Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
had brought me back. When I had dressed I went to Sans Souci, where
the King dines at three o'clock. Both he and the Queen were most kind
and friendly. After dinner he took me to see the room where Frederick
II. died, and that King's library. He insisted that I should follow
him to the terrace, which is a fine piece of work. Then I was handed
over to the Countess of Reede, the Queen's chief lady, and to
Humboldt, who drove me to the Marble Palace, where are many beautiful
objects of art, and also to the New Palace, where the great summer
festivities are held. The Princess of Prussia came to meet us, and
took me to Charlottenhof, which was made by the reigning King from the
models, plans, and design of a villa belonging to Pliny. It is a
charming sight, full of beautiful things brought from Italy, which
harmonise admirably, an inconceivable confusion of flowers and fresco
paintings as at Pompeii, with fountains and ancient baths, all in the
best taste. The King and Queen were there, and we had tea. The King
then took me with him in a pony chaise and drove me through splendid
avenues of old oak-trees to Sans Souci, where he insisted that I
should stay to supper. Supper was served in a little room without
ceremony, and there was more conversation than eating. This went on
very pleasantly and easily until eleven o'clock. The King promised me
his portrait, and has been most kind in every way. He made me promise
to come and see him again at Berlin, and was, as they say here, very
_herzlich_.
This morning Humboldt came of his own accord to suggest that before
going to lunch with the Princess of Prussia I should see the Island of
the Peacocks, with its beautiful conservatories and curious menagerie.
The King's boatmen and the overseers of the botanical gardens waited
on me, and I brought back some splendid flowers. We reached the
Princess of Prussia a little late. After lunch she took me in the pony
chaise to see Glinicke, the pretty villa of Prince Charles, who is at
this moment at the baths of Kreuznach with his wife. Thence I returned
to Potsdam and to Berlin by the railway.
_Berlin, July 3, 1840._--Madame de Perponcher came for me to-day at
four o'clock. She took me through the rooms of her mother, the
Countess of Reede, so that we avoided the crowd and were the first to
reach the Court of Condolence which was held by the Queen at Berlin.
She was seated on her throne in a room hung with black; the shutters
were closed, and the room was lighted only by four large candles,
according to old etiquette. The Queen wore a double veil, one
streaming behind and the other lowered before her face; all the ladies
were dressed in the same way, and it was impossible to distinguish
faces. Each made a silent bow before the throne, and that was all. It
was strangely sad and lugubrious, but a very noble and imposing
ceremony. The men who passed before the throne were in uniform, with
their faces uncovered, but any gold or silver on their uniforms was
covered with black crape.
_Berlin, July 5, 1840._--My stay at Berlin has now come to an end. I
went to high mass this morning, a less meritorious act here than
elsewhere, on account of the admirable music.
_Herzberg, July 6, 1840._--I started this morning from Berlin by
railway as far as Potsdam, where I stayed for lunch. When I got out of
the train I found a footman with a very affectionate farewell letter
from the Princess of Prussia. I have been spoilt to the last moment. I
feel most deeply grateful, for every one has shown me a kindness and a
cordiality which I had only experienced in England before now.
I have finished the _Stories of the Merovingian Age_, by M. Augustin
Thierry. The book is not without interest or originality; as a picture
of strange and unknown customs, it is valuable. I have begun the
Dialogues of Fénelon on Jansenism, a book which is little known and
almost forgotten, though admirably written, and sometimes as striking
as the _Provincial Letters_.
_Königsbruck, July 8, 1840._--I came here yesterday at six o'clock in
the evening to see my niece, the Countess of Hohenthal. The lady of
the place is taller, fairer, more intelligent, quite as pleasant, and
in my opinion prettier and kinder than her sister, Frau von Lazareff.
Her other sister, Fanny, is an excellent and cheerful character, and
if her health were better she would be pretty. The Count of Hohenthal
is a thorough gentleman who admires and adores his wife. Miss
Harrison, once the governess of these ladies, is a prudent and loyal
person who has acted as their mother, and is respected as such in the
household. Königsbruck is a great house, rather vast than beautiful,
at the entrance to a small town. Its position would be picturesque and
the view agreeable if it were not almost choked by the outbuildings,
which, in the German style, are placed far too near the castle. The
country is a transition-point between the barrenness and flatness of
Prussia and the rich productivity of Saxony.
The following is an extract from a letter from M. Royer-Collard,
written from Paris when he was about to start for the Blésois: "Thiers
came even to-day to sit down here in silence with M. Cousin, who
represented the companion brother of the Jesuit. Thiers speaks very
disdainfully of the Ministries which preceded his own, and modestly of
his successes as Minister of the Interior; in any case, he is very
kind to me."
_Königsbruck, July 9, 1840._--To-day I went over the castle in detail.
It might afford opportunity for beautification in several directions;
but such is not the local taste, as the lords work their estates
themselves and prefer the useful to the agreeable.
