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

Spaniards!

As I left the soil of Spain in a day of grief and bitterness for me, my streaming eyes were turned to heaven in prayer that the God of mercy would shed His grace and His blessing upon us.

When I reached a foreign land, the first need of my soul and the first thought of my heart was to raise my voice in friendship, the voice with which I have ever spoken to you with a sense of unspeakable tenderness, both in good and bad fortune.

Alone, abandoned, and a prey to the deepest grief, my only consolation in this great misfortune is to open my heart to God and to you, to my father and to my children.

Think not that I shall be satisfied with lamentations and barren recriminations, or that, to explain my conduct as Queen-Regent of the realm, I shall attempt to excite your passions; on the contrary, I have done everything to calm them and would gladly see them at rest. The language of self-restraint alone is consonant with my affection, my dignity, and my glory.

When I left my country to seek another home in Spanish hearts, rumour had informed me of your great exploits and your high qualities. I knew that in every age you had leaped forward to the combat with the noblest and most generous ardour to defend the throne of your Sovereigns; that you had defended it at the price of your blood, and that in days of glorious memory you had deserved well of your country and of Europe. I then swore to devote myself to the happiness of a nation which had shed its blood to break the captivity of its Kings. The Almighty heard my oath, your manifestations of joy showed me that you were conscious of it, and my conscience tells me that I have kept it.

When your King, upon the brink of the tomb, dropped the reins of State from his failing grasp and placed them in my hands, my gaze fell alternately upon my husband, my daughter's cradle, and the Spanish nation, thus uniting the three objects of my love in order to recommend them to the protection of heaven in one prayer. My painful experiences as mother and wife while my husband's life and my daughter's throne were endangered could not distract me from my duties as Queen: at my voice universities were opened; at my voice long-standing abuses disappeared and useful reforms, wisely considered, were brought forward; at my voice those who had sought in vain a home as exiles and wanderers in foreign lands, returned to their hearths and homes. Your joyous enthusiasm at these solemn acts of justice and mercy could only be compared to the extent of the grief and the depth of bitterness to which I was abandoned; for myself I reserved all sadness, and for you, Spaniards, all joy.

At a later date, when God had called my august husband to Himself, who left the government of the whole realm in my hands, I strove to guide the State as a merciful Queen-Regent (justiciera). During the short period which elapsed since my elevation to power until the convocation of the first Cortes, my power was unique, but it was not despotic, or absolute, or arbitrary, for it was limited by my will. The most dignified people in the realm and the Council of Government, which I was bound to consult by the last wishes of my august husband upon all matters of grave import, pointed out to me that public opinion demanded other guarantees from me as the repository of the sovereign power. I gave those guarantees, and freely and spontaneously convoked the chiefs of the nation and the procuradores of the realm.

I granted the royal statute and I have not infringed it. If others have trampled it under foot, they must be responsible for their actions before God, who holds laws sacred.

The Constitution of 1837 was accepted by me, and I took the oath to it; to avoid infringement of it, I then made the last and greatest of sacrifices – I laid down the sceptre and I was forced to abandon my daughters.

In referring to the events which have brought these cruel tribulations upon me, I shall speak to you as my dignity demands, with self-restraint and in words well weighed.

I was served by responsible Ministers, who were supported by the Cortes. I accepted their resignation, which was imperiously demanded by a revolt at Barcelona; then began a crisis which was only concluded by the renunciation which I signed at Valencia. During this deplorable period, the municipality of Madrid revolted against my authority, an example followed by other important towns. The rebels insisted that I should condemn the conduct of Ministers who had loyally served me; that I should recognise the movement as legitimate; that I should annul, or at any rate suspend, the law of municipalities which I had sanctioned, after it had been voted by the Cortes; and that I should endanger the unity of the Regency.

