Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
to wait upon myself. I have felt a little awkward, but shall get used
to it. It is not always pleasant, but it is useful, and I do not
complain. I have, indeed, my moments of discouragement, but then I
chide myself and it passes away. At times great nervous fatigue
results from want of practice, but this will disappear, for we are not
upon earth to amuse ourselves, or to rest, or to be well and happy and
comfortable; that is our chief illusion; we mistake our object, and
are then angry that we do not attain it; if we tell ourselves that the
object of life is work, struggle, and sacrifice we avoid
misunderstandings and escape the most painful of fates.
The examination of Alibaud will not be printed; so much the better, as
all this is bad food for public curiosity. Yesterday I had a letter
from the Duc de Noailles, who is one of the judges; he told me that
the crime was obviously prompted by want. As the man had not a
halfpenny he wished to kill himself, but he thought his death should
be made interesting and useful. Such is the influence of bad teaching
derived from the republican age and society in which he has lived. He
is not a gloomy fanatic like Louvel, nor a modern Erostratus like
Fieschi, but is merely a beggar of considerable self-possession and
badly brought up.
All the newspapers, Carlist, Radical, and Moderate, are greatly vexed
by the mandate of the Archbishop of Paris. To appear at Neuilly is too
much for some; unwillingness to use the term "the King" in the mandate
is a platitude which does not deceive others and irritates many; the
Jesuitical and equivocal phrase at the end is thought very pitiable.
In short, the outcry is general and deserved. I am sorry, for at
bottom he is a man not without good qualities, but with a deplorable
want of tact.
I have a letter from M. de Valençay written from Milan; the horseraces
in the arena, where twenty-five thousand people collected, and the
illumination of the theatre of La Scala were admirable.
The Mayor of Valençay came to consult M. de Talleyrand about an
address to be presented to the King concerning the last attempt upon
his life, and begged M. de Talleyrand to draw it up. He commissioned
me with the task. Here it is, as it has been passed and as it was sent
to Paris yesterday. To fall from diplomatic to municipal language is a
great proof of decadence. That at any rate is what little Fontanes of
Berry has produced, and of all the addresses drawn up on this occasion
it is undoubtedly the most monarchical both in form and substance.
/* "With the confidence of children, the respect of subjects, and
the gratitude of the friends of true liberty, the inhabitants of
Valençay venture to place at the foot of the Throne the
expression of their delight at the miraculous preservation of the
sacred person of the King and their wishes for the permanent
happiness of the Royal Family. Insignificant and remote as is the
quarter of your realm whence these loving hearts yearn towards
your Majesty, your goodness is our guarantee that our token of
respect will be indulgently received. Our town, moreover, is not
without its claims upon the interest of the King, and the claim
which we are most pleased to assert is the honour which we have
had in receiving His Royal Highness Monseigneur the Duc
d'Orléans, and the recollection of the kindness which he has
shown amongst us," &c. &c.
Then follow the signatures of the Municipal Council, including that of
M. de Talleyrand.
_Valençay, July 10, 1836._--My son, Valençay, arrived yesterday; he
told us nothing new about his travels, and only confirmed his previous
letters. We have also the Prince de Laval, by whom M. de Talleyrand is
wearied to death, and with good reason. At Paris the Prince is
tolerable, and sometimes even amusing, but in the country his want of
judgment and his snobbishness, which induces him to say, for instance,
that the orange-tree, pruned, clipped short, and planted in a box, is
the aristocracy of nature, his continual practice of asking questions,
of stammering and spitting before one's face, and always looking on
the insignificant side of things, are most wearing; and he does not
say a word of his departure.
The Duc d'Orléans writes to say that only for reasons of state would
he be sorry not to marry the daughter of the Archduke Charles, for her
attractions for him are entirely moral; in person he thinks her, if
not ugly, yet insignificant, and he is not attracted. In any case, the
father and daughter readily assent to the proposal of marriage; the
Emperor of Austria says nothing; but his brother the Archduke Francis
Charles and his sister-in-law the Archduchess Sophie say "No."
_Valençay, July 13, 1836._--Yesterday evening we had a visit from the
Duc Decazes[37] and the Comte de la Villegontier, who stopped for tea
on their way to their foundry at Aveyron. M. Decazes was sad and
sorrowful concerning the King's dangers and the open sores in society,
as revealed by the trial of Alibaud. He also complains, and with
reason, of the organisation, or rather the non-organisation, of the
police. He says that the King alone has preserved his calm and
presence of mind, but that around him all are sad, anxious, and
agitated, and that the Queen and Madame are very unhappy. Marshal
Lobau has persuaded the King that the National Guard would take it ill
if his Majesty did not review them on the 28th of this month. He will
therefore pass under the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, where the
National Guard will march before him. But this is too much. The July
festivals will be confined to the opening of the Arc de Triomphe, and
the Obelisk from Luxor will be unveiled. No further commemoration
would be required, in my opinion.
[37] M. Decazes then acted as chief referendary to the Chamber of
Peers.
