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 her kind, I think her quite anxious to please, but, like her mother, she has a vulgar intonation and trivial expressions to which I cannot get accustomed. It was a dull and heavy evening, in spite of the enthusiasm of M. Thiers for Italy. He seems to be greatly struck by the beauty of Valençay, and I think they are all very glad to be here. Fortunately the weather is fine; I have never prayed for sunshine so earnestly.
Valençay, October 11, 1837.—Madame Thiers was very tired yesterday; she went upstairs after lunch and did not reappear until dinner-time. She would not go for a drive, and her mother kept her company. We took the husband out with us, and he was in excellent spirits, with no bitterness or hostility. He wishes to go from here to Lille without crossing Paris, where he only wishes to arrive just in time for the Chambers; he was also very sarcastic about the repeated proposals that have been made to him for the greatest embassies.
Valençay, October 12, 1837.—M. de Talleyrand yesterday took M. Thiers to see M. Royer-Collard. They returned both well pleased with their walk, whence I infer that they left their host equally pleased. I have no great trouble with the ladies. The young wife appears for meals, lolls in a drawing-room armchair for half an hour after lunch and for an hour after dinner, then goes up to her room; she will not drive, and only wishes to be left alone. Her mother is with her a great deal, and her husband most attentive. The young wife governs them all, but like a spoilt and capricious child, and I think that the poor husband finds the path of marriage a somewhat thorny one.
Valençay, October 13, 1837.—The Duchesse de Saint-Leu is dead. What will become of her son? Will he be left upon our frontier?
Madame Murat continues to remain at Paris. General Macdonald, [80] who was thought to be her husband, and who was greatly devoted to her in any case, has died at Florence. To the universal surprise, this event has not so far saddened her as to prevent her from going to the theatre, nor does she show any of the grief that might have been expected.
Here people talk of nothing but the approaching elections; they seem to be still very uncertain and to defy all calculations. I have always noticed this to be the case at every dissolution of the Chamber. The instructions of the Ministry are very capricious; on the whole the Doctrinaires and progressive parties are to be proscribed, but with so many exceptions here and there that unusual points of contact are created. M. Thiers is quite calm, in excellent political spirits; he talks a great deal of his forty years and of the frost of age; however, I would not trust to that, and if he were provoked he would be quite capable of entering the fray most vigorously. He has quite abandoned his ideas of Spanish intervention, not as regards the past, but for the present moment. I have never seen him so wise and self-controlled—a condition only to be attained by those whose inclinations are definite, and who have enough self-satisfaction not to be ambitious for power. His wife unbends a little; she danced yesterday evening in excellent spirits.
Valençay, October 15, 1837.—The whole of the Thiers family went away yesterday. Although the mother has been anxious to please, the young wife amiable in her manner, and her husband witty, animated, and tractable, as usual, I am not sorry to see them go.
Valençay, October 22, 1837.—We are to have a second theatrical performance. I rehearsed my part yesterday with M. de Valençay while the rest of the company were out driving.
I have a very carefully written letter from Madame Dosne, from which the following is an interesting passage: "Since our arrival the house has been stormed by friends, inquirers, and interested people, who wish to learn the attitude of M. Thiers. He has seen M. Molé and M. de Montalivet, who are struggling for his friendship, and has been effusively received by the royal family. You know better than any one, madame, to whom he owes that. In short, his move to Paris has been quite politic and successful. He is ready to defend the Ministry as long as it lasts and to help it as long as he can, if they will support his view with regard to the elections. To-morrow we shall start for Lille, where we shall stay as long as my daughter wishes."
Valençay, October 26, 1837.—Madame de Lieven writes to say that her husband has sent his son Alexander to her to carry her off dead or alive, but she has refused to stir, and that the son has gone back again provided with all possible certificates from the doctors of the Embassy stating the impossibility of moving her. She is loud in the praises of Comte Pahlen and of my cousin Paul Medem. It seems that the Autocrat told M. de Lieven that he would crush the Princess if she persisted in remaining in France. I think she has some private means which no one can touch, and which help her to hold out. Before long it will become a regular drama.
I have a long letter from the Duc d'Orléans, in which he tells me that his sister, the Duchess of Würtemberg, did not go immediately to Stuttgart on leaving Paris, but went first to Coburg, and will not go to Würtemberg till later. The Duc d'Orléans gives me excellent accounts of his wife, and seems to regard her as a perfect friend, which is the best certificate a woman can have from her husband, and a guarantee of the most desirable future for her.
Valençay, November 2, 1837.—I shall start presently to dine and sleep at Beauregard. To-morrow I shall pass through Tours, and reach my house at Rochecotte in time for dinner.
I have a kind letter from M. Guizot, who tells me that the new Chamber will be like the last, and that if there is a difference it will be to the advantage of his own views.
M. Thiers writes from Lille saying that the general electioneering cry is "Down with the Doctrinaires!" and that he is asked by five different departments to become a candidate, but that he will remain faithful to Aix. Finally, M. Royer-Collard writes from Paris saying that M. Molé has been tricked in the elections; that it does not, however, follow that the elections will go in favour of the Doctrinaires, but that they will not lack Ministerial support. Of these three versions which is the most credible? I am inclined to accept the last.
