter to the

greater part of Sagan.

I found that some improvements had been made here; the garden is well

kept and everything perfectly neat.

I have several letters. Madame de Lieven writing under date July 15

tells me that Queen Victoria is paying a round of visits to the Whig

Ministers, a proceeding which is thought very inadvisable in the

present situation and that no one would be astonished if she began a

_coup d'état_ rather than endure a Tory Ministry. It is also possible

that to avoid Sir Robert Peel she may summon Lord Liverpool, a measure

not likely to meet with success. It is said that the eldest son of

Lady Jersey is to marry the daughter of Sir Robert Peel; that Lady

Palmerston is quite revolutionary in her sentiments and more furious

than any one because she is obliged to leave the Ministry. All these

rumours are extremely vague.

The Duchesse de Montmorency tells me of the marriage of Mlle.

Vandermarck, daughter of the stockbroker, with the Comte de Panis,

owner of the fine château of Borelli near Marseilles.

_Günthersdorf, July 31, 1841._--A letter from M. Bresson from Berlin

tells me that he is expecting General de Rumigny to stay from the 15th

to the 20th of August, as the King of Prussia has invited him to the

manœuvres in Silesia and at Berlin. He tells me that M. and Madame

Thiers are to arrive at Berlin at the same time. The Duc de Noailles

writes that Lady Clanricarde will spend the next winter at Paris and

that Lord Cowley's nomination in place of Lord Granville is expected.

He adds that the little Rachel has just arrived at Paris; that only

Marshal Soult's triumph in England could be compared to hers; that he

had letters from her in London in which she showed the utmost delight

over her success, though remarkable to relate, her head was not turned

by it. I think that the Duc's head would be less steady under such

circumstances.

_Günthersdorf, August 1, 1841._--Madame de Perponcher tells me that

the King of Hanover is quite overwhelmed by the death of his wife,

over whom he seems to have watched most admirably. For a long time he

was under a delusion concerning the state of her health and when the

doctors told him that there was no hope, he was completely crushed.

However, as soon as he recovered his spirits he went to the Queen and

spoke of her religious duties as well as a Catholic could have done.

The Queen heard the terrible news with the utmost firmness and

received the communion with the King, her daughter, the Duchess of

Anhalt and poor Prince George. The despair of the latter was

heartrending; as he could not see his mother, he could not be

persuaded that she was dead and insisted that he should be allowed to

touch her body. As soon as the father put the mother's cold hand in

that of her son, the poor blind man was overcome with a kind of

madness. He has since been sent to the seaside. These details are

cruel and really most heartrending.

_Günthersdorf, August 6, 1841._--My sisters have been here since the

first of the month and seem to enjoy themselves in spite of the

terrible weather.

Yesterday I had a letter from M. Bresson who says: "There is no

positive news from Paris: M. de Flahaut has refused Turin and declines

to commit himself concerning the offer of Madrid. He says that he

maintains the fact that Vienna was offered to him, which M. Guizot

will not admit. Whether it was offered or not, he is doing his utmost

to secure it and Madame de Flahaut is watching from Ems for the

arrival of Prince and Princess Metternich at the Johannisberg. I

remain in an attitude of expectation and am resolved only to leave

Berlin for Vienna or London.

"Herr von Werther has resigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His

place will be taken by Count Maltzan, but who will replace him at

Vienna is not yet known. The King has given Werther the Order of the

Black Eagle and has made the title of baron hereditary in his family;

hitherto it had been only a personal title. Arnim of Paris has been

made a count.

"The Toulouse disturbance is causing me more anxiety;[36] no other

town in France has followed this bad example. The July festival has

been celebrated in an orderly manner. The whole of the loan will not

be required; the financial deficiencies are being repaired and we

shall find that France has recovered her strength and reorganised her

military power. My ardent desire is that all this may make for peace."

[36] On July 9 and 10 the inhabitants of Toulouse were disturbed

by the question of the census. The agitation seemed to have died

away when a serious rising broke out upon the 12th. Large bodies

of people marched about the streets, and barricades were raised,

and the 13th was a very threatening day. The town was saved by

the wisdom of the temporary mayor, M. Arzac, who was able, by

means of tact, to restore tranquillity.

Such is the prose, or if you prefer it, the poetry of M. Bresson.

_Günthersdorf, August 7, 1841._--I have a letter from M. Molé who

complains of his health and refers to the disturbance at Toulouse and

the general condition of France with as much gloominess as M. Bresson

showed satisfaction in the letter which I quoted yesterday.

The Duchesse de Montmorency writes saying that Mgr. Affre prohibited

M. Genoude from preaching. The latter then went to learn the reason

for this prohibition: the Bishop replied that it was due to his

anti-governmental opinions; M. Genoude angrily replied that if the

Bishop persisted in maintaining his prohibition, he would print the

whole of Mgr. Affre's writings of a few years ago, in opposition to

the July monarchy, the original signed documents being in his

possession. The Archbishop thereupon relented and M. Genoude will

preach. This is an attitude truly worthy of a bishop! The incident

naturally induces me to draw comparisons with the past and strengthens

my conviction that Mgr. de Quélen was the last real Archbishop of

Paris. The present age seems unable to produce any great or noble

lives. There is a dead level of hopeless mediocrity.

_Günthersdorf, August 16, 1841._--As I write this date I cannot but

remember with deep regret an anniversary which will always be dear and

sacred to me; this is the day of Saint Hyacinthe, the patron saint of

the late Mgr. de Quélan. I am certain that mass is being said for him

at the Sacré Cœur. For many years a shrub was taken to him from me on

this day. Two years ago, when he was still ill at Conflans, he called

my servant into his room, who then brought him an orange tree and

asked Madame de Gramont to write a note saying that of all the flowers

he had received mine had given him the greatest pleasure. Now I can

do no more than pray to him in heaven. I often think that he is united

with Him to whom he has so often prayed himself, and that both

intercede before God on my behalf, to gain me the blessing of a good

death, and especially a Christian life, for rarely does the one come

to pass without the other; and if God sometimes shows His mercy at a

late hour, we have no reason to be idle or to omit any effort to

deserve it. These true and heartfelt words I often repeat to myself,

but do not derive a full measure of comfort from them. The worldly

spirit, the old enemy, is difficult to eradicate.

At Wartenberg I inspected the Protestant school. Last year I was

present at the examination of the Catholic children, and I can say,

without prejudice, that the latter school is infinitely superior to

the former.

The post brought me a letter from the Court Marshal, giving me an

official announcement from their Majesties of their proposal to pass

here on the 31st of this month.

_Günthersdorf, August 18, 1841._--I have a letter from M. Bresson. He

had announced his visit to me long ago, and now asks me to transfer it

to the 31st of this month, so that he may stay here on that day to see

the King and leave on the 1st. He tells me that when the King learnt

of his proposal to come here, he told him at his last audience that he

hoped he might meet him at my house; he also tells me that the

diplomatic nominations will not be made until the Tory Ministry comes

into office, which the Queen of England is unable to avoid.

