FROM CLOSE OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO CONSULATE.
M. de Talleyrand in London.--Manner and
appearance.--Witticisms.--Visit to England.--Lord Grenville
refuses to discuss business with him.--Goes to Paris; returns
with letter from King.--State of affairs in France prevents
success of any mission in England.--Arrives in Paris just prior
to the 10th of August.--Escapes and returns to England, the
16th of September, 1792.--Writes to Lord Grenville, declaring
he has no mission.--Sent away the 28th of January, 1794.--Goes
to America.--Waits until the death of Robespierre.--Gets then
permission to return to France.--Chénier declares that he was
employed by Provisional Government in 1792, when he had told
Lord Grenville he was not.--Successful reception.--Description
of Directory and of society at that time.--Chosen Secretary
of Institute, and read two remarkable memoirs to it.--Named
Minister of Foreign Affairs.--Sides with Barras and
Executive against the Assemblies.--Negotiations at Lille
broken off.--Address to diplomatic agents.--Peace of Campo
Formio.--Bonaparte goes to Egypt.--Democrats triumph in the
Directory.--M. de Talleyrand quits office, and publishes an
answer to accusations made against him.--Paris tired with the
Directory.--Bonaparte returns from Egypt.--Talleyrand unites
with Sieyès to overturn the Government, and place power in
Bonaparte’s hands.
I.
When M. de Talleyrand made his first appearance in our country, many
persons in it still continued favourable to the French Revolution,
and viewed with esteem those who had rather sought to destroy crying
abuses than to put fantastical theories into practice. Thus, although
naturally preceded by the calumnies which were certain to be circulated
about a man who had played so remarkable a part on so eventful a scene
as that which he had just quitted, the ex-Bishop of Autun was, on
the whole, well received by a large portion of our aristocracy, and
became particularly intimate at Lansdowne House. The father of the late
marquis mentioned to me that he remembered him dining there frequently,
and being particularly silent and particularly pale. A contemporary,
indeed, describes M. de Talleyrand at this time as aiming to impose on
the world by an air of extreme reserve:--
“His manner was cold, he spoke little, his countenance, which in early
youth had been distinguished for its grace and delicacy, had become
somewhat puffed and rounded, and to a certain degree effeminate,
being in singular contrast with a deep and serious voice which no one
expected to accompany such a physiognomy. Rather avoiding than making
advances, neither indiscreet, nor gay, nor familiar, but sententious,
formal, and scrutinizing,--the English hardly knew what to make of a
Frenchman who so little represented the national character.
“But this exterior was a mask, which he threw off in the circles
in which he was at his ease, talking in these freely, taking the
greatest pains to please, and being remarkable for the choice of his
expressions and a certain epigrammatic wit, which had a singular charm
for those who were accustomed to his society. His was the saying cited
by Chamfort, _à propos_ of Rulhières,[27] who--on observing that he
did not know why he was called ill-natured, for in all his life he
had never done but one ill-natured action--was replied to by M. de
Talleyrand’s drily observing, ‘_Et quand finira-t-elle?_’--‘when will
it end?’
“One evening, playing at long whist, the conversation turned on an old
lady who had married her footman; some people expressed their surprise,
when M. de Talleyrand, counting his points, drawled out in a slow
voice, ‘_At nine, one does not count honours_.’
“Another time,” says the person from whom I am quoting, “we were
speaking of the infamy of a colleague, when I burst out by exclaiming,
‘That man is capable of assassinating any one!’ ‘_Assassinating, no!_’
said M. de Talleyrand, coolly; ‘_poisoning, yes!_’
“His manner of narrating was full of grace; he was a model of good
taste in conversation. Indolent, voluptuous, born for wealth and
grandeur, he accustomed himself in exile to a life simple and full of
privations, sharing with his friends the produce of his magnificent
library, which he sold very ill, the spirit of party preventing many
from becoming purchasers.”
This description, from Dumont (pp. 361, 362), is interesting as
a personal sketch at one of the most critical periods of M. de
Talleyrand’s life; that is, at the commencement of his career as
a diplomatist; for the voyage to England which he was now making,
first suggested to Louis XVI. by M. de Montmorin, and subsequently
realized by the minister who succeeded him, was (though this could
not be officially avowed on account of the self-denying ordinance of
the National Assembly) of an official character; a fact suspected if
not known at the time. Lord Gower, indeed (our ambassador at Paris),
speaks of it in January as a _mission_ of peace. Lord Grenville, in
a communication to Lord Gower, in February, says M. de Talleyrand
had brought him a letter from M. Delessart, then Minister of Foreign
Affairs, and in March again he thus writes:[28]
“I have seen Monsieur de Talleyrand twice since his arrival on the
business of his _mission_ to this country.
“The first time he explained to me very much at large the disposition
of the French government and nation to enter into the closest
connection with Great Britain, and proposed that this should be done
by a mutual guarantee, or in such other manner as the government of
this country should propose. Having stated this, he earnestly requested
that he might not receive any answer at the time, but that he might
see me again for that purpose. I told him that, in compliance with
his request, I would see him again for the object he wished, though
I thought it fair to apprise him that, in all probability, my answer
would be confined to the absolute impossibility of entering into any
kind of discussion or negotiation on points of so delicate a nature
with a person having no official authority to treat upon them. When I
did see him again I repeated this to him, telling him it was the only
answer I could give to any proposal that he might make to me, although
I had no difficulty in saying to him individually, as I had to every
Frenchman with whom I had conversed on the present state of France,
that it was very far from being the disposition of H. M. Government to
foment or prolong any disturbances there with a view of any profit to
be derived from them to this country.”
The coyness of Lord Grenville to enter into political discussions at
this moment with M. de Talleyrand might arise in some degree from
the position of the French ministry, for though M. de Talleyrand had
brought a letter, as has been said, from M. Delessart, who belonged
to the more moderate section of the French ministry, his intimate
friend in it was the Comte de Narbonne; named, just previous to M. de
Talleyrand’s departure, minister of war, and who, being the youngest
and most ardent member of the government, was all for an immediate war
with Austria, as the only means of saving France from the internal
agitation that was preying on her, and the only means of definitively
separating the King from the French _émigrés_ and the court of Vienna,
whose counsels rendered it impossible to count on his conduct.