Rochecotte, November 4, 1837.—Since yesterday I have been in my own home. As I passed through Tours in the morning I found the poor Prefect grappling with the electoral fever.
The confusion of the instructions is incredible, continually modified or contradicted as they are by intrigues at Paris, alternating between the influence of Guizot or Thiers; consequently I think the result will be very far removed from that which was proposed at the dissolution of the Chamber. Fortunately the country is calm, for the dissolution was decided upon, not for patriotic reasons, but simply for personal interest, and miscalculation upon that ground is a matter of indifference. At the same time it is foolish uselessly to stir up an infinity of local passions which, though they do not rise to the danger and violence of political strife, none the less injure public spirit by dividing the country more and more into parties.
Rochecotte, November 5, 1837.—The comedies which we acted at Valençay brought some life into the great castle, of which there has been a prodigious lack during June, July, and August. I admit, to my shame, that for the first time in my life since I rested from the fatigues of Fontainebleau and Versailles I have been very bored. The illness which we have all suffered one after another brought anxiety in place of boredom, and I am glad of some small diversion to bring me out of the groove.
Rochecotte, November 11, 1837.—A letter from Madame Adélaïde reached me yesterday. She seems fairly pleased with the elections, and would be more so were it not for the infamous alliance between the Legitimists and Republicans, which has brought success to the latter party in several places. I use her own expressions. She also says that Princesse Marie is delighted with her husband and her journey, with Germany and with the reception which has so far been given.
Rochecotte, November 24, 1837.—I am sorry for the Grand Duchess Stephanie on account of the wrongdoing or misfortune of her daughter, the Princess Wasa. [81] I never liked her, and was struck by her bad appearance when I saw her at Paris in 1827 with her mother; moreover, her husband, whom I also know, is a very ordinary person, and by no means the man to guide a young wife.
The Duchess of Massa speaks with delight in her letters of the hospitality and the distinction at the Court of Coburg, and of the happiness of the Princesse Marie. I also hear that the Duc d'Orléans constantly talks of his domestic happiness, in which he is entirely absorbed. He is to give an entertainment upon the return of his brother, the Duc de Nemours, the victor of Constantine.
I am more and more delighted with the life of Bossuet by Cardinal Bausset. How fortunate it is that I put off reading this book at a time when the taste for reading had passed away, and is now revived by this excellent work! I have ordered a fine engraving of Bossuet which I wish to possess; it is absurd that he should not have his place here with my other friends of the great century, Madame de Sévigné, Madame de Maintenon, Cardinal de Retz, and Arnauld d'Andilly. Although I admire every personage of that great age, I have my preferences. I want a portrait of the Palatine to complete my collection.
Rochecotte, November 30, 1837.—My sister, the Duchesse de Sagan, writes to say that she will come here shortly; I do not know whether she will carry out her plan this time—not that I am altogether regretful if she should fail, for I am never entirely at my ease with her. I was accustomed to be afraid of her in my youth, and am still somewhat overawed; but as the matter has been announced and arranged, it is better that she should come.
Rochecotte, December 2, 1837.—Yesterday in the Journal des Débats I read the great memorandum of the Prussian Government against the Archbishop of Cologne. [82] We must suspend our judgment until we hear his defence; but the fact remains that so strong a measure as to arrest an archbishop and imprison him does not look well in the case of a Protestant Sovereign when dealing with a Catholic prelate in a Catholic country. It has too strong an appearance of persecution, even if it be justified at bottom. I am very curious to know the end of this affair; it seems to me of serious import.
M. de Montrond tells M. de Talleyrand that the whole family of Thiers profess such a redoubled affection for us since their stay at Valençay that we shall be regarded as responsible for the acts and deeds of M. Thiers during the coming session. I have urged this upon M. de Talleyrand as an argument for staying here as long as possible, but with what success I do not know.
M. Guizot is to be found at Madame de Lieven's house from morning to evening, to the general amusement.
Madame Adélaïde's letters begin to urge more strongly our return to Paris, which is exactly the reason why I should prefer to stay here.
Rochecotte, December 4, 1837.—M. de Sainte-Aulaire informs me that the Grand Duchess Stephanie has solved her daughter Wasa's domestic difficulties. I fear she has only postponed the evil day.
Rochecotte, December 6, 1837.—Yesterday I carried out an enterprise which I had long been anxious to perform. I went with my son Valençay to see the Comte d'Héliaud and Madame de Champchevrier. We started in fine frosty weather, lunched with M. d'Héliaud, and spent an hour at Champchevrier on our return with the nicest people in the world, in a fine old castle, with moats and avenues, and a well-wooded country of preserves; old tapestry, stag-horns, and hunting-horns hung from the walls are the chief ornaments in this noble but not very elegant mansion. It is inhabited by a simple, upright, and respected family, who live comfortably but not luxuriously, hunting and farming throughout the year. At certain times forty or fifty of the surrounding families meet there for amusement. The whole establishment is well worthy of a description by Walter Scott, especially an old grandmother of eighty-two, upright, alert, imposing, and polite, in a surprisingly antique dress. We were very kindly received. By the time we reached home I was frozen, but very glad that I had paid my calls and fulfilled my neighbourly duties.
