BOOKS•
THE MEMOIRS OF MERCY ARGEIVIEAU.•
THE bulk of the ancestral papers of the Argenteaus are deposited at the National Library at Washington. But when the present Countess, granddaughter of the writer of these memoirs, parted with them she retained two MSS., now for the first time published with her authorization, though the Napoleonic memoirs had apparently appeared in a Brussels historical magazine without the family sanction. The Argenteaus, an old and distinguished Flemish family, with their main seat on the Meuse near Liege, entered the service of the Austrian Emperor after parting with their estates, but regained possession of them by acting on the Hapsburg maxim. Count Florimond, the most famous of the family, the guardian of Marie Antoinette, and Austrian Ambassador at all the greatest Courts of Europe, negotiated a marriage between his favourite nephew, Eugene, and the only daughter of Count Limburg-Stirum, the heiress of the Argenteau estates. Another nephew, Joseph, was the father of the writer of these memoirs, who was born • at Liege in 1780, married a daughter of an Austrian Prince in 1804, and was summoned in the same year from the Nether- lands by Talleyrand to become one of the Emperor's house- hold. Young Mercy Argenteau came reluctantly, for he was not ambitious and loved a quiet country life. He was, however, an honourable and fair-minded gentleman ; the editor rightly dwells on his " simple precision of character," reflected in the style of these memoirs and in the physiognomy revealed in the miniature by Saint ; and, though he was diffident and lacking in heroism or bold initiative, his loyalty to Napoleon was untainted by servility. He fell under the spell, but when he wrote these memoirs he was able to criticize. As one of the Court Chamberlains and Prefect of the Palace, his functions were largely ceremonial ; but he had the privilege during his three months' annual duties of attending the State Councils, and he furnishes interesting evidence of the conciliatory tone adopted by Napoleon in his early years of Empire. From the first the Emperor treated him with the utmost consideration and even amiability, while Josephine proved a true friend. The picture given of the social life, pastimes, and talk at Malmaison is full and pleasant. Books were frequently dis- cussed, Napoleon condemning the principles of Rousseau and the historical bias of Mine. de Geniis and waxing enthusiastic over Chateaubriand. An engaging trait brought out in these memoirs is the Emperor's generosity to old college contemporaries and his desire to promote deserving but obscure talent. But these peaceful days were suddenly clouded when Napoleon intimated his desire that the Count should join the Army, in view of the imminent campaign against Prussia. Throughout this whole episode Napoleon, as the writer is at pains to show, displayed a truly remarkable consideration in not forcing his Chamberlain into the Army, and Argenteau congratulates himself on being thus spared the painful need of a decision during the Hundred Days. Recalled to Paris in 1808,he resumed his duties, and here deals at length with the execution of the Duo d'Enghien. At the time he regarded it with repulsion, but changed his views as the result of conversations with Cambace.res and Real at Brussels after the Restoration. Real's story, which Argenteau believed, was that the Emperor wrote to him at Vincennes instructing him to be present at the trial and return immediately to Malmaison to report on the proceedings and verdict. But by a " fatal mishap" the despatch was addressed to the Commandant, and did not reach Real till all was over. Argenteau evidently shares iteneval's hostile view of the Duke's complicity in the assassination plots, but believed, with Real, that if the Emperor's letter had reached him in time, the Duke would have been spared. He does not seem to see that the mis- direction of the letter may well have been deliberate.