He adds that M. and Madame Thiers are at Berlin and are arousing keen

curiosity; crowds gather as they pass. M. Thiers seems anxious not to

give his journey any political meaning and is showing great

circumspection. He has asked to see the King. M. Bresson was awaiting

at the time when he wrote to me an answer to this request from Sans

Souci.

_Günthersdorf, August 20, 1841._--Yesterday I took a long drive

through my estates on the other side of the Oder. The weather was very

fine and this morning is also quite clear. I trust it may be as fine

for the King's visit.

_Günthersdorf, August 21, 1841._--In Germany birthdays are even more

important festivals than baptismal days,[37] so since yesterday,

compliments and bouquets have been coming in. All the Catholic priests

came yesterday to offer their good wishes and have promised to say

mass for me this morning. Yesterday evening all the masters of the

Catholic schools, of which there are twelve upon my estates, came

together, though some of them live twelve leagues away, to sing to me

in detachments with the best pupils of their schools; simple and

touching verses very well written and thought out, with no

instrumental accompaniment; it was very pretty and kind; any mark of

affection is always deeply felt by me and I was therefore greatly

touched.

[37] The Duchesse de Talleyrand was born on August 21, 1793.

_Günthersdorf, August 22, 1841._--Yesterday I had a numerous company

to dinner and took them to the shooting competition arranged in the

pheasant preserves. All the gamekeepers, farmers and servants were

there. There was music in the copses, flowers everywhere and a

beautiful sunny day. I offered three prizes, a sporting rifle, a

hunting knife, and a game bag. The two Prefects in whose department I

have property, came in after dinner and took tea. It was so fine that

in spite of nightfall, the company did not separate until my bedtime.

_Günthersdorf, August 25, 1841._--Yesterday I had a letter from the

Princesse de Lieven, the chief news of which is as follows: "It is

said that the society of Vienna will receive M. Bresson very coldly.

Prince Metternich has hinted as much here. He has no great liking for

any of the competitors for this post, and less liking for Bresson than

for the others. Apponyi says so without constraint. I think that Lord

Cowley will take Lord Granville's place. Lady Palmerston is greatly

distressed at losing Downing Street:[38] Lord Palmerston puts a better

face upon the matter; his address to the electors of Tiverton marks

the end of his career in French opinion. Much ill feeling on the

matter remains here and we part with him upon distinctly bad terms."

[38] Where the Foreign Office is situated.

I propose to leave Silesia in a week from to-day and should like to

see my dear Touraine again on October 1. The local newspapers contain

no news except that the King received M. Thiers, not at Sans Souci,

but at Berlin in a private audience which lasted twenty minutes. M.

Thiers wore his academician's dress and the orders of Belgium and

Spain. Throughout his journey he has been the object of curiosity

which was rather keen than kindly, and if he understood German he

would have heard more than one caustic remark.

I have made arrangements with my gardener and an architect for the

decorations for the day when the King is to stay here. The decorations

will consist of numerous garlands, pyramids, festoons and arches of

dahlias of every colour which will decorate the King's path from the

avenue to the house. There is nothing magnificent or imposing about

this place: there is no view, but it is fresh and green; the trees are

beautiful and the garden well kept. The house is large but not

striking, without architectural beauty and surmounted by a heavy ugly

roof, so that only by means of flowers can any daintiness be given to

the whole. The hall is to be turned into an orangery and, in short,

the whole will appear in holiday though unpretentious dress, which

will at any rate show my good intentions.

_Günthersdorf, August 30, 1841._--My niece, Hohenthal, arrived here

yesterday. She told me that Madame Thiers had been so ill at Dresden

that she had been taken from her hotel to the doctor's house. M.

Thiers told some one who repeated it to my niece, that his audience

with the King of Prussia was short and cold and that the King talked

of nothing but Art; his attitude seems to have been well advised.

General de Rumigny, on the contrary, is most kindly treated.

_Günthersdorf, August 31, 1841._--Yesterday after dinner I set out

with my nephew Biron and we went to Grünberg to await their Majesties

at the house of the Queen's chief lady, who had gone in advance of

her. A prodigious number of triumphal arches, deputations, addresses

and cavalcades made their Majesties so late, that they did not reach

their resting-place until half-past ten at night, though this hour

was very suitable for the illuminations and fireworks at our chief

centre. Many of the principal landowners in the district were there.

The King and Queen first received me alone and then the rest of the

company was admitted. Their Majesties wished to keep me to supper, but

as I still have a great deal to arrange here, I asked permission to

withdraw and reached home at half-past one in the morning. Fortunately

it was a beautiful moonlight night.

I found General de Rumigny at Grünberg. He is following the King to

the manœuvres and will arrive here this morning. The weather is

magnificent and I should like to kneel down and send up a prayer of

thanks to the sun for his kindness.

_Günthersdorf, September 1, 1841._--Yesterday passed off very well.

Their Majesties were in excellent spirits and most kind. The weather

was perfect, flowers were abundant and there was a good lunch suitably

served; the population in holiday attire came in large numbers and

behaved excellently. I drove after the King with my nephew to the

first village where horses were changed. This village is on my estate

and His Majesty was again greeted with a triumphal arch by my keepers

and with country receptions of every kind. The King, who did not know

that I was following, as I had not told him, was quite surprised to

see me. He got down from his carriage and made me take his place as

the Queen wished to embrace me once more. In short they seem to have

been quite satisfied, which is a great pleasure to me.

General de Rumigny started immediately after the King, M. Bresson

after dinner and the Birons after tea. My niece, Hohenthal, went away

last night and so I am here alone.

_Günthersdorf, September 2, 1841._--I have decided to start this

evening and before I go I am designing a new addition to the garden,

which will make it truly magnificent, and I have commissioned the

architect to replace the heavy rotten roof with gables and a flat

roof.

_Berlin, September 3, 1841._--I reached here after covering fifty-four

French leagues in seventeen hours. In this country where one cannot

arrange for relays, this is excellent travelling.

M. Bresson told me that no one could be more surly or disagreeable

than Madame Thiers: she has been ill, or pretended to be ill, and

declared that she would die if she stayed any longer in Germany, which

seemed to her like Siberia.

_Berlin, September 5, 1841._--Yesterday I went to the Werthers who are

soon to exchange their diplomatic post for one at Court. Werther

himself, like a good courtier, suggested this change at the proper

time and has thus spared himself possible mortification and obtained

an excellent post. Frau von Werther and Josephine regret the change.

_Berlin, September 6, 1841._--I am going to entrust myself to the

railway as far as Potsdam. At Potsdam I shall dress and dine with

Princess Charles of Prussia at Klein Glienicke at the gates of the

town. I shall then resume my journey and spend the night in my

carriage in order to reach Leipzig to-morrow morning. There I shall

find the Hohenthals who are bringing my niece Fanny Biron, whom I have

promised to take with me to France. A winter in Saxony is thought to

be too much for her health, which is delicate.

