CHAPTER III

1843

_Rochecotte, February 21, 1843._--I have a letter from M. de Salvandy, breaking a long silence, which he explains as due to his political perplexities. He says that M. Guizot showed him very unworthy treatment but is now courting his favour upon the eve of a serious struggle, while M. Molé, on the other hand, thinks that his help may be useful, and has changed disdainful indifference for extreme attention. Salvandy himself is not anxious either to hurt the King by voting and speaking against M. Guizot, or to support an unpopular and incompetent Ministry. He thinks that the twenty votes which he can sway would be decisive in either direction. He seems to think that the Ministry is greatly compromised, and that even if it should emerge victorious from the struggle upon the secret service funds, it could hardly exist until the end of the session. Meanwhile M. Guizot is giving a monster rout to-morrow, followed by an Arabian Night's supper, to use the romantic expression of Madame de Meulan.[75] The struggle in the Chamber will begin next week, and is likely to be very keen. M. Molé is full of ardour and confidence; his party will include Marshal Vallé, MM. Passy, Dufaure, Dupin, Bignon (of Nantes), de Carné, Laplagne, Salvandy, and Admiral Mackau. M. Thiers declares that he will stand aside for the moment. Such is the gist of M. de Salvandy's letter, which is very long and very literary. I have translated it into ordinary prose.

[75] Mother-in-law of M. Guizot.

I hear from Vienna that Frau von Reichenbach, wife of the old Elector of Hesse Cassel, has just died and left a large fortune to her daughters, one of whom is a sister-in-law of Princess Metternich. The Flahauts have given two very fine balls, at one of which _he_ attempted to waltz with Princess Paul Esterhazy, but as their strength respectively failed, they both fell at full length, apparently with ridiculous effect.

_Rochecotte, February 23, 1843._--The leading articles in the _Journal des Débats_ are becoming very attractive. It is a point of style to refer to the Intrigue as a person; to say the Intrigue does, or speaks, or wishes, or refuses so and so, which is amusing; but I can guess what it means; that M. Molé wishes, or refuses, or demands. It is really somewhat contemptible, and gives rise to actual anxiety, for nothing spoils theatrical effect so much as constant entrances and exits on the part of the actors.

M. d'Arenberg relates a somewhat amusing remark of M. Thiers. At a concert given by the Duchesse de Galliera, the Princesse de Lieven reproached M. Thiers for his want of attention; he told her that he would be more attentive when she had left the Ministry. Another saying of his is also quoted: he is said to have declared that his return to power was by no means a forthcoming event, and that he would wish it to be preceded by the presidency of the Chamber.

_Rochecotte, February 25, 1843._--Yesterday I took from the library a volume of memoirs, entitled _Memoirs of Gaston d'Orléans_, attributed to one of the officers of his household, Aglay de Martignac. I found there this clever and witty observation by Gaston: "During a short stay that the King made at Paris, Monsieur met the Queen when she had just completed a nine days' fast in prayer that she might have children; he said to her in a jesting tone, 'Madame, you have been arousing the sympathy of your judges against myself; I will allow you to win your case if the King is sufficiently strong to secure your wishes.'"

Barante writes to say that the ambassador Pahlen is to go to Germany this summer, and that he would like to do the same, that he might see from this meeting what his chances really are. He also says that the prospects of M. Guizot are somewhat doubtful; that the agitation set on foot by M. Molé has lowered his prestige and compromised him; that Thiers is manœuvring with renewed cleverness, and that falsehood is becoming so habitual with every one that the general spectacle is revolting and depressing.

_Rochecotte, March 1, 1843._--Prince Pierre d'Arenberg, who has been here for two days, brought Madame de Ludre's book,[76] from which he read some chapters yesterday evening in the drawing-room. The poor woman has lost her way in the mazes of metaphysical hair-splitting, and has produced the most extraordinary and incomprehensible jumble that any one could conceive. The ideas of the book and the divisions of it are amazingly eccentric, nor has it any merits of style, and what the object of it may be no one can tell. By way of a rest after this reading we played at nonsense verses, and infantile as this amusement is, it is infinitely more reasonable and intellectual than the sublunary theology of Madame de Ludre.

[76] _Etudes sur les idées et sur leur union au sein du Catholicisme_, two volumes in 8vo, Debécourt, 1842.

_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.

[77] _See_ Appendix.

_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 seals[78] 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]

[78] The Duc Pasquier.

[79] In 1843 the existence of Guizot's Ministry was endangered by the question of the secret service funds. M. Molé, whose Ministry had been overthrown in 1839 by the Thiers-Guizot coalition, thought that the moment was advisable to organise a league against his two adversaries. He went to work secretly by means of conversations in drawing-rooms and passages, and entered into relations with MM. Dufaure and Passy, who abandoned him at the critical moment. The debate on the secret service funds began in the Chamber on March 1 and turned in favour of the Cabinet, M. Guizot gaining one of his most brilliant successes on this occasion.

_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 Clémentine[80] 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.

[80] With Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg Gotha (1818-1881), brother of the Duchesse de Nemours. One of the children of this marriage is the present King of Bulgaria, Ferdinand I.

_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.

[81] The Pavillon Marsan was occupied by the Duchesse d'Orléans.

_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 Guadeloupe[82] 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.

[82] On February 8, 1843, at half-past ten in the morning, an earthquake shock which lasted seventy seconds caused great damage at Guadeloupe, destroyed the town of La Pointe à Pitreand, almost the whole of this French colony, and engulfed thousands of dead and wounded. A great deal of damage was also done in the English Antilles.

[83] In 1843 a Frenchman, M. Faye, discovered a periodic comet, whose orbit he calculated, and which bears his name. This discovery made some stir. M. Faye was awarded the Lalande prize of the Academy of Sciences and was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honour.

[84] A remarkable fragment upon Saint Cyr was printed and published in 1843 for private circulation. It may be regarded as the basis of the work of the Duc de Noailles on _Madame de Maintenon and the Chief Events of the Reign of Louis XIV._ The fragment appears at the beginning of the third volume of this work, which was to open the doors of the French Academy to the Duc de Noailles.

_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 Chancellor[85] 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.

[85] The Duc Pasquier.

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.

[86] His marriage with the Princesse Clémentine.

_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.

_Paris, April 30, 1843._--The charity bazaar for the benefit of the victims in the earthquake at Guadeloupe produced more than a hundred thousand francs net. Those of us who acted as saleswomen had a laborious but not uninteresting task; each of the lady patronesses had some small adventure to relate. The following was mine: A man of some age came and asked me the price of a little porcelain goblet. I replied, "Twenty francs." "Is it French porcelain?" "No, sir, it is Saxony porcelain from the Dresden factory." "From Dresden!" replied the gentleman, "I have unpleasant memories of Dresden, for I am an artillery officer, and during the wars of the Empire I blew up the bridge at Dresden, acting under orders from my superiors." "Well, sir, then you do not know that you are speaking to a German lady?" "You will be generous, madame, and pardon wrongs committed in time of war." "Yes, sir, if you are generous to our poor people." "Give your orders, madame; I will buy anything you like, or at any rate anything I can, for I am not rich." With these words he emptied his purse upon the counter. It contained thirty francs. I was preparing to add a cigar-holder to the goblet when he asked me to give him something of my own make. I substituted some worked slippers for the cigar-holder. The officer took them and said to me very gracefully, "Madame, has peace been made?" "Certainly, sir, signed and ratified."

A provincial lady who came to our stall during the last three days of the sale told us upon the last day that she had been so touched and overcome by our zeal and by our polite and obliging energy that she asked us to accept a little souvenir. She then offered the Comtesse Mollien and myself, who were at the same stall, a pair of lace mittens. We thanked her in the name of the poor, as we thought she intended the lace work for our stall, but she clearly explained that it was for ourselves. She would not tell us her name, and with great difficulty we induced her to accept from us in memory of our stall a cup which we presented to her.

_Paris, May 5, 1843._--Yesterday I called upon Queen Christina. She has intelligent eyes, beautiful skin, a cheerful smile, is pleasantly dimpled and is a ready talker with a slight accent that animates her every observation. She will discuss any subject without embarrassment. A free and easy life is her preference, and I think she is greatly relieved to be far from the throne and political business. The freedom and to some extent the obscurity of her life at Paris suit her to perfection. She has not a single lady-in-waiting, and the number of chamberlains about her are somewhat surprising. Only upon great and unavoidable occasions is Madame de Toreno requested to accompany the Queen. Muñoz is here: he lives quietly in the Queen's house, and is regarded as her husband. Their five children are being brought up at Grenoble. It is confidently stated that he is a sensible man and that his influence over the Queen's mind is supreme. Though not so enormously fat as the Infanta Carlotta, the Queen is much too stout, and her deficiency in this respect is the more obvious as she will not wear stays; besides, she is short of stature. She spoke to me of her Spanish daughters, and said that Queen Isabella had a very dignified bearing, that she was a clever and decided character, entirely made for the difficult part which she is called on to play; that her health had been restored and that she was even strong and robust. She added that unfortunately those about her made no attempt to induce her to study, lest they should lose her favour, and she remained very ignorant. The Queen also told me that the news of her daughters that came to her was reliable, because she had other than official sources of information. She spoke a great deal of the late Duc d'Orléans with extreme regret, saying that his death was a loss not only to France, but even to Spain. "Not that the King," she added, "has been ill-disposed to Spain, but there was in the Prince Royal a youthful ardour and an enterprising spirit which would have been very useful to my daughter."

