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

Sagan, April 30, 1849.– The state of Germany does not improve. The King of Würtemberg has now yielded because his troops declared that they would not fire upon the people.188 The Frankfort parliament is also adopting the most revolutionary means to force the sovereigns to submit to its laws.189 The parliament insists that governments shall not dissolve their Chambers without the permission of the so-called central government. This wonderful decree reached Hanover and Berlin six hours after the dissolutions had been officially announced. General von Pritwitz wishes to be relieved of his command against the Danes because he is unwilling to obey orders from Frankfort and cannot command all the little German princes who severally wish to pose as masters. Denmark has already captured a large number of Prussian merchant-ships. At Copenhagen, however, there is a desire for peace; Russia and England are also anxious for peace and so is Prussia, though Berlin cannot find courage to recall the twenty thousand men now stationed in Holstein and Schleswig. Frankfort is utterly opposed to peace, with the object of depriving the German princes of their troops and thus leaving them defenceless against the hordes of revolutionaries. In short, confusion is at its height and I think the state of Germany is far worse than it was four months ago. However, the dissolution of the Prussian Chamber which had become urgent since the Red Republic was proclaimed from the Tribune, will perhaps do some good.190 It is especially necessary that the Austrian operations in Hungary should come to an end. Our fate will be decided there. Russia has entered Transylvania with a hundred thousand men: this number is regarded at Olmütz as unnecessarily large, but the Emperor Nicholas has declared that he will run no risks of a second failure such as that of Hermannstadt,191 and that he will either hold aloof altogether or insist upon sending an imposing force. He also feels that he is fighting his personal enemies, the Poles, upon Hungarian soil. Twenty thousand Poles are said to follow the standards of Bem and Kossuth.

Sagan, May 10, 1849.– Storms are breaking in every direction and Germany is in a state of conflagration. There has been fighting at Dresden and at Breslau.192 The Russians have used the Prussian railways to invade Moravia; they have been warmly welcomed, for anything which will check the Hungarian struggle or bring it to an end will be a blessing not only for Austria, but for the whole of Europe, for the proceedings in Hungary encourage the disaffected, and foment insurrection in every direction.

Sagan, May 17, 1849.– To-day is a solemn date which I keep whenever it comes round with heartfelt and painful emotion.193 The nearer the years bring me to a final reunion, the more do I feel the serious and decisive nature of the event that happened eleven years ago. May God bless each of those who bore themselves as Christians should on that occasion. This I ask of Him amid my misery with a fervour which will, I trust, make my poor prayers acceptable.

Sagan, May 25, 1849.– It is a real misfortune for the Prussian Government to have Bunsen at London. He is there playing an inconceivable part. Radowitz, whose intentions are excellent, but who is quite misled, is also complicating the situation at Berlin itself and is preventing the desirable and speedy solutions of certain questions. The King of Prussia has sent General von Rauch to Warsaw, to try and sooth the Emperor Nicholas, who is angry that the Prussians should have entered Jutland in spite of the promise given.194

