Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840

Everything goes on here so early that one must be ready at dawn. Waking up is nothing, but getting up is difficult. I am extremely tired, even more than when travelling, because when once ensconced in my carriage, which is very soft, I can rest in silence, inaction, and sleep, whereas here things are very different.

My man of business from Silesia was at my house at nine o'clock. He is going away this evening to make preparations for my arrival. At eleven o'clock Herr and Frau von Wolff came in. They told me that the Duke of Coburg was negotiating to buy the estate of Muskau from Prince Pückler for his sister, the Grand Duchess Constantine. The garden of Muskau is said to be the most beautiful in Germany. It is only ten leagues from my house.

M. Bresson came in at midday to tell me that there was some improvement in the King, that he had been able to take some soup and to walk round his room. He urged me at the same time not to put off my calls upon the chief ladies of the Princesses.

Midday is the fashionable hour for calls here, so I started off with M. de Valençay. First we went to the Countess of Reede at the Castle. She is the chief lady of the Crown Princess, and was an intimate friend of my mother. She was not at home, nor was the Baroness of Lestocq, lady-in-waiting to the Princess William, the King's sister-in-law. We also went to the Countess of Wincke at the King's palace to call upon the Princess of Liegnitz. She is an old lady belonging to the palace of the late Queen, of which I retained some confused idea from my youth. She received us with an old aristocratic air which pleased me. The Countess of Schweinitz, at the new palace of Prince William, the King's son, was also at home. Countess Kuhneim, at the Teutonic Palace, where the Princess Charles of Prussia resides, was out.

Frau von Schweinitz told me that Prince William was to start to-morrow to meet his sister, the Empress of Russia, and to stop her from coming here. We also went to see the Werthers, who were delighted to talk of Paris; and then to the house of Madame de Perponcher, with whom I played a great deal in my youth. She was not at home.

Berlin is really a very fine town. The streets are wide and laid out in regular lines, the houses are tall and regular, there are many palaces and fine buildings, fine squares with trees, gardens and walks, and yet it is gloomy. There is obviously a lack of wealth to fill the fine setting. The carriages of private individuals are so much like cabs that I was deceived by the resemblance for some time. The horses and liveries and everything of the kind are dreadfully shabby.

Yesterday we dined with M. Bresson, who lives in a beautiful house which my sister the Duchess of Acerenza occupied in past years. The rooms are fine and beautifully furnished for Berlin, but spoilt by a horrible portrait of the French King, whose hand is stretched over a vast charter – quite an atrocity! The other guests were von Humboldt, Lord William Russell, and M. de Loyère, who is attached to the French Embassy. Herr von Humboldt talked in his usual style of all the rivers, all the mountains, all the planets, and of the whole universe. He did not forget his neighbours, whom he did not treat with superlative charity. Princess Albert seemed to me to be very much in his bad books, and also to some extent in those of M. Bresson. Lord William Russell is always taciturn, as a Russell should be. He says he is not displeased with his position, and anything that separates him from Lady Russell always suits his taste. As for M. Bresson, he is obviously bored, and the nine years he has spent here have completely exhausted his patience. I think that he greatly fears the approaching death of the King as likely to affect his position. He complains of the effects of the climate, and is obviously beating against his bars.

In the middle of this dinner Princess William, the King's daughter-in-law, asked me to wait upon her at half-past six. I therefore went. She lives in a charming palace, beautifully arranged; the conservatories are decorated with marble, the floors are magnificent, and the furniture is beautiful; in short, the whole is in exquisite taste. The Princess was alone, and received me most graciously. I stayed a long time.

The general fear of a visit from the Russian Imperial family is very curious. The royal family is preoccupied with the business of avoiding anything of the kind, and use a thousand devices for the purpose. They seem to be afraid of them as of a devastating torrent.

I have just had a call from Madame de Perponcher. Her queenly bearing and her regular features have survived the passing of her youth. She is a clever woman, and her conversation is animated.

Berlin, May 27, 1840.– A special luxury in Berlin, to be found in all the houses belonging to people of importance, are the wide windows, which light the rooms brilliantly, and give a bright appearance to the houses.

