to be his intention to settle there. His family, since the time of the Regent, who profited by the operations of Law, have property in the banks of England, Holland, and the Hanse Towns, in addition to the immense revenues they possess in France. You may mention these circumstances to the Emperor, for I have them on accurate authority. "The Prince has, by his marriage, a son, born in October last year, (1810). He bears the title of the Duke de Chartres. The Duchess of Orleans has, I am informed, just been delivered of a Princess. The Duke has come to a reconciliation with the Bourbons of the elder branch. They have pardoned his father's conduct, as well as the errors of his own youth. He has conducted himself very well in England, on all the occasions on which he has visited this country. I am told that he is artful, and so reserved, that it is not easy to discover his sentiments or opinions. Let not the Emperor be deceived;-the Duke of Orleans is the only individual to be feared, in the event of a struggle. "On my arrival at Hartwell, a lady's maid was appointed to attend on me, and a man servant to accompany me in my walks: these were two spies. The Count de Blacas paid me a visit. He is a good looking man, and that is all. He has but little intelligence, and still less knowledge of the world. He has created for himself a little universe, the two boundaries of which are London and Edinburgh; and, in his simplicity, he believes the whole world to be included in that space. He pictures France as being in the last stage of misery and destitution:-the people dying of hunger, the prisons full, women yoked to the ploughs, the men all with the army, except the lame and the blind; in short, the terror of 93 unabated. As to the Imperial Court, the Count's notion of it is, that the men composing it are a set of vulgar, ignorant, profligates, and the women vivandières or marchandes de modes. He verily believes that Napoleon daily honours you and his ministers with kicks and cuffs, and horsewhips his chamberlains that he is hated by the people-execrated by the army; that he is ugly and diseased;-that he is guilty of incest and every revolting crime-in short, that he is worse any ogre in a fairy tale. than "Nothing can be more diverting than to hear the Count de Blacas express his firm belief in all these monstrosities, every one of which is, to him, an article of faith. He was very anxious that I should make him my confidant, and friend. I told him, with a very grave air, that I thought that might perhaps be attended with danger, both for my heart and my head: that I might lose the former, and compromise the latter. This excuse appeared to him perfectly reasonable; and the consequence was, he consented, though reluctantly, to usher me to the presence of his master. "The sufferings which the Count de Lille has undergone, have not impaired his looks. He is a handsome man, with quite the Bourbon cast of features. His fine blue eyes are mild, dignified, and intelligent, and his mouth has a humorous, perhaps a somewhat satirical expression. His infirmities have spoiled his figure, and it is easy to perceive that his legs will die before any other part of his body. He has a beautiful hand; and, altogether, a truly royal and imposing appearance. "His dress is very simple: usually consisting of a blue frock or redingote, a waistcoat of wadded satin, and smallclothes of dark crimson velvet. He rarely wears a sword. When he goes out, he wears a three cornered cocked hat, and always the cordon and decoration of the Holy Ghost, the riband of St. Michael, and the cross of St. Louis:-I have also seen him wear the Swedish orders, out of respect to the dethroned King. A cane assists him in walking; his pace is slow, tottering, and apparently impeded by pain. He is tortured by the gout. He cannot mount a horse, and certainly a kingdom was never conquered in a carriage. * "However, bodily pain does not, in the least degree, diminish the vivacity of his mind. His conversation is brilliant, and characterized by extensive and varied information. His gallantry, too, charmed me. He has read a great deal, and has a retentive memory: and his natural judgment is matured by experience. In short, he is a man of distinguished talent. Before I saw him, I had prepared * In 1815, Napoleon made an exception to the strategic maxim, here laid down by Madame de N myself to be amused by his absurdities; but I took my leave of him, full of admiration of his magnanimous feelings, and truly royal qualifications. He thoroughly comprehends France, her happiness, her power, and her wants; he knows what she requires, and only regrets that he cannot give it to her. "He chatted with me very agreeably, and laughed at the propositions I was instructed to make to him. 