Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

“ However, all evil, as well as good, must cease in time, and Providence has granted for our consolation that, as the one must have an end, so shall the other not endure for ever; and thus, about three years after the arrival in the village of the little Archambault, his brother Charles Maurice did at length behold the countenance of one of his own kith and kin. The youngest brother of his father, the Bailli de Talleyrand, capitaine des galères, and knight of Malta, had just returned174 from a cruise. ”

“ This is citizen Talleyrand—Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Prigord, Bishop of Autun. He, too, is now an emigrant, although he came to England in a far different character, as secret ambassador from the Constitutional Government of France ; citizen Chauvelin being the nominal ambassador. On the whole, Talleyrand's diplomacy has not been productive of much good, to himself or others. Back in Paris before the 10th of August, he returned to London in September with a passport from Danton. A questionable man ”

“ Sir,—M. Talleyrand-Périgord, late Bishop of Autun in France, does me a great deal of honour in supposing that a letter from me may be of use to him with you. I am too much flattered by the supposition to decline taking that liberty; but I have a more powerful motive, which is, to do justice to a most respectable individual, suffering under a great deal of combined persecution. M. Talleyrand is the eldest of one of the first families of France. ”

“ The costume in this picture is of about the year 1775, when Talleyrand was in the prime of youth, and when he had not long emerged from St. Sulpice; and yet the portrait is rather that of a young man of fashion of the time than of a youth vowed to a life of penance and austerity. The hair, of which he was always proud, hangs loose and unshorn over his embroidered coat; no sign of monkish scissors or of priestly tonsure is there. There does not exist a picture of the prince either as Abbé de Perigord or as Bishop of Autun. ”

“ Still retaining his faculties unimpaired, and his memory stored with the recollections of his extraordinary and eventful career, and an inexhaustible mine of anecdotes, his delight was to narrate, which he used to do with an abundance, a vivacity, and a finesse peculiar to himself, and to the highest degree interesting and attractive. No name was once held in greater detestation in England than that of Talleyrand. He was looked upon universally as a sink of moral and political profligacy. ”

“ Never was there a more difficult rôle than his. He was, as it were, the buffer betwixt the government he represented and France, whose interest he wished to save, and the inimical Powers, which confounded in the self-same ban Napoleon and the country which once more had welcomed him. I was not in Paris at the time of the first Restoration; Talleyrand’s conduct, therefore, only came to me through contemporary accounts, not always to be depended on for their veracity. ”

“ In the later twenties he knew, as many did, that Charles X was moving towards the abyss into which he had seen so many plunge. The King was too narrowly Catholic to love Talleyrand, and, though their relation was amiable enough during the Martignac Ministry, Talleyrand’s house became once more the centre of the opposition. All the older Liberals and a large number of the younger men used to gather about his couch in the morning, or fill his rooms in the evening from eleven to one. ”

“ An 55 Englishman on the Continent is so much out of his element that he runs the risk of being taken either for an idiot or a coxcomb.
London, May 17, 1834.—The Swedish Minister, M. de Bjoerstjerna, who is always singing the praises of his sovereign even in the most trifling matters, was boasting to M. de Talleyrand the other day of the strength, the grace, and the youthfulness which King Charles-John has retained at his advanced age. He was particularly enthusiastic about the thickness of his Majesty's hair, which he asserted was all "as black as jet." ”

“ Is mediocrity always to exact such a heavy toll from talent for the latter’s success? For, if such be the case, the only happy people are those whose obscurity does not breed envy in others.’
‘History will reward M. de Talleyrand for the evil his contemporaries have said of him. When, in the course of a long and difficult career, a statesman has preserved a great number of faithful friends, and237 counts but few enemies, one feels bound to credit him with having been wise and moderate, honourable and thoroughly able. In the prince’s case, the heart is even better than the ability. ”

“ With a look that Talleyrand never forgot, he retreated to the door of the next chamber,—his eyes looking still from beneath his darkened brow. He spoke as he retreated backward,—his voice was full of meaning. "I am the only man born in the New World, who can raise his hand to God and say, I have not a friend, not one, in all America!" ”

“ I have a similar permission to demand for one of the most distinguished members of the Constituent Assembly—M. de Talleyrand-Périgord, the famous Bishop of Autun. Our different ministers of Paris bear witness to his services. I have in my hands a memoir of which the duplicate exists in the papers of Danton; the date of this memoir is 25th of November, 1792, and it proves that M. de Talleyrand was actually occupied in the affairs of the Republic when he was proscribed by it. Thus, persecuted by Marat and Robespierre, he was also banished by Pitt from England ”

“ I had received an invitation to a dinner given by M. Davencourt, the newly appointed “Captain-General of the Hunt,” in honour of his new functions. It took place in a kind of Russian hut built in the park, and at the end of a hunt. The238 other guests were MM. de Talleyrand, de Montrond,90 Ouvrard; Admiral Bruix; Generals Lannes and Berthier. The only woman present was Mme. Grant, who subsequently married the Prince de Talleyrand. In spite of the many elements of interest and the clever guests, the conversation slackened ”

“ Vienna, June 17, 1841.—Charles de Talleyrand came yesterday to tell me the latest news from Paris. Marshal Soult's quarrel has been settled: he will remain in office, and his son-in-law will go to Rome as ambassador; the Marshal is to receive 600,000 francs in payment of some loan which he professes to have made to the State. The Turko-Egyptian business is settled: the act will be ratified and sent to Alexandria, and the five Courts will meet at London if they have not already come to an agreement. ”

“ Casimir Périer died in May, and there were not a few at Paris who thought of Talleyrand as his successor. The Prince was rather bent on retiring from public life. He went over to Paris, and found a condition of comparative anarchy resulting from the death of the strong leader. However, an abler Ministry than ever was got together, and in October he returned to London. If the chroniclers may be trusted, his wit had not diminished with age. A poet of suspicious repute had issued a piece on which his opinion was asked. “C’est que la corruption engendre les vers,” he replied. ”