M. de Talleyrand shared these ideas. Narbonne’s colleagues, however,
soon began to think the young soldier’s views, to which they had at
one time half assented, were too adventurous; and M. de Talleyrand’s
position becoming more and more difficult, was, after Lord Grenville’s
conversation in March, untenable. He returned, therefore, to Paris, and
on arriving at its gates, learnt that M. de Narbonne was out of office.
But the moderate Constitutionalists who thought of governing without
M. de Narbonne had not been employed till their party had lost its
influence, and were unable to stem the opposition to which the removal
of their popular colleague had given a new impulse. They soon,
therefore, gave way to the celebrated Gironde, a band which, though
rigid in its own principles of conduct, was not indisposed to profit
by the assistance of able men less scrupulous; and General Dumouriez,
a clever and bold adventurer, became minister of foreign affairs. He
had precisely the same views as Narbonne with respect to a war with
Austria, and thought that it was of the utmost importance to make sure
of the neutrality of England.
M. de Talleyrand had, as we learn from Lord Gower, the address to
speak satisfactorily of the sentiments of the British Government after
returning from his late expedition, and to attribute whatever was
unfriendly in its language to the irregularity of the character he had
appeared in. He was again chosen, then, as the French negotiator; and
though, as in the former instance, he could not be named ambassador,
everything that the law permitted was done to give weight to his
character;--Louis XVI. giving him a letter to George III. expressive
of his confidence in the bearer. In the meantime, M. de Chauvelin, a
gentleman of fashion, professing popular principles, but who would
never have been placed in so important a post had not M. de Talleyrand
been his counsellor, was named minister plenipotentiary.
M. Dumouriez announces this double appointment to Lord Grenville on
the 21st of April, that is, the day after the declaration of war with
Austria, saying--
“That M. de Talleyrand, in his recent voyage to London, had stated to
Lord Grenville the desire of the French government to contract the
most intimate relations with Great Britain. That it was particularly
desirable at that moment, when France was on the eve of a war that she
had not been able to avoid, to assure herself of the friendship of that
government which could most aid in bringing about a peace; that for
this object M. de Chauvelin had been named minister plenipotentiary, a
gentleman chosen on account of the knowledge which his Majesty had of
his person, sentiments, and talents; and that to him had been adjoined,
in consequence of the extreme importance of the negotiation, M. de
Talleyrand (whose abilities were well known to Lord Grenville), and M.
de Roveray,[29] formerly _procureur-général_ in Geneva--a gentleman
known in Switzerland as well as in France; and the King hoped that the
efforts of three persons, understanding the situation of France, and
enjoying great confidence with the French people, would not be without
result.”
This letter was dated, as we have said, on the 21st April, but the
embassy did not reach its destination till the month of May: M. de
Chauvelin having been at first displeased with the adjunction of M.
de Talleyrand, and not indisposed to prolong his dissatisfaction, had
not the minister, fatigued with quarrels about trifles at so critical
a moment, terminated them by saying, “M. de Talleyrand s’amuse, M. de
Chauvelin fronde, M. de Roveray marchande:[30] if these gentlemen are
not off by to-morrow night they will be superseded.”
The story (told by Dumont) is worth notice, as showing the careless
indolence which the _ci-devant_ bishop often affected in the affairs
which he had most at heart--an indolence which he afterwards justified
by the well-known maxim, “Point de zèle, Monsieur!”[31]
II.
It was not for want of zeal, however, that this second mission,
notwithstanding the King’s letter, was even more unsuccessful than
the first; but for another very good reason: viz., that whatever MM.
de Chauvelin or Talleyrand might say and do in London, the turn which
affairs were taking more and more decidedly at Paris was such as could
not but destroy the credit of any agent of the French government.
The Legislative Assembly had been especially framed to place power in
the hands of the middle classes, and was intended to be alike hostile
to the nobles and the mob.
But the middle class, the most weighty auxiliary that a government can
have, is rarely found capable of directing a government. Vergniaud and
Roland, who were on this occasion its organs, lost week by week their
prestige; the rabble, which forced the palace on the 20th of June,
began day by day to be more convinced of its power. What authority
remained to the representative of a sovereign whose habitation was not
secure and whose person was insulted?
Amidst such events the Revolution lost in England most of its early
patrons. Fox, Sheridan, and a few of their particular clique, formed
the sole associates of the French embassy; and Dumont, whom I again
quote as a trustworthy witness, describes a scene at Ranelagh which
testifies the general unpopularity in England of every Frenchman having
an official position.
“At our arrival we perceived a buzzing sound of voices saying, ‘Here
comes the French embassy!’ Regards, evincing curiosity but not amity,
were directed at once towards our battalion, for we were eight or
ten, and we soon ascertained that we should not want space for our
promenade, every one retreated to the right and left at our approach,
as if they were afraid that there was contagion in our very atmosphere.”
M. de Talleyrand, seeing that all attempt to negotiate under such
circumstances was vain, returned to Paris just previous to the 10th
August, and was there when the wavering and unfortunate Louis XVI. lost
his crown by a combination between the Girondins and the Jacobins: the
first wishing to have the appearance of a victory, the latter aiming
at the reality. M. de Talleyrand had been the object of attack when
the united Republicans were mustering their forces for the combat,
and he felt himself by no means secure after their triumph. The
popular movement had now in truth swept over all the ideas and all the
individuals it had commenced with; its next excesses were likely to be
still more terrible than the last, and the wary diplomatist thought
that the best thing he could do was to get back to England as soon as
possible.
III.
He got his passport from Danton, then in the provisional government,
and whom he knew as an early partisan of the Duc d’Orléans; and he
used, when last in London, to tell a story as to the manner in which
he obtained it by a timely smile at a joke, which the jocular and
truculent tribune had just passed on another petitioner. But I shall
have presently to allude further to this passport. The bearer of it but
just escaped in time.