On the day when the Rouen railway was opened, while the Duc de Nemours was in the tent upon the platform, a lady and gentleman who were also travelling, attempted to come in. The official allowed the lady to pass while the gentleman stopped to talk with some one. When he wished to follow the lady, the official said to him, "You cannot pass here." "But I am a deputy." "No matter." "But you have allowed my wife to go through." "Very likely!" "But there she is, talking to the Prince." "All the more reason why you cannot go through." This answer, which was heard by several people, caused general delight.

The Duc de Nemours is taking every trouble to fulfil the responsibilities of his new position without omission,[87] but this work is obviously an effort to him and he does not show the easy grace which distinguished his elder brother. He goes fairly regularly to the Chamber of Peers and even expresses very correct and reasonable opinions to his neighbours upon the questions before the House, but he speaks coldly and in an embarrassed style and as briefly as possible. Then he may be seen leaving the Chamber on foot and alone with a cigar in his mouth, and thus returning to the Tuileries.

[87] After the death of the Duc d'Orléans in 1842 the Chamber of Deputies passed a law nominating the Duc de Nemours as Regent of the Realm during the minority of the Comte de Paris in the event of the death of the old King. From this time the Prince sat in the Chamber of Peers and made official journeys of inspection through the departments.

_Paris, May 10, 1843._--The Comte de Paris, though hardly five years old, has been definitely handed over to male guardianship. His tutor will sleep in his room. His nurse, however, will still look after him. The arrangement seems to be due to the King's wishes. The Duchesse d'Orléans is vexed by it. Since her widowhood she had not returned to her own bedroom and had slept in the nurse's bed in the room of the Comte de Paris.

_Paris, May 12, 1843._--I had a long interview yesterday with the King. He spoke of Prussia, whither I am to make a journey, and expressed his dissatisfaction at the fact that the King of Prussia went to England last year and afterwards came to Neuchâtel,[88] but went along the whole frontier of France from Ostend to Bâle without touching French territory. However King Louis-Philippe had asked the King of Prussia to come by way of Compiègne where they would have met. The King of Prussia declined the invitation, replying that his shortest journey was through Belgium and that his time was fully engaged. It seems that His Prussian Majesty was anxious to avoid a meeting, even with the King of the Belgians, but as the latter had gone to Ostend for that purpose, he was obliged to give way. The greatest ill-feeling was caused by the remark of the King of Prussia, in reply to some one who expressed his astonishment at His Majesty's refusal to travel through France: "What can you expect; we have promised not to offer any isolated act of politeness to King Louis-Philippe." The French King, deeply wounded, has since ordered his diplomatic officials to refuse passports to foreign princes who might wish to come to Paris incognito, in order to save himself the necessity of meeting them, as the Princes of Würtemberg have done and as the Grand Duke Michael of Russia was inclined to do. Orders have been given upon the frontiers to exercise the strictest supervision in this respect.

[88] The country of Neuchâtel had been ceded to Frederick I., King of Prussia, in 1707, and became French territory from 1806 to 1814. The treaties of Vienna had restored it to Frederick William III., though it remained within the Swiss Confederation. The state of things was to continue until the revolution of 1848, when the mountaineers expelled the Prussians. Frederick William IV. did not finally abandon his rights until 1850, and a convention signed on May 24, 1852, secured the independence of Neuchâtel while reserving to Prussia her rights.

Madame Adélaïde seems to be quite in despair at the marriage of Princesse Clémentine which will not provide her with a brilliant position, while the Prince is a nonentity. Madame told me it was very embarrassing and "even worse than the Duke Alexander of Würtemberg." Madame and the King explained their consent to this marriage on the ground that it was impossible to refuse to a daughter aged twenty-six a marriage which was not absolutely unsuitable, when no other prospects were in view. Madame and the King are astonished at the delight which the Princess shows at the prospect of going to Coburg, after her first travels, for there she will find very few social resources, while her position as a Princess of Orléans and a Catholic may prove a source of trouble and embarrassment amid all the little Courts of Germany; but this young and amiable Princess is delighted by the prospect of change and novelty.

_Paris, May 15, 1843._--Yesterday I had the honour to receive commissions from the Duchesse d'Orléans to be performed by me in Prussia. She is especially intimate with her cousin, the Princess of Prussia, whose distinction of mind and lofty character please all her intimate friends and deepen their attachment to her. The Duchesse d'Orléans seemed to me more despondent yesterday than she was the first time that I saw her after her widowhood had begun. She seems to feel more and more profoundly her cruel desolation. Many circumstances have also contributed to embitter her temper for some time. She expresses herself in gentle and measured terms, but with less restraint. The departure of the Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg has left her very lonely, and I found her at one of those moments when the mind cannot suffice for itself, when the power of resistance is yielding, and when confidence became an imperative need. Relying upon my sympathy and my loyalty to the memory which she adores, the Princess threw off restraint and opened her heart in a manner which touched me profoundly. She spoke with bitterness, for which she was the first to reproach herself, of her feelings when the Duc de Nemours was obliged to perform in public those duties which the late Prince performed so admirably; the opening of a railway, a race meeting, or a public function of the kind, are so many wounds to her. She spoke naturally, with perfect choice of language. Her conversation was also deeply marked with religious feeling. She referred briefly to the marriage of Princesse Clémentine, and her impressions seemed to coincide with those of Madame Adélaïde. In short, I stayed two hours with the Duchesse d'Orléans, who seemed to find some relief in talking, an unusual pleasure for her, as her life is confined within somewhat narrow limits. She talks remarkably well, and shows a shrewdness of observation and a constant desire to please. Perhaps all this is too good to be true, and so I was somewhat relieved to see her lose her self-command for the first time. In order to admire her as she deserves, I was waiting for her emotion to become predominant, and I was not disappointed.

_Paris, May 18, 1843._--Yesterday I met Father de Ravignan at the house of the Abbé Dupanloup. I was delighted by his noble face and the gentle gravity of his talk. The domination which he exerts in the pulpit disappears in conversation; he is grave and gentle, speaks slowly and in a low tone; the depth of his melancholy gaze is in consonance with a smile that is benevolent, but in no sense lively. He speaks of God with love, of man with forbearance, of the interests of the clergy with moderation, of the triumph of religion with ardour, of himself with modesty, and of the situation in general with wisdom; in short, he inspires confidence and esteem. He hardly ever leaves Paris, and his chief task is now to keep together by constant efforts the young people whom he has attracted and gathered by his brilliant lectures; he hears confessions practically only from men, but they come to him in crowds, and last Easter Day the number of young men who were present at the Sacrament was prodigious. Twelve pupils from the Polytechnic School in uniform were observed. Two years ago a rosary was found in one of the corridors of the school: the pupils seized it, fastened it to the end of a pole, which they set up in the courtyard, and amid much laughter and mockery shouted, "Let us see if the loser of this rosary will dare to claim it." One of the pupils then advanced and said firmly, "The rosary is mine and I wish to have it back." He spoke with such simplicity and courage that no one replied to him by a light word. From that day several followed his example, and now there are a dozen openly professing Catholics in the school.

I am assured that the King has spoken with some vehemence against the Protestants and that he expressed his fear of them. The Duchesse d'Orléans, moved by prudence, diplomacy or conviction, has repeatedly said to the King since her widowhood began; "You may be certain, Sire, that I shall never become the female pope of the Protestants."

M. Guizot, who came this morning to say farewell to me, told me that the King would no longer be satisfied by the return of the Russian Ambassador to Paris; that he had resolved not to resume the equivocal relations with the Emperor Nicholas which had subsisted since 1830 and that an interchange of ambassadors would only take place if the Emperor wrote and addressed him as "brother." M. Guizot takes to himself the honour for the new step adopted by the King with reference to the European courts. He spoke to me at great length of the Duchesse d'Orléans and the tenor of his remarks which I believe to be correct, was as follows: he thinks her very clever, self-restrained, dignified, graceful and a good manager; but she has a restless imagination, feels the need for action and the desire to produce an effect, while her judgment is sometimes ill-balanced; she has also a certain tinge of German affectation and a tendency to preciosity of language, while her liberal tendencies are due to her Protestant sympathies and her desire for popularity. As she feels herself cleverer than the Duc de Nemours and knows that he is not ambitious, she has no fear of him, but she is afraid of the King, who also mistrusts her mental attitude. Her relations with the Queen are by no means intimate and grow cooler every day. She is on better terms with Madame Adélaïde and has one friend in the family, the Prince de Joinville, who is truly an heroic nature, brilliant, undaunted, independent and bold, while he is very fond of his sister-in-law. The Duc d'Aumale, who is a capable and courageous soldier, is behaving excellently in Africa and showing every qualification for the position of Viceroy of Algeria which is in store for him. The Duc de Montpensier, perhaps the cleverest of the King's sons, is still very young and is of no account at present.

