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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
Prince Talleyrand has left a name in Europe perhaps the greatest ever achieved by any man in France who has devoted himself exclusively to the civil offices of the state. In the present century, he has become as great a diplomatic authority as was Machiavelli in the sixteenth; and hence the Hôtel Talleyrand, in the Rue St. Florentin, has been regarded by every disciple of state-craft who has visited the French capital, with perhaps as much veneration as the literary devotee accords to the more h
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CHAPTER I. TALLEYRAND AT VALENÇAY.
CHAPTER I. TALLEYRAND AT VALENÇAY.
It was during the autumn of 18—, that, passing through Paris on my way to the south of Europe, I ventured to pay my visite de rigueur to that hallowed shrine—that Mecca of all young diplomatists—the Hôtel Talleyrand, in the Rue St. Florentin, to obtain, as it were, a blessing and an imposition of hands from the high-priest of the diplomatic craft, ere I ventured, novice and without guile as I then was, to put forth on the unknown sea of politics. Perhaps there lingered in my mind a latent hope o
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CHAPTER II. CONDUCT OF TALLEYRAND AT THE REVOLUTION OF 1830.
CHAPTER II. CONDUCT OF TALLEYRAND AT THE REVOLUTION OF 1830.
It will be readily believed that I needed no arousing on the morrow. In spite of my weary journey, and the late hour of retiring to rest, I was up and sur pied long before my friend had left his chamber. The morning was beautiful, and from my window it was pleasant to watch the departure of the hounds and sportsmen from the court-yard to the green forest. For my part, however, I felt no envy, but rather stood wondering that people endowed with the sense of hearing could endure with patience the
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CHAPTER III. SEIZURE AND CONFINEMENT OF THE SPANISH PRINCES AT VALENÇAY.
CHAPTER III. SEIZURE AND CONFINEMENT OF THE SPANISH PRINCES AT VALENÇAY.
While my friend had been thus discoursing of kings and revolutions, we had, after crossing a part of the park, turned in the court-yard, where stood the stables. I knew that the prince cared but little for his stud; I was surprised, therefore, when C. pulled the cord of the huge bell which hung at the entrance. At the sound, the groom, who was standing in the court, evidently knowing for what purpose he was summoned, flung back the wide doors of an outhouse near the gate. “It is fit,” said C., l
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CHAPTER IV. CAGLIOSTRO—VOLTAIRE—THE MARQUIS DE J——.
CHAPTER IV. CAGLIOSTRO—VOLTAIRE—THE MARQUIS DE J——.
It was the hour of noon, and C. had kindly come to fetch me to the luncheon-room, where I found the guests all assembled, listening greedily to the conversation of the prince, who was that morning en verve , and relating with great good-nature the anecdotes which he had promised us on the preceding evening; the first claimant to be satisfied was, of course, by right, the youthful duchess, to whom he had held out hopes of the history of his famous visit to the great Cagliostro, and which I will g
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CHAPTER V. CHILDHOOD AND JUVENILE YEARS OF TALLEYRAND.
CHAPTER V. CHILDHOOD AND JUVENILE YEARS OF TALLEYRAND.
Our drive was delightful over the green turf beneath the arched vista of the old avenue. The rain-drops glittered on every leaf, and the turf, moistened by the shower, after the long drought, sent up a delicious fragrance beneath each pressure of our horses’ feet. The prince was alone in his carriage, with his dog Carlo. There was but one person in the whole world whom he ever allowed to take the seat beside him in his drives, and she was that day absent from Valençay. There was something touchi
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CHAPTER VI. MIRABEAU—THE PRINCESS T.—THE MAYOR OF VALENÇAY.
CHAPTER VI. MIRABEAU—THE PRINCESS T.—THE MAYOR OF VALENÇAY.
We alighted from the carriage, and sat down on one of the blocks of stone which lay scattered about in all directions, bearing witness to the gigantic intentions of the projector, and also to the signal failure of the enterprise. C. looked around with sadness. “The sight of this place,” said he, “recalls to mind so much both of pain and pleasure, so many associations for ever lost to Valençay, that I cannot behold it without a certain feeling of melancholy, which I little thought it would ever h
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CHAPTER VII. RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY LIFE, BY PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
CHAPTER VII. RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY LIFE, BY PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
“It is a most extraordinary circumstance,” said I to C., one evening, as we sat together in the little turret-chamber, “that no well-authenticated life of the prince has ever been written. It would, I have no doubt, attract more attention than any work of the kind which has appeared for years. Why do you not attempt the task? You are better qualified, from the length of time you have been in his intimacy, from your very admiration of the man, to undertake the task, than any one else now living.”
