In the Chamber of Peers he adopted a system of opposition, which assumed a greater degree of solemnity, from all the statesmen of the various epochs who had been engaged in the management of affairs and vast negotiations being included in it. He very rarely spoke; indeed, I believe only two speeches delivered by him are on record. The first was on the occasion of the war in Spain in 1823, when he entered rather awkwardly into the question and foretold a disastrous event to our arms, whereas they were in reality crowned with success, shewing how great a mistake it is ever to give utterance to predictions in politics. The second time was on the occasion of the law of election and the liberty of the press; he then reminded the assembly of the promises entered into at Saint-Ouen, at which he had himself been present. He appeared at this time to be held in little estimation in the upper house, and there were not above five or six peers whose votes were at his disposal. The case was very different in his drawing-room and at his toilet, where he was in the habit of receiving a great deal of company and listened to confidential communications from men of all parties, flattering in turn the liberal societies and the aristocratic coteries; for the latter, especially, he entertained a strong predilection. His fortune was now very much involved in consequence of an immense bankruptcy, by which his friend the Duc de Dalberg alone lost the sum of 4,000,000[14] francs, and he passed but little part of his time at Paris, but lived at Valençay, or at his great estates in Touraine; these were deeply mortgaged, and without the management of the Duchess of Dino, who was a woman of wonderful ability in business, he would, probably, have been obliged to part with some of them. He occasionally made an excursion to a greater distance, and once passed a whole season in the south of France, in a pleasant habitation selected for him at Hyères, in the country of fragrant flowers, of vanilla, and orange, and citron groves. His wit and noble manners are still recollected with delight in that part of the country; and, indeed, it is impossible to express the charm he infused into the evening conversations at his house. [14] About 160,000_l._