_Clermont-en-Argonne, May 21, 1843._--My journey has passed off without accident, but the weather is damp and unpleasant and the country looks very dreary; however, from this point onwards, it is more diversified and wooded and corresponds to the description of the Argonne which I read at Baden some years ago. Travelling in a pretty country with some friend, in fine weather, with curiosity aroused and satisfied, may certainly be charming, but to be transported in a box on wheels without interest or attraction is the most foolish of all imaginable occupations.

_Metz, May 22, 1843._--The church of Meaux is being restored and the houses about it are being pulled down. Had it not been for the damp and for a slight indisposition which I feel, I should have gone in: I have been anxious for so long a time to see the pulpit where Bossuet preached. I have finished the second volume of Walckenauer on Madame de Sévigné and prefer it to the first; it is cleverly written and the interest is well sustained; new information is given upon a theme which seemed to be exhausted, information that has been collected with great trouble and is cleverly expounded. I gained a better understanding of the great trial of Fouquet from this book than from any other.

_Saarbrück, May 23, 1843._--I am travelling terribly fast, am now beyond the French frontier and shall soon cross another frontier in the shape of the Rhine. Every stage that I pass saddens me and even a post painted black and white, or a brook is too much.

I have read the first half of the first volume of M. de Custine's work on Russia.[89] The preface is too metaphysical, though there is a passage on Protestantism and the so-called national and political churches which is clever and striking; further there is a faithful portrait of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Russia. I was especially struck by two chapters composed of letters to the late Madame de Custine, the author's mother. A short account is given of this amiable woman's heroic life: she was one of my friends and I have deeply regretted her; in point of age she might have been my mother and retained very little of her beauty when I knew her, but she had great charm and every attractive quality. I have been constantly told that she was a great coquette and I daresay this statement is true; she was left a widow so young and was so pretty and so unguarded that such behaviour was natural and excusable. The same behaviour was attributed to her at the time when I knew her; the fact may have been true, but her manner was reserved and quiet, she spoke modestly and her appearance was absolutely respectable. I saw her die without a murmur; in consequence, I am favourably, even indulgently disposed towards M. de Custine and his books, which are always clever, sometimes talented, and are very true when he writes of Russia. I do not think, however, that he should publish so much truth when gratitude should order him to be silent, but men of letters will do anything. They are a class of whom I think very little.

[89] M. de Custine had collected the memories of his journey in Russia in a work in four volumes, entitled _Russia in 1839_.

_Mannheim, May 24, 1843._--My slight indisposition makes me annoyed with everything I do. M. de Custine's book is the only thing which seems to suit me; in spite of the affectation of the style and the brilliancy which is obvious even where it rather diminishes than heightens the effect, and a constant attempt at display, the book amuses and interests me. I do not know enough of the places or the facts to check the accuracy of the narrative or descriptions, but by tradition or from my Russian acquaintances I am well enough informed to consider the resemblances perfect. His story, for instance of the thousands of workmen who were sacrificed in order to rebuild the Imperial Winter Palace at St. Petersburg with undue rapidity, was related to me at Berlin. The plague of vermin at St. Petersburg, especially of bugs, was also well known to me and the following instance was told me by the Prince of Prussia at the marriage of his niece:[90] he said that the newly built palace was dried by excessive artificial heat and was so infested with vermin that the bride was devoured the first night that she slept there and was obliged to appear at the entertainments covered with red marks. She changed her rooms the next day, but I am assured that the plague was very general, and that the best-kept houses are not exempt from it. This is to be explained by the superheating and the way in which houses are hermetically sealed for nine months in the year.

[90] The reference is to the marriage of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Russia, afterwards Alexander II., with the daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse Darmstadt, which was celebrated at St. Petersburg on April 16, 1841.

The following message reached me from the Grand Duchess Stephanie and is very characteristic of her. It was a kind and even tender note in which she told me that she would call at ten o'clock and bring me back to lunch with her at eleven, after a drive to take advantage of the fine weather; and this though she knew that since Metz I have been in the open air without a break. However, one must take people as they are and I should not care to show reluctance for the single day that I am here. Further, the weather is really very fine.

_Mannheim, May 25, 1843._--The Grand Duchess came for me yesterday morning at ten o'clock. I found her much older and depressed. The same people are with her; old Walsch, clever and tactless, who appears in the evening, the Baroness Sturmfeder who gives a good appearance to the household, the excellent little Kageneck, the modest Schreckenstein and the old almoner. At dinner there were also Prince Charles of Solms, son-in-law of the Queen of Hanover and a Count Herding, of whom I have nothing to say. I was overwhelmed with questions but I also allowed myself to ask a few. Princess Marie, or rather the Marchioness of Douglas is travelling in Italy and is deeply in love with her handsome husband who appears to answer all her wishes. I had full details of the wedding, the presents, the splendour of it and the settlements, etc. It was all very magnificent. The couple are soon to come this way on their road to England and Scotland. Princess Marie is thought to be with child. Lord Douglas took her from Venice to Goritz, where she was very kindly received by the illustrious exiles: while there she wrote to her mother saying that the Duc de Bordeaux has a handsome face and is a pleasant talker, but his figure is terribly heavy and he limps a great deal. Mademoiselle, though very attractive, was too small and lacking in distinction. The Grand Duchess will shortly pay a visit to her daughter, Princess Wasa, who is living in the castle of Eichorn, two leagues from Brünn in Moravia. Prince Wasa insists upon a divorce: the Princess will not consent and the Grand Duchess, who has every reason to fear a trial, wishes to induce her daughter not to run the risk and to come back to Mannhein here, though she is not personally enchanted with the prospect, as she fears the unbalanced and troublesome character of her daughter Louise. Prince Wasa has behaved very rudely to his mother-in-law and is, moreover, almost ruined. All this is a great anxiety to the Grand Duchess. She has given up the castle of Baden to the Grand Duke and bought his town house which she proposes to enlarge, to decorate and to beautify generally.

_Cologne, May 26, 1843._--I embarked this morning at Mayence where I arrived yesterday morning in fine sun-light but also in a violent wind. Rain and hail soon alternated with the hurricane and the waves of the Rhine rose and became unpleasantly maritime in character. The Grand Duchess Stephanie told me that she thought the reputation of the Rhine scenery exaggerated, and I am inclined to agree with her. The river is beautiful and magnificently framed: the villages, the churches, and the ruins surround it with historical recollections, it is true, but the lack of vegetation gives an unpleasant aridity to the country; however, the journey is interesting and even poetical if anybody is so minded. The castle of Stolzenfels, as seen from the boat, is pretty but by no means grandiose; this is a castle which the King of Prussia has just restored and enlarged so that he was able to stay there with sixty people on his last visit; the interior is said to be charming and to command an excellent view. As for Rheinstein which Prince Frederick has laid out, it is quite a small place: it can only be approached on horseback, whereas it is possible to drive up to Stolzenfels. The several communes which owned old ruined castles on the Rhine have presented them to different princes of the house of Prussia: thus, apart from Stolzenfels, which belongs to the King, and Rheinstein, which belongs to Prince Frederick, the Prince of Prussia has received a castle, as also has Prince Charles, and even the Queen has her own. They are all on the left bank and the King has ordered the new owners to restore them and make them habitable. The castle of Hornbach, where Young Germany held its revolutionary meetings, before the establishment of the Commission of Mayence, is on the right bank and in the Bavarian states: the King of Bavaria has just presented it to his son, the Prince Royal; he has changed its name and it is now called Maxburg.

I made some progress to-day with the second volume of M. de Custine. He reports conversations which he had with the Emperor and Empress, which are graceful and lively, but were inspired by the idea that they would be printed. As I read all these I wondered if a traveller who owes his magnificent entertainment to the fear of his judgment as an author, to the desire that he may show his hosts kindness in his book, and avoid any partiality in his descriptions, is bound by the same degree of gratitude as the traveller who is well treated from disinterested motives, merely because his character happens to please. I admit that my judgment in this respect wavers a little and though in any case I should think a delicate discretion preferable, I cannot help finding some excuse for a man who thinks himself less entirely bound by interested politeness than he would be by spontaneous kindness. In any case the imperial conversations are described in a sufficiently laudatory style: the most unfettered and critical mind is always more or less influenced by marks of condescension from a crown. None the less this work will cause profound dissatisfaction in Russia and the welcome given to travellers will certainly be colder and more reserved.

_Iserlohn, May 27, 1843._--I left Cologne this morning without regretting the inn of Rheinsberg. All these inns on the banks of the Rhine are nicely situated. They contain furniture of inlaid wood, and stuffed sofas with pretty coverings; but their proximity to the water and their exposed position make them very cold. The want of fireplaces is displeasing, as wind and damp have an easier entrance owing to the lack of shutters and blinds. In the month of May the double windows have been removed, and I really regret them. Daylight, which arrives before four o'clock, and cannot be excluded, leads to untimely waking, and is an inconvenience at which I grumbled the more as the noise of forty-five steamboats, the bells which announced their departure and the clatter of the stokers, make an uproar which lasts for nearly twenty-four hours; then there is the noise made by people coming and going in the inn, and the combination is enough to make one ill. Had it not been for the rain, I should have gone this morning to the Cathedral to see how far our subscriptions--for I have also subscribed--have advanced the work upon this fine monument during the last three years; but the weather was so bad, and I felt so worn out by the most execrable little German bed in all its Teutonic purity, that I had no courage to get wet in order to satisfy my curiosity, and re-entered my carriage in a bad temper.

