The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-07-14
TALLEYRAND'S WIFE.
 Frcm an English Paper.


 We have spoken of the Countess Ed mund de Talleyrand, nee Princess de Sagan, as the great lady of Prince Talley- rand's household. The French embassy had need of her redeeming qualities to render the princes soirees tolerable to the high-class members of Viennese so- ciety. Talleyrand had been accom- panied to Vienna by Mime. de Talley- rand, whose eecentricities were hardly compatible with perfect soundness of mind. The adventures of this lady be- fore she became Mime. de Talleyrand have been the subject of much discus sion, and we do not regard the we'll known story of her having confounded the celebrated French traveller Demon with Robinson Crusoe as anything more than a Imaginable blunder on her part. resulting from her having hastily skim med the wrong book of travels prepara- tory 10 her reception of NJ. Demon at the princes table. But. however stout a champion Mime. de Talleyrand may have had in NJ. Amedee pchot, who contends that the story of Robinson Crusoe IS the only evidence of the sotiise or the betise of Mime. de Talleyrand, she had some very odd moments while she did the honors of the princes salons during the congress. We shall content ourselves with citing two anecdotes on he faith of a most trustworthy eyewitness. The princess had two young nieces in her suite who had not yet entered their teens Her practice was on the evenings of her receptions, when a sufficient company had assembled, to direct pair of fold ing doors to be thrown open, through which the two young ladies made their eniree into the salon with their arms en- circling each other and proceeded to ex- ecute serles ot plrouets round the room. ending at last with a graceful courtesy before Mime. de Talleyrand. This was comparatively an innocent oddity on her part, although il bored her guests. Her second oddi,y was more mlschievous and caused great oifense. She would ire quently during her evening receptions ring the bell and order her groom of the chambers 10 say that she was not al home, and after the lapse If quarter of m hour or twenty minutes she would ring the bell again and rive a counter order. The consequence was that hus- bands who called for iheir wives had to go home without them. and wives who came in search of their husbands could find no admittance and all that Talley- rand could say. when diplomatis, of the highest rank demonstrated with him. was :" Mais mon cher que vouluz-voux que je fasse, ma femme es, si beten We take the truth of the matter to be that Mime. de Talleyrand vas at times little crazy. She was a native of the East ln- dies, and Bonaparte. who was annoyed with her Robinson Crusoe story. which went the rounds of the Iarisian salons, pronounced her to be tune sotte e, dune grossierer ignorance and shortly after wards forbade her appearance a, his court because she had received a doueeur from the merchants of Genoa. Had she no, been little crazy she would never have ventured on the bold step by which she made the acquaintance of Talley- rand, at that time minister of foreign affairs under the Directorate. and sub- sequently nearly compromised him as her husband win Bonapar,e by accep- tlng 10000 francs rom the Genoese, who hoped thereby ,o oo,ain some com mercial advantages through her in- tiuence.