Sagan, January 4, 1848.—I am quite overwhelmed by the death of Madame Adélaïde.[122]It is a misfortune for the King, for the poor and for my children. In her I lose a friend who regretted daily the loss of M. de Talleyrand, whose death I have also every reason to deplore. And thus the sad year of 1847 has come to an end with this sudden blow, and I can quite understand that the King's private friends begin the year 1848 under gloomy auspices. The political horizon seems very dark. I do not maintain that the turn of the north will never come, but at the present moment the south is in a very feverish condition.
Sagan, January 6, 1848.—There is some truth in Madame de Lieven's remarks concerning Humboldt: I do not assert that he is absolutely radical, but his liberalism is of a very advanced type and at Berlin he is thought to be urging the Princess of Prussia along the path which she does not always follow with sufficient prudence. However, Humboldt is too clever to compromise himself and though he may make himself conspicuous to some extent, he is at bottom a remnant of the few disappearing elements of the eighteenth century.
I know enough of King Louise Philippe to be convinced of his courage and his presence of mind: when therefore I saw the submission of Abd-el-Kader in the newspaper, I at once considered that the King would regard this event ascounterbalancing his grief in some degree.[123]The ties of affection which united him to his sister were so strong that he probably will not feel his loss most deeply at the first moment, but as life resumes its usual course, when he finds that she is not present to listen to him and to share his thoughts at the time when he used to visit her and give her his confidence, his isolation will be felt and sadness will begin. The Queen is undoubtedly no less devoted and loyal to him, but she is to some extent preoccupied by family cares and her mind does not run in the same direction; she is not always in the King's room awaiting the royal pleasure at every moment, while her religious tendencies are in advance of those of the King. In short she may be much but she cannot be everything. However, it is much better that the King should survive his sister than that he should have died before her, for such a shock would have killed Madame forthwith, I am perfectly certain.
Sagan, January 10, 1848.—Though I am not free from care when I am in good health, it must not be imagined that I have a terror of sudden death, the occasion of which I cannot foresee, though of its certainty I have no doubt. I have no wish to die, but I have no pleasure in life. My life's work has certainly been done and all my tasks are accomplished. What remains affects me but little. It is but a matter of filling up the time and it is hardly worth the little daily efforts which it costs. However, I refuse to be overcome by depression. I have made up my accounts and settled my affairs, and have therefore no reason for sadness, and as long as I am alive my energy will continue; but I can never grow resigned to the idea of finding myself useless, and I trust that God will be so gracious as to leave me the power of sympathy with the wants of those about me until the last moment. If I did not love the poor I should think myselfmore miserable than they. Fortunately I feel more drawn towards them every day and they compensate for many losses.
Sagan, January 12, 1848.—I have been invited to the funeral ceremonies of Madame Adélaïde at Dreux. The King is greatly depressed and feels very lonely. I am very anxious as to what this year 1848 may have in store for me.
It seems that the Duc de Montpensier has been commissioned to arrange his aunt's private papers.
Sagan, January 18, 1848.—I am carefully reading the debates in the French Chambers and have been delighted by the noble answers of the Chancellor[124]and the clever replies of M. de Barante to this M. d'Alton Shée who carries his tactlessness too far.[125]The general prospect seems dark and there is no point upon the horizon to which I can look with satisfaction.
Sagan, January 20, 1848.—I have been attentively reading the speech upon the Address in the Chamber of Peers, and was charmed by the clear and noble speech of the Duc de Broglie, while I was reduced to tears by the brilliant oration of M. de Montalembert on the affairs of Switzerland, as he spoke with such sincere emotion, with such cleverness and resource, and exposed so entirely the intrigues of the abominable Lord Palmerston.[126]I really do not know why every one should be so ready to consider that intermediary who is the curse of the age: it seems quite obvious to methat M. Guizot has been duped by him in the matter of Switzerland; in his place I should have been better inspired, and I cannot imagine how any one can cease to distrust him after the many experiences of his bad faith.[127]
Sagan, January 26, 1848.—So you are leaving Paris to-day to begin a new phase of your existence.[128]I could wish that your latest news from Turin might be satisfactory, but I doubt if this will be the case. The most important point is that the health of the King of Sardinia should be restored and fortified; he seems to be a clever and enlightened Prince, quite aware of the necessities of the age, though disinclined to make unnecessary concessions to them. I trust that he, yourself, and Italy in general may have a long and glorious existence.
I have a long letter from my daughter Pauline full of regret at your approaching departure, which she regards as another severe trial.
The news of the death of the King of Denmark has just reached us; this will further complicate the state of affairs in the North, and apparently Europe[129]will not escape any resulting difficulty. The King of Denmark was a learned and enlightened monarch and enjoyed an excellent reputation; I had the honour of seeing him and of knowing the Queen fairly well, a most saintly person;[130]her mother and mine were intimate friends, and among my mother's papers I have found letters from the Duchess of Augustenburg.
Sagan, January 29, 1848.—Yesterday we saw a remarkable meteor: for twenty minutes a column of fire seemed to connect heaven and earth; the sun appeared to be about athird of the way up the sky, and from the lower part of its disc depended this luminous column which seemed to be supported by the horizon of the earth.[131]It was a beautiful and imposing spectacle. Some centuries ago astrologers would have drawn many horoscopes based upon this event. I draw my prognostications from newspapers, and I dare not hope that this phenomenon portends any good.