This morning I had a private audience of the Crown Princess, who lives in a part of the Castle properly so called. Her large private room is handsome and curious. The Princess is very polite, but a little cold and timid, with beautiful blue eyes, a dull complexion, strong and by no means attractive features; she limps a little. The conversation became animated upon the arrival of the Crown Prince. He showed me great cordiality, and had just come from the King, who was perceptibly better. This improvement has revived all their spirits, but there is still a grave reason for anxiety.

I dined with Princess William, the King's daughter-in-law; her husband has delayed his departure. At dinner there were the Crown Prince and Princess, and the two Princes of Würtemberg, the sons of Prince Paul; the latter are starting to-morrow to meet their sister, the Grand Duchess Helena, who is going to Ems, and then to Italy. The other guests were Prince George of Hesse, brother of the Duchess of Cambridge; a Russian general and an English officer who had come to look at the manœuvres; Werther, his wife, and his son, who is going to Paris to take the place of Arnim till the new appointment is made; and the Count and Countess of Redern. The Countess is a Hamburg heiress, entirely ugly; she looks like a blonde Jewess, which is to be ugly twice over.

I sat near the Crown Prince, who asked me many questions about Versailles, and was then interested in all the recollections of our youth; he has grown very stout and old.

At seven o'clock in the evening I was requested to visit Princess Albert, and invited to stay for tea and supper. It is impossible to imagine anything which takes up so much time as Court life here. The only satisfactory point is that everyone withdraws before ten o'clock at night; but at that time one is more exhausted than one would be at two o'clock in the morning at Paris.

I think that of all the persons I have seen here Princess Albert has filled me with the greatest curiosity and interest. At first I thought her face long and narrow, her mouth large, and the lower part of her face, when she laughed, very ugly, while the want of eyebrows was remarkable; but by degrees I have grown used to her, and find her actually pleasant. Her teeth are white, she has a cheerful laugh and lively eyes, her figure is pretty, and she is tall, like myself; but it is too obvious that she laces very tightly, which is the more noticeable as she is never at rest; she wriggles, gesticulates, laughs, fidgets, and talks somewhat at random; she never crosses a room except at a run and a skip, and does not shine in point of dignity of bearing, but on the whole she is by no means unpleasant, and I think that men might find her somewhat attractive. She was very kind to me, with a frankness and good-nature in putting her questions as if she had always known me, and poking fun right and left at her family to begin with; she astonished me greatly. The fact is that she is a spoilt child, accustomed to do and say anything she likes, and is regarded here as quite beyond restraint. She goes away to The Hague when her family would like her to stay in Berlin, and comes back when they think she intends to make a long stay in Holland. In short, she is a strange being. Her husband is very delicate. Their palace, though pretty outside, seemed to me rather poor within. At her house I saw no one except the Princess of Würtemberg, Madame de Perponcher (reasons of etiquette forbid her to receive M. de Perponcher, as the Diplomatic Body are excluded from royal residences), Herr von Liebermann, Prussian Minister at St. Petersburg, and the Prince and Princess William, the King's son, who arrived late.

I cannot be anything but grateful for the reception that has been offered to me here, but the want of rest overpowers every other consideration, and I should like to be back in my dear Rochecotte.

Berlin, May 28, 1840.– This morning I had an audience of Princess Charles. She has charming features, a fine figure, a high colour, tired eyes, beautiful manners, and a kind and pleasant way of speaking. Her appearance, on the whole, is insignificant, but she shows much kindness of heart. Her husband is simply vulgar. At the present moment he has a mania for seeing operations, and watches all the new experiments in surgery. Berlin is just now much excited by a mode of curing squinting, practised by Dieffenbach. Out of two hundred cases he has had only one failure, and that was due to the impatience of the patient. It is a very clever idea, and people come in from all parts to be made beautiful instead of ugly.

Here every one professes surprise at the resemblance between Madame de Lazareff and myself.

