m u LEOE Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Memoirs of the Countess Potocka COUNTESS POTOCKA, 'ee Anna Tyszkicwicz ; author of the " Memoirs." / > ;:, an engraving cj 'the portrait by A r.gelica Kaitffmann . Memoirs of the Countess Potocka Edited by Casimir Stryienski Authorised Translation by Lionel Strachey Ullustratefc New York Doubleday & McClure Co. 1900 Copyright, 1900, by DOUBLEDAY & McCLURE Co. bg iHanfjattan Ntto gork, a. *. . College Library DK TO THE SPIRIT OF THE NOBLE, AMIABLE, AND TALENTED PATRIOTESS, WHOSE RICH REMINISCENCES AND CHARMING COMMENTS ARE HEREWITHIN PRESENTED, THE TRANSLATOR REVERENTLY DEDICATES THIS ENGLISH VERSION Thanks are due to the editor of " The Parisian " for kind per- mission to reprint the extracts from these Memoirs previously published in that magazine. ./.fSifvi" JrA ' t^/GZ!~s&-J ty*'_, * jCatfZt^&et ***-&:*' A Page in Facsimile (reduced) of the Original Manuscript of the " Memoirs." CONTENTS PACK TRANSLATOR'S NOTE ..... v PREFACE .......... xxi part tbe ff irst YOUNG MEMORIES CHAPTER I. THE CASTLE OF BIALYSTOK, 1794 The Margravine of Baireuth The Margrave of Bai- reuth The Last King of Poland Bialystok Ma- dame de Cracovie April 18, 1794 The Ladies in Kosciuszko's Camp Massacre of Praga, November 4, CHAPTER II. THE " EMIGRANTS" AND Louis XVIII., 1798 The Bassompierres at Bialystok The Count A So- ciety Poet Mademoiselle de Rigny Glorious Mem- ories Arrival of Louis XVIII. The Disappointment of the Bassompierres Marriage Plans for the Duke de Berry and Anna Tyszkiewicz A Female Admirer of Bonaparte Count Tyszkiewicz His Noble and Patriotic Conduct Catherine's Anger . . . .10 CHAPTER III. THE ASTROLOGER, 1802 Mademoiselle Duchene, Madame de Cracovie's Com- panion Life at the Castle Chateaubriand and Rous- seau Charles XII. The Swedish Astrologer He Predicts Stanislaus Augustus a Throne The Good Old Times .......... 17 X CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER IV. MARRIAGE TO COUNT ALEXANDER POTOCKI, 1802 Marriage Schemes Arrival of Count Potocki at Bialy- stok Count Stanislaus Potocki Count Tyszkiewicz and General Beningsen Death of Paul I. The Au- thor's Education and Tastes Countess Tyszkiewicz Madame Sobolewska 24 CHAPTER V. LAN^UT AND PULAWY, 1803 Sentimental Walk by Moonlight Feminine Guile Wedding Visits The Princess Marshal His Grace of Laon Pulawy Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski His Generosity The Park at Pulawy The Gothic House Reminiscences of the Great Frederick The Emperor Joseph II. Prince Kaunitz .... 31 CHAPTER VI. MYSTERIES, 1803 Return to Town The Seer A Trap Set An Even- ing at the French Theatre, Warsaw Mysterious Drive The Soothsayer's Den Consultation The Black Curtain Rises An Apparition The Supper Key to the Riddle Prince Radziwill An Annoying Mother- in-Law Birth of an Heir Natoline .... 43 CHAPTER VII. THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER AT WIL- LANOW, 1805 An Unexpected Guest Prince Adam Czartoryski The Dinner Alexander's Conversation The Visitors' Book 55 part tbe Second THE FRENCH AT WARSAW 1806-1807 CHAPTER I. THE VANGUARD End of the War with Prussia Entry of a French Regi- ment into Warsaw M. de F 1 Murat Ball Given by Prince Poniatowski Murat's Plume . . 61 CONTENTS xi PAGE CHAPTER II. NAPOLEON'S ENTRY INTO WARSAW The Triumvirate The Preparations Secret Arrival of the Emperor The Official Reception ... 67 CHAPTER III. FIRST HOSTILITIES Prince Borghese The Sick Child Devotion of M. de F 1 Savary's Idea Pultusk Reception at the Palace Presentation to the Emperor . . . 71 CHAPTER IV. GALLANTRIES Ball at M. de Talleyrand's The Glass of Lemonade An Imperial Quadrille Madame Walewska The Key to Prince Murat's Apartment ..... 78 CHAPTER V. THE EMPEROR'S GAME OF WHIST More Balls The Parade The Emperor's Orchestra The Dutch Deputation The Stake at Cards The Heir Presumptive of Bavaria The " Count of Com- minges " The Princes of the Blood Murat's Gascon Accent His Affected Phrases 83 CHAPTER VI. EYLAU The Pink Relic Maret, Duke de Bassano The Duke de Dalberg Birth of Nathalia Potocka Madame Walewska at Osterade Josephine's Shawl Napoleon's Opinion of " Corinne " Battle of Eylau The Return of the French Feat of Arms by Prince Borghese . 88 CHAPTER VII. TILSIT Presentation of the Colours to the Three Polish Legions Prince Poniatowski Victory of Friedland Count Stanislaus Potocki at the Interview of Tilsit The Tears of the Queen of Prussia The Royal Banquet The Duchy of Warsaw 95 CHAPTER VIII. MARSHAL DAVOUT Marshal Davout, Governor of Warsaw His Wife General Ricard Prince Murat and His Livery De- parture of M. de F 1 His Letter Death of Ma- dame de Cracovie, 1808 99 xii CONTENTS part tbc JOURNEY TO FRANCE IN 1810 PAGE CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARIES OF MARIE-LOUISE'S MAR- RIAGE Death of the Writer's Father, Count Tyszkiewicz De- parture for Vienna Viennese Society The Prince de Ligne His Marriage Count Charles de Damas Countess Palffy News from Paris Recriminations ol the Viennese Aristocracy Arrival of Berthier Letter from Napoleon to the Archduke Charles . . .109 CHAPTER II. M. DE NARBONNE Marie-Louise's Slipper M. de Narbonne at the Prince de Ligne's A Mentor Arrival at Munich The Bath Celadon Lone Journey to Strassburg . . 117 CHAPTER III. CEREMONIAL ENTRY INTO PARIS The Countess Tyszkiewicz Disenchantment Parisian Pleasantries The Procession Picture of Marie-Louise The Imperial Guard The Pages The Spirit of the Crowd Presentation to Madame de So uza . . .122 CHAPTER IV. THE COURT The Emperor Marie-Louise Court Paradoxes Elisa Pauline Borghese The Queen of Naples The Princess de Talleyrand Countess Tyszkiewicz's Circle 127 CHAPTER V. THE FESTIVITIES The Princess Borghese at Neuilly The Castle of Schoenbrunn Marie-Louise's Emotion The Ball at the Austrian Embassy 132 CHAPTER VI. SOCIETY At Denon's The Mummy's Foot The Viscountess de Laval's Circle Petrarch and Laura A Dinner at M. de Talleyrand's The Duke de Laval The Davouts CONTENTS xiii PAGE at Savigny The Marshal's Partridges M. de F 1 Luncheon with Madame de Souza Labedoyere The Duchess of Courland Talleyrand and His Seraglio 138 CHAPTER VII. ROUND ABOUT PARIS The Countess Mniszech The Panorama Arcade The Queen of Poland Visits to the Painter's Studios The Abbe Morellet Mademoiselle Lenormand Ma- dame de Souza and the Little Sorceress The Pythoness An Eventful Youth Prophecy of the Birth of Count Maurice Potocki . .149 CHAPTER VIII. MALMAISON THE AVOWAL Josephine Napoleon's Bedchamber Josephine's Taste The Picture Gallery The Gardens and the Hot- houses The Emperor's Invitation Conversation with the Emperor Note from Charles de F 1 Explana- tion An Officer's Romance 158 CHAPTER IX. THE DINNER AT SAINT-CLOUD Invitation to Saint-Cloud Madame de Montebello Marie-Louise Drive in the Park The Emperor's Bill of Fare Prince Eugene The King of Holland's Abdication Marie-Louise Coaxes her Husband Ru- mours of War with Russia Talma Luncheon at M. de Talleyrand's Farewell to Charles de F 1 De- parture 168 part tbe jfourtb THE GRAND DUCHY OF WARSAW CHAPTER I. BIGNON, 1811-1812 Birth of Count Maurice Potocki The Court of Fred- eric Augustus M. de Serra Prince Joseph Ponia- towski Birth of the King of Rome Enthusiasm of the Poles Prince Poniatowski Goes to Paris Pauline Borghese M. Bignon 181 xiv CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER II. PRELIMINARIES TO THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN, 1812 Declaration of War The Polish Army Napoleon and Francis at Dresden Marie-Louise and Beatrice d'Este The Confederate Diet The Archbishop of Malines The Duke de Broglie M. d' Andre The Ambassa- dor's Avarice Prince Czartoryski, Marshal of the Diet Matuszewicz Prince Adam Prince Czartoryski's Speech The Cockades ...... 187 CHAPTER III. DE PRADT, 1812 Smolensk Death of Count Grabowski The French Embassy The King of Westphalia at Warsaw Ma- dame Walewska at de Pradt's Dinner in the Country The Gnats M. de Brevannes' Impromptu The Ambassador's Present 195 CHAPTER IV. THE RETREAT, 1812-1813 First News of the Disasters Arrival of Napoleon at Warsaw The Dinner at the Hotel d'Angleterre Ma- dame Walewska Colonel Wonsowicz's Story Return of the Troops Prince Poniatowski Mojaisk The Eagles The Cuckoo Patriotic Enthusiasm Prince Poniatowski's Farewell and Departure His Will . . 203 CHAPTER V. DEATH OF PRINCE PONIATOWSKI, 1813 Prince Adam Czartoryski and Alexander The Em- peror of Russia's Proposals to Poniatowski Prince Antony Radziwill Prince Poniatowski's Attitude His Interview with Napoleon at Dresden The Cam- paign in Saxony Prince Sulkowski General Dom- browski The Poles in Elba Krasinski Prince Poniatowski's Funeral 214 part tbe ff iftb THE RUSSIANS AT WARSAW CHAPTER I. KOSCIUSZKO AND ALEXANDER, 1815 Correspondence Between Alexander and Kosciuszko in 1814 The Burial Mound The Ministerial Council Novosiltzoff M. de Lanckoy's Chibouque . . . 225 CONTENTS XV PAGE CHAPTER II. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA, 1815 Prince Czartoryski at the Congress Correspondence with Lords Gray and Holland The Prince de Metter- nich The Prince de Talleyrand Lord Castlereagh The Congress Dances Monarchs and Mistresses The Tournament News of Napoleon's Landing Long Live the King of Poland ! The New Constitution 230 CHAPTER III. THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER AT WARSAW, 1815 The Emperor's Arrival The Ball in the Assembly- Rooms The Grand Duke Constantine Russian Dis- cipline Composition of the New Ministry Prince Adam Czartoryski General and Madame Za'ionczek The Grand Duke's Mistress Constantine's Revenge . 237 CHAPTER IV. MARRIAGE OF THE GRAND DUKE CONSTAN- TINE, 1820 The Diet of 1818 The Grand Duke Constantine's Part ' Prince Joseph Poniatowski's Statue Joan Grudzinska Madame Fridrichs The Wedding The Piano Madame Weiss The Duchess of Lowicz . . . 245 252 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Countess Potocka, author of the " Memoirs " . . Frontispiece From an engraving of the portrait by Angelica Kaujfmann A Page in Facsimile (reduced) of the Original Manuscript of the " Memoirs ".......... vii Polish Coins ........ xvii and xx FACING PAGE Europe, showing Original Extent of Poland and its Partitions . r Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, last King of Poland ... 4 From an engraving by Leney Kosciuszko ........... 6 After a print engraved in 1829 by A. Oleszczynski The Massacre of Praga 8 From a German engraving Cracow, the Capital of the Polish Republic . . . .12 From an engraving by Outhwaite of a drawing by Glowacki Palace of the Kings of Poland 12 From an etching Louis XVIII 14 From an engraving by Holl of Isabey's portrait Stanislaus C. Poniatowski, Commander of the forces of Charles XII. of Sweden .......... 22 From an engraving by Hopwood of a drawing by Peszka xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Count Levin A. T. Beningsen 28 (A leader in the murder of the Czar Paul in 1801) Countess Sophie Zamoyska ........ 36 From an engraving by Hopwood after Isabey Joseph II., Emperor of Germany ....... 40 From an old engraving Prince Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz ...... 42 The Grand National Theatre at Warsaw 46 Engraved by Pilinski after Cofazzi The Kopernik House in Warsaw visited by Napoleon in 1807 . 46 From an engraving by Pilinski after Mielcarzeivicz Emperor Alexander I. of Russia . . . . . . .56 From an engraving of 1806, by Hopwood General Kalkreuth 58 From an old engraving Napoleon's Entry into Berlin ....... 62 From an engraving by Derby after Raffet Marshal Berthier .......... 74 From an engraving by Lignon after a drawing by Vigneron M. de Talleyrand 76 From an engraving by Mote after Gerard 's portrait Carl Theodor, Duke de Dalberg ...... 90 From a German engraving Prince Joseph Poniatowski ........ 92 From a steel engraving by Allais Battle of Eylau, February 7, 1807 ...... 94 From an engraving by Skelton of the painting by Simeon Fort Napoleon and Alexander of Russia Meeting on the Niemen at Tilsit 96 From engravings by Couchefils Napoleon Receiving the Queen of Prussia at Tilsit ... 98 From an engraving by Danois of the painting by Gosse General Ricard .......... 100 From an engraving by Forestier The King and Queen of Prussia 102 From a rare print Prince de Ligne . . no From an engraving by Cazenave LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix FACING PAGB Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria, Empress of France . .114 From an engraving ofi 8 1 o by Cardan of the portrait by Guerard Archduke Charles of Austria . . . . . . .116 From an engraving by Heath 0/1810 Marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise . . . . .118 From an engraving by Massard of Rougefs painting Arrival of Napoleon and Marie Louise at Compiegne . . 1 24 From an engraving by Nargeot after Mme. Atizon's painting Marquise de Souza-Botelho, the Novelist . . . . .127 From an engraving by Massard after Staal The Tuileries 128 From an engraving of 1818 by Couche'fils The Palace of the Tuileries 128 From an engraving by Floyd after A Horn Hortense, Queen of Holland ....... 130 From an engraving by Regnault of the portrait by herself Prince Schwarzenberg . . . . . . . .136 From an engraving by Lignon after a drawing by Vigneron Mme. Regnault de St. Jean D'Angely ...... 142 From a lithograph of a drawing by Champagne M. Labedoyere 148 From a rare print L'Abbe Andre Morellet 154 From an engraving by Massol of the portrait Mile. Lenormand, the Soothsayer . . . . . .156 From a lithograph of the drawing by Champagne Napoleon at Malmaison . . . . . . . .160 From an engraving by Skelton The Palace of Saint-Cloud . . . . . . . .170 From an engraving by Adlard of the picture by A Horn Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony . . . . . .184 From an engraving by Mechel of Graff 1 s painting in 1790 M. de Pradt .......... 192 From a very scarce engraving The Taking of Smolensk . . . . . . . .198 From an engraving by Couche'fils XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE 206 The Retreat from Russia ....... After the painting by Yvon General Jean Henri Dombrowski ...... 220 From an engraving by Hopwood of the portrait by Stachowitz Count Pac ........... 222 From an engraving by Falcke A Polish Cathedral of 1800 Church of St. Stanislaus at Malatycze 230 From an engraving by Le Petit of a drawing by Gucewicz The Congress of Vienna ........ 234 After the painting by Isabey Grand Duke Constantine of Russia ...... 248 From an engraving by Lignon after a drawing by Vigneron PREFACE A WORD of help to those among the public for the first time plunged into this sensation of Polish surnames, this buzz of yska's and owski's and wicz's. Turn, groping reader, to the genealogical table at the end of this volume. Heading the brave lineage of our Countess Potocka you see the name of Stanislaus C. Poniatowski. From the loins of that great warrior, in the language of Voltaire "the indefatigable agent of the King of Sweden" (the pertinacious and ascetic Charles XII. ) , came five male and two female children, that is to say, five bearing the name Poniatowski and two with the cognomen Poniatowska. His oldest son, Casimir, was father to Constance, who was married to Count Louis Tyskiewicz, and this couple brought into the world the au- thoress of the present "Memoirs." Anna, the said writer, was to have been given in marriage to her uncle, Prince Stanislaus Poniatowski, but at the age of twenty-six she con- ferred her hand upon Count Potocki (pronounce : Pototski), so becoming Countess Potocka (pronounce: Pototska). They had three children, Augustus, Nathalia and Maurice, all born at Warsaw during the course of the countess' bio- graphical narrative. This is composed of intermittent sec- tions, indited, as journeys and court balls and Napoleon and acconchements might allow, between 1812 and 1820, but describes events as far back as 1794. Thus the "Memoirs" date from the Third Partition of Poland to the incorporation of what was left of that country with the Russian Empire, xxii PREFACE whose Tsar, Alexander I., impertinently invented himself "King of Poland" while astutely pleasing the fiery Polacks with a toy "Constitution." Poniatowski the companion-in-arms to the royal Swede of the stiff chin and ready sword counted among his issue Stanislaus Augustus, the last king of Polish nationality. It is this granduncle of the authoress whose amiable incapacity to govern she truthfully avows in her opening chapter. In the same chapter a sister of this king, Isabel Poniatowska, afterwards Countess Branicka, is referred to as "Madame de Cracovie" by her candid and accomplished grandniece. Other aunts conspicuous in the Countess Potocka's compli- cated family history are Ursula, Countess Mniszech, nick- named "Countess Medal," and Maria Theresa, wedded to Count Tyskiewicz (see chapters Three and Four of the Third Part). Both were granddaughters of the aforesaid Stanis- laus C. Poniatowski. One of his grandsons, Prince Joseph Poniatowski, who took part in Napoleon's Russian cam- paign, as Marshal of France commanded the Polish legion at Leipsic, where he was drowned in the miserable little Elster. The Countess Potocka, we see, was great granddaughter to Stanislaus C. and niece to Joseph Poniatowski. She was born as Anna Tyskiewicz, was married firs't to Count Alex- ander Potocki, to whom she bore three children and, upon his death, to Colonel Wonsowicz briefly mentioned in her account of Napoleon's return to Warsaw from Moscow. At the age of ninety-one the countess died in Paris, where her brilliant salon held no insignificant place in the gilded pleasures of the Second Empire. Thirty years after the countess' death Casimir Stryienski, also a Pole, with the consent of her daughter Nathalia arranged the "Memoirs" for publication. THE TRANSLATOR. < u o - ^ oo'CJ UJ H"" IP! 2^3 &&Q Casimir (1721-: grand chamber married Apolloi I.S 0^*0 | 2 M - WOO V 1 SS c -ssjj Ml UUH PART THE FIRST YOUNG MEMORIES CHAPTER I THE CASTLE OF BIALYSTOK 1794 THE MARGRAVINE OF BAIREUTH THE MARGRAVE OF BAI- REUTH THE LAST KING OF POLAND BIALYSTOK MA- DAME DE CRACOVIE APRIL 1 8, 1794 THE LADIES IN KOSCIUSZKO'S CAMP MASSACRE OF PRAGA, NOVEMBER 4, 1794. IT was in the year 1812. I had lately been reading the Margravine of Baireuth's curious memoirs, whose pub- lication, according to Napoleon, was the equivalent of a second battle of Jena to the house of Brandenburg, such pettiness and such turpitude did they disclose. I was very young then, and a desire seized me to write down my memories and impressions as I advanced in age. At that time memoirs were not manufactured by the dozen. People wrote with more or less honesty their own. It seemed to me this I can say without boasting that I was able to bring more interesting facts together than those which built the good Margravine's fame, and so I set to work. Not every one can be the sister of a great man. That sometimes disturbed me. I knew very well that it was 4 MEMOIRS OF THE Frederick II. who was sought for under a heap of coarse anecdotes. Although issued from royal blood, I had never had my ears boxed, to speak in Margravian terms; I had never found hairs in my soup, and I had never been put under lock and key. Instead of a wretchedly meagre principality, we inhabited one of the finest castles on the continent, a fact which is neither as novel nor as spicy as those which the Margravine tells us about her place of abode. But, living in the Grand Century, I founded my "hopes on the interest attaching to those glorious days. To write one's memoirs without mentioning one's self seems scarcely possible to me; if one wants to inspire con- fidence, ought one not to begin by introducing one's self? My father was Count Louis Tyszkiewicz. My mother was a niece of the last of our kings, Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. This monarch's noble visage, his dignified manner, his gentle and melancholy gaze, his silvery hair, and his beautiful, slightly perfumed hand all this is still present to my memory. The time to which these recollec- tions belong is that of our last misfortunes. My mother followed the king to Grodno, whither, upon the Third Partition, the Russian faction had compelled him to go. There, from a tiny chamber in which I had been lodged with my governess, I saw the royal train of slaves every morning. The Russian guards, with their flat, sallow faces, whom the knout turns into moving machines, fright- ened my juvenile fancy to such a degree that all my father's authority was needed to make me cross the threshold of the door, and never without resistance and tears, at that. Dismal silence reigned in the castle where the family had gathered to say a last farewell to the unfortunate, whom, after having crowned, Catherine had burdened with chains. Carried off to St. Petersburg, he there expiated the errors . STANISLAUS AUGUSTUS PONIATOWSKI, Last King of Poland. From an engraving by Leney. COUNTESS POTOCKA 5 he had committed at the empress' prompting, which she had exploited with a Machiavellian astuteness that has few par- allels in history. Under other circumstances Poniatowski might have oc- cupied his throne worthily. His reign was epoch-making in the annals of science. He revived the taste for art and letters in Poland, which the rule of the Saxon electors, whose brutishness had brought a fateful reaction upon the country, had extinguished. When Augustus drank Poland ^vas drunk! Stanislaus, on the other hand, took pleasure only in noble and useful occupations. His leisure hours were in large part devoted to men of science and to artists. In addition to a sound and varied education, he possessed a delightful mind and exquisite taste. Speaking the dead languages, as well as the languages of the countries in which he had travelled, with fluency, he had in him the capacity to a high degree of captivating his audience, and the art of addressing words to his hearers which would most flatter the national pride or personal vanity of each one of them. He had a large, gen- erous heart ; he forgave without reserve, and his beneficence often went a little too far. But nature, so prodigal to the man, had refused the monarch the only things which make a ruler : strength and will. When the king had gone we returned to Bialystok it was there that my aunt lived, Madame de Cracovie. She was the widow of Count Branicki, Governor of the Castle of Cracow, and sister to King Stanislaus Augustus Ponia- towski. Her husband had played an important part at the Confederation of Bar, and in 1 764 he was entered on the list of claimants to the throne. But his brother-in-law's party showing itself the stronger, he retired to his estates, where he lived as king. I saw the Castle of Bialystok when it was still fitted out 6 MEMOIRS OF THE with rare splendour. French upholsterers, brought there at great expense, had purveyed furniture, mirrors and panel- lings worthy of the Palace of Versailles. Nothing could surpass the magnificent proportions of the saloons and ves- tibules, adorned with marble columns. The castle had seen the passage of all that Poland had to show in the way of great lords and the most eminent travellers. The Emperor Paul, when still grand duke, and his wife had stopped there a few days while undertaking the memorable journey that all Europe talked about. The arrangement of the gar- dens and parks, the wealth of the different hothouses, the beauty and profusion of the orange trees all these things made this place a right royal abode. In the lifetime of M. de Cracovie, two theatrical troupes, French and Polish, as well as a company of dancers, maintained at his expense, shortened the long winter evenings by a variety of perfor- mances. The theatre, which was decorated by an Italian artist, could hold from three to four hundred people. This building, entirely separate from the castle, was situated at the entrance to the deer park. I saw it in fairly good con- dition. Such was then the mode of life that the great lords of the opposition led at home. In my day nothing was left but the reminiscences which I made centenarian servants tell me. Count Branicki's widow, simple and quiet in her tastes, though noble and great in her actions, spent as large sums in charity as her husband squandered on festivities and amuse- ments of all kinds. Sustaining with dignity the rank as- signed her by birth and fortune, she secretly diverted from superfluity the liberal relief which she never refused indi- gence or misfortune. No one on this earth has ever given better hope of the possibility of perfection, so universally disputed. Pious without bigotry, good without weakness, proud and gentle, KOSCIUSZKO. After a print engraved in 1829 by A Oleszczynskt. COUNTESS POTOCKA 7 decided but sensitive, charitable without ostentation, disin- terestedly generous, she possessed all of those qualities that constitute a love of virtue. Perhaps she would not have been thought clever enough by some, but no one could have writ- ten more gracefully, expressed herself with more distinction, done the honours of the house more grandly, and bestowed more active kindness on all her surroundings. My children, when you shall pass through Bialystok I ask a thought of her and a recollection of myself. There my marriage was decided upon, and there I saw death for the first time! My mother hardly ever left that beloved aunt and I was brought up under her eyes. We spent the winters at Warsaw, and in the summer we returned to the beautiful residence I have been