Sagan, February 10, 1848.—On the 5th of the month I was very agreeably surprised by the arrival of the Prince Bishop of Breslau.[132]In spite of the unpleasant weather and his bad health he was anxious to wish me many happy returns of the day and to say mass here in person on St. Dorothea's Day. He was accompanied by several ecclesiastics and the chief Catholic lords of the province. The Prince Bishop proposed my health at dinner in a charming speech, dealing with the signification of the name of Dorothea and with the arms of Sagan,[133]which he was good enough to term a speaking coat of arms. He trembled with emotion and spilled a few drops of wine from his glass, whereupon he made an end, saying to me, "When the heart speaks, the hand trembles."
The typhus fever which is devastating Upper Silesia threatens to appear here, though we hope that it may be less deadly than it is upon the other side of Breslau. The extremes of want and hunger have been more successfully met here than in other parts of the province. In Upper Silesia this disease has caused dreadful ravages. The doctors have succumbed to it, and were it not for the Brothers of Charity sent by the Prince Bishop, the people would be without relief. Four thousand orphans are wandering about. Mgr. Diepenbrock, following the example of Mgr. de Quélen after the ravages of the cholera in 1833, proposes to open a place of refuge for them to which the Catholics of theprovince are to devote their time and energy. The plan has been elaborated here.
Weimar, February 18, 1848.—We have had a succession of festivities here in honour of the birthday of the reigning Grand Duchess. The day before yesterday an excellent performance was given of an opera which has made much stir in Germany, calledMartha, by the composer Flotow. The libretto and the music are very pretty, and the orchestra was admirably conducted by Liszt. He is Capellmeister to the Weimar Court, with definite leave of absence for nine months in the year. Of this he recently took advantage to make a tour in Constantinople and Odessa, in the course of which he made much money. This evening he is to play to us privately at the house of the Grand Duchess, after Prince Pückler-Muskau has read some extracts dealing with his stay with Mehemet Ali. There is to be previously a little dinner at the young Court of the Hereditary Prince. Attempts are made here to cherish the sacred fire of art and literature, which for sixty years or more has gained for Weimar the title of the Athens of Germany. The Grand Duchess, in order to perpetuate the tradition, has devoted a certain number of rooms in the castle to the memory of poets, philosophers, and artists who have made the district famous. Fresco paintings recall the various subjects of their works, and the rooms are decorated with busts, portraits, views of the historical scenes and curious sites, and pieces of furniture of different periods. The Grand Duchess enjoys a considerable private fortune, which she expends very nobly upon charitable foundations, and in the decoration of her residences. For a hundred years the Court of Weimar has been very well divided among various Princesses; the grandmother of the present Grand Duke was the patroness of Schiller, of Goethe and Wieland, and under her patronage the classical literature of Germany was able to flourish; her daughter-in-law, the mother of the present Grand Duke, was the only Princess of Germany who was able to overawe Napoleon. She saved the kingdom for her husband, the Duke, by her courage and firmness. M. de Talleyrand often took pleasure in describing the scenes in which thisPrincess confronted the conqueror. The daughter-in-law of the present Grand Duchess, the Princess of the Low Countries, is also clever and well educated; she has a charming voice, great tact, and a simple manner which increases the effect of her good qualities; everything shows that she will be worthy to continue the tradition of the remarkable Princesses who have reigned over the Court of Weimar. Among them one might almost include the Duchess d'Orléans, as her mother was a sister of the reigning Grand Duke.
Berlin, February 28, 1848.—The day before yesterday I was far from thinking that an interval of forty-eight hours would have brought such vast changes of the situation. The telegraph has successively announced a series of events, though without details, none of which, however, prepared us for the startling news of the abdication of Louis Philippe, and of the regency of the Duchesse d'Orléans.[134]We had no knowledge of the causes or exigencies of the situation, nor can we say what events can be ascribed to prudence or to weakness; but apart from the historical value of these events, which we shall learn later, the simple fact is sufficiently crushing to cause general consternation here, which is equally widespread among all parties from the highest to the lowest. The considerations which throng upon the mind are the same in every case, and there is only one way of regarding the question and its probable results. These results will affect not only all Governments, but also all private rights. The Princess of Prussia, who is united to her cousin by the keenest sympathy, is quite overwhelmed; she thinks that my presence may help her to bear the weight of anxiety, so that I have spent many hours with her in conjectures upon all these dreadful events, and in lamentations concerning the mystery which still veilsthe greater part of this drama, or, rather, of this sad tragedy. These grievous events will be re-echoed more quickly and more loudly in Italy than anywhere else; the rest of Europe will then follow, for the respite momentarily granted cannot be long. The fact is that it is impossible to find a single part of Europe where undisturbed peace and quiet is certain. Even America does not seem to me to be secure from disintegrating elements; such is the general tendency of the age, and we must learn to endure it in the positions in which Providence has naturally placed us. I am thankful, however, that I had induced Pauline to leave Paris on February 23 for Le Délivrande.[135]I had disapproved of this plan in view of the coldness of the season, but I am now tempted to think it quite providential. This poor child's nerves have already been so shaken that they would have been overstrained by the sight and uproar of the city in tumult.
Poor Madame Adélaïde died at the right time and God has rewarded her affection for her brother by sparing her this bitter grief. This is also true of M. de Talleyrand; I cannot say the same of the Duc d'Orléans, who might have been able to turn these terrible events in another direction if he had been alive.
Considerable excitement is beginning in Russia, but it is true to say that the health of the Emperor Nicholas is very bad. He has an eruption at the knee-joints which makes it difficult for him to walk, and the want of exercise consequently increases the sluggishness of the liver to which he is subject; in short, his health gives cause for anxiety.
