Talleyrand's final stop in Poland was Warsaw, where he attended the unveiling ceremony for the bronze statue of the French Regent.
Yes, the Poles had begun building this statue as early as Kościuszko's retreat from Russia.
The initiator was Scipione Piattoli, the King's secretary, who had been skeptical of France at the time. He personally contributed 13,000 Złoty and raised another 10,000 as construction funds, then invited the royal sculptor Andre-Jean Lebrun to take charge.
When Talleyrand arrived at the square before St. John's Cathedral, even the streets and alleys leading there were packed with people.
Solemn music rang out around them as Stanisław II personally led a host of high-ranking Polish officials to unveil the statue.
After the King, royal ministers, the Speaker of the Great Sejm, and Talleyrand had each delivered a speech, the music abruptly stopped. In its wake came the unbroken thunder of ceremonial cannon fire.
At the invitation of the King of Poland, Talleyrand personally pulled away the bright yellow drapery covering the bronze statue.
It was a statue more than three meters tall. At its center stood the French Regent, dressed in Hussar Military Uniform, his left hand resting on his sword and his right pointing into the distance.
Behind him stood Kościuszko, Madalinski, the late General Dombrowski, as well as Polish soldiers and Warsaw citizens. Though the statue itself was not particularly tall—after all, it was difficult to complete anything larger in only a few short months—it stood atop a pedestal more than five meters high, making the whole monument quite magnificent.
On the pedestal, Talleyrand saw neat French and Polish lettering—The Protector.
The instant the drapery fell to the ground, the several thousand people in the square, nobles and Sans-culottes alike, all bowed at once.
After a brief silence, the crowd suddenly