Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1831-1835

Will it be believed that in the Journal des Débats they translate all Sir Robert Peel's speech and leave out – what? The complimentary passage about the Duke of Wellington which certainly contained nothing offensive to France. And this when the Duke is Foreign Secretary, and is extremely well disposed to France, and when the Débats is reputed the semi-official organ of the Government. Truly people here are extraordinarily maladroit in spite of the French wit!

Paris, December 29, 1834.– Poor little Madame de Chalais died last night. She was such a happy person; with that good and regular happiness which it is given only to some women to experience. Life forsakes those who are weary of their pilgrimage all too slowly; it always goes too quickly from those who are enjoying the journey. In whatever way one importunes Providence, whether one fatigues one's self with prayers or allows one's wishes to be divined in discreet silence, the answer is almost always no, and the sentence usually irrevocable.

What grief at Saint-Aignan! There she was the darling of all the inhabitants. I seem to hear the cries of all these old servants whom I know and for whom she represented the third generation they had served. The poor, the sick, the well-to-do – all idolised her. She was so helpful, so kindly, and so gracious! It is more than a death; it is the destruction of a young happiness and of an ancient and illustrious race. I am profoundly shaken by it.

Paris, December 31, 1834.– Yesterday morning I had a good long visit from M. Royer-Collard. He told me the whole history of his professorship, and gave me a glimpse of his system of philosophy; then he talked a great deal about Port Royal. The hours he gives me are really precious, but too rare and too short for all that there is to learn from a mind like his.

Madame de Castellane came afterwards; if I were to allow it for an instant she would constitute herself my sick nurse! She told me that M. Molé was writing his Memoirs, and that there were already five volumes.

Then came M. le Duc d'Orléans; he told me a great deal about his Ball of the night before, of which the following, among the rest, remains with me. The greatest elegance was blended with the utmost originality. The company was brilliant, the supper superb; there were flowers, artistically grouped statues, lights enough to blind you, white and gold everywhere, new liveries, grooms-of-the-chambers in full dress with swords by their sides, clad in velvet and powdered. The women were covered with diamonds; the Queen was charmed and Madame Adélaïde jealous, saying, "This is pure Louis Quinze." All the men were in uniform, but in boots and trousers, while M. le Duc de Nemours, who wore the coat of a general officer covered with gold lace, and came in short breeches, stockings, and shoes, was voted by every one extremely distinguished and good-looking. M. le Duc d'Orléans asked me whether I did not prefer boots and trousers for a soldier, and I replied, "The Emperor Napoleon, who gained a few battles, when he dined alone with the Empress wore silk stockings and buckled shoes every evening." – "Really?" – "Yes, Monseigneur." – "Ah, that is different." Here is the reverse of the medal. The Deputies invited (invited I mean as Deputies only, for there were others who were asked as Ministers and Generals), of whom there were only: MM. Odillon Barrot, Bignon, and Etienne, came in ordinary evening dress in order to be more conspicuous.

The Prince Royal is full of singular contrasts. There are, for instance, his aristocratic tastes and pretensions, and his detestable politics. Yesterday we had a crow to pluck for the first time on the subject of the Duke of Wellington. "How like the King you are," said the Prince. "My father knows you are always talking to me on his side, and so he likes you very much." – "Monseigneur, I never talk except on my own side and on the side of your interests: but all the same I am very proud of the approbation of the King." It all ended very kindly, for he asked leave to add his portrait to those which I have collected at Rochecotte.

Here, then, I end this year 1834, memorable in my life because it closes the English period. The four years which I have just passed in that country have placed me in a new frame, given me a new point of departure, and directed me towards a new series of ideas. They have modified the view taken of me by the world. What I owe to England will, I hope, never leave me, and will remain with me till the end of my life. Now let us lay up a provision of strength for the evil days, which probably will not fail to come, and for which it is well to be prepared.

