Kitabı oku: «Memoirs of the Duchesse De Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1841-1850», sayfa 17
Berlin, March 30, 1848.– I have now returned here, where the agitation is far from appeased. Prince Adam Czartoryski arrived yesterday from Paris, and I need not point out the nature of this new complication.141 Complications, however, follow one another with appalling rapidity. The situation of individuals who have anything to lose is hardly better than that of the kings whose thrones are tottering to their fall. For the moment, at any rate, we are all penniless and neither the war in the east nor the communism of the west offer any better chances for us in the future, for we are crushed between these two colossi.
It is said that the Prussian Diet will be open on April 2, that is in two days, though this is not yet certain. In any case the meeting will be short, as it will only deal with the electoral law.
Berlin, April 1, 1848.– The Diet which is to open to-morrow will form a new act in the drama.142 It is impossible to estimate the results, and I have lost all interest in forecasts and also in proposals for a long time. Paul Medem, who is here still, is very uncertain what his future will be. The news from Vienna does not seem to me to be particularly reassuring. In general it is scarcely possible to find a peaceful point on the whole of the globe and the sole consolation is the remembrance of sure and tried affection which can defy revolution and absence and everything that walks abroad throughout this vale of tears.
Berlin, April 8, 1848.– The effects of the revolution in Paris have been felt here and the consequences have been violent, far-reaching and irremediable. Everything is still in a ferment and the impetus, far from being exhausted is still proceeding, though not in an upward direction. The peasants' rising in the provinces is a most disastrous element in the situation: I am obliged to remain in the town in consequence, though here the continuance of popular excitement disagreeably breaks the monotonous and profound melancholy of this capital. The Metternich family are in Holland preparing for their crossing to England.143
Berlin, April 12, 1848.– Life is very sad and all classes of society in great agitation. The members of the Diet all left Berlin yesterday to seek re-election by their constituents. The fate of the country depends upon the manner in which this constitutional assembly is to be composed; it is therefore the duty of all right-minded people to attempt to secure a seat, and such is the general opinion; but many things may happen between now and May 22. A net-work of clubs enfolds the capital and the provinces ever more closely in its toils; outbreaks are of constant occurrence in every direction; the temper of the militia is doubtful; the audacity of the agitators, foreign complications and the infectious examples which have been set in the west and south and in certain disaffected quarters in the north and in the east, are enough to make any one lose his head; while the hesitating attitude of the Government and the absolute abandonment of any repressive measures are not calculated to restore confidence. The fifty little tyrants established at Frankfort will certainly do their best to turn the balance of things; no one has given them any mandate and yet every one obeys them.144 The state of affairs, as we see it, is utterly inexplicable; forecast is impossible. We must live from hand to mouth and be satisfied when every twenty-four hours have passed without some unusual shock. We see many bands of police passing through the town on their way to Posen or Cracow. The Polish landowners are giving their peasants full liberty, to avoid the danger of massacre at their hands. The Polish nationality is in arms against the German and no one can see which of the two will emerge triumphant, if attempts at reconciliation should fail.145
Sagan, April 20, 1848.– The state of public feeling remains disquieting. If the rebels confined their objections merely to the moneyed classes, the best of all possible courses would be to let them take what they want. People have so little money in hand that they would not get much: but in their frenzy they are ready to attack archives, titles, contracts, and in short anything that determines and settles landed tenure. They are also greatly inclined to ill-treat individuals and to set fire to barns and buildings, whether they are opposed or not. The position here has grown a little calmer although emissaries from the Jacobin club at Breslau appeared two days ago and are attempting to secure the adherence of the wretched little lawyers who are known in Germany as Die obskure Literatur. We heard that these agitators under pretext of holding a preliminary electoral meeting were attempting to raise a mob from the lowest of the people and to show them the quickest and easiest way of disarming the civil guard. Fortunately precautions have been taken and I have no doubt that if a demonstration should take place, it would be dispersed without bloodshed.