Berlin, March 2, 1848.—Since February 28 the most frightful news has arrived every hour with despairing rapidity. To-day a rumour is in circulation which seems to indicate a tendency to a counter-revolution at Paris; I admit that I put no faith in it. My last direct news is dated the 24th, and was written during the quarter of anhour for which the regency of the Duchesse d'Orléans lasted. Letters of the same date have arrived at Berlin, and we have theMoniteurof the 25th, but nothing more. These messages have not been delayed, and so we must withhold our judgment upon events and upon the people who have figured in this tragedy until we know the combination of events which induced the King to yield, and has, so to speak, paralysed his action and that of his family. These unfortunate people are already the objects of disapproval and criticism; I think it would be better to suspend any final judgment. Appearances, however, are very strange, and incline one to think that M. Guizot and the Duchesse d'Orléans have both shown courage and firmness in their several spheres of action. The English post which arrived yesterday evening gave no news of Louis Philippe or his family; they are said to be all at London, but on this subject there is no official or certain news, and the movements of individuals are marked by extreme uncertainty. The Marquis de Dalmatie[136]is playing a strange part here; thirty-six hours ago he sent away his servants, has been selling his furniture and his diamonds, complaining of his poverty, and going from door to door saying that he is a poorémigré, and cursing the Sovereign whom he represented six days ago. He does not thereby improve his position. It is thought that as long as the Duchesse d'Orléans and the Comte de Paris are on French territory he ought to maintain his official position and adopt the attitude which it requires; moreover, it is known that his father is very rich, and it is improbable that confiscation would take place except in cases of actual exile. I shall therefore advise my children not to becomeémigrés, as I remember M. de Talleyrand's constant advice against this course.
The excitement here with regard to the European consequences of the days of February may easily be imagined. The Belgian Minister, M. de Nathomb, told me yesterday that a strong anti-French movement was becoming manifest in Belgium. Herr von Radowitz started for Vienna lastnight, and Prince William, the King's uncle, has gone to Mayence.[137]
The telegram which has just come in officially announces the arrival of the Duchesse d'Orléans and her two children at Deutz, on the outskirts of Cologne.[138]The district of Baden is being overcome by excitement, and there is much anxiety as to the possible course of events. People say that there have also been disturbances in Cassel.[139]May God have pity upon this poor old world and those members of it in particular who are dear to me!
Berlin, March 14, 1848.—The whole country between the Rhine and the Elbe is in commotion. Even here the troops are confined to barracks to-day and popular disturbances are expected. If the King had been willing to convoke the Diet a few days ago difficulties would have been greatly decreased. The best chance here is to follow constitutional forms openly and promptly; delay, hesitation, or intrigue will produce a crisis, the extent of which cannot be foreseen. Hence the present week is likely to be very critical here; the burgomasters of the great towns have arrived with terrifyingpetitions; revolution is more or less avowed everywhere, and it is impossible to say what will be or can be done. Meanwhile the poverty and the typhus fever are increasing.
The Duchesse d'Orléans is at Ems with her two children, travelling as the Marquise de Mornay: she is anxious to remain entirely incognito and her confidants therefore deny the fact of her presence at Ems. She is, however, certainly there, for I have seen people who have talked to her.
Sagan, March 24, 1848.—Serious events have taken place at Berlin; precious time has been lost, and after hesitation half-measures have been reluctantly begun. Further action has been extorted only by fear, after two days, March 18 and 19, the horror of which I shall never forget. Highly disturbing symptoms proceeding from Breslau have affected Silesia; attacks have been made here upon the town hall and the garrison; so far the castle has been spared. My servants thought that my presence might calm the excitement and I hastened to the spot. So far I have had no reason to regret my action, but as the neighbourhood of the Russians is a source of extreme and increasing bitterness, my brother-in-law thinks that I should not stay here and is sending me back to Berlin, where, however, the atmosphere is by no means calm. He proposes to stay at Sagan to make head against the storm and to save what can be saved. Meanwhile the financial crisis is at its height: there is no money in the country, no one can pay, bankruptcies are declared on every side, while panic and agitation are paramount. Pandora's box has been overturned upon Europe. I have just heard that the Grand Duchy of Posen is in a ferment and as my estates touch the frontier, I have a further cause for alarm, but I trust in the mercy of God, am entirely calm, resigned and resolved to bow my head without murmuring to the decrees of Providence. I only ask from Heaven the life and health of those whom I love. The uproar at Vienna has quite amazed me. We advance from peril to peril.[140]
Berlin, March 30, 1848.—I have now returned here, where the agitation is far from appeased. Prince Adam Czartoryski arrived yesterday from Paris, and I need not point out the nature of this new complication.[141]Complications, however, follow one another with appalling rapidity. The situation of individuals who have anything to lose is hardly better than that of the kings whose thrones are tottering to their fall. For the moment, at any rate, we are all penniless and neither the war in the east nor the communism of the west offer any better chances for us in the future, for we are crushed between these two colossi.
It is said that the Prussian Diet will be open on April 2, that is in two days, though this is not yet certain. In any case the meeting will be short, as it will only deal with the electoral law.
Berlin, April 1, 1848.—The Diet which is to open to-morrow will form a new act in the drama.[142]It is impossible to estimate the results, and I have lost all interest in forecasts and also in proposals for a long time. Paul Medem, who is here still, is very uncertain what his future will be. The news from Vienna does not seem to me to be particularly reassuring. In general it is scarcely possible to find a peaceful point on the whole of the globe and the sole consolation is the remembrance of sure and tried affection which can defy revolution and absence and everything that walks abroad throughout this vale of tears.