describing; but dating from the day when the king was dragged to St. Petersburg, his sister es- tablished herself in the country and never left her castle again. So the winter of 1794 was the last we spent in town. I perfectly remember the revolution which put an end to our political existence. By common accord the command was conferred upon Kosciuszko, who ardently defended the holiest of causes. On April eighteenth we were awakened by cannon shots and a sharp fusillade. My father being absent, and the ser- vants having at once rushed to arms without troubling about our safety, a female council had to be called, who decided that the safest course to pursue was to hide in the cellars. We passed the morning there without any news of what was happening. Towards three o'clock in the afternoon, the fusillading having ceased in our region, the king sent us word to try to reach the castle, where he resided. We found neither coachmen nor lackeys, and anyhow a carriage would have moved with difficulty through streets encumbered with corpses. We were obliged to walk across the whole suburb of Cracow, where the fighting had been going on for several 8 MEMOIRS OF THE hours. The sight of this battlefield, where the Russians lay strewn about by the hundred, froze me with horror! But that was the only painful impression I felt: the spent balls that whistled above our heads did not disturb me in the least. From that day until the massacre of Praga we never left the castle, the town being in a perpetual ferment. All that occurred in this interval has completely faded from my memory. I only recollect vaguely having accompanied my mother to Kosciuszko's camp, where five ladies, their little caps on their ears, were drawing wheelbarrows full of earth to be used for the erection of the ramparts. I envied their lot, and my childish heart already throbbed at the tales of our victories. Morning and evening a nurse made me pray piously to God to bless our arms. I entered with all my heart into what she told me to do, only I did not exactly understand what was happening, and why one was supposed to be so cross with those handsome Russian officers, whom I had more than once watched with pleasure caracoling on beauti- ful horses. The massacre of Praga taught me, and very early my heart was opened to sentiments which I have trans- mitted to my children. Nine thousand defenceless people were slaughtered in one night, with no other refuge nor tomb but their own dwellings reduced to ashes ! The king's castle being situated on the banks of the Vistula, which-was all that separated us from the suburb of Praga, we distinctly heard the groans of the victims and the hurrahs of the butchers. It was even possible to distinguish the shrieks and the laments of the women and children, and the howls and imprecations of the fathers and husbands who were dy- ing in defence of the dearest that man has. Profound darkness added to the horror of the scene. Against whirl- winds of fire exhaling a whitish smoke stood out infernal silhouettes of Cossacks, who, like devilish phantoms, tore a; S 'J * COUNTESS POTOCKA 9 hither and thither on horseback, their lances poised, with awful hisses urging themselves on in their murderous work. Several hours passed in this way, after which nothing was to be heard but the noise of posts and beams falling in. No more screams nor wailing; no more clash of arms nor stamp of horses. The silence of death reigned over the suburb of Cracow and the name of Souwaroff was dedicated to exe- cration ! CHAPTER II THE "EMIGRANTS" AND LOUIS XVIII 1798 THE BASSOMPIERRES AT BIALYSTOK THE COUNT A SO- CIETY POET MADEMOISELLE DE RIGNY GLORIOUS MEM- ORIES ARRIVAL OF LOUIS XVIII. THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE BASSOMPIERRES MARRIAGE PLANS FOR THE DUKE DE BERRY AND ANNA TYSZKIEWICZ A FEMALE ADMIRER OF BONAPARTE COUNT TYSZKIEWICZ HIS NOBLE AND PATRIOTIC CONDUCT CATHERINE'S ANGER. OUR revolution had followed closely upon the revolution in France; but, surrounded by three powerful enemies, it was our misfortune to succumb, and the most generous efforts, the most praiseworthy devotion, ended only in the total dis- memberment of our country. It was not so with France, now marching with a firm step on to fame. A single point of comparison holds good : each country had its immigration. In France, the nobles, the royalists, the clergy. With us, the patriots, the victims, the exiles. France had her Ven- dee, and we our Legions ! Less fortunate in every way, we were condemned to go to shed our blood in another hemi- sphere. At the end of the last century Poland was overrun with 10 COUNTESS POTOCKA u French "emigrants," who mostly claimed to be of grand descent, and eagerly accepted the hospitality offered them, as if they were conferring a favour. Madame de Cracovie had the whole Bassompierre family. First one had come, then two, then three, and finally the whole line, maternal and sempiternal. There seemed no intention of making a fuss over the head of the family ; however, as soon as the occasion arose he was besieged with the title of marquis. Next came the count, about fifty years old, husband to a young and rather pretty woman, whom he had married at this time of general topsy- turviness. Under any other circumstances Mademoiselle de Rigny (according to her intimates) could never have aspired to such a brilliant position ! The count, short, puny, with well powdered porcupine hair, and the conventional pigtail as a butt for jokes, was not a highly agreeable person- age. He had a large pointed nose, a sombre eye, and a pursed up mouth. He was supposed to be a wit. He quoted dates with felicity, and made little verses, passably well turned. Whenever a play was to be improvised, a cele- bration to be held, a surprise to be managed, we would ask him for some couplets. He always had to be besought, and always ended by giving us "his children," cautioning us not to murder them. Then came the rehearsals ; it was an important affair! We had to lift certain happy phrases, glide along a rhyme, lean on a hemistich! Rarely did the author appear satisfied; he was mortally tiresome. The countess' mother preserved remains of beauty, and seemed very wide awake. It was by no means proved that she had not, by former sacrifices, paved the way for the splendid position of her daughter. A nephew of twenty- three, who might have worn a workman's blouse, and a delightful little girl named Amelia completed the family. At first they would only accept modest accommodation, and 12 MEMOIRS OF THE came in to share our meals. Later on they found the apart- ment too restricted, and discovered that it was not sufficient to dine there are so many other imperative wants. They therefore resigned themselves to the very secret acceptance of a fairly large allowance. After a few months they ex- pressed a desire to own a regular home: it is so charming to be at home! At once a pretty little villa was given them, a quarter of a mile from the castle. A new establishment requires so much attention! The count, absorbed by political interests, could or would not busy himself in the matter the countess was so young! She did not know how to go about it; and, moreover, strangers always run the risk of being cheated! The mamma thus undertook to let Madame de Cracovie guess at the embarrassment into which affluence had thrown them. Directly orders went forth, and the cottage was put into condition to receive its new guests. Nothing was wanting : the rooms were refurnished with elegant simplicity, the sideboards stocked, the pigeon-house was peopled, the gar- den raked, the footpaths sanded; even the coach-house and the stable were thought of, seeing that the family needed means of transportation to get to the castle. The uncle was too old, and Amelia too young, not to be fatigued by such a long walk. So many benefactions heaped upon a foreign family ex- cited envy; and if ever such a sentiment can be called excusable this was, given the manner in which said kind- nesses were received. It was everlasting comparisons be- tween the past and the present, uncivil allusions, or indeli- cate regrets. If some new arrival complimented our "emigrants" on the arrangements of their little villa, which really was charming, he was answered by a deep sigh, by a look of resignation, by some irrelevant phrase which meant, It might do for others, but for us / And then they CRACOW, The Capital of the Polish Republic. From an engraving by Oiitliwaite of a drawing by Glmvacki PALACE OF THE KINGS OF POLAND. /ViVK an etching. COUNTESS POTOCKA 13 talked about the mansion they had been compelled to leave, of the delightful and gorgeous existence they had led there ! From there to Madame Bassompierre, and the friendship that had bound the great king and that great man, was but a step; and once on this ground there was no more enduring the thing! The sighs became sobs, and the allusions be- came insults. An annoying episode for the Bassompierres was the visit of Louis XVIIL, who stopped at Bialystok on the way to Mittau, where the Emperor Paul had persuaded him to set- tle. He was travelling under the name of Count de Lille. The apartment reserved for sovereigns had been prepared for him. We installed him there with all the consideration due to his birth and to misfortune. Madame de Cracovie went as far as the waiting room to meet him. He appeared very sensible to this reception, and made great efforts in amiability. I was not yet of an age to judge him, but he pleased me, for he looked all round and rosy. His attend- ance was slim. Dethroned kings have few courtiers. Louis XVIII. had something better than flatterers: he had a sin- cere and devoted friend, Count d'Avaray. We were highly curious to see what greeting he would proffer the illustrious exiled family. Alas! It was one of those disappointments from which it is hard to recover! The king did not know them! He knew the marquis no more than the count, the young countess no more than the old mamma! He even made rather light of these props of the throne whom he had never seen, and who had done nothing to hold up tottering royalty. M. d'Avaray, sur- prised at the airs of our Bassompierres, thought himself compelled to tell us what he knew about them. They were, to say truth, Bassompierres, but poor and degenerate, hav- ing inherited nothing but pride of their family traditions, among which those mansions took a place of which they so !4 MEMOIRS OF THE incessantly talked. The Revolution had enriched them. They had never owned an establishment as pleasant as that offered them by a generous hospitality. These explanations in nowise changed Madame de Cra- covie's conduct; she continued to her death to overload her guests with kindness. However, the young countess learnt a lesson; she talked less of Paris, which she had never seen, and abstained from unflattering comparisons between the country she had been obliged to leave and that in which she had met with so fine a reception. Thenceforth she wore her linen without venturing to complain of the odour of Polish soap; and, as the king had pronounced upon the good fare, a subject on which he was very impressionable, she afterward believed herself free not to cut grimaces when eating her soup. Whether it was the outcome of a passing project, or merely to make himself agreeable, and in this way pay for the royal reception given his master, I know not, but before leaving Bialystok Count d'Avaray proposed to my mother to marry me to the Duke de Berry. Hardly knowing what to reply, my mother urged my extreme youth, engaging, however, to transmit the proposition to my father, who would not hear of it. He answered my mother that a prince errant always looked to him more or less of an ad- venturer; that there was no probability of the Bourbons ever returning to France; that, moreover, a match that to- day might perhaps appear desirable to them owing to advan- tages of fortune, might later seem impolitic and unequal; that in any case, having but one daughter, he wished to marry her to a Polish nobleman. This refusal, modified and codified, was conveyed to M. d'Avaray, who was even more astonished than shocked at it. I only learnt of this singular proposition long after- ward, and I have often thought, in the course of the remark- Louis XVIII. Fio>n an engraving by H oil of I sabcy's portrait. COUNTESS POTOCKA 15 able events unfolding before my eyes, what a strange situ- ation I should have found myself in. Already Bonaparte was making Europe resound with the echo of his triumphs. Such glory and fame burnt on the conqueror's brow, such good fortune crowned his enterprises, that I seemed to see Alexander or Caesar appear. I was brought up in the midst of the great man's detractors, but my admiration, often suppressed from fear of giving displeasure, grew none the less lively. How could I have reconciled sentiments of such a character with a lot similar to that which had been offered me? How could I jump for joy at the news of Napoleon's victories, being the wife of a Bourbon? Writing chiefly for my children, it is my duty to make them acquainted with their ancestor's fine character my father's. After the First Partition he joined the ranks of the few who refused to sign the iniquitous document dic- tated to the abject Targowica Confederation by Russia. Consequent upon this brave opposition, his whole fortune was sequestered ; my father submitted silently to the rigor- ous treatment which his steadfastness and patriotism had brought upon him. A few years later the Grand Duchy of Lithuania sent a delegation to St. Petersburg, in order to have the preserva- tion of the old penal code, the Litewski Statute, granted by Catherine. The deputation, composed of the richest and most distinguished noblemen of the country, Catherine re- ceived with the demonstrations she so cleverly lavished on those whom she wished to enlist among her admirers. Her court was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant in Europe. Balls and festivities followed one upon the other. The Polish deputies found themselves invited once for all to these splendid receptions by the gracious sovereign, and thought themselves obliged to respond to such an invita- tion. My father alone confined his visits to the court to 1 6 COUNTESS POTOCKA the occasions demanded by the business which his mission included. The empress, surprised and offended at this lack of assiduity, was unable to withhold the mention of her displeasure from him, and, addressing him with asperity, said that he alone evinced no curiosity to see the beauties that adorned her parties. Far from appearing confused, my father made a low obeisance, as if he had taken this rebuke for a mark of favour, and replied in loud and firm tones that, considering the situation his country was in, a Pole could hardly dissemble his painful reflections, and, according to his opinion, sparkling festivities ought never to be darkened by any one bringing in irrepressible sadness. The sly Catherine, at once forming her opinion of the man who had ventured to answer her thus, exclaimed that she admired nothing so much as independent and elevated sen- timents. She added : "As a woman, I feel misfortunes which the severity of politics prevents me from forestalling as a sovereign." Just as she was withdrawing, she took a little watch, set with emeralds, from her belt and gave it to my father, beg- ging him to accept the gift as a special token of the esteem she bore him. This graceful act was followed by the can- celling of the sequestration imposed on my father's property. CHAPTER III THE ASTROLOGER 1802 MADEMOISELLE DUCHENE, MADAME DE CRACOVIE's COM- PANION LIFE AT THE CASTLE CHATEAUBRIAND AND ROUSSEAU CHARLES XII. THE SWEDISH ASTROLOGER HE PREDICTS STANISLAUS AUGUSTUS A THRONE THE GOOD OLD TIMES. OUR house contained a person highly remarkable by reason of her wit, education, and prodigious memory. I allude to Mademoiselle Duchene, Madame de Cracovie's companion. A Parisian by birth, she had originally been employed by Madame de Tesse, and there had not only acquired the tone and manners of good society, but had collected a quantity of diverting anecdotes. She was one of those privileged peo- ple who never forget anything, no more what they have read than what they have heard. She had been nicknamed the "Perambulating Encyclopaedia." As she had made friends with my governess, I saw a great deal of her, and in a great measure I owe to her the little I know. Madame de Bas- sompierre, whose education had been terribly neglected, was even more indebted to her than I. Mademoiselle Duchene devoted herself, heart and soul, to the Bassompierre family, 17 1 8 MEMOIRS OF THE whose habits, language, and very faults put her back into her motherland, so to speak. Brought up amidst these French people, I instinctively caught the spirit of their language, and of my own choice pursued their literature. I was immensely fond of their partly witty and futile, partly instructive and serious, but ever lively conversation, even in the gravest discussions to which politics might give rise. For they were French peo- ple of the old school, who, in fact, made merry over every- thing, and took the lightest view of life they could. The life we led was most independent. We saw little of each other except during the mornings. As to our occu- pation, we all suited ourselves. Some worked, others played. Madame de Cracovie was so tolerant that no one, not even a relative, was obliged to attend mass, which was said every morning in the chapel. About three o'clock the dinner bell sounded. That was the signal for our general meeting. Every evening, ex- cepting in midsummer, there was a reading in the drawing- room from seven to nine. Anybody might come, on con- dition, however, of observing silence. The companion's duties did not extend beyond this brief space of time, which the lady of the manor had set apart to inform herself as to the current periodicals and literary novelties. Failing these, the classics were re-read. It was in this way that I met with M. de Chateaubriand, who combined the classical traditions and modern thought. The "Genie du Christianisme" had just been published. There are, alas ! two things which cannot by any possibility be reconciled : morality and imagination. I warn mothers, who would like their girls to read this religious poetry, of the fact. The author has inserted a passage from "La Nouvelle Heloise," one in which Julie complains of the void the heart experiences after the most deceptive emotions of COUNTESS POTOCKA 19 life are exhausted. I have not forgotten the effect Rous- seau's harmonious prose had upon me. I stole the book to look up that passage again, and it put me into a melan- choly, dreamy mood. M. de Chateaubriand, I do not doubt, had the best of intentions ; he aimed to build to the greater glory of God; but, I repeat, the passage is dangerous to girls of fifteen ; it produces a very different effect from that intended by the author. The reading done, the doors were opened to all comers. The conversation was general. The old told stories, and the young listened attentively. Madame de Cracovie, oldest daughter to Poniatowski, the friend and associate of Charles XII., had picked up some interesting anecdotes from her father relative to the Swedish hero. Never seemed there a man more fitly endowed with the qualities proper for great enterprises. Combining a body of iron with a soul of fire, nothing could astonish, nothing stop him. He did not believe in physical obstacles, and regarded human exigencies and weaknesses as childish chimeras and excuses for cowardice. One day there was no more food. The king, who always rode at the head of his army, suddenly jumped to the ground, and tearing up a tuft of grass, began to chew it. After a moment of silence he said to his faithful comrade, who looked at him in surprise : "I was attempting the conquest of the world. If I had succeeded in feeding my troops after this fashion I feel that, although I might not have surpassed, I should at least have equalled Alexander and Caesar." He feared only one power in the world, the power of beauty; only a handsome woman could boast of making him quail she put him to flight. He said : "So many heroes have succumbed to the attractions of a beautiful face! Did not Alexander, my pet, burn a town 20 MEMOIRS OF THE to please a ridiculous courtesan? I want my life to be free from such weakness; history must not find such a stain upon it." He was told, one day, that a young girl had come to sue for justice on behalf of a blind, octogenarian father, mal- treated by soldiers. The first inclination of the king, a strict disciplinarian, was to rush straight to the plaintiff, to hear the details of the misdemeanour for himself. But, suddenly stopping, he asked : "Is she good-looking?" And being assured that she was both very young arid unusually lovely, he sent word that she must wear a veil, otherwise he would not listen to her. How I regret not having thought at the time of writing down all I heard ! Now, it is only isolated facts that pre- sent themselves to my memory; then, it was the story of a whole life, the faithful account of the strangest events, of facts little known, which a person of advanced years and rare accuracy transmitted, still throbbing, to an attentive audience. She who, so to speak, put us in touch with those distant days, had the tales from an eye-witness, and re- counted them with such a simple good faith, a precision as to dates, which showed that she would never have taken the liberty to alter a fact, to omit or add an incident so dear was the truth to her, such an influence had her fine integrity even upon her most trifling actions and upon her mere recreations in life. In the time of Charles XII. there were still professional astrologers. A superstition of this class attaches to an an- ecdote of my mother's youth. Sitting at my mother's feet, I pressed against her knees with a slight shiver, a commo- tion of the heart difficult to suppress. Whether that was childishness or credulity matters little. To-day I do not COUNTESS POTOCKA 21 blush at it, and avow my complete pleasure in being fright- ened. Here is the story of my well-beloved great-aunt's astrologer; perhaps it may meet with an impressionable reader, who will not be indifferent, inasmuch as, I repeat, there is no fiction in it. At the death of Charles XII., Poniatowski, who had been tenderly devoted to him, returned to Poland. A little later he married Princess Constance Czartoryska, and estab- lished himself with her at his country residence of Wolczyn. Raised to the highest dignity of the land, the post of Gov- ernor of the Castle of Cracow, which his son-in-law inherited after him, he lived/ honoured by his neighbours and cher- ished by his family, resting after a stormy career and the exalted tasks to which his best years had been consecrated. He was already the father of four children ; at the moment when the singular occurrence happened which I am about to relate, the fifth was being expected. The excitement which an event of this kind evokes was then reigning in the castle, whence the children had been purposely sent out, and they were gaily snowballing each other in the court- yard, while their father, all anxiety, was mechanically fol- lowing the clouds of smoke which his Oriental chibouque emitted. A sudden tumult startled him from this preoccupied state. It was the children all running up at once ; they were bring- ing a stranger who desired to speak to the master of the house. An extreme benevolence and delicate politeness were the distinctive qualities of M. de Cracovie, qualities which he passed on to all his children. At the sight of the stranger his anxiety gave room to a lively curiosity. The peculiar dress and distinguished demeanour of this man were well calculated to summon attention. M. de Cracovie having had him ushered into the saloon, 22 MEMOIRS OF THE refreshments were officiously offered. As soon as the ser- vants had retired the stranger told quite simply how, being a Swede by birth and an astrologer by profession, he was travelling in the interest of science; he wanted to interview a famous rabbi who lived at Kozieniec, a little town not far from Wolczyn. Although familiar with cabalistic ideas, thanks to his former connection with Swedes, Poniatowski was imper- vious to practices of that nature. He could not conceal a slight smile. "Ah ! I see you doubt the finest, the sublimest of the privi- leges usurped by man, that of reading in the stars!" ex- claimed the astrologer. "Very well ! To conquer your un- belief and leave you a token of my visit and of my thanks for the kind reception I found under your roof, I will cast the horoscope of your children." Immediately all the brown and blond heads came forward, all the little hands were stretched out, and the seer, having asked the minutest details of the day and hour of birth of each child, pre- dicted the most splendid establishments for the girls and military renown, honour, and riches for the boys. At this moment the silence was disturbed by the cries of the new-born infant, which the midwife came to present to its father. Everybody surrounded it. The astrologer, after throwing a rapid glance at the child, seemed to be taken in another trance. "I salute you King of Poland!" he exclaimed aloud, "I salute you king from this very day, while you are yet ignorant of the rank to which you are predestined and the misfortunes to follow