The wirepullers of the Berlin clubs are agitating against the form of election by two stages and are organising a great popular demonstration to offer a petition in favour of direct election, to the castle and the Ministry. I do not know whether they will be able to get many workmen together on this political question: possibly they might be successful, as the workmen are already greatly disturbed on the question of pay; from what I hear they are continually parading the streets. The other day there were serious disturbances directed against the bakers who were selling bread by fraudulent weights and who certainly deserved a lesson in consequence, though it was not the business of the people to give it to them. Meanwhile the workmen are contracting idle habits and learning to lounge in public: the workshops where they desire to work are closed by the wirepullers, and the tailors, for instance, are involuntarily on strike. I do not think there is any imminent danger of violence, but the general tendency of things is bad and may well lead to violence. The Poles have sent their ultimatum to Berlin.146 They declined to lay down their arms or separate until their demands had been conceded. The authorities are busy deliberating and find themselves in a difficult position between these two peoples, for the Poles decline to consider the demands of the Germans who insist upon remaining German, and demand that a line of demarcation should be drawn, making Posen a German capital and giving Gnesen to the Poles.
Nobody knows what to believe of Italy, as the news from that quarter is so contradictory. Letters from Vienna are sad and depressing: England offers another spectacle, very different and very glorious for herself, but I must say that I am furious to see Lord Palmerston, who has so largely contributed to this European upheaval, boasting of the comfort, of the glory and of the wealth of the English, which naturally increases with continental distress.
Sagan, April 24, 1848. – The following is a letter from Vienna sent to me by the Russian Minister, my cousin Medem: "Vienna is in a state of complete depression: there are no social gatherings; the Prater is deserted and the Opera is closed, as the public will not allow the Italians to play. Wallmoden has come to us from Italy; he is said to be here in the hopes of arranging a scheme with the Government, if not for resuming the offensive in Italy upon a large scale,147 at any rate for regaining possession of Venice and the part of Frioul which is in rebellion. Communications with the army under arms continue to be confined to the Tyrolese passes. People are properly indignant at the conduct of F. Zichy, of Count Palfy at Venice and Count Ludolf at Treviso, who capitulated disgracefully without adequate reason.148 Dissatisfaction and uncertainty of the future is general: every day the unpardonable sluggishness of the old administration, both civil and military, becomes more obvious. Their incompetency is quite incredible unless one has a knowledge of certain details. The peace of Vienna has not been seriously disturbed of late, but unpleasant demonstrations have taken place: these are provoked by unwise people, generally from abroad, who harangue the people in public meetings, in the Odeon or in similar places; publications and inflammatory notices appear everywhere and foment uneasiness in the more sensible part of the nation, especially among the upper classes. It is quite time that this came to an end, and if it goes on the situation will become complicated. For the moment, at any rate, the state of affairs is much better here than in the capital or the Prussian monarchy, but what guarantee is there for the future?"
Sagan, April 30, 1848.– We have now reached the end of the second month of this upheaval, the shocks of which are, I fear, far from reaching their conclusion. At the present moment Europe is divided between electoral passion and the flames of civil war. Human passion is displayed in all its hideousness during the rivalry aroused by the elections: citizens fight with citizens blindly and furiously, while anarchy, disorder, restlessness, poverty, despondency and despair is the picture to be seen everywhere, with a few slight differences. Those people are only too happy who are but touched by a reaction which has spent its power and contrive to pass the day without personal risk, if not without anxiety. Here we shall see what the elections, which begin to-morrow, will bring forth, and what the attitude of the country will be during the voting and the counting. Meanwhile the Press and the clubs are working furiously. Every little town has its newspaper and every hamlet its orator. The audiences for the most part do not understand what they hear, but they obey like the sheep of Panurge. The working classes propose to lay down the law to the factory directors, who can sell nothing and therefore cannot increase or even maintain their output or improve the prospects of their employees. As for the poor people who work upon the land and the more prosperous class which finds employment on the railway, their labours have come to an end, and one really does not know what to do for them. People are dividing with them the last farthing and the corn from the barns, as they are the objects both of pity and fear.
Sagan, May 5, 1848.– The Grand Duchy of Posen is at present the scene of the greatest atrocities; civil war is in progress with unheard of refinements of cruelty. The French newspapers do not know these facts or decline to state them, but the details which I have from first hand evidence are enough to make one's hair stand on end. On May 1 the Prussians were utterly defeated by the insurgents who, armed with scythes, disembowelled the horses.149 Several Polish lords have been massacred by their peasants, and they can only secure their personal safety by instigating the peasants against the Prussian army.
