Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
of acquittal, which was unanimously given in 1837.
The fact is that at the Château anybody called Rigny is in bad odour,
for the opposite reason from that which has made the fortune of M.
Bresson. It is not enough to be a devoted servant of the Government;
one must also be, and always have been, an Orléanist.
I have received Madame de Lieven's first letter from London. She seems
delighted with the magnificence of her hosts' style of living, the
Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and also by the attentions of her
friends. She says that the young Queen is a marvel of dignity and
industry, and is not to be led, even by her mother. She manages her
whole Court herself, and as the Duchess of Sutherland is Mistress of
the Robes the Princess sees the notes that the Queen writes on the
occasion of the Court functions, which are models of good arrangement
and propriety. The Duchess of Sutherland is in charge of all
arrangements, and is even above the Lord Chamberlain. Apparently she
can become a second Duchess of Marlborough if she likes. When the
Queen receives addresses on her throne the Duchess of Sutherland
stands at her right hand, while the Duchess of Kent, the Queen's
mother, is seated below the steps. The Queen wishes to review the
troops on horseback, and what she wishes she does. Lord Melbourne is
all-powerful and the Whigs are triumphant; the elections will be
keenly fought; it is the Tories' last chance. Lord Durham has resumed
his power over the Radicals, who flatter him, and the Queen does not
share her mother's liking for him.
The English crown has no diamonds. The very beautiful diamonds of the
Queen-Dowager are her own property, and came to her from her
mother-in-law, the old Queen Charlotte, who bequeathed them to the
crown of Hanover. As this crown is now separated from the English
crown, the Duke of Cumberland, as King of Hanover, reclaims the
diamonds. Thus Queen Victoria has none, and although she is in no
hurry to send back these jewels she will not wear them.
Count Orloff has been sent to London to compliment the Queen. Madame
de Lieven hopes to learn from him how far she can defy the Emperor,
her master.
M. Thiers wrote to her from Florence that he was not satisfied with
the treaty concluded with Abd-el-Kader.
_Valençay, July 26, 1837._--Letters received this morning seem to show
that the resolution to dissolve the Chamber has been retracted, or has
given rise at any rate to hesitation. The audacious declaration of the
King of Hanover, the success of Don Carlos, and the fear of seeing the
English elections turn in a Radical direction is said to give rise to
apprehension here of definite mandates and republican tendencies in
the coming general elections.
The Court is at the town of Eu, and from thence will go on to
Saint-Cloud. The Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg accompanies its
movements. She is liked and respected, and, feeling that her position
will not be agreeable in Germany, she is in no hurry to return, and is
somewhat afraid of the solitude that there awaits her.
Yesterday I had a letter from M. Royer-Collard, who is in Paris, from
which the following is an extract: "Dissolution resounds throughout
all correspondence, even in that from the Minister of the Interior.
Conditions, however, are laid down: if Don Carlos does not reach
Madrid, if the King of Hanover is not overthrown, if the English
elections give no cause for terror; these reservations are due to the
character and policy of the King, who does not care to run risks, and
who spares the Doctrinaires by leaving them some hope. The decision is
to come from M. Molé, who would leave them nothing. In neither case is
there any consideration as to whether the step in itself is good or
bad: 'It will all pass over.' For my part, if I am allowed to express
an opinion, it is precisely those cases which are considered capable
of postponement that I would never postpone. I do not know what the
new Chamber will be like, nor do I expect miracles from it, but I
regard the old Chamber as inadequate and entirely incompetent, if any
important resolution is required."
I have also a letter from M. Thiers from Florence. He seems to be sad
and uneasy about his wife's health; he speaks of her with warm and
tender anxiety, and says that this is his only trouble and that he
defies politics to disturb his equanimity henceforward. He adds: "I
have returned to literature and philosophy; like the classical
Bossuet, I enjoy the spectacle of human affairs in monuments and
books--that is to say, in the memorials of men of former times. I
claim the power of discovering the truth from a mere hint, and as this
is the method of historical investigation I believe I have a good
knowledge and understanding of the past. This presumption of mine,
which harms nobody, neither M. Guizot nor King Louis-Philippe, nor
Prince Metternich, would enable me to live very happily and busily if
I were spared family cares. I shall therefore do all that I possibly
can to remain as I am; I wish to improve, to increase my intellectual
and moral powers, and this can be done better in retirement than
anywhere else, as one then has time for reflection and study,
undisturbed by selfish considerations. If some fine position should
appear some day when I have made myself what I can become, well and
good; but to spend one's life bandied about between the King and his
demands for an appanage and the Chamber with its refusals, to be
constantly harassed by the Tuileries and the Palais Bourbon, by people
who are never grateful and make you the butt of their grievances
without the only recompense for the troubles of position, the power to
do good--all this is simply not worth while. I say this with full
meaning, and as I am happy enough to see that my feelings are shared
by those about me, I shall maintain my point of view; so that this
winter you will see me in entire freedom."
