78.COUNT BRESSON, FRENCH AMBASSADOR, TO HUMBOLDT.
Berlin,February 6th, 1839.
Berlin,February 6th, 1839.
Berlin,February 6th, 1839.
Berlin,February 6th, 1839.
Dear Excellency,—I am happy to be able to send you to-day an article worthier of you than that of yesterday. Keep this number “Des Débats.” I do not file them.
The remark of Mr. M. V. L—— on the “Nescio quisPlutarchus” is puerile. Besides, excepting this, his article is inspired by a just appreciation of your glory, which is ours as well, and which we claim as such.
Pray, dear Excellency, receive my affectionate and respectful homage.
Bresson.
Bresson.
Bresson.
Bresson.
P. S.—I had just finished this note when yours of this morning reached me. I shall keep it all my life, as well for its being a true historical monument, as for the precious title of friend which you deign to give me. It is true, alas! we shall see, if God grants us life, a great many things; but may it be His will that we shall never see again events like those which have already swept over our country, by sapping the power of the King. Yet the Coalition works in this direction with all its might. It is a fit of madness which reminds me of 1791. These plotters are Girondists in embryo, whom we would have loved; and they will be the first to be buried under the ruins of the edifice which they are undermining.
Does it, then, require a great effort of reasoning to perceive that the King is the cementer of all things, that he keeps us out of chaos, and that upon his living or dying the state of affairs wholly depends? Let us ask conscientiously, does our danger to-day come from him? Shall an order of things, acquired with so much trouble, established with so much labor—shall it be sacrificed to the renown of a few men, or to the vain theories inapplicable to France, serviceable at the best only in England, where they are consecrated by age,and, what is still better, administered by the enlightened upper classes. D., who is a man of sound intellect, writes me that he believes in the happy issue of the ministerial crisis. Mr. Molé has changed his determination not to resume office; he will do so if there is a majority of thirty-six or forty votes secured to him. The Jacqueminot party, which is rendering great service, is working for this.
Here are the adieux, the last ones of Mr. de Talleyrand at Fontainebleau, on the 2d of June, 1838: “Adieu, my dear Bresson, stay at Berlin as long as you can; you are well off there; do not try to be better off. There will be much commotion in the world; you are young; you will see it.” I quote these words for you, because they agree with the spirit of your note, for which I thank you once more, and which will become a family title to me.
Note by Humboldt.—Letter of Count Bresson, French Ambassador at Berlin.—I kept it on account of the few words of Talleyrand. I had written to Mr. Bresson that the situation of France was very serious, that I still believed in peace, because, besides the wisdom of the rulers, there was an expectant treatment of want of energy and timid prudence. That these things, however, could act only for a limited time, and that those who were young, like him, would see in action what was now spreading its deep roots, as the unconscious and inarticulate desires of the nations.
Note by Humboldt.—Letter of Count Bresson, French Ambassador at Berlin.—I kept it on account of the few words of Talleyrand. I had written to Mr. Bresson that the situation of France was very serious, that I still believed in peace, because, besides the wisdom of the rulers, there was an expectant treatment of want of energy and timid prudence. That these things, however, could act only for a limited time, and that those who were young, like him, would see in action what was now spreading its deep roots, as the unconscious and inarticulate desires of the nations.
Note by Humboldt.—Letter of Count Bresson, French Ambassador at Berlin.—I kept it on account of the few words of Talleyrand. I had written to Mr. Bresson that the situation of France was very serious, that I still believed in peace, because, besides the wisdom of the rulers, there was an expectant treatment of want of energy and timid prudence. That these things, however, could act only for a limited time, and that those who were young, like him, would see in action what was now spreading its deep roots, as the unconscious and inarticulate desires of the nations.
Note by Humboldt.—Letter of Count Bresson, French Ambassador at Berlin.—I kept it on account of the few words of Talleyrand. I had written to Mr. Bresson that the situation of France was very serious, that I still believed in peace, because, besides the wisdom of the rulers, there was an expectant treatment of want of energy and timid prudence. That these things, however, could act only for a limited time, and that those who were young, like him, would see in action what was now spreading its deep roots, as the unconscious and inarticulate desires of the nations.