Among the papers found in the famous iron cupboard, discovered at the
Tuileries, was the following letter from M. de Laporte, the intendant
of the King’s household, to whom I have already alluded as having
communicated the wishes of the King as to M. de Talleyrand’s first
mission, and dated the 22nd of April, 1791:
“SIRE,
“J’adresse à Votre Majesté une lettre écrite avant-hier, et que
je n’ai reçue qu’hier après-midi; elle est de l’évêque d’Autun
qui paraît désirer servir Votre Majesté. Il m’a fait dire
qu’elle pouvait faire l’essai de son zèle, et de son crédit, et
lui désigner les points où elle désirait l’employer.”[32]
The original communication, however, here alluded to, was not
discovered: and M. de Talleyrand himself boldly denied that it had
ever been written. It is possible that he knew it was destroyed (it
is said that he purchased it from Danton), but at all events, various
concomitant circumstances seemed to prove that he had been more in the
interest and confidence of the Court than he could now safely avow; and
the Convention issuing and maintaining a decree of accusation against
him, he was unable to return to France on the 8th April, 1793, which he
ought to have done in order not to be comprised in the general list of
_émigrés_, and was thus forced to remain in England.
The first thing he had done on arriving there was to address the
following letter to Lord Grenville:--
“18th September, Kensington Square.[33]
“MY LORD,
“I have the honour of informing you that I arrived in England
two days ago. The relations which I had the advantage of having
with you, during my stay in London, make this a duty to me.
“I should reproach myself for not promptly performing it, and
for not offering my first homage to the minister whose mind has
shown itself on a level with the great events of the present
times, and who has always manifested views so pure, and a love
of liberty so enlightened.
“On my first voyages, the King had intrusted me with a mission
to which I attached the greatest value. I wished to hasten the
moment of the prosperity of France, and consequently connect
her, if possible, with England.
“I hardly, indeed, dared to hope for such a blessing in our
circumstances, but I could not resolve not to make exertions
for attaining it.
“The assurance you vouchsafed to give us of the neutrality of
your government at the epoch of the war, appeared to me most
auspicious.
“Since that moment, everything has cruelly changed amongst us;
and although nothing can ever unrivet my heart or my wishes
from France, and though I live in the hope of returning thither
as soon as the laws shall have resumed their reign, I must tell
you, my Lord, and I am desirous that you should know, that I
have at this time _absolutely no kind of mission in England_,
that I have come here solely for the purpose of seeking repose,
and the enjoyment of liberty in the midst of its true friends.
“If, however, my Lord Grenville should wish to know what France
is at this moment, what are the different parties that disturb
her, and what is the new provisional executive power, and
lastly, what is permitted to conjecture of the terrible and
frightful events of which I have almost been an eye-witness, I
shall be happy to give such information, and to avail myself
of the occasion to renew the expression of the respectful
sentiments with which I am, my Lord, your most humble and
obedient servant,
“TALLEYRAND-PÉRIGORD.”
There is no trace of Lord Grenville’s having taken any notice of this
communication.
Nothing, however, was done for some time to disturb the fugitive’s
residence amongst us.
M. de Chauvelin was sent away by the British government after the
execution of Louis XVI. on the 24th of January, 1793, and it was not
till the 28th of January, 1794 that M. de Talleyrand received an
order, under the powers conferred by the Alien Bill, to quit England.
He wrote a letter, dated 30th, to Lord Grenville, in which he begs to
be allowed to justify himself from any false accusation, declares that
if his thoughts have been often turned to France, it has only been
to deplore its disasters, repeats that he has no correspondence with
the French government, represents the calamitous condition he should
be reduced to if driven from our shores, and finally appeals to the
British minister’s humanity as well as justice.
IV.
M. DE TALLEYRAND’S DECLARATION.[34]
“My respect for the King’s Council, and my confidence in its justice,
induce me to lay before it a personal declaration more detailed than
that which, as a stranger, I am bound to lay before a magistrate.
“I came to London towards the end of January, 1792, intrusted by the
French government with a mission to the government of England. The
object of this mission, at a moment when all Europe seemed to declare
itself against France, was to induce the government of England not
to renounce the sentiments of friendship and good neighbourhood of
which it had given constant proofs towards France during the course of
the Revolution. The King, especially, whose most ardent wishes were
the preservation of a peace which seemed to him as useful to Europe
in general as to France particularly, attached great value to the
neutrality, and to the friendship of England, and he had ordered M. de
Montmorin, who retained his confidence, and M. de Laporte, to acquaint
me with his wishes on this subject. I was, moreover, instructed by
the King’s ministers to make to the government of England proposals
referring to the commercial interests of both nations. The constitution
had not allowed the King, while honouring me with his commands, to
invest me with a public capacity. This want of an official title
was held by my Lord Grenville to be an obstacle to any political
conference. I demanded, in consequence, my recall, and I returned to
France. A minister plenipotentiary was sent some time after; the King
commanded me to assist in the negotiations, and informed his Britannic
Majesty of this by a private letter. I remained attached to the duty
the King had imposed upon me until the epoch of the 10th of August,
1792. At that time I was in Paris, where I had been called by the
minister of foreign affairs. After having been for more than a month
without being able to obtain a passport, and having remained exposed
during all this time, both as an administrator of the department
of Paris, and as a member of the Constituent Assembly, to all the
dangers which can threaten life and liberty, I was at length able to
leave the French capital about the middle of September, and I have
reached England to enjoy peace and personal safety under the shelter
of a constitution protecting liberty and property. There I have been
living, as I always have done, a stranger to all discussions and all
interests of party, and having nothing to fear before just men from the
publicity of any of my political opinions, or from the knowledge of any
of my actions. Besides the motives of safety and liberty which brought
me back to England, there existed another reason, doubtless a very
legitimate one, which was some personal business, and the early sale of
a rather considerable library which I possessed in Paris, and which I
had brought over to London.
“I must add, that having become in some measure a stranger to France,
where I have maintained no other relations than those connected with my
personal affairs, and an ancient friendship, I cannot approach my own
country save by those ardent wishes which I form for the revival of its
liberty and of its happiness.
“I thought that in circumstances where ill-will may avail itself
of various prejudices in order to turn them to the profit of those
enmities due to the first periods of our revolution, it was carrying
out the views of the King’s Council, to offer it a precise exposition
of the motives for my stay in England, and an assured and irrevocable
guarantee of my respect for its constitution and its laws.
“TALLEYRAND.
“January 1, 1793.”
V.
Nothing can be more clear and precise than this declaration, but it
was ineffectual, and its writer now sailed for the United States,
carrying with him letters of recommendation from different members of
the Opposition, and, amongst others, from the Marquis of Lansdowne,
with whose intimacy, as I have said, he had been especially honoured.
Washington replied:
“30th August, 1794.
