Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
grateful to Dr. Bourdois for entrusting him to the clever hands of M.
Cruveilhier; he had confidence in his skill, and felt himself honoured
to be so well attended by so religious a man. The earnestness of his
doctor seemed to be regarded by him as an additional guarantee.
"Pope Pius VII. was always the object of his veneration; he devoted
several pages of his memoirs to the struggle between this Pope and the
Emperor Napoleon, and his view of the matter was entirely to the
advantage of the Pope. He had a strong admiration for the policy of
the Papacy as clever, quiet, gentle, and always uniform, which
qualities he regarded as of first-rate importance in the conduct of
business.
"Throughout the pontificate of Pius VII. my uncle thought himself in
fairly good odour at Rome. In support of this conviction he often
quoted to me a remark by the holy Father with reference to himself.
The Pope was then at Fontainebleau, and was speaking to the Marquise
de Brignole, a friend of M. de Talleyrand, and said, referring to my
uncle: 'May God rest his soul; for my part, I have a great affection
for him.'
"M. de Talleyrand was well aware that I often had the honour of seeing
the Archbishop of Paris, and he had guessed that our intercourse was
actuated by one principal idea as far as M. de Quélen was
concerned--the desire to preserve his relations with my uncle. M. de
Talleyrand was never worried by him; on the contrary; and though
several letters addressed by the Archbishop of Paris to M. de
Talleyrand at different times failed to achieve their object, he was
none the less touched by the enduring interest he had inspired in a
prelate whose character he honoured and whose sincere zeal and
open-mindedness he appreciated. He also showed much interest in M. de
Quélen and his political position, which he would like to have been
able to render easier. Upon several occasions I have seen him attempt
to do him some service, by advice which he thought useful, or by
speaking warmly in his favour at any other time. This he did not
merely from love of truth, but also as a testimony to the memory of
the late Cardinal Périgord. He often said: 'I look upon M. de Quélen
as a legacy from my uncle, the Cardinal. He likes us and our name and
everything connected with the Cardinal.' On New Year's Day he used to
instruct me to leave his card at the Archbishop's house, saying, 'We
should always treat him as a grandparent.' He never saw me start upon
a visit to Saint-Michel or to the Sacré Cœur[92] without asking me
to give his respects to the Archbishop. When I came back he used to
ask me for news of him and whether his own name had been mentioned,
and what M. de Quélen had said of him. He would listen attentively to
my answers, smile, and say at length: 'Yes, yes, I know that he is
very anxious to win my soul and to offer it to the Cardinal.' Up to
his last year these remarks were never uttered very seriously, but
with great kindliness.
[92] The Archbishop de Quélen, who was out of sympathy with the
Government of 1830, was threatened in 1831 by an insurrection
which pillaged the Archbishop's residence in Paris. As he then
had no official residence, he took refuge first in the Convent of
the Ladies of St. Michel of Paris, and then in that of the Ladies
of the Sacré Cœur at Conflans, a short distance outside the
town.
"On December 10, 1838, I received very early notice of the death of
the Princesse de Talleyrand. I was obliged to announce the news to my
uncle, and I was most reluctant to do so, for it was just at this time
that he was attacked by violent palpitations which made us fear a
sudden death. Excitement above all was to be avoided, and I was afraid
that this news might cause him some agitation. But it was not so, and
he immediately replied calmly in words which much surprised me: 'That
greatly simplifies my position.' At the same moment from the pocket of
his dressing-jacket he drew out some letters and told me to read them.
The first was written by a religious lady at the Sacré Cœur; M. de
Talleyrand had known her well in past years, had done her some
service, and always called her his old friend; she was Madame de
Marbœuf. In this letter she spoke to him of God, and sent him a
medal, which he always used to wear, and which to-day becomes yours.
"The second letter was sent to him by a clergyman near Gap, who was
entirely unknown to him, and who spoke of God with admirable and
touching simplicity.
"Finally, the third letter, inspired by the warmest faith,
open-mindedness, reason, and sincere interest, boldly touched upon my
uncle's religious position. He wrote a few lines to the Duchesse
Mathieu de Montmorency to thank her for it, and constantly carried
this letter about with him in a little pocket-book, where I found it
after his death. He often spoke of it, and of the noble and
unfortunate lady who had written it, and always with warmth and
respect.
"He also knew that one of my cousins, Madame de Chabannes, a nun of
the Grandes Carmélites at Paris, constantly prayed for him; he was
touched by the fact, and would say to me, when speaking of these pious
people: 'The good souls will not despair of me.' I know nothing so
gentle or so loving as this saying of his, which showed that he had no
fear that God would abandon him.
"In the case of any one who knew him as well as I did, attempts to
urge him too rapidly along this path would have been tactless. It was,
indeed, necessary to give these various impressions time to develop,
and with him nothing was done quickly; his trust in time was infinite,
and it was faithful to him unto death.