'I am not ambitious,' said he, 'I am not eager to reign: and, therefore, I prefer exile, to a throne which would not be my own. Let Bonaparte' (for so he named His Majesty the Emperor and King)-let Bonaparte descend from the throne of France: and then let him choose for himself any one of all the kingdoms he has conquered, except Naples, Spain, and Parma, and I will present it to him. But, to renounce the inheritance bequeathed to me by my ancestors, to sanction the crimes of the revolution, to legitimize the murder of my brother and my nephew, to recognise the destructive principle of the sovereignty of the people, those are acts of which I never will be guilty.' "I saw that my mission was at an end; I named the offers I was authorized to make. He laughed at the sovereignty and the millions, and, above all, at the proposal of the French army. "That,' said he, 'would merely be a prison within sight; and I suppose that my guards would some fine day receive orders to carry me and my family to some other place. Such lures may entice children. It is like telling a boy he may catch sparrows by putting a grain of salt on their tails. These were the words he made use of. "When I left the Count de Lille, I found M. de Blacas in waiting for me. He put some stupid questions to me with the view of finding out what had been the nature of my conversation with the King. I related it to him almost word for word. My candour completely mystified him, and he did not believe a word that I said. What would have been the use of taking any trouble to deceive such a fool! "There is among the emigrants at Hartwell, a man of distinguished talent. I allude to Père Elysée, who officiates as surgeon to the Count de Lille. He is a man of energy The Duchess d'Angoulême. 185 He has and spirit, and devotedly attached to the Prince. every temporal merit without any priestly faults. He is an extremely agreeable man, very lively in conversation, and an excellent teller of a story. He, too, regrets his absence from France; but he would not return without the King. "I have seen Madame Royale, but she would not receive me. Nevertheless, I will do her justice. She is adored by the whole household; for she is an excellent mistress: she is cold to strangers, but she treats the persons in her service as though they were her children. In spite of her poverty, she dispenses a great deal of charity. The poor people in the neighbourhood revere her highly, and they say that God never suffers her purse to be empty of alms, for that if she gives away all its contents at night, it is full again next morning: and it is among schismatics that this fable has gained credit. It is she who inspires the family with fortitude and resignation. If she could ascend the throne, she would be a great Queen. "Her husband is one of the best of men. He is brave, and full of noble feeling; but he is too distrustful of himself. His timidity and passive obedience will always be prejudicial to him. Respecting his brother, the Duke de Berry,* opinions differ; some pronounce him to be the hope of the family, others regard him as a Prince of very mediocre merit. I did not see him, and therefore can say nothing of him from my own knowledge. His morganatic marriaget is an event deeply deplored by the emigrants. I * He was assassinated by Louvel on the 13th of February, 1820. In Germany, morganatic, or left-handed marriages, are those by a sovereign with a female inferior in rank to a Princess; or between a Princess, and a private gentleman. They are merely conscientious unions, and the children born of them can inherit only personal property, and not landed estates, or sovereignties. A marriage of this nature was concluded by his Royal Highness the Duke de Berry. A veil of respect must be drawn over this passage in the life of the unfortunate Prince. Two daughters, distinguished for their virtues and graces, were the issue of this marriage. Both are married to noblemen of illustrious birth; one to the Prince de L and the other to Count de C 186 Faithful Portraits. have not seen either the venerable Prince de Condé, or the Duke de Bourbon. They are much respected here. "Such, Monseigneur, is the result of my journey. Of course, it cannot answer your expectation. The little I was authorized to offer, could not tempt a Prince who is not ambitious, who can live on a little, who is without children, and who, above all, has right on his side. Had the offer consisted of the crown of Italy, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Lucca, or Tuscany, it possibly might have been listened to; but, even then, I would not have answered for its being accepted. Now, Sir, how am I to be rewarded for my trouble? I shall proceed to Hamburgh, and there await your answer. When Prince Cambacérès had finished reading this letter, we all assured him that it had very much amused us. The portraits sketched by the writer were striking likenesses. M. de Blacas was hit off to the life, and we could not but admire the accuracy of the pencil which, in 1811, had portrayed him precisely as he appeared to us in 1814. Louis XVIII. and the Duchess d'Angoulême were likenesses very faithfully described. As to the Dukes d'Angoulême and de Berry, the former had, by his very gallant conduct in the south, acquired the esteem of all Frenchmen, and the latter had been so foully calumniated, that a strong prejudice existed against him. The Duke of Orleans was the object of unanimous eulogy in 1814, which led us all to concur in remarking, that the lady had scarcely rendered him justice. However, we were all much interested and amused by the letter. "Well," observed the Prince, "I can assure you that I was not so well pleased with the letter as you are, at the time I received it. The change of opinion wrought in my ambassadress by the mere effect of the royal audience; the title of King which she so repeatedly applied to the person whom we looked upon as a pretender, put me not a little out of humour. I did not venture to show it to the Emperor. I sent for the Duke de Rovigo, wishing to screen my responsibility, and, as Madame Nwas his protégée, I presented the missive to him. He was, at first, somewhat embarrassed; but, on a second perusal of the epistle, he began to discover in it as many charms as its fair writer |