“MY LORD,
“I had the pleasure to receive the introduction from your
Lordship delivered to me by M. de Talleyrand-Périgord. I regret
very much that considerations of a political nature, and which
you will easily understand, have not permitted me as yet to
testify all the esteem I entertain for his personal character
and your recommendation.
“I hear that the general reception he has met with is such as
to console him, as far as the state of our society will permit,
for what he abandoned on quitting Europe. Time will naturally
be favourable to him wherever he may be, and one must believe
that it will elevate a man of his talents and merit above the
transitory disadvantages which result from differences as to
politics in revolutionary times.
“WASHINGTON.”
VI.
It will be seen from the foregoing communication that M. de Talleyrand
was spoken of with some respect, and that his reception in the United
States had been rather flattering than otherwise. But the French name
generally had lost its popularity; for Lafayette was an exile in the
prisons of Olmütz, and the bloodthirsty violence of the Convention and
the intrigues of its agents were in nowise congenial with American
feelings. The moment, however, was one of considerable excitement;
the able men who had hitherto formed round their venerable president
a united government were splitting up into opposing parties; the
treaty with England was under dispute; and M. de Talleyrand, intimate
with Jefferson, was active, it is said, in adding to the prevailing
agitation, and endeavouring to thwart the policy of the government
which had lately banished him from its shores. His endeavours, however,
were unsuccessful; and becoming heartily wearied with his new place
of exile, he employed what capital he had been able to save from his
varied career in fitting out a ship, in which, accompanied by M. de
Beaumetz, like himself a former member of the National Assembly, he was
about to sail for the East Indies.
But during the years that had elapsed since his quitting Paris, events
which had been rushing on with a demoniacal rapidity through almost
every horror and every crime (each phase in this terrible history being
marked by the murder of one set of assassins and the momentary rule of
another), had arrived at a new crisis.
The Gironde, whom I left trembling and triumphant on the 10th of
August, had been soon after strangled in the giant grasp of Danton.
Danton, too indolent and self-confident to be a match for his more
cool and ambitious coadjutor, had bent his lofty head beneath the
guillotine, to which he had delivered so many victims; and, finally,
Robespierre himself had just perished by the hands of men whom fear
had rendered bold, and experience brought in some degree to reason,
inasmuch as that they at last felt the necessity of re-establishing
some of those laws by which alone society can be preserved.
M. de Talleyrand on learning these occurrences determined on abandoning
his commercial enterprises and striving once more for power and fortune
amidst the shifting scenes of public affairs.
And here, as often, Fortune favoured him; for the vessel in which he
was about to embark, sailing with his friend, was never afterwards
seen or heard of. All his efforts were now bent on returning to his
native country, where he had many active in his behalf. Amongst the
most influential of these was a remarkable woman, of whose talents we
have but a faint idea from her works, which--though bearing witness
to an ardent imagination and a powerful intellect--hardly give
evidence of that natural and startling eloquence which sparkled in her
conversation. The daughter of Necker, of whom I speak, just awakening
from the horrors of a nightmare that had absorbed almost every
sentiment but fear, was at this period the centre of a circle, in which
figured the most captivating women and the ablest men, rushing with a
kind of wild joy back to those charms of society which of late years
had been banished from all places, except perhaps the prisons, wherein
alone, during what has been emphatically called the “Reign of Terror,”
any records of the national gaiety seem to have been preserved.
Amongst the intimates at Madame de Staël’s house was the surviving
Chénier (Joseph-Marie), who on the 18th of Fructidor addressed the
Convention, after the return of M. de Montesquieu had just been
allowed, in the following characteristic terms:
“I have a similar permission to demand for one of the most
distinguished members of the Constituent Assembly--M. de
Talleyrand-Périgord, the famous Bishop of Autun. Our different
ministers of Paris bear witness to his services. I have in my hands a
_memoir of which the duplicate exists in the papers of Danton_; the
date of this memoir is 25th of November, 1792, and it proves that M. de
Talleyrand was actually occupied in the affairs of the Republic when
he was proscribed by it. Thus, persecuted by Marat and Robespierre, he
was also banished by Pitt from England; but the place of exile that he
chose was the country of Franklin, where, in contemplating the imposing
spectacle of a free people, he might await the time when France should
have judges and not murderers; a Republic, and not anarchy called laws!”
How are we to reconcile this declaration with M. de Talleyrand’s solemn
protestations to Lord Grenville?
How could M. de Talleyrand have been writing memoirs to Danton and yet
have come over to England, “solely for the purpose of seeking repose?”
That the passport to which we have drawn attention bore out M.
Chénier’s affirmation _allant à Londres par nos ordres_--“going to
London by our orders”--is certain, for M. de Talleyrand afterwards
confirmed this fact in a pamphlet which we shall have by-and-by to
notice. But of the memoir we can learn nothing further.
The friends of M. de Talleyrand say that probably it never existed, or
that, if it did, it could only be a paper of no importance, and not
such a one as the English government would have objected to. They add
that the form given to the passport was the only one Danton could have
ventured to give without danger from the provisional council; that the
English government must have been acquainted with it; and that M. de
Talleyrand merely availed himself of it, and pretended that it placed
him in the position of a French agent, when this was necessary to
procure his return to France or to defend himself against the charge of
emigration.
I must leave it to his autobiography to clear up whatever is obscure in
this transaction; but at present it seems to justify the French lady,
who, when the conversation once turned on the agreeable qualities of
the Abbé de Périgord, acknowledged it would be difficult to refuse him
her favours, but that it would be impossible to give him her confidence.
VII.
At all events, Chénier’s pleading was successful. The permission to
return was granted; and, accordingly, M. de Talleyrand retraversed the
Atlantic, and, having been driven on the English coast by stress of
weather, arrived in the month of July, 1795, at Hamburg, then the place
of refuge for almost all _émigrés_, especially Orleanists, as well as
of Irish malcontents: Madame de Genlis, Madame de Flahaut, Lord Edward
FitzGerald, &c.
The condition of Europe may be briefly described at this time by
saying that the French arms had been generally successful. Belgium
was taken; the expedition under the Duke of York beaten and repulsed;
Holland had become an allied and submissive Republic; on most of the
towns of the Rhine floated the tricolour flag; Spain had sued for and
obtained peace; Prussia was neutral. The expedition to Quiberon had
been a complete failure; and although the French generals, Pichegru and
Jourdan, began to experience some reverses, the Directory was powerful
enough, both abroad and at home, to justify the support of prudent
adherents.
