Count Rantzau, who is escorting the Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg, was deeply touched to see in an honourable position the portrait of Marshal Rantzau, who served under Louis XIV., and whose descendant he is. He sat by me at dinner, and I drew a great deal out of him concerning the Princesses, whom I esteem more highly every day.
Paris, June 12, 1837.—I am starting to-morrow to rejoin M. de Talleyrand at Valençay.
The King of England is most seriously ill, and is only kept alive with curaçao and raw meat. He knows that he is dying, and is calling his family round him: the FitzClarences, and even Lord Munster. Mr. Caradoc is said to be taking Sir John Conroy's place with the Duchess of Kent. He sends for presents for her, the cost of which is paid by the Princess Bagration. It is said that if the King dies the Duchess of Kent will summon Lord Moira to the post of Prime Minister, who is a great Radical; others say that King Leopold is advising his niece to take Lord Palmerston, but the little Princess is inclined to Lord Grey.
Valençay, June 14, 1837.—I have just arrived, after a tiring journey in dreadful heat and two thunderstorms. M. de Talleyrand is very well, as also is Pauline.
Valençay, June 17, 1837.—Madame Adélaïde has sent M. de Talleyrand details of the accidents which took place upon the day of the fireworks; twenty-three persons were suffocated in the crowd and thirty-nine are injured. This has naturally caused much grief. The Duchesse d'Orléans was anxious not to go to the entertainment at the Hôtel de Ville and to cancel the balls; but it was pointed out to her that many people would be disappointed and much expense needlessly incurred. Festivities have therefore been postponed until after the funeral of the victims.
It seems that the fireworks, the illuminations, and especially the sham fight, were remarkably beautiful. Popular festivities are hardly ever held without accidents, and I am always afraid of them. The victims all belong to the working class, which makes their case still sadder, and some of them leave their families in poverty.
Valençay, June 18, 1837.—Pauline has made a conquest of the Archbishop of Bourges, Mgr. de Villèle, who called here before my arrival. She is said to have done the honours of the Castle remarkably well, with unusual self-possession, grace, and propriety. I am not sorry that she was obliged to try.
Considerable restorations are being made in our great castle. The northern part of the moat has been cleaned out, and the wretched little gardens which blocked the approach to it have been cleared away; there is now a walk all the way round. The belfry upon the town church looks very well, and in general the place seems improved.
Hostile newspapers try to draw comparisons between the accidents at the fireworks and the sad scenes upon the marriage of Louis XVI., and the catastrophe at the Schwarzenberg ball at the time of the Emperor Napoleon's marriage. They draw omens from these coincidences. But what more disastrous coincidence could there be for the elder branch of the Bourbons than the assassination of the Duc de Berry and the revolution of 1830? Yet no misfortune happened at the marriage of this Prince. It is not in consequence of such special incidents that kings lose their thrones.
The Municipal Council at Paris has voted a hundred and fifty thousand francs for the further expenses of the festivity. Everything is on so large a scale that the hire of glasses and water-bottles costs four thousand francs. Ices and refreshments to the amount of twenty thousand francs were distributed on the day when the festival was postponed to the workmen and to the hospitals. The patients will have a feast, and smart sayings are in circulation concerning the indigestion they are likely to get.