Sagan, May 8, 1848.– To-day the electors chosen a week ago are to appoint the Prussian representatives. I think that undue hopes are being set upon constitutional assemblies, and I fear the result may show a general state of delusion. At Vienna the resignation of Count Ficquelmont was one of the most unpleasant incidents in the whole drama:150 some students entered his house, declaring that they would no longer have him as Minister; he obeyed and would have run great risks as he walked to his son-in-law's house if Prince Clary and two students had not acted as his protectors.
Sagan, May 21, 1848.– The scenes at Paris on the 15th were frightful.151 May Heaven grant that the Moderate Party will use its triumph energetically, and that it may not be too often called upon to celebrate such victories.
To-morrow the constitutional assembly at Berlin is to open. It is so strangely composed that any beneficial result will be truly miraculous.
Sagan, May 25, 1848.– My mind is full of Rome and of the Pope;152 I can think of nothing else. I think that if I had been the Holy Father I should have set sail for America with a few faithful cardinals, the poor persecuted monks and nuns and all the money and holy vessels that could be collected: I should have founded a settlement upon the model of that in Paraguay and could thence have governed European catholicism in full independence, just as the American Catholics have been governed for so long. I think the Romans would speedily have cried out for the recall of the Pope; in any case he would be at least sheltered from actual indignity and would not be obliged to sacrifice innocent people and the property of the church. Possibly my idea is absurd, but at all events there would be something magnificent about it; whereas the present scenes display nothing but humiliation and degradation.
I have read with interest and horror the stories of events in Paris on May 15 and my opinion is that the work of the deliberative assemblies will produce no good effect. I greatly fear that this will be the consequence at Berlin, while at Frankfort the assembly is a perfect babel. The Prussian newspapers already contain Jacobin outcries against the constitution and I doubt whether the King will be able to carry through the two-Chamber system, especially with the small fragment of hereditary right he is anxious to maintain. Breslau is a horrible centre of communism.
I hear from England that at Claremont domestic quarrels increase the painful nature of the situation. The sons, disgusted with their forced inactivity, reproach their father with the loss of his party; he is wondering what posterity will think of him; and this is all very unpleasant for poor Queen Amélie whose pride and joy have so long been the touching unanimity of her whole family. She is also in a very poor state of health. Their financial position approaches poverty.153
Sagan, May 28, 1848.– The Duchesse d'Orléans has settled at the court of Eisenach: she lives very quietly with her stepmother and the tutor154 of her children, but no other attendants. Her pecuniary resources are very strained. The castle of Eisenach belongs to the Duke of Saxe Weimar, the uncle of the Duchesse d'Orléans, who has placed it at the disposal of his niece.
I hear from Vienna that all the Hungarians are breaking up their establishments and withdrawing either to the country or to Buda or to Pressburg; the Bohemians are going to Prague. In short, the pretty town of Vienna, once so cheerful and lively and so aristocratic, is becoming a desert and is as depressing as one vast village. Princess Sapieha and Madame de Colleredo have been deeply compromised in the recent disturbances; they have been forced to go into hiding. The Archduke Francis Charles has written from Innsbrück to Lord Ponsonby, asking him in the Emperor's name to join the court in Tyrol with all his colleagues.
Mr. Bulwer has come back from Spain; he had fomented a revolt at Seville against the Montpensiers who have been obliged to flee to Cadiz; the proverb, "Like master, like man" is certainly applicable to Palmerston and Bulwer.
Great excitement continues to prevail in the streets of Berlin, and the return of the Prince of Prussia who is expected daily at Potsdam, will probably produce an explosion.155 Meanwhile Berlin is practically surrounded by a force of sixteen thousand men who can be used if necessary.
I hear from Paris that Madame Dosne is dying with rage to think that the revolution could have taken place without being aimed at her son-in-law. This information may be taken as literally true, as she was having her third attack of low fever. I also hear that M. Molé and M. Thiers are both coming forward as deputies and that M. de Lamartine seems greatly apprehensive that the latter may be successful.
