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CORNELL 
 
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 THE 
 
 Arthur H. and 
 Mary Marden Dean 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 E 165.B121885 
 
 Souvenirs of a diplomat.Private letters 
 
 3 1924 006 087 112 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240060871 1 2 
 
Souvenirs of a Diplomat 
 
 Private Letters from America during the Administrations of 
 Presidents VAN BUREN, HARRISON, and TYLER 
 
 BY 
 
 THE CHEVALIER De BACOURT 
 
 t 4 
 
 Minister from France 
 
 WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR 
 By The Comtesse de Mirabeau 
 
 SranslateD from tge iFrencj) 
 
 NEW YORK 
 HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
 
 1885 
 
Copyright, 1885, 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY HOLT & CO. 
 
M. DE BACOURT. 
 
 I FOUND these letters on America amongst 
 the papers of my uncle, M. de Bacourt. 
 
 When he was Minister-Plenipotentiary at 
 Washington every packet-boat leaving for 
 France brought accounts and criticisms of 
 what he saw and heard day by day. Later, 
 these letters, preserved with care, were re- 
 turned to him. They describe the United 
 States so well, such as it was forty years ago, 
 that I have thought it my duty to publish 
 them. 
 
 What struck me particularly in copying 
 them was, that a republican form of govern- 
 ment was far from offering a satisfactory result, 
 even in that country, which had never to con- 
 tend against any remembrance of monarchy, 
 or against any party or opposition. This na- 
 tion, newly born, free from all oppression 
 
2 M. DE B A COURT. 
 
 and servitude, ritH and independent, seemed 
 gloomy and discontented, inspiring one with 
 painful feelings. While following with curi- 
 osity these people, who are forming and organ- 
 izing themselves, one feels ill at ease in this 
 vast and beautiful country, where the only pas- 
 sions — very contradictory ones — are the love 
 of money and the love of liberty. 
 
 Ther-e is nothing to sympathize with, noth- 
 ing to inspire confidence, nothing to admire. 
 One sees the representatives of the nation in- 
 sulting each other and fighting with fists and 
 knives in the streets and other public places — 
 even in the -halls of Congress ; the Minister of 
 Foreign Allairs gets drunk at a dinner given 
 by the President of the United States to the 
 Diplomatic Corps. Their manners are entirely 
 without refinement, and with no rules to gov- 
 ern them. 
 
 I think it right -to mention here the personal 
 history of the writer of these letters, whose 
 memory is by a singular chance connected with 
 .two great historic characters — " Mirabeau and 
 Talleyrand." 
 
 Born in 1801, he entered diplomatic life in 
 1822. He was Ambassador at Turin when he 
 
M. DE B A COURT. % 
 
 sent, the day before the revolution of Feb- 
 j-uary, his resignation to M. de Lamartine. 
 He did not ally himself to any government. 
 Some he thought too near anarchy, and others 
 too despotic. His early retirement was for 
 him a great sacrifice, for he took a deep and 
 constant interest in public affairs ; but he 
 would not trifle either with his convictions or 
 with his political beliefs. i 
 
 At the commencement of his career he had 
 known at the Hague the Count de la Marck, 
 Prince of Arenberg, to whom Mirabeau wrote 
 on July 17, 1790: 
 
 " Here, my dear Count, are two packets, that 
 you will give up only to me whatever happens, 
 and in case of my death you will confide to 
 one who will take enough interest in my mem- 
 ory to defend it." 
 
 The Count de la Marck replied : 
 
 " The most anxious desire to serve you will 
 teach me to choose those who will be most 
 worthy to serve you." 
 
 Forty years later he confided the defence 
 " of the great tribune" to M. de Bacourt; who 
 during his active and wandering career could 
 not attend to it, and it was not until 1851 that 
 
4 M. DE B A COURT. 
 
 the " Correspondence of Mirabeau" appeared ; 
 in 1848 I had married the grand-nephew of Mir- 
 abeau, without my uncle, who always treated 
 me as an adopted daughter, having in any way 
 aided this marriage ; but this singular coinci- 
 dence caused him to take more to heart the 
 commission confided to him. 
 
 The " Correspondence of Mirabeau" estab- 
 lished clearly and precisely his sentiments and 
 convictions. This man, who had committed 
 only faults and was treated as a criminal, had 
 dearly bought the right to combat those arbi- 
 trary laws of which he was the victitii. He 
 wished to put some bounds to the power with- 
 out limit and without control which had caused 
 him to pass the greater part of his life in the 
 States' prison. Later, it is true, he tried to 
 modify the Revolution and to establish the 
 government on a constitutional basis, but he 
 did not sell himself as he was accused of doing, 
 since in trying to save the expiring monarchy 
 he only obeyed his own convictions. He had 
 made '89, but would have nothing to do with 
 
 '93- 
 
 Pursued by his creditors, obliged to write 
 day by day books and pamphlets to obtain 
 
M. DE B A COURT. 5 
 
 money to satisfy their demands, forced to fly 
 from them, miserably shackled, he had neither 
 liberty of mind nor .time ; and it was under 
 these circumstances and to enter in full pos- 
 session of his genius that he accepted from the 
 court the payment of his debts. 
 
 In allowing himself to be relieved of the 
 chains which weighed on his life he most cer- 
 tainly thought neither of making his fortune 
 nor even of setting a price on his eloquence ; 
 and a letter addressed to Mademoiselle de 
 Nehra proves conclusively his indifference to 
 his personal interests, for in the midst of the 
 most cruel pecuniary difficukies he answers 
 his mistress who asks him about one of his 
 lawsuits : 
 
 " I have other things to do than to think of 
 all these trifles. Do you know the situation 
 we are in ? Do you know that speculation is 
 at its height ? Do you know that soon there 
 will be not one cent in the public treasury?" 
 
 And when he wrote that, his own purse did 
 not contain a farthing ! This cry of distress is 
 the unanswerable proof that Mirabeau had a 
 passionate love for his country and a thorough 
 contempt for money. 
 
o M. DE B A COURT. 
 
 Immediately after the publication of the let- 
 ters of Mirabeau, M. de Bacourt was busy with 
 the memoirs of Talleyrand. He had been 
 sent in 1830 on a mission to the illustrious 
 diplomat, who then represented France in 
 England. Scarcely had M. de Talleyrand seen 
 him than he asked to be allowed to keep him, 
 and immediately promoted him to the rank of 
 first secretary of the embassy. The prince 
 had still great skill in affairs, a quickness of 
 judgment, and that persevering will before 
 which so many powers had yielded, but his 
 age would not allow him to give much time to 
 work. His young secretary, who could under- 
 stand his views from a single word, became a 
 necessary adjunct. Many chiefs would not 
 have been willing to acknowledge this, but M. 
 de Talleyrand said so openly to King Louis- 
 Philippe in recommending my uncle to him, 
 and during an absence of four months that 
 he was obliged to make on account of his 
 health, he intrusted to this diplomat, then 
 only twenty-eight years of age, the absolute 
 direction of affairs which were being treated 
 at London, and which at this time were the 
 most important in Europe. " 
 
M. DE B A COURT. J 
 
 Some years later, when the Prince, who had 
 been for a long time in retirement at Paris, felt 
 his end drawing near, he called to him M. de 
 Bacourt, who shkred with his family the care 
 of reconciling him to the Church : every one 
 worked with heart and soul tO accomplish this 
 object, and he who had for half a century led 
 Europe, threw, for perhaps the first time, a 
 look beyond the boundaries of this world ; at 
 this moment, a child beautiful as the day, 
 clothed in white and covered with a long 
 veil, knelt at his feet and asked his blessing. 
 It was the daughter of Baron Talleyrand, — 
 Madame Stanley, — who was going to make 
 her first communion. The Bishop of Autun, 
 profoundly moved, blessed her. In a few 
 minutes he was converted ! 
 
 Although his love for dynastic government 
 had fallen off, M. de Talleyrand strove always 
 and above everything to keep or to give to his 
 country its force and its splendor. He knew 
 under all circumstances how to serve France 
 usefully and powerfully, and when she was 
 invaded by Europe, it was a wonderful success 
 on his part, at the Congress of Vienna, to 
 have retained her frontiers intact. This great 
 
a M. DE B A COURT. 
 
 and clever diplomat deserved truly to be 
 called " The Liberator of the Country." 
 
 By his will, dated January lo, 1834, M. de 
 Talleyrand had appointed his niece the Duchess 
 de Dino residuary legatee and executrix of his 
 will, enjoining her in the most formal manner 
 not to publish his memoirs until thirty years 
 after his death. By two codicils, dated May 
 13, 1837, and March 17, 1838, the Prince ap- 
 pointed M. de Bacourt to replace the Duchess 
 de Dino in case she had not survived after the 
 delay of thirty years, and he bequeathed to 
 his two executors the right to postpone the 
 publication of the memoirs if they judged it 
 necessary. 
 
 M. de Talleyrand died May 18, 1838, and 
 the Duchess de Dino, become Duchess Talley- 
 rand and Sagan, September 19, 1862; but a 
 long time before her death she had placed in 
 my uncle's hands all the Prince's papers. 
 
 It was considerable work to arrange in their 
 proper order the different parts of these 
 memoirs, for M. de Talleyrand, whenever aa 
 important event occurred, put it in writing 
 and tossed it amongst other notes. 
 
 M. ^de Bacourt wishing to support these 
 
M. DE B A COURT. 9 
 
 memoirs of the Prince by authentic docu- 
 ments, travelled through Europe many times 
 for the purpose of searching the archives in 
 the legations for proofs not necessary for his 
 own satisfaction, but for history, and, having 
 a presentiment that his end was near, he 
 worked during the latter part of his life as 
 much as ten hours a day that he might not 
 leave his task unfinished. 
 
 My mother, residuary legatee and executrix 
 of my uncle's will, was charged by him to 
 place the Memoirs of Prince Talleyrand with 
 Messrs. Chatelain and Paul Andral, wlto have 
 had them now seventeen years. The article 
 in the will of my uncle relating to this trust 
 ends thus ; " I impose as an express condition 
 on Messrs. Chatelain and Andral that no publi- 
 cation shall be made of these papers before 
 the year 1888 ;" thus adding a term of twenty 
 years to the thirty fixed by Prince Talleyrand. 
 
 A sum of ten thousand francs was also 
 bequeathed by M. de Bacourt to Messrs. 
 Chitelain and Andral to indemnify them for 
 keeping and publishing the memoirs of M. de 
 Talleyrand. 
 
 It is evident from this explanation that the 
 
10 M. DE BACOURT. 
 
 holders of these memoirs have not the right to 
 publish a single line before the year 1888, and 
 consequently the rumors announcing their 
 publication before that time can have no 
 foundation. 
 
 It is not for me to explain at this day the 
 motives which induced my uncle to impose 
 this long delay, but it is certain that in doing 
 so he sacrificed his own interests, for the pub- 
 lication made during his life or soon after 
 his death would have attached a great im- 
 portance to his name. 
 
 During the years he passed in retirement, as 
 I have said, he was busy with these various 
 works, which obliged him to make many and 
 long journeys ; besides which, his friendship 
 with illustrious persons often called him 
 abroad. 
 
 From 1835 to 1840 he had been Minister of 
 France to Carlsruhe ; the Grand Duke was 
 very much attached to him, and he was also 
 particularly well received by the Grand 
 Duchess Dowager Stephanie, aunt of Napor 
 leon III., who at that time was obliged to 
 remain in Carlsruhe under the surveillance of 
 the Minister of France, and from time to time 
 
M. DE BACOUMT. II 
 
 to show herself at the Legation. No one fore- 
 saw at that time that the Prince who hved in 
 this painful dependence would one day ascend 
 the throne that he had endeavored to destroy- 
 by his conspiracies, which were called by every 
 one "acts of a madman." The boat which 
 carried " Caesar and his fortunes" seemed then 
 a long way from shore. 
 
 While still retaining his relations with the 
 Court of Baden, M. de Bacourt went often to 
 visit the Grand Duchess Stephanie at Coblentz, 
 and was there when her grand daughter, the 
 Princess Caroline Wasa, refused to become the 
 Empress of the French. It was nevertheless 
 the dream of the Grand Duchess, and the 
 earnest wish of Napoleon III., who had an in- 
 terview with the little Princess at Baden ; but 
 she thought her cousin " too old " ! 
 
 She was then eighteen years of age and the 
 Emperor forty-four. Then, she, descended 
 from, the kings of Sweden, who were dispos- 
 sessed by Napoleon I., would not marry a Bona- 
 parte. An Imperial throne seemed neverthe- 
 less a great position for an exiled princess ; but 
 not allowing herself to be dazzled or influenced, 
 she resisted all entreaties with great energy. 
 
12 M. DE BACOURT. 
 
 One year after, she married the Prince of 
 Saxony, and ^s at this day queen of that little 
 kingdom. 
 
 The Grand-duchess Stephanie had in 1849 
 presented M. de Bacourt to the Prince and 
 Princess of Prussia, who lived in the chateau 
 de Coblentz a great part of the year. He, who 
 was to become later a very powerful monarch, 
 lived at this time removed from politics, often 
 indeed from the court, and so long as his 
 brother could reign, contented himself with 
 teing the first subject of the king. My uncle, 
 admitted during fifteen years to the intimacy 
 of the Emperor of Germany, saw a great deal 
 of the Prince Hereditary, and his charming 
 sister, the Duchess of Baden ; he had a deep 
 attachment for the House of Prussia, and if 
 anything could console us for his premature 
 loss, it would be to think that the pain of wit- 
 nessing the war of 1870 had been spared him, 
 
 I hope that these letters on America may 
 recall the remembrance of M. de Bacourt to 
 his friends : he wrote them without a thought 
 of their ever being published. In re-writing 
 them I seem to hear him talk and to see him 
 again, amongst us; for every page shows the 
 
M. DEr BACOURT. 1 3 
 
 natural originality which made the most trif- 
 ling anecdote amusing. His intellect was of 
 a superior order ; he had the gift of repartee, a 
 great facility for work, a sound judgment from 
 which nothing could move him, and a penetra- 
 tion quick and sure which in the diplomatic 
 career assures success : these qualities enabled 
 him to foresee events both in things concerning 
 his private life and in political questions re- 
 lating to France and foreign countries. It is 
 to be remarked in this correspondence from 
 1840 to 1842 that he foresaw fifteen years be- 
 foreliand the bloody drama that would divide 
 the North and the South into two fields, where 
 their hatreds and rivalries would cause them 
 to forget the common interests of their coun- 
 try. 
 
 Of an agreeable appearance in his youth, he 
 always retained an exceptional elegance ; dis- 
 tinguished, simple, and natural, he not only 
 knew how to please, but he knew also how to 
 make himself loved ; while keeping himself in 
 the background with extreme reserve, he never 
 passed unobserved, arid before being " some- 
 thing" he was " some one." 
 
 He had the talent of raising himself without 
 
14 M. DE B A COURT. 
 
 exciting any feeling of enmity : this has often 
 been said to his credit. He was generous and 
 devoted, but never gave his support to any one 
 who did not merit his esteem. Above all, he 
 was honest and firm ; and Prince Talleyrand 
 wrote to King Louis-Philippe, " I know few 
 people whose mind can be compared to that 
 of M. de Bacourt, and I never have known any 
 one more honest." 
 
 One word only, strikingly just, said pleas- 
 antly by him, would often take the place of 
 advice, and better attain the end sought. 
 Here, where I write these lines, about thirty- 
 five years ago I entered his room by climb- 
 ing a window of the ground-floor, and said to 
 him, probably with a pert manner, " Will you 
 come and walk with me, uncle ?" He replied, 
 " Willingly, nephew." 
 
 He always had a great affection for my 
 mother, and my father before becoming his 
 brother-in-law was his most intimate and re- 
 spected friend. We lived together when he 
 was not abroad, and I could appreciate during 
 all my life the great value of his character, his 
 intelligence, and his heart. Something would 
 be wanting to this portrait if I neglected to 
 
M. DE BACOURT. 1$ 
 
 say that his beliefs were always firm, and his 
 death admirably Christian. 
 
 I feel sure that no one who has known him 
 will think these eulogies exaggerated : they 
 have been inspired by his memory, and the 
 filial love I have always had for him. 
 
 Countess Mirabeau. 
 
 CossESSEViLLE, June i, 1882. 
 
SOUVENIRS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 London, May 24, 1840. 
 
 I HAVE been to see M. Guizot. I found 
 this little ambassador comfortably installed in 
 his magnificent house, content with his posi- 
 tion, with the progress of affairs, with all the 
 world, with everything, but complaining of a 
 feeling of loneliness in this great turmoil of 
 London. I hear that he has some success as 
 a wit, but that no one cares to be intimate 
 with him. He goes most frequently to Hol- 
 land House and to Mrs. Stanley's, wife of Ed- 
 ward Stanley, who is somewhat of a radical. It 
 was thought in very bad taste on his part that 
 he should have asked Mrs. Stanley to invite 
 O'Connell to meet him at dinner. 
 
 London is much more lively than it was 
 five years agOv. The shops are more brilliant ; 
 
1 8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 there is a luxurious display, a magnificence, 
 which throw in the shade all that Paris can 
 offer, though the luxe there is very great ! . . . 
 I should be tempted to believe with M. Guizot 
 that a country where every kind of industry is 
 developed to such a degree is in no danger 
 of a revolution, if other signs did not excite 
 my uneasiness. It is like in France, where a 
 bad crop will compromise the existence of a 
 Government. 
 
 Besides, here there is an ill-feeling towards 
 the Que^n, the Government is without moral 
 force, the Ministry in a minority in Parliament 
 at least once a month ; radicalism makes slow 
 but sure progress, and the aristocracy loses 
 every day some of its influence in favor of the 
 middle class, which is ambitious and agitated. 
 England is . also somewhat seriously embar- 
 rassed in her relations with Portugal, Spain, 
 Naples, Egypt, Greece, and the United States. 
 
 Her foreign policy is directed by a man who 
 has ability, but vacillating, always throwing 
 himself into new difficulties before getting out 
 of those brought on ,by his own imprudent 
 levity. His colleagues feel this, know it, but 
 to remedy it one of them would have to take 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I9 
 
 the direction of foreign affairs, and they are 
 either too indolent or too incapable to do so. 
 Now you have my idea of the state of this 
 country since my arrival ; I bound myself to 
 give you my impressions, false or true, at the 
 risk of having to retract if anything should 
 alter them later. 
 
 I dined with Lady Burghersh at the house 
 of the poor little Countess Bathyani. The 
 talk was almost entirely of the small scandals 
 of London society, and particularly of Lady 
 Jersey. Lord William Russell, her brother-in- 
 law, had just been murdered ; this caused her 
 to deplore very much, a few days ago, in the 
 presence of the Duchess of Gloucester, the 
 necessity she was under of putting off her 
 mourning to go to the Drawing-room. The 
 good Duchess of Gloucester told this to the 
 Queen, who charged her aunt to say to Lady 
 Jersey that she could understand her embar- 
 rassment, and would dispense with her., pres- 
 ence at the Drawing-room. Lady Jersey, fu- 
 rious at not being able to go to Court, tried 
 to persuade the Duchess of Gloucester, who 
 perceived too late that she had been made a 
 dupe of, that notwithstanding the permission 
 
20 RECOLLECTIONS OP A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 of the Queen, she owed it to her daughter, 
 the Countess Sarah, to take her to the Draw- 
 ing-room. They say it was a very funny scene, 
 and she was obliged, to her great regret, to 
 give it up.^ 
 
 II. 
 
 May 26, 1840. 
 I HAVE Seen Lord Grey ; he is very bitter 
 about the prospect of affairs, and not at all 
 happy in growing old. I returned to M. Gui- 
 zot's: he has great assurance, and directs 
 affairs with a high hand. He showed me a 
 letter of twelve pages fronv M. Thiers, but did 
 not read it to me. It crossed my mind that 
 there was probably an understanding between 
 these two to deceive him, who ought to be 
 their master. M. Guizot is very polite to me ; 
 complimented me very much on the impres- 
 sion I had left in London, but he asked me so 
 often when I proposed leaving that I was in- 
 clined to think that my presence annoyed 
 him. I am to dine with him to-day. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 21 
 
 III. 
 
 May 24, 1S40. 
 The dinner at the French Embassy, after 
 the fashion of Louis Esbrat, was very good, 
 the appointments of the table elegant enough, 
 but as unlike that of the time of M. de Tal- 
 leyrand, as the two men were. M. Guizot 
 did his best to make the conversation lively, 
 praised his wine with the air of a connoisseur 
 while drinking and passing it round ; but all 
 that is studied, and is not genuine.* 
 
 IV. 
 
 May 28, 1840, 
 
 I HAVE been to see Lady Palmerston, who 
 looks much younger and is much gayer. She 
 spoke to me of her uneasiness at the arrival of 
 Madame de Lieven ; she said that Bulow was 
 so agitated about it that it made him nervous 
 and sick. Lord Palmerston, with whom I 
 passed two hours, has been frank and precise 
 
 * All English words in italics throughout the hook are 
 generally M. de Bacourt's own— or his printers', and some- 
 times justify careful observation. 
 
22 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 in his explanation of the position of affairs in 
 America and Buenos Ayres that I had to treat 
 of with him ; he has accepted my assistance in 
 America, and says he will send me a letter for 
 Mr. Fox, English Minister at Washington, in 
 which he will speak of me in such a manner as 
 to establish the best relations between us. 
 He has clearly explained to me, and I think 
 honestly, the cause of the coolness existing for 
 the last two years between France and Eng- 
 land. I am perfectly satisfied with this inter- 
 view, the results of which will be very useful 
 to me on the other side of the Atlantic. I 
 have dined with Mr. Ellis, who has a real affec- 
 tion for Thiers ; he says that Thiers and 
 Guizot understand each other like two fingers 
 on the same hand. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 23 
 
 London, May 29, 1840. 
 I THOUGHT it my duty to give M. Guizot 
 an account of my conversation with Lord 
 Palmerston. He began the conversation by 
 inquiring when I proposed leaving. He can- 
 not conceal the pleasure he feels in the rejec- 
 tion by the Chamber of Deputies of the bill 
 appropriating a million for the erection of a 
 statue of Napoleon : he sees in that a defeat 
 for the Ministry, and rejoices in it. Altogether, 
 he was more free and unreserved in his conver- 
 sation. He said that M. Thiers, with his 
 nature, could never resist the Left, and would 
 be drawn in by them. It is a bad moment to 
 pass ; the troubled waters must flow off. He 
 accepted congratulations on the inheritance 
 which must come to him on the fall of his 
 friend, with whom " he is like two fingers on 
 the same hand." He expects the Princess 
 de Lieven on the 15th of June, and shows no 
 uneasiness about her coming ; he pretends to 
 be astonished at the terror of De Brunow and 
 De Bulow, whom he laughs at ; in fine, he 
 
24 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 hopes to settle the affairs of the East, and 
 after this triumph to return to France and 
 " mount the Capitol." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Clifton, near Bristol, June 3, 1840. 
 I LEFT London yesterday. I am well cured 
 of my admiration for the public carriages of 
 England — only fit to carry travelling agents of 
 robust health, and pressed for time. From 
 London to Bath we passed through a beautiful 
 country, justly called the garden of England. 
 I am here in a small inn on the banks of the 
 Avon, at a hundred yards' distance from the 
 bay where the Great Western lies : they pro- 
 posed giving me an apartment overlooking the 
 bay ; I refused. I shall see soon enough the 
 ship which carries me over there. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 25 
 
 VII. 
 
 Globe Hotel, New York, June 19, 1840. 
 
 I FOUND no pleasure in the voyage, and I 
 fear that you will not find much in reading the 
 narrative which I now resume from the time 
 of my departure. Before quitting England I 
 wished to see the country around Clifton, so 
 celebrated for its picturesque sites. The lit- 
 tle river Avon after leaving Bristol enters a 
 gorge seven miles in length, each bank formed 
 by perpendicular rocks. They are now build- 
 ing a suspension bridge as strong as that of 
 Fribourg across the river, and while waiting 
 its completion the passage is made through 
 the air in baskets sliding on chains. 
 
 We went on board on June 4, at the mouth 
 of the Avon, where the Great Western was 
 anchored. General Chatry de la Fosse cried 
 bitterly at parting with his son, whom he had 
 accompanied here. The Great Western is a 
 magnificent boat of two hundred and twenty- 
 six feet in length, by fifty-four in breadth and 
 forty-nine feet deep. The steam-engine is of 
 four hundred and fifty horse-power. It is 
 
26 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 imposing to look at from far off or near by. 
 Now, if you will allow me, we will examine 
 the interior, and you can judge if it is as agree- 
 able to live in. The deck is divided into three 
 parts : forward, occupied by the crew, servants, 
 etc. etc. ; the middle, where the engine is, 
 and what I call the menagerie ; and the after 
 part, where the passengers have a large space 
 to walk in. Upon the after-deck there is a 
 large saloon, the centre of which is glazed to 
 give light to the dining-room which is below; 
 around these two are the passengers' cabins. 
 The engine and the menagerie occupy the 
 centre. The cabins of the domestics, those of 
 the crew, and the kitchens occupy the part 
 below the forward deck. All this is well ar- 
 ranged, grand to see ; but God help the ner- 
 vous invalids who live there. In this space 
 that I have described are packed together 
 eighty-five passengers, men, women, and chil- 
 dren ; ninety-two of the crew, twenty-five of 
 whom are negroes or mulattoes, justly cele- 
 brated for their disagreeable odor ; then there 
 are two cows, twelve pigs, ten sheep, twenty- 
 five chickens, and as many ducks, geese, and 
 turkeys, not one of which was killed on the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 2f 
 
 ■voyage, being reserved for the return pas- 
 sage. Imagine all these drinking, eating, sleep- 
 ing, crying, singing, bellowing, bleating, add to 
 this the noise of the engine and the orders for 
 the management of the vessel ; imagine your- 
 self shut up in a state-room seven feet long, 
 seven feet wide, and seven feet high, — and you 
 will have a correct idea of the pleasure of the 
 voyage. It Is nothing when the weather is 
 good and the sea calm ; but if the sea is rough, 
 half of these people are sick, so are the ani- 
 mals ; then it becomes an infernal abode. 
 
 We weighed anchor the 4th of June at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon, and proceeded down 
 the Bristol Channel, bounded on one side by the 
 coast of Ireland, and on the other by the high 
 rocky shores of Devonshire and Cornwall, cov- 
 ered with verdure. Leaving the Bristol Chan- 
 nel we encountered a north-west wind, which 
 was against us, and continued until last night, 
 making our voyage much rougher; but the 
 Great Western — which, we may truly say, 
 makes her way in spite of wind or wave — 
 stopped for nothing; on the fourteenth day 
 we entered the port of New York. 
 
 On the loth the sea rose very high and the 
 
28 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA 1\ 
 
 night was terrible, but at all events I had the 
 pleasure of seeing a real tempest. On the 13th 
 we met a French fishing-boat of Saint-Malo, 
 which had been out four months. The meet- 
 ing of any vessel is a great event, being a quar- 
 ter of an hour's distraction from the most 
 killing monotony. On the 15th a cry of alarm 
 was heard, and the engine stopped suddenly ; 
 a general panic took possession of every one ; 
 they tumbled out of their berths ; some cried 
 fire, and others that the boiler was going to 
 burst. The agony was great. The fact was 
 that a poor sailor while fixing something in 
 the rigging had fallen overboard ; the whole 
 length of the vessel had passed over him with- 
 out touching him — a real miracle! They 
 threw a boat into the sea, and as he was a good 
 swimmer he was soon fished out. The whole 
 affair only lasted fifteen minutes, thanks to 
 the admirable EngHsh discipline. We took an 
 American pilot on the i8th, and that night 
 about one o'clock we entered the port of New 
 York, and went on shore at five o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 2g 
 
 VIII. 
 
 New York, June 20, 1840. 
 
 I FOUND it delightful to sleep in a bed after 
 fifteen nights' confinement in a kind of coffin. 
 I have come to the conclusion, after the voy- 
 age I have made : in the first place, that I am 
 a very bad sailor ; and in the second, that the 
 sea is a very sad element, and that life at sea 
 is perfectly insipid. The imagination of poets 
 may find in the immensity of water and sky 
 beauties that I have never seen, but I declare 
 to you that the rising and setting of the sun, 
 the moon, and the stars are just as beautiful 
 on land as at sea. 
 
 Yesterday I went on shore with M. de la 
 Fosse, with whom, I will say here, I was 
 much pleased during the passage. We went 
 immediately to the office of the Consul- 
 General, M. de la Forest ; he was absent, and 
 we were obliged to seek the Vice-Consul, a lit- 
 tle fool, who so badly managed affairs that we 
 could not get our luggage until late in the 
 afternoon. I shall pass a week hefe probably 
 to settle some business matters. I have seen 
 
30 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 nothing of the city yet, except in going 
 and coming from the consulate to the hotel. 
 The first impression is not favorable: the 
 houses are ugly, built of brick, with areas in 
 the English fashion ; stone sidewalks every- 
 where; and streets paved with large cobble- 
 stones — very bad for carriages and disagree- 
 able for those who ride in them ; many of the 
 streets are planted with trees ; it has the ap- 
 pearance of a large provincial town, with a 
 mixture of Dutch ; and there is the constant 
 busy movement of a mercantile population of 
 three hundred thousand souls. 
 
 IX. 
 
 New York, June 21, 1840. 
 I HAVE not been able to quiet my spirits, 
 and have a feeling of deep sadness and regret 
 already for that other part of the world which 
 seems to me the best. I have been to the 
 Battery — the only thing I was curious to see, 
 because of its association in my mind with 
 M. de Talleyrand and his adventure with 
 M. Beaumetz. It is an ancient fortification. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 3 1 
 
 which forms the southern point of a penin- 
 sula on which the city of New York is situ- 
 ated. This Battery is now occupied by an 
 amphitheatre built of painted boards, in which 
 are given sometimes equestrian and other 
 performances, and at other times is Used as a 
 public caf^ ; it is in very bad taste, and disfig- 
 ures an interesting place. From the platform 
 on top the view is large : one of the shores of 
 this peninsula is washed by the North River, 
 also called the Hudson, and the other by the 
 East River, which is really a branch of the sea 
 coming out of the bay of Long Island ; these 
 two rivers flow into each other opposite the 
 Battery and form the harbor of New York, 
 which is interspersed with lovely islands cov- 
 ered with verdure, beyond which can be seen 
 the inhabited shores of New Jersey covered 
 with trees. Innumerable vessels of all kinds 
 occupy the banks of the two rivers : that of 
 the Hudson is reserved for boats which are 
 navigated through the canals and rivers in the 
 interior of the United States ; that of the East 
 receives vessels arriving from or leaving for all 
 parts of the globe. These sailing-vessels and 
 steamers of every size, going and coming in 
 
32 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 every direction, add greatly to the beauty of 
 New York. 
 
 On descending from the Battery you enter 
 a little square, the trees in which are withered 
 by the winds from the sea. From this square 
 commences the great street of New York, 
 Broadway, which runs parallel with the two 
 rivers, and at an equal distance from each, for 
 the space of three miles; cross streets run to 
 the banks of each, river from Broadway, and it 
 is in this way that the city is built, extending 
 very far in this shape, and growing larger every 
 day. In 1 73 1 the population of this great 
 commercial city was 8000 ; now it is 300,000. 
 Broadway is the principal street ; all the shops 
 are there, the handsomest houses, and inipor- 
 tant establishments; but it has the air of a 
 town sacrificed to trade : there is not a monu- 
 ment, or a well-built house, that is not spoiled 
 by something narrow and of bad taste. With 
 the exception of dirtily dressed negroes and 
 negresses, all the men and women one meets 
 are dressed in good taste, without any differ- 
 ence between the more or less rich. The men 
 are of the English type, strong and robust, but 
 not graceful. I have seen many women with 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 33 
 
 red hair, but as yet have seen none of the 
 much-talked-of American beauties. 
 
 New York, June 22, 1840. 
 I HAVE already had a sample of the Ameri- 
 can climate : on my arrival the weather was 
 cold, then suddenly changed to the most in- 
 tense heat. I went to Mass yesterday in a 
 church which had the appearance of a Protes- 
 tant temple ; it was crowded to suffocation — no 
 doubt on account of the Fete-Dieu. The ser- 
 vice was good, with the exception of the sing- 
 ing, the music being decidedly secular. No- 
 body visits here on Sunday, althougli New 
 York is not as puritanical as Boston, where a 
 few years ago they closed the streets with 
 chains on Sundays and holydays to prevent 
 carriages from passing. The number of 
 strangers residing in New York have some- 
 what changed the manners and customs. If 
 I can believe what M. Berger, a physician 
 whom I saw this morning, told me, American 
 puritanism cannot be worth much. He as- 
 
34 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 sured me that at the present time there were 
 not four persons, even amongst those in the 
 highest positions, who had not been bankrupt 
 or on the point of being so, notwithstanding 
 which they made no change in their habits of 
 Hving acquired in prosperous times. 
 
 I have received a visit from one of my col- 
 leagues at Washington, M. de Nordin, charge 
 d'affaires of Sweden. He gives me a sad pic- 
 ture of Washington, where the Diplomatic 
 Corps can find no resources but in their own 
 circle, and whist i^ the only amusement they 
 indulge in. M. de la Forest, the Consul, who 
 has arrived from Philadelphia, has also been to 
 see me : he is a quondam young man, stout, 
 with an attempt at elegance ; he has offered 
 his services to me, and seems obliging. We 
 shall see. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 35 
 
 XL 
 
 New York, June 23, 1840. 
 I HAVE been with M. de la Forest, talking 
 over business matters with which I have been 
 entrusted. The Consul is decidedly a good 
 fellow, but just as he has been described to 
 me— without brains. We have made a round of 
 visits together. I have left with Messrs. Mar- 
 tinet and John Livingston letters from Bresson, 
 who is a relation of theirs; they are men of 
 distinction. I also took Baths' letters to Mr. 
 Goodhue ; he is one of the richest men in New 
 York, and solid, which is exceptional. On 
 leaving him I went to see Mr. James King, of 
 the house of Prime, Ward & King, correspon- 
 dents of the Hottinguers. Mr. James King 
 has an older brother, Charles King, distin- 
 guished for his wit, whose acquaintance I also 
 made. They are the sons of a Mr. King 
 whom M. de Talleyrand knew very well, and 
 who had been the friend of Washington, and 
 Minister from America to London during the 
 entire term of Washington's Presidency. Since 
 the death of General Washington all the 
 
36 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 Kings have been prominent in the opposition, 
 which is called here the WJiig Party, — that is to 
 say, the aristocratic party, — who contend that 
 the present form of government is too demo- 
 cratic, that it has corrupted the work of Wash- 
 ington and his friends, the founders of the Re- 
 public. The Messrs. King are among the lead- 
 ers of this party, who are so violently opposed 
 to the government. Every one agrees in ac- 
 knowledging their personal merit. Mr. James 
 King, who is the head of the house, has en- 
 gaged me to dine with him the day after to- 
 morrow, at his country-seat six miles from New 
 York, and to bring M. da la Fosse with me. 
 
 I dined at my hotel with M, de la Fosse, and 
 M. de la Forest took us in the evening to see 
 
 M. and Madame F : he says they are the 
 
 only respectable French family residing in New 
 York ; it is with this family he passes all his 
 time. The husband appeared to me very vul- 
 gar ; the wife, who is better, and must have 
 been pretty, is a grand-niece of M. de S^ze. 
 They have five grown-up daughters, and two 
 boys. The Consul says they are all very 
 charming, and have only one fault — that of be- 
 ing poor. One of these young ladies sang re- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 27 
 
 markably ; she had the same master who taught 
 Madame MaHbran, who made her d/duf in 
 New York. These ladies spoke of the powers 
 of the Countess Merhn, who has made a great 
 sensation here, particularly with her singing ; 
 and she has gone to Havana, but intends to 
 pass next winter in the United States. 
 
 XII. 
 
 New York, June 26, 1840. 
 
 I DINED with M. de la Fosse the day before 
 yesterday at the best restaurant in New York. 
 We had a detestable dinner and very dear ; and 
 in the evening, for want of something to do, we 
 went to Niblds Garden, the Tivoli of this town, 
 much lower than the chaumiire du Montparnasse. 
 
 The country-seat of Mr. King is in New 
 Jei-sey ; in the park, which is quite large, and 
 laid out in the English fashion, the potato 
 generally takes the place of green turf : the 
 American character must always show a little, 
 even in his luxe. The house, built of a beauti- 
 ful gray stone, is a square pavilion surrounded 
 by a gallery supported by columns : at the end 
 
38 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT: 
 
 of the house are greenhouses, after the English 
 fashion. The interior is also arranged and fur- 
 nished in the English style. Everything is a 
 weak imitation of the English. At present, 
 America and the Americans give me the im- 
 pression of an England and Englishmen of sec- 
 ond and third rate — particularly those whose 
 position IS not so high as that of the family 
 whom I dined with yesterday, who are consid- 
 ered the most aristocratic of the country. 
 
