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

"The Syrian campaign is decidedly favourable to the allies. The English have displayed much energy. They are inducing the Turks to strike hard, and everything is yielding before them; the force of Ibrahim was a myth. At every moment we are expecting the news of the capture of Saint-Jean d'Acre, which will be an important success both here and there. The saddest part of it is that there is no certainty concerning the possible safety of Egypt. Already rumours are present of a probable revolt at Alexandria, of the assassination of the Pasha by knife or poison; while you have seen that Lord Palmerston, with his theological mind, no longer speaks of the deposition of the Pasha as he did three weeks ago. There is no certainty that we shall not yield upon that point here, and it would be a tremendous concession.

"So much for the present. I now turn to the past. Thiers has shrunk in everybody's eyes: his timidity has been invariably as great as his imprudence and his superficiality. He dismissed the French Consul at Beyrout because he wished to serve the Pasha in Syria by calming the revolt, and it has never been possible to induce him to send reliable agents to Syria for the purpose of finding out the exact extent of Ibrahim's power. Hence we have been deceived, and the attitude of France has been guided by unrealised expectations. M. de Broglie thinks that the King was greatly mistaken in dismissing the Ministry of M. Thiers, because he would in any case have fallen a victim to public ridicule at this moment. This opinion is based upon the fact that if one stakes a large sum upon one card and it does not appear the ridicule is universal. The person to whom he was speaking on the matter yesterday evening thought, on the other hand, that while the Chamber might fear war, it would never have been strong enough to overthrow the Cabinet.

"The speech drawn up by Thiers did not propose a new levy of a hundred and fifty thousand men, but merely wished to anticipate the new levy by three months, whether for peace or for war, this being the levy ordinarily made in the spring. Moreover, the tone of the speech was quite moderate; but the fact is that neither he nor the King was sincere and it was a mere pretext on either side.

"There was a Ministerial crisis, of which we had no suspicion, after the capture of Beyrout. The Ministry wished to make a demonstration by sending the fleet to Alexandria, but the King was opposed to this idea. M. de Broglie was asked to mediate between the two parties, and patched the matter up, on the theory that it was impossible at that moment to appoint a permanent Ministry if those in power resigned upon such a question. He was also opposed to the idea of sending a fleet to Alexandria, believing that the measure was good in itself, as likely to cause the allies anxiety while giving them no reason for complaint, and thinking it a measure which an absolute Government would have every right to carry out; but in French practice, on the other hand, as soon as this measure had been executed, the Press would have driven the fleet into action, whether they wished or not, and war would have been the result. All this argument, in any case, is based upon the fact that this measure or anything like it could only be carried out by violent means of which the public must hear, such as a resignation, a crisis, and so forth. If the matter had been quietly arranged with the private knowledge of the King, the case would have been very different. Moreover, M. de Broglie is by no means well disposed towards the King. He says, however, that it is all a matter of indifference to him apart from the outward disturbance; that he will support any possible Ministry, that not only will he make no attempt to overthrow them, but will not even try to shake their stability, seeing that any of the said Ministries are always more reasonable than the Chamber. In short, he says that he is part of the Ministerial suite, an avowal which no one had yet ventured to make, and that he greatly envies you the prospect of spending his winter in the country. His calmness is quite Olympian, though tempered with bitter and piercing irony.

"M. Guizot tells his friends in confidence that he has induced M. de Broglie to accept the London Embassy. I believe nothing of the kind, but I forgot to ask him yesterday evening. M. Molé seemed to me to be utterly cast down; he is a kind of Jeremiah singing madrigals, and is greatly changed."

Rochecotte, November 22, 1840.– Yesterday my son-in-law wrote to his wife saying that the diplomatic correspondence was read privately before the Commission of the Address in the Chamber of Deputies. It represents M. Thiers as an incompetent and impossible Minister, M. Guizot as a wise ambassador and a dangerous auxiliary, Lord Palmerston as a resolute and strong character; it shows that Thiers had attempted to deceive and blind the eyes of every one and to take them in, and was simply laughed at, as also was France. He also writes that the Duc d'Orléans made his little impromptu speech before the Chamber of Peers with admirable tact, grace, and nobility.

