H aving
a bold imagination, and a timid character, she conj ured up
the phantoms of ten thousand dangers.
a bold imagination, and a timid character, she conj ured up
the phantoms of ten thousand dangers.
Madame de Stael - Corinna, or Italy
These varied and multiplied
tetes-a-tetes amused us so much, that we were impatient to
get from table, where we were talk ing, in order to go and
write to one another. W hen any strangers came in, we
could not bear the interruption of our habits; and our
penny-post always went its round. The inhabitants of the
neighbouring town were somewhat astonished at these new
manners, and look ed upon them as pedantic; though, in
fact, it was merely a resource against the monotony of
solitude. O ne day a gentleman, who had never thought of
any thing in his life but hunting, came to tak e my boys
with him into the woods; he remained some tinfe seated
at our active, but silent table. Madame R ecamier wrote a
little note to this j olly sportsman, in order that he might
not be too much a stranger to the circle in which he was
placed. H e ex cused himself from receiving it, assuring us
that he never could read writing by daylight. W e after-
wards laughed not a little at the disappointment our beau-
tiful friend had met with in her benevolent coq uetry; and
thought that a billet from her hand would not often have
met such a fate. O ur life passed in this q uiet manner;
and, if I may j udge by myself, none of us found it bur-
densome.
" I wished to go and see the opera of Cinderella repre-
sented at a paltry provincial theatre at B lois. Coming out
of the theatre on foot, the people followed me in crowds,
more from curiosity to see the woman B onaparte had
ex iled, than from any other motive. This k ind of celebrity,
which I owed to misfortune much more than to talent,
displeased the Minister of Police, who wrote to the Prefect
of L oire that I was surrounded by a court. ' Certainly,'
said I to the Prefect, ' it is not power that gives me a
court. '
" O n the 23d of S eptember, I corrected the last proof of
Germany; after isix years' labour, I felt great delight in
writing the word end. 1 made a list of one hundred per-
sons to whom I wished to send copies in different parts of
E urope. " The work passed the censorship prescribed by
law; and Madame de S tael, supposing every thing was sa-
tisfactorily arranged, went with her family to visit her
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? X X X ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
friend M. de Montmorency, at his residence about five
leagues from B lois. This gentleman could claim the oldest
hereditary rank of any nobleman in F rance; being able to
trace back his pedigree, through a long line of glorious
ancestry, to the first B aron of Christendom, in the time of
Charlemagne. Madame de S tael says, " H e was a pious
man, only occupied in this world with mak ing himself fit
for heaven: in his conversation with me he never paid any
attention to the affairs of the day, but only sought to do
good to my soul. "
Madame de S tael, after having passed a delightful day
amid the magnificent forests and historical recollections of
this ancient castle, retired to rest. I n the night, M. de
Montmorency was awak ened by the arrival of A ugustus,
B aron de S tael, who came to inform him that his mother' s
book on Germany was lik ely to be destroyed, in conse-
q uence of a new edict, which had very much the appear-
ance of being made on purpose for the occasion. H er son,
as soon as he had done his errand, left M. de Montmorency
to soften the blow as much as possible, but to urge his
mother to return immediately after she had tak en break -
fast; he himself went back before daylight to see that her
papers were not seized by the imperial police. L uck ily,
the proof sheets of her valuable work were saved. S ome
further notes on Germany she had with her in a small port-
able desk in the carriage. A s they drew near her habit-
ation she gave the desk to her youngest son, who j umped
over a wall, and carried it into the house through the gar-
den. Miss R andall, an E nglish lady, an ex cellent and
much beloved friend, came to meet her on the road, to
console her as much as she could under this great disap-
pointment. A file of soldiers were sent to her publisher'
to destroy every sheet of the ten thousand copies that had
been printed. S he was req uired to give up her MS S
s,
. and
q uit F rance in twenty-four hours. I n her Ten Y ears'
E x ile,MadamedeS taeldrilyremark s," I twasthecus-
tom of B onaparte to order conscripts and women to be in
readiness to q uit F rance in twenty-four hours. "
S he had given up some rough notes of her work to the
police, but the spies of government had done their duty so
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X I
? well, that they k new there was a copy saved: they could
tell the ex act number of proof-sheets that had been sent to
her by the publisher, and the ex act number she had re-
turned. S he did not pretend to deny the fact; but she
told them she had placed the copy out of her hands, and
that she neither could nor would put it in their power.
The severity used on this occasion was as unnecessary
as it was cruel, for her book on Germany contained nothing
to give offence to the government. I ndeed the only fault
pretended to be found with it was that it was purely literary,
and contained no mention of the E mperor or his wars in
that country. "
The Minister o' f Police gave out, " in corsair terms, that
if Madame de S tael, on her return to Coppet, should ven-
ture one foot within forty leagues of Paris she was a good
prize. " W hen arrived at Coppet, she received ex press
orders not to go more than four leagues from her own
house; and this was enforced with so much rigour, that
having one day accidentally ex tended her ride a little be-
yond her limits, the military police were sent full speed to
bring her back .
I f N apoleon felt flattered that all the sovereigns of
E urope were obliged to combine to k eep one man on a bar-
ren island, Madame de S tael might well consider it no
small compliment for one woman to be able to inspire with
fear the mighty troubler of the world' s peace. *
F ew in this selfish world would visit one who thus
" carried about with her the contagion of misfortune; "
and she was even fearful of writing to her friends, lest she
should in some way implicate them in her own difficulties.
I n the midst of these perplex ities, her true friend, M. de
Montmorency, came to mak e her a visit: she told him such
a proof of friendship would offend the E mperor; but he
felt safe in the consciousness of a life entirely secluded from
any connection with public affairs. The day after his
arrival, they rode to F ribourg, to see a convent of nuns, of
1 * B onaparte dreaded an epigram, pointed against himself, more than he
dreaded " infernal machines. " W hen he was told that no woman, however
talented, could shak e the foundation of his power, he replied, " Madame de
S tael carries a q uiver full of arrows, that would hit a man if he were seated on
a rainbow. "
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? X X x iiME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
the dismal order of L a Trappe. S he says, " W e reached
the convent in the midst of a severe shower, after having
been obliged to come nearly a mile on foot. I rung the
bell at the gate of the cloister; a nun appeared behind the
lattice opening, through which the portress may speak to
strangers. ' W hat do you want? ' said she, in a voice
without modulation, such as we might suppose that of a
ghost. -- ' I should lik e to see the interior of the convent *
-- ' That is impossible/ she replied. -- ' B ut I am very
wet, and want to dry my dress. ' -- S he immediately touched
a spring, which opened the door of an outer apartment in
which I was allowed to rest myself; but no living creature
appeared. I n a few minutes, impatient at not being able
to penetrate the interior of the convent, after my W
walk I rung again. The same person re-appeared. I
ask ed her if females were never admitted into the convent
S he answered, ' O nly when they had the intention of be-
coming nuns.
" ' B ut,' said I , ' how can I tell whether I should lik e
to remain in your house, if I am not permitted to see it'
-- ' O h, that is q uite useless,' she replied; ' I
sure that you have no vocation for our state; ' and with
these words she immediately shut her wick et. " Madame
de S tael says she k nows not how this nun discovered her
worldly disposition, unless it were by her q uick manner of
speak ing, so different from their own. Those who look at
Madame de S tael' s portrait will not wonder at the nun'
penetration: it needs but a single glance at her bright dark
eye, through which one can look so clearly into the depths
of an ardent and busy soul, to be convinced that she was
not made for the solitude and austerities of L a Trappe
B eing disappointed in getting a sight of the nuns,
Madame de S tael proposed to her son and M. de Mont
morency to go to the famous cascade of B ex , where the
water falls from a very lofty mountain. This being iust
within the F rench territory, she, without being aware of it
infringed upon her sentence of ex ile. The Prefect blamed
her very much, and made a great merit of not informing
the E mperor that she had been in F rance. S he says she
am very
s
might have told him, in the words of L a F ontaine' s fable,
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X U1
c I gTazed of this meadow the breadth of my tongue. " B o-
naparte, finding that Madame de S tael wisely resolved to
be as happy as she could, determined to mak e her home
a solitude, by forbidding all persons to visit her.
F our days after M. de Montmorency arrived at Coppet,
he was banished from F rance; for no other crime than
having dared to offer the consolation of his society to one
who had been his intimate friend for more than twenty
years, and by whose assistance he had escaped from the
dangers of the R evolution.
