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HANDBOUND 
AT  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
TOROVTO  PPtrco 


sxnn    - 


MEMOIES 

OP 

PEINCE    METTEENICH 


FIBST    rOLUME 


LOSDOJf  :    PKIXTED    BY 

8P0TTISW00DE    ASD    CO.,    NEW-STEEET    SQUARE 

AND    PABLIAMEST    STREET 


T 


EDITORS   PREFACE. 


In  bringing  this  work  before  the  public,  I  do  homage 
to  the  memory  of  my  father. 

It  appears  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  the 
Chancellor. 

'  Such  a  delay  is  necessary,  in  order  that  the  writings 
which  I  leave  behind  me  may  become  ripe  for  the  use 
of  the  hterary  world.'  Thus  my  father  expressed  him- 
self on  different  occasions,  and  without  being  bound  by 
any  testamentary  directions,  fihal  piety  urges  me  to 
fulfil  a  duty  which  is  also  dictated  by  political  con- 
siderations. 

No  restriction  was  placed  upon  the  Editor  as  to 
the  mode  of  dealing  with  the  materials  which  my  father 
left,  and  I  have  chosen  the  form  which  seems  to  be 
indicated  by  the  materials  themselves. 

In  a  memoir  entitled  ^  My  Political  Testament,* 
which  the  reader  will  find  in  its  proper  place  in  this 
work,  the  Chancellor  explains  in  the  following  words  the 
reasons  of  the  silence  he  had  maintained  : — 

'  I  have  made  History,  and  have,  therefore,  not 
found  time  to  write  it.  I  did  not  regard  myself  capable 
of  this  double  task,  and  after  my  retirement  into 
private  Hfe,  I  was  too  advanced  in  years   to   devote 


vi  .     PREFACE. 

myself  to  the  task  of  writing  history.  Far  removed  from 
access  to  the  State  Archives  necessary  for  such  a  vsrork,  I 
should  have  had  only  my  memory  to  rely  upon. 

'  I  have  recoiled  from  this  task,  and  the  history  of 
my  ministry,  which  lasted  nearly  thirty-nine  years,  must 
be  derived  from  three  sources  : — 

'I.  From  the  Archives  of  the  department  over 
which  I  presided  from  the  Battle  of  Wagram,  in  18095 
tiU  March  13,  1848  : 

'  n.  From  a  collection  of  documents  which  I  leave 
behind  me,  under  the  title  of  "  Materials  for  the  History 
of  my  Time : " 

'm.  From  the  letters  and  papers  which  I  have 
written  since  my  retirement  into  private  life. 

'  The  impartial  historian  who  draws  from  these  three 
sources  will  find  abundant  materials. 

'  Neither  self-love  nor  proneness  to  dogmatism  have 
urged  me  to  make  known  the  views  and  sentiments 
by  which  the  whole  course  of  my  life  was  governed. 
The  feehng  which  inspires  me  rests  on  a  regard  for 
historical  truth.' 

Similar  expressions  used  by  my  father  will  be 
found  by  the  reader  in  many  parts  of  this  work.  The 
motive  which  hindered  Prince  Metternich  from  writing 
a  continuous  history  of  his  Hfe  and  labours  is  every- 
where apparent ;  as  such  an  undertaking  would,  indeed, 
have  amounted  to  writing  the  history  of  Europe  during 
the  first  half  of  our  century. 

The  reader  must  not  expect  from  the  Chancellor's 
son  a  history  of  this  period,  nor  a  picture  of  the  terrible 
wars,  or  of  the  long  era  of  peace  which  followed  them, 
an  era  which,  ambitious  as  it  may  sound,  bears  the  name 


PREFACE.  VU 

of  the  illustrious  Chancellor.  But  the  world  must 
accept  from  the  son  all  he  can  give — the  Notes,  Memoirs, 
and  Correspondence  which  the  Chancellor  deposited  in 
the  archives  of  his  family,  and  which  he  himself  de- 
scribes as  a  collection  to  be  used  for  the  history  of  his 
life,  with  the  expressed  wish  that  they  should  be  pub- 
hshed  for  the  use  of  the  historian. 

My  task,  therefore,  has  been  to  collect  the  papers 
left  by  my  father,  to  classify  them  according  to  the 
nature  of  their  subjects,  following  the  chronological 
order,  and  to  supplement  them  occasionally  by  reference 
to  the  Archives  of  the  State.  I  have  been  guided  in 
my  work  by  the  desire  to  throw  Hght  on  the  career  of 
Prince  Metternich,  reproducing  the  papers  with  scru- 
pulous fidelity,  without  addition  or  alteration,  and  in 
this  way  I  have  been  able  to  bring  out  the  greatness  of 
his  character. 

The  natural  divisions  in  the  Hfe  and  labours  of 
Prince  Metternich  have  led  me  to  arrange  the  papers 
he  has  left  in  three  sections,  corresponding  to  the  three 
following  epochs : — 

The  first,  from  1793  to  1815,  beginning  with  the 
birth  of  Metternich,  and  ending  with  the  celebrated 
Congress  at  Vienna. 

The  second,  from  1816  to  1848,  includes  a  period  of 
general  peace,  and  ends  with  the  Chancellor's  retire- 
ment from  political  life. 

The  third,  from  1848  to  1859,  is  a  period  of  re- 
pose, lasting  till  the  death  of  the  Chancellor,  which 
took  place  on  June  11,  1859. 

The  fourth  and  last  Part  will  consist  of  documents 
of  a  various  nature,  which  are  not   easy  to   class   in 


viii  PREFACE. 

chronological  order,  but  are  more  easily  arranged  ac- 
cording to  their  subjects. 

It  is  the  First  Part  which  is  now  published  in 
these  two  volumes,  comprising  the  period  from  1773  to 
1815. 

The  work  will  be  pubUshed  simultaneously  in  Ger- 
man, French,  and  EngHsh.  The  documents  left  by 
Prince  Metternich  are  written  partly  in  German  and 
partly  in  French. 

In  the  accomplishment  of  my  arduous  task  I  have 
had  the  assistance  of  others,  whose  valuable  help  I  most 
thankfully  acknowledge.  Amongst  others  I  specially 
mention  with  gratitude  His  Excellency  Baron  Aldenburg, 
whose  rare  knowledge  and  great  experience  have  never 
failed  me.  I  am  also  under  great  obhgations  to  the 
Government  officials,  to  the  directors  and  custodians  of 
the  State  Archives,  who  placed  their  treasures  at  my 
disposal  for  the  benefit  of  this  work,  but  I  have  used 
their  HberaUty  merely  to  fiU  up  gaps  in  the  papers  left 
by  the  Chancellor.  To  do  more  than  this  would  have 
been  to  alter  the  character  of  my  work. 

Lastly,  I  must  mention,  as  a  true  fellow-labourer  in 
this  great  enterprise,  my  friend,  Hofrath  von  Klinkow- 
strom.  Entrusted  with  the  sifting  and  arranging  of  the 
Chancellor's  papers,  he  has  given  to  this  vast  collection 
of  documents  the  form  under  which  they  are  now  pre- 
sented to  the  public. 

I  now  leave  my  father  to  speak.  The  reader  shall, 
in  this  work,  hear  the  voice  which  once  made  itself 
heard  in  all  the  Courts  and  Cabinets  of  Europe,  and 
see  the  man  who  had  the  honour  of  leading  for  many 
years  the  Conservative  party  of  the  Austrian  Empire. 


PREFACE.  ix 

The  reader  shall  hear,  not  another  speaking  of  IVCetter- 
nich,  but  Metternich  himself. 

Now  that  more  than  a  generation  has  passed  over 
his  quiet  tomb,  the  image  of  the  resolute  defender  of 
Conservative  Principles  appears  still  more  imposing, 
and  his  own  words  will  enable  men  to  reahse  the  power 
and  the  charm  of  his  character.  Even  his  enemies 
will  be  touched,  and  will  regard  with  respect  the  great 
statesman  as  he  once  again  passes  before  them. 

Written  on  the  20th  anniversary  of  the  death  of  my 
father. 

PRINCE  RICHARD  METTERNICH. 
Pakis  :  June  11, 1879. 


EXPLANATOBY. 

I  DEPOSIT  this  manuscript  in  the  archives  of  my  family, 
and  I  am  led  to  do  so  by  the  following  considerations  : 

My  hfe  belongs  to  the  time  in  which  it  has  passed. 

That  time  is  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  world  ; 
it  was  a  period  of  transition !  In  such  periods  the 
older  edifice  is  already  destroyed,  though  the  new  is 
not  yet  in  existence  ;  it  has  to  be  reared,  and  the  men 
of  the  time  play  the  part  of  builders. 

Architects  present  themselves  on  all  sides :  not  one, 
however,  is  permitted  to  see  the  work  concluded  ;  for 
that,  the  hfe  of  man  is  too  short.  Happy  the  man  who 
can  say  of  himself  that  he  has  not  run  counter  to 
Eternal  Laws.  This  testimony  my  conscience  does  not 
deny  me. 

I  leave  to  those  who  come  after  me  not  a  finished 
work,  but  a  clue  to  guide  them  to  the  truth  of  what 
I  intended  and  what  I  did  not  intend.  Mindful  of 
my  duty  to  the  State,  I  have  inserted  in  this  manuscript 
nothing  belonging  to  its  secrets ;  but  many  things  which 
ought  to  be  known,  and  which  ought  not  to  remain  in 
obscurity. 

I  have  especially  desired  to  render  a  last  service,  the 
greatest  I  can  render,  to  the  dead  :  to  make  known,  as 


XU  EXPLANATORY. 

he  was,  the  Emperor  Francis  I.,  who  in  his  last  will  has 
conferred  on  me  the  title  of  his  best  friend. 

My  Hfe  was  full  of  action  in  a  time  of  rapidly  moving 
events.  This  narrative  shows  that  from  my  earliest 
youth  to  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  a  laborious  ministry, 
when  I  write  these  Hues,  I  have  not  Hved  one  hour  to 
myself. 

A  spectator  of  the  order  of  things  before  the  Eevo- 
lution  in  French  society,  and  an  observer  of  or  a  parti- 
cipator in  all  the  circumstances,  which  accompanied  and 
followed  the  overthrow  of  that  order,  of  all  my  con- 
temporaries I  now  stand  alone  on  the  lofty  stage  on 
which  neither  my  will  nor  my  inclination  placed  me. 

I  acknowledge,  therefore,  the  right  and  the  duty  to 
point  out  to  my  descendants,  the  course  by  which  alone 
the  conscientious  man  can  withstand  the  storms  of  time. 
This  course  I  have  indicated  by  the  motto  I  have  chosen 
as  the  symbol  of  my  conviction,  for  myself  and  my  de- 
scendants :  '  True  Strength  lies  in  Eight  ' ;  save  this, 
all  is  transitory. 

The  epoch  which  I  have  especially  considered  lies 
between  1810  and  1815  ;  for  that  period  was  the  most 
important  in  my  Hfe,  as  it  was  also  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  The  direction  was  then  given  to  the  forms 
which  things  afterwards  assumed.  Proofs  of  this  exist 
in  the  State  Archives ;  but  they  contain  only  the  results, 
and  contribute  Uttle  towards  throwing  hght  on  the  pro- 
cess by  which  those  results  were  brought  about ;  for  in 
the  years  1813,  1814  and  1815,  the  monarchs  and  the 
leaders  of  the  Cabinets  were  mostly  in  the  same  locahty. 


EXPLANATORY.  xiii 

If  ever — and  it  is  inevitable — an  account  of  my 
life  be  given  to  the  world,  the  statement  of  the  truth 
concerning  myself  will  furnish  my  descendants  with  the 
means  of  contradicting  false  representations.  Investiga- 
tion of  the  State  Archives  will  also  be  required,  containing 
as  they  do  all  that  I  did  not  think  proper  to  include  in 
this  manuscript,  and  which  I  could  not  have  included 
from  want  of  time,  even  if  a  feehng  of  duty  had  not 
forbidden  it. 

The  men  who  create  History  have  not  time  to  write 
it — I  at  least  had  none. 

I  have  called  the  period  between  the  years  1810 
and  1815  the  most  important,  because  it  includes  the 
epoch  in  which  Napoleon's  attempt  to  estabhsh  a  new 
order  of  things  was  overthrown  ;  through  which  over- 
throw Europe  fell  under  the  natural  consequences  of 
the  French  Revolution — consequences  which  are  only 
now  beginning  to  develop  themselves. 

This  manuscript  is  to  remain  in  my  family  archives 
for  ever,  so  far  as  that  can  be  said  of  anything  man 
intends.  I  permit  it,  however,  to  be  used,  according  to 
time  and  circumstances,  to  fill  up  the  defects  in  histo- 
rical narratives,  or  to  correct  those  which  are  untrue, 
whether  in  regard  to  facts  or  in  regard  to  my  own 

person. 

METTERNICH. 

December  1844. 


CONTENTS 

OF 

THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 

FIRST  BOOK. 

MATERIALS  FOR   THE  HISTORY  OF  MY  PUBLIC  LIFE 

(1773-1815). 
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I,  Apprenticeship "       .        .        .  3 

n.  Ebttbabtce  into  Pitblic  LrFB 31 

III,  Embassy  in  Bebxin 45 

IV.  As  Austrian  Ambassador  at  the  Coitrt  op  Napoleon     .  63 
V.  Becomes  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs      ....  103 

VI.    Special  Mission  to  Paris 125 

VII.  Before  and  After  the  Russian  Campaign        .        .        .  145 

Vin.  History  of  the  Alliances      .......  171 

IX.    The  Dawn  of  Peace 249 


SECOND  BOOK. 

GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED   CONTEMPORARIES. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte 269 

Contributions  to  the  Portrait  of  Napoleon: 

The  Coronatiou  of  the  Empress  Josephine 288 

Napoleon's  Reception  of  the  Diplomatists  after  Tilsit  .        .        .     .  291 


XVI  CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 

CONTRTBTTXIONS  TO   THE  POBTRAIT    OF    NaPOLEON  {continued).  ^ 

The  Court  at  Fontainebleau 293 

The  Napoleonic  Aristocracy •    .  295 

Napoleon  at  the  Fatal  Ball  at  Prince  Schwarzenbeig's  •        .        .  298 

On  the  Flight  of  the  King  of  Holland 305 

The  Church  of  the  Madeleine 307 

Napoleon's  Opinion  of  Chateaubriand        .        .  >      .        .        .     .  307 

Napoleon's  Family 308 

The  Manuscript  of  St.  Helena 312 

AliEXANDEK  I.,  EmPEROK  OF  RtJSSIA ,  314 


THIED   BOOK. 

COLLECTION    OF   DOCUMENTS    FROM    THE    FIRST 
PERIOD  OF  METTERNICWS  LIFE  (1773-1815). 

Pkeliminaky  Remark  bt  the  Editor 337 

From  the  Time  of  the  Apprenticeship: 

1793.  Appeal  to  the  Army    • .339 

1794.  On  the  Necessity  of  a  general  Arming  of  the  People  on  the 

Frontiers  of  France 340 

1797-1798.  Letters  from  Metternich  to  his  Wife  from  Rastadt 

(3  to  53) 347 

Notes  by  the  Editob 379 


BOOK   I. 
MATERIALS  FOR  THE  HISTORY  OF  MY  PUBLIC  LIFE. 

1773—1815. 


CHAPTER   I. 
APPRENTICESHIP. 


VOL.  I.  B 

n 


CHAPTER   I. 

APPRENTICESHIP. 

(1773—1800.) 

]3irth  and  childhood — F.  Simon — University  of  Strasburg — Coronation  in 
Frankfort  1790 — Eulogius  Schneider — The  lay-bishop  of  Strasburg — 
Archduke  Francis — Metternich's  father  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the 
Netherlands — University  of  Mayence — French  emigrants — Vacation  in 
Brussels — Lectures  on  Law — Prof.Hofman — Kotzebue — NicolausVogt — 
Coronation  of  Emperor  Francis  II.  in  Frankfort  1792 — Ahh6  Maury  and 
Mirabean — Ball— Ooblentz — Frederick  William  II.—  Campaign  of  1792 — 
General  Dumouriez — Occupation  of  Valenciennes — Studies  in  the  Nether- 
lands— At  London — Notabilities  met  there — Mechanism  of  Parliament — 
Prince  of  Wales — War  between  France  and  England — Sailing  of  the  Fleet 
from  Portsmouth — The  naval  victory  at  Ushant — Visit  to  the  interior  of 
England — Report  of  Metternich's  imprisonment — Landing  in  Holland — 
First  journey  to  Vienna — Konigswart — Marriage  179.5 — Aversion  to 
public  life — Death  of  his  father-in-law — Studies  in  natural  science — 
Congress  of  Eastadt — Return  to  Vienna — Pozzo  di  Borgo — Salon  of  the 
Prince  de  Ligne — Salon  Liechtenstein — Salon  Rombeck — Thugut — Re- 
mark of  the  Emperor  Francis. 

I  WAS  born  at  Coblentz  in  the  year  1773,  so  that  my 
youth  coincided  with  that  period  which  immediately 
preceded  the  social  Revolution  in  France,  and  which 
served  as  an  introduction  to  it.  Brought  up  in  my 
father's  house  with  loving  care,  I  grew  up  under  the 
influences  of  the  position  in  which  I  was  born, — the 
pubhc  station  of  my  father  in  the  Imperial  service,  the 
French  social  life,  and  the  moral  laxity  which  cha- 
racterised the  smaller  German  States,  before  the  storm 
burst  forth  which  was  soon  afterwards  to  annihilate 
them. 

At    the   time    of    my   childhood   the    educational 
B  2 


4  AUTOBIOGEAPmCAL  MEMOIR. 

methods  of  Basedow  and  Campe  were  in  vogue.  My 
first  tutor  was  an  aged  Piarist.  When  I  was  nine  years 
old  he  died,  and  he  was  replaced  by  another  priest,  who 
taught  me  the  Humaniora  till  my  thirteenth  year,  when 
my  father  gave  me  another  tutor,  Friedrich  Simon, 
born  at  Strasburg,  and  a  Protestant,  had  been  a  teacher 
in  Basedow's  philanthropic  institution  at  Dessau.  He 
married  a  niece  of  Campe  himself,  and  then,  in  con- 
nection with  a  Protestant  clergyman,  Schweighauser, 
estabhshed  an  educational  institution  in  Alsace,  and 
afterwards  undertook  the  direction  of  a  similar  institu- 
tion at  Neuwied  on  the  Ehine. 

Under  the  guidance  of  this  tutor,  I  and  my  brother, 
who  was  a  year  and  a  half  younger  than  myself,  went 
through  the  studies  of  the  Gymnasiums  till  the  summer 
of  the  year  1788,  when  we  were  sent  to  the  University 
of  Strasburg. 

This  University  at  that  time  enjoyed  great  fame,  and 
was  much  frequented  by  Germans,  who  went  thither  on 
account  of  the  facilities  it  offered  for  acquiring  the 
German  and  French  languages.  Th^^ear  I  went  there 
t.ViP  yn^itlifnl  N^polepn  Bonaj)a£te_J}ad  Just^^ 
Ronclu(^ed  his  studies  in  the  artillery  regiment  quar- 
^red  at  Strasburg.  We  had  the  same  professors  for 
mathematics  and  fencing, — a  circumstance  which  was 
only  remembered  by  those  masters  when  the  little 
artillery  officer  became,  step  by  step,  a  great  general. 
First  Consul,  and  afterwards  Emperor.  During  my 
residence  in  Strasburg  I  never  heard  his  name  men- 
tioned.*   Prince  Maximilian  of  Zweibriicken,  afterwards 

*  In  passing  through  Strasburg  in  1808, 1  had  a  visit  from  my  old  feno*  | 
ing-master,  Mons.  Fustet.  '  Is  it  not  a  strange  thing,' — said  he  to  me, '  that  i 
it  was  my  lot  to  give  you  fencing-lessons,  just  after  I  had  given  the  like  to  j 
Napoleon  ?     I  hope  that  my  two  pupils,  the  Emperor  of  the  French  and  the 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  5 

the  first  King  of  Bavaria,  was  colonel  of  the  royal 
Alsace  regiment  then  quartered  at  Strasburg.  My 
mother ,^^^  who  was  intimate  with  the  parents  of  his  wife, 
a  princess  of  Hesse-Darmstadt,  had  recommended  me  to 
the  care  of  this  Prince.  This  charge  he  fulfilled  in  the 
most  cordial  manner,  and  throughout  the  whole  fife  of 
this  prince,  relations  of  the  utmost  confidence  existed 
between  us,  which  were  not  without  a  certain  influence 
on  more  than  one  pubUc  occasion. 

I  left  the  University  of  Strasburg  in  the  year  1790,^^^ 
at  the  time  of  the  coronation  of  the  Emperor  Leopold 
at  Frankfort,  whither  my  father  had  summoned  me. 
The  French  Eevolution  was  beginning.  From  that 
moment  I  wasJlS— clpse  observer,  and  subsequeiiJjY 
becagj^^J^^^^^jg^s^jyian^so^ihav^eve^rgjj^^ 
without  haviiig  been  once  drawn  into  its  wIuxIdqoL^I 
len   whose  characters  had  not  sufficient 


strength  to  withstand  the  misleadingL-glare  of  innova- 
tions and  theories,  and  who  have  reproached  me  that 
neimer*'^tiiv*1!maerstanding  nor_^S-^onscieiic^could 
s^staSnEfiemselves  at  the  tribunal  of  reagoiLaild_of-right, 
The  error^nto   which    these  men    fell,  I  ascribe   far 


more  to  weakness  of  judgment  maiL-LQ-IlisJnfluence  of 
evil  example. 

Contingencies  which  might  have  drawn  me  into  the 
vortex  were  certainly  not  wanting.  Between  the  years 
1787  and  1790  I  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  a 
tutor  upon  whose  name  the  curses  of  Alsace  fell ; 
during  the  Eeign  of  Terror  he  was  a  member  of  the 
revolutionary  tribunal,  over  which  Eulogius  Schneider, 
a  recreant  monk  from  the  diocese  of  Cologne,  presided  ; 
and  he  shared  in  the  responsibiHty  of  those  streams  of 

Austrian  Ambassador  at  Paris,  will  not  take  it  into  their  heads  to  come  to 
hlows  with  each  other.' 


6  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

blood  shed  by  that  abhorred,  tribunal  in  that  unhappy 
province.  My  religious  teacher  at  Strasburg  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Canon  law  at  the  university — and  after  adopt- 
ing the  civil  constitution  of  the  Clergy,  had  been  elected 
Bishop  of  Strasburg.  Afterwards  he  foreswore  rehgion 
and  the  episcopate,  and  publicly  burned  the  insignia  of 
his  office  in  a  revolutionary  orgy.  I  must  do  both  these 
men  the  justice  to  state,  that  they  never  attempted  to 
influence  my  opinions. 

My  tutor  made  himself  notorious  in  Paris  on  that 
accursed  day,  August  10,  1792,  It  was  he  who  pre- 
sided over  the  Council  of  Ten,  which  the  bandits^ 
known  as  '  The  Marseillaise,'  had  appointed  to  conduct 
the  operations  of  the  day.  In  1806  I  found  the  same 
man  in  Paris  again  ;  he  was  then  teacher  of  the  German 
language  in  the  CoUege  Louis  le  Grand,  but  he  after- 
wards lost  that  place,  being,  hke  all  the  Jacobins  of  that 
time,  in  disfavour  with  Napoleon.  On  the  return  of  the 
Bourbons,  the  Duke  of  Orleans  made  him  German 
teacher  to  his  children. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Jacobins  and  their  appeal  to 
the  passions  of  the  people,  excited  in  me  an  aversion, 
which  age  and  experience  have  only  strengthened.  I 
cherish  the  conviction  that  I  never  should  have  been  at 
any  time,  or  in  the  lowest  position,  accessible  to  the 
temptations  to  which  I  saw  so  great  a  number  of  my 
contemporaries  yield.  I  must  also  admit  that  the 
example  of  the  errors,  to  which  an  unveracious  spirit 
and  the  excitement  of  passion  may  lead,  was  not  lost 
upon  me ;  it  influenced  my  own  mind,  and  aided  me  to 
avoid  the  errors  into  which  many  fell,  only  because 
they  had  not  had  the  same  opportunities  of  beholding 
such  enormities. 

As  I  have  already  said,  I  went  to  Frankfort  in  the 


I 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  7 

year  1790,  for  the  coronation  of  the  Emperor  Leopold, 
where  my  father  was  Austrian  Ambassador.  I  was 
chosen  by  the  Cathohc  Imperial  Courts  of  the  West- 
phalian  Bench  to  be  master  of  the  ceremonies,  and  I 
had  as  colleague,  for  the  Protestant  section  of  the  same 
Bench,  Count  Friedrich  v.  Solms-Laubach. 

I  had  only  then  attained  my  seventeenth  year,  and 
was  much  flattered  by  this  mark  of  confidence  from  so 
honourable  a  corporation,  functions  being  assigned  to 
me  which,  from  their  important  character,  seemed  to 
require  a  man  of  riper  years. 

It  was  in  Frankfort  that  I  first  came  into  personal 
contact  with  the  Archduke,  who  became  afterwards 
Emperor  of  Germany  under  the  title  of  Francis  II.,  and 
then  Emperor  of  Austria  under  that  of  Francis  I.  He 
was  five  years  older  than  I,  and  had  just  married  his 
second  wife,  a  Neapolitan  princess.  On  the  occasion 
of  the  coronation  I  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  many 
eminent  persons  belonging  to  the  Imperial  court  and 
to  the  best  society  of  Vienna.  Although  the  son  of  the 
Emperor's  ambassador,  I  had  never  yet  been  in  Austria. 
The  only  spot  of  hereditary  property  on  which  I  had 
set  my  foot  was  the  estate  of  Konigswart,  where,  in  the 
year  1786,  owing  to  the  death  of  Frederic  II.,  I  had 
resided  for  a  short  time.  In  fact,  this  event  recalled 
my  father  from  his  post  of  Plenipotentiary  to  the  three 
Khenish  electorates. 

The  coronation  of  a  Roman  emperor  at  Frankfort 
was  certainly  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  splendid 
spectacles  in  the  world.  Everything,  down  to  the  most 
trifling  details,  spoke  to  the  mind  and  heart  through 
the  force  of  tradition  and  the  bringing  together  of  so 
much  splendour.  Yet  a  painful  feehng  overshadowed 
the  marvellous  picture  then  presented  by  the  city  of 


8  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Frankfort.  A  conflagration,  which  grew  with  each  day, 
laid  waste  the  neighbouring  kingdom.  Thoughtful  men 
already  saw  the  influence  which  this  must,  sooner  or 
later,  exercise  beyond  the  boundaries  of  France.  Emi- 
grants also  began  to  pour  into  the  heart  of  an  empire 
which  had  for  so  many  centuries  served  as  a  wall  of 
defence  against  a  movement  whose  origin  must  be 
sought  for  long  before  the  outbreak  of  1789  ;  and  this 
defensive  power  itself,  too,  was  already  in  a  condition 
of  evident  decay.  My  mind  was  then  too  young  to  be 
able  to  fathom  the  vicissitudes  of  that  gloomy  future ; 
absorbed  in  the  present,  I  saw  only,  with  all  the  force 
of  youthful  impressions,  the  contrast  between  the 
country  contaminated  by  Jacobinism,  and  the  country 
where  human  grandeur  was  united  with  a  noble  national 
spirit.  Surrounded  by  a  number  of  dull  spectators, 
who  called  themselves  the  people,  I  had  been  present  at 
the  plundering  of  the  Stadthaus  at  Strasburg,  per- 
petrated by  a  drunken  mob,  which  considered  itself  the 
people.  Now  I  found  myself  one  of  the  guardians  of 
pubhc  order  in  a  Stadthaus,  where  so  many  impressive 
ceremonies  had  taken  place,  and  this  at  so  short  a' 
distance  from  the  great  state  now  in  conflagration.  I 
repeat  it,  that  I  thought  only  of  this  contrast,  full  of 
faith  in  a  future  which,  in  my  young  dreams,  was  to 
seal  the  triumph  of  this  mighty  organisation  over 
all  weakness  and  error.  I^  slept  closeto  a  volcano, 
withgut-lhinking^of^any  eruption  of  lava ! 

It  was  towards  the  end  of  the  residence  of  the  Im- 
perial court  in  Frankfort  that  the  Emperor  Leopold  11. 
conferred  on  my  father  the  then  very  important  position 
of  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  States-General  of  the 
Austrian  Netherlands.  This  title,  borrowed  from  the 
diplomatic  career,  incorrectly  described  the  functions  of 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  9 

the  office,  the  true  attributes  of  which  would  have  been 
better  characterised,  if  he  had  been  called  Prime  Minister 
of  the  States-General.  The  popular  rising,  in  which 
such  worthless  men  as  the  advocate  Vandernoot  and  a 
priest  of  the  name  of  Van  Gupen  had  played  so  lament- 
able a  part,  had  just  been  put  down.  Following  the 
advice  of  Prince  Kaunitz,  who  knew  his  calm  wisdom 
and  concihatory  character,  my  father  had  been  chosen 
by  the  Emperor  to  carry  out  the  moral  pacification  of 
those  provinces,  and  this  he  succeeded  in  doing,  assisted 
by  the  repeal  of  the  reforms  so  unwisely  attempted  by 
the  Emperor  Joseph  11. 

From  Frankfort  I  went  to  the  University  of  Mayence, 
to  study  Law.  My  brother,  from  whom  I  had  never  yet 
been  separated,  had  been,  from  1787,  placed  with  me 
under  the  care  of  a  clerical  tutor,  who  was  an  upright, 
discreet  man,  and  a  witness  of  the  errors  into  which  my 
Jacobin  teacher  had  fallen.  I  had  now  concluded  my 
nineteenth  year,  and,  strictly  speaking,  had  no  longer  a 
tutor,  for  my  tutor  became  my  friend  and  coun- 
sellor. My  residence  in  Mayence  was  of  the  greatest 
use  to  me,  and  had  a  decided  influence  on  my  life.  My 
time  was  divided  between  my  studies  and  intercourse 
with  a  society  as  distinguished  for  intellectual  superiority 
as  for  the  social  position  of  its  members.  At  that  time 
Mayence  and  Brussels  were  the  rendezvous  for  French 
emigrants  of  the  higher  classes,  whose  exile  was  volun- 
tary, not  forced  as  it  soon  afterwards  became,  and  who 
had  not  as  yet  to  struggle  with  poverty.  In  my 
intercourse  with  the  elite  of  this  society,  I  learned  to 
know  the  defects  of  the  old  regime ;  the  occurrences, 
too,  of  each  day  taught  me,  into  what  crimes  and 
absurdities  a  nation  necessarily  falls,  when  it  undermines 
the  foundations  of  the  social  edifice.     I  learned  to  esti- 


10  AFrOBIOGRAPmCAL  MEMOIR. 

mate  the  difficulty  of  erecting  a  society  on  new  founda- 
tions, when  the  old  are  destroyed.  In  this  way  also  I 
came  to  know  the  French ;  I  learned  to  understand 
them,  and  to  be  understood  by  them. 

I  spent  the  yacation  in  the  bosom  of  my  family  at 
Brussels,  whither  my  father  had  summoned  me,  that  I 
might  work  in  his  department.  The  post  of  Minister 
to  the  States-General  was,  of  all  the  places  which  the 
Emperor  had  to  bestow,  the  most  important,  and  at  the 
same  time,  one  of  the  most  laborious.  The  minister 
united  in  his  own  person  the  chief  direction  of  all  the 
branches  of  a  substantive  government.  A  numerous 
diplomatic  corps  resided  at  Brussels,  the  minister,  there- 
fore, found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  poHtical  cabinet: 
The  country  had  just  passed  through  an  internal  crisis, 
the  consequences  of  which  were  still  felt  in  all  direc- 
tions, so  that  my  position  gave  me  the  opportunity  to 
observe  and  study  at  the  same  time  two  countries,  one 
of  which  was  given  up  to  the  horrors  of  the  Revolution, 
whilst  the  other  still  showed  fresh  traces  of  what  it  had 
gone  through.  This  position  and  the  instruction  I 
gained  from  it  have  not  been  lost  on  me  in  the  long 
course  of  my  pubhc  Hfe. 

With  the  scenes  of  devastation  before  me  of  which 
France  was  the  theatre,  my  mind  naturally  turned 
towards  every  study  which  promised  to  be  most  useful 
in  my  future  career.  I  felt  that  the  Revolution  would 
be  the  adversary  I  should  have  to  fight,  and  therefore 
I  set  myself  to  study  the  enemy  and  know  my  way 
about  his  camp.  I  attended  the  lectures  on  Law,  and 
came  in  contact  with  professors  and  students  of  all 
shades.  As  in  all  German  universities,  the  spirit  o; 
innovation  developed  itself  in  Mayence.  The  progress 
of  events  in  France  inflamed  this  disposition.     I  was 


i 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  11 

surrounded  by  students,  who  named  the  lectures  accord- 
ing to  the  EepubHcan  calendar ;  and  some  professors, 
especially  a  certain  Hofman,  who  at  that  time  (1792) 
was  head  of  one  of  the  clubs  at  Mayence,  made  it  their 
business  to  interlard  their  lectures  with  allusions  to  the 
emancipation  of  the  human  race,  as  it  was  so  well  begun 
by  Marat  and  Eobespierre.  George  Forster,  the  learned 
companion  of  the  famous  navigator  James  Cook  in  his 
voyages,  then  living  there,  gathered  round  him  nume- 
rous acolytes  of  the  Eevolution.  I  visited  at  his  house, 
and  saw  the  effect  of  the  seductive  principles  to  which 
many  youthful  minds  fell  victim.  Kotzebue,  the 
dramatist,  was  also  living  at  Mayence  at  that  time  ;  he 
was  then  an  ardent  follower  of  a  school  which,  twenty- 
five  years  later,  turned  their  daggers  against  him. 

From  this  epoch  date  the  relations  between  me  and 
the  historian  Nicolas  Vogt,  whose  remains  are  buried 
on  the  Johannisberg.  I  attended  his  lectures  on  the 
History  of  the  German  Empire  ;  and  whether  he  guessed 
how  much  help  I  should  afterwards  obtain  from  his 
lectures,  or  whether  from  the  force  of  sympathy  be- 
tween us,  I  always  reckoned  him  among  the  number  of 
my  most  zealous  friends.  Often  have  I  recalled  the 
saying  with  which  he  concluded  a  discussion  between  us 
on  the  subject  of  historical  criticism : — '  Your  intellect 
and  your  heart  are  on  the  right  road  ;  persevere  therein 
also  in  practical  Hfe,  the  lessons  of  History  wiU  guide 
you.  Your  career,  however  long  it  may  be,  will  not 
enable  you  to  see  the  end  of  the  conflagration  which 
is  destroying  the  great  neighbouring  kingdom.  If  you 
do  not  wish  to  expose  yourself  to  reproaches,  never  leave 
the  straight  path.  You  will  see  many  so-called  great 
men  pass  by  you  with  swift  strides ;  let  them  pass,  but 
do  not  deviate  from   your   path.     You  wiU  overtake 


12  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

them,  if  only  because  you  must  meet  them  on  their  way 
back ! '     The  good  man  was  right. 

In  July  1792,  I  was  present  at  the  coronation  of  the 
Emperor  Francis,  and  then  performed  the  same  duties 
as  at  that  of  his  illustrious  predecessor. 

The  appearance  which  Frankfort  then  presented  was 
very  different  from  that  of  this  city  two  years  earlier. 
France  was  now  bowed  beneath  the  Eeign  of  Terror. 
Events  followed  each  other  in  quick  succession.  The 
comparison  between  what  was  going  on  in  Frankfort  and 
what  was  taking  place  in  the  neighbouring  kingdom 
was  too  striking  to  escape  notice,  and  could  not  but  be 
painfully  evident  to  the  mind. 

The  hght-heartedness  which  characterised  the 
French  emigrants  assembled  in  the  city  for  the  corona- 
tion was  in  strong  contrast  with  this  impression.  The 
princes  of  the  royal  family  were  all  gathered  together 
at  Coblentz.  All  who  fled  from  the  Eevolution  reckoned 
on  their  exile  lasting  for  two  months.  Thoughtful  men 
glanced  at  the  Prussian  army  assembled  on  the  Ehine, 
and  at  the  war  which  had  already  broken  out  in  Bel- 
gium, Austria,  and  France. 

Among  the  personages  who  greatly  attracted  my 
attention  in  Frankfort,  I  may  mention  the  Abbe  Maury, 
who  officiated  here  as  Papal  Nuncio,  and  Vicomte  de 
Mirabeau,  known  by  the  sobriquet  of  Mirabeau-Ton- 
neau,  the  younger  brother  of  the  famous  Mirabeau  :  a 
man  of  spirit  and  great  courage,  just  as  enthusiastic 
in  his  loyalty  as  his  brother  was  revolutionary.  In 
the  Abbe  Maury  I  did  not  recognise  the  fearless 
deputy  of  the  National  Assembly,  and  for  this  reason 
doubtless,  I  was  the  less  surprised  to  meet  him  a  yea 
afterwards  as  Cardinal  and  almoner  to  Princess  Pauhne 
Borghese,  Napoleon's  sister. 


.1 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  13 

In  regard  to  the  circumstances,  the  pageant  and 
ceremonies  of  this  coronation  were  perhaps  of  a  more 
imposing  character  than  at  the  former.  Prince  Anton 
Esterhazy,  the  principal  Ambassador  of  the  Emperor, 
entrusted  me  in  the  most  friendly  manner  with  the 
direction  of  the  banquet  which  he  gave  after  the  coro- 
nation. I  opened  the  ball  with  the  young  Princess 
Louise  of  Mecklenberg,  who  afterwards,  as  Queen  of 
Prussia,  was  distinguished  for  her  beauty  and  noble 
quahties.  She  was  two  years  younger  than  I.  We 
had  known  each  other  from  childhood,  for  these  young 
Princesses  of  Mecklenberg,  of  whom  one  was  Queen  of 
Prussia  and  the  other  Queen  of  Hanover,  were  brought 
up  at  Darmstadt  under  the  care  of  their  grandmother, 
who  was  on  intimate  terms  with  my  mother.  The 
most  friendly  relations  existed  between  us  during  the 
whole  hfe  of  that  princess. 

When  the  coronation  was  over,  the  monarch  and 
most  of  the  German  princes  departed  to  Mayence,  where 
the  Elector  held  his  court  in  great  luxury,  this  court 
being  at  that  time  the  most  luxurious  in  Germany.  The 
French  princes  had  arrived,  everything  was  ready  for  the 
beginning  of  the  campaign.  Great  hopes  were  placed  on 
the  result,  and  certain  victory  was  generally  expected. 
The  French  emigrants  thought  the  undertaking  sure  of 
success,  and  the  only  complaint  they  were  heard  to 
utter  related  to  unavoidable  delays  in  the  assembhng  of 
the  army.  According  to  their  idea,  the  despatch  of  a  few 
battahons  only  was  needed,  in  order  that  the  white  flag 
should  immediately  appear  on  all  the  towers  of  France. 

No  doubt  these  lofty  delusions  brought  about  tlie 
defeat  which  the  Prussian  army  soon  afterwards  sus- 
tained. 

From  Mayence  I  went  to  Coblentz,  to  which  place 


14  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

the  French  princes  returned.  The  Prussian  army  had 
encamped  near  the  village  of  Metternich,  which  hes  a 
mile  (German)  distant  from  the  town.  There  for  the 
first  time  I  came  to  know  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia, 
who,  after  the  death  of  King  Frederick  WiUiam  11., 
mounted  the  throne. 

