M. de Montessuy, who accompanied M. de Barante to an entertainment at Peterhof and passed the night there, writes that he saw the Empress at a distance in the gardens and respectfully withdrew, but that in the evening she reproached him for so doing, saying that she had come down in order to speak to him and that it was wrong of him to avoid her. All this story seems to me to be very unlikely.
Madame Adélaïde writes to M. de Talleyrand on August 30 that nothing has yet been done with regard to the Ministry. M. Molé has opened communications with MM. Guizot and Duchâtel, both of whom have arrived at Paris, but unanimity between them is rendered difficult by their respective sense of dignity. The King and Madame seem greatly to regret their forced separation from the retiring Ministers and the necessity of calling in others.
Valençay, September 3, 1836.– Yesterday I learned a piece of news which is causing me much anxiety and is likely to involve me in embarrassment: the death of my man of business in Germany, Herr Hennenberg, who died at Berlin on August 23. I am thus obliged to replace a most upright and capable man, a strong and respected character who had full knowledge for twenty-five years not only of my business, but of all my intimacies, past and present, who has thrown himself heartily into every interest of my life and performed immense services, and, in spite of the many pecuniary shocks which I have experienced, has restored my fortunes and brought them to visible prosperity, often to my own astonishment. He was, in short, a man to whom I had entirely handed over the control of my affairs, as, indeed, was necessary, in view of the long distance which separates me from the centre of my interests. Such a man cannot be replaced by correspondence or blindly, nor can I remain in uncertainty and unsettlement for any length of time without suffering incalculable loss. Hence a journey to Germany seems an absolute necessity; but, on the other hand, how can I leave M. de Talleyrand alone in view of the present state of his health? It is not to be thought of, and I pray that Providence may deliver me from this inextricable complication.
Letters from Paris say that attempts to form a Ministry are so many successive failures, that the King is growing tired of it, and that Thiers is beginning to say that Spain is past all remedy. Perhaps they will end in patching the matter up, but the shock that each party has received will weaken their harmony, apart from the paralysing sense of mistrust and rancour which will remain. It is all very sad.
Valençay, September 4, 1836.– We have letters daily from Paris, but no word regarding any solution of the difficulty. Yesterday I thought the breach might be healed; I am less inclined to think so to-day. It is even possible that the journey to Fontainebleau may take place before the reconstruction of the Cabinet. M. Thiers would like to start for Italy, to which the King has replied that his resignation will be accepted only when he has nominated a successor. Molé and Guizot are possibilities which seem to be exhausted without result.
Valençay, September 7, 1836.– We are told that the Moniteur of to-day will contain the names of a Guizot-Molé Ministry, recruited entirely from among the Doctrinaires under the influence and by the efforts of M. Guizot. I had a letter from M. Thiers yesterday, and am sorry to see some ill-temper displayed against all who do not share his ideas about that wretched Spanish question. In particular he thinks that the signatories to the Quadruple Alliance should have agreed with him. This remark is addressed to M. de Talleyrand, who proposes to reply that a fresh reading of the treaty will show that it was drawn up in such a way that France is not under obligation in any direction. M. Guizot persisted in objecting to the retention of M. de Montalivet as Minister of the Interior, and as the latter thought it inconsistent with his dignity to leave this post for another, as Guizot had proposed, he has resigned, to the King's great regret, and will go to Berry, where he has property. Sauzet and d'Argout are said to be going to Italy, once the refuge of dethroned Sovereigns and now the inevitable touringground of ex-Ministers.
The following fact is certain: On the 4th of this month information was received that the Société des Familles, the most numerous and best organised of secret societies at this time, proposed to make some attempt to raise a public disturbance. Their intention was perfectly clear; the fear of discovery doubtless prevented them from putting it into effect. They proposed to advance upon the prison where the political prisoners are confined, to set them at liberty, to seize the Prefecture of Police, and thence to march upon Neuilly. The Ministers assert that their intentions were quite serious.
Valençay, September 9, 1836.– The newspapers are already declaring a terrible war upon the new Ministry, which will be settled before the Chambers.45 The Opposition journals predict a breach in the Cabinet, which seems a not unlikely possibility. Then perhaps we shall see M. Thiers return to the head of affairs, but with a certain opposition to confront him, after making war upon a system which he had long supported and entering into obligations with men inclining to the Left, in which case he would be likely to draw the Government into dangerous paths. I do not really know, but in general things seem to me to be growing dark. In any case it is fair to recognise that the new Ministerial combination can display to the country and abroad honourable names, distinguished talent, and recognised capacity. Let us hope, then, that it may rest upon a solid basis. Eight or ten days before the last crisis M. Molé, after a considerable silence, wrote a very sprightly letter to M. Royer-Collard and to myself.
Valençay, September 10, 1836.– Yesterday M. de Talleyrand received a nice deferential little note from M. Molé upon his accession to the Ministry. The burden of the letter was as follows: As the new Cabinet had been formed upon a question and with ideas which M. de Talleyrand had wisely made his own, the new Ministers might congratulate themselves upon his approval, and for himself he trusted that it might be so, as he relied upon M. de Talleyrand's counsel and opinion. M. de Talleyrand immediately replied. It is not my business to praise the answer, but I think it should please M. Molé, though he will find no criticism in it of the man whose place he takes. M. de Talleyrand may regret the blindness of M. Thiers upon the Spanish question, but it is not for him to blame M. Thiers in definite terms, as he has long shown and felt goodwill for him.
Valençay, September 11, 1836.– I shall not quote Madame de Lieven as testifying to the accuracy of the story told by M. de Montessuy,46 but I admit that I cannot understand so strange an incident. If one of our princesses or our Sovereign had so acted, a revolutionary interpretation would immediately have been put upon it at St. Petersburg, and if the Emperor Nicholas admits Horace Vernet, and especially M. de Löwe-Weimar, to his favour, his intimacy, and his confidence, I do not see why the King should be reproached for dining at the Tuileries with his National Guards. The truth is, Louis-Philippe cannot use the knout or Siberia, which are two stern precautions against familiarity, though it is fortunate for each of us that these weapons are not in his hands; in Russia, neither age nor sex nor rank nor merit is any protection.
I have a letter from M. Guizot couched in most sprightly terms, telling me of his entrance to the Council. The friendship of the King for M. de Talleyrand and the confidence with which he honours him forbid any Minister to be on bad terms with him; our intentions are identical, so that between ourselves and these gentlemen all should go well.
I have a long letter from the Comte Alexis de Saint-Priest from Lisbon. He writes from time to time, though I only send short dry notes by way of answer; but he seems determined to regard them as proofs of friendship. It is merely a case of calculating self-interest. He knows that the Duc d'Orléans shows me some kindness, and he believes himself called upon to play a part when this Prince comes to the throne, and therefore desires in any case to be one of my friends; any one reading the opening sentences of his letter would think that I was a great deal to him and he to me. I am somewhat vexed in consequence.
Valençay, September 13, 1836.– How is it that people are so often found ready to report ill-tempered speeches to the persons affected by them? It is a strange and too common frame of mind. To myself it is so hateful that while I believe myself incapable of it, I always receive very coldly those who bring me confidential remarks of this nature. I think that the first condition upon which one can live in peace is to speak evil of things only when they are bad and as little as possible of people, and the second condition is to disregard evil spoken about ourselves unless it be spoken to warn one of some trap or actual danger,