thereon!" However proof M. de Cracovie was against all manner of superstitions, his daughter assured us that he had more than once confessed, long before the prophecy was ful- filled, to having been seized by a mortal chill at the astrolo- ger's last words. STANISLAUS C. PONIATOWSKI, Commander of the forces of Charles XII. of Sweden. From an engraving by Hnpivoadofa drawing by Pcszka. COUNTESS POTOCKA 23 King Stanislaus Augustus, the object of the prophecy, never referred to it, but all his contemporaries remembered it and told it, each after his own fashion. How enviable is the superiority of character which allows us, without fear of ridicule, to admit freely that there are things one cannot explain, especially as it is impossible to deny them ! Oh, for the good old days, when people believed in every- thing ! First, they believed in Providence, and that simplifies many things; then they believed in Paradise, which makes many sorrows endurable. They believed in virtue and in resistance to evil propensities, for the cleverest authors, the most entertaining romancers, had then not yet established that such resistance is at least superfluous, passion justify- ing any lapse. Faith was placed in miracles, disinterested love was be- lieved in, devotion in friendship, and even gratitude. After the serious beliefs came the amiable and superflu- ous beliefs those that people reproached themselves for, and that must inexorably be confessed. They believed in philters, spells, presentiments, fortune- tellers, astrologers, ghosts! Those beliefs produced poets, visionaries, religious fanatics, heroes, and madmen! Now, the strongly equipped brains, the profound and positive minds, with which the age superabounds, refuse to believe in anything, or believe in nothing beyond bulls and bears ! God knows, however, whether bulls and bears rest on a surer foundation, and whether one is not often fooled by them ! CHAPTER IV MARRIAGE TO COUNT ALEXANDER POTOCKI 1802 MARRIAGE SCHEMES ARRIVAL OF COUNT POTOCKI AT BIALYSTOK COUNT STANISLAUS POTOCKI COUNT TYSZ- KIEWICZ AND GENERAL BENINGSEN DEATH OF PAUL I. THE AUTHOR'S EDUCATION AND TASTES COUNTESS TYSZKIEWICZ MADAME SOBOLEWSKA. I WAS an only daughter; legacies from two large fortunes were coming to me. I had an old name, a pleasant face, and a thorough education. I was, in a word, what is con- ventionally called a good match. At the age of fourteen I was to have married Prince Stanislaus Poniatowski, my mother's brother; but as he was approaching fifty, was lanky, dry, and sober, I would not hear of him, and I with- stood the inducements of jewels and a marriage outfit. My mind and my heart were, I cannot say exactly how, swelled with a sort of juvenile exaltation, nourished by the perusal of the great poets whom it had been impossible to keep from me. I wanted heroes like Racine's, or knights like Tancred. Mighty passions were my need, instanta- neous affections, great and sublime deeds ! I waited ! But as I finally perceived that neither Britannicus nor Gon- 24 COUNTESS POTOCKA 25 zalvo of Cordova presented himself, and that not even a meeting with Grandison was likely, I made up my mind to descend from the clouds, and sorrowfully reflected that I should be obliged to end by marrying, like everybody else, under the guidance of reason and expediency. Various matches were proposed to my parents. Some did not meet with their appro-yjal, not being brilliant enough; the rest seemed to me out of the question because the suitors were unattractive. But at last M. Alexander Potocki de- clared himself, and as he, too, was acknowledged one of the best matches in Poland, he was accepted without hesi- tation. Our relations had arranged everything by letter, so that when Potocki arrived at Bialystok he knew before- hand that he would not be refused. I can still fancy myself hearing his carriage drive into our court of honour. It was on an evening of the month of April ; I had caught cold, and had been forbidden to leave my room. The sound of a post-horn roused me. I ran to the window, and saw a young man jump out, most grace- fully, from a travelling calash, and quickly mount the steps to the main entrance. I at once told myself this could be none other than the expected traveller. The emotions I underwent very much resembled fright! What would I not have given to be able to put off that first interview until the morrow ! But I was not consulted, and I saw M. Po- tocki enter with my mother on his arm. He had been journeying afar; that was a great resource for a first call.. He told us a lot of interesting things about London, about Paris he had seen the great Napoleon! But on this point I found him not the least bit communi- cative. He spoke without particular enthusiasm of what he had seen, and did not seem at all dazzled by so much greatness and magnificence. Tea was served, and we scrutinised one another. M. 2 6 MEMOIRS OF THE Potocki had seen me when I was very young indeed, at my mother's. I remembered him ; he had made the impression on me of a disdainful dandy who did not talk to little girls. We met again at that happy age when time, having put the finishing touches to his task, seems to halt, as if to enjoy its contemplation, but ready to compensate himself, some day, for the brief respite. We looked at each other surreptitiously, and experienced surprise mingled with sat- isfaction. We were better pleased with our prize than we had anticipated being. Three weeks elapsed, at the end of which we thought we knew and suited each other per- fectly. There was, however, not the slighest similarity in our characters and tastes. Count Stanislaus Potocki, my future father-in-law, soon joined us, so as to be present at our wedding. The count was one of the foremost personages of those times, which abounded with men of head and heart. His brother Igna- tius and himself had worked valiantly at the Constitution of May 3, and both were victims of their faithfulness, in a Russian and an Austrian dungeon expiating the noble impulse which had urged them to devote themselves to their country's liberty and independence. It is rare to see two brothers so richly endowed by nature; to the most pleasing exterior were added a superior mind and a prodig- ious education and memory, and, though men of the world, they knew everything and had time for everything. Prince Stanislaus, moreover, was gifted with artistic accomplish- ments to a degree I have never seen equalled by an ama- teur. Several journeys in Italy had helped to develop in him that noble love of the beautiful which constitutes, so to speak, an additional sense. Always kind and affable, he was always disposed to listen to those who came to him for advice. His light humour and extreme politeness con- trasted oddly with a vivacity, an irritability, which often COUNTESS POTOCKA 27 gave rise to mirth. There were days when, at the least annoyance, he got angry like a child, and calmed down as quickly. It was above all funny to watch this statesman at play this gentleman of taste, this great lord, who by his exquisite manners had been marked in every court of Eu- rope to see him roused to the pitch of throwing cards and counters at his partner's head. And yet he played for penny points, and never would be paid. "Why," he exclaimed, in his amusing wrath, "if I were playing for blows with a stick, I should still want to win !" I dwell upon these details since I take pleasure in speaking of my father-in-law, whom I dearly loved, and of whom I know nothing but good. I owe him everything I know of architecture; he enjoyed cultivating this passion for the arts in me, which has since been the delight of life, and which my mother had sought to instil into me. But let us go back to my marriage, which took place at Wilna, where my father was stopping. As he was suffer- ing severely from an attack of the gout, he had been forbid- den to leave his room, and the ceremony was held in his saloon. A few days later my father-in-law, tired of enforced inac- tivity, and desirous of resuming his usual pursuits, took us off to Warsaw, where my mother-in-law was await- ing me. I took leave of my father with the dreadful presentiment that I should never see him again. His persistence in re- fusing to go away to take the waters cost him his life. He had become gloomy and melancholy, and left the country only as often as his health or business compelled him to go into town, where the contact with the Russian officials was odious to him. In order to escape it, his illness served as an excuse; he never went out, and even exempted himself from the ceremonial visits. General Beningsen, Governor 28 MEMOIRS OF THE of Wilna for the time being, treated him with overwhelm- ing consideration, and frequently came to see him. One day he was so far carried away as to relate to him all the details of the famous conspiracy which had put Alexander on the throne. He even spoke of the part he had taken in the assassination. So far as I remember, he claimed the honour of being the first to lay hands upon the unhappy monarch, who defended his life with greater courage than was expected of him. Beningsen experienced no diffidence in talking of this scene of horror, in which one man had long held out against five murderers. He regarded himself as a modern Brutus. To say truth Paul's tyranny and his ex- travagances, which partook of cruelty in a certain measure, justified those who, having failed to force his abdication, found themselves obliged to take his life; but it is none the less the fact that you could not listen without shudder- ing to him who thus boasted of having played an active part in the drama. We left Wilna together. My mother preferred to remain at Bialystok, for she did not in any way wish to divert me from the duties my new position brought me. I felt a keen sorrow at separating from my mother. I had never left her before. She had taken a great interest in my educa- tion; I took my lessons in my room some she gave me herself. Idle about everything not related to the things of the imagination or the arts, I would have liked to draw all day. And when, at thirteen, I read the "Iliad," I would not hear of any other book. My mother took alarm at what perhaps might have pleased a less sensible person. She was grave and cold; she had a just and sound mind; she was fond of study, and indulged in thinking from in- clination. Never was there a more striking contrast than that existing between our characters. My own experience has led me to see that education may, G Published byJArrcrne attheit>le.Lrcri$&njtrtuttan.&rn COUNT LEVIN A. T. BENINGSEN. (A leader in the murder of the Czar Paul in 1801.) COUNTESS POTOCKA 29 at the utmost, modify the temperament, but that it cannot change it. My mother frowned on exuberant merriment, on the taste for society and dress. I hid a thousand little things from her ; at the same time I never knew how to dis- semble, and I made more mistakes than one by too much candour. I was brought up alone, my sole recreation being to talk with old friends; in spite of that my good spirits remained inexhaustible. None but good examples were shown me. I read none but serious books ; none but things I might hear were told in my presence ; but I nearly always guessed what was supposed to be kept from me. It may be that without such close watching I should not at all have responded to the exertions lavished on me, but I am sure I only knew w r ell what I had been taught least. I loved my mother tenderly, feeling that I owed her much, and that her high character demanded my fullest respect, but with this sentiment was connected a sort of fear which spoilt our intercourse. She wished for my confi- dence, and I often felt a desire to give it her entirely; but from the moment that my opinion or intention contradicted hers, she scolded me severely, and drove back a confession nearly slipping from my heart. I stood in need of an affection, if not tenderer, at least more confidential. Among the young people with whom chance had thrown me, was Madame Sobolewska. I felt attracted to her ; I liked the great sweetness of her face and manners. She was a few years older than I. To her ad- vantages she joined so much modesty and humility that one could not envy her for being a universal favourite, at which she alone seemed surprised. Whenever her agreeable and cultivated mind managed to escape from the strict reserve behind which she kept it concealed she was charming, and I have seen few women so amiable when she dared to be amiable. Her spirit shed 30 COUNTESS POTOCKA something elevated and pure over all her actions. I felt better at leaving her. At first I loved her by instinct. When I learnt how to think I loved her because I found she was perfect, and I shall love her all my life, because this love has become my heart's necessity and habit. Never have I had a secret thought or act from her; never has she be- lieved me better than I am. In her heart I went to place my sorrows, my hopes, my joys, and my regrets, and I always found in her an indulgent friend, discreet beyond all proof, and a most gentle and pleasant companion. My mother ended by approving of our intimacy ; she was the only person she allowed me to love. CHAPTER V LANgUT AND PULAWY 1803 SENTIMENTAL WALK BY MOONLIGHT FEMININE GUILE WEDDING VISITS THE PRINCESS MARSHAL HIS GRACE OF LAON PULAWY PRINCE ADAM CASIMIR CZARTORY- SKI HIS GENEROSITY THE PARK AT PULAWY THE GOTHIC HOUSE REMINISCENCES OF THE GREAT FRED- ERICK THE EMPEROR JOSEPH II. PRINCE KAUNITZ. MY husband and I reached Warsaw at the finest season of the year, and were soon established in Willanow, a beauti- ful district, famous through the memory of John Sobieski, who had made a home there. In taking possession of the charming apartments my mother-in-law had prepared for me, I fancied myself arrived at the summit of bliss. My mother had brought me up to habits of thrift, on principle, and I all at once found myself rich and independent. Without being passionately in love with my husband, I began to conceive a very tender fondness for him. I met my friend Madame Sobolewska again ; my adopted relatives were good and kind, and nothing was wanting to complete my happiness unless a little more sense. Here is the proof of it. 3 2 MEMOIRS OF THE A moonlight night was for some time to disturb the pure felicity I had been enjoying. I have already said that I was blessed with a romantic brain, and that a quiet, even state of things could not satisfy me for long. So the thought suddenly entered my head to have my husband madly in love with me. One evening, as we were promenading the bank of the Vistula, under those venerable trees which had shaded the less unsophisticated loves of the beautiful Marie d'Arquien, I brought round the conversation to sentiment. 1 main- tained that no happiness was possible on this earth ex- cept in a reciprocal attachment, both lively and enduring! My husband, after listening to me indulgently for a little while, looked at his watch, called my attention to the late- ness of the hour, observed that our cousins were becoming very tiresome, and that it was time to go in! I had started upon a note so different from that chosen by him for these remarks that, on reaching my room, I burst into tears, and called myself the most wretched woman in the world for being so misunderstood and taken in such a common way. I could not imagine that I might be loved as well in my room as out-of-doors in the moonlight. From that instant I thought of nothing but of the means of giving rise to a passion to which 1 attached my whole future and all my happiness. After mature deliberation I believed to have discovered that to make a husband miser- able he must first be made jealous, and. not wishing the participation of a third person in this little family poem, I wrought the notion of inditing an impassioned letter to myself. To make my epistle look more natural and real I sprinkled this avowal of a timid but ardent love with well- seasoned jokes about my surroundings. I disguised my handwriting so successfully that my husband (he found the note in an orange-tree box) was completely deceived, and COUNTESS POTOCKA 33 took it to his mother for their mutual amusement. De- lighted at having so properly mystified my friends, I tri- umphed, without suspecting what turn things were about to take. The jokes my letter contained, though highly in- nocent, annoyed my mother-in-law ; she read and re-read the note, examined the writing, and ended by discovering that I was the author of this little hoax. It was decided to put me to the test, and to ascertain how long I would stand by a falsehood, which must have ap- peared the more culpable as its object was unknown. My father-in-law was sent to me. Anxious, and already repenting what I had done, when I saw him enter my room with the demeanour of one com- ing to question me, I lost my head altogether, and, afraid to confess such silly conduct, denied it with extraordinary clumsiness. My father-in-law proceeded most delicately, and, seeing that I persisted, retired in favour of my husband, who began the cross-examination over again. I was dying of shame, but made a desperate defence. Ultimately, however, he wrested the fatal secret from me. I shed torrents of tears, and cast myself at his feet. He forgave me, because he understood what motive had actuated me, and saw no more than a childish freak in my hoax. It was otherwise with my mother-in-law. She became very disadvantageously impressed as to my character, and insisted in ascribing this silly, absurd letter to a taste for intrigue. It was the first time in my life that I had done anything of the kind. I nearly fell ill from vexation, and as I was supposed to be ap- proaching motherhood, every effort was made to pacify me. But I understood perfectly well that the attentions lav- ished upon me were exceptional, and that nothing could restore my mother-in-law's confidence and affection, she, though endowed with grand qualities, not having a fine 34 MEMOIRS OF THE enough mind to distinguish all the different shades of feel- ing which crowded my heart. The hope of becoming a mother came as a timely diver- sion in my distressed condition, and as, above all, an heir was required, I became the object of a solicitude which might have been taken for extreme sympathy. I was quite ill for some time, which obliged my husband to postpone a round of visits we were to make, for I was to be presented to all all of my new-old relations. As soon as I was in a fit state we left for the castle of Langut, where my husband's grandmother, Princess Lubo- mirska, had set up her establishment. She was known as the Princess Marshal. It would hardly have been possible to meet with an individual who, in addition to many excel- lent qualities, boasted such peculiar whims. She liked nei- ther her children nor her country, and from sheer tedium was perpetually moving from place to place. Estranged from everything but the old traditions of the court of France, she was better acquainted with the age of Louis XIV. than with the events which had agitated her own country. A spectator of the horrors that had disgraced the revolution of 1789, and an intimate friend of the Prin- cess Lamballe, she hated all new ideas. To the princess, Napoleon was nothing but a miscreant, promoted by lucky chances to a height at which he could never remain. She avoided speaking of him, and when compelled to mention the abhorred name, she called the emperor little Bonaparte. Faithful to the Bourbons, she wore mourning for the Due d'Enghien, and showered her charity upon all the "emi- grants" she could pick up in the high roads. When we got to Langut we found His Grace the Bishop of Laon established in the castle. All the honours due to the tiara were rendered him. When the princess made her journey to Vienna, which happened nearly every winter, since her advanced years, to- COUNTESS POTOCKA 35 gether with the change in the dynasty, had prohibited a stay in Paris, nothing changed at Langut. Every morning the steward came for His Grace's orders. He was there as if in his own palace, and he surely was better off there than at home, for in no country have I seen any establishment at the same time so gorgeous and so elegant. As rich as a princess in the "Arabian Nights," the Lady Marshal had elected to indulge in English comforts and French tastes. She had, in addition, the merit of worthily employing the immense fortune placed in her hands by chance. Her generosity was remarkable in so far as she was entirely reasonable in dispensing it, and gave the benefit of it chiefly to her numerous vassals. There was not a village where she had not set up a school, a doctor, or a midwife. Her agents were charged with supervising these charitable insti- tutions, for, though she did require everything in her own house to be sumptuous and costly, she never neglected her poor. But, curiously and inexplicably, this same individual, whose name was blessed by the needy, and of whom none of her surroundings could complain, was hard and unjust to her children, who nevertheless adored her. From the first I perceived that my husband was being treated by her like a grandson, and that this antipathy ex- tended to myself. Still I was not discouraged, and by making Louis Quinze caps for the princess worked out my pardon for being Alexander's wife. After staying a fortnight at Langut we repaired to Pulawy, a fine place belonging to Prince Czartoryski, broth- er to the Princess Marshal, and therefore our great-uncle. He was never called anything but Prince General. It was customary with us to be called by one's title, just as in France it was the custom to assume that of one's principal fief. This castle differed entirely from that which we had just 36 MEMOIRS OF THE left. Everything here was devoid of elegance; nothing was aimed at but to revive, or rather continue, old traditions, and to make no changes from ancestral habits. The inter- course was just as cordial as it was good-natured. At the very outset one felt at ease. Under frivolous externals the prince concealed the profound student. His condition was overlooked because of his jokes and frank jollity. His wit was subtle, brilliant, spontaneous; I have never met but the Prince cle Ligne who could have been compared with him in this respect, but the Prince General had, be- sides, the noblest soul and the most elevated ideas. Had he not surrendered too soon to the seductions of society and all the futilities of life, few men would have ventured to oppose him, and his political influence would not have remained without notable results. When I saw him for the first time his advanced age had as yet detracted nothing from the grace and quickness of his wit. He was a little dry, powdered old gentleman, irre- proachably tidy and neat. I scarcely know on what occa- sion Joseph II. created him an Austrian field marshal, be- cause he had never been to war. However that may be, under this foreign uniform and these hostile colours beat a noble heart, full of patriotism and steadfastness. His perfect kindness showed itself at all times, and he was adored throughout the country. He had a number of poor gentle- men educated at his own expense, he took a personal interest in their characters, followed their progress, made them travel, etc. A number of distinguished subjects owed the development of their abilities to what was called the Pulawy School, a school to which the prince's generosity gave an immense scope since it had branches as far as France and England. He thus compromised a large fortune, and in- curred debts which his sons afterwards paid. That was a fine aristocracy, and which, I venture to say, COUNTESS SOPHIE ZA.MOYSKA (nee CZARTORYSKA). From an engraving by Hopuiood --Jtcr Isabcy. COUNTESS POTOCKA 37 could only be met with in Poland. When the Prince Gen- eral had assured the future of a deserving family, he would go and secretly thank them for the confidence they had placed in him. His savings affected his own table solely. Highly frugal himself, and condemned by his physician to take his modest repast alone, he was always the first to laugh at our bad dinners. But there were fifty people at table, and at least a hundred lived on the dessert. When, having finished his hermit's meal, he circulated among us, it was a universal delight; he amused all the guests with his jovial humour. If he accidentally met his steward, he tapped him on the shoulder, asking him if he was still faith- ful to the same system. "For," said he, "that rascal has made a vow never to serve but new wine and old beef !" The princess, Isabel Czartoryska, was at that time busy with paupers. From early morning her door was besieged by all the poor and all the sick of the neighbouring villages. After attending to the wants of each one, she repaired to her magnificent garden, and spent a great part of the day in superintending the work there. The buildings in the park at Pulawy are highly interest- ing. The most notable is devoted to historical and national relics; it is a copy of the Sibylline Temple so much ad- mired at Tivoli. The intelligent architect to whom the erection of this edifice was entrusted went to Italy so as to reproduce it faithfully, and he acquitted himself of his task to a marvel. The same proportions are there, the same accuracy of detail, the same solidity of construction, and, as the Italian sky is the only thing not to be imitated, a dome of a single piece of glass idealises our foggy at- mosphere. Collected