_Cassel, May 28, 1843._--It rained hard all last night, and is raining still. The outlook is melancholy and depressing. To-day I am going to Göttingen, to-morrow to Brunswick, and the day after to-morrow to Harbke. I shall be interested to see Brunswick, which I do not know, and Göttingen, whose turbulent students and liberal professors have so often roused the wrath of the King of Hanover.

I am still immersed in M. de Custine. In the third volume there is a letter concerning Princess Trubetzkoi,[91] who followed her husband to the mines of Siberia with noble devotion. The effects are so striking that no rhetoric is required to make them impressive. Conscious of this fact, the author has increased the impressiveness of this terrible drama in its last phase by simplifying his style. The scene which concludes this unusual story of misfortune moved me deeply. In my youth I heard many stories of Siberia from my father, and for that reason, I suppose, I feel a keen sympathy with the unfortunate wretches who are there buried alive.

[91] Prince Sergius Trubetzkoi, when very young, had taken an active part in a conspiracy which broke out at St. Petersburg in 1825 with reference to the right of the Emperor Nicholas to the throne of Russia. He was accused of usurping the crown from his brother Constantine. Condemned to death by the Supreme Court of Justice, the punishment was commuted to perpetual exile in Siberia. There he was obliged to work in the mines as a convict. The Emperor Nicholas remained inflexible throughout his life, and would never pardon the conspirator against his person, who was not released until 1855 by Alexander II. on his accession to the throne. Princess Trubetzkoi, urged by passionate devotion, followed her husband into exile, and her action was regarded as the more heroic, as the married couple had previously lived on somewhat cold terms.

_Brunswick, May 29, 1843._--Nothing but rain with occasional bursts of hail, and by way of diversion a miserable ray of sunlight which steals shamefully forth to announce a new storm. Brunswick is an old and rather ugly town, with large and gloomy houses, an old church in full Gothic style, and a town hall even more Gothic. It is a great relief to find something really old after a succession of little capitals rebuilt without character or historical memory, with their tawdry modern ornamentation. I noticed a magnificent breed of post horses and draught and military horses; they are splendid, strong and vigorous animals; I do not know whether the district produces them or if they are brought from Mecklenburg.

When any one's memory is as full of your stories of the United States as mine is,[92] and when one reads the stories of M. de Custine concerning Russia, it is difficult to say which of the two countries seems the more objectionable, as their bad points are so precisely in contradiction; but with regard to the Russians, I think I forgot to tell you an incident which might very well find a place in M. de Custine's quotations. When I was recently in Paris for the last time, I called upon my niece, Madame de Lazareff, to say good-bye. She said to me, "You have quite an imperial countenance this morning, aunt." I did not understand, and told her so. "Oh," she replied, "at St. Petersburg, when any one looks particularly well, that is what we say." Is not that excellent?

[92] Extract from a letter.

_Harbke, May 31, 1843._--I left Brunswick yesterday morning, but the journey here took a great deal of time, and caused me many screams of terror. To begin with, even the highroads in the Duchy of Brunswick are far from admirable, while Harbke is at the end of a horrible cross-road. The terrible rains of the last few days have ruined the roads to such an extent that I really thought we should stick fast. When I arrived, I found the poor old master of the house[93] ill, and his wife in great anxiety. I was anxious to start again at once in order not to embarrass them at such a time, but neither Frau von Veltheim nor the invalid himself would hear of this plan; so I shall start to-morrow very early, and reach Berlin, if God wills, in the evening.

[93] Count Veltheim (1781-1848).

This place is very well arranged for a German château. It is of considerable extent, and would have some style if the old building had not been modernised instead of being left as it was. The garden is well kept and adjoins beautiful woods. The mistress of the house has no children, and is devoted to flowers and birds, even to some noisy cockatoos; she is scrupulously neat, and is aged sixty-two: a tall, thin, pale figure, she is always dressed in white muslin: and her lace caps and her shawls, all tied with white ribbons, give her a somewhat ghostly appearance. The Veltheim family is most noble and ancient, and the members are well aware of the fact; she is a Bülow. Count Veltheim's first wife, from whom he is divorced, is now Countess Putbus, the mother of Countess Lottum, and of the young Putbus who died at Carlsruhe. The Veltheims are very wealthy, and a certain note of opulence prevails in the house where, however, the useful and the agreeable are in very close conjunction. There is no view, as the castle is built in a hollow and overlooked by wooded hills. From the top of one of these hills the Hartz mountains can be seen distinctly on the horizon, while the Brocken, where Goethe placed the supernatural scenes of _Faust_, stands out very clearly.

_Magdeburg, June 1, 1843._--A most annoying incident has just happened; I have missed the train for Berlin which I hoped to reach this evening, and I ought to be very satisfied that I have got so far safe and sound; to cover thirteen leagues, the distance from Harbke to this town, I was obliged to spend ten hours on the road. The continuous deluge of the last few days and the waterspouts which have burst over the country, have devastated everything, swollen the streams, carried away the dykes, swept away earth, &c. Nothing can describe my anxiety.

_Berlin, June 2, 1843._--At length I have reached the first halting-place on my long and tiresome journey. I have arrived literally at the end of my resources, with a ragged dress, reduced to my last crown and so exhausted that I feel as if I had spinal curvature. The railway from Magdeburg here is very well managed and the journey is accomplished in eight hours, though the line is not direct, as the railway passes through Dessau and Wittenberg. I did as I have done on board the steamers and remained in my own carriage: this seemed to me the most suitable plan, as I had no male companion and a very mixed number of people were travelling.

_Berlin, June 3, 1843._--The Duchesse d'Albuféra writes to say that Princesse Clémentine went to Brest to embark for Lisbon and Brittany where she was excellently received; while good news has arrived from the Prince de Joinville and the Duc d'Aumale is distinguishing himself in Algeria. The Duchesse de Montmorency tells me of an extraordinary incident: Madame de Dolomieu has sold for thirty-five thousand francs certain autograph letters by living writers in which there are some that could only be circulated with unpleasant consequences. The King of France bought back his letters for twenty-five thousand francs. Really impudence at the present time knows no bounds! General Fagel forced Madame de Dolomieu to buy back for eight hundred francs a letter from the King of the Low Countries which he had given her and which she had sold with the collection.

The author of the tragedy of _Lucrèce_, M. Ponsard, and the author of the tragedy of _Judith_, Madame Emile de Girardin, whose plays have met with such different receptions, came across one another at the house of the Duchesse de Gramont. Madame de Girardin was bursting with rage, in a manner said to be absolutely grotesque.

_Berlin, June 4, 1843._--Yesterday I saw the Countess of Reede. The old and agreeable lady, who always treats me as her daughter, received me with open arms and soon put me in possession of all current news. She is at the head of the faction hostile to Princesse Albert, who has gone to Silesia. Her position here is abominable, and though the King has so far supported her as not to allow his son to divorce her, the Princess feels herself entirely out of place in society and at the Court.

I went to tea with the Princess of Prussia. Her husband was there and has grown stout, and I am sorry to see how she has changed, as the beauty of which I thought so much has disappeared. As she is young and strong, I hope that her freshness will return.

_Berlin, June 5, 1843._--Yesterday was a day of hard work. First came Sunday mass; then I went home for a long business talk with Herr von Wurmb and Herr von Wolff, and then went to Madame de Perponcher, and then to the Werthers; they are to see their son again to-day who is Prussian Minister at Berne. I then called upon Lady Westmoreland, who had just heard that one of her sons, whom she had left in England, was seriously ill. Finally, I went to the Radziwills.

I dined with the Princess of Prussia. The other guests were the Prince and Princess William, the uncle and aunt, their son who has come back from Brazil, the Werthers, Countess Neale, the Radziwills, Prince Pückler-Muskau, and Max von Hatzfeldt. It was a fine and splendid dinner in the prettiest palace in the world, but the stormy weather made every one ill. I did not know Prince Pückler, who has been able to recover favour at Court,[94] at any rate to some extent, in the following way: The Prince of Prussia was anxious to improve his park at Babelsberg in Potsdam, and told his gardener to write to the gardener of Muskau, requesting him to obtain a few weeks leave from his master to come and lay out the garden of Babelsberg. The Prince of Prussia then received a letter from Prince Pückler, telling him that the real gardener of Muskau was himself, and that he was starting forthwith for Babelsberg for a consultation with the Prince's gardener. When he arrived he undertook the whole of the gardener's business and began to lay out walks, clumps of trees, &c. Some days afterwards the Prince of Prussia found him hard at work, and naturally thanked him, asked him to dinner, and now he has become quite the fashion. He told me that he was starting to-day for Muskau, asked me to pay a visit to his park when I was at Sagan, and offered his help in laying out the park of Sagan.