CHAPTER V

1835

Paris, January 3, 1835.– I yesterday received the Duc de Noailles, who had written me a charming letter to ask leave to call. He came to talk to me about his wife's niece, Madame de Chalais, whom he loved as his own child and whom he knew I deeply regretted. We mourned together; then he spoke a little of politics with good sense and good taste, a little of society, and much of Maintenon. He stayed a long time and seemed at his ease and very happy. He expressed the desire to see me often and to become a little intimate with us. He is one of the men whom M. Royer-Collard esteems, is very ugly, and older in appearance than in reality. He is studious, and his manners are excellent and very distinguished. I saw a great deal of his wife when she was Mlle. Alicia de Mortemart, and was living with her sister the Duchesse de Beauvilliers, with whom she went to Saint-Aignan. We are, moreover, nearly related to the Mortemarts. The old Princesse de Chalais, who brought up M. de Talleyrand, was a Mortemart, and the daughter of M. de Vivonne, the brother of Madame de Montespan.

Yesterday I was at the great evening reception at the Tuileries, the Queen having sent word to me by Madame Mollien that I might come and go by the private apartments, and so not have to wait for my carriage. It was the last Court of the season, and I took my daughter-in-law, Madame de Valençay. The palace, when lit up, is really superb, and many things look very well – in contrast to many others. This applies to the black coats scattered here and there among the uniforms, the elaborate dresses of some women, and the bourgeois caps of others. There was nothing like disorder, but there was no distinction of rooms or places. There is no procession; the Court makes its entry when all the company is assembled and makes a tour of the ladies, after which the men present file past by themselves. A little man in uniform precedes their Majesties and asks each lady her name, a proceeding which in the case of three quarters of them seems absolutely necessary.

They were very gracious to me, and I think they were pleased that I went on the day of one of the great receptions which may well be called "public." They feared that I would restrict myself to special audiences. That, I think, would have been bad taste. I might perhaps prefer not to go at all, but when one is pleased to see people in private it does not do to hide one's self and repudiate them in public. Whenever she saw me, the Queen herself told me I might go; they opened the little door and I escaped delighted to be relieved of the burden.

Paris, January 7, 1835.– M. Molé came to see me and said many curious things – among others, that he "had a mission to purge the Government of doctrinaire influences." He has a terrible hatred of doctrinaires, and he is a good hater. He quite startled me on this subject, and I asked myself if he was equally good at loving. The answer to this embarrassed me and I went no further.

Paris, January 8, 1835.– Madame Adélaïde having asked me to bring Pauline to see her, I did so yesterday. The King told me to wait for him at his sister's which kept me for three hours. The King had just heard of the strange scene among the Mont Saint-Michel people who were amnestied. On the very day of their liberation the Republicans among them (the Carlists said their prayers and went quietly back to La Vendée) sang the most horrible songs and ended by swearing on their table knives to compass the death of the King. His Majesty had the police reports before him and gave us all the details.

He talked for a long time and on all subjects – I must say with much good sense, ability, clearness, and prudence. He perfectly understood the destiny of England, judged the European situation very acutely, and spoke of his son in a most reasonable way. He said two things in particular to me which struck me very much. The first was that, without having been carried away so far as his son, he had himself fallen into several errors of which experience had cured him. He returned to the subject of the Revolution of July, and was careful to show that in principle he disapproved of it. Thus he told me that his Ministers had wished him to wear the July decoration and that he had refused, saying that he had taken no part in the Revolution except to put a stop to its disastrous consequences. He added, "You never saw me wearing that decoration, Madame!"

He is more and more embarrassed in the choice of his Ambassador in London, for the news received yesterday from Naples proves that Sébastiani is no longer capable of undertaking the post. I think the King would like M. de Latour-Maubourg, but he is ill and talks of nothing but retiring to the country. M. de Sainte-Aulaire will be here in two or three days, and I imagine that the lot will fall on him. The King and I discussed the possibility of sending Rigny to London, but the King said, "Rigny's only possible successor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be Molé, but Guizot would never dare to stay in office with him because Broglie would be furious, and they think they can't do without Guizot in the Chamber." The objection to Sainte-Aulaire is the influence M. Decazes has over him, which is bad in itself and justly displeasing to the King.

M. de Talleyrand's letter of November 13 was at last read to the Council yesterday. It will appear in to-day's Moniteur, and there will also be published a reply from M. de Rigny in the politest terms. They only asked that one word should be changed, and this was agreed to, as it made the sense clearer without altering it. They asked M. de Talleyrand to allow them to say "this propagandist spirit" instead of "certain doctrines."