Another note has been received from Lord Palmerston, milder in tone than the former, but still raising anxiety upon the Egyptian question. M. Mounier has been officially sent to London to try and secure some concession.

My son Valençay writes to me to say that Madame de Nesselrode is at Paris for six weeks; that she will not appear at Court, and therefore will not go into society, but will live quietly by herself, and is delighted with her idea. I do not know whether Count Nesselrode will be equally delighted.

Rochecotte, November 23, 1840.– My son-in-law writes that M. Walewski, who had been sent to Egypt as an envoy to Ibrahim, thought that he was still writing despatches for the Ministry of March 1, and had announced that in spite of all his efforts he could not induce Ibrahim to pass the Taurus. This despatch seems to be causing a great sensation.

Rochecotte, November 24, 1840.– My son-in-law writes: "There is a vague rumour that some arrangement will be made in Syria and Egypt which will not be the ruin of the Pasha. This is in consequence of his complete submission to the Powers, but we shall boast of it here, and the majority will appear to believe it. For some time past there have been terrible arguments between Thiers and Guizot, face to face, and the worst of it is for them both that the bystanders support one of them against the other; consequently they will dig the pit in which they will both fall. Thiers is almost entirely ruined, and Guizot will be in the spring after he has refused, as he will, to pave the way for M. Molé, who will certainly enter upon office if the King wishes."

Rochecotte, November 25, 1840.– I have been reading with admiration the noble farewell of Queen Christina to the Spanish nation.142 It seems to belong to another time and to an age when there was still something divine in the language of kings. This touching manifesto is said to have been drawn up by Señor de Offalia, who has also left Spain.

Rochecotte, November 26, 1840.– What a dreadful speech M. Dupin has made! I am certainly the most peaceful creature in France, but I cannot understand how any one can descend to such depths. A descent so useless, so tactless, and so clumsy that it really seems as if he were trying to win a wager.

The wife of the Marshal d'Albuféra tells me that the Comtesse de Nesselrode met M. Thiers at her house, and that he put out all his efforts to charm the Comtesse. Madame de Nesselrode takes such sudden fancies that she might get excited even over M. Thiers.

The English have captured Saint-Jean d'Acre. Their little Queen has been confined of a daughter.143

Rochecotte, November 28, 1840.– The Duc de Noailles writes: "You will see by reading the reports of yesterday's session in the Chamber of Deputies the excitement which pervaded the assembly. This establishes and confirms peace with disgrace. These events will be a heavy burden upon the future of the present dynasty. I think that the consequence at home will be a kind of reform in the Chamber, which will produce a dissolution, and also another Chamber, in which we shall be forced to endure a Left Ministry led by Thiers."

Madame Mollien writes to me: "Queen Christina is pretty; her complexion is superb, her skin fine and white; she has a gentle look and a clever and gracious smile, but those who wish to think her charming must look no lower than her head; in full detail she is almost a monstrosity, quite as much as her sister the Infanta. She came to France unattended by any of her ladies, though the newspapers are pleased to speak of some Doña, who, if she does exist, is probably nothing but a chambermaid. At Paris there are some Spanish ladies who will perform some kind of attendance upon her; at the present moment the Duchess of Berwick is so acting. Her suite is composed of only two men, who are both young; one especially, the Count of Raquena, does not seem to be more than twenty. He is a little man with fair moustaches, and looks like a comedy lieutenant. I do not know when the Queen will start. She says she is very happy here. I am afraid she will be too happy and stay too long. These royal visits always cause a certain amount of disturbance, which soon wearies the inhabitants of the Tuileries. She dines there every day, though she is staying in the royal palace. Her interview with her sister was very cold, but it passed off without any scene, and nothing more was expected."