Madame R ecamier, being at that time on her way to the
waters of A ix in S avoy, sent her friend word that she
should stop at Coppet. Madame de S tael despatched a
courier to beseech her not to come; and she wept bitterly,
to think that her charming friend was so near her, without
the possibility of obtaining an interview: but Madame
R ecamier, conscious that she had never meddled with po-
litics, was resolved not to pass by Coppet without seeing
her. I nstead of the j oy that had always welcomed her
arrival, she was received with a torrent of tears. S he stayed
only one night; but, as Madame de S tael had feared, the
sentence of ex ile smote her also. ' Thus regardless,' says
she, ' did the chief of the F rench people, so renowned for
their gallantry, show himself toward the most beautiful
woman in Paris. I n one day he smote virtue and distin-
guished rank in M. de Montmorency, beauty in Madame
R ecamier, and, if I dare say it, the reputation of high
talents in myself. '
N ot only F renchmen, but foreigners, who wished to visit
a writer of so much celebrity, were informed that they must
not enter her house. The minister of the police said he
would have a soldier' s guard mounted at the bottom of the
avenue, to arrest whoever attempted to go to Coppet.
E very courier brought tidings of some friend ex iled for
having dared to k eep up a correspondence with her; even
her sons were forbidden to enter F rance, without a new
permission from the police. I n this cruel situation, Ma-
dame de S tael could only weep for those friends who for-
sook her, and tremble for those who had the courage to
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? X X X I V ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
remain faithful. B ut nothing could force from her one
line of flattery to the E mperor.
H er friends urged her to go heyond the power of her
enemy; saying, " I
E lizabeth did Mary S
the catastrophe at last. "
f you remain, he will treat you as
tuart; nineteen years of misery, and
A nd she herself says, " Thus to
carry about with me the contagion of calamity, to be a
burden on the ex istence of my children, to fear to write to
those I love, or even to mention their names, -- this is a
situation from which it is necessary to escape, or die. "
B ut she hesitated, and lingered long before she deter-
mined to leave the tomb of her father, where she daily
offered up her prayers for support and consolation. B e-
sides, a new feeling had at this period gained dominion
over her. A t Geneva, she had become acq uainted with A l-
bert-J ean-Michel de R occa, a young officer, j ust returned
wounded from the war of the S panish Peninsula, whose
feeble health, united with the accounts given of his brilliant
courage, had inspired general interest. Madame de S tael
visited him, as a stranger who needed the soothing voice of
k indness and compassion. The first words she uttered made
him her ardent lover; he talk ed of her incessantly. H is
friends represented to him the ex treme improbability of
gaining the affections of such a woman: he replied, " I
love her so devotedly, that she cannot refuse to marry me. "
M. de R occa had great elevation of character; his con-
versation was highly poetic; his affections ardent; and
will
his style of writing animated and graceful * : his sentiments
toward her were of the most romantic and chivalrous k ind,
-- unbounded admiration was softened by ex treme tender-
ness; her desolate heart had lost the guardian and support
of early life; his state of health ex cited her pity; and, more
than all, he offered to realise the dream she had always so
fondly indulged -- a marriage of love.
A strong and enduring attachment sprung up between
them, which, in 1811, resulted in a private wedding.
* I n 1809, he published Campagne de W alcfteren et iV A nvers. I n 1814, he
published a very interesting book , which was reprinted in 1817, called Mdmotre
surlaGuerredesF rancoisenE spagne. H eleftanovelinMS . calledL eMat
du Pays; 1 do not k now whether it was ever printed.
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E I i. X X X V
The precarious state of M. de R occa' s health was a source
of sorrow, which she felt with a k eenness proportioned to
the susceptibility of her character. S he watched over him
with a patient, persevering attention, not a little remark -
able in one to whom variety and activity were so necessary.
W hen he was thought to be in danger, her anguish k new
no bounds: she compared herself to Marshal N ey, when
he ex pected sentence of death from one moment to another.
I n relation to this romantic affair, Madame de S tael was
guilty of the greatest weak ness of her whole life. Governed
partly by a timidity, which feared' the world' s dread laugh,'
and partly by a proud reluctance to relinq uish the name
she had made so glorious throughout E urope, she concealed
the marriage from all but her children, and her most inti-
mate friends. O n every account, this is to be deeply
regretted. I t mak es us blush for an instance of silly vanity
in one so truly great; and, what is worse, the embarrassing
situation in which she thus placed herself, laid her very
open to the malice of her enemies, and the suspicions of the
world. S candalous stories, promulgated by those who either
misunderstood or wilfully misrepresented her character,
are even now repeated, though clearly proved to be false
by those who had the very best opportunities of observing
her life.
I n her preference for the conversation of gentlemen,
Madame de S tael had ever been as perfectly undisguised,
as she was with regard to all her other tastes and opinions;
it was, therefore, natural that she should not be a general
favourite with her own sex , though she found among women
many of her most zealous and attached friends.
The intellectual sympathy, which produced so many
delightful friendships between herelf and distinguished
men of all countries, was naturally attributed, by ladies of
inferior gifts, to a source less innocent; and to this petty
malice was added strong political animosity, dark , rancor-
ous, unprincipled, and unforgiving. They even tried to
mak e a crime of her residence in E ngland, with N arbonne
and Talleyrand-- as if those days of terror, when everyman,
woman, and child in F rance slept under the guillotine, was
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? X X X V I ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
a time for even the most scrupulous to adhere to the laws
of etiq uette.
A fter her marriage with M. de R occa, Madame de S tael,
happy in the retirement of her now cheerful home, and
finding consolation in the warm affection of her children,
indulged hopes that the government would leave her in
peace. B ut B onaparte, who no doubt heard some sort of
account of the new attachment which had given a fresh
charm to her ex istence, caused her to be threatened with
perpetual imprisonment.
Unable any longer to endure this system of vex ation, she
ask ed leave to live in I taly, promising not to publish a
single line of any k ind; and, with something of becoming
pride, she reminded the officers of government that it was
the author of Corinne, who ask ed no other privilege than to
live and die in R ome. B ut notwithstanding the strong
claim which this beautiful work gave her to the admiration
and indulgence of her countrymen, that req uest was refused.
N apoleon, in one of his conversations at S t. H elena, ex -
cuses his uninterrupted persecution of Madame de S tael, by
saying that, " she was an ambitious, intriguing woman, who
would at any time have thrown her friends into the sea, for
the sak e of ex ercising her energy in saving them. "
N o doubt there was much truth in this accusation. F rom
her earliest childhood, Madame de S tael had breathed the
atmosphere of politics; and she lived at an ex citing period,
when an active mind could scarcely forbear tak ing great
interest in public affairs. * S he was an avowed enemy to
the imperial government; but, though she spok e her mind
freely, we do not hear of her as engaged in any conspiracies,
or even attempting to form a party.
A t her S wiss retreat, when he was omnipotent in F rance,
and she was powerless, it certainly was safe to leave her in
the peaceful enj oyment of such social pleasures as were
within her reach. The banishment of M. de S chlegel, M.
de Montmorency, and Madame R ecamier, his refusal to al-
low Madame de S tael to pass into I taly, and his opposition
? B onaparte once at a party placed himself directly before a witty and beau-
tiful lady, and said very abruptly, " Madame, 1 don' t lik e that women should
meddle with politics. " -- * ' Y ou aie very right. General," she replied; * *
a country where women are beheaded, it is natural they should desire to k now
the reaso" ' *
but in
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X V 11
to her visiting E ngland, seem much more lik e personal dis-
lik e and irritation against one whom he could not compel
to flatter him, than they do lik e political precaution: he
indeed overrated Madame de S tael' s importance, if he sup-
posed she could change the whole policy of government, in
a country where the national prej udices are so strongly ar-
rayed against female politicians as they are in E ngland.
W hatever were B onaparte' s motives and intentions, her
friends thought it prudent to urge immediate flight; and
she herself felt the necessity of it. B ut month after month
passed away, during which time she was distracted with
the most painful perplex ity between her fears of a prison,
and her dread of becoming a fugitive on the face of the
earth. S he says, " I sometimes consulted all sorts of pre-
sages, in hopes I should be directed what to do; at other
times, I more wisely interrogated my friends and myself on
the propriety of my departure. I am sure that I put the
patience of my friends to a severe test by my eternal dis-
cussions, and painful irresolution. "
Two attempts were made to obtain passports for A merica;
but, after compelling her to wait a long time, the govern-
ment refused to give them.
