Valençay, September 16, 1836.– The following is an extract from a letter received by M. de Talleyrand yesterday; it was not sent by Madame Adélaïde, but the writer is generally very well informed. "M. Molé is ill. He has not yet been able to pay any calls, nor to receive any ambassador, nor has any council yet been held by the King. It is said that his health will not allow him to remain long in office, and that he will never establish himself there with any certainty. If he should resign, it is thought that the Ministry would not be entirely dislocated, and that Montalivet would probably take his place. There is also a rumour that the Ministry is ready to confront the Chambers fearlessly, and expects to secure a majority, that it is ready to be contented with a small majority in the hope of seeing it grow, and that it does not intend to make every point a Cabinet question. Marshal Soult is not to be Minister of War. He was anxious to be President of the Council, but this was refused, and the post will probably be given to Molitor, Sébastiani, or Bernard. The Ministry is entirely dominated by the King's policy upon the Spanish question. The body which was gathering on the Pyrenees frontier will be disbanded and the Foreign Legion abandoned. In any case that legion is at the service of Spain, and we have no right to use it for our own purposes. Strictest adherence will be maintained to the limits laid down by the treaty of the Quadruple Alliance. At the same time an ambassador at Madrid will be appointed, though the death of Rayneval might have enabled us to dispense with this; but the appointment will be made from respect to England. A rumour has gone abroad, but it is a great secret, and the appointment is not yet settled, that this ambassador will be the Duc de Coigny. The King is a little doubtful of the attitude which Thiers will adopt. He is also much displeased with him, and has expressed his displeasure several times. At one time Thiers took some steps to return to the Ministry, and the matter was discussed. He then submitted himself wholly to the King's opinion and will upon the Spanish question, but the style of the King's expression showed that he was very far from reposing confidence in Thiers, and that he would only take him back perforce and in a difficult and unavoidable position. The true cause of Thiers' resignation is not so much difference of opinion between the King and himself as the deceitful course by which he wished to draw the King into intervention against his will. Since he has gone several facts have been discovered of which no one had any suspicion. Thiers went away announcing that he would only return for the following session if he saw his policy attacked. He is said to be really very despondent about his fall, and has the more reason for despondency as he is sole author of it. The mode of his resignation has greatly diminished the reputation which he first achieved, and the public opinion is not in his favour."
Valençay, September 21, 1836.– Yesterday we heard that the Constitution of 1820 had been proclaimed at Lisbon. It is asserted that this event was prepared at London, and the fact remains that Admiral Gage, who was in harbour with three ships of the line, remained a passive spectator. The queens of the South are not destined to enjoy unbroken slumber, for at Lisbon, as at Madrid, the Queen was forced to sign the new Constitution at two o'clock in the morning. The army took the side of the people and of the National Guard. The poor little Prince of Coburg has made a sad marriage indeed. If he remains in private life with so heavy a burden as Doña Maria he will collapse. It is impossible to avoid some feeling of dismay at these military reactions, and we are deeply anxious to see our Cabinet completed by a real Minister of War. General Bernard was the last chance, and would be the best choice, as Marshal Soult persistently refuses.
Valençay, September 23, 1836.– Our festival of St. Maurice47 was held yesterday, and was most brilliant. Numbers of neighbours came, and our cousins came over from Saint-Aignan. The gamekeepers with their early trumpet-blasts, fine weather, a long drive, the banquet in the Castle, and dinner to the little school-girls, the three courts lighted up, and a most pretty entertainment, cheerfully and delightfully played, completed our festivity.
Valençay, September 25, 1836.– It is certain that Charles X., to please the Duc de Bordeaux, has requested Don Carlos to receive his grandson into his army, and Don Carlos has very wisely refused. The truth is that this would have been the only thing that could have induced France to intervene.
A letter from Strasburg gives me many details concerning the Abbé Bautain and MM. Ratisbonne and de Bonnechose which interest me greatly, for it was these men who carried on the correspondence concerning the philosophy of religion which I read last winter. This book is preceded by their biographies and the story of their conversion, so that my knowledge of their case is complete. M. Royer-Collard, to whom I have spoken several times concerning the Abbé Bautain, told me that when he was high master of the university he knew the Abbé, then quite a young man; that he had a distinguished mind and a lively imagination, but that his mother was at Charenton and that there seemed some likelihood of his following her, though at the same time he thought a great deal of him for many reasons. I trust that the death of Mlle. Humann will not relax the precious bond which unites all these young people, with their goodness and sincerity. The manner of Mlle. Humann's death was like that of Queen Anne of Austria, a description of which I have just read in the Mémoires of Madame de Motteville; this queen also died of cancer. I know few incidents so touching and edifying, so curious and well described, as the death of this princess. I have finished these memoirs; a book which counterbalances, from the political standpoint, the memoirs of Cardinal de Retz. By way of restoring my equilibrium, I am reading the Mémoires of the Grande Mademoiselle. I read them before my marriage, at a time when I did not know France, and therefore knew even less the district which I now inhabit, and in which this princess lived for a long time; consequently her book has an entirely new attraction for me and interests me deeply.
Valençay, September 28, 1836.– A few days ago a Spanish courier arrived at Paris from Madrid. He had been stopped by the Carlists, who had taken all his despatches except those directly addressed to King Louis-Philippe. In these despatches Queen Christina announces that she proposes to leave Madrid, leaving the two Princesses behind. The next day a telegram came in stating that the Queen is to leave Madrid, with all the Ministry, for Badajoz. This town was chosen as being nearest to Portugal, and because the Queen would be unable to travel in the direction of Cadiz or the Pyrenees or to any seaport. Unfortunate creature!
Valençay, October 2, 1836.– M. de Valençay, who is at the camp of Compiègne with the Duc d'Orléans, writes that everything is going off well and that the King's visit has had an excellent effect. The Ministers, who all accompanied the King to Compiègne, followed him on horseback to the great review, but M. Molé felt uncomfortable after a few minutes and got into the Queen's carriage. The camp is said to be very fine; the King was excellently received, and the young Princes make a good appearance. I am the more pleased to hear this as it is the first time that the King has left his confinement since the case of Alibaud. His presence in camp must have been thought very necessary, as the Duc d'Orléans answered for the King's safety with his own life, begging him to go and show himself to the troops; and only then did the Council, which had at first opposed the plan, consent to the King's journey.
Valençay, October 5, 1836.– I must copy the following passage about the castle of Valençay, which I found in the Mémoires of the Grand Mademoiselle, vol. ii. p. 411, in the year 1653: "I continued my journey to Valençay, and arrived there by torchlight. I thought I was entering an enchanted house. The rooms are the most handsome, delightful, and magnificent, in the world; the staircase is very fine, and is reached by an arcaded gallery that is superb. It was beautifully lighted up; there were plenty of people, including Madame de Valençay, and some local ladies with handsome daughters, and the general effect was most perfect. The room corresponded with the beauty of the staircase, both in decorations and furniture. It rained the whole day that I was there, and I think the weather must have done it on purpose, as the covered walks had only just been begun. From there I went to Selles; it is a fine house."
I