Berlin, April 8, 1848.—The effects of the revolution in Paris have been felt here and the consequences have been violent, far-reaching and irremediable. Everything is still in a ferment and the impetus, far from being exhausted is still proceeding, though not in an upward direction. The peasants' rising in the provinces is a most disastrous element in the situation: I am obliged to remain in the town in consequence, though here the continuance of popular excitement disagreeably breaks the monotonous and profound melancholy of this capital. The Metternich family are in Holland preparing for their crossing to England.[143]
Berlin, April 12, 1848.—Life is very sad and all classes of society in great agitation. The members of the Diet all left Berlin yesterday to seek re-election by their constituents. The fate of the country depends upon the manner in which this constitutional assembly is to be composed; it is therefore the duty of all right-minded people to attempt to secure a seat, and such is the general opinion; but many things may happen between now and May 22. A net-work of clubs enfolds the capital and the provinces ever more closely in its toils; outbreaks are of constant occurrence in every direction; the temper of the militia is doubtful; the audacity of the agitators, foreign complications and the infectious examples which have been set in the west and south and in certain disaffected quarters in the north and in the east, are enough to make any one lose his head; while the hesitating attitude of the Government and the absolute abandonment of any repressive measures are not calculated to restore confidence. The fifty little tyrants established at Frankfort will certainly do their best to turn the balance of things; no one has given them any mandate and yet every one obeys them.[144]The state of affairs, as we see it, is utterly inexplicable; forecast is impossible. We must live from hand to mouth and be satisfied when every twenty-four hours have passed without some unusual shock. We see many bands of police passing through the town on their way to Posen or Cracow. The Polish landowners are giving their peasants full liberty, to avoid the danger of massacre at their hands. The Polish nationality is in arms against the German and no one can see which of the two will emerge triumphant, if attempts at reconciliation should fail.[145]
Sagan, April 20, 1848.—The state of public feeling remains disquieting. If the rebels confined their objections merely to the moneyed classes, the best of all possible courses would be to let them take what they want. People have so little money in hand that they would not get much: but in their frenzy they are ready to attack archives, titles, contracts, and in short anything that determines and settles landed tenure. They are also greatly inclined to ill-treat individuals and to set fire to barns and buildings, whether they are opposed or not. The position here has grown a little calmer although emissaries from the Jacobin club at Breslau appeared two days ago and are attempting to secure the adherence of the wretched little lawyers who are known in Germany asDie obskure Literatur. We heard that these agitators under pretext of holding a preliminary electoral meeting were attempting to raise a mob from the lowest of the people and to show them the quickest and easiest way of disarming the civil guard. Fortunately precautions have been taken and I have no doubt that if a demonstration should take place, it would be dispersed without bloodshed.
The wirepullers of the Berlin clubs are agitating against the form of election by two stages and are organising a great popular demonstration to offer a petition in favour of direct election, to the castle and the Ministry. I do not know whether they will be able to get many workmen together on this political question: possibly they might be successful, as the workmen are already greatly disturbed on the question of pay; from what I hear they are continually parading the streets. The other day there were serious disturbances directed against the bakers who were selling bread by fraudulent weights and who certainly deserved a lesson in consequence, though it was not the business of the people to give it to them. Meanwhile the workmen are contracting idle habits and learning to lounge in public: the workshops where they desire to work are closed by the wirepullers, and the tailors, for instance, are involuntarily on strike. I do not think there is any imminent danger of violence, but the general tendency of things is bad and may well lead to violence. The Poles have sent their ultimatum to Berlin.[146]They declined to lay down their arms or separate until their demands had been conceded. The authorities are busy deliberating and find themselves in a difficult position between these two peoples, for the Poles decline to consider the demands of the Germans who insist upon remaining German, and demand that a line of demarcation should be drawn, making Posen a German capital and giving Gnesen to the Poles.
Nobody knows what to believe of Italy, as the news from that quarter is so contradictory. Letters from Vienna are sad and depressing: England offers another spectacle, very different and very glorious for herself, but I must say that Iam furious to see Lord Palmerston, who has so largely contributed to this European upheaval, boasting of the comfort, of the glory and of the wealth of the English, which naturally increases with continental distress.
Sagan, April 24, 1848.—The following is a letter from Vienna sent to me by the Russian Minister, my cousin Medem: "Vienna is in a state of complete depression: there are no social gatherings; the Prater is deserted and the Opera is closed, as the public will not allow the Italians to play. Wallmoden has come to us from Italy; he is said to be here in the hopes of arranging a scheme with the Government, if not for resuming the offensive in Italy upon a large scale,[147]at any rate for regaining possession of Venice and the part of Frioul which is in rebellion. Communications with the army under arms continue to be confined to the Tyrolese passes. People are properly indignant at the conduct of F. Zichy, of Count Palfy at Venice and Count Ludolf at Treviso, who capitulated disgracefully without adequate reason.[148]Dissatisfaction and uncertainty of the future is general: every day the unpardonable sluggishness of the old administration, both civil and military, becomes more obvious. Their incompetency is quite incredible unless one has a knowledge of certain details. The peace of Vienna has not been seriously disturbed of late, but unpleasant demonstrations have taken place: these are provoked by unwise people, generally from abroad, who harangue the people in public meetings, in the Odeon or in similar places;publications and inflammatory notices appear everywhere and foment uneasiness in the more sensible part of the nation, especially among the upper classes. It is quite time that this came to an end, and if it goes on the situation will become complicated. For the moment, at any rate, the state of affairs is much better here than in the capital or the Prussian monarchy, but what guarantee is there for the future?"