I have called upon Princess Pückler, the wife of the traveller; she is a lady who is largely supported by the Court; but she was not at home. In the afternoon I called upon Princess William, the Queen's sister-in-law, who was extremely kind to me. She has been very beautiful, and some remnants of her beauty still remain. She is a leading member of the sect of the Pietists. She introduced me to her unmarried daughter, a pretty princess of fifteen years of age, whose face pleased me greatly.102

Princess William is the sister of the Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg, step-mother to the Duchesse d'Orléans.

I am going to the theatre to see a ballet, in the box of the Countess of Redern, who insisted upon my coming. Then I shall finish my day with the Werthers, who are giving a party for me. I am quite overwhelmed by my busy life, which is so utterly different from the idle existence I have led for the last two years.

Berlin, May 29, 1840.– The ballet here is very well done. The King takes great interest in it, and gives an annual subscription of a hundred and twenty thousand crowns to the Opera, which is a great deal for this country. There are many pretty dancers, the theatre is beautiful and the orchestra excellent. I have been unable to judge of the singers, as I did not go till the opera was over.

At the Werthers' I found a rout going on, which was much like all other parties of the kind. The women were well dressed, but not pretty, the social intercourse somewhat cold, while the men in the service wore their uniforms, which gave them a stiff appearance.

The King's condition gave less satisfaction yesterday; he had had a fainting fit after expressing a wish to eat herrings, which was speedily satisfied. However, the Princes went to the theatre. The doctors persist in saying that his state is not desperate. This is the opinion, among others, of a certain Dr. Schönlein, who has been appointed professor at the university here; he comes from Zürich with a very great reputation, and the King has been induced to see him in consultation. Princess Frederick of the Low Countries is expected. She is her father's favourite, and he is as anxious to see her as he is afraid of the Russian visits. Princess William, the King's sister-in-law, whose eldest daughter is married to Darmstadt, told me that the Hereditary Grand Duke of Russia is deeply in love with Princess Marie, his future bride, and she is beginning to feel the same towards him.

I was to have dined to-day with the Crown Prince, but as the King had had another fainting fit the High Marshal came to tell me that the dinner would not take place. The King's precarious condition causes much anxiety to some people who are fond of him, and to others who respect him for political considerations. No one, not even the heir, was prepared for this crisis, and to their sadness is added perplexity and hesitation.

Yesterday morning I went for a drive in the Tiergarten, the Bois de Boulogne of Berlin, and saw the spot where I had been daily taken for a walk in my youth. It is a very pretty wood on the edge of the town, well planted, partly in English style, bounded by the Spree, and full of pretty country houses. It is a very popular resort at Berlin.

I dined with Lord William Russell, where I heard that there was some small excitement in the Ministry at London, though nothing was likely to come of it. The present Cabinet is as used to defeats as Mithridates to poison.

This morning Herr von Humboldt came to fetch us, and took his niece, Frau von Bülow, and myself to the Museum. He had told all the directors, professors, and artists to be ready. I therefore saw everything in the greatest detail. The building is fine and well arranged, the classification perfect and intelligent, and the light well managed. The King has acquired some excellent examples of every style of art; an ancient bust of Julius Cæsar in greenish basalt is one of the most beautiful things I know. The Museum is very rich in pictures of the ancient German school; the Etruscan vases are quite first-rate; the fifteenth-century china is very curious; the intaglios and the medals are in perfect order and tastefully set out. The officials, who are clever and full of artistic erudition, did me the honours with great courtesy. I replied by asking many questions, and was attentive to the answers; but the visit lasted for three hours, and I was standing all the time, and eventually I nearly collapsed.

I then went to a great dinner with M. Bresson. As I was starting for it the Prince of Wittgenstein arrived; he had been requested by the King and the Princess of Liegnitz to express to me in the kindest terms their regret at their inability to see me. The King was not quite so ill, and had been able to see Princess Frederick of the Low Countries, his favourite daughter, for whom he had telegraphed, and who had hastened to come to him. The Prince of Wittgenstein was most obliging; he is a stout personage, and is greatly downcast at the moment and heart-broken at the King's danger. He has a very kindly feeling for France, and is very friendly with Princess William, the king's daughter-in-law, who overwhelms me with kindness.