Sagan, May 31, 1849.– With regard to the negotiations opened at Berlin, I have the following upon excellent authority:195 Four days ago a protocol was signed at Berlin between Prussia, Saxony and Hanover stating: (1) Everything that has been done to grant a reasonable and satisfactory Constitution to Germany; (2) That Hanover and Saxony in their desire to maintain order in their states, recognise and accept the military superiority of Prussia in the case of any measures that may become necessary to maintain peace within their states. Herr von Beust none the less makes the following reservations in the name of the Saxon Government: (1) That Saxony does not claim by this arrangement to infringe the rights of Austria as a member of the Germanic Confederation; (2) That if the great states in Southern Germany decline to adhere to the Constitution appended to the protocol, Saxony shall have the right to withdraw; (3) That this Constitution is to receive the sanction of the Saxon Chambers. Hanover has handed in a note containing identically the same reservations. The new Constitution has been explained in a circular note addressed by Prussia to all the German governments, inviting them to adhere. The Bavarian Minister, Herr von Lerchenfeld, has also signed the protocol, but only as a member of the conference and in the hope that his Government will find some means or other of adhering to the arrangement. Herr von Prokesch has been present only at the first conference, as Radowitz then declared from the outset that he could not treat with governments which would not recognise the general superiority of Prussia as a basis of negotiation. The haughty conduct of Radowitz is undoubtedly the cause of this deplorable want of unanimity among the crowned heads, at a time when indissoluble union is so necessary. With a little cleverness and without putting forward the question of supremacy as preliminary, he might have done great services to his King and to his country, for the other states would then have unanimously requested Prussia to take the leading position, whereas now they are inclined to regard these dictatorial claims as the expression of views more ambitious than any that are really entertained. The result is jealousy and distrust which drown the voice of reason and blind men's eyes to the necessities of the times. Notwithstanding the presence of a new Danish envoy in Berlin, even an armistice seems very far distant. The last Danish concessions, though supported by Lord Palmerston, were haughtily declined by Prussia, which is making impossible claims and asserts that these alone can satisfy her honour.

Sagan, June 12, 1849.– Cholera has again broken out almost everywhere in this part of Germany; at Breslau, Berlin, and Halle the inhabitants have been decimated. In short, the state of the human race is most deplorable. My correspondents tell me that Lord Palmerston told Bunsen that he was tired of the Prussian demands, which required increasingly large concessions from Denmark, and that he proposed to abandon his position as mediator and become an active ally in conjunction with Russia for the protection of Denmark. Bunsen in relating this conversation to his Court added that the threat was not seriously intended. In this he is wrong, and is also deluding his Court.

Sagan, July 9, 1849.– I have had a visit from Baron von Meyendorff, Russian Minister at Berlin. He was going to Gastein by way of Warsaw, which is not the shortest route. His forecast of the situation was very gloomy, and more gloomy with reference to the north than to the south of Germany – I mean to say that he felt more forebodings concerning the nature of the Prussian destinies than of the Austrian.

Sagan, September 3, 1849.– General Count Haugwitz has been staying here for a few days; he came from Vienna where Radetzky was expected. The young Emperor, in order to receive the old Ajax, had delayed his departure for Warsaw, where he is going to thank his powerful ally. The latter is behaving most loyally and nobly towards his young friend and ward, for thus he considers the Emperor Francis Joseph. Paskewitch asked for mercy for Georgei which was immediately granted to him.196 Austria is anxious that a few Russian regiments should prolong their stay in Galicia for the moment.

Hanover, November 5, 1849.– Yesterday morning was spent in calling upon several acquaintances in the town and paying my respects to the Crown Princess. She is kind and gentle, and I saw her two children with her. The third is expected this month. The Crown Princess showed me several very interesting portraits of her family. I was especially struck by those of the Electress Sophie, the patroness of Leibnitz and the ancestress of the Royal Family of England. She must have been very pretty, with the somewhat long and noble features of the Stuarts. I also saw a charming portrait of the sister of the Crown Princess, the Grand Duchess of Russia, wife of the Grand Duke Constantine, a clever, lively and striking face; her character is said to correspond with her expression, which fact makes her more suitable for the Court of St. Petersburg than she would be here, where her elder sister seem to have been expressly made to fulfil her sad duties.197 There was a great dinner given by the King. I sat between him and the Crown Prince. I never saw a blind man eat more cleverly without any help except that of instinct or habit. At nine o'clock I went back to tea with the King, which was taken privately with him and the person known here as the Countess Royal (Frau von Grote), my brother-in-law and General Walmoden. The King lives upon oysters and ices, a strange dietary, which seems to suit his eighty years marvellously. While we were with him a despatch arrived from Vienna, which he asked the Countess to read aloud.198 It stated that Austria had sent a note to Prussia in most serious language, protesting against the convocation of the so-called Imperial Diet, and that at the same time the movement of the army towards the frontiers of Bohemia and Silesia was rapidly proceeding; some sixty thousand men were said to be there concentrated. Prince Schwarzenberg replied to the questions of Count Bernstorff, the Prussian Minister at Vienna, stating that the convocation of the Diet at Erfurt had aroused democratic agitation which threatened the realm of the Duchess of Saxony, and that these troops were consequently intended for their protection and their defence in case of necessity.