Sagan, April 30, 1848.—We have now reached the end of the second month of this upheaval, the shocks of which are, I fear, far from reaching their conclusion. At the present moment Europe is divided between electoral passion and the flames of civil war. Human passion is displayed in all its hideousness during the rivalry aroused by the elections: citizens fight with citizens blindly and furiously, while anarchy, disorder, restlessness, poverty, despondency and despair is the picture to be seen everywhere, with a few slight differences. Those people are only too happy who are but touched by a reaction which has spent its power and contrive to pass the day without personal risk, if not without anxiety. Here we shall see what the elections, which begin to-morrow, will bring forth, and what the attitude of the country will be during the voting and the counting. Meanwhile the Press and the clubs are working furiously. Every little town has its newspaper and every hamlet its orator. The audiences for the most part do not understand what they hear, but they obey like the sheep of Panurge. The working classes propose to lay down the law to the factory directors, who can sell nothing and therefore cannot increase or even maintain their output or improve the prospects of their employees. As for the poor people who work upon the land and the more prosperous class which finds employment on the railway, their labours have come to an end, and one really does not know what to do for them. People are dividing with them the last farthing and the corn from the barns, as they are the objects both of pity and fear.
Sagan, May 5, 1848.—The Grand Duchy of Posen is at present the scene of the greatest atrocities; civil war is in progress with unheard of refinements of cruelty. TheFrench newspapers do not know these facts or decline to state them, but the details which I have from first hand evidence are enough to make one's hair stand on end. On May 1 the Prussians were utterly defeated by the insurgents who, armed with scythes, disembowelled the horses.[149]Several Polish lords have been massacred by their peasants, and they can only secure their personal safety by instigating the peasants against the Prussian army.
Sagan, May 8, 1848.—To-day the electors chosen a week ago are to appoint the Prussian representatives. I think that undue hopes are being set upon constitutional assemblies, and I fear the result may show a general state of delusion. At Vienna the resignation of Count Ficquelmont was one of the most unpleasant incidents in the whole drama:[150]some students entered his house, declaring that they would no longer have him as Minister; he obeyed and would have run great risks as he walked to his son-in-law's house if Prince Clary and two students had not acted as his protectors.
Sagan, May 21, 1848.—The scenes at Paris on the 15th were frightful.[151]May Heaven grant that the Moderate Party will use its triumph energetically, and that it may not be too often called upon to celebrate such victories.
To-morrow the constitutional assembly at Berlin is to open. It is so strangely composed that any beneficial result will be truly miraculous.
Sagan, May 25, 1848.—My mind is full of Rome and of the Pope;[152]I can think of nothing else. I think that if Ihad been the Holy Father I should have set sail for America with a few faithful cardinals, the poor persecuted monks and nuns and all the money and holy vessels that could be collected: I should have founded a settlement upon the model of that in Paraguay and could thence have governed European catholicism in full independence, just as the American Catholics have been governed for so long. I think the Romans would speedily have cried out for the recall of the Pope; in any case he would be at least sheltered from actual indignity and would not be obliged to sacrifice innocent people and the property of the church. Possibly my idea is absurd, but at all events there would be something magnificent about it; whereas the present scenes display nothing but humiliation and degradation.
I have read with interest and horror the stories of events in Paris on May 15 and my opinion is that the work of the deliberative assemblies will produce no good effect. I greatly fear that this will be the consequence at Berlin, while at Frankfort the assembly is a perfect babel. The Prussian newspapers already contain Jacobin outcries against the constitution and I doubt whether the King will be able to carry through the two-Chamber system, especially with the small fragment of hereditary right he is anxious to maintain. Breslau is a horrible centre of communism.
I hear from England that at Claremont domestic quarrels increase the painful nature of the situation. The sons, disgusted with their forced inactivity, reproach their father with the loss of his party; he is wondering what posterity will think of him; and this is all very unpleasant for poor Queen Amélie whose pride and joy have so long been the touching unanimity of her whole family. She is also in a very poor state of health. Their financial position approaches poverty.[153]
Sagan, May 28, 1848.—The Duchesse d'Orléans has settled at the court of Eisenach: she lives very quietly with her stepmother and the tutor[154]of her children, but no other attendants. Her pecuniary resources are very strained. The castle of Eisenach belongs to the Duke of Saxe Weimar, the uncle of the Duchesse d'Orléans, who has placed it at the disposal of his niece.
I hear from Vienna that all the Hungarians are breaking up their establishments and withdrawing either to the country or to Buda or to Pressburg; the Bohemians are going to Prague. In short, the pretty town of Vienna, once so cheerful and lively and so aristocratic, is becoming a desert and is as depressing as one vast village. Princess Sapieha and Madame de Colleredo have been deeply compromised in the recent disturbances; they have been forced to go into hiding. The Archduke Francis Charles has written from Innsbrück to Lord Ponsonby, asking him in the Emperor's name to join the court in Tyrol with all his colleagues.
Mr. Bulwer has come back from Spain; he had fomented a revolt at Seville against the Montpensiers who have been obliged to flee to Cadiz; the proverb, "Like master, like man" is certainly applicable to Palmerston and Bulwer.
Great excitement continues to prevail in the streets of Berlin, and the return of the Prince of Prussia who is expected daily at Potsdam, will probably produce an explosion.[155]Meanwhile Berlin is practically surrounded by a force of sixteen thousand men who can be used if necessary.
I hear from Paris that Madame Dosne is dying with rage to think that the revolution could have taken place without being aimed at her son-in-law. This information may be taken as literally true, as she was having her third attack of low fever. I also hear that M. Molé and M. Thiers are bothcoming forward as deputies and that M. de Lamartine seems greatly apprehensive that the latter may be successful.
The atrocious scenes at Naples[156]have produced a bad effect at Berlin and street excitement is said to have become menacing once more. The citizens have seized the arsenal.
Sagan, June 7, 1848.—Mental equanimity depends upon a thousand petty circumstances in every case. Only those who are very young and know nothing of mental trouble, are able to avoid the thousand and one influences of times, places, things, and even of details apparently most trivial. I think that Saint Evremond says that the less people are amenable to pleasure the more they are afflicted by trouble.
Paris seems to be peaceful but at what a price has this result been obtained? Terrible refinements of cruelty have been committed.
