busy than with Prince Talleyrand, during the latter years of his
life. Every step he took, every gesture, every action, was made the
subject of the most contradictory reports. He had now attained his
eighty-fourth year, and it was evident his faculties were beginning to
suffer considerably from his advanced age. He was merely the shadow
of his former self. Every now and then there would be a gleam of his
powerful intellect, but they would soon disappear again in the weakness
caused by extreme age, and so busy and exhausted a life. He could no
longer walk a single step, but was carried about or wheeled in a chair,
and the slightest jolt drew from him tears of suffering--most miserable
resemblance that exists between decrepitude and childhood! In fact, his
career was come to an end, though they in vain strove to prolong it by
endeavouring to rouse him.
That career had indeed been marvellous, and though Prince Talleyrand
be reproached with the constant changeableness of his opinions, we may
observe the same principle predominant under all circumstances--the
alliance with England. I have selected the Duc de Richelieu as the
type of the Russian alliance, and in comparing the services of these
two political characters, we shall easily discover that the duke did
more service to his country during the short time that he held the
reins of government than Prince Talleyrand in his lengthened career,
because Richelieu had adopted a more national plan, one more favourable
to our foreign interests. Talleyrand never was subservient to any
particular government or doctrine. He had a sort of personal feeling
which degenerated into selfishness. He did not betray Napoleon in the
literal sense of the word, he only quitted him in time; neither did he
actually betray the Restoration, he abandoned it when it was abandoning
itself. No doubt there is a good deal of selfishness in this system,
whose first thought is of its own situation and fortune, and afterwards
of the government it serves; but, perhaps, it is hardly to be expected
we should find in men of very great talent the degree of self-denial
which leads to a blind devotion towards a person or a cause. Talleyrand
was a little inclined to apply to himself the expressions he was
accustomed to address to his _employés_ when he was minister for
foreign affairs: "There are two things, gentlemen, which I forbid in
the most positive manner,--too much zeal and too absolute devotion,
because they compromise both persons and affairs." Such was the mind
of Talleyrand; with a cold heart and barren imagination, he was
compared to a real tactician, judging men and parties with mathematical
precision. He reserved all his activity for the decisive moments which
overturned thrones and governments, when he considered prompt action as
of importance. In revolutions his experience had been very great; he
immediately understood the value of a situation, and decided upon it by
an apophthegm, which at once struck home. His was, perhaps, the mind
which was most capable of foreseeing, least able to prevent, and most
skilled in deriving advantage from the different phases of empires.
But now his life was drawing to a close, and symptoms of approaching
death appeared on every side. For a long time he had been afflicted
with a painful complaint, which he bore with less resignation than he
had exhibited under political events; the attacks were very violent,
and the prince became subject to constant fainting fits--warning
symptoms of the approach of his last enemy. The total decay of
Talleyrand was apparent to every body; the sharpness and delicacy of
his wit every now and then shot forth a dying gleam, but the _man_
was at an end. His visits to the Tuileries were a most melancholy
spectacle, a sad memorial of the nothingness of human greatness.
Alas! that vast intellect was fast sinking into second childhood.
His complaint was incurable; it was in the first place old age, and
then, also, an old affection of anthrax, or white gangrene, for which
he was obliged to undergo a very painful operation, and after it was
performed the agonies of death followed in rapid succession. He was
perfectly aware of the danger of his situation, and considered it
a point of dignity not to appear alarmed, but went through all the
proper etiquette with death. For a considerable time he had been in
communication with a pious ecclesiastic in Paris; before him was the
example of his family, and the recollection of his uncle the Cardinal,
of blessed memory; and of late years his benefactions to the chapel
of Valençay had been very great, both in magnificent donations and
pious endowments. Though he had forgotten his religious obligations,
he had never made an open profession of impiety, and had preserved a
considerable degree of loftiness of mind, so that when the thought of
death was presented to him he did not shrink from a retractation. No
person was better aware of the weakness and puerile vanity of professed
free-thinkers.
