Memoirs of the Duchesse De Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1841-1850

Rochecotte, March 2, 1843.– I have come in from a long walk in incomparable weather; it is one of those days which help one to live and which are so enjoyable in the country and so rarely suspected at Paris. The advance of vegetation is surprising; all the shrubs are showing their opening leaves with the light and tender green of spring; the jonquils and narcissi are in flower, and we could strew the ground with violets. Why should I change all this for the mud and foggy atmosphere of Paris?

Paris, March 12, 1843.– I am again submerged in Paris, and have heard a considerable amount of news since my arrival. Here are some details which have at least the merit of being amusing. A lady who met the Duc de Noailles on the evening of the day when he made his speech concerning the right of visitation, complimented him, adding, "Unfortunately, M. le Duc, you are like the fowl which lays only one golden egg in the course of the year." The Marquise de Caraman called upon the Duchesse de Poix on Tuesday when there were a number of people in the room; the Duchesse de Gramont called her over and asked her to sit down at her side, and said to her aloud, "Is it true, Madame, that you married Marshal Sébastiani?" Madame de Caraman immediately replied, calmly and in an equally loud voice, "I know that many people say so, but hitherto I have not met any one sufficiently tactless to ask me the question."

Paris, March 14, 1843.– It is said that the monument which is to be placed in the memorial chapel for the late Duc d'Orléans, is an admirable piece of work. It represents the poor young Prince at the moment of his death, in the dress that he was then wearing. The expression is beautiful and touching: above the head is placed the angel, the last work of Princesse Marie, the Prince's sister; the angel is placed as though to receive the Prince's soul and carry it to the skies, a beautiful idea which goes to the heart at once. A bas-relief represents the genius of France leaning upon an urn and weeping, with the national flag at its feet. Triqueti was commissioned with this fine work. The whole of the Royal Family went to see the monument: the Queen burst into sobs, the King nearly fainted and had to be taken out; the Duchesse d'Orléans wept much, but spoke for a long time to the artist who executed this beautiful work.

The Duc de Doudeauville, better known as the Vicomte Sosthène de La Rochefoucauld, has written a character portrait of Mlle. Rachel who does not seem to be satisfied.77 He asked Madame Récamier to read it to her. She replied "I will ask M. de Chateaubriand." The latter said that it would weary him, to which Sosthène answered, "As you are so anxious to hear it, I will begin," and immediately read his composition without stopping.

Paris, March 16, 1843.– M. de Montrond asserts that the King told him that he did not wish M. Molé to be minister; he would prefer that M. Thiers would come to an agreement with M. Guizot and that they should act together. "Molé is entirely perfidious" the King is said to have declared, "and could never act with any one, whereas Thiers and Guizot are made to co-operate. They have no reason for mutual reproach or envy, are both men of letters, distinguished historians, members of the Academy, &c.; in short they are made to act in agreement."

Paris, March 17, 1843.– M. Thiers dined the other day with M. Chaix d'Est-Ange, president of the corporation of barristers; MM. Odilon-Barrot, Sauzet, d'Argout, Berryer, Dupin, Martin du Nord, the guardian of the seals78 and M. de Peyronnet, the former Minister of Charles X., were also there. M. Walewski was asked to guess in whose house so strange a meeting could have taken place, as most of the actors were members of the Intrigue, and said: "It could only be at the house of M. Molé." This incident took place in the salon of M. Thiers and gave rise to many remarks at M. Molé's expense and the poor figure he will cut after he is overthrown.79

Paris, March 18, 1843.– The King has shown himself greatly touched by the eulogy which M. Guizot delivered upon him in his last speech in the Chamber of Deputies, during the discussion upon the secret service fund. The same evening he wrote to M. Guizot that he would have come to thank him in person if he had not been prevented. The next day M. Guizot called upon the King at an early hour and the Queen came in with all the Royal Family, and many warm words of thanks were addressed to the triumphant Minister.

Paris, March 20, 1843.– M. Molé has declared that he will retire from politics and will have nothing more to do with them, as he is an unacceptable minister to the King. He speaks of withdrawing into private life and devoting himself to the pleasures of friendship and of the intellect. Two months earlier this project would not have been undignified; to-day it seems to be dictated by spleen and will deceive no one.