there are our kings' insignia, our queens' jewels, our great men's arms, as well as trophies captured from 3 8 MEMOIRS OF THE the enemy. Nothing so grand, nothing so noble as an exhi- bition of patriotic relics among which every family become illustrious by a great deed has deposited its title to immor- tality ! The impediment of the temple bears an inscription which seems to recapitulate at once our greatness, our reverses, and our hopes : The Past to the Future. May this sacred bequest be spared by time, so that our posterity may sharpen their swords on the steps of this glorious temple ! A second building, called the Gothic House, is in an en- tirely different style, a happy combination of the Flemish and the Moorish, a structure recommended at different pe- riods, one would say, and consummated with exquisite taste. The princess took pleasure in enriching it with treasures from all countries, and in mustering celebrities of all times there. Close to a plait of Agnes Sorel's hair, kept in a magnifi- cent rock crystal case, mounted with precious stones, is the unshapely bowl used for the anointing of the Russian czars, carried off from Moscow by our braves. Under an admirable portrait of Raphael, painted by himself, is Shake- speare's arm-chair, of which the worm-eaten wood is reli- giously covered with brass and velvet. Near by is a table that had been Voltaire's property, and the handsomely chased key opens a drawer in which innumerable valuables are accumulated. First, a collection of letters from dis- tinguished men who adorned the age of Louis XIV., among them a fine one of Turenne, written entirely by his own hand a few days before his death ; a little book, with its old- fashioned binding, containing plans of fortifications drawn by Marshal Vauban, who dedicated this set to the Duke of Burgundy; autograph letters of all the kings of France, from Francis I. to Napoleon; Madame de la Valliere's prayer-book, and a number of curiosities of the kind, which one regrets to pass by casually. COUNTESS POTOCKA 39 The walls of this building are covered with old inscrip- tions bearing principally upon Polish history. The prin- cess was engaged upon a descriptive catalogue of her treas- ures, and engravings are now being made of the prominent objects of this valuable collection. It is a most extensive work, and shows to what degree the princess has studied the history of the various countries from which the relics were gathered. The French Revolution contributed to the contents of the Gothic House. At a time when antiquities were sold at a discount Countess Zamoyska, the princess's daughter, being in Paris in those delirious days, acquired articles now priceless. I cannot say how interesting and agreeable it was to listen to her, who, after spending a lifetime in bringing so many curiosities and rarities together, exhibited them her- self, telling some strange story about nearly every one. In the evening, when, having wandered about the beau- tiful park and gardens, we met at the hostess', I took pleas- ure in calling up her varied reminiscences. She had trav- elled a great deal, and, though already far advanced in years, she discussed the historical personages she introduced as if she had left them the day before. Being presented at the court of Frederick the Great, she had contrived to slip into his study one day, just as he had gone out. That, she said, was taking a man in the act. In front of a desk covered with papers and maps a plate of cherries was provided with a ticket written by the king's hand : / leave eighteen. Quite near by an old hussar uni- form, spread out over a sofa, awaited inexpensive repairs. Next to a letter from Voltaire, still open, lay a grocer's bill the court grocer's. A sheet of music was thrown at haphazard on a desk, and not far from this harmonious appeal stood a curule chair, similar to that in the capitol, with this difference, that one is in old crimson, and the other was in wood with nothing to conceal its common use. 40 MEMOIRS OF THE That was certainly a queer study for a king ! Napoleon put his right of conquest to much better purpose than Frederick his right of birth. An infinite amount of tact was requisite to keep out of trouble between the two courts in Berlin. The king had his, all composed of soldiers and men of learning. The queen, whom he never saw, gathered the fashionable women of the highest society and aristocracy about her. Whoever frequented one of the courts was in bad odour at the other. It was almost equivalent to ostracism. When the king spoke of his wife, which rarely happened, he never called her anything but "old fool" ; vice versa she called him "the old rascal," or "the old thief." Frederick had a sparkling wit, but was harsh and dis- agreeable. Princess Czartoryska much preferred the con- versation of Emperor Joseph II., with whom she had had the opportunity of becoming closely acquainted. The un- happy Marie-Antoinette, having admitted her to intimacy, had given her a letter to her brother, cautioning her to hand it over secretly, as all her actions were under minute obser- vation. The princess eagerly acquitted herself of the deli- cate mission. The Emperor Joseph, after dilating on all the probable and possible chances of the Revolution, then already brewing, one day exclaimed, as if animated by a prophetic spirit: "It will go on like that until a man of mighty genius seizes the reins of authority and puts things back in their place. As far as my sister is concerned, I believe it is, un- fortunately, too late! And I much fear that she will be a victim to her own imprudence and to the weakness of the king, her husband." Joseph II. was one of the wittiest men of his time. He liked society, and took pleasure in conversation. His im- mediate circle was composed of several charming women, JOSF.PH II., EMPEROR OF GERMANY. J''roin an old engraving. COUNTESS POTOCKA 41 among whose number Princess Czartoryska occupied a prominent place. Some of her recollections were handed down to us. One day, at the end of dinner, she related that she had known Prince Kaunitz, who had a varied reputation, and incidentally one for impudence. Having fine teeth, he at- tended to them without the slightest regard for his guests. As soon as the table was cleared his valet put a mirror, a basin, and brushes before him, and then and there the prince began his morning toilet over again, just as if he had been alone in his dressing-room, while every one was waiting for him to finish, to get up from the table. I could not suppress my astonishment, and asked the princess if she, too, had waited. "Yes, alas!" she replied, "I was so put out of counte- nance that I only recovered my senses at the foot of the stairs; but later on it was different: I complained of the heat, and left the table at dessert." At this same dinner a Venetian nobleman, named Grande- nigo, sat near Prince Kaunitz. The prince, who was in good humour, amused himself by addressing him at the top of his voice, dubbing him grand nigaud. The poor foreigner knew no French, and, taken aback by the immod- erate laughter, asked his neighbour for an explanation. "His Highness," was the answer, "likes people to be jolly at his table!" But the Venetian, not quite reassured by this answer, remained moody, and took no notice of the dishes offered him. The prince, having noticed that this absent-minded- ness interfered with the service, said aloud to his house steward : "Why don't you give him a dig in the ribs?" To hear such details would you not fancy yourself some centuries back? Certainly Prince Metternich, who to- 42 COUNTESS POTOCKA day fills Prince Kaunitz's place, would not venture such peculiar manners, even if he were tempted to do so, which I am far from presuming he ever would be, having always known him to be perfectly decorous and polite. I will not say as much for his wife. PRINCE WENZEL ANTON VON KAUNITZ. CHAPTER VI MYSTERIES 1803 RETURN TO TOWN THE SEER A TRAP SET AN EVENING AT THE FRENCH THEATRE, WARSAW MYSTERIOUS DRIVE THE SOOTHSAYER'S DEN CONSULTATION THE BLACK CURTAIN RISES AN APPARITION THE SUPPER KEY TO THE RIDDLE PRINCE RADZIWILL AN ANNOYING MOTH- ER-IN-LAW BIRTH OF AN HEIR NATOLINE. WINTER took us back to town. My husband's parents were already settled there, and we went to live at their house. Soon after my mother moved into hers, to be present at my confinement. I believe I have already made it plain that I had a taste for the marvellous, and that my imagination delighted in uncommon things. Knowing that my father-in-law was a freemason, and that he was a frequenter of the Grand Oriental, a very well known lodge then existing in Warsaw, I was seized with a violent desire to penetrate mysteries of whose importance I entertained exaggerated notions. I would burn with curiosity, while trembling with fear, when I was told of the shadows and flames through which you had to beat a path, of the windows from which you were 43 44 MEMOIRS OF THE forced to leap into the abyss, of the nails on which you were obliged to walk ! I had vainly tried to make my father-in-law gossip; he laughed me in the face, and remained inscrutable, which threw me into despair. All of a sudden I thought I ob- served how he, usually so talkative and communicative, had moments of preoccupation. Often dinner was delayed for him, he arrived late, appeared abstracted, sometimes he even did not come at all. My mother-in-law evidently knew what the reason was of these absences, for they did not seem to trouble her ; but she kept silence. I questioned my husband, who confirmed his father's preoccupation, but asserted not to know its reason. Things remained at that for some time, while my curios- ity only grew. At last, one fine day, my mother-in-law hazarded a half -confession, and told me she was beginning to fear the discovery of secret gatherings of which a cele- brated sccr was the object, and which gatherings engrossed my father-in-law more every day. She enjoined the most scrupulous discretion on me, and made me promise to say nothing to my husband, in pretence urging his possible anxiety. I shall not examine the case : did she do well or not to teach me to have secrets from my husband? The answer is delicate but I will confess it cost me much not to speak to him of what exclusively occupied my mind. My father-in-law being in poor health, his habits were very carefully regulated, and every day, about the same hour, he took a turn in a closed carriage. I frequently accompanied him, as in my condition I also required exer- cise, and the weather did not permit me to walk as much as I was accustomed to. One morning, when we had driven farther than usual, he seemed more rapt and taciturn than ever. I could hold out no longer, and ventured a question it was what he was trying to lead me unto. COUNTESS POTOCKA 45 After a few commonplaces he said, as if carried away in spite of himself, "If you were not so young, and if I might count on absolute secrecy, I could tell you some astonish- ing things." What more was necessary ? I begged, I implored, I even swore! And so I learnt that a seer versed in the occult sciences was in hiding in one of the suburbs of the town. "I have seen more than one," said my father-in-law to me, "in the different countries I have travelled in, but never have I met with anything comparable to this." He then confided to me that there were several, all clever people, (I knew them), who every evening went secretly to hear and see things such extraordinary things that, if he told them to me, I should refuse to believe them ! I was listening so intently that I did not notice the car- riage was entering the court of our house. That day I was unable to reintroduce a subject of which I was thinking all day and dreaming all night. The next day the confidences became more explicit. I found that for a sum of money, which would go to the poor, the seer affecting philanthropy, I might hope for ad- mission across the threshold of the sanctuary, if not for initiation into all the wonders which adepts only have the right to know. It was much more than I dared ask; up till then my modest hopes had been limited to hearing an account of the miracles. In high glee, I therefore hastened to get the money I had saved, and in return obtained a half-promise; because the first thing was to touch the seer's heart by the charities he could perform gratis, and thus imperceptibly dispose him to receive me. These difficult negotiations absorbed some days more, which to me were as centuries ; but at length my father-in- law came with the announcement that, having declared him- self responsible for me, and my offering having been ac- 46 MEMOIRS OF THE cepted, I should be called to hear what few ears had heard, and to see what few eyes had seen. I burst into such trans- ports of joy as to frighten him. And now that I recollect all the emotions to which I was exposed I still feel sur- prise that my health was not injured. The day of the ordeal once fixed, it was agreed that I should go to the French theatre as usual, and that at the appointed hour my father-in-law should sign to me, that I should then complain of the heat, and that he should offer to take me home. Only he advised me to provide myself with a veil, seeing that a woman of quality must never take the risk of being recognised when she goes on a mysterious errand, wheresoever it be. At the moment I got into the carriage I perceived that the lamps were not lit, and the servants not wearing livery. "It is compulsory under such circumstances," said my father-in-law. "I suppose that will not frighten you." And didn't I vow that nothing could shake my courage ! I nevertheless began to feel my nerves greatly agitated. The carriage travelled with extreme speed. We thus traversed a considerable distance. As it was very cold the windows were up, and I could not tell through what streets we were passing. The coachman had been told to go zuhere he went every evening. Suddenly we left the pavement! "Then it is outside the town?" I enquired. "Yes, of course, because this man is obliged to hide; were he discovered he would be arrested. And further," added my father-in-law, "do not for an instant forget that the least indiscretion would infallibly ruin us." "Oh!" I exclaimed. "How absurd governments are to thus persecute science!" Soon the carriage rolled over paving stones; we entered a court; we stopped, and the footman silently opened the door. My father-in-law got out quickly, and asked me to THE GRAND NATIONAL THEATRE AT WARSAW. Engraved by Pilinski after Corazzi. THE KOPERNIK HOUSE IN WARSAW, Visited by Napoleon in 1807. Built in 1473. From an engraving by Pitinski after Mielcarzeviicz. COUNTESS POTOCKA 47 wait a few minutes for a light. Entire darkness and still- ness reigned. I already felt a little less heroical. How- ever a lively curiosity still kept up my courage. My fa- ther-in-law came back in the company of a little man in a black coat; he was carrying a dark lantern. The staircase was narrow and steep, and I climbed up with difficulty. "So this," I thought, "is how beings live who are gifted with occult faculties." When we had entered a small antechamber, which was cold and gloomy, our guide, who was the seer's domestic, bowed without proffering a word, and left us in complete darkness. "Now," said my father-in-law, "I shall give the proper sign!" He knocked three times in quite a special manner. After a moment's waiting we heard a sepulchral voice, which uttered but these three words: "Enter, my brother!" At that instant I began to tremble like a leaf, and I caught my father-in-law's arm. The room in which we now were was large and dim. A small lamp furnished with a shade threw a feeble light; the lamp was standing on a large table in the centre of the room covered with a black cloth. Seated by this spe- cies of desk, an old man, whose strange costume reminded one rather of the Oriental than the European, was read- ing attentively. Absorbed in his book, the man did not so much as raise his eyes at our approach. He wore enor- mous spectacles, his white hair fell over his shoulders, and his bent, so to say suffering, posture indicated long labours. A wooden inkstand, a death's head, and a pile of huge folios heaped on the table completed the scenic accessories. The place had no furniture, the walls were bare; I only noticed, quite at the end, a, great curtain of black cloth, which covered the whole of the back wall and seemed to 48 MEMOIRS OF THE conceal something. Near by was a convex mirror of vast dimensions mounted in a black wooden frame. "It is there," thought I, "it is surely in that mirror that the future appears, and the curtain probably veils fantastic apparitions." For to my eyes everything wore a super- natural aspect. We had come in noiselessly. "Master !" said my father-in-law at last, and the old man raised his head. "Here is the young woman I mentioned to you; her heart, as you know, is full of chanty, and her spirit eager for light; but as she yet knows neither Greek nor Latin, vouchsafe to speak to her in French." The seer turned to me. "What do you wish, my sister?" he said in the gravest tone. What I certainly wished for most at that particular mo- ment was to be back in my saloon, with the candlesticks lighted, in the midst of the pleasant company awaiting me there. But I took good care not to show my fright, and merely threw my father-in-law a supplicating glance, so as he might help me to say what / was supposed to wish. "She knows, master, that you rule over nature, that your profound knowledge enables you to see everything, and that the spirits are at your order. She would therefore like to witness one of those marvels in which you are proficient." The old man bowed his head, and appeared absorbed in thought. The deepest silence once more prevailed. Find- ing myself near the folios, I mechanically put out my hand, with the thought of opening one of the volumes. "Do not touch that!" cried the little man. "You would see pictures that would freeze you with terror; the profane cannot examine the contents of my books unimperilled !" This rather long sentence revealed to my ear the sound of a not unfamiliar voice, and I went over to my father- in-law to whisper to him: COUNTESS POTOCKA 49 "That is absolutely M. de R 's voice." "That is true; the first time I was struck by it, as you are," he replied so simply as to leave me no suspicion. "What does the sister say?" asked the old man. "She admires the grave and majestic sound of your voice," answered my father-in-law. The seer bowed with apparent humility, like a man from whom the awe he instils has wrested the avowal of a rash promise. "Since the brother demands," he said, "and since he is answerable for you, my sister, speak freely : what do you ask to see ? The beasts of the Apocalypse, the dead, or the absent?" I felt faint at the bare idea of the dead and the beasts, and I replied : "The absent." "I warn you," resumed the seer, "that my power does not reach beyond the seas, and that it only extends over a surface of twelve thousand six hundred and forty leagues. From this decide whom you wish to see appear." My affections being concentrated on a single spot of the globe, I excused him twelve thousand six hundred and thirty leagues, and asked to see my mother, my husband, and my friend Madame Sobolewska. "Very well. But you are not yet an adept, and you can therefore," he gravely went on, "not witness the preliminary ceremonies. Retire to the adjoining room for a minute." Whether I liked it or not, I was obliged to return to the cold and gloomy antechamber we had passed through on our arrival. It was the last trial, and not the least! To be left thus alone, after the emotions I had gone through, seemed to be beyond my strength. Propped up against the door, I began to reproach myself with an apparently crim- inal inquisitiveness, and, fervently praying to my good angel to protect me, I promised him faithfully never to try anything of the kind again. 50 MEMOIRS OF THE After a few minutes my father-in-law opened the door, and called me in. "Sister, you shall be satisfied ! But I warn you, that if you take one step or speak one word the charm will be broken and everything will disappear. Now attend care- fully. You will see those who are dear to you, and in the very place where they are at this hour." After delivering this speech with imposing solemnity, the old man clapped his hands three times. The black cur- tain I had noticed when we came in opened as if by itself, and through a thin mist I saw the box I had lately left and the three people mentioned, who bore the appearance of lis- tening attentively, as though the play, of which I had only seen the first act, was not yet over. The features, the dress, the gestures, all, in fact, was so perfectly exact that I could not suppress a cry of astonishment. The curtain fell, and I heard shouts of laughter. "I declare!" said my father-in-law, "you have exhibited such bravery that you cannot be refused complete initia- tion into all the witchcraft practised in this house. Come." And drawing me to the mysterious curtain, he opened it ; and I saw, not through a mist, but quite distinctly, a lav- ishly bedecked table, lit up with a hundred candles, about which all our friends were supping jovially. I was dumb with amazement. They got up, they surrounded me, they asked me what I thought of my taste for the marvellous. The marvellous ! I could not speak, I did not know what to reply. I was unable to distinguish the reality from the imitation. "But where are we?" I asked at last. "In the house of M. M , who is away from home. You have come by a thousand turns; you have even been outside the town." COUNTESS POTOCKA 51 "And the mysterious entrance?" "A little back staircase which you had never been up." "And the seer?" "M. de R ! ; you were on the point of recognising him by his voice." "And the mist?" "Gauze." "And the box?" "Painted on paper." "And the large folios I was not allowed to touch?" "The Journey to Naples and Sicily." "And the banquet?" "Your savings of a hundred ducats devoted to the seer's charities." "But then my father-in-law's fits of abstraction?" "A long prepared hoax." The cleverest, the most surprising thing in all this de- ception was to have calculated the degree of my courage and of my affections so well, and to have guessed in ad- vance that I should not trouble the repose of the dead, and that I should want to call up the very people my friends had thought of. My mother and my husband had not been admitted into the secret of the preparations; it was only coming away from the play that my mother-in-law apprised them of the place to go to, and of what was to happen. It had been justly feared that their solicitude might lead them to betray a mystery on which the success of the supper party depended, and which was not without a useful object. I learnt how easy it is to lead the imagination astray and to abuse cre- dulity, as I am sure that had I left at the instant the cur- tain fell, and had I been taken home by the same circuitous way that I had come, it would afterwards have been difficult to guide me to a proper appreciation of things of the kind. 52 MEMOIRS OF THE I should have remained convinced that seers have intimate relations with spirits, and that nothing supernatural is im- possible to them. I was not at all piqued at having been tricked; quite the contrary, no one enjoyed it more. But that evening brought me an immeasurable series of revelations. For at least a fortnight I must perforce relate to those who had not been there the details of the whole proceedings, explain to some, reassure others, repeat the same thing ten times a day, say the same names over and over. I thought it would kill me, and was finally tempted to answer like one of Prince Radzi- will's familiars, who, called to witness by that notorious joker to prove that the prince had taken part in a famous battle, said : "I could scarcely guarantee the fact, my Lord Prince, having been killed in the beginning of the action." During said battle the prince, seeing his ammunition would fail, picked up the balls that came after him with his hands, and immediately loaded the cannons with them, so as to send them back to the enemy hot. This same Radziwill, who was living in Paris at the commencement of Louis XV. 