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

Rochecotte, December 9, 1840.– Madame Mollien informs me that, as the Address is now voted, men's minds are beginning to turn to the ceremony of the Remains, as the people of Paris call it. The expenses of the ceremony will amount to a million; thousands of workmen are busy day and night with preparations, and thousands of loafers spend their time looking on until nightfall. What foolishness all this comedy is, coming at such a time and in such circumstances! I think that the rock of St. Helena would have been a more fitting sepulchre, and perhaps a safer resting-place, than Paris, with its storms and revolutions.

Rochecotte, December 10, 1840.– M. Raullin writes to say that the Stock Exchange gambling was discussed at the session of the Chamber, and M. Thiers actually wept. He also says that the hatred and acrimony which embroil all these people is quite unparalleled, and that it is impossible to talk with any one unless you share their particular form of madness. Thiers wished to fight a duel with M. de Givré, which was prevented by Rémusat. M. Jaubert is also slightly infected by the disease. Madame Dosne is in bed, a result of the effects of the last session of the Chamber at which she was present. The revelations made upon the subject of the Stock Exchange gambling have overwhelmed her.

M. de Saint-Aulaire writes from Vienna saying that he is going to stand for election to the French Academy; he displays great disgust with public affairs, and there is every probability that this feeling will become general.

Rochecotte, December 13, 1840.– Yesterday, as my solitude was more complete than usual, I returned, as I constantly do, to my recollections of the past. It occurred to me to write a few lines upon certain mental characteristics of M. de Talleyrand, as follows:

His mind was strong, but his conscience was weak, for it needed enlightenment. The age in which he lived, his education, and the position into which he was forced were all incompatible with that reflection which can illuminate the soul. His natural want of sensitiveness also disinclined him for the serious work of self-examination and left him in darkness. Thus his unusual mental powers were entirely devoted to political interests. He was swept away by the terrible movement of his age, and threw the whole of his energies into it. If stress was required his energy was great; he could live without repose and rest, and deprived others of it as well as himself, but when he had attained his object he would relapse into a lengthy indifference, upon which he cleverly prevented any encroachment. He could be idle so gracefully that no one could disturb him without self-reproach, but he had a keen and accurate eye for a situation and a penetrating perception of its possibilities, while his mind was tempered with excellent common sense. When he took action he worked but slowly at first, but with rapidity and precipitation as the crisis approached. The attitude of carelessness, which he abandoned as little as possible, was most disastrous to him in private life, for he carried it to excess. His door was always open, his rooms were constantly invaded, while his indifference to the reliability and moral worth of the men who made their way to him was deplorable. At the same time he saw everything through his half-closed eyes, but he took little trouble to judge men, and even less to avoid those of whom he thought least. In conversation, if he felt no need of opposition, he allowed people to talk or act as they would, but if he felt himself attacked he was immediately aroused, and the answer was a crushing blow; he overthrew his opponent on the spot, though he never retained any bitterness of feeling for him. He speedily relapsed into his indifference, and as easily forgot an impropriety as he sincerely pardoned an insult. In any case, he was rarely called upon to defend himself. His dignity was natural and simple, so well protected by his reputation, his great past, and by the apparent indolence which was known to be only a mask, that I have rarely seen even the worst characters venture to show their true nature with him. I have often heard him say with real satisfaction: "I was a Minister under the Directory; all the hobnailed boots of the Revolution have tramped through my room, but no one ever ventured upon familiarity with me." He spoke the truth; even his nearest and dearest addressed him only with respectful deference. I am, moreover, convinced that his overpowering dignity was supported by a natural characteristic which could be felt even beneath his indolence. This was a cool courage and presence of mind, a bold temperament and instinctive bravery which inspires an irresistible taste for danger in any form, which makes risk attractive and hazard delightful. Beneath the nobility of his features, the slowness of his movements, and his luxurious habits there was a depth of audacious boldness which sometimes peeped out, revealed a wholly different order of capacities, and made him by force of contrast one of the most original and most attractive characters.

