with all the proceedings of this horrible affair, and he was present
at the privy council where his condemnation was determined upon, or,
at least, discussed. I dare not believe the cold and laconic reply
attributed to him in the drawing-room of his old friend, the Duchess
of ***, the very evening the Duc d'Enghien was tried at Vincennes.
This reply was not only an atrocious expression, but it also involved
a degree of imprudence which did not make part of his character. It is
bad enough to have been concerned even indirectly in so fearful a crime.
In the midst of the active negotiations in which Talleyrand felt
obliged to appear and to take a part, was there a political system
formed in his mind, or merely a general principle? He still retained
a strong bias towards English ideas, and a wish for an alliance with
that country. This system, on which his earliest diplomatic plans
were based, was constantly in his mind; he had not forgotten his
residence in England at the beginning of the French revolution under
M. de Chauvelin; he was also intimately connected with the Whig party,
and considered Great Britain as the political ally of France against
Russia, which last appeared to him, of all the powers in Europe, the
most dangerous, as far as the civilisation of the world was concerned.
He had not observed that by her situation Russia is our easiest, our
most natural, and our most disinterested ally, for France and Russia do
not clash either in a political or commercial point of view. But there
are some early impressions which never wear out, and Talleyrand had
passed some of the best years of his life in England, and on terms of
friendship with Lord Grey, Lord Russell, Fox, and Sheridan.
He received the title of Grand Chamberlain at the accession of
Napoleon to the throne, for which event his diplomatic correspondence
had already prepared Europe, and he had also entered into a solemn
justification of it to all the different cabinets. Napoleon liked to
be surrounded by people of illustrious birth, and it appeared useful
to the brilliancy of his crown to have a Boson de Périgord among the
officers of his palace; it was in accordance with his passion for
aristocratical honours, and his wish to restore the old state of
society. M. de Talleyrand played a great part in the first negotiations
with Germany, before and after the peace of Presburg, that peace
which effected such a radical change in the political and territorial
situation of the German nation. It was he who, with the assistance of
M. Reinhard, contrived to bring about the Confederation of the Rhine,
which made an end of the predominancy in Germany of the ancient house
of Austria. After these negotiations were concluded, he received the
title of Prince of Benevento, with a real feudal authority under
the protectorate of France, which afforded him a revenue of 150,000
livres per annum, and made with his salary as minister for foreign
affairs about 500,000 francs.[10] The peace of Presburg was certainly
a most brilliant epoch in his ministry. As the representative of the
magnificent military government whose grandeur overshadowed the earth,
he assumed a certain degree of majesty in his manners and habits. The
Prince of Benevento held a _cour plénière_ for the German electors, who
came to request from him a fief, or a portion of his supreme power. At
the summit of his greatness, Talleyrand's mind still turned to the
English alliance, and when Fox succeeded Pitt at the head of affairs,
he again conceived the project of opening negotiations with a view to
peace; he was firmly convinced that no general peace could be concluded
in Europe without the concurrence of England, and he was desirous a
vast system of compensation should be arranged, which might incline
her towards pacific measures, for no treaty can be durable that is not
based upon equity. But these projects were interrupted by one of the
most serious circumstances that occurred in the whole course of his
life.
[10] About 20,000_l._
It has been said that Talleyrand retired from office because he did not
agree in the opinions of Napoleon regarding the war in Spain. I have
deeply studied the question, and I believe this report to be utterly
untrue. There is but a slight approximation of dates between his
resignation and the treachery of Bayonne; it is this approximation that
has been laid hold of to gild the disgrace of the minister. Talleyrand
was, in fact, replaced by M. de Champagny a little before the Spanish
war, but he took part with the cabinet in all the intrigues which
led to the events of Aranjuez. The reunion of the Peninsula in one
political system with France agreed well with his historical ideas upon
the family compact, and several letters are still in existence from
the Prince of Benevento which confirm his participation in all these
events, as well as a curious report to the Emperor, demonstrating the
advantages that would accrue from reuniting both crowns in his family,
in imitation of the grand political scheme of Louis XIV.