My niece had told me that the King and Queen of Saxony had expressed a
wish to see me; I therefore wrote yesterday to Pillnitz, where the
Court now is, to ask their Majesties for an interview. When the answer
arrives I shall arrange for my departure.
My nieces generally spend their winters at Dresden, and told me that
the French Minister, M. de Bussières, was in very bad odour there. He
is regarded as an unpleasant character and in bad style. He has
introduced some disagreeable customs, and deeply wounded the Queen by
various tactless remarks concerning her. There is a general wish for
his removal to some other diplomatic post.
_Dresden, July 11, 1840._--I left Königsbruck this morning, and was
glad to see once more the pretty suburbs of Dresden. I am now about to
dress and to start for Pillnitz.
_Dresden, July 12, 1840._--The castle of Pillnitz is neither very
beautiful nor curious. The gardens are only moderately good, but the
situation on the banks of the Elbe is charming; the country is
delightful and fertile. The whole royal family of Saxony were
assembled there yesterday. The Queen, whom I had known long ago at
Baden, before her marriage, is the tallest woman I know; she is very
kind, well educated, and simply anxious to please. The King had dined
several times with M. de Talleyrand at Paris; he is a frank and
natural person, especially when his shyness, which is obvious at
first, has time to wear off. Princess John, the Queen's sister, and
the twin sister of the Queen of Prussia, is strikingly like the
latter, but she has been so worn out by constant child-bearing that
she hardly has the strength to move or to utter more than a few words.
I had also known her at Baden, when she was very pretty and agreeable.
Her husband, Prince John, is one of the most learned royal personages
of his time, always busy with deep matters; his dress and appearance
are very careless, and there is something of the German professor
about him. Princess Augusta, the Queen's cousin, had nearly all the
sovereigns of Europe as her suitors thirty years ago: Napoleon
mentioned her name in the council where his marriage was decided; none
the less she remained single, and, moreover, has become a very
pleasant old maid. She was never pretty, but was fresh and bright,
with individual points of beauty. Her expression remains kind and
attractive. Finally, I made a conquest of Princess Amelia, the King's
sister, who writes comedies. She is a witty and imaginative person,
and her conversation is lively and sparkling; she showed remarkable
kindness to me.
After dinner I was taken into a very fine room to change my dress, and
was strongly tempted to theft by the many fine examples of old Dresden
china. The Queen sent for me, and I was taken to her room, where she
asked me questions, as the Princesses had done. Everybody came in soon
in out-of-door dress, and we started in carriages for a long drive.
The vine is largely grown about Dresden. Above the royal vineyards the
King has built a little summer-house, which reminds me of that of the
Grand Duchess Stephanie at Baden. This was the object of our drive,
and the view from it is superb: on the right was Dresden, opposite the
Elbe, with its smiling banks, and on the left the mountain chain known
as Saxon Switzerland. Tea was served in the summer-house and after a
pleasant conversation I said farewell, when all kinds of warm messages
were exchanged. My carriage had followed me, and brought me back to
Dresden by ten o'clock in the evening.
_Dresden, July 13, 1840._--As yesterday was Sunday I went to mass in
the morning in the chapel of the castle, where the music is famous
throughout Germany. It is the only place where singers are still to be
heard in the style of Crescentini and Marchesi. This celebrated music
did not satisfy me; it was too operatic in style, too noisy and
dramatic, instead of suggesting a religious calm; moreover, these
mutilated voices, notwithstanding their brilliancy, have a certain
unpleasant harshness and shrillness. I never cared for the voice of
Crescentini, whom I heard at her best at Napoleon's Court.
After mass we visited the interior of the castle, where Bendemann, one
of the most distinguished artists of Düsseldorf, is now painting
frescoes in the great hall where the King opens and closes the
sessions of the States. It will be a fine piece of work in respect
both of its composition and execution, but it will never have the
brilliancy which only Italy can give to this style of painting, and
which is so indispensable to it. I was much interested by the
apartments of the Elector Augustus the Strong, which were furnished in
the fashion of his age, and have never been used since, except by the
Emperor Napoleon. They contain a great number of specimens of Buhl
furniture, lacquer-work, gilt copper, old china, and inlaid wood, but
these things are kept in bad condition and badly arranged, and do not
make a quarter of the effect they should produce. The castle from the
outside looks like an old convent, but there are some curious
architectural details in its interior courts which remind me of the
castle of Blois, though they cannot vie with it. Nothing can give
grace, lightness, and elegance to architectural work like the
everlasting white stone which belongs exclusively to the centre of
France. Here the stone is very dark.
In the evening I had a visit from the Baron of Lindenau, Minister of
Education and Director of Museums. He played an important political
part in the affairs of Saxony during the co-regency of the present
King. I had known him formerly at the house of my late aunt, the
Countess of Recke. He is a distinguished man, and I was glad to see
him again.
My nephew took us this morning to see the Japanese Palace, which
contains the royal library, the manuscripts, the intaglios, medals,
and engravings. I went through twenty vaulted chambers, which contain
all known specimens of china, of every age and every country. There
were some very beautiful and very curious things among them. This