At M. Bresson's dinner Herr von Humboldt, as usual, relieved every one else of the trouble of talking, which is very convenient for lazy persons like myself.

Berlin, May 31, 1840.– To-day is an important day in the history of the country, and one of which the King awaits the issue with impatience. The Great Elector ascended the throne on May 31, 1640, Frederick the Great on May 31, 1740, and I am assured of the existence of a prophecy that the Crown Prince will ascend the throne on May 31, 1840.

I went to mass in a church which is hardly a church: it is a great round hall, covered with a single cupola, surrounded with columns, with a large window between each column. Nothing could be less solemn and less Catholic.

I dined with Prince Radziwill, who took me up after dinner to the rooms of his late mother, where I had been a great deal in my youth. They are no longer used, and are just as I had known them. Nobody could be kinder than all the Radziwills have been to me. The daughter of the late Princess married the nephew of Prince Adam Czartoryski. She is now in the country. The two Radziwill Princes married two sisters, the daughters of Prince Clary. They all had plenty of children, and live as a very happy family in the same house.

I had gone home after the dinner, when I received a message from Princess William, the King's daughter-in-law, asking me to pay her a visit. I found her alone, and she kept me talking for an hour. The latest news of the King was very sad. He told his chief groom of the chamber that he had no hope of recovery, but would not speak of his death for fear of affecting those about him. He is said to have insisted upon being carried to-morrow to the window of his room, at the moment of the solemn function which has been largely advertised, and the preparations for which he has supervised from his bed. The Crown Prince, in the King's name, is to lay the first stone of a monument in honour of Frederick II. at the entry of the promenade Unter den Linden. The whole garrison, all the state bodies, and all Berlin, are to be present at this ceremony. Stands have been erected for the public. My son and myself are to find a place on the balcony of Princess William, where the Princesses will be.

Yesterday evening at the house of the Prince of Wittgenstein, where I went, was Madame de Krüdener, née Lerchenfeld, natural daughter of the Count Lerchenfeld and of the Princess of Thurn and Taxis. At St. Petersburg she was at first a favourite of the Empress, but was afterwards somewhat discarded because the Emperor appeared to be taken with her. She strongly resembles the late Queen of Prussia, which may be explained by her birth, but she has not her majestic bearing; she is, however, a handsome woman.

I hear from Paris that there is an attempt to gather the household of the Emperor Napoleon for a mission to fetch his remains from St. Helena. Marchand, his groom of the chamber, was asked if he wished to accompany the mission; at first he hesitated, and then accepted on the condition that he should be allowed to sit at the table of the Prince de Joinville; to satisfy him he has been appointed captain on the staff of the National Guard, and he is to go, and will sit at the Prince's table! I abstain from comment.

Berlin, June 1, 1840.– I have just returned from the ceremony, which was really most beautiful and imposing. The thought of the King's dangerous condition, which every one had at heart, gave a singularly touching and solemn aspect to this national celebration, the last at which the poor King could be present. And in what manner was he present? In bed at his window! Fortunately the weather was less disagreeable than it has lately been. The Crown Prince laid the first stone of the monument which is to support the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great. Is it not strange that there is no statue of him as yet in Berlin? Yesterday was the anniversary of his accession a hundred years ago; but as it was a Sunday the celebration was postponed till to-day. Each regiment in the army was represented by a detachment. The army is really superb, and splendidly equipped. Besides the state bodies, the authorities, the Consistory, a detachment of the Landwehr, deputations from the guilds of arts and crafts, with their bands, surrounded the square, which is magnificent and was most beautifully decorated. Around the monument could be seen all those who had served under Frederick II., dressed as they were at that time, and carrying the flags captured during the Seven Years' War. The King himself had considered every detail of this fine ceremony, and had given the most positive orders to forbid any manifestation of applause for himself; but the silent and profound respect, the perfect order and the sadness of the spectators was sufficiently striking and touching. When the foundation-stone was lowered, salvos were fired, bells rang, drums beat, and the old tattered flags were lowered; at that moment most of the spectators burst into tears. Nothing of the sort could be looked for in a republican atmosphere or in our revolutionary regions.