Alibaud yielded to the exhortations of the Abbé Grivel. He confessed,
and therefore has repented. On the scaffold he kissed the crucifix
before the people, but when one of the servants took away his black
veil he flew into a rage and turned suddenly round to the multitude,
red in the face, crying, "I die for my country and for liberty," and
then he submitted.
M. Decazes also told us that every day brought him anonymous letters,
denunciations, and revelations, and that it was impossible to get a
moment's peace. He left me in profound sadness.
_Valençay, July 16, 1836._--The Prince de Laval, who is still here,
admiring everything and evidently well pleased in spite of our
political differences, has a certain form of wit which consists in
saying smart and clever remarks now and then, but these are wanting in
taste and balance. His class snobbishness recalls that of M.
Saint-Simon, his caste prejudice is carried to a ridiculous point, his
curiosity and gossip are unexampled, and his selfishness and
absorption in his own importance and amusement are inconceivable; he
advances every claim on his own behalf, and is therefore unbearable
when taken seriously. Taken the other way, there is something to be
got out of him, the more so as, though he is a tease, he is not
ill-tempered, and the very extravagance of his poses forces him to
live up to them.
The Duc de Noailles, whom we also expect here to-day, is very
different; he is reasonable, self-possessed, cold, polite, and
reserved, asking no questions, never chattering nor wearying anybody;
but though he is unpretentious his claims to consideration are none
the less real, and he is absorbed, first of all by his position as a
great lord, and then as a politician. His position as a man of fashion
and fortune, of which Adrien de Laval boasts his past possession, as
they are now gone, has no attraction for him. I might even say that if
M. de Laval is a quondam young man, the Duc de Noailles is an old man
before his time. He is only thirty-four or thirty-five, but his face,
his manners, and his life in general make him appear fifty.
_Paris, July 27, 1836._--I think more and more of the Duc de Noailles.
He is a man of good judgment, sound taste, with a sense of honour and
excellent manners. He is also dignified and possessed of common sense,
while his goodwill is valuable, and his high position may be useful in
the world in which he is a figure. But my high opinion of his good
qualities and the value which I set upon his goodwill and friendship
do not prevent me from seeing his pretentiousness. His chief ambition
is political, and is not, perhaps, sufficiently supported by the ease
of temperament which is quite indispensable at the present time. The
whole family has remained what it was two hundred years ago. The
Noailles are rather illustrious than ancient, rather courtiers than
servants, but servants rather than favourites, intriguers rather than
ambitious, society people rather than lords, snobs rather than
aristocrats, and above all and before all, Noailles. I know the whole
of the family existing at the present time; the best and most capable
of them is undoubtedly the Duc, whom I judge perhaps somewhat
severely, but for whom I have always a real esteem.
I left Valençay the day before yesterday at six o'clock in the
morning; my dear Pauline was very sad at being left behind; I slept at
Jeurs with the Mollien family, reaching their house at eight o'clock
in the evening, and arrived here in pretty good time. I found M. de
Talleyrand in fairly good health, but much disturbed by the state of
affairs. The King will not be present at to-morrow's review, and has
given it up because of a discovery that fifty-six young people have
sworn to kill him. As it was impossible to arrest these fifty-six, it
has been thought more advisable to abandon the review. In what times
we live!
The death of Carrel[38] has also thrown a gloom over us. He made many
mistakes, but his mind was distinguished and his talent remarkable.
Even M. de Chateaubriand, the author of the "Génie du Christianisme,"
wept as he walked in the funeral procession of the man who refused to
see a priest and forbade the holding of any Church ceremony at his
funeral. The desire to produce an effect usually ends in some loss of
taste and propriety in the most essential details.
[38] A violent newspaper quarrel brought about a meeting between
Armand Carrel, editor of _Le National_, and Emile de Girardin,
editor of _La Presse_. A pistol duel took place on July 28 in the
wood of Vincennes. Armand Carrel was severely wounded in the
stomach, and died the next day, after expressing a definite wish
for burial in a cemetery without any Church service.
Affairs in Spain are going very badly. The supporters of intervention
are growing active, and many of them are influential and leading
spirits, but the supreme will is in active opposition to them.
During my journey yesterday I was in very good company, with Cardinal
de Retz, whose memoirs I have taken up again; I had not read them for
many years, and then at an age when one is more attracted by the facts
and the anecdotes than by the style or reflections. The style is
lively, original, strong, and graceful, while the reflections are
thoughtful, judicious, elevating, striking, and abundant. What a
delightful book, and what insight, and often more than insight, in
judgment, if not in action! He was a political La Bruyère.
_Paris, July 28, 1836._--Yesterday the Duc d'Orléans came to see me.
He is in very bad health and somewhat melancholy; he too is obliged
to take an infinite number of precautions which sadden his life. The
King had resolved to go to the review, but was at the same time so
convinced that he would be killed that he made his will, and gave full
orders and directions to his son concerning his accession to the
throne.