's reign, created a great sensation by his extravagances. He never bought but half or quarter of a shop, saying it took too much time to select, and that it was shorter to throw the things you did not w r ant out of the window after- wards. The grateful Parisians gave his name to an arcade which still exists. The rest of the winter passed quietly, without any re- markable occurrences, unless for myself, \vhose yet novel mode of life was composed of a thousand little happenings which cling to the memory in the ratio of the impression they made. Though living with our parents, we had separate house- holds. I therefore thought it quite allowable to invite guests, and occasionally to gather about me the people I COUNTESS POTOCKA 53 liked best. We were so considerate as to take the days when my mother-in-law was not alone, and we believed she would raise no objections to our little parties, where the oldest guest was under thirty. Alas, it was not so! She was piqued, and thought she saw an impolite exclusion in what was simply a desire to be rid of ceremony and enjoy the pleasures of people of our own age. Had she expressed herself openly, we would readily have sacrificed those brief hours of boisterous jollity; but she was angry in silence, and from that time a kind of constraint sprang up between us which never vanished. The 1 7th of March, after twenty-eight hours of the keen- est sufferings, I brought a son into the world, whose birth, so ardently desired, crowned my hopes. Since then I have had two children, but never have I again felt the sensation which the first cry of that first child gave me. My joy was a fever which for some minutes obliterated my sense of weakness; I tried to get up to go over to look at my son. But I fell back exhausted by the extreme pains I had gone through. Young and strong, I quickly recovered, and the ninth day, stretched out on my sofa, I received the usual visits of congratulation. It seemed as though my happiness was assured for the future by the birth of an heir, Alas ! with health the petty bickerings returned, and we finally concluded that although we were very well off with our relatives, it would be best to be at home. It was at this time that we went to reside at Natoline, and that I began to take an interest in that delightful country-seat. I did so most ardently. I sketched out all the plans; I entered into all the details. Without having seen them, I pictured Italy and Greece. My father-in-law was my mentor, and seemed proud of having made an artiste of me. From that moment I abandoned all other fancies, and my 54 COUNTESS POTOCKA 1 pride and my ambition were concentrated upon Natoline,that little gem which to me seemed worthy of immortality. When we were short of money I sold some of my dia- monds, so as to buy bronzes and marbles. My husband appeared to share my tastes, and, though rather cold and unenthusiastic, took pride in my purchases. Happy months, when sleepless nights were never due to anything but a rioting imagination ! How often did I dream with open eyes! How impatiently did I await daybreak, so that I might jot down on paper the ideas that had origi- nated in the calm of the night ! CHAPTER VII THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER AT WILLANOW 1805 AN UNEXPECTED GUEST PRINCE ADAM CZARTORYSKI THE DINNER ALEXANDER'S CONVERSATION THE VISITORS' BOOK. ONE evening, as we were quietly drinking tea by our fire- side, a letter was handed to my husband. As its contents evidently surprised him, I insisted on knowing its source. He told me to guess who the stranger was that was an- nounced for the next day. Well might I try; I could not guess. How, indeed, could I have imagined that it was the Em- peror Alexander and his train whom we were to prepare to receive? The more sovereigns I saw, the more I became convinced that they have no inkling of the inconvenience and em- barrassment they stir up. From the cradle up they hear so much of the bliss they shower on those who receive them, that they do not in the least imagine what a nuisance their visits are. Our servants did wonders. The proximity of a large town being of assistance in an impromptu of this sort, they 55 56 MEMOIRS OF THE succeeded beyond our expectations, and at two o'clock all was ready. I had invited my uncle, Prince Poniatowski, as well as his sister, Countess Tyszkiewicz, begging them to help me do the honours at this royal banquet me, poor novice, who was to begin with an autocrat ! The emperor arrived at four o'clock. He was young and handsome ; but, although he had a very good figure, he seemed to me elegantly turned rather than nobly and im- posingly. His manner lacked the sort of ease which one expected. He appeared to be constrained; his excessive politeness had something commonplace about it; and every- thing, to the starchness of the tightest of uniforms, lent him the air of a charming officer much more than that .of a young ruler. Prince Adam Czartoryski, a son of the Prince General's, accompanied Alexander. It was said that the emperor, in- fluenced by this friend, who knew no affection but love of his country, had inspired the autocrat with the resolve to set Poland up again. What there is no doubt of is that the Prussians, then masters of Warsaw, would not allow the emperor to pass through the town, for fear of the enthusiasm his presence might evoke at a moment when it was openly affirmed that he was about to declare himself King of Poland. And that it was which secured us the honour of his visit. The Prussian General Kalkreuth, the commandant at Warsaw, had been ordered to go to meet Alexander, and escort him back to the frontier a supererogatory cere- mony which blinded no one, and made every one laugh. I do not remember how my husband arrived at His Maj- esty's wishes with regard to the persons who were to sit at his table. Anyhow, only Prince Czartoryski and General Kalkreuth had that honour. The rest of the staff dined in EMPEROR ALEXANDER I. OF RUSSIA. From an engraving of iSob, by Hopivotul. COUNTESS POTOCKA 57 a separate room. Prince Poniatowski having sent his ex- cuses, my aunt came without him. We were therefore only six at table. A place had been laid in solitude at the head of the table. The emperor seemed put out about it, and pushed his arm- chair close to my seat. He ate little and talked a great deal. His conversation was simple and reserved; it was not to be gathered that his resources were great, but it was impossible not to allow him elevation of sentiment and in- finite tact. The events which brought him were scarcely hinted at, and his few remarks on the subject were very guarded. The generals composing his staff were not so modest ; they asked us for commissions to do in Paris, think- ing that their conquests and their triumphs would stop only there. But a month after our illustrious host's departure we learnt that he had been beaten at Austerlitz, and had re- treated in a continuous march to St. Petersburg. To go back to the dinner, which was a very prolonged affair: Alexander could not hear distinctly, and, like all young deaf people, affected a very low tone of speech. You did not venture to make him repeat what he had said, out of respect, so you generally answered at random. After passing into the drawing-room he remained there a good two hours, standing up the whole time. It was asserted his clothes were so tight that any other attitude was uncomfortable. About midnight he finally retired, choosing the simplest rooms made ready for his reception. The next day we had to rise early, to take part at His Majesty's breakfast, and go through the leave-taking. My health was not at all suited for all these exertions. About to enter his carriage, the emperor most affably asked me if there was no way of expressing his thanks. I had a strong notion, seeing him so well disposed, to ask for Poland. But a look from my husband, who had guessed 58 COUNTESS POTOCKA my thoughts, checked that patriotic outburst, and sent me back to the limits prescribed by custom 'and by etiquette, which does not lend itself to any species of improvisation, and one of the most positive precepts of which is never to ask princes for anything they have not beforehand decided not to refuse. So we had to content ourselves with asking Alexander to inscribe his name in the large visitors' book at Willanow, where all strangers commemorate themselves. He was good enough to sign his name on the first page. Little did we think that the name of Napoleon would soon be written next to the Emperor of Russia's. GENERAL KALKREUTH. From an oLi engraving. THE FRENCH AT WARSAW 1806 1807 THE VANGUARD END OF THE WAR WITH PRUSSIA ENTRY OF A FRENCH REGIMENT INTO WARSAW M. DE F T MURAT BALL GIVEN BY PRINCE PONIATOWSKI MURAT's PLUME. THE first summer of our residence in the country sped by extremely fast, absorbed as we were in innumer- able tasks and schemes. We returned to Warsaw about the end of October. Daily newspapers not being, as they are to-day, one of the prime necessities of life, very few people subscribed. On post days the gates of the privileged were besieged by all who were curious to know what was going to become of the Prussian monarchy. No one doubted Napoleon's star for an instant. He was certain to come back victorious from this campaign, as he had from all the others; but nobody expected so prompt a triumph over an army which gloried in its unbroken disci- pline and its recent successes. From that moment the anni- hilation of Prussia and the re-establishment of Poland seemed a probable result to the wisest. The public disguised its sentiments and hopes so little 61 62 MEMOIRS OF THE that the Prussians, the detested masters of a country they had not conquered, but which had fallen to them in the Par- tition of 1795, could not be mistaken as to the feelings the events called forth. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that no one was interfered with. The Prussian authorities contented themselves with intercepting as much news as pos- sible. Newspapers were stopped, letters burnt, the trium- phal march of the French army was carefully kept from us; but the glorious echo of the victory of Jena and Napo- leon's entry into Berlin could not be stifled for long. Henceforth every brain was heated, and no further efforts were made to conceal our delight. The restaurants were filled with ebullient youths, who, clinking glasses, sang patriotic songs, and shouted for their liberators and their brothers. General Kalkreuth, the commandant of the town, having become secretly apprised that the emperor had left Berlin and was marching upon Posen, despatched a courier in full haste to get instructions, for, being forgotten amid all the confusion, he was in a very awkward situation. All the while planning his retreat, he contrived so well to keep the movements of the Grand Army wrapt in mystery that we learnt of the departure from -Berlin and Napoleon's entry into Posen almost the same day. That was the signal of retreat for the Prussian authori- ties, who decamped from Warsaw, hooted by the street boys, and went to join the Russians encamped on the other side of the Vistula. The King of Prussia wrote to Prince Ponia- towski, naming him governor of the town and commander of a national guard that did not exist. He begged him to watch over the safety of the inhabitants, asseverating that he knew of no worthier hands within which to place such important interests. But the Prussians, not having left a single musket behind, the prince was reduced to arm a hun- COUNTESS POTOCKA 63 dred fellows as well as he could, and they, with their pikes and loaded sticks, installed themselves in the guard houses. This state of affairs lasted but a few days. The 2 ist of November, in the morning, the arrival of a French regiment was announced. How shall I describe the enthusiasm with which it was received? To understand such emotions properly one must have lost everything and believe in the possibility of hoping for everything like our- selves. This handful of warriors, when they set foot on our soil, seemed to us a guarantee of the independence we were expecting at the hands of the great man whom nothing could resist. The popular intoxication was at its height; the whole town was lit up as if by magic. That day, forsooth, the authorities had no need to allot quarters to the new arrivals ; people fought for them, carried them off, vied with each other in treating them best. Those of the citizens who knew no French, not being able to make themselves under- stood, borrowed the dumb language which belongs to all countries, and, by signs of delight, handshakings, and bursts of glee, made their guests comprehend that they freely offered them all the house contained, the cellar included. Tables were even laid in the streets and squares. Our future independence, the brave army, the great Napoleon, were toasted many a time. There was embracing and fra- ternising and a little too much drinking, for the soldiers ended by giving way to excesses which momentarily cooled the ardour which had prompted their reception. The next day Murat, then Grand Duke of Berg, made his entry on horseback. A quantity of plumes were to be seen, braided uniforms, gold and silver lace, etc. Lodg- ings had been prepared for him at the Hotel Raczynski; but, being uncomfortable there on account of a smoking chimney, he came to settle in our house. 6 4 MEMOIRS OF THE I was very anxious to see a Frenchman. Those who had come the day before did not count; we only saw them as a crowd. The supper hour having struck, my father-in-law, Count Potocki, sent a request to His Highness' adjutants to come up. To my great disappointment, these gentlemen declined ; they never supped. But scarcely had we sat down at table when a noise of sabres and spurs came from the next room, and we saw a hussar officer enter, who advanced with an eagerness one only exhibits towards good friends. "Ah! It is Charles!" exclaimed my husband, who had known him in Paris, and, after embracing him, presented him to us. The name was not new to me; I had heard M. de F 1 spoken of as a very seductive man, who had excited a deep passion in one of my most distinguished country- women. Sensible women pay little attention to successful men, or at least are on their guard against them. Those who are less sensible, and who rely on their principles, on the other hand, find a certain pleasure in braving such men. I ac- knowledge without further ado that I was one of these. I therefore felt greatly displeased at being caught unawares, and at not being well dressed. I bowed my head, deter- mined not to be seen and not to look; but the sound of a voice the like of which I had never heard shook that resolve, and I raised my eyes to look at the face of the man who spoke so harmoniously. He is, I believe, the only person I have chanced to hear before seeing. Charles was twenty-one or twenty-two; without being really handsome, he had a charming face, which was veiled with a melancholy that seemed to betray a secret sorrow. His manners were elegant without fatuity, his conversation clever, his opinions independent; no one ever more fully realised the idea one has of the hero of a romance and of a COUNTESS POTOCKA 65 true knight. And his mother, Madame de Souza, used him as a type that she reproduced under different names in her delightful novels. He spent a part of the evening with us. He was be- sieged with questions as to this remarkable campaign, fin- ished in a few days. His answers were in the best taste, without the least swagger; he understood the art of conversation like a real Frenchman, never exhausting one's interest, passing from one subject to another smoothly yet not too slowly. To- wards the end of the evening I was drawn into the talk; I thought to perceive that he listened to me with pleasure, and I confess I was flattered. Two days after his arrival Prince Murat, having sent to me to announce his visit, in the evening came up with a numerous attendance. His face was without nobility and entirely devoid of expression. He had the majestic air of actors who are playing kings. It was easily seen that his manners were sham, and that he usually had others. He did not talk badly, for he watched himself carefully; but his Gascon accent and some too soldierlike phrases belied the "prince" a little. He was fond of telling of his feats of arms, and talked war to us for over an hour. The taking of Liibeck was his favourite theme: he had entered that place at the head of his cavalry, like one going to an assault. It was a fine exploit, was that, but rather unpleasant to hear related. Blood ran in the streets, horses reared at the heaps of dead bodies. This too faithful pic- ture of war was not comforting to us poor women, who were to see all those we were most deeply interested in rushing to arms. Murat had already contracted princely habits; he did not converse, he talked, flattering himself that you listened, if not with approbation at least with respectful deference. Rising at last and bowing with dignity, he said he would 66 COUNTESS POTOCKA return to his study, to examine the map of Poland and the positions of the Russian army. A few days later there was a grand ball at the palace. Murat, desirous of showing himself off, had told Prince Poniatowski that, having heard of the beauty of the Polish ladies, he wanted to judge of them for himself. My uncle gave a magnificent party. I was indisposed, and could not go, but my friends brought me all the news post haste. The prince had appeared in full uniform. I afterwards saw him in this somewhat theatrical costume, such as was suited to a prince of his blood. There was nothing to be admired about it all except his plume that tri-coloured plume which was always seen floating where there was menace of dan- ger ! And the Poles, fascinated by such valour, would have willingly put a crown over that glorious plume ! We never knew if Napoleon had held out a hope of this kind to his brother-in-law, but it is known that Murat en- tertained this hope, and was pleased to compare Sobieski's fortunes with his own. It was always one of his favourite topics of conversation ; he recurred to it incessantly, and wanted to be informed of everything relating to the rise of that soldier-king. CHAPTER II NAPOLEON'S ENTRY INTO WARSAW THE TRIUMVIRATE THE PREPARATIONS SECRET ARRIVAL OF THE EMPEROR THE OFFICIAL RECEPTION. As soon as it was known that the emperor had reached Posen it was decided to send a deputation to meet him. This was no easy matter. All persons of distinction were at their country places awaiting the issue of events. More- over, the people whose property was under the Emperor of Russia's control also held aloof; they profited by the expe- rience of the past, and knew that a decree of confiscation would be the inevitable result of an imprudent action. The difficulty was solved by improvising a rather inferior triumvirate, to be sent to anticipate the conqueror. His eagle eye quickly detected the standing of this deputation, whom he addressed in the most ordinary terms, not in the least calculated to sustain the hopes to which his coming had given birth. Prince Murat gave the authorities to un- derstand that the emperor would appear with a certain degree of pomp, if only to send a brilliant article to the "Moniteur." Triumphal arches were speedily constructed, illuminations were got ready, inscriptions were composed, wreaths were plaited. All these preparations were super- fluous. Napoleon amused himself with disappointing the 67 68 MEMOIRS OF THE general expectancy ; he arrived at four in the morning on a shabby horse he had got at the last relay station. It may readily be imagined what alarm this occurrence caused at the palace, where all were wrapt in deepest slum- bers. The emperor went to the sentry box himself, to wake up the sentinel, who gave the proper signal. The commotion was all the worse as the repairs it had been necessary to undertake in the palace, uninhabited for many years, were not finished. Most luckily, the apartments of the last king, left intact, seemed but to be awaiting the new guest. This part of the palace, built in the reign of Stanislaus Augustus, bears that stamp of perfection that escapes the havoc of time and the tyranny of fashion. The emperor had allowed no one but Rustan, his Mame- luke, to accompany him. The carriages had been left stick- ing in the mud there were as yet no highroads, and the crossroads were impassable at that season. No sooner arrived, than the emperor had it given out that he would interview the authorities in the evening, and also persons who had the right to be presented to him. I still feel some emotion at the recollection of the impa- tience with which we waited for those who had just been admitted to the palace. My father-in-law was at the head of the official delegation. He returned at ten o'clock at night, less pleased and more astonished than I could explain. Napoleon had spoken with the volubility and prolixity which, in him, indicated a sort of nervous excitement. He had talked a lot, without, however, saying anything en- couraging. I dare even say that, on reflection, he would have liked to withdraw sundry remarks that escaped him. After expatiating on what he had recently accomplished in Prussia, minutely detailing the motives which had urged that war upon him, he dwelt on the tremendous obstacles COUNTESS POTOCKA 69 to be overcome in order that so large an army might advance and be supplied with sufficient food. "But," he added, in conclusion, "no matter !" And, put- ting his hands, into his pockets, he added: "I have the Frenchmen there ! By appealing to their imagination I can do what I like with them!" A sort of silent surprise depicted itself on the faces of all his hearers. After a pause he added: "Yes yes it's just as I tell you!" And, taking a pinch of snuff, to recover his breath, he resumed his ardent discourse. He launched out vio- lently against the Polish magnates, who, in his opinion, did not manifest enough zeal and patriotism. He cried : "There must be devotion and sacrifices and blood! Otherwise, you will never come to anything!" But in all this flow of words, not one passed his lips which might have been construed as a promise. Conse- quently, the most sensible came back unsatisfied from this audience, but resolved to do anything that honour and love of country dictated. Henceforth military organisation, recruiting, etc., were all the talk. Everything in reason was given up, and the little retained the French took by force. Whatever Napoleon may have said about the lack of zeal of the magnates, I can assert that never in any country were such tremendous sacrifices so cheerfully rendered. Hardly a day elapsed which did not bring the news of some voluntary offer, some patriotic gift. When the money was exhausted we sent our plate to the mint. In the can- tonments the officers' expenses were defrayed by the agri- cultural proprietors. A rich gentleman, who had wished to do the magnificent yo COUNTESS POTOCKA to one of the most famous marshals, was not a little sur- prised to hear, the next day, that his silver had disappeared with the hero's vans. This was considered too much of a good joke, and reported to the emperor, who, indignant at such conduct in a friendly country, at once ordered the restitution of the plate, and put the abstraction down to the account of the people of the marshal's household, who were quite unused to being reckoned with in this manner. CHAPTER III FIRST HOSTILITIES PRINCE BORGHESE THE SICK CHILD DEVOTION OF M. DE F T SAVARY'S IDEA PULTUSK RECEPTION AT THE PALACE PRESENTATION TO THE EMPEROR. I WAS in the habit of receiving a number of French people. My husband always took part in these gatherings, and helped me to do the honours. Sometimes we played cards, oftener we conversed. Prince Borghese, the emperor's brother-in-law, was one of our frequent visitors, but no one took any notice of him. I shall never forget how, in the short periods in which the conversation became a little serious, he went for some chairs, arranged them two by two in the middle of the room, and amused himself by humming tunes and dancing square dances with these mute supers. My son August in the meanwhile fell ill. The whole house was disorganised; I was separated from my child. He occupied one of the wings of the house adjoining the apartments given up to Prince Murat's adjutants ; to see my poor child, I had to cross the courtyard. It was the month of December; the short walk, become dangerous because the pathway was slippery, had been strictly forbidden me on account of my condition. Unable to see my son at any moment, I imagined him far worse than he was, and, not 72 MEMOIRS OF THE being disposed to join in the pleasures of the others, I re- tired much earlier than usual that day. At dawn I sent to the nurse for news. What was my surprise when, instead of a verbal answer, a bulletin was handed me describing the whole course of the night! I knew the number of times the little invalid had taken his dose, how long he had slept, what his degree of fever had been! My mother's heart, without knowing the writing, guessed whose it was. That day I felt embarrassed when addressing M. de F , and as I ventured a few words of thanks he an- swered : "This is an instance, to be sure, where the simplest things are made a merit of. I was on duty last night. In your son's room there was a comfortable lounge where I installed myself, and, not wishing to drop off to sleep, I tried to be- come interested in what was going on about me. Your child is out of all danger," he added, in accents that went right to my heart. I could not speak he took my hand, pressed it, without daring to put his lips to it, and quickly went away. From that instant a sort of intimacy sprung up between us. One might have said an old and sacred friendship which had all the charm of mysterious and timid new love. Faithful to my obligations, I would not even admit the pos- sibility of a sentiment which ought to have been destroyed, and I was content to deny the danger. It seemed permissible to feel friendship for a man who combined all the qualities one would have wished for in a brother. The troubles I had disappeared when I met that gentle and melancholy look, when I heard Charles sing those exquisite romances, that no one sang as he did. I forgot, in fact, and that was my worst mistake, that a young woman ought to have no confidant and no friend but COUNTESS POTOCKA 73 her husband. But then why did mine not remind me of this? The winter of 1807 was extremely severe. The country, already impoverished by the passage of