The extreme calm of the Duchesse d'Orléans has caused some surprise, as also has the improvement in her health in the midst of her grief. She devotes herself ardently to the education of her children, makes this the chief object of her life and is not careful to hide the fact. The Queen, after a heartrending and passionate outburst of grief, has recovered her calm and the approaching marriage of Princesse Clémentine80 is a useful means of diverting her attention. Princesse Clémentine is simply delighted, not so much because of her husband, who is said to be an ordinary and insignificant character, as with the idea of becoming independent, gaining full liberty and escaping from the round table in the family room at the Tuileries, which has been the despair of the King's children from all time. Princesse Clémentine is to be married immediately after Easter at Saint-Cloud. She will then start upon a tour to Lisbon, England, Brussels and Gotha, and return to Paris where she will live in the Tuileries. She is to receive an income of only sixty thousand francs, while the Prince her husband will have only a hundred and eight thousand, a very moderate income. The Duchesse de Nemours, a pretty and docile child, obedient to the Queen in all respects, is her special favourite. The Duc de Nemours is said to have relapsed into his taciturnity.

Paris, March 23, 1843.– At the Chamber of Deputies reference was made to the illness which had suddenly attacked M. Dupin the elder, and which was said to have especially affected his face; upon which words M. Thiers observed aloud with his usual imprudence, "It is a face much more suitable for another sort of stroke."

All who have to deal with the Tuileries seem to think that some clouds have already arisen between the Pavillon Marsan and the rest of the palace.81 The Queen whom I have seen, told me with more surprise than satisfaction that the Duchesse d'Orléans was actually better than before her loss, which no one would have supposed she could survive. She added, "No doubt her love for her children has inspired her with so much courage." The Queen is pleased with her grandsons but regrets that they resemble the Weimar rather than the Orléans side of the family. She is also satisfied with the marriage of Princesse Clémentine, as it will be a weight off her mind, and says very reasonably that Princesse Clémentine is twenty-five years of age and can well judge for herself, while the religious aspect of the matter and the desire to secure a protector in future, make her ready to accept the marriage which the late Duc d'Orléans had arranged before his death with the King of the Belgians. The Queen further said that the chief establishment of the Princesse would be at Coburg but that she would travel a good deal and often come to Paris.

Paris, March 27, 1843.– It is widely said that the Duchesse d'Orléans shows the greatest preference for the Duchesse d'Elchingen, the wife of one of her aides-de-camp; they are bosom friends. Some one ventured to point out to the Duchesse d'Orléans that a preference of this kind, if unduly marked, might cause some ill-feeling in those about her and among the members of her household who were by their position her more natural intimates: she replied with some bitterness and with a touch of sentimentality which has been characterised as truly German, to the effect that every one is free to devote himself unreservedly to the pure enjoyment of a friendship based upon sympathy.

Though the Duchesse d'Orléans is legally the guardian and chief protector of her children, she is not to be left in full enjoyment of her rights. The King has to some extent appropriated the rights of guardian and leaves his daughter-in-law nothing but the user of the hundred thousand crowns of her settlement which are assured to her by law. The income of the Comte de Paris goes through the King's hands, who pays all expenses and demands an account of everything. The same is true with regard to the Duc de Chartres, the second son.

It is also said that the Duchesse d'Orléans had some difficulty in realising that she was bound to live in complete retirement during the period of full mourning. She had been giving a large number of audiences. The King observed somewhat drily that she saw too many people for one in her position, and her door is therefore open only to members of her household. People also think that she has been a little too generous in giving away portraits of her husband and autographs; even M. Gentz de Bussy, the military intendant has been thus favoured. Those most deeply in her confidence declare when she is pitied that she has the highest and most important position in the country and is called to play a most exalted part, and she herself cherishes this idea.

Paris, March 30, 1843.– The Comte d'Argout was saying yesterday at the house of Madame de Boigne that the Abbé de Montesquiou, when Minister of the Interior in 1814, obliged the Council of State to resume the former dress and short cloaks: when these gentlemen were received by Louis XVIII. with the other bodies, their unusual costume aroused great curiosity and the soldiers who were present were especially surprised and said among themselves, "These must be the new clergy."

