and when Pichegru, a, Robespierrean at the head of the Assembly, was conspiring for the triumph of the extreme party, he it was who planned the coup d'état by which Barras seized upon Pichegru and Barthélemy and put Carnot to flight. But the advantage thus gained was unly temporary; the constant defeat of the French arms by the Allies put the Directory in bad odour, and Talleyrand, attacked by the violent republicans as a noble and an émigré, resigned his appointment. kind; if you would legislate practically for mankind, you must treat men as what they have always been and always are... In reorganizing human society, you must give it those elements which you find in every human society." The treaties of Lunéville and Amiens were among the first and most successful of those diplomatic triumps with which his fame as a minister is chiefly associated. But there appears to have been nothing Machiavellian about his mode of conducting negotiations; on the contrary, he is said to have always spoken in an open straightforward manner, never arguing, but always tenaciously sticking to the principal point. Napoleon said that "he always turned round the same idea." Talleyrand first met Napoleon during the latter's visit to Paris after the Peace of Campo Formio. Upon his return from the Egyptian campaign, Napoleon's ambition was to become one of the Directory. But his age was a prohibition that could not be surmounted. From their first About the same time he was reconciled meeting, Talleyrand had assiduously culti- to the Church of Rome. The Pope wrote vated the friendship of the great general him an autograph letter, containing a disin whose daring genius and iron will he pensation that enabled him to marry. The foresaw the best ruler for France. The lady was one Madame Grandt, whom he Directory was weak and divided; at any had first met during his exile in London, moment mob rule might rise again trium- and who afterwards openly lived with him phant; a despotic genius alone could cre- in Paris. Napoleon, expressing himself ate strength and order out of the chaos to somewhat scandalized at the immoral conwhich all things had been reduced by the nection, commanded that he should either Revolution. "When society is powerless to marry her or cease to live with her. create a government, government must create cordingly, upon the arrival of the dispensociety," was one of his profoundest max-sation, the marriage was celebrated with ims. And to carry out this maxim he now as much privacy as possible. The lady was devoted all the powers of his subtle genius. very beautiful, but far from clever. Sev Ac The Directory would not admit Napole-eral stories are told of her bêtise; the best on among its members; therefore the Di-known is the following: Having read Derectory must be destroyed. The first step foe's "Robinson Crusoe," she was one day was to gain over Siéyès, who had succeed-introduced at dinner to Sir George Robined Pichegru as the head of the Five Hundred, and who had also succeeded Rewbell in the Directory; Siéyès gained over Ducos, and, by a pre-arranged plan, both resigned; the casting vote remained with Barras, a weak obstacle in the hands of Talleyrand; a body of troops overawed the malcontents, and—the Directory was no more. son; thinking him to be the veritable Crusoe whose adventures she had been reading, she puzzled him exceedingly with questions about his shipwreck and the desert island, winding up the absurd scene by asking particularly after his man Friday! When surprise was expressed at his choice of a wife, Talleyrand replied, “A clever wife often compromises her husband, a stuThree consuls were appointed Buon-pid one only compromises herself." But aparte, Ducos, and Siéyès.* The arch-Madame Talleyrand was not always stupid. plotter was rewarded with the portfolio of the foreign ministry, and from that time firmly attached himself to the fortunes of the man whose elevation he had secured. The confirmation of the consulship for life, and the founding of the Order of the Legion of Honour, were chiefly indebted to his exertions. In the debate upon the latter, he spoke these profoundly true words: "The present age has created a great many things, but not a new When Napoleon, in congratulating her upon her marriage, expressed a hope that the errors of Madame Grandt would be sunk in Madame Talleyrand, she replied, In that respect I cannot do better than follow the admirable example of your Majesty." After Napoleon's coronation there gradually arose between him and his great minister a coldness which, in the course of man-time, grew upon the former into an intense dislike. It is impossible, in so brief an arThe two latter were afterwards succeeded by ticle, to more than glance at, without attempting to explain, the causes of this Cambacérès and Lebrun. change. In the first place, Talleyrand