CHATEAUBRIAND François-René de. DURAS Claire de... Lot n° 199

19 autograph letters, Saint-Cloud and Paris January-April [1821], to François de CHATEAUBRIAND; 90 pages in-8 (slight wetness to a few letters). Important correspondence to his "brother" Chateaubriand, ambassador in Berlin, full of advice on conduct for the "old diplomat", news of the Chambers and of his own efforts to get his friend to the Congress of Leybach, to return to his Ministry of State, etc., as well as jokes and comments on the French government. We read of jokes and friendly quarrels, among frequent mentions of Pasquier, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Rayneval, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Corbière, Minister without Portfolio; and Villèle, Minister and Secretary of State, member of the Council. January 4 and 5. Saint-Lar y's appointment as quaestor "caused a great stir in the royalist party, Villèle and Corbière complained, and the King told them he had had special reasons [...]. It is said that this reason is the request that this M. de St Lary made to the Chamber in 1815 for the payment of the King's debts"... She asks to assure the Grand Duke Nicolas of her attachment... January 11-12. To obtain Chateaubriand's admission to the Laybach Congress, she wrote to Rayneval: "He is more important than anyone in foreign affairs, and during the chambers, he is the real minister. M. Pas quier entre la chambre son rhumatisme et le Conseil a plus en qu'il ne peut porter. It's for Laybach that Villèle and Corbière are going to show up, because it will be something decided in the Council very probably"... She recounts with indignation the escape of Captain Nanty, "the Quiroga of the conspiracy", and two others; "the most seriously compromised is M. d'Argenso n"... January 18-19. Humbol dt is of the opinion that the King of Prussia will not object to Chateaubriand following him to Laybach: the Emperors of Russia and Austria have allowed themselves to be followed by MM. de La Ferronays and de Caraman... She wonders about the application of the Congress' anti-revolutionary and anti-liberal principles: "It is said that everything will end here for Naples without fighting or violence. Moncenigo has written that something will be given up on both sides, and that an agreement will be made, but will the garrisons be suffered? And without that, how will the most beautiful constitution in the world work? The King of Naples would need a loyal army on which to rely, "in this volcano of revolution where the alphabet of '93 is being stammered out, and where a thermopylian battalion is being made by subscription"... Today, "the harmony of liberality and monarchy" is the only tenable doctrine; we rally to those who fight anarchy and revolutions: "this was the whole secret of Bonaparte"... January 28th. Another explosion yesterday at the Tuileries: "Madame wasn't scared at all. They say she's fat, and that's what drives the Jacobins to despair and makes them undertake these horrors. [...] The new Louvel has not been arrested"... The Chamber of Peers, where "there are 50 or 60 defenders of conspiracies so hot-headed and zealous that you'd think they were defending their own cause", rejected the supplementary indictment and released ten of the defendants... Diplomatic rumors about the English project to reduce the "expenses of St. Helena"; Tierney added that "we will give freedom to the prisoner who can no longer have any inconvenience. Great alarm at the French legation", but it was "an English joke"... February 1st. The royalists' alarm was infectious, and led to the "ugly ultras" being blamed: "When you see all this, you despair, because you have to be incorrigible not to be corrected by Louvel. Do we need a second lesson of the same kind? Echoes of a discussion in the Secret Committee (De Serre insulted by General Foy)... February 2-4. Affairs in England, according to Mr. Canning... "M. de Tall eyra nd has become a Liberal. What interest can he have in this? As for Congress, well-informed people say that "it was we, and we alone, who had hindered everything up to now. [...] Emperor Alexander spoke out most strongly in the last instance, and said he would march in person to Naples if necessary"... February 8. Brochure by Fiévée [Ce que tout le monde pense, ce que personne ne dit]: "In it you can judge the spirit and hopes of the extreme right"... February 11. People do not want Chateaubriand in Laybach: it is feared that the plenipotentiaries Blacas, Caraman and La Ferronays will be "hurt by the arrival of a superior man who would attract attention". She hopes that the King of Prussia will not go, but it is possible that he will join the Emperors in Naples: "it is in the nature of kings to begin again, it is the habit of their life, they will want to put everything