I could not accept the first of these conditions without entire loss of self-respect; I could not accede to the second without recognising the right of force, a right recognised neither by divine nor human laws, and the existence of which is incompatible with the Constitution, as it is incompatible with all Constitutions; I could not accept the third condition without infringing the Constitution, which regards as law any measure voted by the Cortes and sanctioned by the supreme head of the State, and which places a law once sanctioned beyond the sphere of the royal authority; I could not accept the fourth condition without accepting my own disgrace, passing condemnation upon myself and undermining the power which the King had left me and which the Chambers of the Cortes had afterwards confirmed, and which was preserved by me as a sacred possession which I had sworn never to surrender to the hands of factious men.

My firmness in resisting that which I could not accept in the face of my duty, my oaths and the dearest interests of the monarchy, has brought down upon the defenceless woman, whose voice now speaks to you, a series of griefs and sufferings which no human language could express. You will not have forgotten, Spaniards, how I carried my misfortunes from city to city, insulted and affronted everywhere, for one of those decrees of God which are a mystery to man, has permitted injustice and ingratitude to prevail. Doubtless for that reason the small number of those who hated me were emboldened to insult me, while the large number of those who loved me had so far lost courage as to offer me nothing but silent compassion as a testimony of their affection. There were some who offered me their swords, but I did not accept their offer, preferring martyrdom in isolation to the certain prospect of reading one day a new list of martyrs who had fallen victims to their loyalty. I might have stirred up a civil war, but civil war could not be aroused by myself, who have just given you the peace that my heart desired, a peace cemented by forgetfulness of the past; my mother's eyes turned away from so dreadful a prospect; I told myself that when children are ungrateful a mother must endure to death, but that she must not stir up war between them.

Days elapsed in this dreadful condition of affairs; I saw my sceptre become merely a useless reed and my diadem a crown of thorns. At length my strength failed; I laid aside my sceptre and my crown to breathe the air of freedom; an unhappy victim but with a calm brow, a clear conscience, and a soul without remorse.

Such, Spaniards, has been my conduct. I offer you this account of it that it may not be stained by calumny, and in so doing I have performed the last of my duties. She who was your Queen asks nothing more of you than that you will love her daughter and honour her memory.

Marseilles, November 8, 1840.

(Signed) Maria Christina.

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX

[The names followed by an asterisk (*) have been already noted in more detail in the Biographical Index of vol. i.]A

ABD-EL-KADER (1807-1883). Celebrated Arab Emir, who maintained a desperate struggle against the French in Algiers for fifteen years. He was eventually captured in 1847 by General Lamoricière, sent to France, and imprisoned at Pau, then at Amboise. Napoleon III. set him at liberty, and he afterwards remained loyal to France. He died in Syria, where he had withdrawn.

ACERENZA, the Duchesse d' (1783-1876). Jeanne, Princesse de Courlande, married in 1801 François Pignatelli of Belmonte, Duc d'Acerenza. She was the third daughter of Pierre Duc de Courlande, and sister of the Duchesse de Talleyrand.

ACTON, Lady. She was the daughter of the Duke of Dalberg, and married Lord Acton as her first husband. Her second husband was Mr. George Leveson, afterwards Lord Granville.

ADÉLAÏDE, Madame* (1777-1847). Sister of King Louis-Philippe, over whom she exerted a great influence.

ADOLPHUS OF NASSAU (1250-1298). He was elected Emperor of Germany in 1292 on the death of Rudolph of Hapsburg, to the exclusion of Albert, son of this Prince. Germany revolted against him, and he was conquered and killed by his rival, Albert of Austria, at the battle of Göllheim.

AFFRE, Denis Auguste (1793-1848). Archbishop of Paris from 1840. On June 25, 1848, Mgr. Affre went to the barricades in the Faubourg Saint Antoine and was struck by a bullet while beseeching the insurgents to surrender. He died two days later in consequence of this wound.