_Leipzig, September 6, 1841._--I left my Berlin hotel yesterday

morning. I had chocolate with Madame de Perponcher and learnt from her

the sad news of the sudden death of my young and charming neighbour,

Princess Adelaide Carolath, who was married under the most dramatic

circumstances a year ago to her cousin and died in a few hours of an

attack of suppressed measles. She was quite an ideal character and I

have been deeply affected by this sudden death.

From Berlin to Potsdam I travelled with Baron von Arnim, master of the

ceremonies, who was also dining at Glienicke. The Princess drove me

round the park in her pony-chaise. After dinner I went for a walk and

then said good-bye.

_Weimar, September 9, 1841._--We parted from the Hohenthals at Leipzig

yesterday morning. The two sisters were much depressed at their

separation; however, the open air and the pretty country through which

we have been travelling enabled Fanny to recover her spirits.

Here I found a letter from the Princess of Prussia who is staying at

Kreuznach on the Rhine and asks me to go and see her while I am at

Johannisberg. I shall certainly do so, though it will prolong my

journey by an additional day.

_Frankfort-on-Main, September 11, 1841._--I arrived here this morning

in fine weather. My niece proposes to spend a few days with her former

governess at Bonn, to see her brother who is in garrison there and is

now ill. We shall meet again at Mayence on the 15th. I am starting for

Johannisberg to-morrow.

_Frankfort, September 12, 1841._--Yesterday at tea-time Count Maltzan

came in. He is taking the baths at Kreuznach and came over to see his

niece Fanny. He is very pleased with his position as Minister of

Foreign Affairs. I doubt if he will suit the King of Prussia in the

long run, for he is vehement, irascible and impetuous, and though the

King is angelically good he is very quick tempered. However, it is no

business of mine. The Count is a kind and pleasant drawing-room

talker, and when he has got rid of his habit of gossiping, which he

contracted at Vienna, he will be a pleasant person, except for those

who have to transact business with him.

_Johannisberg, September 13, 1841._--I arrived here yesterday at two

o'clock, the weather being extremely hot. I had known this place in

past years and few changes have been made. There is an extensive and

beautiful view, though I prefer the view from Rochecotte, which is

similar, because of the forest which crowns my house, and also because

of the vegetation along the Loire and the hillsides opposite me, which

make the valley grander and more beautiful. Here the vines cover

everything. The house is very large and the rooms spacious but

somewhat poorly furnished. I was most kindly received, not only by

the master and mistress of the house but by many other acquaintances:

my cousin, Paul Medem, who would as soon go back to Stuttgart as

Minister as to Vienna to the post of Chargé d'Affaires; Tatitscheff,

who is almost entirely blind, and Neumann who is returning to London

to-morrow.

I have no news; Prince Metternich says there is none. He is very

pleased to hear of the Whig downfall in England and very well disposed

to M. Guizot; he is sorry that the Duc de Montebello is not to be sent

to him at Vienna. He has very humble letters from M. de Flahaut, and

begins to think that a minister who writes confidential platitudes

beforehand should be easier to manage than any other. However, nothing

is as yet officially known concerning the movements of the French

diplomatic body. Apponyi and his family are expected to-day on their

way from Paris. They are to stay here before proceeding to Hungary on

leave. Let us hope that they will bring some positive news concerning

the nomination of the French Ambassador to Vienna.

_Johannisberg, September 14, 1841._--I have accomplished my excursion

to Kreuznach, which occupied the whole of yesterday: I did not return

till half-past eight in the evening and was obliged to cross the Rhine

in the darkness, which I did not find particularly pleasant, in spite

of the beauty of the scene; the lights of the steamboats from the

banks reflected in the river, and the masses of the rocks increased by

the darkness of the night made an imposing scene which I only half

enjoyed as I was somewhat afraid. At Kreuznach I spent several hours

with the Princess of Prussia who was as kind as ever. I was sorry to

find her considerably changed, uneasy concerning her health, and tired

by taking the waters, from which so far she had experienced no other

result. I dined with her, and Count Maltzan was present.

Prince Metternich yesterday received an official intimation that M. de

Flahaut had been appointed to the Vienna embassy; he is not greatly

pleased at this news. The other changes in the French diplomatic body

were not then known.

M. de Bourquency is very fashionable here; though the Prince does not

know him personally, he was full of praises of his behaviour at

London; at the same time he added that a diplomatist, who was also a

contributor to the _Journal des Debáts_, was one of the curiosities of

the age.

_Johannisberg, September 15, 1841._--Yesterday I did not go out all

day though the weather was beautiful. I was very glad to rest;

moreover, so much time is spent here in receiving a succession of

callers that country life properly so called is impossible.

_Mayence, September 16, 1841._--I left Johannisberg yesterday and was

much touched by all the kindness of the master and mistress of the

house, and very glad that I had been able to pay them a visit. I

arrived here in good time, and found Frau von Binzer, Paul Medem and

Baron Zedlitz awaiting me. The baron, who is a well-known poet, has

now taken the place of Gentz with Prince Metternich on account of some

political publication. While I was dining with these people, three

cannon shots announced the steamboat by which the Princess of Prussia

was travelling up the Rhine on her way to Weimar through Mannheim. The

boat stopped here for ten minutes, and as it put in some thirty yards

from the hotel I went to spend these ten minutes on board with the

Princess; she was not expecting me, and showed the utmost satisfaction

at this small attention.

The evening was warm and beautiful and we drove round the town, the

outskirts of which are pretty, and went to see the statue of Gutenberg

by Thorwaldsen, which is a handsome piece of work. On our return we

heard that a courier from the Rothschilds had arrived from Paris,

bringing the news of a small rising in Paris during which a pistol

shot had been fired at the Duc d'Aumale, who, however, was not

hit.[39]

[39] The revolutionary factions which were still seething,

pursued their plan of destroying the Royal Family. On September

4, 1841, a pistol-shot was fired at the Duc d'Aumale as he was

going down a street of the Faubourg Saint Antoine at the head of

his regiment, the 17th Light Horse. The horse of

Lieutenant-Colonel Levaillant, who was by the side of the Prince

was killed by the ball.

_Metz, September 18, 1841._--I arrived here yesterday evening in a

torrential downpour of rain, which makes travelling extremely

unpleasant. At the hotel I found General d'Outremont, who was in

command at Tours for a long time. He is at Metz for inspection and

asked to see me. He told me that the disturbances at Clermont were

even more serious than those at Toulouse, in fact the newspaper that

some one has lent me regards them as very serious.