Rochecotte, December 14, 1840.– Among the letters which I received yesterday I had one from Berlin from M. Bresson, who says: "Frankfort is by no means a misfortune for Herr von Bülow; he has long desired it for private reasons; the post ranks as at least equal to that of London. The strange outcome of Eastern events has restored the credit of those responsible for the negotiations. The men who made the loudest outcry against Bülow are to-day warmest in his praises. We are so indulgent to those who show daring that I am myself inclined to regard them as correct. Humboldt has no political influence over the King of Prussia; no one has any as yet, and it is impossible to say exactly at present what attitude he will adopt. Some recent nominations of members of the Pietists have slightly damaged his popularity; his liking for them is not shared by the country. Lord William Russell extends the area of his amusements more and more; he is now divided between three ladies, one of whom attracts him with some frequency to Mecklenburg. Prince Wittgenstein no longer takes any share in public business; he has had several attacks and will not live long. I need not tell you what I felt concerning the discussion upon the Address; existing conditions make life abroad most unpleasant. Is it true that Flahaut is going to Vienna to replace Saint-Aulaire? If so, I shall certainly be left here. The wind of favour does not blow in my direction. A certain street and house very well known to you are not so well disposed to me as they were." This last passage alludes to Talleyrand's residence in the Rue Saint-Florentin, where Madame de Lieven now lives.

I am informed of the death of the young Marie de La Rochefoucauld, daughter of Sosthène and granddaughter of the Duchesse Mathieu de Montmorency. This poor woman has survived her contemporaries, her children, and her grandchildren. Heaven has severely tried the high courage and profound faith with which she is endowed.

I am also informed that at the much-talked-of ceremony of the Remains the Queen and the Princesses will be in mourning as for Louis XVIII. It seems that everybody is mad; the newspapers only speak of the funeral, or rather of the triumphal procession and of the religious honours which will everywhere be paid to the remains of Napoleon. After all, Napoleon, twice in forty years, will have performed the same service for the French. He will have reconciled them to religion, for it seems that it is quite curious to see the crowds upon their knees surrounding the clergy who bless these remains. Curious, too, is the general wish that their hero should have the benediction of the Church. Strange are the people who accept order personified in the midst of actual anarchy for the sake of a revolutionary idea, for it seems clear to me that there is no other motive for all these honours, which are paid, not to the legislator, but to the usurper and to the conqueror.

Rochecotte, December 15, 1840.– Yesterday I had some news from Madame de Lieven, the chief points of which I will copy: "Egypt is now done for. Napier was rather violent, contrary to his instructions, but at the same time he has succeeded. Napier wished to show his learning, and is asking the Pasha to restore the reign of the Ptolemys, a strange position for a vassal, but there it is. At Constantinople the principle of hereditary succession will be recognised for his family, and he will afterwards surrender the fleet. At London delight is great and Lord Palmerston cannot contain himself. Relations between the two countries remain very strained; it is not war, but cannot be called peace. The discussion upon the Address has been forgotten in view of the funeral of Napoleon; this will be a superb ceremony, and I hope it will be nothing else.

"Queen Christina has gone, after making a conquest of your King. She will go to Rome, but not to Naples, where her daughter has not been recognised. The whole of Russian female society is here; five of the palace ladies are at Paris and only four left at St. Petersburg. The ambassadors have declared that they will not be present at the funeral. Most of them have adopted this idea independently, but Lord Granville asked for instructions; after some hesitation he was told to do as the others did. The confinement of the Queen of England was perfectly easy."

Rochecotte, December 17, 1840.– We have not yet heard how the funeral passed off at Paris the day before yesterday. Some uneasiness prevailed. The Duchesse de Montmorency told me: "There is an idea of attacking the English Embassy and wrecking the house. Some soldiers have been placed within the residence and Lady Granville has moved. It is estimated that eight hundred thousand people will be on foot. My children went to the Pecq, and thought that everything was very well conducted; there was a general silence when the boat came in, and all heads were bared. General Bertrand was on the right of the coffin, General Gourgaud on the left, M. de Chabot before it, and the Prince of Joinville went to and fro giving orders and had all the decorations removed which were not religious. The priests were there with surplices and many candles, and there was nothing worldly or mythological."