A t one time she thought of going to Greece, by the route
of Constantinople; but she feared to ex pose her daughter
to the perils of such a voyage. H er nex t obj ect was to reach
E ngland through the circuitous route of R ussia and S weden;
but in this great undertak ing her heart failed her.
H aving
a bold imagination, and a timid character, she conj ured up
the phantoms of ten thousand dangers. S he was afraid of
robbers, of arrest, of prisons, -- and more than all, she was
afraid of being advertised in the newspapers, with all the
scandalous falsehoods her enemies might think proper to
invent. S he said truly, that she had to contend with an
' enemy with a million of soldiers, millions of revenue, all
the prisons of E urope, k ings for his j ailors, and the press
for his mouth-piece. ' B ut the time at last came when the
pressure of circumstances would no longer admit of delay.
B onaparte was preparing for his R ussian campaign, an:I
she must either precede the F rench troops, or abandon her
proj ect entirely*
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? X X X V 111ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
The 15th of May, 1812, W as at last fix ed upon for de-
parture; and all the necessary arrangements were made with
profound secrecy. W hen the day arrived, the uncertainty
she felt seemed to her lik e a consciousness of being about
to do something wrong; she thought she ought to yield
herself up to such events as Providence ordained, and that
those pious men were in the right, who always scrupled to
follow an impulse originating in their own free will. S he
says, " A gitated by these conflicting feelings, I wandered
over the park at Coppet: 1 seated myself in all the places
where my father had been accustomed to repose himself,
and contemplate nature; I look ed once more upon the
beauties of water and verdure, which we had so often ad-
mired together; I bade them adieu, and recommended my-
self to their sweet influences. The monument that encloses
the ashes of my father and my mother, and in which, if
God permits, my own will be deposited, was one of the
principal causes of regret I felt at banishing myself from
the home of my childhood; but on approaching it, I almost
always found strength, that seemed to me to come from
heaven. I passed an hour in prayer before the iron gate
which enclosed the mortal remains of the noblest of human
beings; and my soul was convinced of the necessity of
departure. I went once more to look at my father' s study,
where his easy chair, his table, and his papers, remained as
he had left them; I k issed each venerable mark ; I took
the cloak , which till then I had ordered to be left upon his
chair, and carried it away with me, that I might wrap my-
self up in it, should the messenger of death approach me.
W hen these adieus were terminated, I avoided as much as
I could all other farewells; I found it less painful to part
from my friends by letters, which I took care they should
not receive until several days after my departure.
" O n S aturday, the 23d of May, 1812, I got into my
carriage, saying that I
pack et whatever;
My son, and M. de R
should return to dinner. I took no
I and my daughter had only our fans.
occa, carried in their pock ets enough
to defray the ex penses of several days' j
ing the chateau, which had become to me lik
valued friend, I nearly fainted. My son took
ourney. O n leav-
e an old and
my hand,
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X I X
and said, ' Dear mother, remember you are on your way to
E ngland. ' Though nearly two thousand leagues from that
goal, to which the usual road would have so speedily con-
ducted me, I felt revived by his words; every step at least
brought me something nearer to it. W hen I had proceeded
a few leagues, I sent back one of my servants to apprise
my establishment that I should not return until the nex t
day. I continued travelling night and day, as far as a
farm-house beyond B erne, where I had agreed to meet
M. de S chlegel, who had k indly offered to accompany me.
H ere I was obliged to leave my eldest son, who for four-
teen years had been educated by my father, and whose
features strongly reminded me of him. A gain my courage
abandoned me. I thought of S witzerland, so tranq uil and
so beautiful; I thought of her inhabitants, who, though
they had lost political independence, k new how to be free
by their virtues; and it seemed to me as if every thing
told me I ought not to go. I had not yet crossed the bar-
rier-- there was still a possibility of returning. B ut if I
went back , I k new another escape would be impossible;
and I felt a sort of shame at the idea of renewing such
solemn farewells. I k new not what would have become of
me, if this uncertainty had lasted much longer. My chil-
dren decided me; especially my daughter, who was then
scarcely fourteen years old. I committed myself to her, as
if the voice of God had spok
My son took his leave;
could say, with L ord R
past. ' "
The young B aron de S
en by the mouth of a child.
and when he was out of sight, I
ussell, ' The bitterness of death is
tael had been obliged to leave his
mother, in order to attend to the interests of her fortune,
and to obtain passports to go through A ustria, one of whose
princesses was then the wife of N apoleon. E very thing
depended on obtaining these passports, under some name
that would not attract the attention of the police; if they
were refused, Madame de S tael would be arrested, and the
rigours of ex ile made more intolerable than ever. I t was
a decisive step, and one that caused her devoted son the
most painful anx iety. F inally, he concluded to act, as, he
j udiciously observes, all honest men had better do in their
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? x lME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
intercourse with each other,-- he threw himself directly
upon the generosity of the A ustrian ambassador; and
fortunately he had to deal with an honourable man, who
made no hesitation in granting his req uest.
A few days after, Madame de S teel' s younger son, with
her servants, wardrobe, and travelling carriage, set out from
Coppet, to meet his mother at V ienna. The whole had
been managed with such secresy, and the police had be-
come so accustomed to her q uiet way of life, that no sus-
picions were ex cited, until this second removal took place.
The gens-d' armes were instantly on the alert; but Madame
de S teel had too much the start of them, and had travelled
too swiftly, to be overtak
says, " The moment I
B avaria to A ustria;
en. I n describing her flight, she
most dreaded, was the passage from
for it was there a courier might pre-
cede me, and forbid me to pass. B ut notwithstanding my
apprehensions, my health had been so much inj ured by
anx iety and fatigue, that I could no longer travel all night.
I , however, flattered myself that I should arrive without
impediment; when, j ust as my fears were vanishing, as we
approached the boundary line, a man in the inn, at S altz-
burg, told M. de S chlegel, that a F rench courier had been
to enq uire for a carriage coming from I nspruek , with a
lady and a young girl; and had left word, that he would
return to get intelligence of them. I became pale with
terror; and M. de S chlegel was very much alarmed; espe-
cially as he found, by enq uiry, that the courier had been
waiting for me at the A ustrian frontier, and not finding
me there, had returned to meet me. This was j ust what I
had dreaded before my departure, and through the whole
j ourney. I determined, on the spur of the moment, to
leave M. de S chlegel and my daughter at the inn, and to
go on foot into the streets of the town, to tak e my chance
at the first house whose master, or mistress, had a physio-
gnomy that pleased me. I would remain in this asylum
a few days; during this time, M. de S chlegel and my
daughter might say, that they were going to rej oin me in
A ustria; and I would . afterward leave S altzburg, disguised
as a peasant. H azardous as this resource appeared, no
other remained; and I was j ust preparing for the task , with
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . x li
fear and trembling, when who should enter my apartment,
but this dreaded courier, who was no other than-- M. de
R occa!
" H e had been obliged to return to Geneva to transact
some business, and now came to rej oin me. H e had dis-
guised himself as a courier, in order to tak e advantage of
the terror which the name inspired, and to obtain horses
more q uick ly. H e had hurried on to the A ustrian frontier,
to mak e himself sure that no one had preceded, or an-
nounced me; he had returned to assure me that I had
nothing to fear, and to get upon the box of my carriage
until we had passed that dreaded frontier, which seemed to
me the last of my dangers. I n this manner were my fears
changed to gratitude, j oy, and confidence. "
A t V ienna, Madame de S tael was obliged to wait some
time for a R ussian passport. The first ten days were spent
very pleasantly, and her friends there assured her that she
might rest in perfect security. A t the end of that time,
the A ustrian police probably received directions concerning
her from N apoleon; for they placed a guard at the gate of
her house, and, whether she walk ed or rode, she was fol-
lowed by spies.
S he was at this time in a state of great uneasiness; for
unless her R ussian passport came speedily, the progress of
the war would prevent her from passing into that country;
and she dared not stay in V ienna a day after the F rench
ambassador (who was then at Dresden) had returned.
