Chapter III · 1843 (continued 2)

Königsbruck, July 6, 1843.—I arrived here yesterday at the house of my nieces. The castle is almost full, but only relations are there: the Count and Countess of Hohenthal, Madame de Lazareff, and her three children, Fanny Biron, her two young brothers, Pierre and Calixte, the two daughters and the little boy of poor Count Maltzan, who are cousins-german of my nieces, and then a number of governesses, &c. Every one seemed very happy and welcomed me warmly.

Carlsbad, July 11, 1843.—On the 7th we had a terrible storm at Königsbruck with hail, a waterspout and a flood. A child in the village was drowned, and everybody was terror-stricken. My poor nephew Hohenthal lost his hay and his harvest. I started on the 8th in good time to dine at Pillnitz, where their Majesties received me most kindly. On the 9th I heard mass at Dresden in the early morning and started after lunch for Teplitz. Yesterday I made a start in stormy weather, the horses were frightened and inclined to shy; on one occasion they started to one side of the road, and if they had not stuck in some heavy earth we should have been upset. It was an unpleasant experience, for the danger was real. However, as it is over, one can but thank God for safety and think of it no more. I found my sisters very kind and affectionate, but the second is much changed, yellow and withered.

Carlsbad, July 13, 1843.—Yesterday I had several callers: Prince Paul Esterhazy came in first and we talked of many old memories. Then the Ambassador Pahlen came; he knows as little of his future career as Barante knows of his. Afterwards I and my son went to dinner with Prince Paul Esterhazy: among the guests were Princesse Gabrielle Auersberg, lady-in-waiting to the Emperor Alexander during the Vienna Congress; Princess Veriand of Windisch-Graetz, a pretty woman of the same period, and her daughter, the Ambassador Pahlen, Herr von Liebermann and Count Woronzoff-Daschkoff. After dinner I made several calls and went to tea with my sisters; several people came in, including the Count of Brandenburg, son of the stout William and of Countess Doenhoff. We had met long ago at Berlin and were glad to meet again.

Carlsbad, July 15, 1843.—I spend almost the whole of my days with my sisters. Here people live in the street, wander about and spend their money in the shops, in which they are constantly looking. I was asked to tea yesterday with the Countess Strogonoff whom I had met at London at dinner with Madame de Lieven. I stayed for half an hour, but it was a meeting of St. Petersburg society, and I was quite lost. I saw Marshal Paskewitch who is known, I think, as the Prince of Warsaw; his manner is by no means pleasant, and certainly not distinguished.

Breslau, July 24, 1843.—I am making only a flying visit here as I wish to dine with my nephew Biron at Polnisch-Wartenberg, and I have no time to lose. I saw nothing striking on the road from Dresden here, and Breslau is an old town which is rather stolid than interesting.

Polnisch-Wartenberg, July 26, 1843.—I found a regular family meeting here the day before yesterday and a pressing invitation to dine the next day with the Radziwills. I therefore accompanied my nephew yesterday morning to Antonin, a shooting-box of the Radziwills in the grand duchy of Posen. The weather was abominable and the Polish roads extremely bad. Six horses harnessed to a light carriage dragged us through dark forests, over deep sand through which we jolted over the roots of trees. The grand duchy of Posen which begins two leagues from here, has a generally depressing appearance; the population, the houses and the cultivation are all in a poor state. I was received very kindly by the good Radziwills, who are living in a curious castle which is rather original than comfortable. Near this castle their parents are buried; I was taken to the family vault to pray over the tomb of their late mother, Princess Louise of Prussia, who was my godmother, and what is more, was a really motherly friend to me.

Polnisch-Wartenberg, July 27, 1843.—My nephew took me for a drive yesterday morning to see part of his estate. We spent the rest of the time examining old family papers and memorials of our grandparents which are collected here. Prince Radziwill dined here in the course of a round of inspection which he was making.

Günthersdorf, July 29, 1843.—I have come here from Polnisch-Wartenberg. I stayed at Breslau for a few hours to visit the churches, the old town hall, and some shops which are better stocked and in better taste than those of Berlin. I also wished to pay my respects to the Prince Bishop [104] and ask his blessing. He received me with affecting sympathy. My nephew who had accompanied me everywhere, left me in the cathedral and went to ask the Bishop if he could receive me; he immediately came to fetch me, notwithstanding his eighty-two years, and took me to his palace which he showed me. It is a fine residence, and I was obliged to accept an invitation to a meal. The traditions and character of Breslau pleased me greatly.