M. de Talleyrand consequently saw no objection to serving it. But
before appearing at Paris, he judged it well to stay a short time at
Berlin, which, being then the central point of observation, would make
his arrival in France more interesting.
After this brief preparation, he appeared in the French capital, and
found his name one of the most popular in the drawing-rooms (he never
had the popularity of the streets), in that capricious city. The ladies
formerly in fashion spoke of his wit and address from memory; those of
more recent vogue, from curiosity; the great mass of the Convention
were well disposed to have a “_grand seigneur_” in their suite; the
“_grands seigneurs_” who still remained in France, to have one of their
own body in power; all the political leaders recognised his ability,
and were anxious to know to what particular section he would attach
himself. Even among the “_savants_” he had a party; for he had been
named, though absent, member of the Institute, which had recently been
formed on the basis that he had laid down for it. Above all things,
he was well known as a liberal, and undefiled by the bloody orgies of
freedom. Under such circumstances, he again appeared on the stage of
pleasure and affairs.
VIII.
The first movement of all parties after the death of Robespierre had
been, as I have said, against the continuance of the murderous system
connected with his name; but it was difficult to combine into any one
government or policy the various parties that were triumphant; that
is, the violent Democrats, who had risen against their chief;--the
more moderate Republicans, who had been rather spectators than actors
during the domination of the Convention;--and the Constitutionalists
of the National and Legislative Assemblies. The reaction once begun,
extended by degrees, until it provoked conflicts between extremes; and
it was only after a series of struggles, now against the Jacobins and
now against the disguised Royalists, that a sort of middle party formed
the Constitution of year III., which was founded on the principle of
universal tolerance; assuring, however, to the Conventionalists a
supremacy, by exacting that two-thirds of the new assemblies should be
chosen from amongst them. These new assemblies were of two kinds, both
elected: the one called “the ancients,” a sort of senate, which had the
power of refusing laws; the second, the Five Hundred, which had the
power of initiating laws. The executive was entrusted to a Directory,
which, in order to guard against a despot, consisted of five members:
Carnot, with whose republican severity M. de Talleyrand had little
sympathy; Laréveillère-Lepaux, whose religious reveries he had turned
into ridicule by christening the “Théophilantropes” (a sect of deists
whom Laréveillère patronised) _Les filoux en troupe_; Letourneur, an
engineer officer, who had little or no influence; Rewbell, a lawyer,
and a man of character and ability, not ill-disposed to him; and Barras.
This last man, at the time I am speaking of the most powerful member
of the Directory, was the sort of person who frequently rises to a
greater height in civil commotions than any apparent merit seems to
warrant. Clever, without great ability; intriguing, without great
address; bold and resolute on any critical occasions, but incapable
of any sustained energy; of gentle birth, though not of any great
historical family,--he had acquired his influence by two or three acts
of courage and decision; and was forgiven the crime of being a noble,
in consideration of the virtue of being a regicide. Having been chosen
by his colleagues, as the man best acquainted with and accustomed to
the world, to represent the government with society,--he sustained this
position by easy manners and a sort of court with which he contrived
to surround himself; a court containing all the fragments of the old
society that were yet to be found mingled with affairs.
In the south of Europe, and in the East, many such adventurers have
risen to great fortunes and retained them. In the north, and (strange
to say) especially among the changing and brilliant people of France,
more solid qualities, and a more stern and equable character, seem
essentially necessary for command. Richelieu, Mazarin, Louis XI.,
Louis XIV., even Robespierre, differing in everything else, were all
remarkable for a kind of resolute, every-day energy, for a spirit of
order and system which the voluptuary of the Luxembourg wanted. His
drawing-room, however, was a theatre where the accomplished gentleman
of former times was still able to shine, and his prejudices, though
he affected democratic principles in order to shield himself from the
charge of being born an aristocrat, were all in favour of the ex-noble.
To Barras, therefore, M. de Talleyrand attached himself.
IX.
The society of Paris was never more “_piquante_,” if I may borrow an
expression from the language of the country of which I am speaking,
than at this moment. Nobody was rich. Pomp and ceremony were banished;
few private houses were open: a great desire for amusement existed;
there were no pretensions to rank, for who would have ventured to boast
of his birth? There was no drawing into sets or _cliques_, for such
would still have been considered as conspiracies. People lived together
in public fêtes, in public gardens, at theatres, at subscription-balls,
like those of Marbeuf, where the grocer’s wife and the monseigneur’s
danced in the same quadrille; each being simply qualified by the title
of “_citoyenne_.” The only real distinction was that of manners. An
active, artful, popular man of the world, amidst such a confused
assemblage of all orders, bent on being amused, had full play for his
social and political qualities. But this was not all; with the taste
for gaiety had also returned the taste for letters. Here, again, M.
de Talleyrand found means to excite attention. I have said that,
during his absence from France he had been elected a member of the
National Institute, which owed its origin, as I have noticed, to the
propositions he had laid before the National Assembly just previous
to its dissolution. He had also been chosen its secretary; and it was
in this capacity that he now addressed to the moral and scientific
class, to which he belonged, two memoirs: the one on the commercial
relations between England and the United States, and the other on
colonies generally. There are few writings of this kind that contain
so many just ideas in so small a compass. In the first, the author
gives a general description of the state of American society, the
calm character, the various and peculiar habits, the Saxon laws, and
religious feelings of that rising community. He then shows, what was at
that time little understood, that the mother country had gained more
than she had lost by the separation; and that the wants of Americans
connected them with English interests, while their language, education,
history, and laws, gave them feelings, which, if properly cultivated,
would be--English.
The memoir on colonisation, however, is even superior to the preceding
one; it is in this memoir on colonisation that M. de Talleyrand
points out--for he even then perceived what has since been gradually
taking place--the impossibility of long continuing slave labour or
of maintaining those colonies which required it. He foresaw that
such colonies existed in the face of sentiments which must, whether
rightly or wrongly, in a few years sweep them away. He looked out for
other settlements to supply their place; and Egypt and the African
coast are the spots to which, with a singular prescience, he directed
the attention of his country; whose inhabitants he describes, from
their sense of fatigue, from their desire of excitement, and in many
instances, from their disappointment and discontent, to be peculiarly
in want of new regions of rest, of enterprise, and of change.