On the balcony where I was placed I saw Prince Frederick of the Low Countries, who introduced me to his wife. She was overcome with grief; she is not pretty, but looks kind and natural. The young Hereditary Grand Duke of Russia, who arrived this morning, was present; the Crown Prince of Prussia introduced me to him. He is said to have grown very fat. I expected to see a very insignificant young man, but he is quite the contrary, although I do not care about his complexion.

Berlin, June 2, 1840.– Yesterday evening I went to tea with Madame de Perponcher, whose salon is, in my opinion, the pleasantest in Berlin. She is very conversational and well-mannered, while she is simple and restrained. She is a central point of society, and her mother's position with the Crown Princess has helped her largely. There I heard that no change has taken place in the King's condition, though something of the kind had been feared owing to the excitement of the day.

The suite of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Russia are staying at the same hotel as myself, at the King's expense. They make a fearful uproar, and consume the more food as their board costs them nothing. It is impossible to say how the Russians are detested here.

Berlin, June 3, 1840.– Yesterday I was at a great dinner given by the Werthers. The King was said to be better; he had had some sleep, and felt the moral relief of passing the fatal date. During the dinner I received a message from the young Princess William asking me to call upon her after dinner in outdoor dress. I went, and we drove out. She took me to Charlottenburg, which she showed me in full detail, and especially the country house which the King has had built there, where he prefers to stay.

I was glad to see the portraits of the Duc d'Orléans and the Duc de Nemours which were drawn here at the time when they passed through Berlin. The King bought them for his private room. When we came back the Princess made me stay to tea, and I spent all the time alone with her.

This morning when I was finishing breakfast M. Bresson came to tell us that the King was in extremis. In the afternoon I stopped before his palace; he was still alive, and had even recovered sufficient consciousness to demand the reading of the newspapers. There is a crowd about the palace; many people are in tears, and the behaviour of the population is perfect.

Berlin, June 4, 1840.– Yesterday I dined at the house of M. Bresson with Princess Pückler, who is starting for Muskau to meet her husband. He is returning from Vienna after an absence of six years; she speaks of him with admiration. She is a little old woman of wit, intelligence, and tact, and has gained considerable reputation in different circles.

Only yesterday was the publication begun of bulletins upon the King's health; he might be dead at the present moment. Hitherto he had forbidden any announcements; I do not think he knew anything of it yesterday. He has preserved his consciousness, and is quite calm, simple, and dignified.

Since last night the King has been in a kind of agony, from which he sometimes gains relief by a few drops of coffee. He can still speak a little, and says not a word about his condition, though he realises its gravity to the full. The whole family, even the grandchildren, are at the palace, and the Ministers also. The crowd still throngs the square and shows the same interest.

Berlin, June 5, 1840.– The King was still alive yesterday at eight o'clock in the evening. He had said farewell to his children and solemnly handed his will to his Ministers; he then declared that he had done with this world and wished to see no one except the Princess of Liegnitz and the pastor for whom he sent, intending to devote his remaining time to securing his peace of mind and in considering the life to come.

Berlin, June 6, 1840.– Herr von Humboldt has just left me. The King was very feverish last night; he can hardly speak, and seems to have lost all interest. What a long struggle for a man of seventy! All the Mecklenburg family has arrived. The appearance of the Duke of Cumberland has caused some consternation, and the Emperor Nicholas will be here to-morrow in spite of every attempt to prevent his arrival. There is an obvious intention to surround the new Sovereign from the moment of his accession, and this may damage his public reputation, for the people are apprehensive, and do not hide their fears. It is an interesting time for spectators, and I am perhaps watching the sowing of seed which will produce great consequences.

At the same time I wished to fulfil my promise of going to see Frau von Bülow at Tegel, which is three leagues from Berlin. At first I found the wind very unpleasant, but when we entered a forest which began half-way I was pleasantly sheltered, and the scent of the pine-trees was delightful. On leaving the pine-trees we reached a superb lake, the shores of which were wooded with trees in leaf – an unusual sight here.