the Russian army, found its resources at an end when it came to supplying the wants of a hundred thousand French concentrated at a sin- gle place! The troops suffered a great deal, and began to murmur, for they were short of everything. Savary, then the emperor's adjutant, proposed what he termed a vigorous step to starve the town by closing the gates, and to seize the victuals which were every day brought in for the sustenance of the population. Napoleon, tired of the murmurings of his "grumblers," acceded to this idea, and the orders were given. We were thus almost condemned to die of starvation. The friend warned us under the seal of secrecy, of what was about to happen. An indiscretion might have ruined him; so the evil had to be parried without compromising M. de F . We took counsel together, and my husband decided that, upon the pretext of a sudden journey, we would have pro- visions taken in. Most happily these precautions became superfluous. General Berthier and M. de Talleyrand hav- ing had the courage to represent to the emperor that he ran the risk of provoking a rebellion, it was concluded to force the Austrian line of outposts, which secured us, and the army too, food in abundance. While surprise was beginning to be declared because of the apparent tranquillity that reigned at the palace, and while the ladies were becoming offended because the em- peror evinced so little anxiety to see them, Napoleon was making plans of attack, and, without being taken aback by the rigours of the season, he departed hastily, so as to pre- sent himself before the Russians encamped on the other side of the Vistula, in the little town of Pultusk. The fighting 74 MEMOIRS OF THE continued for some days without particular results. The winter stopped everything. Continual rains had so ruined the roads that the cannon stuck in the mud. Some of the soldiers perished in the bogs. Nothing to equal it had ever been witnessed before, and he, whose genius had up to that time seemed to dominate the elements, saw himself obliged to retreat after having harassed and driven back the enemy, whom he yet left in condition to offer a long resistance. Not without reason was the effect on Napoleon of this first reverse feared, and it was in trembling that the authori- ties went to wait upon him at the palace. But, to the great astonishment of all, he showed himself quite undisturbed. "Well," he said, "your mud has saved the Russians; let us wait for the frost." He then spoke of the government of the country, insist- ing on the need of introducing perfect order and foresight into the methods of supplying the wants of the army, men- tioning the points where stores ought to be kept, and enter- ing upon all the details with admirable lucidity and an already complete knowledge of the places, things, and men to be utilised. Things were different this time from the first. All who went to the palace came back penetrated with admiration for the reach and depth of this genius, as fit to conquer as to govern. My father-in-law was so kind as to come to give me an account of what had happened at that interview. He had barely sat down when we heard a great clamour of men and horses. Jt was Prince Murat coming in with fuss and bustle. He, too, was returning from this short campaign, followed by his whole staff. Fortunately, no one was absent from muster, though it S. A,'S.W ur JLK JC -. * jf j * ///s//w aW f//;m<). MARSHAL BERTHIER. an engraving by Lignon njter a drawing by I'igneron. COUNTESS POTOCKA 75 would have been according to the prince's habits to be cara- coling before the bullets at all the outposts. A few days after it was announced that at last there was to be a reception for the ladies. So it was to be our turn to see the great man and form an opinion of him ! A hand- some toilet had to be thought of national vanity was in- volved. I was very well pleased with mine. I wore a black vel- vet gown, stitched a la Mathilde with gold and pearls. An open Van Dyck ruff, light tufts of curls, and all my dia- monds matched this dignified and severe costume to perfec- tion, a contrast, I must confess, to my then fresh, smiling face. Fashion had not yet sanctified these fanciful cos- tumes ; I believe I was one of the first to wear them, and my dresses partook more of the artist than of the fashion journal. We reached the palace about nine in the evening. We had to traverse a whole army in gilt and galloon, drawn up in line to see the ladies pass. I went behind my mother- in-law, looking right and left to observe the effect my attire would produce on judges both competent and exacting. I admit that I was delighted when, from the midst of flatter- ing whispers, I overheard this exceedingly French remark : "Ah! How original! You would say a pretty picture stepping out of an old frame. You see nothing of the kind in Paris !" We were ushered into the great hall, hung with his- torical paintings, taken to Moscow since by order of the Emperor Nicholas. This hall was as light as day. A num- ber of ladies were already ranged side by side, for, as the selection had been indiscriminate, the company was very large. We waited rather long, and, if it must be acknowledged, our curiosity was not unmingled with fright. Of a sudden y6 MEMOIRS OF THE the silence was broken by a swift rumour, the wings of the door opened noisily, and M. de Talleyrand advanced, with a loud and intelligible voice uttering the magic word that made the world tremble : The Emperor. Immediately Na- poleon made his appearance, and halted for a minute as if to be admired. So many portraits exist of this astonishing man, his his- tory has been so much written about, all the stories told by the children of his old soldiers will live so long, that the generations to come will know him almost as well as ourselves. But what will be difficult to grasp is how deep and unexpected the impression was which those felt who saw him for the first time. As for me, I experienced a sort of stupor, a mute surprise, like that which seizes one at the aspect of any prodigy. It seemed to me that he wore an aureole. The only thought I could frame when I had recovered from this first shock was that such a being could not possibly die, that such a mighty organisation, such a stupendous genius, could never perish ! I inwardly awarded him double immortality. It is likely and I want to make no excuses that the impression he made on me resulted from my youth and the vividness of my imagination. However this may be, I simply relate what I felt. My mother-in-law was near the door by which the em- peror had entered; he addressed himself to her first, and spoke of her husband in flattering terms. My turn came next. I cannot repeat what he said, so upset was I. Prob- ably it was one of the stock phrases that all young women get. I must, no doubt, have answered quite clumsily, for he looked at me with some surprise, which put me still fur- ther out of countenance, and drove everything out of my mind except the gracious and gentle smile with which he accompanied the few words he said to me. This smile, M. DE TALLEYRAND. Front an engraving by Mote after Gerard's portrait. COUNTESS POTOCKA 77 which he habitually assumed when speaking to a woman, entirely counteracted his usual stern gaze. He accomplished the round of the room very quickly. Several of the -ladies attempted to broach the subject of the hopes his presence gave rise to, but monosyllables were the only answers to these patriotic flights, somewhat out of place at a presentation, and he disposed of us in less than half an hour. Arrived at the door by which he had entered, he said, rather loudly, to M. de Talleyrand : "What pretty women!" Then, turning round once more, he saluted us gracefully with his hand and returned to his apartments. CHAPTER IV GALLANTRIES BALL AT M. DE TALLEYRAND'S THE GLASS OF LEMONADE AN IMPERIAL QUADRILLE MADAME WALEWSKA THE KEY TO PRINCE MURAT's APARTMENT. THE emperor declared that, as there was to be no fighting, he wanted us to enjoy ourselves. The time was propitious, for the carnival had just begun. There was an impedi- ment, however. ' The liberators were occupying all our houses; everywhere the proprietors were reduced, just like ourselves, to a few small rooms, where some sort of crowd- ing in was possible, but where it was out of the question to think of entertaining. Prince Poniatowski, who alone could have invited a large company to the palace, was hampered by the presence of the emperor. After much discussion, it was decided to give the first ball at M. de Talleyrand's, Grand Chamber- lain and Minister of Foreign Affairs. The emperor, as well as all the princes, were to be there. The assurance was given that there would be no more than fifty ladies, but such a severe regulation could not hold out against the thousand and one little intrigues in vogue on similar occasions. It was certainly one of those parties which must not be missed for anything in the world. 78 COUNTESS POTOCKA 79 Everybody's vanity and curiosity were stretched to the ut- most. As for me, I was possessed of the liveliest desire to see the host at close quarters, who was reported to be the most affable and cleverest man of his time. To say the truth, he took little trouble to appear so to us. The intimates asserted that no one joined such dexterity to such brilliancy; but if I were to judge him according to the impression he then made upon me, I should say he was thoroughly satiated and bored with everything greedy for fame and fortune, jealous of the favours of a master he detested, without either character or principles, and, in a word, as unhealthy in mind as in appearance. I can scarcely convey the surprise I experienced when I saw him advance laboriously to the middle of the drawing- room, a napkin folded under his arm, a gilt tray in his hand, and offer a glass of lemonade to the monarch whom he in private considered an upstart. In his youth M. de Talleyrand was said to have counted many successes among the ladies, and I have since seen him in the midst of his old seraglio. It was really very comical : all those dames, to whom he had in turn played lover, tyrant, or friend, vainly tried to amuse him. His rudeness defeated all their efforts. He yawned at one, was curt to another, and made fools of them all, maliciously recurring to reminiscences and dates. To return to the ball. It was one of the most remark- able that it was ever my privilege to attend. The em- peror took part in a square dance, which paved the way for his affair with Madame Walewska. "How do you think I dance?" he asked me, smiling. "I suspect you have been laughing at me." " In truth, sire," I replied, "for a great man your dancing is perfect." A little before that Napoleon had seated himself between 8o MEMOIRS OF THE the future favourite and myself. After talking for a few minutes he asked me who his other neighbour was. As soon as I had mentioned her name, he turned to her as if no one knew more about her than he. We learnt afterward that M. de Talleyrand had extended his labours as far as managing this first interview and smoothing the preliminary obstacles. Napoleon, having expressed a wish to count a Pole among his conquests, one of the right kind was chosen lovely and dull. Some pre- tended to have noticed that, after the quadrille, the emperor had shaken hands with her, which was equivalent, they said, to an appointment; and it did take place, in fact, the next evening. It was rumoured that a great dignitary had gone to fetch the fair one ; quick and undeserved promotion for a good-for-nothing brother was spoken of, and a dia- mond ornament, which was said to have been refused. People said a great many things they perhaps did not know and invented at pleasure. They even went so far as to assert that Rustan, the Mameluke, had acted as lady's maid ! What is certain, however, is that we were all distressed that a person admitted to society had shown such facility, and had defended herself as little as the fortress of Ulm. But time, which colours everything, gave this connection, so lightly contracted, a tinge of constancy and disinter- estedness which partly effaced the irregularity of its origin, and ended in placing Madame Walewska among the notable personages of her period. Exquisitely pretty, she was a realization of Greuze's faces; her eyes, her mouth, and her teeth were beautiful. Her laugh was so fresh, her gaze so soft, her face so seductive, as a whole, that it was never apparent that anything was wanting to the complete regu- larity of her features. Married at sixteen to an octogenarian who never ap- peared in public, in society she had the position of a young COUNTESS POTOCKA 8l widow. Her extreme youth, combined with such conve- nient circumstances, gave room to all sorts of surmises, and if Napoleon was her last lover, it was asserted that he had not been the first. After the emperor had made his choice the princes of the family wanted to follow suit. It was difficult, as there was more than glory involved in this audacious enterprise. One morning M. Janvier, Prince Murat's private secre- tary, was announced. He entered, a key in his hand, much embarrassed at his undertaking. Not knowing how to begin, he remained mute, and turned his key over and over without venturing to look at me, whilst I, on my side, racked my brain to guess what he wanted. In order that this anecdote may be understood, I must say a word about the arrangements of the palace. Between the story occupied by my mother-in-law and the ground floor, where the large apartment was situated which I had surrendered to Prince Murat, there were tiny mezzanine rooms, of which my mother-in-law never made use except in the coldest weather, because they communicated the heat thoroughly by way of a secret staircase. This charming retreat, furnished and decorated in Louis XV. style, was looked upon as a part of the large apart- ment. The key of it had been given to Prince Murat's servants when he had come to live in our house, and nobody had thought of it since. That was the key M. Janvier had been ordered to bring to me. Being a man of sense, he felt fully the impropriety of his mission, and was doubly confused when he perceived that I did not understand, and that I persisted in refusing the key as a useless object; because, inhabiting the same floor as my mother-in-law, her private stairs were all that con- cerned me. Seeing me utterly at a loss, he took the liberty to say, that His Highness, not caring to propose large par- 82 COUNTESS POTOCKA ties, had thought I might perhaps be pleased to take tea occasionally in these charming nooks. I began to compre- hend, and I got angry ! He must have read it in my eyes, for I thought he would fall from his chair. He rose, stum- bling, and going to a bracket deposited there the miserable key, and made a profound bow, preparatory to his exit. I could scarce contain myself indignation inspired me. Smiling as disdainfully as I was able, I begged M. Janvier to tell the prince that my mother-in-law would certainly be sensible to his attention, that at her age large parties were found objectionable, and that she might avail herself of His Highness' obliging offer; that, in any case, since he was leaving the key, I should hand it to my mother-in- law. And, bestowing my haughtiest salute on the poor sec- retary, who stood petrified by the door, I left the room. CHAPTER V THE EMPEROR'S GAME OF WHIST MORE BALLS THE PARADE THE EMPEROR'S ORCHESTRA THE DUTCH DEPUTATION THE STAKE AT CARDS THE HEIR PRESUMPTIVE OF BAVARIA THE "COUNT OF COM- MINGES" THE PRINCES OF THE BLOOD MURAT's GAS- CON ACCENT HIS AFFECTED PHRASES. M. DE TALLEYRAND'S ball was followed by two others : one given by Prince Borghese, the other by Prince Murat. I was indisposed, and did not attend the first; it was my mother-in-law's opinion that I ought to be at the second, so as to sustain the part I had adopted towards M. Janvier, and nqt in any way change the relationship of frigid polite- ness existing between our guest and ourselves. The weather continuing to render the roads impassable, the emperor did not leave town, and his regular outings were limited to the parade which took place in Saxon Square. Although this was an almost daily drill, people flocked there in crowds whenever Napoleon showed him- self. He was accompanied back to the palace with spon- taneous shouts and hurrahs, which showed him how his fame and our hopes had endeared him to the nation. He did not seem in the least put out by these demonstrations, although sometimes the enthusiasm resulted in blocking his way. 83 84 MEMOIRS OF THE Besides the balls, there was a court reception once a week. The evening began with a splendid concert and ended with a game of whist. There was never any dancing at the palace. The emperor had a complete orchestra in his train, under the direction of the celebrated composer Paer. It was always Italian music. Napoleon seemed to be passionately devoted to it. He listened attentively, applauded with dis- crimination, and the sounds of harmony appeared to seize strongly upon his moral faculties. A proof was given us at one of the entertainments. He had just received information that General Victor, the bearer of a despatch of the highest importance, had allowed the Prussians to catch him ! This piece of news put him beside himself. If not a case of treason so it was noised about it was at least one of unpardonable care- lessness. Now, that very day a Dutch deputation, come to congratulate the emperor upon his victory at Jena, was to be admitted to audience immediately before the reception. It was near ten o'clock, we had been waiting a long time, and were beginning to suspect something extraordinary might be happening, when, the door being noisily thrown open, we saw the fat Dutchmen, in their scarlet clothes, roll rather than walk in. The emperor was prodding them, ex- claiming in somewhat loud tones : "Go on ! Go on !" No doubt a number of people had accumulated at the door the moment that Napoleon made his appearance, for he walked very quickly, as was his habit. The poor envoys lost their heads, and tumbled all over each other. At any other time this comical scene would have raised a laugh, but the master's voice and the expression of his face were not reassuring, and, to say truth, we should have pre- ferred not to witness this episode. We were wrong. The music soothed the emperor quickly; towards the end of the COUNTESS POTOCKA 85 concert he resumed his gracious smile, addressing pleasant words to the ladies he liked best, before sitting down to his whist table. The emperor always named the ladies in the morning who were to play with him in the evening. His choice habitually fell upon one of the oldest and two of the youngest. I was taught to play an indifferent game, and the first time the coveted distinction was mine I let slip a too hasty answer, which was apparently not taken amiss, seeing that from that day I was a fixture at the card table. At the moment when the cards were drawn, Napoleon, turning in my direction, inquired : "What shall the stake be?" "Oh, sire," I answered, "some town, some province, some kingdom!" He laughed. "And supposing you should lose?" he asked, with a par- ticularly sly look. "Your Majesty is in funds, and will perhaps deign to pay for me." This speech won me favour which was never withdrawn. Whether in Poland or in Paris, Napoleon never failed to accord me a distinguished welcome, and to treat me with endless consideration. It was remarked that Madame Walewska never played cards, and this regard for propriety was universally com- mended. A really funny thing it was to see all the little German princes, who, under various pretexts remaining at head- quarters, danced attendance at the emperor's game of cards. Among others there was the heir presumptive to the throne of Bavaria, who respectfully kissed Napoleon's hand when- ever he managed to get it. But he had the impudence to be in love with Madame Walewska! Napoleon's peace was not in the least disturbed by this rivalry, which was even 86 MEMOIRS OF THE supposed to amuse him. The prince, much maltreated by nature, was, besides, deaf and a stutterer. The foreign ministers apart and some of the high func- tionaries settled down at play, no one sat down in the emperor's presence, not even his brothers-in-law. This did not seem to displease Prince Murat, who did not lose the opportunity to pose, and to strike attitudes which he judged appropriate to show oft" the beauty of his figure. But little Borghese was enraged, and still had not the courage to sit down. After cards came supper. Napoleon never took a seat at table, but walked about, so as to chat with the ladies, diverting himself with asking a thousand questions, which sometimes were embarrassing, considering the extremely precise answers he exacted. He wanted to know what you did, what you read, what you thought about most, what you liked best. One day, or one evening rather, when, leaning on the back of my chair, he amused himself with examining me in this way as to my reading, he talked novels, and told me that of all which had come into his hands, the "Comte de Comminges" had interested him by far the most. He had read it twice, and each time had been moved to tears. I did not know the book, and it may well be imagined that, no sooner had I reached home, I ransacked my father- in-law's library. Unfortunately, this novel was not there. Only a long time after that conversation did I succeed in getting a copy, and I too shed tears ! My mother-in-law, being the only lady of Warsaw who had kept up a salon, found herself obliged to give drawing- room teas and dances. A host of strangers who had come with the diplomatic body asked nothing better than to be entertained. The princes, of the blood so-called, missed none of these parties, without, however, compromising their dignity, for they only danced at court balls! COUNTESS POTOCKA 87 Prince Murat, little discountenanced by the failure of his absurd enterprise, seized this opportunity to talk to me, and overwhelmed me with insipid compliments. I scarcely made an effort to prevent his seeing how he wearied me. He finally, though somewhat late, did perceive it. Then, as- suming a melodramatic air, he said this very ridiculous phrase rendered more so by his Gascon accent which has made my friends laugh so much : "Madame Alexandrel you are not ambitious; you do not care for princes !" At Paris I heard a companion anecdote. The day that Murat was proclaimed King of Naples, a fair one, touched by his greatness, accorded him a private interview. As the cares of his empire were not yet taking up much of his time, he arrived too early, and, impatient of waiting, he carried his hand to his forehead, exclaiming: "Was an unhappier monarch ever known?" When I reflect how petty and absurd all those princes of Napoleon's family seemed to us by the side of the colossus who overshadowed them, I repeat the maxim proved true by the ages, that in the eyes of mankind only a great char- acter or great deeds can justify sudden elevation. CHAPTER VI EYLAU THE PINK RELIC MARET, DUKE DE BASSANO THE DUKE DE DALBERG BIRTH OF NATHALIA POTOCKA MADAME WALEWSKA AT OSTERADE JOSEPHINE'S SHAWL NA- POLEON'S OPINION OF "CORINNE" BATTLE OF EYLAU THE RETURN OF THE FRENCH FEAT OF ARMS BY PRINCE BORGHESE. WAR was no longer the topic. Many people even believed the emperor was waiting for the spring to resume hostili- ties. But, as rapid in his resolves as in his actions, he sud- denly left on the 5th of February, and the army got orders to move. A farewell is a dangerous rock! It is then hard not to betray a sentiment one is continually repressing. Fortu- nately I was not alone ! Charles wrote to me on the pretext of commending to my care a pocketbook which he did not like to expose to the chances of war. It contained the letters of a mother he dearly loved, and who wrote with a particular grace. He begged me, in conclusion, not to refuse him, as a token of sacred friendship, a relic (supposed to have the virtue of warding off bullets), a pink ribbon which I had worn the day before. This idea silenced my scruples : I surrendered COUNTESS POTOCKA 89 the pink ribbon! People who are going to war have the right to ask so much ! He made me promise to write some- times. He requested permission to keep me informed of the progress of an army that was to fight for our cause. I submitted this request to my husband; as he found nothing to object, I promised, and he went. I have not yet spoken of Maret, the Duke de Bassano, minister and secretary of state; he was one of those who rarely left the emperor. This time, however, he was to await events. Arrived at great station, he was perhaps the only man of this period of speedy fortunes who had kept nothing of the rank he had started from, yet without any way abusing that which he had obtained. His manners, his dress, his conver- sation, all, excepting his enormous calves, belonged to a person of good society. If his mind was less versatile and subtle than M. de Talleyrand's, his perfect tact, joined to rare good judgment, came to his aid, and rendered him fit to cope with the ablest. An upright and honest man moreover, he had earned the right to hold his head up. His affairs were related to my father-in-law's, so that we saw him often. After working a long time, he would come into the room to chat with us for a moment ; he called these short intervals his recreation. His politeness was of the kind that comes from the heart; he never missed an opportunity of being obliging. He was accused of being amenable to flattery, and of having bestowed his confidence on persons little worthy of it. It is possible true kindness has this drawback, that it is easy to abuse it. I must not forget, in speaking of our friends, the clev- erest of them all, the Duke de Dalberg. He was the last scion of that ancient family to which his- tory has allotted so conspicuous a place. At the moment of a German emperor's anointing a herald was charged go MEMOIRS OF THE with exclaiming : 1st cin Dalberg da? If the answer was in the negative, the ceremony was invalid. Upon his return to France the duke married a Made- moiselle de Brignole, by whom he had but one daughter, who died quite young. During his sojourn in Poland he entertained a deep passion for one who could neither appre- ciate nor understand him, nature having denied the duke the gifts that are seductive to a stupid person. In this matter he showed himself as extravagant as a German and as delicate as a Frenchman. I listened to his confidences patiently, for he put all the charm of his mind into them. He was a singular personage, half seer, half eighteenth- century philosopher; he had connections with all the most enlightened and the most compromised people in Europe. Violently imprudent, he said anything that came into his head, sparing no one, not even Napoleon, whom he called a tyrant and an usurper. His real mission was to watch the interests of Germany, which he somewhat neglected when love claimed all his faculties. Admitted to the intimacy of M. de Talleyrand, he would often groan with him over the current events! And still he pronounced sincere hopes for the restoration of Poland, while also ardently wishing for the emancipation of Ger- many two things as hard to reconcile as the rest of his sentiments. And what proved that Napoleon was not so bad as the duke made him out was that Dalberg was never interfered with; one could scarcely admit, though, that his way of thinking was unknown to the emperor. On the eighteenth of March, 1807, my sweet little daugh- ter was born. She sealed all our hopes. The child, six years old at this time of writing, was lovely from the day of her birth. Her little features had all the regularity of an /?./.igra?