“The art of putting the right men in the right places” (the phrase is
not, I may observe _en passant_, of to-day’s invention), he observes
profoundly, “is perhaps the first in the science of government;
but,” he adds, “the art of finding a satisfactory position for the
discontented is the most difficult.
“To present distant scenes to their imaginations, views agreeable
to their thoughts and desires, is,” he says, “I think, one of the
solutions of this social problem.”[35]
In three weeks after the reading of this memoir, M. de Talleyrand
accepted the office of minister of foreign affairs.
X.
The immediate cause of his being named to replace Charles Delacroix in
this post, used to be thus related by himself:--“I had gone to dine at
a friend’s on the banks of the Seine, with Madame de Staël, Barras,
and a small party which frequently met. A young friend of Barras, who
was with us, went out to bathe before dinner, and was drowned. The
director, tenderly attached to him, was in the greatest affliction.
I consoled him (I was used to that sort of thing in early life), and
accompanied him in his carriage back to Paris. The ministry of foreign
affairs immediately after this became vacant; Barras knew I wanted it,
and through his interest I procured it.”
But this was not the sole cause of his selection. The state of affairs
was at this time critical; the reaction, produced by the horrors of
the democrats, became stronger and stronger under a government of
indulgence.
In proportion as the ordinary relations of society recommenced, the
feeling against those who had disturbed and for a time destroyed them,
became more and more bitter. At last the hatred of the Robespierreans
verged towards an inclination for the Royalists; and Pichegru, the
president of the Assembly of the Five Hundred, and a general at that
time in great repute, was already in correspondence with Louis XVIII.
The Directory itself was divided. Carnot, an impracticable man of
genius and a violent Republican, sided with the opposition from
personal dislike to his colleagues and from a belief that any new
convulsion would end by the triumph of his own principles. He carried
with him Barthélemy, the successor to Letourneur, who had lost his
place in the Directory by the ballot, which was periodically to
eliminate it. Rewbell and Laréveillère-Lepaux ranged themselves with
Barras, who, satisfied with his position, and having to keep it against
the two extreme parties, was glad to get into the ministry, as attached
to him, a man of well-known ability and resolution.
Besides, the negotiation with Great Britain at Lille, which not
unnaturally followed the defeat of all her continental allies,
suggested the appointment of a more distinguished diplomatist than M.
Delacroix, who presided at that time over the department to which M. de
Talleyrand was appointed.
The new minister soon justified the choice that had been made of him.
His eye took in at once the situation in which Barras found himself,--a
situation that singularly resembled one in our own times. The majority
of the executive was on one side, and the majority of the legislative
bodies on the other.
The question was agitated by the Assembly as to whether it should not
take the first step, and, without regard for the constitution, obtain
possession by any means of the executive power. General Pichegru
hesitated, as did General Changarnier after him.
Talleyrand advised Barras not to hesitate. He did not; and, taking
the command of the troops in virtue of his office, seized the chief
men amongst his opponents, to whatever party they belonged. Carnot,
Barthélemy, and Pichegru were amongst the number, and, though Carnot
escaped by flight, M. de Talleyrand equally got rid of an enemy, and
the ardent Republicans lost a leader.
XI.
The worst effect of this _coup-d’état_ was the interruption of the
negotiations at Lille, and of the arrangements which Monsieur Maret was
on the point of concluding, which Talleyrand had himself favoured, but
which were impossible to a government that had now to seek popularity
as a protection to usurpation.
The idea of peace with England being thus abandoned, M. de Talleyrand
addressed a circular to his agents, which, considering the time at
which it was written and the position which its writer held at that
moment, is a model of tact and ability.
He describes England as the sole enemy of France. He dates her power
and prestige from the times of Cromwell and the spirit and energy which
liberty inspires. He bases the power and prestige which France ought
then to hold on that same liberty, and invokes the victories which she
had just gained. He describes in a way that suited his purpose the
manner in which Great Britain had acquired her influence, and accuses
her of having abused it.
He shows to his agents the immense importance of an intelligent
diplomacy. He warns them against shocking the habits and ideas of the
nations to which they are sent; he tells them to be active without
being agitators. He instils into them the conviction of the greatness
of France and the necessity of making that greatness acknowledged and
sympathised with.
He counsels them to avoid little tricks, and to evince that confidence
in the strength and continuance of the Republic, which would inspire
such confidence in others.
He points out how all the misfortunes and changes in the government
of France had been brought about by the feeble and apathetic position
which she had held abroad during the reign of the later princes of the
House of Bourbon; and, finally, he assures them of his support, and
adds that he appreciates highly the services which their talents may
render to their country.
It is in this manner that great ministers form able agents.
In the meantime the treaty of Campo Formio had established peace in
Italy and Germany on conditions advantageous to France, though, by the
cession of Venice to Austria, she abdicated the cause for which she had
hitherto pretended to fight.
Bonaparte, to whom this peace was due, now visited Paris, and saw much
of M. de Talleyrand, who courted him with assiduity, as if foreseeing
his approaching destiny. But the time for a closer alliance was not yet
arrived: Napoleon, indeed, was not himself prepared for the serious
meditation of the design which he subsequently executed. Vague ideas
of conquest and greatness floated before his eyes, and the gigantic
empires that courage and genius have frequently founded in the East,
were probably more familiar with his thoughts than any tyranny to be
established in his own country (May, 1798). He set out for Egypt,
then, where he thought of realising his splendid dreams, and where the
Directory, following a traditional policy not yet abandoned, thought of
striking a desperate blow against the ancient enemy and rival with whom
alone she had now to maintain a conflict. With him seemed to depart
the fortunes of his country. A new European coalition broke out with
the murder of the French plenipotentiaries at Rastadt, and divisions
of all kinds manifested themselves in France. The victories of the
allies on the Upper Rhine and in Italy increased these divisions,
and added to the strength of the democratic party, to which the
overthrow of Pichegru and his associates had already--contrary to
the intention of Barras, who, as I have said, had wished to maintain
a middle course--given an increased influence. The loss of Rewbell,
whose energy the Democrats dreaded, and whose seat in the Directory
became legitimately vacant, gave strength to their desires, the more
especially as Sieyès, who replaced Rewbell, entered the executive with
his usual mania of propounding some new constitution.
M. de Talleyrand, attacked as a noble and an _émigré_, resigned
his department, and published a defence of his conduct, which is
remarkable, and of which I venture to give, in an abbreviated and free
translation, some of the most salient points:--
“… I am accused of creating the league of kings against our Republic!