AGNÈS SOREL (1409-1450). Lady of Honour to Isabelle de Lorraine. Agnès Sorel attracted the notice of Charles VII. and became his favourite. He gave her a castle at Loches, the comté of Penthièvre, the manors of Roquessière, Issoudun, and Vernon-sur-Seine, and finally the seat of Beauté in the Bois de Vincennes, whence she took the name of Dame de Beauté.

ALAVA, Don Ricardo de* (1780-1843). Spanish officer and diplomatist.

ALBUFÉRA, the Duchesse d' (1791-1884). Daughter of the Baron de St. Joseph. She married in 1808 Marshal Suchet, Duc d'Albuféra, who died in 1826.

ALDBOROUGH, Cornelia, Lady.* Daughter of Charles Landry.

ALFIERI, Count Victor* (1749-1803). Italian tragic poet. He secretly married the Countess of Albany.

ALIBAUD (1810-1836). Assassin who attempted the life of King Louis-Philippe on the evening of June 25, 1836, and was executed on July 11 following.

ALTENSTEIN, Baron Karl of (1770-1840). Prussian statesman from 1808 to 1810. He was Financial Minister, and afterwards, under King Frederick William III., became Minister of Religion and Education.

ALTON-SHÉE DE LIGNIÉRES, Edmond, Comte d' (1810-1874). Peer of France in 1836. At first closely attached to the Constitutional Monarchy of July, he suddenly changed under the influence of the ideas of 1848, and took part in the manifestations of the advanced party. Under the Second Empire he abandoned his political connections.

ALVANLEY, Lord* (1787-1849). A society figure and English officer, known for his wit.

ANCILLON, Jean Pierre Frédéric (1766-1837). Of Swiss origin, he became Minister of the Reformed Church of Berlin and Professor at the Military Academy. In 1806 Frederick William III. requested him to undertake the education of the Prince Royal, afterwards Frederick William IV. Admitted to the court, Ancillon was influential there until his death. He married three times: in 1792, Marie Henriette Baudouin, who died in 1823; in 1824, Louise Molière, who died in 1826; in 1836, Flore Tranouille d'Harley and de Verquignieulle, of an old Belgian family.

ANDRAL, Madame. Daughter of M. Royer Collard. She married the famous Dr. Andral.

ANGLONA, the Prince d' (1817-1871). Son of a General in the Spanish Army. He married in 1837 the daughter of the Duke of Frias and became Duke of Uceda, a title which belonged to his wife's family.

ANGOULÊME, the Duc d' (1775-1844). Also known as the Dauphin, after his father, King Charles X., had ascended the throne in 1824. In 1799, at Mitau, he married his cousin, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, only daughter of King Louis XVI. He was Commander-in-Chief of the French Army sent to Spain in 1823, captured the fort of Trocadero, and showed his moderation by the ordinance of Andujar. He died in exile at Goritz, and left no children.

ANGOULÊME, the Duchesse d' (1778-1851). Marie Thérèse Charlotte of France, only daughter of King Louis XVI. and of Marie Antoinette. At her birth she received the title of Madame Royale. She shared the captivity of her family, and in 1795 the Directory consented to exchange her for the commissaries sent back by Austria. She married her cousin, the Duc d'Angoulême, and returned to Paris with him in 1815. Exiled once more in 1830, she never returned to France, and died at Frohsdorf.

ANNE OF AUSTRIA* (1602-1666). Queen of France and Regent during the minority of Louis XIV.

ANNE DE BRETAGNE (1476-1514). Queen of France. Daughter of François II. of Brittany, she married in succession Charles VIII. and Louis XII., and brought to the Crown the Duchy of Brittany, to which she was heiress.

APPONYI, Count Antony (1782-1852). Austrian diplomatist. He was first Envoy Extraordinary to the court of Tuscany, then Ambassador at Rome until 1825. Afterwards he was Ambassador at London and then at Paris, where he remained until 1848. In 1808 he married Theresa, daughter of Count Nogarola of Verona.

