Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840. Dorothée Dino

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СКАЧАТЬ knew that M. Molé had long been anxious to see this measure passed, but I think that the speech of M. Thiers encouraged him in his design and accelerated the execution of it. I have heard people talking of nothing else all day. Men's minds are entirely occupied with it, and their attention is thus diverted from the peerage given to M. Bresson, which again is to be explained by this marriage. What a fortunate man he is! Undoubtedly he is capable, but circumstances have helped him with a speed and consistency rarely found in human destiny. To return to the great event of the amnesty, I will say that high society strongly approves of it, the more so as it has arrived unexpectedly and not been extorted by party importunity; so it is an act of mercy, and not of weakness. The sharp-sighted regard it as another act of hostility to the Doctrinaires rather than an act of kindness to the political prisoners – as much as to say that the measure could not be passed while the Doctrinaires were in office, but now that we have separated from them we hasten to grant it. This will isolate them yet more in the country. I repeat there are people who regard this measure as a consequence of M. Thiers' speech, and even as directly due to his influence. The Doctrinaires are most infuriated, and those peers who are friendly to them announce that all the contumacious persons will come up for judgment, and that the peers will then go off to their country seats instead of taking their places. The following story had a wide circulation yesterday: M. Jaubert, in speaking of the amnesty to M. Dupin, said to him: "It is a little hard that after leaving to us all the odium of the severe measures which we have courageously defended during the crisis and danger we should now be deprived of the credit of showing mercy." M. Dupin replied: "It is very sad, but you have one consolation, namely, that Persil will order the medal to be struck." (M. Persil is a Doctrinaire and Comptroller of the Mint.) The saying is a smart one. Those who approve the amnesty also urge, and with some reason, that it will obliterate the ill-effect produced by the excessive precautions on the day of the review.

      Yesterday I was at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where Sigalon, who has just arrived from Rome, had placed the magnificent copy of the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, that masterpiece which is fading, like all the frescoes in the Vatican. The copy is the same size as the original, and forms the background of a hall, to which has been given the form and dimensions of the Sistine Chapel. It is the most beautiful and surprising thing that can be imagined. I was quite overwhelmed. Variety, richness, and boldness of composition are so combined that one rests stupefied before the power of such genius. In the same room have been placed casts of different statues by Michael Angelo which also have arrived from Italy, and complete one's admiration for this great man. The statue of Lorenzo de' Medici and the statue of Day and Night are admirable. We then saw the charming gateway to the castle of Anet and the beautiful door of the castle of Gaillon, both masterpieces of the Renaissance; then came the interior courtyard, adorned with fountains and fragments of ancient work, which was very fine. The building in itself is in excellent style; it contains fine models of all classes and ages of art, which will be added to. They form a collection as curious as it is interesting, and add a new attraction to Paris.

      Thence we went on to the new Church of Our Lady of Loretto. It seemed to me extremely heavy and full of motley ornaments, and had it not been for some fine pictures I should have found little agreeable to look at. It is said to be in the style of the Italian churches, which I do not know; but to judge from this specimen I would rather say my prayers under the lofty, bold, and austere vaults, the hewn stone and Gothic arches of Notre-Dame and of Saint-Etienne du Mont, than amid the glaring colours of this Southern imitation. We finished our wanderings by a visit to the Church of the Madeleine. The interior at present is in exact correspondence with the outside, and it seems that Calchas is about to sacrifice Iphigenia upon it, to such an extent have mythological subjects apparently pervaded this fine building. They are already beginning to gild the arches and the capitals of the columns, pretending that the white stone, though it is much enriched by different kinds of marbling, is too cold to the eye. Thus they are preparing a disagreeable contrast between the outside and the inside. I cannot understand the vagaries of Christian worship.

      In the evening at Madame de Lieven's house I saw Berryer, who does not yield to M. Royer in his admiration for M. Thiers' speech. I heard that M. Martin du Nord had given way upon the question of his subscription for printing Guizot's speech, as upon other points. For one who calls himself a member of the Opposition, he does not seem to oppose very strenuously.

      Paris, May 11, 1837.– Yesterday I had a call from the excellent Abbé Dupanloup. We were mutually anxious to meet, in the interests of Pauline, before the general departure for the country. As usual, I was touched and pleased by his kind and spiritual conversation. We talked of our hope that the amnesty will inspire the Government with courage to reopen the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, the closing of which is the greatest scandal of the July revolution; seeing that acts of mercy extend from Ham to the Republic and to la Vendée, continued vindictiveness towards the church and to leave the Cross broken would seem to me most inconsistent. The church should be reopened without considering any difficulties that the Archbishop may raise. He should thus be forced to appoint a reliable priest, and then to go and express his thanks to the Tuileries, but he should set to work at once while the effect of the amnesty remains all-powerful; at such a moment there is no fear of any movement in the district, and this action would only be the strongest answer to the Doctrinaires, whose tactics are to represent the amnesty as the price of the compact made with the Left. To reopen the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois would restore the balance. I think it would be a politic move as well as a religious restoration; if we delay too long the religious newspapers and people will begin to cry out, with reason, against the injustice of it, and any later action will seem like a concession to their complaints; then the Opposition will pounce upon it and foment irritation with the measure. Everything, therefore, should be quite spontaneous, the religious restoration no less than the royal mercy. I think they will take the matter in hand; it should have been done already, in my opinion.

      Paris, May 14, 1837.– The Moniteur of yesterday, heaven be praised, contains an ordinance by which the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois is to be restored for worship. I am delighted. The Baron de Montmorency, who came to see me in the morning, had dined yesterday at the Château, where the Queen wept with joy at the news.

      In the evening I went to pay a farewell visit at the Hôtel de Broglie, where the amnesty was very unfavourably received, as Madame de Broglie is very anxious to fortify Princess Helena in her Protestantism.

      I then went on to the Duchesse de Montmorency, where I heard very bad news of the Prince de Laval. He had caught a slight cold and had taken no care of himself, but had gone to the races at Chantilly in very bitter weather. His malady grew worse, and now causes great anxiety. I should be grieved indeed if any misfortune happened to him, for in spite of his absurdities and foolishness he has a good heart and is a good friend.

      I finished the evening with Madame de Castellane. M. Molé came in and told us that the Archbishop, accompanied by two of his Vicars-General, had called upon him that evening and upon the Keeper of the Seals after a visit to the King. It seems that his appearance in the Ministerial salons made a great sensation. Before his visit the Archbishop had quietly had the church blessed. Mass was said there this morning. A week will be spent in necessary repairs, and next Sunday the new vicar will be installed. As M. Dupanloup has refused this post, the choice has fallen upon M. Demerson, the priest of Saint-Séverin, undoubtedly the most distinguished ecclesiastic in the diocese. He is the confessor of Madame Andral, and the friend of her father. M. Royer-Collard has often spoken to me of him and thinks a great deal of him.

      Paris, May 15, 1837.– Yesterday evening I was at the Tuileries. I found the King delighted with a visit that he had paid in the morning to the Botanical Gardens to see the new hothouses they have been setting up. He was well applauded as he went by; in short, he seems to have grown young again. Everybody about him is well pleased. He went there without an escort, and spent two hours walking with the Minister of the Interior and of Education, with the Prefect of Police and one aide-de-camp. The crowd kept on increasing, and these gentlemen, who saw all the horrible faces from the Rue Mouffetard and that quarter thronging round the King, were dying with fear, but the King was delighted, and it was СКАЧАТЬ