Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de, prince de Bénévent, 1754-1838
The crown and end of Talleyrand’s work in England came in April,
1834, when he signed the alliance between England, France, Spain,
and Portugal. In August of that year he left England, and shortly
afterwards resigned his position of ambassador. A number of reasons for
this step are assigned in his letters at the time, though his age and
the completion of his work at London by an alliance might be deemed
sufficient. To Lady Jersey he spoke of a personal affliction, which is
surmised to have been the death of the Countess Tyszkiewitz. To Mme.
Adélaide he complained of his growing infirmity of the legs, and the
behaviour of Palmerston; and also that her son, the Duc d’Orléans, had
been telling his own English guests at Valençay that he was past work.
He declared to Von Gagern that he “only quitted affairs because there
were none to attend to”; while to the King he explained that he had now
secured “the right of citizenship” for France in Europe, and his work
was over. All these motives influenced him, no doubt; but there was
another one, of some interest. He had witnessed at London the growing
agitation for reform, and completely failed to appreciate it. As the
agitation wore on, he spoke moodily of the state of France in 1789.
The convocation of the first reformed parliament in 1833 he described
as “the States-General of London.” He was too old to understand the
new movement, to see a permanent and proper advance beneath all the
menacing clamour. England was no longer “so rich and peaceful.” He
wrote slightingly to the King of her value to France, and thought
rather of a coalition of Europe against what he thought to be a rising
tide of anarchy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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