The Duchesse de Bauffremont sent me news of the marriage of her grandson with the second Mlle. d'Aubusson; the eldest daughter is marrying Prince Marc de Beauvau. Gontran's marriage will not take place for a year, as the young lady is only fifteen; she will be enormously rich. Her mother is Mlle. de Boissy. Her father has been ill for ten years, and his property is in the hands of executors. Gontran is not yet nineteen, and a very handsome young fellow.

Rochecotte, November 29, 1840.– The day before yesterday the Journal des Débats was very curiously filled with the speeches of M. Passy and M. Guizot, throughout which M. Thiers must have felt himself somewhat uneasy. On the whole these explanations are not very creditable to the cleverness of any one except to the skill and the dignified tenacity of Lord Palmerston. It appears to me that all the French actors have emerged from the business somewhat bespattered, including even the little Bourqueney.

Rochecotte, November 30, 1840.– The discussions in the Chamber have induced me to read the newspaper through, and I am not sorry, for it is a curious drama, though one in which the situation is more interesting than the people, whose appearance becomes ever more threadbare as they adopt the most certain means of degradation, want of straightforwardness, simplicity, and truth in their dealings. Moreover, this discussion is like the Day of Judgment; whether they like it or not, every one is stripped of his fine feathers, and truth is forced to the forefront. Hitherto M. Villemain seems to me to speak the truth in the most suitable and striking language, but he is only in a position to speak for one side of the matter, though this, in my opinion, is the side to which blame chiefly attaches.

Rochecotte, December 1, 1840.– The Duc de Noailles tells me: "I had a long talk yesterday with M. Guizot, and I told him that recent events and all that discussion has brought forth will considerably complicate the present situation for a long time. He thinks, on the contrary, that the difficulties are only momentary, and that public feeling upon this question will be as short-lived as it was upon the Polish war eight years ago.144 I also had a long talk with Berryer concerning his speech; he is thinking it over, and has some good ideas; his conclusion will probably give the Ministry a set-back. He will say that war is obviously impossible at this moment, but that peace as formulated by the Ministry is not acceptable to the Chamber, and that the Address should be referred to a new commission. Odilon Barrot and M. Dufaure have already proposed this idea, which might easily become popular. I also met Thiers at the Chamber, and walked about for ten minutes with him. I reminded him that I had already prophesied the events that have come to pass, because in this great business nothing could be done without alliances, while France was united to an ally who was opposed to her interests and obviously likely to abandon her. He replied that France even alone could have prevented action, at the expense, however, of great energy and a large display of force. He throws the whole responsibility upon the King; he says that it is a case of inertia upon the throne, and that with inertia in high places and also naturally ingrained in the nation, nothing can be done; that if the Duc d'Orléans had been King the course of events would have been different; that he would perhaps have perished, but have perished with dignity, and would not have left France in her present state of humiliation and hopelessness, in which she will long continue. In any case, he is entirely devoted to the Left, and M. Odilon Barrot drew the bonds tighter yesterday. Madame de Lieven is, I think, really attached to Guizot, for she no longer goes to the sessions of the Chamber, and confines herself to asking news of them with much anxiety."

I now come to an extract from a letter from the Princesse de Lieven herself: "Thiers seems to have decided that he will no longer serve the King. He says that he will wait for the Duc d'Orléans. Syria is lost for the Pasha. It is hoped and believed that he will yield to the summons of the English Admiral Stopford. I suppose that the French Government is advising him to do so; then the matter will be concluded with no glory for France, we must admit, and with every credit to Lord Palmerston. There are many people who strongly object to this latter result. The Ministers here expect a decent majority of fifty or sixty in favour of the Address, after which they will get on as well as they can. M. Guizot seems very tired, but is full of courage. At Vienna people are delighted with the change of Ministry and full of confidence in the present Ministers. I have no news of public opinion as yet from St. Petersburg. I am a little curious to hear what our Russian public will say about this great affair which has been settled without any active interference on the part of us Russians; it will cause us some astonishment. You will probably ask me whether there is a Russian public; the question is not unreasonable, but there is one, as far as the East is concerned. When I was at London as Ambassadress I ventured to call Turkey our Portugal; my own Court much appreciated the epigram, but the English did not. No haste is shown here to nominate a London Ambassador; I think they would prefer the Egyptian business to be settled first. We shall certainly have to wait until the middle of December. Madame de Flahaut does not know what to do, torn as she is by the whims and fancies which are natural to her and the extreme desire of her husband for a diplomatic post. The King greatly wished his ambassadors to call upon Queen Christina in a body; many of them felt scruples upon the point, but at length they decided to go, regarding her as nothing more than the widow of Ferdinand VII., and in fact she is nothing more now. The Queen of England is said to have had a very easy confinement, and will probably have seventeen children like her grandmother. Madame de Nesselrode lives at the Chamber of Deputies; she is in love with Thiers, and has joined the Opposition extremists; she is finding life quite pleasant here. I see very little of her as her time is taken up with the debates in the Chamber and with theatres. My ambassador is crushed beneath the weight of all the great Russian ladies who are grouped together in Paris. I am sorry for him, for I can believe that it is entirely tiresome."