The Archduke John had looked forward to a quiet unostentatious meeting with King Leopold;199 instead of this he was received with great solemnity. Frau von Brandhofen and the little Count of Meran had no part in the ceremonies, and were sent to make a railway tour in Belgium incognito. When they reached Brussels they made an unexpected entry into Metternich's drawing-room, which was the more remarkable, as the relations between Prince Metternich and the Archduke John had always been cold and strained. The politeness of Metternich simplified the matter.

Eisenach, November 7, 1849.– I left Hanover yesterday morning and arrived here in the afternoon. I sent word of my arrival immediately to Madame Alfred de Chabannes, who at once came to my hotel. We talked for a long time about the little émigré Court, of which she at present forms part; I use the term émigré, although the Duchesse de Orléans is doing her utmost to avoid obtruding the anomalous nature of her position. At the same time inconsistencies cannot be entirely obviated, and arise from the nature of the situation: for instance, the opposing parties are represented among those about her; there is a coalition and a separatist party. She declines to belong definitely to either, and does not like people to say that she is opposing coalition though she will not take the first steps towards it. At the same time she has not allowed any one to declare hitherto that she would not be opposed to it. She fears that the first step to coalition would disgust her adherents in France, whom she thinks, in my opinion, to be more numerous than they really are, and this though she sees that her truly reliable adherents are growing less every day. The names which seem to cause her the most despondency from this point of view are those of Molé and Thiers. I saw the Duchesse d'Orléans alone for half an hour before dinner; we were interrupted by the Duc and Duchesse de Nemours. I found the Duchesse d'Orléans in no way outwardly changed, except that her features may have lost something of their refinement; her spirits were more despondent, though she showed the same placidity and even dignity, but her energy has decreased and she is inclined to feel herself overwhelmed by unpleasant incidents, which are due to people rather than to things. She is humiliated by the degradation which has overtaken France, and shows much insight into the state of Germany, characterising the so-called central power and the parody of imperialism at its true worth. The Nemours, who are strong supporters of Austria, refer to Lord Palmerston with much bitterness. They are really coalitionists, and are on their way back to Claremont from Vienna; she is fresh and pretty, and ventures to assert her opinions, which are positive; he has grown stouter and much more like the King, especially in his way of speaking, as he has at last found the courage to express himself; he speaks sensibly, but with no style or distinction, and in this respect he was always wanting. The letters of his brothers which have been published are not approved by him in any way. He fears that the law may be adopted which may recall his family to France, and he does not wish to see his brothers hastening back again.200 This is all very well, but I repeat he is wanting in the spirit of energy. He will never be of any account, and will never take any practical part, and remains a distinguished nonentity. The Comte de Paris is much grown and fairly good-looking, as his shyness had disappeared, but he has a squeaky, disagreeable intonation of voice. The Duc de Chartres has become much stronger and very noisy. The three Nemours children seem quite nice. After dinner, which began about seven o'clock, we stayed talking until nearly eleven o'clock. Boismilon is a strong separatist; Ary Scheffer was also there, and seems to me to be one of the zealot party, an attitude which M. de Talleyrand used to distrust.

The Princesse de Joinville has been confined of a still-born child and was in considerable danger. The child's body was taken to Dreux by my cousin, Alfred de Chabannes, who gave no notice of his intention. It was laid in the family vault, mass was said, and only when all this had been done did M. de Chabannes inform the Mayor of his actions. The ceremony was very properly conducted. Madame de Chabannes also told me that when her husband went to visit Louis Philippe at Claremont for the first time after February, the King said, almost as soon as he saw him, "What would you expect; I thought myself infallible." The observation seemed to me strikingly true and to be a remarkable admission.

