Yours, &c., &c.,
A. Panizzi.”
“P.S.—Please tell Hudson what I am writing. I have let Palmerston and Gladstone read the answer which I got from Paris: they have both formed the same opinion of it.”
What schemes and intentions the Emperor may have secretly entertained at this period (if, indeed, such a creature of circumstances can be supposed to have been capable of possessing fixed intentions beyond the exigencies of the hour) will probably remain hidden from human ken until records now in obscure recesses shall come out into the light of publicity. That ambitious ideas floated through his brain, and that, if it had been possible to carry out his projects, he would have hesitated but little about the means of executing them, there is little doubt; but that, for some reason, he did not see the way to their fulfilment seems equally certain. Happily—and probably owing to the firm attitude of England—the cloud passed over, and no rupture occurred between the two great powers. In a little more than two years after the date of the letter last quoted, Panizzi received from the Emperor a second invitation to Biarritz. What led to this invitation we find him thus explaining to his friend Ellice:—
“Paris, 52, Rue de Lille,
“Monday, Aug. 11th, 1862.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . “... It is perfectly true that Her Majesty, on hearing from Mérimée himself that I was to pass through Paris, did me the honour of inviting me to dine at St. Cloud last Wednesday, which of course I did. I am not, however, so conceited as to suppose that Her Majesty, who knows me very little, asked me in consequence of that slight knowledge of me; no doubt she asked me out of kindness to Mérimée. We had a most agreeable party on that day. The Empress was kind, more than I can express, both at dinner and after, when the ladies and gentlemen who had dined, accompanied by several carriages (she driving her mother) went to see a new contrivance to run carriages on a railway (of which I understood nothing). We returned to St. Cloud about 11 o’clock by bye-lanes without any escort whatever, and in the most private manner. The Emperor, who was to arrive on that day, not having come, the Empress most gracefully said that Mérimée and I must wait for him, and dine again yesterday, which we did. He was uncommonly gracious and friendly; owing to a mistake, we arrived long before the dinner hour; we walked in the garden, Her Majesty, and Mérimée, as well as myself, till dinner time; then, after dinner, he called me to a private room and we had a long conversation, during which he encouraged me to speak out, and I did so. The conclusion was an invitation to Biarritz. I was most struck with the Prince Imperial. He is a handsome, intelligent, charming boy; he speaks English just as well as you do....”
This chapter may close with part of a letter from Panizzi to Mr. Gladstone, wherein he appears to give the result of his visit to Biarritz, and of his conversations with the Emperor Napoleon. Much of the provocation stated by the writer to have been given to His Majesty it is difficult to deny; but those who have studied the subject, or retain any memory of the circumstances of the time, will agree that the conduct of the Emperor himself was the chief source of all those accusations, true or false, which were brought against him.
“British Museum,
November 3rd, 1862.