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too strong to have been stemmed by Talleyrand, even 

 though he had been in a condition to act directly and in 

 person. He could do nothing, forced as he was to act by 

 the instrumentality of a man too jealous and opiniative 

 to conform honestly to the directions of one whose 

 authority necessarily made him feel himself a mere puppet. 

 Talleyrand's good faith at this period in labouring to pre- 

 serve peace between England and France, as the only 

 means of rendering a constitutional monarchy possible 

 in the other country, and the steadiness with which he 

 pursued his object, undaunted by the most gross personal 

 insults, are satisfactorily established by the narrative of 

 Dumont. 



Talleyrand was at Paris when the events of the 10th of 

 August put an end to the monarchy ; and it required all 

 I :s dexterity to enable him to obtain passports from Dan- 

 ton, to enable him to quit Paris. He fled to England, 

 and having saved little of his property, he was obliged to 

 sell his library there to procure himself the means 

 of support. The English government, jealous of his pre- 

 sence, after some time ordered him to leave the country 

 in twenty-four hours ; and proscribed in France, he was 

 obliged, with a dilapidated fortune, to seek refuge in Ame- 

 rica, when he had almost attained his fortieth year. 



Madame de Stael has claimed, and apparently with a 

 good title, the credit of instigating Chenier to demand the 

 recall of M. de Talleyrand after the fall of Robespierre and 

 the termination of the reign of terror. The National In- 

 stitute was founded about this time, and M. de Talleyrand 

 had in his absence been appointed a member of the class 

 of moral and political science. At the first sitting of this 

 society which he attended he was elected secretary, an 

 office which he held for six months. During this period 

 he read two papers, afterwards published in the ' MSmoires 

 de la Classe des Sciences Morales et Politiques de 1'Institut 

 National,' which are justly considered not only as the most 

 able and original of his published writings, but as those 

 which are most indisputably his own. The first of these 

 is entitled ' Essai sur les Avantages u retirer de Colonies 

 Ts'ouvelles dans les Cireonstances presentes ;' the second, ! 

 Mrmoires sur les relations Commerciales des Etats-TJnis 

 avec 1'Anglctcrre.' The latter is, properly speaking, a 

 supplement perhaps rather a ' piece justificative' ap- 

 pended to the other. The great object of both is to point 

 out the importance of colonies to a country like France, 

 in which the revolutionary fervour, though beginning to 

 burn dim, was still sufficiently powerful to prolong the reign 

 of anarchy and suffering, unless measures were adopted to 

 neutralize it. There can be no mistake as to the views 

 being those of M. de Talleyrand himself. They are such 

 as con Id only occur to a person entertaining the political 

 opinions he had advocated in the Constituent Assembly, 

 who having been exiled by the ' reign of terror ' which deci- 

 mated his countrymen, was living in a country where a suc- 

 ul revolution had quietly and speedily subsided into a 

 settled form of government ; in a country where he felt that 

 ' an Englishman becomes at once a native, and a Frenchman 

 remains for ever a foreigner.' Not satisfied with pointing put 

 in what manner colonies might be rendered powerful a^isl- 

 ants in tranquillising France, the essayist entered deeply 

 into the principles of colonization, explaining the advan- 

 tages to be derived from colonies, and the law by which 

 their economical advantages might be perpetuated even 

 after their political relations with the mother-country had 

 ceased. In hi.s treatment of his subject he evinces a clear 

 and deep insight into the structure of society both in 

 France and America, and just and extensive views in po- 

 litical economy. 



It was not however so much the political talent displayed 

 in these essays, as M. de Talleyrand's skill in employing 

 the reviving influence of the sahnt of Paris, that obtained 

 him the appointment of foreign minister under the Di- 

 rectory. Here again he was indebted to Madame de Stael, 

 who assisted him through her influence with Barras. M. 

 de Talleyrand accepted office under this unprincipled go- 

 vernment with a ]K>rfect knowledge of its character and its 

 weakness. His conviction that a Frenchman could never 

 .a home in America prompted him to grasp at the first 

 opportunity of returning to his native country : his shat- 

 : fortune and taste for expensive luxuries rendered 

 employment. nere-sary for him, and political business was 

 the only lucrative employment for which he was qualified. 