>ing fry Hopiuoo t of the portrait fry Sf/ic/io:: it COUNTESS POTOCKA 221 corpse, which was laid on a hearse covered with a mantle of ermine and adorned with insignia and coats of arms. The troops followed in dull silence, with arms reversed. Of a sudden, and by a spontaneous movement, the soldiers rushed at the horses, unharnessed them, and, without even referring to their officers, seized upon the coffin. They thus reached the church of the Holy Cross; there they sur- rendered the precious burden into the hands of the general officers who deposited it in the subterranean chapel. Later on Poniatowski's remains were to be removed to Cracow, to the cathedral where our kings and our great men lie interred. From that day forth every morning a crowd pressed into divine service, devoutly attending the funeral mass cele- brated at the coffin. More than once did I find myself be- side an old soldier bedewing the steps of the catafalque with his tears. My mourner's carriage had been able only to follow the procession slowly, in the midst of this throng, whose sor- row, more than any others', I understood and shared. I had taken my children with me ; it seemed to me as though I were absolving a last duty in offering their youthful im- agination the sight of this dark drama ; I wished them never to forget what glory there is in living and dying so. COUNT PAC. From an engraving by fuL'ke. PART THE FIFTH THE RUSSIANS AT WARSAW CHAPTER I KOSCIUSZKO AND ALEXANDER 1815 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ALEXANDER AND KOSCIUSZKO IN 1814 THE BURIAL MOUND THE MINISTERIAL COUN- CIL NOVOSILTZOFF M. DE LANCKOY's CHIBOUQUE. WHILE visiting my husband's parents, where I am engaged with the education of my three children, I sorrowfully resume the recital of the events which happened in Poland after the abdication of Napoleon. The Emperor Alexander declared he would take our country under his immediate protection. At Paris he evinced the most flattering regard for the Poles. Upon this General Kosciuszko thought it proper to address a letter to the Emperor of Russia, as reproduced here : Letter from Kosciuszko to the Emperor Alexander. "YOUR MAJESTY If, from my humble place of retreat, I venture to address a great monarch, it is because his gen- erosity is well known to me. I begin by asking three favours of Your Majesty: the first is to grant a general and unrestricted amnesty to the Poles, and to decree the freedom of the peasants scattered through the foreign ar- mies when they shall return to their homes. The second 225 226 MEMOIRS OF THE is that Your Majesty will proclaim Yourself King of Poland, accept a constitution analogous to that governing England, and that You will establish schools, maintained at the cost of the government, for the instruction of the peasants. The third is that their serfdom be abolished in ten years' time, and that they enjoy owners' rights on their land. "If my prayer is heard, I shall come, ill as I am, to throw myself at Your Majesty's feet, and thank You, and render homage to my sovereign. Could my weak capacities still be of any use, I would leave at once, to join my com- patriots and faithfully serve my country and my King. BEEVILLE, April 9, 1814. "KOSCIUSZKO." Alexander replied on the $d of May, the date of the Con- stitution of 1791. Skilled in the art of political coquetry, he purposely chose a day dear to the Poles to make them the most splendid promises, and to secure the personal affec- tion of Kosciuszko. This was his answer : Letter from the Emperor Alexander to Kosciuszko. "I feel a deep satisfaction, General, in answering your letter. Your dearest wishes are accomplished. With the aid of the Almighty I hope to realize the regeneration of the brave and worthy nation to which you belong. I have solemnly promised to do so, and at all times its welfare has occupied my thoughts. Political affairs alone have hin- dered the execution of my plans. Those obstacles no longer exist. Two years of terrible and glorious fighting have levelled them. A little while yet and the Poles shall re- cover their country, their name, and I shall have the happi- ness of convincing them that, forgetting the past, one whom they thought their enemy will be the man to fulfil their de- sires. What great pleasure, General, to have you at my right hand! Your name, your character, your talents will be my firmest support. "Believe me, General, in fullest esteem, "ALEXANDER." COUNTESS POTOCKA 227 Such words admitted no doubt of the intentions of him who had written and signed them with his own hand. Kos- ciuszko, seduced, and carried away, came to Paris to offer his services to the emperor, who, full of consideration for the champion of liberty everywhere (Kosciuszko had partici- pated in the war in America), went so far as to order a guard of honour to be stationed in front of the mansion occupied by the general. Understanding what enthusiasm that honoured name would arouse in Poland, Alexander effusively accepted the noble patriot's generous offer, initiated him into his plans, and invited him to follow him to the Congress of Vienna, where our fate was to be finally decided. Having however soon persuaded himself that the schemes of the Emperor Alexander were not or could not be what his ardent patriotism had imagined, he held aloof, and de- clined to have his name associated with the illusive promises incessantly poured upon us by the autocrat. His heart full of bitterness, Kosciuszko returned to Swit- zerland, to end his days there. A few years later he died in the arms of faithful friends, leaving a name which will be revered forever. The Poles obtained permission from the emperor to take back the earthly remains of Kosciuszko to the soil he had so warmly cherished and defended. His body was laid away in the cathedral at Cracow. With the design of preserving such precious memories, and of, so to speak, renewing them in perpetuity by placing before the eyes of future generations a monument which would recall the services and devotion of this popular hero, it was decided to erect a burial-mound in his honour. It took ten years to make this monument, and enormous sums of money all classes of society joining in subscribing : the emperor headed the list and contributed his gift. Far from being without greatness of soul, Alexander had a quality 228 MEMOIRS OF THE with which kings are rarely endowed : he understood ex- alted sentiments, and did not seem to take umbrage at them. Directly after the fate of our country had been settled at the Congress of Vienna, the Emperor Alexander added to his other titles that of King of Poland, and, wishing to give an appearance of nationality to the government, he nominated a council, with which three men of the highest integrity were connected : Prince Adam Czartoryski, Wawr- zecki and Prince Lubecki the presidency devolved upon the Russian Senator Lanckoy. Novosiltzoff was also a member of the council. Nature had disfigured this man, as though she had planned the repulsive expression of his face to act as an advertise- ment to those whom his cunning and duplicity might lead into error. He squinted in a very singular manner: while one of his eyes fawned, the other searched the bottom of the soul for the thoughts one attempted to hide from him. He was presented to me by Prince Czartoryski, and, during the first part of his stay in Warsaw, often came to my house, apparently to find out what was being said and what was thought there. I acknowledge that he attracted me for some months I believed him true to our interests. People more experi- enced than I were caught, and recovered less quickly. A natural son of Count Strogonoff, Novosiltzoff had been brought up abroad, thanks to the munificence of this great noble. His sojourn in England had given him the appear- ance of a "gentleman." His malignant influence was exer- cised in Poland for twenty years. A vile and covetous informer, he was perpetually inventing conspiracies to frighten the government, and thus compromising the liberty and life of young students whom unhappy mothers ran- somed at the price of their slender possessions. Upon his installation, M. de Lanckoy sent for his wife COUNTESS POTOCKA 229 and children, all of Patagonian ugliness. Nevertheless, in spite of his being the type of a Tartar, of his protruding cheek-bones and his little Chinese eyes, M. de Lanckoy had the altogether pleasing face of an honest man. He was one of the few Russians who justly pass for honourable. But the surface smacked of the bear, so rough was it. I remember, when obliged to go to Mme. de Lanckoy's, I was cautioned that the president took it upon himself, like a real satrap, to come into the drawing-room with his pipe in his mouth, when he expected to count on the indulgence of the ladies who might be there. I therefore comported my- self very stiffly, so as not to be received as an intimate. The room where Mme. de Lanckoy was sitting, impregnated with a strong smell of tobacco, left no doubt about what I had been told. But the footman, having hastened to an- nounce me, the master of the house had had time to escape. I found a number of people there, M. de Novosiltzoff among them, whom I accosted, in an affected tone, with regard to the infamous odour which permeated the atmosphere of the drawing-room, requiring him to make careful search whether, by means of stove-pipes, there was no communi- cation with the guard-house, situated in the courtyard of the Briihl Palace, which the president occupied. I had every occasion to believe that I had been understood, seeing that, since that day, he abstained from coming to smoke in the drawing-room, which earned me the thanks of more than one of the ladies who, not having the courage to tes- tify their disgust, had found themselves compelled to swal- low the puffs of smoke which M. de Lanckoy's chibouque emitted. CHAPTER II THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 1815 PRINCE CZARTORYSKI AT THE CONGRESS CORRESPONDENCE WITH LORDS GRAY AND HOLLAND THE PRINCE DE MET- TERNICH THE PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND LORD CASTLE- REAGH THE CONGRESS DANCES MONARCHS AND MIS- TRESSES THE TOURNAMENT NEWS OF NAPOLEON'S LANDING LONG LIVE THE KING OF POLAND ! THE NEW CONSTITUTION. PRINCE CZARTORYSKI^ blinded by illusion, and believing the object was reached towards which all his thoughts and ac- tions had tended, had followed the Emperor Alexander to the Congress of Vienna. There an everlasting battle en- sued between fiction and truth. Perceiving that Alexan- der's plans were by no means what he had flattered himself they were going to be, and being desperately anxious to engross England in the interests of his country, the prince engaged in an intimate and sustained correspondence with Lord Gray and Lord Holland ; he did his best to explain to them that it was indispensable to the peace of Europe that the encroachments of Russia be checked, and Poland be set up again on a sufficiently strong footing to act as the bul- wark of civilisation. These letters, copies of which I saw, the prince was so 230 COUNTESS POTOCKA 231 injudicious as to confide to the care of a secretary who had worked with him personally for a number of years. The character and devotion of this man appeared to be over- sufficient guarantees, but the letters were finally abstracted in the most underhand manner, and given up to M. de Novosiltzoff, who afterwards used them as evidence against a minister and friend on whom Alexander bestowed the full- est confidence. The emperor having learnt, in the course of years, to value the qualities and talents of Czartoryski, at the beginning of the congress associated him with all the work bearing upon the future destiny of Poland. But Czar- toryski, who had no ambition but to be useful to his country, and to serve her with unexcelled zeal, was like the heroes of antiquity who sacrificed all their affections to their motherland. They who had suspected him of working for himself have strangely misjudged him. Of course the representatives of the different European cabinets came to Vienna with other intentions than the Em- peror of Russia. They were all agreed upon the iniquity of the partition of Poland, as well as upon the impossibility of allowing the continued existence of a state of affairs which must breed incessant trouble. They all wanted that country to resume her former condition, to be free and independent. Prince Metternich protested in the name of his master, declaring he would not shrink before the greatest sacrifices, but with the proviso that Poland be ruled by a national government. M. de Talleyrand on his side insisted, in the name of France, on the re-establishment of Poland, saying that the partition of that country had been the prelude to the dis- turbance of all Europe; but that the King of France, scarcely firmly installed, could take no more than an ad- visory part in the matter. 232 MEMOIRS OF THE As in England public opinion always influences the poli- tics of the cabinet more or less, Lord Castlereagh did not fail to speak very plainly about Poland, urging the necessity of making reparation for the worst political crime that had ever soiled the annals of the civilised world. The noble lord asked the parties concerned to adopt a system which would do them honour in the eyes of the whole world. Prussia, whose interests were bound up with Russia's, observed silence, glad to have escaped from the destruction with which Napoleon had threatened her. In the midst of these momentous transactions the Con- gress danced, as it has been maliciously said. We were kept aware of everything that happened; every one had friends or correspondents, who eagerly recounted the most trifling details. The sovereigns, like children escaped from their teacher's ferrule for the first time, gave rapturous vent to the enjoyment of being masters at home. The great colossus who had kept them uneasy for so long was not there to threaten and constrain them. Completely happy, they amused themselves, like the kings they ivere, imagin- ing they had nothing further to fear. Each monarch made his choice of a lady. Alexander paid homage to the young woman reputed the most virtuous, Princess Ansperg; she was thought so proper and so plain that this selection caused unstinted surprise ; some even laughed in their sleeve, the famous Mile. Bourgoing having compromised the em- peror's reputation during his stay in Paris. The King of Prussia became smitten with the pretty Julia Zycsy. All the minor potentates followed this ex- ample, and soon the congress was metamorphosed into a court of love, so that, every morning, the ministers ex- changed diplomatic notes with whose contents the sovereigns acquainted themselves very speedily, in great haste as they were to fly to their pleasures. So business went limping. COUNTESS POTOCKA 233 The Viennese court displayed a magnificence which no one had dreamt of; it seemed as though, on the verge of ruin, the treasury must have been depleted; but this was nowhere apparent. The Emperor Francis gave gorgeous festivities, among them a tournament, at which the whole nobility of the country vied with one another in splendour; the old coats of mail, and the wealth of the caparisons all in gold and precious stones, could, if required, have ran- somed some illustrious prisoners. The loveliest ladies appeared, covered with diamonds; they distributed prizes worthy of the magnificence of the festival, which was given in the great imperial riding-ring. Several thousands of spectators were present, admitted by cards given out by the court and by the ladies. In the midst of this gaiety and these splendid entertain- ments M. de Talleyrand received a message which brought the news of Napoleon's landing. There was no longer time to exchange notes and to negotiate; it was a general scramble to get out of the way nothing else was thought of. Couriers were sent out in every direction to stop the several armies, all on their way home. It would be safe to assert that, that day, kings and ministers went to bed with their hats on and girt about with their swords, such was their alarm ! This was the dissolution of the famous congress and the birth of the treaty of 1815 come into the world under the stress of fear inspired by the unexpected return of Napo- leon. And this treaty settled the fate of Poland. Alexander, pleased with a quicker and easier conclusion than he had dared to hope for, given the difficulties he had encountered at the outset, proclaimed himself king of a country that was yielded to him without reserve. He made a great to-do about an alleged restoration, which he pretended to look upon as his most beautiful title to immor- 234 MEMOIRS OF THE tality, whereas, at bottom, it was nothing but one partition more, seeing that, gaining four millions of subjects, he could not possibly dispute the others their free possession of the provinces they had allotted to themselves at the dismem- berment of our unhappy country. Unable to deny that he must justify himself in the sight of those whom he had many a time promised a great deal more than he had kept, Alexander declared that the peace of Europe had not allowed, for the moment, of all the Poles being united into a single state. The messenger who brought this important piece of news was at once sent on, armed with despatches for the Presi- dent, the Senate, and M. de Novosiltzoff. He arrived towards evening. At once a discussion arose how to publish the contents of the important missive in the most striking manner. Novosiltzoff, who took the initi- ative in everything, decided the best way would be to ex- claim in the auditorium of the theatre, during the inter- mission: Long live the King of Poland! A singular invention, to be sure ! From anybody else this mode of announcing an event of such great moment would justly have been thought a kind of epigram, for there was certainly comedy in all this affair. But it was not to be supposed that the imperial commisssary was perpetrating a bad joke. So the thing was done in that way, and as there were a number of people in the par- terre who were suborned, and still more who were dupes, the shouts and the applause became frantic. But the boxes remained cold and silent! None of the persons who in- fluenced opinion joined in the noisy demonstrations which burst forth from different places in the parterre. M. de Novosiltzoff fussed in vain, shot encouragement from his squinting eyes, dispensed smiles and handshakes; every one quickly resumed silence. I COUNTESS POTOCKA 235 Some of the emperor's adjutants who happened to be in Warsaw circulated in the theatre ; they stopped at the doors of the boxes, but, discouraged by the cold reception they met with, and hardly knowing what countenance to take on, they went back to their places with the utmost appearance of being discomfited. In such a manner, then, were we apprised of an event of such apparently large importance, but which scarcely af- fected our precarious position, although we were promised a constitution founded on national representation. A representative government, like that which he had seen operating in England, was for the moment Alexander's hobby. He played at constitution-making as little girls play at being lady. Those near and devoted to him claimed that his inten- tions and projects tended to perform more than he had promised ; they said that Alexander, embarrassed by the dis- content in Russia which his partiality for the Poles was already beginning to stir up, was obliged to act with care and deliberation. This assertion I am unable to refute; but it seems to me that, if Alexander had sincerely wished to regenerate Poland, he would never have delegated such authority to his brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, knowing quite well that he must abuse it, and also that his character and ideas ran counter to the generous and liberal measures which the emperor declared himself as desirous of adopting. On the I3th of May, 1815, Alexander signed the preliminaries of a constitution by which his new kingdom was to be regulated. Not without surprise was the flatter- ing promise remarked, that our charter would be, as far as possible, approximated to that of May 3, 1791, the object of every patriot's respect. But a different sentiment was evoked when it was seen, in the following article, that this same constitution was to be regarded as a sacred bond which 236 COUNTESS POTOCKA united for all times the Kingdom of Poland to the Empire of Russia. Nevertheless, had this charter taken effect in good faith, the nation would have been satisfied. But displeasure reached its highest pitch when, on the day of publication, it was noticed that some articles had been omitted, and others altered. The charter had passed through the hands of M. de Novosiltzoff. CHAPTER III THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER AT WARSAW 1815 THE EMPEROR'S ARRIVAL THE BALL IN THE ASSEMBLY- ROOMS THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE RUSSIAN DIS- CIPLINE COMPOSITION OF THE NEW MINISTRY PRINCE ADAM CZARTORYSKI GENERAL AND MADAME ZAIONCZEK THE GRAND DUKE's MISTRESS CONSTANTINE's RE- VENGE. ALEXANDER made his entry clad with the double title of general peacemaker and beneficent regenerator; this title was supported by a seductive grace of manner and by the composure that good fortune bestows. He was no longer the young and confiding prince we formerly saw hastening towards disaster. He was a monarch in all the strength of maturity he had been tested by reverses, and was now buried under fortune's favours. He was greeted with a quiet and respectful welcome which, to be sure, did not resemble the enthusiasm Napo- leon had inspired. Long discussions took place as to the mode in which Alex- ander's arrival was to be celebrated. Some proposed that the ladies, in the guise of Slav divinities, should go to meet 237 238 MEMOIRS OF THE him, and present bread and salt to him, signs of peace and unity with the Northern nations. This was with reason deemed too theatrical, and was not adopted. Others wanted the ceremonies resuscitated once practised at the election of kings. M. de Novosiltzoff frowned on this plan, saying it was not proper to mix memories with hopes. The form customary in every country was therefore decided upon, that is to say illumination with transparents and free the- atrical performances. The town gave a splendid ball in the Assembly-rooms, which were for the occasion connected with the Grand Theatre, and which were decorated with supreme taste and elegance. The emperor came escorted by a whole staff of Polish generals; himself wore our military uniform, and wore no decoration but the cordon of the White Eagle. It looked as though, striving to make us forget that he was ruling other peoples, he wished to instill into us as much confidence as affection. His insinuating manners, the gentle and benevo- lent expression of his face, touched every one, and, let us frankly confess, the ease with which we Poles allow our- selves to be impressed did the remainder, and I believe on that day, Alexander, carried away by the outburst of the sentiments his presence evoked, imagined a free and