was opposed to the marriage with Marie Louise; in the second place, he was opposed to his master's schemes of universal conquest, for his sagacity forewarned him that one serious reverse would crumble his vast empire into dust. Such counsels excited only the indignation of a man drunk with vic tory. guilty of the cold-blooded tergiversation that has been imputed to him. His urgent counsel was "Peace with Russia at any price." When the Allies were marching upon Paris his advice was that the Empress should remain in Paris as the only means of saving the dynasty. But Joseph Buonaparte decided the question by producing a letter from his brother, in which it was commanded that in the event of such a crisis as that in which they were then involved Marie Louise should at once retire into the provinces."* "Now what shall I do?" he said to Savary. It does not suit every one to be crushed under the ruins of an edifice that is overthrown!"" Was Talleyrand implicated in the murder of the Duc d'Enghien, and in the scheme of the Spanish invasion? These are historic doubts" that have been much discussed by historians and biographers. At Elba, Napoleon distinctly declared that those, the worst deeds of his life, were counselled by his foreign minister; but From that hour Talleyrand became the Napoleon is not an undeniable authority; arbiter of the destinies of France. The besides, at that time he was posing him- Emperor Alexander, who took up his self as a hero of virtue before the eyes of abode at the house of the Prince, said: Europe, and was desirous of shifting the When I arrived in Paris I had no plan burden of his crimes unto other shoulder. I referred everything to Talleyrand; he held Such an act of impo itic and useless blood- the family of Napoleon in one hand, that of shed was utterly opposed to the cold cal-the Bourbons in the other-I took what he culating character of the diplomatist, gave me." "It must be either Buonaparte or which, with all its vices, contained noth-Louis the Eighteenth," was his counsel. ing of cruelty or vindictiveness. With The result of the conference was a proclathe Bourbons he always desired to be on good terms; another reason which argues equally against his participation in either act. During the Spanish war, however, Napoleon wrote him several confidential letters couched in a strain which scarcely "How did you contrive to overthrow the bears out his, Talleyrand's, assertion that Directory, and afterwards Buonaparte himbe had strongly opposed the expedition. self?" inquired Louis. Mon Dieu, Sire! The most probable solution of the doubts, I have done nothing for it-there is someand that most consonant with his charac-thing inexplicable in me that brings misforter, may be that, although emphatically tunes upon all those who neglect me." averse to both those acts of lawless power, he closed his eyes and passively submitted to the inevitable. nation refusing to treat with any member of Napoleon's family. This at once destroyed the plan that had been mooted of a regency under Marie Louise, and secured the accession of the Bourbons. At all events, Talleyrand did good service to his country in pressing forward a constitution to limit the power of that King of whom, and of the family, he truly said, that in their exile they had learned nothing nor forgotten nothing. Created Prince of Benevento, enormously ly rich, and broken in health, Talleyrand availed himself of the rupture with his ImCreated Grand Almoner and Minister of perial master to resign his office. He did not however entirely retire from diplo- Foreign Affairs, the Prince was despatched macy, but continued from time to time to to the congress at Vienna with secret insuperintend several important negotia- structions to endeavour to sow discord betions. It is the beginning of the end!" he tween the Allies, and thus break up the said to Savary when he heard the news of bond of hostility so inimical to the interthe burning of Moscow, and the subзe-ests of France. But the escape of Buonaquent disasters of that terrible campaign. parte from Elba scattered all these plots But although he foresaw that the star of to the winds. Napoleon was setting fast, he was not Amongst all the unsparing insults and opprobrium that Napoleon heaped upon his minister's head, in that terrible quarrel between them which preceded the latter's re-ignation, no reference was made to this shameful deed. Surely in that hour of ungover uable rage and malice the Emperor would not have forgotten this the blackest accusation that he could have hurled against him? For a full account of this celebrated scene see Sir Henry Bulwer's Historical Characters." Napoleon made overtures to win back Talleyrand to his cause, but neither interest nor inclination swayed the diplomatist Napoleon wrote thus: "If Talleyrand wishes the Empress to remain in Paris, it