Reminiscences of Prince Talleyrand, Volume 1 (of 2)Colmache, M., active 19th century
History
Reminiscences of Prince Talleyrand, Volume 1 (of 2)
Colmache, M., active 19th century
Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de, prince de Bénévent, 1754-1838
“If his secret wishes were really in favour of a new order of things,
with his habitual prudence, he made it a duty to conceal them; and
he spent the whole of the second day fixed at the windows of the
drawing-room of the hotel, which looks into the Place Louis Quinze,
sending every now and then his emissaries into the divers quarters of
Paris, to bring back accounts of the progress of the revolution. MM.
de Broglie, Bertin de Vaux, and Sébastiani were with him, and all,
excepting the prince, were of opinion that the king would attempt,
before the morning, to re-enter Paris at the head of his troops. _He_
knew the character of the man too well either to hope or to fear this
decision.
“On the 29th, however, when M. de Talleyrand began to be convinced
that the cause of the revolution was triumphant, that the liberal
deputies, Casimir Périer, Laffitte, Lafayette, all, not only pronounced
themselves in its favour, but sought to direct the insurrection, and
to place themselves at its head, he felt at once the immense advantage
that such a demonstration would give to the Chamber of Deputies over
the Chamber of Peers; and his only thought during the whole day was to
collect together at his own house the few men of intelligence among the
peers of the opposition, in order to balance, in the public opinion,
by some patriotic declaration, the influence already gained by the
deputies, from the position in which they had placed themselves—that
of ‘Defenders of the Charter.’ But all the efforts of the prince were
unavailing. The great number of his friends, such as Pasquier and
Molé, hesitating to declare their opinions thus openly, in dread of
the return of Charles X., declined taking a part in the protest of
the deputies. M. de Talleyrand was pained to the quick by this want
of decision, and foretold, with an accuracy which has since become
manifest, all the bad consequences which would fall upon the Chamber
of Peers, from having remained passive during this eventful crisis.
“By early dawn on the 30th, the people were, however, masters
of Paris—of all the military posts—of all the barricades of the
Tuileries—of the Louvre, and of the hotels of the ministers. The
royalist troops had withdrawn, and were encamped round St. Cloud, where
still lingered, in faint hope, in inert expectation, Charles X. and his
court.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account