New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-08
THE TALLEYRAND MEMOIR.
THE LAST vOLUME-THE ENGLISH MISSION.


ca aISs f es RRp w. S T. jenkins and
F. W. Christcrn.
The fifth and final volume Of the Memoirs OF
Prince Taleyrand opens with note by the eoi'or'
the Due de Broglie. vindicatins the authehucny
Of the work and tcstifyng 10 its completeness
Most of the objections. says NJ re Broglie appear
TO have sprung directly or indirectly from '''e
superstition, long entertained, that the repeated
postponements Of publication indicated the
presence in Talcyrand's "reminiscences OF much
delicate for scandalous) matter which could not
well l,e Given TO the public until all the parues
concerned had passed away. This belief was Gu
couraqed BY the possible excessive caution o' "'o
executors But all who knew Ialleyrand must
from the first have been convinced 'hat "ic se'
raj expectation was at fault for among ai' VIC
crimes and offences charged upon the author Oh
Tho ucmoirs no one had ever accused him o!
want of tact or taste Some critics hao
tbourht il possbe to distinguish parts OF the Me-
moirs which were unlike Tallcyrands style; out
any acquaintance with bis literary mcthods would
show the error Of such conjccturcs For Iallcy-
rand was always avcrsc from the manual labor of
writing. and as a rule dictated TO secretary, who
having written out his notes submitted them for
revision From tho revised copy 1air Que ""'
made. and this was placed among his archiN'o,
When he could fully trust the Judgment anu III
tcllircnce of his secretary, he sometimes naoe ~
roucb draft OF documents With his own h"'"'
iottnc down notes which the secretary was re-
ouirod TO expand and fill UP. All ,hc so.oa"o'
or;cinoI matter of the memoirs is made up III one
=, these ways None Of il is In the author manu-
writing but is dictated copy. AS moreover Vhci0
ucrc no doubt several hands employed upon 'ne
work it must be that differences OF style are u -.
found in il. As regards the CRITICISMS lo"nue"
uror errors in names or Of chronology, the DUO
AZ Rr,cle remarks that there is nothing slrprisins
in the commission of such small distakes pS al Wv
man who had led 50 long, active ana wcii-nir" ii
carcer. and he cites the case OF MS own '"''.''
who had for wears held firmly belct concerning
n certain historic incident in which he TOOK part
.,,;. h,;os ,urp;nc out 10 be quite erroneous when
the official reports were consumed NOV ;.
oyten have happened that Talleyrand In writing
liz ,ror,o;rs wos obliged to trust altogether 10
n. r,emorv not having the official documents AT
aa,d and 81 II was to DC expected That OCCASIONAL
h,undcrs should have crept in. AS to the COM
r,oto outbcnticity of the work. however, ti'c
EDITOR maintains that there is no room lor uo""'
or misriyng. nor any ground for the suspicious
which have been thrown upon the hdcu'y oi
NJ dc Bacourt.
Tho eleventh and twelfth parts, which con-
o,udo the memoir treat of Talcyrands embassy
IN tho Court Of st. James from lS32 70 1917
Tho times had changed The great European
oroblems Of the Napolconic era had apparently
though only apparently, been settled was
scarcely possible for high honors to he won III
connection with tie diplomacy OF lhe TIL" Wv
Il was of kind to call for the snotles' NncS'r
and the most extended experience Inc pu"'''
between Holland and Belgium, ana inc !akihe VI
Antwerp occupied the French and Ensnsh MIN
istrics for months. The jcalousics OF fr"es''
Austria and Russia. had to be soothed anu P'''
Gated and the Intervention OF thosc ro"c''
avoided Tic King Of Belgium proved s'up"orn
and intractable. Palmerst0n was oitch un''c"i'
tr, get on with; and even when he was III dcoo'"
with Talcyrand he could not always c'iis
h,s own Cabinet with him, or answer In the
last resort for the course OF the HOUSE VI
C.ommons The toll and the manocuvring required
tor the adjustment Of matters specifically trivial
,,.ra however not to be avoided: for there was
at that time scarcely any difficulty having inter
national relations which might not spread sud
dcnly and involve the most formidable compiled
lions.
As study in diplomacy this volume OF the
Memoirs deserves serious examination IL Illus
trates the sagacty prcscience, and tact OF Iaiiey
rand even more clearly than those parts OF the
Memoirs which are concerned with epochai events
and great currents oil actlOn Which could OILY po
followed. not controlled For here we see the
great diplomatist engaged in affairs amenablo
for the most part to slxlful handling, aud nothing
can be finer in it's way than the manner in which
he goes about his work Before the Belgian
question was settled the Portuguese question came
TO the front, and here again ample necessity
for all the dcXterity that could be applied. Al
mcst at the same time the Eastern question swccd
20 menacing proporti0ns through the revolt Of
Ibrnhm Pacha against the Porte, and the failure
Of the latter to reduce the conqucror of Egypt
20 subsection. In this mbrogli0 the Emperor
Nicholas saw his opportunity. and Europe was
suddenly astonished by the exhibition OF an
"entcnte cordiale' between Sultan and Gar, and
the appearance Of the latter in the unaccustome1
role Of protector of the Ottoman Empire. Russian
warships were floating in the Bosphorus Russian
troops were landed close to Constantinople 1t
seemed that the Northern Power had but TO close
its hand and the sick man" would he strangcd.
OF course England and France were instantly agi-
tatcd and alarmed, and began to concert measures
for maintaining the threatened balance of power.
Tie Sultan was the first to be dealt with and he
was called to account sharply for having in point
of fact yielded his independence TO Russia The
poor Sultan was, usual, greatly embarrassed.
lie could not subduc the rebellious Pacha of
Egypt. and lie could not resist the military and
naval power of Russia. The Western Powers
meanwhile showed more disposition to upbraid
than to relieve him. Taleyrand applied himself
with characteristic energy to the task of general
Cancellation, and was ably assisted by tie Due dc
Broglic, then at the head OF the French Govern
ment. The letters of the Due de Broglic in the
present volume are those Of a finished statesman.
aud arc marked by luminous treatment of
foreign affairs in all directions lie and Tacyrand
appear to have worked in almost complete har-
nony Throughout this period, during which France
was making steady and energetic effort To nceo
tiate q general treaty. defensive and offensive
with England. Taleyrand made himself very
active in these negotiations and more than
once seems to have entertained sfronn hnncs