A gain she thought of Constantinople. S he tried to obtain
two passports to leave A ustria, either by H ungary or Gal-
licia, so that she might decide in favour of going to Peters-
burg or Constantinople according to circumstances. S he
was told she might have her choice of passports, but that
they could not enable her to go by two different frontiers
without authority from the Committee of S tates. S he says,
" E urope seemed to her lik e one great net, in which travel-
lers got entangled at every step. "
S he departed for Gallicia without her R ussian passport;
a friend having promised to travel night and day to bring
it to her, as soon as it arrived. A t every step of her
j ourney she encountered fresh difficulties from the police,
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? x liiME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
all of which it would be tedious to relate. Placards were
put up in all the towns to k eep a strict watch upon her as
she passed through: this was the distinction the A ustrians
conferred upon a woman, who has done more than any
other mortal to give foreigners a respect for German lite-
rature, and German character.
I n passing through Poland, Madame de S tael wished to
rest a day or two at L anzut, at the castle of the Polish
Prince and Princess L ubomirsk a, with whom she had
been well acq uainted in Geneva, and during her visit to
V ienna. The captain of the police, j ealous that she in-
tended to ex cite the Poles to insurrection, sent a detach-
ment to escort her into L anzut, to follow her into the
castle, and not leave her until she q uitted it. A ccordingly
the officer stationed himself at the supper-table of the
Prince, and in the evening took occasion to observe to her
son that he had orders to pass the night in her apartment,
to prevent her holding communication with any one; but
that, out of respect to her, he should not do it. " Y ou
may as well say that you will not do it, out of respect to
yourself," replied the young man: " for if you dare to set
foot within my mother' s apartment, I will assuredly throw
you out of the window. "
The escort of the police was particularly painful to
Madame de S tael at this point of her j ourney. A descrip-
tion of M. de R occa had been sent along the road, with
orders to arrest him as a F rench officer; although he had
resigned his commission, and was disabled by his wound
from doing military service. H ad he been arrested, the
forfeiture of his life would have been the conseq uence.
H e had therefore been obliged to separate from his wife,
at a time when he felt most anx ious to protect her; and to
travel alone under a borrowed name. I t had been ar-
ranged that they should meet at L anzut, from which place
they hoped to be able to pass safely into R ussia. H aving
arrived there before her, and not in the least suspecting
that she would be guarded by the police, he eagerly came
out to meet her, full of j oy and confidence. The danger
to which he thus unconsciously ex posed himself, made
Madame de S tael pale with agony. S he had scarcely time
to give him an earnest signal to turn back . H ad it not
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? ME MO I llO F MA DA ME DE S TA E t. x liii
been for the generous presence of mind of a Polish gentle-
man, M. de llocca would have been recognised and arrested.
The fugitive ex perienced the greatest friendship and
hospitality from the Prince and Princess L ubomirsk a; but
notwithstanding their urgent entreaties, she would not con-
sent to encumber their house with such attendants as chose
to follow her. A fter one night' s rest, she departed for
R ussia, which she entered on the 14th of J uly. A s she
passed the boundary line, she made a solemn oath never
again to set foot in a country subj ected in any degree to
the E mperor N apoleon; though she says she felt some sad
misgivings that the oath would never allow her to revisit
her own beautiful and beloved F rance.
Madame de S tael staid but a brief space in Moscow;
the flames and the F rench army followed close upon her
footsteps.
A t Petersburg she had several interviews with the E m-
peror A lex ander, whose affairs were then at a most alarm-
ing crisis. * S he remark s of R ussia, " The country ap-
peared to me lik e an image of infinite space, and as if it
would req uire an eternity to traverse it. The S clavonian
language is singularly echoing; there is something metallic
about it; you would imagine you heard a bell strik ing,
when the R ussians pronounce certain letters of their
alphabet. "
The nobility of Petersburg vied with each other in the
attentions bestowed on Madame de S tael. A t a dinner
given in honour of her arrival, the following toast was
proposed: " S uccess to the arms of R ussia against F
The ex ile dearly loved her country, and her heart could
not respond to the sentiment: " N ot against F rance !
rance. "
" she
ex claimed; " but against him who oppresses F rance. "
The toast, thus changed, was repeated with great applause.
A lthough Madame de S tael found much in R ussia to
interest her, and was every where received with distin-
guished regard, she did not feel in perfect security; she
could not look on the magnificent edifices of that splendid
capital, without dismal forebodings that he, whose power
* I n a conversation concerning the structure of governments, Madame de
S tael said to the E mperor, " S ire, you are yourself a constitution for your
country. " " Then, madam, I am but a luck y accident" was his wise reply to
tier delicate and comprehensive flattery.
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? X llV ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
had overshadowed all the fair dwellings of E urope, would
come to dark en them also.
I n S eptember, she passed through F inland into S weden.
I n S tock holm she published a work against suicide, written
before her flight from Coppet. The obj ect of this treatise
is to show that the natural and proper effect of affliction is
to elevate and purify the soul, instead of driving it to de-
spair. S he is said to have been induced to mak e this pub-
lication by the fear that she had, in some of her former
writings, evinced too much admiration for this guilty form
of courage.
I n S weden, as in R ussia, Madame de S tael was received
with very mark ed respect. I t was generally supposed that
she ex erted a powerful influence over B ernadotte, to induce
him to resist the encroachments of N apoleon' s ambition.
I f this be the case, she may be said to have fairly check -
mated the E mperor with a k ing of his own mak ing.
Though B ernadotte had great respect for her opinions, she
is said not to have been a favourite with him: he was him-
self fond of mak ing eloq uent speeches, and her conversation
threw him into the shade.
Madame de S tael passed the winter of 1812 on the
shores of the B altic; and in the spring she sailed for E ng-
land, where she arrived in J une, 1813. A lthough her
dramatic style of manners, and the energy of her convers-
ation, formed a strik ing contrast to the national reserve of
the E nglish, she was received with enthusiastic admiration.
H er genius, her fame, her escape from B onaparte, and her
intimate k nowledge of the F rench R evolution, all combined
to produce a prodigious sensation. " I n the immense
crowds that collected to see her at the Marq uis of L ans-
downe' s, and in the houses of the other principal nobility of
L ondon, the eagerness of curiosity brok e through all restraint;
the first ladies in the k ingdom stood on chairs and tables,
to catch a glimpse of her dark and brilliant physiognomy. "
Madame de S tael has left some admirable descriptions of
E nglish society, and of the impressions made upon her
mind when she first entered that powerful country. B ut
the principal obj ect of her visit was not to observe the in-
tellectual wealth or moral grandeur of E ngland. Through
all her perils and wanderings she had saved a copy of
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA B L . x lv
her condemned book on Germany, and had brought it
triumphantly to L ondon; where it was published, in O c-
tober, 1813.
" I n this, which is perhaps her greatest work , Madame
de S tael has endeavoured to give a bold, general, and philo-
sophical view of the whole intellectual condition of the
German people, among whom she had ma' de what was in
some sort a voyage of discovery; for the highly original
literature of that country was then little k nown to the rest
of E urope. " I t was received with great applause in
E ngland, and afterward in F rance, where a change of go-
vernment admitted of its being published the ensuing
year. S ir J ames Mack intosh immediately wrote a review
of it, in which he says, " The voice of E urope had
already applauded the genius of a national painter in the
author of ' Corinne. ' I n her ' Germany,' she throws off the
aid of fiction; she delineates a less poetical character, and
a country more interesting by anticipation than by recollec-
tion. B ut it is not the less certain that it is the most
vigorous effort of her genius, and probably the most
elaborate and masculine production of the faculties of
woman. "
W hen Madame de S tael made her visit to E ngland, L ord
B yron was in the first lustre of his fame. A t first, the
rival lions seem to have been disposed to growl at each
other; but in time they grew to be on the best possible
terms. The following is the noble poet' s eloq uent tribute
to her genius: --
" Corinne is no more; and with her should ex pire the
fear, the flattery, and the envy, which threw too dazzling
or too dark a cloud round the march of genius, and forbade
the steady gaze of disinterested criticism. W e have her
picture embellished or distorted, as friendship or detraction
has held the pencil: the impartial portrait was hardly to be
ex pected from a contemporary. The immediate voice of
her survivors will, it is probable, be far from affording a
j ust estimate of her singular capacity. The gallantry, the
love of wonder, and the hope of associated fame, which
blunted the edge of censure, must cease to ex ist. The dead
have no sex ; they can surprise by no new miracles; they
can confer no privilege: Corinna has ceased to be a woman
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tetes-a-tetes amused us so much, that we were impatient to
get from table, where we were talk ing, in order to go and
write to one another. W hen any strangers came in, we
could not bear the interruption of our habits; and our
penny-post always went its round. The inhabitants of the
neighbouring town were somewhat astonished at these new
manners, and look ed upon them as pedantic; though, in
fact, it was merely a resource against the monotony of
solitude. O ne day a gentleman, who had never thought of
any thing in his life but hunting, came to tak e my boys
with him into the woods; he remained some tinfe seated
at our active, but silent table. Madame R ecamier wrote a
little note to this j olly sportsman, in order that he might
not be too much a stranger to the circle in which he was
placed. H e ex cused himself from receiving it, assuring us
that he never could read writing by daylight. W e after-
wards laughed not a little at the disappointment our beau-
tiful friend had met with in her benevolent coq uetry; and
thought that a billet from her hand would not often have
met such a fate. O ur life passed in this q uiet manner;
and, if I may j udge by myself, none of us found it bur-
densome.