The real cause of Talleyrand's disgrace was the active attempts he made
to negotiate peace with England independent of Napoleon. The Emperor
did not at all like men who acted upon their own opinion; he liked
every thing to originate with himself alone. He got rid of Talleyrand
as, in succeeding years, he shook off Fouché, minister of police.
There are times when men of consideration are a source of
embarrassment, when advisers are no longer required: devoted servants
alone are necessary. The Prince of Benevento took advantage of the
circumstance, and as the Spanish war was very unpopular, he assumed
the attitude of a martyr to his love for peace and moderate measures.
He was always clever enough to account for his being out of favour
by attributing it to some motive which might secure him a good place
in public opinion, and he then profited by his situation to wage an
underhand, but murderous war, against the power which had rejected
him from its circle of activity. When he was no longer at the head of
affairs for the purpose of directing them, he took care to bring up the
rear, for the sake of causing hinderance and annoyance. Nevertheless,
his dismissal was now covered with a golden mantle; he received the
title of vice-grand elector, with the same salary of 500,000 francs,
that he enjoyed during his ministry. The activity of his mind led him
afresh into commercial pursuits, he gambled in the stocks, became
a partner in a banking-house at Hamburg and in Paris, he invested
considerable sums of money in the English funds, and awaited patiently
the course of events. To know how to wait is a great mark of political
knowledge, and it was one of Talleyrand's favourite axioms, that
patience often leads to favourable situations: he never would be in a
hurry.
A secret opposition was beginning to form against Napoleon, even in the
highest ranks, among the heads of the senate, of the government, and of
the army. Fearful of yet making itself manifest by any overt act, it
only ventured upon apparently trifling remarks and half confidences;
but people conspired in their _minds_, expressions were used, which
were repeated as apophthegms and prophecies of society. "It is the
beginning of the end," said Talleyrand, at the time of the disastrous
expedition to Moscow; and this just appreciation had been warmly
applauded. What a terrible opposition is that of the _salons_ and the
gay world! It kills with a lingering death, it upsets the strongest
ideas, it destroys the best-laid plans; it would be far better to be
compelled to engage in a pitched battle face to face. This opposition
was gradually increasing, and the police establishment of General
Savary, which tended more to the employment of brute force than the
adoption of intelligent precautions, was incapable of restraining
it; it was gradually appearing on every side, besides which the men
who placed themselves at the head of the resisting party were of too
much consequence for the Emperor to venture to touch them. Talleyrand
and Fouché now did whatever they pleased with perfect impunity--they
were acting against the Emperor, and he did not dare to shew his
displeasure. It has always been supposed that Napoleon when at the
summit of his greatness might have put down any one; yet, great as he
was, there were some men too powerful for him. The day that he had
touched Talleyrand or Fouché, all the officers of government would have
considered themselves at the mercy of a caprice; Cambacérès, Lebrun,
Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Angely, feeling themselves henceforth without
any security against a master whom they detested, would, perhaps, have
shaken off the yoke.
As early as the beginning of the year 1813, Talleyrand had opened a
communication with the Bourbons. The venerable Cardinal de Périgord,
grand almoner to Louis XVIII., was his uncle, but there was a
considerable degree of coolness between them; still it may be easily
imagined that it facilitated an exchange of hopes and promises,
against the chances of a future restoration to the throne; but all
this was done secretly and in strict confidence, as the idea of the
restoration was not yet sufficiently matured. Talleyrand had never
ceased to maintain a communication through his agents with Louis
XVIII., who was himself at that time engaged in a confidential
correspondence with all the great officers of the state, even
including Cambacérès himself. Paris was filled with these letters,
notwithstanding which, Talleyrand was one of the council appointed
to assist the regency of Maria Louisa, whom the Emperor had placed
at the head of affairs. He always exhibited the greatest interest in
all questions relating to the government, he attended assiduously the
meetings of the council, and appeared the most zealous of the Emperor's
servants: the plan of the regency also was congenial to his mind, and
he would have been satisfied with it as a political idea. He still,
however, carried on an underhand correspondence with Louis XVIII., who,
with his perfect knowledge of mankind, engaged to maintain him in his
magnificent position, to which he added a promise that he should be
placed at the head of the ministry. As to the regency of Maria Louisa,
it involved a project for a closer alliance with Austria, and was
suggested by the most able men in the council of Napoleon, who were
desirous of exciting dissensions among the allied powers by giving rise
to divers interests.
