Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1831-1835. Dorothée Dino
May 29, 1832.– What a day we had yesterday! The Drawing-room went on till past five! It was the King's birthday, and His Majesty having learned that the Princesse de Lieven and I were not dining with Lord Palmerston, chose us to represent the Corps Diplomatique at his own party.
There was no one at this dinner, apart from the legitimate and the illegitimate family, besides the suite and a few old friends of the King, such as the Duke of Dorset and Lord Mount Edgcumbe.
The King did not stint his toasts. First he addressed himself to Madame de Lieven, and said that after the many years that she had represented in London a Court always friendly to Great Britain, he had come to regard her as a personal friend. Then to me, "I have not known you for so long, Madame, but the memory which you leave behind you makes us all wish for your return with the restored health which you go to seek at the waters. The delicate and difficult circumstances of your uncle's mission here, in which he has displayed so much integrity and skill, are such that I attach great importance to his returning among us, and I beg you tell him so." Then he turned to Madame Woronzoff and told her how, through her husband, she was as much English as Russian.
Madame de Lieven thanked His Majesty in a word and so did I, but poor Madame de Woronzoff in trying to express her sentiments got so mixed that the King began again, and I thought that the dialogue would never end.
When the Queen's health had been drunk, the King returned thanks for her in English, adding that no princess more deserved the respect and affection of those that knew her, for no one better discharged the duties of her position than she. He then gave us the signal to rise and immediately afterwards to sit down again, and, addressing the Duchess of Kent, he drank the health of the Princess Victoria as his sole heir under Providence and according to the law of the land. To her he hoped to leave the three kingdoms with their rights, privileges and constitution intact as he himself had received them. With all this he said, and frequently repeated, that his health was excellent and his strength abundant, that he had no idea of dying, and that in these difficult times it was most necessary that there should not be a minority. So that everybody fell to wondering whether he meant to be agreeable or disagreeable to the Duchess of Kent, who was as pale as death, or whether, owing to the princely pretensions of the Fitzclarences, he wished to make it clear that he recognised no other heir than the young princess as possible. Others assert that it was all aimed at the Duke of Sussex, who was absent because he has been forbidden to come to Court. It appears that the popular party would like to see him on the throne, or, at least, that the King imagines that they would, and that this was the motive of his very lengthy speech.
Before the end of the evening the King twice came up to me to say that M. de Talleyrand must not be away long, that the peace of the world depended on his presence in London, and so on, with many eulogistic and pretty speeches. The number of polite regrets, sincere enough to all appearance, which are being expressed at our departure is really wonderful.
London, May 30, 1832.– M. de Talleyrand has received letters from the King and from Sébastiani, written on the eve of leaving for Compiègne. Both say that they will use all their credit with King Leopold to persuade him to leave everything to the Conference, and so to throw on the Dutch all the odium of a refusal. They wish M. de Talleyrand, however, to secure here the evacuation of Antwerp of which the Dutch won't hear till all the other questions are settled. So far as one can see, the obstinacy of the Dutch does not diminish, and a bad spirit is again abroad in Belgium.
M. de Talleyrand will leave immediately after the arrival of M. de Mareuil, and hopes before that to have succeeded in establishing an armed force which would be called the combined Anglo-French army, and would be entrusted with the duty of cutting the Gordian knot.
Paris, June 20, 1832.– I expect M. de Talleyrand on the evening of the day after to-morrow.
I am seeing a great many people just now; in fact they are boring me to death. What absurdities, what mistakes, what misguided passions! Poor M. de Talleyrand; he is going to fall into a pretty mess of intrigue!
The present state of affairs, which is condemned by everybody, must necessarily change, at least so far as the Ministry is concerned. The outcry against ministers is general, and alarm is growing. La Vendée, however, is about over, and people believe that the Duchesse de Berry has fled; that, if true, is a great thing. But the state of the Cabinet is pitiable. Its jerky, hesitating conduct of affairs, no less than the innumerable blunders which it makes, foreshadow its downfall. M. de Talleyrand is expected to do great things, poor man!
The real difficulty lies in the character of the head of affairs. How ugly all this is! Sébastiani is day by day failing more; yesterday I was really grieved about him; he is quite aware of his condition, and it makes him very unhappy. To-night I am going with him to Saint Cloud, and I tremble lest he may fall dead by my side in the carriage.
