Note 203 — BOOK VII[145]

Emmanuel Louis Marie Guignard, Vicomte de Saint-Priest, Duque de Almazan (1789-1881), was taken to St. Petersburg by his family during the Emigration and, in 1805, entered the Russian Army, where he served until the fall of Napoleon. He was made a colonel in 1814 and was taken prisoner; Napoleon's orders to have him shot were intercepted by the Cossacks. Saint-Priest escaped, served the cause of the Kings Government with ardour, endeavoured to raise the populations of the South during the Hundred Days, took ship eventually at Marseilles, was captured by a Tunisian corsair and, after a few weeks' captivity, succeeded in reaching Spain and returning to France at the Second Restoration. He was then appointed a brigadier-general, a lord-in-waiting to the Duc d'Angoulême and an inspector of infantry. In 1823, he took part in the Spanish Expedition and earned his promotion to lieutenant-general. He became Ambassador to Berlin in 1825 and to Madrid in 1827. In August 1830, he sent in his resignation, and Ferdinand VII. created him a grandee of Spain and Duque de Almazan. Saint-Priest became one of the Duchesse de Berry's advisers, was one of the principal organizers of the royalist attempt of 1822 and sailed with the Princess in the Carlo-Alberto. He was arrested at the moment of landing and indicted at the assizes at Montbrison. Together with his co-accused, he was acquitted, on the 15th of March 1833, and at once joined the Duchesse de Berry in Italy. Under the Second Empire, Saint-Priest was one of the most zealous and intelligent servants of the Comte de Chambord, who, in 1867, wrote him a letter on the political situation that made a great noise at the time.—B.