 There is nothing in his life to contradict the belief that he 



again engaged in politics with a desire to promote what 

 was right and useful as far as he could ; but he engaged 

 in them aware that he might be ordered to do what he 

 disapproved of, and prepared to do it, under the plea that 

 his functions were merely ministerial, and that the responsi- 

 bility rested upon his employers. His position under the 

 Directory was consequently an equivocal one. He was 

 engaged, so long as he occupied it, in intrigues which had 

 for their aim the maintenance of himself in office, even if 

 his employers should be turned out ; and he was obliged 

 to do their dirty work. The part which he took in the 

 attempt to extort money, as a private gratification, from 

 the American envoys who arrived in Paris in October, 

 1797, was probably forced upon him by the directors : had 

 it been his own project, it would have been conceived 

 with more judgment, and the Americans would not have 

 been driven to extremes, for he understood their national 

 character. But allowing himself to be used in such a 

 shabby business betrays a want of self-respect, or a vul- 

 garity of sentiment, or both. He had his reward ; for 

 when public indignation was excited by the statements of 

 the American envoys, the minister of foreign affairs was 

 sacrificed to the popular resentment. 



Having adopted a profession in which success could 

 only be expected under a settled government, believing 

 a monarchical government to be the only one which 

 could give tranquillity to his country, and anxious 

 with many others to run up a make-shift government out 

 of the best materials that offered, he naturally attached 

 himself to the growing power of Bonaparte. When the 

 future emperor returned from Egypt, M. de Talleyrand 

 had been six months in a private station ; though, had he 

 still retained office, he might with equal readiness have 

 conspired to overturn the Directory. Bourrienne is not 

 the best of authorities, but the earlier volumes of the 

 memoirs which pass under his name are less falsified than 

 the later ; and an anecdote which he relates of Talleyrand's 

 interview with the first consul, after being reappointed 

 minister of foreign affairs, is so charactenstic, that its 

 truth is highly probable : ' M. de Talleyrand, appointed 

 successor to M. de Reinhart at the same time that Cam- 

 bacc'res and Lebrun succeeded Sit-yes and Roger Ducas as 

 consuls, was admitted to a private audience by the first 

 consul. The speech which he addressed to Bonaparte 

 was so gratifying to the person to whom it was addressed, 

 and appeared so striking to myself, that the words have 

 remained in my memory : " Citizen Consul, you have 

 confided to me the department of foreign affairs, and I 

 will justify your confidence ; but I must work under no one 

 but yourself. This is not mere arrogance on my part : in 

 order that France be well governed, unity of action is re- 

 quired : you must be first consul, and the first consul must 

 hold in his hand all the main-springs of the political 

 machine the ministries of the interior, of internal police, 

 of foreign affaire, of war, and the marine. The ministers 

 of these departments must transact business with you 

 alone. The ministries of justice and finance have, without 

 doubt, a powerful influence upon politics ; but it is more 

 indirect. The second consul is an able jurist, and the third 

 a master of finance : leave these departments to them ; it 

 will amuse them ; and you, general, having the entire 

 management of the essential parts of government, may 

 pursue without interruption your noble object, the regene- 

 ration of France." These words accorded too closely with 

 the sentiments of Bonaparte to be heard by him otherwise 

 than with pleasure. He said to me, after M. de Talley- 

 rand had taken his leave, " Do you know, Bourrienne, 

 Talleyrand's advice is sound. He is a man of sense." He 

 then added smilingly: "Talleyrand is a dexterous fellow : 

 he has seen through me. You know I wish to do what 

 he advises ; and he is in the right. Lebrun is an honest 

 man, but a mere book-maker ; Cambaceres is too much 

 identified with the Revolution : my government must be 

 something entirely new." ' 



Napoleon and Talleyrand may be said to have under- 

 stood each other, and that in a sense not discreditable to 

 either. The good sense of both was revolted by the blood- 

 shed and theatrical sentiment, the blended ferocity and 

 coxcombry of the Revolution: both were practical states- 

 men, men with a taste and talent for administration, not 

 mere constitution-makers. Like most men of action, nei- 

 ther of them could discern to the full extent the advantage 

 an executive government can derive from having the line of 