_Paris, September 20, 1841._--I have now returned to the great

Babylon. The good and excellent Barante was awaiting my arrival. He

has spent the evening here and given me the following news: the

disturbances in Clermont seem to have been of the most serious

character, a real Jacquerie and the most disquieting demonstration

that has taken place in France since 1830.[40] Barante who has been

absent for three and a half years, was astonished and horrified by the

general degradation, especially in political morality, which is

obvious here. He wittily said that he had not yet come across a man in

Paris who had a good word for another. He proposes to spend six weeks

at his house in Auvergne and will then stay here for the winter and

not return to St. Petersburg till the spring. Sainte-Aulaire started

forty-eight hours ago for his new post in London. His wife will not

follow him until February and Madame de Flahaut will not go to Vienna

until she has married her daughter, Emilie, for whom no suitor has yet

appeared.

[40] The census at Clermont-Ferrand, as at Toulouse, was a

pretext for disturbances which broke out on September 13, 1841,

and continued the whole of the next day. The rioters attacked the

armed force, and many soldiers were killed or wounded; the gates

of the town were burnt, and a desperate combat ensued. It became

necessary to send considerable military forces to the town to

overwhelm the rebels and restore order.

Bertin the elder is dead and Bertin de Veaux is suffering from a fresh

attack.

_Paris, September 21, 1841._--Madame de Lieven routed me out yesterday

at a very early hour. She came to ask questions and told me nothing:

she can repeat to all Europe what I have told her concerning the

corner of the world known to me; I persisted in speaking kindly of

every one, which vexed her, and eventually told her that people were

thinking and saying everywhere that it was she who made and unmade

ambassadors, at which she was considerably embarrassed. Moreover, what

I was saying was quite true; it is believed everywhere and I think

with reason. She asked me to dinner on Thursday at Beauséjour.

Humboldt also called; I told him my Silesian news. Finally M. de

Salvandy arrived, delighted to be ambassador at Madrid and prepared to

return for the session of the Chamber of Deputies and to retain his

vice-presidency. My son, Valençay, came to dinner with me and told me

of the death of old Hottinger, which I am sorry to hear. He was a most

honourable man, deeply attached to the late M. de Talleyrand and a

friend of Labouchère. Many recollections of the past are disappearing

outwardly with terrible rapidity.

There is some small continuous agitation in the distant quarters of

Paris; I do not understand the reason for it; it seems to be the

normal state of Paris. A return to the great outbursts of 1831 would

be to restore our youth but not our strength, at a time when we should

grow old in order to grow greater. Fortunately the troops are in

excellent spirits everywhere, but are also required everywhere. The

authorities are determined and even anxious to make vigorous use of

them. This is all very well and it is fortunate for them that they

have the power and have no foreign war upon their hands in addition to

these internal disorders.

My letters from Auvergne[41] are not satisfactory. Pauline shall

certainly spend her winter in the south at Rome, if I do not go to

Nice. She is so anxious to see me that I am deciding for Nice, where I

shall go in the month of December and return in March. I hope the

change will also do my niece Fanny good. For me personally it is a

great sacrifice. I should like a long rest and to shut myself up at

Rochecotte, but Pauline is really ill and warmly expresses a desire to

see me, and her husband joins in supporting her wish with such

persistence that I cannot hesitate.

[41] The Marquis and Marquise de Castellane were now resident in

Auvergne at their estate of Aubijou.

_Paris, September 22, 1841._--Yesterday evening I went with my son

Valençay to Saint-Cloud, where I was able to see the whole Royal

Family together, including even their Belgian Majesties. All are

starting for Compiègne. The Queen had news of the Prince de Joinville

from Newfoundland. He is proceeding to Halifax.

_Paris, September 23, 1841._--Yesterday I saw the Abbé Dupanloup who

told me that he had in his possession a series of letters which had

passed between M. de Talleyrand and Cardinal Fesch, of the greatest

interest, and others which had passed between M. de Talleyrand and the

Chapter of Autun at the most difficult and troublesome time: he is the

better pleased by these discoveries as they confirm his opinion of M.

de Talleyrand and in general do him great credit.

Yesterday I went to dinner at Beauséjour with Madame de Lieven and

took Barante who was invited. The other guests were the Duc de

Noailles, M. Guizot and Mr. Bulwer. The conversation was animated and

varied, while Barante talked much more naturally and agreeably than

any one. Of news I heard none.

_Paris, September 26, 1841._--Yesterday I went to Champlâtreux with

Baron Humboldt. The weather was very unpleasant and spoilt our

excursion. I had known Champlâtreux long before: time has in no way

destroyed its beauty; on the contrary, for M. Molé has laid it out

magnificently. His improvements are excellent but should be continued

and especially the little panes of glass should be removed from the

windows in the large rooms, as they spoil the general effect. On the

whole it is a noble mansion, not a feudal, but a parliamentary

building, as befits a descendant of Mathieu Molé, of whom memorials

are everywhere to be found and very properly so. Particularly

excellent is the portrait of the grandmother, the daughter of Samuel

Bernard, in the large room; with her dowry M. Molé's grandfather built

the present residence. The park is beautiful and finely laid out,

while M. and Madame Molé are most kind and pleasant hosts.

The fortifications are in their most advanced state from Paris to

Saint-Denis, but for the moment the state of affairs is simply

frightful and looks like chaos.

Yesterday's event, for every day brings an event in this country, was

the truly scandalous acquittal of the _National_;[42] it must be

admitted that we cut a very poor figure here.

[42] The _National_ had published a correspondence concerning the

disturbances at Clermont, full of falsehoods and invectives

against the monarchy, and was accused of attacking the King's

majesty and brought to trial. On September 24, 1841, a verdict of

"Not Guilty" was passed by the jury of the Seine.

_Paris, October 1, 1841._--Yesterday I saw M. Guizot at my house. I

was anxious to say a word to him on behalf of Charles de Talleyrand

who, I hope, will soon join M. de Sainte-Aulaire at London. M. Guizot

told me that Lord Cowley would certainly be the ambassador at Paris

and his appointment is desired here. Sir Robert Peel refused court

appointments to Lord Wilton and the Duke of Beaufort, saying that

people with more depth of character and less doubtful morality were

required about the person of a young Queen. The Duke of Beaufort has

refused the embassy of St. Petersburg, and the Marquis of Londonderry

the embassy of Vienna. Both wished for Paris and were greatly

exasperated by their failure to secure it. They are now forming the

nucleus of a small opposition party.

M. Guizot gives the following explanation of the two somewhat unusual

nominations of M. de Flahaut as ambassador to Vienna and of M. de

Salvandy to Madrid: he says that he thought it advisable to deprive M.

Thiers of the one and M. Molé of the other. An admirable explanation

and of course entirely in the interests of the country!

_Courtalin, October 3, 1841._--I arrived here yesterday evening after

dining and sleeping with Madame Mollien. I am now in the midst of the

Montmorency family, many of whom are here.

_Rochecotte, October 7, 1841._--Once more I am back at my little

Palazzo where I arrived in the morning to my great delight and have

been most interested to see the arrangements and improvements that

have taken place during my absence.