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CHAPTER VIII. THE COUNTESS DE LA MOTTE, OF NECKLACE NOTORIETY.
CHAPTER VIII. THE COUNTESS DE LA MOTTE, OF NECKLACE NOTORIETY.
It will easily be believed that I did not lose sight of the promise which my friend had made with so much bonhomie , and the very first time I found myself alone with him, I did not forget to claim it. The opportunity occurred soon after the conversation I have just recorded. We were pacing together the long picture-gallery of the château; the rain was beating in torrents against the Gothic casements, and all hopes of going abroad had been abandoned. The prince had not left his chamber that morn
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CHAPTER I. THE DUC D’AIGUILLON AND MADAME DUBARRI—TALLEYRAND’S RETURN FROM AMERICA—CHÉNIER, MADAME DE STAËL, AND MADAME DE LA BOUCHARDIE.
CHAPTER I. THE DUC D’AIGUILLON AND MADAME DUBARRI—TALLEYRAND’S RETURN FROM AMERICA—CHÉNIER, MADAME DE STAËL, AND MADAME DE LA BOUCHARDIE.
“You have begun, malgré vous ,” said I to C., the next time we met tête-à-tête , “the vie anecdotique of the prince, which I have always felt sure would prove so full of interest. Your strange story of Madame de la Motte is quite sufficient to excite curiosity in those who love to see the truth established where prejudice and falsehood have reigned so long. It would be a curious study to follow in the same manner, step by step, the life of the Prince de Talleyrand, and give to those who seek for
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CHAPTER II. THE ABBÉ CERUTTI.
CHAPTER II. THE ABBÉ CERUTTI.
“The sudden change from the frivolous papillotage of the ancien régime to the sombre enthusiasm which broke out at the epoch of the American war, made but little impression on M. de Talleyrand. He was evidently prepared, and at once declared his opinion, not by pamphlets or inflammatory speeches, but by an argument far more forcible than either. Conjointly with his friend, the Count Choiseul Gouffier, he equipped a privateer, which he called the ‘Holy Cause,’ and which left the harbour of Brest
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CHAPTER III. THE SALONS OF PARIS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER III. THE SALONS OF PARIS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.
“With Cerutti, Mirabeau, and the Feuille Villageoise , began for Talleyrand a new era, a fresh existence, outwardly, at least, for, after all, it was but the realization of the splendid dreams with which he had solaced his young ambition ever since that memorable day on which he had changed the dark blue broad cloth and bright buttons of the joyeux collegien for the black serge soutane of the séminariste . I have often heard him declare, in his moments of épanchement , that, during the years of
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CHAPTER IV. TALLEYRAND’S BOUDOIR—PORTRAITS—MADAME DE BRIONNE—MADAME DE FLAHAUT—A GAMBLING SCENE—THE CHEVALIER DE FENELON—MADAME GRANDT—PRINCESS TALLEYRAND.
CHAPTER IV. TALLEYRAND’S BOUDOIR—PORTRAITS—MADAME DE BRIONNE—MADAME DE FLAHAUT—A GAMBLING SCENE—THE CHEVALIER DE FENELON—MADAME GRANDT—PRINCESS TALLEYRAND.
On the morning after the conversation on the art of conversing, which I have just transcribed, I happened to find myself for some little time alone with C. in the prince’s dressing-room. I had been summoned to the sanctum by M. de Talleyrand himself, who had received letters from England by that day’s post, in answering which my English might, he thought, be turned to account. I had obeyed the message with the greatest pleasure, as C. had already informed me that admission to his boudoir at the
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CHAPTER V. TALLEYRAND’S DESIRE FOR AMITY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE—LOUIS DIXHUIT—THE ARCHBISHOP DE M.—MADAME DE KRUDENER—ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA.
CHAPTER V. TALLEYRAND’S DESIRE FOR AMITY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE—LOUIS DIXHUIT—THE ARCHBISHOP DE M.—MADAME DE KRUDENER—ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA.