Frederick  Wilham  11.  was  the  picture  of  a  king. 
In  stature  he  was  almost  a  giant,  and  stout  in  propor- 
tion. In  aU  assembhes  he  stood  a  head  taller  than  the 
crowd.  His  manners  were  stately  and  pleasant.  The 
emigrants  were  certain  that  he  had  only  to  show  him- 
self on  the  frontiers,  and  the  sans-culottes  would  lay  down 
their  arms.  French men-Xtf  that  dav .  did  not  at  all 
comprehend  tne~Eevolution ;  and,  indeed,  I  do  not 
Sef?eve"that,  witnaTewTxceptions,  they  ever  succeeded 
m  doing  SO.  ijut  this  weakness  js_  not  the  exclusive 
Pioperty  of  the  French,  for  people  in  general  do  not 
evengues^thetrue  causes  or  thepurpose  of  events 
which  take  place  beioreTBeirTvesr***'^'''^^"**'"******' 
^Doon  after  thisTtnecampaign  commenced  and  dis- 
pelled all  these  dreams.  Defective  in  organisation,  and 
conducted  by  a  man  whose  mihtary  reputation  was 
founded  simply  on  a  flattering  speech  of  Frederick  II., 
it  ended  in  a  calamitous  retreat.  All  that  I  afterwards 
was  able  to  discover  about  this  campaign  left  me  no 
doubt  whatever  that,  if  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  instead 
of  losing  time  in  Champagne,  had  marched  straight  to 
Paris,  he  would  have  effected  an  entrance  into  that  city. 
What  would  have  been  the  consequence  of  such  a  suc- 
cess, it  is  difficult  to  determine ;  but  for  my  part,  I^ 
feel  convinced  that  the  Eevolution  would  not  have 
been  suppressed.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  mili-j 
tary  power  was  too  weak  to  maintain  the  first  success, 
the  evil  had  spread  to  an   extent  too  vast  to  be  re- 


\ 


I 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  16 

strained  in  its  onward  steps  by  merely  military  opera- 
tions, and  Europe  was  the  victim  of  so  many  illusions 
beyond  the  range  of  the  Eevolution  that  moral  reme- 
dies could  not  keep  pace  with  the  power  of  the 
sword.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  I  went  to 
Brussels.  The  war  was  at  its  height.  My  university 
studies  were  interrupted  in  consequence  of  these  events. 
I  passed  to  and  fro  between  Brussels  and  the  army, 
sometimes  with  commissions  from  my  father,  sometimes 
to  visit  my  friends.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  as  I 
was  returning  to  Brussels,  an  adjutant  of  the  general 
in  command  came  to  inform  my  father  that  the  com- 
mander of  the  French  army,  General  Bumouriez,  had 
just  seized  the  commissaries  of  the  Convention,  and 
sent  them  to  the  Austrian  outposts.  I  was  deputed  to 
receive  them  on  their  arrival  at  Brussels.  I  had  many 
interviews  with  them  in  the  prisons  which  were  assigned 
to  them,  and  heard  their  complaints  against  the  general, 
whom  they  had  been  ordered  to  remove  and  imprison. 
Shortly  after  this,  we  saw  General  Dumouriez  himself 
arrive  in  the  Netherlands.  The  French  Eeign  of  Terror 
destroyed  its  own  commanders  just  as  cartridges  de- 
stroyed the  soldiers.  The  execution  of  Louis  XVI.  and 
of  Marie  Antoinette  had  called  forth  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  France,  and  especially  in  our  army,  a  horror 
which  soon  passed  into  implacable  hatred,  and  for  some 
weeks  our  troops,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  officers, 
gave  no  quarter  in  battle. ^^^ 

The  campaign  of  the  year  1793  concluded  with  the 
capture  of  Valenciennes.^^^  Jj^as  present  at  almost  all 
the  operations  of  the  siege,  and  had  therefore  the 
QBEortum^Tiobservmg  war  verY.ji[Qadxj_and   it   is 


to   be  wishea   tnat_alL^lflaa,.whparecaUe^^ 


take  a  leadmpr  part  in  the  |^^i.'|jnp.ss  r^f  thp  St.at.p  p.mild 


I 


16  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

learn  in  the  same  school.  In  the  course  of  my  long 
public  life  I  have  often  had  reason  to  congratulate 
myself  upon  the  experience  thus  gained. 

I  passed  the  winter  of  1793-1794  in  the  Netherlands, 
continuing  the  studies  of  the  service  for  which  I  was 
destined,  and  being  employed  in  the  business  of  the  Cabi- 
net. Brussels  was  full  of  strangers,  and  the  emigrants 
continued  to  dream  of  the  end  of  their  exile  with  a  con- 
fidence which  I  was  far  from  sharing. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  winter,  Vicomte  Desan- 
droins,  chief  treasurer  of  the  Netherlands  Government, 
was  entrusted  with  a  mission  to  the  EngHsh  Govern- 
ment. I  accompanied  him  to  London,  and  was  there 
received  by  King  George  III.  with  unusual  kindness 
and  afiability.  The  relations  between  the  Imperial  Court 
and  that  of  Great  Britain  were  most  confidential,  and 
public  feeling  manifested  itself  in  both  countries  with 
the  same  energy  against  the  horrors  of  the  French 
Eevolution,  as  indeed  their  interests  seemed  to  be 
identical.  I  thus  paid  a  visit  to  England  under  the 
happiest  auspices,  and  my  residence  there  brought 
me  into  contact  with  the  most  remarkable  men  of  this 
great  epoch.  In  this  way  I  came  to  know  WiUiam  Pitt, 
Charles  Fox,  Burke,  Sheridan,  Charles  Grey  (afterwards 
Lord  Grey),  and  many  other  personages,  who  then 
and  afterwards  played  great  parts  on  the  theatre  of 
public  fife.  I  frequented  the  sittings  of  Parliament  as 
much  as  possible,  and  foUowed  with  particular  attention 
the  famous  trial  of  Mr.  Hastings. ^^^  I  endeavoured  to 
acquaint  myself  thoroughly  with  the  mechanism  of  the 
Parliament,  and  this  was  not  without  use  in  my  subse- 
quent career.  I  was  then  appointed  Ambassador  Extraj 
ordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Emperor) 
at   the   Hague.     This   circumstance,   being   known   in 


I 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  17 

London,  procured  me  admission  to  a  sphere  of  society 
generally  unapproachable  for  a  young  man  of  one-and- 
twenty.  I  came  to  know  the  Prince  of  Wales,  after- 
wards Regent,  then  at  last  King,  with  the  title  of  George 
IV.  Our  relations,  begun  at  this  time,  lasted  during 
the  prince's  whole  life.  Great  dissensions  at  this  period 
divided  the  Eoyal  family  of  England.  The  Prince  of 
Wales  had  taken  up  the  side  of  the  Opposition.  My 
youth  restrained  me  from  expressing  the  profound 
disapproval  which  his  conduct  produced  in  me ;  but  I 
took  one  day  the  opportunity  of  saying  a  word  to  him 
on  the  subject,  of  which  he  reminded  me  thirty  years 
afterwards,  and  added,  '  You  were  very  right  then ! ' 

The  Prince  of  Wales  was  one  of  the  handsomest 
men  I  ever  saw,  and  to  an  agreeable  exterior  he 
added  the  most  charming  manners.  He  possessed  a 
sound  intelhgence,  which  alone  preserved  him  from 
being  corrupted  by  the  bad  society  in  which  he  moved 
.with  ease  himself,  without  ever  permitting  the  shghtest 
[want  of  respect  in  others.  He  took  a  great  fancy  to 
e,  and  was  pleased,  I  think,  at  my  reserve  in  a  society 
hich  was  not  agreeable  to  me. 

The  war  between  France  and  England  had  meantime 
roken  out,  and  the  moment  now  drew  near  when  the 
aval  strength  of  the  two  powers  was  to  be  measured 
ainst  each  other.  Several  hundred  merchant  vessels, 
ound  for  the  East  and  West  Indies,  waited  in  the  roads 
t  Spithead  and  St.  Helen's  for  the  opportunity  to  set 
iail.  A  great  fleet  of  men-of-war  was  to  protect  the 
Qerchantmen  from  an  attack,  for  which  great  naval 
)reparations  had  been  made  in  the  harbour  of  Brest, 
eagerly  desired  to  see  the  sailing  of  the  fleet.  When 
e  King  heard  of  this,  he  was  kind  enough  to  order 
hat  everything  should  be  done  to  facihtate  the  execu- 
vou  I.  0 


18  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

tion  of  my  purpose ;  and  one  day  when  I  waited 
on  him,  he  told  me  he  would  let  me  know  when  to  go 
to  Portsmouth  to  be  present  at  the  departure  of  the 
fleet,  and  would  give  the  necessary  directions  to  Admiral 
Howe  and  the  harbour-master  to  secure  the  gratifica- 
tion of  my  curiosity.  Shortly  afterwards  his  Majesty 
sent  to  inform  me  that  the  moment  for  my  departure 
was  come,  and  furnished  with  letters  to  the  above- 
named  officers,  I  travelled  to  Portsmouth.  This  town 
was  so  full  of  sightseers  that,  but  for  the  attention  of 
the  naval  officers,  who  had  secured  lodgings  for  me,  no 
such  accommodation  would  have  been  found.  The  day 
after  my  arrival  I  paid  the  harbour-master  a  visit,  and 
went  on  board  the  admiral's  ship,  to  present  the  letters 
mth  which  I  had  been  provided.  The  admiral  received 
me  with  the  greatest  politeness,  and  assured  me  he 
would  have  me  informed  the  moment  the  fleet  was  ready 
to  sail. 

I  spent  three  days  at  Portsmouth,  in  visiting  the 
difierent  estabhshments  in  that  town,  and  in  the  night 
of  the  third  day  I  was  awoke  by  the  news,  brought  by 
an  officer  sent  by  Admiral  Howe,  that  he  had  instructions 
to  conduct  me  to  the  Isle  of  Wight.  From  the  top  of 
the  hill  behind  Cowes,  we  could  see  the  fleets  leave  the 
roads  and  join  company  on  the  other  side  of  the  island, 
on  the  south  of  which  a  vessel  was  stationed  for  my  use. 
in  order  to  convey  me  to  the  admiral's  ship.  We  lefi 
Portsmouth  immediately,  and  landed  on  the  Isle  (^ 
Wight  in  the  early  morning,  reaching  our  point  0" 
observation  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  fresl 
breeze  sprang  up,  and  this  was  the  signal  for  the  de 
parture  of  more  than  four  hundred  ships.  I  conside 
this  the  most  beautiful  sight  I  have  ever  seen,  I  migh 
say,  indeed,  the  most  beautiful  that  human  eyes  hav 


I 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  19 

ever  beheld  !  At  a  signal  from  the  admiral's  ship  the 
merchantmen  unfurled  their  sails,  the  fleet  for  the  West 
Indies  turned  to  the  west,  the  fleet  for  the  East  Indies 
passed  to  the  east  side  of  the  island,  each  accompanied 
with  a  portion  of  the  royal  fleet.  Hundreds  of  vessels 
and  boats,  filled  with  spectators,  covered  the  two  roads 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  in  the  midst  of  which  the 
great  ships  followed  one  another,  in  the  same  manner 
as  we  see  great  masses  of  troops  moved  on  the  parade 
ground.  Four  French  men-of-war,  coming  from  Toulon, 
with  emigrants  on  board,  hoisted  the  white  flag  and 
joined  the  Enghsh  fleet.  This  circumstance,  unparal- 
leled in  the  annals  of  history,  gave  a  character  to  the 
occurrence  which  will  never  fade  from  the  memory  of 
those  who  witnessed  it.  In  a  few  hours  the  two  fleets 
met  to  the  south  of  the  island.  As  soon  as  my  guide 
gave  the  signal  for  departure,  we  descended  the  hill 
and  joined  Admiral  Howe  on  board  the  '  Queen  Char- 
lotte.' I  remained  with  the  admiral,  who  loaded  me 
with  attentions,  till  the  evening  of  May  30. 

A   despatch  boat   sent  from   the    English   fleet   of 
observation   before  Brest  brought   the  news  that   the 
French   fleet   had   set   sail   and    put   out   to  sea.     In 
spite  of  my  earnest  petitions  to  the  admiral  to  allow 
me  to  remain  to  see  the  great  events  which  were  im- 
minent, he  obliged  me  to  leave  him ;    '  The  King  told 
me,'  said  he,  '  to  let  you  see  everything  ;  but  I  have  to 
send  you  back  ahve,  and  cannot  take  upon  myself  to 
.expose  you  to  the  dangers  of  a  sea-fight.'     With  the 
I  greatest  regret,  therefore,  I  left  the  fleet,  and  went  on 
I  board  the  vessel  which  the  admiral  was  sending  ofi*  to 
'  Portsmouth  with  his  despatches  to  the  Admiralty ;  and 
after  a  few  days'  stay  in  Portsmouth,  I  returned   to 
London.      The  city  I  found  illuminated,  and  the  people 

C3 


20  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

filled  with  rapture  at  the  news  of  the  great  naval  victory 
of  the  1st  of  June  ofi"  Ushant.  This  news  pre- 
ceded me  by  a  few  hours  only.  I  remained  in  Lon- 
don two  days ;  and  on  the  third  I  travelled  back  to 
Portsmouth,  to  see  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  with  their 
prizes. 

The  admiral's  ship,  which  I  had  left  a  few  days 
before  in  the  most  perfect  condition,  was  one  of  those 
which  suffered  the  most  severely.  She  had  joined 
battle  with  the  French  admiral's  ship,  and  presented  the 
appearance  of  a  ruin ;  the  greater  part  of  her  crew  had 
been  killed  or  disabled.  Admiral  Howe,  who  to  my  great 
joy  escaped  unhurt,  returned  covered  with  laurels. 

I  was  to  have  returned  to  the  Netherlands  in  the 
middle  of  summer,  but  the  war  prevented  me  ;  and 
while  waiting  to  see  how  events  would  turn  out,  I  visited 
the  interior  of  England.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
autumn,  as  the  enemy  had  entered  the  Netherlands,  I 
embarked  at  Harwich  to  cross  over  to  Helvoetsluys. 
We  were  overtaken  by  a  heavy  gale,  which  drove  us 
into  the  roads  of  Dunquerque,  just  as  that  town  was 
being  bombarded  by  Sir  Sidney  Smith.  I  was  exposed 
to  a  cross  fire  for  more  than  two  hours,  and  had  only 
to  thank  a  sudden  change  of  wind  for  my  escape  from 
so  dangerous  a  position.  From  this  circumstance  a 
report  was  started  and  disseminated  by  the  newspapers 
of  the  day  that  I  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the 
French.  This  false  report  reached  the  ears  of  my 
father,  and  he,  with  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Austrian  army,  was  just  on  the  point  of  approaching 
the  French  Government  with  regard  to  my  hberation, 
when  he  heard  of  my  landing  in  Holland.  I  remainec 
in  this  country  so  long  as  was  necessary  to  enable  m( 
to  visit   the   Hague,   Amsterdam,  and   part  of  North 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  21 


Holland,  and  from  thence  I  repaired  to  the  seat  of  go- 
vernment of  the  Netherlands  on  the  Lower  Ehine,  to 
which  place  it  had  retired. 

In  the  beginning  of  October  I  travelled  with  my 
father  to  Vienna,  and  visited  that  capital  for  the  first 
time.  In  the  month  of  February  of  the  same  year 
Prince  Kaunitz  died,  and  the  direction  of  foreign  aflairs 
was  entrusted  to  Baron  von  Thugut.  I  had  made  his 
acquaintance  in  Brussels,  where  he  passed  several  months 
with  Count  Mercy  d'Argenteau,  who  hved  in  the 
Belgian  capital  after  his  return  from  his  post  of  am- 
bassador in  Paris.  I  have  already  mentioned  that  I 
had  been  chosen  for  the  mission  to  the  Hague  ;  but  after 
the  conquest  of  Holland  by  Pichegru's  army,  it  did  not 
suit  me  to  take  that  post,  and  I  waited  the  develop- 
ment of  events,  without  impatience,  but  with  a  feehng  of 
bitterness  against  the  Eevolution  the  consequences  of 
which  threatened  the  whole  body  of  society.  The  left 
bank  of  the  Ehine  was  occupied  by  the  troops  of  the 
French  Eepubhc.  Those  were  to  blame  for  this  blow 
who  had  so  utterly  mistaken  the  strength  and  extent 
of  the  Eevolution.  The  greater  part  of  our  family 
estates  lying  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Ehine  had  been 
confiscated  by  the  great  nation ;  it  was  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  turn  to  the  estates  we  had  in  Bohemia,  which 
had  brought  in  but  httle  to  my  father,  or  his  predeces- 
sors during  the  last  century,  but  which  had  now  to  be 
made  the  most  of.  My  father  sent  me  thither  in  order  to 
carry  out  the  necessary  measures  on  the  spot.  I  spent 
the  months  of  November  and  December  alone  in  Konigs- 
wart,  and  occupied  myself  with  the  management  of  the 
affairs  entrusted  to  me. 

On  my  return  to  Vienna,  I  found  my  parents  busy 
with  a  project  for  my  marriage.     Prince  Ernst  Kaunitz, 


22  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

eldest  son  of  the  chancellor,  had  an  only  daughter  ; 
he  had  become  acquainted  with  me  during  my  first 
short  residence  in  Vienna.  PreUminary  conferences 
between  the  parents  made  the  conclusion  of  the  mar- 
riage dependent  on  the  mutual  inchnations  of  the  young 
people.  I  was  only  one-and-twenty,  and  the  thought 
of  marrying  so  young  had  never  occurred  to  me.  It 
was  soon  evident  to  me  that  my  parents  much  desired 
this  marriage ;  but  as  the  Princess  Kaunitz  shortly 
afterwards  had  an  illness,  from  which  she  only  recovered 
in  March  1795,  I  did  not  make  the  acquaintance  of 
my  bride-elect  till  the  summer,  and  our  betrothal  was 
arranged  to  take  place  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year. 

Prince  Ernst  Kaunitz  loved  his  daughter  tenderly, 
and  was  determined  not  to  part  with  her,  so  that  I  con- 
sented that  we  should  live  with  him.  Th^iftfai^jfljal 
was  celeiiialied^on-_SeElemb£iL-27,  1795.  at  Austerlitz, 
the  place  which  ten  years  afterwaro^jecame  so  sadly 
mm^^^^^^^^^*'^^""'"''^^^ 

I  have  already  said  that  the  pubHc  service  presented 
no  attractions  for  me.  I  had  determined  to  remain  in 
private  Kfe,  and  to  devote  my  time  to  the  cultivation  of 
learning  and  science.  At  the  time  of  which  I  speak 
fortune  seemed  to  favour  my  inchnations,  and  I  made 
a  plan  for  myself,  which  I  was  not  permitted  to  carry 
out. 

I  must  also  acquaint  my  readers  with  other  caused 
which  kept  me  aloof  from  public  affairs.  Still  youngs 
and  placed  in  a  position  which  allowed  me  to  observe, 
from  the  highest  point  of  view,  the  course  of  the  greatest 
events,  I  found  that  they  were  not  conducted  as  they 
ought  to  have  been.  '  Les  affaires  ce  sont  les  hommes ;' 
affairs  are  only  the  expression  of  the  faculties  or  the 


I 


II 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  23 

weaknesses  of  men,  of  their  inclinations  and  their  errors, 
their  virtues  and  their  vices.  Inaccessible  to  prejudice, 
and  seekirig  only  the  truth  in  everything,  my  modesty 
did  not  allow  me  to  find  fault  with  persons  in  power  if 
I  was  not  satisfied  with  what  I  saw ;  on  the  contrary,  I 
ascribed  to  the  weakness  of  my  own  understanding  and 
to  my  inexperience  the  feehng  which  forced  me  to 
disapprove  of  the  course  they  had  taken.  But  neither 
inclination  nor  duty  led  me  to  acquire  the  necessary 
experience.  My  particular  vocation  seemed  to  me 
to  be  the  cultivation  of  knowledge,  especially  of  the 
exact  and  physical  Sciences,  which  suited  my  taste  par- 
ticularly. I  loved  the  fine  arts  too,  so  that  nothing 
aroused  in  me  any  desire  to  put  my  freedom  into 
fetters.  The  diplomatic  career  might  certainly  flatter 
my  ambition,  but  during  all  my  life  I  have  never  been 
accessible  to  this  feeling. 

In  the  autumn  of  1797,  death  carried  ofi'my  father- 
in-law.  Home  duties  and  study  continued  to  be  my 
occupation.  I  diligently  attended  lectures  on  Geology, 
Chemistry,  and  Physics  ;  then  too,  as  afterwards,  I  fol- 
lowed with  attention  the  progress  of  Medical  Science. 
Man  and  his  life  seemed  to  me  to  be  objects  worthy 
of  study.  Vienna  had  for  many  years  been  rich  in 
great  physicians.  Van  Swieten  and  Stoll  were  dead  ;  the 
first  professorial  chair  was  filled  by  Peter  Franck ; 
Quarin  did  honour  to  science  by  his  extensive  know- 
ledge ;  Gall  continued  his  lectures  to  a  select  audience ; 
Jacquin  was  continually  making  fresh  advances  in 
botany.  I  was  happy  in  this  scientific  circle,  and 
allowed  the  Eevolution  to  rage  and  rave  without  feehng 
any  call  to  contend  with  it.  It  pleased  Providence 
afterwards  to  rule  quite  otherwise. 

The  Congress  of  Eastadt  drew  me  out  of  my  re- 


24  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

tirement.  The  Counts  of  the  Westphahan  '  Collegium ' 
entrusted  me  with  the  care  of  their  interests.  I  under- 
took the  charge,  more  from  a  feehng  of  duty  than  in 
the  hope  of  being  able  to  serve  a  body  whose  existence 
was  threatened,  as  was  that  of  the  German  Empire 
itself.  I  remained  in  Rastadt  till  the  middle  of  March 
1799.  As  the  dissolution  of  the  Congress  approached, 
I  took  my  wife  and  daughter  back  to  Vienna.  A  short 
time  after  my  return  to  this  capital,  I  learned  the  catas- 
trophe which  signahsed  the  end  of  a  Congress  which, 
from  beginning  to  end,  had  been  but  a  phantom.  I 
had  no  opportunity  at  that  time  of  seeing  Bonaparte. 
He  had  left  Eastadt  two  days  before  my  father  and  I 
arrived.  In  their  respective  capacities  of  First  Plenipo- 
tentiary of  the  Empire  and  of  the  French  Eepubhc,  my 
father  and  Bonaparte  had  their  apartments  in  the  Palace 
of  the  city,  separated  only  by  the  great  saloon. ^^^ 

Eeturning  home,  I  again  resumed  my  own  manner 
of  life  and  my  accustomed  employments.  My  stay  in 
Eastadt  only  strengthened  me  in  my  opposition  to  a 
career  which  in  no  wise  satisfied  my  mind  and  disposi- 
tion. The  French  Eevolution  had_reached  and  passed 
the  climax  of  its  barbarous  follies  :  the  Kpr>nhl'p.  was 
only  the  miserablejdxsgs  of  it ;  and  a  disunited  Germany 


I 


was  paralysed  by  the  peace  which  Prussia^, Jiad  sepa- 
ratelyconcluded  witli  Fraiiceai  l>asle,  and  by  the 
system  of  neutrahty  at  any  price,  which  the  Princes 
of  North  Germany  had  adopted.  Austria  alone  was  in 
the  field,  and  the  war  was  badly  carried  on.  Was  there 
anything  in  such  a  situation  to  summon  me  to  exchange 
my  peaceful  life  for  a  hfe  of  activity  constrained  tc 
move  within  hmits  conflicting  with  my  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence and  cramping  my  conscience  ?  • 
These  feeUngs  of  mine  might  easily  give  the  impres 


I 


APPEENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  25 

sion  that  my  temper  had  become  morose.  But  that 
would  be  a  mistake.  I  was  preserved  from  this  weak- 
ness by  my  love  for  grave  studies.  I  never  shut  myself 
up  from  the  world ;  my  life  was  that  of  a  man  who 
sought  exclusively  good  society ;  this  alone  had  any 
power  of  attraction  for  me.  The  day  was  usually  given 
entirely  up  to  business,  and  the  evening  was  divided 
between  work  and  recreation.  I  frequented  those 
salons  by  preference  in  which  I  was  sure  to  find  plea- 
sant conversation,  convinced  that  such  conversation 
serves  to  sharpen  the  intellect,  correct  the  judgment, 
and  is  a  source  of  instruction  to  those  who  know  how 
to  keep  it  from  degenerating  into  mere  babbling. 

At  that  time  there  were  in  Vienna  several  foreigners 
remarkable  for  their  intellectual  gifts  ;  among  whom 
I  may  particularly  mention  Pozzo  di  Borgo,'  who  after- 
wards played  a  great  part  in  public  afiairs.  He  was  at 
that  time  employed  as  a  secret  agent  by  the  English 
Cabinet.  I  met  him  often  in  society.  I  remarked  in  him 
an  extraordinary  fluency  combined  with  southern  warmth 
in  expressing  his  feehngs.  One  salon,  with  which,  how- 
ever, I  had  only  a  distant  connection,  was  that  of  the 
Prince  de  Ligne's.  The  Prince  himself  was  conspicuous 
for  the  pecuhar  quickness  of  his  intellect ;  and  his  salon 
was  frequented  by  a  very  mixed  company,  of  whom  the 
greater  part  affected  the  reputation  of  wits,  without 
being  particularly  intellectual.  Por  many  years  the 
Prince  had  honoured  me  with  especial  kindness.  During 
my  residence  in  the  Netherlands  he  had  wished  to 
bestow  on  me  his  second  daughter  in  marriage,  and 
used  to  call  me  his  son-in-law,  a  name  which  he  con- 
tinued to  give  me  in  joke  as  long  as  he  lived.  The 
conquest  of  the  Netherlands  brought  the  Prince  and 
his  family  from  Brussels  to  Vienna.    By  a  strangecaprice 


26  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

of  fortune,  the  Prince's  daughter,  who  had  been  destined 
for  me,  married  a  Count  PflUfy-,  who  had  been  at  one 
time  engaged  to  marry  thp  y^ry  dfl^|orht,er  of  Prince 
.aunitz,  who  ber'^iyrip.  my  wif^ 

The  house  which  I  most  frequented  was  that  of 
the  Princess  Liechtenstein/^^  an  aunt  of  my  wife  on  the 
mother's  side,  and  one  of  those  five  princesses  who  for  [ 
many  years  were  the  intimate  friends  of  the  Emperor 
Joseph  II.  This  small  circle,  known  during  the  reign 
of  this  monarch  by  the  name  of  '  the  Society  of 
Princesses,'  consisted  of  Princess  Franz  Liechtenstein, 
Princess  Ernest  Kaunitz  and  her  sister.  Princess  Karl 
Liechtenstein,  and  the  Princesses  Kinsky  and  Clary.  Of 
men,  besides  the  Emperor  Joseph,  there  were  Marshal 
Lascy,  Lord-in-waiting,  Count,  afterwards  Prince,  Eosen- 
berg,  and  the  Prince  de  Ligne.  After  the  death  of  the 
Emperor,  this  society  was  dispersed.  The  Princess  Karl 
gathered  around  her  the  remains  of  this  circle  of  all 
that  Vienna  possessed  of  persons  distinguished  for  their 
agreeable  manners.  The  Countess  Eombec  too,  sister  of 
Count  Ludwig  Cobenzl,  then  ambassador  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, opened  her  salon  ;  which  was  much  frequented  by 
foreigners  and  especially  by  French  emigrants. 

I  had  arranged  to  pass  the  winter  in  the  capital,  and 
the  summer  months  in  the  country,  sometimes  in 
Moravia  on  an  estate  belonging  to  my  wife,  sometimes 
in  Bohemia  on  one  belonging  to  my  family.  I  had 
entirely  withdrawn  myself  from  public  affairs,  and  in 
regard  to  them  I  was  simply  a  spectator.  The  result 
of  my  observations  was  not  favourable  to  the  cause 
which  aU  my  life  I  have  considered  that  of  reason  and 
right.  From  time  to  time  I  visited  Baron  Thugut,  who 
in  his  capacity  of  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  conducted 
the  affairs  of  the  Imperial  Chancellerie. 


APPRENTICESHIP,  1773—1800.  27 

I  have  already  mentioned  our  previous  acquaintance. 
I  made  no  attempt  to  come  into  closer  intimacy  with 
him ;  nothing  urged  me  to  it,  for  I  wanted  no  place, 
and  Baron  Thugut  had  no  relations,  beyond  his  official 
duties,  with  anyone.  I  agreed  with  him  in  his  prin- 
ciples, but  not  with  the  manner  in  which  he  carried 
them  out,  and  the  results  of  his  ministry  have  proved 
only  too  thoroughly  that  I  was  right. 

Sometimes  I  waited  on  the  Emperor,  who  let  no 
opportunity  slip  of  reproaching  me  with  what  he  called 
my  indolence.  One  day  when  I  had  been  speaking  of 
my  views  on  this  subject,  he  said  to  me,  '  You  live  as  I 
should  be  very  happy  to  live  in  your  place  !  Hold 
yourself  ready  for  my  orders,  that  is  all  I  expect  of  you 
for  the  present.' 


I 


CHAPTER  II. 
EiNTRANCE  INTO  POLITICAL  LIFE. 


31 


CHAPTER  n. 

EOTRANCE   INTO   POLITICAL   LIFE. 
(1801—1803.) 

Thugut's  character  and  resignation — Cobenzl — Enters  the  public  service — 
Conversation  with  the  Emperor — As  ambassador  at  Dresden — Beginning- 
of  public  life — Leading  motives — Arrival  at  Dresden — Mr.  Elliot — 
Dresden  as  a  post  of  observation  for  the  Northern  courts — Fabrication 
of  diplomatic  correspondence. 

With  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  LuneviJle  (1801) 
the  weakness  and  vacillations  of  the  Austrian  Cabinet 
reached  their  height.  During  a  conflict  of  ten  years 
the  pohcy  of  the  Imperial  court  had  raised  a  barrier, 
sometimes  stronger,  sometimes  weaker,  to  the  destruc- 
tive principles  of  all  the  Governments  of  France  which 
had  succeeded  one  another  since  1792.  But  the  oppo- 
sition so  offered,  betrayed  only  too  much  the  utter  want 
of  consistency  of  plan.  In  this  lay  the  great  defect  of 
the  Cabinet,  to  whom  also  it  has  been  ascribed,  that  the 
successes  achieved  one  day  were  destroyed  on  the  next. 
More  than  to  all  other  causes,  France  owed  her  enor- 
mous successes  to  the  inconsistent  action  of  the 
ministries  who  conducted  affairs  from  the  death  of  the 
great  statesman  who  for  forty  years  presided  over  the 
cabinet  of  Vienna,  but  who,  alas  !  had  latterly  suffered 
from  the  infirmities  of  age.  The  views  upon  which  the 
pohcy  of  Austria  was  always  based  could  not  be  con- 
ceived more  clearly  than  they  were,  but  never  was 
their  execution  more  feebly  carried  out. 


32  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL   MEMOIR. 

The  ministry  of  Baron  Thugut  displays  nothing  but 
an  unbroken  series  of  mistakes  and  miscalculations. 
When  he  was  at  the  height  of  his  power,  he  was  dis- 
trusted by  two  parties,  each  from  its  own  standpoint, 
in  exactly  opposite  directions.  He  was  accused  by  the 
one  of  having  sold  himself  to  France ;  others  pretended 
that  England  had  him  in  her  pocket.  It  is  to  be 
deplored,  both  for  his  own  sake  and  for  Austria's,  that  no 
one  has  ventured  to  assert  that  Thugut  had  served  the 
interests  of  his  country  and  not  his  own. 

Although  we  never  attributed  the  pohtical  attitude 
of  Thugut  to  foreign  influence,  it  never  occurred  to 
us  to  trace  it  to  treachery,  which  is  always  the  most 
dangerous  and  generally  a  precarious  means  of  success. 

Sprung  from  a  mean  condition,  the  son  of  a  mariner 
at  Linz,  Thugut  was  educated  in  the  Oriental  Academy, 
and  trained  for  subordinate  service  in  the  state.  Subtle 
and  dexterous,  he  owed  the  success  of  his  pohtical  career 
to  these  qualities,  which,  when  supported  by  deep  dis- 
simulation and  a  love  of  intrigue,  pass  only  too  easily 
for  real  talents. 

He  had  invested  the  greater  part  of  the  property  which 
he  had  acquired  at  Constantinople  in  the  French  funds, 
and  without  doubt  it  was  anxiety  for  the  preservation 
of  this  property  which  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of 
the  Eevolution  bhnded  him,  or  at  least  kept  him  inactive. 
Then  it  was  that  the  suspicion  arose  in  the  EngHsh  party 
that  he  had  been  gained  over  to  France.  When  how-- 
ever  the  Eeign  of  Terror  destroyed  every  spark  of  hope 
of  saving  even  the  smallest  portion  of  his  property  from 
the  general  bankruptcy,  Thugut,  less  restrained,  changed' 
his  policy ;  hence  it  came  about  that  the  public,  ob- 
serving this  change,  took  up  the  idea  that  it  had  been 
brought  about  by  Enghsh  gold. 

II 


ENTRANCE  INTO  POLITICAL  LITE,  1801—1803.  33 

Not  without  talent,  robed  in  the  highest  dignity  of 
the  state,  hving  in  the  obscurity  of  retirement  and  yet 
with  cold  and  calculating  ambition  interfering  with  aU 
the  branches  of  the  government,  Thugut  was  inacces- 
sible to  bribery  and  corruption.  The  history  of  his 
ministry  may  be  summed  up  in  a  series  of  miscalcula- 
tions, all  of  which  contributed  to  support  and  advance 
the  preponderance  of  France. ^^^ 

In  consequence  of  the  Peace  of  Luneville  Thugut 
retired  from  the  public  service.  Count  Cobenzl  was 
recalled  from  St.  Petersburg,  and  appointed  to  the 
direction  of  Foreign  Affairs.  The  first  Lord-in-waiting, 
Count,  afterwards  Prince,  Trautmannsdorf,  held  the 
portfoHo  provisionally.  The  peace  with  France  neces- 
sarily gave  a  new  impulse  to  Austrian  diplomacy. 

The  posts  in  London,  BerUn,   and   St.   Petersburg 
were  already  filled.     There  were  ambassadors  at  Stock- 
holm, and  some  of  the  smaller  courts  of  Germany  and 
I  Italy.     The  Emperor  felt  it  necessary  to  fill   up  the 
i  gaps  which  Thugut,  according  to  the  custom  which  he 
sometimes   carried  too  far,  had   left  open.     Occupied 
solely  with    the  war   against   the   French    Eevolution, 
'.  I  Thugut  paid  no   attention   to    anything   that  did  not 
seem   to   him   immediately  connected  with   that  war. 
Hence  it  happened  that  he  did  not  read  and  conse- 
quently did  not   answer  the  despatches  of  embassies 
IT  of  the  second  rank.     When  removed  from  the  Ministry, 
«•  a  commission  had  to  be  appointed  to  open  and  place  in 
f  ithe  archives  hundreds  of  the  reports  and  letters  sent 
ipi  Ifrom  such  embassies. 

A  few  days  after  he  had  taken  office.  Count  Traut- 

iiL  mannsdorf  summoned  me  to  him,  and  informed  me  that 

ee:  the  Emperor,  when  he  resolved  to  fill  up  the  places 

'mentioned  above,  had  ordered   him   to   give   me   the 

VOL.  I.  D 


34  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

choice  between  the  post  at  Dresden  or  Copenhagen, 
or  to  remain  at  home  as  Minister  for  Bohemia  to  the 
German  Eeichstag.  I  begged  him  to  allow  me  to  think 
over  the  matter,  and  betook  myself  to  the  Emperor. 
I  laid  before  his  Majesty  openly  my  ideas  as  to  my 
future  life,  and  the  talents  I  beheved  myself  to  possess, 
and  those  which  I  could  not  lay  claim  to.  The  Em- 
peror received  my  professions  with  his  accustomed 
kindness ;  but  when  he  appealed  to  my  patriotism,  I 
yielded  to  his  will.  'Your  Majesty,'  said  I,  'desires 
that  I  should  enter  a  sphere  for  which  I  beheve  I  have 
no  vocation  ;  I  submit  to  your  commands.  I  pray  your 
Majesty  never  to  doubt  my  will,  but  to  distrust  my 
capabihties.  I  will  make  the  experiment,  and  your 
Majesty  will  permit  me  to  retire  from  the  service  when, 
as  I  fear,  the  day  comes  that  I  shall  not  answer  your 
expectations.'  The  Emperor  answered  with  a  smile :  < 
'  He  who  cherishes  such  fears  is  not  in  danger  of  injuring  ' 
the  public  service.  I  promise  you  to  be  the  first  to  tell 
you  if  I  find  you  on  the  wrong  road.'  I 

I  decided  for  the  embassy  in  Dresden.  Denmark 
seemed  to  me  too  remote,  and  it  was  repugnant  to  mo 
to  go  to  Regensburg  only  to  witness  the  obsequies  ol 
the  noble  German  Empire.  Dresden,  on  the  contrary, 
one  stage  on  the  way  to  Berhn  or  St.  Petersburg,  1 
valued  as  a  post  of  observation  which  might  be  mad 
useful.  Having  been  constrained  to  adopt  this  career 
I  desired  at  any  rate  to  have  the  prospect  of  beiu. 
useful.  I  could  never  do  anything  by  halves  ;  once  f 
diplomatist,  I  determined  to  be  one  thoroughly,  and  i 
the  sense  which  I  connected  with  diplomacy.  Subsequei 
events  showed  that  I  reckoned  rightly,  for,  the  path  om 
entered,  events  hurried  me  along  it  only  too  swiftly. 

Here,  at  the  commencement  of  the  account  of  t 


u 


ENTRANCE  INTO  POLITICAL  LIFE,  1801—1803.  35 

public  life,  I  propose  to  admit  into  the  narrative  only 
what  relates  to  myself,  or  rather  what  may  serve  to  fill 
up  the  gaps  in  the  official  correspondence  ;  for  although 
the  latter  alone  gives  a  true  picture  of  the  work  of  a 
statesman,  yet  in  such  documents  many  details  find  no 
place.  I  wish  that  those  of  my  readers  who  may  be  in 
a  position  to  have  access  to  the  Imperial  archives  may 
consult  the  documents  of  the  time  in  connection  with  the 
present  work  ;  and,  drawing  from  this  double  source, 
they  will  more  easily  appreciate  the  great  epoch  during 
which  destiny  had  laid  upon  me  the  difficult  task  of 
playing  an  active  part  on  the  world's  stage. ^^^  But 
before  I  relate  the  many  remarkable  occurrences  which 
have  signahsed  my  career,  I  will  candidly  state  the 
principles  on  which  the  actions  of  my  poHtical  life  have 
been  based.  This  statement  will  serve  to  clear  up  many 
points  in  the  history  of  my  time  and  explain  my  own 
actions. 

That  a  public  career  was  distasteful  to  me  I  have 
already  mentioned.  CjyjmncedthgjJ||gjgg(^^ 
be  preparec^^^to  answer  for  the  deeds  of  his  own  life  ; 
penetrated  ^^the^  consciousness  of  the  enormous  diffi- 
ilties  oiT'^^^ping  up  a  society  which  was  falling  to 
pieces'on  every. side  \  disapproving,  before  the  tribunaT 
of  my  own  conscience,  of  almost  all  the  measures  which 
I  saw  adopted  for  the  salvation  of  the  social  body, 
undermined  as  it  was,  by  the  errors  of  the  eighteenth 
century ;  lastly,  too  diffident  to  believe  that  my  mind 
was  of  so  powerful  a  stamp  that  it  could  improve 
whatever  it  undertook  ;  I  had  determined  not  to  appear 
on  a  stage  on  which  the  independence  of  my  character 
rebelled  against  playing  a  subordinate  part,  though  I 
did  not  consider  myself  capable  of  taking  the  part  of  a 
reformer. 

D  2 


36 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL   MEMOIR. 


The  care  with  which  my  education  had  been  directed 
to  the  wide  field  of  pohtics  had  early  accustomed  me  to 
contemplate  its  vast  extent.  I  soon  remarked  that  my 
mode  of  thinking  of  the  nature  and  dignity  of  this 
sphere  was  essentially  different  from  the  point  of  view 
from  which  all  this  was  regarded  by  the  enormous 
majority  of  those  who  are  called  to  play  great  pohtical 
parts.  Here  I  may  be  allowed  to  propound  the  few 
principles  to  which  I  have  always  reduced  the  science 
commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Politics  and  Diplomacy. 

Pohtics  is  the  science  of  the  vital  interests  of  states. 
Since,  however,  an  isolated  state  no  longer  exists,  and  is 
found  only  in  the  annals  of  the  heathen  world,  or  in 
the  abstractions  of  so-called  philosophers,  we  must 
always  view  the  society  of  nations  as  the  essential  con- 
dition of  the  present  world.  Thus,  then,  each  state, 
besides  its  separate  interests,  has  also  those  which  are 
common  to  it  with  other  states.  The  great  axioms  of 
pohtical  science  proceed  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  pohtical  interests  of  all  states.  In  these  general 
interests  hes  the  guarantee  of  their  existence,  while 
individual  interests  to  which  the  transitory  pohtical 
movements  of  the  day  assign  ^  great  importance,  and, 
the  care  of  which  constitutes  political  wisdom  in  thel 
eyes  of  a  restless  and  short-sighted  pohcy,  possess! 
only  a  relative  and  secondary  value.  History  teaches 
ua_that  whenever  the  separate  come  _  into  conJiici-mib. 
leral   interests    of  a  state,    and   t.lip  lat.tpr   arp 


ajjj 


neglected    or   mistaken   in  the   zealoua_aad— fiStfiBaix^ 
prosecuuo^T^rm^jEme^^his  is   to  be  regarded  as 


jgl^g- 


an  exceptional^or  unliealthj;_condi^^Qi^a^]^QSe^ 
m^nL^or    speedy   amend 


destiny  of  the  state,  that  is,  its  iim^ign^i^g^deplua^  or 
it3recTiT?5f!tBT^nJro8Trofffy!     inat  which  characterises 


^^'^^s. 