[94] Prince Pückler in his works had shown an independence and boldness of judgment which, in conjunction with his liberal ideas, seemed far too advanced for so retrograde a court as that of Prussia, and had obliged him to absent himself.

M. and Madame Bresson called for me later on and took me to the opera, where _Robert le Diable_ was performed, and conducted by Meyerbeer himself. The performance was excellent, but the heat was frightful. Many people came into our box, including Maurice Esterhazy, who seemed to me somewhat depressed.

_Berlin, June 6, 1843._--I have had a call from Humboldt, who said that two years hence there would be a national representative assembly sitting at Berlin, that it would be at first consultative and afterwards deliberative.

I am struck by the animation of Berlin since it has become a railway centre. The population has increased by fifty thousand people and the development of manufacture and luxury is very marked. The following is a curious little anecdote: Upon the death of the Duc d'Orléans the Empress of Russia and the Prince of Prussia, who were at St. Petersburg, attempted to persuade the Emperor to take the opportunity of writing directly to King Louis-Philippe; he refused, but told the Empress that he would authorise her to write to the Duchesse d'Orléans. The two Princesses had known one another formerly in Germany, and were on such intimate terms as to speak in the second person singular; the Empress wrote in German, using this form; she received a somewhat cold answer in French from which it was absent. The Empress was much hurt, and complained to her aunt, the Princess William of Prussia, sister of the Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg; the Empress asserts that it is very rude to reply in another language than that used by the first correspondent, and that if the Duchesse d'Orléans thought it her duty to use only the language of her children's country, she, the Empress, would do the same next time and would write in Russian.

I have seen M. Bresson, who told me that recently, in a club at St. Petersburg, the Emperor spoke to the French Chargé d'Affaires, and asked, "When is M. Barante coming back?"

I dined with the Wolffs. There were also present, Count Alvensleben, Finance Minister; Herr von Olfers, Director of the Museum; Huden, the Councillor of State; and Barry, who is the first doctor in Berlin after Schönlein. I then went to Lady Westmoreland, whom I found very old and much changed, but witty and pleasant as ever. She told me that Lord Jersey was inconsolable on account of Sarah's marriage with Nicholas Esterhazy, who, however, is happy so far. Old Lord Westmoreland has treated his son as badly as possible in his will, and Lady Georgina Fane, far from showing her brother any kindness, as has been said, insisted upon the prompt execution of the will with such severity that the Westmorelands would be in serious difficulty were it not for their post in Berlin. When I left Lady Westmoreland I called on Countess Neale, one of my oldest acquaintances in this world; I found her alone, and we spent a long time talking of our young days.

_Berlin, June 9, 1843._--Yesterday I dined with the Princess of Prussia; she is really a very interesting character, and her regular kindness to myself and her increasing confidence, make me ever more attached to herself and her fortunes. I am anxious for her health, and I fear that she is right in regarding it as seriously affected. There was a numerous company at her dinner: Princess Charles, her sister; my two nephews Biron; the Prince of Wurtemberg, the youngest of the brothers of the Grand Duchess Helena; the latter told me that the Grand Duke Michael was shortly to reach Marienbad, and from thence would go to England. The King of Hanover was taken ill in the course of his journey to England, and was unable to reach London for the baptism; he is said to be in a very bad state and overcome with the idea, which is probably correct, that he is going to die. This notion has taken a strong hold of his mind, as a prophecy was made to him that he would die in the year in which his son was married.

_Berlin, June 11, 1843._--Yesterday I went to Charlottenburg to visit the mausoleum of the late king, by the side of the late queen's tomb. The chapel has been enlarged, but the general effect is lost and I was not pleased, although the altar of black and white marble is one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. The walls are covered with Bible texts which the present King himself chose, painted in golden letters upon sky-blue scrolls; the effect is somewhat Moorish; the general appearance is by no means Christian. Protestant architecture is certainly dry both in outward form, in its general worship, and in the essence of its mutable doctrines.

_Berlin, June 14, 1843._--Yesterday, after dining by the chair of the Countess of Reede, her daughter, Madame de Perponcher, took me round the grand rooms in the castle to show me the Rittersaal which the King has just restored. Some curious portraits and some furniture dating from the Great Elector give a certain interest to these rooms though upon the whole they are very moderate. We left the Countess to go to the German Comedy Theatre where we saw an excellent performance of _Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle_,[95] for translations from the French stage are continually played in Germany.

[95] This play, by Alexandre Dumas père, was then given at the Theatre Royal of Berlin (Schauspielhaus) from the German translation by L. Osten.

A historical novel has just appeared which is quite the rage here, called _The Moor_,[96] and deals with the period of Gustavus III. The author, who has been many years in Sweden, had access to the archives of the realm, and the documents which he quotes are authentic. People here say that a negro actually lived at the court of Queen Ulrica and that most of the characters and incidents of the novel are true. I am reading it with much interest; as I knew the Baron of Arnfelt in my youth (in fact, he taught me to read) I am particularly interested in anything relating to him. M. de Talleyrand also spoke to me often of Gustavus III., of whom he saw a great deal at the time of his second visit to Paris when he was returning from Rome. The King of Sweden at that time had gained the ear of the Pope to such an extent that he thought he could easily obtain the cardinal's hat for one of his friends. He suggested that M. de Talleyrand should present his request, but the favour was declined, as the equivocal reputation of Gustavus III. would have given the request an unpleasant colouring.[97] At the same time the Princesse de Carignan,[98] the grandmother of the present King of Sardinia, who was strongly attracted by M. de Talleyrand (at that time he was Abbé of Périgord, before he became Bishop of Autun), thought herself also sufficiently influential at Rome to secure the necessary dispensations which would have enabled my uncle to marry her if he became a layman. M. de Talleyrand has often told me as one of the strangest incidents of his life that he was thus simultaneously involved in two contradictory projects, both requiring the sanction of the court of Rome; he also told me that Gustavus III. was a very clever and agreeable character.

[96] This novel, _Der Mohr oder das Haus Holstein-Gattorp in Schweden_, which appeared anonymously, takes as its hero a negro named Badin, who is said to have been actually brought from Africa to Sweden during his youth in 1751.

[97] William III., who had been at Rome in 1771 as Crown Prince, returned to that city after his accession in 1783. Pius VI. was then Pope, and received the King with the greatest kindness. In June 1784 Gustavus III. came to Paris to revisit Queen Marie Antoinette, to whom he was greatly attached.

[98] The Princesse de Carignan, the grandmother of King Charles Albert, was a Princess Joséphine of Lorraine and a sister of the charming Princesse Charlotte, the Abbess of Remiremont, for whom M. de Talleyrand felt so profound an affection.

_Berlin, June 15, 1843._--M. de Talleyrand arrived here the day before yesterday. We dined at the house of the Radziwills with M. Bresson who told me of the marriage of the Prince de Joinville. He is marrying a Brazilian princess who is pretty and lovable with a dowry of four million francs.

We spent the rest of the evening with the Princess of Prussia who was alone with her husband. I am sorry to think that this kind Princess will not be here on my return on the 23rd: she is starting for Weimar on the 20th and is to spend the summer with her mother. I feel very anxious about her health and spirits which are greatly depressed.

_Berlin, June 16, 1843._--Yesterday I went with the Countess Neale to Potsdam by railway, to dine at Glienicke with Princess Charles of Prussia. The weather was rather cold but dry and clear. Prince Adalbert of Prussia who has just come back from Brazil was also there. He had seen the Princesse de Joinville at Rio de Janeiro and spoke of her as very pretty and pleasant; for the sake of the young Prince I am delighted.

In the evening I saw Madame Chreptowitz, _née_ Nesselrode, who is coming from St. Petersburg on her way to Naples where her husband has been appointed Chargé d'Affaires. She says that M. de Custine's book is quite the rage at St. Petersburg, and rage is the correct term, for the book rouses the Russians to fearful wrath. They assert that it is full of falsehoods. The Emperor reads it attentively, speaks of it disdainfully, and is really disgusted with it. An amusing incident in reference to this subject, is the statement of Madame de Meyendorff, the wife of the Russian minister at Berlin, who loudly declares that the book is as true as it is amusing and says she hopes that it will teach the Russians to be less conceited.

Herr von Liebermann, Prussian Minister at St. Petersburg, who is also here on his way to Carlsbad, told me yesterday that his health and spirits had suffered severely at St. Petersburg and that he would be dead if he had not obtained leave of absence. The fact is that he looks very ill, in spite of his bloated appearance, and seems to be quite disgusted with Russia.

The King of Denmark has announced that he will visit the King of Prussia in the island of Rügen.

_Sagan, June 17, 1843._--I arrived here this morning. I am staying in a pretty house opposite the castle where my father's chief agent used to live. I found a courier there who had come over from Muskau, asking me to go there and meet the Prince of Prussia. I shall therefore return to Berlin by way of Muskau and spend a day there.

In company with Herr von Wolff I drove round part of my new acquisition, including the forest, and was delighted by the stags and roe deer which came round the carriage.

