372 



STAEL-HOLSTEIN. 



When Sweden recognised the French republic, Tier 

 husband was again sent as ambassador to Paris, 

 whither she also returned, in 1795. The quiet 

 which was restored with the government of the 

 directory, gave her an opportunity of effecting the 

 ivr.ill of some of the emigrants. Barras became 

 her friend : and she acquired so much influence, 

 that, on Talleyrand's return from America, in 1796, 

 she obtained, through Barras, his appointment to 

 the ministry of foreign affairs. To this period also 

 belong two political pamphlets, Sur la Paix, and 

 Sur la Pats intcricure, which contain her views 

 respecting the situation of France in 1795, and ex- 

 press the remarkable opinion that France could ar- 

 rive at limited monarchy only through military des- 

 potism. In 1796 appeared her work De I' Influence 

 des Passions sur le Bonheur des Individus et des 

 Nations (1796), which, though characterized by 

 deep thought and enlightened views, does not con- 

 tain any complete exposition of the subject. 



Her domestic relations at this time were not 

 happy. Her connexion with her husband, whose 

 tastes were different, and whose talents were in- 

 ferior to her own, had been, from the first, marked 

 by coldness ; and, when she became desirous of se- 

 curing the property of their children from the effects 

 of his lavish habits, a separation took place ; but, 

 his infirmities rendering the services of his friends 

 necessary to him, she again joined him. He died 

 in 1798, while on the way, in company with her, to 

 her father's residence. The man who exercised so 

 fatal an influence upon the rest of her life Bona- 

 parte she had seen, for the first time, in 1797, on 

 his return to Paris, after the peace of Campo- 

 Formio. His brilliant reputation, which had in- 

 flamed the lively imagination of the French, also 

 excited her admiration ; but this sentiment soon 

 gave way to fear and aversion. She formed the 

 design of gaining him over to the cause of Swiss 

 independence, when an invasion of Switzerland was 

 in contemplation, for the purpose of raising money 

 for the Egyptian expedition ; but she soon saw that 

 her plan could not succeed. The danger which 

 threatened Switzerland led her to Coppet, where a 

 French guard under Suchet was posted ; but when 

 Geneva was incorporated with France, she hastened 

 back to Paris, to cause her father's name to be 

 struck from the list of emigrants. Necker now 

 seemed likely to pass the remainder of his life un- 

 disturbed. Bonaparte visited him before his pas- 

 sage over the Great St Bernard, and made a favour- 

 able impression upon him during a long interview, 

 in which he spoke of his future plans. But some 

 observations of Necker in his Dernieres Vues de 

 Politique et des Finances (1802), in which he spoke 

 with freedom of the consular constitution, and 

 mentioned Bonaparte's design of establishing a 

 monarchy, and surrounding himself with a new 

 nobility, offended the first consul, who had no wish 

 to see his plans prematurely announced, and there- 

 fore caused the work to be attacked in the journals. 

 By his direction, the consul Lebrun wrote a sharp 

 letter to Necker, advising him not to meddle any 

 more with public affairs. 



Mad. de Stael was banished from Paris, under 

 pretence that she had given her father false infor- 

 mation of the state of France. During her banish- 

 ment, she lived with her father at Coppet, but 

 spent much time in travelling, and once (in 1806) 

 passed some days secretly in Paris. Her literary 

 reputation was meanwhile increased by her De la 

 Litterature consideree dans ses Rapports avec les In- 



stitutions sociales (2 vols., Paris, 1802), and her 

 Dtlphinc (180-2). The former work attracted 

 many assailants, among whom Fontanes was the 

 ablest and acutest. She had, indeed, over-estimated 

 the influence of literature upon the character and 

 happiness of men, and pronounced too confidently 

 upon its history and prospects. Her romance Del- 

 phine contained a faithful picture of herself, as she 

 was in her youth a creature separated from the 

 multitude by genius and sensibility, and struggling 

 against the restraints of custom and her sex. Mad. 

 de Stael, who never otherwise reverted to her 

 earlier writings, found herself obliged to defend the 

 moral tendency of Delphine, in a particular essay. 

 In 1803, she made a visit to Germany, whence her 

 father's sickness recalled her to Switzerland ; but 

 he died before she reached home. She always re- 

 tained the greatest attachment and veneration for 

 his memory. His death rendered her religious feel- 

 ings more lively, and in this state of mind she wrote 

 an admirable account of his domestic life, (prefixed 

 to the Manuscrits de M. Necker publics par sa Fille, 

 1805), which gives us much insight into her own 

 character. To dissipate her grief, Mad. de Stael 

 paid a visit to Italy in 1805 ; and from that time 

 A. W. Schlegel, with whom she had become ac- 

 quainted in Berlin, was her constant companion. 

 (See Schlegel.) The fruit of her journey to Italy 

 was Corinne ou V Italic (1807), the most perfect and 

 brilliant of her works, combining in a happy man- 

 ner the charms of romance with a faithful picture 

 of Italy. In 1810, she went to Vienna to collect 

 materials for a work upon the manners, literature 

 and philosophy of Germany, which she had planned 

 on her first visit to that country. Many passages 

 had been struck out from the manuscript of this 

 work by the censors of the press ; and no sooner 

 was the impression completed, than the whole edi- 

 tion was seized by Savary, minister of police. It 

 first appeared entire at London, in 1813, and was 

 printed at Paris in 1814. This work is rich in 

 acute and ingenious ideas, but has been justly criti- 

 cised as containing many erroneous views. Mad. 

 de Stael was now persecuted with more bitterness, 

 and her exile from Paris was extended to banish- 

 ment from France. 



During her residence on her father's estate, she 

 formed a new connexion about this time, which 

 strongly illustrates the peculiarity of her character. 

 A young officer from the south of France, by the 

 name of de Rocca, who had distinguished himself 

 by his bravery in Spain, rendered infirm by his 

 wounds, came to reside at Geneva. Some expres- 

 sions of sympathy which fell from Mad. de Stael 

 made a deep impression upon him, and inflamed his 

 heart and his imagination. " I will love her so pas- 

 sionately," said he, " that she will marry me at last." 

 Circumstances favoured his wishes ; Mad. de Stael, 

 in the midst of her sufferings, had cherished the 

 hope of consolation in a new union, and accepted 

 the hand of the officer. The marriage, however, 

 remained a secret till her death. While she wished 

 to leave a place where she feared to involve others 

 in her fate, she saw the dangers and difficulties of a 

 flight, watched by spies and informers, and was re- 

 luctant, to abandon the graves of her parents and her 

 second country, and wander, like a criminal, by land 

 and sea. But in the spring of 1812, the last mo- 

 ment when flight was possible, she resolved upon 

 departure, having been already threatened with im- 

 prisonment if she left her residence for a day. She 

 hastened through Vienna to Moscow, and, on the 