The Duc de Noailles writes to say that he met M. Thiers one morning at Madame de Lieven's house, where he spoke like a little saint and a great philosopher.
Rochecotte, December 10, 1837.—My sister and my son Alexandre at last arrived here yesterday, after a long and tiring journey. My sister has grown very stout, and looks much older; none the less she is astonishingly well preserved for the age of fifty-seven. She talks a great deal and very loudly. The Vienna strain in her is predominant.
Rochecotte, December 11, 1837.—I took my sister for a long drive yesterday. She thinks this place very pretty, and, as other persons have already told me, assures me that nothing recalls to her so much la bella Italia. We had hardly returned from our long drive than I began it over again for M. de Salvandy, who dropped in unexpectedly at dinner, and after a short stay continued his journey to Nogent-le-Rotrou, where he is going to an electoral banquet. He told us that the Duc de Nemours had reached Havre with a broken arm, in consequence of an accident upon board of a wretched steamship. He travelled by Gibraltar, in order to avoid a great ball that the town of Marseilles had prepared for him, and over which great expense had been incurred. The King is very displeased by this prank.
Rochecotte, December 19, 1837.—Last spring when I consulted Lisfranc and Cruveilhier they both told me that I was threatened by a tendency to feverishness. Since that time my life has been arranged to avoid the danger, and with success; but since the arrival of my sister I have felt a great and steadily increasing nervous agitation, so much so that yesterday inflammation was pronounced, with violent fever. I am much distressed, and think I shall have to spend some days in bed or upon my sofa.
Rochecotte, December 20, 1837.—The doctor says that I am better to-day. I never remember having felt so ill as the day before yesterday. I am still keeping my room, and feel very poorly, but the doctor repeats that there is no danger, and that with a few days' more care I shall be quite well.
Rochecotte, December 25, 1837.—The pain in my right side is growing less, and I am not so weak. When I am stronger I shall speak of my thoughts during these days of danger through which I have passed. The mental life becomes the clearer when the outward eye is veiled and obscured. [83]
Rochecotte, December 26, 1837.—I am better, and very grateful to Providence which has delivered me from so grievous a state; but I shall not recover from the shock for a long time. I was deeply touched to learn that yesterday during the service I was recommended to the prayers of the congregation. All my neighbours and the whole countryside have been most kind; my servants have watched and worked with infinite zeal, and the two doctors, MM. Cogny and Orie, have been very attentive.
Rochecotte, December 28, 1837.—The weather is magnificent, and at midday I shall be wheeled on to the terrace for a moment.
I have no news from Paris, and am greatly ignorant of the affairs of this world. It seemed to me during the two days that I was ill that I saw something of the things of the next world, and that it was not so difficult as might be thought to rise towards one's Creator; that there was even a certain sweetness in the idea that one was to rest at length from all the troubles of life. Providence can soften all the trials which He sends to us, by giving us the strength to bear them, and one can never feel too thankful for all the Divine favours.
Rochecotte, December 31, 1837.—This last day of a year, which upon the whole has not been entirely agreeable, induces me to throw a retrospective glance upon my life—an effort which produces a not very pleasant result. However, it would be wrong to complain; if misfortunes are not lacking for me, there are also blessings which it would be ungrateful not to recognise; and one may feel despondent and serious and yet have no right to feel or to call oneself unhappy. May God preserve for myself and for those whom I love, honour, health, and that peace of mind which keeps the soul from care, and my thanks will be heartfelt.
Rochecotte, January 1, 1838.—In spite of my weakness I remained until midnight in the drawing-room, to embrace M. de Talleyrand, my children, and my sister as the new year came in. I am to go out in the carriage to-day, to come down to dinner, and, in short, to return to life by degrees.
Rochecotte, January 2, 1838.—The whole countryside passed this way yesterday; people were still here in the evening. I am no worse this morning, but the contrary, and if this marvellous weather will last a few days longer I hope that I shall soon be quite myself again. M. de Talleyrand, unfortunately, already speaks of returning to Paris.
Rochecotte, January 5, 1838.—I have no good opinion of the year upon which we have entered, from a political point of view. My mind is despondent, my soul sad, my nerves are weak, my heart is full, and, to use the language of the chambermaid, I wouldn't give twopence for anything. We have been plunged in fog for the last few days, but none the less I have been to pay my farewell calls in the immediate neighbourhood.
Rochecotte, January 6, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand and Pauline have just started for Paris. No one is left in the house except my sister, my son Alexandre, and myself. I must make up my accounts and prepare for departure, as we are all three going the day after to-morrow. Notwithstanding the sad recollections of the illness which darkened my last weeks here, I shall leave this pleasant little spot with regret.
