Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 8, January, 1851Various
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 8, January, 1851
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
"Now came the time when the high intelligence and marvelous sagacity of
the prince were brought into action, and I hesitate not to repeat, saved
the country. M. de Talleyrand dispatched to Neuilly, with all possible
speed, a little billet written with his own hand. The bearer was a
person of high courage and great integrity, and was charged, should he
fall into danger, to destroy the billet. He could not in honor read its
contents, but saw that there were but few words traced upon the paper.
They were addressed to the king's sister, Madame Adelaide. This
messenger was commissioned to place the billet himself in the hands of
the princess, and to tell her that the Prince de Talleyrand conjured her
to warn the Duke of Orleans that not a moment was to be lost; that the
duke might reckon upon his aid, and that he must appear immediately;
that he must come at once to Paris, to place himself at the head of the
movement, or all would be lost without recall. Above all, he was only to
take the title of Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom, which Charles had
conferred upon him before leaving St. Cloud. He implored him not to
manifest any other intention. In this advice the old diplomatist was
reserving for himself a back door to creep out at in case Charles should
march on Paris." (P. 39.)
There follows this conclusive revelation an account of Madame Adelaide's
astuteness (_astuce_)--her anxiety not to commit herself in writing; her
transmission to Prince Talleyrand of a verbal message; and of the climax
of the whole intrigue in the arrival in Paris that same night of Louis
Philippe, and of his proclamation in his capacity of Lieutenant-General
of the Kingdom. The transition from this to royalty was easy, for it had
been pre-arranged. It was M. de Talleyrand, we are assured, who overcame
the "faint scruples" of the Duke of Orleans, and it was his advice that
"decided the king to go at once to the Hotel de Ville, there to receive
publicly the sceptre of France, and to swear allegiance to the charter."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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