The newspapers speak of great excitement. I shall be delighted when the evening post tells us how it has all gone off. I have written to secure my grandson Boson a view of the ceremony. Foolish, incoherent, contradictory, and ridiculous as it may be, still the solemn arrival of the coffin brought back from St. Helena will be very imposing, and he will be glad one day to have seen it. Unfortunately at his age he will be merely impressed, and will be unable to draw any of the strange conclusions which the sight should inspire – the complete forgetfulness of the oppression and the universal maledictions with which Europe resounded twenty-six years ago; to-day nothing remains but the recollections of Napoleon's victories, which make his memory so popular. Paris, proclaiming her eager love of liberty, and France, humiliated before the foreigner, are doing their utmost to honour the man who did most to reduce them to servitude and was the most terrible of conquerors.

In the newspapers we have read a description of the decorations in the Champs Elysées, with the row of kings and great men. The great Condé at least should not have found a place among them. Condé offering a crown to his grandson's assassin! What I think should be fine is the hearse. I like the idea of Napoleon brought back to France on a buckler…

Rochecotte, December 18, 1840.– Yesterday we awaited the post most anxiously, and by some fatality the box was broken and we had to go to bed without letters. Fortunately my son Dino, who had been at Tours, brought back a copy of a telegram received by the Prefect which said that everything went off very well, apart from a small demonstration by some fifty men in blouses, who tried to break through the lines in the Place Louis XV., but were driven back.

Rochecotte, December 19, 1840.– At last our letters have come. Madame Mollien, who was at the Church of the Invalides in the King's suite, says: "This ceremony was just as unpopular in the position where I was placed as it was popular in the streets of Paris. For every reason people are delighted that yesterday is over. Before entering the church we met in a kind of room, or rather chapel without an altar, which had already been used for the same purpose at the funeral of the victims of Fieschi. The royal family, the Chancellor, the Ministers, the Households, and even the tutors, waited together for two hours. The time was chiefly spent in speculation upon the progress of the procession and in attempts to derive some heat from two enormous fireplaces that had been hastily constructed and avoid the volumes of smoke which they belched into the room. Recollections of the Emperor were conspicuous by their absence; people talked of any subject except that. The Chancellor146 was noticeable for his cheerfulness and his comical outbursts against the smoke. The Queen was feverish, but nothing could prevent her from accompanying the King, and she went home from the Invalides really ill. I can tell you nothing of the scene within the church. I was so shut in on my stand that I saw nothing, and could hardly hear the beautiful mass by Mozart, divinely sung."

The following is another account: "The hearse, in my opinion, was really admirable; nothing could be more magnificent and imposing; the departmental standards borne by subalterns made an excellent effect, and the trumpets playing a simple funeral march in unison impressed me deeply. I liked, too, the five hundred sailors from La Belle Poule, whose austere appearance contrasted with the general splendour; but a ridiculous effect was produced by the old costumes of the Empire, which looked as though they had been brought out from Franconi's. The progress of the hearse was not followed sufficiently closely by the crowd, so that the people rushed along in too noisy a fashion. There were some unpleasant shouts of 'Down with Guizot!' 'Death to the men of Ghent!' Some red flags were also seen, and the Marseillaise was heard once or twice, but these attempts were immediately checked. The Prince de Joinville has grown brown and thin, but he is handsome and looked very well. He was warmly welcomed throughout the procession yesterday."

The Duchesse d'Albuféra saw the procession pass from Madame de Flahaut's house, who had invited the old ladies who had figured under the Empire, the wife of Marshal Ney, the Duchesse de Rovigo, &c., with a number of modern society figures or strangers. The eighty thousand troops are said to have given the ceremony the aspect of a review rather than of a funeral. The Marshal's wife reasonably disliked the attitude of the people, which was neither religious nor impressive nor respectful.

