The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England. Volume 6 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 6Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
General
The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England. Volume 6 (of 6): Mémoires d'outre-tombe volume 6
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de
Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de, 1768-1848
The second day after my arrival in Prague, I sent Hyacinthe to take a
letter to Madame la Duchesse de Berry, whom, according to my reckoning,
he ought to meet at Trieste. This letter informed the Princess that
"I had found the Royal Family leaving for Leoben; that some young
Frenchmen had arrived for the coming of age of Henry V. and that the
King was avoiding them; that I had seen Madame la Dauphine; that she
had bidden me to go at once to Butschirad, where Charles X. still was;
that I had not seen Mademoiselle, because she was a little unwell;
that I had been admitted to her room, where the shutters were closed,
and that she had held out to me her hot hand in the dark and asked me
to save them all; that I had gone to Butschirad, seen M. de Blacas
and talked with him about the declaration of the majority of Henry
V.; that I had been taken to the King's room and found him asleep
and that, after I had subsequently handed him Madame la Duchesse de
Berry's letter, he had appeared to me to be very much incensed against
my august client; that, otherwise, the short deed drawn up by me on the
subject of the coming of age had seemed to be to his liking."
My letter concluded with the following paragraph:
"And now, Madame, I must not conceal the fact from you that there
is a great deal amiss here. Our enemies would laugh if they saw us
contending for a kingship without a kingdom, a sceptre which is
merely the stick with which we assist our steps on the pilgrimage,
perhaps a long one, of our exile. All the drawbacks lie in your
son's education, and I see no prospect of its being changed. I am
returning to the midst of the poor whom Madame de Chateaubriand
provides for; there I shall always be at your orders. If ever you
become Henry's absolute mistress, if you continue to think that
that precious trust might safely be placed in my hands, I shall
be as happy as I shall be honoured to devote the rest of my life
to him; but I could not undertake so terrible a responsibility
except on the condition of remaining entirely free, subject to
your advice, in my selections and ideas and of being placed on an
independent soil, outside the circle of the absolute monarchies."
The letter enclosed the following copy of my draft for the declaration
of majority:
"We, Henry V., having attained the age at which the laws of the
Realm settle the majority of the Heir to the Throne, do ordain that
the first act of that majority shall be a solemn protest against
the usurpation of Louis-Philippe Duc d'Orléans. Wherefore, and by
the advice of Our Council, We have drawn up this present Act to
maintain Our rights and the rights of Frenchmen.
"Given on the thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three."
PRAGUE, 30 _September_ 1833.
My letter to Madame la Duchesse de Berry described the general facts,
but did not enter into details.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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