Yesterday evening I was at the great ball at the Tuileries. M. le Duc d'Orléans attacked me again on the subject of the English elections. He is curiously afraid that they may turn out to the advantage of the Tory Cabinet. This is the second time we have had it out on this question. Yesterday I tried to avoid the discussion, but he insisted, saying that "perhaps I should convert him," to which I replied, "I should indeed be proud, Monseigneur, to convert you to your own side."

He had just been re-reading M. de Talleyrand's letter of resignation. He said it was a masterpiece, a real historic document, which would attract a great deal of attention abroad. Nothing, he thought, could be so noble or so simple, and it was the more kind to the King as no one here had the courage to praise him. M. de Talleyrand had, however, showed himself to be terribly conservative, and this would give rise to a great controversy in the press. I answered: "Perhaps, Monseigneur, but what does it matter? Whether M. de Talleyrand speaks or is silent, he is always attacked by ill-disposed papers. At his age, when one is taking leave of the public, one may well take the opportunity of pleasing one's self and showing one's self in one's true colours to be an honest man as one has always been, the friend of one's country and of social order, and, what is more, a man of one's own class, which does not necessarily mean a prejudiced person. You say that M. de Talleyrand alone has the courage here to praise the King – and why? Because he is a gentleman, a great personage, and therefore a Conservative. A monarchy, believe me, must always come back to people like that." He went on, "Oh, yes, the letter will be much admired abroad." – "Yes, Monseigneur, it will be admired abroad, but it will also be admired by every honest man at home, and your Royal Highness will permit me to neglect the rest." Here is another specimen of my conversations with this young Prince, who lacks neither intelligence nor courage nor grace, but whose judgment is still greatly wanting in prudence and balance.

As to the King, he is prudent above all things, and what is more, he is very gracious to me. He came up to me and said, with a smile, "Have you given M. de Talleyrand an account of our long conversation?" – "Of course, Sire, it was too full of interest not to make me anxious to give him that pleasure." – "Ah, then I am sure you will not have forgotten my story about the July decoration." – "It was the first thing I told M. de Talleyrand, and I am going to tell my son and my grandson. I wish my descendants to remember it in order that they may in the future repeat what I now say every day, which is that the King has a great understanding." It was said long ago that when flattery did not succeed it was the fault of the flatterer, not of the flattery. I think that yesterday the flatterer was quite efficient!

Rochecotte, March 12, 1835.– Our letters from Paris announce that M. Thiers' refusal to remain in the Ministry with the Duc de Broglie as President of the Council and Minister of Foreign affairs (a refusal which the King, who does not wish to be entirely delivered up to the doctrinaires, will not hear of) is again stopping the machine. The Chamber of Deputies is beginning to get excited, and it is impossible to see clearly what the result of all this will be.

There is to be a collection at Saint-Roch for the Asylums directed by Madame Adélaïde who accordingly has the choice of collectors. She has chosen Mesdames de Flahaut and Thiers. The former, who is said to be furious at the choice of her partner, has refused, and this little difficulty has contrived to attract some attention among the many more important and insoluble problems of the moment.

Rochecotte, March 14, 1835.– Yesterday's letters leave no doubt as to the dénouement of the Ministerial crisis.

It is practically the crisis of last November over again. Then Marshal Gérard was replaced by Marshal Mortier; now M. de Broglie replaces Mortier in the Presidency and Rigny gives up to him Foreign Affairs and takes War until the arrival of Maison, to whom a courier has been sent. If the latter accepts, the Embassy at St. Petersburg will be vacant, but it is thought that he will refuse. In that case will Rigny remain definitely as Minister of War or will he go to Naples, giving place to some secondary general? No one knows yet. Thus, with the addition of Broglie and Maison, and the subtraction of Rigny, practically every one remains at his post. It was hardly worth making such a fuss about!