This retractation was not the offspring of a sudden impulse; on the
contrary, it had been concerted three months before with infinite
care, as if it had been a diplomatic paper sent to the church. Full
of submission, yet with a mixture of dignity, the prince addressed
it to the sovereign pontiff, repenting all his participation in the
scandals by which his life had been stained, particularly his adhesion
to the civil constitution of the clergy; and he now acknowledged the
jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Paris, and submitted to the Catholic
laws of the holy see. This was the manner in which he prepared for
death. Accounts of the state of his health were incessantly despatched
to Neuilly; he had rendered great services to Louis Philippe, who had
often consulted him and derived the benefit of his experience, and who
was now resolved to pay a last visit to the last descendant of the
Périgords. When the king was announced, the prince said with a feeble
voice, but without any appearance of emotion, as if the attention were
due to him,--"It is the greatest honour my house has received."
There was a strong aristocratic feeling in the expression, 'My house;'
it signified that, though the visit was honourable to his family, there
was nothing to cause surprise in it. Neither did he forget, even at
that moment, the etiquette which forbids that any body should stand in
the presence of a sovereign without being presented, and he immediately
added, in a calm tone, "I have a duty to fulfil--it is to present to
your majesty the persons who are in the room, and who have not yet had
that honour;" and he introduced his physician, his surgeon, and his
_valet-de-chambre_. This behaviour when at the point of death bore
the stamp of high aristocratic manners, perfectly in keeping with the
visit with which his last moments had been honoured; it was part of
the decorum and ancient ceremony observed between noble families; the
escutcheons of both bore the same relative rank; the youngest branch
of the Bourbons went to visit the youngest branch of the Périgords. In
ancient times the houses of Navarre and De Quercy had met together on
the common field of battle, and the cry _Re que Diou_ had been uttered
at the same time with the war-cry of Henry IV., by the old southern
nobility, the language of _Oc_ being common to both.
People expressed surprise at the signal honour conferred upon
Talleyrand, but it shewed that the customs of gentle blood were not
comprehended by the spirit of inferior society. No one was more
attached to his illustrious descent than the old diplomatist, and
the younger branch of the Bourbons came itself of too good a stock
to forget it; the two cadets of De Quercy and Navarre had met in the
recollection of their race, as in their political life.
Surrounded by his family in his last moments, and assisted by the
pious offices of the Abbé Dupanloup, vicar-general of the diocese of
Paris, Prince Talleyrand received the sacraments of the Church, for
he had been again admitted into her bosom, and, before expiring, he
again uttered one of those happy expressions which were so often upon
his lips. Observing one of his grandnieces dressed entirely in white,
according to the custom observed before the first communion, he raised
his heavy eyelids, kissed her forehead, gave her his blessing, and then
turning to the spectators, he said, "See the way of the world--there is
the beginning, here the end!" In a few minutes afterwards he expired,
on the 18th of May, 1838, at ten minutes before four o'clock in the
afternoon, having just completed his eighty-fourth year. He left a
will, by which his immense fortune was well and wisely disposed of. Has
he also left memoirs? I think I know; but these memoirs are deposited
in the hands of his family, or of other people of whose discretion he
was quite secure.
Well, then, must I confess it? I do not believe them to be in any way
curious. People talk a great deal about these pretended revelations,
but I still repeat that they are few in number. Talleyrand only wrote
what he pleased, he only committed public transactions to paper; and
it is well known that, in reading these memoirs, he used to dwell
with pleasure on the mischievous pranks of the young abbé. Was it
the reminiscence of his youth that he enjoyed? I am inclined to think
so, for I have always observed that this feeling is very strong among
statesmen. Would you wish to awaken in the mind of Pozzo di Borgo
all the vigour of his intellectual powers?--speak to him of Corsica
and Paoli; would you bring a ray of delight and unreserve to unbend
the brow of Metternich?--talk to him of his embassy to Paris in the
beginning of the Empire, those days of pleasure and dissipation.
