Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
look at. It is said to be in the style of the Italian churches, which
I do not know; but to judge from this specimen I would rather say my
prayers under the lofty, bold, and austere vaults, the hewn stone and
Gothic arches of Notre-Dame and of Saint-Etienne du Mont, than amid
the glaring colours of this Southern imitation. We finished our
wanderings by a visit to the Church of the Madeleine. The interior at
present is in exact correspondence with the outside, and it seems that
Calchas is about to sacrifice Iphigenia upon it, to such an extent
have mythological subjects apparently pervaded this fine building.
They are already beginning to gild the arches and the capitals of the
columns, pretending that the white stone, though it is much enriched
by different kinds of marbling, is too cold to the eye. Thus they are
preparing a disagreeable contrast between the outside and the inside.
I cannot understand the vagaries of Christian worship.
In the evening at Madame de Lieven's house I saw Berryer, who does not
yield to M. Royer in his admiration for M. Thiers' speech. I heard
that M. Martin du Nord had given way upon the question of his
subscription for printing Guizot's speech, as upon other points. For
one who calls himself a member of the Opposition, he does not seem to
oppose very strenuously.
_Paris, May 11, 1837._--Yesterday I had a call from the excellent Abbé
Dupanloup. We were mutually anxious to meet, in the interests of
Pauline, before the general departure for the country. As usual, I was
touched and pleased by his kind and spiritual conversation. We talked
of our hope that the amnesty will inspire the Government with courage
to reopen the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, the closing of
which is the greatest scandal of the July revolution; seeing that acts
of mercy extend from Ham to the Republic and to la Vendée, continued
vindictiveness towards the church and to leave the Cross broken would
seem to me most inconsistent. The church should be reopened without
considering any difficulties that the Archbishop may raise. He should
thus be forced to appoint a reliable priest, and then to go and
express his thanks to the Tuileries, but he should set to work at once
while the effect of the amnesty remains all-powerful; at such a moment
there is no fear of any movement in the district, and this action
would only be the strongest answer to the Doctrinaires, whose tactics
are to represent the amnesty as the price of the compact made with the
Left. To reopen the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois would restore
the balance. I think it would be a politic move as well as a religious
restoration; if we delay too long the religious newspapers and people
will begin to cry out, with reason, against the injustice of it, and
any later action will seem like a concession to their complaints; then
the Opposition will pounce upon it and foment irritation with the
measure. Everything, therefore, should be quite spontaneous, the
religious restoration no less than the royal mercy. I think they will
take the matter in hand; it should have been done already, in my
opinion.
_Paris, May 14, 1837._--The _Moniteur_ of yesterday, heaven be praised,
contains an ordinance by which the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois
is to be restored for worship. I am delighted. The Baron de Montmorency,
who came to see me in the morning, had dined yesterday at the Château,
where the Queen wept with joy at the news.
In the evening I went to pay a farewell visit at the Hôtel de Broglie,
where the amnesty was very unfavourably received, as Madame de Broglie
is very anxious to fortify Princess Helena in her Protestantism.
I then went on to the Duchesse de Montmorency, where I heard very bad
news of the Prince de Laval. He had caught a slight cold and had taken
no care of himself, but had gone to the races at Chantilly in very
bitter weather. His malady grew worse, and now causes great anxiety. I
should be grieved indeed if any misfortune happened to him, for in
spite of his absurdities and foolishness he has a good heart and is a
good friend.
I finished the evening with Madame de Castellane. M. Molé came in and
told us that the Archbishop, accompanied by two of his Vicars-General,
had called upon him that evening and upon the Keeper of the Seals
after a visit to the King. It seems that his appearance in the
Ministerial _salons_ made a great sensation. Before his visit the
Archbishop had quietly had the church blessed. Mass was said there
this morning. A week will be spent in necessary repairs, and next
Sunday the new vicar will be installed. As M. Dupanloup has refused
this post, the choice has fallen upon M. Demerson, the priest of
Saint-Séverin, undoubtedly the most distinguished ecclesiastic in the
diocese. He is the confessor of Madame Andral, and the friend of her
father. M. Royer-Collard has often spoken to me of him and thinks a
great deal of him.
_Paris, May 15, 1837._--Yesterday evening I was at the Tuileries. I
found the King delighted with a visit that he had paid in the morning
to the Botanical Gardens to see the new hothouses they have been
setting up. He was well applauded as he went by; in short, he seems to
have grown young again. Everybody about him is well pleased. He went
there without an escort, and spent two hours walking with the Minister
of the Interior and of Education, with the Prefect of Police and one
_aide-de-camp_. The crowd kept on increasing, and these gentlemen, who
saw all the horrible faces from the Rue Mouffetard and that quarter
thronging round the King, were dying with fear, but the King was
delighted, and it was impossible to induce him to go indoors. He was
most heartily cheered by all the crowd. I think, however, that it
would not be advisable for him often to make such trials of his
popularity.
_Paris, May 16, 1837._--The Prince de Laval is not getting on well. He
has been bled a second time, and the doctors say that his condition is
serious.