Paris, April 2, 1843.– At dinner with the Princesse de Lieven the other day there was much talk concerning the United States of America, and little to their credit was naturally said. On this subject M. de Barante recalled a saying of the late M. de Talleyrand, "Do not talk to me of a country where every one I saw wanted to sell me his dog." There was much pleasant conversation at this dinner which was very well assorted. The disaster of Guadeloupe82 and the comet were not the sole topics, as they are everywhere else: these subjects, however, had their turn and reference was made to an amusing caricature in which M. Arago, the chief of the Observatory is represented not as observing but as observed by the comet.83 From the pleasant subject of M. de Noailles on Saint Cyr,84 the conversation turned to Louis XIV., the Grande Mademoiselle and the collection of curious portraits existing at the castle of Eu. M. Guizot was glad to be able to tell us that he had slept on the ground floor in the room of M. de Lauzun and that he went upstairs to have an audience with the King by the same staircase which had conducted this insolent husband to the Princess, whose room the King now uses. What a coincidence.

Paris, April 3, 1843.– Yesterday I called upon Madame de Rambuteau at the Hotel de Ville. She was coming back from service at Notre Dame and had just heard the Abbé de Ravignan preaching against feminine luxury and the want of decency in feminine fashions. He used the word "low-cut" and in speaking of low-cut dresses, he went so far as to say "Where will they stop?" and asserted that excess in this direction was not even pretty. Father de Ravignan is by temperament grave, simple and austere and such expressions were regarded as particularly daring in his mouth. However, his criticism is only too true. Women are far too extravagant: our toilets are complicated by a thousand accessories, which double the expense without producing any better effect, and young women or those who wish to be fashionable, are hardly dressed. My late uncle M. de Talleyrand, when I began to take Pauline into society, advised me most seriously to respect the decencies of dress and said to me on this subject, expressing almost the same ideas as those of M. de Ravignan, "If people show what is pretty, it is indecent, and if they show what is ugly, it is very ugly indeed." He also said of a very thin woman who disdained to wear the lightest gauze, "No one could disclose more and show less."

Paris, April 5, 1843.– Some one who ought to know told me yesterday that at the time of the coalition which discredited M. Guizot so greatly, his constant presence at the house of the Princesse de Lieven displeased and embarrassed the diplomatic body. Eventually Count Pahlen, the Russian ambassador, spoke to the Princess upon the subject in friendly terms and said that he and his colleagues would have to refrain from coming to her house in the evening if they were forced to meet M. Guizot there upon every occasion. She replied that she was so anxious to preserve her good relations with her ambassador that she would limit M. Guizot's visits. As a matter of fact she simply related to him her conversation with Count Pahlen and while assuring him of the value which she placed upon his friendship, she begged him to be less constant in his evening calls: M. Guizot replied with some bitterness, "As you please, madame, it is understood that I will see you no more in the evening until I become Minister of Foreign Affairs, when the diplomatic body will ask to be invited to your house in order that they may meet me." No prophecy could have been more exact.

Paris, April 14, 1843.– The day when General Baudrand, who had been appointed Governor to the Comte de Paris, came to pay his respects to the King, he made some modest observation concerning the weight of his responsibilities: the King interrupted him and said, "Make your mind easy, my dear general; it is understood that the governor of Paris is myself": I think that the Duchesse d'Orléans has been induced to agree to this choice because she too intends some day to say to poor General Baudrand, "I am the governor."

Yesterday evening at the house of Madame de Boigne, where I went with M. and Madame de Castellane, who have returned from Rome, the conversation naturally turned upon Cardinal Consalvi, whom I knew very well. He was kind, keen-sighted, witty and agreeable as a man of the world; there was nothing clerical about him except his dress. The Chancellor85 who was also with Madame de Boigne, related that when the whole weight of governmental responsibility rested upon the Cardinal at Rome, he still took pains to send out theatre tickets and to perform all the politenesses and duties of social life. At the Congress of Vienna where he was instructed to defend the interests of the Holy Chair and to obtain the restoration of the legations if possible, I heard him one day vigorously and cleverly advancing the rights of the Pope. M. de Talleyrand was discussing this question with him: after several arguments for and against, the Cardinal suddenly cried with inimitable Italian gesture and accent, "But why can you not give us a little territory here on earth; we will give you as much as you like in the world above"; with which words he raised his hands and his eyes to Heaven with wonderful energy.

Madame de Boigne, who is generally as reserved as she is restrained, went so far as to quote a somewhat frivolous remark which Pozzo had made to her at the time of the Queen of England's marriage. Madame de Boigne had asked Pozzo whom the Queen of England was to marry and he replied, "Another scion of royalty": thus he designated the Coburgs.