• Memoirs of the Comte de Mercy Aramaean : lrapolecn and the Empire; The Enerita of 1830. Translated from the /renal and Edited, with an Introduction. by George 8. Kaman. 2 vols. London : G. P. Putnam's Sons. [508.1 No further incident of special note is recorded until the end of 1811, when the Count was " stuPefied and flattered" by his appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary at Munich. The post was important, as it was regarded as a stepping-stone to Vienna, and the situation was serious. War with Russia was imminent, and Bavaria, as one of the Confederate States, was bound to provide an army of thirty thou:Auld men. Argenteau has written the history of his mission elsewhere, but takes up the thread after Leipzig and the reverses of 1813 and 1814 on his meeting the Emperor at Mainz. His one preoccupation was that the Emperor should be enlightened as to the state of public feeling in Germany and the growing resentment of French domination. His despatches had been intercepted, but ho clearly shrank from tackling the Emperor personally, and besought Berthier and Caulaincourt (the Duo de Vicence) to open his eyes, only to be assured by them that it was impossible to combat his illusions. On his return to Paris he saw the Emperor, who was most friendly, but avoided all private conversation about Bavaria. Napoleon would no longer listen to unpalatable truths. Argentesu defends the King of Bavaria,partly on the ground that Napoleon bad not fulfilled his bargain, mainly because the King could not fight single-handed against unanimous public sentiment in Germany. To this same spirit of blindness Argenteau ascribes Napoleon's refusal to consider the favourable terms of the Allies. With Talley-rand Argentesu was in frequent and even intimate communi- cation at this period, but his admiration is always tempered with a certain reserve. There is a curious picture of Talley-rand on the eve of the entrance of the Allies having his hair dressed by two valets, while a third conversed with him in a code language about impending visits. " There were always things to be learned at his home." In one of their last interviews the great opportunist, after observing that a catastrophe was inevitable, adroitly sounded Argenteau as to his intentions, and when the latter replied that ho was resolved to return to his estates, applauded his decision. After the entrance of the Allied Sovereigns and the arrival of the Comte d'Artois, Talleyrand urged Argenteau to remain, promising him the Ambassadorship at Vienna. Argenteau hesitated. He had two strings to his bow owing to his double citizenship, French and Belgian, but decided to cast in his lot with the Netherlands. Ho witnessed the solemn entrance of Louis XVIII. with the weeping Duchesse d'Angouleme by his side, escorted by the silent war- scarred veterans of the Imperial Guard, with mingled feelings. Berthier's adhesion to the Restoration eigitne inspired him with repugnance. The memoirs close with a laconic reference to the Congress of Vienna, Napoleon's return from Elba,and the Waterloo Campaign.
The second volume,dealing with the events of 1830,gives a valu- able and authentic account of the internal dissentient' which led to the establishment of the new kingdom of Belgium. Mercy Argenteau in the interval had been Governor of South Brabant and Grand Chamberlain, and his personal relations with King William I., first Sovereign of the new kingdom of the Netherlands created by the Congress of Vienna, were most cordial. But the King, though a hard worker and a good man of business, was obstinate, suspicious, unsympathetic to the Belgians, and unable to read the signs of the times even when the Bourbons fell. For years Argenteau had repeatedly pressed him to adopt more conciliatory measures, and finally to grant administrative autonomy to the Southern provinces, but the King was as irresolute as ho was obstinate. Shortly before the Revolution in Paris Argenteau had a remarkable interview with Charles X. On his repeating to Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian Am- bassador, Napoleon's contemporary, compatriot, and deadliest foe, the extraordinary and reactionary views which the King had ex- pressed,that acute observer remarked: "He will carry out this coup d'ilat and in so doing will destroyhimself. He does not see one thing, this unfortunate King : he does not understand the general spirit of France. He thinks it is royalist, while in fact it is left centre. . . . Be assured the Bourbons are doomed!" This warning Argenteau conveyed to the King of the Netherlands, but in vain. That the kingdom of the Netherlands as constituted by the Congress of Vienna might, "in spite of incompatibilities, more apparent than real, between the Belgians and the Dutch," have enjoyed a stable and prosperous existence under an enlightened Sovereign such as Leopold, the first King of the Belgians, is Argenteau's firm opinion. Had that happened, the whole course of history might have been changed, and, as the editor remarks, the great world-war of to-day have assumed a wholly different aspect.
The memoirs are efficiently translated, and their attractions enhanced by the beautiful printing and admirable illustrations.
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