_Rochecotte, October 12, 1841._--I have spent the last few days in

arranging my new library and putting the books in order. It is

a tiring business but has absorbed me greatly. My son and

daughter-in-law Dino have arrived and also my niece Fanny and her

governess, who spent a few days at Paris after my departure.

Yesterday I had a call from the Lady Superior of the Daughters of the

Cross from Chinon. She is the one who received the communion last

spring when I went to see her. She asserts that she began to get

better from the moment of my visit. She brought me some rosaries and

wished to pray in my chapel. She also brought me my lithographed

portrait from a room where she found it and persuaded me without much

trouble to add an orphan's place to the establishment which she

administers. I have thus secured the right of sending an orphan from

the village of Saint Patrice of which Rochecotte is a part, to receive

a Christian education from these excellent women, and I shall make my

choice to-day.

_Rochecotte, October 14, 1841._--The changed situation in Spain has

occupied all minds at Paris, for war has really broken out again. It

is a dreadful business and will end in the massacre of the innocent

Isabella.[43] Queen Christina is by no means anxious to leave Paris,

where she finds life pleasant. She is terrified by the idea of

returning to Spain of which she speaks with disgust and scorn. All who

know her regard her as clever, kind and courageous in time of need,

but naturally idle, pleasure-loving and devoting herself to amusement

as far as she can, as she is obliged to despair of ever playing a part

in politics again. She is very fond of her children by Muñoz and she

has little affection for her royal daughters.

[43] On October 7, 1841, at eight o'clock in the evening,

Generals Leon and Concho took advantage of the fact that a

regiment, formerly commanded by the latter, had arrived at

Madrid. As the regiment was devoted to him the two Generals

proposed to make a sudden attempt to carry off the Queen and the

Infanta. They went to the palace at the head of a squadron of the

Royal Guard, and while the regiment surrounded the palace they

mounted to the Queen's apartments; these were fortunately guarded

by halberdiers who offered a vigorous resistance, received them

with rifle-shots, and drove them back several times. Espartero

crushed this military plot, and had General Diego Leon shot on

October 15.

_Rochecotte, October 24, 1841._--Yesterday I had some letters

containing news. Madame de Lieven writes: "England is obviously

disturbed about the news from America and speculators in every country

are greatly alarmed. It is difficult to think that war will not be the

consequence of the complication in the case of Grogau[44] added to

that of MacLoed. The newspapers are full of Spain; attempts at

insurrection are everywhere a failure. Espartero does his duty in

punishing the guilty, but it is piteous to see the most cultured and

brilliant figures in Spain falling. The death of Diego Leon, the idol

of the army and of Madrid, made Queen Christina shed floods of tears.

I do not know how she will escape the consequence of Olozaga's

publications; she disavows them but no one believes her. Demands are

issued that France should send Christina back; the government

naturally refuses and will continue to offer hospitality to the niece

of the French Queen. I do not think that Salvandy will start

immediately for his post in Madrid: Sainte-Aulaire has secured the

favour of Aberdeen; Flahaut is starting for Vienna shortly."

[44] On September 20, 1841, Colonel James W. Grogau, a citizen of

the United States, was surprised during the night in the house of

a certain Mr. Brown within the frontiers of his own country, by

brigands in English uniform, who carried him away as a prisoner

to Montreal in Canada. Mr. Richard Jackson, the Governor of

Canada, immediately liberated him, and punished an English

officer, Mr. Jackson, of Colonel Dyer's regiment, who had taken

part in this attempt.

The Duchesse d'Albuféra tells me that the Duchesse de Nemours is with

child, to the great delight of the Queen and that the household at

Compiègne which has been so long disturbed seems to be in perfect

harmony.

_Rochecotte, October 25, 1841._--Yesterday I had a letter from M. de

Salvandy, of which the following is an extract; "It is not impossible

that I may receive orders to start within the next twelve days. You

will have seen what has happened at Madrid: the insurrection with its

sudden outbreak and its sudden ending. We have undergone all kinds of

deceptions here and have proclaimed them and published them in our

public and private deeds, in our relations with the Spanish

Government, with its Minister and with every one. The Minister has

demanded that Queen Christina should be sent back and has been justly

and vigorously refused, but so vigorously that what the Madrid

authorities will say or do no one can conjecture. Hitherto relations

have not been entirely broken off; nothing will be known for another

ten days. At present we are much disconcerted by our foolish actions

and are trying to avoid the consequences as gently as possible. At the

first favourable moment my departure will be urged. In this

undignified position mine is the only bearable situation, because I

have shared none of these delusions; I have contradicted them, as

every one knows and Spain is thankful to me. Spain asks that I should

start. I have pointed out two or three matters upon which I should

like satisfaction; they will be granted and we shall thus be able to

put a better face upon the matter, but I am astounded at this method

of conducting the business of the world."

M. de Salvandy tells me that he will come here on his way to Spain.

_Rochecotte, November 6, 1841._--I hear that the Russian Ambassador at

Paris has just received orders from his Sovereign to start for St.

Petersburg in a week. Every one is attempting to conjecture the

reason.

_Rochecotte, November 11, 1841._--The Duchesse d'Albuféra writes to

say that the real reason for the sudden recall of the Russian

Ambassador, Count Pahlen, by the Emperor Nicholas in the midst of

winter, is to secure that he shall not be the spokesman of the

diplomatic body before the King on New Year's Day when congratulations

are offered. It is even said that, in order that the Russian

Ambassador may be the youngest ambassador at Paris, Pahlen's place

will be taken by M. de Bouténieff, but this is only a rumour.

_Rochecotte, November 16, 1841._--Yesterday when we were about to sit

down to dinner I saw M. de Salvandy arriving. I thought that he was on

his way to Madrid. Nothing of the kind. Exhausted by the continual

questions concerning his reasons for delay and the time of departure,

he resolved to pay a round of visits in the country to avoid

inquisitive people: he then came from Pontchartrain and is going on

from here to Madame Maillé and to others of his friends. He says that

the session of the Chambers at Paris will be stormy and that the

ministerial rivalry of MM. Dufaure and Passy will cause difficulty.

_Rochecotte, November 18, 1841._--M. de Salvandy went away yesterday

after lunch. The evening before he had had dreadful news from Spain

where anarchist massacres are proceeding; Espartero seems to be at

last anxious for the presence of the French Ambassador and M. de

Salvandy assumes that he will soon be crossing the Pyrenees. Before he

went away he related a somewhat amusing incident; a few days ago he

met the Demidoffs at the house of the Duchesse Decazes; there were

only three or four persons in the room and the conversation was almost

general. They were speaking of a story which is now going round Paris,

to the effect that Mlle. Rachel had sold herself to M. Véron for two

hundred thousand francs; whereupon M. Demidoff, in a manner impossible

to imitate cried, "See the power of money!" Those present, after an

involuntary glance at Madame Demidoff, preserved a solemn silence,

which was fortunately interrupted in a moment by another caller.