 The mistress of the house, who is forty years 
 of age, is as faded as one of sixty would be in 
 Europe ; one can see, nevertheless, that she 
 has been pretty. Mrs. Duer, her daughter, is 
 fat and fresh ; but her sister-in-law, Miss Duer, 
 twenty years old, and very like Madame 
 de Marescalchi, is entirely passi. Eighteen 
 months ago she was the belle not only of New 
 York, but of the United States. It seems that 
 this is the case with all American women : 
 generally very pretty from sixteen to eighteen, 
 they soon lose their teeth, their color, and at 
 twenty they look twice their age. The ex- 
 treme changes in the climate are thought to be 
 the cause. The other guests at dinner were 
 Messrs. John and Charles King, brothers of the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 39 
 
 host ; Mr. Duer, his son-in-law, and his father, a 
 fine-looking man of seventy years of age ; Mr. 
 Astor, M. de la Forest, M. de la Fosse, and my- 
 self. All these gentlemen are well enough, no 
 doubt, but are second-class English, notwith- 
 standing they are amongst the gentlemen the 
 most refined in this country. They try to be 
 elegant, but you see that it is not their every- 
 day manner, and that they feel embarrassed — 
 with the exception of Mr. Duer, the father, 
 who has the polish of olden times, with a dis- 
 tinguished appearance and manners. He knew 
 the French officers who accompanied M. de 
 Lafayette to America fifty years ago ; he has 
 seen M. de Talleyrand — in fact, he is a man of 
 another generation, and time passes quickly in 
 America. The only pleasure I have had since 
 my arrival in this country has been to witness 
 the deep impression M. de Talleyrand left here. 
 On my return to New York I will see Mr. 
 Gallatin, who is still alive ; he is eighty years of 
 age, and they say talks a great deal about M. 
 de Talleyrand. Let us go back to the dinner, 
 which was a vefy bad English dinner, seasoned 
 to the last degree with pepper : the garniture 
 of the table was elegant, but the attendance 
 
40 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 very bad, which appears to be the case in every 
 State in America where slavery has been abol- 
 ished. They have the greatest difficulty in 
 finding and keeping servants, or helps, as they 
 call them. They drank moderately, and the 
 gentlemen remained but a short time after the 
 ladies had left the table ; but I think that the 
 presence of three Frenchmen was the cause of 
 this hasty retreat. At this aristocratic dinner 
 all the guests were of the opposition party, the 
 present Administration being purely Demo- 
 cratic. 
 
 On leaving the table, I was taken to the gar- 
 den, where I enjoyed a splendid view. From 
 the top of a hill covered with beautiful trees, 
 two hundred feet above the Hudson River, we 
 could see the whole length of the peninsula of 
 New York, and in the distance the East River 
 and Long Island ; to the left, ten miles of the 
 Hudson River flowing majestically through 
 a well-wooded country; and on the right the 
 entire bay of New York, enlivened by hundreds 
 of vessels of every size : this picture was lit up 
 by a brilliant sun, accompanied by an agree- 
 able sea-breeze. 
 
 At nine o'clock I took my leave, returning 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 4^ 
 
 by the boat which is used in crossing the North 
 River. We passed through a forest filled with 
 rhododendrons in full flower, which grow here 
 in the woods and fields, over which sparkled as 
 they flew a species of insects called here fire- 
 flies, and whose wings are golden. The night 
 was superb ; the sky, of a clearness unknown in 
 Europe, became little by little illuminated by 
 stars infinitely more brilliant than in our cli- 
 mate. Before going home we paid a visit to 
 Madame F , who seemed to me to be sin- 
 gularly attractive to M. de la Forest. 
 
 I leave to-morrow for Philadelphia ; from 
 there I shall go to Baltimore, where I shall 
 spend the 30th, and arrive in Washington on 
 July I. I was near forgetting an anecdote 
 characteristic of America which some one told 
 yesterday at table : A girl whose antecedents 
 were bad was married about two years ago in 
 New York and continued in the same course. 
 Her father, in speaking of her, said that she 
 was a worthless person ; she brought a suit 
 against him for defamation of character and 
 recovered one thousand dollars damages. 
 They say she has implored her father to con- 
 tinue his abuse of her. 
 
42 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 27, 1840. 
 
 So far, I am not particularly delighted with 
 the American style of travelling, and less so 
 with the arrangements of the hotels: their 
 appearance of cleanliness and elegance im- 
 presses you at first sight, but they are want- 
 ing in necessary comforts. The furniture is 
 handsome enough, but an easy-chair or a 
 night-table is not to be found, nor in fact are 
 many other articles of the toilet or for one's 
 comfort. If you ask for them, you receive 
 a bruta! answer to the effect there are none, 
 and that nobody ever uses such things. The 
 ser\-ar.ts are insolent; American travellers 
 r.ever give them any gratuities, and are served 
 acvTv^rJin^Iy. 
 
 Yesterday I went on board the steam- 
 boat with all my colony, for we are five — 
 M. de la Fosse, myself, and our servants. We 
 were taken across the river ta" New Jersey, 
 where we were obliged to make a rush to find 
 places in the cars of the railroad, and to con- 
 tend against that American rudeness which 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 43 
 
 spares no one, except the women, who have a 
 car apart. The American railways are not 
 solid, and are subjected to many accidents; they 
 have the merit of going fast, but this advan- 
 tage is balanced by numberless inconveniences : 
 the roads are I'ough; the engines heated by 
 wood, whose flames spread in every direction 
 and often set on fire the woods they pass 
 through; cinders penetrate the cars, and at 
 the end of the journey one has the appearance 
 of a coal-heaver. The rapidity with which 
 they travel does not allow them to stop, either 
 to eat or for anything else. Another peculiar- 
 ity — I suppose owing to their boasted form of 
 government — is the entire absence of all police, 
 and the certainty of being surrounded by 
 thieves ; I say the certainty, for there is posted 
 in every corner of every establishment notices 
 containing these words : " Beware of pick- 
 pockets," and " The company are not responsi- 
 ble for any robbery." Then, don't forget that 
 all Americans chew tobacco and spit continu- 
 ally around them, and it is difficult to keep 
 out of this filth. A Frenchman who came 
 over with me on the Great Western was 
 robbed of his pocket-book with all his money 
 
44 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 on the road I went over yesterday; and I have 
 noticed that the Americans, aware of this 
 danger, have their pockets made to open from 
 the inside and not from the outside, as is the 
 custom everywhere else. 
 
 The country we have passed through is 
 marshy, with pools and small streams on all 
 sides, flat, badly cultivated, and barren in ap- 
 pearance, and does not improve until you 
 get near Philadelphia, a large city of two 
 hundred and forty thousand inhabitants, 
 which is said to be the most beautiful in the 
 Union. The houses are in fact a little better 
 built than in New York, but always of red 
 brick ; the sidewalks are also of brick ; there 
 are some handsome edifices in granite. The 
 city seems much quieter and with fewer signs 
 of trade than in New York ; it is the scientific 
 capital of the country ; they say that the 
 society, being less engrossed in trade, is more 
 agreeable than in other places. 
 
 I had engaged rooms at the Union Hotel, 
 through our Consul, M. Maurice d'Hauterive, 
 brother-in-law of M. de la Forest : I expected 
 to find everything comfortably arranged, and 
 have found nothing but a miserable httle 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 4$ 
 
 bedroom, in which I am writing on my knees ; 
 they have promised to give me a parlor some 
 time to-day. I went to see M. d'Hauterive, 
 who is said to be an able Consul, but not an 
 amiable man : I had found this out already. 
 I found at his house M. Pageot, until now our 
 charg^ d'affaires at Washington ; he said he 
 came to meet me, and guarantees me a cordial 
 reception from the Administration, from the 
 Diplomatic Corps, and from the small circle 
 which composes the society there, offering few 
 other resources. 
 
 All Philadelphia was astir to see Fanny 
 Elssler, who danced this evening. She is in 
 the same hotel with me. I was much pleased 
 with her dancing, but what amused me as 
 much was to see the hall crowded, and to 
 hear the furious applause, far exceeding Lon- 
 don or Paris, and that at Philadelphia, the 
 chief city of the Quakers — Quakers wildly 
 excited over the dancer Fanny Elssler. The 
 theatre is neither large nor well arranged ; on 
 the first row were many very pretty women, 
 all young, and dressed so exactly alike, that 
 one would have taken them for sisters had 
 there not been so many of them. 
 
4^ RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 June 28, 1840. 
 
 I WAS anxious to be settled at Washington, 
 
 but M. Pageot assured me that it would be 
 
 very dangerous in my condition of health to 
 
 live there during the next three months on 
 
 account of the intense heat. I regret it, as this 
 
 hotel life is hateful to me. I paid a visit to 
 
 Madame Pageot, a tall, thin American woman, 
 
 with an enormous waist, and protruding bad 
 
 teeth; her husband married her some years 
 
 ■ago on account of her great beauty. I made 
 
 .her acquaintance and took my leave of her at 
 
 the same time. She will remain in Philadel- 
 
 ; phia until her departure for Europe, which will 
 
 ■ take place the 1st of August, by the steamboat 
 
 -the British Queen. Her husband accompanies 
 
 ;me to Washington to hand over the Legation 
 
 ■to me. 
 
 Mr., H. Raincy, the most distingui.shed law- 
 .yer in Philadelphia, formerly a member of 
 Congress, to whom Bates had recommended 
 me, has been to see me, and talked a great deal 
 iof our dear friend Labouchfere. 
 
 I have visited the City Hall, and the room 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 47 
 
 where the famous Declaration of Independ- 
 ence of the colonies then in revolt against 
 England was signed. There is to be seen here 
 a wooden statue of Washington and two full- 
 length portraits — one of Franklin and the 
 other of Lafayette. The most of the signers 
 of the Declaration of Independence were hon- 
 orable men, who believed they were acting for 
 the good of their country. Since then the 
 times and the men have changed here as with 
 us, where the noble and generous illusions of 
 the members of the Assembly have been re- 
 placed by the weakness of the Chamber of 
 Deputies. 
 
 On returning to my hotel I called on Made- 
 moiselle Elssler. She kindly expressed re- 
 gret at not having made the passage across 
 with me. Her performances in the United 
 States are, I think, very successful and remu- 
 nerative. She does notjbear close inspection, 
 and her smile is spoiled by very bad teeth. 
 She remains in Philadelphia a week longer, 
 and will then give four representations at 
 Washington, where I shall see her again. I 
 leave to-marrow morning by steamboat for 
 Baltimore. 
 
48 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Baltimore, June 29, 1840. 
 You see I continue to advance in my jour- 
 ney toward my capital, where I shall be the 
 day after to-morrow at noon. I wish, before 
 taking up my narrative, to thank you for an 
 invitation I received at New York, and which 
 I carelessly forgot to acknowledge. ' Young 
 Alexander Hamilton, whom you saw at Val- 
 engay, brought me, just before I left New 
 York, a very kind letter from his father in- 
 viting me to spend a few days at Nevis, where 
 he lives, about twenty-five miles from New 
 York, on the banks of the Hudson. He 
 writes that if his health had not been so bad 
 he should have come to see me in NeW York, 
 in person immediately on receipt of your let- 
 ter, being most anxious to obey the wishes of 
 his illustrious friend the Duchess. I thanked 
 young Hamilton very much ; he is a young 
 man of polished manners, bright, and speaks 
 French very well. On my return to New 
 York I shall go to Nevis. The family, owing 
 to the memory of the General, is highly 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 49 
 
 thought of in this country. The Hamilton 
 you knew in France was a great friend of Mr. 
 Van Buren, but has become his enemy and 
 most bitter opponent on account of being 
 turned out of his place of Collector of Cus- 
 toms in New York, where he had been guilty 
 of embezzlement of the public money. This, 
 however, does not injure his reputation here, 
 but what adds to it is the million of francs 
 which he acquired during the five years he 
 occupied his place.* They say his family and 
 his home are very agreeable ; so, thanks for 
 your kind introduction. The day before yes- 
 terday, Sunday, I went to Philadelphia, to a 
 church constructed on exactly the same plan 
 as the one in New York ; it is the plan com- 
 mon to all the churches here : a long low 
 building; galleries on each side suppsrted by 
 wooden columns ; at the end one altar only, 
 without a choir, and the organ above the en- 
 trance-door. The service is very well done in 
 Philadelphia; the music less secular than at 
 
 * M. de Bacourt evidently confounded Mr. Hamilton 
 with some other person, as the Mr. Hamilton above re- 
 ferred to never held the office of Collector of Customs of 
 New York. He was District Attorney under Jackson. 
 
50 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 New York, and the men as numerous as the 
 women. 
 
 M. d'Hauterive took me to see the city, 
 which is beautiful, and would be more so with- 
 out the bright-red color of the bricks. All 
 the frames of the doors and windows are of 
 white marble, as are also the door-steps. The 
 streets, which are regular and at right angles, 
 are planted with trees. I saw Washington 
 Square, which is the elegant square ; then 
 Franklin Square, which is the popular one : 
 they are very pretty, with fountains and beau- 
 tiful trees.^ The common people who walk in 
 them, notwithstanding the solemnity of Sun- 
 day, are not at all rough. I saw also a superb 
 covered market, one mile and a half in length, 
 remarkably well kept. Philadelphia resembles 
 my dear cities of Holland : the same regular- 
 ity, verdure everywhere, and the same death- 
 like silence. M. d'Hauterive says that the 
 society here is really distinguished. He spoke 
 to me of a woman of great intelligence bear- 
 ing the grotesque name of " Cigogne !" A 
 French creole by birth, she came here after 
 the disasters in our colonies, and established a 
 boarding-school, in which for the last thirty 
 
REC0LLECTI017S OF A DIPLOMAT. $1 
 
 years all the young girls of the best society 
 have been educated. She holds the highest 
 position in society here, and gives parties and 
 dinners — all this, of course, aside from her 
 school, which continues its routine, and with 
 which she occupies herself in her leisure hours. 
 My predecessor, M. Pontois, visited her often, 
 and as she has expressed a wish to see me, it 
 is agreed that I shall be presented to her on 
 my next visit to Philadelphia. 
 
 I went with M. Pageot on board of a steam- 
 boat, which took us down the Delaware River 
 to French Town, a little village, where we left 
 .our boat and were taken by railroad, in one 
 hour, to Elk Town, another small village on 
 the shores of the Chesapeake, a bay celebrated 
 in the records of American Independence. 
 There we took another boat, which carried 
 us to Baltimore. All these transshipments 
 were made with incredible rapidity and order, 
 no noise and no embarrassment, and the boats 
 are excellent and well managed. 
 
 I talked a great deal during the journey 
 with M. Pageot, who gave me a great deal of 
 information about the details of my Legation 
 and the organization of my household. It 
 
$2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 seems that the great difficulty of the Mission 
 is to find matter for dispatches. M. Pageot 
 has a sound understanding, but his intelligence 
 has been blunted by a residence here of ten 
 years. He goes back to Europe very much 
 discontented with his long exile. He pursued 
 his journey to Washington, where he will be 
 kind enough to arrange for my accommoda- 
 tion at the hotel. I have stopped here at a 
 large hotel called " Exchange House" built by 
 Jerome Bonaparte, son of Miss Patterson, who 
 is married, and lives in Baltimore. 
 
 After dinner I received the Count de 
 Menou, formerly Secretary of the French 
 Legation at Washington, deprived of his place 
 under the Restoration for not having once 
 written to his Government during eighteen 
 months that he had been charg^ d'affaires to 
 the United States. He is reduced to extreme 
 poverty, and does anything he can for a living. 
 I have promised him the same assistance that 
 my predecessors have given him. He has an 
 original mind, knows the country well, and has 
 already furnished me with a great amount of 
 information. In the evening he took me to 
 see the city, which contains more than one 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 53 
 
 hundred thousand inhabitants. Not so beau- 
 tiful as Philadelphia, and situated in the form 
 of an amphitheatre. There are some large 
 monuments here, amongst others the column 
 erected in memory of General Washington, by 
 the State of Maryland. This column, of white 
 marble, surmounted by the statue of the Gen- 
 eral, looks like an organ-pipe. Another was 
 erected in honor of the Americans killed near 
 the city in 1814, in the war against the Eng- 
 lish. The cathedral so much talked of is 
 abominable. It is a mosque, with a dome like 
 a rotunda, and with hideous minarets, built 
 half of granite and half of brick, forming the 
 ensemble of a. plat monti. The architecture in 
 the United States is detestable. 
 
 Just now financial disasters are at their 
 height in Baltimore. ' Men who were rich yes- 
 terday are beggars to-day ! This town is the 
 seat of an archbishopric. There is also here a 
 Sulpician seminary and a convent of the Visi- 
 tation. After having paid my visit to the 
 archbishop, I visited the seminary. This pro- 
 ceeding, of which I spoke to M. de Menou, 
 astonished him. He said that it would pro- 
 duce a very good effect. I replied that it was 
 
54 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 not done with that intention, but to gratify 
 myself. This increased his astonishment. 
 
 The State of Marj'^Iand, in which I am now, 
 is a slave State ; consequently the negroes are 
 more numerous here and more polite than in 
 those States where slavery has been abolished. 
 I can scarcely accustom myself to their black 
 and oily faces. They inspire me with a repul- 
 sion, perhaps unjust, but unconquerable. 
 
 I saw yesterday a very curious animal which 
 is called the sloth: it is something between 
 the cat and the monkey, and therefore not 
 handsome. He climbs a tree and eats the 
 leaves, then lets himself fall to the ground 
 from pure laziness, where he remains in a 
 state of torpor until he is roused again by 
 hunger. The one I saw seemed very cross at 
 being chained. I see here magnificent trees 
 that in Europe would be but miserable shrubs 
 — such as the catalpa, the sugar-maple, the rho- 
 dodendron, etc., etc. 
 
 If it were not for my bad health I should 
 take a much stronger interest in all these 
 things, so new to me ; but suffering gives a 
 discolored view to everything, and I feel as 
 cross as tbe "sloth," and kept back, like him, 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. SS 
 
 by a chain the weight (A which overpowers 
 me. 
 
 The prices in the hotels everywhere in 
 America are exorbitant. Although living 
 moderately, I cannot manage to spend less 
 than twenty dollars a day. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Baltimore, June 30, 1840. 
 I HAVE just returned from a visit to the 
 archbishop, who received me very well ; he 
 is a handsome man, of forty years of age at 
 most, who has the best manners I have yet 
 seen in an American. An old Sulpician, he 
 passed, ten years ago, two years at Issy, near 
 Paris ; he speaks French very well, and in- 
 quired with much interest about the Christian 
 end of M. de Talleyrand's life, which until 
 now he appears not to have credited. But he 
 was delighted with what I told him of it, and 
 begged me to repeat it to the director of his 
 seminary, whom I am to visit this evening, 
 and who, it seems, attaches a great importance 
 to this affair. We also spoke of M. de For- 
 
56 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 bin-Janson, who has been in the United States 
 for the last eight months. I profited by this 
 occasion to beg the archbishop to prevail 
 upon M. de Janson to speak more moderately 
 about France and its present Government, for 
 I have heard that in New York and in New 
 Orleans he had expressed himself . in the 
 pulpit in the most violent manner against us, 
 accusing us of being atheists. The arch- 
 bishop took what I said in good part, and 
 replied, " M. de Janson is a man of intelli- 
 gence, but too ardent ; he is wrong in -intro- 
 ducing politics in his sermons : I always avoid 
 it, even in this country, where priests have a 
 right to say what they please. Although born 
 in America and as good a republican as any 
 one, I do not vote, and never try to influence 
 my parishioners as to how they shall Vote ; 
 it would only be in case the liberty of my 
 religion was threatened that I should assert my 
 right as an American citizen. I have already 
 requested M. de Forbin-Janson to be more 
 moderate, but it is not to be wondered at that 
 he should sometimes wander from his sub- 
 ject, for he preaches too much. Just imagine ! 
 — he has preached two hundred times in four 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 57 
 
 months. He is very wrong in attacking the 
 King of the French. This sovereign has 
 shown himself favorable to religion, and since 
 he commenced his reign has made none but 
 excellent choice of bishops, etc., etc." 
 
 The archbishop spoke also of the pro- 
 gress of Catholicism in America, and even 
 in the State of Massachusetts, where thirty 
 years ago there were not ten Catholic fami- 
 lies: now there are forty Catholic churches 
 and a bishop at Boston, the most puri- 
 tanical city in the United States. There 
 are numerous conversions everywhere, and 
 almost all the Irish and German emigrants 
 are Catholic. This progress has been ap- 
 parent in New England also, where the Pro- 
 testants are so ardently zealous. There are 
 in the United States fourteen bishops, and 
 they talk of creating two new seats; the 
 Catholic population will soon reach a million. 
 The increased number of bishops and the 
 building of churches are facts more remark- 
 able because the revenues of the clergy and 
 the church are covered by subscriptions and 
 the rent of the seats in the churches. 
 
 The archbishop took me into his cathe- 
 
58 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 dral, the interior of which is in as bad taste as 
 the exterior ; but he is very proud of this 
 monument, which has cost the Catholics a 
 great deal of money. 
 
 I have just returned, roasted and boiled. 
 Ah, what heat under " this beautiful sky" ! 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Washington City, July 2, 1840. 
 
 This time, I write to you from my capital — 
 or I should say better from vay penitentiary. 
 
 The day before yesterday, before leaving 
 Baltimore, I went with the Count de Menou 
 to visit the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, which 
 is composed of ten priests, five of whom are 
 French, and thirteen pupils. The college, 
 which adjoins it and is under the direction of 
 the same priests, has three hundred pupils, 
 one half of whom are Protestants. The Abb6 
 Chauch, who is the head of the college, was 
 born in Baltimore. He is a distinguished man 
 in his conversation and manners. The semi- 
 nary was founded in 1791 by five French 
 Sulpicians who came to the United States to 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 59 
 
 escape persecution ; they have had to contend 
 against a thousand difficulties, which they have 
 overcome with great courage, and later were 
 able to found the college which is more pros- 
 perous than the seminary, for which they 
 could only get recruits from foreigners. 
 Americans have little taste for a life of medi- 
 tation : their feverish activity ill fits them for a 
 uniform and peaceful life. 
 
 The principal of the seminary is the Abb6 
 Delnot ; born in the Vivarais, he came here 
 twenty-five years ago. Although less distin- 
 guished than the Abbd Chauch, I think he 
 is, notwithstanding his common appearance, 
 an able man. He was very much interested 
 in the Christian death of M. de Talleyrand ; he 
 had already been informed of what I had said 
 on the subject to Monseigneur Eccleston in the 
 morning ; it delighted him. He spoke with 
 much feeling of the Saint-Sulpice in Paris, 
 of the Abb6 Garnier, of M. Emmery, etc. . . . 
 These good priests showed me every detail 
 of their seminary, the college, and their little 
 chapel in the Gothic style, which is far better 
 than the cathedral. They related to me a 
 very singular fact concerning the establish- 
 
6o RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 ment of Catholic bishoprics in the United 
 States : the promoter of the foundation of the 
 first seat was Jefferson, who was said to be an 
 unbeliever in any religion. Observing the 
 tendency of the American Catholics to follow 
 the English Catholic Church, even after their 
 separation from the mother Church, he 
 thought this might produce trouble, and 
 whilst Minister at Paris in 1789, having in- 
 duced the American Government to adopt his 
 views, he was authorized to negotiate with 
 the Papal Nuncio and obtained the creation of 
 a bishopric at Baltimore ; which thus became 
 the head of the Church in the United States, 
 and will soon have fifteen assistant bishops. 
 
 M. de Menou says that the bishop was 
 much pleased with my visit. . He took it for 
 granted that I acted in my official capacity, 
 and from instructions given by the king : I 
 begged M. de Menou to assure him that I had 
 acted entirely from personal feeling. 
 
 I left Baltimore yesterday, and the railroad 
 brought us to Washington in two hours and 
 a half, through a beautiful wooded country, 
 more thickly inhabited than any I have seen 
 yet. M. Pageot and the Count de Mon- 
 
liECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 6 r 
 
 tholon, my paid attache, met me and took me 
 to Gadsby's Hotel, where I am installed for a 
 fortnight. M. Pageot has written to the 
 Secretary of State to ask him when he would 
 wish to receive me. One hour afterward he 
 received a reply from M. Forsyth saying he 
 would see me to-day at noon. I shall 
 then know on what day I can present my 
 letters of credit to the President. I invited 
 these gentlemen to dine with me. M. Mon- 
 tholon has very simple manners, quiet and 
 polished, and talks very sensibly; he is even 
 thinner than I am. My predecessor, M. Pon- 
 tois, has an idea that M. de Montholon's title 
 of Count places him (Pontois) in an inferior 
 position in the eyes of the Americans, so im- 
 pressed are they by titles. 
 
 As I was going out with these gentlemen I 
 met at the door the Baron de Mareschall, the 
 Austrian Minister, who had very kindly come 
 to see me, although it was not his place to 
 make the first visit : he invited me and all my 
 Legation to dine with him to-day. He re- 
 membered having met me two years ago at 
 tlie Princess of Schonbourg's house, who had 
 been kind enough, as also had the Countess 
 
62 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Appony, to write very amiably about me ; 
 consequently he expressed frankly a wish to 
 establish intimate relations between us. He is 
 said to be the most distinguished man of the 
 Diplomatic Corps ; he appears to be about 
 fifty years of age, and has seen a great deal of 
 service in the army and in diplomacy ; he 
 was born in the Duchy of Luxembourg when 
 that country was Austrian. We visited the 
 town, which is really composed of but one 
 street, called Pennsylvania Avenue, which runs 
 from east to west, it is three miles long: at 
 one end is the Capitol, the most beautiful 
 building in the United States ; at the other is 
 the President's House, surrounded by all the 
 public offices. The avenue is crossed by 
 streets at right angles, in each of which are only 
 five or six houses ; there are other streets radi- 
 ating toward the President's House, but not 
 much more built upon than the cross streets ; 
 so that on all sides you can reach the open 
 country in five hundred steps. The avenue is 
 half as large again as the Rue de la Paix ; it is 
 planted with trees, and adorned with brick 
 sidewalks ; the middle, macadamized, and 
 never being watered, is in summer a terrible 
 mass of dust and in winter a common sewer. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 63 
 
 The other streets are not paved, but have side- 
 walks. The appearance of the city is quite 
 pretty at this season on account of the ver- 
 dure, but when the trees have lost their leaves 
 it must be even more gloomy than Carlsruhe. 
 The houses have but one story above the 
 ground-floor, are all of red brick, and have a 
 mean appearance ; they are too much spread 
 out for their twenty-five thousand inhabitants. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Washington, July 3, 1840. 
 It is very dififlcult to find a house in this 
 charming country: the finished houses are 
 either occupied by their owners, or by tenants 
 who have engaged them some time before, and 
 take possession as soon as the builders have 
 left. The home of my predecessor does not 
 suit me at all: there are no furniture-dealers, 
 and I can neither buy furniture nor rent it, so 
 that I shall have to be contented with living in 
 a furnished house, and have my meals brought 
 to me. There are two Frenchmen here who 
 furnish lodging and board to families without 
 
64 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 a home, or to a poor devil like myself, who 
 does not know where to stow himself. One of 
 these men has a good house, but having made 
 his fortune, is insolent, negligent, and dirty. 
 The house of the other is small and badly fur- 
 nished ; but as he has his fortune to make, and 
 I shall have the pleasure of contributing to it, 
 he will perhaps be docile and attentive. I am 
 in favor of this latter, whose name is Galbrun. 
 I made an arrangement with a livery-stable 
 keeper to furnish me with a carriage and 
 horses ; the bargain was completed, but this 
 morning he came to tell me that I must not 
 count on him unless I paid him one third 
 more than the price agreed upon. In this 
 country they take back their word without 
 ceremony ; no contract is respected unless it is 
 signed. 
 
 We went yesterday with M. Pageot to Mr. 
 Forsyth's, the Palmerston of this country, 
 who has the reputation of being very stiff, im- 
 polite, and cynical ; however, he received me 
 very well, and tried to overcome the coldness 
 of his naturally unamiable manner ; but it was 
 evident that it was an effort. After having 
 paid a visit to M. Vail, whom you knew in 
 
RECOLLECl'iONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 65 
 
 London, and who is about to leave here for 
 Madrid, I went to dine with Baron Mareschall, 
 who had invited to meet me Mr. Forsyth, 
 Secretary of State ; — Mr. Fox, the Enghsh 
 Minister, who is an oddity. * He has a great 
 deal of wit, but affects great eccentricity ; al- 
 though young, he appears from his dress and 
 carrij^e to be at least fifty years old ; — the 
 Mihister-of Russia, M. Bodisco, who is quite a 
 character. I knew him in Stockholhi. Just the 
 reverse of Mr. Fox, he tries to appear young : 
 eighteen years ago I left him with gray hair, 
 and I find him with black curly hair, and whis- 
 kers and mustaclie dyed ; at sixty years of age 
 he has just married an American girl of six- 
 teen ! Great good may it do him ! He is in 
 fact ridiculous, vulgar, and disgusting. I was 
 told that he was in great fear of me, which 
 does not astonish me, for he knows that I am 
 well acquainted with his antecedents ; — M. 
 Martini, Minister from Holland, an inoffensive 
 man, and very indifferent ; — and last, M. Vail 
 and my Legation. After dinner we played 
 whist. At the hotel I found a letter announc- 
 ing that the President would receive me to- 
 morrow at two o'clock. 
 
66 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Washington, July 4, 1840. 
 
 To-BAY is the great National holiday — the 
 anniversary of the Declaration ol Independ- 
 ence, sixty-four years ago. It is celebrated in 
 every part of America, if not with suitable 
 splendor, at least with a prodigious noise ; they 
 say that it is not safe to be in New York to- 
 .day, but here it is less noisy, and without 
 danger. 
 
 I went to see the President yesterday before 
 two o'clock in the house which is called Execu- 
 tion Mansion, a pretty palace, surrounded by a 
 garden in English style and an iron fence ; the 
 rooms are large and well decorated. The 
 Secretary of State, who ought to have pre- 
 sented me, had not arrived ; few minutes after 
 my arrival I saw Mr. Van Buren enter. I 
 scarcely recognized him, he had grown so fat. 
 He wore a plain black coat and gray trousers 
 and boots ; this entirely consoled me for not 
 having my uniform, which has not yet arrived. 
 
 After the ceremony of reception, Mr. Van 
 Buren took me by the hand and led me to a 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 6j 
 
 sofa ; he said lie was delighted to see me, and 
 had not forgotten our meeting in London. 
 He asked very particularly about you, and 
 questioned me in the kindliest manner about 
 the death of M. de Talleyrand. The audience 
 was very long, and Mr. Van Buren spoke in 
 the most charming manner of the king and of 
 France, etc. ... M. Pageot, who was present, 
 said that during the ten years he had been 
 here he had never seen so cordial a reception. I 
 have left cards on all the members of Congress. 
 The election for President will take place in 
 five months ; they say that the election of Mr. 
 Van Buren would be a calamity to the coun- 
 try, because he is the chief of an ultra-Demo- 
 cratic Party. I forgot to tell you that Mr. 
 Van Buren is called the American Talley- 
 rand. This must flatter him, for in talking to 
 me of the dear Prince he repeated at least ten 
 times wonderful man. Mr. Van Buren is ac- 
 knowledged to be a very able man, but more 
 in what concerns his personal affairs than in 
 the direction of the affairs of the country. 
 
68 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Washington, July 5, 1840. 
 
 I HAVE concluded my arrangements with 
 Galbrun, who boasts of having worked for two 
 years in the kitchen of M. de Talleyrand, un- 
 der the superintendence of Louis Esbrat ; he 
 engages, in renting me the house, to furnish 
 food, heat, light, etc. . . , for M. de la Fosse, 
 -myself, and all my servants, for three hundred 
 dollars a month ; this arrangement is not en- 
 tirely satisfactory, but I shall be free from the 
 troubles of keeping house; I cannot take po- 
 session for three months yet ; until then I 
 must put up with hotel life. 
 
 I paid about forty visits with M. Pageot to 
 the Diplomatic Corps and to some of the Sen- 
 ators, on whom, according to custom here, the 
 foreign Ministers must call first. I only found 
 M. Martini and M. Bodisco, who live in 
 Georgetown, a small town forming part of 
 Washington, but two. miles distant from it. 
 I have also seen Mr. Clay, a Senator and head 
 of the opposition party, the great orator of 
 the country ; his proclivities are very French. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 69 
 
 I was not able, in an interview of only a few 
 minutes, to form any opinion, except from his 
 exterior, which is that of an English farmer. 
 He received me cordially, and invited me to 
 pay him a visit some time in the summer, at 
 his country place in Kentucky, six hundred 
 miles from here. 
 
 I have been at an evening party at Mr. 
 Paulding's: I only stayed half an hour, but 
 this half -hour sufficed for ten or twelve 
 introductives — the most tedious drudgeries of 
 a Minister's ddbut. One must endeavor to 
 recollect the faces and the names, then to put 
 the names on the faces; it keeps one's mind 
 constantly occupied by the fear of mistakes. 
 I saw Madame Bodisco, who has the beauty 
 of youth and a silly manner. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Paulding, the master and mistress of the 
 house, are old people, perfectly insignificant, 
 ajid th« rest of the company appeared exactly 
 like the society one meets in every town in 
 America — English people of second and third 
 rate. I may find my first impression incor- 
 rect, when I have talked more with some dis- 
 tinguished persons and become more intimate. 
 
 The little Catholic Church, of which I am a 
 
70 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 parishioner, is neat and well kept; the Mass 
 which I attended, although Low Mass, lasted 
 more than an hour on account of a short ser- 
 mon and of the great number of communi- 
 cants, the half of whom at least were negroes 
 and negresses. The French Legation has a 
 pew, for which it pays yearly ; eight days be- 
 fore my arrival, the cur6 sent to M. Pageot for 
 the rent due, and a message by the beadle to 
 say that the pew would be of no use to me as 
 I was a Protestant ; they read that in a news- 
 paper. On this authority M. Pageot believed 
 it to be so, and told several persons. You see 
 that news false or true is spread in the same 
 way on both sides of the Atlantic. This re- 
 minds me to tell you that M. de la Fosse is a 
 Calvinist ; but we shall never dispute about 
 religion. 
 
 In the middle of the day the heat is over- 
 powering, but the nights and mornings cold. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 7 1 
 
 XXI. 
 
 I HAVE continued my visits to the members 
 of the Senate ; I saw Mr. Benton, who is a 
 violent Democrat, one of the principal up- 
 holders of the Administration, and a particular 
 friend of Mr. Van Buren ; they say he is well- 
 informed, eloquent, and clever ; he is Senator 
 from the State of Missouri, which was formed 
 from part of Louisiana, the population is 
 partly French; his home is near St. Louis, 
 where he passes his vacations, at a thousand 
 ■miles from here — a mere nothing ! He talked 
 a great deal about the moral and religious 
 state of the old population of Louisiana, who 
 appear to have pursued a course the reverse of 
 that of Canada, where they are incrusted with 
 the manners and customs of sixty years ago ; 
 in Louisiana, on the contrary, the people have 
 become quick and intelligent in mixing with 
 the Anglo-Americans; they are richer, more 
 moral and honest, and rival them in activity. 
 Mr. Benton also says that in all the new States 
 in the West there is a large number of Protes- 
 tants who have been converted to the Catholic 
 
72 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 Churcli, on account of the doubts caused by 
 the infinite number of Protestant sects. 
 Young Protestants are educated in Catholic 
 schools ; their parents confide them with a 
 feeling of perfect security to the integrity 
 and enlightenment of the Catholic clergy of 
 America. 
 
 I have visited the city more thoroughly; 
 the exterior of the President's house is the 
 best I have seen in America ; this pretty 
 palace has a circular front supported by 
 columns opening on the garden and on the 
 country. From there you have an extended 
 view of the course of the Potomac ; the pleas- 
 ure-ground is well laid out, kept in good order, 
 and open to the public; it is a handsome place, 
 and from it very little can be seen of the so- 
 called city of Washington, which is neither 
 city nor village : it is a collection of houses put 
 anywhere and everywhere with no regularity ; 
 it has a miserable, desolate look, even with 
 the foliage ; what must it be when covered 
 with snow and ice ! 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 73 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Washington, July 7, 1840. 
 
 As I advance I find my troubles and vexa- 
 tion increase without the least compensation. 
 Later, when I am more accustomed to the 
 habits and manners of the country, I shall be 
 able to give you an account of my observa- 
 tions, but at present I fear my judgment 
 would be too hasty. I do not wish to imitate 
 some of my compatriots, who at the end of 
 eight days had judged everything, and habitu- 
 ally condemned all they saw. 
 
 This is the forty-fifth day since the packet- 
 boat left Havre with all my baggage on board, 
 and I hear nothing of her. It seems that ex- 
 cept in, spring, and sometimes autumn, when 
 the winds are favorable, no one can count with 
 any certainty upon the duration of a voyage 
 of a sailing-vessel. 
 
