Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
he will be glad one day to have seen it. Unfortunately at his age he
will be merely impressed, and will be unable to draw any of the
strange conclusions which the sight should inspire--the complete
forgetfulness of the oppression and the universal maledictions with
which Europe resounded twenty-six years ago; to-day nothing remains
but the recollections of Napoleon's victories, which make his memory
so popular. Paris, proclaiming her eager love of liberty, and France,
humiliated before the foreigner, are doing their utmost to honour the
man who did most to reduce them to servitude and was the most terrible
of conquerors.
In the newspapers we have read a description of the decorations in the
Champs Elysées, with the row of kings and great men. The great Condé
at least should not have found a place among them. Condé offering a
crown to his grandson's assassin! What I think should be fine is the
hearse. I like the idea of Napoleon brought back to France on a
buckler....
_Rochecotte, December 18, 1840._--Yesterday we awaited the post most
anxiously, and by some fatality the box was broken and we had to go to
bed without letters. Fortunately my son Dino, who had been at Tours,
brought back a copy of a telegram received by the Prefect which said
that everything went off very well, apart from a small demonstration
by some fifty men in blouses, who tried to break through the lines in
the Place Louis XV., but were driven back.
_Rochecotte, December 19, 1840._--At last our letters have come.
Madame Mollien, who was at the Church of the Invalides in the King's
suite, says: "This ceremony was just as unpopular in the position
where I was placed as it was popular in the streets of Paris. For
every reason people are delighted that yesterday is over. Before
entering the church we met in a kind of room, or rather chapel without
an altar, which had already been used for the same purpose at the
funeral of the victims of Fieschi. The royal family, the Chancellor,
the Ministers, the Households, and even the tutors, waited together
for two hours. The time was chiefly spent in speculation upon the
progress of the procession and in attempts to derive some heat from
two enormous fireplaces that had been hastily constructed and avoid
the volumes of smoke which they belched into the room. Recollections
of the Emperor were conspicuous by their absence; people talked of any
subject except that. The Chancellor[146] was noticeable for his
cheerfulness and his comical outbursts against the smoke. The Queen
was feverish, but nothing could prevent her from accompanying the
King, and she went home from the Invalides really ill. I can tell you
nothing of the scene within the church. I was so shut in on my stand
that I saw nothing, and could hardly hear the beautiful mass by
Mozart, divinely sung."
[146] The Duc Pasquier.
The following is another account: "The hearse, in my opinion, was
really admirable; nothing could be more magnificent and imposing; the
departmental standards borne by subalterns made an excellent effect,
and the trumpets playing a simple funeral march in unison impressed me
deeply. I liked, too, the five hundred sailors from _La Belle Poule_,
whose austere appearance contrasted with the general splendour; but a
ridiculous effect was produced by the old costumes of the Empire,
which looked as though they had been brought out from Franconi's. The
progress of the hearse was not followed sufficiently closely by the
crowd, so that the people rushed along in too noisy a fashion. There
were some unpleasant shouts of 'Down with Guizot!' 'Death to the men
of Ghent!' Some red flags were also seen, and the _Marseillaise_ was
heard once or twice, but these attempts were immediately checked. The
Prince de Joinville has grown brown and thin, but he is handsome and
looked very well. He was warmly welcomed throughout the procession
yesterday."
The Duchesse d'Albuféra saw the procession pass from Madame de
Flahaut's house, who had invited the old ladies who had figured under
the Empire, the wife of Marshal Ney, the Duchesse de Rovigo, &c., with
a number of modern society figures or strangers. The eighty thousand
troops are said to have given the ceremony the aspect of a review
rather than of a funeral. The Marshal's wife reasonably disliked the
attitude of the people, which was neither religious nor impressive nor
respectful.
I have also a letter from M. Royer Collard, who says nothing about the
ceremony, at which he was not present; but in answer to a statement of
mine, expressing my astonishment at his silence concerning Berryer's
speech, he says: "If I were to give you my plain opinion of the
protagonists in the debate upon the Address, I should be tempted to
use very violent language. M. Berryer is supporting the cause of good
by evil methods, an imaginary good by what is certainly wrong, and the
cause of order by means of confusion. He has the outward graces of an
orator, but not the essential points. He makes no impression upon
men's minds, and nothing will be left to him but his name. You ask my
opinion of M. de Tocqueville. He has a fund of honest motives which is
not adequate for his purposes, and which he imprudently expends, but
some remnants of which will always be left to him. I am afraid that in
his anxiety to succeed he will wander into impossible paths by an
attempt to reconcile irreconcilable elements. He extends both hands
simultaneously, the right hand in welcome to the left, and the left
hand to ourselves, and regrets that he has not a third hand behind him
which he could offer unseen. He proposes to present himself for
election to the French Academy in place of M. de Bonald. My first vote
is promised to Ballanche, but he will have my second. His
opponents--for there is an opposition--say that his literary success
has already brought him into the Institute, the Chamber, and will give
him an armchair at Barrot's house, and that he can therefore wait."