ENTRANCE  INTO  POLITICAL   LIFE,  1801—1803.  37 

the  modern  world,  and  essentiallY  distinguishes  it  from 
the  ancient,_LS_theJ^^aij£jaaOi£jl^^  to 

each  other,  and  in  s_oine  fashion  to  enter  into  a  social 
league,,  which  rests_231-lhe_sanie_basis  with  the  great 
Jmraai^ociet^^evelope^ini^ 

This  foundation  consists  of  the  precept  of  the  Book  of 
books,  'Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  they  should 
do  unto  you.'  This  fundamental  rule  of  every  human 
fraternity,  applied  to  the  state,  means  in  the  pohtical 
world  reciprocity,  and  its  effect  is  what  in  the  language 
of  diplomacy  is  called  hons  procedes,  in  other  words, 
mutual  consideration  and  honourable  conduct.  In  the 
ancient  world,  pohcy  isolated  itself  entirely,  and  ex- 
ercised the  most  absolute  selfishness,  without  any  other 
curb  than  that  of  prudence.  The  law  of  retahation 
set  up  eternal  barriers  and  founded  eternal  enmities 
between  the  societies  of  men  ;  and  upon  every  page  of 
ancient  history  is  found  the  principle  of  mutual' evil  for 
evil.     Modern  history,  on  the  othe^iajidi,£sJiiMi^-ihe 


principT^oithe  solidarity  of  natkois_aiid-lLLlJl£jj^ance 
oipowerTan^iurnishes  the  spectacle  of  the  combined 


inst  the  temporary  pre- 


dominanc^_ji[l_amz-xm£-JiLiiim£d£  the  extensio|^i|fLy^^ 


principle,  and  to  con^ijai3J.Ji.J;QJXiLUXa^to  the  common 
^^Tjihe  estabhsnment  of  international  relations  upon 
the  basis  of  reciprocity,  under  the  guarantee  of  respect 
for  acquired  rights,  and  the  conscientious  observance  of 
plighted  faith,  constitutes,  at  the  present  day,  the  essence 
of  politics,  of  which  diplomacy  is  only  the  daily  applica- 
tion. Between  politics  and  diplomacy  there  exists,  in  my 
opinion,  the  same  difierence  as  between  science  and  art. 
Just  as  men  daily  transgress  the  laws  of  civil  society, 
nations  only  too  often  act  in  opposition  to  the  eternal 
precepts  which   govern  their  alliance.      The  faults  of 


38  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

men  and  the  faults  of  states  are  subject  to  the  same 
punishments  ;  their  whole  dijQference  lies  in  the  gravit 
of  the  offence,  which  is  proportionate  to  the  importance 
of  the  individuals. 

When  we  master  these  truths,  what  becomes  of  a 
selfish  poHcy,  of  the  pohcy  of  fantasy,  or  of  the  pohcy 
of  miserable  greed,  and  especially  what  becomes  of  that 
which  seeks  profit  apart  from  the  simplest  rules  of 
right ;  which  mocks  at  the  pHghted  word,  and,  in  short, 
rests  solely  on  the  usurpations  of  force  or  craft  ? 

After  this  confession  of  faith,  it  may  be  conceived 
what  I  have  always  thought  of  pohticians  of  the  stamp 
or,  if  we  wiU,  of  the  authority  of  a  Eichelieu,  a  Mazarin, 
a  Talleyrand,  a  Canning,  a  Capo  d'Istria,  or  a  Haugwitz, 
and  of  many  more  or  less  famous  names.  Eesolved 
not  to  walk  in  their  steps,  and  despairing  of  opening 
a  path  in  harmony  with  my  own  conscience,  I  naturally 
preferred  not  to  throw  myself  into  those  great  pohtical 
affairs,  in  which  I  had  far  more  prospect  of  succumbing 
materially  than  of  succeeding  :  I  say  materially,  for  I 
have  never  been  afraid  of  failing  morally.  The  man 
who  enters  pubhc  Mfe  has  always  at  command  a  sure 
resource  against  this  danger,  that  is — retirement. 

It  was  in  January  1801  that  I  was  made  Ambassador 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Elec- 
toral Court  of  Saxony.  Peace  had  just  been  concluded 
between  France  and  Austria  at  Luneville  when  I  entered 
on  my  duties  at  Dresden,^^*^^  towards  the  end  of  that  year. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  First  Consul  of  the  French 
EepubHc,  which  now  existed  only  in  name.  The  German 
Empire  visibly  approached  its  dissolution.  The  Emperor! 
Paul  had  died  a  violent  death  in  the  March  of  that  year.l 
Europe  was .  in  a  state  of  extreme  tension,  the  natural 
result  of  the  uncertainty  then  hanging  over  the  whol0 


J 


ENTRANCE  INTO  POLITICAL  LIFE,  1801—1803.  39 

world.  Dresden,  and  especially  the  Electoral  court, 
like  an  oasis  in  the  desert,  formed  a  contrast  to  the 
universal  agitation.  To  judge  from  this  court  alone, 
one  might  have  beheved  the  world  was  standing  still. 
Everything  there  was  ordered  and  arranged  just  as  the 
last  Augustus  had  left  it  to  his  successors.  If  etiquette, 
costume,  and  precise  regulations  could  be  a  sohd 
foundation  for  a  kingdom,  then  Electoral  Saxony  would 
have  been  invulnerable.  The  costumes  of  the  court,  the 
gala  days,  and  all  its  customs,  were  at  that  time  what 
they  had  been  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
_The French  Eevolution^afterovgjtt^igg^^ 
archy7na(^MCRec[  tn^_stage_of_Bonaj2Mi£!a.iMiailai£>,  ^ 
but  at  the  Saxon  court  hoops  had  not  yet  been  discarded ! 

The  Elector,  Frederick  Augustus,  was  a  prince  of 
sohd  abihty,  and  his  government  would  have  long  re- 
mained a  blessed  memory  to  his  quiet,  and  industrious 
country  had  not  the  storm  which  a  few  years  later  burst 
forth  destroyed  his  mild  and  peaceful  rule. 

Dresden  had  always  a  numerous  diplomatic  corps. 
Among  my  colleagues,  Mr.  Elhot,  the  Enghsh  ambassa- 
dor, was  conspicuous  for  the  originahty  and  eccen- 
tricity of  his  character.  The  life  of  this  diplomatist  had 
been  remarkable.  As  a  young  militia  officer,  he  intro- 
duced himself  into  the  great  world  in  a  very  odd  way. 
At  the  reviews  at  Potsdam  a  number  of  foreign  officers 
gathered  every  year  round  King  Frederick  II.  On  these 
occasions  this  prince  showed  his  partiality  for  the 
•French,  hence  the  Chamberlain,  who  had  to  present 
the  foreigners  at  the  Prussian  court,  introduced  the 
French  officers  singly  by  name,  while  the  Enghsh  officers 
were  all  presented  en  bloc.  At  a  reception  of  this  kind, 
at  which  young  Elliot  was  present,  when  the  cham- 
berlain said  to  the  king,  '  I  have  the  honour  to  present 


40  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

to  your  Majesty  twelve  Englishmen,'  he  was  interrupted 
by  Elhot,  exclaiming  in  a  loud  voice,  as  he  turned  to 
leave  the  room,  '  You  are  mistaken,  Herr  marschal ; 
there  are  only  eleven.'  Some  years  afterwards  Elliot 
came  as  Ambassador  Extraordinary  to  Berhn.  Frederick 
had  not  forgotten  the  scene  at  Potsdam,  and  was  Httle 
pleased  by  the  appointment  of  EUiot,  who  had  then  only! 
the  rank  of  major.  He  determined  to  let  his  ill-humour' 
with  the  London  court  and  its  representative  be  seen,! 
and  chose  a  Count  Lusi  for  the  post  in  London.  Count! 
Finkenstein  was  requested  to  notify  this  appointment  to 
the.  Enghsh  ambassador,  which  he  did  in  the  following 
words :  '  The  King  has  chosen  Count  Lusi,  a  major  in 
his  army,  whose  name  may  be  known  to  you  from  the 
reputation  he  gained  in  the  Seven  Years'  War.  His 
Majesty  flatters  himself  that  your  Court  will  be  satisfied 
with  this  choice.'  EUiot  answered  without  hesitation  : 
'  The  King,  your  master,  evidently  could  not  have  chosen 
anyone  who  would  have  better  represented  him.'  With 
such  manners  as  these,  Mr.  Elhot  was  not  hkely  to  make 
himself  a  favourite  in  Prussia. 

Soon  after  Elhot  was  recalled  from  Berhn,  and  was 
appointed  to  Copenhagen,  where  he,  on  his  own  respon- 
sibihty,  declared  war  with  Denmark,  with  the  intention 
of  freeing  the  King  of  Sweden  from  the  danger  to  which 
he  was  exposed,  by  the  taking  of  the  fortress  of  Gothen- 
burg. By  this  stroke  of  genius  he  did  indeed  attain  his 
object,  but  nevertheless  lost,  and  certainly  with  good 
reason,  his  second  post,  and  came  to  Dresden,  where 
he  had  already  been  for  some  years  Enghsh  ambassadoid 
when  I  arrived  there. 

By  that  time  he  had  somewhat  toned  down,  but  h< 
still  possessed  an  extraordinary  vivacity  and  this  gain( 
for  him  a  position  quite  unusual  in  social  hfe.     A  plei 


ENTRANCE   INTO  POLITICAL  LIFE,   1801—1803.        41 

santer  man  in  society  I  have  never  known  ;  with  a 
character  of  the  same  mould  as  that  of  the  Prince  de 
Ligne,  he  was  in  no  respect  inferior  to  him,  nay,  in 
many  was  his  superior.  I  saw  him  very  often  during 
my  residence  in  Dresden,  and  reckon  my  relations  with 
him  among  my  most  pleasant  memories.  Having  a 
numerous  family,  he  was  anxious  to  obtain  a  good 
position,  and  succeeded  in  getting  the  appointment  of 
Governor  of  Barbadoes,  which  post  he  afterwards  ex- 
changed for  that  of  a  Governor  in  India,  and  held 
the  appointment  till  his  death  at  a  very  advanced  age. 

The  Dresden  Embassy  was  interesting  as  a  post 
of  observation  of  the  Northern  courts,  and  thither  I 
turned  my  eyes,  and  I  can  testify  to  the  truth  that  in 
diplomacy  no  post  is  unimportant.  I  was  careful  to 
give  my  court  exact  intelhgence  of  what  I  observed, 
without  having  recourse  to  the  expedient  for  obtaining 
news  resorted  to  by  my  friend  Elhot,  who  when  I  asked 
him  one  day,  how  he  contrived  to  have  a  letter  to  send  to 
London  every  post-day  (there  were  two  in  the  week), 
repUed :  '  You  will  see  no  difficulty  in  the  matter  when 
I  tell  you  my  secret ;  if  anything  comes  to  my  know- 
ledge which  may  interest  my  government,  I  tell  it ;  if  I 
do  not  know  of  anything,  I  invent  my  news,  and  con- 
tradict it  by  the  next  courier.  You  see  I  can  never  be 
at  a  loss  for  material  for  my  correspondence.' 

This  joke  was  quite  in  Mr.  EUiot's  manner  ;  but  it  is 
not  unusual  to  meet  with  diplomatic  correspondence 
made  up  after  the  same  recipe,  not  perhaps  purposely 
invented,  but  from  creduHty.  This  faiUng  arises  from 
weakness  of  judgment  and  the  want  of  a  critical  ex- 
amination of  facts,  which  in  no  branch  of  the  pubUc 
service  is  more  necessary  than  in  a  diplomatic  career.* 

*  For  a  note  on  Hugh  Elliott,  see  end  of '  Autobiography.* 


CHAPTER  III. 
EMBASSY  m  BERLIN. 


45 


CHAPTER   m. 

EMBASSY   IN   BERLIN. 

(1803—1805.) 

Franco-Eussian  mediation — Ochsenhausen — DSbut  in  Berlin — Queen  Louisa 
— Court  of  the  royal  family — Haugwitz,  Hardenberg,  Stein — The  di- 
plomatic corps — Transition-period  in  Prussia — Prince  Louis  Ferdinand — 
Unhappy  course  of  the  year  1804 — Preparations  for  war  in  Austria — 
Count  Cobenzl — General  Mack — Close  relations  between  Austria  and 
Russia — Archduke  Anton  in  Berlin — DolgoruM  and  Alopaus — The 
Russian  army  on  the  Prussian  frontier — A  letter  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander to  the  King  of  Prussia — The  King's  remark  on  it — Napoleon's  iu- 
cursion  at  Ansbach  —  Conversation  of  Metternich  with  the  King — 
Negotiations  for  the  entrance  of  Prussia  into  the  alliance — Ill-will  of  the 
Prussian  negotiators — Signing  of  the  treaty  of  Potsdam — Haugwitz's 
mission — Battle  of  Ausierlitz — The  cross  of  the  Order  of  St.  Stephen 
given  to  Metternich — Napoleon's  sarcasm  about  Haugwitz — Hanover 
joined  with  Prussia — Dismissal  of  Haugwitz. 

I  REMAINED  at  Dresden  as  ambassador  till  1803,  when 
Count  Stadion  was  appointed  Ambassador  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  I  succeeded  him  at  Berhn. 

In  the  same  year  the  Franco-Russian  mediation  took 
place  at  Regensburg,  in  consequence  of  which  Germany 
experienced  a  revolution  which  destroyed  the  last  foun- 
dations of  the  old  German  Empire,  and  thus  greatly  ac- 
celerated the  moment  of  its  utter  dissolution.  During 
the  whole  negotiation  my  father  remained  in  Regens- 
burg, to  watch  over  the  interests  of  his  family.  He 
received  as  compensation  for  the  loss  of  his  hereditary 
estates  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  which  had  been 
confiscated    by   the  French   Repubhc,   the   Abbey  of 


46  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Ochsenhausen,  and  to  this  new  possession  I  repaired  in 
the  course  of  the  summer  with  my  family. 

The  Emperor  had  raised  Ochsenhausen  to  be  a  prin- 
cipahty,  as  he  had  also  raised  the  title  of  several  other 
Counts  of  the  Empire,  in  order  to  create  new  votes,  and 
thus  to  supply  the  place  in  the  Eeichstag  of  those  votes 
which  had  been  abolished  by  the  secularisation  of  the 
ecclesiastical  principahties.  My  father  hoped  that  his 
love  of  the  fatherland  would  find  an  opportunity  in  the 
immediate  future  of  contributing  to  the  strengthening  of 
the  Empire.  I  was  so  far  from  entertaining  this  hope, 
that  I  had,  on  the  contrary,  the  firm  conviction  that  the 
grand  creation  of  Charlemagne  was  tending  inevitably 
to  its  end.  With  its  foundations  utterly  shattered  by 
the  process  of  mediatisation,  the  Empire  even  at  that 
time  no  longer  existed,  and  I  saw  its  elements  dissipated, 
and  the  impossibihty  of  its  cohesion.  My  presenti- 
ments were  only  too  just :  and  events  soon  proved 
this. 

When  I  left  Ochsenhausen  I  went  first  to  Vienna  in 
order  to  prepare  myself  for  my  new  mission,  and  then 
in  December  of  the  same  year  to  Berhn. 

My  dehut  there  was  easy.  I  was  received  by  King 
Frederick  Wilham  m,,  and  by  the  Queen  as  an  old 
friend.  The  strict  etiquette,  by  which  the  diplomatic 
corps  was  kept  at  the  greatest  possible  distance  fromj 
the  Prussian  court,  was  observed  with  regard  to  m 
only  on  those  occasions  when  an  exception  made  in  m 
favour  might  have  had  the  appearance  of  referring  to|| 
my  public  position,  and  would  therefore  have  mortified 
the  whole  diplomatic  body.  Eleven  years  had  passed 
since  I  had  seen  the  Queen ;  I  found  her  surrounded' 
with  a  true  halo  of  beauty  and  dignity. 

Queen  Louisa  was  endowed  with  the  rarest  quahties 


EMBASSY  IN  BERLIN,  1803—1805.  47 

She  did  not  excel  in  what  is  commonly  called  esprit,  but 
she  possessed  a  refined  tact  and  strength  of  mind,  for  the 
exercise  of  which  in  a  few  years  she  had  only  too  many 
opportunities.  It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the 
dignity  and  grace  of  her  bearing,  or  the  impression  of 
sweetness  and  tenderness  her  manners  made. 

The  royal  family  were  then  divided  into  different 
households:  in  the  King's  were  included  the  widows 
of  Prince  Henry  and  Prince  Ferdinand,  brothers  of 
Frederick  II.  The  Prince  of  Orange,  husband  of  a 
sister  of  the  reigning  king,  lived  in  Berhn;  and  the 
Princess,  wife  of  Prince  Anton  Eadziwill,  also  enjoyed 
the  honours  of  royalty.  The  Princes  Ludwig  and 
August,  sons  of  Prince  Ferdinand,  had  no  separate 
household. 

When  I  arrived  in  Berhn,  Count  Haugwitz,  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  Baron,  afterwards  Prince,  Har- 
denberg,  exercised  a  great  influence  on  pohtics.  Frei- 
herr  von  Stein  was  Minister  of  Finance.  Of  these  states- 
men I  shall  often  have  to  speak. 

In  the  diplomatic  body  there  was  no  man  of  pre- 
eminent abihty.  M.  de  Laforest,  who  formerly  acted  as 
plenipotentiary  in  the  conference  at  Regensburg,  filled 
the  post  of  French  Ambassador.  Herr  von  Alopaus 
had  been  for  many  years  the  Russian  Ambassador  in 
Berhn,  and  Mr.  Jackson  represented  England. 

Prussia  was  then  in  a  state  of  transition.  Without 
attracting  attention,  this  power  raised  itself  from  the 
state  of  torpor  into  which  it  fell  through  the  Peace  of 
Basle,  and  from  the  system  of  neutrahty  which  made 
Prussia  a  mere  spectator  in  the  wars  carried  on  by 
Austria  and  England,  and  partially  by  Russia  against  the 
French  Revolution.  A  reaction  was  preparing  in  the 
mind    of   the  nation,  and    especially  in  the   army  of 


48  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Prussia,  which  aimed  at  making  a  stand  against  the 
progressive  enlargement  of  the  power  of  France,  now 
become  an  empire.  A  crisis  was  at  hand,  produced 
by  the  prospect  of  a  new  war  between  Austria  and 
France.  By  the  greater  part  of  the  pohtical  prophets 
the  camp  at  Boulogne  was  regarded  as  a  preparation 
for  a  landing  in  England.  Some  better  instructed  ob- 
servers saw  in  this  camp  a  French  army  held  in 
readiness  again  to  cross  the  Ehine — and  that  was  my 
opinion.* 

Everything  accordingly  pointed  to  a  renewal  of  the 
war.  The  Prussian  cabinet,  led  by  Count  Haugwitz  and 
Herr  Lombard,  dreaded  the  event ;  not  so  the  men  of 
action  in  the  army,  at  the  head  of  whom  Prince  Louis  Fer- 
dinand was  specially  conspicuous.  These  were  urgent 
for  war,  and  loudly  declared  for  the  interference  of 
Prussia.  Berhn  was  accordingly  divided  into  two  camps, 
which  displayed  no  great  tenderness  for  each  other. 
And  here  I  would  say  a  few  words  about  Prince  Louis 
Ferdinand. 

That  prince  possessed  great  quahties,  which  were 
enhanced  still  further  by  a  briUiant  exterior,  a  noble 

*  In  one  of  my  longer  conversations  with  Napoleon  in  the  journey  to 
Camhray,  whither  I  accompanied  the  Emperor  in  1810,  the  conversation 
turned  upon  the  great  military  preparations  which  he  had  made  in  the  years 
1803-1805  in  Boulogne.     I  frankly  confessed  to  him  that  even  at  that  time 
I  could  not  regard  these  oflFensive  measures  as  directed  against  England.,' 
*  You  were  very  right/  replied  the  Emperor,  smiling  ;  '  never  would  I  have- 
been  such  a  fool  as  to  make  a  descent  upon  England,  unless  indeed  a  revo-| 
lution  had  taken  place  within  that  country.     The  army  assembled  at  Bou- 
logne was  always  an  army  against  Austria.      I  could   not  place   it  any- 
where  else  without  giving  offence,  and  being  obliged  to  form  it  somewhere, 
I  did  80  at  Boulogne,  where  I  could  whilst  collecting  it  also  disquiet  Eng"" 
land.   The  very  day  of  an  insurrection  in  England,  I  should  have  sent  over  a 
detachment  of  my  army  to  support  the   insurrection;   I  should  not  tha 
leas  have  fallen  on  you,  for  my  forces  were  echelonned  for  that  purpose. 
Thus  you  saw  in  1806  how  near  Boulogne  was  to  Vienna.' 


I 


EMBASSY  IN  BERLIN,  1803—1805.  49 

bearing,  and  refined  manners.  Of  quick  apprehension 
and  clear  intellect,  Prince  Louis  Ferdinand  united  in 
himself  all  that  goes  to  make  a  remarkable  man.  Un- 
happily evil  company  had  too  much  influence  on  his  life. 
There  were  in  him  two  different  men  ;  the  one  capable 
.of  everything  great  and  noble ;  the  other,  regardless 
of  these  gifts  of  nature.  I  had  much  to  do  with 
this  prince,  who  even  took  a  liking  for  me,  but  the 
defects  which  I  have  mentioned  raised  a  barrier  be- 
tween us.  All  my  hfe  I  have  had  a  horror  of  low  com- 
pany, but  the  prince  was  surrounded  with  it.  In 
pohtical  principles  we  agreed,  but  our  tastes  and  our 
manner  of  life  differed  too  much  for  any  true  confidence 
to  be  possible  between  us. 

The  year  1804  passed  in  that  unhappy  condition 
which  is  neither  peace  nor  war.  The  heavens  were 
covered  with  thunder-clouds,  the  first  flash  from  which 
did  not  issue  until  1805. 

In  Austria  great  preparations  were  being  made  for 

a  campaign.     Count  Ludwig  Cobenzl  was  Vice-Chan- 

cellor ;  he  and  Count  CoUoredo,  cabinet  minister,  were 

regarded  as  the  leaders  of  the  policy  of  the  Empire. 

Count  CoUoredo  was  no  great  statesman ;  Count  Cobenzl, 

a  candid,  open-hearted   man,  had,  in  his  capacity  of 

ithe  Emperor's  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Catherine  II. 

ived  for  many  years  in  confidential  intercourse  with 

er — a   favour   which  he   shared  with   the  Prince  de 

ligne,  Count  Segur,  the  French  envoy,  and  other  ex- 

ellent   men,  whom   that   princess   hked   to    assemble 

ound  her.     Although  he  shone  in  the  salon,  Cobenzl 

was   not   the    man   to   lead    a   cabinet.      Taught    by 

lie  defeats  of  the  earlier  campaigns,  and  convinced  by 

pxperience  that  the  means  applied  in  those  campaigns 

ivere  insufficient,  and  that  Napoleon  must  be  met  by 

VOL.  I.  E 


50  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Other  generals  than  those  who  held  the  command  in  pre- 
ceding wars,  the  Emperor  had  singled  out  General  Mack, 
who  stood  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  army.  Events 
afterwards  proved  how  unhappy  this  choice  was. 
Mack  possessed  many  estimable  qualities,  but  he  should 
never  have  been  raised  to  the  post  of  supreme  com- 
mand. His  intelligence,  industry,  and  perseverance 
fitted  him  for  the  place  of  Quartermaster-General : 
the  task  of  commanding  an  army  was  beyond  his 
powers. 

At  the  approach  of  a  war,  in  the  preparation  of 
which  Napoleon  had  put  forth  all  his  strength,  the 
ties  between  the  Courts  of  Vienna  and  St.  Petersburg, 
which  the  issue  of  the  campaign  of  1799  and  the  extra- 
vagances of  Paul  I.  had  greatly  loosened,  were  drawn 
closer. 

It  was  at  the  end  of  the  year  1804  that  I  received 
the  first  communication  respecting  this  great  under- 
taking, in  which  the  two  courts  were  excessively  anxious 
to  gain  the  concurrence  of  Prussia.  It  was  my  task 
to  smooth  the  way  for  this  accession.^^^^ 

This   seemed   to   me   difficult,   on   account   of  the 
known  sentiments  of  the  men  at  that  time  entrusted 
with   the   direction    of    Prussian   policy.      The    more 
decidedly  the  parties  in  Berlin  were  opposed  to   each 
other,  the  more  difficult  was  it  to'make  them  see  tlieir 
true   interests.      The   Emperor   sent   his    brother    th€ 
Archduke   Antony  to    Berlin.     His  presence   had    m 
result.     He  returned   to  Vienna,  leaving  things  as  h( 
found  them.     The  Emperor  Alexander  then  sent  Princ( 
Dolgoruki,  one  of  the  younger  advisers  whom  he  hac 
gathered  round  him  since  he  mounted  the  throne,  ; 
man  full  of  fire  and  spirit,  but  of  a  nature  nowise  fitte( 
for  such  a  critical  mission.     As  he  had  been  instructe( 


* 


EMBASSY  IN  BERLIN,  1803—1805.  61 

by  his  master  to  adhere  to  me  in  everything,  I  could 
influence  his  conduct,  but  not  direct  it.  The  Eussian 
ambassador  in  Berlin,  Herr  von  Alopaus,  had  filled 
that  position  for  many  years  ;  his  relations  with  the 
most  influential  persons  in  the  government  were  most 
confidential ;  and  yet  the  Emperor  Alexander  had  no 
faith  in  his  energy.  I  was  therefore  requested  by  that 
monarch  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  his  minister. 

At  last  the  Emperor  Alexander,  tired  out  by  the 
continued  evasiveness  of  the  language  used  by  the  Prus- 
sian cabinet,  decided  on  a  most  dangerous  step.  He 
would,  in  fact,  force  the  King  of  Prussia  to  a  decision, 
and  at  the  same  time  weaken  his  strength  by  pushing 
on  his  own  army  to  the  frontier  of  East  Prussia, 
where  he  halted.  This  mihtary  movement  was  in- 
tended to  support  the  negotiations  which  were  being 
carried  on  by  the  representatives  of  Eussia  and  Austria. 
But  the  object  was  not  attained ;  the  threat,  on  the 
contrary,  rather  increased  the  opposition.  Under  the 
influence  of  his  difierent  advisers,  the  King  became 
more  and  more  vacillating,  and  could  not  come  to  any 
resolution.  Then  there  followed  an  interchange  of 
letters  between  the  two  monarchs,  which  led  to  no 
definite  result,  and  the  Emperor  Alexander,  whose  im- 
patience increased  daily,  was  more  and  more  inchned 
to  take  violent  measures.  I  remember  a  singular  cir- 
cumstance which  occurred  at  this  time,  which  I  will 
not  omit  to  mention. 

I  received  the  news  one  day  that  the  Emperor 
Alexander  was  to  strike  a  heavy  blow.  At  a  given 
hour  a  courier  was  to  reach  Herr  von  Alopaus  with 
a  communication  to  the  King  of  Prussia  to  announce 
that  the  Eussian  army,  without  further  delay,  was  to 
cross  the   frontier.      The   actual   entry  of  the  troops 

E  2 


62  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

was  to  take  place  simultaneously  with  the  arrival  of  the 
notice.  When  I  received  this  news,  I  found  that  the 
warning  had  come  too  late ;  if  I  could  have  done  so, 
I  would  have  addressed  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  the 
most  urgent  request  that  he  would  abstain  from  a 
course  which  certainly  must  end  in  throwing  Prussia 
into  the  arms  of  France.  It  was  on  the  eve  of  the 
catastrophe  at  Ulm  when  the  Austrian  forces  were 
pushing  on  by  forced  marches  to  this  point.  Nothing 
promised  success  to  the  ill-considered  step  of  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  especially  if  the  character  of  Fred- 
erick William  III.  were  considered.  I  could  do 
nothing  but  await  the  event. 

The  Eussian  courier  was  to  arrive  in  the  evening. 
At  nine  o'clock  I  went  to  the  ambassador,  who  was 
detained  at  home  by  a  slight  indisposition.  Under  the 
most  frivolous  pretexts,  I  remained  with  him  till  nearly 
midnight ;  then  the  sound  of  a  carriage,  which  stopped 
at  the  door  of  his  hotel,  told  me  that  the  moment  of 
the  crisis  had  come.  The  arrival  of  a  courier  from 
the  Eussian  head-quarters  was  announced.  Herr  von 
Alopaus  had  the  despatches  brought  to  him,  and  imme- 
diately began  to  open  them.  We  stood  close  to  a  desk, 
at  which  the  aged  ambassador  was  accustomed  to  stand 
and  write. 

In  spite  of  his  increasing  years  Herr  von  Alopaus 
was  vivacious  almost  to  the  point  of  impetuosity.  In 
placing  the  rather  bulky  despatches  on  the  writing- 
desk  some  papers  fell  on  the  floor,  which  we  picked  up. 
Beside  the  folio  sheets  which  dropped  I  had  remarked 
distinctly  a  letter  of  smaU  size,  and  in  fact,  from  the; 
other  despatches  this  was  seen  to  be  a  letter  in  the 
Emperor's  own  hand  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  of  which  ail 
copy  was  enclosed.     In  this  letter  his  Majesty  informed! 


EMBASSY  IN  BERLIN,  1803—1806.  53 

the  King  that  he  had  ordered  his  army  to  cross  the 
Prussian  frontier.  The  contents  of  these  despatches 
threw  Herr  von  Alopaus  into  the  greatest  excitement ; 
it  would  have  had  the  same  effect  upon  me,  if  I  had 
not  been  prepared  beforehand.  He  went  off  into  very 
just  remarks  on  the  danger  of  the  situation,  and  said 
at  last :  '  The  die  is  cast !  nothing  more  remains  to  me 
but  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  Emperor,  and  hand  over 
the  letter  of  his  Imperial  Majesty  to  the  King.' 

But  the  letter  had  vanished.  In  his  sudden  fright 
at  not  finding  it,  and  thinking  of  the  gravity  of  the 
compHcation  which  must  arise  from  the  non-execution 
of  the  orders  he  had  received,  Herr  von  Alopaus 
tried  to  ascribe  the  absence  of  the  autograph  itself 
to  an  act  of  forgetfulness  in  the  sender.  As  for  me, 
I  certainly  saw  a  sealed  letter  with  my  own  eyes, 
and  now  it  was  not  there !  For  more  than  half  an 
hour  we  sought  under  all  the  furniture  without  find- 
ing it ;  Alopaus  in  an  impulse  of  despair  clasped  his 
head  with  both  hands,  and  at  this  moment  the  Em- 
peror's letter  fell  to  the  floor ;  it  had  got  into  a  fold 
in  the  sleeve  of  his  dressing-gown ! 

The  Eussianjs,  however,  did  not  cross  the  frontier  then, 
as  was  intended.  The  Emperor  Alexander  thought 
better  of  it,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  overcome 
the  vacillation  of  the  King  by  a  meeting  of  the  two 
monarchs,  at  which  the  Emperor  might  influence  him 
personally. 

Our  negotiations  had  taken  this  new  phase,  when 
Prince  Dolgoruki  was  commissioned  to  dehver  to  the 
King  another  letter  from  the  Emperor,  in  which  he 
invited  the  King  to  the  meeting  already  arranged,  and 
repeated  the  threat  of  sending  his  troops  through  Prus- 
sian territory.     Herr  von  Alopaus  wrote  to  the  minister 


54  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  ^lEMOIR. 

asking  an  audience,  with  the  urgent  request  that,  consi- 
dering the  gravity  of  the  case.  Prince  Dolgoruki  and  he 
should  be  admitted  to  the  King,  who  was  residing  at 
Potsdam,  as  quickly  as  possible. 

The  same  day  Dolgoruki  came  to  me.  We  agreed 
as  to  the  language  which  he  should  hold  with  the  King, 
while  I  assured  him  of  my  best  support.  '  I  fear,  how- 
ever,' said  I  to  him  as  we  parted, '  that  the  consequence 
of  this  pressure  will  be  the  alliance  of  Prussia  with 
France.'  The  prince  promised  to  inform  me,  imme- 
diately on  his  return  from  Potsdam,  of  all  that  had 
taken  place. 

Prince  Dolgoruki  and  Herr  von  Alopaus  came  to 
me  on  October  6,  and  told  me  what  had  occurred. 
They  had  on  that  day  handed  to  the  King  the  Em- 
peror's letter.  His  Majesty  read  it,  and  declared  with- 
out waiting  a  moment  that  he  had  offered  the  neutrahty 
of  Prussia  to  the  belligerent  powers,  and  that  the 
moment  one  of  those  powers  by  violating  his  territory 
broke  that  neutrahty,  he  considered  himself  at  war 
with  them.  '  Eeturn  to  the  Emperor,  gentlemen,'  con- 
tinued the  King,  '  and  inform  him  of  my  unalterable 
decision.  I  will  write  him  a  letter  to  the  same  effect.' 
With  this  he  dismissed  the  two  ambassadors. 

Hardly,  however,  had  they  left  Potsdam  than  Baron 
Hardenberg,  who  happened  to  be  at  the  palace,  was 
sent  after  them  to  Berhn,  to  summon  them  back  to  the 
King.  His  Majesty  had  just  received  the  news  that 
Napoleon  had  invaded  the  neutral  Prussian  terri- 
tory at  Anspach,  in  order  to  outflank  the  Austrian 
army  concentrated  at  Ulm.  The  King  said  to  his  min- 
ister :  '  Matters  have  taken  another  turn  ;  go  at  once 
to  Prince  Dolgoruki.  He  will  take  with  him  a  letter, 
in  which  I  wiU  inform  the  !Ebaperor  that  the  frontiers  of 


EMBASSY  IN  BEKLIN,  1803—1805.  55 

my  kingdom  are  open  to  him.'  Never,  perhaps,  have  such 
important  events  come  together  in  one  decisive  moment. 

The  King  of  Prussia's  letter  to  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  was  taken  to  him  by  Prince  Dolgoruki,  and  the 
King  invited  me  to  come  to  him  at  Potsdam. 

I  had  a  long  conversation  with  the  King,  which  con- 
firmed me  in  my  view  of  the  danger  of  the  steps  taken 
by  the  Emperor  Alexander  in  such  grave  circumstances. 
This  prince,  vehement  and  full  of  energy,  impulsive, 
always  in  danger  of  acting  rashly,  and  viewing  things 
from  the  standpoint  of  his  pet  ideas,  had  on  coming  to 
the  throne  surrounded  himself  with  a  council  formed  of 
persons  of  his  own  age,  whom  he  honoured  with  the 
name  of  friends.  Among  these  were  Prince  Adam  Czar- 
toryski  and  Prince  Dolgoruki.  The  former  managed  the 
affairs  of  the  Foreign  Office  ;  the  latter  was  one  of  those 
general  officers  of  whom  his  Majesty  constantly  took 
counsel.  As  I  have  said,  he  was  gifted  with  a  warm 
imagination,  and  influenced  the  Emperor  more  than  any 
one  else  with  the  idea  of  binding  the  hands  of  the  King 
Frederick  William — an  enterprise  which,  from  the 
character  of  that  prince,  must  necessarily  fail..  The 
attitude  of  the  King  of  Prussia  was  founded  on  strict  neu- 
trality, and  in  this  he  acted  in  good  faith.  The  violent 
measures  of  Napoleon  and  Alexander,  similar  in  character 
and  coincident  in  time,  left  the  King  only  the  choice 
which  of  two  insults  he  should  resent ;  he  chose  with- 
out hesitation  to  pass  by  that  which  in  form  was  the 
least  injurious.  Alexander  had  made  known  to  the 
King,  in  a  manner  as  peremptory  as  unusual,  his  deter- 
mination to  violate  the  neutrality  of  Prussia.  Napoleon, 
on  the  contrary,  admitted  the  neutrality  of  this  power, 
and  yet  violated  it.  The  King  felt  Napoleon's  proceed- 
ing to  be  the  more  bitter  insultJ^^^ 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Immediately  after  Alexander  had  received  the  King's 
letter,  sent  by  Prince  Dolgoruki,  he  set  out  on  the  road 
to  Potsdam.  The  King  invited  the  reigning  Duke  of 
Brunswick  to  come  at  once  and  begin  the  negotiations 
for  the  entry  of  Prussia  into  alliance  with  the  two  Im- 
perial courts.  This  negotiation  was  conducted,  on  the 
one  hand,  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  and  myself;  on  the 
Prussian  side  by  Count  Haugwitz  for  the  pohtical  part, 
and  by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  to  whom  the  King  had 
given  the  command  of  the  army,  for  the  mihtary  part. 
Prince  Adam  Czartoryski,  then  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  Emperor  of  Eussia,  was  the  official  repre- 
sentative of  the  Emperor  ;  but  in  reality,  the  Emperor 
himself  conducted  the  negotiations.  My  relations  with 
his  Imperial  Majesty  date  from  this  epoch,  and  they  after- 
wards became  most  confidential. 

From  the  first  moment,  the  Emperor  and  I  fell 
under  the  ill-will  of  the  Prussian  negotiators.  With 
ill-concealed  anger,  they  resorted  to  every  imaginable 
pretext  to  protract  the  arrangements  which,  in  face 
of  the  calamitous  circumstances  of  the  war  on  the 
Danube,  grew  more  and  more  urgent.  Certainly  these 
events  were  of  a  kind  to  make  the  Prussian  Cabinet 
thoughtful.  Yet  of  aU  resolutions  they  took  the  very^ 
worst.  When  the  breach  with  France  took  place,  the^ 
King  should  either  have  again  proclaimed  his  neutrality,^ 
at  the  risk  of  seeing  it  violated  a  second  time  by  one  or* 
other  of  the  belhgerent  powers,  or  he  should,  with  th^ 
least  possible  delay,  have  joined  his  forces  with  thd 
AUies,  and  have  endeavoured  by  energetic  action  m 
restore  the  chances  of  war  in  their  favour  and  his  ownj 
A  calculation  so  simple  did  not  enter  the  head  of  Count! 
Haugwitz,  and  it  found  no  response  in  the  irresolute 
character  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.    The  two  Prussi 


EMBASSY  IN  BERLIN,  1803—1805.  57 

negotiators  made  the  worst  possible  choice,  they  decided 
for  a  system  of  vacillation. 

At  last  the  King  made  up  his  mind.  A  treaty 
of  alhance  between  the  three  courts  was  signed  at  ^^^^ 
Potsdam  on  November  5,  and  the  Emperor  Alexander 
went  immediately  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Emperor 
Francis. 

Count  Haugwitz,  who  could  not  evade  the  completion 
of  the  treaty  of  alliance,  left  open  a  backdoor  of  escape. 
He  caused  the  King  to  send  him  to  Napoleon  to  inform 
him,  on  the  part  of  the  King,  that  the  King  had  decided 
to  unite  his  forces  with  those  of  the  two  Imperial  courts, 
in  case  the  French  army  should  not  halt  in  its  vic- 
torious career.  The  days  necessary  to  carry  out  this 
step  were  duly  calculated.  At  his  departure,  the  Czar 
had  given  me  full  powers,  and  in  his  name  also  I  was 
to  watch  over  the  strict  fulfilment  of  the  engagements 
just  made.  Without  loss  of  time  the  Prussian  army 
marched  towards  the  Upper  Danube. 

Just  at  this  time  the  war  of  1805  entered  its  last 
phase.  Count  Haugwitz,  having  delayed  his  departure 
from  Berhn  more  than  eight  days  beyond  the  time 
agreed  upon,  did  not  find  Napoleon  at  Vienna,  and 
went  to  join  him  at  Briinn.  But,  instead  of  executing 
his  commission,  he  gave  it  the  character  of  a  simple 
act  of  pohteness  on  the  part  of  the  King  his  master. 
Napoleon  sent  him  back  to  Vienna.  He  was  preparing  to 
offer  battle,  to  which  the  Emperor  Alexander  also  was 
pressing  forward.  Napoleon  found  himself  in  a  very  dan- 
gerous position.  The  Archduke  Charles  was  advancing 
by  forced  marches  with  the  army  of  Italy  through  Styria ; 
the  Prussian  army  wa»  in  movement  towards  Eegens- 
burg ;  and,  lastly,  the  news  from  Paris  of  the  internal 
condition  of  France  was  of  the  most  disquieting  cha- 


68  AUTOBIOGKAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


1 


racter.  If  the  allied  armies,  instead  of  offering  battle 
at  Austerlitz,  had  halted  at  a  suitable  distance,  the  French 
army  would  have  been  forced  to  fall  back  upon  Vienna, 
and  the  Alhes  would  then  have  been  able  again  to  take 
the  offensive  with  vigour.  Tyrol  and  even  Upper 
Austria  only  waited  for  this  to  rise  in  one  mass.  Thus 
the  chances  of  war  were  all  in  favour  of  the  AlHes, 
and  never  was  position  more  grave  than  that  of  Napo- 
leon. The  Emperor  Francis  himself  tried  every  argu- 
ment to  dissuade  the  Emperor  Alexander  from  offering 
battle.  It  was,  however,  begun,  and  its  results  He  before 
us  in  the  Peace  of  Pressburg.^^*^ 

The  Emperor  bestowed  on  me  the  order  of  the  grand 
cross  of  St.  Stephen,  in  recognition  of  the  services  which 
he  condescended  to  see  in  my  share  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  league  with  Prussia.  This  league  was,  thanks 
to  the  attitude  of  Count  Haugwitz,  a  fruitless  one.^^^^ 
Wlien  he  presented  himself  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
after  his  entrance  into  Vienna,  and  offered  him  his 
congratulations  on  the  victory,  Napoleon  asked  him 
whether  if  the  event  had  been  different  he  would  have 
spoken  to  him  of  the  friendship  of  the  King  his  master. 
Count  Haugwitz  took  no  notice  of  the  sarcasm,  and  ne- 
gotiated for  the  union  of  the  Electorate  of  Hanover 
with  Prussia. ^^^^  Napoleon  gave,  in  fact,  his  consent  to 
this,  for,  aiming  as  he  did  at  the  destruction  of  GerH 
many,  nothing  could  better  serve  his  plans  than  a  unioil 
of  that  character,  which  was  a  direct  attack  on  thc| 
existence  of  the  German  Empire,  and  at  the  same  tim 
concealed  within  itself  the  germ  of  an  irreparable 
breach  between  Prussia  and  Great  Britain. 