Yesterday I had a letter from Madame de Lieven. She says that the

Queen of England was disappointed that she had not been confined of

twins; she was hoping that the Prince of Wales would be accompanied by

a Duke of York.[45] England has presented a Note requesting an

explanation of the concentration of French troops near the Pyrenees,

and announcing that she would not permit France to carry war into

Spain. She has thus stopped a strongly marked inclination to support

the friends of Queen Christina with cannon shot; and this Queen is in

great despair that people should wish to use her as a pretext.

Speaking of herself, she says that her chance is over and that no one

should think of her as a possibility; that she would never return to

Spain or she would certainly meet the fate of Marie Antoinette.

[45] King Edward VII. was born on November 9.

Yesterday evening in the drawing-room we read a eulogy upon Madame de

Rumford, written by M. Guizot, who had sent it to me. I thought it

rather dry and the sentences too long; in short it wants grace, though

not thought.

_Rochecotte, November 27, 1841._--I have had letters from my

son-in-law from Carrara, dated the 17th. To-morrow they were to have

reached Florence, but they encountered a storm for eighteen hours in

the Gulf of Spezzia: the ship was damaged and they were in some

danger. At length they fortunately came into harbour and are now in a

pony trap, for it was impossible to disembark their carriage. He gives

a dreadful account of their journey. Poor Pauline was exhausted and

entirely worn out; she had a presentiment that the crossing would be a

bad one, for she wrote to me from Genoa saying that she was very

reluctant to take this route.

_Rochecotte, November 28, 1841._--I have a letter from Pauline from

Lucca which adds some serious details to those related by her husband.

They nearly foundered and were themselves obliged to gain the coast in

a small boat. My son-in-law was almost drowned; in short, it was a

regular disaster. I long to hear that my dear Pauline is resting for a

few weeks at Florence. During the terrible time that they spent at sea

two ships were lost and all on board perished, off Livorno.

_Rochecotte, December 2, 1841._--Yesterday I concluded my round of

farewell visits in weather which really gave these attentions some

value. After dinner M. de Salvandy came in; this time he was

definitely on his way to Madrid and is starting this morning.

Yesterday I had letters from Pauline written at Florence and dated the

22nd. She is living on the kindness of friends, as she has not yet

recovered either her trunks or her carriage. She reached the town like

a heroine in a novel, with her jewel box under her arm and not a

single garment in her possession.

_Rochecotte, December 3, 1841._--Yesterday morning a huge flash of

lightning and a clap of thunder followed by a waterspout bursting over

Rochecotte, made us rush hurriedly out of our rooms; there were two

inches of water in the dining-room and four in the kitchen. Madame de

Podenas arrived shortly afterwards with her son from the house of her

mother, the Duchesse des Cars, who has a country house on the other

side of Tours. I had known Madame de Podenas very well in times past

and am always glad to see her again. I had even intended, as I thought

she was in Italy, to make a journey from Nice to Genoa to see her, as

she has been settled for the last few years in a villa near that town.

The villa which she has bought is called Il Paradiso and was built by

Michael Angelo. She is greatly changed but is as cheerful and pleasant

as ever. She boldly resumed her journey in the course of the evening.

M. de Salvandy started yesterday morning for Madrid; Alava, who was

here, went to Tours, Vestier to Chinon, and my son to Valençay, so

that Fanny and myself will be alone until we shortly start for Nice.

_Rochecotte, December 5, 1841._--Yesterday my time was entirely

devoted to preparations for departure. My niece's health does not

improve, I am not very well myself, and the weather is frightful.

Yesterday I had a very kind and obliging letter from the Duc

d'Orléans; he writes to bid me farewell before my departure, and to

offer me his congratulations on the escape of the Castellanes from the

dangers of the sea; he had heard of their adventures from the Duchesse

d'Albuféra. He seems very uneasy at the general state of public

opinion, and by no means satisfied with the policy of the authorities.

_Saint-Aignan, December 7, 1841._--I left my pleasant little

Rochecotte yesterday morning to resume the monotonous life of

high-road travel, which is the more unpleasant in consequence of the

dreadful weather. We lunched at Tours with the Prefect, Alava and

Vestier. As we passed by Chenonceaux I paid a half-hour's call, which

I had been owing for years, upon Madame de Villeneuve. We then

continued our journey here in a furious downpour of rain. When the

road leaves the department of Indre-et-Loire and enters that of

Loir-et-Cher it deteriorates; moreover the rain and the inundations

from the Cher have spoilt the road, and we travelled through a kind of

lake. I will not conceal the fact that I screamed several times. We

were very kindly received by M. de Chalais, his brother and the Baron

and Baronne de Montmorency: these are the only inhabitants of the

residence apart from the architect who is working at it; a

considerable amount of building is in progress, which is solid and

even rich as far as construction goes, but unfortunately in a style

which does not seem to me sufficiently akin to that of the original

building; for instance, there is a heavy Saxon tower by the side of

the pointed turrets of Louis XI. The castle is very cold: the

hot-water pipes, the double windows, the hangings, the door curtains

and the draperies at Rochecotte make any other home impossible to me,

and everywhere else I am frozen.

Yesterday at Chenonceaux I saw a very pretty portrait of Queen Louise

de Vaudémont and a large coloured window of modern construction which

the King had just sent to the Villeneuves. The Duc de Montpensier came

over to Chenonceaux from Amboise this summer and to his influence this

attention is due. It is enough to show that the young Prince did not

enter the bedroom of Madame de Villeneuve as I did, where the portrait

of the Duc de Bordeaux, presented by Berryer, is hanging at her

bedside, so that the mistress of the house can see it morning and

evening.

_Valençay, December 8, 1841._--I arrived here yesterday evening. I am

going to hear mass with the Sisters at the tomb of our dear M. de

Talleyrand. To-morrow morning we are to start again and to dine and

sleep with Madame d'Arenberg at Menetou-Salon.

_Menetou-Salon, December 10, 1841._--The Prince and Princesse

d'Arenberg were so kind as to keep us a day longer, the weather being

abominable. Fanny and my son Valençay, who joined us here yesterday,

so strongly urged this additional delay, that I have resolved to

remain here the whole of to-day. Yesterday it was impossible to go

out of the house. We barely had the energy to go round the château

which M. d'Arenberg has restored from a state of ruin to a vast and

noble mansion. It has the characteristics of the hunting châteaux that

I prefer, severe in style, simple and convenient, and placed in the

middle of very fine forests. I much prefer Menetou to Arlay, their

château in the Franche-Comté. My cousin's three children are well

brought up, pleasant and cheerful. The whole of the household is very

happy and everything is done upon a large scale.