is to betray her beware of that man!" Was this merely an ebullition of gall? Was it a suspicion founded upon certain premises? Or was the warning warranted by ascertained facts? in that direction; the Emperor had repeatedly and grossly insulted him, added to which he knew that both France and Europe were surfeited with war, and that, irresistible as was the storm for the time, it could not last. So he retired to Carlsbad on pretence that his health required the waters. The Hundred Days passed away; but Louis had determined upon the minister's disgrace. Talleyrand knew this, and, preferring to take the initiative, waited upon the King at Ghent, the day after Waterloo, to request permission to remain at Carlsbad. Certainly M. de Talleyrand, I hear the waters are excellent," was the reply. But His Majesty could not so easily rid himself of the obnoxious diplomatist. The Duke of Wellington informed him that if he wished for the influence of England he must have a man at the head of the government in whom England could confide. The party of the Constitutional Legitimists, through Guizot, demanded that a cabinet should be formed with M. Guizot at the head; so on the day after the polite dismissal at Ghent, M. de Talleyrand received a mandate to join the King at Cambrai. But he had his revenge in refusing to form a ministry until the King signed a proclamation, the pith of which was an acknowledgment of the errors of the late reign. To the fallen party Talleyrand behaved with the utmost clemency, providing numbers of those who wished to quit France with money and passports, and reducing the proscription list to half the original number. He retained the premiership of France until the 24th of September, 1815. But his government was weak, the King hostile. The Emperor Alexander had declared that the Tuileries could expect nothing from St. Petersburg while M. Talleyrand remained at the head of affairs,* added to which the minister foresaw the mischievous efforts that would accrue from the violent Royalist reaction that was at hand, and preferred tendering his resignation to encountering the coming storm. From 1815 to 1830 he took no active part in politics, unless it was to protest against the Spanish war, and to utter a defence of the liberty of the press. Much of his time was spent at Valency upon his estate. In Paris his drawing-room vied in magnificence, and in the brilliancy of The Emperor Alexander conceived an inveterate dislike to Talleyrand for the neglect that Russian interests received at his hands during the congress at Vienna. its society, with the royal palaces - being a second and almost greater court. Here, paying homage to the great diplomatist, assembled all the beauty, all the wit, all the riches, and all the intellect of the Restoration. But he was no longer the gay abbé, the petit-maître of Du Barry's boudoir, with whom every woman was in love. The picture of him drawn by Lady Morgan in 1816 is not an attractive one. "Cold, immovable," she writes, "neither absent nor reflective, but impassable; no colour varying the livid pallor of his face, no expression betraying his impenetrable character. For the moment one could not tell whether he were dead or living; whether the heart beat or the brain throbbed no mortal observer could verify; from the soul of that man the world is disdainfully excluded; if one might hazard a conjecture after what we have seen, it is to recognize in him the enigmatical sphinx who said Speech was given to conceal our thoughts. Neither the most tender love, the most devoted friendship, nor any community of interests would make that face, which can only be compared to a book in a dead language, speak." Another writer, pursuing the same theme, says, "To baffle his penetrating sagacity you must not only not speak, but not think. It was not only by his language that he concealed his thoughts, but by his silence." On account of the numerous bons mots, and epigrams that claim him for parent Talleyrand is commonly thought to have been a brilliant conversationalist and a flippant wit. Lamartine, however, has given us quite a different picture in the following passage: "A taste for lively sallies and epigrams has been attributed to him which he did not possess. He was, on the contrary, slow, careless, natural, somewhat idle in expression, always infallible in precision. His sentences were not flashes of light, but condensed reflections in a few words." On the first day of the revolution of July he made no sign. On the third he sent his secretary to St. Cloud to see if the King were still there. Upon being informed of the departure for Rimbouillet, he dispatched a paper to Madame Adelaide at Neuillet, containing these words: Madame can put every confidence in the bearer, who is my secretary." "When she has read it," he said to the secretary, "let it be burned or