_Sagan, June 19, 1843._--Yesterday was Sunday and I went to high mass in a very pretty church in the town. The service was choral and was very tolerably performed. Then I went to the castle to examine the books and other objects which, however, are by no means valuable and which I have bought with the rest of the fief. This transaction somewhat confuses my position towards my nephew the Prince of Hohenzollern, and produces a very disagreeable mixture of meum and tuum, which I shall bring to an end as soon as possible.

This morning I went to the little church where my sister is buried and had mass said on her behalf. I explained to an architect the restoration which I desired to make in this church. On leaving it I paid a visit to the schools, the shelters and the factories. I then returned to dinner with the officers of the artillery battery and garrison here; they had invited the Prefect and several other persons from the town.

_Muskau, June 20, 1843._--I could write a long account of this household and can say at once that it has an individuality of its own. I left Sagan this morning at about nine o'clock and arrived here at one o'clock. The road is not bad, though near Muskau a sea of sand begins which reduces speed almost to the point of immobility. It is therefore a double surprise to drive through the freshest and greenest of parks, as full of flowers and as carefully tended as can be imagined. It is quite like England, with all its care and comfort expended both without and within the castle. A very noble flight of stairs bordered by fine orange-trees leads to the castle court which would be modern in style if it were not for the towers crowned by belfries, which give it an imposing aspect not to be found in modern edifices. At the foot of the stairs I found Prince Pückler surrounded by footmen, lacqueys, Arabs and negroes, a very strange and motley troop. He immediately conducted me to my room which is most luxurious; a sitting-room full of flowers, a bedroom draped with white muslin, and a dressing-room in a tower; even my servants say they have never been so well lodged. The Prince of Prussia has been detained at Berlin on business and will not arrive until to-morrow. Princess Carolath, step-daughter of Prince Pückler, came to apologise for the absence of her mother, Princess Pückler, who was not quite well and had not yet finished dressing. Shortly afterwards she came in: she is very pleasant, extremely distinguished and talks most admirably upon every subject.

Among the strange inhabitants of this castle is a very tiny little dwarf,[99] no taller than a child of four, perfectly proportioned and dressed as a Pole. He is nineteen years of age and is much petted and dressed up; he seems happy, though he made a very sad impression on me.

[99] The famous "Billy," as the Prince's friends called him.

_Muskau, June 21, 1843._--The close of yesterday was spoilt by a cold, sharp and gusty wind which suddenly arose to sadden the country and freeze poor mortal frames after three days warm weather. After dinner I looked over the rest of the house. Everything is very nice, though the proportions within are by no means upon a vast scale: flowers have been very artistically used for decoration and give a special beauty to the rooms; the Princess's room resembles a hothouse and an aviary at the same time. I was especially struck by a portrait of the Prince fastened to the Princess's desk round which laurel branches were artistically placed: they belong to two laurels which stand in pots on either side of the desk; a little vase of forget-me-nots was placed between the portrait and the writing pad. This is one of the thousand details in this union which was broken off and restored and which is quite unparalleled; for though in society one may often meet people who have separated but have not been divorced, it is much more unusual to meet divorced people who have not been separated.[100]

[100] Princess Pückler was divorced in 1817 by Count Charles von Pappenheim and married Hermann Pückler in the same year. They were divorced in 1826 because Prince Pückler, who was almost ruined by his wild extravagance, wished to marry a rich English woman, a Miss Harriet Hamlet. This project failed, and the Prince and his wife, though legally divorced, began life again very happily under the same roof, though they were not remarried.

In spite of the disagreeable cold and the bitter wind which would have excused a fire, we went for a drive round the park in an open carriage. Prince Pückler sat by my side, to act as showman to this extraordinary estate. In England it would be fine and here it is marvellous. He has created not merely a park but a country: sandy plains, white and dusty hills, have been changed into verdant slopes and fresh green lawns; superb trees rise upon every side, clumps of flowers frame the castle; a pretty stream brightens the whole and the town of Muskau gives interest to the landscape which is rich, diversified and full of beauty; yet, throughout this drive which lasted for two hours, Prince Pückler would talk of nothing but his desire to sell this fair creation. He would like the Prince of Prussia to buy it: he says that as he has finished his work, he feels no more interest in it, and like a painter who has finished his picture, he would like to begin another in a better climate; he tells me he is thinking of South Germany about the Black Forest and the confines of Switzerland. The Princess does not hide her sorrow at this idea and I can understand her feelings, for she has lived here for twenty-five years and the interior of the castle is her work; moreover, she has discovered a mineral spring on the spot, which has suggested the erection of a watering establishment. This idea has been carried out and the building in the park looks charming.

To return to Prince Pückler, he is not what I had expected him to be: he speaks but little, in a low voice, and whether he feels that I am ill-inclined to gossip and scandal, or whether he reserves his own powers in this direction for his writings, his conversation shows no trace of them. He rather gives me the idea of a man who is tired and bored than of a bad character.

_Muskau, June 22, 1843._--I had proposed to start this morning, but the Prince of Prussia told me so graciously that he could not allow me to leave Muskau before himself, that a refusal would have been churlish, the more so as Princess Pückler seemed very anxious that I should stay. Here one is allowed to remain in one's room in sloth until midday, which suits my habits excellently. When I went downstairs yesterday to the drawing-room, the Prince of Prussia, who had arrived at nine o'clock in the morning, was already coming in from a walk. After lunch the Princess displayed many curiosities which her husband had brought home; books, frames, models of the Holy Sepulchre, rosaries and crosses in mother of pearl beautifully worked in Palestine, Arab paintings, arms and instruments of all kinds. In the library we were shown a manuscript on vellum with painted vignettes of _Froissart's Chronicle_. Something of everything is to be found in this curious house, which is full of contrasts. In the afternoon the men went out again for a long excursion and the ladies walked about the gardens, which well deserve to be examined in detail, so marvellous is the labour expended upon them, though attention to detail has in no way destroyed the general effect. Afterwards we entered a carriage and reaching a large field covered with people, we stopped to see the Arab and Egyptian horses of Prince Pückler parading, curvetting and galloping. They were ridden by men in Oriental dress, and it was a bright and pretty spectacle. Tea was served in one of the lounge rooms of the bathing establishment.

_Berlin, June 24, 1843._--On arriving here I found letters which will further modify my movements. My sister Acerenza is ill, and her doctor has insisted so strongly upon Carlsbad that she is going there with my other sister on July 1; so, on leaving here I shall go to Carlsbad, together with my son, who has been ordered to take the waters.

I must say another word concerning the conclusion of my stay in the fairyland of Muskau. On Thursday, the 22nd, after lunch, every one went up to see Prince Pückler's rooms: there are four of them, full of pictures, sculptures, engravings, books, manuscripts, heathen and Christian curiosities, curiosities from Asia, Barbary and Egypt; a pretty model of the foot of his Abyssinian woman[101] is on his desk by the side of his wife's portrait; a model of the Holy Sepulchre hangs by a stuffed crocodile; a portrait of Frederick the Great is confronted by that of Napoleon, and the picture of M. de Talleyrand is side by side with one of Pius VII. There are inscriptions on all the doors in the style of Jean Paul. Amid all this miscellany there seems to be some attempt at order, in which the hand of the master of the rooms is apparent; in any case they contain interest of every kind. After this inspection we went to tea in a shooting-box in the midst of a most beautiful forest. The Prince of Prussia had a shot at a stag, which he killed. We returned after nightfall, and after supper the Prince of Prussia was present at a torchlight parade of the military reserves. This was followed by a walk through the park, which was illuminated by Bengal lights, so cleverly placed behind the trees and the clumps of flowers, that the fires could only be inferred from the effect which they produced; these effects were really magical, and I had never seen anything of the kind. The Prince of Prussia left Muskau the night before last at two o'clock, and I followed him yesterday morning.

[101] This Abyssinian woman was called Machbouba. Prince Pückler had brought her back with him from his travels. She could not bear the northern climate, and died at Muskau after embracing the Catholic religion at Vienna through the influence of Princess Metternich, who took a keen interest in Machbouba.

_Berlin, June 25, 1843._--Yesterday I went to an evening party given by the Radziwills. There I met Humboldt who had just returned from the island of Rügen, concerning which he was most enthusiastic: he also spoke very warmly of the residence of Prince Putbus, who was able to receive the two Kings of Prussia and Denmark without any necessity for himself or his wife to change their usual mode of life.[102] The King of Denmark seems to be greatly disturbed as to what will become of his kingdom after his death. His son is such a bad and even insane character that his succession is practically impossible; moreover, he ill-treats his wife dreadfully and has no children. Hence there is an idea that Denmark will be divided; that the islands and Jutland will go to a Prince of Hesse-Cassel, and that claims for Holstein and Schleswig will be raised from very different quarters; Russia will raise claims, and as Germany is especially anxious to see that Russia gains no footing there, the two Kings have apparently been trying to avoid any invasion of the kind. An attempt will be made to overthrow all claims by marrying a Prince of Holstein-Glücksburg with one of the Grand Duchesses of Russia.

[102] On June 17, 1843, the King of Denmark, Christian VIII., disembarked at Putbus, where the King of Prussia was awaiting him.