I! If I have been known for one thing more than another, it has been
for my constant desire for an honourable peace; the great result
that will alone give solidity to our institutions! So it is I, then,
who seek to augment our enemies, exasperate our friends, break our
treaties, indispose neutrals, and menace other states with principles
they do not wish to accept--and who make this accusation? They who are
always stirring up discord, invoking the horrors of war; they, whose
aim it is to produce revolutions throughout the world, who address
to every power by turn the most injurious, absurd, and impolitic
reproaches; who employ the press to circulate the assertion that
monarchies and republics are natural enemies; and who left to me the
task of calming the governments whom they kept in a state of constant
disquietude and alarm.
…
“It is true that Austria, after the treaty of Campo Formio, though that
treaty was favourable to her, began new combinations and alliances
against us--and that England and Russia engaged her in their designs.
If I had been ignorant of their intrigues or hostile preparations,
if I had not informed the government of them, then, indeed, I might
justly be accused. But, not only do I defy any one to show that I ever
neglected my duty for a single day, it so happens that five months
before the entry of the Russians into Italy, _I procured a copy of the
combined plans of Russia and Austria_, and delivered them to General
Joubert, who has frequently declared that they were of the utmost
utility in his operations.
…
“But I am a Constitutionalist of 1791 (a title I glory in), and,
consequently, I offer no guarantee to the Republic.
“If it were not true that a patriot of 1789, who has not hesitated
to take his oath to the Republic, and frequently repeated it, has no
favour to expect from a French government that is not republican;--it
is certain either that the Republic will establish itself, or that it
will perish in a general confusion, or that it will be again submitted
to a royalty furious and revengeful. From the Confusionists and the
Royalists it appears to me that I have little to expect. Is this no
guarantee?
“But--I am an _émigré_! an _émigré_! When the first republican
authority--the National Convention--declared with unanimity, at the
period of its greatest independence and its greatest force, that my
name should be effaced from the list of _émigrés_, I was sent to
London on the 7th of September, 1792, by the executive government. My
passport, delivered to me by the provisional council, is signed by its
six members, Lebrun, Servan, Danton, Clavière, Roland, Monge. It was in
these terms:
“‘Laissez passer Ch. Maurice Talleyrand, allant à Londres _par nos
ordres_.’
[M. de Talleyrand here repeats what was said by Chénier.]
“Thus I was authorised to quit France, and to remain out of it until
the orders I received were revoked, which they never were. But not
wishing to prolong my absence, I asked, the instant that the Convention
recovered the liberty which had been for a time suppressed, to return
to my native land, or to be judged if I had committed any offence that
merited exile. My request was granted. I left France then by orders
which I received from the confidence of the French government. I
re-entered it directly it was possible for me to do so with the consent
of the French government. What trace is there here of emigration?
…
“Well, then, it was I ‘who made Malmesbury, who had been sent about
his business by Charles Delacroix, return--not, it is true, to Paris,
but--to Lille, the centre of our military Boulevards.’
“What is the truth? On the 13th Prairial, year V., Lord Grenville
proposed to enter into negotiation; on the 16th the proposal was
accepted; on the 25th Charles Delacroix sent passports to England, and
fixed on Lille as the place of negotiation.
“On the 29th Lord Grenville accepts Lille as the place of negotiation,
and announces the choice of Lord Malmesbury as the English negotiator.
On the 2nd Messidor, the Directory sanctions this arrangement. On the
28th the conferences commence at Lille, and it was not till the 28th I
was named minister.
…
“I am attacked for all the acts of the ex-Directors. My accusers know
that, if my opinion differed from theirs, I should not have charged
them with errors when they were in place, and still less should I do so
now, when they are stripped of power, and that all I desire to remember
is their kindness and confidence.
“It is for this reason that in my report to the legislative body I only
glanced rapidly over the fact that all that was to be decided relative
to Italy and Switzerland, during my ministry, was decided without my
knowledge and concurrence. I could have added that, to the changes
operated in the Cisalpine Republic, I was entirely a stranger; that,
when the citizen Rivaud was sent to that Republic as ambassador, I was
asked for letters of credence in blank, and that I only learnt of his
mission after it had been in activity. But my enemies do not pause here.
“Ignorance and hatred seem to dispute as to which should accumulate the
most falsehoods and absurdities against my reputation.
“I am reproached for not having invaded Hanover: but if I had advocated
carrying the war into that country in spite of the neutral line which
protects it, how much more just and more violent would have been the
attacks on me for having violated that neutrality, and thereby roused
Prussia against us!
“Then it is said I should have assailed Portugal! And if I had done so
and been opposed by Spain, and thus lost an alliance so useful to us,
what reproaches should I not have encountered!
“But I did not sufficiently encourage letters of marque against
England. Five hundred and forty-five privateers fell into the hands of
the English, from the commencement of the war till the year VI. of the
Republic. The number of prisoners in England amounts to thirty-five
thousand; these cost fifteen millions to support on an enemy’s
territory, and it is principally owing to letters of marque that we owe
this result.
“I will say no more; but surely I have said enough to inspire the most
discouraging reflections as to that moral disorganization--as to that
aberration of mind--as to that overthrow of all reasonable ideas--as to
that want of good faith, of the love of truth, of justice, of esteem
for oneself and others--which are the distinguishing characteristics
of those publications which it is difficult to leave unanswered, and
humiliating to reply to.”[36]
We find, from the above, that the ex-minister did not scruple to
make his defence an attack, and to treat with sarcasm and disdain
the party by which he had been ejected; but at the same time that he
denounces the follies of the over-zealous Republicans, he declares
himself unequivocally for a republic: and justifying what he had done,
ridiculing what he had been condemned for not doing, he throws with
some address the blame of much that had been done against his opinion
on those Directors still in power.
What he says as to the negotiations at Lille shows sufficiently the
difficulties, after the 18th of Fructidor, of any peace with England;
and a passage that I have quoted, and to which I had previously
alluded, bears out what had been said by Chénier as to the famous
passport.
In these “Eclaircissements,” however, the ex-minister aimed more at
putting himself in a good position for future events, than at referring
to past ones.
He would hardly, indeed, have fixed his signature to so bold a
publication if his enemies had been firm in their places: but already
the Directory was tottering to its fall.