ARGOUT, the Comte d' (1782-1858). French politician and financier, he became Councillor of State in 1817, and then Peer of France. From 1830 onwards he was a member of several Ministries, and retained the post of Governor of the Bank of France until his death.

ARNAULD D'ANDILLY (1588-1674). After a long life at court he retired in 1644 to Port Royal des Champs. While in retirement here he translated the Confessions of St. Augustine, wrote memoirs, &c. His son was the Marquis de Pomponne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his daughter the Mother Superior Angélique de Saint Jean, Abbess of Port Royal.

ARNAULD, Antoine (1612-1694). Theologian and philosopher. He first studied law and was then attracted by the rigid Christianity of the Jansenistes, and became the militant theologian of Port Royal. He composed in collaboration with Nicole the Logic of Port Royal, and with Lancelot the Grammar. He was the brother of Arnauld d'Andilly.

ARNAULD, Mother Superior Marie Angélique de Sainte Madeleine (1591-1661). Sister of Arnauld d'Andilly and of A. Arnauld. She was Abbess of Port Royal des Champs from the age of fourteen. She introduced the Cistercian reforms and spirit.

ARNAULD, Mother Superior Angélique de Saint Jean (1624-1684). She was the daughter of Arnauld d'Andilly and Abbess of Port Royal, as was her aunt, the Mother Superior Angélique de Sainte Madeleine. She has a large place in the records of Port Royal worthies; she also wrote "Narratives," "Reflections," &c.

ARNIM, the Baron of (1789-1861). Prussian diplomatist. He was sent to Brussels in 1836 and Paris from 1840 to 1848. After a short time at Berlin as Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1848, he retired from politics.

ARSOLI, Camille, Prince Massimo and d' (1803-1873). Chief Minister of the Pontifical posts. In 1827 he married Marie Gabrielle de Villefranche-Carignan, and on her death he married the Comtesse Hyacinthe de la Porta Rodiani.

ARSOLI, Princesse d' (1811-1837). Marie Gabrielle de Villefranche. Daughter of the Baron de Villefranche, who married Mlle. de la Vauguyon.

ATTHALIN, the Baron Louis Marie (1784-1856). A General of Engineers in France. He served with distinction in the campaigns of the Empire, and under the Restoration became aide-de-camp to the Duc d'Orléans. Under the July monarchy he filled various diplomatic posts, and became Peer of France in 1840. He retired into private life after 1848.

AUBUSSON, the Comte Pierre d' (1793-1842). Colonel of Infantry. In 1823 he married Mlle. Rouillé du Boissy du Coudray, and died insane in 1842.

AUBUSSON, Mlle. Noémi d'. Born in 1826. She was the daughter of the Comte Pierre d'Aubusson. She married, in 1842, Prince Gontran of Bauffremont.

AUGUSTA OF ENGLAND, Princess* (1797-1809). Duchess of Cambridge. She was daughter of the Landgrave Frederick of Hesse Cassel.

AUMALE, Henri d'Orléans, duc d' (1822-1897). Fourth son of King Louis-Philippe and of Queen Marie Amélie. He distinguished himself by his brilliant military exploits in Algiers. He left France in 1848 and returned after 1871. He again became an exile, and did not return until 1889. His talents as historian procured his entry to the French Academy. He bequeathed to the Institute of France his beautiful estate of Chantilly.

AUSTIN, Sarah (1793-1867). An English writer who translated many German books into English and wrote moral and educational works.

B

BADEN, Grand Duke Leopold of (1790-1858). Succeeded his brother Louis in 1830. He married Princess Sophia, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus IV., King of Sweden.

BADEN, Grand Duchess Stephanie of (1789-1860). Daughter of Claude de Beauharnais, Chamberlain to the Empress Marie Louise. She married in 1806 the Grand Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Baden, who died in 1818.

BADEN, Princess Marie of (1817-1887). Daughter of the Grand Duke Charles Louis of Baden and of Stéphanie de Beauharnais. She married in 1842 the Duke of Hamilton, and was left a widow in 1863.