My idea is, that the memoirs of the man who played so conspicuous a
part in the political history of the world will consist principally
of two parts--emotions and justifications: emotions, because people
always remember them, they filter through the whole tenour of their
lives, they dwell in the brain of man, and rule over his thoughts; and
justifications will undoubtedly be required for the several fatal deeds
committed during the life of Prince Talleyrand.
In the course of that long life too much regard was shewn to customs
and ceremonies, which are merely the trappings of life, and too little
to duty and conscience, which are its foundation and object. He
attended too much to the outward matters of existence--to riches, to
honour, to decency of behaviour, but he thought nothing of the delicacy
of mind, which is the strongest pledge of an honest man employed in
public affairs. I am not fonder of simpletons in politics than other
people, but, for the honour of mankind, I am willing to believe men may
be clever and still retain perfect probity and good faith. It would
be too dreadful to suppose that one cannot be a statesman without a
complete abdication of the government of one's heart. Surely a strong
head and powerful abilities are not the sole requisites for regulating
the affairs of a government.
COUNT POZZO DI BORGO.
There is no county in Europe whose national character is so ancient,
so thoroughly peculiar, as the Island of Corsica. Imagine a vast
landscape of Salvator Rosa's, with all the features which he alone was
capable of depicting, and whose type he has sought in Calabria and the
Abruzzi; add to this a people whose disposition is hardy and obstinate;
whose affections, love, hatred, or jealousy, are perpetuated from one
generation to another; whose proud and patriotic attachment to their
native soil forms part of their earliest existence, and terminates only
with their life; also cities cheerful as those of Tuscany, and wild,
uncultivated, mountainous districts; you will still have but a feeble
representation of Corsica, that picturesque and fertile island of the
Mediterranean.
The population is divided into two distinct races; the one
comprehending the old aboriginal families, the other composed of
foreign colonists, the greater part descended from refugees who were
compelled to fly from revolutions in Piémont, Genoa, and Tuscany, and
were successively deposited in the island, like the layers of lava
around a volcano. To the first of these races belong the Paolis and
the Pozzo di Borgos; to the second, the Buonapartes and the Salicettis.
According to the usual custom among primitive nations, each family
forms a clan, and each village a community; sentiments are inherited
like the patrimony of the family--it is like ancient Rome suckled by a
wolf in the time of the companions of Romulus.
The family of the Pozzo di Borgos, as I have already stated, belongs to
the aboriginal races; its antiquity may be ascertained by consulting
the book of the statutes of Corsica, and also the history of the
feudal war between the Castellans of Montechi and the city of Ajaccio,
of which they even disputed the sovereignty. One of the family is
mentioned in the charters as orator of the people, and at the time
the island was under the dominion of Genoa, the illustrious Pozzo di
Borgo is described as attorney-general for the provinces of Ajaccio and
Sartene; his name, like that of the Paolis, was Pascal. His opponents,
even at that period, were from the family of the Bacciochi, then
merely merchants of Ajaccio; and his notary was Jerome Buonaparte, who
certifies the mission of Captain Secondos Pozzo di Borgo, deputy to
the republic of Genoa.[16] There is some pleasure in relating these
circumstances, because the life of Count Pozzo di Borgo, during its
whole course, appeared to be connected with ancient times. Nothing
is forgotten on that burning soil, and we shall again meet with
the Paolis, the Buonapartes, the Pozzos, the Bacciochis, and the
Salicettis, engaged in the most important conflicts on the theatre
of the great world, as they had formerly been in the little town of
Ajaccio.
[16] "Il nobile Pasquale Pozzo di Borgo, oratore dei popoli di là da'
monti in Corsica...." 1584.
"... Per egregium virum Pasqualem Pozzo di Borgo, civem Adjacii,
oratorem et procuratorem populorum provinciæ Adjacii et Sartenæ, et
aliorum hominum ultra montes Corsicæ."
"Tutta la provincia di là da' monti nell' isola di Corsica in
generale, ha eletto per oratore il Capitano Secondo Pozzo di Borgo
sì per assistere presso le VV. SS...." 1597.