Sagan, June 12, 1848.—The state of Berlin and Breslau grows steadily worse. The provinces are correspondingly affected and I expect to see civil war break out any day. The country populations are ready to join the revolutionary movement against their overlords and their priests, but they detest the towns. The peasants do not like the citizens and are royalists and supporters of the military, though they are against the nobles and the priests. The result is a strange confusion which heaven alone can disentangle. The assembly which has met at Berlin has been hitherto marked by no character except ignorance and disturbance.
Sagan, June 18, 1848.—The newspapers and my letters tell me that Germany is resuming its republican tendencies. Hecker has been elected for Frankfort. Confusion is thus inconceivable, especially in view of the increasing dislike which France shows for the deplorable government under which she placed herself four months ago. She must bereduced to extremities indeed to turn to the Bonapartist flag, so miserably represented by Louis Napoleon who is known to be a very poor figurehead. And what can be said of the frightful scenes at Prague, and the assassination of poor Princess Windisch-Graetz.[157]I have also been very anxious on account of Berlin, where the pillage of the arsenal and the opposition to the Ministry in the Chamber have diminished the prospect of a peaceful solution; three Ministers, Arnim, Schwerin and Kanitz, have resigned.
Potsdam, June 23, 1848.—I reached here yesterday after staying for half a day at Berlin. Medem writes from Vienna to his colleague Herr von Meyendorff and speaks very mournfully of the vacillation and uncertainty that have prevailed at Innsbrück since the Baron von Wessenberg has been in power. I am not surprised; Wessenberg is a kind, clever and good-hearted man, but even from London days I thought him muddle-headed and this is a terrible hindrance to the conduct of affairs.
I have news of Prince Metternich: he is sending his sons to a Catholic college in England as he finds no one who will join his fate and act as tutor; he is also troubled by pecuniary embarrassments.
The reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenberg-Schwerin has increased the settlements upon his stepmother, in order that the Duchesse d'Orléans and her children may gain indirectly a means of greater comfort in life; a noble and tactful action.
The ministerial crisis here is still in progress and the street uproar has been thus succeeded by a political disturbance which is no less dangerous, when a Chamber is composed of ill-assorted elements as that of Berlin. There was a rumour yesterday evening that a telegram from Frankfort stated that the assembly in that town had electeda dictator for Germany in the person of the Archduke John.[158]Here there was a wish for a triumvirate. Rumour consequently arose that Prussia had replied to this news by a protest.
Sagan, June 28, 1848.—I have returned to my domestic hearth. Though I have hitherto had no great reason to complain of my own corner of the world, I none the less feel that the earth is mined and is trembling beneath my feet. The district that I have just left seems to me to be terribly unsafe. At Paris blood is flowing.[159]For some days our knowledge of events there has been confined to telegraphic news from Brussels and is very uncertain. I merely know that my children are not in the town.
Sagan, July 6, 1848.—The struggle in Paris has kept me in a state of great alarm; fortunately none of my intimate connections have suffered anything beyond terror and panic. At present the country districts are becoming dangerous, and so my daughter Pauline has returned to the city with her son.
Here we are very little better off than in France, and when I consider the many centres of communistic doctrine in this part of Europe, I cannot close my eyes to the dangers that threaten us; the less so, as I am far from thinking that they can be crushed in the manner employed by Prince Windisch-Graetz at Prague and General Cavaignac at Paris. I propose to betake myself to Teplitz in a few days and am only awaiting an assurance that that part of Bohemia has been pacified.
Teplitz, July 18, 1848.—My journey here from Sagan passed off without incident, but poverty and restlessness are everywhere prevalent. The little kingdom of Saxony is, however, less disturbed than Prussia or than the Saxon Duchies of Thuringen, where the feeling is pre-eminently republican. At Dresden the Ministry is so Radical that revolutionaries could hardly wish for anything more. There is also an idea that the Saxon duchies would be united under the single and by no means monarchical sceptre of the good King of Saxony, who retains hardly a shadow of his royal power. Hitherto he has been saved by the fact that his Minister of the Interior wears no hat or gloves.[160]He is simply a rustic but is said to be honourable enough not to betray his master. Teplitz is almost empty and no one thinks of travelling. Apart from the Clarys and the Ficquelmonts, there is no one here except a few obscure paralytics. Herr von Ficquelmont regards the prospects of the Austrian empire in a very gloomy light and seems to disbelieve any possibility that the Archduke John may save it or that he may improve the future of Germany. His dealings with the Vienna students are either hypocritical or are prompted by unworthy or speculative ambition. At Frankfort he will soon have to struggle against the separatist tendencies, which are continually becoming more obvious in Prussia, not merely in high places where they might well come to nothing, but to an even greater extent among the masses, who have been wounded in their interests and their pride.
Teplitz, July 22, 1844.—We hear that there is still some disturbance at Prague, though it is sternly repressed by the iron hand of Prince Windisch-Graetz. Vienna remains in a complete state of anarchy. Herr von Ficquelmont told me yesterday that the population of Berlin was more tumultuous and more vicious than that of Vienna and that the governmental and administrative machinery was in far better order at Berlin than at Vienna. On the whole, they are two centres of disaffection.
Eisenach, August 8, 1848.—The Duchesse d'Orléans whom I have come to see is much changed and complains that she grows steadily weaker. However, she remains calm and reasonable and is not so disinclined as she was at first to open connections with the older branch of the family. However, the possibility of forming any such project seems remote. There is a feeling that dignity must be maintained, while at the same time no stone should be left unturned to improve the chances of the future. She is entirely without prejudice; her insight is clear and her judgment seems to be more direct and to have been fortified by the great lessons of recent events. She was quite open and kind towards me; remembrances of the Duc d'Orléans give us a real interest in one another, and she expressed this fact very graciously by telling me that for her I stood outside all family questions. She called her sons and said to them, "Kiss your father's most faithful friend."