The misfortunes of war had now brought the enemy near the capital;
and, as the powers of Napoleon became more feeble, people learned to
estimate probabilities with a greater degree of certainty: first the
regency, then a provisional government, and, finally, the restoration
of the Bourbons. Since the year 1812, all illusion concerning the
invincible power of Napoleon was over. The burning of Moscow, the
snows which had covered the grand army as with a vast shroud, the
conspiracy of Mallet, all had tended to place the imperial power in a
tottering condition. The negotiations of Talleyrand began to assume
an indescribable boldness; the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers
had fixed a congress at Châtillon, more for the sake of appearances
than to discuss really diplomatic questions; and M. de Coulaincourt,
whose devotion to the Emperor was undoubted, was to propose a treaty
determining the limits of France under the government of Napoleon,
or the regency of the archduchess. This was the moment selected by
Talleyrand to despatch a secret agent to the head-quarters of the
Emperor Alexander. This agent, who was, I believe, M. de Vitrolles, was
commissioned to describe the condition of the metropolis, the anxiety
there was to get rid of Napoleon, and, above all, the imperative
necessity there appeared to be for the restoration of the old
dynasty, as the only certain step that could be taken under existing
circumstances. M. de Vitrolles evinced great zeal and ability in the
discharge of this secret mission, which exposed him to extreme danger;
he succeeded in conveying to the Emperor Alexander some letters written
in cipher, and a very detailed memorial upon the state of the public
mind; but--must I confess it?--the allies, who cared but little about
the Bourbons, did not perfectly understand the scope of this movement,
neither did they know what might be the result. It was then Talleyrand
exerted himself to demonstrate that these two ideas, the ancient
territory and the ancient dynasty, were correlative; and the same
system had been forcibly represented at Châtillon by Lord Castlereagh.
The disaffected party continued to gain strength in Paris. Talleyrand
had made friends with several of the senators who still retained some
recollections of the Republic, and professed an especial hatred
towards Napoleon; such were M. de Lambrechts, Languinais, and Grégoire,
and the Prince of Benevento could rely upon their assistance in any
rising that might be organised against the empire. At the same time he
had collected around himself the Duc de Dalberg, the Abbé de Pradt,
and a multitude of Royalist agents, who were in communication with MM.
de Noailles, de Fitzjames, and de Montmorency, all engaged in secret
machinations for the Bourbons. The time was come when the Empire must
terminate--there was so much disaffection among the citizens of Paris
and in the provinces. Great precaution was shewn in taking the first
steps in favour of the Bourbon restoration, and the greatest secrecy
was observed; as soon, therefore, as it was decided, according to
the instructions of Napoleon, that the Empress should leave Paris,
and establish her regency at Blois, Talleyrand hastened to declare
his intention of shewing his zeal by following the regency, it being
necessary he should offer a pledge to the imperialist party in order
to prevent suspicion, but by a piece of duplicity, perfectly in
keeping with his character and position, he apprised the allies of his
pretended flight. Accordingly, Prince Schwartzenberg posted a small
body of cavalry at the first stage on the road to Blois, which stopped
the carriage of Prince Talleyrand, and obliged him to return to Paris,
where the wily diplomatist also declared himself compelled by force to
remain. By this means he was enabled to place himself as the head and
the nucleus of the general rising against the Emperor; his saloon was
open to all the disaffected, and he encouraged the idea of Napoleon's
downfall in a manner which charmed the hearts of the Republicans; for
Buonaparte's violation of the constitution was the only circumstance
that appeared to occur to their minds. The ground was well chosen, and
Talleyrand worked at his ease and on an extended scale at the ruin of
his master; every thing had tended towards it since the year 1812, and
the moral strength of the Empire was gone.