Vienna  was  the  theatre  of  all  these  not  very  honour^ 
able  arrangements,  wliich  Count  Haugwitz  concealeq 
from  the  King   his   master   till   his   return   to  Berhn. 


EMBASSY   IN  BERLIN,  1803—1805.  59 

This  return  he  delayed  as  long  as  possible,  sometimes 
on  the  plea  of  health,  sometimes  pretending  important 
business  which  he  carefully  kept  under  a  veil  of  mys- 
tery. At  last  he  made  his  appearance  at  Potsdam, 
and  gave  the  King  an  account  of  his  pohtical  industry, 
leaving  to  the  King  the  choice  between  the  ratification 
of  the  act  concluded  by  Haugwitz  sub  spe  rati,  and  the 
deposition  of  the  negotiator.  The  King  ratified  the 
treaty,  but  dismissed  Count  Haugwitz  from  his  office, 
which  he  conferred  on  Freiherr  von  Hardenberg.^^^^ 


CHAPTEB  IV. 

AS  AUSTRIAN  AMBASSADOR  AT  THE  COURT  OF 
KAPOLEON. 


(      * 


63 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

AS   AUSTRIAK   AMBASSADOR   AT   THE   COURT   OF  NAPOLEON". 
(1806—1809.) 

Retirement  of  OoUoredo  and  Oobenzl — Stadion  appointed  Minister  for 
Foreign  AtFairs — Metternich  appointed  to  St.  Petersburg :  goes,  instead, 
to  Paris — Reasons  for  this  change — Conversation  with  the  Emperor 
Francis — Little  instruction  from  the  Archives — Journey  from  Vienna — 
Detention  in  Strasburg — Arrival  in  Paris — Beginning  of  public  life 
there — "With  Talleyrand — First  audience  of  Napoleon  in  St.-Cloud — 
Jena,  the  summit  of  Napoleon's  power — The  mistakes  of  Prussia — Napo- 
leon's mistakes — Bulletins — The  gloire  nationale — Napoleon's  return  from 
the  banks  of  the  Niemen  (Memel) — Dalberg's  audience  on  taking  leave — 
Count  Tolskoy — Count  Nesselrode — Napoleon  glances  towards  Spain — 
Meeting  of  the  monarchs  at  Erfurt — Count  Romanzow — Metternich's 
passive  attitude — Lafayette — Barrere — The  great  audience  of  August  15, 
1808 — Champagny  silenced — Arrival  at  Vienna — The  Austrian  position 
— Conversation  with  the  Emperor  Francis — Metternich's  \'iews  on  the 
war — Napoleon's  attitude — Diplomatic  relations  with  Austria  broken  off 
— Metternich's  departure  prevented,  and  the  reason  for  this— The  internal 
condition  of  France — Wealth  of  the  French  marshals — Napoleon's 
position — Anti-warlike  disposition  of  the  great  office-bearers  and  mar- 
shals of  France — Characteristics  of  Talleyrand,  Fouche,  and  Cambac^re-s 
— Metternich's  departure  from  Paris  as  prisoner  under  escort — Report  of 
the  battle  of  Aspern— Visit  to  the  Empress  Josephine  at  Strasburg — 
Arrival  at  Vienna — Metternich's  father,  with  the  Archbishop  of  Vienna, 
Count  Pergen,  and  Hardegg,  appointed  to  Geiseln — Conversation  with 
Champagny — Interned  in  the  Villa  of  Griinberg—  General  Savary'a  visit 
— Departure  for  the  place  of  exchange — Contrary  orders — Napoleon's  ex- 
cuses—Night-quaiiers  in  Acs — An  Austrian  battery  fires  at  Metternich's 
carriage— Return  to  Raab — Exchanged  at  last — Colonel  Avy — Recep- 
tion by  the  Emperor  Francis — Stadion's  appointment — Preparation  for 
battle— Retreat  of  the  Austrian  army — Head-quarters  in  Znaim. 

The  consequences  of  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  made  it 
impossible  for  those  men  who  had  undertaken  the  war  of 
1805  to  remain  in  office.     Count  Colloredo,  the  cabinet 


64 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


minister,  and  Count  Cobenzl,  the  Vice-Chancellor  of 
Courland  State,  resigned,  and  the  Emperor  appointed 
Count  Stadion,  his  ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg,  to  be. 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. ,  As  the  Emperor  Alexander! 
had  wished  me  to  be  ambassador  there,  I  was  ordere 
to  leave  Berlin,  and  to  repair  to  my  new  appointment,  b 
way  of  Vienna. ^^^^  At  the  beginning  of  April  I  reache 
that  city,  and  presented  myself  to  Count  Stadion,  who 
informed  me  that  not  St.  Petersburg,  but  Paris,  was  to 
be  my  destination.  Count  Phihp  Cobenzl,  who  had 
been  selected  for  the  embassy  in  France,  had  been  o 
jected  to  by  Napoleon,  who  pointed  out  me  as  th 
representative  of  Austria  most  suitable  to  streng 
those  relations  he  was  now  anxious  to  see  estabhshed 
between  the  two  Empires. 

I  afterwards  learned  that  the  reasons  which  actuated' 
Napoleon  on  this  occasion  were  the  following: — My 
French  colleague  in  BerHn  was  M.  de  Laforest,  before; 
mentioned,  a  confidant  of  Prince  Talleyrand.  At  th 
moment  of  extreme  tension,  just  before  the  conclusion^ 
of  the  aUiance  between  Austria,  Russia  and  Prussia,  the 
position  of  M.  de  Laforest  had  become  most  difficult.  It 
had,  however,  always  been  my  habit  not  to  mingle  busi- 
ness affairs  with  personal  matters,  and  so  I  endeavoured 
to  maintain  relations  with  my  French  colleague  on  a 
footing  of  frank  courtesy.  These  relations  continued 
during  all  the  different  phases  of  the  affair.  This  did 
not  escape  the  notice  of  Talleyrand,  whose  pohcy  waai 
not  averse  to  the  estabhshment  of  good  relations  be- 
tween France  and  Austria.  The  influence  of  Count 
Phihp  Cobenzl  had  become  stale  in  Paris,  a  new  man; 
was  wanted  there  :  the  choice  fell  on  me. 

This  change  in  my  destination,  when  I  learned 
fell  upon  me  Hke  a  thunder-bolt.     I  resigned  the  posi4 


AT  THE   COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  180G— 1809.  65 

tion  at  St.  Petersburg,  with  reluctance,  for  the  personal 
relations  in  which  I  stood  to  the  Emperor  Alexander 
allowed  me  to  hope  that  I  might  render  service  there 
to  my  monarch,  and  at  the  same  time  count  on  a  sphere 
of  action  more  suited  to  my  views  than  that  which 
awaited  me  in  Paris,  face  to  face  with  Napoleon.  The 
task  of  representing  Austria  in  Prance,  immediately 
after  the  Peace  of  Pressburg,  presented  so  many  diffi- 
culties, that  I  feared  I  should  not  be  adequate  to  them. 
The  next  day  I  waited  on  the  Emperor  Francis,  and 
ventured  to  describe  the  embarrassment  of  my  position. 
He  received  me  with  his  usual  kindness,  praised  me 
for  my  conduct  in  Berlin,  and  set  before  me  the  necessity 
of  accommodating  myself  to  what  he  called  my  destiny, 
with  expressions  which  made  it  impossible  for  me  to 
oppose  his  wishes. 

I  was  thus  placed  in  a  position  opposed  to  my  in- 
clinations, but  being  determined  always  to  subordinate 
them  to  a  feehng  of  duty,  I  endeavoured  to  make  clear  to 
myself  the  line  I  ought  to  take.  Napoleon  seeifiM  to  me 
the  incarnation  of  the  Eevolution  •  while  in  the  Austnan 

j|P~aTOj 111,11  iiiiiiiiii  I     I  >i iii]u,ujL.]j.iiijjwm  '■**"  ■— ~— .  1 1  ■Mi"™*^"^'"-^" 

rer  which  I  had  to  represent  at  his  court,  I  saw  the 

^— ^— II  — r~~^   '  ■,    '    ^  -— ——-——'— •~>———^~—^— —-  -— 

surest  guardian  of  the  principles  which  alone  f^uaranteed 
generarpeace  ana  political  equihbrium.  When  1  looked 
at  my  task  from  this  point  otview,  the  great  importance 
of  the  functions  I  had  to  perform  rose  before  me.  I 
did  not,  indeed,  fear  to  go  wrong,  as  so  many  had  done, 
from  a  heated  imagination  or  self-love,  for  I  felt  myself 
free  from  these  failings  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  knew 
the  many  and  dangerous  rocks  in  my  new  position,  and 
I  resolved  for  the  present,  to  keep  my  ambition  within 
very  modest  bounds,  and  at  least  to  prevent  evil  when 
I  saw  the  impossibihty  of  doing  good. 

I  searched  in  the  archives  of  the  chancellery,  but. 
VOL.  I.  F 


66 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


found  little  to  help  me.  Th^  French  Revolution  was 
not  yet  understood  b^siJJi£_jTqe.i|^  -^^hDuai^iAftJiiMiLj^^lTprl 
on,  to  deal  with  tins  monstrous  social  catastrophe.  The 
rapidity  of  the  career  oi  .Napoleon  had  aazzl^S  many 
spectators,  and  left  them  httle  time  to  weigh,  im- 
partially and  quietly,  the  conditions  on  which  his  exist- 
ence rested.  I  addressed  myself  to  this  task  with 
pleasure,  convinced  as  I  was  that  the  analysis  of  this 
personified  product  of  the  Revolution  must  necessarily 
explain  to  me  how  this  man,  from  so  mean  a  start- 
ing-point, could  have  raised  himself  to  such  a  height. 
Some  saw  in  Napoleon  only  the  great  general ;  some 
saw  the  ground  of  his  elevation  in  his  pohtical  talents  ; 
while  others  regarded  him  merely  as.  an  adventurer 
favoured  by  fortune  :  all  forgot  that  for  the  explanation 
of  the  astonishing  success  of  this  man,  it  was  indispen- 
sable to  connect  his  personal  quahties  with  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  hved. 

I  left  Vienna  in  July  1806.  When  I  arrived  in 
Strasburg,  I  was  not  allowed  to  continue  my  journey  ; 
the  order  had  been  given  in  Paris,  but  the  pretext  made 
use  of  by  the  local  authorities  was,  that  they  could  not 
allow  me  to  continue  my  journey  without  a  positive  , 
order.  The  true  cause  of  this  unjustifiable  proceeding 
was,  however,  the  presence  of  Herr  Oubril  in  Paris,^ 
through  whose  assistance  Napoleon  hoped  to  arrive  at 
an  understanding  with  the  Russian  court.  Till  this 
understanding,  to  which  the  Emperor  Alexander  after 
wards  refused  his  consent,  was  arrived  at,  the  Emperorj 
of  the  French  seemed  not  to  wish  for  my  presence  in 
Paris.  If,  indeed,  I  had  been  there,  I  should  have  used 
my  influence  to  prevent  that  young  and  inexperiencedJ 
negotiator  from  compromising  himself  in  so  painfufi 
a  manner.     When  the  negotiations  with  Herr  Oubril 


AT  THE   COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  180G— 1809.  67 

had  once  been  concluded  sub  spe  rati,  I  was  allowed  to 
continue  my  journey  to  Paris,  where  I  arrived  on  August 
4.  The  next  day  I  went  to  the  Prince  of  Benevento 
(Talleyrand),  then  Minister  for  Foreign  Afiairs,  whom  I 
did  not  as  yet  personally  know.  He  received  me  with 
the  greatest  cordiality,  showed  himself  incHned  to  closer 
relations  between  France  and  Austria,  and  boasted  of 
the  moderation  which  he  had  displayed  during  the 
negotiations  of  the  Peace  of  Pressburg.  As  this  assertion 
was  well  founded,  I  took  up  my  own  position,  and  ex- 
plained to  him  what  the  Emperor  understood  by  friendly 
relations,  which  must  not  be  confounded  with  sub- 
mission. 

This  was,  in  fact,  the  beginning  of  my  pubhc  life. 
All  that  had  gone  before  might  have  shown  the  inde- 
pendence of  my  character.  As  a  man  of  principles, 
I  could  not  and  I  would  not  bend  when  it  came  to  the 
point  of  defending  them.  Within  a  short  space  of  time 
destiny  had  placed  me  face  to  face  with  the  man  who  at 
this  epoch  ruled  the  affairs  of  the  world  ;  I  felt  it  my 
duty  and  I  had  the  courage  never  to  offer  to  mere  cir- 
cumstance a  sacrifice  which  I  could  not  defend  to  my 
conscience  both  as  a  statesman  and  as  a  private  in- 
dividual. This  voice  of  conscience  I  followed  ;  and  I 
do  not  think  it  was  a  good  inspiration  of  Napoleon's, 
which  called  me  to  functions  which  gave  me  the  oppor- 
tunity of  appreciating  his  excellences,  but  also  the 
possibility  of  discovering  the  faults  which  at  last  led  him 
to  ruin  and  freed  Europe  from  the  oppression  under 
which  it  languished. 

This  study  put  means  into  my  hand,  the  efficacy 
of  which  I  had  the  opportunity  of  proving  in  a  few 
years. 

I  presented  myself  to  Napoleon,  without  delivering 

F  2 


68  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

an  address  at  the  first  audience  I  had  at  St. -Cloud, . 
as  was  the  custom  of  my  colleagues.  I  confined  myself 
to  stating  that  as,  in  accordance  with  his  own  wishes, 
I  had  been  chosen  to  represent  the  Emperor  of  Austria 
at  his  court,  I  should  strive  on  every  occasion  to 
strengthen  the  good  relations  between  the  two  empires 
on  that  basis  upon  which  alone  a  lasting  peace  could 
be  established  between  independent  states.  Napoleon 
answered  me  in  the  same  simple  style,  and  our  subse- 
quent personal  relations  took  their  tone  from  this  first 
meeting. 

France  at  that  time  felt  the  need  of  order,  and  would 
easily  have  been  led  in  that  direction,  if  Napoleon's  love 
of  conquest  had  not  forced  it  to  a  system  which  ulti- 
mately led  him  to  his  ruin.  War  with  Prussia  was 
imminent :  yet  Napoleon  might  have  acted  so  as  to 
avoid  it-  This  he  would  not  do  ;  and  the  consequences 
would  have  justified  the  choice  made  by  Napoleon,  had 
he  not  abused  the  victory. 

In  this  Autobiography  there  will  not  be  found  a 
narrative  of  events  belonging  to  diplomatic  and  military 
history  ;  materials  for  the  history  of  the  time  must  be 
drawn  fi-om  the  state  archives  of  official  correspondence. 
It  does  not  belong  to  the  plan  I  set  before  me  to  specify 
the  mass  of  labours  which  in  the  long  course  of  my 
public  life  I  was  able  to  achieve.     The  present  work  is 
intended  only  to  communicate  what  concerns  myself,  or- 
has  reference  to  the  tone  of  mind  which  the  circum-; 
stances  of  my  time  have   produced   in   me,  those  of. 
which  I  was  a  mere  spectator  and  those  in  which  I  havej 
myself  played  a  part. 

According  to  my  opinion.  Napoleon  reached  thei 
summit  of  his  power  in  the  victory  of  Jena.  If,  in- 
stead of  the  destruction  of  Prussia,  he  had  limited  his 


AT  THE  COURT   OF  NAPOLEON,  1800—1809.  69 

ambition  to  the  weakening  of  that  power,  and  had 
then  annexed  it  to  the  Confederation  of  the  Ehine,  the 
enormous  edifice  which  he  had  succeeded  in  erecting 
would  have  gained  a  foundation  of  strength  and  solidity, 
which  the  Peace  of  Tilsit  did  not  gain  for  it ;  indeed, 
the  conditions  of  that  peace  were  so  hard  and  over- 
strained that  it  essentially  contributed  to  its  downfall/^*^ 
The  mistake  which  the  Prussians  made  in  1805  in 
not  uniting  their  strength  with  that  of  Austria  and 
Russia,  was  renewed  in  the  rising  of  1806  ;  and  yet  it 
was  to  this  repeated  mistake,  that  we  owe  the  libera- 
tion of  Europe  from  the  yoke  which  Napoleon's  love 
of  conquest  had  imposed  upon  it.  For  King  Frederick 
WilHam  III.  the  war  of  1806  was  not  premeditated, 
but  rather  the  effect  of  an  agitation  which  he  had  not 
the  strength  to  resist.  Prince  Louis  Ferdinand  and  the 
feeble  elite  of  the  army  were  at  the  head  of  the  agitation 
for  war.  The  great  mass  of  the  army  as  well  as  of  the 
people  were  under  the  spell  of  the  neutrahty  which 
the  King  contrived  to  maintain  after  the  Peace  of  Basle,, 
and  which,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  German  Em- 
pire, had  given  Prussia  a  kind  of  protectorate  over 
North  Germany.  This  position  was  weak  on  the  face 
of  it,  and  although  it  flattered  the  short-sighted  plans 
of  such  men  as  Count  Haugwitz,  Lombard,  and  General 
von  Pfuel,  it  hindered  everything  Uke  enthusiasm  in 
the  nation.  When  Napoleon,  in  1805,  in  order  to 
ensure  the  success  of  a  strategic  combination,  ventured 
to  violate  the  neutral  Prussian  territory,  he  showed  how 
well  he  understood  the  condition  of  Prussia ;  and  cer- 
tainly the  attitude  of  Count  Haugwitz  after  the  battle 
of  AusterUtz  was  not  calculated  to  give  him  a  different 
impression  of  the  energy  of  that  power.  I  am  con- 
vinced, therefore,  that  the  political  mistake  committed 


70  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

by  Napoleon,  after  his  enormous  successes  during  the 
whole  campaign,  was  chiefly  the  consequence  of  the 
false  idea  he  had  formed  of  the  thorough  exhaustion 
of  the  Prussian  power.  When  Napoleon  had  reduced 
this  kingdom  to  the  condition  of  the  Peace  of  Tilsit, 
he  beheved  that  he  could  leave  it  to  die  a  natural 
death  ;  and  in  his  opinion  the  kingdoms  of  Westphaha 
and  Saxony  were  the  natural  heirs  of  Prussia. 

I  took  leave  in  the  year  1810  to  draw  Napo- 
leon's attention  to  what  I  thought  a  mistake  in  his 
calculation.  He  did  not  contradict  me,  and  added,  Jj 
hjad^^akeajj^in  hand,  and  must  finish  the  work  I  had 
begum^^^^jjiii^ggjJjgg^^^a^Trussi^j^g^g^Jor.'  The 
events  of  a  few  years  later  than  this  prove  that  Napo- 
leon was  not  infallible  in  his  calculations :  they  justified 
mine. 

There  are  few  chapters  in  the  history  of  nations 
which  exhibit  such  astonishing  vicissitudes  of  fortune 
as  the  history  of  Prussia  from  the  death  of  the  great 
Frederick  till  the  Peace  of  Tilsit.  Rising  in  the  course 
of  four  reigns  from  the  position  of  an  electorate  to  a 
power  of  the  first  rank,  this  monarchy,  after  the  cam- 
paigns of  1806  and  1807,  was  shaken  to  its  very  found- 
ations. All  seems  contradiction  in  the  annals  of  Prussia, 
and  these  annals  comprise  scarcely  one  century.  In  less 
than  this  period  a  barren  and  thinly  populated  country 
rose  to  a  height  of  power  which  assigned  to  its  rulers 
more  than  once  the  part  of  umpires  in  Europe,  and  this 
height  of  power  it  reached  amid  storms  and  agitations 
which  threatened  it  at  home  and  abroad.  From  the 
year  1740  there  was  not  a  moment  when  the  Prussian 
army  was  not  in  active  service.  Its  standing  army, 
though  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  people, 
or  the  resources  of  the  country,  far  from  exhausting 


AT  THE   COURT   OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  71 

these,  on  the  contrary,  raised  the  monarchy  to  a  height 
of  power  not  aspired  to  in  the  wildest  dreams  of  its 
greatest  princes.  Frederick  11.  on  his  deathbed  said 
to  his  young  nephew  that  his  successors  would  do 
more  than  he  had  done  if  they  knew  how  to  maintain 
his  conquests.  But,  in  fact,  they  doubled  them.  And 
this  state  did  not  grow  and  increase  in  the  midst  of  less 
civilised  nations.  On  the  contrary,  all  its  conquests  were 
over  those  which  surpassed  it  in  wealth  and  power. 
The  Eevolution,  which  since  1789  threatened  to  engulf 
the  civilised  world,  contributed  to  the  aggrandisement 
of  Prussia.  All  the  Powers  that  went  to  war  with 
France  exhausted  themselves.  Prussia  alone  drew  ad- 
vantage from  all  circumstances  ;  and  when  she  found 
herself  with  other  states  put  down  for  the  time,  she 
went  her  own  way  with  quiet  steps  and  accommodated 
herself  to  the  conqueror.  Every  campaign  gave  her 
a  pretext  for  extending  her  influence  ;  every  truce  either 
confirmed  an  encroachment  on  a  weak  and  timid 
neighbour,  or  contrived  that  such  should  voluntarily 
place  itself  under  her  banner ;  lastly,  every  peace 
brought  her  a  reward  for  exertions  which  she  had 
nevertheless  made  only  to  serve  her  own  purposes. 
Such  were  the  consequences  of  the  mighty  impulse 
given  to  the  country  by  the  genius  of  her  first  kings. 

The  observations  which  my  position  in  the  French 
capital  enabled  me  to  make  during  the  whole  duration 
of  the  war  of  1806  and  1807  were  in  absolute  contra- 
diction to  the  reports  industriously  circulated  by  the 
organs  of  the  Government  on  the  condition  of  the 
country.  I  had  the  opportunity  of  convincing  myself 
of  the  extreme  care  taken  by  the  Emperor  to  magnify 
the  effect  of  his  victories. ^^"'^  The  account  of  some  pre- 
vious victory  was  spread  through  Paris  previous  to  the 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

officially  prepared  news  of  a  defeat;  the  members  of 
the  Government  itself  might  act  as  if  in  the  greatest 
anxiety,  whilst  the  cannon  of  the  Invahdes  thundered 
forth  the  news  of  a  victory  already  known. 

Napoleon,  in  making  use  of  such  petty  means,  had 
doubtless  the  double  object  of  adding  brilhancy  to  his 
successes,  and  of  furnishing  the  means  to  his  pohce  of 
ascertaining  the  feehngs  of  individuals.  With  respect  to 
the  first,  he  may  have  succeeded  to  a  certain  point,  but 
not  in  regard  to  the  latter.  A  stupor  then  reigned  in 
Paris,  produced  by  a  sense  of  the  weight  which  the  Em- 
peror had  laid  upon  all  classes  of  society.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  agents  provocateurs,  no  person  of  any  influence 
would  have  ventured  to  express  aloud  any  sentiment 
unpleasant  to  the  Government;  but  after  aU  the  loud 
talkers  are  not  really  the  persons  to  be  feared.  The  im- 
pression made  on  the  public  of  Paris  by  the  news  of 
,a  battle  won  by  Napoleon  was  certainly  not  that  of  joy : 
it  was  satisfaction  that  France  had  escaped  the  conse- 
quences, and  at  seeing  that  her  internal  peace  was  not 
endangered.  The  Emperor  might  with  good  right  say  at 
that  time  La  France  c'est  moil  The  revolutionary 
elements  were  only  smothered.  The  country  had  not '] 
one  friend  in  Europe,  and  an  immeasurable  feeling  of 
unrest  reigned  amid  the  rejoicings  for  a  victory  of  the 
French  army,  for  everyone  knew  that  these  victories 
made  new  ones  necessary  to  complete  the  work,  the 
ultimate  extent  of  which  no  one  could  foresee.  The 
phrase  gloire  nationale,  which  in  the  Restoration  acted 
like  magic,  had  not  then  the  same  effect.  With  a  fewj 
exceptions,  the  nation  would  wiUingly  have  exchanged 
glory  for  safety.  Under  the  Restoration  the  appeal  to 
la  gloire  was  a  weapon  of  the  Bonapartist  and  revolu- 
tionary opposition ;   under  the  Empire  the  opposition 


I 


AT  THE   COURT   OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  73 

was  unanimous  m  its  repudiation  of  a  warlike  ten- 
dency. 

Intoxicated  with  victory,  Napoleon  returned  from 
the  banks  of  the  Niemen  to  Paris.  The  first  im- 
pression of  the  unrestrained  idea  of  power  of  the 
insatiable  conqueror  was  given  to  the  diplomatic  corps 
at  the  customary  reception,  when  all  the  assembled  re- 
presentatives of  foreign  powers  had  in  turn  to  hear  the 
unpleasant  things  from  the  mouth  of  the  Emperor.  ^^^^ 
Sarcasm  of  every  kind  was  interspersed  with  warlike 
menaces.  I  came  off  the  best,  although  in  the  negotia- 
tions on  the  adjustment  of  the  boundary  between  Aus- 
tria and  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  which  at  that  time  came 
to  a  conclusion  in  the  Convention  of  Fontainebleau,^^''^^ 
the  feehng  of  Napoleon  betrayed  itself  in  a  way  any- 
thing but  satisfactory  to  the  wishes  of  Austria. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Princes  of  the  new  Con- 
federation of  the  Ehine  came  to  Paris,  to  do  homage  to 
their  new  master  and  to  congratulate  him  on  his  fresh 
victories.  At  their  head  was  the  Prince  Primate  Frei- 
herr  von  Dalberg.  Six  weeks  after  the  arrival  of  that 
Prince,  I  happened  to  have  an  audience  of  Napoleon  at 
St.-Cloud.  In  the  ante-room  I  met  the  Prince  Primate, 
who  had  come  to  take  leave  of  the  Emperor.  He  was 
just  speaking  to  me  of  the  grand  prospects  of  the  Bund, 
of  the  thankfulness  of  all  its  members  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  and  of  the  high  destiny  to  which  the  German 
Fatherland  was  called,  when  he  was  invited  to  enter  the 
Emperor's  closet.  He  remained  about  eight  or  ten 
minutes  with  the  Emperor,  then  came  my  turn. 

Napoleon  excused  himself  that  he  had  kept  me 
waiting  so  long.  I  remarked  that  to  me  at  least  the 
time  had  passed  quickly,  that  the  audience  of  the 
Prince  Primate  had  not  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  long  one, 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


at  any  rate  for  a  farewell  audience.    '  Well,  what  would 
you  have  ?  '  said  Napoleon  smiUng  :  '  this  man  is  full  oi 
empty  dreams.    He  torments  me  continually  to  arrange 
the  constitution  of  what  he  calls  the  German  Fatherland 
He  wants  his  Eegensburg,  his  Imperial  court  of  supreme 
judicature  with  all  the  traditions  of  the  old  GermaO 
Empire.     He  tried  to  speak  again  of  these  absurdities, 
but  I  cut   him   short.     "Monsieur  I'Abbe,"  I  said   to? 
him,  "  I  will  tell  you  my  secret.     In  Germany  the  small:^.^ 
people  want  to  be  protected  against  the  great  people  ;1i 
the  great  wish  to  govern  according  to  their  own  fancy ;{ 
now,  as  I  only  want   from   the  federation    men   andj 
money,  and  as  it  is  the  great  people  and  not  the  small' 
who  can  provide  me  with  both,  I  leave  the  former  alone 
in  peace,  and  the  second  have  only  to  settle  themselves 
as  best  they  may !  "  ' 

My  personal  relations  with  Napoleon  soon  assum 
the  same  character  which  they  had  before  he  too" 
the  field.  About  that  time  General  Count  Peter  Tolsto; 
arrived  in  France  as  ambassador  from  Eussia.^^^^  Th 
Emperor  Alexander  had  enjoined  him  to  attach  himse 
to  me,  and  to  follow  my  advice.  Count  Tolstoy  had  n 
before  served  in  the  diplomatic  line,  and  from  the  tu 
of  his  mind  and  his  exclusively  mihtary  knowledge 
never  was  successful  in  this  career  ;  and  in  accepting  th 
post  of  Ambassador  in  Paris  he  merely  submitted 
the  will  of  the  Emperor.  The  choice  of  the  Empero] 
Alexander  was,  in  my  opinion,  well  suited  to  the  positio: 
of  affairs.  As  a  zealous  conservative,  by  nature  and 
experience,  the  enemy  of  the  system  of  conquest,  thi 
'  Ambassador  against  his  will '  made  no  secret  of  hi 
incHnations,  and  thereby  gained  the  respect  of  mej 
whose  tendencies  he  had  been  directed  to  observf 
Count  Nesselrode,  afterwards  yice-Chancellor   of    th) 


AT  THE   COURT   OF   NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  75 

Eussian  Empire,  filled  the  post  of  first  Secretary  of 
Legation  under  Count  Tolstoy,  and  from  this  time  date 
the  relations  of  personal  confidence  between  us  which 
have  been  maintained  through  the  varied  phases  of  our 
pubHc  hfe. 

After  the  Peace  of  Tilsit,  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
turned  his  eyes  on  Spain.  In  order  to  secure  the  carry- 
ing out  of  his  "plans,  he  thought  it  necessary  to  cripple 
Eussia,  after  conquering  Austria  and  Prussia,  in  two 
successive  wars,  and  covering  the  eastern  frontier  of 
his  Empire  by  the  Confederation  of  the  Ehine.  The 
undertaking  had  but  too  great  success  at  Erfurt.  The 
conference  which  took  place  there  between  Napoleon 
and  Alexander  was  a  snare  for  the  Eussian  monarch. 
In  reality.  Napoleon's  thoughts  were  directed  neither 
against  Turkey  nor  against  Asia  ;  and  if  the  hatred 
which  he  entertained  for  England  led  him  to  think  for 
li  moment  of  attacking  her  in  her  Indian  possessions, 
this  project  existed  only  as  an  eventuahty,  dependent 
on  the  concurrence  of  circumstances  as  yet  remote, 
^^igol^on  occupied  himself_rather  with  perfs£ting  his 
Qjg^J^^^^^T^^^^^^^^t^h^^ub^^^^^^Bou^ 
bons  from  the  thron^^f_Saau^-JIIll£,£xtrayagaJlL£--ilf 
these  ^i^anti^cnemes  brought  aboii^,  tJie  fp|]]  pf  iVopri- 
leon^^^,__^^^years   later,    and    the__exgedition    against 


SpaiiL_wM(lh  beyond  anydoubtwas  a  thoriHiglilY  im^ 


taken  idea  on  his  part.  onl^Lac££lfi3al£d^-th£-£atastrophe. 


JNapoleon  left  Paris  in  August.  History  has  unde" 
taken  to  describe  the  events  of  which  Spain  was  the 
theatre,  and  to  record  for  posterity  the  reaction  of  those 
events  on  the  destiny  of  Europe.  They  made  a  most 
lively  impression  upon  the  Austrian  Cabinet;  and  I 
felt  them  the  more,  from  my  knowledge  of  them  in  my 
official  capacity.     Desirous  of  leaving  a  position  where 


76  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


I  could  not  obtain  the  necessary  information,  I  asked 
leave,  during  the  absence  of  the  Emperor  from  Paris, 
to  go  to  Vienna  in  order  to  give  them  the  news  I  pos- 
sessed, and  learn  some  for  myself.  Leave  being  granted 
to  me,  I  started  on  October  4,  and  arrived  in  Vienna  on 
the  10th. 

The  meeting  of  the  monarchs  took  place  at  Erfurt 
in  September  and  October,  1808.^'*^  Thither  General 
Baron  Vincent  was  sent  from  Vienna,  under  the  pretext 
of  welcoming  the  two  Emperors  ;  he  had  acted  as  am- 
bassador in  Paris  from  the  peace  of  1805  till  my 
arrival.  His  candid  and  loyal  character,  as  well  as  the 
tendency  of  his  mind,  had  won  Napoleon's  regard.  The 
Emperor  Francis  could  not  have  made  a  better  choice 
for  so  critical  a  mission.  Through  him  and  my  col- 
league Tolstoy,  I  was  kept  informed  of  what  passed  at 
Erfurt,  and  could  not  but  foresee,  that  enormous  com- 
phcations  were  inevitable  from  the  approach  of  two 
such  great  potentates  as  Napoleon  and  Alexander — an 
approach  which  had  no  real  basis,  and  was  only  a  trap 
laid  for  the  Eussian  monarch  on  the  part  of  the  French 
Emperor.  But  the  calculation  was  wrong,  because 
Napoleon,  when  he  speculated  on  deluding  the  Em- 
peror of  Eussia  for  a  time,  was  quite  mistaken  as  to 
the  time  necessary  for  accompHshing  the  overthrow  oi 
Spain. 

The  Chancellor,  Count  Eomanzow,  followed  Napol© 
to  Paris,  after  his  return  from  Erfurt,  as  closely  as  pes 
sible.^^^^     Eomanzow  knew  me  from  my  earhest  youi 
for  when  he  resided  at  Frankfort  as  Eussian  Amb 
sador  to  the  Ehenish  Courts,  he  was  a  colleague  of  ffl 
father.    During  his  residence  at  Paris,  Count  Eomanzo 
was   extremely  intimate  with   me,  and   anxiously 
deavoured  to  flatter  the  new  ally  of  Eussia.     All 


M 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  77 

Count  Eomanzow  did  was  in  good  faith,  and  I  doubt 
not  that  he  took  this  aUiance  to  be  quite  sincere.  I 
am  sure  that  he  only  followed  the  guidance  of  his  con- 
science, when  he  endeavoured  to  correct  my  ideas  with 
regard  to  this  new  pohtical  phase.  Count  Eomanzow, 
a  clever  man,  though  of  no  deep  intellect,  was  caught 
ill  the  nets  which  Napoleon  spread  for  him.  Loaded  by 
Xapoleon  with  favours,  he  took  all  these  attentions  as 
genuine,  and  was  at  last  so  dazzled  by  them  that  in  the 
course  of  a  long  conversation,  I  do  not  now  remember 
on  what  subject,  he  thought  to  silence  me  with  the  fol- 
lowing words  :  '  I  have  Napoleon  in  my  pocket ;  do  you 
think  that  I  am  going  to  let  him  go  ?  '  By  a  curious 
coincidence,  it  happened  that  I  had  just  come  from  the 
Emperor,  and  my  conversation  with  him  had  given  me 
an  impression  which  scarcely  agreed  with  this.  Napo- 
leon had,  in  fact,  spoken  to  me  of  the  Chancellor  with 
extreme  candour,  and  made  no  secret  of  his  mean 
opinion  of  him  as  a  statesman. 

My  position  was  a  peculiar  one.  I  was  placed  at 
the  most  prominent  post  for  observing  the  movement 
of  which  the  Emperor  of  the  French  was  the  centre. 
I  represented  at  his  court  a  great  monarch,  whose 
kingdom  had  yielded  under  the  force  of  circumstances, 
but  which  was  ready  to  rise  on  the  first  opportunity. 
I  was  penetrated  with  the  feeling  of  danger  to  my 
country,  if  it  entered  on  a  new  war  with  France  with- 
out having  more  probable  chances  of  success  ;  and  I 
conceived  that  my  task  consisted  in  playing  the  part 
of  a  quiet  and  impartial  spectator — impartial,  so  far 
as  this  might  be  possible  to  a  man  of  feeling,  at  an 
epoch  when  the  world  was  passing  through  a  social 
transformation.  Nowhere  was  the  conflict  between  the 
fermenting  elements  more  vehement  than  in  the  great 


78 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


country  in  which  I  was  Hving.     Beyond  the  confines  of, 
France,  Governments  had  no  other  care  than  to  with 
stand  the  pohtical  encroachments  of  the  conqueror  wh 
had  placed  the  Imperial  crown  on  his  head.     The  con- 
flict between  the  different  systems  of  government  reall 
existed  only  in  France.     Eaised  by  the  Eevolution  t 
the  summit  of  power,  Napoleon  endeavoured  to  pro 
up  by  monarchical  institutions  the  throne  he  had  mad 
for  himself.     The  destructive  parties,  having  to  do  wit 
a  man  equally  great  as  a  statesman  and  as  a  general, 
who  knew  his  country  and    the  spirit  of  the   natio: 
better    than   any   who    ever   guided    the   destinies 
France,  were  above  all  anxious  to  save  from  the  wrec 
of  their  works  all  they  could  secure  from  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  Imperial  power.     These  efforts  were  imp 
tent ;  but  they  were  not  the  less  worthy  of  observation 

My  impartial  attitude  gained  me  the  confidence 
the  most  prominent  men  of  different  parties,  beginnin 
with  Napoleon  himself.  One  individual  I  must  except 
I  never  saw  Lafayette.  When  the  Emperor  spoke  t 
me  of  him,  he  did  so  with  an  expression  of  that  con 
tempt  which  he  had  for  everyone  whom  he  considere 
an  ideologue.  Among  the  most  eager  courtiers  of  thej 
Empire  might  be  seen  the  fiercest  partisans  of  a  Govern 
ment  which,  after  it  had  shed  blood  in  streams,  vanish 
like  smoke  under  the  Directory.  Napoleon  spoke  o; 
these  men  with  the  deepest  scorn ;  ]i£_^aid  to  me  on 
da:£-:_^  Th£a£^-i)eople  were  the  perpetrators  of  impioun 
deeds  but  n.  short  timp.  aprp ;  now  I  use  them  in  buildini 
uiLJiLE-Ji£aL.siKdaL£difi£e.- .  There  are  soin£_2iiad  wor 

to  be  architects^,,JIJaaLdii^afaaajii^Mt]A^Jiaii^JHill^JE^ 
Prencl^there  is  hardl^_Qaa^aaQttflLltollJwho  does  not 
tTMrdrimTTseTn^apable  of  ^overnincMLhe  country  f 


AT  THE   COUKT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  79 

Among  the  dismal  celebrities  of  a  bloody  epoch  I 
will  mention  Barere,  who  gained  the  nickname  of  the 
Anacreon  of  the  Guillotine.  To  my  great  surprise, 
this  man  one  day  desired  an  interview  with  me.  I  found 
in  him  the  traces  of  that  spurious  refinement  which  was 
also  a  characteristic  of  Eobespierre.  The  reason  of 
his  coming  was  to  ask  a  favour  for  one  of  his  rela- 
tions. To  judge  from  his  physiognomy,  one  might  have 
taken  him  for  the  most  harmless  creature  in  the  world. 
I  shall  perhaps  have  to  speak  again  of  persons  of  the 
same  stamp  as  Barere  and  Merlin  de  Thionville,  whose 
reign  ended  with  the  Eeign  of  Terror. 

Napoleon's  mind  was  full,  as  I  have  said  before,  of 
the  overthrow  of  Spain.  He  was  preparing  to  appear 
personally  on  the  scene  where  the  great  drama  was  to 
be  played.  This  might  lead  to  contingencies  for  which 
the  Vienna  Cabinet  must  provide.  The  preparations 
made  in  Austria  pointed  to  warhke  designs. ^^^^  Before 
he  left  Paris,  Napoleon,  wishing  to  insult  Austria,  chose 
for  the  purpose  the  ceremonious  audience  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  grant  to  the  diplomatic  body  on 
his  fete,  August  15.* 

These  audiences  took  place  immediately  before  the 
service,  which  the  Emperor,  accompanied  by  a  great 
retinue,  attended  in  the  chapel  at  St.-Cloud.  Just  before 
noon  the  diplomatic  corps  was  conducted  to  the  audience- 
chamber.  I  took  my  usual  place  in  the  circle,  having 
Count  Tolstoy  on  my  right,  the  rest  of  the  diplomatic 

*  Till  the  Concordat,  no  day  had  been  set  apart  in  the  calendar  for 
Saint  Napoleon.  The  Emperor  of  the  French  obtained  the  permission  of 
Pope  Pius  VII.,  however,  to  have  his  festival  on  the  day  of  the  Assmnp- 
tion  of  the  Virgin,  As  this  day  was  kept  as  a  great  festival  in  consequence 
of  the  reconciliation  with  the  Roman  Court,  the  Emperor  chose  it  in  order 
that  his  fete  might  coincide  with  a  religious  festival  observed  throughout 
France. 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

corps  being  arranged  in  a  semicircle,  in  the  centre  of 
which  was  the  Emperor.  At  such  ceremonials  the  princes 
of  his  family  were  ranged  behind  him,  then  the  cabinet 
ministers,  the  members  of  the  court,  and  the  adjutants. 

After  some  minutes  of  unusual  silence,  Napoleon 
advanced  towards  me  with  great  solemnity.  He  stopped 
two  feet  in  front  of  me,  and  addressed  me  in  a  loud 
voice  and  pompous  tone  :  '  Well,  Sir  Ambassador,  what 
does  the  Emperor,  your  master,  want — does  he  intend 
to  call  me  back  to  Vienna  ? '  This  address  did  not  dis- 
concert me  ;  I  answered  him  calmly,  and  in  no  less 
elevated  tones.  Our  conversation  the  longer  it  lasted 
took  on  Napoleon's  side  more  and  more  the  character  of 
a  pubhc  manifestation.  Napoleon  raising  his  voice  as  he 
always  did,  when  he  had  the  double  end  in  view  of  in- 
timidating the  person  he  was  addressing  and  of  making 
an  effect  on  the  rest  of  his  hearers.  I  did  not  alter  my 
tone,  and  met  his  worthless  arguments  with  the  weapon 
of  irony ;  from  time  to  time  Napoleon  appealed  to  Count 
Tolstoy  as  a  witness  ;  but  when  he  observed  that  the 
Count  preserved  an  unbroken  silence,  he  turned  round, 
breaking  off  in  the  midst  of  a  sentence,  and  strode  to 
the  chapel  without  completing  the  round  of  the  circle. 
This  scene  lasted  more  than  half  an  hour.  The  Empress 
Josephine  and  her  train  waited  in  the  hall  throug 
which  the  Emperor  had  to  pass,  and  no  one  could  ex- 
plain  the  reason  of  the  length  of  this  so-called  dipl 
matic  audience. 

