May 13th, 1821.—The christening of the little Duke de Bordeaux,[[81]] and the fêtes in consequence of it, in the first week of the present month, went off remarkably well; and the people, it seems, appeared very happy. At the Chamber of Peers a trial is going on for the conspiracy of last year,[[82]] and it is supposed both Houses will sit till July. M. de Chateaubriand is returned from Prussia, and says that not only all is tranquil at Berlin, but that the Government has energy, and the people are satisfied. He sat beside Mr. Canning at a great dinner on Monday, when they had much conversation together on public affairs.
19th.—Took possession of apartments, which I had engaged for three months, in the Place Bourbon, opposite to the Hôtel du Corps Législatif, formerly the palace of the Prince de Condé. This is a very central situation, being near the Pont de Louis Quinze.
The Royalists have obtained a great victory in the Chamber of Deputies, by carrying the bill for the creation of several additional bishoprics.
24th.—The weather continues cold and windy. The Duchess de Berri has gone to some chapel near Soissons, on a pilgrimage. She will be absent five days.
25th.—Went to Prince Castelcicala’s in the evening, and met the Count de Sèze, who defended Louis XVI. before the National Convention. He is now a Peer, head of the first tribunal in the kingdom, and decorated with orders. He was fourteen months in a dungeon, and only obtained his liberty on the death of Robespierre. Malesherbes, who had invited him to come to stay with him in the country, was guillotined. He told several anecdotes of the King, and said that sometimes his Majesty thought his life would be spared, and that if he were obliged to abdicate he would retire into Switzerland. It appeared to me, from the conversation of De Sèze, that the reason why Louis XVI. chose to be defended by the constitution which he had sworn—or, rather, the reason why he acknowledged the Assembly as his judges—was that Charles I. had declined to make a similar acknowledgment, and was beheaded. De Sèze said that according to the constitution the King could only be obliged to abdicate. He seemed to think that Louis showed great firmness, and that he was a man of abilities. He sometimes read Tacitus and Livy with him. He also stated that the King was sincere in his attachment to the constitution which he had accepted and wanted to maintain. He therefore made De Sèze leave out from the defence which he was to read a preliminary part, in which the latter had introduced a sentence against the lawfulness of the tribunal before which he was to plead the cause of his royal client. That Louis XVI. had sanctioned what are now called liberal principles there can be no doubt. His support of the Americans, and his first measures with respect to his own kingdom, demonstrated his having listened to that party; but when he discovered his danger, and perceived the excesses to which all this had led, one would think that he must have been heartily sick of the constitution. Indeed, the paper which he left behind him when he fled—if it were authentic—seems to prove this was the case.
De Sèze is a lively, active man. The King sent him the other day a snuff-box, with the portrait of Louis XVI., and a note written with his own hand, telling him it was the only one worthy of him. The Emperors of Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia, when they were here, gave him boxes set in diamonds.
27th.—Went by appointment to the Duchess d’Angoulême’s. She looked thin and ill, but was very gracious, and talked to me of the death of the Duke de Berri, of the providential birth of the Duke de Bordeaux, and of English affairs. She is going for a month to the baths of Vichy. A M. Prévost, who has often been employed on diplomatic business, arrived from Naples. The King entered that city on the 15th. M. de Blacas, now a duke, accompanied his Majesty, and the joy was universal—illuminations, music, dancing, and general festivity, with immense crowds in the streets.
30th.—Went to Neuilly, to pay my respects to the Duchess d’Orleans.[[83]] It happened also to be the nameday of her father, the King of Naples, and of her son, the Duke de Chartres. The Duke d’Orleans is now proprietor of Neuilly, having made an exchange with Government. He is building and embellishing both house and garden, and has already added some handsome apartments for his sister.
June 1st.—Met at Prince Castelcicala’s the Russian Ambassador at the Court of Naples, who is going to England to compliment the King on his coronation. There was the Baron de Vincent, the Austrian ambassador here, who has arrived from the Congress.[[84]] He was at the battle of Waterloo, and was wounded there. He went as a volunteer, being then Minister at Brussels, and is said to be a very worthy man.
4th.—Went in the evening, with Prince Castelcicala, by invitation, to Madame de Gontaut’s, who is governess of the little Duke de Bordeaux. There was a considerable assembly of ladies, and several gentlemen. The Duchess de Berri was there, and talked to everybody. Monsieur came late, but, as usual, was most amiable.