 M. Pageot is so much wounded by the neg- 
 lect with which he has been treated in leaving 
 him here to languish without the slightest 
 acknowledgment of his services, that he has 
 decided to send in his resignation, expressed 
 
74 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 in rather sharp terms. I advised him very 
 strongly not to do so, and tried to soothe him ; 
 but in vain. I appreciate his ability and his 
 services ; no one knows the country better ; 
 his correspondence is excellent, and he has 
 been successful in his treatment of some very 
 difficult questions ; but for all that he has not 
 been able to obtain justice. One must have 
 good luck to succeed : sometimes bad luck 
 may, as mine in sending me here. 
 
 I have been to a meeting of Congress. The 
 Capitol, where they hold these meetings, is a 
 beautiful edifice situated on a height ; it com- 
 mands a very extended view of the pretty val- 
 ley of the Potomac. This building is divided 
 into three distinct parts: in the centre is a 
 rotunda with a glazed cupola to give light to 
 the interior; the principal entrance leads di- 
 rectly into this rotunda, the proportions of 
 which are beautiful. Opposite the entrance 
 door is the library; on the right the Senate 
 Chamber ; on the left that of the Representa- 
 tives. The distribution of the two halls is the 
 same as that of our Chamber of Deputies, only 
 smaller; the ornamentation is simple, and in 
 good taste. In the Senate Chamber there is 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 75 
 
 only one portrait — that of General Washing- 
 ton ; in the other Chamber you also find one 
 of Washington, but with one of La Fayette as 
 a pendant. Whatever may have been the 
 wrongs attributed to La Fayette, his portrait 
 hung in the Hall of the House of Representa- 
 tives is undoubtedly an honorable tribute to his 
 memory. 
 
 In the Rotunda there are twelve framed 
 spaces ready for pictures, but as yet four only 
 are filled. The first painting represents the 
 Declaration of Independence in 1776; the 
 second, the defeat at Saratoga in 1777, where 
 the English General Burgoyne gave up his 
 sword to General Washington ; the third, a 
 review after the victory of Yorktown : the 
 French and American troops occupy the two 
 sides of the picture — the French with their 
 white cockades and their white flag, with Mar- 
 shal Rochambeau at their head ; the Ameri- 
 cans commanded by M. de La Fayette ; in the 
 centre is General Washington : the fourth and 
 last represents the meeting of Congress, at 
 which General Washington resigns the com- 
 mand of the army. As paintings, these tab- 
 leaux are neither better nor worse than those 
 
76 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 we saw on our visit to Versailles three months 
 ago. 
 
 The two Houses were in session : the Senate, 
 which is composed of fifty-two members, con- 
 duct themselves with great propriety. I can- 
 not say as much for the House of Representa- 
 tives. I do not speak of the custom, imported 
 from England, of keeping their hats on, but 
 many of the members sit with their legs in the 
 air, and others, stretched out, sleep as if they 
 were in their beds. What shocked me most 
 w^ls the sound of continual spitting r tliis filthy 
 habit is common to both Houses, as well as to 
 every man in the country ; they all spit: — every- 
 where and on anything. This is the conse- 
 quence of the villainous habit of chewing to- 
 bacco ; the President is the only one I have 
 seen who is exempt from this vice. They say 
 that there are several distinguished orators in 
 the Senate ; none of them spoke yesterday, 
 but I shall hear them next winter, for it seems 
 that the sessions of Congress are the great 
 and only attraction here. 
 
 In the Senate Chamber I was introduced to 
 Mr. Buchanan, formerly American Minister to 
 Russia, who remembers having dined at London 
 
RECOLLECTlOiXS OF A DIPLOMAT. Jf 
 
 with Prince Talleyrand, you, and myself, at the 
 Princess Lieven's. I also made the acquaint- 
 ance of my colleague the Minister of Prussia, 
 M. de Roiin, who arrived only two days ago. 
 He spoke very amiably of having received a 
 dispatch from M. de Werther, who congratu- 
 lated him on the prospect of meeting me, and 
 added that I had left many regrets at Carls- 
 ruhe ; I thoroughly reciprocate this sentiment. 
 
 The library at the Capitol, which contains 
 twenty thousand volumes, is at the disposition 
 of the Diplomatic Corps. 
 
 I met M. de Mareschall in the street. The 
 more I see of him the less I like him : he is a 
 great gossip and sneers at everything ; this is 
 perhaps the effect of his long stay here, and 
 makes me tremble for myself. 
 
78 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Washington, July ii, 1840. 
 
 I PAID a visit to my curd yesterday. He is 
 American by birth, but brought up in Liege ; 
 he returned to America during the French 
 Revolution. He came to Washington, which 
 was being built, and, thinking that it would 
 become a city of importance, bought a large 
 tract of land ; during the last thirty-five years, 
 by the aid of subscriptions from Catholics, 
 he has erected on this land a pretty church, a 
 presbytery, a small hospital where the Sisters 
 of Charity take care of the sick, and a school 
 where fifty poor children are educated gra- 
 tuitously. The Abbe Matteus seems to me 
 to be a good honest man, distinguished only 
 for his charity — perhaps the highest of all 
 distinctions. He told me that there were 
 now in Washington three churches and more 
 than six thousand Catholics ; that is, one third 
 of the whole population. 
 
 I dined with the President this evening. 
 We sat down at seven o'clock, and left the 
 table at ten ! It was hard work. As the din- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 79 
 
 ner was given to me, I had the place of honor, 
 although the whole Diplomatic Corps were 
 present ; it is a compliment always paid here 
 to the last comer. When dinner was an- 
 nounced the President took my arm and 
 escorted me to the dining-room, a handsome 
 room and well decorated, and placed me on 
 his right. The table with forty covers would 
 have sufficed for a hundred guests. The 
 service, for America, was elegant, and the 
 dinner good. The French cook told my 
 footman a curious fact. He said : " For sev- 
 eral months, during which the question of the 
 re-election of Mr. Van Buren has been agi- 
 tated, people had come constantly to see him, 
 and in the rudest manner insisted upon be- 
 ing asked to breakfast or dinner, threatening 
 in case of refusal to vote against him. The 
 cook says that he has the greatest difficulty in 
 satisfying them ; that they often send back 
 what he serves them, and order other dishes on 
 the pretext that the first were bad." So, said 
 my servant gravely, " It seems that it is not 
 very pleasant to be President !" 
 
 Mr. Van Buren has been very kind and 
 polite to me ; he told me that he was always 
 
80 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 at home in the evening, and would be de- 
 h'ghted to see me often. He is a widower, 
 with four sons: the oldest is married; his wife 
 is at a watering-place. Mr. Van Buren, the 
 son of an innkeeper, and himself, even, trained 
 to the family calling, has acquired to an as- 
 tonishing degree the ways of the world ; he 
 is a man of polished manners, and has a cer- 
 tain ease which gives him a superiority, as a 
 man of the world, over any of his compatriots 
 whom I have yet seen. 
 
 There were at this dinner, besides the 
 Diplomatic Corps, the Cabinet, the heads of 
 the Administration, and several Senators of 
 the Opposition, amongst others Mr. Clay, who 
 is the leader. I made the acquaintance of 
 Mr. Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy — 
 insignificant ; and that of Mr. Poinsett, Sec- 
 retary of War, who pleased me tolerably 
 well : he knows Europe, and speaks French 
 well. I prefer him infinitely to Mr. Forsyth, 
 who, it is said, treats everything as a joke, 
 and is not pleasant to deal with. 
 
 The evening was magnificent, and the scene 
 before the President's House, with the silver 
 light of the moon upon it, was splendid. The 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 8 1 
 
 sky in this country is purer than any ever 
 seen in our hemisphere. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Washington, July 12, 1840. 
 I HAD the most stupid dinner in the world at 
 M. Bodisco's, and probably presented the most 
 ridiculous figure. Invited at seven o'clock, we 
 sat down to dinner at eight, after having seen 
 the master of the house run in and out several 
 times as though he was preparing this execra- 
 ble repast which he had the goodness to offer 
 us. He then crowded us, thirty-six in number, 
 into a very small dining-room, where we suffo- 
 cated until eleven o'clock. I was seated be- 
 tween Mrs. Forsyth, who talked to me in Eng- 
 lish, and her daughter Mrs. Shaaff, who spoke 
 French, both talking at the same time ! I was 
 too uncomfortable to speak any language. 
 This dinner was the perfection of the ridicu- 
 lous : the table loaded with china, glass, and 
 bronzes of no value and in bad taste, spread 
 out for ornament, not for use. The guests 
 laughed at their host in the most open manner, 
 
82 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 and every one pitied the unhappy child who 
 had become the wife of this villanous old man. 
 
 Having exhausted all the reading matter I 
 had brought with me from Paris, I begged M. 
 de Montholon to lend me a book. He brought 
 me " Travels in America," by M. de Chateau- 
 briand, who embarked at Saint-Malo May 6, 
 1 79 1, with five Sulpicians, founders of the es- 
 tablishment which I visited lately. The work 
 is not worth much as an account of his journey ; 
 and I agree with M. de Tocqueville, who said 
 to me that M. de Chateaubriand had not seen 
 all the places he wrote about — particularly the 
 Mississippi, which he has pictured as superb. 
 
 I called on M. Miollet, but did not find him 
 at home. He is the man on whom I count 
 most here, although I have only exchanged a 
 bow with him in the street. He was mathema- 
 tician and astronomer at the Observatory in 
 Paris, a rival of M. Arago. He left France 
 during the Revolution of July— some said on 
 account of his opinions, others thought because 
 he had lost his fortune ; whatever it was, he 
 took refuge in the United States, where he has 
 acquired great distinction. He has done impor- 
 tant work for the American Government, and 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 83 
 
 no one knows the country better than he does. 
 He has been everywhere, often living in the 
 woods with the Indians. They say it is very 
 interesting to hear him talk. So much for the 
 savant. As a man he is esteemed even more 
 highly; modest, simple, and obliging, every one 
 aspires to gain his friendship ; in fact he has a 
 great reputation, and is exceptionally esteemed. 
 
 I went last night to see Fanny Elssler dance 
 the Tarentella and the Cachucha ; she danced 
 ravishingly, and was applauded with frenzy. 
 
 M. de la Fosse told me this morning, speak- 
 ing of M. de Chateaubriand, that he had seen a 
 very curious letter of this great genius, in his 
 own handwriting, signed, and addressed by him 
 to M. de Talleyrand, then at the Congress of 
 Vienna, consequently written between the 
 months of October, 1814, and March, 1815. In 
 this tolerably long letter M. de Chateaubriand 
 complained of the proceedings of the Govern- 
 ment, particularly of its ingratitude toward 
 himself, and he announced his intention to 
 enter the diplomatic service of some foreign 
 power, thinking by this means he would suc- 
 ceed better in making his fortune. A very 
 short answer from M. de Talleyrand in his own 
 
84 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 handwriting was attached to this letter — merely 
 a simple acknowledgment of its receipt, and 
 making no allusion to his announced intention 
 of entering a foreign service. M. de la Fosse, 
 who had come across these letters in reading 
 the correspondence of the Congress of Vienna 
 Avhen he was attached to the Ministry of 
 Foreign Affairs in 1835, thought M, de Chateau- 
 briand's letter so extraordinary that he showed 
 it to several of his young colleagues, and after- 
 ward took it to M. de Viel-Castel, who had 
 never heard of it, and was very much aston- 
 ished. M. de Viel-Castel had the custody of 
 the portfolio in which these letters were kept. 
 Some days afterward, M. de la Fosse, while 
 continuing his examination of the documents 
 contained in this volume, looked for the letter, 
 wishing to read it again : it had disappeared. 
 He supposed then, and still thinks, that M. de 
 Viel-Castel either returned the letter to M. de 
 Chateaubriand, with whom he had been associ- 
 ated, or had kept it for himself as a curious 
 record. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 8$ 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Washington, July 17, 1840. 
 
 I DINED yesterday with Mr. Forsyth. Pep- 
 per sauces seasoned with a thousand American 
 perfumes and an atrocious heat! The usual 
 hour for dinner here is four o'clock, but when 
 any one is invited to dinner it is at seven by 
 fashion ! The service is so very slow at a 
 dinner of ceremony, on account of an insuffi- 
 cient number of servants, that one is obliged 
 to remain at table three or four hours. I was 
 in the place of honor next to the mistress of 
 the house, and had the daughter-in-law on the 
 other side. I am anxious to lose my position 
 as debutant, that I may be able to feel more 
 at my ease, at some obscure corner of the table. 
 
 I am writing to you at last from home. I 
 I am very uncomfortably settled, wanting 
 many necessary things, but they are unknown 
 here. My house is like a parrot's perch ; 
 they are all built on the same plan, both in- 
 convenient and ugly ; nevertheless I am at 
 home, and happy to be for the present free 
 from that horrid hotel life. 
 
86 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 I saw Madame de Montholon yesterday, 
 who has just recovered from a confinement. 
 Her face, which is rather sweet than pretty, is 
 already faded, like that of all the young Amer- 
 ican women, and she is not twenty years old. 
 
 I went also to see the President, who ap- 
 pears troubled. He probably has bad news 
 in regard to the election. M. Pageot, who 
 leaves Washington to-day, has taken his leave 
 of him. 
 
 Fanny Elssler came to see me while I was 
 out. She continues to appear here every 
 night, and is received with the same furore. 
 
 I made the acquaintance of Mr. Robinson, 
 a civil engineer, and a distinguished man ; he 
 is a friend of Michel Chevalier, who gave me a 
 letter for him. He lives in Philadelphia. 
 
 I have begun to put the books of the Chan- 
 cellerie in order. They have been kept very 
 badly, and I wish to leave the archives in as 
 good order as those I left in London and 
 Carlsruhe. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 87 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Washington, July 18, 1840. 
 
 I HAVE just returned from a visit to Fanny 
 Elssler, who has engaged a kind of duenna 
 whom she could dispense with very well, for 
 the poor girl's reputation is too far gone to be 
 benefited by a guardian. I am wrong in say- 
 ing poor, for she has made a great deal of 
 money here ; so much that, since she has heard 
 her engagement at the Opera in Paris has been 
 broken by the retirement of M. Duponchel, 
 she is strongly tempted to remain for a year 
 in America. If she does, she will go this win- 
 ter to New Orleans and Havana and pocket 
 all the money she can. Just imagine — she 
 was presented formally to the President, and 
 to all the Cabinet assembled to receive her. 
 This strikes me as the height of the ridiculous! 
 She is delighted with her reception every- 
 where, and said, in a very droll way, that what 
 surprised her most was to find the manners 
 of Mr. Van Buren as distinguished as those of 
 Metternich. 
 
 I met at a dinner at the Belgian Minister's, 
 
88 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Mr. King, Senator from Alabama and Vice- 
 President of the Senate; Mr. Calhoun, another 
 Senator; and Mr. Gilpin, Attorney-General. 
 
 I also made the acquaintance of M. Miollet, 
 an excellent and remarkable man, whose con- 
 versation is charming. He has passed four 
 years amongst the Indians, and talks in the 
 most interesting manner about these unhappy 
 people 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Washington, July 21, 1840. 
 I WENT this morning to say good-by to 
 Fanny Elssler, who is going to Baltimore ; she 
 told me all about her love affairs. M. de la 
 Valette is the favored lover, but he is at Pau 
 just now. I think he was wrong in letting her 
 go without him. Before leaving, he had re- 
 commended her to an American who was a 
 friend of his, Mr. Wickoff, who accompanied 
 her to America and follows her everywhere. 
 She spoke to me of La Valette as her lover 
 and Mr. Wickoff as her friend ; I took all that 
 for what it is worth. 
 
liECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 89 
 
 I went to Congress twice yesterday ; they 
 were obliged to sit all night, and the session 
 finishes to-day. I am afraid that it may finish 
 badly for us : the Government have proposed a 
 bill taxing our silks— which have been allowed 
 to enter free of duty for many years— ten per 
 cent. If this bill passes, it will make a bad 
 ddbut for me in my mission, although I have 
 been here too short a time to be accused of 
 negligence. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Washington, July 23, 1840. 
 
 I WAS present at the closing of the session 
 of Congress. They adjourned without having 
 passed the terrible bill taxing our silks, but it 
 will pass without a doubt at the next session. 
 I have written a long dispatch giving an ac- 
 count of all I could gather, and announcing 
 my intention of travelling during the next two 
 months. M. de la Fosse does not wish to ac- 
 company me, so I go alone. 
 
 I have received my first letters from Europe 
 after waiting fifty-seven days for them. 
 
90 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Philadelphia, July 26, 1840. 
 I LEFT Washington yesterday by the rail- 
 road, which brought me to Baltimore in three 
 hours, where Fanny Elssler gave a representa- 
 tion. They say that this lovely creature has 
 married M. Wickoff. It will be an excellent 
 match for her ; it is true he is a bastard, but 
 he has sixty thousand francs a year. I arrived 
 here early, and leave to-morrow. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 New York, July 28, 1840. • 
 I AM in a city that I do not like ; I do 
 things that do not amuse me, and I am lodged 
 -in a place that does not please me. 
 
 Yesterday afternoon I walked about the 
 streets of this noisy city. First I met a proces- 
 sion of a thousand Democrats,— that is to say, 
 friends of Mr. Van Buren, — yelling furiously 
 and obstructing the streets. I escaped toward 
 the Battery in the hope of enjoying the sunset 
 
RECOLLECTIONS- OF A DIPLOMAT. 9I 
 
 on the sea. I hardly reached there when I 
 saw several men engaged in a quarrel ; they 
 were dressed like gentlemen, — all the men are 
 equally well-dressed here, — but that did not 
 prevent them from tearing each other's hair and 
 fighting like porters, as they probably were : a 
 great crowd collected, and I hurried away from 
 the brutal spectacle. 
 
 I shall go to-morrow to New Brighton, oppo- 
 site New York, and spend two or three days 
 with M. and Madame Pageot before their de- 
 parture for Europe ; one can go by water in 
 half an hour. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 New York, July 2g, 1840. 
 Staten Island, where we are now staying, 
 which is called the Pavilion of New Brighton, 
 would be even in Europe a magnificent estab- 
 lishment ; I have not seen in £iny of the water- 
 ing-places that I have been to anything equal 
 to it. It is a succession of charming pavilions 
 built on the shore opposite New York, and 
 from each of which one enjoys a beautiful 
 
92 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 view of the harbor. The parlors, dining-rooms, 
 and bedrooms are very pleasant, and the food 
 is good ; the company is very mixed. How- 
 ever, I have found some persons who may be 
 agreeable companions. I was presented to 
 Madame d'Argaiz, wife of the Spanish Minis- 
 ter, who is forty years old, and still has beau- 
 tiful black eyes. She is said to be clever, 
 coquettish, and witty ; she passes the summer 
 here, but during the winter she keeps open 
 house in Washington ; her husband is a 
 nephew of D'Alava. There is also here a 
 General d' Alvear, Minister of the Republic of 
 Buenos-Ayres and Charg6 d'Affaires of Brazil. 
 I have been walking with M. and Madame 
 Pageot all the evening on the beach under a 
 star-lit sky, such as is never seen in Europe. 
 Madame Pageot, who, like all Americans, is 
 very ambitious, feels very much the neglect 
 her husband has suffered in his career ; it was 
 she who induced him to send his resignation, 
 and she is anxious that he should become a 
 deputy of the Opposition. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 93 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 New Brighton, July 31, 1840. 
 
 Notwithstanding the beauty of the place, 
 this aimless life is hateful to me. All these 
 unknown faces, these children crying in every 
 part of the house, these misses who will play 
 the piano at all times — all this is very un- 
 pleasant and annoying. After dinner M. and 
 Madame Pageot, M. Menou, and I drove along 
 the shore to the telegraph which signals the 
 arrival of vessels coming to New York. The 
 view from this point is admirable : on the left 
 is a place called " Quarantine," where twenty 
 merchant-vessels were at anchor ; they had 
 come from the South and were waiting for 
 permission to enter the harbor ; opposite is 
 the island of Long Island, with its well laid- 
 out grounds ; in the middle of the sea Fort 
 Hamilton, which defends the entrance of the 
 harbor ; on the right the open sea ; behind us 
 Staten Island, on which are the Pavilion of 
 New Brighton, and an infinity of villas and 
 cottages, all surrounded by verdure. 
 
 The life Americans lead in a place like this 
 
94 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T, 
 
 is really curious: the women remain in tiieir 
 bedrooms during the entire morning ; some of 
 the men go to their business in New York ; 
 others sleep or play billiards ; eighty people 
 sit down to dinner and hurry through it in 
 about half an hour ; then the women go back 
 to their rooms, where they remain until tea- 
 time. During this interval the men go to a 
 sort of cafd, which they call bar-rooms here, and 
 smoke and drink and play. Notwithstanding 
 this kind of life, I think the Americans make 
 very good husbands, treating their wives with 
 care : they always give them the best places, 
 and the choice bits at table. This is done 
 without affectation, as a matter of right, and 
 not of homage ; treating them with un- 
 doubted politeness, but with perfect indifler- 
 ence. 
 
 The more intimately I am thrown with 
 Americans the more difficult I find it to judge 
 them, owing to their different types. The 
 American of the North differs entirely from 
 one of the South — I mean only the North 
 and South of the United States. The Ameri- 
 can of the North, he who is called Yankee, 
 has the English type, together with the cun- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 95 
 
 ning and skill of the Jew. This mixture of 
 Britannic pride, coldness, and stiffness with the 
 Hebraic cunning makes of the Yankee a being 
 apart. 
 
 The Yankees are English at heart, in spite 
 of the contempt they profess for them. They 
 go to England to acquire their tastes, their 
 morals, their customs, their fashions, and to 
 encourage their antipathies to France and the 
 French. Much more civilized than their com- 
 patriots of the South, they sympathize with 
 aristocracy and all other superiority admitted 
 in England ; and in what they call the New 
 England States very little change is required 
 to establish a form of government altogether 
 like that of Old England. On the contrary, 
 in the Southern States their sympathies 
 are French ; but I am sorry to say it is only 
 our revolutionary ideas they sympathize with. 
 They are vain, and jealous of the civilization 
 of the North, whom they would like to crush 
 with their principles of extreme democracy. 
 Such are the two distinct races, who together 
 occupy the territory on the shores of the 
 United States which extend from the North 
 to the South. But there is a third rage, in 
 
96 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 the West, beyond the Alleghany Mountains, 
 on the banks of the Ohio, the Mississippi, and 
 Missouri : this race has separate character- 
 istics, which it would be difficult to describe 
 now ; the population is composed of emi- 
 grants from the Northern and Southern 
 States, from Ireland, and from Germany. In 
 my opinion the West will be called upon to 
 play the principal r61e in the United States. 
 Some years from now they will dominate the 
 two other sections. It is difificult to say what 
 it will become, for it is composed just now of 
 so heterogeneous a mixture that no one can 
 form an exact idea of the situation ; but 
 amongst the different elements which can and 
 ought to be developed, I consider that the 
 Catholic element will exercise the most 
 marked influence. 
 
 It seems to me that most writers on 
 America and Americans do not sufficiently 
 consider the time and circumstances. The 
 Anglo-American race is, in my opinion, 
 charged with a special providential mission — 
 that of peopling and civilizing this immense 
 continent j they are proceeding in the accom- 
 plishment of this work undisturbed by any 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 97 
 
 obstacle, and this explains the anomalies so 
 easy to observe and criticise. But it is not 
 fair to judge from details : one must see the 
 whole, and this whole is grand, majestic, and 
 imposing. 
 
 And is it not imposing to see a nation who 
 sixty years ago numbered three million set- 
 tled upon the shores of the Atlantic, increase 
 to eighteen millions, and extending nearly to 
 the Pacific Ocean ? 
 
 The only fault of the Americans is that 
 they will not rest satisfied with their success, 
 but will always, in comparing themselves with 
 European nations, claim superiority over them 
 in everything. This is their great weakness, 
 and encourages writers who come here to find 
 fault. 
 
 I admire the American who remains Ameri- 
 can, but I cannot help feeling pity for one 
 who considers Europe inferior to his new-born 
 country. 
 
98 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 New York, August 2, 1840. 
 
 M. DE LA Forest proposed yesterday that 
 we should go on board the British Queen, 
 which is still in the harbor, and bid Pageot 
 good-by. I was foolish enough to accept. 
 I had scarcely got on board this great vessel, 
 which exactly resembles the Great Western, 
 and on which I found three persons who came 
 over with me and who were returning to 
 Europe already, than I was overcome with 
 such sad emotion, that I left as quickly as 
 possible, and to-day I am still oppressed by a 
 mortal sadness. I have positively what our 
 French soldiers call " home-sickness." 
 
 Yesterday evening, wishing to raise my 
 spirits, I called for M. de Menou, and we 
 went to old Mr. Gallatin's, whom I was 
 anxious to see, having heard M. de Talley- 
 rand often speak of him. He received me 
 very cordially ; he is a handsome man of 
 eighty years of age, and in full possession of 
 all his mental faculties. You no doubt recol- 
 lect his remarkable appearance, with strong, 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 99 
 
 sharp-cut features, and an expression of great 
 intelligence. He conversed with great ease 
 about France, England, and the United States, 
 about things of the past and present ; a great 
 deal also, and very well, of M. de Talleyrand. 
 
 I must say, in speaking of this conversation, 
 that the only thing that attaches me to this 
 country is the universal consideration ac- 
 corded to M. de Talleyrand, whose memory 
 is honored on every occasion, not only by 
 those who have known him, but also by those 
 who have heard him spoken of. It is not to 
 flatter my sentiments that they speak thus in 
 my presence, for here they never put them- 
 selves out for anything or any one. Mr. 
 Gallatin said yesterday, with great truth, that 
 one of the most remarkable traits in the 
 character of M. de Talleyrand was that in the 
 midst of all the different events of his life he 
 always remained a good Frenchman, loving 
 France before all and above all ; and he told 
 us in support of this eulogium a fact relating 
 to Louisiana which took place during the 
 residence of M. de Talleyrand in the United 
 States, and consequently at a time when he 
 was exiled and persecuted by his country. 
 
lOO RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 New York, August 7, 1840. 
 
 I KNOW now what a storm is in America; 
 our storms in Europe can give one no idea of 
 it. We had one yesterday which commenced 
 at eleven o'clock in the morning and lasted 
 until ten at night. The sound of the thunder 
 is frightful, and the reverberation is succeeded 
 by continual flashes of lightning, giving you 
 no time to recover yourself! The lightriing 
 struck the steeple of a church, two buildings 
 in the harbor, and one in an island near the 
 city, killing two children. The heavy fall of 
 rain undermined several houses. 
 
 I went a few days ago to Paterson, a 
 charming place, where there are waterfalls and 
 a manufactory of arms. I found M. Menou 
 here, who took me to see his friend Mr. Colt, 
 owner of almost the whole town, which con- 
 tains five thousand inhabitants and thirty 
 factories, placed on the waterfalls of the 
 prettiest river in the world, which has retained 
 its Indian name, the Passaic River. I prefer 
 the Indian names to those which the Ameri- 
 
KECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. lOI 
 
 cans give to most of their towns, and which 
 they have taken from the ancient and modern 
 names of Europe, such as Rome, Carthage, 
 Florence, Syracuse, Paris, Havre de Grace: 
 these with the Indian names form a ridiculous 
 medley. 
 
 Mr. Colt took us first to the manufactory of 
 arms, where carbines and pistols are made, 
 which by a new and wonderful invention can 
 be fired seven times in fifteen seconds, with- 
 out reloading ; he then took us to a factory of 
 cotton cloth for sails, to another of paper, and 
 to one where steam-engines were made. The 
 situation is picturesque and charming; the 
 ground is covered with weeping willows, which 
 dip their branches in the pretty Passaic, and 
 with catalpas and sycamores ; trees of the 
 same species which we see in Europe do not 
 at all resemble the giant trees which grow in 
 this country. 
 
 Mr. Colt, after introducing me to his wife 
 and daughters and asking me to dinner, very 
 kindly begged me to pay him a visit of several 
 days. 
 
 M. Mollien, our Consul-General at Havana, 
 is here and has just left me. He is a great 
 
I02 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 traveller: he has visited the interior of Africa 
 and the two Americas ; he has lived in 
 Havana during the last six years, and is so 
 accustomed to the heat there, that here when 
 we are broiling he complains of the cold. He 
 spoke of the Countess Merlin, whom he saw 
 when she sailed for Europe. Before leaving 
 Havana, she gave a grand public concert in a 
 hall larger than that of the Opera at Paris; 
 she sang for the poor, and notwithstanding 
 the exorbitant price of tickets, the hall was 
 filled. Some went from curiosity, and others 
 from duty; all the nobility of the country 
 being related to her were obliged to go, and 
 the receipts amounted to thirty thousand 
 francs. But her singing was not liked; they 
 did not go so far as to hiss her, but distinct 
 murmurs of disapprobation were often heard. 
 Her journey has been fortunate for her in 
 other ways; she has obtained from her 
 brothers a draft for two hundred thousand 
 francs, and received between fifty and sixty 
 thousand francs in presents from her family. 
 It is an old custom in Havana to make presents 
 to a young girl who is going to be married, 
 or on any particular occasion — as for instance 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. IO3 
 
 when about to make a long journey: all her 
 relations, even the most distant, then give 
 either presents of gold or of jewelry. 
 
 M. MoUien gives a very attractive descrip- 
 tion of Havana : it is the only colony that is 
 prosperous at the present time. It is the most 
 valuable jewel in the crown of Spain, and sup- 
 plies the Queen with three hundred thousand 
 francs a month for her pin-money. The in- 
 habitants are rich and happy, and notwith- 
 standing their wealth, which would allow of a 
 great display of luxury, the life there is very 
 simple. The heat prevents one from going 
 out between the hours of eight in the morning 
 and six in the evening, but in the houses, 
 which are built of stone and arched, one does 
 not suffer. They have terraces on the roof, 
 where one can walk during the cool and 
 charming nights. The inhabitants are divided 
 into three classes : the Spaniards, who are not 
 agreeable ; the Creoles, who are charming ; and 
 the negroes, who are treated with so much 
 kindness that they form almost part of the 
 family ; they are gentle, obedient, and devoted 
 even to fanaticism. It is just the reverse in 
 the United States, where they have been 
 
I04 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 brutalized and degraded by contempt and bad 
 treatment, until they have become vulgar and 
 depraved. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 New York, August ii, 1840. 
 I DINED yesterday with Doctor Berger and 
 his wife, his daughter fourteen years old, and 
 three or four Frenchmen, the flower of the 
 French colony, which is very numerous, but 
 not very select. Fanny Elssler was the sub- 
 ject of conversation. Just imagine — at Balti- 
 more the young men when she came out from 
 the theatre detached the horses from her car- 
 riage and drew it themselves to her hotel! 
 She comes to New York to-morrow, and they 
 have made arrangements here for a grand 
 serenade with one hundred and fifty German 
 musicians, who are to play during the night 
 under her windows, and will be escorted by 
 the subscribers ori horseback, carrying torches. 
 The Americans think they prove by these 
 acts of madness that they have as good taste 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 105 
 
 as Europeans, and know how to appreciate 
 talent. 
 
 I must tell you another characteristic trait, 
 which will give you some idea of the people 
 with whom I have the pleasure of living. 
 Coming out of a restaurant where I had dined, 
 I took a carriage from the stand — a sort of 
 citadine with two wheels ; I had my umbrella 
 in my hand, and the coachman asked me to 
 lend it to him. This I did willingly, at the 
 same time noting the little specimen of demo- 
 cratic liberty. 
 
 Mr. Wickoff, the beau of Fanny Elssler, came 
 yesterday to tell me that she wished to see 
 me: I went, and found her having herself 
 painted. She wanted me to say a good word 
 for her to M. MoUien, whom she will meet in 
 Havana, where she spends next winter. She 
 will not return to Paris until spring. She has 
 made eighty thousand francs in three months, 
 and will certainly gain three times as much 
 during her tour through the principal cities 
 of the United States. There is a perfect fu- 
 rore for her here ! The spectators act like 
 mad-men when she dances. 
 
 She showed me a letter from the late King 
 
Io6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 of Prussia, written five months ago : in it he 
 begs her to come to Berlin, that he may see 
 her once more before he dies. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 New York, August 15, 1840. 
 
 I WENT yesterday to the Park Theatre to 
 see Fanny in the ballot of the Tarentula and 
 afterv^ard in the Cracovienne. The beautiful 
 Elssler, as the American newspapers call her, 
 danced very well, but the' rest of the ballet 
 was pitiable : so truly grotesque, that it must 
 have been a great annoyance to her. 
 
 In the evening, when the serenade by the 
 Germans ought to have taken place, my valet, 
 who wished to hear it, went under Elssler's 
 window with the proprietor of our house ; but 
 the American people not liking the idea of the 
 serenade, came with torches and drove the 
 Germans away, and then burnt their music- 
 stands and music. This is how they under- 
 stand liberty in this strange country. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. lO/ 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 New York, August 17, 1840. 
 
 Yesterday morning I had a visit from our 
 Consul, M. de la Forest, who had just come 
 from Philadelphia, where he had been to see 
 his daughter, Madame d'Hauterive. I went 
 with him to Hoboken, a village on a height 
 opposite New York, where there is a hotel 
 looked upon as a pleasure resort, and in which 
 there are about thirty guests, with whom we 
 dined. Among them I will mention a Mrs. 
 Anderson, who is very pretty ; she has lived in 
 Paris two years, during which time her hus- 
 band was the American Secretary of Legation. 
 The other guests were French and American 
 merchants staying there for a few weeks with 
 their families ; all very common people of 
 course, but still less so than the same class of 
 people would be in Europe. 
 
 After dinner M. de la Forest took me to a 
 very pretty little house, a real English cottage 
 in a nest of flowers, belonging to an American 
 family, with whom two daughters of Madame 
 F were staying. This grand-niece of M. 
 
I08 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 de Sfeze is the intimate friend of our Consul, 
 and one of her daughters is engaged to be 
 married to his son, who is Vice-Consul at Ca- 
 racas. According to the father, his intimacy 
 with the family is due to this engagement. 
 According to the French colony, the engage- 
 ment is due to the intimacy of the parents. 
 It has given occasion to great scandal, to cari- 
 catures and newspaper articles; it is certain 
 that Madame de la Forest, who has been in 
 France during the last three years, opposes as 
 strongly as she can the marriage of her son 
 
 with ]\IademoiseIle F . However, we took 
 
 these two young ladies, who are decidedly 
 ugly, in our carriage, and drove twelve miles 
 through the most beautiful country — partly 
 along the shores of the North River, and partly 
 on those of a little river called the Hackewai* 
 The young girls here so celebrated for their 
 beauty have not a healthy look; their man- 
 ners are not pleasant; they are cold-blooded 
 coquettes ; they tantalize the men, and while 
 not concealing their desire to find a husband, 
 they do not seem to care to find in him any- 
 thing else than a companion. As to the 
 * Apparently the Hackensack. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. IO9 
 
 women, they are all faded, worn out, finished, 
 after two years of marriage. The lady to 
 whom the cottage we saw yesterday belongs 
 who it seems was lovely at twenty years of 
 age, is now at twenty-six a frightful ruin — 
 nothing but skin and bone, and with a very 
 coarse complexion. 
 
 We received news from London to the 3d 
 by the steamer Acadia, which made the voy- 
 age to Halifax in twelve days, and from there 
 to New York in thirty-six hours. This is a 
 very short time to travel twelve hundred 
 leagues, but very long to one so far away from 
 his country. 
 
 War between France and England is the 
 topic of conversation everywhere, and the sub- 
 ject of discussion in every newspaper. With- 
 out exactly blaming us, they laugh at the brag- 
 ging articles in our papers, which, they say, 
 never come to anything, and only throw ridi- 
 cule on the French Government. They add 
 that if we really go to war it will be for some- 
 thing of very little consequence, and as usual 
 for glory, without any profit to us. The 
 Americans are matter-of-fact people, attracted 
 by the substance and not the shadow. And I 
 
no RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 have already seen that they do not think 
 much of us ; notwithstandmg their compli- 
 mentary speeches, they do not feel the slight- 
 est gratitude for the aid given them by France 
 in their War of Independence ; and the in- 
 demnity of twenty-five millions paid five years 
 ago has finished us in their opinion. They see 
 that we can always be duped. It is a singular 
 fact that they fear the English, whose writers 
 never cease to ridicule them, and yet their 
 tastes and inclinations are English. It is true 
 they have the same origin, the same manners, 
 c,ustoms, and religion ; but the Revolution of 
 1776, the Peace of 1783, and the War of 1812 
 ought, it would seem, to have put an insur- 
 mountable barrier between these two nations, 
 and, above all, when one thinks of the con- 
 tempt with which the English treat the Ameri- 
 cans. Well, the Americans admire and imi- 
 tate John Bull. As soon as they have a little 
 money, they want a house in the English 
 style. Then it is onlyyin England and Scot- 
 land that an American can satisfy his pride of 
 birth. The first thing he does after he has 
 made a fortune is to seek in England proofs 
 of his descent from some English family, and 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. HI 
 
 on his return to have the coat of arms of this 
 family engraved on his silver. There are 
 many contradictions in this Nation, which is 
 still in its infancy and in a transition state. 
 