" I wished to go and see the opera of Cinderella repre-
sented at a paltry provincial theatre at B lois. Coming out
of the theatre on foot, the people followed me in crowds,
more from curiosity to see the woman B onaparte had
ex iled, than from any other motive. This k ind of celebrity,
which I owed to misfortune much more than to talent,
displeased the Minister of Police, who wrote to the Prefect
of L oire that I was surrounded by a court. ' Certainly,'
said I to the Prefect, ' it is not power that gives me a
court. '
" O n the 23d of S eptember, I corrected the last proof of
Germany; after isix years' labour, I felt great delight in
writing the word end. 1 made a list of one hundred per-
sons to whom I wished to send copies in different parts of
E urope. " The work passed the censorship prescribed by
law; and Madame de S tael, supposing every thing was sa-
tisfactorily arranged, went with her family to visit her
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? X X X ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
friend M. de Montmorency, at his residence about five
leagues from B lois. This gentleman could claim the oldest
hereditary rank of any nobleman in F rance; being able to
trace back his pedigree, through a long line of glorious
ancestry, to the first B aron of Christendom, in the time of
Charlemagne. Madame de S tael says, " H e was a pious
man, only occupied in this world with mak ing himself fit
for heaven: in his conversation with me he never paid any
attention to the affairs of the day, but only sought to do
good to my soul. "
Madame de S tael, after having passed a delightful day
amid the magnificent forests and historical recollections of
this ancient castle, retired to rest. I n the night, M. de
Montmorency was awak ened by the arrival of A ugustus,
B aron de S tael, who came to inform him that his mother' s
book on Germany was lik ely to be destroyed, in conse-
q uence of a new edict, which had very much the appear-
ance of being made on purpose for the occasion. H er son,
as soon as he had done his errand, left M. de Montmorency
to soften the blow as much as possible, but to urge his
mother to return immediately after she had tak en break -
fast; he himself went back before daylight to see that her
papers were not seized by the imperial police. L uck ily,
the proof sheets of her valuable work were saved. S ome
further notes on Germany she had with her in a small port-
able desk in the carriage. A s they drew near her habit-
ation she gave the desk to her youngest son, who j umped
over a wall, and carried it into the house through the gar-
den. Miss R andall, an E nglish lady, an ex cellent and
much beloved friend, came to meet her on the road, to
console her as much as she could under this great disap-
pointment. A file of soldiers were sent to her publisher'
to destroy every sheet of the ten thousand copies that had
been printed. S he was req uired to give up her MS S
s,
. and
q uit F rance in twenty-four hours. I n her Ten Y ears'
E x ile,MadamedeS taeldrilyremark s," I twasthecus-
tom of B onaparte to order conscripts and women to be in
readiness to q uit F rance in twenty-four hours. "
S he had given up some rough notes of her work to the
police, but the spies of government had done their duty so
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X I
? well, that they k new there was a copy saved: they could
tell the ex act number of proof-sheets that had been sent to
her by the publisher, and the ex act number she had re-
turned. S he did not pretend to deny the fact; but she
told them she had placed the copy out of her hands, and
that she neither could nor would put it in their power.
The severity used on this occasion was as unnecessary
as it was cruel, for her book on Germany contained nothing
to give offence to the government. I ndeed the only fault
pretended to be found with it was that it was purely literary,
and contained no mention of the E mperor or his wars in
that country. "
The Minister o' f Police gave out, " in corsair terms, that
if Madame de S tael, on her return to Coppet, should ven-
ture one foot within forty leagues of Paris she was a good
prize. " W hen arrived at Coppet, she received ex press
orders not to go more than four leagues from her own
house; and this was enforced with so much rigour, that
having one day accidentally ex tended her ride a little be-
yond her limits, the military police were sent full speed to
bring her back .
I f N apoleon felt flattered that all the sovereigns of
E urope were obliged to combine to k eep one man on a bar-
ren island, Madame de S tael might well consider it no
small compliment for one woman to be able to inspire with
fear the mighty troubler of the world' s peace. *
F ew in this selfish world would visit one who thus
" carried about with her the contagion of misfortune; "
and she was even fearful of writing to her friends, lest she
should in some way implicate them in her own difficulties.
I n the midst of these perplex ities, her true friend, M. de
Montmorency, came to mak e her a visit: she told him such
a proof of friendship would offend the E mperor; but he
felt safe in the consciousness of a life entirely secluded from
any connection with public affairs. The day after his
arrival, they rode to F ribourg, to see a convent of nuns, of
1 * B onaparte dreaded an epigram, pointed against himself, more than he
dreaded " infernal machines. " W hen he was told that no woman, however
talented, could shak e the foundation of his power, he replied, " Madame de
S tael carries a q uiver full of arrows, that would hit a man if he were seated on
a rainbow. "
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? X X x iiME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
the dismal order of L a Trappe. S he says, " W e reached
the convent in the midst of a severe shower, after having
been obliged to come nearly a mile on foot. I rung the
bell at the gate of the cloister; a nun appeared behind the
lattice opening, through which the portress may speak to
strangers. ' W hat do you want? ' said she, in a voice
without modulation, such as we might suppose that of a
ghost. -- ' I should lik e to see the interior of the convent *
-- ' That is impossible/ she replied. -- ' B ut I am very
wet, and want to dry my dress. ' -- S he immediately touched
a spring, which opened the door of an outer apartment in
which I was allowed to rest myself; but no living creature
appeared. I n a few minutes, impatient at not being able
to penetrate the interior of the convent, after my W
walk I rung again. The same person re-appeared. I
ask ed her if females were never admitted into the convent
S he answered, ' O nly when they had the intention of be-
coming nuns.
" ' B ut,' said I , ' how can I tell whether I should lik e
to remain in your house, if I am not permitted to see it'
-- ' O h, that is q uite useless,' she replied; ' I
sure that you have no vocation for our state; ' and with
these words she immediately shut her wick et. " Madame
de S tael says she k nows not how this nun discovered her
worldly disposition, unless it were by her q uick manner of
speak ing, so different from their own. Those who look at
Madame de S tael' s portrait will not wonder at the nun'
penetration: it needs but a single glance at her bright dark
eye, through which one can look so clearly into the depths
of an ardent and busy soul, to be convinced that she was
not made for the solitude and austerities of L a Trappe
B eing disappointed in getting a sight of the nuns,
Madame de S tael proposed to her son and M. de Mont
morency to go to the famous cascade of B ex , where the
water falls from a very lofty mountain. This being iust
within the F rench territory, she, without being aware of it
infringed upon her sentence of ex ile. The Prefect blamed
her very much, and made a great merit of not informing
the E mperor that she had been in F rance. S he says she
am very
s
might have told him, in the words of L a F ontaine' s fable,
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X U1
c I gTazed of this meadow the breadth of my tongue. " B o-
naparte, finding that Madame de S tael wisely resolved to
be as happy as she could, determined to mak e her home
a solitude, by forbidding all persons to visit her.
F our days after M. de Montmorency arrived at Coppet,
he was banished from F rance; for no other crime than
having dared to offer the consolation of his society to one
who had been his intimate friend for more than twenty
years, and by whose assistance he had escaped from the
dangers of the R evolution.
