Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
would be disclosed or not, the weakness which showed it to the eyes of
the public, and the tone of indifference with which newspapers speak
of it, are so many disavowals of the system of order and energy which
they have claimed as theirs. Next to the pillage of the archbishopric,
the destruction of the crosses, and the rejection of the fleur-de-lys,
nothing seems to me more hopelessly revolutionary than this hideous
pediment. It frightens right-thinking people far more than usurpation.
[78] It was proposed to erect upon the Pantheon a colossal statue
of Renown to replace the cross removed in 1831 from what was at
that time the Church of Sainte-Geneviève. Cortot was commissioned
with this work, and set up a model in carton-pierre. Criticism
unanimously condemned it, and the statue was taken down after
some time.
_Valençay, September 12, 1837._--The Carlist party are very wrong to
accuse the Duc de Noailles of inclination to support the present
Government; he is very far from anything of the kind. I have seen that
he was somewhat tempted to that course for two or three months during
the journey of the two Princes in Germany and when the marriage of the
Archduchess Theresa was discussed. Since Alibaud's pistol-shot and the
refusal of Austria he has given up the idea, and I think he is more
determined than ever to follow his present line of conduct, although
his impartiality in thought and language will always prevent him from
joining the hot-headed members of his party.
Madame de Lieven writes as follows: "I have a letter from my husband
proposing the right bank of the Rhine and asserting that he cannot
possibly cross it. We shall see. I hope and believe that he will
change his mind. M. Molé and M. Guizot meet at my house, and are
beginning to talk. The consent of the King of Würtemberg to his
cousin's marriage has come to hand. M. Guizot has returned from
Compiègne delighted with the wit and intelligence of the Duchesse
d'Orléans. Madame de Flahaut is kept very much aloof from the
Princess, and is vexed in consequence. She had her four days at the
Château, like the other guests, and then returned to her rooms in the
town of Compiègne. Lady Jersey writes that she will come and spend the
winter at Paris to see the Prince de Talleyrand. My husband has seen
their Hanoverian Majesties at Carlsbad."
_Valençay, September 18, 1837._--Yesterday I had a very kind letter
from M. Molé. He tells me that he has been obliged to postpone the
diplomatic affair. He wishes to create some peers, but is somewhat
hampered by the stupid social classification. He speaks bitterly of
the great attention paid by M. Guizot to Madame de Lieven, and readily
accepted by the latter.
Alava, who has been here since yesterday, told me that the hunchbacked
daughter of the Duc de Frias has married the Prince of Anglona. Mlle.
Auguste de Rigny is certainly the only heiress of the Baron Louis, who
leaves seventy thousand francs income. She has already an income of
eighteen thousand of her own. The will is quite simple, and so
definite that it cannot be attacked.[79]
[79] Baron Louis died at Vry-sur-Marne, near Paris, on August 26,
1837.
_Valençay, September 19, 1837._--M. de Salvandy, whom M. de Talleyrand
had invited here, appeared yesterday at dinner-time. He is going back
this evening, having sandwiched this excursion between two meetings of
the Council. I have exhausted myself in graciousness of manner and in
making conversation, which is not an easy matter with a man who is
undoubtedly intellectual, but emphatically so, and constantly anxious
to produce an effect. In any case, he has been very attentive to me.
He told me that the Duke Alexander of Würtemberg had an income of only
fifty thousand francs, and that the King of Würtemberg showed much
politeness and readiness throughout the affair, though the alliance is
a poor one for our young Princess; we gain nothing more than a husband
for her. It is not true that she will stay in France; in the summer
she will live in her husband's castle, fifteen leagues from Coburg,
and in the winter in a little palace at Gotha. When they visit Paris
they will be put up at the Elysée. They are going to Germany
immediately after the marriage, which will take place in the first
fortnight of October.
The French elections will take place on November 15, and the Chamber
will meet on December 5.
M. de Salvandy also talked much of the Duchess d'Orleans, whom he
believes, and I think rightly, to be an eminently clever person, and,
as she has to govern some day thirty-two million souls, is working
daily to win their hearts one by one.
_Valençay, September 20, 1837._--M. de Salvandy left us yesterday
after dinner. During our morning talk he quoted an instance showing
the growing influence of the Duchesse d'Orléans over her husband.
Before his marriage he troubled so little about mass that last May, a
few weeks before his wedding, he went to the races at Chantilly on the
Day of Pentecost, and never even thought of attending mass. Recently
at Saint-Quentin he went there _in fiocchi_, telling the National
Guard that they might follow him or not as they pleased. The Guard
went in a body. Saint-Quentin, however, like all manufacturing towns,
is by no means religious.
The Pope is deeply vexed about the business of Sainte-Geneviève, and
is going to offer a severe remonstrance through Mgr. Garibaldi. The
King, who has been much distressed by the scandal, is embarrassed in
his relations with Rome because he yielded to M. de Montalivet, who is
unfortunately surrounded by the wretched troop of hostile newspapers,
to which he pays homage and deference. M. Molé, who is opposed to the
pediment, has also yielded. M. de Salvandy is also fulminating, and I
imagine when he has uttered one sonorous phrase he will think his duty
done.