_Berlin, June 26, 1843._--Yesterday I dined with the Russian Minister together with M. de Valençay, and saw in full detail my old house,[103] which is much improved; but it was very pretty in its original form, and if I had it now nothing would induce me to sell it.

[103] The house of Courlande at Berlin, No. 7 _Unter den Linden_, formed part of the fortune which the Duchesse de Talleyrand received on her father's death. The Duchesse sold this house, through her architect, in 1839, for ninety-five thousand thalers. The Emperor Nicholas bought it, and as the proprietor he gained the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin. Apartments for the Emperor and his family were reserved in it, and it was then appropriated by the Russian Legation, which is still there.

_Berlin, June 29, 1843._--Yesterday M. de Valençay and myself travelled to Potsdam by the railway, and the King's carriage took us to Sans Souci. The King came in for dinner after a Council which had lasted five hours and was concerned with the increasing difficulties in the states of the Rhine provinces. Apparently the King could not agree with his Ministers upon the policy to be adopted; in any case he must have been greatly pre-occupied, for he was by no means in his natural humour. Besides M. de Valençay and myself the guests included the Ministers, the officers on duty, an old gentleman, one Pourtalès of Neuchâtel, Humboldt and Rönne, but the dinner was very slow. The King has grown stout, which was not necessary in his case; he is also changed by age and his colour is too high; I did not think he was looking by any means so well as I could wish. After dinner all the guests returned to Berlin except my son, Humboldt and myself. We were asked to stay for a drive. I was given a room which the King has just fitted up and which looks as though it belonged to a novel of the date of Frederick II. The strange feature of the room is that in 1807 when the King was a child at Memel he dreamt one night of a room in this style, and as he remembered his dream he has realised it. The wood is painted in very light green: all the mouldings, which are in the style of Louis XV., are gilded, as also are the frames of the mirrors and pictures; the bureau and the curtains are red; the table and wardrobe are of rosewood, inlaid and decorated with beautiful Saxony porcelain, as also is the mantelpiece of black marble. At seven o'clock I went out with the Queen in her carriage, while the King entered the phaeton with his favourite Minister, Count Stolberg, who is a very pleasant man; my son was in the third carriage with Humboldt. The King led the way and we followed him over very beautiful roads carried through a forest which he has added to the great park of Potsdam; he was then kind enough to drive us back to the railway, and the last train brought us to Berlin where I was anxious to appear at the house of Frau von Savigny, who had arranged a musical evening for us. This was a very pleasant entertainment; her nieces, her son and two other gentlemen sang delightfully, and a certain Passini played the violin infinitely better than I have ever heard any violinist play. I thought him far superior to Paganini and Bériot.

_Berlin, July 1, 1843._--This new month really should bring us summer, but it does not look like doing so. The weather is cold, damp and abominable. However, I went yesterday with the Radziwills, my son and Herr von Olfers to see the frescoes which are being executed in the museum under the direction of Cornelius. They are very beautiful compositions in point both of design and idea. I also went to the Kunstverein to see the portrait of Tieck by Styler, who is at present the most famous portrait painter in Germany and I think deserves his reputation.

_Berlin, July 3, 1843._--Yesterday we went to Potsdam to a military fête to which the Emperor of Russia had sent a deputation; in consequence all the Russians in residence here were invited. The whole of the royal family and several of the chief noblemen of the country were there; Princess Adalbert, who has returned from Silesia, was also there. She has grown much older, is greatly changed, and in my opinion is extremely ugly; she seemed to be in no way conscious of the fact. Dinner was given in a large gallery, after which we went to see the troops dining in the open air. They were continuously exposed to a fine and very unpleasant rain which entirely spoilt the sight. After dinner came the theatre, then supper and then the railway.

_Königsbruck, July 6, 1843._--I arrived here yesterday at the house of my nieces. The castle is almost full, but only relations are there: the Count and Countess of Hohenthal, Madame de Lazareff, and her three children, Fanny Biron, her two young brothers, Pierre and Calixte, the two daughters and the little boy of poor Count Maltzan, who are cousins-german of my nieces, and then a number of governesses, &c. Every one seemed very happy and welcomed me warmly.

_Carlsbad_, July 11, 1843.--On the 7th we had a terrible storm at Königsbruck with hail, a waterspout and a flood. A child in the village was drowned, and everybody was terror-stricken. My poor nephew Hohenthal lost his hay and his harvest. I started on the 8th in good time to dine at Pillnitz, where their Majesties received me most kindly. On the 9th I heard mass at Dresden in the early morning and started after lunch for Teplitz. Yesterday I made a start in stormy weather, the horses were frightened and inclined to shy; on one occasion they started to one side of the road, and if they had not stuck in some heavy earth we should have been upset. It was an unpleasant experience, for the danger was real. However, as it is over, one can but thank God for safety and think of it no more. I found my sisters very kind and affectionate, but the second is much changed, yellow and withered.

_Carlsbad, July 13, 1843._--Yesterday I had several callers: Prince Paul Esterhazy came in first and we talked of many old memories. Then the Ambassador Pahlen came; he knows as little of his future career as Barante knows of his. Afterwards I and my son went to dinner with Prince Paul Esterhazy: among the guests were Princesse Gabrielle Auersberg, lady-in-waiting to the Emperor Alexander during the Vienna Congress; Princess Veriand of Windisch-Graetz, a pretty woman of the same period, and her daughter, the Ambassador Pahlen, Herr von Liebermann and Count Woronzoff-Daschkoff. After dinner I made several calls and went to tea with my sisters; several people came in, including the Count of Brandenburg, son of the stout William and of Countess Doenhoff. We had met long ago at Berlin and were glad to meet again.

_Carlsbad, July 15, 1843._--I spend almost the whole of my days with my sisters. Here people live in the street, wander about and spend their money in the shops, in which they are constantly looking. I was asked to tea yesterday with the Countess Strogonoff whom I had met at London at dinner with Madame de Lieven. I stayed for half an hour, but it was a meeting of St. Petersburg society, and I was quite lost. I saw Marshal Paskewitch who is known, I think, as the Prince of Warsaw; his manner is by no means pleasant, and certainly not distinguished.

_Breslau, July 24, 1843._--I am making only a flying visit here as I wish to dine with my nephew Biron at Polnisch-Wartenberg, and I have no time to lose. I saw nothing striking on the road from Dresden here, and Breslau is an old town which is rather stolid than interesting.

_Polnisch-Wartenberg, July 26, 1843._--I found a regular family meeting here the day before yesterday and a pressing invitation to dine the next day with the Radziwills. I therefore accompanied my nephew yesterday morning to Antonin, a shooting-box of the Radziwills in the grand duchy of Posen. The weather was abominable and the Polish roads extremely bad. Six horses harnessed to a light carriage dragged us through dark forests, over deep sand through which we jolted over the roots of trees. The grand duchy of Posen which begins two leagues from here, has a generally depressing appearance; the population, the houses and the cultivation are all in a poor state. I was received very kindly by the good Radziwills, who are living in a curious castle which is rather original than comfortable. Near this castle their parents are buried; I was taken to the family vault to pray over the tomb of their late mother, Princess Louise of Prussia, who was my godmother, and what is more, was a really motherly friend to me.

_Polnisch-Wartenberg, July 27, 1843._--My nephew took me for a drive yesterday morning to see part of his estate. We spent the rest of the time examining old family papers and memorials of our grandparents which are collected here. Prince Radziwill dined here in the course of a round of inspection which he was making.

_Günthersdorf, July 29, 1843._--I have come here from Polnisch-Wartenberg. I stayed at Breslau for a few hours to visit the churches, the old town hall, and some shops which are better stocked and in better taste than those of Berlin. I also wished to pay my respects to the Prince Bishop[104] and ask his blessing. He received me with affecting sympathy. My nephew who had accompanied me everywhere, left me in the cathedral and went to ask the Bishop if he could receive me; he immediately came to fetch me, notwithstanding his eighty-two years, and took me to his palace which he showed me. It is a fine residence, and I was obliged to accept an invitation to a meal. The traditions and character of Breslau pleased me greatly.

[104] The Prince Bishop of Breslau was then the Viscount Melchior von Diepenbrock, a cardinal (1798-1853).

_Günthersdorf, July 31, 1843._--I do not know Princess Belgiojoso well enough to say whether I should be flattered or not by the comparison which M. Cousin has given you of her mind and mine;[105] but I am quite certain that M. Cousin cannot possibly judge my character, seeing that I have never spoken with him nor in his presence. His statements therefore are based upon hearsay and are, in consequence, unreliable. In any case my learning which is confined to the seventeenth century will humbly strike its flag before a mother of the church. I do not write books, I am ignorant and grow more ignorant every day, as I am entirely occupied with personal interests, and if I were obliged to make researches into any subject, it would be into the law concerning fiefs.[106] This reminds me that I was startled this morning by the trumpet blast of a postillion which seemed to me to announce some courier sent to Germany for a definite answer. However, it was Herr von Wolff who had come with a new proposal concerning the Sagan affair. In a fortnight the business will either be ended satisfactorily or broken off altogether; so another fortnight of uncertainty must follow many months of suspense. The late M. de Talleyrand, who was always right, said that a long distance separated the agreement and the conclusion of any piece of business.