The atrocious scenes at Naples156 have produced a bad effect at Berlin and street excitement is said to have become menacing once more. The citizens have seized the arsenal.
Sagan, June 7, 1848.– Mental equanimity depends upon a thousand petty circumstances in every case. Only those who are very young and know nothing of mental trouble, are able to avoid the thousand and one influences of times, places, things, and even of details apparently most trivial. I think that Saint Evremond says that the less people are amenable to pleasure the more they are afflicted by trouble.
Paris seems to be peaceful but at what a price has this result been obtained? Terrible refinements of cruelty have been committed.
Sagan, June 12, 1848.– The state of Berlin and Breslau grows steadily worse. The provinces are correspondingly affected and I expect to see civil war break out any day. The country populations are ready to join the revolutionary movement against their overlords and their priests, but they detest the towns. The peasants do not like the citizens and are royalists and supporters of the military, though they are against the nobles and the priests. The result is a strange confusion which heaven alone can disentangle. The assembly which has met at Berlin has been hitherto marked by no character except ignorance and disturbance.
Sagan, June 18, 1848.– The newspapers and my letters tell me that Germany is resuming its republican tendencies. Hecker has been elected for Frankfort. Confusion is thus inconceivable, especially in view of the increasing dislike which France shows for the deplorable government under which she placed herself four months ago. She must be reduced to extremities indeed to turn to the Bonapartist flag, so miserably represented by Louis Napoleon who is known to be a very poor figurehead. And what can be said of the frightful scenes at Prague, and the assassination of poor Princess Windisch-Graetz.157 I have also been very anxious on account of Berlin, where the pillage of the arsenal and the opposition to the Ministry in the Chamber have diminished the prospect of a peaceful solution; three Ministers, Arnim, Schwerin and Kanitz, have resigned.
Potsdam, June 23, 1848.– I reached here yesterday after staying for half a day at Berlin. Medem writes from Vienna to his colleague Herr von Meyendorff and speaks very mournfully of the vacillation and uncertainty that have prevailed at Innsbrück since the Baron von Wessenberg has been in power. I am not surprised; Wessenberg is a kind, clever and good-hearted man, but even from London days I thought him muddle-headed and this is a terrible hindrance to the conduct of affairs.
I have news of Prince Metternich: he is sending his sons to a Catholic college in England as he finds no one who will join his fate and act as tutor; he is also troubled by pecuniary embarrassments.
The reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenberg-Schwerin has increased the settlements upon his stepmother, in order that the Duchesse d'Orléans and her children may gain indirectly a means of greater comfort in life; a noble and tactful action.
The ministerial crisis here is still in progress and the street uproar has been thus succeeded by a political disturbance which is no less dangerous, when a Chamber is composed of ill-assorted elements as that of Berlin. There was a rumour yesterday evening that a telegram from Frankfort stated that the assembly in that town had elected a dictator for Germany in the person of the Archduke John.158 Here there was a wish for a triumvirate. Rumour consequently arose that Prussia had replied to this news by a protest.
Sagan, June 28, 1848.– I have returned to my domestic hearth. Though I have hitherto had no great reason to complain of my own corner of the world, I none the less feel that the earth is mined and is trembling beneath my feet. The district that I have just left seems to me to be terribly unsafe. At Paris blood is flowing.159 For some days our knowledge of events there has been confined to telegraphic news from Brussels and is very uncertain. I merely know that my children are not in the town.
Sagan, July 6, 1848.– The struggle in Paris has kept me in a state of great alarm; fortunately none of my intimate connections have suffered anything beyond terror and panic. At present the country districts are becoming dangerous, and so my daughter Pauline has returned to the city with her son.
Here we are very little better off than in France, and when I consider the many centres of communistic doctrine in this part of Europe, I cannot close my eyes to the dangers that threaten us; the less so, as I am far from thinking that they can be crushed in the manner employed by Prince Windisch-Graetz at Prague and General Cavaignac at Paris. I propose to betake myself to Teplitz in a few days and am only awaiting an assurance that that part of Bohemia has been pacified.