 I have read again with great care M. de 
 Tocqueville's work, " Democracy in America." 
 The two last volumes are not equal to the 
 first ones. In these there is a general expo- 
 sure, which is clear and exact, of the weak 
 errors in the construction of the Constitution 
 of the United States, whether federal or par- 
 ticular to each of the States of the federation. 
 There is also a faithful picture of the Ameri- 
 can character at the time, for this character is 
 constantly modified by a thousand causes too 
 many to enumerate : it is sufificient to speak of 
 immigration, which throws one hundred thou- 
 sand Europeans on the American continent 
 every year. Thus I recognize as true the pic- 
 ture which M. de Tocqueville gives of the 
 Yankee of New England, and also of the 
 Southerner, of the Virginian and Georgian, 
 proprietors of slaves, and living in the midst 
 of the slavery of the blacks. But one sees 
 plainly in the last two volumes of his work, 
 published five years after his departure from 
 
112 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA 7\ 
 
 the United States, that the object of the 
 author is, while giving his ideas on the democ- 
 racy of America, more or less new, and his 
 reflections, which are mostly old, to apply them 
 to the moral and political state of France. 
 What in my opinion spoils M. de Tocqueville's 
 work and partly takes away from the impor- 
 tance he wished to give it, is the comparison 
 he tries to establish between the democracy of 
 the United States and that of France. This 
 comparison appears to me entirely imaginary ; 
 the fundamental points essential to it are want- 
 ing, or differ absolutely. We know that in the 
 United States they owe the beginning of their 
 organization to religious persecution, which 
 drove the English and Scotch Puritans to the 
 American Continent ; that these men in estab- 
 lishing themselves there took for the principles 
 upon which they founded their institutions the 
 doctrines of the Gospel as interpreted by them- 
 selves. This is the explanation of the actual 
 American Constitution, modified perhaps by 
 the peculiar character of the Anglo-Americans, 
 perhaps by the provincial and municipal insti- 
 stitutions which the puritans brought with 
 them from the mother-country. Taking this 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. II3 
 
 thread for a guide in the examination of the 
 American Constitution, one can easily trace it 
 to the present time. You see the gradual 
 changes brought about by the increase of pop- 
 ulation ; the desire to throw off the yoke of 
 the mother Church; the Revolution of 1776, 
 which was the result; the efforts of distin- 
 guished men who vainly sought to control this 
 revolution or lessen the evil consequences ; 
 and later the Irish, German, and French emi- 
 gration ; the opening and civilizing of the 
 West ; the large private fortunes acquired by 
 the creation of banks ; then the ruin of these 
 banks : and you come to understand the moral 
 and political position of the United States at 
 the present time. One may write volumes and 
 comment forever on these events, but he must 
 always return to this conclusion — that the mis- 
 sion to people and to civilize the American 
 continent is intrusted by Providence to the 
 Anglo-American race. It is a fact apart from 
 history, and of which one can draw no conclu- 
 sion from the rest of the world, that the conse- 
 quences may be but transient and apply only 
 to this fact, and that it is not improbable that 
 as the United States becomes more thickly in- 
 
1 14 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 habited and civilized they will enter the com- 
 mon path by which other nations have passed, 
 only retaining those particular traits belonging 
 to each of them, such as cause a Russian to be 
 distinguished from an Englishman, a Spaniard 
 from a German. 
 
 But how can any one compare such a state 
 of things to that of France ? To France, the 
 most ancient monarchy of Europe, which after 
 having passed through a feudal government, 
 and that of the brilliant despotism of Louis 
 XIV. and the degrading despotism of Louis 
 XV., extended to 1789, when the radical re- 
 form of her constitution inclined her to revo- 
 lution. This revolution destroyed everything 
 — institutions, morals, and religion ; it upset 
 the rights of property, but did it modify the 
 national character as much as was supposed ? 
 This passion for equality, which it developed 
 to such a degree — was it not more a desire to 
 crush the higher classes and put themselves in 
 their places, than a rational determination to 
 equalize the condition of men ? Have not the 
 French always the same inclination to distin- 
 guish themselves, the same thirst for military 
 glory? And this inclination for distinction. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. IIJ 
 
 this thirst for military glory is nothing else but 
 the desire of superiority applied to one's self, 
 and of a personal aristocratic feeling. Every 
 one has the desire to place himself above his 
 equals : this is the secret of revolutions. That 
 of 1789, in wishing to destroy everything, could 
 not blot out the history of the last eighteen 
 centuries ; it could not prevent memories of the 
 past and' traditions being perpetuated ; it could 
 not prevent France, surrounded by other coun- 
 tries where aristocratic sentiments were still 
 honored, finding points of comparison every 
 day, which, if they excited the hatred of some, 
 kept up the ambition of others. 
 
 To sum up : I say that the democracy, which 
 they tell us is. final, appears to me to be in a 
 state of transition, and that in any case that 
 which exists in the United States cannot be 
 compared to that of France. American de- 
 mocracy is approaching the boundary-lines of 
 aristocracy, and perhaps toward a limited mon- 
 archy. French democracy is going I don't 
 know where, but I think more toward des- 
 potism than toward a republic. Whatever 
 they do, absolute equality of condition is a 
 dream which cannot be realized. It is con- 
 
Il6 RECOLLECtlONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 trary to the nature of things and contrary to 
 human natui'e. The rich man is an aristocrat 
 in the eyes of the poor, the savant in those of 
 the ignorant, the strong man in those of the 
 feeble ; and I do not know of any system of 
 equality possible except It be in a nation com- 
 posed of citizens who are poor, weak, and 
 ignorant to the same degree, and this would 
 not be a nation, but an assemblage, an ag- 
 glomeration of slaves, who would soon become 
 a prey to their neighbors. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 New York, August 23, 1840. 
 
 Having established my head-quarters here 
 during the very warm weather, I have accepted 
 an invitation to the club, that I may quietly 
 study the character of the people with whom I 
 am condemned to live ; besides which, I can 
 dine there more at my ease than elsewhere. 
 
 I went yesterday with M. Menou to the ex- 
 treme end of New York, to a quarter which 
 ought to be the most elegant in the city ; but 
 the buildings there have been left unfinished 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. II7 
 
 in consequence of the financial crisis, which 
 has now lasted four years. It is curious to see 
 these unfinished buildings : it looks as if the 
 work had been stopped by the enchanted ring 
 of some evil spirit. These buildings, when fin- 
 ished, will be larger but not handsomer than 
 those of other parts of the town : they are of 
 the same very red brick, the same very green 
 shutters, the same very white doors— alto- 
 gether hideous. The University, of Gothic 
 architecture, and Washington Square are a lit- 
 tle better than the rest. And, what a beauti- 
 ful place this city could be made, situated be- 
 tween two rivers which can be seen on the 
 right and left from the end of each street ! 
 The situation is admirable ; there is no place 
 that can compare with it ; and not a curiosity 
 to see, and not an edifice you can speak of. 
 
 I met Baron Mareschall yesterday on the 
 Battery, with Count Colombiano, charge 
 d'affaires of Sardinia, one of my colleagues, 
 whose acquaintance I had not yet made ; he is, ' 
 like me, an invalid, and Hves in Washington 
 only when obliged to ; he seemed agreeable 
 and well-bred. While continuing our walk we 
 watched the rising of a magnificent storm. 
 
Il8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 The sky grew dark and the harbor was entirely 
 obscured, except when lit up occasionally by 
 flashes of lightning — more like volcanic erup- 
 tions than our poor little flashes in Europe. 
 We went home in the midst of formidable 
 claps of American thunder, hoping the storm 
 would cool the air for to-day ; but it has not 
 done anything of the kind, and last night I had 
 my first experience of mosquitoes, who become 
 gay and festive only during the hottest 
 weather ; they never left me quiet for a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 I have seen the superb steamer called the 
 President ^ her deck is three hundred feet 
 long, but her interior accommodations are not 
 nearly a« good as those of the Great Western. 
 If I return to Europe I shall most certainly do 
 so on an English ship. The American and 
 French sMps are uncomfortable and unsafe, 
 owing to the rapacity of the one and negli- 
 gence of the other. I have seen something 
 here which iis srery curious: it is an artist who 
 takes portraits by daguerrotype ; they are 
 frightful picttrres, and only give the features 
 without any expression or shades ; they are 
 like the skeleton 'of a face, black and hideous; 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. II9 
 
 but this reproduction fixed on glass is never- 
 theless a very strange invention, and if it 
 should be perfected, will be very useful. These 
 likenesses, which would be such consolation in 
 absence, will be within the reach of persons 
 with small purses. M. MoUien and I had our- 
 selves drawn. This is the expression in use. 
 We were frightful, and appeared at least a 
 hundred years old ; the operation lasted 
 scarcely five minutes. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 New York, Augnst 2g, 184a. 
 I WENT yesterday morning with M. de la 
 Forest to Roccaway, the most fashionable place 
 for sea-bathing in the country. We crossed 
 the East River in a ferryboat, and landed at 
 Brooklyn City, one of those towns which have 
 been laid out, and in which very few houses 
 have as yet been built, all work having been 
 stopped on account of the disastrous financial 
 situation. Brooklyn is opposite New York, 
 on Long Island ; taking the railroad there, 
 we arrived, in one hour's journey, across a 
 
120 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 beautiful, well-wooded country, at a lovely vil- 
 I'^ge, Jamaisa, destined soon to become a city 
 The railroad is only finished to this place, and 
 we were obliged to ride eight miles farther 
 in a miserable char-a-bancs, through a wild 
 marshy country, before reaching the Pavilion 
 of Roccaway. 
 
 This Pavilion, which is on the seashore, con- 
 tains accommodation for one hundred persons. 
 The beach is bare, gloomy, and monotonous — 
 not a tree or a shrub ; the arrangements for 
 bathing are bad, and the bathing-houses unfit 
 for use ; and this is a sample of the watering- 
 places they boast so much of ! I was obliged 
 to make a great many new acquaintances; 
 among others, that of Madame Cigogne, 
 whose ridiculous name I have already spoken 
 of, and of her daughter Mademoiselle Adfele 
 Cigogne ; they are Creoles of Saint-Domingo, 
 and emigrated to the United States when that 
 island was in a state of rebellion. They es- 
 tablished a boarding-school for young girls at 
 Philadelphia, as I think I told you. Made- 
 moiselle Cigogne is about fifty years old and 
 still very handsome, with perfectly regular 
 features, and the expressive countenance of 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 121 
 
 the Creole. She has also a great deal of intel- 
 ligence and wit. These ladies invited me to 
 visit them in Philadelphia, which I shall cer- 
 tainly do with the greatest pleasure, this splen- 
 did old maid being one of the most agreeable 
 women I have ever met. 
 
 The Count de Grasse was presented to me 
 by his own request, although he is a Legiti- 
 mist. He is the son of Admiral de Grasse ; 
 his sister married a M. de Pau, whose daugh- 
 ter is Madame Mortimer Livingston, and 
 whose son is married to Miss Thorn. I also 
 made the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. Mor- 
 timer Livingston, who is distingu^e and mel- 
 ancholy, and of Mrs. Davis of Philadelphia : 
 she is frightfully ugly, but intelligent, and an 
 artist. 
 
 I have at last seen Madame Jerome Bona- 
 parte, — Miss Patterson, — a large fat woman, 
 whose face still preserves traces of wonderful 
 beauty, but totally devoid of expression ; she 
 looks like a plaster model in a studio enlarged. 
 They say she is an agreeable woman, but I 
 pronounce her dreadfully tedious. She has 
 just come from Paris, and talked to me of the 
 Pont^coulants as her intimate friends. 
 
122 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 At two o'clock we sat down, one hundred 
 and twenty, at table. After dinner the women 
 played ten - pins under a shed closed in on 
 three sides. There I saw the most singular 
 spectacle. The gentlemen took off their coats 
 and vests, lit their cigars, joined in -the game 
 with these ladies, who did not seem in the 
 least shocked. A young lady, said to be one of 
 the greatest beauties in New York, and cele- 
 brated as an amateur singer, made herself very 
 conspicuous by her free behavior and manners 
 with the gentlemen in their shirt-sleeves. I 
 cannot get accustomed to these things. 
 
 Fanny Elssler has given her last perform- 
 ance in New York ; it was her benefit. She 
 made a little speach in English at the close of 
 the performance, which had a prodigious suc- 
 cess. No conqueror after a victory was ever 
 applauded as she was. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I23 
 
 XL. 
 
 New York, September 2, 1840. 
 I STARTED at seven o'clock yesterday morn- 
 ing to pay Mr. Hamilton a visit at Newis. He 
 met me at the steamboat landing, and took me 
 to his house, which is on a height ; we arrived 
 there at ten o'clock. It is a pretty dwelling, 
 arranged and furnished in English fashion, 
 but built of wood, which must make it difficult 
 to keep warm in bad weather. The view is en- 
 chanting : it takes in thirty miles of the Hud-, 
 son, a magnificent river, which opposite Newis 
 is three miles broad ; perpendicular rocks which 
 are called the Palisades extend eight miles 
 along the opposite shore. The Hudson is cov- 
 ered with boats of all kinds — steamboats, and 
 boats with white sails ; the horizon is shut out 
 on both sides by lovely hills, covered with 
 trees, and cottages in every direction sur- 
 rounded with flowers. The Hudson is often 
 compared with the Rhine ; but is far superior 
 in size and grandeur, the Rhine is richer in 
 traditions, and must rest content in the pride 
 of its feudal ruins. 
 
124 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton presented me to his wife and 
 four daughters ; the eldest, Mrs. Shuyler, is 
 ugly ; she speaks French very well ; the second, 
 Mrs. Bowdwins, stared at me all the time, and 
 didn't say a word in any language ; the third. 
 Miss Mary, was equally silent ; the fourth. 
 Miss Angelique, is very pretty and lively. 
 Taking them altogether, including little Alex- 
 ander, whom you know, and who was not 
 there, they are an agreeable family; they 
 overwhelmed me with polite attentions, and I 
 shall be delighted to see them again in Wash- 
 ington, where they propose passing two 
 months next winter. 
 
 After the morning tea, Mr. Hamilton took 
 me to see the Mesdames Jones, his neighbors, 
 who took us to see Mr. Washington Irving, 
 whose place adjoins theirs. Mr. Hamilton 
 wished to ask him to dine with me, but he 
 had just left for New York. Mr. Irving is not 
 married, and lives with his four nieces, who 
 received us ; not one of them is pretty, but 
 their faces and manners are agreeable. The 
 house is lovely : it is Holland House in minia- 
 ture — climbing plants outside, books and com- 
 fort inside. We walked back to Newis 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 12$ 
 
 through the woods, by a path overhanging the 
 Hudson. I forgot to tell you that Washing- 
 ton Irving's reputation as a Hterary man stands 
 highest in America ; I should have been glad 
 to have seen him. At two o'clock we had a 
 good dinner and well served, and at four I left 
 Newis and my kind hosts. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Boston, September 5, 1840. 
 I LEFT New York the day before yesterday, 
 at six o'clock in the morning with M. de la 
 
 Forest and two of Madame F 's daughters : 
 
 one is the future daughter-in-law of our Con- 
 sul, and the other is also to be married soon. 
 The steamboat took us up the East River to 
 New Haven, where we arrived at one o'clock ; 
 we then took the railroad and arrived in two 
 hours at Hartford, where we stayed all night. 
 After dinner we walked through the town. 
 There is an oak-tree here which they say is five 
 hundred years old : it is hollow, and two hun- 
 dred years ago, a charter given by the King of 
 England, and which he afterward wished to 
 
1 26 RECOLLECTIONS OP A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 withdraw, was hidden in it. This ttee is called 
 the Charter Oak. I took an acorn away with 
 me. Hartford is one of the learned cities of 
 the United States ; her university is celebrated ; 
 there is another at New Haven, also in great 
 repute ; the third is in Cambridge, one mile from 
 Boston. The oldest inhabited States pay most 
 attention to the sciences. New Haven and 
 Hartford are the two capitals of Connecticut, 
 one of the richest and most advanced States 
 in New England ; the Legislature of the State 
 meets alternately at one or the other city. 
 
 We visited an insane asylum, which was ad- 
 mirably kept ; a crazy woman asked me where 
 I came from ; when I told her that I came from 
 New York, she said with a melancholy voice, 
 " T know it, but I am forever out of the worlds 
 The physician said, however, that she was get- 
 ting well. 
 
 We left Hartford at eight in the morning by 
 the stage. It was the first time I had travelled 
 by one in America — they are not much better 
 than those in France ; the country through 
 which we passed is lovely, and would recall 
 " England if more thickly settled. After having 
 passed through places called Berlin, Windsor, 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 12J 
 
 Grafton, and Newton, without stopping, we ar- 
 rived at Springfield, where we dined, and then 
 travelled ninety miles in five hours, on a splen- 
 did railroad and through a beautiful cultivated 
 country. A lovely sunset added to our en- 
 joyment of a splendid view of Boston. The 
 city is built in the form of an amphitheatre 
 around the shores of the ocean ; it contains 
 one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, 
 including four or five towns in the suburbs — 
 Broaklin, Cambridge, Charlestown, etc. Bos- 
 ton is the oldest town in the United States, 
 built two hundred years ago, and the streets 
 are narrower and the houses higher than in 
 more recently built towns ; it is a beautiful 
 English town. 
 
 M. Isnard, the French Consul, who had been 
 advised of my coming, had fortunately secured 
 rooms for me ; otherwise it would have been 
 difficult, as there was a political meeting of the 
 opponents of Mr. Van Buren to be held on 
 the loth of this month, which will draw about 
 sixty thousand strangers here. Fanny Elssler 
 and the indispensable Wickoff are staying in 
 the same hotel with us : I am fated to meet 
 them everywhere. 
 
128 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Boston, September 6, 1840. 
 
 It has rained all day. The little F s 
 
 have been reading and working from early 
 this morning till night. They have been well 
 brought up, and not too muck troublesome. M. 
 de la Forest and I have been to see Made- 
 moiselle Elssler, who was very anxious about 
 her first performance, which takes place to- 
 morrow. It appears that the musicians and 
 ballet are not ready, and would not rehearse 
 either last night or during to-day, on account 
 of their puritanic notions of keeping Sunday. 
 
 I have taken advantage of a brightening of 
 the sky to go to see the State House, a large 
 building in which the Senate and Representa- 
 tives of the State of Massachusetts, of which 
 Boston is the capital, meet. From the cupola 
 of this building there is a beautiful panorama 
 of Boston and its environs. The town is 
 situated on a peninsula, surrounded by the sea 
 and connected by bridges with different parts 
 of the mainland, where there are several small 
 towns: South Boston, containing manufac- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I2g 
 
 tories and public establishments; Cambridge, 
 where Howard College is — the most celebrated 
 university in the United States, with six hun- 
 dred students ; Charlestown, in which are the 
 State Prison, the Insane Hospital, the Navy 
 gard, and Bunker Hills, a monument built in 
 memory of a victory over the English on June 
 17, 1776. There are in Boston a great many 
 stores, depots, and shops ; docks, where in- 
 numerable vessels come from all parts of the 
 world ; and four railroads. There is a beauti- 
 ful public walk in the centre of the town, well 
 laid out with trees, and near it the commence- 
 ment of a botanical garden. They have dififi- 
 culty in keeping the sea from encroaching 
 on it. The houses surrounding the public 
 grounds are built of granite, and in many 
 streets the area are filled with flowers ; and, 
 to complete the charm of this city, there are 
 no hogs to be seen wandering about the 
 streets, as in other cities of the United States. 
 There is no doubt that altogether things are 
 better here than in other places. Society is 
 composed of a sort of financial aristocracy, 
 well brought up, religious, and honest. There 
 are fifty-two churches in the city and suburbs. 
 
I30 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 of which four are Catholic. The market is 
 clean and luxurious, a quarter of a mile in 
 length, well heated, and lit with gas. The 
 market-women are dressed with an approach 
 to elegance. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Boston, September 7, 1840. 
 
 The weather has changed from extreme 
 heat to freezing. We saw Mount Auburn 
 Cimetery yesterday; it reminds one of Pfere- 
 Lachaise. This cemetery is embellished by 
 superb trees and lovely avenues; these bear 
 the names of the trees with which they are 
 planted — Cedar Avenue, Poplar Avenue, Azelea 
 Avenue. The tombs are on the right and left, 
 placed like houses on a street. I remarked 
 that of Spurzheim, the disciple of Gall, who 
 died in Boston in 1832. 
 
 On quitting the cemetery we went to Fresh 
 Pond, which is like the Pool of Saint-Gratien, 
 in the valley of Montmorency. From thereto 
 the University, which is called Howard Col- 
 lege,* a Mr. Howard having been the founder. 
 
 * Obviously Harvard College. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 131 
 
 Almost all the public institutions here are in- 
 debted to private individuals of wealth for 
 their foundation ; it is an honorable trait in 
 the Yankee character, but not exempt from 
 ostentation. The University occupies a large 
 extent of ground. The buildings are hand- 
 some and the gardens charming. 
 
 We then went to Charlestown, where the 
 monument of Bunker s Hise is being built, on 
 the spot where, at the commencement of the 
 War for Independence, three hundred Ameri- 
 cans defended themselves against ten thou- 
 sand English. This monument is to be a sim- 
 ple obelisk of granite in the middle of a 
 grass-plat, from which there is a beautiful 
 view. For want of funds the obelisk has 
 only reached to one third of its intended 
 height, but a meeting of American ladies has 
 been called to propose means for its comple- 
 tion. Near by is the convent of the Benedic- 
 tines, which was broken into, pillaged, and 
 burnt by the Bostonians three years ago, from 
 pure curiosity to see what was going on there, 
 incited by the most absurd stories. The 
 Bishop of Boston, in consequence of this, sent 
 the nuns to their principal house in Canada. 
 
132 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Afterward he claimed damages from the City 
 of Boston and from the Legislature of Massa- 
 chusetts. On their refusal he declared that 
 he would leave the ruins just as they were. 
 As the ground belongs to the Catholic Church, 
 he had the right to do as he pleased, and this 
 determination annoys the Protestants very 
 much, because all strangers view these ruins 
 with astonishment and ask the cause. 
 
 After dinner I took a walk through the 
 streets, which, on account of its being Sunday, 
 were almost deserted ; however, the chains 
 which formerly closed all the streets to pre- 
 vent carriages from passing during Sunday, 
 were only drawn around the churches. Boston 
 is perfectly clean. No one is allowed to put 
 any dirt on the public highways ; they keep it 
 all in the interior of their houses, and the city 
 authorities have it carried away every morning 
 at the expense of the city. There is a fine of 
 twenty-five francs for smoking in the streets. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OP A DIPLOMAT. 1 33 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Boston, September lo, 1840, 
 The only fault of Boston in my eyes — but it 
 is a great one — is that the inhabitants of this 
 elegant and charming city hate the French, 
 and what is worse, they despise them. They 
 have retained the inveterate English preju- 
 dices of two centuries ago against France, and 
 this would make my stay here for any length 
 of time insupportable. 
 
 We went to Salem, a pretty little seaport 
 town near which the first Pilgrims landed in 
 the time of Charles I. The whole coast is 
 rocky. There is a maritime museum here, 
 founded forty years ago, by a club whose 
 members must prove that they have doubled 
 Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope ; con- 
 sequently they are almost all captains of ves- 
 sels. They are bound to bring some object 
 of antiquity on their return from every voy- 
 age, and deposit it in the museum, which has 
 been filled in this way. 
 
 The Boston ladies hold a fair to-day, the 
 proceeds of which are to go toward the com- 
 
134 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 pletion of the monument of Bunker s Hise. A 
 gentleman presented to this fair a snuff-box 
 which he pretends to have bought at a sale of 
 Prince Talleyrand's effects in Paris. It is a 
 worthless box, which has seen much service, 
 and has a corner broken off. It is proposed 
 to buy it, and present it to a Major Russell, 
 who is eighty-four years old, and is said to have 
 been very intimate with M. de Talleyrand. I 
 did not wish to destroy the value of this box 
 by telling them that M. de Talleyrand never 
 took snuff. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 New York, September ii, 1840. 
 We went by rail yesterday to Providence, 
 where we arrived at noon. This is the capital 
 of the little State of Rhode Island. It is a 
 town of twenty thousand inhabitants, beauti- 
 fully situated on the Providence River, thirty- 
 five miles from the sea. At six o'clock we 
 were in Stonington, a pretty port on the 
 ocean. We took the steamer, and at eight 
 o'clock in the morning arrived at New York. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I35 
 
 At noon we went on art excursion up the 
 Hudson River. After having visited Barnham 
 House and Stikers Boy, we arrived at Monal- 
 ton City* then at Macomb's Dam, on the East 
 River, and thefe we saw the Croton Aqueduct, 
 which is being built to bring good drinking- 
 water to New York, where now there is not a 
 drop. This aqueduct will be twenty-eight 
 leagues in length, and will not be finished for 
 three or four years. 
 
 On my return to New York I went to see a 
 diorama exhibited by some Frenchmen who 
 had asked my patronage. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 New York, Septeitiber 14, 1840. 
 I WENT this morning to see the grounds, 
 six miles from town, on which preparations are 
 being made for a new cemetery. It will be 
 like a magnificent English park. The Ameri- 
 cans take great care of their dead ; when I re- 
 marked this as greatly to their praise, some 
 one said it was not a question of sentiment, 
 but of self-love. On the highest point of this 
 * Apparently Manhattanville. 
 
136 KECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 cemetery, which will be called " Greenwood 
 Cimetery" there is a level piece of ground, on 
 which it is proposed to erect a monument in 
 memory of General Washington. The view 
 from this point is certainly the most beautiful 
 in the whole world. 
 
 I went afterward on board the North Caro- 
 lina, an American man-of-war and school for 
 young midshipmen ; I was requested in Paris to 
 obtain information about this school. I have 
 examined into the subject thoroughly. 
 
 I have also visited the penitentiary; the 
 situation is so charming that it has been 
 named Mount pleasant' s Penitentiary. It is a 
 kind of fortress on an island in the East River ; 
 there are three hundred men and four hun- 
 dred and fifty women there, who are made to 
 work, but not much ; it is more like a house 
 of improvement than of correction. Sixteen 
 keepers are sufficient to keep these seven or 
 eight hundred prisoners in order. The man 
 who acted as my guide, a true American, gave 
 it as his opinion that it would require a regi- 
 tnent of the line to restrain so many prisoners 
 in our country. He said that most of them 
 were Germans, and was very much confused 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 37 
 
 to find that not one of those to whom I spoke 
 their supposed language could understand me, 
 but answered in EngHsh, saying they were 
 Americans. My conductor confided to me 
 that the women were much more difficult to 
 manage than the men ; they tried their powers 
 of fascination on the jailers. The stamp of 
 crime was more pronounced on the faces of 
 these wretches than in Europe. Doctor B^nit, 
 who came with me, examined them from the 
 phrenological point of view with great inter- 
 est. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Philadelphia, September 24, 1840. 
 We left New York on the 19th, on a large 
 steamboat, which carried us to South Amboy, 
 where we took the railroad, which brought 
 us to Bordentown on the Delaware. In this 
 pretty little town are the house and grounds of 
 Joseph Bonaparte. The steamboat took us 
 down the Delaware River to Philadelphia, pass- 
 ing Bristol in Pennsylvania and Burlington in 
 New Jersey. 
 
138 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 I dined the day after my arrival with our 
 Consul, M. d'Hauterive ; there was no one 
 but his wife, and a Doctor Laroche, a Creole 
 of Saint-Domingo and nephew of Madame 
 Cigogne. Madame d'Hauterive seems to be a 
 mild, good little woman. Brought up at the 
 Sacred Heart in Paris, she talked of nothing 
 but Monsignor de Qu^len, Madame de Gra. 
 mont, and Madame Marboeuf. After dinner 
 we all went to Madame Cigogne's, whose house 
 is elegant and the society select ; it is very curi- 
 ous to see a mistress of a boarding-school in 
 such a position. The whole evening was 
 passed in relating amusing anecdotes of the 
 Quakers. These ladies are not at all prudish. 
 
 I have seen the Exchange, which is curious- 
 ly arranged ; there is a large hall, where are 
 newspapers from all parts of the world. The 
 whole appearance is more elegant than at New 
 York. 
 
 I went with M. d'Hauterive to see a dam 
 which has been constructed on the river 
 Shuylkill, about three miles from the town, 
 from which the water is raised into reservoirs 
 by an admirable machine ; from there it is 
 taken in pipes to Philadelphia and into each 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 39 
 
 house. It is a superb work, executed on a 
 grand scale. 
 
 We then went to Girard College, which is 
 ^not far off. Girard was a workman of Bor- 
 deaux ; he made an immense fortune here, and 
 left by his will thirty million francs for the im- 
 provement of the city of Philadelphia. He 
 drew the plan of this college himself, which is 
 to be built entirely of white marble, and pre- 
 scribed all the details, with penalty of forfeit- 
 ure of the bequest if not strictly conformed 
 to. 
 
 We went the same day to Laurel Hill 
 Cimetery, the appearance of which is not at all 
 gloomy or severe ; it is more like a garden laid 
 out for public amusements than a cemetery. 
 
 I went through the Philadelphia shops to- 
 day ; they are as well supplied as those of 
 London and Paris. I saw some magnificent 
 antique porcelain from China. 
 
 I was introduced to two old men, who inter- 
 ested me very much — M. du Ponceau, eighty- 
 four years old, blind and deaf, but who related 
 the most amusing anecdotes with infinite wit 
 and !iumor ; and Mr. Vaughan, a little man of 
 eighty years of age, who thinks himself but 
 
I40 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 forty, and it is said makes the ladies think so 
 too. " Full of life and gallantry !" 
 
 I visited the Blind Asylum. It is conducted 
 on the French and German plan, and is per- 
 fectly managed. The director, thinking to do 
 me a great honor, made the pupils play the 
 Marseillaise on my entrance to the hall ; they 
 played so well that I really enjoyed it. There 
 is a young man there who had been brought 
 up in Paris, and who had asked to be received 
 as a guest. He came to the United States 
 eight years ago to make his fortune, and he 
 did it, bhnd as he was ; he worked in a com- 
 mercial establishment on the Mississippi, and 
 is here now on their business. This poor 
 young man interested me very strongly, and 
 also amused me very much by relating his 
 efforts to persuade the director not to have 
 the Marseillaise played. 
 
 Doctor Benit is in ecstasies since our visit to 
 the Pensylvania Hospital founded by Penn. 
 They receive there, in three separate buildings, 
 the wounded, the women about to be con- 
 fined, and the lunatics. Every particular is at- 
 tended to in a manner unknown in Europe : 
 the beds are perfect, the costumes of the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I4I 
 
 patients are elegant, and the linen very fine ; 
 there are carpets on all the rooms, and even on 
 the stairs. The air is changed constantly, and 
 scented with sweet and agreeable perfumes. 
 One could lodge there with comfort and 
 pleasure. I found amongst the lunatics a 
 Frenchman, Captain Poirier, Chevalier de 
 Saint-Louis, and officer of the Legion of 
 Honor. He had served in the Thirty-fifth of 
 the line, in which my brother form.erly served ; 
 when I mentioned this to him he recollected 
 him perfectly well, and talked with me very 
 reasonably for a quarter of an hour. He had 
 been, under the Restoration, suspected of hav- 
 ing connections with conspirators, and was put 
 on half-pay. He then came to a free country 
 that he might grumble at his ease against his 
 own. Always posing as a victim, he kept him- 
 self in a constant state of excitement — so 
 much so that he lost his mind, and the French 
 Consul was obliged to have him shut up in this 
 asylum, where the French Government has 
 paid his board for seven years. 
 
142 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 Philadelphia, September 26, 1840. 
 
 The day before yesterday I rose very early 
 that I might see the superb market in High 
 Street, which is a mile in length, at its busiest 
 time : it is covered and arranged in the most 
 convenient manner; almost all the fruits and 
 vegetables we see in Europe are there, with 
 those of America, The peaches are enormous, 
 but not so good as ours ; in their gardens 
 which are not carefully cultivated, everything 
 is abundant and cheap. There were more 
 men than women buying their provisions. In 
 the United States, good housekeepers of the 
 middle classes stay at home as much as pos. 
 sible, and do not trust their helps, — it is thus 
 they call their servants, — to spend the money 
 for household expenses ; so you see perfectly 
 well-dressed men carrying vegetables in a 
 handkerchief in one hand and a leg of mutton 
 in the other. 
 
 I have breakfasted with my two amiable 
 old men : they talked of past times, of the 
 American wars in which both had taken an 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I43 
 
 active part. Old Vaughan had been the 
 Secretary of Legation of Franklin, and was 
 presented to Queen Marie Antoinette ; the 
 ladies of Versailles cried out in astonish- 
 ment, "Oh! they are dressed like French- 
 men." No doubt they expected to see 
 Hurons. They showed me the Athenzeum 
 Library where they spend most of their time, 
 and have promised to give me a letter of 
 Franklin's and one of Penn's, the founder of 
 Pensylvania and of Philadelphia. 
 
 I have seen the tomb of Franklin in an old 
 burying-ground ; on a tombstone lying flat on 
 the ground are simply cut these words : 
 
 " Benjamin and Deborah Franklin, 1790." 
 Husband and wife died the same year. 
 
 The Chinese Museum in Philadelphia is the 
 most curious thing of the kind that ever 
 existed : it is composed of groups of Chinese 
 of life size and so well made that one would 
 take them for living beings ; the costumes 
 and the attitude are truly striking, and every- 
 thing about them, the furniture and articles 
 which they manufacture, are so arranged as to 
 represent the interior of a Chinese home. 
 
 I went yesterday, accompanied as usual by 
 
144 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Doctor Benit, to see the Alms-house, a refuge 
 for beggars, which has cost five milHons to es- 
 tablish, and seven or eight hundred thousand a 
 year to maintain, for the board and lodging of 
 fifteen hundred paupers, who find themselves 
 as well off as if each had ten thousand francs 
 income. And yet almost all these people 
 have been brought there by their misconduct 
 and intemperance and have a most degraded 
 look ; but a government founded on equality 
 cannot pay too dear for the luxury with which 
 it surrounds these old libertines. 
 
 From this splendid edifice we went to the 
 " Naval Hospital," on the left bank of the 
 Shuylkill. The secretary of the house, who 
 was kind enough to take us all through it, 
 explained the uselessness of it ; this establish- 
 ment, which ought to be the " Hotel des 
 Invalides" of all the marine of the United 
 States, as it belongs to the Federal Govern- 
 ment, can accommodate two hundred veterans, 
 but there are only about twenty here, the old 
 sailors prefer to drink and live in poverty 
 rather than have every comfort and be obliged 
 to live governed by fixed rules. In this Hos- 
 pital the money has been thrown away, and 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. I45 
 
 the whole plan has been badly carried out. 
 Louis XIV., at the Invalides and England at 
 Greenwich have done much better. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 Philadelphia, September 28, 1840. 
 Mr. Vaughan came to see me yesterday, 
 and told me all kinds of anecdotes of M. de 
 Talleyrand, M. de Liancourt, M. de Beaumetz, 
 M. de Noailles, and King Louis Philippe, 
 whom he saw every evening at Mr. Bingham's, 
 Lady Ashburton's father. Mr. Vaughan's 
 brother received M. de Talleyrand's letters in 
 London and sent them to him in America. 
 Vaughan told me of several speculations which 
 M. de Talleyrand had wished to make in the 
 United States, and which had great promise of 
 success. He took me to the Franklin Insti- 
 tute, where they have lectures on mechanics 
 every day; any one may attend, and even 
 workmen may receive instruction there by 
 paying a very small annual contribution. 
 
 We then went to the State Penitentiary, a 
 {amous institution, where the solitary confine- 
 
146 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 ment has been established for the first time. 
 Messrs. De Tocqueville and De Beaumont 
 describe it . minutely in their work on the 
 Penitentiary system ; they took up their abode 
 there for fifteen days. It is a fortress like 
 that of Vincennes, of an ainful aspect. I was 
 shown everything in detail and allowed to 
 talk freely to the prisoners, who are con- 
 demned to perfect silence. Each one I talked 
 to declared he was innocent. 
 ' I have also seen the home of refuge for 
 juvenile delinquents. They reform boys and 
 girls under eighteen years old with great 
 success. 
 
 In the evening I went to Madame Cigogne's, 
 where I found about a dozen persons: they 
 said that when King Louis Philippe was in 
 Philadelphia he was very attentive to a Miss 
 Perkins, who resembled very much our Qiieen 
 Am61ie. 
 