“ The rest of the guests followed his lead, considering it easier to adopt the opinion of a clever man than to go to the trouble of making one for themselves.
‘When we left the table, M. de Talleyrand beckoned me to a corner of the room and talked to me for a considerable time. He seemed to enjoy the account of my travels in Sweden and in Denmark. The description of the shelling of Copenhagen, at which I was present, interested him. My remarks on all those countries, on the émigrés in Hamburg, and on Hamburg itself, he qualified as exceedingly just. “Come and see me in Paris to-morrow,” he said. ”

“ The houses of twenty noble dames were the centre for as many parties—of the King, of the Queen, of d’Artois, of the Duc d’Orléans, of Turgot, and Choiseul, and Necker, and de Rohan, and de Brienne, and so on. Talleyrand overlooked their political differences, except for a tactical opposition to Necker, and enjoyed their graceful33 friendship and influence. ”

“ He declared war against all privileges, and ended his letter by observing that “at last the people must count for something.” In 1788, the year before the Revolution, Talleyrand was made Bishop of Autun, with an income of 80,000 francs. A member of the Assembly of Notables in the month of November in this year, he showed himself one of the warmest advocates of the new ideas, and became at this time the friend of Necker. The clergy of his diocese sent Talleyrand as deputy to the States-General of 1789. ”

“ Talleyrand is of course in a state of great consternation, which will be communicated like an electrical shock to the Powers specially favoured and protected by the late Government—Leopold and Don Pedro, for instance. It will be a difficult thing for the Duke to deal with some of the questions on which he has committed himself pretty considerably while in opposition, both with respect to foreign politics and especially Irish Education. ”

“ The talking bird is called “the little green bird” in “The Princess Fairstar,” one of the Fairy Tales of the Comtesse D’Aunoy (1682) .
Tallboy (Old) , forester of St. Mary’s Convent.--Sir W. Scott, Monastery (time, Elizabeth) .
Talleyrand. This name, anciently written “Taileran,” was originally a sobriquet 74derived from the words tailler les rangs (“cut through the ranks”) .
Talleyrand is generally credited with the mot: “La parole a été donnée à l’homme pour l’aider à cacher sa pensée [or déguiser la pensée] ;” ”

“ He had taken a small house in the district of Bellechasse (near the Invalides) , collected an excellent library of good books in good bindings, and at once renewed his acquaintance with Choiseul, Count Louis de Narbonne, and the Abbé de Périgord. They were collective owners of a stable of racers, and were the nucleus of a group of diners and talkers that nearly every ambitious woman must entertain. Talleyrand soon completed his education. He became a famous whist-player (his chief amusement through life) , and added a good deal to his income at the tables. ”

“ Before night the Duke was at the Palais Royal. Charles X had withdrawn his inspired ordinances at three o’clock that afternoon, but it was too late. The Republicans were gradually controlled, and the Duke of Orleans was accepted as the head of the State.
This was Talleyrand’s share in the second Revolution, and the fifth change of government in France during his career. He took his last oath of loyalty without hesitation. Speaking once to an Imperialist who distrusted him, he said: “I have never kept fealty to anyone when he has himself ceased to obey the dictates of common sense. ”

“ But he makes a fine speech, and promises everything—to disband the troops, recall Necker, and so on.
A feeling akin to that of intoxication is growing epidemic, but Talleyrand coolly watches the strange scenes with the keen, blue-grey eyes under the bushy eye-brows. He sees these prim lawyers crowding like schoolboys about the King as he returns to the chateau, covered with sweat and dust, and the royal family again on the balcony and the great crowds wild with rejoicing. ”

“ However, as he has many noble and good qualities, and as he has the deepest interest in all who bear the name of Talleyrand, which is much to his credit as it arises from gratitude to the Cardinal de Périgord, I wish with all my heart that his life may be made more tranquil than it has been in these recent years, and that his troubles may come to an end. Another man might have known how to turn them to his advantage; he can do nothing but succumb. ”

“ M. de Talleyrand was swayed by too much moderation to risk this; he had too correct a notion of the enfeebled condition of France to fling her once more into violent and desperate adventures. He himself beheld Europe ready to rise as one man; he directed the rise against an individual instead of against a people. And in this he acted rightly. His conduct was appreciated and admired in Vienna as the triumph of reason and of an enlightened patriotism. More than once he returned from the Congress to his residence utterly discouraged. ”

“ I have lived to satisfy even my mother’s ambitious hopes, and have had my full share both of diplomatic toils and their glittering reward; but I can never look back without an overwhelming gratitude and regret towards the time when, unknown and obscure, I passed those pleasant hours in the society of the great and illustrious Prince de Talleyrand, during that short vacation at Valençay. ”

“ M. de Talleyrand, in addition to this, performed wonders of skill and patience in the retying of the loosened ‘Congress bundle’ and in directing the various wills of which it was composed towards one common aim. If, on the one hand, the masses beheld with terror the horizon becoming once more dark with threatening clouds, the men devoured with ambition rejoiced at the probable revival of a time of glory. For, disguise it as one will, the intrigues which were already set on foot to overthrow or to support Napoleon offered a prospect of a prompt result in the way of grandeur and riches. ”

“ The first result of the elections was the downfall of Talleyrand's Liberal Ministry. The Count of Artois and the courtiers, who had been glad enough to secure Fouché's services while their own triumph was doubtful, now joined in the outcry of the country gentlemen again this monster of iniquity. Talleyrand promptly disencumbered himself of his old friend, and prepared to meet the new Parliament as an ultra-Royalist ”