All these charters are extracted from the work published by the wise
and judicious magistrate, C. Gregori, _Statuti Civili e Criminali di
Corsica_.
In disturbed times European diplomacy employs two powerful engines of
political research; in the first place, accredited ambassadors, who
examine and decide upon affairs in a regular and almost a classical
manner; and secondly, active agents, the greater part of whom are
military men employed to travel about in Europe, for the purpose of
ascertaining accurately the strength and the resources of each power.
During the time of the French Republic and the Empire of Napoleon,
England and Russia considerably augmented the number of their military
diplomatists, and this may be said to have been the first employment of
Charles Andrew Pozzo di Borgo, before the Russian cabinets had decided
upon pursuing a regular and comprehensive system. The people of the
south of Europe are especially gifted with a quick, subtle, and acute
understanding, and the Corsicans add to these qualities an obstinate
adherence to their purpose, and a rugged sentiment of their own rights,
which formed such prominent features in the character of Buonaparte.
Metternich is fond of repeating, "It was not the armies of Napoleon
that occasioned us the most uneasiness; it was his inventive spirit,
his acute subtleties, in short, his diabolical intellect, by which we
Germans were hemmed in and entangled on every side." Count Pozzo di
Borgo possessed the same species of sharp and sagacious activity; in
that country there was a sort of general type common to all, like the
bronzed complexion and the sparkling, searching eyes.
A few leagues from Ajaccio lies a small village, which bears the name
of Pozzo di Borgo (well of the city); tradition says, however, that the
family of that name inhabited the little fort of Montechi among the
mountains: the Pozzis, the Poggis, and the Pazzis, were all families
of the middle ages. As it was in Germany with the Castellans of the
Seven Mountains, so also in Corsica the nobles reckoned their pedigree
from some of the highest peaks in the island, under the shelter of
rocks and wild fig-trees, where so many black crosses, symbols of
_Vendetta_, are still to be seen. When Corsica was annexed to France,
the noble descent of the Pozzos was substantiated by a supreme council
of the island. The subject of this memoir was born the same year as
Napoleon, if we rectify a little the date assigned by chronologists to
the latter event. He first saw the light on the 8th of March, 1768, and
had, therefore, attained his majority at the time of the revolution,
when the popular agitation produced a most startling and arousing
effect upon Corsica; and as if awaking from slumber two parties started
up--a national party, and one devoted to the French interests. Paoli
and Pozzo di Borgo indulged in dreams of the independence of their
country, but without the intervention of foreign aid. The Buonapartes,
who had for a short time ranged themselves under the banner of Paoli,
afterwards joined the Arenas and the Salicettis, partisans of the
French and Jacobin school. Before these divisions had assumed a
very decided complexion, they contented themselves with giving an
enthusiastic welcome to the revolution; intoxication prevailed every
where, and at the age of twenty-two years Pozzo di Borgo, secretary to
the corps of the nobility, was despatched as deputy-extraordinary to
the National Assembly.
This primary office afterwards led to his appointment to the definitive
deputation; and as the friend of Paoli, a circumstance which at that
time conferred the greatest popularity, young Pozzo took his seat in
that insane convocation, which, under the name of the Legislative
Assembly, and in the midst of tumults and massacres, soon made an
end of the French monarchy. He was appointed one of the diplomatic
committee, at the time their proceedings were conducted in so singular
a manner by Brissot, under whose management despatches to foreign
powers consisted of speeches borrowed from the tragedy of "Brutus,"
and directed against Austria and Prussia. Such language ought to have
been backed by victories, but the Legislative Assembly had not as yet
the internal strength of which, at a later period, the convocation
became possessed, through the energy of its committee of public safety.
The Legislative Assembly threw every thing into disorder: at war with
the ministers of the king, governed by the idea of a republic, yet
without daring openly to proclaim it, they permitted the horrors of the
10th of August, and the 7th of September, to take place before their
eyes. This wretched meeting possessed neither the brilliancy of the
Constituent Assembly nor the terrible authority of the Convention, but
always represented a state of transition, which is invariably one of
mediocrity, because men dare not undertake any thing, nor, indeed, are
they capable of doing so.