Paris, January 11, 1838.—I arrived here yesterday at ten o'clock in the evening after a journey which nine degrees of frost and constant snow made extremely unpleasant. However, we had no accident, and the change of air, sudden as it has been, has rather strengthened me and given me a little appetite.
Yesterday I dined at Versailles with Madame de Balbi, whom I thought had grown very old. My sister at the same time was eating fowl with Madame de Trogoff, whom she knew very well long ago.
We found M. de Talleyrand in good health, but anxious about our journey. He told me that the Ministry was absorbed in work upon the Address, so that none of the members are visible for the moment.
Paris, January 12, 1838.—Yesterday I was very busy with my sister's dresses, my own, and those of Pauline. We have all three arrived in rags. Then I went to see Madame de Laval, who is greatly changed. In the evening I took my sister to hear The Puritans, in the same box at the Théâtre Italien as I had last year. Rubini has certainly lost something of his voice, and Madame Grisi has begun to shriek.
I believe there is great agitation in the political world, but I ask no questions, do not even read a newspaper, and preserve my beloved state of ignorance, partly through idleness and partly as a precaution.
Paris, January 13, 1838.—My sister wished to go for once to the Chamber of Deputies, which is a new sight for her. The Russian Ambassador gave us his tickets, and we spent our morning yesterday at the Palais Bourbon. M. Molé surpassed my expectations. He delighted my sister and charmed myself. There could be nothing more dignified, nothing clearer, better thought or better expressed than his speech. His success was quite complete. I saw Madame de Lieven at the Chamber; my sister and she will not look at one another; they detest one another, though they do not know one another. This is inconvenient for me. [84] M. Guizot came up into our seat, and I thought him greatly changed.
I am quite overcome by so different a mode of life from that of the last six months.
Paris, January 14, 1838.—Yesterday I had a very long and very kind visit from the Prince Royal, who was quite calm and in a placid frame of mind.
I then called upon the Princesse de Lieven, who gave me full details of her domestic situation, which excluded conversation upon any other topic and reduced me to the position of audience. She thinks she will certainly be able to stay here ad vitam æternam without molestation. I hope she may. In the evening I went to the Tuileries, to pay my respects to the Queen.
Paris, January 15, 1838.—Great fires are becoming quite fashionable. The burning of the London Stock Exchange will form a counterpart to the destruction of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, with the difference that a hundred persons perished in Russia, while no loss of life took place in England. Paul Medem told me that the Winter Palace was three times as large as the Louvre, and that six thousand persons lived there; that the Imperial pharmacy was situated in the middle of the castle, and that an explosion resulting from a chemical experiment had caused the conflagration.
I did not go out yesterday. M. de Sainte-Aulaire came to lunch with my sister and myself, after which I had a call from M. Royer-Collard, who is much better this year. I saw MM. Thiers and Guizot with M. de Talleyrand. We had a long and tiresome family dinner, after which my sister and myself found nothing better to do than to go to bed at half-past nine. I have not entirely recovered my strength. A conversation with Dr. Cruveilhier, only too similar to that which I had at Tours with Dr. Bretonneau, has done much to bring back my despondency and listlessness.
Paris, January 16, 1838.—Yesterday when I was writing I had heard nothing of the conflagration which destroyed the Théâtre Italien the preceding night. The under-manager and four firemen lost their lives. It is a great catastrophe, and disastrous for poor people like myself whose only pleasure was the Italian Opera. I feel it quite deeply.
Lady Clanricarde came to lunch with me yesterday, and it was a great pleasure to see her again. She is very nice, and we talked over "dear, ever dear England," an inexhaustible subject for me.
In the evening I took Pauline to a ball given by the Duc d'Orléans; it was charming and delightfully arranged. We went away after supper at two o'clock in the morning, which was late for me. However, apart from a bad headache I need not complain of the way in which I got through my task. Unfortunately there are many others of the kind, and the prospect of their multiplicity frightens me. I saw nothing noticeable at the ball except the delicate appearance of the Duchesse d'Orléans, which unfortunately is not to be explained by any prospect of a child. I think our excellent Queen looks older, and the Duc de Nemours is terribly thin. He has grown a beard in the modern style, but so fair that it is frightful to behold.
Paris, January 17, 1838.—Yesterday I spent the morning with my sister in doing what I detest more than anything else—making a full round of indispensable calls. In the evening I took her to the Tuileries. The arrangements were most noble and magnificent. She was a little astonished at the forms of presentation here, and I was more than usually struck by them.
Paris, January 23, 1838.—I have caught a cold as a result of sitting in a draught which blew straight upon my back at a concert yesterday at the residence of the Duc d'Orléans; this was the only thing of which to complain at an evening's entertainment where there was no crowd and where the music was delightful, well chosen, and not too long.
M. de Talleyrand is very well, except for his legs; their weakness does not matter so much, but they are becoming painful, especially the toes of one foot, which are not always their natural colour. This is an ominous sign. I am very anxious, and so is he; in short, I am greatly depressed, and everything weighs heavily upon my mind.