It is possible that M. Dupanloup is ambitious; I do not know him well
enough to be positive. He is gentle, discreet, moderate, with a
knowledge of the world, a fine command of language and conversational
tact, and, in short, possesses every quality which the spiritual
director of a society personage should have. All his penitents and all
their mothers think a great deal of him. But this does not exclude
ambition. I know that he lays great stress upon keeping apart from
politics, but when confronted with the Archbishop he committed the
venial sin of urging him to go to the Tuileries and of going with him
to the incumbent of Saint-Roch, whose curate and friend he is. But the
robe of ambition is like the chameleon's skin, the colours of which
change according to the observer's position. I can therefore answer
for nothing except that he has refused two important livings at Paris.
I know that the Archbishop secretly destines him for the Madeleine
when that living becomes vacant, and, in fact, it is a society parish
which will suit him best.
_Paris, May 18, 1837._--Yesterday morning I was with Madame Adélaïde,
where I saw the King. Every one at the Château is busy with
preparations for the marriage and for the journey from Fontainebleau,
which is to be a splendid affair. I am delighted, and should be still
more so if I had not heard that not only the mothers but also the
daughters are expected. I have done my best to have my daughter
excused, to avoid the infinite vexations which I foresee, but M. de
Talleyrand came in to Madame in the middle of our discussion, and
instead of supporting my views he opposed me. It is very annoying.
_Paris, May 19, 1837._--The death of the poor young Count Putbus is a
very sad event for his family and for the unfortunate Countess Buol. I
am very sorry for her, and her husband seems to me to be wanting in
feeling and tact. In his position with reference to his wife, he may
separate from her with as much uproar as he pleases, but if he will
not do so from pecuniary considerations he should behave himself
quietly or at least humanely. In any case I assert that for her it is
better to lament her lover as dead than faithless, and that, unhappy
as she is, she would be still more so if Count Putbus had abandoned
her. A woman's danger when she finds her lover faithless is that she
may be roused to vengeance and may lose those illusions which shelter
her, not only against faults, but against hardness of heart and
frivolity, properly so called. Death leaves us all our illusions, and
even encourages them.
_Paris, May 21, 1837._--M. de Talleyrand, M. and Madame de Valençay,
Pauline, and myself are invited to stay at Fontainebleau throughout
the festivities--that is to say, we are to come on May 29 and to stay
till June 3, inclusive. This is a favour, as nearly everybody else has
been invited at successive intervals of twenty-four hours.
One of my German friends, a canoness, and a clever and intelligent
person,[66] writes to me as follows concerning the Princess Helena of
Mecklenburg: "The most amiable, the best educated, the kindest of the
German princesses is to adorn the throne of France. I am sure that she
will please you greatly. She is as cheerful as a child of fifteen,
with as much sense as a person of thirty. She combines the charm of
every age."
[66] Fräulein Sidonie von Dieskau, of whom mention will be made
later on the occasion of the Duchesse de Talleyrand's journey to
Germany.
The Marquis de Praslin and the Duke of Treviso are the two
knights-of-honour in subordination to the uncivilised Duc de Coigny,
who will lead them.
_Paris, May 22, 1837._--The Duc d'Orléans will first go to Verdun, to
see without being seen, and then to Melun to be seen. Henry IV. in
disguise went to the frontier to see Marie de Medici at supper, and
Louis XIV. did the same at Fontarabia.
Among the persons invited to Fontainebleau there is one who certainly
could not have been forgotten, in my opinion, and this is the great
Mlle. Palmyre, the famous dressmaker. The fact is that she has been
working upon a pattern sent from Mecklenburg, but I am by no means
certain that this pattern is a good one or well made. Thus the eighty
dresses of the trousseau may fit badly, and it is just as well to have
some one there to make readjustments when necessary. Merchants,
workmen, omnibuses, and post-chaises are all in confusion; the
expenditure, the orders, and the activity are inconceivable. It is
impossible to get anything, and tradesmen certainly have not the right
to complain, for every one is on the move. A crowd of foreigners have
also arrived at Paris, most of them English.
The Werther family have resolved to leave immediately after the
marriage of the Prince Royal, without waiting for the festivities, for
Herr von Werther has agreed to take M. Ancillon's place. They are very
good people, who will be regretted at Paris, and who are also very
sorry to leave.
_Paris, May 25, 1837._--For the 29th and 30th, the days of arrival and
marriage, the Marshals have been invited to Fontainebleau, with the
officials of the two Chambers, the Ministries of October 11, February
22, September 6, and all the present Cabinet. I have always said that
Fontainebleau was a chronological castle. It was resolved not to go
further back than October 11, to avoid the necessity of inviting M.
Laffitte. All the chief presidents of the courts have also been
invited, and of the Diplomatic Body Herr and Frau von Werther,[67] M.
and Madame Lehon.[68] The rest are invited for the other days, two at
a time.
[67] Baron Werther was Prussian Minister at Paris from 1824.
[68] Comte Lehon was Belgian Minister.
I must mention an incident concerning Madame Molé, who vegetates