As  soon  as  Napoleon  had  left  the  audience-chamber 
all  my  colleagues  thronged  round  me,  to  congratulatt 
me  on  having,  as  they  said,  given  the  Emperor  a  lesson 
A  few  hours  afterwards  I  went  to  the  Hotel  of  Coun 
Champagny,  then  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  who  gavl 
a  great  banquet  in  honour  of  the  day.     On  my  entrano 


1 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  81 

he  said  to  me,  he  was  ordered  by  his  master,  the  Em- 
peror, to  assure  me,  that  the  scene  at  the  audience  had 
nothing  personal  in  it ;  and  that  his  master's  intention 
had  merely  been  to  explain  the  position.  I  assured  the 
minister  that  I  too  put  the  same  construction  on  the  inci- 
dent ;  and,  for  my  part,  did  not  regret  that  the  Emperor 
had  given  me  the  opportunity  to  explain  before  as- 
sembled Europe  what  the  monarch  whom  I  had  the 
honour  to  represent  wished — and  what  he  did  not  wish. 
'  EuroDe,'  I  continued,  'wi]yjg,^jjj^^t^m^dg^nwhich 
sid^re^jgfljljyii^ljjigjjll^t^^  Count  Cham- 

pagny  made  no  answer. ^^^^ 

In  order  to  understand  the  moral  view  by  which  the 
I  Austrian  cabinet  was  actuated,  it  will  be  enough  to 
■;  refer  to  the  poUtical  relations  existing  in  Europe.  Under 
!  the  weight  of  the  unhappy  issue  of  the  war  of  1805, 
Austria  had  collapsed.    The  Confederation  of  the  Rhine, 
I  under  the  protection  of  the  French  Emperor,  had  taken 
i  the  place  of  the  German  Empire ;  and  after  the  last 
war  between  France  and  Prussia  the  Princes  of  North 
;  Germany  also  had  entered  this  Confederation.     Tyrol 
1  had  joined  Bavaria,  and  the  dukedom  of  Warsaw,  under 
j  the  supremacy  of  the  King  of  Saxony,  was  pushed  in 
i  between  Austria  and  Russia.     The  Peace  of  Tilsit  had 
destroyed   the   Prussian   power,  and  from   the  confe- 
rence of  Erfurt  there  had  resulted  an  illusive  alliance 
between  Russia  and  France,  the  twofold  object  of  which 
was  the  silent  assent  of  the  former  power  to  the  attacks 
of  the  latter,  and  the  partition  of  the  Ottoman  Empire 
between  the  two,  adjusted  on  the  supposition  of  its  im- 
pending fall. 

Austria,  therefore,  was  in  a  position  in  which  she 
could  not  possibly  maintain  herself.  The  Imperial 
cabinet  was  not  alone  in  this  feehng.    Napoleon  was  so 

VOL.  I.  G 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

convinced  of  it  that  he  looked  upon  Austria  as  a  prize 
in  prospect  for  one  of  his  new  German  allies.  Not  only 
then  was  a  renewal  of  the  war  in  the  nature  of  things, 
but  it  was  for  our  Empire  an  absolute  condition  of  its 
existence.  This  question  was  to  my  mind  settled.  But 
the  points  which  remained,  and,  in  my  view,  required 
ripe  consideration,  were,  the  choice  of  the  right  moment 
for  beginning  the  war,  and  the  settling  of  the  plan  of 
operation. 

Immediately  after  my  arrival  in  Vienna,  I  went  to 
Count  Stadion,  who  at  that  time  was  Minister  for 
Foreign  Afiairs.  He  gave  me  an  insight  into  the  posi- 
tion :  I  found  that  war  was  nearer  than  I  had  sup- 
posed when  I  left  Paris.  I  explained  to  him  my  rea- 
sons for  obtaining  leave  to  come  to  Vienna,  and  gave 
him  to  understand  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  be  really  useful  to  the  important  interests  committed 
to  my  care,  if  I  were  not  thoroughly  initiated  into  the 
feehng  of  the  Court.  Count  Stadion  showed  the  hveliest 
satisfaction  at  coming  to  an  understanding  with  me. 
The  next  day  I  waited  on  the  Emperor.  A  con  versa™  j 
tion  of  many  hours  gave  me  the  impression  that  the" 
Cabinet  was  more  decided  than  the  Emperor,  not  indeed 
in  respect  to  the  war  in  itself,  for  with  good  reason 
was  looked  upon  as  unavoidable,  but  as  to  choosi 
the  right  moment.  His  Majesty  charged  me  moa 
urgently  to  make  myself  acquainted  with  the  ste] 
about  to  be  taken,  and  to  assist  the  cabinet  with  mjfl 
advice.  J 

Emboldened  by  this  request  and  the  extraordinary! 
importance  of  the  circumstances,  I  did  not  fail  to  explain  I 
the  situation  exactly  as  it  was.^^®^  My  statement  con- 
sisted of  the  following  elements  : —  m  \ 

The   material  preparations  were  nearly  completed. 


i» 


singlJ 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  83 

SO  that  the  army  might,  by  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1809,  take  the  field.  In  this  respect  everything  was 
secured,  and  that  to  a  degree  which  the  enemy,  if  he 
judged  from  the  disasters  of  the  campaign  of  1805, 
could  not  expect. 

It  was  not  so  with  the  moral  side  of  this  great  un- 
dertaking. I  can  testify  that  the  cabinet  was  subject 
to  more  than  one  illusion. 

The  change,  made  in  the  original  plan  of  the  cam- 
paign necessarily  exercised  an  influence  on  the  moral 
side  of  the  undertaking,  which  was  quite  as  worthy  of 
being  taken  into  account  as  the  material  operations, 
when  the  state  of  men's  minds  in  Germany  was  con- 
sidered.*    .,......, 

As  I  received  no  instructions  from  Vienna,  I  could 
contribute  little.  Nothing  could  suit  Napoleon  better. 
He  continued,  after  my  return,  to  treat  me  with  his 
customary  kindness.  ^^"^  The  passive  part  I  had  to  play 
was  a  contrast  to  the  excessive  activity  in  the  mihtary 
preparations,  of  which  I  was  condemned  to  be  a  mere 
spectator.  If  the  Paris  public  judged  from  my  rela- 
tions to  the  Court,  it  must  have  been  very  difficult 
for  it  to  beheve  in  the  impending  outbreak  of  a  new 
war  with  Austria.  Napoleon  hked  to  surprise  the 
Parisians,  and  to  make  known  his  wars  only  by  the 
cannons  fired  from  the  Invalides  to  announce  the  success 
of  the  first  battle.  WilUngly  would  I  have  hindered 
him  from  acting  so  now ;  but  this  unhappily  was  not 
permitted  to  me  ;  for  only  by  his  unexpected  departure 
from  Paris  in  the  night  of  the  14th  of  April,  and  by 
the  message  I  received  from  Count  Champagny  on  the 
15th,  that  he  had  orders  from  his  master  to  give  me  my 

*  On  this  gap  in  the  manuscript,  see  Note  29, 
6  2 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

passports,  did  I  learn  that  peace  was  at  an  end ;  the 
courier  who  ought  to  have  brought  me  the  news  had 
been  detained  at  Ch^lons-sur-Marne.  By  another 
courier  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  assured  me, 
in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  that  the  safety  of  my 
family  would  be  cared  for,  in  case  I  did  not  take  them 
with  me,  but  wished  to  leave  them  in  Paris. 

When  I  had  fixed  my  departure  for  the  19th,  the 
Postmaster-General  de  Lavalette  *  refused  me  horses, 
under  the  pretence  that  they  were  required  for  the  Em- 
peror's use.  My  repeated  requests  always  met  with  the 
same  refusal ;  and  I  was  reheved  from  this  state  of  un- 
certainty only  by  a  letter  from  Count  Champagny,  which 
he  sent  to  me  from  Munich  on  the  19th,  in  which  he 
informed  me  that,  the  cause  of  the  hindrances  put  in  the 
way  of  my  departure  from  Paris  had  been  the  arrest  of 
the  French  agent  and  attache  in  Vienna,  and  their 
being  carried  off  to  Hungary.  At  the  same  time  he 
disclosed  to  me  that  till  an  exchange  was  made  of  the 
personnel  of  the  embassy,  I  should  not  be  allowed  to 
leave  Paris.  [ 

The  measure,  on  the  part  of  the  Court  of  Vienna, ' 
was  unusual,  and  also  quite  unnecessary ;  it  originated 
in  fear,  and  might  have  compromised  my  personal 
safety :  the  French  ambassador  had  already  come  back 
from  Vienna.  This  was,  in  my  eyes,  a  fresh  example 
of  the  false  estimate  the  Austrian  cabinet  made  of 
Napoleon's  character  and  attitude.  I  remained  quietly 
in  Paris,  and  can  certify  from  my  own  observations,  how  I 
exceedingly  weary  France  was  of  the  war.     The  news 

*  One  of  the  oldest  adjutants  of  General  Bonaparte.  I  had  made  hi» 
acquaintance  at  the  Congress  of  Rastadt,  at  the  beginning  of  which  he  was 
present.  He  it  was  whose  wife,  after  the  return  of  the  Bourbons  in  1816, 
aided  him  to  escape  out  of  prison  when  he  was  threatened  with  a  fate 
like  that  of  Marshal  Ney  and  General  Lab^doyere. 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1800.  85 

of  the  very  important  events  which  attended  the  open- 
ing of  the  campaign  were  received  in  Paris  with  a 
painful  feehng,  that  akeady  approached  aversion  to 
the  conqueror.  My  hfe  in  society  continued  to  be  the 
same  as  before  the  rupture :  indeed,  I  might  even  main- 
tain that  the  attentions  of  the  pubhc  towards  me  rather 
increased. 

As  I  have  reached  that  point  of  my  narrative  when 
my  office  of  Ambassador  in  France  came  to  an  end/^^^ 
I  think  I  may  say  a  few  words  on  the  internal  condition 
of  the  country,  and  on  some  of  the  most  prominent  in- 
dividuals of  the  time. 

France  felt  the  need  of  repose,  and  this  feehng  pre- 
vailed not  only  among  the  masses,  but  was  shared  by 
Napoleon's  companions  in  arms.  These  individuals  had 
been  for  the  most  part  taken  from  the  lower  ranks  of  the 
army,  and  raised  to  the  height  of  military  honour.  They 
had  become  rich  from  foreign  spoil  and  the  calculated 
generosity  of  the  Emperor,  and  now  wished  tio  enjoy 
what  they  had  gained.  Napoleon  had  made  a  bril- 
liant existence  for  them.^^^^  The  Prince  of  Neufch^tel 
(Berthier)  had  a  yearly  income  of  more  than  1,200,000 
francs  :  Marshal  Davoust  had  property  which  brought 
in  an  income  of  a  million :  Massena,  Augereau,  and 
many  other  marshals  and  generals  were  equally  wealthy. 
These  men  wished  to  enjoy  their  possessions,  and 
objected  to  stake  them  on  the  chances  of  war. 

Many  in  civil  Hfe  had,  hke  the  generals,  risen  to 
great  wealth.  One  source  of  riches,  which  during  the 
wars  of  the  Revolution  had  existed  for  a  class  of  specu- 
lative spirits,  was  exhausted.  The  war  which  Napoleon 
declared  against  the  fraudulent  army-contractors,  and 
the  strict  order  which  he  had  introduced  into  all  deal- 
ings  with   the   public   money,   reacted    on    this   class. 


86  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

already  so  numerous  before  Napoleon  mounted  the 
throne,  and  infused  into  them  an  aversion  to  the  war- 
like pohcy,  which  formerly  had  the  best  wishes  of 
themselves  and  those  with  whom  they  dealt.  The 
nation,  decimated  by  the  annual  levies,  far  from  inter- 
esting itself  in  military  operations  carried  on  so  far 
from  the  frontiers  of  France  that  even  the  names  of 
the  places  where  new  victories  were  gained  were  un- 
known, cursed  the  conquests  whose  poKtical  value  they 
were  not  capable  of  understanding.  In  a  word,  France 
was  anxious  for  peace,  and  it  was  a  great  mistake  of  the 
European  Courts  at  that  time,  that  in  their  pohtical  ac- 
tion they  did  not  take  this  fact  into  account.  Napoleon 
was  in  power,  but  between  the  system  followed  by  him 
and  the  feeling  of  the  great  country  which  he  governed 
there  was  a  repugnance  of  which  the  cabinets  of 
Europe  were  not  aware.  It  would  have  been  wise 
if  this  had  not  been  excluded  from  their  calculations, 
which,  in  spite  of  aU  that  the  French  manifestoes  said 
on  the  subject,  sprang  only  from  the  feeling  of  self- 
preservation  in  the  European  States.  This  remark 
explains  my  anxiety  that,  on  the  near  approach  of  the 
war,  the  right  course  should  be  taken.  The  uni- 
versal error  in  Europe  arose  from  the  fact  that  the 
vast  encroachments  made  by  the  violent  ambition  of 
one  man  were  supposed  to  spring  from  a  national  move- 
ment in  France  itself.  I  should  hardly  myself  have 
seen  this  so  clearly  if  I  had  not  been  placed  in  so 
favourable  a  position  for  observation. 

The  Emperor  enjoyed,  in  France,  that  popularity 
which  wiU  be  always  gained  by  a  ruler  who  knows  how 
to  hold  the  reins  of  power  with  an  equally  firm  and 
skilful  hand.     Napoleon's  practical  mind  enabled  himj 
to  understand  the  needs  of  a  country  where  the  social 


( 


AT   THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  87 

edifice  had  to  be  rebuilt.  Abroad  a  soldier,  at  home  he 
was  a  legislator  and  most  able  administrator.  There- 
fore the  country  lamented  to  see  him  and  his  work 
exposed  to  the  chances  of  war.  France  was  no  longer 
inspired  by  a  warlike  spirit.  The  revolutionary  parties 
alone,  between  1792  and  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  entertained  the  idea  of  war.  This  they 
did  with  the  double  object  of  employing  beyond  the 
frontier  the  army,  which  was  always  a  danger  when  at 
home  to  this  party,  and  of  defending  the  frontiers  against 
foreign  invasion.  Had  Napoleon  confined  his  plans  to 
the  preservation  of  what  the  EepubUc  had  conquered, 
he  would  have  greatly  increased  his  popularity;  his 
warlike  temperament  carried  him  much  further.  He 
was  a  born  conqueror,  legislator,  and  administrator,  and 
he  thought  he  could  indulge  all  three  inclinations  at 
once.  His  undoubted  genius  furnished  him  with  the 
means'  of  doing  so.  The  sentiment  of  the  enormous 
majority  of  the  nation  would  have  been  entirely  with 
him  if  he  had  confined  himself  to  the  duties  of  govern- 
ment. 

The  greater  part  of  the  high  officials  shared  in  this 
national  feehng.  Among  these  were  the  Prince  of  Bene- 
vento  (Talleyrand),  Fouche,  then  Minister  of  Pohce,  and 
a  great  number  of  marshals  and  generals.  The  moral 
power  of  the  Emperor  was  too  overpowering  to  be 
opposed  openly,  therefore  intrigue  was  resorted  to,  and 
this  was  a  means  quite  suited  to  the  characters  of  the 
two  first-named  personages.  During  the  time  that  I 
was  ambassador,  I  had  many  opportunities  of  verifying 
this  fact. 

Talleyrand  possessed  unusual  intellectual  abihty. 
My  long-continued  relations  with  him  made  me  aware 
that  his  whole  character  more  adapted  him  to  destroy 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

than  to  create.  A  priest,  his  temperament  led  him 
to  irrehgious  courses.  Of  noble  birth,  he  pleaded  for 
the  uprooting  of  his  class ;  under  the  repubHcan 
rule  he  foreswore  the  Eepublic  ;  under  the  Empire 
he  was  constantly  inchned  to  conspire  against  the 
Emperor ;  under  the  Bourbons,  lastly,  he  laboured  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  legitimate  dynasty.  To  hinder 
any  definite  course  from  being  taken — for  that  Talley- 
rand was  always  ready.  In  the  contrary  direction,  I 
could  never  discover  equal  abihty.  Napoleon  so  esti- 
mated him,  and  with  justice.  In  one  of  our  conver- 
sations which  took  place  in  consequence  of  one  of  the 
many  withdrawals  of  Talleyrand  from  the  Ministry,  the 
Emperor  said  to  me  :  '  If  I  want  anything  done,  I  do 
not  employ  the  Prince  of  Benevento  ;  I  turn  to  him  when 
I  want  a  thing  not  to  be  done  which  I  wish  to  appear 
to  want.'  In  private  life,  however,  Talleyrand  was  as 
trustworthy  as  he  was  agreeable. ^'^^ 

Fouche  was  a  complete  contrast  to   Talleyrand. ^^^ 
In  consequence  of  the  contradictory  character  of  the  two 
men,  the  word '  rivalry '  was  not  applicable  to  them.  Their 
opposition  was  radical,  for  it  had  its  source  in  difference 
of  character.     Fouch^  had  been  a  priest,  Hke  Talley- 
rand, and  had  stained  himself  with  blood  and  mire,* 
while  Talleyrand  lost  himself  in  the  theories  of  that; 
school  which  called  itself  the  Enghsh  School.     Fouche 
was  an  enemy  to  all  theories ;  he  was  a  practical  man, 
deterred  by  no  obstacle.     Thoroughly  acquainted  with  , 
the  French  mind,  he  went  forward  with  the  time,  buti 
always  in  extremes,  convinced  as  he  was  that  in  this* 
manner  only  an  extreme  end  could  be  attained.     Never 
had  these  two  men  any  points  of  contact,  unless  their 
paths  crossed  in  following  out  some  conspiracy  against 
the  existing  order  of  things.     Napoleon  knew  both  of 


i 


AT  THE  COURT   OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  89 

them,  and  made  use  of  their  talents,  as  well  as  their 
faults,  whenever  he  thought  they  couM  be  useful  to 
favour  his  own  views.  At  the  time  of  which  I  speak, 
Fouche,  as  Minister  of  Pohce,  had  gained  the  confi- 
dence of  the  emigres,  to  whom  Napoleon  had  re-opened 
the  doors  of  France.  He  showed  them  all  the  services 
in  his  power,  which  seemed  to  bear  the  character  of 
complete  disinterestedness.  Fouche  foreboded  the  over- 
throw of  the  Emperor,  and  hence  regarded  the  return 
of  the  Bourbons  only  as  possible. 

The  man  in  whose  talent  for  governing  Napoleon 
had  the  most  confidence  was  Cambaceres,  and,  there- 
fore, when  he  took  the  field  beyond  the  frontiers  of 
France,  he  left  the  business  affairs  in  his  hands.  More 
than  once  Napoleon  analysed  to  me  the  pecuharities  of 
the  Arch-Chancellor,  as  they  appeared  to  him.  I  had 
not  the  opportunity  myself  of  forming  an  opinion  with 
regard  to  Cambaceres,  for  he  hved  in  seclusion,  and 
never  left  it  but  on  occasions  of  great  ceremonial.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  Eevolution  he  sat  as  advocate  in 
the  Parhament  of  Aix  in  Provence,  the  President  of 
which  was  M.  d'Aigrefeuille.  The  advocate  made  his 
fortune,  the  president  was  ruined.  The  two  being  friends, 
Cambaceres  took  him  into  his  house.  When  his  pro- 
tector was  at  the  height  of  his  power,  D'Aigrefeuille 
filled  the  position  of  a  servant.  One  day,  when  Cam- 
baceres was  invested  with  the  dignity  of  Archichancelier 
of  the  kingdom — that  fantastic  imitation  of  the  ceremo- 
nial of  the  old    German    Empire — to  which    the  title 

*  Durchlaucht '  (Serene  Highness)  was  attached,  DAigre- 
feuille  addressed  him  for  the  first  time  with  this  title. 

*  When  we  are  alone,'  said  Cambaceres  to  him,  '  don't 
use  these  empty  titles ;  continue  to  treat  me  as  a  iriend, 
and  content  yourself  with  calling  me  Monseigneur.' 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR^ 

When  Napoleon  made  the  first  batch  of  Counts  and 
Barons,  Cambaceres  celebrated  the  event  by  a  banquet, 
to  which  he  invited  the  ambassadors  and  first  officials 
of  the  kingdom.  After  dinner  the  newly  ennobled  came 
to  pay  their  respects  to  him.  As  the  new  titles  were 
announced,  the  reception-room  was  filled  with  laughter ; 
Cambaceres  alone  was  imperturbable. 

On  May  16,  Fouche  wrote  to  me  that,  in  consequence 
of  an  order  from  the  Emperor,  he  had  to  request  me  to 
go  to  Vienna,  to  be  there  exchanged  for  some  of  the 
personnel  of  the  French  embassy.  He  wished  to  know 
the  day  I  thought  I  could  start,  which  he  begged  me  to 
hasten  as  much  as  possible,  and  added  that  an  officer  of 
gendarmes  would  escort  me  on  my  journey.  I  named 
the  next  day,  but  an  inflammation  in  the  eyes  detained 
me  in  Paris  till  the  26th.  I  took  with  me  all  the 
officers  of  the  embassy,  and  some  Austrian  travellers 
who  had  been  detained  in  Paris,  who,  but  for  this  oppo- 
tunity,  might  have  found  difficulty  in  leaving  France. 
I  left  my  family  in  the  hotel  of  the  embassy.  The  pro- 
gress made  by  the  war  and  the  siege  of  Vienna  itself 
led  me  to  prefer  this  course  to  the  chances  of  a  difficult 
journey.  Besides,  I  knew  the  ground  too  well  to  be  un- 
easy as  to  the  welfare  of  those  I  left  behind  me  in  Paris. 

At  Ch^lons-sur-Marne,  I  met  the  first  train  of  Aus- 
trian prisoners,  among  whom  were  many  officers  of  my 
acquaintance.  I  hastened  to  hear  the  news  from  them,  \ 
but  I  had  none  to  give  them  in  exchange,  for  I  had  beeni 
deprived  of  every  source  of  information,  except  the 
French  army  bulletins,  since  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign. In  Luneville  a  report  was  current  that  the 
French  had  lost  a  decisive  battle.  In  Strasburg  I  heard 
this  confirmed,  it  referred  to  the  battle  of  Aspern.  Thei 
Empress  Josephine  was  residing  at  the  time  in  this  cityJ 


AT  THE   COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  91 

I  had  hardly  ahghted,  when  I  received  an  invitation  to  go 
to  her  in  the  course  of  the  evening.  I  found  her  in  great 
anxiety  as  to  the  consequences  the  event  might  have. 
She  told  me  of  circumstances,  which  she  had  learned, 
which  left  me  no  doubt  as  to  the  importance  of  the 
defeat.  They  seemed  so  decisive  and  exact  that 
Josephine  did  not  doubt  I  should,  on  my  arrival  in 
Vienna,  find  the  negotiations  for  peace  already  begun. 
The  Empress  went  so  far  as  to  think  I  might  meet 
Napoleon  returning  to  France  !  I  mention  this  circum- 
stance, because  it  shows  how  httle  confidence  as  to  the 
issue  of  this  war  was  entertained  in  the  very  bosom 
of  the  family  of  Napoleon. 

On  June  5  I  arrived  at  Vienna,  and  went  to  the 
Palais  Esterhazy  with  Prince  Paul,  who  was  with  me 
as  my  attache.  I  hastened  to  my  father,  whom  I  found 
quite  overwhelmed  by  an  order  he  had  just  received, 
to  repair,  with  the  Archbishop  of  Vienna  and  Counts 
Pergen  and  Hardegg,  to  France,  as  hostages  for  the 
payment  of  a  contribution  imposed  on  the  city  of 
Vienna.  My  father  was  determined  to  yield  to  force 
only,  in  which  plan  I  encouraged  him ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  took  upon  myself  to  dissuade  Napoleon 
from  so  false  a  measure.  For  this  purpose  I  went,  by 
the  permission  of  the  Prince  of  Neufch^tel,  direct  to 
the  Emperor,  and  the  so-called  hostages  remained  in 
the  capital  without  further  molestation.  Napoleon  laid 
the  blame  on  the  Commissary-General. 

The  next  morning  I  visited  Champagny,  in  the 
Burg,  where  the  Empress  had  rooms,  while  the  Em- 
peror lived  at  Schonbrunn.  The  minister  received  me 
with  honied  phrases,  in  which  a  great  feeling  of  anxiety 
was  perceptible.  In  consequence  of  the  battle  of 
Aspern,  the  position   of  the   French  army  was    quite 


92  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

altered.  Public  spirit  was  roused  once  more  in  Vienna. 
The  precautions  taken  by  the  invading  army  were 
redoubled.  The  time  teemed  with  the  most  important 
events,  which  were  explained  by  the  different  parties 
each  in  their  own  manner.  There  was  no  confidence 
on  the  enemy's  side.  Champagny  told  me  he  had  not 
been  informed  on  what  day  the  oflScers  of  the  French 
embassy,  who  were  to  be  sent  in  exchange,  would  be 
at  the  place  appointed,  and  begged  me  to  wait  in 
patience  for  this  moment.  '  Think,  meanwhile,  on  the 
possible  issue  of  the  impending  drama :  you  will  find 
the  Emperor  in  good  humour  about  it.'  I  answered, 
that  in  my  position,  as  prisoner,  I  had  nothing  to  do 
with  business,  and  that  I  should  await  the  arrangements 
respecting  my  person  very  quietly.  Champagny  invited 
me  to  dine  with  him  on  that  day,  and  I  found  myself 
in  the  enemy's  camp,  in  the  capacity  of  an  unconcerned 
spectator.  Thus  I  had  no  opportunity  to  prepare  my- 
self for  what  was  reserved  for  me  in  the  time  just  at 
hand. 

On  the  morning  of  June  7,  an  adjutant  of  Count 
Andrassy,  then  Governor  of  Vienna,  came  to  me  to 
announce,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  that  I  could 
not  remain  in  Vienna;  but  that  it  was  left  to  me  t 
await   the  moment  of   my  exchange   in   any  place 
preferred  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  capital.     I  d 
clared  myself  ready  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  Emperor 
but  I  added,  at  the  same  time,  that  I  was  in  reahty  n 
a  prisoner,  and  that  the  more   painful   he  made  m; 
position  the  more  he  would  add  to  its  injustice.    I  ask 
to  be  allowed  to  go  to  a  country  house  belonging  to  mj 
mother  at  Griinberg,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Vienna 
close  to  the  garden  of  Schonbrunn^^*^     This  choice  w^ 
accepted  ;  and  thither  I  repaired  on  the  morning  of 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  93 

8th.  The  officer  of  gendarmes,  who  came  with  me  from 
Paris,  I  took  to  hve  with  me  at  Griinberg  ;  and  as  I 
would  not  have  the  officers  of  the  embassy  share  my 
uncomfortable  position,  I  took  only  my  necessary  ser- 
vants with  me.  During  the  whole  time  of  my  stay  in 
this  house  I  was  careful  to  behave  as  a  prisoner ;  in 
spite  of  the  fine  speeches  of  my  jailers,  I  did  not  go 
beyond  the  house. 

Some  days  after  my  arrival  in  Griinberg,  I  heard 
the  sound  of  a  horse  in  the  front  of  my  house.  I  ran 
to  the  window  and  saw  General  Savary,  who  on  seeing 
me  made  as  if  he  had  not  known  that  I  was  living 
there,  and  jumping  down  from  his  horse,  came  in  to 
see  me.  Savary  was  chief  of  the  pohce  at  head- 
quarters,— an  office  which  he  filled,  also,  when  the  Em- 
peror resided  in  Paris.  Savary  was  at  the  head  of  one 
division  of  police  whose  business  it  was  to  control  that 
which  Fouche  directed.  The  palaces  inhabited  by 
Napoleon  were  under  the  guardianship  of  a  third  body 
of  pohce,  at  whose  head  was  General  Duroc. 

General  Savary  did  not  hesitate  to  turn  the  conver- 
sation to  politics,  which  he  did  apparently  with  can- 
dour, finding  fault  with  the  perpetual  war,  the  dangers 
I  of  which  for  France  itself  he  recounted,  whilst  he  dwelt 
on  the  necessity  of  obtaining  a  lasting  foundation  for 
peace.  I  allowed  him  to  dehver  himself  of  all  his  phrases 
without  interrupting  him  ;  and  when  he  saw  my  calm- 
ness and  quietness,  he  said  to  me, '  Why  do  you  not  use 
ithe  opportunity  of  being  in  the  Emperor's  neighbour- 
hood to  obtain  a  meeting  with  him  ?  You  hve  two  or 
three  steps  from  one  another,  the  gardens  are  close 
together :  instead  of  taking  the  air  in  your  own,  go  over 
into  the  Schonbrunn  garden ;  the  Emperor  will  be  de- 
lighted to  see  you.' 


94  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR.  J 

*  The  pleasure,'  I  answered,  *  would  not  be  mutual ; 
still  that  consideration  would  not  keep  me  back.  But 
I  shall  not  go  out  of  this  place  till  the  day  when  I 
receive  the  order  to  do  so.  I  can  do  nothing  by  halves. 
If  I  am  a  prisoner,  I  behave  myself  as  a  prisoner ;  if  I 
am  free,  I  shall  make  use  of  my  freedom ;  but  if  I  had 
my  freedom  at  this  moment,  I  should  certainly  not  use 
it  in  order  to  go  and  walk  with  Napoleon  in  the  garden 
belonging  to  the  Emperor  my  master.' 

'  You  do  not  wish  then  to  see  the  Emperor  ? '  an- 
swered Savary.  '  You  would  find  him  in  the  best  and 
most  peaceful  disposition.  A  conversation  between  you 
might  have  the  happiest  consequences.  You  would 
perhaps  obtain  for  the  Emperor  Francis  some  most 
important  suggestions.  I  hope  you  do  not  confuse  a 
certain  proclamation  ^^^^  with  Napoleon's  true  feelings : 
those  were  words  spoken  to  the  winds.' 

'  I  have  nothing  to  say  to  your  master,  and  nothing 
to  hear  from  him,'  said  I  to  Savary.  '  I  am  practically 
a  prisoner,  and  prisoners  of  my  kind  consider  them- 
selves, if  they  do  their  duty,  as  dead.' 

On  my  making  this  declaration,  Savary  left  me. 
did  not  doubt  but  that  he  had  been  commissioned  b; 
Napoleon  to  sound  me  with  regard  to  a  meeting ;  and  if 
I  had   not  had  from   the  very  beginning  a  presenti- 
ment that  this  was  his  purpose,  a  step  made  in  th 
direction  by  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  would  hav! 
left  me  no  doubt  on  the  matter.     On  the  second  as  W( 
as  the  first  occasion  I  refused  the  meeting,  which  woul< 
have  been  turned  to  account  by  Napoleon  in  a  wa; 
which  I  had  no  right  to  allow  to  be  done.     It  is  evj] 
dent  that,  looking  at  the  position  of  the  two  armii 
Napoleon  wished  to  avoid  the  risks  of  a  new  battle 
after  that  of  Aspern,  and  would  have  been  well  pleas 


^y 

1 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  96 

if  he  could  have  made  use  of  me  to  induce  the  Im- 
perial Cabinet  to  take  the  initiative  in  the  interests  of  a 
peaceful  settlement. 

At  the  place  in  which  I  was  interned  I  received 
visits  from  the  most  distinguished  men  of  Vienna ;  I 
thus  learned  the  real  position  of  the  two  armies,  and 
could  not  doubt  that  we  were  standing  on  the  eve  of 
an  event  the  result  of  which  would  be  decisive  of  the 
fate  of  the  campaign.  On  the  evening  of  June  17 
Colonel  Avy,  a  staff  officer,  came  to  me  with  a  message 
from  Marshal  Berthier,  that  I  was  to  go  next  morning 
to  the  place  where  the  exchange  was  to  be  made,  and 
that  he  was  ordered  to  accompany  me.  I  therefore 
left  Griinberg  on  the  18th.  In  my  escort  I  found  the 
Attach^  of  the  Parisian  Embassy,  Prince  Paul  Ester- 
hazy  and  Count  Mier,  and  the  Counsellor  of  Legation 
Floret.  My  cortege  consisted  of  five  carriages,  which 
were  escorted  by  fifty  mounted  Jagers.  We  passed  the 
night  at  the  house  of  Count  Harrach  at  Bruck,  on  the 
Leitha.  When  we  had  arrived  in  Wieselburg  on  the 
19th,  Colonel  Avy  would  not  halt  till  he  had  received 
news  of  the  arrival  of  the  French  employe  at  the  out- 
posts. But  when  he  learnt  through  an  adjutant  of 
the  vice-King  of  Italy  (Eugene  Beauharnais)  that  the 
commandant  of  Komorn,  General  Davidovich,was  quite 
uncertain  on  what  day  this  agent  would  arrive,  on 
account  of  the  distance ;  Avy  declared  that  he  had 
received  orders  to  make  the  exchange  on  the  21st,  and 
that  if  it  were  not  accomphshed,  I  must  go  back  to 
Vienna,  for  he  could  not  stay  any  longer  at  Wiesel- 
burg. In  fact,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  I  had 
to  return  to  the  house  at  Griinberg.  Napoleon  imme- 
diately sent  to  apologise  for  what  had  taken  place,  by 
one  of  his  adjutants,  and  to  show  me  letters  of  the 


96 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


Commandant  of  Komorn  and  Chief  of  the  Staff  to  the 
vice-King,  as  a  proof  that  there  was  neither  mistake 
nor  ill  will  on  his  part. 

On  June  26,  Col.  Avy  came  with  the  news  that 
the  French  employe  would  be  on  the  28th  at  Acs,  one 
of  the  places  declared  neutral,  for  twenty-four  hours, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  the  exchange.     We  set  off 
together  at  daybreak  the  following  day,  and  arrived  at 
Eaab  early  on  the  28th.     On  the  way,  I  learned  that 
Pressburg  had  been  bombarded  on  the  night  of  the  27th. 
After  some  hours'  rest,  we  went,  under  an  escort  of  fifty  ^ 
dragoons,  to  Acs,  where  I  stopped  with  General  Mont- 
brun,   who   commanded   the   outposts   of  the   French 
army  at  this  point.     Opposite  the  place  where,  near  to 
Gonyo,  the  high   road  runs  along  the  banks  of   the 
Danube,  an  Austrian  battery  had  been  erected.     The 
officer  in  command  of  it,  when  he  saw  a  train  of  car-  ] 
riages   coming  forward,  guarded   by  a   strong   escort, 
thought  it  must  be  the  retinue  of  the  vice-King  of  Italy, 
and  fired  a  volley  at  once.     Although  the  zeal  was  mis- 
placed, I  could  not  but  do  justice  to  the  skill  of  our 
artillerymen.     Of  the  first  two  shots,  one  went  through 
the  wheel  of  my  carriage,  the  other  passed  two  feet 
above  the  roof  of  it.    Upon  this,  my  escort  left  the  high 
road,  and  took  me  as   quickly  as  might  be  across  the 
fields. 

On  the  29th,  the  employe  not  having  arrived  at  the 
place  of  rendezvous,  General  Montbrun  sent  to  Komorn 
to  enquire  after  him.  General  Davidovich  replied  that 
M.  Dodun  would  not  be  at  the  outposts  for  two  or  three 
days.  On  hearing  this,  Colonel  Avy,  on  the  30th,  took 
me  back  to  Eaab,  by  Bony,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
famous  battery  at  Gonyo.  On  the  morning  of  July  1, 
Colonel  Avy  was  informed  by  Prince  Eugene,  the  chief 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  97 

of  the  staff,  that  the  French  employe  had  reached  Ko- 
morn,  and  would  be  at  Acs  by  the  afternoon  at  two« 
o'clock.  We  immediately  went  on  our  way  again. 
While  going  backwards  and  forwards  in  this  way,  I  saw 
a  great  movement  take  place  in  the  French  army.  The- 
bodies  of  troops  which  I  met  were  marching  towards 
Vienna.  As  no  military  event  had  taken  place,  I  could' 
only  suppose  that  Napoleon  was  preparing  to.  strike  a- 
blow. 

On  our  arrival  at  Acs,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  found  the  mansion  empty  which  had  been  the 
head-quarters  of  General  Montbrun.  The  house-steward 
whom  I  questioned,  told  me  that  the  place  had  been. 
vacated  the  evening  before,  and  was  now  occupied  only 
by  a  division  of  the  Hungarian '^.z^stanc?.'  When  Colonei 
Avy  received  this  news,  he  jumped  out  of  my  carriage, 
and  ran  to  the  officer  in  command  of  the  escort,  '  Give 
me  the  best  horse  you  can  spare  ! '  I  drew  the  Colonel 
back ;  '  You  forget,'  said  I  to  him,  '  that  our  parts  are 
exchanged.  I  have  been  under  your  protection ;  now 
you  are  under  mine,  national  law  protects  you ;  you 
will  not  be  made  a  prisoner.'  At  this  moment  an 
Austrian  officer  of  the  staff  appeared  with  an  escort, 
and  informed  us  that  the  French  employe  was  at  the 
place  appointed  for  carrying  out  the  exchange.  I  re- 
quested Colonel  Avy  to  halt  the  escort,  and  to  follow 
me.  We  went  to  the  place,  where  we  found  Dodun. 
I  joined  the  Austrian,  he  the  French  corps.  I  never 
heard  anything  more  of  this  diplomatist :  Colonel  Avy 
was  killed  in  Spain  in  1810  or  1811.  His  personal 
attention  to  me  during  the  whole  time  of  the  perform- 
ance of  his  thankless  task  should  be  mentioned  with 
praise. 

In  Komorn  I  met  the  Archduke  Palatin,  who  took 

VOL.  I.  H 


98 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


the  command  of  the  Hungarian  ^ Auf stand'     I  learned- 
from  him  that   the  Emperor  Francis  was  waiting   atj 
Wolkersdorf  with  impatience  till  I  could  join  him. 
spent  the  night  in  Komorn,  and  reached  Wolkersdod 
on  the  evening  of  July  3. 

The  Emperor  received  me  with  the  hearty  kindness 
which  he  had  already  showed  me  so  abundantly.     H( 
told  me  all  that  had  happened  since  my  departure  from] 
Vienna  in  the  last  days  of  the  previous  year.     Quiet 
and  firm  as  ever,  he  was  yet  penetrated  with  the  diffi-j 
culty  of  the  situation,  daily  expecting  an  event  decisive 
of  the  war.     The  movement  which  I  had  observed  ii 
the  enemy's  army  corresponded  with  this  expectation.] 
Ilis  majesty  informed  me  that  he  intended  to  keep  me 
with  him  during  the  rest  of  the  campaign. 

After  I  left  the  Emperor,  I  hastened  to  Count  Stadion^ 
and  found  him  quite  overwhelmed  and  ready  to  give 
up  the  situation  as  lost.  Count  Stadion  was  one  oi 
those  men  of  lively  imagination  and  quick  understanding^ 
who  are  easily  overcome  by  the  impressions  of  the  mc 
ment.  Men  of  this  sort  always  inchne  to  extremes: 
for  them  there  are  no  transitions,  and  since  these  never-! 
theless  do  exist,  when  they  come  before  them  insteac 
of  knowing  how  to  wait,  they  too  often  act  at  randoi 
The  minister  acknowledged  that  the  poUcy  which  I  pre 
pounded  would  have  accomplished  more,  if  it  had  bee! 
followed.  Although  I  agreed  with  him  on  this  poini 
I  assured  him  that  I  ascribed  the  misfortunes  which  hi 
fallen  on  our  empire,  and  the  extreme  danger  in  whic 
it  was  placed,  not  merely  to  any  specified  plan  of  operj 
tions  :  the  true  causes  were  rather  the  unhappy  choic 
of  the  moment  for  the  rising,  and  the  inaction  of  tl 
army  after  the  victory  of  May  22.^^^^  Count  Stadion  tol 
me  that  he  only  waited  the  result  of  a  battle  on  the  lei 


AT  THE   COURT  OF  NAPOLEON,  1806—1809.  99 

bank  of  the  Danube  to  decide  the  question  whether 
he  should  continue  to  serve  or  not — a  battle  which  the 
Archduke  Charles  was  expecting,  and  which  in  fact  ap- 
peared to  be  immediately  impending,  to  judge  from  the 
preparations  made  by  the  French  army  to  effect  the 
passage  of  the  Danube. 