Berlin, August 13, 1848.—Every evening there is some small excitement in the streets which is fomented by the deplorable proceedings of the assembly; moreover, the financial Minister, Herr Hanseman, is proposing laws destined to conclude our ruin. Claims are being laid by the former provinces which may degenerate into revolts and lead to civil war. The Pan-Germanic party and the Prussian separatists, between whom the country is divided, are already confronting one another in a hostile temper which makes the conflict imminent. No one can tell what the future may bring forth.
Sagan, September 9, 1848.—The ministerial crisis at Berlin seems to make a catastrophe imminent.[161]Civil war or foreign war may be expected and also a breach between the two constitutional assemblies of Frankfort and Berlin. In short, numberless eventualities present themselves and meanwhile private life becomes more and more impossible.
Sagan, September 16, 1848.—There are no Ministers at Frankfort[162]and none at Berlin. There is a total want of energy at Sans Souci and unfortunately the troops are showing symptoms of disaffection. Use was not made of them at the proper time, and agitators have been allowed to seize the opportunity for shaking their fidelity. The absence of all legal authority has again aroused the arbitrary greed of the rural populations, while the Chambers have failed to satisfy their anxiety for a definite settlement with the overlords: thus burning and pillage have been begun once more in Upper Silesia. Rothschild of Vienna who had a fine estate there has just seen it utterly ruined. The fact is that another bad outbreak is in progress and I am more anxious now than I have ever been, seeing that the loyalty of the troops has become doubtful.
Sagan, October 1, 1848.—Things here are going from bad to worse. The other night some evil-minded persons exploded bombs near the castle. Our precautions have been taken; my army of defence has been organised and if we are to perish it will not be without a struggle. I shall not run away, for I have no personal fear, as I am totally indifferent on my own account; and then people are always overawed by courage and determination.
Sagan, October 5, 1848.—The château of Prince Hatzfeldt has been attacked by peasants;[163]four of his farms have been burnt, and he has been obliged to flee. Here everything is comparatively quiet so far, but the morrow belongs to no one.
Sagan, October 9, 1848.—The post and the Vienna newspapers have failed to reach us since the day before yesterday. Current rumour ascribes this absence of direct news to sanguinary causes which are only too probable at the presenttime. Every day brings some fresh horrors.[164]Last week we heard of the massacre of Count Lamberg at Buda;[165]the hanging of poor Eugène Zichy[166]who was so happy and so great a favourite at Paris ten years ago; he was hung by these barbarians in the island where robbers are executed. Yesterday we heard of the murder of the Comte de la Tour, Minister of War at Vienna, and of General Brédy.[167]The Black and Yellow party is fighting in the streets against the Hungarian party. If the Anarchist party triumphs at Vienna[168]it will be all up with Berlin and Breslau where people are living upon a powder-mine.
Sagan, October 25, 1848.—Everything here is in suspense and everything is being settled at Vienna. Hitherto it seems that the loyal army will dictate laws, but we dare not trust to these gleams of hope. In Austria, at any rate, an honourable struggle is in progress, and if failure should come honour will not be lost. As much cannot, unfortunately, be said of Berlin, and even if the side of right should triumph at Vienna will the victory be final? I doubt it and I fear we shall be living for a long time on a volcano.
Sagan, November 4, 1848.—A revolutionary outburst has just taken place at Liegnitz, comparatively close to me. It was necessary to use military force to quell it. At Berlin there is a riot almost every day; audacity and weakness daily increase. Yesterday the Ministry was at last changed: this might indicate a desire to revive energy; I fear that it is too late. The Assembly has been besieged, the Deputies and the Diplomatic Body imprisoned and threatened with hanging; the National Guard has been betrayed by its leader, while Sans Souci has been completely paralysed in the face of these events; and yet people ask if there is still any room for hope.[169]The successful measures at Vienna have not succeeded in inspiring Potsdam with any energy, and have greatly exasperated the anarchists who wish to deliver some striking blow to recover their power and to form a centre at Berlin for spreading their influence throughout Germany. The part played by M. Arago, the Minister of the French Republic, during recent days at Berlin, has been extremely ambiguous,[170]and any self-respecting Government would have sent him his passports, and lodged an official complaint at Paris. My wishes for Vienna have at length been realised. Windisch-Graetz has shown infinite patience and kindness, and only when the capitulation of the 30th was treacherously violated did he rage as he was bound to do, and as the infamy of the native authorities in Vienna deserved. We are still without details, but the main facts are official and we must regard them as providential. God grant that this may be the starting-point of a new era. Meanwhile anarchy, disorder, the want of repressive measures, and poverty are ruining the provinces. Orators are preaching murder and pillage unpunished to their popular meetings, and the results of these incendiary harangues may soon be expected. Really the state of things is frightful.
Sagan, November 19, 1848.—I think it would be advisable for Austria to add to such determined warriors as Jellachich, Radetzky, and Windisch-Graetz a younger and stronger politician than Wessenberg. It is said that such a man would be found in Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg; he has good friends, and has often been the object of great admiration. I saw him pretty frequently at Naples two years ago, and he showed me much kindness. He was a man of distinguished manner, clever, dignified, and cool, and his opinions and his speech were well weighed; but I do not know him well enough to say whether he will be equal to the heavy task which seems likely to fall upon him. Stadion, who is to share it with him, has been a friend of his youth, and their unanimity may produce fortunate results. I see nothing of the kind in prospect for Prussia, where warriors and writers, men of eloquence and action, appear to be utterly wanting in the present crisis. Every attempt now made is marked by a certain tactlessness which is far from inspiring me with confidence.[171]They are sheltering themselves behind Frankfort, and looking there for refuge, support, and protection. It is undignified, and makes no impression upon the enemy, while I think that this bulwark will prove to be futile. We must hope that the army is loyal, but we cannot help recognising that it is without enthusiasm, while its ardour is allowed to cool and disappear. The soldiers who are bivouacking in the streets of Berlin are suffering from the bad weather and are greatly depressed, so persons say who write to me and who are busy distributing soup and beer to support their strength and encourage their loyalty.