[105] Extract from a letter.

[106] An allusion to the business connected with the Fief of Sagan, concerning which negotiations were then in progress.

_Günthersdorf, August 3, 1843._--I am sorry to hear of the death of General Alava, though he was not a character who held any high place in my esteem. With him more recollections of the past have disappeared; and at Rochecotte I had also looked after him and had grown accustomed to the sound of his stick upon my inlaid floors. Death is a very serious matter and when it begins to thin the ranks of one's intimate friends, as has been the case with me for several years, it is impossible to avoid serious reflections upon death. It comes nearer and nearer to my heart and sometimes it seems to me that I have no time to lose before I make all my preparations for the great and final journey.

_Günthersdorf, August 10, 1843._--I spent nearly the whole of yesterday at Wartenberg: I propose to found a little hospital there and am greatly occupied by the preparations and arrangements for it, a task entirely after my own heart. I spent the beautiful evening sitting on my balcony, surrounded by flowers, reading and thinking; but if thoughts are to be pleasant the heart must be free from all sad and painful cares, otherwise meditation turns inevitably to bitterness.

_Günthersdorf, August 16, 1843._--My sisters arrived yesterday morning and my son Louis yesterday evening; my nieces and their children have been here for some days with Count Schulenburg, so that my little house is almost full.

_Günthersdorf, August 21, 1843._--Yesterday I went to mass at Wartenberg. When I came back I found Herr von Wolff who told us the terrible news of the fire in the Opera House at Berlin and the panic and danger which menaced the charming palace of the dear Princess of Prussia.[107] She was then indisposed and the fright seems to have made her quite ill. The young Archduke of Austria who was then in Berlin, seems to have behaved marvellously well.[108] Yesterday evening at tea time the Countess de le Roche-Aymon called here on her way to her niece, Madame de Bruges, who lives in Upper Silesia. She has decided to spend a few days with us: German by extraction, she has lived in France for a long time and is now returning to settle in her native land; she is cheerful and lively in spite of her seventy-three years. She told us that the will of Prince Augustus of Prussia, who has just died, was scandalous to the last degree,[109] and gave a full account of his mistresses and bastard children. The latter amount to a hundred and twenty, but have not all survived their father.

[107] The two buildings were opposite one another, and the wind drove the flames towards the palace of the Prince and Princess of Prussia.

[108] A reference to the Archduke Stephan, son of the Archduke Joseph, Count Palatine of Hungary, who was then staying at Berlin on his way to Hanover.

[109] Prince Augustus of Prussia, the younger brother of Prince Louis Ferdinand, who was killed in 1806 at Saalfeld, and the son of Prince Ferdinand, the last brother of Frederick the Great, was never married. He possessed a considerable fortune which he had increased by unscrupulous methods at the expense of his relations, and made a will by which the property of which he could not dispose reverted to the crown of Prussia, while the rest was bequeathed to his numerous natural children; so that he thus deprived his sister, Princess Radziwill, of the inheritance which should have gone to her. This scandal led to a famous law suit, which was lost by the Radziwills and attracted much public attention in Berlin.

_Hohlstein, September 6, 1843._--I arrived at Hohlstein the day before yesterday. Unfortunately the weather remains unpleasant and trying. Apart from my sisters there is no one here now except Fanny and myself and life is very quiet, which suits me entirely.

Yesterday my sisters took me to Neuland, three leagues from here. This is a large estate with a small castle which the ex-King of the Low Countries bought eighteen months ago from the Count of Nostitz. It is said that he proposes to settle it upon his wife. Some building is going on and the garden is being laid out, but on a restricted scale and in poor taste. The site is very ordinary; the fields alone are beautiful, but a man of taste might do a great deal. The appearance of the whole did not please me.

_Berlin, October 11, 1843._--I can understand that the town of Berlin would not suit everybody's taste: though handsome it is too monotonous and too modern. Prague is much more imposing and Dresden more lively. The real importance of Berlin is entirely political and military, and it always gives one the impression of being at headquarters.

Herr von Humboldt is extremely kind, but a little spice of malice is invariably perceptible in his acts of politeness, and it is well to be on one's guard. He amuses the King with numberless stories in which charitable feeling is not the most striking motive.

A rumour is widely circulated that the bullet shot fired at the carriage of the Emperor Nicholas at Posen is a little Russian comedy arranged to provide an excuse for further severity in Poland and to justify German severity towards the grand duchy of Posen.[110]

[110] The Russian Emperor, after a stay at Potsdam, barely escaped assassination as he was returning to his kingdom. As he passed through Posen on September 19 the people were mourning the death of General von Grolman, who had died of heart disease on September 15. A great favourite with every class of the population, the General had been buried on that same day, September 18, amid a great crowd of people. Advantage of the crowd was taken a short time afterwards to fire upon the carriage of the _aides-de-camp_, which was mistaken for the carriage of the Czar. Several bullets were found in the carriage and in the cloaks of the officers, but the event was never cleared up.

_Berlin, October 16, 1843._--Yesterday I received at last the ratified agreement with my nephew the Prince of Hohenzollern, concerning the tenure of Sagan, duly signed, initialled and attested. The kindness of Herr von Wolff, to which this result is largely due, makes this final solution of the question doubly valuable in my eyes.

The official date for taking possession is April 1, though I am allowed to supervise the workmen from this moment. We have now to regularise the deed by a family agreement securing the concurrence of the agnate relations; then to abandon the allodial rights to the fief to satisfy the Crown and to reconstitute as one whole that which is now divided into several parts. When this has been done, the king must re-invest me and receive my oath of vassalage.

Here we have with us the agreeable Balzac who has just returned from Russia: he gives as unpleasant accounts of the country as M. de Custine, but he will not write a special book of his travels; he is merely writing some _Scenes from Military Life_, several of which will deal, I think, with Russia. He is a heavy and vulgar character: I had already seen him in France, but he left me with a disagreeable impression which has now been strengthened.

The day before yesterday we went to dinner, saw the play and had supper at the new palace. The play was Shakspere's _Midsummer Night's Dream_, translated by Schlegel. The staging was very fine. At supper I sat by the side of the Archduke Albert, who is a natural and well-educated character. He is to marry Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria who is said to be very pretty.

I am to go and dine at Babelsberg with the Princess of Prussia. She is to be so kind as to take me in the evening to Sans Souci, where the King told me to come and hear Madame Viardot Garcia quite privately.

_Berlin, October 18, 1843._--The little concert at Sans Souci was very agreeable. Madame Viardot sang very well and was very attractive in spite of her plainness. She has just started for St. Petersburg.

I informed the King that the treaty between my nephew and myself had been concluded. He was extremely gracious upon this occasion and seems to me to have abandoned all his prejudices in favour of the elder branch of my family.[111] I was really touched by his kindness. Yesterday I had a long conference with the Prince of Wittgenstein who has to deal with all questions touching the crown fiefs, as chief minister of the King's household.

[111] The Hohenzollern-Hechingen.

_Sagan, October 28, 1843._--The Duchesse Mathieu de Montmorency writes complaining of obstinate bronchitis; I should be sorry if she were to die, for I should lose in her a Christian friend; she and Mgr. de Quélen taught me what a friendship could be that was always equable and kind, in which self-love played no part, for they are friends not merely for time but for eternity. To-day I have also a letter from M. Royer-Collard. His handwriting is greatly altered: I feel that my happiness is threatened in the person of my best friends, and since M. de Talleyrand's death I have been terribly tried in this respect.

Sagan, which I am examining in detail, is a town of seven thousand people with six churches, five of which are Catholic and all of which are interesting: there are also several charitable foundations in the town founded by the Dukes at different times; some are six hundred years old and were founded by the Dukes of the house of Piast.[112] It is touching to see these works still standing when all purely secular monuments so rapidly decay. I have been received here with marks of great attention. For four years everything has been left in a state of utter abandonment and even longer than that, for my sister had moved to Italy and took no interest in her estates.

[112] The Polish dynasty founded by Piast, which proceeded from 842-1370. A branch of the Piast family retained the Duchy of Silesia until 1675.

_Vienna, November 14, 1843._--I have been here for some days. The day before yesterday I had the honour of paying my respects to the Archduchess Sophie, whom I had known before her marriage: she received me most kindly, nor could any one be more gracious, more amiable, more animated or easy in every way. She asked me many questions about our Royal Family and spoke of them in very suitable terms and with tact and kindness. I was delighted with the interview.

_Vienna, November 24, 1843._--Life here is very much more peaceful than at Berlin. The Court does not appear and all the fashionable people are still shooting in the country. Parties will not begin before New Year's Day. I have been four times to the theatre which is over by half-past nine, and three times to the house of Prince Metternich; his parties go on till nearly midnight but there are only five or six regular visitors. I have also visited Louise Schönburg; several people regularly stand round her long chair from nine o'clock to eleven. Medem, M. de Flahaut, Paul and Maurice Esterhazy and Marshal Marmont often call upon me at the end of the morning.