_Valençay, September 22, 1837._--M. de Salvandy has written, upon his
arrival in Paris during the session of the Council, telling M. de
Talleyrand that he had found everybody much excited at the news from
Spain; all are expecting to hear of the arrival of Don Carlos at
Madrid. It is possible that this news will somewhat disturb
arrangements for the dissolution and the elections.
_Valençay, September 28, 1837._--Madame Adélaïde writes that the
marriage of her niece to Duke Alexander of Würtemberg will take place
at Trianon on October 12. Madame de Castellane tells me that the
Lieven-Guizot flirtation is unparalleled. He is making her read Dante
and Tasso, and never leaves her house. Since he has been in the
country he writes letters to her of ten pages. During his absence the
Princess went to his house, gained admission to his rooms, and
examined everything carefully. She has written curious but sensible
articles on the subject. An article has appeared concerning the whole
affair in _Le Temps_. This has made her furious, and she has had a
very lively interview with M. Molé, because _Le Temps_ is said to be
considerably under Ministerial influence; hence relations between the
Prime Minister and herself are somewhat strained. It is all very
ridiculous, and I am glad to be away from Paris and all this gossip.
In any case, a retired life is delightful. In society one squanders
too much energy; instead of laying up a proper store of provisions for
the great journey, we scatter them broadcast, and find ourselves
lacking when we have to start. Terrible is our want and disgraceful
our indigence! I am sometimes really terrified at my wretched
condition.
Yesterday I had a sad piece of news--the death of the young Princess
of Arsoli, daughter of the late Madame de Carignan. She was carried
off by cholera in the same week as her mother-in-law, Princess
Massimo. I had seen her born.
_Valençay, September 29, 1837._--The Baron de Montmorency, who arrived
here yesterday, thinks that there is some hitch in the Würtemberg
marriage. The King of Würtemberg seems to have suddenly refused his
consent, except on condition that all the children should be
Protestants, while our Queen wishes them all to be Catholics. If the
Duke Alexander yields to the Queen there will be a marriage the more
without the head of the family, which never looks well. If France
gives way to the King of Würtemberg the Princess will have to go to be
married at the frontier, as was Mlle. de Broglie, for the French
Catholic clergy will only allow mixed marriages on condition that all
the children are brought up as Catholics. It is really inconceivable
that so important a question was not decided before the announcement
of the marriage. It will lead to any number of vexatious ideas, and
show with what difficulty business can be conducted at our Court.
It is said that Von Hügel, the Austrian Chargé d'Affaires at Paris, is
going mad.
_Valençay, October 1, 1837._--Yesterday our theatricals took place,
for which we had been rehearsing for a fortnight; I played my part in
spite of a headache. People kindly said that I entirely concealed my
suffering on the stage, but as soon as it was over I was obliged to go
to bed at once. The performance was quite successful, and Pauline
played two totally different parts so admirably that I begin to wonder
whether I ought to allow her to continue this amusement. Our scene
from the _Femmes savantes_ went very well, and M. de la Besnardière,
who is an old theatre-goer, asserts that he never saw it so well
played. I really think that it went with a certainty, a unity, and a
correctness that were quite remarkable. M. de Talleyrand was
delighted. There was supper and dancing after the performance, but I
was not there.
_Valençay, October 2, 1837._--All the neighbours about us went away
yesterday after mass, but in the course of the day a certain Mr.
Hamilton arrived, who is an American, and the son of Colonel
Hamilton, who was well known during the War of Independence in the
United States; M. de Talleyrand often speaks of him, and was very
intimate with him in America. The son did not wish to leave the Old
World, where he has been making a tour, without seeing his father's
friend. He brought his own son with him, a young man of twenty-one.
Neither of them speak French, so I exhausted myself in making English
conversation. They are starting again this morning. In his own country
Mr. Hamilton belongs to the Opposition party. He is a sensible man,
but with that tinge of Americanism which is always somewhat
disagreeable in the best of them.
_Valençay, October 7, 1837._--I hear from Paris that the difficulties
with Würtemberg have been smoothed over. The marriage is to take place
on the 14th, and everything is going on to the general satisfaction.
Our Princess has been invited to Stuttgart. The Duc d'Orléans is said
to be the only member of the family dissatisfied with this union, and
we are told that he treated his future brother-in-law more than coldly
at Compiègne.
_Valençay, October 9, 1837._--The Duc Decazes arrived here
unexpectedly at dinner-time yesterday. He was on his way from Livorno,
full of the Bordeaux affair, which he seems inclined to visit upon the
Prefect, M. de Pressac. After dinner he continued his journey to
Paris, where he is summoned by the marriage of the Princesse Marie. He
had left M. Thiers and all his family at Tours. We are expecting them
to-day.
_Valençay, October 10, 1837._--M. and Madame Thiers, Madame Dosne and
her young daughter arrived yesterday an hour before dinner-time. They
came by Montrichard, and so they were all shaken and weary. Madame
Thiers does not show any sign of exhaustion in her face; she is
perhaps a little thin, but nothing else; I think it is largely a
matter of nerves, and that if she were in good spirits her
indisposition would quickly disappear. In any case, for a person of