The Sun.
London, England, 1836-09-14 00:00:00

TALLEYRAND'S LATTER YEARS.

PARIS, SEPT., 1836.—We have it in view merely to give
some account of Prince Talleyrand as we have seen him in
the latter years of his life. Volumes have been written upon
his history, and as little is known of his real habits and cha-
racter as is possible under these circumstances. To those
who have spoken of him he has been either an object of awe,
of admiration, or of hate. As to us, like a naturalist, we
can study the habits of a crocodile with as much pleasure as
well as philosophy as those of a dove. Had we been in the
place of a certain Noble and Gallant Duke (whon; we, of
all men, respect), we should not have defended him in the
Upper House as warmly as he did, nor should we have
offered to have him made L.L.D. (of the University of
Oxford !) But we are far from giving into the hyper-ro-
mantic horribles which Salle and other writers have emitted
on the subject of his history. Talleyrand is certainly the
most extraordinary being of his kind the world has produced
since the first creation. Take him in his physical conforma-
tion alone, and think of his having outlived so long (he is
now eighty-five), all the great and good of his time ! Tal-
leyrand was born lame, and his limbs are fastened to his
trunk by an iron apparatus ; on which be strikes ever
and anon his gigantic cane, to the peat dismay
of those who see him for the first time—an awe not di-
minished by the look of his piercing grey eyes, peering
through his shaggy eyebrows ; his unearthly face, marked
with deep stains, coVered partly by his shock of extraordi-
nary hair, partly by es enormous cravat, which supports a
large protruding lip, drawn over his upper lip with a cynical
expression no painting_ could render. Add to this appa-
ratus of terror his dead silence, broken occasionally by the
most sepulchral guttural monosyllables. Talleyrand's pulse,
which rolls a stream of enormous volume, intermits and
pauses at every sixth beat. This he constantly points out
triumphantly as a rest of nature, giving him at once a su-
periority over other men. Thus, fie says, all the missing
pulsations are* added to the sum total of those of his life,
and his longevity and strength appear to support this ex-
traordinary theory. He likewise asserts 2 Nature,"
is this which
enables him to do without sleep. says he,
him
"sleeps and recruits herself at every intermission of my
pulse." And, indeed, You see time after time rise
at three o'clock in the morning from the whist table ;
then will he return home, and often wake up one of his
secretaries to keep him company or to talk of business.
At four he will go to bed, sitting nearly bolt upright
in his bed, with innumerable night-capsl • on his head, to keep
it warm, as he says, and feed its intellect with blood ; but,
in fact, it is to prevent his injuring, the seat of know-
ledge if he tumble on the ground ; and he sits upright from
his tendency to apoplexy,
which would, no doubt, seize him
if he were perfectly recumbent
• 'W
c may remember the
newspapers stating he was found a few
years ago, his head
having dropped from his A A
pillow, so urowneu in blood that
no feature was to be seen. Although he goes to tied so
late, at six or seven at latest he wakes, and sends for his
attendants. He
constantly refers to the period when he
Minister of Foreign and when this power to live
without
sleep enabled himaairs'
to go out and seek information,
as well as pleasure, in e, society. till twelve or one o'clock. At
that hour lie returned to his office, read over all the let-
ters that had arrived in the day, put marginal indications
of the answers to he returned, and then, on waking again
at six, read over all the letters written in consequence of
his orders. 'When Talleyrand was engaged in the protocols
here he used to tire out all his younger colleagues. To
these physical peculiarities we could add that he eats but
one meal a day. After serving his guests, which he always
insists on doing, he gulps down, dish after dish, a volume
' altogether that would satisfy a boa constrictor.
Other peculiarities still more singular we refrain from
mentioning. Let it not be thought that in advertinc, to these
we have 4rcken into that sphere of privacy which should