Teplitz, July 18, 1848.– My journey here from Sagan passed off without incident, but poverty and restlessness are everywhere prevalent. The little kingdom of Saxony is, however, less disturbed than Prussia or than the Saxon Duchies of Thuringen, where the feeling is pre-eminently republican. At Dresden the Ministry is so Radical that revolutionaries could hardly wish for anything more. There is also an idea that the Saxon duchies would be united under the single and by no means monarchical sceptre of the good King of Saxony, who retains hardly a shadow of his royal power. Hitherto he has been saved by the fact that his Minister of the Interior wears no hat or gloves.160 He is simply a rustic but is said to be honourable enough not to betray his master. Teplitz is almost empty and no one thinks of travelling. Apart from the Clarys and the Ficquelmonts, there is no one here except a few obscure paralytics. Herr von Ficquelmont regards the prospects of the Austrian empire in a very gloomy light and seems to disbelieve any possibility that the Archduke John may save it or that he may improve the future of Germany. His dealings with the Vienna students are either hypocritical or are prompted by unworthy or speculative ambition. At Frankfort he will soon have to struggle against the separatist tendencies, which are continually becoming more obvious in Prussia, not merely in high places where they might well come to nothing, but to an even greater extent among the masses, who have been wounded in their interests and their pride.
Teplitz, July 22, 1844.– We hear that there is still some disturbance at Prague, though it is sternly repressed by the iron hand of Prince Windisch-Graetz. Vienna remains in a complete state of anarchy. Herr von Ficquelmont told me yesterday that the population of Berlin was more tumultuous and more vicious than that of Vienna and that the governmental and administrative machinery was in far better order at Berlin than at Vienna. On the whole, they are two centres of disaffection.
Eisenach, August 8, 1848.– The Duchesse d'Orléans whom I have come to see is much changed and complains that she grows steadily weaker. However, she remains calm and reasonable and is not so disinclined as she was at first to open connections with the older branch of the family. However, the possibility of forming any such project seems remote. There is a feeling that dignity must be maintained, while at the same time no stone should be left unturned to improve the chances of the future. She is entirely without prejudice; her insight is clear and her judgment seems to be more direct and to have been fortified by the great lessons of recent events. She was quite open and kind towards me; remembrances of the Duc d'Orléans give us a real interest in one another, and she expressed this fact very graciously by telling me that for her I stood outside all family questions. She called her sons and said to them, "Kiss your father's most faithful friend."
Berlin, August 13, 1848.– Every evening there is some small excitement in the streets which is fomented by the deplorable proceedings of the assembly; moreover, the financial Minister, Herr Hanseman, is proposing laws destined to conclude our ruin. Claims are being laid by the former provinces which may degenerate into revolts and lead to civil war. The Pan-Germanic party and the Prussian separatists, between whom the country is divided, are already confronting one another in a hostile temper which makes the conflict imminent. No one can tell what the future may bring forth.
Sagan, September 9, 1848.– The ministerial crisis at Berlin seems to make a catastrophe imminent.161 Civil war or foreign war may be expected and also a breach between the two constitutional assemblies of Frankfort and Berlin. In short, numberless eventualities present themselves and meanwhile private life becomes more and more impossible.
Sagan, September 16, 1848.– There are no Ministers at Frankfort162 and none at Berlin. There is a total want of energy at Sans Souci and unfortunately the troops are showing symptoms of disaffection. Use was not made of them at the proper time, and agitators have been allowed to seize the opportunity for shaking their fidelity. The absence of all legal authority has again aroused the arbitrary greed of the rural populations, while the Chambers have failed to satisfy their anxiety for a definite settlement with the overlords: thus burning and pillage have been begun once more in Upper Silesia. Rothschild of Vienna who had a fine estate there has just seen it utterly ruined. The fact is that another bad outbreak is in progress and I am more anxious now than I have ever been, seeing that the loyalty of the troops has become doubtful.
Sagan, October 1, 1848.– Things here are going from bad to worse. The other night some evil-minded persons exploded bombs near the castle. Our precautions have been taken; my army of defence has been organised and if we are to perish it will not be without a struggle. I shall not run away, for I have no personal fear, as I am totally indifferent on my own account; and then people are always overawed by courage and determination.