July  4  passed  in  preparations  for  a  battle.  I  was 
with  the  Emperor  when  an  envoy  from  the  Archduke 
came  to  inform  him  of  the  operations  of  the  enemy, 
and  that  his  Imperial  Highness  was  determined  to  await 
the  event  with  resolution.  '  Tell  my  brother,'  answered 
the  Emperor  to  the  adjutant,  '  that  I  am  of  opinion 
that  the  enemy  should  not  be  allowed  to  cross  in 
force,  and  that  it  would  be  well  to  drive  those  who 
had  crossed  into  the  river.'  This  day  there  were  only 
partial  fights  between  the  advanced  troops.  In  the  fol- 
lowing night,  under  a  sharp  cannonade,  the  French 
army  left  the  island,  and  went  along  the  Lobau  and 
crossed  that  arm  of  the  Danube,  farther  down  the  river 
at  Orth  and  two  other  points. 

On  the  morning  of  July  5,  I  joined  the  Emperor  on 
the  battle-field,  on  which  the  fate  of  the  Empire  was  to 
be  decided.  The  battle  was  soon  general,  and  we  did 
not  return  to  Wolkersdorf  till  nightfall,  amid  the  blazing 
buildings  which  covered  the  Marchfeld.  When  we  re- 
paired to  our  post  of  observation  in  the  grey  of  the  early 
morning  of  the  next  day,  we  witnessed  the  apparently 
decisive  result  of  the  right  wing  of  our  army.  About 
one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  however.  Count  CoUeredo, 
a  general-adjutant  of  the  Archduke's,  came  with  the  in- 
formation to  the  Emperor,  that  his  Imperial  Highness 
had  ordered  the  retreat  of  the  army.^^^^  Without  losing 
his  self-possession,  the  Emperor  asked  the  messenger, 
whether  the  Archduke  had   only  determined   on   the 

H  2 


100 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


retreat,  or  whether  it  had  actually  commenced.  When 
the  Emperor  heard  that  the  army  was  already  in  full 
retreat,  he  said  to  the  adjutant,  '  Very  well ; '  and 
added,  turning  to  me, '  We  shall  have  much  to  retrieve.' 
His  Majesty  gave  immediate  orders  to  remove  his  head- 
quarters to  Znaim.  We  remained  some  time  on  the 
heights  which  commanded  the  broad  plain  of  the  March- 
feld,  in  front  of  Wolkersdorf,  and  then  began  our  march, 
which  brought  us  to  Ernstbrunn,  where  we  passed  the 
night.  On  the  following  day  we  continued  our  retreat 
to  Znaim. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

METTEENICII  BECOMES  MINISTER  OF  FOEEIGN 
AFFAIRS. 


103 


CHAPTEE  Y. 

METTERNICJl    BECOMES   MINISTER   OF   FOREIGN   AFFAIR?  .- 

(1809.) 

Undertakes  the  direction  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  in  the  place 
of  Count  Stadion — Conversation  with  the  Emperor  Francis— Conversa- 
tion with  Count  Stadion — With  the  Emperor  at  Komorn — Truce  of 
Znaim — Peace  negotiations — Altenburg  chosen  for  the  purpose — Met- 
ternich  as  Minister  of  State — The  Emperor  Francis  in  Totis — Prince 
John  Liechtenstein  Commander-in-Chief — Archduke  Carl  at  Teschen — 
General  Nugent,  second  Plenipotentiary  for  the  Peace  Negotiations  — 
Fruitlessness  of  the  Conferences  at  Altenburg — Prince  John  Liechten- 
stein sent  to  Vienna — Mettemich's  thoughts — Character  of  Johann 
Liechtenstein — Breaking  oiF  of  the  negotiations  at  Altenburg — Liech- 
tenstein with  Napoleon — His  return  to  Totis — History  of  the  Vienna 
Peace — Its  ratification — Metternich  enters  on  the  office  of  Minister  of 
Foreign  Afiairs — Returns  to  Vienna,  to  the  Palace  of  the  Chancellor — 
Reflections  on  the  consequences  of  the  rising  of  1809 — Principal  features- 
of  the  new  position — Prince  Carl  Schwarzenberg  as  Ambassador  in 
Paris — First  news  of  Napoleon's  desire  to  obtain  the  hand  of  Marie - 
Louise — Conversation  with  the  Emperor  Francis  on  this  matter — Answer 
of  Marie  Louise — Decision  of  the  Emperor  Francis— Importance  of  this 
event. 

On  the  morning  of  July  8,  1809,  I  was  sent  for  by  the 
Emperor.  He  received  me  with  the  following  words : 
'  Count  Stadion  has  just  given  in  his  resignation ;  I 
commit  the  department  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  you  in  his- 
place.' 

I  begged  his  Majesty  not  to  consider  this  appoint- 
ment as  definite.  '  Two  reasons,'  said  I,  '  move  me  to- 
make  this  request :  one  is,  that  this  is  not  a  favourable 
moment  for  changing  the  ministry ;  the  other,  to  my 
mind  no  less  important,  that  I  do  not  consider  myself 


104  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

fit  for  this  post.  Neither  my  inchnation  nor  my 
talents,  so  far  as  I  know  them,  quahfy  me  for  the  high 
functions  which  your  Majesty  wishes  to  confide  to  me. 
This  feehng  is  not  based  on  the  difficulties  of  the 
moment,  but  on  the  knowledge  which  I  have  of  myself. 
I  do  not  think  myself  capable  of  steering  the  vessel  of 
the  state  in  so  great  an  Empire ;  I  do  not  wish  to  do 
as  I  have  seen  done  by  far  more  able  men  than  I  am. 
I  should  run  the  risk  of  advising  badly,  and  my  con- 
science does  not  allow  me  to  bring  this  danger  upon 
your  Majesty  and  the  state.  Besides,  the  retirement  of 
Count  Stadion  from  the  ministry  on  the  second  day 
after  the  battle  of  Wagram  would  have  an  importance 
as  seeming  to  imply  an  abandonment  by  your  Majesty 
of  the  cause  for  which  you  have  already  made  so  many 
sacrifices  ;  I  should  regard  this  step  as  a  great  mistake.' 
With  the  patience  which  never  left  him  in  the 
greatest  crises — and  what  monarch  has  gone  through 
more  than  the  Emperor  Francis  ? — ^with  a  strength  of 
mind  andifirmness  of  character  which  comprise  all  the 
gifts  most  valuable  for  princes  who  are  called  to  govern, 
the  Emperor  answered  :  '  What  you  say  of  Stadion's 
resignation  under  present  circumstances  is  quite  true ; 
but  he  has  insisted,  and  I  have  accepted  his  resignation,  | 
because  you  cannot  urge  a  man  to  remain  in  a  posi-i 
tion  which  he  wishes  to  leave,  when  it  calls  upon  him 
do  administer  important  business.  As  to  the  difficulties 
which  you  raise  about  taking  the  office  yourself,  th 
same  rule  does  not  apply  to  you  ;  far  from  being  deterred 
by  the  considerations  you  mention,  I  am  confirmed 
by  them  in  my  choice.  I  am  less  afraid  of  men  whOi 
doubt  their  own  capacity  than  of  those  who  think 
themselves  fit  for  everything.  I  count  on  the  know- 
ledge you  have  of  the  difficulties  of  the  position,  and  oa 


I 


METTERNICH  BECOaiES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.       105 

your  patriotism.  Confer,  then,  with  Count  Stadion  on 
the  most  suitable  method  of  making  the  change  of 
ministry  ;  and  come  back  and  inform  me  when  you  have 
agreed  what  to  do.' 

'  I  will  do  what  your  Majesty  commands,'  I  replied  ; 
'  still,  I  beg  your  Majesty  to  believe  that  my  disinchna- 
tion  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  crisis,  but  rests 
on  quite  other  grounds  ;  and  in  case  Count  Stadion  will 
not  on  my  representation  remain  in  office,  may  I  beg 
your  Majesty  to  grant  me  a  favour,  namely,  that  your 
Majesty  will  promise  to  dismiss  me  on  the  day  when 
your  Majesty  sees  me  going  wrong  ?  ' 

'  That  I  promise  you,'  answered  the  Emperor,  '  but 
I  hope  that  this  contingency  will  not  occur  to  either  of 
us.' 

I  went  immediately  to  Count  Stadion,  whom  I  found 
immovable  in  his  resolution  to  retire.  Great  determi- 
nation was  one  of  the  characteristic  features  of  this 
minister :  and  if  this  quahty  had  not  been  marred  by  a 
most  dangerous  precipitation,  the  war  of  1809  would 
not  have  taken  place  under  such  auspices  as  it  did.  As 
I  saw  that  my  efforts  to  make  him  change  his  resolution 
were  fruitless,  I  turned  our  conversation  in  a  direction 
in  which  Count  Stadion's  high  feeling  did  not  allow  me 
to  fear  a  defeat.  I  appealed  to  his  feeling  of  duty,  and 
pointed  out  the  consequences  which  his  sudden  resigna- 
tion must  have.  The  result  was  that  we  agreed  to 
propose  to  the  Emperor  that  he  should  order  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  to  continue  the  retreat  of  the  army  under 
Ids  command  towards  Bohemia,  and  that  Count  Stadion 
should  remain  as  minister  with  the  Archduke.  His 
Majesty  should  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  army 
in  Hungary  ;  and  I  should  accompany  the  Emperor,  per- 
forming ad  interim  the  functions  of  a  Minister  of  Foreign 


106  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Aflfairs  in  attendance  on  his  person.  Lastly,  we  agreed 
that  the  actual  retirement  of  Count  Stadion  from  the 
ministry  should  be  delayed  till  the  end  of  the  war,  on 
the  issue  of  which  it  should  depend.  We  went  both 
together  to  the  Emperor,  who  was  satisfied  with  the 
arrangement. 

I  here  avow  with  all  sincerity  that  there  was  nothing 
in  me  to  counterbalance  the  load  of  responsibility  which 
was  laid  upon  me  but  the  feeling  of  duty.  Free  from 
the  stimulus  of  ambition,  as  I  have  been  all  my  life,  I 
felt  only  the  weight  of  the  fetters  which  were  to  rob 
me  of  my  personal  freedom,  and  was,  with  more  sensi- 
tiveness than  was  natural  to  me,  weighed  down  under 
the  influence  of  my  new  position. 

Soon  after  this  conclusion  had  been  arrived  at,  the 
Emperor  left  Znaim,  and  I  accompanied  him  to  Hun- 
gary, We  took  the  road  over  the  Jablunka  Pass,  and 
went  straight  to  Komorn,  Count  Stadion  attached  him- 
self to  the  Archduke  Charles.  I  travelled  from  Znaim 
to  Komorn  in  the  Emperor's  carriage,  and  I  made  use 
of  the  time  to  lay  before  his  Majesty  my  view  of  the 
present  position  of  affairs.  From  this  prince's  calm 
and  just  line  of  thought,  from  the  impression  made  on 
me  by  his  strong  and  candid  mind,  I  was  convinced  that 
in  all  important  questions  my  views  would  always  be  in 
harmony  with  his,  and  that  his  great  qualities  would 
ever  insure  me  the  support  without  which  a  minister, 
be  his  views  ever  so  good,  can  make  no  certain  plan  f  j 
and  carry  out  no  project  with  prospect  of  success.  We 
examined  the  situation  of  the  empire  with  thorough 
impartiahty  ;  we  reviewed  the  prospects  which  the  war 
still  presented,  as  well  as  those  promised  by  a  peace 
concluded  under  the  most  unhappy  auspices.  I 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  Emperor  at  Komorn 


J 


METTERNICH  BECOMES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.        107 

we  received  the  details  of  the  battle  of  Znaim,  and  the 
news  of  a  truce  between  the  two  armies.  At  the  same 
time  there  came  to  me  a  proposal  from  Count  Cham- 
pagny,  for  the  opening  of  negotiations  for  peace.^^^^ 

I  found  the  Emperor  inclined  to  the  reception  of 
this  offer,  and  I  therefore  settled  with  the  French  Minis- 
ter that  our  meeting  should  take  place  at  the  town  of 
Altenburg,  in  the  province  of  Wieselburg.  On  this 
occasion  there  arose  a  singular  difficulty  in  a  matter  of 
form.  I  did  not  know  what  title  to  take  in  order  to 
address  my  answer  to  Count  Champagny  in  the  third 
person.  My  name  alone  would  be  of  no  authority. 
I  was  no  longer  an  ambassador,  and  not  yet  a  minis- 
ter. I  informed  the  Emperor  of  the  difficulty,  and 
he  ruled  that  I  should  take  the  title  of  Minister  of 
State. 

As  the  town  of  Altenburg  was  chosen  for  the  nego- 
tiations, and  as  it  lay  within  the  French  line  of  demar- 
cation according  to  the  Treaty  of  Znaim,  it  was  declared 
neutral.  The  Emperor  took  up  his  abode  at  Totis, 
where  soon  afterwards  Prince  John  Liechtenstein,  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  army,  had  his  head-quarters. 
This  prince  had  taken  the  command  from  Archduke 
Charles,  who  had  gone  back  to  Teschen.  General 
Count  Bubna  held  the  office  of  military  commissary 
with  Napoleon.  Since  I  was  entrusted  with  the  func- 
tions of  Chief  Plenipotentiary  for  the  peace  negotiations, 
I  begged  the  Emperor  to  appoint  an  influential  military 
officer  as  second  Plenipotentiary.  The  choice  fell  on 
General  Count  Nugent,  who  during  the  campaign  had 
acted  as  quartermaster-general  to  the  corps  commanded 
by  the  Archduke  John. 

The  knowledge  which  I  had  gained  of  the  meri  with 
whom  I  was  to  negotiate  such  important  interests  did 


108  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

not  allow  me  to  consider  the  negotiation  as  a  serious 
matter  on  Napoleon's  part.  He  wanted  to  get  his  army 
into  condition  again,  after  the  successes  bought  by  such 
great  sacrifices.  He  knew  that  the  Austrian  forces  also 
needed  to  be  recruited ;  if  he  had  not  felt  that  a  halt 
was  needed  in  the  operations,  he  would  have  followed 
up  his  advantage.  I  did  not  expect  therefore  anything 
more  from  the  Altenburg  Conference  than  that  it  would 
either  lead  to  the  renewal  of  hostilities  or  be  concluded 
by  a  peace  dictated  by  Napoleon  in  his  usual  manner. 
The  instructions  which  I  took  with  me  to  the  place  of 
meeting  were  of  a  simple  nature.  My  task  was  hmited 
to  exposing  the  moral  position,  that  the  Emperor  should 
be  forced  to  a  definite  conclusion,  whether  it  were  in 
favour  of  concluding  the  war  or  of  carrying  it  on. 

Since  I  do  not  intend  to  enter  here  into  the  details  of 
this  pretended  negotiation,^*^^  during  which  both  armies 
were  drawn  up  opposite  each  other,  and  only  engaged 
in  reinforcing  themselves  as  much  as  possible,  I  will 
confine  myself  to  mentioning  one  fact  which  charac- 
terised the  pohtical  action  of  Napoleon  and  the  servihty 
of  his  agents. 

I  opened  the  negotiations  with  the  request  that  the 
might  be  divided  into  formal  sittings,  conducted  by  Pr 
tocols  and  into  simple  conversations  without  anything 
of  the  kind.  Count  Champagny  said  he  was  not  authcfe 
rised  to  use  protocols,  still  he  was  ready  to  inform  hil 
master  of  my  request.  Although  the  distance  was  i^ 
short  which  separated  the  place  from  Napoleon's  head- 
quarters at  Schonbrunn,  days  passed  by  without  any 
answer  from  him.  When  at  last  it  came,  it  was  in  the 
negative.  I  now  explained  that  I  did  not  call  the  conJ 
versations  between  Plenipotentiaries  a  negotiation,  asm 
that  they  could  only  prepare  the  way  for  such.     In  thij 


M 


i 


METTERNICH  BECOMES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.        109 

way  the  discussions  went  on  for  about  fourteen  days,  when 
suddenly,  in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of  a  courier  from 
Schonbrunn,  Count  Champagny  sent  me  a  note,  in  which 
he  informed  me  that  the  Emperor,  his  master,  having 
taken  into  consideration  the  advantages  which  would  be 
gained  by  adopting  the  proposed  form,  not  only  agreed 
to  the  drawing  up  of  Protocols,  but  also  wished  that  the 
Protocols  already  prepared  might  be  laid  before  me  for 
approval,  in  order  that  the  conferences  with  a  view  to 
peace  already  held  might  not  be  lost  time.    There  were, 
in  fact,  a  number  of  reports  of  conferences  which  were 
never  held  enclosed  with  the  note  of  the  French  Pleni- 
potentiary. I  answered  Count  Champagny,  that  I  was  not 
accustomed  to  make  use  of  any  other  pen  than  my  own 
in  the  expression  of  my  thoughts  on  so  grave  an  occa- 
sion, and  should  not  condescend  to  put  my  signature 
to  worthless  documents  ;  but  I  was  ready  to  consider 
Ithe  so-called  Protocols  as  containing  what  had  been  said 
by  the  French  Plenipotentiaries  ;  although  with  the  em- 
hatic  proviso,  that  my  words  therein  should  be  replaced 
y  authentic  documents,  which  I  was  ready  to  supply. 
n  this  declaration  Count  Champagny  withdrew  his  pro- 
posal.   The  false  Protocols  contained  only  reports  which 
svere  written  in  a  spirit  which  Napoleon  permitted  in  order 
hat,  in  the  event  of  hostilities  being  renewed,  their  cha- 
acter  might  be  changed  into  that  of  manifestoes.     I 
isked  Count  Champagny  how  he  could  take  upon  himself 
o  make  me  such  a  proposal,  which  the  plainest  common 
ense  must  know  to  be  a  futile  and  compromising  at- 
empt.     He  excused  himself  with  the   assurance  that 
t  was  not  he  who  had   thought  of  it ;  the  pretended 
*rotocols  were  dictated  by  Napoleon  himself,  and  he 
lust  admit  that  he  neither  had  said  to  me  anytliing  of 
le  matter  of  the  acts  in  question  nor  had  heard  any- 


110  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIK. 

thing  like  it  from  my  mouth.  '  Napoleon,'  I  remarked  to 
him, '  has  the  power  of  putting  words  into  your  mouth 
wliich  your  position  prevents  you  perhaps  from  deny- 
ing ;  but  what  he  can  do  with  you,  he  cannot  do  to  me 
— he  may  conquer  kingdoms,  but  never  my  conscience ! ' 

Several  days  more  passed  in  the  inaction  described, 
and  my  anticipations  with  regard  to  Napoleon's  proceed- 
ings were  verified. 

Count  Bubna,  who,  as  already  mentioned,  was  MiH- 
tary  Commissary  at  Napoleon's  head-quarters,  was  or- 
dered by  him  to  request  the  Emperor  Francis  to  send 
Prince  Jolin  Liechtenstein  to  Vienna.  '  The  diplo- 
matists,' added  Napoleon,  '  do  not  know  how  to  get 
through  an  affair  hke  the  present ;  we  soldiers  under- 
stand one  another  better.  Let  the  Emperor  send  Prince 
Liechstentein  to  me,  and  we  will  end  the  matter  in  four- 
and-twenty  hours.  I  will  tell  him  what  I  wish  and 
what  I  desire  from  the  Emperor ;  and  what  I  want  he 
will  grant  me,  because  he  is  upright  and  wise.  I 
desire — not  the  destruction  of  Austria — but  its  con- 
sohdation.  What  I  said  against  the  Emperor  Francis 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  was  nothing  but  a  phrase  ; 
such  things  are  allowable  before  a  battle,  they  vanish 
with  the  smoke  of  the  cannon.' 

I  was  informed  of  the  sending  for  Field-Marshal 
Prince  Liechtenstein,  through  an  adjutant  who  pre- 
ceded him,  with  the  request  to  make  known  his  arrival 
at  Vienna.  The  Prince  was  close  behind  him,  and 
stopped  to  see  me  at  Altenburg.  He  brought  me  a 
letter  from  the  Emperor  Francis,  telling  me  that  this 
mission  had  no  other  object  but  to  arrive  at  last  at  aj 
knowledge  of  Napoleon's  intentions  ;  the  Field-Marshal 
had  orders  to  hsten  to  everything,  but  not  to  enter  intoj 
a  discussion  on  any  subject.     When  the  Prince  had  in-i 


METTERNICH  BECOMES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.        Ill 

formed  me  of  the  instructions  he  had  received,  I  said 
to  him,  '  If  I  had  been  aware  of  your  mission,  rather 
than  you  should  have  passed  the  outposts  of  the  French 
army  I  would  have  taken  upon  myself  to  request  you 
to  wait,  till  I  had  spoken  to  the  Emperor.  We  are  no 
longer  in  Altenburg  ;  you  are  within  reach  of  the  hos- 
tile army,  and  must  go  on.  But  I  tell  you  beforehand 
that  of  two  things  one  will  happen :  either  Napoleon 
will  lead  you  to  do  something  that  will  compromise  our 
cause ;  or  he  will  prevent  you  from  returning  to  your- 
post.  The  army  must  have  its  commanders ;  this  Na- 
poleon knows,  and  has  drawn  you  away  from  it.  He 
will  either  constrain  the  Emperor  to  conclude  a  peace 
which  he  ought  not  to  conclude,  or  he  will  deprive  him 
of  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  war.'  The  Prince, 
who  was  much  agitated  by  what  I  said,  declared  he 
was  ready  to  go  back  to  Totis.  I  showed  him  that  he 
must  perform  the  commission  he  had  undertaken,  but 
must  make  every  effort  not  to  depart  from  it. 

I  feel  bound  in  conscience  to  give  here  some  account 
of  Prince  John  Liechtenstein,  one  of  the  noblest  cha- 
racters of  this  sad  time.  He  was  a  born  soldier ;  he 
had  not  the  quahties  which  make  a  statesman.  With 
overflowing  zeal  for  what  is  right,  gifted  with  unusual 
faculties  of  mind,  and  a  courage  proof  against  every 
trial ;  a  warm  patriot,  ready  for  any  sacrifice,  but  with- 
out that  balance  which  is  necessary  to  learn  the  true 
value  of  men  and  things  :  he  had  already,  in  the  year 
1805,  succumbed  to  the  power  which  Napoleon  was 
able  to  exercise  in  so  high  a  degree  upon  those  whom 
his  interest  required  him  to  influence.  Prince  John 
saw  in  Napoleon  only  the  mere  soldier ;  in  this  quahty 
he  thought  he  was  his  equal.  He  deceived  himself, 
and  could  not  escape  from  the  craft  of  a  man  who 


112  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

united  in  himself  the   most  different  qualities   in  the 
most  extraordinary  manner. 

Wlien  the  Field-Marshal  had  returned  to  Altenburg, 
I  went  to  Count  Champagny  and  informed  him  that 
as  several  days  must  pass  without  anything  being  done, 
I  thought  of  going  back  to  Totis,  but  that  I  was 
ready  to  return  to  Altenburg  whenever  the  first  news 
in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of  Prince  Liechtenstein 
was  received  from  Vienna  at  the  French  head-quarters. 
*  This  news,'  I  continued,  '  will,  however,  announce  the 
breaking  off  of  the  Altenburg  negotiations.'  Count 
Champagny  would  not  admit  my  pre-supposition.  I 
hastened  the  next  morning  to  the  Emperor,  and  went  to 
Totis  to  Count  Stadion,  who  had  arrived  there  from 
Bohemia  a  short  time  before. 

I  did  not  conceal  my  fears  from  the  Emperor  ;  and 
was  convinced  that  in  sending  for  Prince  Liechtenstein, 
the  Emperor  had  yielded  only  from  confidence  in  the 
engagements  entered  into  by  Napoleon,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  a  cabinet  council  which  had  decided  in 
favour  of  the  attempt.  Before  his  departure  from  Totis, 
Prince  Liechtenstein  had,  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties 
required  of  him,  made  all  preparations  for  the  re- 
sumption of  hostihties.  Therefore  I  had  only  to  main- 
tain an  observant  and  passive  attitude  ;  Count  Stadion 
had  consented  also,  in  case  of  a  rupture,  again  to  lead 
the  Ministry. 

On  the  day  after  my  return  to  the  Emperor,  I  re- 
ceived the  notice  from  Count  Champagny  that  Napoleon 
had  just  summoned  him  to  Vienna ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  the  Altenburg  negotiation  must  be  considered  as 
broken  off. 

Several  days  passed  without  any  news  from  Vienna. 
Prince  Liechtenstein  informed  the  Emperor  of  his  plea- 


t 


METTERNICH  BECOMES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.       113 

sant  reception  by  Napoleon,  with  the  addition  that, 
nevertheless,  Napoleon  had  refused  to  go  into  the  sub- 
ject of  his  summons,  and  referred  him  rather  to  the 
Duke  of  Bassano  (Maret),  head  of  the  personal  cabinet 
of  the  Emperor. 

I  concluded  from  this  that  my  other  foreboding 
would  shortly  be  fulfilled.  From  this  time  I  directed 
all  my  attention  to  the  preparations  for  war.  The 
means  we  had  at  command  were  immense.  The  demon- 
strations of  the  Eussian  army  on  the  Gahcian  side  gave 
me  no  uneasiness.  I  encouraged  the  Emperor  only  to 
look  forward.  The  patience  of  the  Emperor  was  ex- 
hausted ;  his  Majesty  resolved  on  the  recal  of  Prince 
Liechtenstein,  and  I  was  commissioned  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  and  preparations. 

On  October  14,  towards  evening,  as  I  was  walking 
along  the  road  from  Totis  towards  Vienna,  I  saw  car- 
riages approaching,  which  I  knew  to  be  those  of  Prince 
John  Liechtenstein.  As  soon  as  the  Prince  saw  me, 
he  stopped  the  carriage,  jumped  out,  and  said,  '  I  bring 
you  peace,  and  my  head  too :  the  Emperor  will  dispose 
at  his  pleasure  of  both  one  and  the  other.' 

This  is  what  had  happened  in  Vienna.  Napoleon, 
as  before  mentioned,  had  declined  to  speak  to  Prince 
Liechtenstein  himself  on  the  matter  for  which  he  came, 
and  had  referred  him  to  the  Duke  of  Bassano.  The 
Duke,  for  his  part,  declared  to  the  Field-Marshal  that 
he  was  not  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  that  he  must 
wait  the  arrival  of  Count  Champagny,  whom  the 
Emperor  had  appointed  to  carry  on  the  negotiation. 
Prince  Liechtenstein  persisted  in  his  protestation  that  he 
was  not  commissioned  with  any  negotiation.  The  Duke 
of  Bassano  paid  no  regard  to  what  he  said.  '  You  will 
talk  over  the  affair  with  Champagny,'   said  he,  '  and 

VOL.  I.  I 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAl^  MEMOIR. 

easily  come  to  an  understanding  with  a  man  so  pacific 
in  his  nature  and  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
Emperor's  mind.'  On  the  remark  of  the  Field-Marshal 
that  the  place  for  peace  negotiations  was  Altenburg, 
the  Duke  of  Bassano  replied  that  the  Emperor,  his 
master,  had  recalled  his  Plenipotentiary  from  that  place, 
because  it  was  not  possible  to  carry  on  negotiations  in 
two  places  !  Prince  Liechtenstein  on  that  declared  he 
should  leave  Vienna  at  once.  'You  cannot  do  that,' 
replied  the  duke :  '  the  Emperor  would  regard  it  as  a 
sign  of  breaking  the  truce ;  by  doing  so,  you  would 
compromise  the  fate  of  the  army,  and  also  of  your 
country :  and  what  is  needed  to  avert  from  you  so  fear- 
ful a  responsibility?  A  short  delay,  to  learn  what 
Napoleon  thinks  of  proposing  to  the  Emperor  your 
master  ! '  Finding  himself  in  this  dilemma.  Prince  Liech- 
tenstein decided  on  remaining. 

After  the  arrival  of  Count  Champagny,  the  con- 
ferences began,  under  the  name  of  Preliminaries,  which 
were  concluded  on  the  night  of  October  13  and  14 
with  the  signing  of  a  document  which  the  French 
Minister  called  the  'Project  for  a  Treaty  of  Peace,' 
to  be  brought  before  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  After 
signing  this  document,  which  Prince  Liechtenstein 
thought  had  this  and  no  other  meaning,  he  returned 
home  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  ;  he  had  ordered  his 
post-horses  for  10  o'clock,  when  he  suddenly  at  day- 
break heard  the  firing  of  cannons,  and  on  asking  what 
this  firing  meant,  was  told  it  announced  the  signing  of 
peace  in  the  capital  of  Austria.  He  wished  to  make 
Napoleon  answer  for  this  on  the  spot,  but  Naj)oleon 
had  just  left  Schonbrunn  with  all  his  retinue  ! 

This  is  the  history  of  the  Peace  of  Vienna  of  0(3tober 
14,  1809,  and  is  known  to  only  a  Hmited  circle :  ^*^^  a 


i 


METTERNICH  BEC03^IES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.        115 

Treaty  of  Peace  full  of  unworthy  artifices,  having  no 
foundation  in  international  rights. 

The  Emperor's  decision  under  the  circumstances 
could  not  be  doubted.  Without  compromising  himself 
and  his  Empire  in  the  most  dangerous  manner,  he  could 
not  reject  the  conclusion  of  a  peace  which  had  been 
already  announced,  amid  the  rejoicings  of  the  people, 
in  the  capital  and  in  more  than  a  third  part  of  the 
country  still  remaining  to  him.  The  Emperor  ratified 
the  treaty. 

By  this  event  the  provisional  character  of  the  func- 
tions assigned  to  me  at  once  terminated.  I  appeared 
now  in  the  character  of  a  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  ; 
and  frankly  admit  that  I  took  possession  of  the  port- 
foho  with  more  self-confidence  than  I  had  expected  in 
the  previous  July.  What  had  just  taken  place  dis- 
closed a  side  of  Napoleon  to  me  which  placed  him 
far  lower  in  my  eyes ;  and  before  my  conscience  the 
<3ause  I  had  to  uphold  rose  in  like  measure. 

At  the  end  of  November,  I  came  with  the  Emperor 
back  to  Vienna,  and  ahghted  at  the  Chancellor's  Palace. ^*^^ 

The  conditions  of  the  act  of  October  14  were  loyally 
carried  out  in  all  directions.  The  places  of  the  Empire 
occupied  by  the  French  forces  and  those  of  the  Con- 
federation of  the  Ehine  were  vacated,  and  the  war  con- 
tribution discharged  within  the  appointed  time.  The 
return  of  the  Emperor  to  his  capital  was  hke  a 
triumphal  entry.  The  populace  there,  as  in  the  pro- 
vinces, did  not  look  beyond  the  present  moment,  satisfied 
with  being  reheved  from  the  presence  of  an  enemy  who 
carried  refinement,  in  making  use  of  all  the  resources  of 
the  country,  to  the  very  highest  degree.  Napoleon,  in 
the  eyes  of  Europe,  passed  for  an  irresistible  power, 
under  the  yoke  of  which  all  must  bow.     The  feehng 

I  2 


116  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

of  the  masses  was  no  longer  to  escape  this  fate,  but  to 
lighten  the  burden  as  much  as  possible.  My  thoughts, 
however,  soared  higher.  Under  the  load  of  enormous 
responsibility,  I  found  only  two  points  on  which  it  seemed 
possible  to  rest,  the  immovable  strength  of  character  of 
the  Emperor  Francis,  and  my  own  conscience. 

The  results  of  the  rising  of  Austria  in  the  year  1809 
were  most  destructive  for  the  Empire.  The  (so-called) 
Peace  of  Vienna  had  bound  the  kingdom  with  a  circle  6f 
iron,  deprived  it  of  its  communication  with  the  Adriatic, 
and  from  Brody,  the  north-east  point  of  junction  with 
Russia,  to  its  south-east  boundary  adjoining  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  encircled  it  with  countries  which  were 
under  the  sceptre  of  Napoleon,  or  subject  to  his  direct 
influence.  The  Empire  accordingly  lost  all  freedom  of 
movement ;  and  the  conqueror  had  done  aU^that  lay  in 
his  power  to  hinder  any  future  development  of  strength, 
by  a  secret  article  in  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  which  hmited 
the  maximum  of  the  Austrian  forces  to  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men. 

Called  to  the  hard  task  of  defending  the  political 
existence  of  the  Empire  under  such  adverse  circum- 
stances, I  compared  the  position  of  the  European  con- 
tinent and  the  pecuhar  situation  of  the  Austrian  States, 
and,  weighing  the  evils  which  pressed  upon  each,  care- 
fiilly  watched  for  the  preponderating  influence. 

I  considered  the  Revolution,  as  it  burst  forth  in 
France  in  1789,  as  the  starting-point  of  all  the  misfor- 
tunes of  Europe,  and  I  clearly  perceived  that  a  military 
despotism,  which  found  its  highest  expression  in  Napo- 
leon, was  its  inevitable  result.  If  the  wars  occasioned 
by  the  Revolution  had  preserved  Germany  and  Austria 
from  the  infection  of  social  theories,  daring  the  twenty 
years  which  had   elapsed  between   1789   and  1809 — 


METTERNICH  BECOMES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.        117 

for  nations  are  averse  to  adopt  as  benefits  those  doc- 
trines which  are  presented  to  them  by  the  force  of 
arms — I  at  the  same  time  recognised  in  Napoleon  him- 
self a  barrier  against  the  encroachments  of  anarchical 
theories  in  France  and  in  those  countries  upon  which  lay 
the  weight  of  his  iron  arm.  Social  questions,  therefore, 
I  placed  in  the  background,  but  in  the  very  first  rank 
I  placed  the  preservation  of  what  remained  of  the 
Austrian  Empire,  even  after  its  unsuccessful  campaigns. 
That  Napoleon,  in  his  lust  of  power  on  the  European 
continent,  had  already  overstepped  the  limits  of  the 
possible — of  this  I  had  not  the  slightest  doubt.  I  fore- 
saw that  neither  he  nor  his  undertakings  would  escape 
the  consequences  of  rashness  and  extravagance.  The 
when  and  the  how  I  could  not  pretend  to  determine. 
Thus  my  reason  pointed  out  to  me  the  direction  which 
I  had  to  take  in  order  not  to  interfere  with  the  natural 
development  of  the  situation,  and  to  keep  open  for 
Austria  the  chances  which  the  greatest  of  all  powers, 
the  power  of  circumstances,  might  offer  sooner  or  later 
(under  the  strong  government  of  its  monarch)  for  the 
much-threatened  prosperity  of  the  Empire.  As  it  was 
beyond  everything  necessary  to  await  the  development 
of  events  after  the  return  of  Napoleon  to  his  capital,  I 
made  use  of  the  leisure  so  gained  to  go  to  Vienna  and 
make  myself  acquainted  with  the  requirements  of  the 
departments  which  had  been  entrusted  to  me.  I  gave 
the  Chancellery  an  inner  organisation  more  fitted  to  the 
times  ;  in  doing  which  I  had  before  my  mind  the  former 
organisation  under  Prince  Kaunitz.^^^^ 

In  accordance  with  my  proposal,  the  Emperor  Francis 
had  appointed  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  Ambassador  in 
France :  a  better  choice  could  not  have  been  made,  as 
events  proved. 


118  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Neither  before  nor  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Vienna 
Peace  had  a  single  word  been  exchanged  between  Na- 
poleon and  the  Austrian  Cabinet  regarding  the  design 
of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  as  to  his  marriage.  We 
were  aware  of  the  negotiations  with  the  Eussian  Court, 
which  Napoleon  had  entered  into  for  a  marriage  with 
one  of  the  Grand-Duchesses,  and  we  also  knew  that 
Napoleon  had  decided  to  dissolve  his  marriage  with 
the  Empress  Josephine,  that  marriage  being  without 
canonical  authority.  But  we  were  so  httle  aware  of 
his  intentions  with  regard  to  an  Austrian  Archduchess, 
that  when  the  first  indications  of  it  came  to  us  from  the 
expressions  of  M.  de  Laborde,  we  regarded  it  as  a  fantas- 
tic dream,  and  only  attributed  a  serious  character  to 
the  matter  when  Napoleon  himself,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
ball,  asked  my  wife,  who  had  remained  behind  in  Paris, 
to  make  known  his  intentions  to  me. 

At  a  masked  ball,  at  Cambaceres',  to  which  my  wife 
had  received  a  very  pressing  invitation,  a  mask,  in  whom 
she  immediately  recognised  Napoleon,  took  hold  of  her 
arm,  and  led  her  into  a  private  room  at  the  end  of  the 
suite  of  apartments.  After  some  jokes  of  no  importance, 
Napoleon  asked  her,  whether  she  thought  that  the  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Louise  would  accept  his  hand,  and  whether 
the  Emperor,  her  father,  would  agree  to  this  alliance. 
My  wife,  very  much  surprised  by  this  question,  assured 
him  that  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  answer  it.  On  that, 
Napoleon  asked  further  whether  she,  in  the  place  of  the 
Archduchess,  would  bestow  her  hand  upon  him.  My 
wife  assured  him  she  would  refuse  him.  'You  are 
cruel ! '  said  the  Emperor  to  her ;  '  write  to  your  hus- 
band, and  ask  him  what  he  thinks  of  the  matter.'  My 
wife  refused  to  do  this,  and  pointed  out  that  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  was  the  organ  through  which  he  should 


METTEENICH   BECOMES  FOREIGN  mNISTER.        119 

approach  the  Imperial  Court.  Neither  did  she  delay  to 
inform  the  Ambassador,  who  was  present  at  the  ball, 
of  what  had  passed  between  her  and  the  Emperor. 

The  following  morning.  Prince  Eugene  made  his  ap- 
pearance at  Prince  Schwarzenberg's,  and  in  '  the  name 
of  the  Emperor  and  with  the  knowledge  of  his  mother, 
the  Empress  Josephine,'  he  made  the  same  offer,  which, 
the  Ambassador  explained,  he  could  only  receive  dd 
referendum. 

As  soon  as  the  courier  brought  me  this  news,  I  re- 
paired to  the  Emperor.  '  Your  Majesty,'  said  I,  '  is  here 
placed  in  a  situation  in  which  the  Euler  and  the  Father 
can  alone  say  Yes  or  No.  One  or  the  other  must  be 
spoken  by  you,  for  a  doubtful  or  hesitating  answer  is  not 
possible.' 

The  Emperor  collected  himself  for  a  moment,  and 
then  asked  me  what  I  should  do  in  his  place. 

'  There  are  cases  in  the  life  of  states  as  with  private 
persons,'  I  answered,  '  when  a  third  person  is  not  able 
to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  another,  on  whom  the 
responsibihty  of  a  decision  rests.  These  cases  are  espe- 
cially those  in  which  calculation  alone  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  lead  to  a  decision.  Your  Majesty  is  Euler  and 
Father — to  you  alone  it  belongs  to  consider  what  is 
your  duty.' 

'  I  shall  leave  the  decision  in  my  daughter's  hands,' 
cried  the  Emperor,  warmly  ;  '  for  I  will  never  constrain 
her,  and  I  desire,  before  I  consult  my  duty  as  a  monarch, 
to  knoAV  what  is  her  wish  in  the  matter.  Find  the  Arch- 
duchess, and  let  me  know  what  she  says  to  you.  I  will 
not  myself  speak  to  her  on  the  subject,  lest  it  should 
seem  as  if  I  wished  to  influence  her  decision.' 

I  went  at  once  to  the  Archduchess  Marie  Louise, 
and  laid  the  matter  before  her,  without  circumlocution 


120  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

or  fine  phrases,  either  for  or  against  the  proposal.  The 
Archduchess  listened  with  her  usual  calmness,  and  after 
a  moment's  reflection,  asked  me, '  What  does  my  father 
wish  ? ' 

'  The  Emperor,'  I  repHed,  '  has  commissioned  me  to 
interrogate  your  Imperial  Highness  as  to  your  decision 
in  a  matter  so  important  for  the  destiny  of  your  whole 
life.  Do  not  ask  what  the  Emperor  wishes :  tell  me 
what  you  wish.' 

*  I  wish  only  what  it  is  my  duty  to  wish,'  answered 
the  Archduchess ;  '  where  the  interest  of  the  Empire  is 
concerned  that  interest  must  be  consulted,  and  not  my 
will.  Ask  my  father  to  consult  his  duty  as  a  ruler,  and 
to  subordinate  to  that  any  interests  connected  with 
my  person.' 

When  I  reported  this  result  of  my  mission  to  the 
Emperor,  he  said  to  me,  with  that  perfect  openness 
which  was  usual  to  him  in  the  most  difficult  circum- 
stances, '  I  am  not  surprised  at  what  you  tell  me  from 
my  daughter ;  I  know  she  is  too  good  for  me  to  expect 
her  to  do  otherwise.  Whilst  you  have  been  with  her 
I  have  been  thinking  how  to  decide.  My  consent  to 
the  marriage  would  secure  to  the  Empire  some  years 
of  pohtical  peace,  which  I  can  devote  to  the  heahng  of 
its  wounds.  All  my  powers  are  devoted  to  the  welfare 
of  my  people,  I  cannot,  therefore,  hesitate  in  my  de- 
cision. Send  a  courier  to  Paris,  and  say,  that  I  accept 
the  oflier  for  the  hand  of  my  daughter,  but  with  the 
express  reservation,  that  on  neither  side  shall  any  con- 
dition be  attached  to  it ;  there  are  sacrifices  which 
must  not  be  contaminated  with  anything  approaching 
to  a  bargain.' 

This  is  the  truth  with  recrard  to  the  marriage  of 
Napoleon  with  the  Archduchess  Marie  Louise.^^^^ 


I 


METTEKNICH  BECOMES  FOREIGN  MINISTER.       121 

When  Napoleon  sounded  Prince  Schwarzenberg 
whether  any  concessions  on  his  side  would  be  agree- 
able to  the  Emperor,  the  Ambassador  was  in  a  position 
to  express  himself  in  the  same  sense  as  the  Emperor 
himself  had  done. 