Talleyrand's grand intrigue even began in the senate. He well knew
the simplicity and the instinctive repugnance felt by Grégoire,
Lambrechts, and Languinais, for Napoleon, and he determined they should
serve as a pivot for the new order of things. Some of them thought
they were making preparations for a regency. Talleyrand promised them
constitutional forms and the sovereignty of the people, those old
visions of the Republic, and they welcomed all these recollections with
ecstasy: there was not much difficulty, certainly, in inducing these
second-rate minds to act in concert with him. The patriot party were
the first to demand that the Emperor should be deposed; they enumerated
all the grievances, upon which they had observed so prudent a silence
in the days of his prosperity; they fell upon Napoleon, his forfeiture
of the crown was pronounced by the senate in the month of April 1814,
and he was thus sacrificed by the party which had obeyed his will
with apparent alacrity during the ten years of the Empire. Nothing
is so violent or so rancorous in its hatred as an assembly which has
long been humbled under a despotic rule: it afterwards takes signal
vengeance upon the fallen power.
When the Emperor Alexander entered Paris, Talleyrand's ascendancy
over his mind was sufficient to induce him to inhabit the Hôtel de la
Rue Saint-Florentin, an unheard-of honour, which gave an undeniable
proof of the great estimation in which he was held! The czar occupied
the apartments, still to be seen, with the long stone balcony at
the extremity of the Rue de Rivoli. It was in the blue drawing-room
in this hôtel that the plan of the Restoration was organised,
according to the ideas and principles which I have depicted in a work
especially devoted to that purpose.[11] Talleyrand's influence over
the proceedings of that time was unbounded; he induced the Emperor
Alexander to reject all proposals for continuing the regency of Maria
Louisa, as well as the loyal endeavours of Marshal Macdonald. He
instigated all these refusals, and had adopted a maxim admirable for
its clearness and precision, which he took pleasure in repeating as a
means of putting a stop to all negotiations. "The restoration of the
Bourbons," said he, "is a principle; every thing else is an intrigue."
In after years, he forgot none of the services he had rendered to
the old dynasty, and, when out of favour under the Restoration,
he took pleasure in shewing this blue drawing-room which had been
inhabited by the Emperor Alexander, and would repeat in a tone of
affected bitterness and ridicule, as if to brand the ingratitude of
the Bourbons, "Nevertheless, gentlemen, it was here the Restoration
was accomplished." And then he would describe in his admirable manner
the proceedings of that time, and point out the spot occupied by each
of the party in the month of May 1814. "At the corner of the table,"
he would say, "sat the Emperor Alexander, there the King of Prussia,
and here the Grand Duke Constantine; a little farther off were Pozzo
di Borgo, Nesselrode, and Hardenberg--yes, gentlemen, it was here, in
this little room, that we restored the throne of the Bourbons, and
the monarchy of 1400 years." And this he would repeat with a sardonic
smile which marked his dissatisfaction, and perhaps was an index of
some future design of overturning what he had so easily raised. When a
monarchy has been restored within the narrow limits of a drawing-room,
it cannot be supposed to inspire very great confidence. Such was the
secret thought of this great contriver of events.
[11] Histoire de la Restauration.