Günthersdorf, July 31, 1843.—I do not know Princess Belgiojoso well enough to say whether I should be flattered or not by the comparison which M. Cousin has given you of her mind and mine; [105] but I am quite certain that M. Cousin cannot possibly judge my character, seeing that I have never spoken with him nor in his presence. His statements therefore are based upon hearsay and are, in consequence, unreliable. In any case my learning which is confined to the seventeenth century will humbly strike its flag before a mother of the church. I do not write books, I am ignorant and grow more ignorant every day, as I am entirely occupied with personal interests, and if I were obliged to make researches into any subject, it would be into the law concerning fiefs. [106] This reminds me that I was startled this morning by the trumpet blast of a postillion which seemed to me to announce some courier sent to Germany for a definite answer. However, it was Herr von Wolff who had come with a new proposal concerning the Sagan affair. In a fortnight the business will either be ended satisfactorily or broken off altogether; so another fortnight of uncertainty must follow many months of suspense. The late M. de Talleyrand, who was always right, said that a long distance separated the agreement and the conclusion of any piece of business.

Günthersdorf, August 3, 1843.—I am sorry to hear of the death of General Alava, though he was not a character who held any high place in my esteem. With him more recollections of the past have disappeared; and at Rochecotte I had also looked after him and had grown accustomed to the sound of his stick upon my inlaid floors. Death is a very serious matter and when it begins to thin the ranks of one's intimate friends, as has been the case with me for several years, it is impossible to avoid serious reflections upon death. It comes nearer and nearer to my heart and sometimes it seems to me that I have no time to lose before I make all my preparations for the great and final journey.

Günthersdorf, August 10, 1843.—I spent nearly the whole of yesterday at Wartenberg: I propose to found a little hospital there and am greatly occupied by the preparations and arrangements for it, a task entirely after my own heart. I spent the beautiful evening sitting on my balcony, surrounded by flowers, reading and thinking; but if thoughts are to be pleasant the heart must be free from all sad and painful cares, otherwise meditation turns inevitably to bitterness.

Günthersdorf, August 16, 1843.—My sisters arrived yesterday morning and my son Louis yesterday evening; my nieces and their children have been here for some days with Count Schulenburg, so that my little house is almost full.

Günthersdorf, August 21, 1843.—Yesterday I went to mass at Wartenberg. When I came back I found Herr von Wolff who told us the terrible news of the fire in the Opera House at Berlin and the panic and danger which menaced the charming palace of the dear Princess of Prussia. [107] She was then indisposed and the fright seems to have made her quite ill. The young Archduke of Austria who was then in Berlin, seems to have behaved marvellously well. [108] Yesterday evening at tea time the Countess de le Roche-Aymon called here on her way to her niece, Madame de Bruges, who lives in Upper Silesia. She has decided to spend a few days with us: German by extraction, she has lived in France for a long time and is now returning to settle in her native land; she is cheerful and lively in spite of her seventy-three years. She told us that the will of Prince Augustus of Prussia, who has just died, was scandalous to the last degree, [109] and gave a full account of his mistresses and bastard children. The latter amount to a hundred and twenty, but have not all survived their father.

Hohlstein, September 6, 1843.—I arrived at Hohlstein the day before yesterday. Unfortunately the weather remains unpleasant and trying. Apart from my sisters there is no one here now except Fanny and myself and life is very quiet, which suits me entirely.

Yesterday my sisters took me to Neuland, three leagues from here. This is a large estate with a small castle which the ex-King of the Low Countries bought eighteen months ago from the Count of Nostitz. It is said that he proposes to settle it upon his wife. Some building is going on and the garden is being laid out, but on a restricted scale and in poor taste. The site is very ordinary; the fields alone are beautiful, but a man of taste might do a great deal. The appearance of the whole did not please me.

Berlin, October 11, 1843.—I can understand that the town of Berlin would not suit everybody's taste: though handsome it is too monotonous and too modern. Prague is much more imposing and Dresden more lively. The real importance of Berlin is entirely political and military, and it always gives one the impression of being at headquarters.