always be respected. Talleyrand frequently notices these
circumstances above related to strangers, giving them of
course a turn highly favourable to the opinions to. he enter-
tained of his extraordinary powers. How little he strives to
conceal any circumstances other men would hide may be
judged of by his relating, a short time after his first arrival
in England, and when there were several strangers at his
table, the following anecdote :—He said that, returning from
America, after his banishment, to France, he took his passage
in a Danish vessel. He found himself in the Baltic on the
day of one of his revolutionary triumphs. He got the
Captain to get up from the hold of the ship two old cannons
that happened to be there, and paid the crew to fire them
off. By-and-by the report attracted the attention of the
cruizers of different nations then in the Baltic. The offi-
cers of eleven different men-of-war boarded the Danish
vessel to inquire into the cause of this warlike demonstra-
tion. They examined the vessel for papers that might give
some clue to the proceeding, and their suspicions fixing on
Talleyrand he was eleven times stripped naked. "As soon
as an officer came on board," said Talleyrand, with one of
his sepulchral chuckles, " he pointed me out to be searched,
crying out that if there was any plot I must be the cunning
rogue that bore the documents relating to it." Little as people
may be disposed to think, Talleyrand during the last six
years has played the political harlequin with as much activity
of trick and grimace as ever he did in his life. When the
storm of the three " glorieuses journees" broke over Paris,
Talleyrand's prophetic foresight was at fault. He was not
prepared, and he was obliged to send through the battle
and bloodshed one of his " affides" at the eleventh hour
(on the third day) with an overture to Louis Philippe.
Louis Philippe, although so great a conjuror himself, has an
awe of Talleyrand approaching to superstition. He imme-
diately proposed to Talleyrand to send him to England as
his omnipotent Ambassador, fearful lest, giving his weight
-to an opposite party, he should make him kick the beam.
Too happy to escape from France, Tallevrand came to
England. One cannot refrain from laughing on thinking
how he appeared then. He gave his audiences to his
countrymen in his salon in Hanover-square with a round
hat on his head, on the front of which was a tri-coloured
cockade six inches square, whilst, lying tout au long on the
sofas were three young sans-culottes of the jou'rnees de
Juillet he had brought with him, to give himself an air of
Republicanism. These were arguing with him constantly,
treating him, du haut en bas, and twitting him with not
being anything 'like a thick and thin Republican. Louis
Philippe got settled on his throne, the tri-coloured cockade
was torn off the round hat and thrown into the fire, and the
new-born embryos of Republicanism were sent successively
to Paris with despatches, and when there had orders never
to return. Talleyrand then showed himself in his true cha-
racter, which is compounded of the Aristocrat and the
Priest, such as these can be when their consciences have no
scruple.

The Romans gave to their baggage the name of Impedi-
wnta. Talleyrand affixes this signification to all scruples ;
and manoeuvring without them at all times he wins many a
battle a conscientious man would lose. At the time we
allude to, Talleyrand, freed of all fear of the republic, gave
vent to all his natural despotism. His embassy became the
seat of power, independent of the French Foreign Affairs.
He persecuted all the agents they named to belong to his
embassy until he had reduced them to subserviency. To
show still more his independence he refused to acknowledge
one of their nominations. M. de S—, named by his
Government second Secretary of Embassy, was not allowed
even to enter his office when he arrived in London ; and
he himself, the son-in-law of an Ambassador, was obliged
to leave London in despair, after being for three months on
the " pave" without a soul taking notice of him. There
was no want of merit on his part.
Talleyrand then had here the whole world at his feet ;
all the Nobility of England sought his society with eager.
ness ; the diplomatists of every nation bowed before him by
order of their Sovereigns. Lord Palmerston alone, whose
vanity was wounded by the superiority of the man whom
all the newspapers and caricatures pointed out as laughing
at him and cheating him, resisted Talleyrand not only in
great things but in the most paltry and childish affairs.
Talleyrand then used to settle affairs beforehand with Lord
Grey and Lord Holland, and Lord Palmerston was reduced
to a cipher. He managed, however, to annoy Talleyrand,
who, tired of bickering on trifles, and doubtful what a turn
affairs would take as regarded the two parties in the State,
with both of which he wished to keep on good terms—Tal-
leyrand, we repeat, took the first opportunity of going on
leave to France. There he gave in his resignation, and by
antedating his letter endeavoured to appear to have predicted
the coming into power of the Wellington Administration.
All we shall add further is that Talleyrand is not a man
of imagination, nor of invention. He never cold make
an extempore speech in his life, which has prevented his
being Prime Minister in France since the last revolution.
His forte is his impassibility, and his cool and perfect
judgment. He is very silent, and is always stimulating
those who approach him to talk on the more important
subjects of the day. He will listen for hours to the opi-
nions of men of mediocrity. Out of all he hears he ulti-
mately maker, up those webs in which other politicians get
involved, like giddy flies.
To this power of judgment Talleyrand adds that without
which neither great statesmen nor great generals would
ever succeed—namely, exceedingly good luck. Of this he
often relates an anecdote :—A fellow-countryman, in exile
with him at New York, had conceived such a horror of his
opinions that he had determined to kill him. He was
walking on a bastion, a secluded spot at New York, when
Talleyrand was struck _all at once with his companion's
looks, turned round upon him, and accused him of preme-
ditating some extraordinary attempt. His compnion fell
on his knees, threw away a loaded pistol he had concealed
in his cloak, and confessed his intention, which he would
no longer endeavour to accomplish, since it appeared to
please Heaven that Talleyrand should discover it.