Paris, January 28, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand is not ill, but his mania for dining out has not agreed with him. Yesterday at Lord Granville's, when giving his arm to the Princesse de Lieven, he trod upon the folds of her dress and nearly fell; he did not actually fall, but his knee gave way, his weak foot turned, and he twisted his big toe. I was deeply anxious when I saw him come back in this state. What a sad year it is! The fact is that since last April nothing has gone right, and if I did not regard all this as a trial and preparation for a better world, I should be quite disgusted with this one.
Paris, January 30, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand's foot gives him pain, and the worst of it is the difficulty of finding out whether the pain is the result of the sprain or the general weakness of the foot; otherwise he is calm, with people always about him, and plays his game of whist every evening.
I was with the Queen this evening, who had received the sad news that morning of the burning of the palace in Gotha in which her daughter, Princesse Marie, was living. Princesse Marie nearly lost her life, and has lost much valuable property, albums, portraits, books, her diaries, in fact everything. Her diamonds are melted out of the settings, which are mere lumps of metal; the large stones alone resisted the heat, and these must be repolished. And then many precious objects which money cannot replace have gone. This first cloud which overshadows her young happiness is especially cruel, because it raises distrust and destroys the sense of future security. It is a real grief to the Queen, the more so as the shock might have done the Princess some harm, as she is with child.
Paris, February 1, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand is anxious about the state of his leg and the consequent change necessitated in his mode of life. I wish his foot would get strong enough to allow him to get into a carriage, but he cannot yet put enough weight upon it to mount. Want of fresh air and exercise, if this continues, may have serious consequences. Meanwhile he is not alone for a single moment from ten o'clock in the morning till after midnight.
Lady Clanricarde came to lunch with me yesterday. In a few days she is returning to her dear England, of which I think daily with deep regret. I knew all that I was losing when I left it, and I have at any rate counted the cost.
Paris, February 2, 1838.—The state of M. de Talleyrand's leg is pretty much the same, though it was slightly less swollen yesterday. He is rather despondent, and, I think, too far-sighted not to realise all the possible ill-results. I cannot say how despondent I feel and what a weight is upon my mind.
Paris, February 3, 1838.—Yesterday was M. de Talleyrand's birthday, and he is now eighty-four. Fortunately his leg has seemed much better during the last day or two. This fact was the best birthday present he could have, or I either.
Paris, February 5, 1838.—My sister collected some Austrians and Italians yesterday evening at her house, and engaged a band of Neapolitan musicians who are here. She got them to sing some of their national airs, which are very pretty. M. de Talleyrand was carried up to my sister's rooms, and played his game there. His leg improves in appearance, but the sprained foot is weak and painful. I do not know if he will ever be able to walk again. If he could only get into a carriage! His inability to get fresh air makes me anxious.
He is sad and worried. Strange to say, he has expressed a wish to make the acquaintance of the Abbé Dupanloup, and has asked me to invite him to dinner on my birthday. I did so at once. The Abbé at first accepted and then refused. I suspect the Archbishop's hand in this. I shall see him to-morrow and get an explanation. When M. de Talleyrand heard that the Abbé had refused he said: "He has less intelligence than I thought, for he ought to be anxious to come here for my sake and his own." These words have impressed me and increased my vexation with the Abbé's refusal.
Paris, February 7, 1838.—Yesterday, in spite of the keen cold, I went to the Archbishop, who was very gracious. He gave me, for St. Dorothea's Day, my birthday, which was yesterday, a splendid copy of the Imitation of Jesus Christ, and another for M. de Talleyrand; for my sister a portrait of Leo XII., the Pope who had received his renunciation, and for Pauline a handsome religious work. He was greatly surprised and vexed that the Abbé Dupanloup had refused to dine with us; in short, I came away quite satisfied.
I was still more pleased at the way in which M. de Talleyrand accepted the Archbishop's present and listened to my account of our conversation. He would like the Archbishop to use his authority to induce the Abbé Dupanloup to come here. I cannot help ascribing his excellent frame of mind to my own feelings in my last illness, and to the words which I was then able to speak to him. I bless God for the sign that He has been pleased to send me by His hidden and always admirable means of working and if to complete this great task I should have to make a yet greater sacrifice I shall readily do so.
Paris, February 9, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand went out yesterday for the first time for a drive, which did him good, or, more correctly, pleased him. The effects of his sprain are rapidly passing away, but the same is not true of the general condition of his foot, which is unsatisfactory. He was carried into the carriage and helped out again, which was not so difficult as I thought, but this obvious infirmity is painful to look at—more painful than I can say. Rumours are believed that the Duchesse d'Orléans is with child; however, I think we shall have to wait a little before the story can be confirmed.
Paris, February 10, 1838.—It is said that the quarrel between the Flahauts and General Baudrand will be settled, but I do not think permanently. [85] Madame de Flahaut comes to see M. de Talleyrand in the evenings, and her husband every morning; they are kind and gracious, as threatened people are.