This is what I hear as to M. Thiers, who at first refused to take office with M. de Broglie. He was harried and worried in every direction, Mignet and Cousin trying to dissuade him, Salvandy to make him accept. During this period a numerously attended meeting of deputies assembled at M. Fulchiron's. Thiers, hearing of this, said that if this meeting asked him he would accept office. Salvandy hurried with a deputation to obtain Thiers' consent, which was given in order that he might not be accused of ruining the only possible combination, and because he is backed by a solemn expression of opinion from a parliamentary majority. It is thought, however, that he will soon repent of having yielded. The balance is no longer even. They will be two to one against him in the Council, and conditions are quite against the present arrangement lasting.

I have a letter from M. Molé which says, "You have left a gap here which nothing could fill; no one has felt this more than I have in the last few days. I hope, I may say I am sure, that you would have approved of me. You are one of the very few people of whose approval I think before I act. We have not been fighting about individuals but for the Amnesty. A complete general Amnesty was my condition. Those who resigned in order to get their way provoked a demonstration against it in the Chamber. I alone maintained that facts were on our side. However, some who, like me, were for the Amnesty lost courage, and the result is that the old Ministry is being reconstructed under M. de Broglie. Several of its members are by no means proud of this, but they are all accepting a position on which the future will pronounce judgment as well as on many other things."

Rochecotte, March 16, 1835.– M. Royer-Collard writes to me as follows about the late Ministerial crisis: "It was on Tuesday the 10th that the King asked Guizot to summon M. de Broglie. No doubt you expect to hear of the insolence of the conqueror. Nothing of the sort. M. de Broglie, coached by Guizot, had laid aside not only his arrogance, but even his personal dignity which should not be surrendered even in exchange for the Presidency of the Council. He expressed regret in humble terms for the past and promised to be good in the future. You may take this for certain – the Necker pride, which is the same type as the Broglie pride, has given way."

Further on, à propos of the paper signed by the so-called Fulchiron meeting about Thiers, M. Royer-Collard says: "It is certain that Thiers has capitulated. He accepts, but is separated and disengaged from the doctrinaires whom he has humiliated. He returns whereas Guizot stays. No one, I think, gains by this patch work."

Still further on there is this. "When M. Molé came to see me yesterday, I embraced him as I would the survivor of a shipwreck. He comes out of the matter best of all, and he has surpassed himself."

Rochecotte, March 23, 1835.– Yesterday evening I had a very gracious reply from the Duchesse de Broglie to the letter of congratulation I had addressed to her. She dissembles her political triumph by the use of humble Biblical quotations. The note of her letter is kindliness, and in fact I am pleased with her; she is a deserving person.

I had also written to M. Guizot on the occasion of his brother's death. He did not reply before the period of mourning was over; he did finally answer however, and yesterday there came from him a very cajoling letter. The only phrase dealing with politics is: "I am one of those who should say that the crisis is over, but I am also one of those who know that nothing is ever finished in this world, and that one has to begin again every day. Our life consists of a continual effort to secure a success which is always incomplete. I accept this without illusions, and without discouragement."

I shall add an extract from a letter from M. Royer-Collard which also came yesterday evening. "All that has happened, the dénouement as well as the crisis, is very sad. The King and Thiers have, as you see, been conquered by Guizot, and, as a result, M. de Talleyrand as well, in what remains to him of public life. It is true that this victory bears no resemblance to a triumph, and makes none of the noise in the world which a triumph causes. It is obscured by the uncertainty of things in the Chamber. Guizot however is a skilled intriguer, and his obstinacy is in proportion to his presumption and to his burning thirst for personal predominance. He will never stop till he is conquered by the force of circumstances. I doubt whether there exists anywhere at present a force which would be sufficient to conquer him. Thiers had the satisfaction of making them wait thirty-six hours for him and of going his own way in the tribune, but the fact remains that he gave in, and that it was the fear of Guizot and the little doctrinaires that prevented him from entering the Gérard-Molé Ministry, much as he would have liked to do so. Till something else turns up he is absorbed in the general submission. From this chaos M. Molé has emerged with an increased reputation of which you may rest assured that he owes part to you. You came into his life more than once and brought succour. He likes you very much and feels the need of your approbation. I owe his friendship to his belief that I helped to bring you and him together."