One  question  which  naturally  had  a  great  interest 
for  the  public  was  the  divorce  of  Napoleon  and  Jose- 
phine. For  the  Church  this  question  did  not  exist, 
and  therefore  not  for  the  Emperor.  Napoleon  had  con- 
tracted a  civil  marriage  with  the  express  understanding 
that  the  union  could  be  dissolved ;  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Church,  therefore,  it  was  not  a  valid  marriage.  Indeed, 
had  it  been  otherwise,  the  scheme  could  not  have  been 
entertained  for  a  moment.  The  dissolution  of  the  first 
marriage,  so  called,  had  only,  therefore,  the  value  of  a 
mere  formality  such  as  the  French  civil  law  required. 

That  this  event,  however,  drew  a  line  between  the 
past  and  the  present  is  quite  evident.  I  felt  myself 
called  to  direct  my  gravest  attention  to  the  future  ;  and 
I  think  that  I  fulfilled  this  duty  to  the  best  of  my 
power. 


I 


I 


CHAPTER  VI. 
SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PAKIS. 


I 


125 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SPECIAL   MISSION   TO    PARIS. 
(1810.) 

What  was  Napoleon's  object  in  marryinp:  Marie  Louise  ? — Marshal  Bertliier 
acts  the  suitor  for  Napoleon — Archduke  Charles  represents  Napoleon  in 
the  ceremony  at  Vienna — Departure  of  Marie  Louise — Metternich's  mis- 
sion to  Paris — Visit  to  Oompiegne — First  conversation  of  Metternich  with 
Napoleon — Residence  in  Paris — Feeling  in  France  about  the  marriage — 
Prolongation  of  residence  in  Paris — Representation  by  Metternich's 
Father  in  Vienna — Journey  to  Oambrai — Ball  at  Schwarzenberg's — Close 
intercourse  with  the  Court — The  European  archives — Napoleon's  ideas 
about  England — The  Turkish  Question — Beginning  of  diflferences  with 
Russia — Choice  of  a  successor  to  the  throne  of  Sweden — Clearness  of 
Napoleon's  views  with  regard  to  Russia — Audience  to  take  leave — 
Return  to  Vienna. 

The  step  which  Napoleon  had  taken  must  have  had  a 
motive,  and  I  now  considered  it  my  next  and  most  im- 
portant task  to  discover  and  follow  up  the  Emperor's 
reasons.  Napoleon's  union  with  the  Austrian  Imperial 
family  was  doubtless  the  result  of  some  calculation. 
What  could  be  its  aim  ? 

Will  the  Imperial  conqueror  put  his  sword  in  its 
sheath  and  build  up  the  future  of  France,  and  of  his 
family,  on  the  principles  of  internal  order  and  external 
peace  ? 

Or  does  the  soldier-Prince  desire,  with  the  help  of 
Austria,  to  found  a  dynasty,  and  at  the  same  time  con- 
tinue his  system  of  conquest  ? 

The  answers  to  these  questions  would  decide  our 
action  in  the  future.     The  first  of  these  queries  did 


126  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

not  seem  to  me,  from  the  character  of  Napoleon,  to  be 
probable,  the  other  rested  on  such  impracticable  sup- 
positions that  I  could  not  build  on  it  with  any  certainty, 
however  well  it  corresponded  with  the  habits  of  that 
prince.  I  therefore  decided  to  request  the  Emperor  to 
allow  me  to  go  to  Paris  at  the  same  time  as  the  new 
Empress,  and  to  remain  there  till  I  could  discover  the 
true  state  of  the  case.  The  Emperor  agreed  to  my 
proposal,  and  fortliwith  I  prepared  to  carry  it  out. 

Marshal  Berthier,  on  whom  the  title  of  Prince  of 
Neufchatel  and  Wagram  had  been  conferred,  was  sent 
'to  Vienna  with  the  proposal  for  the  hand  of  the  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Louise.  Archduke  Charles,  entrusted  with 
Napoleon's  Procuration,  represented  the  bridegroom  at 
the  altar,  and  the  formal  giving  up  of  the  Empress  took 
place  at  Braunau,  where  she  was  received  by  the  Queen 
of  Naples,  Napoleon's  sister.  The  Austrian  people  took 
the  event  with  that  feehng  which,  after  long  wars  and 
boundless  sacrifices,  greets  every  prospect  of  peace  as  a 
blessing  ;  they  looked  upon  it  as  a  pledge  of  peace. ^^^^ 
Neither  the  Emperor  nor  I  went  so  far  in  our  hopes ; 
mine  were  Umited  to  the  obtaining  of  an  interval  of 
quiet  for  the  recruiting  of  our  resources  for  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  necessary  defence  of  the  interests  of  the 
Empire. 

In  order  not  to  take  the  same  road  as  the  Empress 
Marie  Louise,  who  went  by  the  south  of  Germany  and 
Strasburg  to  Paris,  I  chose  the  road  by  Metz  to  Com- 
piegne,  whither  I  had  been  invited  by  Napoleon.     At 
that  place  I  was  joined  by  Prince  Schwarzenberg  and 
my  wife,  who  had  arrived  there  from  Paris.     The  mem-j 
bers  of  the  Lnperial  family  were  all  assembled  in  thej 
palace  which  the  Emperor  had  had  prepared  with  thej 
greatest  magnificence  to  receive  his  new  consort.     At; 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  127 

tlie  moment  when  I  arrived,  Napoleon  had  just  left  it 
to  meet  the  Empress :  I  was  not,  therefore,  received  by 
him  till  after  their  first  meeting. 

Napoleon  welcomed  me  with  visible  signs  of  satisfac- 
tion. He  expressed  his  gratification  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  event  which  at  this  moment  occupied  him  en- 
tirely; he  touched  on  all  the  details  of  the  course  of 
the  negotiation,  and  came  back  to  the  point,  that  we 
must  omit  nothing  which  could  make  the  happy  event 
of  the  moment  as  sweet  and  pleasant  as  possible.  He 
spoke  to  me  of  an  entire  forgetfulness  of  the  past,  of 
a  happy  and  peaceful  epoch,  at  which  we  had  now 
arrived,  of  the  impossibihty  that  anything  should  dis- 
turb the  natural  relations  between  us ;  on  which  I  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  during  my  residence  in  Paris  I 
might  venture  to  speak  on  many  subjects  of  great 
importance  for  us,  and  of  common  utihty  for  the  two 
empires. ^^^^ 

The  ecclesiastical  details  with  respect  to  the  affair 
of  the  divorce  brought  the  conversation  to  the  existing 
dispute  with  the  Holy  See,  and  I  felt  myself  called  upon 
not  to  refuse  our  good  ofiices  between  Pope  Pius  VII. 
and  Napoleon.  That  this  step,  in  the  main,  led  to  no 
result  does  not  prevent  me  from  mentioning  it  here.^*^^ 

Napoleon  spoke  too  of  the  last  war,  and  during  this 
conversation  many  interesting  admissions  fell  from  him. 
'  If,'  so  he  said  among  other  things,  '  in  the  month  of 
September  you  had  recommenced  hostihties  and  beaten 
me,  I  should  have  been  lost ; '  and  when  he  saw  that 
he  had  said  too  much,  he  withdrew  the  word  '■lost' 
and  replaced  it  by  '  in  great  difiiculties.'  But  I  would 
not  let  it  pass,  but  assured  him  I  held  by  his  first 
expression,  and  this  conviction  had  much  strengthened 
me  in  my  attitude  at  Altenburg.     I  thanked  him  per- 


128  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

sonally  for  having  excused  me  at  the  time  of  the  nego- 
tiations at  Vienna,  and  assured  him  that  I  should  never 
have  concluded  the  last  peace.  '  Well,  what  would  you 
have  done  then  ?  '  interrupted  Napoleon. 

'  I  would  have  made  a  far  better  peace,  and  one 
more  in  correspondence  with  our  true  strength  ;  if  not, 
then  war.' 

'  War ! '  said  the  Emperor,  taking  up  the  word  ;  '  then 
you  would  have  done  wrong  :  it  would  have  been  diffi- 
cult to  drive  me  out  of  Vienna ;  but  a  better  peace 
than  your  negotiators  at  Schonbrunn  succeeded  in 
obtaining — that  I  believe.' 

Accounts  had  just  arrived  which  announced  that 
Napoleon's  marriage  was  very  ill  received  at  St.  Peters- 
burg. I  was  not  at  all  surprised  at  this,  though  some- 
what disturbed  ;  for  what  we  wished,  I  remarked,  was 
simply  peace  and  quiet,  and  it  did  not  fall  within  our 
plans  that  Eussia  should  be  involved. 

'  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  '  asked  Napoleon. 

'  Russia  is  afraid,'  I  answered,  '  and  acts  under  the 
influence  of  fear  :  she  is  afraid  of  France,  she  fears  our 
relations  with  France,  and  will  quarrel  out  of  sheer 
uneasiness  and  anxiety.' 

'  Do  not  be  anxious,'  interrupted  Napoleon,  '  if  the 
Russians  try  to  commit  themselves.  I  will  act  as  if 
I  did  not  understand  them.'  With  that  he  expatiated 
at  length  on  his  relations  with  that  Power,  from  which 
I  saw  that  much  wisdom  and  care  on  the  side  of 
Austria  would  be  necessary  to  prevent  a  rupture  with 
Russia. 

After  a  short  stay  in  the  Imperial  Palace  at  Com- 
piegne,  I  betook  myself  to  Paris,  where  the  Emperor 
had  placed  the  Hotel  of  Marshal  Ney,  with  a  complete 
household,  at  my  disposal,  which,  however,  I  only  used 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  129 

on  very  particular  occasions.  I  did  not  wish  to  burden 
the  court  with  my  family,  so  I  generally  resided  in  the 
house  in  the  Chaussee  d'Antin,  which  my  wife  had  occu- 
pied since  my  departure  from  Paris  in  1809. 

The  Empress  Marie  Louise  was  received  by  the 
French  pubhc  with  the  same  feehng  which  the  marriage 
had  called  forth  in  Austria.  France  was  tired  of  war. 
After  so  many  disastrous  battles,  conquerors  and  con- 
quered joined  in  longing  and  hoping  for  a  final  settle- 
ment. I  saw  proofs  of  this  in  all  classes  of  the  people, 
and  more  particularly  in  Napoleon's  own  family. 

In  the  subsequent  conversations  which  I  had  with 
the  Emperor,  he  was  warm  in  his  declarations  of  good- 
will to  Austria.  As  a  special  sign  of  his  favour.  Na- 
poleon proposed  to  Prince  Schwarzenberg  (then  Aus- 
trian Ambassador  in  Paris)  and  me  to  aboHsh  the 
mediatisation  of  our  famihes,  and  to  enrol  them  as 
sovereign  members  of  the  Ehenish  Confederation,  a 
proposal  which  we  both,  in  consideration  of  our  official 
position,  declined  in  the  most  poHte  manner. 

In  my  intercourse  with  the  Emperor,  we  took  up 
again  the  thread  of  the  conversation,  so  to  speak,  where 
it  had  been  broken  off  before  the  war.  I  had  not  come, 
however,  to  study  the  past,  but  to  get  a  ghmpse  of  the 
future ;  and  since  I  wished  to  do  this  as  quickly  as 
possible,  I  one  day  remarked  to  the  Emperor  that  my 
stay  in  Paris  could  not  be  of  much  longer  duration. 
'  Your  Majesty,'  said  I  to  him,  '  sent  me  as  a  prisoner 
to  Austria :  I  come  back  to  Paris  a  free  man,  but  yet 
not  free  from  difficult  duties.  Loaded  as  I  am  with 
an  enormous  responsibihty,  I  have  my  duties  in  Vienna 
to  fulfil.  The  Emperor  Francis  wished  me  to  accom- 
pany his  daughter  into  France ;  I  have  come  by  his 
orders,  but  it  must  be  evident  to  you  that  my  wish 
VOL.  I.  K 


130  AUTOBIOGRArmCAL  MEMOIR. 

goes  beyond  this,  and  I  would  gladly  find  a  guiding 
principle  for  my  political  action  in  a  more  remote  future/ 

'  I  understand  you,'  answered  Napoleon :  '  your  Avish 
corresponds  with  my  own.  Stay  with  us  a  few  weeks, 
and  you  will  leave  us  with  satisfaction.' 

These  words  might  have  led  me  to  hope  that  my 
residence  in  Paris  would  not  be  much  prolonged,  but  I 
knew  Napoleon  too  well  to  build  anything  on  a  mere 
probabiHty.  Instead  of  four  weeks,  I  was  detained  in 
Paris  for  quite  half  a  year.  On  my  departure  from 
Vienna  the  Emperor  had  confided  the  direction  of  the 
Chancellery  to  my  father.  Prince  Francis  George  von 
Metternich.  Since  Paris  was  at  that  time  the  centre  of 
affairs,  my  absence  from  Vienna  could  only  cause  any 
alteration  in  the  carrying  on  of  my  department  if  my 
representative  in  the  office  deviated  from  my  own 
views.  With  my  father  there  could  be  no  question  of 
this ;  and,  seeing  that  no  injury  to  pubHc  business 
would  be  connected  with  my  distance  from  the  capital, 
I  kept  to  my  determination  not  to  leave  Napoleon  be- 
fore I  had  attained  the  true  object  of  my  journey  to 
France.  The  sequence  of  this  narrative  will  show  that 
I  gained  my  object. 

In  May,  Napoleon  conducted  his  wife  to  Brussels. 
The  Emperor  had  invited  me  to  accompany  him  to 
Cambrai,  so  that  I  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  enthu- 
siasm with  which  the  young  Empress  was  everywhere 
received  by  the  people.  At  St.-Quentin,  Napoleon 
particularly  wished  that  I  should  be  present  at  an 
audience  to  which  he  had  invited  the  authorities  of  the 
place.  '  I  wish  to  show  you,'  said  he,  '  how  I  am  wont 
to  speak  to  these  people,'  I  saw  that  the  Emperor  was 
anxious  that  I  should  perceive  how  many-sided  was  liis 
administrative  knowledge. 


I 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  131 

After  our  return  from  this  journey,  the  festivities 
were  continued  which  Paris  had  prepared  for  the  new 
Empress.  Chief  of  these  was  the  ball  that  was  given  in 
honour  of  the  marriage  by  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  and 
which  terminated  so  fatally.  ^^^^ 

I  busied  myself  with  negotiations  for  the  execution 
of  some  decrees  in  the  last  Peace/^^^  and  brought  them 
with  ease  to  the  solution  we  desired.  Napoleon  evi- 
dently wished  to  give  us  a  proof  of  his  good  will ;  and 
it  was  my  business  to  draw  from  this  feeling  some 
advantage  in  favour  of  certain  affairs  of  detail  com- 
mitted to  my  care.^^^^ 

But  notwithstanding  this,  the  great  interest  which 
had  brought  me  to  Paris  was  supreme  in  my  thoughts, 
and  served  as  a  guiding  star  in  all  my  actions.  A  veil 
was  spread  over  the  future  of  Europe,  which  I  longed 
to  raise ;  to  this  end  I  must  secure  a  freedom  of  action 
which  would  have  been  hampered  by  a  closer  intimacy 
with  the  conqueror. 

Therefore  I  remained  impenetrable  to  all  the  acts 
of  attention  which  Napoleon  knew  how  to  heap  on 
those  from  whom  he  desired  some  benefit.  I  did  not 
withdraw  from  intercourse  with  the  court :  I  had  the 
freest  access  to  it,  of  which,  however,  I  only  made 
use,  in  regard  to  the  Empress  Marie  Louise,  with 
the  most  careful  reserve.     In  the  subjoined  notes  *  I 

*  I.  Conversation  with  Marie  Louise  at  the  Tuileries. — About  two  months 
after  his  marriage,  Napoleon  asked  me  why  I  never  went  to  see  the  Empress 
Marie  Louise,  except  on  her  reception  days,  or  on  other  occasions  of  more  or 
less  ceremony.  I  replied  that  I  knew  of  no  reason  for  acting  differently  ; 
on  the  contrary,  there  were  many  reasons  for  acting  as  I  had.  If  I  went  be- 
yond the  usual  routine,  I  should  give  rise  to  idle  talk :  people  would  tax  me 
with  conniving  at  some  intrigue  ;  I  should  injure  the  Empress,  and  depart 
from  my  proper  mission.  *  Bah  ! '  interrupted  Napoleon,  *  I  wish  you  to  see 
the  Empress ;  go  to  her  to-morrow  morning,  I  wUl  teU  her  to  expect  you.' 

The  next  morning  1  repaired  to  the  Tuileries ;  I  found  NapoI<)on  w'th 

K  2 


132  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

have  communicated  some  details  connected  with  this 

the  Empress.  The  conversation  ran  on  ordinary  topics,  when  Napoleon  said 
to  me,  *  I  wish  the  Empress  to  speak  openly  to  you,  and  confide  to  you  what 
she  thinks  of  her  position.  You  are  her  friend ;  she  should  have  no  secrets 
from  you.'  At  the  end  of  this  speech  Napoleon  closed  the  door  of  the  room, 
put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  and  disappeared  by  another  door.  I  enquired  of 
the  Empress  what  was  the  meaning  of  this  scene :  she  addressed  the  same 
question  to  me.  Seeing  that  she  had  not  been  prepared  by  Napoleon,  I 
guessed  that  he  wished  to  enable  me  to  receive  from  the  mouth  of  the  Em- 
press herself  satisfactory  ideas  of  her  domestic  relations,  in  order  that  I 
might  give  a  favourable  accoimt  to  her  father,  the  Emperor.  The  Empress 
was  of  the  same  opinion.  We  were  together  for  more  than  an  hour,  then 
Napoleon  came  back  smiling.  *  Well,'  said  he  to  us,  *  have  you  had  a  good 
talk  ?  Has  the  Empress  said  much  ill  of  me  ?  Has  she  laughed  or  wept  ? 
I  do  not  ask  you  to  tell  me.  You  two  have  secrets  which  do  not  concern 
a  third  person,  even  though  that  third  person  is  the  husband.' 

We  continued  talking  in  the  same  tone  of  pleasant  raillery,  and  I  took 
my  leave.  On  the  foUovdng  day  Napoleon  sought  an  opportunity  of  speak- 
ing to  me.  *  What  did  the  Empress  say  to  you  yesterday,'  said  he.  *  You 
said,'  I  replied,  *  that  our  conversation  should  not  be  known  to  a  third 
person :  allow  me  to  keep  it  a  secret.'  *  The  Empress  will  have  said,'  inter- 
rupted Napoleon,  *  that  she  is  happy  with  me,  that  she  has  no  complaint  to 
make.  I  hope  you  will  tell  this  to  your  Emperor,  he  will  believe  you 
sooner  than  anyone  else.' 

n.  Counsel  to  be  given  to  the  Empress  Marie  Louise. — In  the  course  of 
the  summer  of  the  year  1810,  Napoleon  detained  me  one  day,  after  his  lev^e 
at  St.-01oud.  When  we  were  alone,  he  said  to  me,  in  an  embarrassed  tone, 
that  I  could  do  him  a  service. 

'  It  concerns  the  Empress,'  said  he.  *  She  is  young,  without  experience, 
and  she  does  not  know  the  ways  of  this  country,  nor  the  character  of  the 
French.  I  have  placed  the  Duchess  of  Montebello  in  attendance  on  her. 
She  is  all  one  could  wish,  but  is  sometimes  thoughtless.  Yesterday,  for 
example,  walking  in  the  park  with  the  Empress,  she  presented  to  her  one  of 
her  cousins.  The  Empress  spoke  to  him,  which  was  wrong ;  if  she  allows 
young  men,  cousins  and  so  forth,  to  be  introduced  to  her,  she  will  very  soon 
become  the  prey  of  intriguers.  Everyone  in  France  has  always  some  favour 
to  ask.  The  Empress  will  be  beset,  and,  vnthout  the  power  of  doing  good, 
she  will  be  exposed  to  constant  annoyance.'  I  said  to  Napoleon  that  I 
agreed  with  him,  but  could  not  imderstand  why  he  had  taken  me  into  his 
confidence.  *  It  is,'  said  Napoleon,  *  because  I  wish  you  to  speak  of  this 
matter  to  the  Empress.' 

I  expressed  my  surprise  that  he  had  not  himself  performed  this  duty. 
'  The  advice,'  said  I, '  b  good,  it  is  wise,  and  the  Empress  is  too  right- 
minded  not  to  appreciate  it.'  *  I  prefer,'  interrupted  Napoleon, '  that  you 
should  xmdertake  this  commission.  The  Empress  is  young,  she  might  think 
I  was  going  to  be  a  severe  husband ;  you  are  her  father's  minister,  and  the  \ 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  133 

which   may  serve   to  explain    the  character   of   Na- 
poleon.* 

During  his  conversations  with  me,  which  lasted 
sometimes  for  hours,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  spoke 
with  great  openness  of  his  plans  for  government  and 
organisation  with  respect  to  France,  and  only  touched 
on  the  domain  of  politics  for  the  purpose  of  historical 
elucidation. 

One  of  his  favourite  schemes  at  this  time  was  the  idea 
of  collecting  all  the  archives  of  Europe,  in  Paris.  There 
should  be,  so  he  said  to  me,  a  grand  edifice,  erected 
on  the  Place  between  the  Mihtary  School  and  the  Inva- 
lides,  constructed  entirely  of  stone  and  iron,  so  as 
to  be  fire-proof.  This  building  should  contain  all  the 
archives  of  the  European  States.  On  my  remarking 
that  he  must  begin  by  getting  possession  of  the  archives 
before  he  arranged  for  their  reception.  Napoleon  an- 
swered in  the  most  frank  manner,  '  Why  should  I  not 
have  them  ?  Will  not  all  the  Powers  hasten  to  send 
their  archives  to  a  place  so  perfectly  safe?  Without 
any  doubt  they  will  be  inchned  to  do  so  in  the  double 
interests  of  safety  and  of  science.  Only  think,  your- 
self, of  the  immense  advantages  which  history  would 
derive  from  this !  Of  course,  each  State  must  have 
the  right  of  placing  its  documents  under  the  care  of 
keepers  of  its  archives,  who  would  live  close  to  their 
papers.  It  would  be  free  to  each  one  to  keep  legal 
copies  of  them.  What  an  immense  advantage  it  would 
be  to  avoid  distances  ;    one  would  only  have  to  take 

friend  of  her  childhood ;  what  you  say  will  have  more  effect  upon  her  than 
anything  I  could  say.' 

*  The  manuscript  here  hreaks  off  suddenly.  What  follows  is  the  text  of 
the  '  clue  to  the  explanation  of  my  manner  of  thought  and  negotiation^  See 
Preliminary  Remark  to  the  Notes  on  p.  381. — Ed,  * 


1314.  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

two  or  three  steps  across  a  corridor,  to  draw  from  the 
historical  treasures  of  France,  Austria,  Eome,  &c.' 

I  could  not  restrain  an  incredulous  smile,  and  begged 
him  not  to  overlook  the  difficulties  which  this  project 
would  meet  with  from  other  States. 

'  Well,'  rejoined  Napoleon,  '  see  what  narrow  ideas 
the  statesmen  of  Europe  have,  and  do  not  know  how 
to  get  rid  of!  I  shall  carry  out  my  project ;  the  plans 
for  the  building  are  in  preparation ! '  And  with  that  he 
took  me  into  his  study,  where  he  showed  me  a  plan  of 
Paris,  on  which  the  edifice  in  question  was  drawn. 
According  to  the  ground  plan,  this  palace  of  the  ar- 
chives was  to  include  eight  inner  courts. 

Our  other  conversations  on  political  questions  bore 
the  stamp  of  academical  enquiries  rather  than  the  discus- 
sion of  practical  matters.  On  meeting  again  a  man  so 
richly  gifted,  it  was  most  surprising  to  me  to  see  what 
thoroughly  erroneous  ideas  he  had  of  England,  her  ma- 
terial resources  and  her  moral  character.  He  would  not 
allow  of  contrary  views,  and  sought  the  key  to  them  in 
prejudices  which  he  reprobated.  That  he  would  bring 
England  to  reason  by  means  of  the  Continental  blockade, 
this  he  regarded  as  a  mathematical  certainty.  He  knew 
the  state  of  Germany  exactly ;  and  on  the  internal  rela- 
tions of  Austria  he  expressed  views  which  were  far  from 
being  unsound. 

However  great  the  interest  of  learning  the  thoughts 
and  views  of  this  wonderful  man  on  the  most  diiferent 
subjects,  this  did  not  afford  me  any  satisfactory  hints 
in  explanation  of  his  plans  for  the  immediate  future. 
The  victorious  progress  of  the  Eussian  arms  in  Turkey 
gave  me,  however,  a  favourable  opportunity  of  sound- 
ing Napoleon  on  the  Turkish  question.  In  repeated 
conversations  on  this  subject,^"^^  Napoleon  began  to  lift 


i 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  135 

the  veil  behind  which  his  thoughts  were  concealed. 
Amongst  other  things,  he  said  that  he  should  not 
oppose  the  establishment  of  the  Eussians  in  the  Danu- 
bian  PrincipaHties,  which,  besides,  were  more  Eussian 
than  Turkish ;  Erfurt  prevented  him  from  doing  so. 
But  this  Eussian  success  will  be  the  cause  of  an  alliance 
between  France  and  Austria:  a  pohtical  alliance 
grounded  on  common  interests,  far  more  important 
than  a  mere  family  connection,  such  as  now  existed 
between  the  two  courts.  An  advance  of  the  Eussians 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Danube  he  would  in  no  case 
put  up  mth,  nor  with  a  Eussian  protectorate  over 
Servia.  Belgrade  belongs  to  Austria.  '  You  must  try- 
to  take  this  place  by  stratagem,  or  get  the  Servians 
themselves  to  give  it  up  to  you.  Begin  by  using  it  as  a 
depot ;  once  there,  they  will  not  turn  you  out.' 

In  the  month  of  September  Napoleon  first  began  to 
let  out  his  views  in  our  conversations. 

It  was  at  the  time  that,  in  consequence  of  the  choice 
of  the  successor  to  the  Swedish  throne,  and  the  constant 
increase  of  the  prohibitions  against  trade  and  pressure 
on  the  Continental  States,  a  tension  in  the  relations 
with  Eussia  was  everywhere  apparent,  and  Napoleon's 
thoughts  regarding  his  future  attitude  to  this  Northern 
Power  began  to  take  a  definite  shape,  which  crept  out 
in  his  conversations  with  me. 

He  spoke  of  the  anxieties  and  embarrassments  which 
the  choice  of  the  new  Crown  Prince  of  Sweden  had 
brought  about.  When  I  said  that  he  must  have  fore- 
seen the  result,  which  I  held  to  be  more  a  Pranco-Eussian 
than  a  Swedish-Eussian  complication — in  fact,  it  must 
have  fallen  in  with  his  plans,  for  .he  could  have  pre- 
vented it,  Napoleon  assured  me  he  had  remained  quite 
neutral,  and  had  allowed  the  nation  to  choose.   A  French 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

mai'shal  on  the  throne  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  would, 
besides,  have  been  the  finest  trick  anyone  could  have 
played  on  England/^^^ 

On  September  20,  under  tlie  pretext  of  the  latest 
news  from  Turkey,  Napoleon  detained  me  in  St.-Cloud. 
He  expatiated  on  the  possibility  or  probabihty  of  a  peace 
between  Turkey  and  Russia.  Then  he  came  again  to 
speak  of  tlie  elevation  of  the  Prince  of  Ponte  Corvo  as 
successor  to  the  Swedish  throne. 

'  I  had  news,'  said  tlie  Emperor,  '  from  St.  Peters- 
burg, which  proved  that  tliis  event  was  received  there 
as  a  thing  that  must  be ;  it  did  not  work  well,  but  it 
was  taken  in  silence.'  Then  he  went  on :  '  I  consider 
the  Swedish  affair  as  a  more  or  less  distant  motive  for 
war  -with  Eussia.  That  it  sliould  not  excite  envy  in  the 
latter  is  impossible.  I  shall  liave  war  with  Russia  on 
grounds  which  lie  beyond  human  possibiHties,  because 
they  are  rooted  in  the  case  itself.' 

'  The  time  \vill  soon  approach — and  I  am  very  far  from 
hastening  it  either  by  my  wishes  or  my  deeds — when 
hostiUties  wiU  be  inevitable.  What  part  will  you  play 
then  ?  I  speak  to  you  of  all  these  things  not  at  all  in 
an  official  manner,  and  still  less  with  the  intention  of 
making  a  proposal  to  you,  but  simply  as  we  talk  over 
any  circumstance  foreign  to  both  of  us.  On  this  occa- 
sion you  must  either  unite  with  Prance  or  you  must 
side  with  Russia,  and  in  the  latter  case  you  would 
remain  neutral.  The  course  last  named  will  lead  you  to 
nothing,  nor  would  it  be  the  means  of  raising  your- 
self ;  and  if  you  attempt  a  merely  nominal  neutrality, 
in  order  to  join  the  strongest  party  after  the  battle,  you 
will  get  small  thanks  from  tliem  and  small  profit  for 
yourself  out  of  such  a  course.' 

'  I  consider,'  continued  Xapoleon,  '  that  what  now 


b 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  137 

constitutes  the  Illyrian  provinces  is  the  most  important 
district  for  Austria.  These  provinces  once  your  own, 
and  Dalmatia,  would  give  you  all  possible  points  of 
egress  which  you  are  now  without.  I  have  the  feeling 
that  I  humiliate  and  oppress  you  as  long  as  I  have  these 
provinces.  You  must  feel  the  same.  There  is,  too,  an 
ever-increasing  germ  of  jealousy  and  ill-feeling  between 
you  and  France.  Will  you  one  day  refuse  to  confer 
with  me  for  the  exchange  of  an  equal  portion  of  Galicia 
for  these  provinces  ?  Whenever  I  find  it  necessary  to 
make  war  with  Eussia,  I  should  have  a  great  and  power- 
ful ally  in  a  King  of  Poland.  I  shall  not  need  your 
provinces,  and  you  too  will  find  this  combination  not 
less  useful  to  you.' 

I  remarked  to  the  Emperor  that  I  could  only  speak 
on  this  subject  with  the  full  understanding  that  every- 
thing I  might  say  should  be  considered  as  coming  from 
the  lips  of  a  cosmopolitan,  and  not  from  the  Austrian 
minister. 

I  divided  the  matter  into  two  questions — the  re-esta- 
blishment of  a  kingdom  of  Poland,  and  the  exchange  of 
a  part  of  Galicia  for  the  Illyrian  provinces. 

'  The  first  question,'  I  said  to  his  Majesty,  '  is  of 
a  purely  pohtical  nature.  A  kingdom  of  Poland  is 
nothing  more  than  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw  with  another 
name  and  with  the  new  boundaries  for  which  it  has 
striven  ever  since  it  was  made.  Whenever  our  Gahcian 
provinces  are  reduced  in  size  more  than  they  now  are, 
our  interest  in  the  Polish  question  must  surely  diminish 
in  the  same  proportion.  But  it  seems  to  me  impossible 
to  approach  a  matter  lightly  whicli  presents  such  many- 
sided  political  prospects,  and  would  alter  the  position  of 
the  existing  relations  in  Europe.  The  Illyrian  provinces 
are  most  important  to  us  fi-om  twenty  points  of  view. 


138  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Galicia  has  advantages  on  its  side,  for  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  compensate.  The  revenue  offered  by  lUyria 
is  trifling,  and  hardly  comes  up  to  that  of  Gahcia ;  it 
has  fewer  men  and  less  means  of  subsistence.  Galicia 
has  important  boundary  points  for  the  common- 
monarchy.  If  ever  the  idea  of  such  a  combination  is 
entertained  by  the  Emperor,  my  master,  the  exchange 
can  only  take  place  under  quite  different  topographical 
relations,  and  will  meet  with  many  and  great  difficul- 
ties.' 

In  a  long  statement,  Napoleon  then  explained  the 
advantages  which  Austria  would  obtain  by  regaining 
possession  of  the  Ulyrian  provinces,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  great  danger  of  Gahcia  to  Austria  in  case 
of  a  successful  war  with  Eussia,  which  should  lead  to 
the  incorporation  of  the  Polish-Eussian  provinces  in 
a  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  and  must  give  it  a  great  im- 
portance among  the  Powers. 

'  As  for  the  revenues,'  continued  the  Emperor,  '  you 
have  one  means  of  compensation — buy  all  the  estates 
in  Gahcia :  they  supply  the  principal  revenues  of  the 
country.  It  can  never  be  a  question  of  the  Gahcia  of 
the  first  partition ;  nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  fix 
the  mihtary  boundaries  in  the  north  of  Hungary.' 

*  Everything  that  I  say  to  you,'  said  the  Emperor, 
*  is  entirely  in  confidence.  I  do  not  wish  that  anyone 
should  know  of  it  but  the  Emperor  and  you.  I  have 
never  spoken  of  it  to  Champagny.  If  the  war  with 
Eussia  is  avoided,  I  shaU  be  quite  content ;  but  in  the 
contrary  event,  it  is  much  better  to  look  at  the  conse- 
quences beforehand.  I  always  put  the  question  very 
simply  as  to  what  concerns  me,  both  to  myself  and  to 
others.  So,  for  example,  I  say  to  myself  in  the  present 
case,  If  it  suits  Austria  to  join  with  France,  then  she 


i 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  139 

can  make  more  use  of  the  lUyrian  provinces — irrespec- 
tive of  their  administrative  advantages — than  of  part  of 
Gahcia,  the  provinces  of  which  are  a  cause  of  envy 
between  the  two  Powers.  If  Austria's  system  inclines 
more  to  Eussia,  then  Gahcia  stands  quite  in  the  first 
rank  pohtically,  for  it  serves  as  a  connecting  hnk.  I 
do  not  desire  from  you  any  active  co-operation,  because 
I  have  made  up  my  mind  not  again  to  join  any  coahtion. 
I  have  had  enough  of  the  trial  I  made  of  it  in  1809.  I 
should  have  made  quite  another  war  for  you,  if  I  had 
been  alone.  I  have  never  reckoned  much  on  the  Rus- 
sians, but  they  have  at  any  rate  taken  the  place  of  fifty 
or  sixty  thousand  Frenchmen,  who  would  have  treated 
you  to  quite  another  sort  of  war  from  the  Russians.' 

'  If  I  speak  thus  to  you,'  said  l!iI"apoleon  in  conclud- 
ing his  interesting  and  candid  conversation, '  it  is  because 
I  will  not  let  shp  the  rare  opportunity  when  a  monarch 
can  converse  with  the  Foreign  Minister  of  another 
Power,  and  offer  a  new  point  of  view  to  another  Govern- 
ment, without  expecting  an  answer.  I  do  not  expect 
the  least  response  to  this,  which  I  have  wished  to  impart 
to  you  before  your  departure.  The  purchase  of  estates 
in  Galicia  will  be  a  sufficient  proof  of  what  the  Emperor 
Francis  thinks  on  the  matter.'  ^^^^ 

I  left  St.-Cloud  with  the  consciousness  that  I  had  at 
last  obtained  light.  The  object  of  my  stay  in  Paris 
was  attained.  I  had  an  audience  to  take  leave,^^^^  and 
returned  to  Vienna,  where  I  arrived  before  the  middle 
of  October. 

I  found  the  Emperor  Francis  at  Gratz  in  Styria. 
On  his  departure  from  the  capital,  he  left  a  request  for 
me  to  follow  him  to  Gratz  without  loss  of  time.  I  re- 
mained four-and -twenty  hours  in  Vienna,  to  obtain  from 
my  father  information  about  a  poHtical  incident  which 


140  AUTOBIOGRAPIUCAL  MEMOIR. 

had  just  taken  place,  and  to  whicli  I  shall  return  fur- 
ther on. 

My  report  to  tlie  Emperor  on  the  result  of  my 
observations  in  Paris  consisted  of  the  following  re- 
marks : — 

'  During  the  year  1811  the  peace  of  the  continent 
of  Europe  will  not  be  destroyed  by  any  fresh  attack  of 
Napoleon's. 

*  In  the  course  of  this  year  Napoleon  will  join  his 
own  forces,  greatly  strengthened,  with  those  of  his 
aUies,  in  order  to  deal  a  great  blow  at  Eussia. 

*  Napoleon  will  begin  the  campaign  in  the  spring  of 
1812. 

'  Therefore  the  Imperial  government  must  employ 
the  next  year  in  improving  the  financial  position  in 
two  ways :  first,  by  lessening  the  quantity  of  paper - 
money ;  next,  in  making  important  miHtary  improve- 
ments. 

'  The  position  to  be  taken  by  Austria  in  the  year 
1812  must  be  that  of  an  armed  neutrality.  The  fate  of 
Napoleon's  undertaking,  in  any  case  a  very  eccentric 
one,  will  give  us  the  direction  which  we  shall  after- 
wards have  to  take.  In  a  war  between  France  and 
Eussia,  Austria  must  take  a  position  on  the  flank  which 
will  ensure  a  decisive  importance  for  her  opinions  during 
the  war,  and  at  the  end  of  it.'  ^^'''^ 

The  Emperor  shared  these  views,  and  they  led 
us,  by  ways  apparently  indirect,  to  the  main  object 
always  before  us ;  and  through  all  the  varied  circum- 
stances of  the  following  year  to  that  pohcy  the 
courageous  development  of  which,  at  the  right  moment, 
was  crowned  by  such  decisive  results. 

Napoleon  deceived  himself  greatly.  First  in  liis 
false  reckoning  was  the  conviction  that  the  Emperor  of 


SPECIAL  MISSION  TO  PARIS,  1810.  141 

Eussia  would  either  not  fight  with  France,  or  give  way 
at  the  first  victory,  which  Napoleon  had  no  doubt  of 
gaining.  This  idea  showed  ignorance  of  the  Eussian 
monarch's  character,  and  a  disregard  of  the  vast  space 
at  his  command.  By  all  this  the  Austrian  cabinet  was 
made  aware  of  its  duty,  namely,  to  be  prepared  for  any- 
thing that  might  happen. 

The  incident  which  I  mentioned  as  having  occurred 
before  my  return  to  Vienna  was,  that  the  Emperor 
Alexander  had  sent  his  Adjutant  Count  Schuwalow  to 
Vienna  with  a  proposal  to  confer  with  the  Imperial 
cabinet  about  possible  events.  I  found  a  plan  made 
out  for  a  treaty  of  alliance  in  case  of  a  new  war 
with  France,  which  was  given  me  by  my  father.  The 
project  was  reje<ited,  as  one  not  appHcable  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  day,  or  at  least  not  suited  to  the 
spirit  of  the  times.  I  was  bent  on  securing  the  free 
movement  of  Austria  with  foreign  nations,  and  on  the 
greatest  possible  resuscitation  of  her  financial  and  mili- 
tary strength.  Count  Schuwalow  at  once  returned 
to  St.  Petersburg,  his  mission  being  followed  by  no 
result.^^^> 

I  thought  it  also  a  prudential  duty  to  set  our  posi- 
tion as  clearly  as  possible  before  the  Prussian  cabinet. 
The  Prussian  state  was  in  the  deepest  decadence.  The 
personal  relations  between  King  Frederick  William  TTT  ., 
Minister  Hardenberg,  and  some  other  men  trusted  by 
the  King,  and  myself,  during  the  time  that  I  was  Am- 
bassador at  Berlin,  made  it  possible  that  my  opinion 
would  be  favourably  received  at  this  court.  I  used  the 
opportunity  to  place  the  true  position  of  Austria  and 
Prussia  before  them,  and  to  advise  the  'King  to  patience 
and  the  remedies  which  time  and  its  vicissitudes  would 
effect,   with   the    moral    certainty   that   the   Emperor 


142 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


Francis  would  stand  by  him  as  a  firm  friend.  The 
King  understood  my  words,  and  they  led  to  a  per- 
sonal relation  between  the  two  monarchs  which  sur- 
vived the  storms  that  followed,  and  exercised  a  great 
influence,  not  only  on  the  history  of  Prussia,  but  also  of 
Europe. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 
BEFOEE  AND  AFTER  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN. 


I 


145 


CHAPTEK  Vn. 

BEPOEE   AND   AFTER  THE   RUSSIAN   CAMPAIGN. 
(1811—1812.) 

Principles  of  Finance — Finance  Minister,  Count  Wallis — Minister  of  War, 
Count  Bellegarde — Hungarian  Diet — The  Council  of  State — Academy 
of  Arts — Dantzic,  a  place  of  importance  for  the  Russian  campaign — 
Armament — Armed  neutrality  of  Austria — Meeting  of  the  Emperor 
Francis  with  Napoleon  at  Dresden — Napoleon's  ideas  concerning  the 
best  form  of  Government  in  France — Napoleon's  illusion  and  plan  of  the 
war — The  elements  of  the  Austrian  military  system — Confidential  under- 
standing between  the  Cabinets  of  Vienna  and  Berlin — The  termination 
of  the  Russian  campaign — Importance  of  the  Austrian  neutrality — The 
armed  mediation — The  Austrian  auxiliary  force  in  the  Russian  campaign 
— Warlike  prospects  for  1813 — The  consequences  of  the  armed  mediation 
— The  return  of  Austria  and  Prussia  to  the  basis  of  1805 — The  German 
question — The  King  of  Saxony  places  himself  under  the  Austrian  pro- 
tection— General  preparation  for  war — The  Emperor  Francis — The  dis- 
position of  the  people — The  situation  of  Prussia — Feeling  in  France ;  in 
Germany  ;  in  Austria — Napoleon-haters — The  armies  drawn  up  in  posi- 
tion— The  moment  arrives  for  the  armed  mediation  of  Austria. 