XII.
The great evil of any constitution, formed for a particular time and
not the result of continual adaptation to the wants of various epochs,
is that it is altogether of one character and is almost immediately out
of date. The constitution of the Directory, framed after a period of
great popular violence and individual despotism, was framed upon the
principle of so nicely checking every action in the State, that there
should be no honest means for any individual gaining great power or
distinction. But when the influence of individuals in a government is
over-zealously kept down, the influence of government collapses, and
becomes unequal to restrain the agitation of a society more ardent and
ambitious than itself.
Thus, during four years, the Constitution of the year III. was
preserved in name by a series of actual infringements of it. Now, the
Directory checked the councils by transporting the opposition; now, the
opposition put down the Directory by compelling an unpopular director
to resign his office; and now again, the absence of all laws against
the license of the press was compensated for by declaring hostile
journalists enemies of the State, and punishing a clever article as an
insurrection.
Nor was this all: where civil ability can create no great career
a civilian can excite no great enthusiasm. The persons in civil
employment had their prestige limited by the same contrivances that
limited their power; the nation was fatigued with talkers, for talking
had no result: a general alone could strike its imagination, for a
general alone was in the situation to do anything remarkable. Each
party saw this. The patriots or democrats, represented in the Directory
by Laréveillère and Gohier (who had become a Director instead of
Treillard); Barras, of no particular opinion, who might be said to
represent those generally who were intriguing for place; and Sieyès,
the most capable of the executive, at the head of a moderate section,
still for maintaining the Republic and establishing order, though
under some new form. Sieyès had with him a majority in the Council of
Ancients, a powerful minority in the Council of the Five Hundred, and
some of the most eminent and capable men in France, amongst whom was M.
de Talleyrand.
He sought then a General like the rest, but the choice was not so easy
to make. Hoche was no more; Joubert had just perished; Moreau was
irresolute; Massena, though crowned by the victory of Zurich, too much
of the mere soldier; Augereau, a Jacobin; Bernadotte, unreliable. At
this moment (on the 9th October, 1799), Bonaparte landed from Egypt.
He broke the quarantine laws, he had deserted his army, but the country
felt that he was wanted; and through his progress to Paris, as well as
on his arrival there, he was hailed by acclamations.
His object at this time, if he had any distinct one, was the Directory,
for which, however, he wanted a dispensation as to age. But he found
that the majority of the Directory would not hear of this dispensation.
Something else was to be tried, and that something else could only be
combined with Barras or Sieyès. Now Barras, Bonaparte hated: for Barras
had been his protector, without having been his friend. In regard to
Sieyès, M. Thiers has said, not untruly, that two superior Frenchmen,
until they have had the opportunity of flattering one another, are
natural enemies. Moreover, Bonaparte and Sieyès had met at Gohier’s
without exchanging a syllable, and had separated, disliking each other
more than ever. M. de Talleyrand undertook to reconcile these two
men, whose rivalry had to be conquered by their interests,--and he
succeeded. But, with Sieyès, a total subversion of the existing state
of things was a matter of course, because the only ambition he ever
fostered was that of inventing institutions, which he did with a rare
intelligence as to the combination of ideas, forgetting that societies
have something in them besides ideas.
A revolution therefore was decided upon; it was to be brought about by
the Ancients, of whom Sieyès was sure, and who were to declare that
the chambers were in danger at Paris, and should be assembled at St.
Cloud; the safety of these assemblies was then to be confided to the
guardianship of Bonaparte; and the dissolution of the Directory by the
resignation of a majority of its members was to follow. After this,
it was supposed that the majority of the Five Hundred, overawed by a
large military force, opposed by the other branch of the Legislature,
and having no government to support it, would, in some way or other,
be overcome. The first two measures accordingly were taken on the 18th
Brumaire, but the third remained. Sieyès and Ducos, who acted together
and who resigned, were balanced by Gohier and Moulins, who would not
give in their resignation; while Barras had the casting vote; and it
was M. de Talleyrand again, who, in conjunction with Admiral Bruix,
was charged with the task of coaxing this _once_ important man into
accepting insignificance and retreat. In this task he succeeded,
and the vanquished director, conquered as much, perhaps, by his own
indolence, as by his politic friend’s arguments, stepped out of the
bath, reposing in which his two visitors had found him, into the
carriage which bore him from the Luxembourg, and thus the Directory
being no longer in existence, a charge of grenadiers in the Orangery of
St. Cloud settled the affair on the day following.
XIII.
In glancing over the narrative of these events, we shall see that,
if a similar result could have been otherwise arrived at (which is
doubtful), it certainly could not have been arrived at in the same
peaceful and easy way, but for the assistance of M. de Talleyrand.
The legal part of the recent change was effected by Sieyès, whom he
had united with Bonaparte; and accomplished through Barras, whose
abdication he also procured. The time for rewarding these services was
come, and when Napoleon became first consul, M. de Talleyrand was made
minister of foreign affairs.
In following him through the period which intervened between the
10th of August, 1792, and the 18th Brumaire, we find him a fugitive
to England under doubtful auspices, an exile in America dabbling in
politics, projecting commercial adventures, and, above all, waiting on
events which proved fortunate to him.
Having quitted France as the partisan of a constitutional monarchy,
he returns to it when the feverish passions and opinions which had so
long convulsed it were settled down under a republic--too strong to be
overturned by Royalists--too weak to promise a long existence.
He takes office under the government which he finds, a government that,
compared with its immediate predecessors, offered in a remarkable
manner the security of property and life.
He sides, amidst the conflicts which still continue, with those who
are for a middle course, between bringing back the Bourbons with all
their prejudices, or re-establishing the Robespierreans with all
their horrors. In these political struggles he exhibits moderation
and resolution: in the department which he fills, he shows tact and
capacity. His two memoirs, read before the Institute, are remarkable
for the elegance of their style and the comprehensiveness of their
views.[37] Defending himself against the two parties who assailed
him--the one for being too much, the other for being too little, of
a republican--he uses language which is at once bold, dignified, and
moderate, and the only question that can arise is as to whether it was
sincere.
Finally, he throws a government--which is at once feeble, profligate,
divided, and conscious of its own incapacity,--into the hands of a man
of great genius, by whom he expected to be rewarded, and who, upon the
whole, seemed the one most capable of steadying the course, promoting
the prosperity, and elevating the destiny of his country.