I have also a letter from M. Royer Collard, who says nothing about the ceremony, at which he was not present; but in answer to a statement of mine, expressing my astonishment at his silence concerning Berryer's speech, he says: "If I were to give you my plain opinion of the protagonists in the debate upon the Address, I should be tempted to use very violent language. M. Berryer is supporting the cause of good by evil methods, an imaginary good by what is certainly wrong, and the cause of order by means of confusion. He has the outward graces of an orator, but not the essential points. He makes no impression upon men's minds, and nothing will be left to him but his name. You ask my opinion of M. de Tocqueville. He has a fund of honest motives which is not adequate for his purposes, and which he imprudently expends, but some remnants of which will always be left to him. I am afraid that in his anxiety to succeed he will wander into impossible paths by an attempt to reconcile irreconcilable elements. He extends both hands simultaneously, the right hand in welcome to the left, and the left hand to ourselves, and regrets that he has not a third hand behind him which he could offer unseen. He proposes to present himself for election to the French Academy in place of M. de Bonald. My first vote is promised to Ballanche, but he will have my second. His opponents – for there is an opposition – say that his literary success has already brought him into the Institute, the Chamber, and will give him an armchair at Barrot's house, and that he can therefore wait." Our hermit of the Rue d'Enfer displays a considerable spice of malignity beneath his excellent qualities. The notion of a third hand is very persuasive, a capital metaphor, in my opinion.

Rochecotte, December 20, 1840.– The Duc de Noailles also sends me a small account of the funeral, and says that the crowd of onlookers watched the procession going by almost as if it were that of the Bœuf-Gras, and that the people in the church were entirely absorbed by the question of the cold and the business of wrapping themselves up; that the service was confused and that the social spectacle was the main point in everybody's mind. The obvious inference seems to me to be that there are no more Bonapartists in France. The fact is that there is nothing in this country except newspaper articles.

My son-in-law is told that a proposal is to be brought forward in the Chamber to efface the figure of Henry IV. from the star of the Legion of Honour and to replace it by the effigy of Napoleon. As a matter of fact there will be nothing more extraordinary in destroying the image of one's ancestor than in staining one's coat of arms.147

Rochecotte, December 23, 1840.– I have a letter from M. de Salvandy, of which the following are the essential points: "A note has arrived from Lord Palmerston stating that Napier's convention has been ratified, and guaranteeing the fact in the name of England.

"M. Thiers will be president of the Commission concerning the fortifications, and will report their proceedings to the Chamber; thus he will have the Cabinet on the stool of repentance and be able to keep the Chamber in check. It thus appears that M. Thiers is by no means so weak as was thought, and that M. Guizot's position is by no means assured. In this general state of uncertainty anything is possible. The credit of the Chamber is shaken by it within, and a European disturbance may very well follow. Austria has presented a very moderate note upon the question of armaments, but Germany will not disarm."

M. de Salvandy says the same as my other correspondents with regard to the funeral. He complains that there was too much gold, which was to be seen in every possible position. Apparently those who arranged the ceremony thought that it was the best means of representing glory. He also said that nothing could be less religious than the religious ceremony. This is natural when one has an archbishop who cannot walk or pray or use incense. I notice in the Moniteur a phrase which is quite admirable: "De Profundis was sung by Duprez and the prayer by the Archbishop."

M. de Salvandy says that during the ceremony M. Thiers was remarkably hopeful at the outset, very angry at the conclusion, and preoccupied throughout; apparently he had set his hopes upon a day which, thank heaven, has been a failure. Even in the church he attempted to begin a discussion with M. Molé concerning Napoleon's thoughts and chances during the Hundred Days.