brought back to me; then tell her that not a moment is to be lost Duc d'Orleans must be here tomorrow; let him take the title of Lieuten ant-General of the Kingdom, which has].... Ambitious and indolent, flattering been already accorded to him; the rest and disdainful, he was a consummate courwill come." tier in the art of pleasing and serving withUpon the accession of Louis Philippe our servility; supple and amenable to the he undertook the embassy to St. James', highest degree when it was useful to his and obtained the recognition of England fortunes; always preserving the air of for the new Sovereign. Thus he did for independence; an unscrupulous politician, fourth time change the dynasty of France! | indifferent to the means and almost to the His last diplomatic labours were to tide end, provided that it secured his personal over the Belgian difficulties and to assist success; more bold than profound in his in the formation of the quadruple alliance. views, coldly courageous in peril, adapted The end was coming fast. To gratify for the grand affairs of an absolute governbis family, but not from personal con-ment; but in the great air and the great viction, he consented to make his peace day of liberty he was out of his element, with the church. During his last hours and was incapable of action." his rooms were filled with the flower of Parisian society. Louis Philippe himself visited his deathbed. Those last hours are well described in the following quotation: "M. de Talleyrand was seated upon the side of his bed, supported in the arms of his secretary. It was evident that death had set his seal upon that marble brow; yet I was struck with the still existing vigour of the countenance. It seemed as if all the life which had once sufficed to furnish the whole being was now contained in the brain. From time to time he raised up his head, throwing back with a sudden movement the long grey locks which impeded his sight, and gazed around; and, then, as if satisfied with the result of his examination, a smile would pass across his features and his head would again fall upon his bosom. He saw death approach-" touch of nature that makes the whole ing neither with shrinking nor fear, nor yet with any affectation of scorn or defiance." He died May 17, 1838, aged 84. "He possessed a mixture of the firmness of Richelieu, knowing how to select a party, the finesse of Mazarin, knowing how to elude it; the restlessness and factious readiness of the Cardinal de Retz, with a little of the magnificent gallantry of the Cardinal de Rohan," says a French writer; thus conuecting him, by comparison, with all his great predecessors in statecraft. Guizot thus sums up his character: "Out of a crisis or a congress he is neither skilful nor powerful. A man of court and of diplomacy, not of government, and less of a free government than any other; he excelled in treating by conversation, by an agreeableness of manner, by the skilful employment of his social relations with isolated people; but authority of character, fecundity of talent, promptitude of resolution, power of eloquence, sympathetic intelligence with general ideas and public passions, all these great means of acting npon mankind at large he entirely wanted. Talleyrand could neither love nor hate; he was a passionless man; he never committed a cruel or vindictive action, and never a purely motiveless generous one. Every thought, feeling, plan of his nature revolved round one great centre - SELF. He could not, as a great statesman, have created a broad, comprehensive scheme of government; his own petty interests ever dwarfed his ideas. In him the reasoning faculty was largely developed, the imaginative not at all; he trusted to no deductions, to no speculations that were not rigidly derived from his own personal experiences: hence his views, although wonderfully correct, were never all-comprehensive. He understood mankind sectionally; he could almost infallibly foresee how each section would act singly; but of that world kin" of those subtle links that can mass mankind as a whole, and by which all great rulers have swayed their worlds, he knew nothing. Because no process of mathematical reasoning, no experience, however extended, can deduce them; their existence can only be revealed by the inspiration of those creative faculties of the mind that revealed to Shakespeare a Macbeth and a Hamlet. He worked for the greatness of France, because upon the greatness of France depended the greatness of Talleyrand. He was purely a cynic-the well-being of mankind never for a moment entered into his calculations. To him the world was a chess-board — mankind the pieces; he ranged his kings and his queens, his bishops and his generals, and played them one against the other; when the game exhausted and the sovereign was encompassed by enemies beyond all hope of