BAGRATION, Princess (1783-1857). Catherine Skavronska, married, in 1800, Prince Peter Bagration, who was killed at the Borodino in 1812. In 1830 the Princess married an English Colonel, Sir John Hobart Caradoc, Lord Howden. The Princess was a friend of Prince Metternich.

BALBI, the Comtesse de (1753-1839). Daughter of the Marquis de Caumont La Force. She married the Comte de Balbi and became Lady of Honour to the Comtesse de Provence. The Comte de Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII., honoured him with his friendship. The Comtesse de Balbi possessed every charm of beauty and mind.

BALLANCHE, Pierre Simon (1776-1847). A mystical writer who for some time conducted at Lyons a large printing and publishing establishment which he had inherited. He then settled at Paris, where he became intimate with Madame de Staël, Chateaubriand, Joubert, etc. He became a member of the French Academy in 1844.

BALZAC, Honoré de (1799-1850). One of the most fertile and remarkable contemporary novelists, especially powerful in his profound analysis of human passion.

BARANTE, the Baron Prosper de (1782-1866). He was successively auditor to the State Council, entrusted with diplomatic missions, Prefect of the Vendée and of the Loire-Inférieure, then Deputy, Peer of France, and Ambassador at St. Petersburg. As writer and historian he was most successful and his History of the Dukes of Burgundy secured him a seat in the French Academy.

BARANTE, the Baronne de. Née d'Houdetot. Of Creole origin, she was renowned for her beauty.

BENDEMANN, Edward (1811-1889). A German painter who acquired a brilliant reputation at an early age. Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts at Dresden, he executed the frescoes in the throne-room of the royal castle of that town. In 1860 he became director of the Academy of Düsseldorf in succession to Schadow whose daughter he had married.

BARBET DE JOUY, Joseph Henri (1812-1896). Director of the Museum of the Louvre and member of the Academy of Fine Arts.

BARROT, Odilon* (1791-1873). French politician.

BARTHE, Félix* (1795-1863). French magistrate and statesman.

BASTIDE, Jules (1800-1879). An ardent Liberal connected with the Carbonari; he conducted a desperate opposition to Charles X. Under Louis-Philippe he was Commander of the National Guard, was compromised and condemned to death for his share in the outbreak upon the funeral of General Lamarque; he escaped and fled to London. Afterwards he returned to France and conducted the National after the death of Armand Carrel. In 1848 he was a Deputy, and for a short time Minister of Foreign Affairs. Under the Empire he held aloof from politics.

BATHURST, Lady Georgina. Wife of Lord Henry Bathurst, one of the chief members of the Tory Party.

BATTHYANY, Countess* (1798-1840). Née Baroness of Ahrennfeldt.

BAUDRAND, the General Comte* (1774-1848). Aide-de-camp to the Duc d'Orléans.

BAUDRAND, Madame. The great fashionable milliner at Paris in 1836.

BAUFFREMONT, the Duchesse de (born in 1771). Daughter of the Duc de la Vauguyon. She married, in 1787, Alexandre, Duc de Bauffremont. She was very intimate with the Prince de Talleyrand.

BAUFFREMONT, the Princesse de (1802-1860). Laurence, daughter of the Duc de Montmorency. She married, in 1819, Prince Théodore de Bauffremont. She was the elder sister of the Duchesse de Valençay.

BAUFFREMONT, the Prince Gontran de. Born in 1822. He married, in 1842, Mlle. d'Aubusson de La Feuillade.

BAUSSET, the Cardinal de (1748-1824). Bishop of Alais. He was made a Peer at the Restoration and received his Cardinal's hat in 1817. The previous year he had entered the French Academy. He wrote a Life of Fénelon and a Life of Bossuet.

BAUTAIN, the Abbé (1796-1867). A pupil of the Normal School, where he studied under M. Cousin. He was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the College of Strasburg in 1816, and took orders in 1828. In 1849 Mgr. Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, appointed him Vicar-General. The Abbé Bautain pursued almost every branch of human knowledge.

