[56] 20 December 1820.—B.
[57] Prosper Brugière, Baron de Barante (1782-1866), had sent in his resignation as Director-general of Indirect Taxation, a post which at that time carried a salary of one hundred thousand francs.—B.
[58] Prince Jules de Polignac (1780-1847) had been made a peer of France in 1816, but long refused to take the oath to the Charter, which he considered injurious to the interests of religion and the Monarchy, and did not consent to take his seat until the Pope had raised his scruples. He was for some time Ambassador in London, and, in August 1829, became Premier of the ill-fated Ministry which, in 1830, brought about the downfall of the Royal House of France.—T.
[59] Chateaubriand had been appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Berlin (Moniteur, 30th November 1820).—B.
[60] Announcing the appointment of M. de Corbière and M. de Villèle as members of the Council.—B.
[BOOK VIII][61]
The year 1821—The Berlin, Embassy—I arrive in Berlin—M. Ancillon—The Royal Family—Celebrations for the marriage of the Grand-duke Nicholas—Berlin society—Count von Humboldt—Herr von Chamisso—Ministers and ambassadors—The Princess William—The Opera—A musical meeting—My first dispatches—M. de Bonnay—The Park—The Duchess of Cumberland—Commencement of a Memorandum on Germany—Charlottenburg—Interval between the Berlin Embassy and the London Embassy—Baptism of M. le Duc de Bordeaux—Letter to M. Pasquier—Letter from M. de Bernstoff—Letter from M. Ancillon—Last letter from the Duchess of Cumberland—M. de Villèle, Minister of Finance—I am appointed Ambassador to London.
I left France, leaving my friends in possession of an authority which I had purchased for them at the cost of my absence: I was a little Lycurgus[62]. What was good in it was that the first trial which I had made of my political strength restored me my liberty; I was going to enjoy abroad that liberty within the power. At the bottom of this liberty, personally new to me, I saw I know not what confused romances in the midst of realities: was there nothing in Courts? Were not they solitudes of another kind? Perhaps they were Elysian fields with their shades.