inde- pendent Poland, where he would have found a home and faithful subjects. It was at this ball that for the first time we saw the Grand Duke Constantine acting as adjutant to his august brother; with sword at side, tight-buttoned uniform, he never let the emperor out of his sight, eager for his com- mands, and appearing to enjoy the stiff and unnatural de- meanour which the habit of being on duty begets. Nor did he ever excuse himself from this parade, and whenever the emperor came to Warsaw the grand duke yielded his place to no one; he called duty what was his greatest pleasure. COUNTESS POTOCKA 239 He was thus condemned not to dance, and always to stand at the door of the room, so as not to miss the departure of his superior. In passing I hazarded a jest to which he replied with imperturbable gravity : "Duty before everything. The em- peror himself could not release me from it." Such was this prince's love of discipline, that he would have thought himself committing a crime had he, giving way to his brother's insistence, for an instant left his post. To him the drill-ground was as good as a field of battle, be- cause, not at all brave by nature, he liked only the imita- tion of that dangerous trade. His excessive severity towards the soldier resulted as much from the ferocity of his instincts as the extreme importance he attached to the mi- nutest details. Had Constantine been endowed with Alex- ander's character, he would surely have ultimately subdued the Poles. It is even probable that the burning patriotism which had roused us to the boldest and most reckless enter- prises would at length have succumbed to the influence of a government less arbitrary and more in accord with the institutions which had been promised us. Let us hope that Providence, in its inscrutable designs, is reserving for us a destiny we cannot possibly foresee, and that its blessings will be proportionate to our punishment. The emperor's first stay was accompanied by noteworthy changes in the administration of the kingdom. The pro- visional government was replaced by a permanent govern- ment. M. de Lanckoy went off, I scarcely know to what degree of latitude, to manage one of the provinces of the vast empire, where I am sure he was more in place than he had been at Warsaw. The army already had a chief in the person of the grand duke; it was a question of nominating the lieutenant of the kingdom, and of forming a ministry. The emperor called 240 MEMOIRS OF THE into the government nearly all who were ministers during the short life of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. M. Sobo- lewski was Secretary of State, M. Matuszewicz took the finances, M. Mostowski the Department of War, Count Stanislaus Potocki, my father-in-law, Public Instruction; the judicial branch was confided to Wawrzecki, the only man who had taken no previous part in Polish affairs, be- cause, being in the service of Russia, he had come to War- saw only after Alexander had given us a temporary govern- ment. He was not very favourably regarded, Although his honourable character and the services he had rendered his country, after the War of 1794, ought to have sufficed to condone his acceptance of an office which was forced upon him. All the other ministers happened to be men of eminent minds, of remarkable education, whose proved patriotism and unimpeachable descent gave the best founded hopes to the nation, which could not do otherwise than applaud Alex- ander's selection. At the instigation of Napoleon he un- happily judged it necessary to send a representative with the title of Imperial Commissioner, to keep an eye on the Polish government, and, more unhappily still, this very momentous choice fell upon M. de Novosiltzoff. His mission had in truth no further pretext than to facilitate relations between Poland and Russia ; but by force of cunning and skill he at last insinuated himself into the Supreme Council, and was ignorant of nothing that happened there. Being the secret agent of the Russian party envious of Poland's timid eman- cipation, it seems he was bent upon a rupture between sov- ereign and nation. The nomination of the lieutenant was the first act by which Alexander hurt public opinion. No one was worthier to fill this important post than the Prince Czartoryski. An intimate friend of the emperor, initiated into all the political secrets of the day, known for his civic virtues, his great COUNTESS POTOCKA' 241 erudition, and his integrity, he was fully fit to be the em- peror's representative. Such had probably been Alexan- der's first intention ; but yielding from the first to a sinister influence, he sacrificed his friend to the prepossessions, or rather the premonitions, of his brother. Czartoryski cer- tainly would never have been an instrument to the insane demands of an arbitrary rule; he would not have behaved like the Grand Duke, who never was able to submit to an order of things he did not even understand. The Prince Czartoryski did no more than keep his place in the senate, and lost all direct influence upon public affairs ; he nevertheless remained curator of the University of Wilna. In this important post he was supreme arbiter of public instruction, and eight millions of Poles under Rus- sian dominion for a number of years owed him the most careful education, as well as the inculcation of the noblest sentiments. Constantine took umbrage at names which owed their prominence to the times only. He never could disguise his aversion for the great Polish families; hence he hinted to the emperor, that the choice of a lieutenant ought to fall upon an obscure military man, who, bound by ties of devo- tion to Russia, would never oppose obstacles to any order he might be given. Both agreed to appoint to this post a decrepit old individual devoid of any administrative ideas, and whose weak character and subservience to the new dynasty assured his docility in advance. Zaionczek bowed his head grown white in camps of war, and accepted, as it was very judiciously put, a charge above his ability and compensation below his merits. An upstart soldier, and a creature of the infamous Branicki, he had been seen, as a sycophant of Napoleon, to follow the general to Egypt, without however becoming noticed among such a host of distinguished officers. Returning to the Polish service at the time when the great 242 MEMOIRS OF THE man was giving a new lease of life to our army, he had lost a leg at Moscow, which lowered an already unfavourable opinion, as likewise did the injurious rumours to which his equivocal conduct in the war of independence had given rise. His wife deserves to take a place in my memoirs, and if history denies her a page, those who, as I did, knew her intimately, must in all fairness speak of the dignity with which she knew how to maintain herself in the exalted po- sition allotted to her. She exercised a great influence over her husband; she unceasingly combatted the servile eager- ness which he applied to the carrying out of the most iniqui- tous behests, when he would at every opportunity violate the constitution and declare openly, that before all he was doing the will of Alexander with the same ardour and fidelity which once he would have pledged to the service of Napoleon. This incessant strife frequently brought violent storms into the family. Madame Zaionczek, driven out at one door, came back through the other, and told her husband truths which no one else would have ventured, and which did not always remain without effect. Gifted with infinite tact and moderation, she was the great lady among the great, and humble among us. Her sudden promotion in no wise disturbed her habits or rela- tionships. Issued from an unknown family, she continued her connection with her own people; she never repudiated them, without however pushing or keeping them forward. Noble and unselfish, she was far more anxious about her husband's reputation than of the advantages of which her position might have rendered her desirous. As light in her tastes as she was sound in sentiment and opinion, she pre- sented the curious combination of the most feminine frivol- ity and admirable stability of character. Half minister, half Ninon, less publicity, she indulged her love for dress and the fashions, and also her leaning for COUNTESS POTOCKA 243 tender affairs, in spite of her sixty years, without, neverthe- less, ever allowing an opportunity to escape of being useful to her husband.. The empress mother, though strict as to the proprieties, treated her with the utmost distinction during a stay she made at Warsaw, and even had her thanked for resisting the grand duke's advances, who had wanted her to intro- duce into society his mistress, a Frenchwoman, whose an- tecedents were of such a character as to shut doors in her face. Here is how the thing happened : There was to be a great ball at the lieutenant's; M. de Novosiltzoff, ever obliging, had taken it upon himself to go to ask for an invitation card for Madame Fridrichs. Most luckily Madame Zaionczek came into her husband's room at the very mo- ment this delicate piece of business was under transaction, and, perceiving him disposed not to refuse, she declared that, if he acceded to such an unseemly request, she would give herself out as ill and not attend the ball, unless indeed the grand duke should send an order, written and signed by his own hand, so that she could justify herself in the eyes of the women of society. The gallant Mercury conducting the negotiations re- tired beaten. Madame Zaionczek suffered the reproaches of her hus- band, who prophesied her the greatest misfortunes. But quite on the contrary this determined act, which soon was as well known in Warsaw as in St. Petersburg, earned uni- versal regard for her. The grand duke submitted not without ill humour, but dared to say nothing; he was quite sensible to the impro- priety of the step he had taken. No one had a stronger sense of justice and injustice than himself. Too weak to refuse his mistress anything, and counting on the cowardly 244 COUNTESS POTOCKA acquiescence which the lieutenant manifested on every oc- casion, he did not foresee that his wife would interpose an invincible objection to this absurd plan. Much too sly to let his resentment appear immediately, he slowly prepared his little revenge. Some time after what I have reported the town gave a grand ball to Constantine, and asked Madame Za'ionczek to do the honours. As was right Madame Fridrichs was not invited. Standing in the middle of the ballroom, the duke gave himself up to his ill humour. It was the rule for the lady assigned to the reception of the guests to attend chiefly upon him in whose honour the festivity was held. But in vain did the patroness seek to interest the grand duke with var- ious topics of conversation; habitually talkative, he that day would not reply except in monosyllables, when all of a sudden putting up his eyeglass, he began to scrutinise Madame Zaionczek's ball-dress, a costume so pretty and fresh, that a young girl might have envied her. Constantine's smile boded no good. Madame Za'ionczek being one of those people whom nothing escaped, was for- tifying herself against attack, the while pretending not to notice the persistence with which the grand duke was exam- ining her. The hour of vengeance had sounded ; there was no escape. "Still fifteen, the age of flowers and loves!" said the duke, promenading his eyeglass all over her from top to toe. "My Lord Duke, do you command me to withdraw?" said Madame Za'ionczek, accompanying these few words with a movement which indicated she was ready to leave the ball. This coolness and this threat so put the duke out of coun- tenance, that he remained aghast, proffering apologies in the awkwardest way in the world, and this time again the laugh was not with him. CHAPTER IV MARRIAGE OF THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE 1820 THE DIET OF l8l8 THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE's PART PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKl's STATUE JOAN GRUD- ZINSKA MADAME FRIDRICHS THE WEDDING THE PIANO MADAME WEISS THE DUCHESS OF LOWICZ. THE 1 7th of March, 1818, was the memorable date of the opening of the diet. Europe listened with astonishment and admiration to the words of an autocrat deeply imprinted with the love of liberty. Alexander was giving free insti- tutions to a small number of his subjects. "With the help of God," he said, "I hope to extend these beneficent principles to all the countries that Providence has confided to my care." It was not Poland alone, but also Russia that received the tacit promise of a future enjoyment of the constitutional liberties we had been bereft of. The nation assembled in full faith, believing itself called to exercise its rights. Meanwhile the sovereign's intentions had been perverted : I. Right of suspending individual liberty (habeas cor- pus) according as the interest of the country might re- 245 246 MEMOIRS OF THE quire. 2. The budget would not be put before the chambers for debate until the monarch thought expedient. 3. The censorship would be maintained. However this may have been, the emperor's inaugural address was nothing but an apology for constitutional gov- ernment. All the newspapers lauded to the skies the mon- arch who was setting so fine an example, an example one hoped to see imitated in Germany, where the nation seemed still riper for such institutions. The marshal of the diet was General Krasinski, who was as fully attached to Russia as Za'ionczek. Over this man he had no advantages but his birth and a remnant of military renown somehow acquired in the Napoleonic wars. One of the strangest events of this diet was the part the grand duke set himself. As a prince of the blood, the charter summoned him to the senate ; but whether he wished to show his indifference to the prescribed rules from the very beginning, or whether the oddity of his character always urged him to recklessness, he accepted the mandate of deputy of the suburb of Praga. Constantine consulted his august brother, who encouraged him in this; the emperor with his usual cleverness foresaw that the duke's menacing figure would be useful to nonplus the orators and check their dangerous transports of patriotism. It was a novel and curious sight to behold the heir pre- sumptive of the empire, the chief author of all the abuses of power, setting up for a defender of the people, and in ap- pearance becoming the guardian of constitutional liberties. During the fifteen years that this game of prince lasted, Constantine rarely went to the chamber. He spoke only once in French on the subject of provender. He pre- sented but a single petition in favour of the residents of Praga, and it was the only one which met with the em- peror's entire approval. COUNTESS POTOCKA 247 Otherwise he confined himself to the minutest inspection of the sentinels posted in the corridors and a strict super- vision of the police while the sessions were in progress. In a word, he did the corporal more than the deputy. Whether from kindness to the grand duke, or from family pride, Alexander never missed a parade; afterwards he re- turned to graver concerns. At about two he went out a second time, and visited the ladies he marked for distinction. One day he came to see me, and I profited by the favourable occasion to ask the emperor his consent to a plan there was of erecting an equestrian statue of Prince Poniatowski in one of the squares of the town. As an heiress and near relation to the hero I had the right to venture this request. Alexander vouchsafed to grant me the permission I solicited, and spoke in terms of emotion of the noble qualities and heroic death of him whom it was intended to render such well deserved homage. The next day I received an official letter from the em- peror confirming his promise. He authorised a public sub- scription, which the army headed by contributing three days' pay. This imperial document has been stored with the archives at Willanow, where it is religiously taken care of. After remodelling the army the grand duke undertook to apply his system of passive obedience to all branches of the government. In every point resembling the Emperor Paul, his father, Constantine added to the savageness of a moujik the cour- tesy of a man of the world; he prided himself on his chivalrous politeness towards women. And it was thus that an unexpected change came about in the grand duke's private life. The concern with which the public always watch the most insignificant actions of those who, through their position, 248 MEMOIRS OF THE cannot escape their inquisitive eye, soon brought to notice the grand duke's assidious visits to the house of Madame Broniec. She had settled in Warsaw for the purpose of superintending the education of the three daughters she had had in her first marriage with M. Grudzinski. Joan, the oldest of the three sisters, being the plainest, was at first not much sought after : well built, though small, she had blond locks and pale-blue eyes bordered with lashes ever fairer than her hair ; her face had the washed out look of a pastel, and the same gentleness. She was unspeakably graceful, above all when she danced; you would have said she was a nymph, Grazing the ground, yet touching it not. The wits said she had glided into the grand duke's heart while dancing a gavotte. Madame Fridrichs, moving among people who repeated everything that happened in a social set which had justly repelled her, became jealous and quarrelsome. Scenes oc- curred, and Constantine then dissembled his new infatu- ation, which became more serious day by day. The mother, flattered by the duke's attentions, too stupid to feel their impropriety and to gauge their peril, abetted the interviews. Meanwhile adulators, and such as were intriguing for places or pensions, flocked about Joan, who remained simple, modest, and reserved, accepting love only, and disdaining all the rest she was never seen with a jewel nor an orna- ment more than her sisters. This situation endured for two years. All of a sudden the rumour was spread, that a wedding had taken place, very quietly, but embodying the whole of the religious and civil ceremonial ordained by the Napoleonic code, still in force. Joan Grudzinska had insisted on the nuptial bene- m \j ae \NTIN PAUI.OWITZ ^ y / ~/^ /" / ^ ^ ^ -. TSe le 8 Mai 1779. ~ - GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE OF RUSSIA. From an engraving by Lignon after a drawing by I'igneron. COUNTESS POTOCKA 249 diction being given according to the Catholic rite. The only witnesses, excepting the bride's parents and sisters, were M. de Novosiltzoff, in his function of imperial commis- sioner, and Madame Broniec's physician, Doctor Czekierski. The very next day the grand duke hastened to his former mistress, whom he had married to a young officer named Weiss. Constantine took Madame Weiss to his wife, and said, in presenting her, that he desired them to be on good terms. The duchess stiffened, the grand duke got angry, a misunderstanding arose which only grew worse ; the pub- lic took sides with the legitimate spouse who had been so cruelly deceived in her most rightful hopes. Up till then she had inspired no more than a mild interest, but her sad position evoked profound commiseration. She went into a decline ; her deadly pallor, the disorder of her blond locks, once her loveliest adornment, made her look like Ophelia. She hid her sorrows carefully, but her face betrayed her secret pain; her eyes were haggard, and she seemed neither to see nor to hear anything that was going on about her. Thus we saw her participate in the festivities, given in honour of her marriage, without taking the least interest in them. Like a machine, submissive to her master's will, she followed the grand duke without so much as looking at him ; she sat down, and kept silent and motionless till the moment when a sharp order from her husband compelled her to give a lifeless hand to the partner bowing before her. She slowly rose from her arm-chair, mechanically kept time to the rhythm of a polonaise without proffering a word, and suffered herself to be taken back to the seat assigned her without an apparent notion of ever having left it. The grand duke pretended to notice nothing, but he was in a dark humour, and could not subdue his displeasure. So that this marriage, to which Constantine had sacrificed his right to the throne, and which had given room to a long 250 MEMOIRS OF THE series of disputes, seemed to have as its sole result the un- happiness of the wedded couple. During these proceedings the emperor arrived at War- saw, to take part in the opening of the second diet. He quickly perceived what slight harmony reigned in the new household, without however immediately guessing the reason. The grand duke and duchess remained inscrutable; as for Madame Weiss, practised in the arts of her old trade, she understood perfectly how to cover up the relations she had continued with the duke. A fortuitous circumstance cleared up the whole mystery. Alexander, wanting to please his sister-in-law, and ob- serving that she had no piano, sent her the handsomest obtainable. At one of the morning visits which the grand duke en- couraged, Madame Weiss, having pushed into the duchess' boudoir, not without surprise became aware of the beau- tiful instrument. Supposing that this present could have come from no one but the duke, she evinced jealousy, and, wishing to give a further proof of her power to the wife she was continually insulting, ventured so far in arrogance as to demand the gift of this piano. The duchess made a dignified defense; the scene grew lively, but after stronger resistance than Constantine was accustomed to, she was obliged to give way, and the fol- lowing day the splendid instrument went to adorn Madame Weiss' saloon. Chance, which often rejoices in disclosing the best hidden facts, smoothed out everything. Alexander went to dine at the Belvedere almost daily, at his brother's. Annoyed at the everlasting triangle after dinner, he one day proposed to his sister-in-law to step into her boudoir, there to breathe the perfume of flowers while listening to some music. COUNTESS POTOCKA 251 Which of the two spouses was the most embarrassed? However that may be the grand duke tried to give the mat- ter a jesting turn; his wife, on the other hand, burst into tears, and wrapt herself in deepest silence. From this moment Alexander's suspicions developed to certainty. He had only consented with reluctance to his brother's divorce and second marriage, but owing to his wish to keep Constantine from the throne he had yielded. He hoped to make the grand duke happier in this way. The emperor, no longer in doubt as to the cause of the misunderstanding prevailing at the Belvedere, at once issued an order for Madame Weiss' departure. The most perfect concord was finally established between the pair, a change of scenery, you would have said. The duchess revived. The sufferings that had so visibly altered her features left no further traces upon her face; Constan- tine's attachment seemed to increase day by day. Alexander, to whom she owed this sudden difference of her position, did not stop his kindness there. Being unable, out of consideration for his mother, to give his sister-in-law the title of grand duchess, which belongs exclusively to princesses of the blood, he granted her the investiture of the Duchy of Lowicz, of which she assumed the name. HERE my notes end. If henceforth I write any more it will be without sequence, and purely to state the noteworthy occurrences engraved upon my memory. The incessantly growing misfortunes of my country and my own sorrows have taken from me not only the desire, but also the capacity to write my memoirs. It is repellent to me to accuse others, and try to justify myself. Moreover the "Confessions" of Rousseau, which I read long after beginning to write, have given me a lesson. Despite his undoubted talent and his wonderful prose he has contrived to gossip; in his excessive vanity he has pre- sumed to believe that there are people privileged to be effu- sive in their confidences towards posterity, which, however, is rarely patient with anyone trying to interest it in per- sonalities. What a queer and painful sensation it is that one experi- ences when, after a long life, one casts an attentive look behind. How many events which have seemed remarkable condemned to oblivion! How many miscarried ambitions, betrayed hopes, faded regrets, chilled enthusiasms! How many so-called deathless passions destroyed before their time! What importance attached to petty concerns and to silly vanities which have not left a trace! What a vast number of individuals disappeared, some cut off in their prime, others after absolving a long and toilsome career ! How many acts, how many names seeming to de- 252 EPILOGUE 253 serve immortality, hurled back into the gulf that swallows everything, the while persons of smaller merit survive be- cause they happen to be thrown into contact with great events ! And we have witnessed such dramas; we have all rushed together to the same abyss : bursts of joy, cries of distress all intermingled! Arrived near the goal, are we armed against misfortune and resigned to the decrees of fate? Alas! Man ceases only to suffer and to hope when he ceases to live. Age modifies and changes the nature of our impressions, but nevertheless does not blot them out. THE END Library OOA ^733 DK U35.5 P6A2E