Volume Ii Part 15 (2/2)
”Here are my papers, my Lord,” said the Prince, entering with his ma.n.u.script. ”I have only to hope that they may afford to the honourable company any portion of the amus.e.m.e.nt their composition has given me.”
The party seated themselves round the room, and Lord T------, disposing the papers on the table before him, arranged the candles, and prepared to begin. ”The t.i.tle of the piece is missing,” said he, after a pause.
”Oh, no, my Lord; you'll find it on the envelope,” replied Talleyrand.
”Ah, very true; here it is!--'Secret Correspondence'------” Lord T------ stopped--his hands trembled--the blood left his face--and he leaned back in his chair almost fainting.
”You are not ill!--are you ill?” broke from many voices together.
”No; not in the least,” said he, endeavouring to smile; ”but the Prince has been practising a bit of 'plaisanterie' on me, which I own has astounded me.”
”Won't you read it, my Lord; or shall I explain?”
”Oh, Monsieur le Prince,” said Lord T------, crus.h.i.+ng the papers into his pocket, ”I think you may be satisfied;” and with this, to the company, very mysterious excuse, his Lords.h.i.+p abruptly retired; while Talleyrand almost immediately set out for London.
The nature of the mystification was not disclosed till long afterwards; and it is but justice to both parties to say, not by Talleyrand, but by Lord T------ himself.
With what facility men, whose whole daily life is artifice, can be imposed on, is a very remarkable feature in all these cases. The practice of deceit would actually appear to obstruct clear-sightedness and dull the ordinary exercise of common sense. Witness that poor Dutch amba.s.sador Fabricius, who, a few years ago, was imposed on at Paris by Bouffe, the comedian, representing himself to be the first Secretary of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and offering, for a sum of money, to confide to him the secret negotiations between M. Guizot and the Belgian Government! Fabricius, deceived by the great resemblance of Bouffe to the person he represented, agreed, and actually wrote to the King of Holland a triumphant despatch, announcing his own diplomatic dexterity.
Every post saw a huge packet of letters to the King, containing various doc.u.ments and papers; some a.s.suming to be in the handwriting of Guizot--some, of Nothomb--some, of the Duke of Wellington--and two or three of King Leopold himself. The task of undeceiving the unhappy dupe was taken by his Majesty Louis Philippe, who having, at an evening reception at Neuilly, exposed his attempted corruption, coolly turned his back and refused to receive him.
Another dive into this chaotic ma.s.s of reminiscence! A letter from poor Granthorpe, whose sad suicide remains the unexplained and unexplainable mystery of all who knew him. A man whose mind was remarkable for its being so deeply imbued with sentiments of religious truth--whose whole life was, so to say, devotional--is found dead, the act being by his own hand! No circ.u.mstance of domestic calamity, no pecuniary difficulty, not even a pa.s.sing derangement of health, to account for the terrible event.
Here is his note; we were but new acquaintances at the time, and it begins,--
”Dear Sir,
”From the conversation we held together lately at Lord N----'s table, I believe I shall not misinterpret your sentiments by supposing that any new fact connected with Waterloo will interest you strongly. I therefore enclose you a memoir, drawn up a few evenings back at W------. It was begun by way of a regular refutation of Alison, whose views are so manifestly incorrect; the idea of publication is, however, abandoned, and I am at liberty merely to shew it to such of my friends as take a more than common interest in the transaction.
”Truly yours,
”S. Granthorpe.”
The memoir which accompanied this is curious for two reasons: first, from its authenticity; and, secondly, from the fact that, being dictated from beginning to end, it is as clear, as consecutive, as free from unnecessary, and as full of all necessary detail, as if the events were of a few days' back, and that no recital of them had yet been given to the world. Two or three anecdotes (new to me, at least) were interspersed here and there, not for themselves, but as circ.u.mstantially evidencing facts of some importance.
One, I remember, alluded to a Prussian statement by a Captain Hahnsfelder, who stated that two British guns, placed on the height above La Haye Sainte, were captured by the French as early as eleven o'clock. The pa.s.sage in the memoir is this:--”Untrue; these guns were in the field at seven in the evening, in the same position which they stood at the beginning of the battle. They are in advance of Adam's left, and were so far unprotected that the artillerymen who served them had to retire after each discharge. The Cuira.s.siers made several attempts to carry them off, but as orders were given that, after each fire, one wheel should be taken off each gun, the cavalry failed in their object.
They tried to la.s.so them, but this also failed, besides losing them some men.”
Alison's strategy, for he went so far as to plan a campaign of his own, is very ably exposed, and the necessity of posting troops in particular districts clearly explained from circ.u.mstances peculiar to the localities, such as stationing the cavalry at Enghein, where alone forage was procurable. The controversy, if it can be so called, is worthless. They whose opinions are alone valuable are exactly the persons who will not speak on the subject.
A strange-looking letter is this from C------ enclosing the proof of a paper I wrote on Irish Educational matters, very laconic and editorial:--
”Dear T.,
”You are all wrong: as blue and yellow, when mixed, form green, so will your Protestant and Papist League make nothing but rampant infidelity. In any great State scheme of education there must be one grand standard of obedience--the Bible is the only one I've heard of yet. Keep this one then till you hear of better.
”Yours,
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