The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 2 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IVGreville, Charles
History
The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 2 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV
Greville, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- George IV, 1820-1830; Great Britain -- History -- William IV, 1830-1837
Yesterday morning at a Council; all the Ministers, and the Duke of
Rutland, Lords Somers, Rosslyn, and Gower to be sworn Lieutenants.
Talked about France with Sir G. Murray, who was silly enough to
express his disappointment that things promised to be soon and
quietly settled, and hoped the King would have assembled an army
and fought for it. Afterwards a levee. While the Queen was in the
closet they brought her word that Charles X. was at Cherbourg, and
had sent for leave to come here; but nobody knew yesterday if this
was true or not. In the afternoon I met Vaudreuil, and had a long
conversation with him on the state of things. He said, 'My family
has been twice ruined by these cursed Bourbons, and I will be
damned if they shall a third time;' that he had long foreseen the
inevitable tendency of Polignac's determination, ever since he was
here, when he had surrounded himself with low agents and would
admit no gentleman into his confidence; one of his _affides_ was a
man of the name of Carrier, a relation of the famous Carrier de
Nantes. Vaudreuil's father-in-law had consulted him many months
ago what to do with L300,000 which he had in the French funds, and
he advised him to sell it out and put it in his drawer, which he
did, sacrificing the interest for that time. He had hitherto done
nothing, been near none of the Ministers, feeling that he could
say nothing to them; no communication had been made to him, but
whenever any should be he intended to reply to it. Laval ran away
just in time, and Vaudreuil was so provoked at his evasion that he
sent after him to say that in such important circumstances he
could not take upon himself to act without his Ambassador's
instructions. No answer of course. He thinks that if this had not
taken place a few years must have terminated the reign of the
Bourbons, and that it is only the difference between sudden and
lingering death; that when he was at Paris he had seen the
dissatisfaction of the young officers in the Guards, who were all
Liberal; and with these sentiments, what a condition they must
have been in when called upon to charge and fire on the people
while secretly approving of their conduct, 'entre leurs devoirs de
citoyens et de militaires!'
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