Paris, April 15, 1843.– Yesterday the Abbé Dupanloup preached upon the Agony, at Saint Roch, and showed much cleverness and emotional power, but his voice was somewhat too artificially modulated, he was at times wearisome and repeated himself, and the long passage about the mother's grief felt by the Virgin would have been more effective if it had been shortened by half. As he was almost speaking to the Queen, who was with the Princesses in a pew opposite the pulpit, he should have spared her some of the analysis of maternal grief and its horrors, which renewed the tortures of the poor Queen: she burst into tears, and some of those present had the bad taste to rise in their places in order to see her weep.

The dress which Prince Augustus of Saxe Coburg is to wear upon his marriage day caused some perplexity,86 but the King of Saxony, his cousin, solved the difficulty by at once appointing him a general.

Paris, April 16, 1843.– Dr. Cogny reminded me yesterday of M. de Talleyrand's reply to some one who had said before him that the wise man should live his life in secret: "I see no necessity for secrecy or for ostentation; a man should be simply what he is, without forethought or affectation." M. de Talleyrand was, in fact, so natural in every respect and laid such stress upon the truth in matters of life that I have constantly known him to say, to write and to repeat even by way of exclamation, as if he were replying to his own thoughts, "What a fine thing simplicity is."

M. de Barante, during his embassy at Turin, convinced himself that Matthioli, whom some historians have supposed to be the famous Iron Mask, died at Piedmont, and could not possibly be identified with that celebrated personage. Louis XVIII. was so curious concerning this mystery, the truth of which was ultimately known only to Louis XVI., that upon the very day when he saw his unhappy niece, the Duchesse d'Angoulême at Mitau, he questioned her to learn whether Louis XVI. before his death had entrusted her with this secret. The Princess replied that he had not. Louis XVIII. himself told this to the Duc Decazes. It is an incident which does more honour to his curiosity than to his good feeling. On this subject another point occurs to me which I have often heard related by my late uncle, M. de Talleyrand, who never quoted it without expressing his profound astonishment. When he was Minister of Foreign Affairs a courier came to him one evening bearing news which might have disturbed the equanimity of Louis XVIII.: he therefore postponed the communication of it to the King until the next morning, and coming before the King at an early hour, he said to him, "Sire, as I was afraid of spoiling your Majesty's rest, I postponed bringing these papers until this morning." The King in surprise replied, "Nothing disturbs my sleep, as you may see from this instance: the most dreadful blow of my life was my brother's death; the courier who brought this dreadful news arrived at eight o'clock in the evening; for several hours I was quite overcome, but at midnight I went to bed and slept my usual eight hours."

Paris, April 20, 1843.– The different people in attendance upon the Duchesse d'Orléans yesterday received a letter from the Princess saying that the mourning for the Duc d'Orléans was too serious a matter to be interrupted by any incident, and that consequently no one in her service would be able to suspend his mourning for the marriage of Princesse Clémentine. The letter concluded with these words, "Such is my intention." Some people wish to regard this letter as a decided criticism of the fact that Princesse Clémentine's marriage is to be celebrated before the year of mourning for the Prince has expired. It is not the first instance which has shown a certain divergence between the Duchesse d'Orléans and the Royal Family.

Paris, April 22, 1843.– The Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg, the mother-in-law of the Duchesse d'Orléans, told a lady with whom she is on confidential terms and who repeated the remark to me, that she was greatly grieved at the restraint in which the King keeps the Duchesse d'Orléans in every respect. It is said that the Princess proposes to wear mourning for the rest of her life.

Paris, April 29, 1843.– Some months ago Princesse Belgiojoso produced a book which is rather pedantic than serious, entitled The Formation of Catholic Dogma. The work is simply a catalogue of the different heresies which appeared in the early centuries of Church history. It presupposes researches so long and arduous that it is difficult to think that a young society woman could have written it unaided: the style is simple and strong, and the book is clearly marked by want of orthodoxy; indeed it has already been placed upon the Index by Rome. There has been much surmise as to who could have collaborated with the Princesse. M. Mignet and the Abbé Cœur, who are both intimate with her, have been mentioned. On this occasion some one in whose hearing reference was made to the book said, "It is a good instance of the saying, the style is the man."