Now I have an extract from a letter sent by Frau von Wolff from Berlin: "Hitherto nothing has disturbed the perfect harmony between the Sovereign and his people; on political questions there is practically no difference of opinion among them, so we are almost all orthodox in this respect; but religious opinions are strongly divided, and from this point of view the first steps of the King are watched with some anxiety. It is to be hoped that the King will never sacrifice true merit to sectarian prejudice. With regard to the new nobility which the King has just created, it will be difficult for me to give you a precise explanation, for the institution seems to be still somewhat vague. The King hopes to obviate the inconvenience of a poor nobility – and the Prussian nobility is usually poor – by introducing new titles and attaching them to territorial estates, so that the title will pass only to those children or descendants who inherit land, and will become extinct if the succession leaves the family. This idea has not been greatly appreciated so far. People fear possible complications and entanglements and it is thought that the institution will hardly survive, as it is not in harmony with Germanic custom."

Rochecotte, December 27, 1840.– The Duc de Noailles tells me that M. de Tocqueville has withdrawn his candidature for the Academy. The Duc has just been to dinner with M. Pasquier, where he met Mgr. Affre; he speaks of him as a regular peasant; even the enemies of Mgr. de Quélen noticed the difference at the ceremony in the Invalides. It was Mgr. de Quélen who officiated for the victims of Fieschi. Mgr. Affre is an appropriate prelate for this wretched age, which is so devoid of dignity wherever it is looked for.

Rochecotte, December 30, 1840.– I hear from Paris that a despatch in a mild and friendly tone has arrived from Russia for communication to the Government, saying that the isolation of France is regarded with regret and that there is a readiness to begin the usual measures for bringing France into the train of negotiations since a Conservative Ministry has been re-established at Paris. The despatch was read to M. Guizot and then to the King. Can it betoken a desire for a closer union? I hardly think so, but I do think that there is a general wish to avoid war in Russia as well as elsewhere; that there is a wish to calm the feelings of France and induce her to disarm, and that disarmament may follow elsewhere, for these general armaments are the ruin of Europe.

APPENDIX

I

Message from President Jackson of the United States

Since the last session of the Congress the validity of our claims upon France, as arranged by the treaty of 1831, has been recognised by both branches of the Legislature, and the money has been voted for their satisfaction, but I regret to be obliged to inform you that payment has not yet been made.

A short summary of the most important incidents in this lengthy controversy will show how far the motives, by which attempts are made to justify this delay, are absolutely indefensible.

When I took office I found the United States applying in vain to the justice of France for the satisfaction of claims the validity of which has never been doubted, and has now been admitted by France herself in the most solemn manner. The long-standing nature of these claims, their entire justice, and the aggravating circumstances from which they sprang, are too well known to the American people for a further description of them to be necessary. It is enough to say that for a period of ten years and more, with the exception of a few intervals, our commerce has been the object of constant aggression on the part of France, which usually took the form of condemning ships and cargo in virtue of arbitrary decrees, contravening both international law and the stipulations of the treaties, while ships were burnt on the high seas, and seizures and confiscations took place under special Imperial rescripts in the harbours of other nations then in French occupation or under French control.

Such, as is admitted, has been the nature of our grievances, grievances in many cases so flagrant that even the authors of them never denied our right to satisfaction. Some idea of the extent of our losses may be gained by considering the fact that the burning of vessels at sea and the seizure and sacrifice in forced sales of American property, apart from awards to privateers before condemnation was pronounced, or without such formality, have brought the French Treasury a sum of twenty-four millions of francs, apart from considerable customs dues.

For twenty years this business has been the subject of negotiations, which were interrupted only during the short period when France was overwhelmed by the united forces of Europe. During this period, when other nations were extorting their claims at the bayonet's point, the United States suspended their demands in consideration of the disasters that had overpowered the brave people to whom they felt themselves bound, and in consideration of the brotherly help which they had received from France in their own times of suffering and danger. The effect of this prolonged and fruitless discussion, disastrous both to our relations with France and to our national character, was obvious, and my own course of duty was perfectly clear to me. I was bound either to insist upon the satisfaction of our claims within a reasonable period or to abandon them entirely. I could not doubt that this course was most conformable to the interests and honour of the two countries.