Still a kind of slight was about to cloud the life of Count Pozzo. Hitherto whatever missions might have been assigned to him exclusive of his official functions in Paris, he had always retained the title of ambassador to the court of France, and his tastes and inclinations led him to consider that country as his own. When he was despatched to Madrid, and more recently to London, his sovereign had not withdrawn his credentials, his post was still Paris: what was the reason a different course of proceeding took place upon this occasion, and that he received the title of ambassador extraordinary to his Britannic Majesty? It would be in vain to deny that it was a mark of his being out of favour, nor was this the only occasion upon which such had been the case in the course of his life. His disposition was not one that would bend to caprices or submit to demands which did not concern him. I have heard him complain of being watched by a number of special envoys, whose employments did not fall within the range of the regular communications between two governments, two nations naturally formed to esteem each other. This somewhat haughty disposition, led to the ambassador's loss of favour; it was however covered by a purple robe, by the appointment of ambassador to London.
Count Nesselrode entered into an explanation of the duties connected with the ambassador's new appointment. It was intended he should use all his influence to support the menaced Tory interest; his intimacy with the Duke of Wellington was well known, but it was considered that a merely provisional title, would not be sufficient to confer the necessary éclat and importance upon the Russian ambassador, for which reason he was to receive the definitive and official appointment. As soon as the mission should be accomplished, when the Duke of Wellington should have been dissuaded from his inclination to unite with Austria on the Eastern question, and the Tories have been actively supported, Pozzo di Borgo was to be reinstated in his appointment in Paris, and permitted to follow his tastes and habitual pursuits in the country he considered as his home. This despatch afforded some consolation to the ambassador, who was affected by a feeling of sadness in breaking the ties that bound him to a society in which he had so many intimate friends, but in these mournful separations he was now supported by the hope of a speedy return. Every thing around was dear to him, even the palace whose gradual embellishment he had taken pleasure in watching; the verdure of the gardens, the shade of exotic trees, the fragrant flowers, the vast and well-chosen library of Italian authors, whose works he was so fond of reciting from memory, and the views of Corsica suspended in his apartments, the gulf of Ajaccio which recalled the early youth of the friend of Paoli.
When admitted to any degree of intimacy with Count Pozzo, you were particularly struck with the energy of his manners and his vigorous mode of expression; his handsome though swarthy countenance was shaded by greyish hair, always arranged in a picturesque manner, as Gerard has represented him in one of his admirable portraits. His conversation was at first reserved and guarded, but gradually became animated and full of imagery and wit which sparkled through a slightly Corsican accent; his memory resembled a vast bazaar, full of the varied recollections of a long and troubled life. If you were desirous of seeing the mind of Count Pozzo in its full glory, you had only to speak to him of Corsica, ask him questions concerning the history of Paoli, or turn the conversation upon the national republic established in the island, and the Consulta which chose him as secretary to the government, and then you would be struck with the animation of his voice and gestures; his piercing eyes seemed to seek in your mind the emotions that glowed in his own, till you actually felt as if present with him at the assembly where the Corsican people proclaimed their independence. He did not indulge in anecdotes to the degree Talleyrand used to do in his long evening conversations, but he was more serious and truthful in his reminiscences, and did not play with facts, but always took a serious view of them. Without the habitual tact that characterised him, he might have been drawn into further confessions, for he was scarcely master of himself when speaking of his early political life. He was a man whose memory was so full of facts, that they oozed out at every pore; a spirit I took great delight in consulting, because the great struggle of Europe against Napoleon was shadowed forth by him, in a very different point of view from that assumed by the bad pamphlets of the imperial school.
I saw him depart for London in the full enjoyment of his powerful faculties, retaining his eagle glance, the elevated expression of his noble brow, and his bright searching eyes, while his mouth was expressive of mildness and goodness. But he was evidently out of spirits, and he quitted Paris with the idea that some misfortune would occur before he should see it again. In London he transacted the affairs of his government with the same devotion and activity as ever, but he took no pleasure in his employment; the friendship of the Duke of Wellington, his companion in more than one battle-field, was his only enjoyment; they passed whole days together at Apsley House talking over the affairs of Europe, and their recollections; speaking, the one of the caprice of the people who broke his windows, the other of the ingratitude of a court incapable of comprehending that order, and peace with a powerful nation like France, are essential to the tranquillity of Europe.
Weary of so long a diplomatic career, he had at last obtained permission to seek the retirement he so ardently coveted, when a letter from the Emperor apprised him of the intended journey of a Czarewitch to London, and requested him to act as a guide to the young prince during his stay in England. This involved a degree of responsibility and of moral fatigue which shortened the life of Count Pozzo. How would the heir to the Russian throne be received by the English nation, so capricious both in their affections and their hatred? The trial terminated happily, but it may be safely asserted that the last remains of strength possessed by the ambassador sunk under the exertion.
I saw him on his return to Paris: what a sad alteration from his former self! and what mere worms we are in the hand of God, who disposes at His pleasure of the mind and intellects of man! He no longer found any enjoyment or ease except in the society of his nephew, Count Pozzo di Borgo, and his amiable niece, a daughter of the noble house of Crillon. Was the old ambassador desirous of shewing that he had never ceased to be a Frenchman, by quartering his Corsican coat-of-arms with the escutcheon and honourable devices borne by the brother-in-arms of Henry IV.?