escape, he cried "Checkinate," and began the game afresh. It was said of him, "Like a cat, he always falls upon his feet; cats do not follow their masters, they are faithful to - the house." was will try, and if she succeeds ail the conditions of the balance of power will be changed; it will be necessary to seek for Europe new bases and a new organization." His vices were those of the age in which | being composed of pieces that have no he was educated; his licentiousness, his unity among themselves. It is then cynicism, his scepticism, his selfish con- Prussia who ought to be watchel; she te:npt for mankind, were learned in the boudoir of Du Barry. In reason and in action, he was of the nineteenth century; in thought and feeling, he was of the ancien régime. His liberalism had been learned in the school of Voltaire; he accepted the advance of political ideas as a necessity, but with no sympathy. "The thoughts," he said, "of the greatest number of intelligent persons in any age or country are sure, with few more or less fluctuations, to becotne in the end the public opinion of their age or community." And he always yielded to public opinion. While attached to any government, he served it faithfully and zealously; and in all his tergiversations he scrupulously retained the outward forms of decency, reserving to himself a respectable excuse for his defection: "I have never kept fealty to any one longer than he has himself been obedient to common-sense," he said. From London Society. THE KING LEAR OF THE RUSSIAN TRANSLATED FROM IVAN TOURGUENEF. BY MRS. BURY PALLISER. ONE winter's evening, a party of college friends had assembled together, and the conversation turned upon Shakspeare, and upon the different characters in his plays, which were all drawn with such astonishing truthfulness that each one could name an Othello, a Hamlet, or a Falstaff, as among the persons they had chanced to The most brilliant of his talents was a meet." And I, gentlemen," said our host, marvellous and almost prophetic foresight," have known a King Lear." And he bein proof of which I extract the two follow-gan his narrative. ing quotations from his writings. The "I passed my early youth in the country, prophecy contained in the first is rapidly in the domain of my mother, a rich Ruscoming to pass; that contained in the sian landed proprietor in the government second has just been wonderfully fulfilled: of X. The most striking impresUpon the side of America, Europe sion that has remained upon my memory, should always keep her eyes open, and is the person of Martin Petrovitch Kharfurnish no pretence for recrimination or lof, our nearest neighbour. In my life I reprisals. America grows each day. She never saw any one like him. Imagine a will become a colossal power, and the man of gigantic stature, with an enormous time may arrive when, brought into closer body, upon which was set. without any apcommunion with Europe by means of new pearance of neck, a monstrous head, surdiscoveries, she will desire to have her say mounted by a tangled mass of greyish, in our affairs, and put in her hand as well. yellow hair, almost joining his shaggy eyePolitical prudence then imposes upon the brows. On his sunburnt face was a broad, government of the Old World to scrupu- flat nose, little blue eyes, and a small lously watch that no pretext is given her mouth. His voice was hoarse but sonofor such an interference. The day that rous. The expression of his face was not America sets her foot in Europe, peace and disagreeable; there was a certain grandsecurity will be banished for many years." eur in it, but so strange, so extraordinary. "Do not let us deceive ourselves; the And then, what arms, what legs, what European balance that was established by shoulders! Summer and winter Kharlof the congress of Vienna will not last for wore a kind of tunic of greenish cloth, conever. It will be overturned some day; fined at the waist by a Circassian belt. I but it promises us some years of peace. never saw him wear a cravat. He breathed The greatest danger that threatens it in slowly and heavily like a bullock, and the future are the aspirations that are walked noiselessly. His Herculean strength growing universal in central Germany. inspired the respect of all the country The necessities of self-defence and a com- round, and various legends were circulamon peril have prepared all minds for ted relating to it. It was affirmed that one Germanic unity. That idea will continue day, on meeting a bear, he felled it to the to develop until some day one of the great earth with his fist; and that, on another powers who make part of the Confedera- occasion, having surprised a peasant in tion will desire to realize that unity for its his orchard, in the act of stealing his beeown profit. Austria is not to be feared, hives, he flang him over the hedge, to |