BAVARIA, the Queen Dowager of (1776-1841). Princess Caroline of Baden, daughter of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden; she married Maximilian of Bavaria in 1797, and became a widow in 1825.

BAVARIA, King Louis I. of (1786-1868). Ascended the throne of Bavaria in 1825 on the death of his father, Maximilian I. King Louis abdicated in 1848 after making Munich the Athens of Germany.

BAVARIA, Queen Theresa of (1792-1854). Daughter of Duke Frederick of Saxe-Hildburghausen, afterwards Saxony Altenburg.

BAVARIA, Prince Royal of (1811-1864). Maximilian II., son of King Louis I., whom he succeeded in 1848. In 1842 he married Princess Marie of Prussia.

BEAUVAU, the Prince Marc de (1816-1883). Married as his first wife, in 1840, Mlle. Marie d'Aubusson de La Feuillade, and as his second wife Mlle. Adèle de Gontaut-Biron.

BECKET, St. Thomas (1117-1170). Archbishop of Canterbury. Assassinated at the foot of the altar by the courtiers of Henry II., King of England. Pope Alexander III. canonised him as a martyr.

BEGAS, Charles Joseph (1794-1854). German painter; pupil of Gros, with whom he studied at Paris. In 1822 he went to Italy, and in 1825 he settled at Berlin, where he became painter to the King of Prussia, Professor and Member of the Academy of Fine Arts.

BELGIANS, King of the, Leopold I. (1790-1865).

BELGIANS, Queen of the,* Louise, Princesse d'Orléans (1812-1850). Second wife of Leopold I. of Belgium and daughter of Louis-Philippe.

BELGIOJOSO, Princess (1808-1871). Christina Trivulzio, married, in 1824, the Prince Barbiano Belgiojoso. Her dislike of the Austrians drove her to leave Milan and settle at Paris in 1831, where she attracted attention by her beauty, her cleverness, and her foreign ways. Princess Belgiojoso published in 1846, under an obvious pseudonym, a work in four volumes, entitled An Essay on the Formation of Catholic Dogma, which aroused much discussion. When Piedmont declared war upon Austria in 1848 the Princess hastened to Milan, fitted out and paid a battalion. After the peace she was exiled, and returned to Paris, where she gained a living for the most part with her pen, as her property had been confiscated by the Austrian Government. It was not restored to her until 1859, when she returned to Italy and plunged eagerly into politics.

BENKENDORFF, Count Constantine of (1786-1858). Chief of the staff of the Emperor Nicholas I. of Russia. He was for sometime Minister at Stuttgart, where he died.

BERGERON, Louis.* Born in 1811. French journalist.

BERNARD, Simon, Baron (1779-1839). Peer of France and Minister of War under Louis-Philippe, after serving under the Emperor Napoleon I. and under the first Restoration.

BERRYER, Antoine* (1790-1868). French lawyer.

BERTIN DE VEAUX, M.* (1771-1842). French journalist.

BERTIN DE VEAUX, Madame, née Bocquet. Daughter-in-law of M. Merlin.

BERTIN L'AÎNÉ, Louis François (1766-1841). French publicist. Founded the Journal des Débats with his brother, Bertin de Veaux.

BERTIN, Madame. Mlle. Boutard, sister of an art critic on the Journal des Débats. She married M. Bertin the elder.

BERTRAND, the Comte (1773-1844). The faithful friend of Napoleon I., whose aide-de-camp he was, and whom he followed to Elba and St. Helena.

BERWICK, Duchess of (1793-1863). Dona Rosalia Ventimighi Moncada was born at Palermo, and was a daughter of the Count of Prado. She was Lady of Honour to Queen Isabella and Chief Lady of the Palace. Her son, the Duke of Berwick and of Alba, married the eldest sister of the Empress Eugenie.