I would have been ready to make a bet that Madame de Nesselrode would conceive a violent fancy for Thiers, if it were only to rival Madame de Lieven's fancy for Guizot. After reading the speech of M. Barrot and the series of invectives which he aimed directly at Guizot, I began to wonder yesterday how such things could be said and heard without leading to further explanations by means of swords and pistols.

Rochecotte, December 3, 1840.– The following are the most important passages from the bulletin sent by M. de Salvandy, under date December 1, before and during the session of the Chamber. He says: "Have you heard at Rochecotte a pleasant epigram by Garnier Pagès, who is to speak to-day? 'I would strip them both, and their ugliness would then be obvious.' This epigram very well sums up the situation. M. Thiers retains his revolutionary attitude, but that is all; he remains incompetent to many and impossible to all. M. Guizot is far from having gained all that M. Thiers has lost. He has immense talent, admirable strength of mind in times of storm, the gift of overaweing all hostile revolts in the Assembly, and the art of raising the minds of his audience to consider questions with him upon a higher plane and from a wider point of view; these are his special advantages, though he has never made the best of them. Yet he grows stronger, though he raises no defences, and rests his power upon the majority without permanently establishing it. The soil declines to be cultivated. M. Thiers is like a mistress who is asked only to behave herself; anything will be permitted to him, and his reputation will not suffer. M. Guizot is the woman of strict morals who has been a failure and is blamed for everything. This struggle between the Ambassador and the Minister, in spite of attempts to soften it, does harm to the Chamber and to public opinion. He is not even pardoned for his firm resolve to abandon the principles of the Coalition, as if people would have preferred him faithful to infidelity personified. The speech of Dufaure seems to many people a manifesto intervening between the Cabinet and M. Thiers; the action of Passy and Dupin in this direction has caused much anxiety. My name is coupled with this movement because no one imagines that Ministers in retirement are not displeased to be employed. M. Molé is represented as hovering above all, although he has no connection with the sphere in which the Ministry of May 12 predominates, for that Ministry, I think, regards it as a point of honour to preserve its consistency by holding aloof from M. Molé, as Jaubert thinks to remain consistent by retaining his seat among the others, whom he wounds and annoys by his constant outcries against the King and his enthusiasm for M. Barrot. Such is our position. The ground seems to be crumbling beneath us. Alas for our country, which should be strong and cannot be governed! Our Chamber is really the Œil de Bœuf of the democracy.145 Favourites, male and female, disturb everything by their intrigues, and spend the time in overthrowing one another, with the result that ruin is universal. I am going to the Chamber, where MM. de Lamartine and Berryer will cross swords, and shall close this letter there.

"P.S.– Berryer has just spoken, a clever, brilliant, and perfidious speech. He has protected Thiers by going straightway to the Tuileries. There he has displayed his thunderbolts and launched anathemas against M. Guizot the Ambassador, which have been definitely applauded three times by the Assembly. M. de Lamartine is now rising to reply."