Wessenberg writes to me from London that the Ministry there is cast down, anxious and embarrassed by its triumph, and fears that it may soon fall. I see that in England they are disquieted about the state of Germany. Here the Corps Diplomatique are complaining of Sébastiani's double game in respect of events on the Rhine. In a word, no one is pleased, no one is at ease. We live in strange times!
Paris, September 6, 1832.– M. de Talleyrand has letters which say that the coquetry at St. Petersburg was intended to detach England from her alliance with us, and that they had even gone so far as to propose to place Antwerp in the hands of the English. All this has miscarried and coldness has succeeded to civilities. All the difficulties about the Conference now come from Brussels, where the marriage10 has turned everybody's head, and where they now think themselves able to force France's hand.
Paris, September 21, 1832.– It seems that M. de Montrond hopes to get Pondichery, and is very anxious to go there. Sébastiani's friends say he is quite restored to health since Bourbonne, and is steering adroitly among the difficulties of his ministerial career.
The King of the Netherlands is in an evil mood, and the King of the Belgians is no better. The Conference is flagging, and, they say, has much need of M. de Talleyrand to help it to recover its cohesion.
All the Cabinets are said to be much on edge about what is passing between Egypt and the Porte. Every one shrinks from the consequences which are imminent in the North, South, East and West. They are clearly foreseen everywhere, but no one has the courage to meddle with them.
Paris, September 23, 1832.– The horizon is gloomy all round. Strange events are happening in the East. The condition of Germany and Italy is precarious. The French Cabinet is disunited, there are complications in Portugal, and Holland is growing more and more obstinate. To all this must now be added the sudden death of Ferdinand VII., a civil war of succession between the partisans of Don Carlos and those of the little Infanta, the possibility of Spain interfering in Portugal, and consequently the appearance of France and England in the Peninsula.
Further, there is the change of ministry at Brussels, and the sudden departures of the Duc d'Orléans, Marshal Gérard, and M. le Hon for Belgium. Pandemonium reigns more than ever!
M. de Talleyrand is receiving many letters both from London and from Paris urging him to hasten his departure.
Paris, September 27, 1832.– The resurrection11 of Ferdinand VII. is very mysterious. It is also very fortunate, for when there are so many complications, the disappearance of even one is something to be thankful for!
CHAPTER III
1833
Valençay, 12 October 12, 1833.– M. Royer-Collard passed part of the morning here. He was at once original and witty, serious and vivacious, showed much affection for me, and made himself very pleasant to M. de Talleyrand. He does not openly carp at the present situation, but it is not pleasing to him, and he speaks ill of it in his solitude.
M. de Saint-Aulaire writes from Vienna: "My summer holiday which I have been spending at Baden has not been disturbed by the meetings at Téplitz and Münchengraetz,13
Leopold I., elected King of the Belgians in 1831, married in 1832 Louise, Princess of Orléans, daughter of Louis-Philippe, King of the French.
In 1832 King Ferdinand VII. became so seriously ill that he was thought to be dead. Calomarde then joined the Carlists, and forced the dying monarch to sign a decree cancelling the declaration of 1830 abolishing the Salic Law in Spain.
Valençay, where the Duchesse de Dino had just gone, is situate in the Department of the Indre. The château and the park are magnificent, and the ornamental water is very fine. The house was built in the sixteenth century by the d'Étampes family, from the designs of Philibert Delorme. In 1808 and 1814 it served as the prison of Ferdinand VII. and the Spanish Princes when they were detained by Napoleon I. The Prince de Talleyrand, who had bought the property at the end of the eighteenth century, was very fond of the place and lived there a great deal.
The three great allied powers – Austria, Prussia and Russia – held meetings in three successive years either at Téplitz or at Münchengraetz for joint deliberation on the European situation. There by a new secret compact they guaranteed to each other their respective possessions in Poland, whether against external aggression or internal revolution. They also considered the affairs of France and Italy, and the constant activities of Italian societies and refugees in French territory, which were then causing serious anxiety about the tranquillity of the Peninsula. It was finally decided that the Cabinets of Austria, Prussia and Russia should each send a separate note to the Government of King Louis-Philippe, urging a more careful surveillance of the revolutionary propaganda.