M. Royer-Collard, whom I saw yesterday for a moment, was delighted to find that his speeches the other day had shattered the position which people wished the Deputies to resume. There was some friction between us on this occasion. There is too strong a strain of bitterness in his nature, which sometimes makes him quite mischievous, though he does not know it.
Paris, February 11, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand was able to visit Madame Adélaïde yesterday, the chief event of his day, and therefore of mine. The event of to-day is the snow, which is falling heavily and incessantly, and brings us back to the middle of the winter.
The Abbé Dupanloup came to see me yesterday, and paid a long call. I was quite satisfied with the result, and he will dine with us in a week.
We also had some people to dinner; the whole of the Albuféra family, the Thiers, the Flahauts; and some people come in every evening.
Paris, February 15, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand is very busy with a small laudatory speech upon M. Reinhard which he proposes to deliver at the Academy of Moral and Political Science at the beginning of next month. He is taking trouble with it, and spent several hours over it yesterday.
The Baudrand and Flahaut business is not yet concluded. Claims, hesitations, and equivocations have been forthcoming from either side, with the result that the two rivals have become ridiculously bitter, and, what is worse, the Prince Royal has been involved.
Paris, February 23, 1838.—We are still in the midst of cold and snow.
The Duc de Nemours has had a sore throat, which threatened to become quinsy, but his indisposition has not postponed any of the Court festivities, and the day before yesterday he was present at the Queen's ball.
M. de Talleyrand has a cold and his legs are weak. These are his two weak points. The former is only a transitory trouble; the other, though its remote consequences may be serious, is not threatening at present. Such is the true state of affairs.
Paris, February 25, 1838.—I was informed early this morning that M. de Talleyrand was suffering from a kind of suffocation. This was purely due to outward circumstances, for he had slipped down in his bed and was practically buried by his vast bedclothes, with the result that a kind of nightmare was the consequence. I have just left him sleeping peaceably in an armchair. What I do not like is the fact that for the last two days he has been more or less feverish, and that he will eat nothing or very little for fear of increasing the fever. He is very weak. The absence of Dr. Cruveilhier, who is at Limoges, is also a trouble, and though I feel no immediate anxiety, I am far from confident concerning the result of this invalid condition, which seems to point to a general break-up.
Paris, March 3, 1838.—In two hours M. de Talleyrand is going to the Academy in cold and most unpleasant rain; I also fear the effect of the excitement upon him. There will be a large audience, but no women, as this Academy will not admit them. I hope that to-day will go off well, but I wish it were to-morrow.
Paris, March 4, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand is very agitated and very weak this morning. He made a great effort, and whatever his success, I fear he will have to pay dearly for it. His success was beyond my expectation; the accounts of some fifty people who besieged my room after the session leave me no doubt upon that point. He had recovered his vocal powers, read excellently well, walked about, seemed younger and entirely himself, and two hours afterwards he was overthrown and incapable of making an effort. I do not know what the newspapers will have to say of the speech, but if anything can disarm them I think it should be the fact that a man at such an age and with so full a past should display such energy in delivering in public farewells so noble and so full of justice and good teaching. [86]
Paris, March 5, 1838.—The day has gone off better than I expected for M. de Talleyrand. The Journal Général de France, which is a Doctrinaire organ, contained the best, cleverest, and pleasantest article upon M. de Talleyrand's speech. Some ascribed it to M. Doudan, others to M. Villemain. The article in the Débats was kind, but dull; that of the Journal de Paris good; of the Charte stupid and badly written; the Gazette de France fairly good; the Siècle and the Presse insignificant; the National of no account. Against my custom, which has been not to open a single newspaper since my return from the country, I read them all yesterday, and shall do the same to-day; then I shall resume my state of ignorance.
Paris, March 6, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand had a fainting fit yesterday before dinner. I think it was due to the excessively rigorous methods of his dieting and to the catarrh of his chest and stomach, which takes away his appetite. The blister which will be placed upon him will relieve him, I hope. Yesterday's newspapers were not equally satisfactory concerning his speech, but he was not disturbed on that account, for the intelligent and right-minded members of his audience have been really pleased. The house is constantly full of people coming to congratulate him. M. Royer-Collard said to me yesterday: "M. de Talleyrand has solemnly disavowed the unpleasant incidents of his life and publicly glorified the good and really useful parts of it."
Paris, March 7, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand had no further attacks of faintness yesterday, but he does not look well, and I think him much changed. I hear that his brother, the Duc de Talleyrand, my father-in-law, is also in a very poor state of health; the Vicomtesse de Laval is feverish with a bad cold and she cannot sleep. This is all very sad, and these omens of death depress me greatly.
Paris, March 8, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand had a better day yesterday. We take great care of him: when I came back from a dinner given to my sister by the Stackelbergs, and from the Queen, to whom I went afterwards, I found him surrounded by fair ladies and in pretty good spirits.
In the morning I took Pauline to ask offerings from the Archbishop. My sister wished to accompany us, so that I was unable to speak with M. de Quélen.