The Duc de Coigny, knight of honour to the Duchesse d'Orléans, is a somewhat brusque and unpolished character: he had a small quarrel with the Princesse on the question of General Baudrand, as governor to the Comte de Paris, saying that it was hardly worth while to press forward a choice so poor and mean, and that people had expected the Duc de Broglie or some marshal or notable person. The Duchesse d'Orléans replied, "If the choice is a bad one, I alone am responsible for it, for I earnestly pressed it upon the King." The Duc de Coigny then became really angry, and asked an explanation of this preference. "What can you expect?" was the reply, "you know that we do not care to have about us people who are burdensome." M. de Coigny replied, "So your Royal Highness only wanted a man of straw? It is pitiable!" And the conversation then finished.

The Prince de la Moskowa, the eldest son of Marshal Ney, is a great musician, and conceived a plan for promoting a taste for sacred music at Paris; such music is strangely unknown and little appreciated. He has taken great trouble to gather a few amateurs, and attempts to arouse some interest in the association among certain ladies by asking them to become patronesses. I am one of the number. The day before yesterday the first performance took place in the salon of Hertz. The attempt was laudable but the result only moderately successful, notwithstanding the great talent of Madame de Sparre and another female voice. But in Paris people cannot sing austere and sacred numbers of religious music with due simplicity and gravity and without dramatic action. It is a new art in this country, and can only be acclimatised at the expense of time, but the attempt is none the less interesting. I told the Prince de la Moskowa that he ought to secure the support of the Paris priests, of whom I saw two in the room.

A sad accident has just happened to a family of my acquaintance. A young man of eighteen, Henri Lombard, the pride and joy of his parents, the honour of his school and beloved by his comrades, died on the 24th of this month after an illness of three days; the illness in question was hydrophobia. Last November he found one of his sporting dogs surly and depressed: the same day his hand was scratched by the animal's teeth, which died a short time afterwards of madness. His master, who was very fond of the animal, was so bold as to wipe away the foam from the dog's mouth while he was tied up, with his sponge: he afterwards washed out the sponge and used it as before; but he could not forget the scratch upon his hand of which he had not at first spoken; not until three months after the dog's death did he tell his old nurse that for several weeks he had been anxious and uneasy, but that lapse of time had entirely reassured him and that he now felt quite confident. A quiet and studious youth, he was by no means lively and communicative and spoke very little of his inner feelings: thus, no member of his family knew how assiduously he had followed for nearly a year the religious instructions given at Saint Louis d'Antin by M. Petetot, the clever and respected priest of that parish. Henri Lombard's parents were by no means accustomed to attend such exercises, and he had probably been afraid of displeasing them by displaying habits in contradiction with theirs. Such was the state of affairs on Friday, April 21, when he felt very ill, and experienced a marked repugnance to liquids; he immediately recognised the hopeless nature of his condition and begged M. Petetot to come and speak to him. He fulfilled all his religious duties not only with exemplary regularity but with such fervent faith and such remarkable resignation that the priest and all present were both astonished and edified. During the dreadful attacks of this horrible malady, in the terrible grip of the strait-waistcoat, covered with the disgusting foam of mania, racked by the disease, for which no remedy can even be tried, Henri Lombard thought only of heaven: the solemn parting of soul and body seemed to have taken place even before the moment of death; the soul long buried in silent meditation was thus revealed and fled from its earthly bonds; it found language and expressions supernatural in character. When he was able to speak he exhorted every one with strange appropriateness and authority, especially his mother, whom he knew to be in the wrong towards a respected member of his family. He said to her with words of inspiration, "Mother, from my death-bed I send you to ask pardon and to repair the wrong you have done." When Madame Lombard returned to him he said, "I know you will weep over my grave and think you draw nearer to me in going to my tomb, and you will not know or feel that I am no longer there. You will not raise your eyes to the place where I shall be above. I shall be better off, for I shall be where I can intercede for you." The schoolboys who were boarders at the Hospice de la Charité, whom the uncle of Henri Lombard, M. Andral, had placed near him, and who did not leave until all was over, were so overcome by the scene that their agnostic ideas were entirely changed. M. Andral himself, though accustomed to the most heartrending sights, was depressed and consoled at the same time. The funeral of the youth was remarkable for the fact that it was attended by the whole of the school to which he belonged and by the general eulogy and regret which was expressed upon all sides.