Pozzo very rarely appeared in the tribune, but whenever he had occasion
so to do, for the purpose of expressing the opinions of the committee,
he had recourse to the favourite phraseology of the period, for
which less blame is due to the orators than to the general bent of
the public mind: it was the pleasure of society to be governed after
that fashion. I have preserved some fragments of a speech made by
him on the 16th July, 1792, with the object of inducing the assembly
to declare war against Germany. It is well known that two different
parties were at that time equally desirous of commencing hostilities
in Europe--the court party, who, being desirous of placing Louis
at the head of an overpowering public force, considered war as the
most probable means of attaining a military dictatorship; while, on
the other hand, the republican faction, headed by the Girondists,
entertained hopes that the democratic principle would be more easily
rendered triumphant in the midst of tumults and excesses. Pozzo di
Borgo was the willing representative of the Girondist party at the
tribune. "The German confederation," said he, "whose independence is
naturally protected by France, the only power capable of preserving
it from the insatiable ambition of Austria, has beheld with joy
the formation of that formidable league intended to overturn your
constitution: their territory is already overrun by the enemy's troops,
the northern league seeks to reduce the whole of Europe into a state of
servitude, and exhibits every where a menacing appearance, supported
by a strong force of mercenaries covered with iron and greedy of gold,
to whom all usurpations will become easy. To the French nation belongs
the task of preserving the world from this terrible scourge, and of
repairing the mischiefs occasioned by the shameful carelessness, or the
perfidious malignity of those, who view with indifference the utter
destruction of all kinds of liberty. The French nation, by combating
all the common enemies of mankind, will have the glory of restoring
the political harmony which will preserve Europe from general slavery.
We have contracted a vast debt towards the whole world, it is the
establishment and the practice of the rights of man upon the earth;
and Liberty, fertile in virtues and talents, affords us abundant
means of discharging it in full. Our enemies' hopes, no doubt, have
been raised by the transient dissensions that disturb our unanimity;
they augur from thence the disorganisation of our government, but we
will not accomplish their guilty desires. We are well aware that in
the present state of affairs a change in our political institutions
would necessarily occasion an interregnum in the laws, a suspension of
authority, licentiousness, mischief in all parts of the kingdom, and
the inevitable loss of our liberty. Our vigilance will preserve without
destroying; it will place the traitors in a state in which they will
be incapable of injuring us; and by the stability of our government
we will deprive the ambitious of all the opportunities they hope for,
in the incessant changes and revolutions incident to empires. By thus
uniting energy and wisdom, we may attain to perfect and glorious
success."
It may be observed that in the midst of these expressions, set forth in
the phraseology then in fashion, the stability of the government and
the necessity for preserving order were spoken of by M. Pozzo di Borgo,
both of which principles were afterwards displayed in the highest
degree in his mind.
The mission of the Legislative Assembly being concluded, the deputy
returned to Corsica, and was associated with General Paoli for the
direction of the administration of the island. The shocks sustained
by the people had added fresh energy to their patriotic character, a
public spirit was aroused, a proud independence in accordance with the
national feelings of the ancient Corsica. Does not every people long
for liberty? The Girondists had dreamed of federalism for France; and
Paoli, in his turn, took a pride in forming a republic which should be
perfectly independent and detached from the surrounding sovereignties.
Paoli was a man of powerful understanding, completely the child of
nature, and already old in years, though young in energy. He delighted
in the idea of a Corsican republic, as being in some measure a return
towards primitive habits; and this motive was strengthened by the
horror inspired by the revolutionary events that were taking place in
France. So ardent an enthusiasm never was known as that with which he
inspired the Corsican families dwelling among the most rugged peaks
of that mountainous country, and whose sole passion appeared to be a
vehement love of liberty, acquired by the most laborious efforts.