The Duchesse d'Orléans proposes to return to London in the spring to take the Comte de Paris to his first communion, for which he is being prepared by the Abbé Guelle, who frequently instructs him at Eisenach.

Berlin, November 8, 1849.– On my return here I found my brother-in-law, who had come back from Dresden, where the state of public feeling is said to be going from bad to worse. The Ministers have been unable to obtain from the King of Saxony any decree for the capital punishment even of the most guilty, much to the indignation of right-minded people and to the exasperation of the troops who fought so admirably last May. The arrogance of the rebels has greatly increased in consequence. The King's prestige has sunk so low that his salutations are not even returned in the streets.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the installation of the Brandenburg Ministry, and there was a great entertainment in the rooms of Kroll in the Tiergarten: all the Ministers were present, and a feeling of great loyalty is said to have been manifested. However, in another part of the town a so-called religious celebration was in progress of another anniversary, the shooting of the famous Robert Blum.201 There was thus entertainment to suit every taste, and I fear that the taste for red ruin is by no means blunted.

A letter from Paris which I find here tells me that the situation in France is entirely in the hands of the army which is divided between Cavaignac and Changarnier. The former is entirely republican and the latter will listen to nobody. Since Louise Philippe wrote his letter to Edgar Ney202 at Rome Changarnier is said to have appeared less frequently at the Elysée. The President is therefore inclined to transfer the command of the Paris troops to General Magnan.

Madame de Lieven is delighted to return to Paris, and paints England in the blackest possible colours. She wears a bonnet in the style of Deffand, praises the president of the republic, and does her best as formerly to attract every shade of political colour to her house. She seems to have succeeded so far as to be frankly astonished that no one makes any mention of M. Guizot, whom she is expecting in December.

Berlin, November 12, 1849.– I spent almost the whole of yesterday at Sans Souci with the King and Queen, who received me as kindly as ever. Prince Frederick of the Low Countries, who arrived from the Hague, gave a very bad account of the situation in that direction. Resignation, abdication, and regency are words openly pronounced. The young King is despised, and the young Queen is not popular or the Dowager Queen either. In short, their position is quite precarious. The King of Prussia is expecting the proclamation of the Empire at the Elysée and all eyes are turned upon France.

A letter from Vienna which I received yesterday, tells me that beneath all the military display, some new causes of anxiety are obvious. The peasants are very displeased with the new system of land taxation, by their obligation to redeem the tithes and to pay indemnities by way of compensation for all that they expected to wrest from their overlords. The nobility consider the equality of taxation to which they are subjected is a hardship and a hateful innovation. The hodweds203 who have been drafted into the regiments, are disseminating very bad ideas. The young emperor is rather short and arbitrary with his old generals; in a word, if our neighbours have not to confront the same difficulties that prevail here, they have many reasons for disquietude.

Sagan, November 21, 1849.– A letter from Paris dated the 14th says: "An amnesty has been proclaimed by the President to seven hundred and fifty very undesirable people: this bid for popularity may cost the author of it dear, for these people will return in a state of exasperation and will have to be made targets of some day or other.204 Underneath all the leanings to imperialism, which seem to be spreading, there is one question which is very undecided, at any rate where I am concerned: this is the future action of General Changarnier,205 for though he is on excellent terms at present with the president, I doubt if he will adhere to him in a time of transition, and such a time would then become an inevitable crisis."

Sagan, December 2, 1849.– The tall Theresa Elssler, who for several years has been the mistress of Prince Adalbert of Prussia, is to become his wife under the title of Frau von Fischbach, a title derived from the estate which the old Prince William holds in the Silesian mountains. There the late Princess William was laid in the odour of sanctity, and it is somewhat shocking that this name of all others should be conferred upon a quondam theatre dancer.206 At Sans Souci this marriage has caused considerable displeasure, but with the habitual weakness which is there characteristic, consent has been given.