The arrangements at the end of the house are not yet complete, but

with handsome forests, plenty of space and money, all can easily be

finished and of these three conditions the d'Arenbergs can avail

themselves. The only point at Menetou that I can criticise is the

horrible red, white and orange paint with which the outer walls are

daubed. M. d'Arenberg says that it is in Flemish style, but I think it

is hideous. The kennel is a perfect little jewel. Sporting influences

are everywhere predominant and everything is done to the blast of

horns and the barking of dogs; the children know the different blasts

by heart and can instantly distinguish the blast which means the

quarry is sighted from that which proclaims that it has broken cover

and the blasts which denote an old or a young boar.

_Lyons, December 14, 1841._--The day before yesterday, which was

Sunday, we were escorted after mass by my son Valençay and M.

d'Arenberg, to Bourges, where I visited the curious house of Cujas and

the very interesting one of Jacques Coeur; then we saw the normal

school which was formerly the house of Jacques Coeur's brother; after

that we saw the old palace of Charles VII. which has now become a

convent for the Blue Sisters and went to the cathedral. The funeral

oration was being given for M. de Villèle, the last Archbishop of

Bourges. Don Carlos,[46] his wife and his children were duly present

at this honour paid to the prelate whose charity and whose care had

alleviated their sad captivity. Don Carlos is less ugly and

insignificant than I thought: his wife was so hidden by her hat that I

could not make out her face; the hat and the shawl were those of a

woman of poverty, which I was sorry to see. I passed by the sad little

house which has been assigned to them and which was surrounded by

soldiers on guard and policemen.

[46] After long struggles between the Carlists and the

Christinos, which caused much bloodshed throughout the Peninsula

until 1839, Don Carlos at this date was obliged to take refuge in

France. He was ordered to reside at the town of Bourges, where he

was kept under strict supervision, and not until 1847 did he

obtain permission to leave for Austria.

In order to change horses at Bourges infinite formalities are

necessary, an authorisation from the Prefect and visas, which are

invariably troublesome. After surviving these vexations, we had lunch

and parted from M. de Valençay and M. d'Arenberg. We hoped to reach

Moulins the same day but the weather became so frightful that we took

refuge in a horrible little inn where the smoke was blinding. At

daybreak yesterday we started off again and reached Lyons to-day at

midday. Lyons impressed me as always, and it is the fifth time I have

seen it, by its original and picturesque position; but I found it

sadly changed, since I was here, fifteen years ago, in consequence of

the enormous quantity of steam engines which have come into use, as

the coal which they burn has blackened all the buildings. The fog

common at this time of year is as black as that of London and from the

general colour and the smell I could almost have thought myself in

England. Lyons has greatly deteriorated in consequence and even the

pretty square of Bellecour seems to me no longer to justify its

reputation, since it has been coloured dark grey.

_Aix-en-Provence, December 17, 1841._--Fortunately I have no accident

to relate and unfortunately no interesting descriptions to give. The

sky even of Provence is by no means beautiful at this moment; the

ground as usual is dry and bare, the olives are wretched little trees,

while we have not yet entered the zone of orange-trees. When I first

visited the south my ideas of the country were very illusory and every

later visit has confirmed me in the conviction that apart from the

view over the Mediterranean when one has reached it and the colour of

the sky when it happens not to be clouded as it now is, there is

nothing beautiful to be expected from this district. We spent some

time in visiting Avignon. I had known it long ago, but Fanny was

curious and we had lunch there this morning. We explored the old

castle of the popes which is now a barracks and the church of La

Miséricorde.

_Nice, December 20, 1841._--We have now reached the end of our journey

which has lasted a whole fortnight. We left Aix the day before

yesterday, after my niece had satisfied her archæological curiosity

and started in sunshine which would have been delightful had it not

been accompanied by the mistral. At nine o'clock in the evening we

reached Brignoles, but were horrified by the dreadful filth of the inn

and resolved to continue our journey. When we had fairly entered the

mountains of the Esterel, which involve an ascent of four hours and a

descent of three, the cold became cruel. At dawn the summits of the

mountains showed themselves covered with snow. At the highest point,

where the post house is situated, twenty mountaineers of wild

appearance, all armed with guns were starting in pursuit of the wild

boars and wolves which inhabit this rough district. This band of

mountaineer hunters were accompanied by some policemen and customs'

house officers and were firing trial shots which made the rocks

re-echo; they formed a picture worthy of a painter, but we had no

thoughts of the picturesque, so intense did the cold of the night

seem. When we reached the valley the temperature suddenly changed; the

sun was warm, the sea blue, the olive-trees tall and covered with

fruit, the orange-trees laden with their golden balls and the hedges

of rose-trees in flower. The town of Cannes overlooked by its old

castle, stood out delightfully as a background to the landscape upon

the rough mountains which we had just left; the island of St. Margaret

floated peacefully upon an azure sea and was an excellent completion

to a view which we badly needed to thaw our minds and recover our

taste for the south, which we were much inclined to abuse. Before

entering Cannes we saw on the right hand the villa Taylor and on the

left the villa Brougham; these looked like country houses belonging to

retired stockbrokers. Lord Brougham's villa is shut off from the road

by a great iron railing, each point of which is surmounted by a large

gilded fleur-de-lis.

From Cannes we had only nine leagues to cover to reach Nice and as it

was only nine o'clock in the morning, we hoped we might be able to

dine here yesterday, but misfortune came upon us. When we reached

Antibes, the last station before Nice, at midday, there were no horses

to be had and we were emphatically told none would be forthcoming

before four o'clock, after which hour there is no driving to Nice

because the bridge of the Var is broken down and the passage is

impossible after nightfall. We were therefore obliged to remain at

Antibes and sleep there; but where to sleep was a question. The inns

in this town are indescribable and travellers never stop there; there

are muleteer public-houses of the most disgusting appearance. A meal

was served to us which revolted us so far that we ate nothing but dry

bread, and instead of sleeping in beds which, after the previous

night, would have been very pleasant, we returned to our carriages.

Shut up in these boxes and bestowed in a stable which was half a barn,

we watched for dawn which came very late. Cats were mewing all round

us[47] and then a storm burst with as much fury as though we were in

the midst of summer; thunder, lightning and rain threatened our

miserable shelter. At last, at seven o'clock in the morning we were

delivered from our prison and started to Saint Laurent du Var. There

we were obliged to leave our carriage and embark in a little boat

which brought us after much tossing to the Sardinian customs house,

where two carbineers allowed us to warm ourselves at their fire. Our

carriage went three-quarters of a league up stream and passed the

river by a ford which was almost impracticable and very dangerous.

Meanwhile we soaked a little dry bread in the very sour wine of the

country and opposed our umbrellas to the gusts of wind and rain. At

length we reached Nice at one o'clock, amid driving rain and by a

furious sea. The hurricane continues and the waves are loudly roaring

and rising so high that they almost reach the summit of the terrace on

which stands the house where Fanny and myself occupy the second floor.