Madame R ecamier, being at that time on her way to the
waters of A ix in S avoy, sent her friend word that she
should stop at Coppet. Madame de S tael despatched a
courier to beseech her not to come; and she wept bitterly,
to think that her charming friend was so near her, without
the possibility of obtaining an interview: but Madame
R ecamier, conscious that she had never meddled with po-
litics, was resolved not to pass by Coppet without seeing
her. I nstead of the j oy that had always welcomed her
arrival, she was received with a torrent of tears. S he stayed
only one night; but, as Madame de S tael had feared, the
sentence of ex ile smote her also. ' Thus regardless,' says
she, ' did the chief of the F rench people, so renowned for
their gallantry, show himself toward the most beautiful
woman in Paris. I n one day he smote virtue and distin-
guished rank in M. de Montmorency, beauty in Madame
R ecamier, and, if I dare say it, the reputation of high
talents in myself. '
N ot only F renchmen, but foreigners, who wished to visit
a writer of so much celebrity, were informed that they must
not enter her house. The minister of the police said he
would have a soldier' s guard mounted at the bottom of the
avenue, to arrest whoever attempted to go to Coppet.
E very courier brought tidings of some friend ex iled for
having dared to k eep up a correspondence with her; even
her sons were forbidden to enter F rance, without a new
permission from the police. I n this cruel situation, Ma-
dame de S tael could only weep for those friends who for-
sook her, and tremble for those who had the courage to
b
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? X X X I V ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
remain faithful. B ut nothing could force from her one
line of flattery to the E mperor.
H er friends urged her to go heyond the power of her
enemy; saying, " I
E lizabeth did Mary S
the catastrophe at last. "
f you remain, he will treat you as
tuart; nineteen years of misery, and
A nd she herself says, " Thus to
carry about with me the contagion of calamity, to be a
burden on the ex istence of my children, to fear to write to
those I love, or even to mention their names, -- this is a
situation from which it is necessary to escape, or die. "
B ut she hesitated, and lingered long before she deter-
mined to leave the tomb of her father, where she daily
offered up her prayers for support and consolation. B e-
sides, a new feeling had at this period gained dominion
over her. A t Geneva, she had become acq uainted with A l-
bert-J ean-Michel de R occa, a young officer, j ust returned
wounded from the war of the S panish Peninsula, whose
feeble health, united with the accounts given of his brilliant
courage, had inspired general interest. Madame de S tael
visited him, as a stranger who needed the soothing voice of
k indness and compassion. The first words she uttered made
him her ardent lover; he talk ed of her incessantly. H is
friends represented to him the ex treme improbability of
gaining the affections of such a woman: he replied, " I
love her so devotedly, that she cannot refuse to marry me. "
M. de R occa had great elevation of character; his con-
versation was highly poetic; his affections ardent; and
will
his style of writing animated and graceful * : his sentiments
toward her were of the most romantic and chivalrous k ind,
-- unbounded admiration was softened by ex treme tender-
ness; her desolate heart had lost the guardian and support
of early life; his state of health ex cited her pity; and, more
than all, he offered to realise the dream she had always so
fondly indulged -- a marriage of love.
A strong and enduring attachment sprung up between
them, which, in 1811, resulted in a private wedding.
* I n 1809, he published Campagne de W alcfteren et iV A nvers. I n 1814, he
published a very interesting book , which was reprinted in 1817, called Mdmotre
surlaGuerredesF rancoisenE spagne. H eleftanovelinMS . calledL eMat
du Pays; 1 do not k now whether it was ever printed.
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E I i. X X X V
The precarious state of M. de R occa' s health was a source
of sorrow, which she felt with a k eenness proportioned to
the susceptibility of her character. S he watched over him
with a patient, persevering attention, not a little remark -
able in one to whom variety and activity were so necessary.
W hen he was thought to be in danger, her anguish k new
no bounds: she compared herself to Marshal N ey, when
he ex pected sentence of death from one moment to another.
I n relation to this romantic affair, Madame de S tael was
guilty of the greatest weak ness of her whole life. Governed
partly by a timidity, which feared' the world' s dread laugh,'
and partly by a proud reluctance to relinq uish the name
she had made so glorious throughout E urope, she concealed
the marriage from all but her children, and her most inti-
mate friends. O n every account, this is to be deeply
regretted. I t mak es us blush for an instance of silly vanity
in one so truly great; and, what is worse, the embarrassing
situation in which she thus placed herself, laid her very
open to the malice of her enemies, and the suspicions of the
world. S candalous stories, promulgated by those who either
misunderstood or wilfully misrepresented her character,
are even now repeated, though clearly proved to be false
by those who had the very best opportunities of observing
her life.
I n her preference for the conversation of gentlemen,
Madame de S tael had ever been as perfectly undisguised,
as she was with regard to all her other tastes and opinions;
it was, therefore, natural that she should not be a general
favourite with her own sex , though she found among women
many of her most zealous and attached friends.
The intellectual sympathy, which produced so many
delightful friendships between herelf and distinguished
men of all countries, was naturally attributed, by ladies of
inferior gifts, to a source less innocent; and to this petty
malice was added strong political animosity, dark , rancor-
ous, unprincipled, and unforgiving. They even tried to
mak e a crime of her residence in E ngland, with N arbonne
and Talleyrand-- as if those days of terror, when everyman,
woman, and child in F rance slept under the guillotine, was
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? X X X V I ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
a time for even the most scrupulous to adhere to the laws
of etiq uette.
A fter her marriage with M. de R occa, Madame de S tael,
happy in the retirement of her now cheerful home, and
finding consolation in the warm affection of her children,
indulged hopes that the government would leave her in
peace. B ut B onaparte, who no doubt heard some sort of
account of the new attachment which had given a fresh
charm to her ex istence, caused her to be threatened with
perpetual imprisonment.
Unable any longer to endure this system of vex ation, she
ask ed leave to live in I taly, promising not to publish a
single line of any k ind; and, with something of becoming
pride, she reminded the officers of government that it was
the author of Corinne, who ask ed no other privilege than to
live and die in R ome. B ut notwithstanding the strong
claim which this beautiful work gave her to the admiration
and indulgence of her countrymen, that req uest was refused.
N apoleon, in one of his conversations at S t. H elena, ex -
cuses his uninterrupted persecution of Madame de S tael, by
saying that, " she was an ambitious, intriguing woman, who
would at any time have thrown her friends into the sea, for
the sak e of ex ercising her energy in saving them. "
N o doubt there was much truth in this accusation. F rom
her earliest childhood, Madame de S tael had breathed the
atmosphere of politics; and she lived at an ex citing period,
when an active mind could scarcely forbear tak ing great
interest in public affairs. * S he was an avowed enemy to
the imperial government; but, though she spok e her mind
freely, we do not hear of her as engaged in any conspiracies,
or even attempting to form a party.
A t her S wiss retreat, when he was omnipotent in F rance,
and she was powerless, it certainly was safe to leave her in
the peaceful enj oyment of such social pleasures as were
within her reach. The banishment of M. de S chlegel, M.
de Montmorency, and Madame R ecamier, his refusal to al-
low Madame de S tael to pass into I taly, and his opposition
? B onaparte once at a party placed himself directly before a witty and beau-
tiful lady, and said very abruptly, " Madame, 1 don' t lik e that women should
meddle with politics. " -- * ' Y ou aie very right. General," she replied; * *
a country where women are beheaded, it is natural they should desire to k now
the reaso" ' *
but in
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X V 11
to her visiting E ngland, seem much more lik e personal dis-
lik e and irritation against one whom he could not compel
to flatter him, than they do lik e political precaution: he
indeed overrated Madame de S tael' s importance, if he sup-
posed she could change the whole policy of government, in
a country where the national prej udices are so strongly ar-
rayed against female politicians as they are in E ngland.
W hatever were B onaparte' s motives and intentions, her
friends thought it prudent to urge immediate flight; and
she herself felt the necessity of it. B ut month after month
passed away, during which time she was distracted with
the most painful perplex ity between her fears of a prison,
and her dread of becoming a fugitive on the face of the
earth. S he says, " I sometimes consulted all sorts of pre-
sages, in hopes I should be directed what to do; at other
times, I more wisely interrogated my friends and myself on
the propriety of my departure. I am sure that I put the
patience of my friends to a severe test by my eternal dis-
cussions, and painful irresolution. "
Two attempts were made to obtain passports for A merica;
but, after compelling her to wait a long time, the govern-
ment refused to give them.