Our hermit of the Rue d'Enfer displays a considerable spice of
malignity beneath his excellent qualities. The notion of a third hand
is very persuasive, a capital metaphor, in my opinion.
_Rochecotte, December 20, 1840._--The Duc de Noailles also sends me a
small account of the funeral, and says that the crowd of onlookers
watched the procession going by almost as if it were that of the
Bœuf-Gras, and that the people in the church were entirely absorbed
by the question of the cold and the business of wrapping themselves
up; that the service was confused and that the social spectacle was
the main point in everybody's mind. The obvious inference seems to me
to be that there are no more Bonapartists in France. The fact is that
there is nothing in this country except newspaper articles.
My son-in-law is told that a proposal is to be brought forward in the
Chamber to efface the figure of Henry IV. from the star of the Legion
of Honour and to replace it by the effigy of Napoleon. As a matter of
fact there will be nothing more extraordinary in destroying the image
of one's ancestor than in staining one's coat of arms.[147]
[147] An allusion to the deed to which Louis-Philippe placed his
signature in February 1831, the day after the Archbishop's
residence was destroyed and Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois was
plundered. M. Laffitte, who was too inclined to consider
resistance to sedition impossible, induced the Sovereign to
publish the following decree: "In future the State seal will
represent an open book, bearing these words, 'Charter of 1830,'
surmounted by a closed crown with a sceptre and a hand of justice
in saltire, and tricolour flags behind the escutcheon, with
inscription, 'Louis-Philippe, King of the French.'" Thus it was
that the lilies disappeared which had hitherto been represented
upon the State seal throughout the realm.
_Rochecotte, December 23, 1840._--I have a letter from M. de Salvandy,
of which the following are the essential points: "A note has arrived
from Lord Palmerston stating that Napier's convention has been
ratified, and guaranteeing the fact in the name of England.
"M. Thiers will be president of the Commission concerning the
fortifications, and will report their proceedings to the Chamber; thus
he will have the Cabinet on the stool of repentance and be able to
keep the Chamber in check. It thus appears that M. Thiers is by no
means so weak as was thought, and that M. Guizot's position is by no
means assured. In this general state of uncertainty anything is
possible. The credit of the Chamber is shaken by it within, and a
European disturbance may very well follow. Austria has presented a
very moderate note upon the question of armaments, but Germany will
not disarm."
M. de Salvandy says the same as my other correspondents with regard to
the funeral. He complains that there was too much gold, which was to
be seen in every possible position. Apparently those who arranged the
ceremony thought that it was the best means of representing glory. He
also said that nothing could be less religious than the religious
ceremony. This is natural when one has an archbishop who cannot walk
or pray or use incense. I notice in the _Moniteur_ a phrase which is
quite admirable: "The _De Profundis_ was sung by Duprez and the prayer
by the Archbishop."
M. de Salvandy says that during the ceremony M. Thiers was remarkably
hopeful at the outset, very angry at the conclusion, and preoccupied
throughout; apparently he had set his hopes upon a day which, thank
heaven, has been a failure. Even in the church he attempted to begin a
discussion with M. Molé concerning Napoleon's thoughts and chances
during the Hundred Days.
Now I have an extract from a letter sent by Frau von Wolff from
Berlin: "Hitherto nothing has disturbed the perfect harmony between
the Sovereign and his people; on political questions there is
practically no difference of opinion among them, so we are almost all
orthodox in this respect; but religious opinions are strongly divided,
and from this point of view the first steps of the King are watched
with some anxiety. It is to be hoped that the King will never
sacrifice true merit to sectarian prejudice. With regard to the new
nobility which the King has just created, it will be difficult for me
to give you a precise explanation, for the institution seems to be
still somewhat vague. The King hopes to obviate the inconvenience of a
poor nobility--and the Prussian nobility is usually poor--by
introducing new titles and attaching them to territorial estates, so
that the title will pass only to those children or descendants who
inherit land, and will become extinct if the succession leaves the
family. This idea has not been greatly appreciated so far. People fear
possible complications and entanglements and it is thought that the
institution will hardly survive, as it is not in harmony with Germanic
custom."
_Rochecotte, December 27, 1840._--The Duc de Noailles tells me that M.
de Tocqueville has withdrawn his candidature for the Academy. The Duc
has just been to dinner with M. Pasquier, where he met Mgr. Affre; he
speaks of him as a regular peasant; even the enemies of Mgr. de Quélen
noticed the difference at the ceremony in the Invalides. It was Mgr.
de Quélen who officiated for the victims of Fieschi. Mgr. Affre is an
appropriate prelate for this wretched age, which is so devoid of
dignity wherever it is looked for.
_Rochecotte, December 30, 1840._--I hear from Paris that a despatch in
a mild and friendly tone has arrived from Russia for communication to
the Government, saying that the isolation of France is regarded with
regret and that there is a readiness to begin the usual measures for
bringing France into the train of negotiations since a Conservative