Lunéville, August 27, 1840.—I left Umkirch this morning, and spent fourteen hours in traversing a long road which is made longer by the pass over the mountains. I crossed the Vosges by the Col du Bonhomme. Many factories and workshops give some life and animation to the country, which is sometimes bright and lively. Vegetation is poor and the outlines of the hills too monotonous.
Vitry-sur-Marne, August 28, 1840.—I left Lunéville at seven o'clock this morning, stopped at Nancy for two and a half hours, and arrived here at ten in the evening, which may be called good going.
Ay, August 30, 1840.—On my road here yesterday I stopped at Châlons, where I met M. de La Boulaye, who was there for the session of the General Council. I was very glad to see him; he is a pleasant man in mind as well as character, and I think even more of the one than of the other every day of my life. He gave me the Paris news which he had heard from M. Roy, who had come straight from that Babylon to preside over the Council-General of Marne. The night before he left Paris he had seen the King, who talked upon the questions of the day, and said: "Thiers is urging me to war, to which I reply: 'Very well, but the Chambers must be convoked.' He then answers: 'We shall get nothing from this Chamber; it should be dissolved.' 'Oh, no, my dear Minister; on that point I prefer to take the Chamber as I find it and make the best of things.'"
M. Roy also said that the news of the ratification of the London Treaty reached Paris on the 22nd, and was not published till the 24th. During that time the terrible excitement on the Stock Exchange ruined more than one broker, forced M. Barbet de Jouy to flee, enriched M. Dosne, the father-in-law of M. Thiers, with seventeen hundred francs and M. Fould with several millions. The latter has taken M. de Rothschild's place in the confidence of the Ministry. The public outcry was such that the Guardian of the Seals, M. Vivien, was obliged to give orders for the information to be published. This information will produce no effect, as is natural, but it shows that the scandal has gone very far. It seems that in consequence the chief personage in the Ministry has lost much ground in public opinion; he is thought to have guided the diplomacy of the country very casually, and to have concealed interesting news from the public in a most unusual way. The whole of the manufacturing and speculating world is said to tremble at the thought of war, and to exert a very strong influence upon the public.
I reached here at about three o'clock in the afternoon in African heat. I am glad to be back again in a warm climate, with its flowers, its fruits, its beautiful nights, and its blue sky.
I have a letter from the Princesse de Lieven written from London on August 22. She says: "General anxiety concerning the situation is becoming apparent here. All goes well, or rather there is no anxiety upon questions of foreign policy, however serious the complications may be. French newspapers, and even the French military preparations, are regarded with scorn, but at last the people are beginning to rub their eyes; they are astonished to find that what is known as French humbug may mean something, and that this something may be neither more nor less than a general war, waged, as far as France is concerned, with dreadful weapons—weapons which were wisely laid aside for ten years, and which France will perhaps be forced to raise once more; in short, uneasiness is spreading, and I cannot help seeing in the fact the opening of the way to an understanding, in spite of the obstacles which the sense of self-esteem may meet with on the road. This is my point of view. My politics are concerned with my set of rooms,[ [121] which I like and wish to keep. The Duke of Wellington loudly asserts that he is Turkish, and more Turkish than anybody, but that Turkey will not have peace with France, and that peace must be preserved before all things. Leopold is greatly interested; he proposes to return to Belgium. M. Guizot has been at Eu and Windsor; his present life suits him, and he looks very well."
My niece, the Countess of Hohenthal, who has been to Dresden to see her uncle Maltzan when he went there from Königswarth, sends me some news concerning the stay of the Empress of Russia in Saxony: "The Empress of Russia has shown such coldness to the Saxon Court that the King and Queen of Prussia, who have delighted everybody, have been reduced to despair. She would not stay at Pillnitz, where many preparations for her comfort had been made; she refused to use the Court carriages, and went about the shops and streets like a boarding-school girl, without the least sense of decorum. She refused to dine at Court, and only looked in for a moment at a concert given in her honour. The King of Prussia was ready to give the portfolio of Foreign Affairs to my uncle Maltzan, but he preferred to retain his post at Vienna. It is said that his refusal is due to the fact that he is wildly in love with Princess Metternich."
Paris, August 31, 1840.—Once again I am in this great Paris, doubtless populous, and yet so empty for me. This morning at ten o'clock I reached my little house,[ [122] which seems to me like a pleasant little inn, only I am astonished by its small size, which suits my habits and my tastes so little that I could certainly have chosen nothing better in order to realise my intention of visiting Paris only when absolutely obliged.
Paris, September 3, 1840.—Yesterday I had a long visit from M. Molé, who blames M. Guizot, and relates his infinite blunders with great complacency; he blames M. Thiers, and draws a vivid picture of his bumptiousness, his casual ways, and so on. Nor does the King escape his criticism as regards the present crisis, which entirely occupies all minds here. He says that the greatest swashbucklers are dying with fear of war; that really people are ashamed and vexed because they have been led astray and induced to regard as impossible what, however, has happened, while they are angry at finding themselves isolated when lasting alliances have been dangled before their eyes. But amid the general panic certain points are so well advertised by conversations and continual publications that it daily becomes more difficult to solve the problem, and the only possibility is to cut the knot. Commercial interests have been suddenly paralysed, and business in general is suffering heavily. Rothschild, who has quarrelled with M. Thiers, has lost even more millions than M. Fould has gained. M. Molé explains all this very cheerfully.
I went to dinner with the wife of Marshal d'Albuféra. The poor woman was in despair, for that morning she had seen her daughter start for Spain in the most deplorable state of health. She has kept one of her grandchildren with her. She is really a most warm-hearted person. Her account of the present political situation differs entirely from that of M. Molé; she is no less frightened by the serious nature of events, but attributes them to other causes. She is never tired of praising the capacity, the energy, and the cleverness of M. Thiers, his inexhaustible resource, and his complete harmony with the King. One fact she told me which would hardly please M. Bresson: that M. de La Redorte was given the choice of going to Berlin and preferred Madrid. She says that M. de La Redorte has been very successful in Spain, and that the King and Ministers are never weary of praising the distinguished tone of his despatches.