Our windows look directly on the sea and before us to the right and to

the left there is nothing else. On sunny days the reflection will be

frightful and in times of rain a vast grey sheet is confused with the

sky and forms the saddest possible outlook; the roar of the waves is

also most dismal. We have an enormous room and though it has a

fireplace, it is very cold. My room is small and might be warm but the

chimney smokes; everything is very dirty, as the old houses in Nice

generally are. I cannot describe the general impression of sadness and

desolation which comes over us. The better side of the situation which

consoles us for all the rest is to see Pauline, who is neither better

nor worse than when I left her seven months ago, as she is still

suffering from her throat; she is thin and looks feverish, but her

illness has not been aggravated. She and her family are at one end of

the quarter which is known here as _La Terrasse_, while I am at the

other.

[47] The Duchesse de Talleyrand had an innate and instinctive

fear of cats which she was never able to conquer.

_Nice, December 22, 1841._--Yesterday I called upon the Grand Duchess

Stephanie between lunch and dinner; she is spending the winter here

with her daughter. She took me for a drive in her carriage upon the

jetty in weather which reminded me of the Chain Pier at Brighton. The

Grand Duchess has excellent rooms at some distance from the sea in the

midst of a charming garden, with a beautiful view of the mountains;

the house is well furnished, cheerful and clean, exactly the contrary

to mine and very little more expensive. The Grand Duchess is

infinitely better since she took the waters of Wildbad, but her

restlessness and the fidgety and flighty nature of her conversation

which her disease had checked have reappeared with an emphasis really

annoying.

I had no letters from Paris yesterday: a rise in the river has carried

away the boats and made the ford impassable, so that was impossible to

pass the Var two hours after the time when we crossed it.

_Nice, December 24, 1841._--Yesterday I met a large number of

acquaintances at the house of the Grand Duchess, but few worth

mentioning apart from the de Maistre family. She puts on her cards,

_la comtesse Azelia de Maistre, née de Sieyès_. The two names look

strange side by side; however, she seems a very pleasant person, while

he has the wit of that particular kind which his name implies.

_Nice, December 25, 1841._--Yesterday after lunch I took my niece and

the Castellanes to Saint Charles, in the most beautiful weather. The

sun was almost too warm and the short walk threw one into a

perspiration; the sky was magnificent and the view beautiful, and the

smell of the roses, the violets and the orange flowers intoxicating.

On returning to the town I left a few cards, and went home to rest,

for the burning sun and the keen sea air were most fatiguing.

There is a strange custom here. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and

throughout the intervening night, cannons are fired every half-hour;

bands of sailors and country people go about the streets singing and

howling and making the most horrible din; for twenty-four hours this

uproar has never ceased for a moment and I should think no one has had

a wink of sleep.

_Nice, December 27, 1841._--I can remember the time when we went to

Mannheim to pay our respects to the Grand Duchess Stephanie on Saint

Stephen's Day. The same day here is being kept as a festival. At ten

o'clock she went to hear mass at the College of the Jesuits: the

Father Rector, who is kind and polite, had invited a dozen people who

were intimate with the Grand Duchess, and my daughter and myself were

included. The choral mass was very well given and we were then allowed

to follow the Grand Duchess round the whole of the establishment, an

exceptional privilege, and the ladies saw everything, even the cells

of the Fathers. In each class one of the pupils made a little speech,

simple and suitable to the occasion. We then found coffee, chocolate

and sherbet with cakes and sweets in the rector's parlour. There he

offered the Grand Duchess a reliquary containing a relic of Saint

Etienne. As she professes a great admiration for Silvio Pellico, he

added a copy of this writer's poetry, nicely bound with an autograph

letter by Pellico. The Father Rector was the support and consoler of

Pellico's mother while he was in prison, and afterwards strongly

influenced him to lead a Christian life. He is now said to be living

in unusual sanctity. This little attention which was most tastefully

offered was entirely successful. Before leaving the college we went

into the physical laboratory where we were shown some electrical

experiments. When we went away all the Fathers and pupils drew up in

line and the youngest offered the Grand Duchess a bouquet of the kind

only procurable in this country where flowers are abundant and where

their colour and perfume are incomparable. The whole morning's visit

was admirably arranged; there was no pedantry, nothing was too long,

the tactfulness and common sense of the Jesuits were quite obvious.

The pupils looked very healthy and were polite and well mannered.

After dinner we went with Fanny and the Castellanes to the Grand

Duchess. Princesse Marie had invited some fifty persons to take part

in a game of proverbs given in rhyme, which had been specially

arranged by several Russian and Italian society people and proved

quite successful.

_Nice, December 29, 1841._--Yesterday I called upon several people,

including the Comtesse Louis de Narbonne, the widow of the friend of

M. de Talleyrand and mother of Madame de Rambuteau. She is pleasant

and cheerful, but it is obvious that she has lived a great deal in the

provinces and very little with her husband. By birth she is Mlle. de

Montholon, cousin of the first husband of Madame de Sémonville.

_Nice, December 30, 1841._--Yesterday was Pauline's twenty-first

birthday and to celebrate the double anniversary of her birth and her

majority, she came to lunch with me with her husband and her little

girl. She found some small presents and a German cake with as many

candles as she had lived years. This little surprise pleased her. In

the morning I went with Fanny and her former governess to visit a

garden on the hillside protected by wooded slopes from the wind, with

a view of the mountains and the sea which is reputed to be extremely

pretty. The villa in the centre was closed, but the garden, which

contained a large number of rare flowers and is more carefully tended

than usual here, was open. We met the owner, a merchant of Nice, at

the end of a walk where he was giving instructions to his workmen. He

was very polite, loaded us with flowers and promised me some seeds for

Rochecotte; his villa is called St. Helena. We returned very pleased

with our walk, although the weather was by no means kind.

_Nice, December 31, 1841._--The Grand Duchess called yesterday when I

was finishing lunch and carried me off to see a country house near

Nice which is very well situated and remarkable for the surrounding

woods of pine-trees and holm oaks and arbutus. The shade of trees is

not often to be found here, as the gardens are usually built in

terraces looking southward and leading more or less towards the sea;

any variety of style is therefore not to be despised. Moreover

yesterday's walk reminded me of one which I had projected in the woods

around Rochecotte and pleased me for this reason. The owner is a

retired merchant and an old bachelor. He is very polite, and,

according to the custom of the country, loaded us with flowers and

gave us orangeade to drink. I thought this refreshment cold under the

circumstances, for it was by no means hot and driving had certainly

made us no warmer. I therefore walked home from the house of the Grand

Duchess to restore the circulation; the distance is about that from

the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe in the Champs Elysées.

This is the last day of a year of which I am not sorry to see the end:

it can count as two years in my life by reason of its length; however,

it has not been entirely unfortunate; the months spent at Rochecotte

were quiet and the time while I was in Germany was not without

interest and satisfaction.

This is also the second anniversary of the death of Mgr. de Quélen. It

could not pass unnoticed by me, for he was a great loss to me, and his

regular and protecting kindness left one of those gaps which can never

be filled, for nothing can take the place of that which has been

consecrated by time.