The Flahaut party have lost all touch with the Pavillon Marsan, except the good graces of the Prince Royal, which they seem to be monopolising. At the Pavillon de Flore there is a general satisfaction at their departure, notwithstanding many fine phrases. The Flahauts do not understand the truth, and throw the blame upon a Doctrinaire intrigue, to which the Duc de Coigny is said to have lent his help. They are soon starting for England, where I think they will make a pretty long stay.
Paris, March 10, 1838.—The Abbé Dupanloup came to see me yesterday. He then asked to see M. de Talleyrand, to thank him for the copy of his speech which he had sent him. Pauline took him there. He stayed alone for twenty minutes with M. de Talleyrand, who did not open the subject directly, but let some kind words fall, and when the Abbé came back to my room he seemed to feel some hope. In any case, he has shown great discretion and perfect tact, and I think he is entirely right. He was the first to suggest that he should take his leave, and was told that he would gladly be seen again. This is all excellent, provided we are given time. It is not so much a case of illness as of general depression and an obvious alteration in his features; but with such a mind one cannot be hasty. What a task it is, and how terrified I should be of it if I did not tell myself that the most unworthy instrument which God is pleased to choose can become more powerful than the greatest saint, if God's providence is not pleased to make use of him!
Paris, March 11, 1838.—The English Ministry has triumphantly survived the crisis which was thought likely to become its overthrow. Will ours pass equally well through next week's crisis, the question of the secret service funds? Many batteries have been laid in position against it, and a silent agitation is proceeding on all sides. It is said that either extremity of the Chamber will direct a converging fire upon the Ministerial benches, I suppose with the object of afterwards shooting one another down upon the field of battle. It is all very distressing.
Paris, March 14, 1838.—I spent two hours yesterday with the Archbishop. I was better pleased with his sentiments than with his decisions. However, everything has been left for his meditation. He asked me to write and tell him what I thought, and I hope, with the grace of God, Who will cast light here and there, to reach some satisfactory conclusion, both for those who are to leave us and for those destined to continue their pilgrimage.
On leaving the Archbishop I went to the Vicomtesse de Laval, who is weak and shaken in health, but alert in heart and mind.
On my return I found M. de Talleyrand depressed and uneasy; he recovered his spirits after a talk with me. The last few days he has eaten a little better. In the evening he was not so weak, and I have just heard that he had a quiet night. I am swayed incessantly between hope and despair, but supported by the sense that I am useful, and perhaps even necessary. If my strength is to fail me, I trust that it may last to the end of my task, after which the sacrifice will have been made, as I made it during my illness at Rochecotte.
Paris, March 15, 1838.—Yesterday I accompanied my sister, who wished to go once more before her departure to the Chamber of Deputies. I felt greatly bored. M. Molé spoke very well; M. Barthe was unbearably superficial; M. Guizot gave us the most wearisome of all his sermons; M. Passy was coarse without being clever; M. Odilon Barrot was very clever and witty, and left neither Thiers nor Berryer anything to say, but his delivery is so oratorical and so badly sustained that it is hard work to listen to him. On the whole the honours of the session remained with M. Molé; or, to speak more accurately, if the Ministry gained nothing its adversary lost a great deal, which amounts to the same thing at the present moment.
Paris, March 16, 1838.—I took Pauline yesterday to mass, to the sermon, and to the salutation, after which she made her collection. Two funerals interrupted the collection, preventing any one from coming out, and they were also delayed by a driving rain, so that we remained standing at the church door for an interminable time. However, the sermon of the Abbé de Ravignan, [87] concerning indifference in religion and its various causes, pleased me greatly, and if it is not one of the best sermons I have read, it is at any rate one of the best that I have ever heard.
M. Molé, who was dining here, said that this morning in the Chamber, during the formation of the official bodies, the alliance between men who were enemies a few months ago was notorious.
Paris, March 17, 1838.—I spent a long time yesterday morning at the Seminary of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, of which the Abbé Dupanloup is the superior. The good Abbé pleased me greatly, and also expressed his satisfaction with the little document which I showed him. [88]
In another month we shall have a new poem by M. de Lamartine, called L'Ange déchu, [89] then the Mélanges littéraires, by M. Villemain, and a work by M. de Chateaubriand on the Congress of Verona; in short, enough reading for the whole summer.
M. de Talleyrand says that on May 1 he will go to his estate of Pont de Sains, in Flanders, stay there for the summer, travel to Nice by easy stages, starting on September 1, and return to Valençay in the month of May 1839. Such extensive projects are decidedly rash, and it is unreasonable for him to expose himself to the damp of Flanders after May 1. I tell him so and trust to Providence.
The motto, or rather the conclusion of a letter, which I find in an old book seems to me very pretty: "Be with God." I have adopted it.
Paris, March 22, 1838.—Princesse Marie, who has been here since the 19th, nearly had a miscarriage yesterday, as the result of too long a drive; while the Duchesse d'Orléans can only avoid one by remaining in her long chair.
M. de Rumigny, our ambassador at Turin, has brought a foolish dispute upon himself—a personal quarrel with the King over a matter of etiquette. Complaints concerning him have come to hand. It is the most foolish business conceivable, as it is all about the black or white headdresses worn by the women. Sardinian etiquette allows the Queen alone to wear them. How absurd it all is!