 Mr. -Toland took me this morning to see 
 the Mansion House, which was formerly the 
 residence of Mr. Bingham, and is now a hotel. 
 He then took me to the end of a blind alley, 
 and showed me a miserable-looking house oc- 
 cupied by a German baker named Brescht. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I47 
 
 M. de Talleyrand lived in this house during 
 his stay in Philadelphia. 
 
 Last night I went to the Athenaeum Library ; 
 this is Mr. Vaughan's reception-room. He 
 brings people here every Friday to converse, 
 and during the winter to play whist. I met 
 old Du Ponceau here, who related a thousand 
 silly things about M. de Talleyrand which he 
 got from Joseph Bonaparte, who was only too 
 glad to put any of his brother the Grand 
 Emperor's follies on him. Luckily I knew all 
 about it, and was able to give the true story. 
 
 At the Athenaeum I made the acquaintance 
 of Mr. Bidole, whose name as a financier has 
 been so well known. As President of the 
 Bank of the United States he struggled for 
 several years against General Jakson. 
 
 I intended leaving to-morrow, but De la Fo- 
 rest and D'Hauterive have so urgently begged 
 me to remain for the Grand Mass of Haydn, in 
 which Madame d'Hauterive sings, that out of 
 politeness I have decided to stay. 
 
148 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Baltimore, September 30, 1840. 
 The Grand Mass, with the music of Madame 
 d'Hauterive and company, lasted nearly four 
 hours, thanks to a Jesuit who delivered a 
 sermon of an hour and a half in honor of 
 Saint Ignatius of Loyola. It was the birthday 
 of this Saint, whose whole history he told us 
 -without pity ; he then spoke of the misfor- 
 tunes, successes, and prosperity of the Jesuits. 
 I learned that in olden times they numbered 
 thirty thousand! What an army! there are 
 only one tenth of them left now. 
 
 I left Philadelphia yesterday at eight o'clock 
 in the morning by the " Susquehanna Rail- 
 road." Four miles from Philadelphia there is 
 an inclined plane rising one hundred and fifty- 
 seven feet, up which the cars are drawn by 
 ropes- with pulleys ; travellers prefer gener- 
 ally to walk up, just as they do when travel- 
 ling in diligences. The descent is into a 
 charming valley, through which we travelled 
 seventy miles to Columbia, where I slept. 
 This valley, or rather plain, which is immense, 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I49 
 
 is the richest and most beautiful part of Penn- 
 sylvania ; it is undulating, wooded, and culti- 
 vated. There are no towns or villages on the 
 road, but only scattered dwellings, most beau- 
 tifully located. All this country has been 
 peopled and cultivated by Germans ; some 
 even to the third generation still talk in 
 German. Lanscaster, which we passed through, 
 is a very short distance from Colombia, and is 
 inhabited entirely by Germans. 
 
 After leaving Colombia this morning I saw 
 a range of mountains, the commencement of 
 the Alleghanys, which separate the Atlantic 
 States from the Western. We crossed the 
 Siisqnehana on a wooden covered bridge one 
 mile and a half long. This bridge does great 
 credit to the American engineer who built it. 
 We passed near the city of York, and went 
 through a different country from that we 
 travelled yesterday, but equally pretty of its 
 , kind ; the most picturesque woods, fields, 
 rocks, and streams, with a most glorious sun 
 gilding the leaves just beginning to turn 
 yellow. While enjoying this charming view 
 we arrived in Baltimore. 
 
ISO RECOLLECTIONS OF -A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LI. 
 
 Washington, October 5, 1840. 
 
 I HAVE just paid my first visit to Mr. For- 
 syth, who is sick, nervous, and irritable. The 
 prospects of the coming election are not favor- 
 able to the present Administration, and in- 
 crease his irritability; he is a man of intelli- 
 gence, but one who affects never to speak seri- 
 ously. He is always trying to entrap one in 
 conversation, and turn everything into ridicule; 
 he is both tiresome and disagreeable. 
 
 I also went to see the President, Mr. Van 
 Buren, who is living at a country place four 
 miles from here. He is also suffering and un- 
 easy : I am sorry that his chances for re-elec- 
 tion are so bad ; it would be better to retain 
 him than risk an unknown person. Besides, I 
 think he is very well disposed toward France, 
 and is very courteous to me. His politeness is 
 perfect : it is the perfect imitation of a gentle- 
 man. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 151 
 
 LII. 
 
 Washington, October 10, 18415. 
 On the 6th, M. de Lafosse, M. Montholon, 
 and I left here for Alexandria at nine o'clock 
 in the morning; we dined there and after a 
 two hours' ride over the most abominable road 
 arrived at the entrance to Mount Vernon Park; 
 we crossed this park, which is very badly kept, 
 on foot. At first we were refused entrance to 
 the house. I sent in my card, and we were im- 
 mediately received by Mrs. Washington, widow 
 of General Washington's nephew. This lady 
 was very polite, and immediately offered us 
 refreshments, which we did not accept. She 
 then showed us a key of the Bastille and a pic- 
 ture of it taken at the time of its destruction; 
 these were sent to General Washington by 
 General Lafayette. She also showed us a bust 
 of General Lafayette presented by him, and 
 one of General Washington, the cast for which 
 was taken from his body after death ; an en- 
 graving of Louis XVL; the library of General 
 Washington, and the Bible he was in the habit 
 of reading. These are the curiosities and 
 
152 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 rdics which are in her possession. She then 
 gave us in charge of a dirty oily negress to 
 take us to see the tomb of the General, which 
 is at the end of the garden in a low place. It 
 is a vault built of brick, before which is an arch 
 protected by iron railings ; under this arch are 
 two tombs in white marble ; on one is the 
 name of the General surmounted by his arms ; 
 on the other the name of his wife. An inscrip- 
 tion on one side of the tomb of the General 
 indicates that this sarcophagus was presented 
 to the family of the deceased by a marble-cut- 
 ter of Philadelphia. All this is as shabby as 
 possible: the park is overgrown with weeds, 
 the tomb is ugly and mean-looking, the house 
 tumbling down ; everything dirty and in a 
 miserable condition ; and the appearance of 
 Mrs. Washington is pitiable. The country 
 ought to do something for a place which grati- 
 tude should make sacred in their eyes, and for 
 a family whose evident poverty is a stigma on 
 the United States. Mount Vernon is beauti- 
 fully situated on the banks of the Potomac; 
 the house overlooks the country, and opposite 
 is Fort Wi^hington, which is very imposing. It 
 would cost very little to give this resting-place 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I 53 
 
 of General Washington the dignity which is 
 due to it. He was the greatest man of the 
 country, and the only brilliant point in Ameri- 
 can history. The United States owe their ex- 
 istence and prosperity to his genius, and he lies 
 forgotten amidst uncultivated bushes, and near 
 his house, which will soon be in ruins ! 
 
 I will now give you a perfectly true history, 
 which is very little known, and very dishonor- 
 able to the English. After the fatal peace of 
 17s 3> by which France ceded a great part of 
 Canada, and with it Acadia, to England, the 
 English Government began by changing the 
 name Acadia to Nova Scotia, which name it 
 still bears; then in 1755 they published an 
 order, that all the inhabitants without excep- 
 tion should go on September 5 to certain 
 places in different parts of the country. They 
 went there, not suspecting the purpose for 
 which they were sent, and to avoid the punish- 
 ment with which they were threatened if they 
 failed to obey. The different gatherings were 
 then informed that by a decree of the British 
 Government all their property of whatever 
 kind was confiscated to the Crown of England; 
 that they would be allowed to take with them 
 
154- RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 only their ready money and clothes, and must 
 quit the country, and be transported into the 
 farthest point in Canada. The day for their 
 departure — that is to say, five days after the 
 publication of September lo — the troops were 
 ordered out to force those who were unwilHng 
 to go: first they took the young and strong 
 men, making them march at the head of the 
 first convoy ; the women, old men, and children 
 followed; some of the most determined fled 
 into the depths of the forests near the river 
 Saint-Jean, a region heretofore unexplored. 
 The executers of this barbarous order were un- 
 moved by their prayers and tears, and eighteen 
 thousand Frenchmen were thus torn from 
 their fertile and well-cultivated lands, despoiled 
 of all they possessed, separated from their 
 families, — for they divided them into bands 
 without taking into account the ties which 
 bound them together, — and carried into the 
 most remote provinces. Humiliated, poor, and 
 in despair, they were thrown in the midst of 
 Protestants, enemies of their religion, their coun' 
 try, and their manners, customs, etc., without 
 knowing the fate of those from whom they were 
 separated or the least hope of ever seeing them.- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 155 
 
 There is a very curious fact attached to this 
 lamentable history : some of these unhappy 
 people, as I told you before, escaped on the 
 shores of the river Saint-Jean, and no more 
 was heard of them until fifty years after, when 
 England and the United States were disputing 
 their boundaries in Canada, it became neces-: 
 sary to explore those parts of the country men- 
 tioned in the Treaty of 1783, by which Eng- 
 land acknowledged the independence of the 
 United States. In 1803 some English and 
 American engineers went to the river Saint- 
 Jean to seek traces of the boundaries fixed by 
 the treaty; and this doubtful boundary is a 
 matter of dispute to this day, and may cause 
 a war between these two countries. You may 
 imagine the astonishment of these engineers to 
 find in a country always thought to be unin- 
 habited a population of ten or twelve hundred 
 Frenchmen, whose existence was unknown to 
 the whole world. They had retained their 
 customs and religion, and during a half cen- 
 tury the Catholic clergy had sent them priests, 
 and had kept the secret of their retreat so well 
 that no one in England or the United States 
 suspected their existence. After their discov- 
 
156 SECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 ery some retired into the forests, where they 
 are still ; others went to the United States or 
 into the English possessions. 
 
 I saw Mr. Poinsett, the Minister of War, 
 yesterday. He is a very sensible and intelli- 
 gent man, and I shall regret him more than any 
 one in the Administration, which seems to be 
 cidedly lost ; everything seems to announce 
 the defeat of Mr. Van Buren and the success 
 of General Harrison. This change will make 
 no difference in the foreign politics of the 
 country, but will probably have a very bad 
 influence on the financial situation ; neither 
 party seems to worry about it, and only care to 
 win the election without thinking of what it 
 may cost : this is how they understand the 
 love of one's country. 
 
EECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 57 
 
 LIII. 
 
 Washington, September ig, 1840. 
 
 Notwithstanding the sadness that pre- 
 vails here, the nights are so noisy that one can 
 scarcely sleep : there is a continual uproar, the 
 reason for which is that the inhabitants all own 
 cows and pigs but no stables, and these animals 
 wander about all day and night through the 
 city, and go to their owners' houses only in the 
 morning and evening to be fed ; the women 
 milk their cows on the sidewalk and sprinkle 
 the passers-by. The nocturnal wanderings of 
 these beasts create an infernal racket, in which 
 they are joined by dogs and cats. An Ameri- 
 can to whom I expressed my astonishment at 
 this state of things, and particularly at the 
 freedom allowed the pigs in all the towns of 
 the United States, said that nothing was more 
 convenient or conducive to health ; that with- 
 out the aid of these animals the towns would 
 be encumbered with filth of all kinds. 
 
 I went with M. de la Fosse to see the Falla 
 of the Potomac: we travelled for four hours 
 over the rockiest roads. These dark imbedded 
 
IS8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT.^ 
 
 rocks produced a wonderful effect, but the Falls 
 were very poor — mere threads of limpid water 
 running down these imposing black masses of 
 rock. The path which lead3 to the Falls is 
 dangerous : one is obliged to pass from one 
 rock to another on boards that are not safe,- 
 and through bushes filled with snakes. 
 
 I was just going to bed last night when 
 Colonel Achille Murat, the son of the former 
 King of Naples, was announced ; he married 
 an American and lives in Florida. He was in 
 Paris last year and saw the King ; he wishes- 
 to return to France to look after some claims 
 he has there, and begged me to announce his 
 coming to my Government. His bearing is 
 certainly not royal : he is small and fat, with 
 a protruding stomach, and wears gold specta-, 
 cles, with more the appearance of a notary 
 than of a Prince. However, they say he is 
 very energetic : he is a colonel of militia, has 
 been a lawyer, a judge, and a notary, and has 
 had during his varied life numerous duels. 
 He says that the State of Florida has been 
 ravaged for four or five years past by a band 
 of fifteen hundred Indians, who have kept the, 
 whole army of the United States in check. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T.. I 59 
 
 This tribe, called Seminoles, and renowned for 
 their . ferocity, commit all kinds of atrocities; 
 no one ever knows where they are ; they fall 
 unexpectedly on the homes of the planters, and 
 massacre every one there without mercy. The 
 inhabitants barricade themselves every night, 
 and M. Murat makes his negroes mount guard 
 by turns. He has left his wife alone there, and 
 will be absent more than a year ; he says jok- 
 ingly that until now she has been his lieu- 
 tenant, but has been promoted to the cap- 
 taincy. The most of the planters have im- 
 ported bloodhounds of an immense size from 
 the Havanas. These dogs are noted for their 
 acute scent and love of blood; they eat the 
 Indians! Charming country to live in ! 
 
 Two days ago I went for the first time to 
 a ball, in Washington, at the house of Mrs. 
 Meade, a Catholic, and very highly thought of 
 here., I care very little for American parties. 
 The mistress of the house is polite, but very 
 common ; she has three daughters, one of 
 whom was married fifteen days ago. These 
 women are badly brought up, badly dressed, 
 and their hair badly arranged ; they are third- 
 rate English. I will make one exception and 
 
I^ RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 only one — in favor of the daughter-in-law of 
 Mr. Van Buren, whose acquaintance I made 
 at this ball : in any country she would be con- 
 sidered an agreeable woman, graceful and 
 distinguished in manners. The Diplomatic 
 Corps were there, and the best society of Wash- 
 ington. The reception-rooms were composed 
 of two parlors made into one by large sliding- 
 doors, much in use here, and a long and nar- 
 row gallery resembling a corridor, lined with 
 frightful paintings, and at the end of this gal- 
 lery the music, such as you would expect to 
 find at a low tavern, perched on a platform ; 
 there was scarcely any light, and the whole ap- 
 pearance was pitiable. For refreshments, ices 
 and Madeira wine — nothing more : so much 
 the worse for those who were hungry ; I beg to 
 say distinctly that I was not. And this is the 
 most fashionable house in Washington. 
 
 The affair of Lafarge and Ldotaud is much 
 talked of here. You have no idea how much 
 harm we do ourselves abroad by the publicity 
 we give to these affairs,, and particularly in a 
 democratic country like this : they rush after 
 the French papers, and rejoice in probing this 
 wound in the heart of our society. These 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. l6l 
 
 people who would like to destroy all social 
 distinctions which cannot profit them, desire 
 to attach themselves to the English nobility, 
 but will not admit the nobility of other 
 nations ; and their great interest in the Lafarge 
 affair is not the assassination of the bourgeois 
 husband by the bourgeoise wife, but the history 
 of the diamonds which soil the names of Nico- 
 lai and Leotaud. 
 
 The Morel affair is still remembered and 
 talked over with malicious pleasure, and they 
 draw the conclusion from these low crimes 
 — thank God very rare — that our morals are 
 frightful and our young girls badly brought up! 
 This is painful to hear when far from home. 
 
l62 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 The King having charged me to remember 
 him to General Masson, and to assure him of 
 his feelings of friendship toward him, I went 
 three days ago with M. de Montholon to see 
 him at his country place, twelve miles from 
 here. This old gentleman was the King's 
 guide in this part of the United States forty 
 odd years ago. His wife received us, and he 
 came in soon after, followed by his six daugh- 
 ters, dressed in black. They were all very 
 agreeable, and what was astonishing, pro- 
 digious, enormous, they pressed us to stay to 
 dinner — a politeness unknown to Americans, 
 who never admit any one to their table with- 
 out having made their preparations long time 
 before, and drilled their negroes and negresses. 
 An impromptu invitation was a great proof of 
 their good-will. I refused, but promised to 
 come some other time. The good General, 
 who is sixty -five years old, begged me to 
 thank the King for his gracious remembrance ; 
 he was transported with joy and gratitude. 
 
 I passed an evening tete-k-tete with poor 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 163 
 
 Mr. Van Buren, who considers his election lost, 
 and attributes it to corruption and election 
 frauds. He is right, but forgets that his party- 
 did the same thing on another occasion. 
 
 I went to see Mr. Paulding, the Secretary 
 of the Navy, to thank him for information he 
 had given me. I' found him surrounded by a 
 very common set of people. The conversa- 
 tion turned upon the attraction of American 
 young misses. According to these good peo- 
 ple, every stranger must fall in love with them. 
 A poor devil of a bachelor like myself can go 
 nowhere without hearing this tempting refrain. 
 
 M. Miollet showed me a very pretty map of 
 the sources of the Mississippi, which he had 
 worked at for several years. ' He informed me 
 that Carolina had been named by Frenchmen, 
 who had established the first colony there 
 under Admiral Coligny, who called it Carolina, 
 after Charles W. As to Virginia, it has for 
 etymology the virginity of Queen Elizabeth of 
 England ! ! ! 
 
 I went last night to see Mr. Poinsett, Secre- 
 tary of War. He has travelled a great deal, 
 and has not the prejudices of his compatriots, 
 who believe in the absolute perfection of the 
 
164 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 American Constitution, notwithstanding which 
 its reputation receives some rude attacks from 
 all sides. M. de Tocqueville's book is in great 
 danger of being thought nothing but a fabu- 
 lous romance. The newspapers are filled with 
 accounts of the most scandalous electoral 
 frauds; the two parties who are contending 
 accuse each other, and both with undeniable 
 proofs. The moral corruption is equal to the 
 political corruption. It is curious to see the 
 gradual destruction of all these beautiful insti- 
 tutions, which they wish to impose on us in 
 Europe, at the very moment that they are 
 declining here after sixty years' trial. 
 
 LV. 
 
 Washington, November 2, 1840. 
 We are now in the exciting week preceding 
 the election, and will know in eight days who 
 will be President of the United States. You 
 cannot imagine what a fever every one is in : 
 it is political excitement, boiling over with 
 rage ! The day before yesterday in Philadel- 
 phia the Van Buren party demolished the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 65 
 
 house which was the headquarters of the op- 
 posite party. There is no organized civil 
 force in the United States, so the populace 
 can-go to any imaginable excess without fear 
 of repression; time will probably make them 
 feel the need of an armed force, and the day 
 when this armed force shall have the prepon- 
 derance in the country will be the end of the 
 present Constitution. So I think if they are 
 right in saying that kings will eventually be 
 done away with, they will be able to say the 
 same thing of republics in America. I con- 
 sole myself better with the one than the 
 other. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 Washington, November 10, 1840. 
 My friend Van Buren is beaten and General 
 Harrison is victorious. The election will not, 
 however, be decided for fifteen days yet, and 
 the new President will not enter upon his 
 -duties until March 4, 1841. I am sorry on my 
 own account at the result, which, besides, will 
 be prejudicial to the country. The Demo- 
 
1 66 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 cratic Party, which is in power now, has been 
 .directed by Mr. Van Euren and his friends 
 with moderation and wisdom, but when it be- 
 comes the Opposition party it will put no 
 bounds to its violence. The Whig Party 
 (which is called that of the aristocracy — my 
 God, what aristocracy !) will split as soon ag 
 they come into power, and the governmental 
 machine will find itself opposed by a furious 
 democracy. To give you an idea of the 
 American Constitution, this is what is to take 
 .place after the new election. From this time 
 to the 4th of March next Mr. Van Buren will 
 hold the office of President, which puts him in 
 a very ridiculous position in face of those who 
 have taken the power away from him. Con- 
 gress, in which he has a majority, will meet in 
 December. Of course nothing will be done to 
 aid the coming Administration, who in coming 
 into power on March 4 will find, in the first 
 , place, the Treasury empty, and be able to do 
 : nothing until the following December, for 
 Congress is irrevocably dissolved on the 4th 
 of March, and they cannot call a new one until 
 December, because new members must be 
 elected during the interval. It seems to me 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 167 
 
 that the old maxim, "The King is dead: long 
 live the King," is better than these intervals, 
 which open the door so wide to all sorts of 
 disorder. Such a Constitution is vicious in its 
 .consequences as in its principle, in spite of 
 .the theories, more or less specious, of M. de 
 Tocqueville. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren bears his defeat with dignity, 
 and as they say here, with fortitude. General 
 Harrison was born in the State of Virginia, 
 which is thought the model State as regards 
 pure republican principles, joined with good 
 education and good manners. It is, in one 
 word, the birthplace of gentlemen. Take no- 
 tice, I beg of you, that I am only the reporter 
 of public opinion, and that I do not guarantee 
 the quality of these so-called gentlemen. Mr. 
 -Harrison left Virginia very early, as all these 
 poor devils in that State do, to seek his 
 .fortune in the West. He settled in Ohio, 
 -and later entered the army, and was distin- 
 .guished enough, to, be made a General, which 
 ^does not signify much in America. He served 
 without success from 18 12 to 18 14 against the 
 .English; afterward against the. Indians, and 
 his great exploit was a victory he gained over 
 
l68 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 them at a place called Tippecanoe. He lost 
 one hundred and fifty men, and killed three 
 hundred of the enemy. And for that this 
 conqueror has received the brilliant title of 
 " The Hero of Tippecanoe ;" and it is the re- 
 frain of all the songs, of all the pieces oA prose 
 and of poetry, in his honor, which have been 
 plentiful during this past year. General Jack- 
 son, the predecessor of Mr. Van Buren, sent 
 General Harrison back to his home, where, a 
 new Cincinnatus, he has conducted his plough; 
 he has also been notary in his village. The 
 party opposed to Mr. Van Buren not daring 
 to bring forward their most distinguished men, 
 who are more brilliant than the Democrats, 
 brought General Harrison from his obscurity 
 to make him a candidate for the Presidency, 
 and from that time he has become a great per- 
 sonage, and his sayings and doings are looked 
 upon as important — Americanly speaking. 
 Thus he said that he preferred his log-cabin — 
 a house built with trunks of trees — to the pal- 
 ace of a king ; and his log-cabin has become 
 an emblem of the party : it is painted on all 
 their flags; it serves as their banner every- 
 where^ they have built one in the middle of 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 69 
 
 Washington. And there, for the last six 
 months, the partisans of the new President 
 have met and yelled speeches and songs. He 
 also said that he drank nothing but hard cider, 
 and not the foreign wines of the aristocrats. 
 Since then it is not the proper thing to get 
 drunk on anything but hard cider, and they 
 have vaunted this drink in prose and in verse. 
 He also said that his log-cabin had no lock, 
 and that all good Democrats could come in 
 and be welcome at any time ; then Harriso- 
 nian hospitality became proverbial I To tell 
 you all the stupidities that have been inspired 
 by these poor sayings I have cited, during the 
 last year, would be impossible. I have seen 
 nothing, heard nothing, read nothing, in which 
 the log-cabin or hard cider did not appear. 
 The newest style in dress is called Tippecanoe, 
 and the American women in everything they 
 wear seek to do honor to the illustrious 
 conqueror. Thanks to all these truly ridicu- 
 lous proceedings, this General, not heard of 
 yesterday, is elected to-day ; and solely on ac- 
 count of his mediocrity, which they judge in- 
 offensive, he is to occupy the first position, and 
 govern the country during the next four years. 
 
170 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT, 
 
 Opinions are divided on the course he will 
 follow. Some say that, like Sixtus V., he will 
 throw away his crutches, and putting aside 
 those who have brought him into power, will 
 rule with an ability that will astonish the uni- 
 verse. But most persons say that he is a vain 
 man, without mind or talent, who will be a 
 puppet in the hands of flatterers, and those 
 who wish to control him will ruin the country 
 while quarrelling amongst themselves. How- 
 ever, they say he is an amiable man, rather 
 vulgar, and having the mania of quoting the 
 Greeks and Romans, whom he knows nothing 
 about, but thinks it good taste to appear to 
 know. 
 
 We are buried in snow : in the same degree 
 of latitude as Lisbon, we have the temperature 
 of Sweden in winter and of the tropics in 
 summer. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 Washington, November 25, 1840. 
 I HAVE accepted an invitation to dine with 
 Mr. Seaton, proprietor and editor of the Daily 
 National Intelligencer, the Opposition journal 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 171 
 
 in Washington, and one of the best news- 
 papers in the United States : it will be the 
 official organ of the Harrison Administration. 
 Mr. Seaton is also Mayor of the city. His 
 paper has always been less hostile to France 
 than the others. Six years ago, when we had 
 some difficulty with the United States, he on 
 several occasions opened its columns to our 
 Legation. I did not wish to hurt his feelings 
 by refusing his invitation, and thus deprive my 
 mission of a useful auxiliary ; besides, in this 
 country almost all the more distinguished gen- 
 tlemen are journalists. 
 
 Yesterday morning I went to see the Secre- 
 taries of War and Navy : they were feeling 
 very sore about their defeat ; they say the 
 world has become ungovernable, particularly 
 in those countries which have adopted consti- 
 tutional forms, and other things of the same 
 kind, which prove that sensible men in both 
 hemispheres recognize constitutional institu- 
 tions as only a special phase of human folly. 
 
172 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 Washington, December 8, 1840. 
 
 Eight days ago I gave a grand dinner to 
 Mr. Forsyth, the Secretary of State, who sent 
 a regret just as we were sitting down to 
 dinner after waiting more than a quarter of 
 an hour. It appears that Americans think 
 no more of this than of any other breach of 
 politeness ; and I have been assured that they 
 never refuse until the last moment. 
 
 Our Consul at Lima has had a serious diffi- 
 culty with the Peruvian Government. He 
 challenged the Minister of Foreign Affairs to a 
 duel, and he, knowing that M. Saillard, our 
 Consul, had already killed two men, would not 
 accept unless, according to Spanish custom, 
 they fought on horseback and with lances. 
 The President of the Republic interfered, and 
 put the Minister under arrest, and placed a 
 sentinel at the Consul's door, who protested, 
 and threatened a blockade. This was the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 73 
 
 state of affairs when last heard from. We 
 create difificulties for ourselves everywhere. 
 
 I have heard two things that have hap- 
 pened, that I give you as specimens of 
 American manners. One occurred at the Uni- 
 versity of Richmond, capital of the State of 
 Virginia. A revolt took place there six years 
 ago, and the students celebrate the anniver- 
 sary every year on the I2th of November by 
 every sort of excess. Lately on this anniver- 
 sary they disguised themselves, and went to 
 the houses of the professors, among others to 
 Mr. Dairs, one of the most distinguished men 
 in the college. The moment he appeared at 
 the door, a student drew a pistol and shot him 
 dead. Notwithstanding the horror created by 
 this crime, it is very probable that this young 
 criminal will not be condemned.* 
 
 The other affair was equally bloody : A 
 man in easy circumstances killed a workman 
 with whom he had a discussion. He was put 
 in prison, but offered a sum of six thousand 
 dollars to be set at liberty provisionally, and 
 immediately left the country. He went to 
 
 * Prof. Davis was shot at Charlottesville, not Richmond. 
 
1 74 KECOI.LECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 the West and bought land. He will become a 
 rich man, and perhaps in a few years a mem- 
 ber of Congress from the State in which he 
 has settled. This has happened before. 
 These facts are evidently the result of the 
 infancy of the country, and prove that civilized 
 countries had better not copy this. 
 
 I went yesterday to the Capitol to see the 
 opening of Congress, which did not take 
 place : the bad weather had prevented the 
 members from reaching here. The roads are 
 buried in snow, and it is even very difficult to 
 walk along the streets. A train was stopped 
 for twenty-four hours, not being able to go 
 backward or forward, the passengers ex- 
 posed to a bitter cold, with nothing to eat. 
 One of them, a member of Congress, slipped 
 from the platform and fell between the rails ; 
 the train passed over him without injuring 
 him in the least. He had fallen at full length 
 under the train and with his head in a hole, 
 which saved him. 
 
 For some time past the mania for suicide 
 seems to have become an epidemic in the 
 Northern States, both among strangers and 
 natives. Two weeks ago we heard of two 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 75 
 
 cases — one a Frenchman, and the other a Creole 
 of Saint-Domingo, settled in this country, and 
 in easy circumstances. Last week the papers 
 of New York published among the suicides 
 without any known cause that of a man sixty- 
 three years old, Mr. Nathaniel Prince, one of 
 the principal bankers of the city. The Phila- 
 delphia papers report the death of a young 
 girl of eighteen, beautiful, modest, rich, and 
 engaged to be married, who sawed through 
 her throat with a razor full of notches, after 
 having tried to poison herself twice with 
 laudanum and arsenic. Public feeling is much 
 excited ; and the public press have sought to 
 find some remedy for this social malady. An 
 Albany paper and one in New York City 
 have agreed that the old practice should be 
 revived of dishonoring and anathematizing the 
 bodies of suicides. They propose that the 
 body should not be buried, but exposed, by 
 the law, to abandonment and infamy. It is a 
 violent remedy, whose philosophical legitir 
 macy I shall not inquire into. In a country 
 where liberty is the governing principle it 
 seems as though it ought to understand and 
 logically sanction the killing of one's self. I 
 
1 76 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 am certain that if this proposition should 
 come before Congress to-morrow, logicians 
 would be found there who would oppose it 
 as an infringement on personal liberty guaran- 
 teed by the Constitution. Suicide would then 
 become a subject of controversy. The moral 
 malady is bad enough without aggravating it 
 by political combinations ; because the sui- 
 cide is refused a tomb, it is not necessary to 
 raise a monument for him. 
 
 But what are the causes of these suicides ? 
 Is there some common symptom in this 
 disease by which so many people have been 
 attacked, which can help to determine its 
 character ? I think there is. The victims 
 of this unfortunate monomania all belong to 
 the higher classes, and in easy circumstances ; 
 thus no other motive for their melancholy 
 but a mysterious ennui. Ennui ! that is to 
 say the indifference, the egotism, which affects 
 the American when he has everything to 
 make him happy. He owes this terrible 
 moral plague to his education, and to his 
 domestic and social habits. American society 
 is governed by self-interest. " Gain" — this is 
 the aim of all their ambition. To attain it 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 77 
 
 men associate their efforts and make their 
 calculations together, without any interchange 
 of sentiments, without any emotion. Their 
 minds are isolated ; nothing outlives the 
 division of profits. After that all association 
 is broken. 
 
 An American is never satisfied unless in con- 
 stant action ; as soon as he rests, whether be- 
 cause his fortune is made, or because he feels 
 the weight of age, he becomes melancholy 
 and unhappy. He remains alone and quiet in 
 the midst of a society which is continually 
 moving and where he counts for nothing ; he 
 succumbs to his uselessness, and particularly 
 to the indifference and inattention of others. 
 His life was in his business: in giving up one 
 he gave up the other. Speculator, he had 
 others interested in him ; these were not his 
 friends, but his companions ; between them 
 there was the commercial battle-field, which 
 was also a kind of fraternity. The day he 
 gives up his business this soldier of trafiSc is 
 invalided. His inactivity finds no compensa- 
 tion in the enjoyment of his acquired riches ; 
 for in the United States the only enjoyment 
 and the only occupation is the continual work- 
 
178 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 ing of this money; once permanently invested, 
 it loses all its value. These retired merchants 
 die from neglect and loneliness, and from want 
 of something to do in the midst of the stir 
 and activity of every one around them. They 
 don't find even in their own family the im- 
 portance they have lost in the outside world. 
 In, America paternity ia without prestige and 
 old age without a crown. No one cares for 
 him ; the thoughts of his children are else- 
 where, for they must in their turn work and 
 speculate to increase their patrimony and en- 
 joy it. There is a resemblance and a differ- 
 ence between the American and the miser: 
 botli materialize their earthly happiness by 
 centring it on gold, but the happiness of one 
 is in hoarding his dollars, the other in contin- 
 ually moving them. This materiahzation of 
 all pleasure has made society in America cold, 
 and has affected the marital relations even 
 more» A married woman in the United States 
 is only a machine to produce children, a wax 
 figure covered with velvet ; she has the right 
 of maternity, and of spending her husband's 
 money, but otherwise counts for nothing. She 
 is treated with politeness, but made to feel 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 79 
 
 her inferiority. Whether this stiffness in their 
 social relations has its compensation in the 
 sanctity of home I cannot say; but I fear 
 that with the merchant love is completely 
 stifled by preoccupations of business and poli- 
 tics. They take some notice of young girls, 
 because they are something to get, to procure; 
 but the woman has no place in American 
 society. The prospect of marriage stripped of 
 its poetry and tenderness is enough to frighten 
 any one ; it is only in America that young girls 
 kill themselves who have not been disap- 
 pointed in love and where shop-girls have the 
 spleen. Nowhere but in this country do rich 
 and worthy old men wish to cut off the few re- 
 maining days of their life ! 
 
 Instead of making life, which is already so 
 dismal in America, more so by legal penalties, 
 instead of dwelling on all that is gloomy in 
 the past on one side, and on the puritan Bible 
 on the other, let them introduce, if it is possi- 
 ble, something joyous into their life — a little 
 poetry and passion ! 
 
 It is only necessary to stroll either in the 
 country or through the streets of New York 
 or some other city in the United States on a 
 
l80 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Sunday, and watch the deathly silence of the 
 inhabitants walking with closed mouths and 
 gloomy faces, to understand that these people 
 ook upon a gay life as they would on a fu- 
 neral. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 Washington, December 25, 1840. 
 
 Two hours before the meeting of the House 
 of Representatives, and fortunately when no 
 one was in the Hall, the chandelier fell and 
 was broken into a thousand pieces. It was of 
 an enormous size, cost twenty-five thousand 
 francs, and had just been put up. This shows 
 the incompetency of the workmen in this 
 country, who never do anything thoroughly 
 or well. 
 
 I have been to see Mr. Bancroft, who has 
 just come from Boston. He is a great friend 
 of M. Guizot and corresponds with him ; he is 
 one of the eminent litterary characters of the 
 United States, of which he is now writing a 
 history. I invited him to dinner, where he 
 will find persons who share his opinions, for 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. l8l 
 
 he is a partisan of the present Administration, 
 — Democrat, or lacofoco, as they say here, — 
 and my other guests are all of this party. 
 
 I have been struck with the difference in 
 the length of the days in Europe and America. 
 Last summer they seemed to be shorter than 
 in Europe ; now they appear longer. This is 
 explained by the difference of ten degrees of 
 latitude ; but one feels it veiy much. 
 
 I made two new acquaintances at the Aus- 
 trian Minister's yesterday. One of them, Mr. 
 Calhoun, who is one of the most celebrated 
 persons in the United States, has been the 
 leader of a party called multifiers, who threat- 
 ened eight years ago to separate the States 
 of the South from those of the North, and 
 thus destroy the Union. Mr. Calhoun is one 
 of very few who are favorable to us, and 
 oppose putting a high tax on our silks. He is 
 from South Carolina, where the feeling toward 
 France is better than in the other States. 
 
 My other new acquaintance was Mr. Sumter, 
 representing also South Carolina. I sat next 
 to him, and to my great surprise he thanked 
 me for my kindness to his maternal grand, 
 mother, and I was not less astonished to hear 
 
1 82 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 that he was the grandson of the old Marquise 
 de Lage, and brother of Madame de Fontenay. 
 He is very well for an American, and I hope 
 will defend our commercial interests. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren has sent his message to Con- 
 gress. It is well written, and he had the good 
 taste to make no allusion to his defeat. The 
 song of the swan is in his case a song of 
 triumph, so ably has he withdrawn himself 
 from this miserable affair. 
 
 I went to a Charity Fair held by the " ele- 
 gant ladies" of the city ; it was only curious 
 on account of the filth, the poor display and 
 bad order kept. One half of the stands were 
 filled with eatables, and these ladies served 
 goose, ham, tea, coffee, and ices. Suitable to 
 the American, who spends all the time he is 
 not engaged in business in drinking and eat- 
 ing. 
 
 Here is a new story that will make you 
 familiar with the tone of the society in which 
 I have the pleasure and honor to live. A Mr. 
 de Muhlenberg, of German parentage but born 
 and brought up here, and in high position, 
 since he has been United States Minister at 
 Vienna for three years, was asked by one of 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 83 
 
 his friends, in my presence, what he thought of 
 Prince Metternich. He reflected, and would 
 not answer at first. His friend insisted, and 
 then he said, " You want to know what I think 
 of Prince Metternich ? Well, he is a hog !" 
 
 LX. 
 
 Some days ago I went to an evening party 
 at Mr. Gadsby's, proprietor of the hotel where 
 I stayed on my arrival here, which he has re- 
 linquished to his son. He is an old wretch 
 who has made a fortune in the slave-trade, 
 which does not prevent Washington society 
 from rushing to his house, and I should make 
 my Government very unpopular if I refused to 
 associate with this kind of people. This gen- 
 tleman's house is the most beautiful in the 
 city, very well furnished, and perfect in the dis- 
 tribution of the rooms ; but what society, my 
 God ! It made my hair stand on end to find 
 myself amongst these men and women rival- 
 ling each other in bad manners. I have never 
 thought of the great importance of politeness 
 in social relations, but now I see that it is the 
 
1 84 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 fundamental basis and the most indispensable 
 element. The women, ridiculously dressed, 
 stood around the room hanging on their hus- 
 bands' arms. Perhaps it was very moral, but 
 I assure you it was very grotesque. There are 
 no young people in the French province who 
 have not better manners. To change this 
 state of things, these strange people will have 
 to go abroad and see something of the best 
 society in London and Paris ; but this, I am 
 afraid, would be difficult. Then they would 
 copy us ; for though extremely vain, they have 
 all the instincts of the monkey in their desire 
 to imitate, and allow themselves to be influ- 
 enced by the masses, but look upon us isolated 
 Europeans as lunatics because our manners 
 and behavior are different from theirs. 
 
