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

DUBLIN MAR'

There are two men only in France who rise immeasurably
above the ordinary sphere of
,politicians—Louis Philippe
and Talleyrand. Louis Philippe, obliged .to take upon
himself the whole management of questions vitally lin_
portant; and to play off his Ministers as an Italian conjuror
does his fantoccini, can, more justly than his great ancestor,
say " L'Etat, c'est moi !"
The other master-mind we allude to is Talleyrand.'
Most men consider him as removed entirely by his position
and his age from the daily changes that agitate France.
But we know full well this opinion is unfounded. At his
princely residence, V\alencay, he is daily giving audience to
all the most stirring men in France, as well as to the most.
remarkable people of foreign countries. On all, moments
of crisis he either goes personally to see Louis Philippe in
Paris, or sends confidential persons to him, bearers of his
opinions ; which, like the oracles of old, have always two
readings. Talleyrand always avoids unqualified answers,
and communicating directly, otherwise than orally. He
always employs where he can a secretary, of whom he can
make a scapegoat in ease of need, attributing to his blunder
whatever may suit him later to deny having said or thought.
He is particularly cautious of doing so since he was betrayed by
M—, who decamped with many of his important political docu-
ments, and then held him in durance for years, until, after
divers smaller sums, he at last extracted from him so large
an amount on condition of returning the aforesaid papers
that he is said to live ever since in splendid affluence on the
proceeds. It is principally on account of his old habit of
employing confident et Vides in Paris to manage his poli-
tical interests that he is supposed to wield no influence.
All Talleyrand's agents are persons whom lie singles out as
having no weight of their own. Formerly lie used to em-
ploy one of the several secretaries he keeps constantly in
his service; whether in or out of office ; but we have shown
why he has given up the use of such agents. His present
Secretary is a man who, by his candour and singleness of
mind, is rendered incapable of the conception of any in-
trigue. Talleyrand also employed formerly in his never-
ceasing home diplomacy some of the most fashionable roues
and seducteurs of his time, who, by their habits, got access
every where, inspired very little suspicion of political mo-
tive, and still, in the penetralia where their successful
" amours' led them, in the "enivrenzent" of the gaming-
table, or of the festive board, discovered secrets of im-
portance, or could work out the plots of the arch de-
ceiver. Every one who has mixed in the highest sphere
of society in France or in England have met the famous
hero of the boudoir and the gaming-table, the witty Count
de , who was for so many years Talleyrand's " bras
droit." But he is now discarded from Talleyrand's service.
The wily politician has rested his confidence of late years on
female fascination and diplomacy. Talleyrand's devotion to
the fair sex has alwaya been unbounded, and only less ex-
traordinary than his success, even within a few years, in his
amours with the most beautiful and accomplished women,
being, as he is, a man who appears sent before his time—
" Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable

That dogs bark at him—"
his very deformities having been the reason that he was first
put in the Church, to which he has been such a scandal.
Every body has heard of the former Bishop's gallantries.
How he used to put Madame de St. E—'s locks in papers
—these papers being bank notes of high value, &c. Per-
haps Talleyrand's political career is due to female influence.
He was deperately in love when still in the Church with a
West Indian lady, Mrs. Grant, that most insipid of women
who, as Princess Talleyrand, afterwards amused so much
her circle by her " faits and gents," as when she took
Denon, just returned from Egypt, for Robinson Crusoe,
and asked him how was . his good Man Friday ? and told
him when he asked her of what country she was, qu'elle
ctait d'lndc. It appears probable that it was in order to
marry this sapient lady, that Talleyrand hoisted the tri-
colour, and launched his bark on the dark ocean of politics,
and that—

" Apostat, ont du St. Chrome
Il commenca sa earriere, par trahir Dieu meme."
Certainly Talleyrand's partiality to the ministry of women
in his political affairs has been justified by its results.
Several tittles before and since the restoration they have
saved him. When he did not dare to show himself—when
the storm was so high that the old oak would have been
uprooted—his female supporters, like rushes, bending and
rising again in the gale, have withstood the untoward in-
fluence. The modern Arrnida, the well-known Duchess de
Dino, is Talleyrand's secretary, councillor, and depository
of all his secrets, and by the artillery of her charms, her
blandishments, and woman's wit, does that for him no other
diplomacy could, perhaps, effect. All the other great female
diplomatists of Europe are linked with him, and first and
foremost, the Princess de Lieven, so well-known for her
ability at all the Courts of Europe, and particularly at that
of St. James's.

Whenever Talleyrand ceases to interfere in politics then
you may deem him at least morally dead. At present he
is rather weak, from recent illness ; his power of locomotion
is somewhat less than when he was in London, but his
faculties of mind, his habits and tastes, are ever the same.
Many have rued the ignorance of his vivacious nature, and
have found that the head of the viper could bite, although
its body was benumbed. He is an enemy—
" plus a craindre sur terre
Que le fer, que le feu, que le poison, et le guerre."