Another scandal is about to appear at Berlin of more import. This is the probable acquittal of Waldeck whose trial has been attracting the general attention for a long time.207 They have been so entirely foolish as to choose as President of the assizes a weak-minded magistrate, the father of a barricade hero, who shows the most brazen-faced and clumsy partiality for Waldeck. The jury are constantly receiving anonymous letters, and their verdict will be given under stress of intimidation. It is deplorable, for the consequences might be very serious.

Sagan, December 6, 1849.– The ovation given to the ruffian Waldeck after his acquittal seems to have been scandalous enough to necessitate military interference. I have no details as yet, but the post will doubtless bring them to-day. I am of the opinion that we are about to enter a period of outbreaks, and this opinion is strengthened by the fact that the Poles are beginning their processions again, and whenever they appear, one may be sure that there is a snake in the grass, to use a vulgar expression.

I have just finished reading the life of Madame de Krüdener. She was quite a peculiar character, but the story of her life is somewhat tiresome and my own conclusion is that Madame de Krüdener, who was always deluded by her own vanity, was frivolous for that reason during her youth; that vanity afterwards led her to literature and finally to missionary work; but vanity has an honesty of its own, and precisely for that reason can display prodigious credulity. As a mystic Madame de Krüdener has not the loftiness of Saint Theresa or the quiet grace of Madame Guyon; her would-be clever letters are heavy, and when she tries to soar aloft the leaden structure of her wings is obvious. There must have been some force of attraction in her speeches and addresses, for without some special gift she could never have produced results which contain a certain amount of humbug and on many occasions some reality.

Sagan, December 10, 1849.– I was very sorry to read the day before yesterday in the newspapers the announcement of the death of Queen Adelaide of England. The news carried me back to that pleasant time when I had the honour of seeing her, and was treated by her with a kindness which I shall never forget. She was a noble woman who bore herself with grand and simple dignity in positions that were difficult for several reasons.

There is some small excitement at Sans Souci, on account of the concentration of the Austrian forces upon the Saxon frontier. It would seem that General Gerlach, who at this moment has considerable influence with the King of Prussia, has been sent to Dresden to bring matters to a conclusion. If these troops are only intended to clear Saxony of the Reds in case of necessity, who are more audacious there than anywhere else, this intervention would be regarded as equivalent to Russia's action in the Grand Duchy of Baden, and nothing would be said; but certain would-be clever people wish to regard the movement as a veiled threat against the Diet of Erfurt.208 In this case it is probable that it will not pass without comment.

Sagan, December 12, 1849.– I have read the speech delivered at the admission of the Duc de Noailles to the French Academy.209 It is written in very fine language with real loftiness of style and thought, and is marked by a correctness and purity worthy of the best epochs of taste and literature: the ideas are noble and both prudent and dignified; some passages especially please me, notably those concerning Pascal and Voltaire, with a clever transition, bringing the subject back to M. de Chateaubriand. However, the speech has one defect in my opinion, that it places its subject upon too high a pedestal, and that if it does not exaggerate his talent it certainly gives too high an estimate of his character. The Duc de Noailles with very correct taste touched but lightly on the Mémoires d'outre-tombe, for this gloomy legacy reveals the writer's barrenness of heart, excessive vanity and acrimonious character, while his talent often disappears beneath the exaggerations and bad taste for which clumsy imitators of this school are often blamed. However, all eulogies before the Academy are prone to exaggerate the merits of their subjects; as they are condemned to draw a portrait without shadows, the truth of their colouring suffers in consequence, and the real features are often obscured. These faults are due rather to the accepted style of oration than to the orator, and for them he cannot be blamed. Yesterday I began the sixth volume of the Mémoires d'outre-tombe. This contains a sketch of Napoleon's history with which M. de Chateaubriand padded his own Mémoires in reference to himself; the whole is written with a view to effect, but with no great feeling for truth. I was greatly struck to find a passing eulogy upon M. Caulaincourt in spite of the Duc d'Enghien; in other respects the same malevolence towards the human race is obvious, and the same hatred for M. de Talleyrand.