Rochecotte, December 4, 1840.– The speech of M. Berryer shows the state of the country from one point of view and that of M. de Lamartine from another. These two speeches seem to me to be the most brilliant effort on the part of one orator and the most lofty on the part of the other that the whole discussion upon the Address has produced. M. de Lamartine, for whom in general I have but a moderate liking, greatly pleased me with his reply which seems to be wise, well supported by facts, well thought out, and well delivered, with excellent touches of straightforward feeling, which had its effect upon the Assembly.

We are assured that the mission of M. Mounier to London is intended to secure the help of England for the proposal of a marriage between the innocent Isabella with her cousin Carlos, Prince of Asturias.

The remains of Napoleon have now been brought to Cherbourg. In Paris no preparations are said to have yet been made for this ceremony, which in my opinion will be very ridiculous.

Rochecotte, December 5, 1840.– Yesterday I had a letter from M. Royer Collard, from which the following is a striking extract: "A week ago, madame, I was a prisoner in the Chamber, following a great debate upon the Address with close interest. The audience have alternately expressed dissatisfaction with the chief actors, but not from the same point of view. The faults of Thiers are those of the Minister, and the faults of Guizot those of the man. I do not know whether you noticed in the newspapers that I was led to make a declaration in Guizot's favour which he greatly needed, as he was in a difficulty, for no one believed a word of what he was saying, although he spoke the truth. The next day he came over to my place to thank me, boldly crossing the whole Chamber for the purpose. I did not accept his thanks, and told him that I had done nothing for him, but had been thinking only of myself. He then buttonholed me in a corridor. I maintained a distant attitude and refused to converse. The difference between the two men is that Providence has not granted Thiers the power of distinguishing between good and evil; Guizot has this power, but will not use it. He is therefore the more guilty, but not, perhaps, the more dangerous. If one could regard any decision of to-day as irrevocable, I should say that they are both utterly ruined. I wish they were, but I am not sure of it."

My son-in-law hears that the effect of Berryer's speech has been tremendous. It seems to have dealt a death-blow to M. Guizot, and a vigorous thrust in higher quarters. The Carlists are overjoyed. I am inclined to think that they regard the event as more important than it really is. Thiers loudly praises Berryer, and tells any one who will listen to him that in point of art nothing is superior to it, and that in 1789 no better performance was achieved.

The Princesse de Lieven, to whom some one related the thrust that Guizot had received, answered that he had not been hit.

It is said that the ceremony in honour of the remains of Napoleon will take place on the 15th of this month. How opportunely his ghost arrives!

Rochecotte, December 6, 1840.– I hear from a correspondent: "I have no certain confirmation of Demidoff's death, but I know from a sure source that he had a very unpleasant journey to Rome, and afterwards some harassing interviews with the Cardinal's Secretary of State and with the Russian Minister, after which he was obliged to leave the Papal States, in accordance with orders. The consequent excitement then caused him one of his worst attacks. Apparently he told a Greek priest that his children would all be brought up in the Greek religion, while he told the Catholic authorities that they would be brought up as Catholics. Moreover, he said, with his usual assurance, that with money anything could be gained from the Court of Rome, and that he had sent a hundred thousand francs to the Pope for the dispensations which he has procured. Cardinal Lambruschini, indignant at this story, inserted an article in the Gazette romaine, which has been circulated everywhere, and which denies the statement, affirming very positively that M. Demidoff only paid ninety francs for his dispensations – namely, the cost of their postage. The Russian Minister then refused to intercede with the Roman Court on behalf of Demidoff. Demidoff abused him, in consequence, and after all this fine performance was obliged to leave Rome; and if he is not dead with fury he is none the less in an awkward position."

Rochecotte, December 7, 1840.– The chief news of the day is the rejection of M. Odilon Barrot's amendment by a majority of more than a hundred.

One or two clever epigrams current at Paris are these: MM. Jaubert and Duvergier de Hauranne – in short, the Doctrinaire section that has gone over to the Left – are known as the unrestrained schismatics from the Doctrine. In other circles partisans of Mgr. Affre, the Archbishop of Paris, are known as the affreux (frightful). People must have their joke.