The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-04-24
Talleyrand as Klng-Maker.

rThe Talleyrand Memoirs in the
Century narrate. briefly, Talleyrand's
appointment at the head of the pro-
visional government, and his recep-
tion by Louis XVIII.
The duties of my position kept me
in Paris and made it impossible for me
to go aud meet Louis XVIII. l saw
him for the first time at Compiegne.
He was in his study-M. de Duras
brought me to it. The king, on seeing
me, held out his hand. and said to me
in the most amiable-nay. the most
observation-disclosures Il am very
glad to see you; both our houses date
from the same epoch. My ancestors
were more clever than yours; had It
been the reverse, YOU would say to me
to-day, Take chair, come here. near
me. let us speak of our affairs; where-
as to-day it is l who say to you, Sit
down aud let us talk
1 very soon did my uncle. the Arch
bishop of Rheims, the pleasure of re.
peating to him the compliments paid
by the king to our family. l repeated
them the same evening to the Emperor
of Russia, who was at Compiegne, and
who with much kindness asked me If I
srds SATISFIED sCith The king. These
were his own words. 1 have not been
weak enough to relate the opening of
this interview to any other person.
TIn1 the year 1907. when the En-
peror had conquered, one after the
other, Austria, Prussia, and Russia,
and held the whole destiny of Europe
in his hands. what grand aud mag
nificent role might he not have playedl
Napoleon is the first and only power
that could have given to Europe real
balance; a goal which for centuries
she had tried in vain TO reach, and
from which she is now more than ever
distant.
For this he only needed. first. to
urge Italy to unite. by giving 1t the
house of Bavaria; secondly, TO divide
Germany between the house of Aus
tria, which would stretch To the mouth
of the Danube. and the house of Bran
streugthened; and. thirdly, ito re-
awaken Poland by giving it to the
house of Saxouy.
With true balance of power Ma
poleon might have giveu Europe an
organization in accord with the moral
law. A true balance would have made
war almost impossible. An appropri-
ate organization would have brought
to each people the highest civilization
of which it was capable.
Napoleon could have done these
things, ana he dlu not do then- II ne
had done them. he would have had
everywhere statues to mark the graft
tude of the people; every nation would
have bewailed his death. Instead. he
prepared the way for the state of af-
| fairs which we now see. and brought
upon us the dangers which threaten
us from the Orient. 1t is by these re-
| suits that he ought to be. and will be-
judged. Posterity will say of him:
This man had great intellectual force.
but he did not know what true glory
meant. His moral power was slight,
almost absent. He could not bear
! success with moderation. or misfortune
/ with dignity; thus the moral force
which he lacked was the undoing of
all Europe and himself as well.
Placed as | was for many years in
the midst of his plans and in the very
crater. so to speak, of his politics. and
| an eyewitness to what was done or
| plotted against him. it did not require
| great astuteness to see that the coun-
tries recently subducd to his rule. all
these new principalities created for
and placed under the dominion of his
own family, would be the first TO strike
the blow at his power.-7dtteyrdnd
| Memoirs in CeHturg.