Paris, February 23, 1838.—We are still in the midst of cold and snow.
The Duc de Nemours has had a sore throat, which threatened to become quinsy, but his indisposition has not postponed any of the Court festivities, and the day before yesterday he was present at the Queen's ball.
M. de Talleyrand has a cold and his legs are weak. These are his two weak points. The former is only a transitory trouble; the other, though its remote consequences may be serious, is not threatening at present. Such is the true state of affairs.
Paris, February 25, 1838.—I was informed early this morning that M. de Talleyrand was suffering from a kind of suffocation. This was purely due to outward circumstances, for he had slipped down in his bed and was practically buried by his vast bedclothes, with the result that a kind of nightmare was the consequence. I have just left him sleeping peaceably in an armchair. What I do not like is the fact that for the last two days he has been more or less feverish, and that he will eat nothing or very little for fear of increasing the fever. He is very weak. The absence of Dr. Cruveilhier, who is at Limoges, is also a trouble, and though I feel no immediate anxiety, I am far from confident concerning the result of this invalid condition, which seems to point to a general break-up.
Paris, March 3, 1838.—In two hours M. de Talleyrand is going to the Academy in cold and most unpleasant rain; I also fear the effect of the excitement upon him. There will be a large audience, but no women, as this Academy will not admit them. I hope that to-day will go off well, but I wish it were to-morrow.
Paris, March 4, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand is very agitated and very weak this morning. He made a great effort, and whatever his success, I fear he will have to pay dearly for it. His success was beyond my expectation; the accounts of some fifty people who besieged my room after the session leave me no doubt upon that point. He had recovered his vocal powers, read excellently well, walked about, seemed younger and entirely himself, and two hours afterwards he was overthrown and incapable of making an effort. I do not know what the newspapers will have to say of the speech, but if anything can disarm them I think it should be the fact that a man at such an age and with so full a past should display such energy in delivering in public farewells so noble and so full of justice and good teaching.[ [86]
Paris, March 5, 1838.—The day has gone off better than I expected for M. de Talleyrand. The Journal Général de France, which is a Doctrinaire organ, contained the best, cleverest, and pleasantest article upon M. de Talleyrand's speech. Some ascribed it to M. Doudan, others to M. Villemain. The article in the Débats was kind, but dull; that of the Journal de Paris good; of the Charte stupid and badly written; the Gazette de France fairly good; the Siècle and the Presse insignificant; the National of no account. Against my custom, which has been not to open a single newspaper since my return from the country, I read them all yesterday, and shall do the same to-day; then I shall resume my state of ignorance.
Paris, March 6, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand had a fainting fit yesterday before dinner. I think it was due to the excessively rigorous methods of his dieting and to the catarrh of his chest and stomach, which takes away his appetite. The blister which will be placed upon him will relieve him, I hope. Yesterday's newspapers were not equally satisfactory concerning his speech, but he was not disturbed on that account, for the intelligent and right-minded members of his audience have been really pleased. The house is constantly full of people coming to congratulate him. M. Royer-Collard said to me yesterday: "M. de Talleyrand has solemnly disavowed the unpleasant incidents of his life and publicly glorified the good and really useful parts of it."
Paris, March 7, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand had no further attacks of faintness yesterday, but he does not look well, and I think him much changed. I hear that his brother, the Duc de Talleyrand, my father-in-law, is also in a very poor state of health; the Vicomtesse de Laval is feverish with a bad cold and she cannot sleep. This is all very sad, and these omens of death depress me greatly.
Paris, March 8, 1838.—M. de Talleyrand had a better day yesterday. We take great care of him: when I came back from a dinner given to my sister by the Stackelbergs, and from the Queen, to whom I went afterwards, I found him surrounded by fair ladies and in pretty good spirits.