Sagan, October 5, 1848.– The château of Prince Hatzfeldt has been attacked by peasants;163 four of his farms have been burnt, and he has been obliged to flee. Here everything is comparatively quiet so far, but the morrow belongs to no one.
Sagan, October 9, 1848.– The post and the Vienna newspapers have failed to reach us since the day before yesterday. Current rumour ascribes this absence of direct news to sanguinary causes which are only too probable at the present time. Every day brings some fresh horrors.164 Last week we heard of the massacre of Count Lamberg at Buda;165 the hanging of poor Eugène Zichy166 who was so happy and so great a favourite at Paris ten years ago; he was hung by these barbarians in the island where robbers are executed. Yesterday we heard of the murder of the Comte de la Tour, Minister of War at Vienna, and of General Brédy.167 The Black and Yellow party is fighting in the streets against the Hungarian party. If the Anarchist party triumphs at Vienna168 it will be all up with Berlin and Breslau where people are living upon a powder-mine.
Sagan, October 25, 1848.– Everything here is in suspense and everything is being settled at Vienna. Hitherto it seems that the loyal army will dictate laws, but we dare not trust to these gleams of hope. In Austria, at any rate, an honourable struggle is in progress, and if failure should come honour will not be lost. As much cannot, unfortunately, be said of Berlin, and even if the side of right should triumph at Vienna will the victory be final? I doubt it and I fear we shall be living for a long time on a volcano.
Sagan, November 4, 1848.– A revolutionary outburst has just taken place at Liegnitz, comparatively close to me. It was necessary to use military force to quell it. At Berlin there is a riot almost every day; audacity and weakness daily increase. Yesterday the Ministry was at last changed: this might indicate a desire to revive energy; I fear that it is too late. The Assembly has been besieged, the Deputies and the Diplomatic Body imprisoned and threatened with hanging; the National Guard has been betrayed by its leader, while Sans Souci has been completely paralysed in the face of these events; and yet people ask if there is still any room for hope.169 The successful measures at Vienna have not succeeded in inspiring Potsdam with any energy, and have greatly exasperated the anarchists who wish to deliver some striking blow to recover their power and to form a centre at Berlin for spreading their influence throughout Germany. The part played by M. Arago, the Minister of the French Republic, during recent days at Berlin, has been extremely ambiguous,170 and any self-respecting Government would have sent him his passports, and lodged an official complaint at Paris. My wishes for Vienna have at length been realised. Windisch-Graetz has shown infinite patience and kindness, and only when the capitulation of the 30th was treacherously violated did he rage as he was bound to do, and as the infamy of the native authorities in Vienna deserved. We are still without details, but the main facts are official and we must regard them as providential. God grant that this may be the starting-point of a new era. Meanwhile anarchy, disorder, the want of repressive measures, and poverty are ruining the provinces. Orators are preaching murder and pillage unpunished to their popular meetings, and the results of these incendiary harangues may soon be expected. Really the state of things is frightful.
Sagan, November 19, 1848.– I think it would be advisable for Austria to add to such determined warriors as Jellachich, Radetzky, and Windisch-Graetz a younger and stronger politician than Wessenberg. It is said that such a man would be found in Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg; he has good friends, and has often been the object of great admiration. I saw him pretty frequently at Naples two years ago, and he showed me much kindness. He was a man of distinguished manner, clever, dignified, and cool, and his opinions and his speech were well weighed; but I do not know him well enough to say whether he will be equal to the heavy task which seems likely to fall upon him. Stadion, who is to share it with him, has been a friend of his youth, and their unanimity may produce fortunate results. I see nothing of the kind in prospect for Prussia, where warriors and writers, men of eloquence and action, appear to be utterly wanting in the present crisis. Every attempt now made is marked by a certain tactlessness which is far from inspiring me with confidence.171 They are sheltering themselves behind Frankfort, and looking there for refuge, support, and protection. It is undignified, and makes no impression upon the enemy, while I think that this bulwark will prove to be futile. We must hope that the army is loyal, but we cannot help recognising that it is without enthusiasm, while its ardour is allowed to cool and disappear. The soldiers who are bivouacking in the streets of Berlin are suffering from the bad weather and are greatly depressed, so persons say who write to me and who are busy distributing soup and beer to support their strength and encourage their loyalty.