Herr von Humboldt is extremely kind, but a little spice of malice is invariably perceptible in his acts of politeness, and it is well to be on one's guard. He amuses the King with numberless stories in which charitable feeling is not the most striking motive.

A rumour is widely circulated that the bullet shot fired at the carriage of the Emperor Nicholas at Posen is a little Russian comedy arranged to provide an excuse for further severity in Poland and to justify German severity towards the grand duchy of Posen. [110]

Berlin, October 16, 1843.—Yesterday I received at last the ratified agreement with my nephew the Prince of Hohenzollern, concerning the tenure of Sagan, duly signed, initialled and attested. The kindness of Herr von Wolff, to which this result is largely due, makes this final solution of the question doubly valuable in my eyes.

The official date for taking possession is April 1, though I am allowed to supervise the workmen from this moment. We have now to regularise the deed by a family agreement securing the concurrence of the agnate relations; then to abandon the allodial rights to the fief to satisfy the Crown and to reconstitute as one whole that which is now divided into several parts. When this has been done, the king must re-invest me and receive my oath of vassalage.

Here we have with us the agreeable Balzac who has just returned from Russia: he gives as unpleasant accounts of the country as M. de Custine, but he will not write a special book of his travels; he is merely writing some Scenes from Military Life, several of which will deal, I think, with Russia. He is a heavy and vulgar character: I had already seen him in France, but he left me with a disagreeable impression which has now been strengthened.

The day before yesterday we went to dinner, saw the play and had supper at the new palace. The play was Shakspere's Midsummer Night's Dream, translated by Schlegel. The staging was very fine. At supper I sat by the side of the Archduke Albert, who is a natural and well-educated character. He is to marry Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria who is said to be very pretty.

I am to go and dine at Babelsberg with the Princess of Prussia. She is to be so kind as to take me in the evening to Sans Souci, where the King told me to come and hear Madame Viardot Garcia quite privately.

Berlin, October 18, 1843.—The little concert at Sans Souci was very agreeable. Madame Viardot sang very well and was very attractive in spite of her plainness. She has just started for St. Petersburg.

I informed the King that the treaty between my nephew and myself had been concluded. He was extremely gracious upon this occasion and seems to me to have abandoned all his prejudices in favour of the elder branch of my family. [111] I was really touched by his kindness. Yesterday I had a long conference with the Prince of Wittgenstein who has to deal with all questions touching the crown fiefs, as chief minister of the King's household.

Sagan, October 28, 1843.—The Duchesse Mathieu de Montmorency writes complaining of obstinate bronchitis; I should be sorry if she were to die, for I should lose in her a Christian friend; she and Mgr. de Quélen taught me what a friendship could be that was always equable and kind, in which self-love played no part, for they are friends not merely for time but for eternity. To-day I have also a letter from M. Royer-Collard. His handwriting is greatly altered: I feel that my happiness is threatened in the person of my best friends, and since M. de Talleyrand's death I have been terribly tried in this respect.

Sagan, which I am examining in detail, is a town of seven thousand people with six churches, five of which are Catholic and all of which are interesting: there are also several charitable foundations in the town founded by the Dukes at different times; some are six hundred years old and were founded by the Dukes of the house of Piast. [112] It is touching to see these works still standing when all purely secular monuments so rapidly decay. I have been received here with marks of great attention. For four years everything has been left in a state of utter abandonment and even longer than that, for my sister had moved to Italy and took no interest in her estates.

Vienna, November 14, 1843.—I have been here for some days. The day before yesterday I had the honour of paying my respects to the Archduchess Sophie, whom I had known before her marriage: she received me most kindly, nor could any one be more gracious, more amiable, more animated or easy in every way. She asked me many questions about our Royal Family and spoke of them in very suitable terms and with tact and kindness. I was delighted with the interview.

Vienna, November 24, 1843.—Life here is very much more peaceful than at Berlin. The Court does not appear and all the fashionable people are still shooting in the country. Parties will not begin before New Year's Day. I have been four times to the theatre which is over by half-past nine, and three times to the house of Prince Metternich; his parties go on till nearly midnight but there are only five or six regular visitors. I have also visited Louise Schönburg; several people regularly stand round her long chair from nine o'clock to eleven. Medem, M. de Flahaut, Paul and Maurice Esterhazy and Marshal Marmont often call upon me at the end of the morning.