The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England. volume 5 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 5Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
History
The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England. volume 5 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 5
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de, 1768-1848
A letter for Madame la Dauphine and a note for the two children were
added to the letter addressed to me.
There were left to me, of my past grandeurs, a brougham in which I had
once shone at the Court of George IV. and a travelling-calash, built in
former days for the use of the Prince de Talleyrand. I had the latter
repaired, in order to make it capable of going against nature; for, by
origin and habit, it is disinclined to run after fallen kings. On the
14th of May, the anniversary of the murder of Henry IV., at half-past
eight in the evening, I set out in search of Henry V., child, orphan
and outlaw.
I was not without anxiety as to my passport: taken out at the Foreign
Office, it bore no description, and it was dated eleven months back;
it had been delivered for Switzerland and Italy and had already served
to enable me to leave France and return; different visas witnessed
these several circumstances. I did not care either to have it renewed
or to ask for a fresh one. The police of every country would have,
been warned, every telegraph set in motion; at every custom-house they
would have searched my trunks, my carriage, my person. If my papers had
been seized, what a pretext for persecution, what domiciliary visits,
what arrests! What a prolongation of the royal captivity! For it would
have been proved that the Princess had secret means of correspondence
outside. It was therefore impossible for me to call attention to my
departure by asking for a passport: I placed my trust in my star.
[Sidenote: I leave for Prague.]
Avoiding the too much beaten road of Frankfort and that of Strasburg,
which runs under the line of telegraphs, I took the Basle Road with
Hyacinthe Pilorge, my secretary, used to all my fortunes, and Baptiste,
my _valet de chambre_ when I was "My Lord," and once more plain _valet_
on the downfall of My Lordship[515]: we get in and out of the carriage
together. My cook, the famous Montmirel, retired when I left the
ministry, declaring that he would not return "to office" till I did.
It had been wisely decided, by the Introducer of Ambassadors under the
Restoration, that any ambassador who died re-entered "private life:"
Baptiste had re-entered domestic service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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