Sagan, November 26, 1848.—The last week has been a very difficult time; since Berlin was proclaimed to be in a state of siege all disaffected elements have fallen back upon Silesia; my workmen have been fired upon, and the red flag has been carried about. In fact, the situation looked menacing; but now that thirty thousand troops are sweeping the province we can breathe again, and if I can believe my last letters from Berlin, we are to enter upon a new era. On this subject I admit my incredulity, and I fear that it will not be dispelled for a long time; but the fact remains that disturbances have ceased for the moment, and for so much we ought to be grateful, for the feverish state of tension was becoming unbearable.
The death of Madame de Montjoye has filled the cup of misfortune for poor Queen Marie Amélie, whose only and most intimate confidential friend she was. As a result of drinking poisoned water at Claremont,[172]I hear that the King's teeth have become black. Relations between the King and his children are not invariably satisfactory, nor are the children agreed among themselves. Providence is subjecting theseémigrésto every kind of hardship; possibly it is an expiation for the vote of the father and the usurpation of the son.
Sagan, December 1, 1848.—To-day the newspapers announce the programme of the new Austrian Cabinet,[173]which was very well received at Kremsier and has produced a rise in Austrian stocks. May God give us a strong and clever Cabinet, at any rate in that quarter. The Cabinet which ought to govern in Prussia, and which appeared ready to assume the iron glove, seems to me to show nothing but weakness, while the glove is distinctly rusty. All good Catholics will be greatly moved by the fate of Pius IX.Notwithstanding the fact that with greater zeal than prudence he ran to liberal extremes, he remains the head of our church, the priest of God and a kind man, and his danger should stir our hearts to pity and to fear.[174]I hear from Berlin that Herr von Gagern has failed in his proposed object, and that the King was stronger than was thought, for he has thrust aside the show of Imperialism which Gagern had offered him on the condition that for this occasion only he would submit to the laws of the Frankfort Government.[175]
Sagan, December 6, 1848.—Rumour here very generally asserts that the worst of the storm has passed. I am by no means sure of the fact; electoral excitement will soon begin when the attempt is made to work the constitution that has been granted, and the results seem very uncertain. Anything, in truth, is better than this state of decay and confusion in which we are here perishing, but though the danger may assume new forms, it will not pass so quickly. The country is certainly becoming somewhat enlightened and growing weary of the state of things which reduces every one to utter misery; some better instincts are asserting themselves.On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the King's marriage there was a favourable display of feeling, but too many elements of disaffection are still powerful and the Government cannot make itself respected. In Southern Germany, especially in Bavaria, people still seem to be in love with the proposal for sharing the power among three, particularly since Austria has concentrated her members to form one great monarchy. The old Prince William of Prussia who was nominated as a possible member of the triumvirate, has fallen into a state of mental weakness which would make him incapable of undertaking this task. Moreover, his son, Prince Waldemar, is dying at Münster of a spinal disease; it is a sad business, for he is a distinguished Prince and his death will be a final blow to his poor father. I doubt if the central power will last very long, as the King of Prussia mercifully persists in his refusal to accept the burden. It is said that the Princess of Prussia would have liked to see Herr von Gagern at the head of a new Prussian Cabinet. I do not think that this haughty character would have been willing to take so uncertain a position or to confront a Chamber so little amenable to parliamentary eloquence. In any case the King has rejected all insinuations, direct or indirect. It would indeed have been both foolish and utterly ungrateful on his part to dismiss the only Ministry which has had the courage and the capacity to raise the prestige of the Crown in some small degree and to turn events in the direction of conservatism.
Italy is in a pitiable condition. M. de Broglie will doubtless be deeply grieved at the death of M. Rossi, as it was he who brought M. Rossi to France, introduced him to politics, raised him to the peerage, and finally advanced him to the Embassy at Rome. I saw a great deal of him in the salon of Madame de Broglie, and afterwards at Rome; he seemed to me to be an astute and unpretentious character, less noble but cleverer than Capo d'Istria.[176]Their assassination was due tothe same cause; both attempted to play the part of Richelieu without due preparation.
Sagan, December 30, 1848.—The calm amid which Napoleon has assumed the chief power in France would tend to show that a desire for order and peace is rising in the country. Rumours are abroad of the abdication of the King of Sardinia and of a new and warlike Sardinian Ministry.[177]I hope that Radetzky will bring the rest of Italy to reason as he has done in Lombardy. Windisch-Graetz is before Raab, and it is hoped that he will have no great difficulty in entering the town. Great cold delays his march, and he is also hampered by the necessity of reorganising the civil government in the districts which he occupies.[178]Jellachich has been carried away by his impetuosity and captured temporarily by the Hungarians.[179]He was rescued by his soldiers. Windisch-Graetz has bitterly reproached him for his blind rashness which might have compromised the fate of the army, and the vital question of the Government. The Archduchess Sophie gave her son, the young Emperor, as a Christmas present a frame containing the portraits of Radetzky, Windisch-Graetz, and Jellachich. It is well to remind Sovereigns by outward signs of the duty of gratitude, which, as a rule, they find somewhat burdensome. And so the disastrous year of 1848 comes to an end! Heaven grant that 1849 may bring some improvement in our lives!