Just as my friend had ceased speaking, the door was opened, and the two valets-de-chambre of the prince, armed with shaving-pot and powder-puff, with the same solemn look as at the toilet of Louis Quatorze, described with such humour by Saint Simon, entered and took their station one on each side the doorway; but when the prince himself entered likewise, in dressing-gown and slippers, leaning on his cane, and bowing low, with a courteous “good morrow,” the picture was complete. Le grand monarque
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CHAPTER VI. THE LAST MOMENTS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
CHAPTER VI. THE LAST MOMENTS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
It was scarcely six o’clock, on the morning of the 17th of May (1838), when I bent my steps towards the old hotel in the Rue St. Florentin, with a mind full of sad misgivings; for when, at a late hour on the evening previous, I had quitted it, I had been but slightly encouraged to hope that another day could possibly be granted to its proud and gifted owner. The dull grey dawn was just struggling to rise above the tall chestnuts of the Tuileries. All was still silent, and as I pulled the heavy b
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PRINCE TALLEYRAND’S MAXIMS FOR SEASONING CONVERSATION.
PRINCE TALLEYRAND’S MAXIMS FOR SEASONING CONVERSATION.
Our welcome of a stranger depends upon the name he bears,—upon the coat he wears: our farewell upon the spirit he has displayed in the interview. There is so great a charm in friendship, that there is even a kind of pleasure in acknowledging oneself duped by the sentiment it inspires. Unbounded modesty is nothing more than unavowed vanity: the too humble obeisance is sometimes a disguised impertinence. The reputation of a man is like his shadow—gigantic when it precedes him, and pigmy in its pro
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PRINCE TALLEYRAND’S OPINION OF FOX.
PRINCE TALLEYRAND’S OPINION OF FOX.
( A Fragment from the Prince’s Memoirs. ) January 15th, 1807. I have just heard of the death of Mr. Fox. It is now fifteen years since I was introduced to him by Mr. Ogilvie, the husband of his aunt, the Duchess of Leinster. It was at his own house, in South-street, and, I think, in June, 1791. Shortly before his death, false reports led him to form an unjust opinion of me; yet my regret for his loss is not the less deep and sincere, and I feel a firm conviction that, had his life been spared, h
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PRIVATE LETTER FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND TO MARSHAL SEBASTIANI, ON THE POLICY OF SUFFERING BELGIUM TO BE CREATED AN INDEPENDENT MONARCHY.
PRIVATE LETTER FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND TO MARSHAL SEBASTIANI, ON THE POLICY OF SUFFERING BELGIUM TO BE CREATED AN INDEPENDENT MONARCHY.
London, January 3rd, 1831. My dear General ,—I have read over several times, with the utmost attention, your letter of the 30th ult., and I wish to explain to you confidentially my views relative to its contents. It is evident that, at the present time, France is divided between two parties, whose opinions have their echoes in the council of the king. One of these parties urges us to war, and employs every means, direct and indirect, to bring about that end. The views of this party are directed
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FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND TO MARSHAL SEBASTIANI, ON THE SAME SUBJECT AS THE PRECEDING.
FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND TO MARSHAL SEBASTIANI, ON THE SAME SUBJECT AS THE PRECEDING.
The importance of the crisis at which we have arrived cannot fail frequently to claim your attention. At the present juncture we may, by prompt and honest decision, preserve peace, or by prolonged hesitation we may enable intriguers (too numerous a class both here and in Belgium) to compromise the destinies of Europe, and of the dynasty which the voice of the nation has raised to the throne of France. I await with the utmost anxiety and impatience the reply of the French Cabinet to the various q
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LETTER FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND TO COUNT SEBASTIANI, ON THE AFFAIRS OF BELGIUM.
LETTER FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND TO COUNT SEBASTIANI, ON THE AFFAIRS OF BELGIUM.
London, January 25th, 1831. Monsieur le Comte ,—Count Flahaut arrived here the day before yesterday, and delivered to me the letter which you entrusted to his charge. I thank you for having chosen him as the bearer of it. The raising of the siege of Antwerp, and the irritation of the King of Holland, prove that the conference was sufficiently rigorous towards both parties to obtain the wished-for result. My conversation with M. de Flahaut has furnished me with some valuable information respectin
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OBSERVATIONS ON THE TRIAL OF PEERS BY THE CHAMBER OF PEERS, AND THE REASONS ON WHICH TALLEYRAND GROUNDED HIS VOTE IN THE AFFAIR OF LIEUTENANTS-GENERAL GUILLEMINOT AND BORDESOULLE.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE TRIAL OF PEERS BY THE CHAMBER OF PEERS, AND THE REASONS ON WHICH TALLEYRAND GROUNDED HIS VOTE IN THE AFFAIR OF LIEUTENANTS-GENERAL GUILLEMINOT AND BORDESOULLE.