A coalition between MM. Thiers and Guizot seems likely, but there is such an outcry against this combination that either party is embarrassed, and it will probably come to nothing. M. Guizot in particular is experiencing the evil results of it, because his reputation is suffering greatly, and upon that, rather than upon his talent, he regarded his importance to be based. The fact is that notwithstanding all that has been said on either side in the speeches which closed last session and the discussions that have filled the interval there is something too abrupt in this alliance, which M. Royer-Collard calls an impious coalition.
There is much talk of a journey to be made by the King to Nantes and Bordeaux for the month of June, which would bring us back to Berry and towards Touraine. Hitherto M. de Talleyrand contemplated only Pont de Sains, a calamitous idea.
Paris, March 25, 1838.—Yesterday I defied an equinoctial storm to go and see the Archbishop. By degrees we came to an agreement, in the terms of the letter, and I hope that we shall arrive at some useful result, but we require time and the help of outward circumstances which do not depend on us and must be asked from a greater Power than ourselves. In any case, if heaven can be importuned by the prayers of earth, the petitions sent up on this subject should be efficacious.
Paris, March 28, 1838.—Yesterday I had a most important conversation with M. de Talleyrand, and found him in a state of open-mindedness which seemed miraculous. I now hope to be able to push steadily forward, and though the goal is still far away I trust that no precipice will form an obstacle to my progress.
Death comes upon people here in a terrifying way; M. Alexis de Rougé was carried off in twelve hours by a sudden stroke of apoplexy. His loss has thrown many people into great grief.
I have called upon Madame Adélaïde, where I heard all the nice things that the Duchess of Würtemberg is saying about Germany. The Duchesse d'Orléans feels that her child has quickened, and I think that her condition will be publicly announced in a few days.
They say that the young Queen of England gallops down the streets of London through all the omnibuses and cabs. Her old aunts think this is very shocking, and so it is.
In the English Parliament there is a coalition no less astounding than that of MM. Thiers and Guizot; Lord Brougham and Lord Lyndhurst have joined hands.
Paris, April 1, 1838.—Yesterday I went with my sister to the court of the Louvre to see the bronze statue which is to be sent off in a few days to Turin and is on exhibition for the moment. It is a statue of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy after the battle of Saint-Quentin, pulling up his horse and putting his sword into its sheath. It is the work of Marochetti, a delightful thing, full of grace, nobility, and life. I was very pleased with it, and it seems to have met with the general approval.
Paris, April 3, 1838.—Yesterday I gave M. de Talleyrand the little document which I had drawn up for him. The incident passed over without a storm. I suppose that he will have read and digested it yesterday evening, and I shall see to-day whether the horizon is clouded.
Paris, April 4, 1838.—The little document was entirely successful.
Yesterday I took my sister to Saint-Roch to hear the Abbé de Ravignan, who pleased her greatly. He has a fine face, a beautiful voice, an excellent delivery, faith, conviction, warmth, authority, a close and vigorous style of argument, couched in clear and noble language, with a precise choice of words. He is not prolix and never diffuse. He lacks unction and his teaching is therefore rather doctrinal than evangelical, so that his talent had full scope as he was preaching on the infallibility of the Church.
M. de Pimodan, a great Legitimist, who was giving his arm to one of the lady collectors, insolently blocked the Queen's passage; the vicar, the Abbé Olivier, who was accompanying her to the door, and who is a little thick-set man, strong as a Turk, vigorously elbowed M. de Pimodan to move him out of the way; he flew into a rage, and rudely asked the curé what he meant by shoving him. The Abbé calmly replied: "I meant, sir, to make room for the Queen"; upon which the gentleman muttered some very insolent remarks, which passed unnoticed.
The Princesse de Bauffremont, who was to be one of the lady collectors, heard the evening before that Madame de Vatry was also to perform this duty. There were six of these ladies, chosen from different circles of Parisian society, in order to untie as many purse-strings as possible. The Princess then said that she would not be seen in company with the daughter of M. Hamguerlot, and withdrew. Was ever such false pride or want of charity?
Paris, April 8, 1838.—The general attention was occupied by the session in the Chamber of Peers yesterday. The speech of M. de Brigode which was delivered the evening before had made every one alert, and the active part taken by the Duc de Broglie in this discussion seems to be an event, and is connected with the hostile movement and the impious alliance in the Chamber of Deputies. The Ministry made an excellent reply to the attacks of MM. de Broglie and Villemain. M. Pasquier, who is angry at an attempt to limit his powers, made a very bad President. The Ministry is anxious concerning Easter week.
The Duc de Talleyrand, younger brother of the Prince de Talleyrand, died on April 28, 1838. The Duc and Duchesse de Dino then inherited his title, which they afterwards bore. The following 17th of May the Prince de Talleyrand died in his turn, after four days' illness.
The following letter was written on May 10, 1838, but was placed at this point of the Memoirs by the author herself.