 You ask me what city in the United States 
 I should dislike the least to live in? Without 
 doubt, Philadelphia. Boston is too cold ; New 
 York too noisy, and full of adventurers from 
 all parts of the world, who have to seek a 
 fortune or an asylum ; Baltimore is as gloomy 
 as a tomb; while Philadelphia has an air of dig- 
 nity, cleanliness, and gentility which makes it 
 a place apart. One finds material resources of 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 185 
 
 all kinds there, and a society which is agree- 
 able. As to Washington, it is neither city, 
 village, nor country : it is a great workshop, 
 with building-materials everywhere, in a deso- 
 late situation, and where life is intolerable. 
 
 I went yesterday evening to a party at the 
 house of the Minister of Russia, and was pre- 
 sented to Mrs. Webster, wife of an important 
 person, or at least of a person who is much 
 talked of. He is the most celebrated lawyer 
 in Boston, and the greatest orator in the 
 Senate, the busiest politician, and, it is said, 
 intimate with, and advocate when well paid, 
 of all bankers and financiers who have been 
 brought before a court of justice for any 
 crimes or misdemeanors. He is a great 
 partisan of England, and consequently anti- 
 French, and is spoken of as Secretary of State 
 under the future President. He is said to be 
 rough in his manners, wilful, and ill-bred. This 
 promises pleasant diplomatic relations for me. 
 Bates gave me a letter to him, which I sent 
 immediately on my arrival here, but as yet 
 have not had an opportunity to make his ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
1 86 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 Washington, January 12, 1841. 
 
 I HAD heard that the President's public re- 
 ceptions on New Year's Day were so very- 
 ridiculous that I anticipated some amusement ; 
 but there was nothing of the kind. I arrived 
 at the appointed hour, eleven in the morning, 
 with M. de Montholon and M. de La Fosse. 
 After waiting a few minutes we were ushered 
 into another room, where we found Mr. Van 
 Buren with the members of his Cabinet and 
 their wives and children. After the customary 
 shake hands and some complimentary words 
 to each, very happily expressed by Mr. Van 
 Buren, we watched the arrival of a great many 
 men, some of whom were very common-look- 
 ing and very much embarrassed at finding 
 themselves in such beautifully furnished rooms. 
 
 It is an established custom that on the first 
 day of the year the sovereign people have the 
 right to enter the President's House and make 
 themselves perfectly at home. Some years 
 ago even the hackmen who brought people to 
 see the President went up after them, and 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 187 
 
 whip in hand made the tour of the rooms. 
 Nothing of this kind took place, or anything 
 showing American peculiarity ; it was only 
 dull and second class. The Diplomatic Corps 
 made a rather ridiculous figure, being the only 
 persons in uniform ; the crowd who were wan- 
 dering around the rooms examined us as if we 
 were curious wild beasts. 
 
 I went to a ball at Mr. Forsyth's, Secretary 
 of State. This entertainment was pretty good, 
 compared to those I have been to before. They 
 waltz seldom, and when they do, very badly. 
 The quadrilles are danced without either grace 
 or animation. I saw the acknowledged beauty 
 of Washington, Miss Mason, tall, light blonde, 
 and regular features, but dressed like a doll 
 such as you see at the fairs in the provinces 
 sold at thirty-five cents. 
 
 I went to the President's yesterday to give 
 him a letter from the King announcing the 
 birth of the Due de Chartres ; we talked for a 
 long time about European affairs, of which he 
 did not understand one word. If I did not 
 know how ignorant Europeans were of the 
 United States I should be surprised at the 
 ignorance of the people here about our old 
 
1 88 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 world. We returned to American affairs ; on 
 this subject Mr. Van Buren is remarkable, and 
 the more earnest because he feels bitterly his 
 defeat. 
 
 The state of affairs in this country now is 
 such as to draw the attention of Europe to it ; 
 for a long time there have been questions in 
 suspense between the United States and Eng- 
 land about their respective boundaries ; many 
 collisions have taken place between the Eng- 
 lish and American borderers, and a fresh one is 
 dreaded which may bring on war between the 
 two countries. Although this is the general 
 opinion, I do not think it is as bad as that. 
 Lord Palmerston and his representative, Mr. 
 Fox, treat the Americans with hauteur and in- 
 solence such as Europe has had experience of. 
 The new Administration which goes into power 
 the 4th of March is altogether English at 
 heart ; and will without doubt immediately 
 make concessions which will insure the main- 
 tenance of peace. 
 
 I have just received an invitation to a wed- 
 ding-ball at General Macomb's ; under the seal 
 there is a knot of white satin — singular custom ! 
 
 I was obliged to visit Congress yesterday to 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 89 
 
 talk over with several members business mat- 
 ters in which my Legation was interested, for 
 here diplomatic affairs are not treated as 
 everywhere else, where we communicate with 
 the Minister of Foreign Affairs and arrange 
 the matter with him alone. On the contrary, 
 here the Minister submits the questions to the 
 President, who decides whether to admit them. 
 When he. decides in the affirmative, he sends 
 them to the Senate and to the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, whence they are sent to the dif- 
 ferent committees whose business it is to ex- 
 amine and report on them. The chairman or 
 president of the committee then reports to 
 the House, who then vote for or against it. 
 The result of this is that the diplomatic agent 
 is obliged first to see the Secretary of State 
 and explain the affair to him, then the chair- 
 man to interest him in the question and to 
 persuade him to consider it favorably, and then 
 to see each of the most important members of 
 Congress and try to convince them. The de- 
 lays are interminable. There are three affairs 
 which have been hanging on for three years, 
 and I am anxious to have them settled during 
 the present session. 
 
igO RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 I have seen Mr. Clay, the great man of the 
 country, who will be still greater, as they say 
 he will be the director of General Harrison, 
 and candidate of his party for the next Presi- 
 dency. He was particularly polite to me, 
 probably on account of the reputation his 
 party have for being anti-French. I had only 
 seen him once before — in the month of July. 
 He repeated at the Russian Minister's what he 
 had told me before, that he had been badly 
 received by the elder branch of the Bourbons 
 when he was in Paris in 1814. Is it not de- 
 lightful to see a democrat who has been bad- 
 ly received by a king nurse this grievance for 
 twenty-six years ! He was, however, very anx- 
 ious to show his high opinion of the present 
 King, praising his great intelligence, his liberal 
 ideas, and " finding him worthy of governing a 
 republic." 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I91 
 
 LXII. 
 
 Washington, January 22, 1841. 
 
 I DINED yesterday with the Austrian Min- 
 ister. The celebrated Mr. Webster was there ; 
 he is pompous to the last degree, and ill at 
 ease. I still think that all the distinguished 
 men in this country would be only second or 
 even third class in England. They give them- 
 selves the airs of importance one sees in the 
 brewers of London, with their vanity, vulgar- 
 ity, and absurdity. As to Mr. Clay, he is of 
 another type — that of a gentleman farmer. 
 
 I went to a wedding-party at General Ma- 
 comb's ; a crowd compressed into two small 
 rooms ; common people, and detestable music. 
 I will not speak of the melted ices, which 
 flowed everywhere, and of the hot wine, the 
 odor of which was verj.' strong. I did not 
 taste it. 
 
 I met at Colonel Totten's, the Director- 
 General of the military works, and former col- 
 league and friend of General Bernard, a very 
 curious couple — General and Mrs. General 
 Gaims, as they call them here. The husband 
 is one of the numerous candidates for the next 
 
192 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Presidency. For the last three months he has 
 been going from city to citj' giving lectures or 
 speeches on the art of war and means of de- 
 fence in the United States. This is not at all 
 uncommon in this country ; but to see his wife 
 succeed him on the same platform and give 
 lectures on the blessings of peace, is as curious 
 here as elsewhere. Mrs. General Gaims is a 
 little woman, whose head scarcely reaches to 
 her husband's shoulder, to whom she clung all 
 the evening. She is frightfully ugly, with a red 
 face covered with blotches; and, to add to 
 this, she had arranged her hair in little rings 
 plastered all over her head and brow. She is a 
 real monster. One could laugh at this curious 
 object, if he could retain spirit enough in this 
 dreary country to laugh at anything. 
 
 I gave a dinner yesterday. Amongst my 
 guests was Mr. Calhoun, who is opposed to the 
 present Administration. He has better man- 
 ners than his colleagues in the Senate, and has 
 the merit of being a declared enemy of a high 
 tariff on our silks and wines. Mr. Hunster was 
 also one of my guests. He has great influence 
 in Virginia, where just now there is a great cry 
 against France on account of the monopoly of 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 93 
 
 tobacco which they say will diminish the con- 
 sumption. I tried to prove to Mr. Hunster 
 that this was not so, and although he seemed 
 satisfied with my explanations, I found him a 
 very vulgar person. Another of my guests 
 was an influential member of Congress. This 
 agreeable and distinguished man blew his nose 
 in his napkin constantly during dinner! It is 
 necessary to be civil to these savages, for they 
 are the leaders on whom depend in a great 
 measure the commercial interests I have to 
 defend. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 Washington, February 7, 1841. 
 I DINED lately with Mr. Van Buren. There 
 were thirty guests, amongst whom, much to my 
 astonishment, were Messrs. Clay and Webster, 
 the two principal leaders of the Opposition, 
 and most violent enemies of Mr. Van Buren, 
 and who were certainly the most instrumental 
 in his defeat. The disdainful Mr. Webster 
 became more human, and approached me with 
 some show of courtesy. I feel sure that by 
 
194 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 keeping a reserved manner toward him I 
 should make him more civil: it is the same 
 with the Americans as with the English — one 
 must never make the first advances. 
 
 An earthquake was felt a few days ago at 
 New York, and because it happened on the 
 day of General Harrison's departure from his 
 home — which is nine hundred miles from New 
 York — to go to Washington, all the news- 
 papers cried out, A miracle ! 
 
 Mr. Clay made a speech in the Senate deny- 
 ing that he was hostile to France, of which he 
 had been accused. He introduced a pompous 
 eulogy of King Louis Philippe, " who had the 
 honor of being the elect of the people and not 
 one of those idiot kings, reigning by the ab- 
 surd right of legitimacy." Unfortunately Mr. 
 Clay, notwithstanding this strong eulogy, 
 spoke against admitting our wines and silks 
 without an augmentation of duty, and I 
 strongly fear that he will succeed, as in a few 
 months his party will be in power and have 
 the majority in Congress. 
 
 I also heard a brawler speaking against our 
 system of taxation : there is every reason to 
 believe that I shall be beaten, but I shall not 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. I9S 
 
 fall without defenders ; I have furnished our 
 friends with good arms, and they have recruit- 
 ed help from the opposite ranks, amongst 
 others Mr. Wise, an orator of talent, who 
 spoke the other day for four hours in our 
 favor. 
 
 I went to see Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hill, 
 who live at the extreme end of the city ; my 
 carriage sunk up to the axle-tree in the snow 
 and mud ; it was necessary to leave the car- 
 riage, which had to be dragged out and scraped 
 to remove the mud and slush which stuck to 
 it like glue. I don't know how any one can 
 get to the Hills' on Monday next, when they 
 give a ball ; they count on the moon shining 
 on that night to save their necks. This is 
 how it is in Washington — streets not paved, 
 swept, or lighted. 
 
 I went to a ball at Mrs. Woodbury's ; the 
 chandelier with three lamps not giving suffi- 
 cient light, a hoop with candles on it had been 
 attached. This piece of machinery broke 
 down and fell amongst the dancers, happily 
 without setting fire to the dresses of the 
 misses. 
 
 Here is a Parliamentary incident which is 
 
196 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 worth recording. Mr. Duncan, a member of 
 Congress from Ohio, having presumed to ques- 
 tion the courage and glory of General Har- 
 rison, Mr. Johnson from Maryland asked if the 
 individual could not be called to order, who 
 after having been branded as a coward in this 
 House, dared accuse General Harrison of 
 cowardice. Mr. Duncan did not hear this 
 insult, but next day, seeing an account of it 
 in the newspaper, he rose up and cried out, 
 " I declare that I never heard these words at- 
 tributed to Mr. Johnson, and I ask of the 
 President if they were heard by him?" The 
 President replying in the negative, Mr. Dun- 
 can continued : " Then, if these words have 
 been uttered here, they were spoken low pur- 
 posely that they might not be heard by any 
 one, and he who has not dared to say them to 
 my face is not only a vile liar, but a base black- 
 guard and infamous coward !" Mr. Johnson 
 pretended not to hear this violent attack on 
 account of the great noise at the time ; but 
 seeing it in the newspapers next day, Mr. 
 Johnson protested against the record of it, in 
 the sitting of the day before, and demanded 
 that it should be expunged, as the insults as 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 97 
 
 recorded had never been given by Mr. Dun. 
 can. The latter not being present the request 
 of Mr. Johnson was granted, and the House 
 passed to the order of the day. Mr. Duncan 
 carried the quarrel into the papers, where 
 these gentlemen exchanged insults worse, if 
 possible, than those in the House. This is 
 what the beautiful forms of democracy lead 
 to. 
 
 We all met at the Russian Minister's to con- 
 sult as to what we should do on the arrival of 
 General Harrison, who is expected every day. 
 I advised that we should only leave our cards 
 on him, as in my opinion anything more 
 would be, if not an insult, certainly a want of 
 delicacy to Mr. Van Buren. I was very much 
 astonished to find that every one agreed with 
 me, for my colleagues are all Harrisonians. 
 So it was arranged as I had proposed. 
 
198 KECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 Washington, February 21, 1841. 
 
 I WENT to a grand ball, called here the As- 
 sembly, where I remained about twenty minutes. 
 They have one every fortnight ; there are four 
 during the winter. My colleagues and I all 
 subscribed ; these four pleasures only cost us 
 one hundred francs each. Always the same so- 
 ciety, or rather the same assemblage, but this 
 time in a hall entirely too large and where one 
 is frozen ; and the wind blowing through it 
 with such force that it caused the lamps to 
 smoke. 
 
 There has been also a grand ball given by 
 subscription to General Harrison, to which the 
 Diplomatic Corps were invited. As it was 
 an affair of party^ I said to those of my col- 
 leagues who asked my advice, that I should not 
 go ; that there could be for us but one Presi- 
 dent until March 4 — Mr. Van Buren. I believe 
 that the Ministers of Russia and Belgium were 
 the only ones who went. 
 
 I go every now and then to Congress to 
 note the uselessness of their idle talk; it is 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 1 99 
 
 pitiable ! Just now they are on the chapter of 
 economy, and no government costs more than 
 this : each State has the expense of an entire 
 government, independent of which the Federal 
 Government costs them a great deal of money ; 
 each member of Congress, Senator, or Repre 
 sentative costs them, first, eight dollars for 
 every twenty miles they travel to come from 
 their home to Washington, and most of them 
 have fifteen to eighteen hundred miles to go ; 
 they pay them the same to return ; and they 
 receive eight dollars a day for eight or nine 
 months : there are three hundred and fifty of 
 them. Add to this the costs of keeping the 
 buildings in order, light and heat, expenses of 
 all kinds, which are enormous, the total for the 
 expense of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives is more than five millions ! I assure 
 you their work is not worth it. 
 
 To kill the time, which passes slower at 
 Washington than anywhere else, I write long 
 dispatches, which unfortunately have not the 
 interest or variety of the European correspond- 
 ence, for in Europe the interests of all the 
 great powers are complicated : they consult 
 amongst themselves before taking any impor- 
 
200 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 tant step, and European politics are, so to 
 say, a grand mechanism, where every part has 
 its use and function. America offers nothing 
 Uke it : all the States are too much occupied 
 by their own affairs to interfere with those of 
 other governments, and the United States 
 have made themselves independent of Euro- 
 pean politics. When it is a question of recog- 
 nizing a new sovereign in a foreign country, 
 they have established a new order of things — 
 they consult their own interests, and never fol- 
 low the example of others; thus they were 
 the only ones to acknowledge Don Miguel 
 King of Portugal. They love or feign to love 
 those governments favorable to their own prin- 
 ciples, but do not quarrel with those whose 
 system is different, and without approving of 
 their political theories, they draw every advan- 
 tage possible from their relations with them, 
 and recognize those powers they think firmly 
 established. 
 
 But if the spirit of isolation which the 
 United States have sought up to this time to 
 maintain in all questions of balance of power, 
 or the manner of government and systems of 
 alliajice of European nations leave a poorer 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 201 
 
 field for diplomatic correspondence, and pre- 
 vents it from discussing questions to which 
 this country remains indifferent, the interior 
 situation of the United States is of itself re- 
 markable enough to furnish various subjects of 
 observation. It is indeed wonderful to see a 
 State which has not been in existence more 
 than half a century, and which has quintupled 
 her population, extended her boundaries from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the great 
 lakes of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, which 
 has multiplied its navigation and its means of 
 interior communication, has created a respect- 
 able navy, carried its commerce to every part 
 of the world, etc., etc. . . . Only considering 
 the United States from this point of view, one 
 has curious subjects of study ; but I do not feel 
 that I have the capacity to fill the r61e of a 
 far-seeing and prophetic observer. 
 
202 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 Washington, March lo, 1841. 
 
 Fanny ElsSLER has made such a great im- 
 pression at Havana, that on the day of her 
 benefit the ladies gave her a purse containing 
 fifty thousand dollars. They gave her a ball, 
 to which she went in a chariot covered with 
 flowers. The whole town went mad, crying 
 " la divina Fanny!" 
 
 I have been to see Mr. Van Buren at Mr. 
 Gilpin's, the former Attorney-General, with 
 whom he has been living since he left the 
 Presidential palace. He will stay there until 
 his departure for New York City, whence he 
 will return to his home in the country. 
 
 There was a curious exhibition yesterday, 
 which gave a very just idea of American man- 
 ners. All the Diplomatic Corps were to be 
 presented to the new President. We all as- 
 sembled beforehand at Mr. Fox's, the English 
 Minister, except our colleague, the Russian 
 Minister, who pretended to be sick, in order 
 to obtain a private audience. From there we 
 went to the Presidential palace. We had 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 203 
 
 agreed upon the speech which Mr. Fox was 
 to make in our names. On our arrival at 
 White House, as they call the President's, 
 house, the new Secretary of State, Mr. Web- 
 ster, who was very awkward in his functions, 
 made his arrangements with Mr. Fox, after 
 which we were placed in line against the wall, 
 by rank, according to the time of residence 
 here, and after a long time for a country where 
 the chief of the Government has no right to 
 keep any one waiting, the old General came 
 in, followed by all the members of his Cabinet, 
 who marched in single file and so stood behind 
 him. He stepped toward Mr. Fox, whom Mr. 
 Webster named to him. Mr. Fox read his ad- 
 dress to him ; then the President put on his 
 spectacles and read, in his turn, his reply. 
 Then, after having made shake hands with Mr. 
 Fox, he walked from one end of our line to 
 the other, giving each of us shake hands with- 
 out saying a single word. This ceremony 
 ended, he returned to the room he had come 
 from and brought Mrs. Harrison, widow of his 
 eldest son, whom he presented to the Diplo- 
 matic Corps in a body. Mr. Webster, who 
 followed him, then presented Mrs. Finley, 
 
204 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 mother of this Mrs. Harrison, in the following 
 words : " Gentlemen, I introduce to you Mistress 
 Finley, the lady who attends Mistress Harrison" 
 and take note, this good lady who " attends the 
 others" — takes care of the others — is blind. 
 Then, suddenly, a crowd of people rushed into 
 the room : they were the sisters, wives, daugh- 
 ters, cousins, and friends of the President and 
 his ministers, whom they introduced to us, and 
 vice versa, in the midst of the greatest confu- 
 sion ; most of the men who accompanied the 
 women wore frock-coats. 
 
 It was evident that the poor Diplomatic 
 Corps were destined to serve as food for the 
 curiosity of these male and female boobies. 
 Seeing this, after exchanging a few words with 
 Mrs. Webster, the wife of the new chief, I 
 hurried home. 
 
 There was another scene quite equal to this 
 at the State Department Foreign Office : it was 
 told me by M. Martini, charg6 d'affaires of Hol- 
 land. Thinking that it was the proper thing 
 to make his first visit to the Secretary of State 
 at his office, he went there a few days ago ; 
 he was shown into Mr. Webster's room, who 
 was surrounded by a dozen political friends. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 205 
 
 After saying, *' How do you do" he showed 
 him into the next room, the door of which 
 was open, and said, " There are the ladies." 
 M. Martini found Mrs. Webster and ten other 
 ladies, who told him they had come to ex- 
 amine the State Department ; they then went 
 out by another door, leaving him alone. He 
 went back into Mr. Webster's room, who con- 
 tinued his conversation with his friends with- 
 out taking the slightest notice of his presence, 
 and M. Martini was obliged to leave without 
 speaking of the official business which had 
 been the object of his visit. This gives an 
 idea of the people we have to deal with, and 
 of the etiquette of the American Government. 
 
2o6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 Washington, March 28, 1841. 
 I SOMETIMES go to the Senate, where I 
 hear and see things which are inconceivable. 
 They are having sessions now which they call 
 Executive, because the Senators confirm the 
 nominations made by the President, who has 
 just changed all the members of the Cabinet, 
 and will change the most of the office-holders 
 in the country, and all these nominations must 
 be confirmed by a majority of the Senate. 
 The first question which has occupied them is 
 the change of Government Printer; this has 
 caused a most violent discussion, which has 
 lasted five days. One of the most respectable 
 Senators, Mr. King of Alabama, who is one of 
 the party opposed to the present Government, 
 defended the character of the late Printer, 
 which had been violently attacked by Mr. 
 Clay, who, affecting to see in this a personal 
 attack against himself, cried out that what Mr. 
 King had said was false, cowardly, and in- 
 famous! Mr. King replied that he had noth- 
 ing to say in answer to such words, but next 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 207 
 
 day sent a challenge to Mr. Clay. The au- 
 thorities of the city interfered, and put them 
 under bonds to keep the peace within the Dis^ 
 trict. This Parliamentary incident gives an 
 idea of the tone of the Senate — the highest 
 body in the United States, noted for its intel' 
 ligence and for the consideration it enjoys. 
 Mr. Clay is sixty-four years old and has been 
 in public life thirty-four years, and looked 
 upon as the most eminent man in the country. 
 Mr. King is sixty years old. He is a Senator, 
 and has filled many important offices. 
 
 There is in New York a Madame Restell, 
 who sells powders to "ladies married or single," 
 for the purpose of producing abortion. A 
 lady who was dying, Mrs. Purdy, confessed to 
 her husband that her malady was brought on 
 by Madame Restell's treatment, not only in 
 administering these powders, but by causing 
 an operation to be performed upon her by an 
 accomplice, after which she felt that she was 
 dying. It was not till after this fact, and the 
 death of the victim, that Madame Restell was 
 arrested. Until now the jury had rejected all 
 complaints, although for many years she had 
 pursued this infamous practice, publishing in 
 
208 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 the newspapers the most curious and indecent 
 advertisements, notifying ladies, married and 
 single, "who feared to lose their reputation 
 by giving birth to illegitimate children, or their 
 beauty by having too many." Such things 
 are more inconceivable in a country affecting 
 great prudery. The New York papers say 
 that there was found at Madame Restell's five 
 or six hundred letters from "ladies, married 
 and single," of the city and other places, asking 
 advice, and thanking her for past services. 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 Washington, April 2, 1841. 
 Our new President is sick, and is so much 
 worse to-day that his life is in danger. No 
 President has ever died whilst in power ; the 
 post of Vice-President has always been looked 
 upon as -insignificant, and the man who occu- 
 pies this supposed sinecure was only nomi- 
 nated after the refusal of several others. Now 
 he will find himself President for the next four 
 years, as ordained by the Constitution ; and 
 this unlooked-for change causes great excite- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 2og 
 
 ment in the country. It will have no influence 
 on our relations, and will not prevent the extra 
 session of Congress. The Vice-President iS 
 Mr. Tyler of Virginia, where the Administra-' 
 tion of General Harrison has met with oppo' 
 sisition, but the general opinion is that Mr. 
 Tyler's tendencies are more Harrisonian than 
 Virginian. 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 Washington, April 5, 1841. 
 
 General Harrison died yesterday. He 
 commenced his term on the 4th of March. 
 His reign has lasted just one month, and the 
 poor old man has had nothing but cares and 
 worries during this month of responsibility. 
 His death unsettles all that had been decided 
 upon by the leaders of the victorious party 
 and the conquered, Mr. Van Buren's party, 
 will begin to agitate again. The funeral takes 
 place on the day after to-morrow, and of 
 course the Diplomatic Corps are invited. 
 
2IO RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 Washington, April 12, 1841. 
 
 The funeral took place on the 7th. The 
 procession started from the President's house, 
 and proceeded on a walk four miles to the 
 cemetery. The ceremonies and the funeral 
 oration passed off in the most proper manner, 
 which is to be noticed in this country, where 
 everything else is very strange. The obse- 
 quies lasted altogether about five hours. 
 
 Mr. John Tyler is a widower, but has a son 
 who is married, and his wife will do the honors 
 of the Presidency. This young woman was 
 formerly an actress, and has played in the 
 theatre in Washington under the name of 
 Miss Cooper ; I had the imprudence to say 
 that she would represent* very well. The next 
 day it was repeated to her. What a singular 
 country, where a woman can pass from the 
 boards of a theatre to a kind of scaffolding 
 which serves as a republican throne ! 
 
 I paid a visit to Mr. Southard, Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the Senate, who, according to the Con- 
 
 * In French means both represent and act. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 211 
 
 stitution of the United States, will replace Mr. 
 Tyler in case of his death ; he is a man of mid- 
 dle age, whose manners are better than those 
 of the present generation. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 Washington, April 25, 1841. 
 All the Diplomatic Corps went to present 
 their respects to the President for the first 
 time. In the absence of Mr. Fox, who was 
 sick, Mr. Bodisco made the address. Mr. 
 Tyler made a very appropriate reply, then 
 came forward, and gave a shake hand to each 
 of us, accompanied with a short speech. 
 What he said to me I will repeat in as near 
 his own words as possible : " I am delighted to 
 make the acquaintance of the French Minister, 
 who comes from a country to which we owe 
 much, and to which we are united by the 
 bonds of gratitude. I shall endeavor to estab- 
 lish intimate and friendly relations with you, 
 sir, who have had the advantage of living in 
 intimate relations with the most distinguished 
 diplomat in the whole world and of all time. 
 
212 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 King Louis Philippe and Prince Talleyrand 
 while living here obtained the right of citizen- 
 ship, and America is proud to count th'em 
 amongst her citizens." 
 
 I give you the exact words of the President, 
 and I hope that you will be satisfied. As to 
 me, I am always happy to find myself under 
 the protection of a name and a souvenir that 
 I cherish and respect. Mr. Tyler conducted 
 himself during this audience in a manner to 
 satisfy every one; without being a man of 
 genius, he is thought to be greatly superior to 
 General Harrison. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 Washington, May 7, 1841. 
 I WENT to a very curious entertainment, 
 which they called a May Ball. It is given by 
 Mr. Carusi, the dancing-master of all the 
 young girls in town. He keeps a public 
 school, and in the month of May of each year 
 these young ladies always elect one of their 
 number " Queen." She is not chosen for her 
 beauty, nor for her talent in dancing, but for 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 2 1 3 
 
 her amiability to her companions, and her 
 popularity among all these Httle girls from six 
 to sixteen years old. The one put upon the 
 throne the other evening was very ugly. She 
 is the daughter of a doctor, who appeared en- 
 chanted. The ball commenced at eight 
 o'clock ; shortly after the queen made her tri- 
 umphal entry. Cords had been stretched the 
 length of the hall to protect the line of march. 
 At a given signal the music played a National 
 march, the doors were opened, and the pro- 
 cession filed in : first the smallest marching 
 in step two by two ; then a little boy about two 
 feet high carrying a velvet cushion, on which 
 was the white crown for the queen ; she fol- 
 lowed, leaning very ungracefully on the arms 
 of two companions, and behind her the whole 
 troop arranged according to height. They 
 conducted the queen in this way to the plat- 
 form prepared for her at the end of the room , 
 she mounted the steps, and it was immediately 
 filled by all the little people of this little court. 
 Then a young girl as ugly as the queen her- 
 self approached her young Majesty and made 
 a speech appropriate to the occasion, to which 
 the queen answered ; after which the orator 
 
214 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 placed the crown on the head of the sover- 
 eign, who was on her knees before her. The 
 queen then got up and seated herself in the 
 chair placed on the platform in imitation of 
 a throne ! A throne in America ! The tab- 
 leau was very satisfactory ; these blonde heads 
 with wreaths of roses gave an aspect of youth 
 and gayety, so in contrast with American 
 gloom. 
 
 I dined with General Macomb the day be- 
 fore yesterday, and sat next to Mrs. Tyler, the 
 daughter-in-law of the President, and formerly 
 an actress named Cooper ; they praise her 
 beauty and elegance in the highest terms, but 
 without any reason. The American toilets are 
 in very bad taste, and the fashion seems to be 
 that of France twenty years ago. Mrs. Tyler 
 has nothing either in her manners or speech 
 which would remind any one of the stage ; she 
 embraced this career only to satisfy the wishes 
 of her family and against her own feelings. 
 She is simple and natural, without much intelli- 
 gence. She has a child-like way of saying lit- 
 tle things which are rather amusing; she knows 
 no one yet in Washington. I made her talk 
 about Williamsburg, a little town in Virginia 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 21$ 
 
 where she has lived for the last three years. 
 She complains that in this country married 
 women are never invited anywhere, and that 
 a bachelor never dares to speak to them, and 
 says that out of Washington and New York 
 the position of American married women is 
 like that of the Pariahs. She has some of the 
 prejudices of her country, amongst others that 
 of thinking that Americans speak English bet- 
 ter than the English themselves, and added 
 " than the English of high fashion in London." 
 Altogether, she is a little woman who appears 
 to be a very good fellow. 
 
 I have just heard that Mgr. de Forbin- 
 Janson, formerly Bishop of Nancy, and wan- 
 dering preacher in the United States, is about 
 to build a French church and French hospital. 
 I sent this turbulent Bishop my modest per- 
 sonal offering of five hundred francs, and will 
 write to Paris asking the aid of Government. 
 Subscriptions from the King and Queen would 
 make a good impression here, and I shall 
 recommend it. 
 
2l6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 Washington, May i8, 1841. 
 
 President Tvler has just ordered a 
 National fast of twenty-four hours on the oc- 
 casion of General Harrison's death. Do you 
 not think that it is a very singular idea, in a 
 Protestant republic, to make a whole nation 
 fast on account of the death of their Chief 
 Magistrate? It seems to me a penance alto- 
 gether arbitrary, and useless in a country where 
 Protestantism does not admit the efficacy of 
 prayers for the dead. This official fast is ex- 
 plained only by the passionate desire to make 
 an effect and to show a religious feeling, which 
 in fact served as a base to the first little re- 
 publics of New England, but which has very 
 much cooled down since that time. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bates have arrived from Lon- 
 don ; after twelve years' absence they were 
 anxious to see this country again. These are 
 the first familiar faces I have seen since my 
 arrival here. They imagine that everything 
 has changed for the worse in America, but I 
 think that their European habits have very 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 217 
 
 naturally had a great influence on their im- 
 pressions. Mrs. Bates finds the hotels dirty, 
 the means of travelling insupportable, the peo- 
 ple ill-bred, and her husband says that business 
 men have all become rogues, rascals, and that 
 the country is dearer than England. This is 
 the judgment of two intelligent and reasonable 
 Americans on their own country. 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 Washington, June 6, 1841. 
 
 I TAKE a walk every morning at six o'clock 
 to avoid the oppressive heat, and to-day at this 
 unusual hour I met Miss Meade, one of the 
 beauties of Washington, alone in the street, 
 going or coming from I do not know where. 
 Free manners ! 
 
 We were invited by M. Martini to enjoy the 
 moonlight on his terrace ; the Diplomatic Corps 
 went on foot. A terrific storm came on so sud- 
 denly, that hosts and guests were wet to the 
 skin in an instant. We left in torrents of rain, 
 with lanterns to light us on our way, and each 
 one hurried to his home. But this storm has 
 
2l8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 not cooled the air. One cannot find a shady- 
 place to walk in : the streets are so broad, the 
 houses so low, and trees so scarce that every^ 
 where one is broiled by the sun. 
 
 I have just come from Mr. Clay's, the great 
 man of the country, who holds the majority of 
 Congress in his hands, and it is by him that 
 will be decided the financial questions brought 
 before the Senate during this session. Again, 
 he showed very- kind Reeling toward France 
 and great admiration for the King, and was 
 very amiable to me ; but notwithstanding his 
 fine words, I felt that there was behind all this 
 the same determination : " We want money, 
 and we cannot raise it except by taxation on 
 foreign merchandise ; everything which comes 
 into the United States pays duty, except French 
 silks and wines, which are luxuries ; they must 
 submit to the general law. To make these 
 duties as moderate as possible is all that can be 
 done." I see plainly that these duties are im- 
 posed from necessity, and not from any feeling 
 of hostility, and I hope France will see it in the 
 same light. 
 
 I was present at a scene lately which merits 
 being told : I went to see the Secretary of the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 219 
 
 Treasury, and was shown into an ante-room, 
 where a ragged beggar asked me for alms. 
 After a quarter of an hour in his company, I 
 went into Mr. Ewing's room; he excused him- 
 self very politely for having kept me waiting, 
 which is the more remarkable as he is a self- 
 made man : at eighteen he could neither read 
 nor write, and his nature must be a very supe- 
 rior one that, from such a starting-point, he 
 should have reached the post he now occupies. 
 He had only exchanged a few words when 
 three of his colleagues — Mr. Crittenden, At- 
 torney-General ; Mr. Bell, Secretary of War; 
 and Mr. Badger, Secretary of the Navy — came 
 in : Mr. Badger smoking a cigar, which he did 
 not extinguish ; Mr. Bell laid down on a sofa, 
 with his feet over the arms, and thus presenting 
 the soles of his boots to us; as to Mr. Crit- 
 tenden, finding it too warm he took off his coat, 
 and pulled a great roll of tobacco from his 
 pocket, put it in his mouth, and commenced 
 chewing. They were very merry and facetious, 
 and as I did not wish to hurt the feelings of 
 men who were so influential in commercial 
 questions, I joined in with them. 
 
 I visited the Patent Office this morning. 
 
220 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 This establishment was originally intended 
 for models of machines for which the Govern- 
 ment had given patents, but they have ended 
 by piling up a mixture of all sorts of things — 
 costumes of the savages, birds, stuffed fish, 
 pell-mell with treaties signed by the United 
 States and Louis XVI., and countersigned by 
 M. de Talleyrand ; with uniforms, collections 
 of buttons, skins of beasts, and insects ! It is 
 the most original Museum I ever saw. 
 
 They have voted to give twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars, which is one year's salary of the 
 President, to the widow of General Harrison. 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 Washington, June 21, 1841. 
 The Comte de Menou presented me to one 
 of his friends, Miss Harper, niece of Mrs. 
 Caton, mother of the Marchioness of Welles- 
 ley and of the Duchess of Leeds, grand-niece 
 of Mgr. Coroll, first Archbishop of Baltimore, 
 dead in the odor of sanctity; her family 
 and the Harpers are the best in the coun- 
 try. Miss Emily Harper was brought up 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 221 
 
 at the Sacr^ Coeur in Paris; she seems to 
 be a very pious young girl, and to wish that 
 every one should be ediiied by her piety. 
 She lives in Baltimore during the winter with 
 her mother, who is a widow, and in summer 
 in a very pretty villa in the island of New-Port. 
 She is now alone and living with a friend of 
 her mother, Mrs. Graham, also a widow, and 
 mother of a very handsome young man, who 
 they say may probably marry Miss Harper. 
 M. Menou was very anxious to introduce me 
 to this bouse, where he appears to be very 
 much at home. These people have distin- 
 guished manners, and speak French very well. 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 Washington, June 29, 1841. 
 
 General Macomb is dead, and the Diplo- 
 matic Corps were invited to attend his funeral. 
 They placed us at the end of the procession, 
 although we were in uniform, which made the 
 discourtesy more marked. 
 
 I went to the theatre for the first time since 
 I have been in the United States, for I do not 
 
222 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 count as representations the ballets of Fanny 
 Elssler. It was abominable : I ran away after 
 the first two acts of Hamlet. Nothing could 
 be more sadly grotesque than this bad acting, 
 with forced effects and overpowering tirades. 
 