Our political laws have existed only during the space of a few years. We have witnessed their creation and their birth. As yet they are scarcely anything more than theories. Time alone will convert them into practical laws. In other words, we possess laws, but we do not yet possess jurisprudence. Amidst all the uncertainties necessarily arising out of such a state of things, it has appeared to me that my duty, as a Peer of France, was to seek, in reflection, for that light and knowledge which ex
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ANOTHER FRAGMENT FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND’S MEMOIRS.
ANOTHER FRAGMENT FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND’S MEMOIRS.
The king insisted that the favourable opinion entertained of the services I had rendered him, required that he should instal me in one of the high offices of the crown. The post of grand ecuyer could not be said to be either vacant or filled, as M. de L—— had not tendered his resignation. The king, who still had a leaning to old usages, thought he could not dispose of the post, though the conduct of M. de L——, since the Restoration, had not been congenial with French feeling, but altogether in u
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LETTER TO HIS MAJESTY KING WILLIAM IV., FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND, ON HIS BEING APPOINTED AMBASSADOR FROM FRANCE.
LETTER TO HIS MAJESTY KING WILLIAM IV., FROM PRINCE TALLEYRAND, ON HIS BEING APPOINTED AMBASSADOR FROM FRANCE.
“ Sire ,—His Majesty the King of the French has been pleased to make me the interpreter of the sentiments he cherishes for your Majesty. “I have joyfully accepted a mission which gives so noble a direction to the last steps of my long public career. “Sire, amidst all the vicissitudes through which I have passed during my long life—amidst all the changes of good and ill fortune I have undergone during the last forty years, no circumstance has afforded me such perfect gratification as the appointm
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OPINION OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND ON THE PLAN OF LAW RELATIVE TO JOURNALS AND PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS.
OPINION OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND ON THE PLAN OF LAW RELATIVE TO JOURNALS AND PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS.
Delivered in the Chamber of Peers, in the sitting of Tuesday, July 24, 1821. “ Gentlemen ,—In presenting myself before this assembly, I experience the embarrassment of feeling the utter inutility of the observations I am about to make, but to which, nevertheless, I consider it my duty to give utterance. By a deplorable fatality, the causes of which it is not my purpose at present to inquire into, the questions in appearance submitted to our consideration, are already resolved—irrevocably resolve
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OPINION OF THE BISHOP OF AUTUN ON THE SUBJECT OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROPERTY, DELIVERED IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN THE YEAR 1789.
OPINION OF THE BISHOP OF AUTUN ON THE SUBJECT OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROPERTY, DELIVERED IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN THE YEAR 1789.
[ The following extracts comprise the principal points of this address.] “I have stated, gentlemen, the reasons which lead me to believe that ecclesiastical property is national property. If those reasons, which nothing has for an instant shaken in my own mind, appear to you of some weight in themselves, how much more weighty, how much more decisive must they not appear under all the circumstances of the present juncture? Let us only look around us; the public fortune is tottering—its approachin
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EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF THE BISHOP OF AUTUN, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS MOTION ON THE SUBJECT OF ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM, ON THE 10TH OF OCTOBER, 1789.
EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF THE BISHOP OF AUTUN, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS MOTION ON THE SUBJECT OF ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM, ON THE 10TH OF OCTOBER, 1789.
“ The state has for a long time had to struggle with the greatest difficulties: none of us are ignorant of this fact, and therefore powerful means must be employed to meet them. Ordinary measures have been exhausted; the people are hard-pressed on every side, and the slightest additional burden would naturally be felt insupportable. In fact, it is not to be thought of. Extraordinary resources have just been tried, but they are principally destined for the extraordinary necessities of the present
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EXTRACTS FROM THE ADDRESS OF THE BISHOP OF AUTUN ON THE SUBJECT OF BANKS, AND ON THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF ORDER IN THE FRENCH FINANCES.
EXTRACTS FROM THE ADDRESS OF THE BISHOP OF AUTUN ON THE SUBJECT OF BANKS, AND ON THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF ORDER IN THE FRENCH FINANCES.
Delivered in the National Assembly, on Friday, Dec. 4th, 1789. “As a member of the committee whose report you have just heard, I consider myself entitled to address you, both for the purpose of submitting to you some ideas of my own on the subject of the caisse d’escompte , and more especially with the view of bringing to bear upon this subject some important questions, inseparable from it, and essentially connected with the great interests which now so urgently engage your attention. “The idea
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