A t one time she thought of going to Greece, by the route
of Constantinople; but she feared to ex pose her daughter
to the perils of such a voyage. H er nex t obj ect was to reach
E ngland through the circuitous route of R ussia and S weden;
but in this great undertak ing her heart failed her.
H aving
a bold imagination, and a timid character, she conj ured up
the phantoms of ten thousand dangers. S he was afraid of
robbers, of arrest, of prisons, -- and more than all, she was
afraid of being advertised in the newspapers, with all the
scandalous falsehoods her enemies might think proper to
invent. S he said truly, that she had to contend with an
' enemy with a million of soldiers, millions of revenue, all
the prisons of E urope, k ings for his j ailors, and the press
for his mouth-piece. ' B ut the time at last came when the
pressure of circumstances would no longer admit of delay.
B onaparte was preparing for his R ussian campaign, an:I
she must either precede the F rench troops, or abandon her
proj ect entirely*
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? X X X V 111ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
The 15th of May, 1812, W as at last fix ed upon for de-
parture; and all the necessary arrangements were made with
profound secrecy. W hen the day arrived, the uncertainty
she felt seemed to her lik e a consciousness of being about
to do something wrong; she thought she ought to yield
herself up to such events as Providence ordained, and that
those pious men were in the right, who always scrupled to
follow an impulse originating in their own free will. S he
says, " A gitated by these conflicting feelings, I wandered
over the park at Coppet: 1 seated myself in all the places
where my father had been accustomed to repose himself,
and contemplate nature; I look ed once more upon the
beauties of water and verdure, which we had so often ad-
mired together; I bade them adieu, and recommended my-
self to their sweet influences. The monument that encloses
the ashes of my father and my mother, and in which, if
God permits, my own will be deposited, was one of the
principal causes of regret I felt at banishing myself from
the home of my childhood; but on approaching it, I almost
always found strength, that seemed to me to come from
heaven. I passed an hour in prayer before the iron gate
which enclosed the mortal remains of the noblest of human
beings; and my soul was convinced of the necessity of
departure. I went once more to look at my father' s study,
where his easy chair, his table, and his papers, remained as
he had left them; I k issed each venerable mark ; I took
the cloak , which till then I had ordered to be left upon his
chair, and carried it away with me, that I might wrap my-
self up in it, should the messenger of death approach me.
W hen these adieus were terminated, I avoided as much as
I could all other farewells; I found it less painful to part
from my friends by letters, which I took care they should
not receive until several days after my departure.
" O n S aturday, the 23d of May, 1812, I got into my
carriage, saying that I
pack et whatever;
My son, and M. de R
should return to dinner. I took no
I and my daughter had only our fans.
occa, carried in their pock ets enough
to defray the ex penses of several days' j
ing the chateau, which had become to me lik
valued friend, I nearly fainted. My son took
ourney. O n leav-
e an old and
my hand,
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . X X X I X
and said, ' Dear mother, remember you are on your way to
E ngland. ' Though nearly two thousand leagues from that
goal, to which the usual road would have so speedily con-
ducted me, I felt revived by his words; every step at least
brought me something nearer to it. W hen I had proceeded
a few leagues, I sent back one of my servants to apprise
my establishment that I should not return until the nex t
day. I continued travelling night and day, as far as a
farm-house beyond B erne, where I had agreed to meet
M. de S chlegel, who had k indly offered to accompany me.
H ere I was obliged to leave my eldest son, who for four-
teen years had been educated by my father, and whose
features strongly reminded me of him. A gain my courage
abandoned me. I thought of S witzerland, so tranq uil and
so beautiful; I thought of her inhabitants, who, though
they had lost political independence, k new how to be free
by their virtues; and it seemed to me as if every thing
told me I ought not to go. I had not yet crossed the bar-
rier-- there was still a possibility of returning. B ut if I
went back , I k new another escape would be impossible;
and I felt a sort of shame at the idea of renewing such
solemn farewells. I k new not what would have become of
me, if this uncertainty had lasted much longer. My chil-
dren decided me; especially my daughter, who was then
scarcely fourteen years old. I committed myself to her, as
if the voice of God had spok
My son took his leave;
could say, with L ord R
past. ' "
The young B aron de S
en by the mouth of a child.
and when he was out of sight, I
ussell, ' The bitterness of death is
tael had been obliged to leave his
mother, in order to attend to the interests of her fortune,
and to obtain passports to go through A ustria, one of whose
princesses was then the wife of N apoleon. E very thing
depended on obtaining these passports, under some name
that would not attract the attention of the police; if they
were refused, Madame de S tael would be arrested, and the
rigours of ex ile made more intolerable than ever. I t was
a decisive step, and one that caused her devoted son the
most painful anx iety. F inally, he concluded to act, as, he
j udiciously observes, all honest men had better do in their
b4
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? x lME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
intercourse with each other,-- he threw himself directly
upon the generosity of the A ustrian ambassador; and
fortunately he had to deal with an honourable man, who
made no hesitation in granting his req uest.
A few days after, Madame de S teel' s younger son, with
her servants, wardrobe, and travelling carriage, set out from
Coppet, to meet his mother at V ienna. The whole had
been managed with such secresy, and the police had be-
come so accustomed to her q uiet way of life, that no sus-
picions were ex cited, until this second removal took place.
The gens-d' armes were instantly on the alert; but Madame
de S teel had too much the start of them, and had travelled
too swiftly, to be overtak
says, " The moment I
B avaria to A ustria;
en. I n describing her flight, she
most dreaded, was the passage from
for it was there a courier might pre-
cede me, and forbid me to pass. B ut notwithstanding my
apprehensions, my health had been so much inj ured by
anx iety and fatigue, that I could no longer travel all night.
I , however, flattered myself that I should arrive without
impediment; when, j ust as my fears were vanishing, as we
approached the boundary line, a man in the inn, at S altz-
burg, told M. de S chlegel, that a F rench courier had been
to enq uire for a carriage coming from I nspruek , with a
lady and a young girl; and had left word, that he would
return to get intelligence of them. I became pale with
terror; and M. de S chlegel was very much alarmed; espe-
cially as he found, by enq uiry, that the courier had been
waiting for me at the A ustrian frontier, and not finding
me there, had returned to meet me. This was j ust what I
had dreaded before my departure, and through the whole
j ourney. I determined, on the spur of the moment, to
leave M. de S chlegel and my daughter at the inn, and to
go on foot into the streets of the town, to tak e my chance
at the first house whose master, or mistress, had a physio-
gnomy that pleased me. I would remain in this asylum
a few days; during this time, M. de S chlegel and my
daughter might say, that they were going to rej oin me in
A ustria; and I would . afterward leave S altzburg, disguised
as a peasant. H azardous as this resource appeared, no
other remained; and I was j ust preparing for the task , with
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L . x li
fear and trembling, when who should enter my apartment,
but this dreaded courier, who was no other than-- M. de
R occa!
" H e had been obliged to return to Geneva to transact
some business, and now came to rej oin me. H e had dis-
guised himself as a courier, in order to tak e advantage of
the terror which the name inspired, and to obtain horses
more q uick ly. H e had hurried on to the A ustrian frontier,
to mak e himself sure that no one had preceded, or an-
nounced me; he had returned to assure me that I had
nothing to fear, and to get upon the box of my carriage
until we had passed that dreaded frontier, which seemed to
me the last of my dangers. I n this manner were my fears
changed to gratitude, j oy, and confidence. "
A t V ienna, Madame de S tael was obliged to wait some
time for a R ussian passport. The first ten days were spent
very pleasantly, and her friends there assured her that she
might rest in perfect security. A t the end of that time,
the A ustrian police probably received directions concerning
her from N apoleon; for they placed a guard at the gate of
her house, and, whether she walk ed or rode, she was fol-
lowed by spies.
S he was at this time in a state of great uneasiness; for
unless her R ussian passport came speedily, the progress of
the war would prevent her from passing into that country;
and she dared not stay in V ienna a day after the F rench
ambassador (who was then at Dresden) had returned.