Rochecotte, May 10, 1835.– Yesterday I had a curious account of what passed at the secret committee of the House of Peers on the form of judgment.49 Several Peers declared that they could not get rid of the matter by sentencing the accused in default, that is to say by sentencing empty benches. Of this opinion were MM. Barthè, Sainte-Aulaire, Séguier and, it is believed, de Bastard. M. Decazes and some others contended that the cases should be taken separately. M. Cousin reproached M. Pasquier in the most violent manner for not having heard counsel for the defence, and the Chamber for being weak enough to uphold the decision of its President. M. Pasquier in his reply was sentimental and pathetic, but the most serious incident was the declaration of M. Molé who said in so many words that if they passed sentence on the accused in his absence he would protest. This declaration had a great effect, and several Peers, among them the Duc de Noailles, adopted M. Molé's view. It is added: "You can easily see that this declaration is the nucleus of a new Molé Ministry if the impossibility of carrying on the case should force the present Ministers to resign. On the other hand it would be so dangerous to be weak in the presence of such accused that the necessity of standing fast will override all other considerations. It remains to be seen how it is to be done. This case is a hydra!"

Langenau (Switzerland), August 18, 1835.– This little chronicle has been interrupted for some time. I have often been ill, and found any kind of application impossible. In this way I became more and more indolent, and got tired of writing down my own thoughts after having so long dealt with those of others. Then came removals and travels and all sorts of things which have combined to interrupt my old habits. My mind has been distracted by too many new scenes; I have had no time for the reflection and steady work necessary for writing, and my inspiration was at an end. I had lived prodigally for four years and my small stock of provisions was exhausted. In short, I may repeat the rather unfilial remark of M. Cousin, who in speaking of his father, who had become imbecile, observed, "only the animal survives."

My notes have recorded in their proper sequence the visit of M. le Duc d'Orléans to Valençay, the drama (as I may well call it) of M. de Talleyrand's resignation of his Embassy to London; the change of Ministry at Paris, which only lasted three days; that of the English Cabinet, which after three months retired on meeting a Parliament which they had imprudently renewed. How much these events displeased those about me, how a many-sided intrigue made Sébastiani Ambassador at London, a post to which M. de Rigny secretly aspired – all this is well known, and I shall say no more about it.

At Maintenon, where I spent some hours with the Duc de Noailles, I had the pleasure of hearing a long account of the visit of Charles X. in 1830, when he left Rambouillet to embark at Cherbourg. The Duc de Noailles describes this dramatic scene with emotion, and consequently with talent. Unfortunately, I did not write it all down the very day he told it me, and now I fear that I should spoil it if I tried to recollect it. Some day or other I shall go to Maintenon again, and instead of the story, which I shall not hear again, I shall be able to tell what has become of this venerable and curious old house in the hands of the Duc de Noailles, who has undertaken many improvements.

Our quiet stay at Rochecotte might also have furnished several pages which would have contained the piquant anecdotes of M. de la Besnardière; the frequently agitated correspondence of Madame Adélaïde during the re-entry last March of the doctrinaire Ministry, and some characteristic traits of M. de Talleyrand grappling with his comparative solitude, almost continually trying to put other people in the wrong in order to manufacture emotions for himself, sometimes putting himself in the wrong, and thus conducting a solitary warfare in the midst of a profound peace.

I should have set down, during the days which Madame de Balbi spent with me, some account of the many-sided vivacity which is so characteristic of her age and type of mind. Her conversation was full of it, and what she says is almost always connected with scenes and persons and situations which prevent it from being trivial and make it material for serious history. If I had been in form at that time I should certainly not have passed over in silence the loquacious and pompous figure of the Comte Alexis de Saint-Priest, a malicious, and indeed a grotesque person, though not without wit and animation, and a striking contrast to the restraint, good taste, and incisiveness of Madame de Balbi. M. de Saint-Priest's total want of manners is his most unpleasant feature. He thinks he is a born diplomatist, but his temperament is certainly anything but diplomatic. He is also a man of letters, and is writing historical memoirs, for which he thought himself entitled to request Madame de Balbi, on the very first day they met at Rochecotte, to communicate to him her letters from Louis XVIII., of which no doubt she must have a great many. This was too much not to cast a shade of gravity over Madame de Balbi's habitual gaiety; and she said, very drily, that she would be wanting in every sentiment of the respect and gratitude which she entertained towards the late King if a single one of these letters was published or even shown to any one during her lifetime.