 LXXVI, 
 
 Washington, July 5, 1841. 
 
 Yesterday was the anniversary of the 
 Declaration of Independence of the United 
 States, but as it fell on Sunday they put off 
 until to-day the celebration of the annual 
 holiday, and I have been kept awake since 
 five o'clock this morning by the incessant 
 noise of cannons and fire-crackers. That is 
 the American fashion of showing their satis- 
 faction ; to them noise personifies joy ! 
 
 I went yesterday to the Senate, where the 
 day before there had been some scandalous 
 scenes; they were making apologies and ex- 
 cuses, and promises of moderation : all this is 
 so ridiculous and disgusting. 
 
 I gave a dinner last Friday to M. Barbezat, 
 a French merchant and Consular Agent at 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 223 
 
 Galwerston, in the new republic of Texas. 
 This republic of one hundred and fifty 
 thousand inhabitants is a regular nest of 
 bandits. The description M. Barbezat gave 
 of their manners, customs, and acts of violence 
 made me thank my stars for having brought 
 me only herej The United States seems a 
 paradise to any one coming from Texas^ 
 where one, cannot leave the house without 
 being armed to the teeth. The Government 
 is composed of brigands clothed with power* 
 This is not so astonishing when one thinks 
 that Texas has been settled by men who have 
 escaped, from the hands of justice in the 
 United States, where justice is slow and mild 
 enough. . 
 
224 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 Washington, July 17, 1841. 
 I WENT day before yesterday morning, at 
 five o'clock, with M. de la Fosse, Doctor B6nit, 
 and M. Hulman, the Austrian Secretary of 
 Legation, to visit Harper's Ferry, about one 
 hundred miles from here — a place I have long 
 wished to see. Mr. Jefferson in a little work, 
 which is very much thought of here, called 
 "Notes on Virginia," says that the view of 
 Harper's Ferry is worth a voyage across the At- 
 lantic It was not possible to be so near and 
 not visit it. The situation is remarkably beau- 
 tiful. At the foot of a mountain which rises 
 from a hollow, two rivers, the Potomac and the 
 Shenandoah, join, the one forming cascades 
 before uniting with the other, which flows 
 slowly around some charming islands. On the 
 horizon on every side are high rocky moun- 
 tains. Unfortunately this magnificent spec- 
 tacle is spoiled day by day by the progress of 
 civilization. General Washington established 
 a factory of arms there in 1794 — ^the oldest in 
 the United States. In the last forty years a 
 
RECOLLECT JONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 22$ 
 
 great many houses have been built, and now 
 they are digging a canal and opening a railway 
 which will connect Baltimore with the Ohio 
 River, more than three hundred and fifty miles 
 across the Alleghany Mountains. All these 
 works change the aspect of this country, 
 which I like to imagine as it was a century 
 ago, inhabited by peaceful Indians. I see 
 them in the midst of this wild country hunting 
 and fishing for their living, but now all this 
 beauty is marred by the disagreeable noises of 
 the factories. There is on one of these moun- 
 tains a projecting rock on which Mr. Jefferson 
 wrote the description of the country. In re- 
 membrance of this it is called Jefferson's Rock. 
 When he was elected President of the United 
 States, a detachment of troops stationed at 
 Harper's Ferry, hearing that he was about to 
 disband them, tried in vain to destroy this 
 rock. 
 
 The manufactory of arms is a very poor one. 
 The gums made there are very expensive, 
 as everything is in the United States, where 
 manual labor is so dear. The hotel, where 
 every one who comes to admire the scenery 
 stays, is a miserable low place, but when they 
 
226 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 found out who we were, they tried their best 
 to serve us well, for notwithstanding their pre- 
 tended passion for equality, Americans are 
 very anxious to please any one they think of 
 importance^generally to get money out of 
 them, but sometimes from vanity, being very 
 proud of having anything to do with what 
 they call " celebrities." 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 Washington, August ii, 1841. 
 
 The heat is so overpowering, that one is 
 obliged to walk out only during the evening 
 and part of the night. This is the time 
 chosen by open-air orators. I saw one the 
 other night, a member of the Temperance 
 Society, whom I had met in some of the best 
 houses in Washington, preaching on a plat- 
 form supported by two barrels. He gave vent 
 to his eloquence by yelling like a madman. 
 What singular manners ! 
 
 There was a rumor of a ministerial crisis in 
 Washington, which caused great excitement. 
 Three members of the Cabinet sent in their 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT... 227- 
 
 resignations to the President, who managed; 
 with great skill to bring about a reconciliation. 
 The bill was passed yesterday against us., 
 There is nothing to hope for; the Senate willf 
 follow the example of the House.. I have been 
 the subject of discussion in Congress. Mr.. 
 Adams raised a question of privilege in regard' 
 to a communication I had made to the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury, of a memorial on our 
 commercial relations, which he had sent to 
 a committee of the House. I knew very well 
 that this was not the form required, and that: 
 my communication should have been made, to 
 the Secretary of State, who is Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs ; but he had from the beginning 
 referred me to his colleague of the Treasury,, 
 and as I had a particular reason for preferring 
 this channel, I made use of it. They cannot 
 blame me with any justice. As to Messieurs; 
 the Secretaries of State and Treasury, let them, 
 get out of it the best way. they can : it is their 
 affair. The discussion, is favorable to Fra.nce 
 in this much, that it proves they are taking an, 
 interest in French commerce, . notwithsta,iid- 
 ing what is said in some of the newspapers,, 
 who accuse the French Government and its 
 
228 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 agents of carelessness and ignorance. All this 
 disturbance shows how disagreeable it is to 
 have any negotiations with Americans, whose 
 institutions are so badly combined that one 
 never knows through whom or how to make 
 official communications. The President, to 
 whom I went to complain of this imbroglio, 
 apologized very politely for my name having 
 been mixed up with affairs to which I was a 
 perfect stranger, and he blamed Mr. Adams 
 very strongly for having provoked the discus- 
 sion. 
 
 Things are getting very complicated. They 
 say the President has vetoed the bill to create 
 a National Bank. If that is done, all the pres- 
 ent parties will be dissolved, and another party 
 formed on other grounds. A caricature has 
 been circulated representing the President 
 seated at a table, holding a pen in bis hand, 
 ready to sign a large paper before him, and 
 above is written, " To sign, or not to sign — 
 that is the question." A large steamboat was 
 entirely destroyed by fire on Lake Erie. Out 
 of two hundred passengers only thirty were 
 saved. 
 
RECOJ.LECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 229 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 Washington, August 14, 1841. 
 
 I SEE by the papers that the frigate Belle- 
 Poule, commanded by the Prince de Joinville, 
 is expected at New York. I hope she will not 
 arrive for a week yet, for just now, as the 
 grand crisis approaches, I cannot leave Wash- 
 ington. In two days they expect the return 
 of the Bank Bill with the President's veto, 
 which will create an excitement throughout the 
 country. Nothing so serious has happened 
 for a long time in the United States, and I 
 cannot abandon my post at such a time. 
 
 A man from the State of Ohio has written 
 to the Mayor of Washington that this city is 
 threatened by a terrible earthquake, which will 
 be preceded by a very remarkable event. At 
 the very time the Mayor was reading the let- 
 ter a water-spout destroyed the greater part 
 of the public market and injured several 
 houses. This was thought to be the precursor 
 indicated by the writer of the letter ; and last 
 night all the negro population and many of 
 the whites went some distance from Washing- 
 ton to sleep. As to me, I remained quietly in 
 
230 KECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 bed, as you may suppose. However, I ran a 
 real danger, though of a different nature from 
 the one expected : we have all been more or 
 less poisoned by verdigris. 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 Washington, August vj, 1841. 
 A GREAT many Representatives and Others 
 invaded the Senate Chamber yesterday. The 
 President's Message announcing his veto of 
 the Bank Bill was read in the midst of great 
 excitement. There was much applause and 
 one hiss ; the man who hissed was drunk. In-' 
 stead of arresting him, as they wanted to do 
 at first, they contented themselves with put- 
 ting him out of the hall. The sitting had 
 nothing imposing about it : they seemed more 
 inclined to joke about it than to be angry, and 
 the crowd dispersed very quietly. That same- 
 evening I went to see the President, to inform 
 him of my intention of going to New York to 
 await the arrival of the Prince de Joinville. 
 I found Mr. Tyler completely ovei-conie by- 
 the feverish state of excitement in the coun- 
 try, .and all' that had taken place; . . . . ; 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT.- 2^1' 
 
 LXXXI. 
 
 Philadelphia, August 27, 1841. 
 I HAVE been so sick from our poisoning, 
 that I was not able to leave Washington until 
 yesterday ; luckily my young Prince is not in , 
 New York. I cannot take' a step without, 
 meeting Fanny Elssler. I thought she had 
 gone back to Europe, and I find her here, 
 where she is going to dance. 
 
 LXXXII. 
 
 New York, August 29, 1841. 
 No one knows anything about the arrival of 
 the Belle-Poule ; so I shall hasten my trip to 
 Niagara before the season becomes too ad-- 
 vanced, and profit by th€ company of Doctor 
 Benit, that I may not be obliged to go alone. 
 The time for his departure to South America 
 approaches, unfortunately. I shall regret this 
 excellent man very much. 
 
232 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 Albany, September i, 1841. 
 I LEFT New York at five o'clock this morn- 
 ing on a superb steamboat, which took me up 
 the North River to this place in ten hours. 
 This is one of the most beautiful rivers in the 
 United States. 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 SYRAorsE, September 2, 1841. 
 What do you say to this pompous name? 
 Many others just as pretentious are to be met 
 with in every part of the United States. 
 Since seven o'clock this morning, when I left 
 Albany, I have in travelling one hundred and 
 sixty miles passed through cities and villages 
 named Sclienestady, Amsterdam, Fraacfort, 
 Palatine, Rome, Manheim, Onesda, Manlius, 
 Uttica, and all that to arrive at Syracuse, wJiere 
 I am very badly lodged. But I cannot tell 
 you all the pleasure I felt yesterday in follow- 
 ing the course of the Hudson ; it is far more 
 beautiful than the Rhine. It is true that this 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 233 
 
 river of the New World has none of the histor- 
 ic souvenirs of the Rhine, which interests you 
 with its ruins and legends. The history at- 
 tached to the banks of the Hudson is of a 
 kind entirely different. I passed by the place 
 where Major Andr^, the English spy, was 
 hung ; further, the spot where Arnold met the 
 English officer. Albany is a very beautiful 
 city, built in the form of an amphitheatre ; 
 there are several palaces — for the Legislature, 
 for the courts of justice, and for the Govern- 
 ment ; for Albany is the capital of New York, 
 and has forty thousand inhabitants. This 
 morning we passed through the ravishing val- 
 ley of the Mokawek River, which winds 
 through this valley in the most picturesque 
 manner; sometimes the route is so narrow, 
 that the four different ways of communication 
 touch each other, for there are following a par- 
 allel course the river, a superb canal, the rail- 
 way, and a road. Sometimes the country is 
 wild and absolutely uninhabited, then one per- 
 ceives near the numerous falls on the river 
 saw-mills and grist-mills. This valley of the 
 Mohawek is the poetic ground in the history 
 of the Indians : it is here that the tribe of the 
 
234 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Onefdas lived, the Ounwdagas and the Oswe-. 
 gas ; near iiere is Lake Cayuga, and not far 
 off Lake Ontario, on which I embark .this 
 evening. But I am wrong in talking to you 
 of the poetic remembraaces of the Indians 
 — to you who have so little enthusiasm for M. 
 de Chateaubriand. There still remain a few 
 unhappy descendants of this race : I met this 
 morning at Oneida five poor Indian women 
 of the tribe of the Oneidas ; they offered to 
 the passengers, in a suppliant manner, diflerr 
 ent objects worked in pearls. The Americans 
 examined them, bargained, did not buy anyr 
 thing, and went away, saying, " Those thmgs 
 are perfectly useless ; those people will never 
 know how to make their living." Americans 
 have no pity for the Indians, but accuse us of 
 want of philanthropy in our war with the 
 Algerians. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA 1\ 235 
 
 LXXXV. 
 
 Cataract House, Niagara Falls, September 5, 1841. 
 I HAVE at last arrived at this place, which 
 is so renowned. I have seen, contemplated, 
 and admired, but not with unmixed pleasure, 
 as you will see by the following account. The 
 day before yesterday I left Syracuse in a 
 canal-boat, which is a kind of galiot like those 
 which formerly went from Paris to St. Cloud ; 
 a means of transport which is the slowest, the 
 most annoying and tiresome that one can ima- 
 agine. There were forty-five of us, packed in 
 the smallest space possible, elbowing and 
 crowding each other, and suffering with the 
 most intolerable heat, and this from nine 
 o'clock in the morning to six in the evening. 
 We went by the Aswega Canal, which runs be- 
 tween the shore of the lake of this name and 
 the Senecca River. The country is very wild 
 and rough, with woods and streams everywhere. 
 Just as we arrived at Oswega the rain began 
 to fall in torrents, with peals of thunder, and 
 flashes of lightning to replace the light of the 
 day, which had just ended. We were obliged 
 
236 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 to walk a mile through very deep mud, to 
 reach the steamboat United States, which was 
 waiting for us on Lake Ontario. We reached 
 there covered with mud, and wet through. 
 The lake was so rough that we were almost 
 all sea-sick. It is seventy miles long, sixty 
 broad, and two hundred feet deep ; the storm 
 produced a very beautiful effect. 
 
 I found M. MioJlet and his travelling com- 
 panion, M. Ducatel of Baltimore, on board. 
 They had been detained three days at Oswega 
 by a serious accident on the canal-boat. M. 
 Ducatel had not lowered his head enough to 
 pass under a bridge, and had his arm broken : 
 lucky that he was not killed. This brave 
 man is not very delicate, for he continues his 
 journey with his arm bandaged, and will ac- 
 company M. Miollet down the Mississippi 
 River. We shall probably separate this even- 
 ing. 
 
 Our journey, which ought to have been over 
 at six o'clock in the morning, was prolonged 
 to noon — thanks to the storm. At last we 
 araived at Lewistown on the Niagara River, 
 wher€ we took a carriage which brought us to 
 Niagara Falls. The weather having become 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 237 
 
 superb, we immediately descended one hun- 
 dred and eighty steps to the banks of the 
 river Niagara, from which place we could see 
 the Falls from the American side, disappoint- 
 ing me so much that I already regretted hav- 
 ing undertaken this fatiguing journey ; but 
 soon my admiration surpassed anything I 
 could believe possible for any one to feel. 
 We had crossed to the other side in a little 
 boat, — ^the English side, — where we found a 
 guide in a red dress. We were on British 
 ground. We had climbed across rocks and 
 frightful paths to a height parallel to that 
 from which we had descended to the opposite 
 shore. When we bad reached the summit we 
 were shown the celebrated places of the sur- 
 rounding country: first, the battlefield where 
 the Americans beat tke English in 1813 ; then 
 a spring of hydrogen, which ignited when 
 brought in contact with a lighted candle; 
 and last, the Table Rock, from which the 
 Fall is seen. 
 
 It is the most magnificent spectacle, the 
 grandest, the most solemn, the most gigantic, 
 that I have seen in my life! After falling 
 seventy feet, the river reaches a horseshoe of 
 
238 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 -rocks', from which it falls one hundred and 
 sixty feet, with immense waves arid foam, and 
 with a noise that nothing could give you an 
 idea of. The water, green and brilliant as the 
 -emerald, flows" rapidly toward the Fall, and 
 loses itself in the snow-white foam, which is 
 thrown up from the abyss in clouds of vapor, 
 through which you could see nothing if it 
 'were not that a permanent rainbow, during 
 the setting of the- sun, pierces these white 
 clouds and lightens every point. In one word, 
 it is splendid and sublime ! I cannot paint 
 this magnificent scene, or describe the pro- 
 found impression it made upon me. Human- 
 ity disappears entirely before a superhuman 
 power. We were obliged to leave this unique 
 spectacle sooner than we wished, as it was 
 necessary to cross to the American side before 
 the sun had set, or remain where we were un- 
 til the next day. We stopped, however, a few 
 minutes to see a live rattlesnake in a glass 
 case, through which we could distinctly hear 
 the noise he made whenever he moved his 
 tail ; it was like the sound of two rattles 
 shaken together. 
 
 I also saw the barracks occupied by six hun- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 239 
 
 ,dred and fifty English soldiers who guard the 
 frontier; the officers are most of them mar- 
 ried, and live with their wives in little wooden 
 houses scattered around the barracks. What 
 a fate during six months of the year ! — they 
 have no other horizon than sky and snow. 
 We, crossed again in our little boat, a quar- 
 
 .ter of a mile at most, from the Fall, and two 
 hundred feet above the bottom of the abyss. 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 
 Buffalo on the Lake Erie, September 5, 1841. 
 After writing this morning, I took Mr. 
 Hooker, who has-been-a guide here for twenty- 
 five years, and with Doctor B^nit and my 
 valet, went to Goat's Island, which is on the 
 American side and divides the Falls of 
 Niagara. It is covered with magnificent trees, 
 and there are beautiful views from different 
 points. I went down two hundred steps to 
 reach the lowest part of the Falls, and was 
 then obliged to walk half a mile across 
 stones and rocks, in the midst of clouds of 
 mist. I jumped on to a rock underneath the 
 
240 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 fall, and sheltered in this way was able to see 
 the torrents falling before me without any 
 danger except of a bath, as the foam in evap- 
 orating made the atmosphere very wet. It 
 was superb to find one's self below such a 
 gigantic fall, but a little frightful. 
 
 We arrived at four in the afternoon at 
 Buffalo, which is near Lake Erie. This city 
 twenty-five years ago had only thirty houses ; 
 now the j5opulation is 40,000. Buffalo is 
 called The Queen of the Lakes. The fact is 
 that its present and future importance will not 
 be one of the least wonders of the United 
 States. Its situation is ravishing. 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 
 Rochester, September 6, 1841. 
 I LEFT Buffalo this morning at seven o'clock 
 in a stage-coach : nine of us were piled in, one 
 on top of the other. We stopped at Batavia 
 for dinner at three o'clock, and at five arrived 
 here, after having travelled through one of the 
 prettiest parts of New York State. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 24 1 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 
 Utica, September 7, 1841. 
 We travelled yesterday one hundred and 
 fifty miles by railway through the lake coun- 
 try, partly along the shores of Lakes Canau- 
 daigna, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skuneatcles, 
 and Oneida, one prettier than the other, and 
 all bearing Indian names, while the towns are 
 ridiculously called Geneva, Waterloo, Lodi, 
 Victor, Palmyra, JByron, and Vienna. This 
 country would be an ideal one if it was civi- 
 lized according to our ideas, and not in the 
 American fashion — the most disagreeable of 
 all. We stopped at Auburn, celebrated for its 
 prison ; we dined there. But that is the pain- 
 ful side of travelling in America : it is impos- 
 sible to eat the atrocious things they serve to 
 you — tough meat, spiced, and stewed in the 
 most awful sauces ; impossible to get a cutlet, 
 or even an egg. 
 
242 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 Albany, September 8, 1841. 
 I HAVE been taking a walk through the city 
 of Albany, which is situated on the Hudson 
 and built in the shape of an amphitheatre ; it 
 has a grand appearance. When I get back to 
 New York I shall have travelled sixteen hun- 
 dred English miles, or four hundred French 
 leagues, in nine days, sleeping every night in 
 a hotel, except one night passed on Lake 
 Ontario. The rapidity is wonderful, but very 
 disagreeable on account of the bad manage- 
 ment in the means of transportation and in 
 the places one has to stop at. 
 
 XC. 
 
 New York, September 14, 1841. 
 A HORRIBLE affair has taken place here; 
 General Alvear, the father of the victim, told 
 me about it himself. On the 6th of the month, 
 Mr. Alvear, a young man highly educated and 
 with very agreeable manners, whose father is a 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 243 
 
 Member of Congress from one of the Southern 
 States, was sitting with several 3^ung New- 
 Yorkers in Niblb's Garden, when some one, 
 who was known afterward to be a Mr. Suy- 
 dam, struck him, from behind, three blows 
 with a dagger, cutting his lips and horribly- 
 mutilating the lower part of his face. Niblo's 
 Garden is the Tivoli of New York. Almost all 
 the Americans carry daggers in their pockets. 
 Mr. Alvear, taken by surprise, cried out, and 
 tried to seize his assassin, who escaped without 
 being interfered with by any of the spectators 
 of this dreadful scene, and no policeman at- 
 tempted to look for the murderer. Later one 
 of Mr. Alvear's friends found Mr. Suydam, 
 and asked him why he committed this cruel 
 assault. He said, " Because Mr. Alvear made 
 love to my wife." " But why did you not take 
 your revenge like a man of honor ?" Mr. Suy- 
 dam repHed, " I am not a man of honor in his 
 eyes, but a blackleg, and he would not have 
 fought with me." The newspapers gave an 
 account of the affair, treating it in a jocose way, 
 and laughing at Mr. Alvear for having written 
 amorous letters to Mrs. Suydam. It seems 
 that this lady has been known to have received 
 
244 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 favorably declarations more compromising 
 than could be made by letter, and that Mr. 
 Suydam was only a contraband husband and 
 gambler by profession. What made it harder 
 for Mr. Alvear to have received this attack 
 from the husband was that one of his friends 
 was the real culprit. In any case it is disgust- 
 ing, and covers the American with a varnish of 
 barbarism djfificult to be found even amongst 
 savages. 
 
 I hear that afifairs in Washington are getting 
 very much embroiled. President Tyler has 
 vetoed a new bill ; this is a very strong meas- 
 ure, and I think a wise one. All the members 
 of his Cabinet resigned except Mr. Webster. 
 The President immediately nominated others 
 to replace them. Congress adjourned two 
 days ago, but unfortunately before adjourning 
 passed the famous bill which has given me so 
 much care and trouble during the last six 
 months. I am beaten, badly beaten, as I fore- 
 saw, and I expect a great outcry in France ; but 
 I feel that I have done all that I possibly 
 could, and my mind is easy. The most scan- 
 dalous scenes h^ve taken place in Congress: 
 insults passed, and even blows. What a curi- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 245 
 
 ous world, or rather what a world of curious 
 people ! 
 
 To put a stop to things, a committee ad hoc 
 was appointed : they proposed to fine any 
 member one hundred dollars who should insult 
 another, and to expel any one who should 
 strike a blow. What mariners ! My God ! 
 what have I done to be obliged to live 
 amongst such people? He who struck the 
 first blow was one of those who were most use- 
 ful to me in my difficulties about the duties. 
 With all my heart I shall welcome my recall, 
 should it be to transfer me to the Republic of 
 San Marino. Everything about the Americans 
 is repugnant to me — their opinions, their man- 
 ners, their habits, their character! M. de 
 Talleyrand often said that there was no base 
 to American society, because moral sense did 
 not exist in it. I am more and more im- 
 pressed with the truth of this observation. 
 Another social condition is wanting to the 
 Americans, and that is the ties of family, 
 which their anxiety for continual movement 
 has succeeded in destroying. All the men are 
 occupied in trying to make money, and only 
 live for that : in their eyes a swindler is a very 
 
246 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 clever man, so long as he keeps within the law. 
 Mgr. Forbin-Janson has left here after hav- 
 ing quarrelled with everybody: his chtirch is 
 hardly above ground ; let anybody finish it 
 who wants to. 
 
 XCI. 
 
 New York, SeptetUber 17, 1841. 
 
 Coming back from my walk I met a long 
 procession of Freemasons, who here take as 
 much care to display their ribbons and em- 
 blems as their brothers in Europe do to con- 
 ceal theirs. More than six hundred well- 
 dressed men composed this procession. Free- 
 masonry exists in the United States on a 
 great scale ; it is almost a political institution, 
 and serves at the same time as a distraction to 
 men who have so little to amuse them, and 
 also of distinction to these fiery Democrats 
 who, in spite of their pretended love of equal- 
 ity, strive to appear superior the one to the 
 other. 
 
 Mr. Radgers, a banker who has large trans- 
 actions with France, showed me everything 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 247 
 
 connected with the two principal institutions 
 in New York — the Custom-house and the 
 Stock Exchange : this last edifice is built en- 
 tirely of granite and iron. 
 
 XCII. 
 
 New York, September 20, 1841. 
 A STEAMER which touched at Halifax 
 brings the news that (he Prince de Joinville 
 left that place for New York on the i6th ; we 
 expect him at any moment. 
 
 XCIII. 
 
 New York, September 21, 1841. 
 
 The Prince de Joinville, for whom we have 
 waited so long, was last night in sight of port, 
 and will no doubt be here in a few hours. He 
 sent the brig Cassard in advance. 
 
 The commander of the brig came to the 
 French Consulate to get some packages which 
 had been sent from Paris for the Prince, who, 
 it seems, intends to spend six weeks in the 
 
248 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 United States. After resting in New York 
 four or five days, he will leave the Belle-Poule 
 and the Cassard there, and travel through the 
 interior of the United States. 
 
 XCIV. 
 
 New York, September 32, 1841. 
 Our young Prince arrived yesterday: we 
 had sent a steamboat to tow his vessel up, as 
 there was no wind. M. de la Forest and I 
 went on another steamboat to wait for him at 
 Quarantine, where we supposed he would be 
 detained. Just as we arrived he passed with 
 his beautiful frigate, and pursued his way 
 without being interfered with. We were 
 obliged to retrace our steps, and arrived at 
 New York shortly after him. We went on 
 board the Belle-Poule, where the Prince 
 received us in the most charming manner and 
 kept us to dinner. It was four o'clock, and 
 we were to dine at five; in the interval the 
 Prince took me apart, and told me that the 
 first time he came to the United States while 
 in Washington he had behaved in such a way 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 249 
 
 that he had now been sent back from France 
 to make amends for his error. Mr. Van 
 Buren, who was President at that time, asked 
 him how long he intended to stay in Washing- 
 ton ; he told him that he was going to leave 
 next day. Notwithstanding this reply Mr. 
 Van Buren invited him to dine next day, 
 which invitation the Prince did not think he 
 was obliged to accept. This produced great 
 dissatisfaction and disagreeable remarks, which 
 were reported on the other side of the 
 Atlantic. The Prince charged M. Pontois 
 to make his excuses, but he received 2.fameux 
 galop,''' — this is his expression, — and the King 
 peremptorily ordered him to return to the 
 United States and accept an invitation to 
 dinner. Consequently he will go immediately 
 to Washington and stay there long enough to 
 avoid another scolding. 
 
 After that he will go to Norfolk to see 
 the French vessels which are there, and then 
 travel through the interior, visiting the Ohio, 
 the Mississippi, etc., etc. 
 
 He told me all this in a very gay and lively 
 
 * Severe reprimand. 
 
250 JiECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 manner, treating me with great amiability. 
 Positively he is a charming prince. His band, 
 which is a very fine one, played during dinner, 
 and I was delighted to hear French airs again. 
 His frigate is a magnificent vessel, and I felt 
 a profound joy mixed with sadness, feeling 
 myself in France and surrounded by sailors 
 speaking French. Unhappily I was sicker 
 than usual. His Royal Majesty saw it, and 
 ordered his physician to visit me this morning, 
 and I am now waiting to see Doctor Guillard. 
 
 XCV. 
 
 New York, September 24, 1841. 
 
 I WAS at M. de la Forest's this morning 
 when the Prince arrived there; he gave us 
 his orders for the reception of the Consuls and 
 all the French on board the Belle-Poule this 
 morning. 
 
 I presented my attache, M. de Mon 
 tholon, to him, whom he was pleased to 
 accept as his travelling companion in his 
 journey through the interior. We made out 
 a plan for his guidance, but I am afraid the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 251 
 
 season is so far advanced that he will be 
 obliged to shorten this excursion. I am more 
 and more ravished with our young Prince, who 
 joins to a great dignity the most complete 
 simplicity ; he charms every one who has the 
 honor to approach him. 
 
 I told him that Mr. and Mrs. Rivers had 
 expressed a wish to pay their respects to him 
 on board his frigate (Mr. Rivers was Ameri- 
 can Minister in Paris in 1830): he chose to go 
 himself to see Mrs. Rivers, who was beside 
 herself with joy, and of whom a great many 
 were envious on account of this visit. 
 
 XCVI. 
 
 Washington, September 28, 1841. 
 I LEFT New York on the 25th, to precede the 
 Prince, who arrives to-morrow ; but I was disa- 
 greeably detained in Philadelphia by the puri- 
 tanical hypocrisy which does not allow travel- 
 ling on Sunday. I was, however, very anxious 
 to be in Washington to prepare for the recep- 
 tion of his Royal Highness. I arranged this 
 morning with Mr. Fox, the doyen of the Dip- 
 
252 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 lomatic Corps, the question of the visit which 
 this Corps ought to pay him. I have also been 
 to see the President, already notified of the 
 arrival of the Prince, and who, after the infor- 
 mation I caused to be transmitted to him from 
 New York, was prepared to receive him. He 
 was very anxious and desirous to be agreeable 
 to his Royal Highness. Mr. Webster, Secre- 
 tary of State, left Washington this morning. I 
 am not sorry for this discourteous act, for he 
 is pretentious, tiring, and would have bored us. 
 Mr. Legare, one of the new Members of the 
 Cabinet, who is amiable, and speaks French 
 very well, will replace Mr. Webster, which will 
 be far more agreeable for the Prince. 
 
 I must tell you of a charming piece of sim- 
 plicity on the part of Miss Tyler, the daughter 
 of the President, who by the way is very- 
 pretty. I had scarcely said good-evening 
 yesterday, than she asked with a very injured 
 air, " Is it true, sir, that the Prince of Join- 
 ville is engaged to a Princess of the Nether- 
 lands ?" I hastened to assure her that my 
 Prince, a very handsome young man, was abso- 
 lutely free, and that all the American ladies 
 could have a chance to gain his affections — 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 253 
 
 but I did not say his hand. I have no doubt 
 that the idea of making herself agreeable to 
 the Prince and marrying him was the thought 
 in this young lady's mind. 
 
 XCVII. 
 
 Washington, September 30, 1841. 
 
 His Royal Highness arrived yesterday at 
 eleven o'clock in the morning, with five offi- 
 cers: Captain Lugeol, commanding the brig 
 Cassard ; M. Touchard, aide-de-camp ; M. 
 Fabre, lieutenant of the Belle-Poule ; M. Ger- 
 vais, midshipman of the first .class; and M, 
 Roussin, son of the Admiral, midshipman of 
 the second class. 
 
 I waited for the Prince at the railway 
 station, and took him in my carriage to the 
 hotel, where apartments had been kept for 
 him ; I told him of the arrangements made for 
 his stay here, which, to his great satisfaction, 
 need not be more than thirty-six hours. 
 
 I accompanied him to the President's, where 
 the ofificers and the members of the Legation 
 also were. The reception was rather dull. The 
 
254 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 Prince told me that he was deafer than usual : 
 he speaks very low, and is very timid about 
 speaking English ; the President could hardly 
 hear him, much less understand him. His 
 Royal Highness and all of us dine soon with 
 Mr. Tyler. 
 
 The Prince, with his suite and all the Lega- 
 tion, dined with me yesterday ; he appeared to 
 enjoy a few hours' relief from public notice. 
 He talked with great ease and good-humor. 
 He is really endowed with remarkable intelli- 
 gence, which he shows in everything he says 
 without the slightest effort. He frankly told 
 me that the future looked very threatening, 
 and that a rupture between England and the 
 United States was imminent. He placed the 
 frigate and brig under my orders during his 
 absence, leaving instructions to his officers to 
 be guided by my advice. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 25$ 
 
 XCVIII. 
 
 Washington, October i, 1841. 
 
 The Prince has just left for Baltimore. He 
 told me that he was very well satisfied with 
 his stay here, and with what I had done to 
 make it as endurable and short as possible. 
 I presented the Diplomatic Corps to him yes- 
 terday. Nothing particular occurred, except 
 that Lord Prudhoe, brother of the Duke of 
 Northumberland, and another Englishman, 
 whose name I have forgotten, who had asked 
 to be presented to his Royal Highness, came 
 in frock-coats, and altogether badly dressed, 
 which was more like the American than the 
 English usage. They went to dinner at the 
 President's later in dress-coats. 
 
 This dinner passed off better than I had 
 hoped. It only lasted one hour and a half. 
 Miss Tyler, with her usual simplicity and 
 frankness, declared that she had lost her heart 
 to my Prince, to whom I repeated this signifi- 
 cant speech. Wishing to acknowledge it, he 
 made up his mind to talk with Miss Tyler, 
 although he had told me that his timidity was 
 so great that he never talked with women. - 
 
2S6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 The grand reception in the evening was 
 ridiculous and tiresome. Happily the Prince 
 with his natural gayety, amused himself with 
 the strange toilettes of the women, and bore 
 with great patience the indiscretion of all those 
 who asked to be presented, also the familiarity 
 of their manners and language. At last, at 
 ten o'clock, he went home delighted to have 
 performed the task for which he had crossed 
 the ocean by royal and paternal command. 
 
 I shall have the honor to see the Prince 
 again in New York, where he returns in three 
 or four weeks to rejoin the Belle-Poule. 
 
 XCIX. 
 
 Philadelphia, October 12, 1841. 
 
 I AM here on my way to New York. I have 
 made a great many visits to-day. The city 
 is in a state of excitement on account of the 
 elections which are going on now. They are 
 in favor of the Democratic Party, which is Mr. 
 Van Buren's party, beaten last year. 
 
 I have been again to the house M. de Talley- 
 rand lived in while in Philadelphia ; it is on 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 257 
 
 North Third Street, facing the City Hotel. 
 Fifty years ago it was the fashionable quarter, 
 and now it is all shops. The ground-floor was 
 occupied by a baker named Brescht, who is 
 still alive, but does not live there now. I can- 
 not look at this house without emotion. 
 
 I am writing to you with an accompaniment 
 of inhuman cries and ferocious yells of the 
 mob, who show their interest in the election in 
 this way. 
 
 New York, October 17, 1841. 
 M. DE LA Forest took me to see two ladies 
 who had very kindly expressed a wish to 
 
 make my acquaintance — Mrs. B and Mrs. 
 
 M . The first is a daughter of General 
 
 Reubel, who came to this country and was 
 married at the same time as Jerome Bona- 
 parte. Mrs. B is a rich widow, agreeable, 
 
 and very pretty. She is bored here, and 
 wishes to return to France, where she had 
 
 amused herself very much. Mrs. M is the 
 
 wife of a doctor. She has also lived a long 
 
258 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 time in France, where her husband went for 
 his health, and they were both presented at 
 Court by General Cape. The Prince of Join- 
 ville, who had seen them there, spent two even- 
 ings with Mrs. M very agreeably. This 
 
 created quite a sensation in the city, and will 
 
 make the family vtry fashionable. Mrs. M 
 
 proposes to give a ball to the Prince on his 
 return. 
 
 I went with the Baron de Marschall yester- 
 day to see the packet-ship on which he embarks 
 to-morrow for Europe. Happy mortal ! 
 
 I also went to see Captain Charner, who is 
 in command of the Belle-Poule in the absence 
 of the Prince. I visited the ship throughout, 
 and admired it very much. There appeared 
 to me to be a falling-off in one thing — that is, 
 in the discipline of the ship. I think the 
 Prince allows too much liberty to his officers, 
 probably fearing to appear more exacting than 
 an ordinary commander. Their discipline suf- 
 fers from it. 
 
 I dined yesterday with Mr. and Mrs. Mor- 
 timer Livingston. Their house is charming: 
 it is the only one I have seen in the United 
 States that is in really good taste and elegant. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 259 
 
 They have eighty thousand francs a year, and 
 belong to one of the highest families in Amer- 
 ica. Mr. Livingston is as well-bred and pol- 
 ished as if he were not an American. His wife 
 is not pretty, but she tries to please, and suc- 
 ceeds. They have travelled, and know how 
 
 to converse. Mrs. B , an intimate friend 
 
 of Mrs. Livingston, was the only woman at 
 this dinner. These ladies retired at dessert, 
 and we joined them an hour afterward in the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 I have just finished Messieurs de Tocque- 
 ville and de Beaumont's work on the Peniten- 
 tiary System in the United States — a book 
 which has had great success in Europe, and 
 obtained the " Monthyon Prize." I think of 
 this book as I do of M. de Tocqueville's " De- 
 mocracy" and the writings of Michel Cheva- 
 lier — that they are interesting, but not accu- 
 rate. Everything is arranged by the authors 
 to please a certain class of European readers. 
 These gentlemen commit a thousand errors in 
 their assertions, and pronounce opinions about 
 things they have never seen, or seen with a 
 fixed intention to make them serve to injure 
 our institutions, our French administration, 
 
26o RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 and to make for themselves a cheap popu- 
 larity. 
 
 CI. 
 
