This is the last day of a year of which I am not sorry to see the end: it can count as two years in my life by reason of its length; however, it has not been entirely unfortunate; the months spent at Rochecotte were quiet and the time while I was in Germany was not without interest and satisfaction.
This is also the second anniversary of the death of Mgr. de Quélen. It could not pass unnoticed by me, for he was a great loss to me, and his regular and protecting kindness left one of those gaps which can never be filled, for nothing can take the place of that which has been consecrated by time.
CHAPTER II
1842
Nice, January 1, 1842.—Yesterday I made a very beautiful excursion with my son-in-law. We drove to the foot of a crag on which a convent for men is built. The church is pretty, especially by reason of a projecting portico from which there is a beautiful view of the sea including Nice, the Fort of Saint Elmo, and of the chief points of the landscape in a delightful setting. We walked up to the convent which is called Saint Pons: the religious order there established is comparatively new, and is called gli oblati della santissima Virgine; young ordained priests from the time when they are allowed to say Mass, and until they can perform the holy office of confession, or in other words receive the cure of souls, spend a year here in preparation. This institution seems to me to be peculiar to Nice, and in my opinion is a very wise idea.
Nice, January 2, 1842.—Yesterday evening I went with the Castellanes to the official reception given by the Governor of Nice.[ [48] It is customary here that on New Year's Day every native who has been presented at Court and all foreigners should attend this reception, the men in uniform and the women in full dress. The idea is that in this way one congratulates the King and Queen of Sardinia. The ceremony somewhat resembles a London Drawing-room, or one of the great diplomatic routs at Paris. There were some curious figures, but on the whole the society was unexceptionable and the crowd suffocating. Some games were made up in the last reception-room where it was not so hot, and refreshments went round, while flowers, which are never wanting here, were to be seen everywhere in profusion, and the light was brilliant. The whole scene looked very well. I went round the rooms twice, once on my son-in-law's arm and the second time with the Duke of Devonshire, who pays me much attention. The Grand Duchess was covered with diamonds but not with beauty, for she had no head-dress, which made her look old. The Princesse Marie also looks better when she is not so over-dressed.
Nice, January 3, 1842.—The churches here are most displeasing. It is very difficult to sit down and one is surrounded by dirty and unpleasant people who spit and are verminous. The architecture is also spoilt by wretched rags of gilt and silken material, worn out and torn, which make the most unpleasant effect. The singing of the penitents, who are here organised as brotherhoods, is by no means melodious. Apart from what I saw of the Jesuit college, nothing in the way of religion edifies me here. In the streets you are attacked by the most hideous beggars; all the staircases are crowded with them and are so filthy that one's skirts are only fit to throw away when one gets home.
Nice, January 4, 1842.—It is grey damp weather, and one might think oneself at Brighton; it has lasted now for three days and makes one think one is being swindled. When the weather was bright there was always the possibility of catching some inflammation of the chest, because the bitter wind counteracts the heat of the sun and therefore becomes the more dangerous. When the sun goes down the wind certainly falls, and then we are confronted by the great grey expanse of the sea which looks like a shroud prepared for our burial. We might still be at Paris or London.
I hear from Paris that the condemnation of Dupoty will probably be attacked by an appeal to the Chamber of Deputies upon grounds of illegality.[ [49] However, the nomination of M. Sauzet to the Presidency by a great majority is a good omen for the Ministry. It is not yet known what will be the consequence of Salvandy's return from Madrid; he declined to hand the letters accrediting him as ambassador to Espartero; the Ambassadors at Paris consider that he was quite right, and quote as a precedent a similar case under Louis XIV.
Nice, January 4, 1842.—I hear from Paris that the second trial before the Chamber of Peers will not be protracted or complicated. The revelations made by the accused, who have been condemned to death though they will not be executed, have made it possible to arrest some sixty individuals, all from the same class; only four or five of them will be brought up for sentence, who are somewhat above the working class and are most deeply compromised. It is said that the most important result of this second trial will be to show the ties existing between the Communists, the party of equality and the reform party, to which M. Arago and others belong, and of which M. Dupoty was the secretary.
The question of etiquette which hindered Salvandy in Spain is largely occupying men's minds. M. Guizot said that he sent precise instructions to Salvandy to return if Espartero persisted in his refusal to allow him to present his letters to the little Queen. His return was expected. It is somewhat derogatory to France that her Ambassador should be allowed to depart because he claims a natural right. When Cellamare and some other ambassador came to Paris, they handed their letters of credit to Louis XV. who was then six years of age and not to the Duc d'Orléans who was acting as Regent. This has been constantly repeated but produces no effect at Madrid.