Up to the arrival of Louis XVIII. Talleyrand was at the head of the
provisional government; all the responsibility rested with him, and
he had cause to reproach himself with many evil actions which were
connected with the spirit of that period, for there are seasons when
the human mind does not belong to itself; it is hurried on by the
rapid course of ideas, it is imbued with a spirit of reaction. Has
the mission of M. de Maubreuil ever been perfectly explained? What
was its object? Some people will tell you he received no orders,
except to prevent the crown diamonds from being carried away; but
other accounts tell a very different story, and assert that he was
intrusted to perform a deed of blood, similar perhaps to that which had
destroyed the last of the Condés. I can positively declare that M. de
Maubreuil never had any direct conversation or personal interview with
Talleyrand. He took care never to appear in deplorable circumstances of
this kind; and all that passed was as follows: One of the confidential
secretaries of the minister said to M. de Maubreuil, in perfectly
plain language, "This is what the prince requires of you; here is your
warrant and a sum of money, and as a proof of what I say, and of his
assent, remain in the _salon_ to-day, and he will pass through and
bend his head in token of approbation." The sign was made, and M. de
Maubreuil considered himself perfectly authorised to undertake the
mission. What, I repeat, was its object? The time is hardly yet arrived
which makes it allowable to tell and to publish every thing; I judge no
man's conduct, I only repeat that there are times when people do not
appear to belong to themselves.
On his arrival in Paris, Louis XVIII. appointed Talleyrand
prime-minister with the direction of foreign affairs; thus leaving
him the supreme charge of all diplomatic negotiations, as a mark of
gratitude and a pledge of general peace. A treaty was signed, France
returned to her ancient territory and her ancient dynasty, as it had
been decided after the events of Paris; all diplomatic questions of
general interest were afterwards to be settled in the congress of
the allied powers, fixed to take place at Vienna, where Talleyrand
was appointed ambassador extraordinary to represent the King of
France,--a mission he was certainly fully entitled to expect. In the
month of November all the French legation arrived at Vienna, and
the ambassador displayed great activity. It was necessary to place
France in a favourable position, which was very difficult after all
the wars and the disasters she had had to encounter; and we must do
justice to the great abilities and exertions of Prince Talleyrand,
for, in spite of the state of humiliation to which she was reduced, he
succeeded in establishing her in the first rank; it was also owing to
his intervention that the younger branch of the Bourbons was restored
at Naples. Louis XVIII. was the means of saving Saxony from imminent
danger, and finally, towards the close of the congress, Talleyrand
entered into an intimate league with Metternich and Lord Castlereagh
to prevent the encroachments of Russia in Poland, and concluded in the
month of February[12] 1815 a secret treaty with England and Austria,
where the possibility of war was looked forward to, and the necessary
arrangements made for such a contingency. I have given the curious
original elsewhere.[13]
[12] Signed in the month of March, _vide_ Metternich.--_Tr._
[13] Histoire de la Restauration.
During the whole time of the Congress of Vienna, the desire for an
alliance with England and a feeling of antipathy for Russia never
ceased to possess the mind of Prince Talleyrand; he followed up this
system of regard and hatred with the utmost tenacity; he even went so
far as to write, in his secret correspondence with Louis XVIII., "that
a Russian princess did not come of a sufficiently good family for the
Duc de Berri, and that it ought not to be thought of, as the house of
Romanof could not place itself on a level with that of Bourbon." This
circumstance was never forgotten by the Emperor Alexander, who from
this time forward entertained an extreme dislike for Talleyrand, and
his aversion became still more violent after the events of 1815, when
the secret treaty concluded in the month of March came to his knowledge.
Napoleon landed in the Gulf of Juan, and his rapid march upon Paris
excited the greatest alarm in the Congress of Vienna. The activity
of the French ambassador redoubled its vehemence, for Napoleon had
outlawed him in his decrees dated from Lyons, and he in his turn
revenged himself by causing Buonaparte to be placed at the ban of the
empire. He took great pains to obtain this result, the declaration
of the Congress of Vienna was his work, and it was he that induced
Lord Castlereagh and Metternich to sign it. From this moment the
coalition was in motion, and France was again threatened with an
irruption of myriads of armed men, when the battle of Waterloo a second
time terminated the sway of Napoleon. When a power is at an end,
all attempts to restore it are in vain, it is merely the flash that
precedes the extinction of an expiring light.