 New York, October 22, 1841, 
 Mr. CoppINGER, a rich merchant of New 
 York, and Frenchman by birth, came to see 
 me this morning, with an album belonging to 
 a young miss under his arm. He brought it 
 with a request from her — although I had never 
 seen her — to put my name at the bottom of 
 a list of American autographs. I refused, as 
 politely as I could, to make myself ridiculous 
 by figuring there. In looking over the album 
 I saw a curious inscription. You know that 
 after the affair at Strasbourg, Louis-Bonaparte 
 went to Brazil, then to New York, from which 
 place he returned to Europe. While be was 
 here the lady of the album begged him to put 
 his name in • it. He thought fit to write a 
 famous verse with his signature, which accord- 
 ing to him depicted his position, and here is 
 the quotation as written in the album : 
 
 ' ' Le premier qui fut roi, fut un soldat heureux ; 
 Qui sert bien son pays n'a pas besoin d'aleux ! — (Racine.) 
 
 "Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 " New York, June 10, 1837.'' 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 26 1 
 
 What do you think of a French Prince who 
 gives to Racine what belongs to Voltaire ? 
 
 The name of the owner of the album is 
 Miss Ward, daughter of a General of militia, 
 and member of Congress. I know neither 
 father nor daughter. 
 
 The French who are living here annoy me 
 very much. My predecessor, M. Pontois, lived 
 on very familiar terms with them, and they are 
 astonished that I do not follow his example. 
 Some of them expect me to pay the first visit, 
 and invite me to their dinners aifd their parties 
 without even leaving a card at my door. They 
 are, taking them altogether, not very com- 
 mendable. Misfortunes in business have 
 brought most of them to the United States, 
 where they seek and find fortunes. There- 
 fore I have no desire to see more of them than 
 is strictly necessary, and I have announced 
 that I will return visits which are made to me, 
 but that I will not pay a first visit to any 
 one, and that I will accept invitations only 
 from those who have sought to make my ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
262 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 CII. 
 
 New York, November i, 1841. 
 
 I HAVE been to see Mrs. M again. She 
 
 is an amiable woman, large, and very much 
 like an English housekeeper. Her daughter. 
 Miss Louisa, is not as pretty as Monseigrveur 
 the Prince of Joinville represented her to be. 
 
 Mrs. M showed me the preparations for 
 
 the ball she offered to the Prince on his return, 
 and which he has accepted. 
 
 An unfortunate event has taken place here. 
 The Catholic Bishop of New York is old, in- 
 firm, and childish ; they have given him a 
 coadjutor, Mr. Hughes, made on this account 
 Bishop in partibus of Barianopolis. Mr. 
 Hughes, who is an Irishman by birth, is very 
 hot-headed and full of imprudent zeal, which 
 has caused him to commit a fault very injuri- 
 ous to the interests of Catholicism in this 
 country. Every year the Legislature of New 
 York votes the funds to be distributed 
 amongst the primary schools, all directed by 
 Protestants. The Catholics have protested 
 against this exclusive measure, and demanded 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 263 
 
 part of these funds for schools founded by 
 them. This protest has been taken into con- 
 sideration and sustained by many influential 
 persons, who recognize that as the Catholics 
 pay their share of the taxes by the aid of 
 which the schools are kept up, it is only just 
 that they should have their share in the dis- 
 tribution. Bishop Hughes has insisted in the 
 religious assemblies that justice should be 
 done. If he had kept to this, nothing could 
 have been better, and he would before long 
 have obtained what he asked ; but this is what 
 he took into his head to do : the general elec- 
 tion for one third of the Legislature being 
 near at hand, he called a meeting more political 
 than religious, where he gave an incendiary 
 discourse, in which, not confining himself ta 
 generalities, he designated twelve candidates 
 favorable to the distribution of funds to the 
 Catholics. He so inflamed his audience, most 
 of them poor Irish workmen, that in their ex- 
 citement they behaved in a manner very much 
 to be regretted. The next day the newspapers 
 threw fire and flames against the Bishop, whom 
 they accused of stirring up civil war. The 
 twelve candidates designated by this violent 
 
264 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 prelate protested, and if they are elected, it is 
 probable they will vote against the Catholics ; 
 besides, these senseless agitations of the clergy 
 do a great deal of harm. 
 
 cm. 
 
 New York, November 3, 1841. 
 
 We had news of our young Prince yesterday, 
 who, as I foresaw, has been delayed in his 
 journey. The weather has been terrible: 
 snow, excessive cold, and not sufficient water 
 in the lakes to permit the steamboats to make 
 their regular trips. Happily their gay party 
 are well. M. Montholon writes me from Saint 
 Louis that they hope to be in New York about 
 the 22d or 23d. 
 
 Doctor Guillard, physician of the Belle- 
 Poule, accompanied the Prince on his voyage 
 to Saint Helena. General Bertrand, as you 
 know, was there at the same time. Talking 
 one day over their reminiscences of the Em- 
 pire, the General said to the doctor, who he 
 found shared the common prejudice against 
 M. de Talleyrand and believed that he had be- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 265 
 
 trayed the Emperor, that this report was 
 entirely false, and that the Emperor had been 
 altogether to blame in all their reciprocal rela- 
 tions. As M. de Talleyrand was dead and the 
 General had gone to Saint Helena to bring the 
 remains of the Emperor home, he could have 
 nothing to gain, and his testimony must have 
 great weight. 
 
 CIV. 
 
 New York, November 20, 1841. 
 Our young Prince arrived yesterday in good 
 health, content with his journey and anxious 
 to get away again. However, he has resigned 
 himself to accept an invitation to attend a ball 
 at Boston ; he could not refuse without hurt- 
 ing their feelings. He will go to Boston day 
 after to-morrow, return Friday morning to a 
 dinner given to him by the French people 
 here on that day, and in the evening will go 
 
 to Mrs. M 's ball. Saturday he will dine 
 
 with the municipality of New York, Sunday 
 he will sail, and I shall return to Washington. 
 
266 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 CV. 
 
 New Yokk, November 22, 1841. 
 The Prince de Joinville attended Mass yes- 
 terday, after which he had the goodness to 
 come to see me. He conversed for an hour on 
 different subjects with great ability; nothing 
 escapes him, and he never forgets anything ; 
 at his age, and with his simple manners and 
 gay disposition, he has already a personal 
 value which predicts a brilliant future. 
 
 CVI. 
 
 New York, November 24, 1841. 
 I WENT on board the Belle- Poule yesterday 
 about noon to pay my respects to the Prince. 
 He kept me to assist him to receive Mrs. Liv- 
 ingston and Mrs. De Pau, who had come to 
 pay a visit to his Royal Highness and see the 
 vessel. I afterward accompanied the Prince to 
 the steamboat which was to take him, tw&Xve 
 of his officers, and M. de Montholon to Bos- 
 ton ; they will all return here the day after to- 
 morrow. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 267 
 
 CVII. 
 
 New York, November 26, 1841. . 
 
 My young Prince has just arrived from Bos- 
 ton ; he is delighted, and from what M. de 
 Montholon tells me, everything must have 
 passed off very well. I am the more pleased 
 because I had particularly urged that this invi- 
 tation should be accepted ; the Prince was 
 very much opposed to it, wishing to avoid this 
 obligation. 
 
 This is our great day — the French dinner at 
 five o'clock, and at nine Mrs. M 's ball. 
 
 CVIII. 
 
 New York, November 27, 1841. 
 The entertainment given by the French 
 took place in the hall of a grand hotel called 
 the Astor House. It was decorated with tri- 
 colored flags, and the band from the Belle- 
 Poule, which is excellent, played wonderfully 
 well, although a little too loud. The toasts 
 were generally stupid enough, and the man- 
 ners of the company pretty bad. The Prince 
 
268 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 had on his left the president of the banquet, 
 M. Chegaray, an infirm old man, who proposed 
 the toasts, and on his right the Mayor of New 
 York ; I sat next to him ; on the other side an 
 Alderman. It was in this position I had to 
 pass three hours. The Prince left at half-past 
 eight, and came home with me before going to 
 the ball. The street I lived in being unpaved, 
 we were obliged to get in and out of our car- 
 riages in a pouring rain, and on sidewalks wet 
 and muddy. 
 
 Mrs. M 's house was very well arranged 
 
 and filled with the fashion of New York. This 
 entertainment was a great event, and caused 
 much gossip and many jokes. Poor Mrs. 
 
 M will make many enemies and be much 
 
 laughed at ; they say she will be obliged to 
 leave New York ! This is her reward for hav- 
 ing taken so much trouble. After examining 
 the rooms and those who filled them, I came 
 to the conclusion that although better than in 
 Washington, there was much to find fault with 
 in the exaggerated dress of the women and 
 the vulgar manners of the men. I went home 
 at eleven o'clock, the Prince having kindly ad- 
 vised me to take some rest. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPL0MA2\ 269 
 
 CIX. 
 
 New York, November 28, 1841. 
 I ATTENDED his Royal Highness to the Cor- 
 poration dinner. We arrived at six o'clock ; 
 they did not sit down to table until seven, and 
 the dinner, which was a very bad one, ended 
 at ten. The room was infected by gas and 
 tobacco-smoke. The toasts, which were given 
 by the Mayor, commenced at dessert, and 
 were most flattering to the Prince and to 
 France. The Mayor was seated on the right 
 of his Royal Highness, and I on the left. 
 Lord Morpeth, who happened to be in New 
 York and was invited, was next to the Mayor. 
 After all the ofiScial toasts were given — not very 
 complimentary to England on account of the 
 events they recalled — the health of Lord Mor- 
 peth was proposed. In returning thanks he 
 took occasion to retaliate by some sharp and 
 witty allusions to those toasts which had been 
 disagreeable to him as an Englishman. His 
 speech was a great success ; but the true, the 
 great, and sincere success rests with our Prince, 
 who during his stay here has shown admira- 
 ble tact, good taste, and cleverness. 
 
270 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 After dinner we went to an impromptu 
 dance, given by Mrs. Livingston, who had pro- 
 posed it to the Prince at Mrs. M 's last 
 
 night. He danced and chatted with Miss 
 
 M until two o'clock, when we escorted 
 
 him to the wharf, and bade him farewell, as he 
 was to sail at five o'clock this morning. 
 
 He said all sorts of kind things to me, and 
 ordered me to visit him in Paris, where he 
 hoped we should soon meet. He sent by M. 
 de Montholon a very handsome bracelet to his 
 wife, and left presents for three or four per- 
 sons and alms for the poor. 
 
 ex. 
 
 Philadelphia, November 30, 1841. 
 I AM fated to meet Fanny Elssler at Phila- 
 delphia ; this is the fourth time. We live in 
 the same hotel, and I have just been to see 
 her. She says she is here on business, but 
 that Mr. Wickoff — her friend she calls him, her 
 lover some say, others again say he is her hus- 
 band — has fallen ill, and she is waiting until he 
 gets well to finish her engagement in New 
 York. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 2/1 
 
 She will not return to Europe this year ; she 
 expects her sister Th6rfese, with whom she will 
 spend the winter in Havana and New Orleans. 
 She wants to go afterward to England and 
 Germany, for she does not dare to enter 
 France, where she has been condemned to pay 
 sixty thousand francs to the Paris Opera. 
 This is all this amiable girl had to tell. I 
 found her changed, and pale. She had a 
 severe illness in Boston. 
 
 CXI. 
 
 Washington, December 3, 1841. 
 Here I am again in my prison, which seems 
 to me more gloomy and horrible than ever. I 
 am perishing with cold, in spite of the Frank- 
 lin stoves and the Buffalo skins that I have 
 nailed on the walls. I have not been consoled 
 by a visit I made to Mr. Webster, who is just 
 as pompous in his manners and English at 
 heart as ever. I have also been to see the 
 President, to thank him again, on the part of 
 the Prince, for his kindness ; but conversation 
 with this good man, who is not very brilliant, 
 
272 RECOLLECTIOiVS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 is dull and fatiguing. His daughter. Miss 
 Tyler, is more pretentious and ridiculous than 
 ever since her head has been turned by dreams 
 of grandeur. 
 
 CXII. 
 
 Washington, December 22, 1841. 
 Everybody m Washington is very much 
 concerned about a robbery of the Patent 
 Office, which is about one hundred yards from 
 my house. All the curiosities belonging to 
 the Government are deposited in one of the 
 rooms of this establisliment, among others the 
 snuff-boxes and other presents made to diplo- 
 matic agents of the United States, which they 
 are forbidden by law to accept for themselves. 
 The robbers got into this room in full light of 
 day, and carried off everything ; they have not 
 been caught, and probably never will be, owing 
 to the singular organization of the police, or 
 rather the total absence of any guarantee of 
 public or private property. 
 
liECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 27^ 
 
 CXIII. 
 
 Washington, January 13, 1842. 
 I WENT to Congress to-day expecting to 
 hear a speech from Mr. Clay, which has been 
 much talked of, but it appears has been put off 
 indefinitely. This is the great Mr. Clay who 
 caused the election of poor General Harrison 
 to the Presidency eighteen months ago, after 
 exacting from him the assurance that he would 
 not be a candidate again at the end of his four 
 years' term, hoping to succeed him ; but Mr. 
 Tyler having succeeded after only a month's 
 occupancy by the poor General, and having 
 also boldly vetoed a law proposed by Mr. Clay, 
 and by which he (Clay) hoped to increase his 
 popularity, has made for himself a declared 
 enemy. Thus the great Clay thinks only of 
 revenging himself on the present President : 
 he intends proposing to Congress to alter the 
 Constitution so that the power of the Presi- 
 dent may be more restricted, and the length 
 of l^is term of oflfice diminished ; that his veto 
 shall be suspensive, and not definite ; that the 
 Secretary of the Treasury shall be elected by 
 
274 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 Congress, which would make him independent 
 of the President. All these revolutionary- 
 propositions, tending to weaken the power of 
 the President, are dictated by a desire for re- 
 venge : if they were adopted they would 
 destroy the harmony and the balance of 
 power which, in the opinion of the authors of 
 the Constitution, ought to guarantee the main- 
 tenance and the tranquillity of the country. 
 Behold the patriotism and civil virtue of the 
 great American citizens! — they think of procur- 
 ing for themselves authority, power, and office, 
 just as the great men in our constitutional 
 monarchies seek to obtain all that ; but the 
 one takes it and the other asks for it — that is 
 all the difference. 
 
 As to the result of Democratic institutions 
 on the finance of the country, here is an in- 
 stance : eight years ago the United States 
 paid every cent of their National debt, and 
 the fact was proclaimed throughout Europe as 
 being wonderful, and as a substantial proof of 
 the merit of their form of government ; now, 
 eight years after, the United States have con- 
 tracted a new debt of twelve hundred mil- 
 lion francs. Five of the States declare they 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 275 
 
 will not pay this debt. The Bank of Phila- 
 delphia has failed to the amount of fifty mil- 
 lion francs, and five hundred banks in other 
 parts of the country are insolvent. All the 
 public works, so much talked about, have been 
 built with money borrowed from Europe, 
 which they refuse to repay ; the result is that 
 most of these enterprises which have been 
 undertaken remain unfinished. As to the 
 Federal Government, whose seat is in Wash- 
 ington, there is a deficit of seventy thousand 
 francs for the year 1842. They find it impos- 
 sible to borrow at six per cent, and are obliged 
 to give seven and eight. During these eight 
 years in which these disasters have occurred 
 there has been no extraordinary expenditure ; 
 the army is only ten thousand men for a popu- 
 lation of seventeen millions ; the navy is so 
 small that it cannot compete with any in 
 Europe ; the only extra expense has been a 
 war in Florida against eight hundred Seminole 
 Indians, whom they have not been able to 
 subdue after eight years' struggle, and this war 
 has cost one hundred and fifty million francs, 
 owing to the shameful extravagance of those 
 who have been employed to manage it. Now 
 
276 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPL0MA7\ 
 
 this is the situation of this great and beautiful 
 country, which the revolutionists and imbeciles 
 in France have so vaunted for their economical 
 institutions and fraternal feelings. This finan- 
 cial result and the general condition, which 
 ofifers no security, proves conclusively that 
 democracy is incapable of governing. 
 
 I went yesterday at five o'clock to dine with 
 the President : forty men ; no women — they 
 did not appear till after dinner. I was placed 
 between Mr. Spencer and Mr. Webster ; the 
 latter forgot his contraband dignity with 
 which he usually conceals his sad mediocrity. 
 The Madeira wine, of which he drank entirely 
 too much, made him not only amiable, I mean 
 in the American sense, but most tenderly 
 affectionate ; he took my arms with both 
 hands, and said, " My dear Bacourt, I am so 
 glad to see you to-night — more so than I have 
 felt at any other time : I do not know why ! 
 Perhaps I have not been as friendly with you 
 as I ought to have been, but if you are willing 
 we will become bosom friends. You will find 
 me a good companion ; come and see me every 
 day without ceremony ; it will give me great 
 pleasure, my dear Bacourt, for, really, I think 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 277 
 
 you are charming." This flattering declara- 
 tion was made with a drunken stammer, and 
 — shall I dare to say it — -with hiccups, which 
 made it very disagreeable to be near this Min- 
 ister of Foreign Affairs. And this occurred 
 at the table of the President of the United 
 States, at a dinner given to the representa- 
 tives of all the European powers ! 
 
 CXIV. 
 
 Washington, January 25, 1842. 
 I HAVE heard Mr. Clay's famous speech, 
 which has been talked of as the great event 
 for the last three weeks ; but it was not a suc- 
 cess — a complete failure ! Lord Morpeth was 
 there, and had an opportunity of judging of 
 the eloquence of the great American orators, 
 and of the anarchy which rules in this para- 
 dise called a republic ! The scenes in Con- 
 gress are every day more disgusting. After a 
 session of seven weeks, they have not agreed 
 upon anything. In the Hall of Representa- 
 tives they have insulted each other in the 
 grossest manner, and outside they have fought 
 
278 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 with their fists ; it is an unheard-of and revolt- 
 ing spectacle. 
 
 cxv. 
 
 Washington, February 3, 1842. 
 Ol.D Mr. Adams raised a tremendous storm 
 in Congress yesterday. This man, seventy-two 
 years old, was President of the United States 
 for four years, but not being elected for a 
 second term, has been at enmity with the 
 whole world ever since. After having occu- 
 pied the highest position, he sought the sec- 
 ondary honor of representing his own State in 
 Congress, and in that position has for several 
 years agitated the whole country with the ter- 
 rible question of abolition of slavery, which 
 infuriates the representatives of the South, 
 where slavery exists, where it is almost inde- 
 structible ; and in any event, rumors of aboli- 
 tion can only excite the slaves against their 
 masters, and might bring about a civil war. 
 Notwithstanding these facts, Mr. Adams un- 
 dertook, ten days ago, to bring before the 
 House a petition which had been sent to him 
 by some inhabitants of a little town in Massa- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 279 
 
 chusetts, asking the dissolution of the Union, 
 urging as a pretext that the existence of sla- 
 very in the South will be the cause of perma- 
 nent hostility between the North and the 
 South. This is the first time that the great 
 word Dissolution has been pronounced, as it 
 were, officially in Congress, and it produced 
 the greatest excitement. It was proposed to 
 declare the petition an act of high treason, and 
 that Mr. Adams deserved to be driven from 
 the Hall for having presented it ; but that in 
 consideration of his age, and the position he 
 had occupied in the country, the House, after 
 having passed a vote of censure on him, left 
 him to the remorse of his conscience. During 
 eight sessions they have discussed these pro- 
 positions with a grossness of language which 
 no one could conceive who had not been pres- 
 ent at these scandalous scenes, both degrad- 
 ing to the Government and the Nation. For 
 my part, I am delighted at all this mischief, 
 which injures Mr. Adams, the only man I have 
 poHtically to find fault with in this country, 
 and, besides, lowers still more these demo- 
 cratic institutions which America has disgusted 
 me with. 
 
28o RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 Lord Morpeth spends his whole time in 
 Congress. The members, so proud of having 
 an English Lord amongst them, give him a 
 seat on the floor of the House, and he appears 
 to be quite at home ! 
 
 CXVL 
 
 Washington, February 4, 1842. 
 I MET yesterday a Mr. and a Mrs. Bayard, 
 who have the impudence to call themselves 
 descendants of the Chevalier Bayard; they 
 were ignorant no doubt of the fact that he 
 had the good sense never to marry. These 
 ridiculous Americans have adopted arms with 
 the device, " Sans peur et sans reproche J" 
 Walking with M. de Montholon this morning, 
 he pointed out to me tvfo misses of sixteen or 
 seventeen years old as the Misses Bayard, 
 who were arm-in-arm with two young men. 
 Some one observed to the mother lately that 
 it was a singular liberty to allow young girls 
 to go everywhere alone with young men, and 
 talk in corners first with one and then another. 
 The mother said that she did not think it was 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 28 1 
 
 altogether proper, but that it was out of the 
 power of parents to prevent it unless young 
 girls were kept shut up and deprived entirely 
 of the companionship of persons of their own 
 age, and that if this was done they would re- 
 bel, and become independent and unmanage- 
 able. Eight girls out of nine marry against 
 the wishes of their parents here, and elope- 
 ments are frequent from Protestant schools: 
 so much so that the Catholic schools, where 
 the management is so much better, are pre- 
 ferred even by Protestant parents. 
 
 CXVII. 
 
 Washington, February 15, 1842. 
 I HAVE been to see Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. 
 Winthrop. Their husbands are members of 
 the House of Representatives, and on the 
 committee having charge of commercial affairs, 
 in which I am interested. They are the most 
 distinguished men amongst this strange Amer- 
 ican people. The Kennedys are from Balti- 
 more and the Winthrops from Massachusetts, 
 
282 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 of which one of his ancestors was Governor 
 two hundred years ago. 
 
 They say that these gentlemen are very 
 particular about visits from foreign Ministers 
 to their wives. I have also been to see the 
 Secretary of the Treasury about commercial 
 affairs, with which I am constantly occupied. 
 Congress seems at last disposed to discuss 
 this question. I have taken great pains about 
 it ; but so far everything has been against me. 
 The great need of money by the United States 
 Government has forced them to increase the 
 duties on all foreign productions. However, 
 I am satisfied with my interview with the 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 CXVIII. 
 
 Washington, February 17, 1842. 
 
 Washington Irving has been appointed 
 Minister to Spain : he is a man of intelligence 
 and polished manners. 
 
 Charles Dickens, a great literary celebrity, is 
 here ; he is very popular both in England and 
 in the United States, where his democratic 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 283 
 
 writings secure him a brilliant reception. En- 
 tertainments are offered to him in every town 
 he goes through ; at New York they gave him 
 a ball, attended by five thousand persons, 
 where they had living tableaux of the princi- 
 pal scenes in his novels. It is a species of 
 madness amongst the Americans, who always 
 go to extremes in everything. The news- 
 papers admit that he is made more of than La- 
 fayette, Fanny Elssler, or the Prince of Join- 
 ville : this is the order the newspaper from 
 which I quote places them in. 
 
 M. Mathews, the Catholic cur^, tells me 
 that President Tyler's sister, who is a Catholic, 
 lives in Washington and keeps a boarding- 
 house, that is to say, 2. pension bourgeois — a very 
 common resource here for poor widows. The 
 President has so much respect for the Catho- 
 lics that it is reported he will join their reli- 
 gion. I do not believe it. 
 
 I received a letter from our Consul in Phila- 
 delphia ; it describes the situation in Pennsyl- 
 vania so well that I copy it for you. You 
 must know that scarcely six years ago Phila- 
 delphia was in the most prosperous condition. 
 
 " We are in the most alarminsf situation : 
 
284 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 
 
 confidence is entirely destroyed ; our Legisla- 
 tors, who are ignorant and corrupt, will do 
 nothing to extricate their unfortunate constitu- 
 ents from the abyss of misery and ignominy 
 in which they are sunk ; those from whom we 
 claim what is due to us laugh in our faces, say- 
 ing, ' When we are paid by those who owe us 
 we will pay you.' But when they have bank- 
 notes which they are anxious to get rid of, 
 they pay you in advance, and if an hour after 
 having received these notes you could not 
 pass, you take them back, they coolly say, 
 ' Well, you ought not to have taken them ! ' 
 Besides, they say that this is the last time that 
 Pennsylvania will pay the interest on her debt. 
 Most of these State bonds are owned abroad, 
 which gives greater force to this doctrine of 
 repudiation — a doctrine very popular here, con- 
 sisting of not paying their debts. I advise.my 
 French compatriots to send to France all they 
 can realize at any sacrifice. AH the banks are 
 ruined ; the populace want to reduce every 
 one who ■ has any wealth to their own level. 
 If the affairs of the Union are not better man- 
 aged than those of the States ; if ignorance, 
 party spirit, cupidity, and egotism should pre- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 285 
 
 vent Congress adopting suitable measures ; 
 and if the bad faith of the people of this 
 country brings on a foreign war — what will 
 become of us?" 
 
 This is the picture of a country whose 
 organization has been lauded to the sky ; and, 
 for having proclaimed it sublime M. de 
 Tocqueville has been made member of all the 
 academies, and Michel Chevalier overwhelmed 
 with honors. 
 
 CXIX. 
 
 Washington, April i, 1843. 
 
 The last news from Europe has caused 
 great excitement here : the declaration of 
 Lord Aberdeen, indorsed by seven peers who 
 are the best authorities on international law, 
 that the negroes found on board the Creole 
 ought not to be restored to the United States, 
 is considered by many people and by almost 
 all the newspapers as equivalent to a declara- 
 tion of war. 
 
 The debates in the French Chamber of Dep- 
 uties on the right of search, and their refusal 
 
286 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT, 
 
 to ratify the treaty of December 20, signed by 
 the five great Powers to which our Govern- 
 ment has been obhged to submit, has also pro- 
 duced a great sensation. These new events 
 will make Lord Ashburton's mission here 
 much more difficult ; he is expected everyday. 
 
 News has been received that hostilities have 
 commenced between the republics of Mexico 
 and Texas, which has also caused great ex- 
 citement in Washington. This last is a regu- 
 lar nest of bandits from everywhere, but par- 
 ticularly from the United States. When they 
 speak of a robber, an assassin or a bankrupt, 
 they say he has left his cards — G. T. T. (gone 
 to Texas), as we put P. P. C. Well, this hon- 
 orable republic, which France, thanks to the 
 advice of my predecessor, M. Pontois, was the 
 first to acknowledge, is about to declare war 
 against Mexico. 
 
 I have been to hear Mr. Clay's farewell ad- 
 dress to the Senate ; he is going to retire, after 
 thirty-six years of service in it. It was an oc- 
 casion on which to make a great speech, but 
 in my opinion his was quite a failure : he 
 tried to be touching, and pretended to cry in 
 the most ridiculous manner. It was the silly 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 287 
 
 talk of a worn-out old man — nothing more. 
 His partisans also thought themselves obliged 
 to weep, while his opponents laughed in the 
 most impudent manner. I went to see him 
 next day : he affected to be in a very happy 
 and contented state of mind, wanted to play 
 at the rat retiring in his cheese, but very 
 plainly let it be seen that he had not re- 
 nounced the hope of being elected President 
 in three years. 
 
 cxx. 
 
 Washington, April 18, 1842. 
 You can have no idea of the trouble the 
 least thing here gives you ; money will not 
 always procure you the simplest things : for a 
 box that I wanted to send to France, I was 
 obliged to go first to a carpenter to order the 
 box, then to a sail-maker for linen to cover it 
 with, from there to another man to tar it, and 
 to a fourth to have it packed. I lost my 
 patience and my temper at the air of conde- 
 scension of these men to their customers. If 
 
288 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 you send your order by a servant, they pay 
 not the slightest attention to it. 
 
 I was delighted to meet Lord Ashburton 
 again : he has arrived at last, after a long and 
 disagreeable passage. He recalled to me what 
 M. de Talleyrand had said in speaking of the 
 United States fifty years ago, " It is a giant in 
 his cradle." He could say now that the giant 
 had passed from his cradle into decrepitude. 
 
 There has been a riot in New York on the 
 occasion of the municipal elections ; in this riot 
 they sacked Bishop Hughes's house, to punish 
 him for having taken such an active part in 
 political questions ; but he is only Coadjutor, 
 and the Incumbent, Mgr. Dubois, who is 
 eighty-three years old, was not at all respected 
 by the mob, notwithstanding his great age and 
 infirmities. The authorities arrived two hours 
 after the pillage. 
 
 A frightful accident too! ^;lace at Baltimore 
 the day before yesterday. On a trial-trip of a 
 new steamboat with one hundred passengers 
 the boiler burst, and more than three fourths 
 were killed or mutilated ! So muck for the 
 A merican prudence. 
 
 The tariff question is going very badly; 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 289 
 
 the want of money in the treasury is so great, 
 that they will put higher duties than last year 
 on foreign merchandise ; French silks and 
 wines suffer very much ; but if things go as 
 they say they will, the products of France will 
 be treated better than any others. But it is 
 fated that I shall meet with nothing but mis- 
 fortunes in this country. The last post from 
 New York has brought me more disagreeable 
 news : the French who are engaged in busi- 
 ness in Nqw York are generally abominable 
 rogues who have run away from France and 
 live here by fraud. They have conspired 
 against me oix account of a letter I wrote 
 lately to one of the worst of them, and have 
 held a meeting for the purpose of formulating 
 a complaint against me, which they intend to 
 send to the Chamber of Deputies, accusing me 
 of refusing them aid aqd protection. And yet 
 everybody says that i\ot one of my prede- 
 cessors ever took more trouble than I have 
 done about the private interests of the French 
 in the United States. I shall be obliged to 
 disclose their baseness to my Government. I 
 have fallen here into a veritable hedge of 
 thorns. 
 
2^0 KECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 CXXI. 
 
 Washington, June g, 1842. 
 
 In three days eleven fires in Washington! 
 As most of the houses were isolated and un- 
 inhabited, and no fires have been made in 
 them during the winter, this must have been 
 the work of incendiaries. 
 
 The President of the Committee on Ways 
 and Means of the House of Representatives, 
 of whom I had asked a few moments' inter- 
 view, much to my surprise appointed this 
 meeting at eight o'clock in the morning. I 
 was there punctually, but to my greater aston- 
 ishment as I thought I should find him alone, 
 he was surrounded by nine members of his 
 committee, not one of whom I knew, and I 
 was obliged to discuss with these nine fellows 
 the most delicate questions relating to my 
 mission. I was examined and cross-examined. 
 I am ignorant of what impr^ession I made upon 
 these individuals,, but assuredly they did not 
 impress me as gentlemen. 
 
 We have had such cold weather that we 
 have been obliged to have fires everywhere; 
 and that in the middle of June, in a country 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 29 1 
 
 situated in the same latitude with Naples and 
 Lisbon. But perhaps this excessive cold will 
 keep off yellow-fever, which has made its 
 appearance in New York. M. de la Fosse 
 has returned from Havana and Saint-Do- 
 mingo ; his accounts of them are very inter- 
 esting, and are worth the trouble I have to 
 take to draw thefti out of him, for with great 
 intelligence, he is very reticent, and dislikes 
 talking. I cannot make out whether it is 
 laziness or want of confidence in himself; if 
 any State secrets are betrayed nobody should 
 accuse him. At the same time he has the 
 gift of observation, and has related things 
 about the sentiments, religious practices, and 
 manners and customs of these black people 
 which pass belief. It is a republic of mon- 
 keys, nothing rabre. M. de la Fosse escaped 
 by a miracle irom the last earthquake, which 
 destroyed fifteen thousand people at Saint- 
 Domingo. 
 
 I saw at the President's house the portrait 
 of M. Guizot, by Healy, an American painter 
 who lived in Paris, and a copy of a portrait of 
 General Washington which he made for our 
 King. M. Guizot having written an intro- 
 
293 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 duction to the works of General Washington, 
 which works he had translated, the Americans 
 residing in Paris wished to have his portrait. 
 They had him painted by Healy, and sent it 
 to the President to place wherever he thought 
 fit : he has given it to the National Institute 
 of Sciences. Our King paid Mr. Healy five 
 thousand francs to return to his country and 
 copy the portrait of General Washington : this 
 was independent of the price of the copy, 
 which he had not much trouble in making 
 better than the detestable original. Guizot's 
 portrait appears to me to be very good : 
 unfortunately he is standing, which shows the 
 small stature of this great Minister, deputy, 
 and orator. 
 
 The King's generosity to Mr. Healy has 
 had a good effect here. The newspapers have 
 been very liberal with the flourish on this 
 occasion. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 293 
 
 CXXII. 
 
 Washington, June 30, 1842. 
 I WENT to see the President, to give him a 
 letter from the King ; instead of receiving me 
 in the drawing-room as usual, I was shown up- 
 stairs into a room where the whole Cabinet 
 were assembled. This reception appeared to 
 me, and in fact was, very strange — .even in a 
 country wh6re customs are so singular. I 
 only stayed long enough to hand my Sov- 
 ereign's letter to Mr. Tyler, and retired, wish- 
 ing the President and his council a happy re- 
 sult from their deliberations. When I re- 
 turned I said to M. de la Fosse that I had no 
 doubt that something very serious was being 
 prepared. Two hours afterward th? House 
 of Representatives received a message from 
 the President announcing that he had put his 
 veto on the Tariff Bill which had be^n sub- 
 mitted to him two days before. This species 
 of coup d'etat may have the most serious con- 
 sequences. It makes a complete split between 
 the President and the majority in Congrress. 
 Will civil war break out? It exists in the 
 little State of Rhode Island already : the two 
 
294 RECQLLECTJONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 armies are in presence of each other there ; 
 martial law has been proclaimed, and all that 
 under the walls of a city named Providence — a 
 name 50 suited to a civil war. 
 
 CXXIII. 
 
 Washington, July 6, 1842. 
 
 The anniversary of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence of the United States was celebrated 
 on the Fourth of July with the usual noise 
 and excitement, but without any disasters. 
 The deplorable political and financial situation 
 of the country must cause many to reflect on 
 thi^ independence which they have exulted in 
 for the last seventy years ; and I am convinced 
 that more than one man has had sense enough 
 to curse, if not the independence itself, at least 
 the institutions which have been the conse- 
 quence of it. 
 
 I have just read in the Journal des DJbats 
 the great debate on the right of search, in 
 which Maxichal S^bastiani showed so plainly 
 his stupid presumption. He tried to imitate 
 M. -de Talleyrand in signing Pj'otocols without 
 instructiopsi This dgbate QJO the Treaties of 
 
KECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMA T. 295 
 
 1831, 1833, and 1834 have recalled circum- 
 stances which cause nfe once more to admire 
 the great intelligence and foresight of M. de 
 Talleyrand, who was always opposed to a 
 reciprocal right of search betweren France and 
 England. This was sd well known, \.h2A in 
 183 1 and 1833, when hfe sfgned so many trea- 
 ties between Frahce and England, those trea- 
 ties' made in Paris' between Lord Granville 
 and General S6bastiani were not proposed to 
 him, but kept concealed from him' — General 
 S^baStiani wishing, no doubt, to show that it 
 was not M. de Talleyrand — who accomplished 
 everything at London. I catr Still recall the 
 anger and rage of M. de Talleyramd when the 
 Treaty of 1831 was communicated to him. 
 His sound judgment enabled him to foresee 
 the bad consequences of this treaty. 
 
 The situation here is getting more and more 
 complicated. The President's veto has so en- 
 raged his enemies that they talk of impeach- 
 ing him ; but this is folly, and nothing serious 
 can come from it. 
 
 Our silks are better treated than I expected ; 
 but in revenge our wines are threatened with 
 great cruelty. Notwithstanding the full pow- 
 
296 RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 
 
 ers I have received from Paris, I cannot leave 
 here until the treaty with Lord Ashburton has 
 been signed and the vote been taken on the 
 tariff. 
 
 Two more American boats have blown up — 
 one on the Mississippi, where seventy-two 
 persons have perished ; the other on one of 
 the northern lakes, where they have alreaidy 
 found forty-five dead bodies ; most of these 
 victims in both places are German emigrants, 
 who are flooding this country just now. There 
 were more than one hundred thousand emi- 
 grants from Europe last year, and probably 
 will be fifty thousand more this year. 
 
 They must be very unhappy in Europe! 
 
 I have just received a letter from Monseig- 
 neur Chauch, Bishop of Natchez. He asks 
 me to beg the King to give him a picture and 
 the Queen a clock for the cathedral he has 
 -built. I will forward his request, which no 
 doubt will be received as usual very graciously. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. 297 
 
 CXXIV. 
 
 Washington, July 25, 1842. 
 
 The treaty between Lord Ashburton and 
 the United States has been concluded, which 
 facilitates my departure. I hope to embark 
 on the Great Western at New York on the 
 nth of August. I leave here on the 30th, and 
 will breathe the purer air of New York for ten 
 days before commencing my voyage. I shall 
 thank Heaven when I feel that I have placed 
 the ocean between me and this dreary abode. 
 
 I have made a long round of visits of adieu ; 
 everywhere they say, " What ! you are going 
 away ? When do you return ? What ! you do 
 not intend to return ! It is too bad to leave 
 us, and without taking an American wife." 
 This last remark was repeated by every one I 
 saw : it gives you an idea of American taste.