_Valençay, August 1, 1837._--M. de Vandœuvre came to pay us a visit
yesterday. He told us an amusing story of Madame de Boigne, who had
been invited to dinner with M. and Madame de Salvandy. When she
arrived she found only the lady of the house, who apologised for her
husband and said that he could not appear at dinner because he was
ill. They sat down without him, but when they went back to the
drawing-room they found the young Minister, as he calls himself,
carelessly reposing in a long chair, in Turkish slippers and a fine
flowered dressing-gown, with a smoking cap embroidered by ladies'
hands cocked over one ear. The sharp and prudish face of Madame de
Boigne at that moment is said to have been indescribable.
The daughter of the Duchesse de Plaisance has died of typhoid fever at
Beyrout, in Syria; her father told me the news. The fate of the
unhappy mother, of whom at present I know nothing, causes me grief and
anxiety. She was a good friend to me at a time when I had but few
friends, and I cannot forget it.
_Valençay, August 4, 1837._--I have read the article upon Madame de
Krüdener in the _Revue des deux Mondes_. She was a Courlandaise, and I
have seen her at my mother's house, with whom she struck up a small
friendship. My mother also thought, and rightly, that it was her duty
to take some notice of all her compatriots. Madame de Krüdener was an
adventuress by nature, and if she had not been well born she would
have been recognised as such long before her final absurdities. From
1814 until her death she lived surrounded by a gang of scoundrels, who
followed her about Europe and presented an unpleasant sight which was
anything rather than evangelical. They were a strange company of
apostles.
People who are easily excited, animated and changeable, ready for
anything, attracted in the most opposite directions, are often
regarded as hypocrites, simply because they are changeable, and one is
always tempted to doubt their sincerity. Such is the case of M.
Thiers. I am sure he is very happy as he writes in his villa at
Careggi,[76] amid recollections of the Medici, and that he is also
entirely disgusted with Paris. Ardent and impetuous natures, equally
ready for any enterprise, are unfortunately often misjudged by
characters more happily balanced. I know something of this from my own
experience. We shall undoubtedly see M. Thiers once more in the arena
of politics and ambition, but to-day he sincerely believes that he has
left it for ever. The advantage of such natures as his, and perhaps as
mine, consists in the fact that they are never wholly cast down and
are so supple and elastic that they accommodate themselves to the most
different situations; but it must be admitted that corresponding
inconveniences are involved. Their judgment of things and of people is
often too rapid, and their execution is often too quick and too
complete; by springing from rock to rock they are always in danger,
and sometimes fall; they then descend to an abyss, which is regarded
as their proper position by those who have been able to maintain
themselves steadily at one height, are by no means sorry to see their
overthrow and are disinclined to offer any help. How many times have I
seen and experienced this! The worst part of it is not the accusations
of folly, but of hypocrisy. There is, however, for these natures one
infallible resource, when they have the strength to fall back upon it:
they can force themselves to recover their equilibrium and follow the
golden mean. It is a long task, which will continue necessarily
throughout their lives, but that is the advantage of it, as the end of
it can never be determined.
[76] Careggi forms part of the town of Fiesole, near Florence.
Several villas stand about the neighbourhood, the most famous
being that which was built by the Medici, which contains several
Renaissance masterpieces. The Grand Dukes of Tuscany offered the
use of it to distinguished foreigners who stayed at Florence. In
this way M. Thiers occupied it in 1837. In 1848 the Princess of
Parma sought refuge there in her flight from the revolutions.
This villa still belongs to the house of Lorraine.
The Duc de Noailles writes to us that his uncle has died within a few
hours, with every symptom of cholera. I do not know whether I am
wrong, but for me everything is shrouded in a veil of darkness, and I
instinctively fear some catastrophe. If only it does not fall upon M.
de Talleyrand or upon my children! For myself I trust in the will of
God and prepare myself as well as I can. But how many arrears remain
to be paid, and how terror-stricken I should be were it not for my
full confidence in the Divine mercy!
_Valençay, August 5, 1837._--M. de Montrond writes from Paris to M. de
Talleyrand that the following story was told of the young Queen
Victoria at the house of the Flahauts: The Duchess of Sutherland had
kept the Queen waiting; when she arrived the Queen went up to her and
said: "My dear Duchess, pray do not let this happen again, for neither
you nor I ought to keep any one waiting." Was not that very well said?
_Valençay, August 8, 1837._--Yesterday I had a letter from Madame de
Lieven, which was begun in England and finished in France in the
course of her journey to Paris. She has seen Orloff in London, and
thinks that through him she has settled her business so well that she
can venture to return to Paris. She tells me some curious things of
the young Queen. "Every one has been taken in by her; she has secretly
prepared herself for a long time for her destined position. At the
present moment she gives her whole heart to Lord Melbourne. Her mother
wished her to enter into obligations with the Radicals, and also with
Conroy personally. It seems that Conroy, who dominates the mother, had
behaved very rudely to her daughter, and even threatened her with