MORE ABOUT TALLEYRAND.
To the Editor of "Punch."
Dear Sir,—You have on many occasions honoured me by inserting my contributions, and consequently it is to you I turn in the present difficulty. A few days since an appeal was made in the columns of one of your contemporaries which it is hard to resist.
À propos of the Talleyrand Autobiography a gentleman, who had given some extracts therefrom, wrote—"What I have quoted shows the charm and interest of the work, but does not discount its publication; and this, I hope, will be enough to enforce on the custodians of the Memoirs the obligation of reflection before continuing to suppress and to frustrate the legitimate curiosity of the public." I have reflected, and, without making any admission, I submit that possibly the following passages may attain the end which the gentleman in question seemingly suggests.
When Talleyrand, in 1801, was at Amiens, assisting Joseph Bonaparte in conducting negotiations with Lord Cornwallis for the final ratification of peace, he had an interview with the representative of England. I give a translation from a paper in my possession:—
"It was already the everlasting opposition of maritime and manufacturing towns that prevented this consummation. When Milor (Cornwallis?) observed, with insular bluntness (bonhomie), 'The outcome will be a new throne (encore une chaise bien décoré) for J. B.' I replied, 'This will certainly not be to the advantage of Son Altesse Joseph (pas pour Josê).'"
Does not this read as if written yesterday? Five years later Talleyrand entered into a direct communication with Fox by letter, and this led to a personal interview with Lord Yarmouth. I make a second quotation:—
"I told Mister-for-laughter (esquire pour rire) that there would be no difficulty in restoring to England Hanover, which was then in possession of Prussia. The Englishman (l'Anglais), who had been imbibing some generous wine (vin ordinaire à dix sous), stammered out that he considered the suggestion piscatorial. 'Milor,' I retorted, with a polite bow, 'to a Yarmouth accustomed to bloaters all things must appear fishy!'"
Considering Talleyrand's flexible mind, and the ease with which he resigned himself to blunders when they did not seem to him dangerous, this judgment, expressed with surprising emphasis, is the most striking condemnation which can be passed on the tone adopted by the British negotiator. With rare skill Talleyrand avoids the dryness usual to memoirs of a personal character. As an instance of this, I give a description of the desertion by the wily diplomatist of Napoleon in 1814, when the Emperor had consented to retire to Elba. That this passage may have additional force, I give it in the original, possibly very original, French:—
"Je n'aime pas lui. Je pensais de cet homme qu'il était un espèce de polichinelle (a quaint sort of puppet), qu'il n'était pas la valeur de son sel (not the value of his salt), et voilà la raison pourquoi je lui vende (why I offered him for sale). Il n'a pu supporter la bienfaisance avec satisfaction, ni les choses bien désagréables avec complaisance."
"He could not bear the things that were disagreeable with complacency." Volumes might be written on that phrase, which at this moment, if we look around us, suggests numerous parallel instances. I have heard a man growl when a plate of soup has been poured by a careless waiter on his dress waistcoat, I have noticed a lady frown when I have myself accidentally torn her train from its body, by treading upon it at an evening party. Talleyrand knew Napoleon—"He could not bear the things that were disagreeable with complacency!" And yet Bonaparte is sometimes called "Le Grand!" (The Great!)
Here I pause, as I feel that I may have already gone too far. It is not for me to say how the document from which I have quoted, came into my possession. But before I satisfy the legitimate curiosity of the public further, I consider it my professional duty to consult the Bar Committee, the Council of the Incorporated Law Society, the President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, and the Lord Chancellor, many of whom are unfortunately still absent, enjoying the Whitsuntide Vacation. I have the honour to be, dear Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
(Signed) A. Briefless, Junior.
Pump-handle Court, June 2nd, 1890.