"Whenever I spoke to my uncle of his marriage, as I often did, I was
not afraid so show him my surprise at a mistake as inexplicable as it
was fatal in the eyes of God. He then replied: 'The truth is that I
cannot give you a satisfactory explanation of it; it was done at a
time of general disturbance, when people attached no great importance
to anything, to themselves, or to others; there was no society and no
family, and every one acted with complete carelessness in the midst of
wars and the fall of empires. You do not know how far astray men may
wander in periods of great social upheaval.' The same idea may be
found in his proposed declaration to the Pope, the original of which
is in my hands, when he wrote: 'This revolution which has swept
everything away and has continued for the last fifty years.'
"Thus you may see that not only did he make no attempt to justify his
marriage, but that he did not even try to explain it. His domestic
life had been very unhappy under the Empire and the Restoration, and
since that time I have always seen him embarrassed and ashamed of this
strange bond which he no longer wished to bear, but the painful chain
of which he could not entirely break; and when death broke it for him
he realised his deliverance to the full.
"Some time afterwards, in March 1836, one of his servants was attacked
by an illness which was soon declared mortal. My daughter induced the
man to see a priest and to receive the sacraments. M. de Talleyrand
knew of it, and expressed his satisfaction. On this occasion he said
to me: 'Any other procedure in our house would have been a scandal
which would certainly have caused unpleasant talk; I am delighted that
Pauline should have prevented it.' The same evening he related the
incident to Madame de Laval, and enlarged with satisfaction upon the
influence which Pauline exerted upon the whole house by her firm and
modest earnestness.
"In the spring of 1837 my uncle desired to leave Fontainebleau,
whither he had come for the marriage of the Duc d'Orléans, before the
Court had finished its stay. He told me to remain and to be present at
the great festival which the King gave at Versailles a few days later.
I rejoined him afterwards at Berry, where he had been anxious to go in
time to meet the Archbishop of Bourges at Valençay, who was passing
that way while making a tour of his diocese. I heard from Pauline that
M. de Talleyrand had shown special attention to the prelate, even to
the point of changing his personal customs. On Friday and Saturday he
had declined to have meat upon his table, and all the meals were
served as for a fast day.
"During the summer of the same year, 1837, the superior of the Sisters
of Saint-André, who were established at Valençay by the care of M. de
Talleyrand, came to inspect this community. He called at the Castle,
where he was asked to dinner. As we left the table M. de Talleyrand
said to me: 'I have an idea that the Abbé Taury is a member of the
community of Saint-Sulpice; go and ask him.' I brought back a reply in
the affirmative. 'I was sure of it,' he returned with satisfaction;
'there is a gentleness and reserve and a sense of propriety in the
members of that community which is quite unmistakable.'
"On Sundays and great festivals M. de Talleyrand was always present at
mass when he was at Valençay; on his two patron saints' days, St.
Charles and St. Maurice, he was also present, and would have felt hurt
if the vicar had not come to say mass at the Château. His behaviour in
chapel was entirely proper, and notwithstanding his infirmity he
would always kneel down at the right moment. If there was no mass, if
people came late or made a noise, he noticed it as being improper.
During mass he read attentively either the _Funeral Orations_ of
Bossuet or his _Discourse upon Universal History_. One Sunday,
however, in November 1837 he had forgotten his book, and took one of
the two which Pauline had brought for herself. It was the _Imitation
of Jesus Christ_. As he gave it back to her he turned to me and asked
me to give him a copy of this admirable book. I offered him mine,
which he afterwards took to mass in preference to any other.
"He regarded it as important that the officiating priest should
perform the service in full, and often quoted the Archbishop of Paris
as the ecclesiastic whose conduct of the service was most to his taste
and most dignified. One Sunday I ventured to tell him that during mass
my thoughts had wandered in his direction. He wished to know them, and
I ventured to tell him that I had been wondering what his thoughts
could be when he remembered that he too had held the same distinction
as the priest officiating before him. His reply seemed to me to be an
obvious proof of the delusion under which he was concerning his true
ecclesiastical position. He said: 'Why do you think it strange to see
me at mass? I go there as you do, or any one else. You are constantly
forgetting that I have resigned my orders, which fact makes my
position very simple.' At that time he wished to show me the letters
granting his resignation, but they were at Paris. After his death I
found them, with all the papers relating to this business, and very
curious they are. I examined them carefully; they showed me that his
marriage alone had been the great obstacle to his reconciliation with
the Church; his other offences had been pardoned and the
ecclesiastical censure removed at Paris by Cardinal Caprara in the
name of the Pope.
"I referred just now to the attention with which M. de Talleyrand used
to read Bossuet's _Discourse on Universal History_; this fact recalls
to my mind an incident which seemed to me remarkable. One day at
Valençay, I think in the year 1835, he asked me to come into his room.
I found him there reading. 'Come,' he said, 'I wish to show you how
mysteries should be spoken of; read aloud and read slowly.' I read the
following: "In the year 4000 of the world's history, Jesus Christ the
son of Abraham in time, the Son of God in eternity, was born of a
virgin.' 'Learn the passage by heart,' he said to me, 'and see with