Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
been able to amend the defect. I believe her to be at bottom an
excellent person. Her life shows devotion and courage in the
misfortunes through which she has passed with great credit. I think
that Madame de Lieven, who criticises her so severely, would not
emerge so unscathed from the crises caused by her difficult position
with respect to her husband. The Grand Duchess had a nice manner and a
pretty, alert, and graceful bearing; she needed youth, and as she lost
youth her defects became more obvious. This, unfortunately, is every
one's case, and for that reason it is wrong to say that people are too
old to amend; on the contrary, when charm passes away it is most
essential to replace it by capacity; charm of youth calls forth
indulgence and provides excuses which disappear with those charms and
graces, and are replaced by a severity of judgment which can only be
opposed by more self-control, more self-renunciation, and more
self-respect.
[42] The institution of the famous Madame Campan, now the school
of Ecouen.
We are officially informed that the refusal from Vienna was expressed
in polite terms, but no reason was given. The possibilities of
Princess Sophia of Würtemburg have not been considered, in spite of
what people say. Our Prince Royal has started for the country,
somewhat thin and changed, but entirely convalescent.
From Madrid we hear that Isturitz has resigned. Calatrava takes his
place as President of the Council. Everything is going very badly.
The King of Naples starts for Toulon on the 24th, and goes, as he
came, unmarried.
The ex-Ministers are still prisoners at Ham, in consequence of
difficulties which have arisen among the Ministers in power. The
Minister of the Interior wishes to keep the prisoners under his
supervision, and the President of the Council wishes them to remain in
the fortresses, under the milder regulations, but in military
strongholds; but so long as they are there, the Minister of War claims
supervision over them. It is quite time that this treatment came to an
end, for the unhappy people are ill.
Madame Murat has obtained permission to spend a month at Paris. She
will arrive in a week, and is said to be taking no part in her
brother's intrigues.
Yesterday I had a letter from Madame de Lieven, who announces her
return to Paris as a positive fact. I am afraid she may be making a
great mistake. Yesterday I had a letter from St. Petersburg in which
she is said to be in very bad odour at Court. On the other hand, M. de
Löwe-Weimar is very well treated at Court, and poses as an aristocrat.
Horace Vernet is also spoiled and petted in a most inconceivable
manner. Why, in view of that, should Madame de Lieven be thus
harassed? Can it be that she is suspected of being something of an
intriguer? The English are certainly right to include the capacity of
keeping quiet among a person's best qualities.
_Valençay, August 24, 1836._--I have a comical and unexpected piece of
news to the effect that M. Berryer has been playing in a vaudeville at
Baden with Madame de Rossi. This must be a strange occupation for a
politician, but it is better for him than bad company in Switzerland.
Yesterday the newspapers announced the death of M. de Rayneval[43] at
Madrid. This will increase the difficulty of a question which is
complicated enough already.
[43] French Ambassador in Spain.
_Valençay, August 27, 1836._--We have no details from Paris, but
obviously some Cabinet crisis is in preparation. Meanwhile M. Thiers
seems to have been anxious to involve the King in the Spanish
difficulty against his wish, and to have acted for that purpose
without consulting his colleagues. The result has been a considerable
amount of ill-feeling which is difficult to quell, and should lead in
a few days either to the submission of Thiers to the King or to the
formation of a new Ministry, which, however, would contain some
members of the present Cabinet, and in particular, I think, M. de
Montalivet. All this is a matter of speculation, for we know nothing
definite.
_Valençay, August 28, 1836._--A letter from Madame Adélaïde yesterday
informed M. de Talleyrand as follows: "The Ministry is dissolved, to
my profound regret. I am especially sorry for Thiers, but he was
obstinate upon the question of intervention in Spain, and this has
spoiled everything. The King wished to disband the new body that was
formed at Bayonne, and demanded a formal undertaking that there should
be no question of intervention hereafter; Thiers refused, and
resigned. Any Ministerial crisis at this moment is very vexatious, for
we have so small a circle from which we can choose. The King has sent
for M. Molé, but he was in the country. He will require time to come,
and no doubt he will ask for Guizot. It is all very distressing, and
we know by experience how long and difficult is the task of forming a
new Cabinet. Pity me, for I am heartbroken!" Such was the position of
affairs the day before yesterday in the immediate neighbourhood of the
crisis. I am very sorry it should have occurred, in the first place
because I have a real interest in Thiers, and because I regret that
his revolutionary instincts should have overcome his devotion, his
gratitude, and the recognition which he owed to the great wisdom, the
prudence, and the long experience of the King. Moreover, constant
changes of Ministry are Governmental misfortunes and shake public
opinion too frequently; besides, Thiers' dexterity, alertness, and
promptitude, apart from his energy and his intellect, are useful to
the State. What use will he make of these powers when he has full
liberty of action? Madame Adélaïde, as the extract from her letter
shows, has no great love for the Doctrinaires, but it is inconceivable
that M. de Broglie should be recalled, with whom M. Guizot considers
that he has settled accounts for ever. Apart from these disadvantages,
I think it is obviously beneficial for the King to have given a fresh
proof that on questions of real importance he cannot be shaken and
will not be driven into action against his wish. Thus in February he
resisted the arrogance of the Doctrinaires, and has now overthrown the
infatuation of Thiers. This seems to be a fair warning for the future
Ministry, whatever its political colouring, and an excellent guarantee
to all right-thinking men in Europe.
