Paris, December 20, 1834.—Yesterday I got a letter from London, dated the 18th, and took it at once to M. de Talleyrand. I read him a passage about the terror caused by the suggestion that M. de Broglie might be sent as Ambassador to England, and the necessity of nominating M. de Talleyrand's successor. He quite saw the point, and at once wrote that he wished to see the King. At this very moment M. de Rigny arrived, bringing him another private letter to see. M. de Talleyrand has been urging the choice of Rayneval, which, I think, has not pleased M. de Rigny, if I may judge by what he said to me at dinner: "There is a very strong reason for not sending M. de Rayneval to London, but that is the secret of the Minister of Foreign Affairs; if it was the Admiral's secret I would tell you." I did not insist.
I know that at five o'clock it was arranged with the King that Rigny should write a letter, confidential but producible, to London, in which he should say that the King would choose Molé, Sainte-Aulaire, or Rayneval, and that they would be glad to know which of the three would be most agreeable to the Duke of Wellington. I went so far as to say to M. de Talleyrand that this seemed to me a very maladroit proceeding, as if the Duke chooses Rayneval it will be very difficult not to appoint him, and if he wants Molé, Molé will refuse, and they will, in fact, have to take Sainte-Aulaire, who is not wanted either by the King or by the Council, or by the Duke. How badly everything is directed and managed here! There is no common sense or simplicity, or elevation of mind anywhere, and yet they pretend to govern not only thirty-two millions of subjects, but also all Europe!
Paris, December 21, 1834.—I heard the following facts on excellent authority: (1) They don't want to send Rayneval to London as ambassador; (2) it is Broglie's doctrinaire group who are opposing it; (3) London was yesterday offered formally and officially to Molé, who formally and officially declined it; (4) this morning they had got to Sébastiani but nothing was settled.
Paris, December 24, 1834.—Sébastiani was being talked of yesterday as if his appointment would be in the Moniteur of to-morrow, but the more public his name is made the greater clamour it excites. M. de Rigny is dying to resign his Ministry and ask for the London Embassy, but they are afraid that the machine might go to pieces under the difficulties caused by the resignation of an important member of the Cabinet. It seems that it is the condition of Rayneval's financial affairs which prevents his being appointed. He is said to be over head and ears in debt and almost bankrupt.
Paris, December 28, 1834.—I heard through M. Molé that M. de Broglie had an astonishing influence on the present Ministry, which was unsuspected by the King, that M. Decazes used to go every morning and tell him all that went on; that M. de Rigny and M. Guizot allowed themselves to be much influenced by him, and that no choice was made without being previously submitted to him.
Will it be believed that in the Journal des Débats they translate all Sir Robert Peel's speech and leave out—what? The complimentary passage about the Duke of Wellington which certainly contained nothing offensive to France. And this when the Duke is Foreign Secretary, and is extremely well disposed to France, and when the Débats is reputed the semi-official organ of the Government. Truly people here are extraordinarily maladroit in spite of the French wit!
Paris, December 29, 1834.—Poor little Madame de Chalais died last night. She was such a happy person; with that good and regular happiness which it is given only to some women to experience. Life forsakes those who are weary of their pilgrimage all too slowly; it always goes too quickly from those who are enjoying the journey. In whatever way one importunes Providence, whether one fatigues one's self with prayers or allows one's wishes to be divined in discreet silence, the answer is almost always no, and the sentence usually irrevocable.
What grief at Saint-Aignan! There she was the darling of all the inhabitants. I seem to hear the cries of all these old servants whom I know and for whom she represented the third generation they had served. The poor, the sick, the well-to-do—all idolised her. She was so helpful, so kindly, and so gracious! It is more than a death; it is the destruction of a young happiness and of an ancient and illustrious race. I am profoundly shaken by it.
Paris, December 31, 1834.—Yesterday morning I had a good long visit from M. Royer-Collard. He told me the whole history of his professorship, and gave me a glimpse of his system of philosophy; then he talked a great deal about Port Royal. The hours he gives me are really precious, but too rare and too short for all that there is to learn from a mind like his.
Madame de Castellane came afterwards; if I were to allow it for an instant she would constitute herself my sick nurse! She told me that M. Molé was writing his Memoirs, and that there were already five volumes.