A gain she thought of Constantinople. S he tried to obtain
two passports to leave A ustria, either by H ungary or Gal-
licia, so that she might decide in favour of going to Peters-
burg or Constantinople according to circumstances. S he
was told she might have her choice of passports, but that
they could not enable her to go by two different frontiers
without authority from the Committee of S tates. S he says,
" E urope seemed to her lik e one great net, in which travel-
lers got entangled at every step. "
S he departed for Gallicia without her R ussian passport;
a friend having promised to travel night and day to bring
it to her, as soon as it arrived. A t every step of her
j ourney she encountered fresh difficulties from the police,
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? x liiME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
all of which it would be tedious to relate. Placards were
put up in all the towns to k eep a strict watch upon her as
she passed through: this was the distinction the A ustrians
conferred upon a woman, who has done more than any
other mortal to give foreigners a respect for German lite-
rature, and German character.
I n passing through Poland, Madame de S tael wished to
rest a day or two at L anzut, at the castle of the Polish
Prince and Princess L ubomirsk a, with whom she had
been well acq uainted in Geneva, and during her visit to
V ienna. The captain of the police, j ealous that she in-
tended to ex cite the Poles to insurrection, sent a detach-
ment to escort her into L anzut, to follow her into the
castle, and not leave her until she q uitted it. A ccordingly
the officer stationed himself at the supper-table of the
Prince, and in the evening took occasion to observe to her
son that he had orders to pass the night in her apartment,
to prevent her holding communication with any one; but
that, out of respect to her, he should not do it. " Y ou
may as well say that you will not do it, out of respect to
yourself," replied the young man: " for if you dare to set
foot within my mother' s apartment, I will assuredly throw
you out of the window. "
The escort of the police was particularly painful to
Madame de S tael at this point of her j ourney. A descrip-
tion of M. de R occa had been sent along the road, with
orders to arrest him as a F rench officer; although he had
resigned his commission, and was disabled by his wound
from doing military service. H ad he been arrested, the
forfeiture of his life would have been the conseq uence.
H e had therefore been obliged to separate from his wife,
at a time when he felt most anx ious to protect her; and to
travel alone under a borrowed name. I t had been ar-
ranged that they should meet at L anzut, from which place
they hoped to be able to pass safely into R ussia. H aving
arrived there before her, and not in the least suspecting
that she would be guarded by the police, he eagerly came
out to meet her, full of j oy and confidence. The danger
to which he thus unconsciously ex posed himself, made
Madame de S tael pale with agony. S he had scarcely time
to give him an earnest signal to turn back . H ad it not
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? ME MO I llO F MA DA ME DE S TA E t. x liii
been for the generous presence of mind of a Polish gentle-
man, M. de llocca would have been recognised and arrested.
The fugitive ex perienced the greatest friendship and
hospitality from the Prince and Princess L ubomirsk a; but
notwithstanding their urgent entreaties, she would not con-
sent to encumber their house with such attendants as chose
to follow her. A fter one night' s rest, she departed for
R ussia, which she entered on the 14th of J uly. A s she
passed the boundary line, she made a solemn oath never
again to set foot in a country subj ected in any degree to
the E mperor N apoleon; though she says she felt some sad
misgivings that the oath would never allow her to revisit
her own beautiful and beloved F rance.
Madame de S tael staid but a brief space in Moscow;
the flames and the F rench army followed close upon her
footsteps.
A t Petersburg she had several interviews with the E m-
peror A lex ander, whose affairs were then at a most alarm-
ing crisis. * S he remark s of R ussia, " The country ap-
peared to me lik e an image of infinite space, and as if it
would req uire an eternity to traverse it. The S clavonian
language is singularly echoing; there is something metallic
about it; you would imagine you heard a bell strik ing,
when the R ussians pronounce certain letters of their
alphabet. "
The nobility of Petersburg vied with each other in the
attentions bestowed on Madame de S tael. A t a dinner
given in honour of her arrival, the following toast was
proposed: " S uccess to the arms of R ussia against F
The ex ile dearly loved her country, and her heart could
not respond to the sentiment: " N ot against F rance !
rance. "
" she
ex claimed; " but against him who oppresses F rance. "
The toast, thus changed, was repeated with great applause.
A lthough Madame de S tael found much in R ussia to
interest her, and was every where received with distin-
guished regard, she did not feel in perfect security; she
could not look on the magnificent edifices of that splendid
capital, without dismal forebodings that he, whose power
* I n a conversation concerning the structure of governments, Madame de
S tael said to the E mperor, " S ire, you are yourself a constitution for your
country. " " Then, madam, I am but a luck y accident" was his wise reply to
tier delicate and comprehensive flattery.
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? X llV ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA E L .
had overshadowed all the fair dwellings of E urope, would
come to dark en them also.
I n S eptember, she passed through F inland into S weden.
I n S tock holm she published a work against suicide, written
before her flight from Coppet. The obj ect of this treatise
is to show that the natural and proper effect of affliction is
to elevate and purify the soul, instead of driving it to de-
spair. S he is said to have been induced to mak e this pub-
lication by the fear that she had, in some of her former
writings, evinced too much admiration for this guilty form
of courage.
I n S weden, as in R ussia, Madame de S tael was received
with very mark ed respect. I t was generally supposed that
she ex erted a powerful influence over B ernadotte, to induce
him to resist the encroachments of N apoleon' s ambition.
I f this be the case, she may be said to have fairly check -
mated the E mperor with a k ing of his own mak ing.
Though B ernadotte had great respect for her opinions, she
is said not to have been a favourite with him: he was him-
self fond of mak ing eloq uent speeches, and her conversation
threw him into the shade.
Madame de S tael passed the winter of 1812 on the
shores of the B altic; and in the spring she sailed for E ng-
land, where she arrived in J une, 1813. A lthough her
dramatic style of manners, and the energy of her convers-
ation, formed a strik ing contrast to the national reserve of
the E nglish, she was received with enthusiastic admiration.
H er genius, her fame, her escape from B onaparte, and her
intimate k nowledge of the F rench R evolution, all combined
to produce a prodigious sensation. " I n the immense
crowds that collected to see her at the Marq uis of L ans-
downe' s, and in the houses of the other principal nobility of
L ondon, the eagerness of curiosity brok e through all restraint;
the first ladies in the k ingdom stood on chairs and tables,
to catch a glimpse of her dark and brilliant physiognomy. "
Madame de S tael has left some admirable descriptions of
E nglish society, and of the impressions made upon her
mind when she first entered that powerful country. B ut
the principal obj ect of her visit was not to observe the in-
tellectual wealth or moral grandeur of E ngland. Through
all her perils and wanderings she had saved a copy of
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? ME MO I R O F MA DA ME DE S TA B L . x lv
her condemned book on Germany, and had brought it
triumphantly to L ondon; where it was published, in O c-
tober, 1813.
" I n this, which is perhaps her greatest work , Madame
de S tael has endeavoured to give a bold, general, and philo-
sophical view of the whole intellectual condition of the
German people, among whom she had ma' de what was in
some sort a voyage of discovery; for the highly original
literature of that country was then little k nown to the rest
of E urope. " I t was received with great applause in
E ngland, and afterward in F rance, where a change of go-
vernment admitted of its being published the ensuing
year. S ir J ames Mack intosh immediately wrote a review
of it, in which he says, " The voice of E urope had
already applauded the genius of a national painter in the
author of ' Corinne. ' I n her ' Germany,' she throws off the
aid of fiction; she delineates a less poetical character, and
a country more interesting by anticipation than by recollec-
tion. B ut it is not the less certain that it is the most
vigorous effort of her genius, and probably the most
elaborate and masculine production of the faculties of
woman. "
W hen Madame de S tael made her visit to E ngland, L ord
B yron was in the first lustre of his fame. A t first, the
rival lions seem to have been disposed to growl at each
other; but in time they grew to be on the best possible
terms. The following is the noble poet' s eloq uent tribute
to her genius: --
" Corinne is no more; and with her should ex pire the
fear, the flattery, and the envy, which threw too dazzling
or too dark a cloud round the march of genius, and forbade
the steady gaze of disinterested criticism. W e have her
picture embellished or distorted, as friendship or detraction
has held the pencil: the impartial portrait was hardly to be
ex pected from a contemporary. The immediate voice of
her survivors will, it is probable, be far from affording a
j ust estimate of her singular capacity. The gallantry, the
love of wonder, and the hope of associated fame, which
blunted the edge of censure, must cease to ex ist. The dead
have no sex ; they can surprise by no new miracles; they
can confer no privilege: Corinna has ceased to be a woman
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:48 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044021204953 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust.