_Valençay, August 29, 1836._--M. de Talleyrand ought to regard the
accidents that happen to him without disastrous results as a guarantee
that his life is certainly assured, and in my place I think that this
warning would rather turn my thoughts upon what they portend and
induce me to thank God for the respite granted to lighten our burden
of responsibility. Sometimes he reflects upon death, but not often.
Yesterday evening there was a violent storm which threatened the
Castle. After a loud clap of thunder he asked me what I had been
thinking of at that moment, and I immediately replied: "If a priest
had been in the room I should have confessed myself, for I am afraid
of sudden death. To die unprepared and to carry with me my heavy
burden of sin is a terrifying prospect, and however careful one may be
to live well we cannot do without reconciliation and pardon." M.
Cogny, our doctor, who was there, and who is terribly afraid of
thunderstorms, added somewhat foolishly that he was performing an act
of contrition at every flash. M. de Talleyrand said nothing at all,
and we went on playing piquet. I take every opportunity of
strengthening my belief, and thus attempting to arouse his, but never
until I have an opening. In such a matter a light touch is
indispensable.
Yesterday I had a long, interesting letter from the Duc d'Orléans, and
a letter which I think the more satisfactory as he has returned to
more reasonable opinions upon the Spanish question. His opinion of the
Ministerial crisis corresponds entirely with my own. I have also a
letter from M. Guizot written from Broglie on August 24. When writing
he had no news of the resignation of Thiers, which took place on the
25th. He informs me that he has just bought a small estate near
Lisieux and is going to turn farmer.[44] I presume that I shall next
hear that he has left the plough to resume the pen and speechifying.
[44] This estate was the Val Richer, where M. Guizot lived until
his death.
_Valençay, September 1, 1836._--I am strongly inclined to accede
entirely to the opinion concerning the Emperor Nicholas which states
that the only royal quality in his possession is personal courage. His
chief deficiency seems to me to be that of intelligence, not only in
conversation and judgment, but in general.
M. de Montessuy, who accompanied M. de Barante to an entertainment at
Peterhof and passed the night there, writes that he saw the Empress at
a distance in the gardens and respectfully withdrew, but that in the
evening she reproached him for so doing, saying that she had come down
in order to speak to him and that it was wrong of him to avoid her.
All this story seems to me to be very unlikely.
Madame Adélaïde writes to M. de Talleyrand on August 30 that nothing
has yet been done with regard to the Ministry. M. Molé has opened
communications with MM. Guizot and Duchâtel, both of whom have arrived
at Paris, but unanimity between them is rendered difficult by their
respective sense of dignity. The King and Madame seem greatly to
regret their forced separation from the retiring Ministers and the
necessity of calling in others.
_Valençay, September 3, 1836._--Yesterday I learned a piece of news
which is causing me much anxiety and is likely to involve me in
embarrassment: the death of my man of business in Germany, Herr
Hennenberg, who died at Berlin on August 23. I am thus obliged to
replace a most upright and capable man, a strong and respected
character who had full knowledge for twenty-five years not only of my
business, but of all my intimacies, past and present, who has thrown
himself heartily into every interest of my life and performed immense
services, and, in spite of the many pecuniary shocks which I have
experienced, has restored my fortunes and brought them to visible
prosperity, often to my own astonishment. He was, in short, a man to
whom I had entirely handed over the control of my affairs, as, indeed,
was necessary, in view of the long distance which separates me from
the centre of my interests. Such a man cannot be replaced by
correspondence or blindly, nor can I remain in uncertainty and
unsettlement for any length of time without suffering incalculable
loss. Hence a journey to Germany seems an absolute necessity; but, on
the other hand, how can I leave M. de Talleyrand alone in view of the
present state of his health? It is not to be thought of, and I pray
that Providence may deliver me from this inextricable complication.
Letters from Paris say that attempts to form a Ministry are so many
successive failures, that the King is growing tired of it, and that
Thiers is beginning to say that Spain is past all remedy. Perhaps they
will end in patching the matter up, but the shock that each party has
received will weaken their harmony, apart from the paralysing sense of
mistrust and rancour which will remain. It is all very sad.
_Valençay, September 4, 1836._--We have letters daily from Paris, but
no word regarding any solution of the difficulty. Yesterday I thought
the breach might be healed; I am less inclined to think so to-day. It
is even possible that the journey to Fontainebleau may take place
before the reconstruction of the Cabinet. M. Thiers would like to
start for Italy, to which the King has replied that his resignation
will be accepted only when he has nominated a successor. Molé and