However  bad  was  her  condition,  there  seemed  to  be  for 
Austria,  in  the  domain  of  pohtics,  a  moment  of  repose  ; 
but  I  could  not  look  forward  to  the  duration  of  this 
pause  beyond  the  year  1811.  This  year  must  be  made 
use  of  by  our  country  for  unremitting  attention  to  the 
most  important  tasks.  First  of  these  was  the  question 
of  the  state  finances.  The  proper  adjustment  of  these 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  time  would  be  a  most  labo- 
rious undertaking.  The  wars  between  1792  and  1809 
had  exhausted  the  sources  of  pubhc  prosperity  ;  the 
German  part  of  the  Empire  was  flooded  with  paper- 
VOL.  I.  L 


146  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

money ;  Hungary,  by  law,  .still  maintained  a  metallic 
standard,  but  nevertheless  paid  her  subsidies,  small 
as  they  were,  in  paper  only,  without  any  regard  to  its 
depreciation.  It  was  impossible  to  have  recourse  to 
credit,  for  if  foreign  countries  had  had  sufficient  confi- 
dence in  the  resources  of  the  Empire  to  stand  by  it  in 
the  way  of  credit,  in  spite  of  its  precarious  position,  this 
assistance  would  have  been  cut  off  from  us  by  Napo- 
leon, and  by  the  ignorance  which  then  reigned  in  the 
Continental  states  with  respect  to  the  system  of  credit. 

The  introduction,  then,  of  a  system  of  finance  cor- 
responding to  this  condition  was  not  feasible,  and 
attention  must  be  equally  paid  to  providing  for  the 
absolute  necessities  of  the  present,  and  the  prospective 
demands  of  the  future.  To  fulfil  these  important  ends, 
the  finance  operation  proposed  by  Count  Wallis,  the 
Minister  of  Finance,  was  very  well  suited.  Count  WalHs 
would  have  raised  this  to  the  dignity  of  a  system  made 
for  perpetuity.  But  the  Emperor  and  I  thought  of  it 
only  as  of  a  bridge,  leading  from  an  untenable  to  a  ten- 
able condition,  by  the  help  of  circumstances,  the  issue 
of  which,  however,  was  uncertain. 

I  must  here  mention  one  man,  in  whose  knowledge 
of  the  situation,  business  dexterity,  and  devotion  to  the 
general  good,  the  Emperor  found  a  firm  support,  and  I, 
assistance  as  enlightened  as  loyal,  in  the  development  of 
the  fate  of  the  Empire.  This  man  was  the  then  Presi- 
dent of  the  Ministry  of  War,  Count  Bellegarde.  With  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  mihtary  matters,  famiUar  with 
my  turn  of  mind,  and  quite  agreeing  with  my  poHtical 
views,  he  was  anxious  not  only  to  maintain  the  Imperial 
forces,  but  to  strengthen  them  to  the  utmost,  for  every 
imaginable  contingency,  while  avoiding  everything  that 
wouJd   attract  attention.     He   alone  was.  thoroughly 


THE  EUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  147 

acquainted  with  my  views,  and  he  knew  how  to  raise 
himself,  with  me,  above  the  illusions  which  assume  the 
appearance  of  pubhc  opinion.  He  understood  as  well 
as  I  did  the  value  of  letting  men  talk. 

The  introduction  of  the  new  system  of  finance  ne- 
cessitated the  holding  of  a  Hungarian  Diet,  without  the 
co-operation  of  which  this  would  not  be  possible.  After 
much  opposition,  the  Hungarian  states  passed  the  requi- 
site financial  measures.  As  I  shall  afterwards  have 
occasion  to  examine  the  state  of  Hungary  more  closely, 
I  will  in  this  place  say  nothing  of  its  position  at  that 
time. 

But  what  forced  itself  upon  me  was  the  imperative 
necessity  of  strengthening  the  central  power.  The 
Austrian  monarchy  is  a  composite  whole,  formed  of  se- 
parate districts  which  are  historically  or  legally,  from 
reasons  of  necessity  or  considerations  of  prudence,  held 
together  by  having  one  common  head.  In  a  state  Hke 
this,  the  idea  of  unity  inseparable  from  the  existence  of 
an  Empire  requires  to  be  matured  and  rightly  defined, 
if  it  is  not  to  become  a  mere  personal  union  with  all  its 
attendant  weaknesses.  The  existence  of  a  moral  body 
convoked  to  defend  supreme  sovereign  power  in  the 
common  head  of  the  Empire,  without  at  the  same  time 
restricting  the  exercise  of  the  separate  rights  of  the 
provinces,  seemed  to  be  the  most  appropriate  means 
by  which  to  assert  the  conception  of  Imperial  unity. 

A  well-organised  Council  of  State  is  considered  by 
the  impartial  statesman  to  be  such  a  body,  and  so  it 
appeared  to  Prince  Kaunitz.  According  to  his  pro- 
posal, the  Empress  Maria  Theresa,  in  the  year  1760, 
founded  a  Council  of  State  of  this  kind.  Sound  as  the 
idea  was,  the  practical  working  of  it  was  not  free  from 
defects.     It  seemed  to  me  that  one  of  the  greatest  of 

1.2 


148  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

these  mistakes  was  the  admission  of  the  heads  of  its  dif- 
ferent departments  (ministers  there  were  none)  into  the 
Council  of  State,  and  the  direction  of  this  Council  by  a 
High  Chancellor.  Under  the  government  of  the  Empe- 
ror Joseph  n.,  the  Council  of  State  had  been  in  many- 
ways  mismanaged,  and  even  hindered  in  its  action  by 
a  cabinet  government  in  imitation  of  Frederick  11. 's 
system  of  government. 

The  Council  of  State  came  forward  prominently 
again  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Francis ;  but  soon 
after  the  death  of  Prince  Kaunitz  it  fell  actually  into 
decay,  a  result  caused  chiefly  by  the  setting  aside  of 
oral  discussion,  and  the  substitution  of  voting  by  papers. 
A  later  reorganisation  was  the  work  of  some  subordinate 
officials,  who  thought  only  of  securing  their  own  personal 
influence,  so  that  the  Emperor  Francis  was  induced 
to  dissolve  it  entirely  in  the  year  1809.  I  devoted  my 
whole  attention  to  the  creation  of  a  new  Council  of 
State,  in  place  of  the  old  one.  My  intentions,  and  the 
proposals  relative  to  them,  aimed  at  associating  with  the 
Emperor  a  true  Council  of  State,  and,  instead  of  coun- 
cillors working  singly,  to  form  one  common  deHberative 
body  ;  to  give  to  the  central  power  a  more  central 
spirit,  so  as  to  procure  for  the  monarch,  by  a  higher 
degree  of  tranquilHty  and  security,  greater  facihty  for 
carrying  on  his  own  work.  To  the  further  course  of 
this  plan  of  organisation,  which  was  to  be  carried  on 
hand-in-hand  with  a  revision  of  the  institutions  of  the 
provincial  states,  I  wiU  return  again/^^^ 

During  this  interval  of  peace  I  was  made  Curator  of 
the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  in  Vienna,  an  unexpected 
and  honourable  appointment,  which  opened  up  to  me 
an  unfamiHar  but  most  congenial  sphere  of  activity,  in 
which  there  was  full  scope  for  my  strong  consciousness 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  l49 

of  duty,  heightened  as  it  was  in  this  case  by  my  inclina- 
tion. I  began  my  functions  as  Curator  of  the  Academy, 
and  was  anxious  to  infuse  into  the  old  statutes  of  the 
institution  (with  the  co-operation  of  Sonnenfels)  fresh 
strength  •  and  inner  Kfe,  by  reforms  suited  to  the  times  ; 
and  I  endeavoured  to  invest  it  with  outward  brilliancy 
by  the  reception  of  foreign  notabihties  as  honorary 
members/^"^ 

In  pohtical  matters  the  year  1811  passed  as  I  had 
foreseen.  Napoleon  advanced  his  forces  as  far  as  the 
Duchy  of  Warsaw,  and  made  Dantzig  a  point  d'appui  for 
the  supphes  necessary  for  a  great  campaign.  '  I  have,' 
he  said  to  me,  in  the  year  1812, '  in  Dantzig  secured  for 
myself  a  second  Paris.'  Eussia  was  also  on  her  side 
preparing,  and  strove  to  end  the  war,  in  which  she  was 
involved  with  the  Porte,  as  quickly  as  possible,  whilst 
Napoleon  was  always  endeavouring  to  add  fresh  fuel  to 
its  flames.  In  outward  appearance  Austria  seemed  to 
be  in  the  enjoyment  of  profound  peace,  and  was  sup- 
posed to  be  exclusively  occupied  in  heahng  the  wounds 
which  the  last  war  had  inflicted  on  the  Empire.  Prussia 
pined  under  the  most  unhappy  depression,  and  endea- 
voured to  stir  up  German  feeling  by  means  of  the 
Tugendbund ;  in  South  Germany,  however,  this  had  no 
success.  The  armies  of  the  States  belonging  to  the 
Ehenish  Confederation  prepared  themselves  to  join  the 
French  Grande  Armee,  in  the  ranks  of  which  there  were 
already  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Italian  contingents. 
The  Continental  prohibitions  against  trade  steadily 
increased,  and  the  granting  of  licences  became  a  source 
of  wealth  to  the  French  finances.  Napoleon's  power 
pressed  heavily  upon  the  whole  Continent.  It  took  the 
direction  of  a  system  of  incorporation  carried  out  by 
Imperial  decrees.     It  was  the  eve  of  the  catastrophe, 


150'  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

which  to  a  quiet  spectator  had  not,  indeed,  the  feehng 
of  a  calm  before  the  storm,  but  the  sad  aspect  of  a 
general  humihation  of  princes  and  people  under  the 
verdict  of  an  inexorable  fate. 

The  situation  developed  itself  with  the  approach  of 
the  year  1812.^^^^  The  moment  for  Austria's  declaration 
with  regard  to  the  forthcoming  war  between  France 
and  Russia  had  arrived.  We  declared  for  an  armed 
neutrality.  Napoleon  demanded  the  contribution  of  an 
auxiliary  army  of  thirty  thousand  men.  The  Emperor 
Francis  granted  this  request,  under  the  condition  that 
the  neutrality  and  inviolability  of  the  Austrian  territory 
should  not  be  endangered  by  either  of  the  beUigerent 
Powers.  All  history  has  not  recorded  so  strange  a 
poHtical  situation,  and  it  probably  never  will  record  a 
second  example  of  the  same  kind.  It  was  the  result  of 
circumstances,  and  a  remarkable  illustration  of  a  period 
fantastic  in  every  respect,  and  afflicted  with  every  kind 
of  abnormal  condition.  In  the  imposition  of  an  auxiUary 
army  from  Austria  Napoleon  sought,  not  a  material 
strengthening  of  his  forces,  for  this  did  not  seem  to  him 
to  be  necessary,  but  a  moral  guarantee  for  the  restraint 
of  the  other  part  of  the  Austrian  army  within  the 
boundaries  of  their  own  kingdom.  The  Emperor  Alex- 
ander considered  the  closing  of  the  Austrian  territory 
as  a  useful  defence  for  the  southern  provinces  of  the 
Russian  Empire.  Both  sides  acknowledged  the  neu- 
trahty  of  Austria,  notwithstanding  her  contribution  of 
an  auxiliary  army. 

I  was  satisfied,  for  what  I  wished  above  all  was  to 
secure  for  Austria  freedom  in  her  political  action  when 
the  moment  came  for  decision  with  regard  to  the 
coming  war. 

When  Napoleon,  in  the  spring  of  1812,  went  to 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  151 

Dresden,  to  make  from  thence  the  last  arrangements 
for  the  campaign  against  Kussia,  he  expressed  a  wish 
to   meet  there  the  Emperor  Francis.      The  Emperor 
compUed  with  his  wish,  and  set  out  for  Dresden  accom- 
panied by  the  Empress  and  myself.    The  Empress  Louisa 
was,  it  is  well  known,  very  bitter  in  her  feeHng  against 
•Napoleon.     The  manner  of  both  Emperors  was  suited 
to   their   position,  but   cold.     The  daily  contact   into 
which  I  now  came  with  Napoleon  was  a  continuation 
of  our  intercourse  at  the  time  of  my  embassy  to  Paris, 
and  my  residence  there  in  1810.     Our  conversations 
sometimes  lasted  for  hours,  but  we  did  not  often  touch 
upon  politics.     It  was  at  this  time  that  he  explained  to 
me  his  ideas  on  the  best  form  of  government  for  France. 
*  France,'  he  said  to  me,  '  lends  itself  less  to  representa- 
tive  forms    than    many   other   countries.     In   France 
talent  is  common  enough  ;  but  it  is  only  talent,  there  is 
nothing  beneath  it  which  resembles  character,  and  still 
less  principle.    Everyone  runs  after  applause — whether 
it  comes  from  above  or  below,  no  matter ;  they  want  to 
be  noticed  and  applauded.      In   the  tribune  they  did 
nothing  but  make  revolution,  so  I  put  them  in  order — 
I  dissolved  them.     I  put  a  gag  on  the  Corps  Legislatif. 
Silence  an  assembly  which,  if  it  is  anything,  must  be 
deHberative,  and  you  discredit  it.      Therefore  I   had 
only  to   take  the  key  from  the  door  of  the  hall  of 
assembly  and  put  it  in  my  pocket ;  that  shall  be  done 
with  the  Corps  Legislatif.     Nobody  will  think  any  more 
about  it,  for  its  existence  is  already  forgotten.     I  do 
not,  however,  desire  absolute  power :  I  wish  for  more 
than  mere  forms.     I  wish  for  one  thing  entirely  for  the 
pi^lic,  order  and  utiHty.     I  would  give  a  new  organi- 
sation to  the   Senate  and  to  the  Conseil  d'JEtat.     The 
first  will  replace  the  upper  chamber,  the  second  that 


162  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

of  the  Deputies.  I  shall  continue  to  appoint  senators 
to  all  the  places.  I  shall  have  one-third  of  the  Conseil 
d'Etat  elected  by  triple  hsts,  the  rest  I  shall  nominate. 
In  this  assembly  the  budget  will  be  made,  and  the  laws 
elaborated.  In  this  way  I  shall  have  a  real  represen- 
tation, for  it  will  be  entirely  composed  of  men  well 
accustomed  to  business.  No  mere  tattlers,  no  ideologues, 
no  false  tinsel.  Then  France  will  be  a  well  governed 
country,  even  under  a.  faineant  prince,  and  such  princes 
there  will  be.  The  manner  in  which  they  are  brought 
up  is  sufficient  to  make  that  certain.' 

I  took  the  Hberty  of  asking  why  he  had  not  carried 
out  his  project.  The  Senate  had  without  this  already 
lost  its  credit,  and  the  legislative  bodies  were  reduced 
to  a  sphere  of  action  which  pleased  no  one ;  to  which 
Napoleon  answered  :— 

^  Everything  has  its  season ;  that  for  reform  has 
not  yet  come.  I  must  wait  for  two  or  three  years,  and 
who  knows  when  the  war  will  end  which  I  am  just 
beginning?     That  will  come  after  the  peace.' 

On  the  whole,  I  received  from  our  confidential  inter- 
course in  Dresden  the  impression  that  if  Napoleon,  on 
the  one  hand,  did  not  deceive  himself  about  the  greatness 
of  the  undertaking,  and  looked  on  his  success  as  the 
keystone  of  an  edifice'which  hovered  before  his  mind  as 
a  Carlo vingian  Empire  under  a  Bonapartist  dynasty  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  his  undertaking  depended  on  the 
terrible  chances  of  war,  about  which  he  indulged  in 
the  most  dangerous  delusion. 

As  illustrating  the  reasons  for  my  views,  I  will  men- 
tion the  following.  Napoleon  was  convinced  that  the 
Russian  army  would  open  the  campaign  by  crossing  the 
boundaries  of  their  own  country.  The  conviction  ex- 
pressed by  me  that  the  Emperor  Alexander  would  await 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  153 

the  attack  of  the  French  army  and  baffle  it  by  a  retreat, 
Napoleon  opposed  both  on  strategical  grounds,  and 
from  Alexander's  manner  of  thought  and  action,  with 
which  he  imagined  himself  to  be  perfectly  acquainted. 
All  which  reasons  told  more  in  favour  of  my  views 
than  his. 

When  the  reports  from  the  army,  drawn  up  in  the 
Duchy  of  Warsaw  ready  for  action,  deprived  him  of 
all  hope  that  the  Emperor  Alexander  would  take  the 
initiative,  he  explained  to  me  his  plan  for  the  war  with 
Russia  in  the  following  words,  which  subsequent  events 
have  made  memorable  ; — 

'My  enterprise  is  one  of  those  of  which  the  solu- 
tion is  to  be  found  in  patience.  Victory  will  attend 
the  most  patient.  I  shall  open  the  campaign  by  cross- 
ing the  Niemen.  It  will  be  concluded  at  Smolensk  and 
Minsk.  There  I  shall  stop.  I  shall  fortify  these  two 
points,  and  occupy  myself  at  Wilna,  where  the  chief 
head-quarters  will  be  during  the  next  winter,  with  the 
organisation  of  Lithuania,  which  burns  with  impatience 
to  be  deUvered  from  the  yoke  of  Russia.  I  shall  wait 
and  see  which  of  us  tires  first :  I,  of  feeding  my  army 
at  the  expense  of  Russia;  or  Alexander,  of  sustaining 
my  army  at  the  expense  of  his  country.  Perhaps  I 
myself  may  pass  the  most  inclement  months  of  the 
winter  at  Paris.' 

To  my  question  what  he  would  do  in  case  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  did  not  vouchsafe  to  make  peace  be- 
cause of  the  occupation  of  Lithuania,  Napoleon  answered : 

'  In  that  case  I  should  in  the  following  year  advance 
quite  to  the  centre  of  the  Empire,  and  I  shall  be  patient 
in  1813  as  I  shall  have  been  in  1812  !  The  affair,  as  I 
have  told  you,  is  a  question  of  time.' 

That  Napoleon's  plan  for  the  campaign  of  1812  was 


154  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

exactly  the  one  which  he  mentioned  to  me  has  become 
an  historical  fact ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  motives 
which  induced  him  to  undertake  the  expedition  to 
Moscow. 

The  following  conversation  between  us  may  serve  to 
throw  yet  more  hght  on  Napoleon's  ideas  : 

'  I  begin  to  be  a  Httle ,  perplexed,'  he  said  to  me  on 
another  occasion,  '  about  the  perfection  of  your  military 
system,  which  you  have  heard  me  describe  as  worthy 
to  serve  as  a  model,  and  which,  to  my  great  regret,  I 
cannot  myself  adopt,  because  the  mihtary  organisation  of 
the  two  empires  is  not  ahke.  You  have  composed  the 
auxihary  corps  under  the  command  of  Prince  Schwarzen- 
berg  of  the  cadres  of  twenty  regiments.  Have  you 
then  forgotten  in  Austria  that  there  is  nothing  in  an 
army  more  valuable  than  these  cadres ;  why  did  you 
not  make  up  the  corps  of  five  or  six  regiments,  which 
would  have  sufficed  for  the  number  required  ? ' 

'  I  am  surprised,'  I  answered,  '  that  your  Majesty 
addresses  such  a  question  to  me.  The  Imperial  army, 
which  a  secret  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  fixes  at  a 
maximum  of  150,000  men,  is  now  composed  principally 
of  cadres  ;  for  the  Emperor,  well  aware  of  their  value, 
has  not,  since  the  peace,  diminished  the  number  of  regi- 
ments. He  now  puts  at  your  disposal  a  part  of  what 
you  have  left  him.' 

'  That  does  not  prevent  this  from  being  a  mistake,' 
interrupted  Napoleon. 

If  Napoleon  was  right  in  his  remark,  yet  we,  for 
our  part,  were  not  wrong.  Field-Marshal  Count  Belle- 
garde  had  composed  the  corps  of  Prince  Schwarzen- 
berg  of  more  cadres  than  was  necessary.  By  the  filHng 
up  of  these  cadres  with  soldiers,  together  with  the  army 
of  observation  stationed   in  Bohemia  and  Galicia   to 


THE   RUSSIAN  CA3IPAIGN  OF  1812.  155 

defend  the  neutrality,  the  whole  forces  of  the  Empire 
were  ready  for  action,  a  measure  which  the  Imperial 
Government  could  not  have  taken  in  any  other  way 
without  exciting  attention  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  most  confidential  relations  existed  between  the 
courts  of  Vienna  and  Berhn  during  the  whole  of  Napo- 
leon's campaign.  Whether  the  course  we  pursued  was 
better  than  the  one  which  Freiherr  von  Stein  and  his 
pohtical  friends  were  never  tired  of  urging  upon  King 
WiUiam  III.,  I  must  leave  to  be  decided  by  the  actual 
events  of  the  years  1813-1814.  The  results  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  quite  different  if  Austria  had  not  taken 
so  prudent  an  attitude  in  the  last  adventurous  undertak- 
ing of  the  conqueror  of  the  world.  If  we  had  hstened 
to  the  urgent  entreaties  of  the  Prussian  party,  we 
should,  without  any  means  of  defence,  have  seen  Napo- 
leon on  the  battle-fields  of  our  own  exhausted  territories, 
instead  of  on  the  icy  steppes  of  Eussia.  At  any  rate, 
Austria's  course  has  not  run  counter  to  the  ways  of 
fate.(62) 

The  campaign  of  1812  was  followed  by  conse- 
quences which  even  before  it  began  I  knew  to  be  not 
only  possible  but  most  probable,  on  account  of  Napo- 
leon's erroneous  views.  But  I  am  free  to  confess  that 
neither  I  nor  anyone  else  imagined  that  Napoleon  would 
attempt  in  the  first  campaign  the  task  so  difficult  in 
itself,  and  which  he  had  mentioned  to  me  as  to  be  put 
off  till  1813,  in  case  of  the  longer  duration  of  the  war. 
If  Napoleon's  whole  enterprise  was  fantastic — the  va 
banque  of  a  gambler  maddened  by  former  gains — the 
marching  on  Moscow  by  the  French  army,  which  was 
prevented  from  fighting  by  the  continual  retreating  of 
the  enemy  to  the  heights  of  Smolensk,  was  a  mistake. 
The  only  explanation  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  Napo- 


156  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL   MEMOIR. 

leon's  firm  conviction  that  the  Eussian  monarch  would 
not  and  could  not  expose  the  second,  indeed  the  most 
beautiful,  city  of  his  Empire  to  the  occupation  of  the 
enemy. 

The  continuance  of  Austria's  neutral  attitude  after 
the  result  of  the  war  with  Eussia,  could  have  no  other 
meaning  but  a  confession  of  a  want  of  strength  in  the 
Empire.  I  need  not  say  that  this  want  of  strength  was 
very  evident  to  the  Emperor  and  myself.  The  question 
which  arose  between  his  Majesty  and  myself  was  not  on 
this  ground,  but  referred  to  the  direction  we  should  take 
in  changing  our  passive  attitude  into  an  active  one.  The 
King  of  Prussia,  who  had  not  been  neutral  in  the  Franco- 
Eussian  war,  but  had  taken  an  active  part  by  sending  a 
small  force  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  French  army,  en- 
tered into  an  alliance  with  Eussia  after  the  dissolution 
of  the  French  army.  Our  position  was  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  Prussian  court.  Stein  and  the  Prussian 
Particularists  or  abstract  Germanists,  together  with  the 
Eussian  cabinet,  urged  on  Austria  the  immediate  decla- 
ration of  war  against  France.  We  did  not  allow  our- 
selves to  be  disturbed  in  our  quiet  course,  and  referred 
the  two  newly-allied  Powers  to  the  decision  which  would 
be  made  known  by  the  Emperor  at  the  right  moment. 
The  bases  which  we  wished  to  give  to  the  pohtical  posi- 
tion of  our  Empire,  called  upon  by  the  vicissitude  of 
things  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  world,  are  expressed  in 
the  following  short  statement,  laid  before  me  by  the 
Emperor  Francis,  which  requires  neither  ampHfication 
nor  explanation : — 

'  The  pohtical  position  of  the  Imperial  court  is  that 
of  an  armed  neutrality.  This  position,  if  persevered 
in,  would  degrade  the  Austrian  Power  into  a  mere  ne- 
gation.    This  could  be  changed  only  by  a  rapid  transi- 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  l57 

tion,  or  by  a  course  of  moderation  which  secures  to  the 
Emperor  free  action  in  the  future.  Eapid  transition 
would  make  Austria  a  member  of  the  Northern  alhance, 
or  lead  to  a  union  with  France :  while  the  latter  would 
be  impossible,  the  former  is  open  to  us.  The  transition 
from  neutrahty  to  war  lies  in  an  armed  mediation.' 

The  Emperor  was  in  favour  of  the  mediation.  The 
most  important  considerations  supported  the  moral  and 
poHtical  advantages  of  this  attitude. 

In  relating  my  conversations  with  Napoleon  in  the 
month  of  May  1812,1  have  already  mentioned  the  cir- 
cumstance that  Prince  Schwarzenberg's  army  of  thirty 
thousand  men,  consisted  mostly  of  the  cadres  of  the  regi- 
ments. This  corps  formed  the  extreme  right  wing  of 
the  great  French  army.  Napoleon  had  not  required 
it  to  take  part  in  the  operations  of  the  principal  army 
during  the  short  campaign  in  the  interior  of  Russia,  for 
reasons  which  have  been  already  mentioned.  Prince 
Schwarzenberg,  whose  army  corps  had  been  reinforced 
by  the  Saxon  contingent,  had  not,  during  the  course  of 
the  campaign  received  any  orders  from  Napoleon.  He, 
therefore,  had  sustained  no  losses  worth  mentioning. 
After  the  retreat  of  the  French  army.  Prince  Schwarzen- 
berg led  his  corps  to  the  north-west  frontier  of  Ga- 
licia,  where  it  was  opposed  to  the  corps  of  Prince  Joseph 
Poniatowski,  whose  retreat  had  taken  place  in  the  same 
direction.  Only  a  small  portion  of  the  Imperial  army 
had  been  stationed,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Franco- Rus- 
sian war,  to  guard  the  neutral  territory  of  the  Empire 
in  Bohemia.  The  greater  part  of  the  whole  army  was 
either  in  Galicia  or  near  by,  as  an  auxiliary  corps  or 
corps  of  observation.  GaUcia  could  not  be  denuded  of 
troops  so  long  as  the  Pohsh  army  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  Grand-Duehy  of  Warsaw  was  under  arms.   There- 


168  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR 

fore  a  rapid  concentration  of  forces  on  the  western  fron- 
tier of  the  Empire  was  impossible,  for  in  any  case  the 
formation  of  an  army  corresponding  to  the  strength  of 
the  Empire,  and  adapted  for  a  great  war,  would  require 
time.  We  were  convinced  that  Napoleon  would  use  the 
winter  to  begin  a  new  campaign  in  the  year  1813.  We 
could  not  prevent  him  from  doing  this  ;  therefore  it  was 
our  duty  to  prepare  to  strike  a  decisive  blow.  We  kept 
these  circumstances  in  view,  and  the  Cabinet  avoided 
giving  any  diplomatic  explanations  as  to  its  course  of 
action  in  the  immediate  future.  That  the  part  which 
Austria  must  take  in  this  future  must  be  a  most  ener- 
getic one  arose  from  the  general  situation  of  affairs  and 
the  geographical  position  of  our  country.  When  and 
how  this  was  to  be  done  was  the  problem  we  had  to 
solve.  Nobody  could  doubt  that  the  Emperor  Francis 
would  strictly  follow  the  voice  of  his  conscience.  The 
moment  was  too  important  for  us  to  feel  impelled  to  any 
definite  expression.  We  kept  back  even  our  decision  as 
to  the  mediation,  till  we  were  satisfied  that  the  right 
moment  had  arrived.  After  the  end  of  the  campaign  in 
Russia,  our  forces  could  be  reinforced  and  collected,  and 
take  up  strategical  positions,  in  a  few  months.  These 
positions  were  to  be  taken  up  in  Bohemia.  In  our  rear 
we  were  hampered  by  the  PoUsh  force  under  Ponia- 
towski.  The  Imperial  forces  on  the  southern  frontier 
also  received  the  necessary  reinforcements. 

In  this  position  of  affairs,  my  task  was  Hmited  to 
giving  the  Emperor  a  report  on  the  situation  in  which 
we  should  find  ourselves  in  consequence  of  an  armed 
mediation.  Accustomed,  in  all  situations,  to  put  clearly 
before  me  the  aims  in  view — and  to  allow  the  necessary 
time  for  their  development — I  arrived  at  the  results  ex- 
pressed in  the  following  short  sentences  : —  ; 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  160 

'  The  miscarrying  of  Napoleon's  enterprise  against 
Eussia  has  altered  Austria's  position  as  well  as  that  of 
the  other  Powers.' 

'  The  final  solution  of  the  fate  of  Europe  will  exhibit 
itself  by  the  Peace.' 

'  To  bring  this  about  is  the  true  part  and  business  of 
Austria.' 

*  In  what_gaY  can  Peace  be  established — a 
not  a  mere  truce  in  disguise,  EK^alliormer  treaties  of 
eace  with  the  Frencn  RepnbhV,  and  with  1S[aT)oleon  P ' 

'  Undoubtedly  tliis  can  only  be  done  by  restricting 
the  power  of  France  within  such  limits  as  give  hopes  of 
a  lasting  peace  and  estabHsh  a  balance  of  power  among 
the  chief  States.'  * 

Napoleon's  power,  always  striving  to  extend  itself, 
was  broken  by  the  miscarriage  of  his  last  undertaking. 
Was  it  destroyed?  No.  The  campaigns  of  1813  and 
1814,  indeed,  even  the  short  campaign  of  1815,  proved 
the  contrary.  We  did  not  doubt  that  Napoleon  would 
not  consider  his  power  destroyed  by  the  failure  of  the 
last  campaign,  and  here  our  supposition  difiered  from 
that  of  his  open  adversaries.  They  desired  the  immedi- 
ate pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Of  the  practical  considerations 
of  whither  and  wherewith  they  did  not  think,  and 
indeed  considered  it  as  loss  of  time  to  do  so.  My 
calmer  judgment  looked  forward  to  a  reasonable  and 
successful  termination,  in  comparison  with  which  I 
thought  nothing  of  a  few  lost  months. 

*  The  notion  of  political  equilibrium  has  been  much  attacked  since  the 
General  Peace  (1814-1815),  and  the  Imperial  cabinet  itself  has  been  re- 
proached -with  having  taken  up  such  a  mistaken  idea.  The  idea,  however, 
apprehended  in  its  true  meaning,  is  not  the  less  the  only  true  one.  Rest 
without  equilibrium  is  a  fallacy.  Absolute  equilibrium  cannot,  it  is  true,  be 
found  in  politics,  but  only  in  a  measure  which  offers  the  greatest  possible 
sruarantees. 


160  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

The  attitude  of  Austria  as  a  mediatory  armed  power, 
said  I  to  myself,  harmonises  with  the  geographical  po- 
sition of  the  empire,  as  well  as  with  its  forces,  and 
will  secure  to  the  Emperor  Francis  the  last  word  either 
in  peace  or  war.  Preparations  to  the  greatest  ex- 
tent possible  must  be  made  for  the  carrying  on  of  the 
war.  By  thus  gaining  time  the  part  to  be  played  by 
the  Emperor  will  become  more  safe. 

Two  questions  of  th6  utmost  importance  were  im- 
mediately presented  to  my  mind.  The  one  concerned 
the  boundaries  of  Austria  and  Prussia.  In  the  first 
place,  this  boundary  must  be  fixed,  as  well  in  the  view 
of  the  opening  of  a  new  campaign  between  France  and 
the  two  allied  Powers  already  at  war  with  her  as  in  the 
view  of  the  contingency  of  peace  without  resuming  the 
contest.  If  the  precaution  of  a  previous  arrangement 
of  the  territories  of  the  allied  Powers  were  not  taken, 
the  war  would  become  one  of  conquest,  and,  in  case  of 
a  speedy  peace,  that  peace  would  be  wanting  in  its 
very  first  principles.  We  took  our  position  with  respect 
to  both  kingdoms,  not  on  the  basis  of  extension  of  ter- 
ritories, but  on  the  restoration  of  their  status  quo  in 
the  year  1803  or  1805.  The  Emperor  decided  to 
leave  the  choice  between  these  two  years  to  the  King 
of  Prussia. 

The  other  no  less  important  question  was  that  of  the 
quid  faciendum  with  all  those  territories  which  had 
formed  the  old  German  Empire,  and  which,  after  its 
dissolution,  were  divided  into  four  parts,  of  which  three 
belonged  to  Austria,  Prussia,  and  the  states  forming  the 
Confederation  of  the  Ehine,  but  the  fourth  consisted  of 
the  great  German  provinces  which  were  incorporated 
as  departments  in  France.  A  German  central  political 
body  no  longer  existed.     First  of  all,  we  had  to  con-^ 


I 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  161 

sider:  Should  and  could  such  a  body  be  called  into 
life? 

It  happened  with  this  question  as  it  is,  has  been,  and 
will  be  with  all  important  questions  at  all  times.  One 
may  consider  them  from  a  calm  and  practical  or  from 
a  passionate  and  hasty  point  of  view.  The  Imperial 
cabinet  took  the  first  course.  The  German  Empire  of 
a  thousand  years  was  dissolved  in  1805  and  1806,  and 
indeed,  strictly  speaking,  as  much  from  the  want  of  in- 
ward vitahty  as  from  external  influences.  If  earlier 
defects  had  crippled  the  strengtli  of  the  Empire,  its  con- 
tinuance had  become  a  sheer  impossibihty  by  the  re- 
sults of  the  Eegensburg  mediation  in  the  year  1803. 
Not  only  had  the  German  Empire  been  extinguished  in 
the  year  1805,  but  the  German  name  had  disappeared 
from  the  map. 

The  question  whether  a  German  central  pohtical 
body  should  be  caUed  into  life  could  only  be  answered 
in  the  affirmative,  for  all  imaginable  moral  and  pohtical 
reasons  combined  to  support  this  decision.  The  pro- 
blem remaining  for  the  Imperial  cabinet  was  therefore 
only  how  this  was  to  be  accomplished.  To  understand 
the  disposition  of  the  Imperial  cabinet  on  this  impor- 
tant point  it  is  necessary  to  set  clearly  before  us  the 
state  of  things  at  that  time, — a  state  which  had,  under 
the  impressions  of  later  years  and  the  party  strifes 
which  issued  from  them,  been  essentially  transformed, 
but  which  at  the  time  when  we  write  this  (1852)  again 
confirms  the  correctness  of  our  decision  at  that  time. 

In  deciding  the  point,  'How  can  a  German  state 
be  again  admitted  into  the  European  corporation  of 
states  ?  '  we  considered  these  questions  : — 

1.  Can  the  old  Holy  Eoman  Empire  of  the  German 
nation  be  called  into  Hfe  again  ? 
VOL.  I.  M 


162  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR, 

This  question  we  could  only  answer  with  a  decided 
negative  ;  for  Germany  (the  name  itself  had  only  a  geo- 
graphical value)  had  lost  the  elements  necessary  to  re- 
establish the  old  forms. 

2.  Could  the  fragments  of  the  earlier  Empire  be 
gathered  together  into  one  united  state  ? 

We  answered  this  question  in  the  negative,  on  ac- 
count of  the  following  considerations  : — 

The  idea  of  a  state  must  rest  on  the  basis  of  a  united 
sovereignty,  whether  that  of  a  personal  sovereign  or  of 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people.  The  personal  sovereign 
may  reign  over  several  countries  different  in  their  pro- 
vincial laws  and  in  their  local  internal  administration. 
One  sovereign  people  cannot  rule  over  another.  At 
that  time  we  never  thought  of  the  -latter ;  it  was  left  to 
time  to  introduce  it  into  German  territory.  The  question 
then  was,  and  could  only  be,  of  absolute  sovereignty 
resting  on  an  Emperor,  and  against  this  there  arose 
insuperable  difficulties. 

The  Confederation  of  the  Ehine  had  assigned  to  the 
princes  of  the  (Confederate  states  the  sovereign  rights 
which  in  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  belonged  to  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Empire.  These  states  should  have  been 
forced  to  restore  them  to  the  head  of  the  state ;  and 
the  moral  consequences  of  this  constraint  would  have 
been  but  an  addition  to  the  fundamental  evils  of  the 
former  state  of  the  empire,  namely,  to  the  unavoid- 
able coUisions  between  the  sovereign  head  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  separate  states. 

Would  the  King  of  Prussia  have  admitted  the  subor- 
dination of  his  sovereignty  to  that  of  the  German  Em- 
peror ?  and  would  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  on  his  part, 
have  accommodated  himself  to  such  a  pretension  ? 

Of  the  re-estabhshment  of  a  German  Empire  and  a 


THE  KUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  163 

united  kingdom  we  gave  up  all  idea,  and  considered 
only  the  formation  of  a  German  Confederation. 

I  thought  that  for  the  present  the  part  of  armed 
mediation  did  not  require  more  than  the  establishment 
of  these  bases.  There  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  nearer 
prospect  of  war  than  of  peace.  I  was  convinced  that 
the  Powers  had  not,  as  they  imagined  in  Berhn,  an 
easy  contest  before  them ;  but  that  Napoleon's  efforts 
would  be  most  vigorous — of  this  I  was  convinced,  and 
therefore  I  exerted  myself  to  develop  the  strength  of 
our  forces  to  the  utmost.  In  this  course  lay  salvation 
in  the  case  of  a  war  in  which  Austria  would  be  called 
to  strike  the  decisive  blow.  The  means  of  attaining 
peace  could  only  be  discovered  in  the  course  of  cir- 
cumstances, and  this  required  time,  which  to  anticipate, 
I  have  always  considered  a  fault. 

A  political  interlude  now  took  place.  The  King  of 
Saxony,  driven  from  his  states  by  the  united  Eussian 
and  Prussian  armies,  put  himself  under  the  protection 
of  Austria.  He  declared  hj^mself  ready  to  join  the  Im- 
perial court  in  its  political  action.  We  accepted  his 
adhesion,  and  advised  the  king  to  await  the  course  of 
events  quietly  at  Prague. 

Napoleon  devoted  the  winter  of  1812-1813  to  pre- 
parations for  the  campaign.  This  was  done  in  Prussia, 
whilst  new  forces  were  sent  to  the  Eussian  army  from 
the  interior  of  the  kingdom.  Austria,  on  her  part,  col- 
lected her  apparently  exhausted  forces,  and  led  them  to 
their  places  of  assembly  in  Bohemia,  and  to  the  southern 
and  western  frontiers  which  had  been  moved  forward 
within  the  old  territory. 

The  result  corresponded  with  the  skilful  prepara- 
tions, which  Count  Bellegarde  had  made  to  ensure  its 
attainment.     In  the  states  of  the  Confederation  of  the 

M  2 


164  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Ehine  new  soldiers  were  levied  to  fill  up  the  numerous 
gaps  which  the  campaign  in  Russia  had  made  in  their 
contingents.  The  whole  of  Europe  was  in  arms,  and 
waited  in  anxious  expectation  for  the  approaching 
events. 

Firm  in  his  convictions  and  quiet  in  his  conscience, 
the  Emperor  Francis  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  commotion 
the  result  of  which  it  was  impossible  to  foresee.  What 
made  the  Emperor  so  secure  was  the  strength  of  his 
principles,  and  the  consciousness  that  he  rested  on  a 
faithful  people  and  a  courageous  army;  how  strong 
these  were  the  result  has  proved  ! 

I  should  leave  a  gap  in  my  picture  if  I  did  not  say 
a  word  here  on  the  feehng  of  the  people  in  the  different 
countries,  and  in  different  circles  of  society.  With 
respect  to  the  feehng  of  the  people,  very  different  ideas 
prevailed,  according  to  the  personal  feehng  and  party 
spirit  of  the  observer.  I  may  describe  the  moral  fea- 
tures of  society,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  as  follows  : 

^Piej^gjz^^g^^ajQ^g^i^ganeelin^  and  of 

th^jjgcessit^of^jj^gh^^jjoncli^^ 


brin^repose^^Th^wa^^^yiJjj^j^^jjyiiyjg^^^m^a^ 
twenty  years,  covered  with  corpses  many  battle-fielfe 
^aste^wnoleKingdoms,    overturned   thronga^-^bowec 
bengathTt^^ketherej^  ilicoffljTum|jjgf  ^  j^^oj:^ 


as  its  final  consequence  seemed  to  }mv^jjhi££iLJh^I^Q 
oO!|^pp^inFne  hands  yt  oup_i^^^^|i.  This  fopHnff^  ^nd 
the_iniserY_unssi^araMe_ft:om  it  wereumversal,  and 
were_sliared  even  by  those  whose,  opinions  were  gene- 
r^y  in  opposiuor^^pnqueror  and  conquered  were' 
Tiothwe^^^danxi^j^^iJaj^;^^^jj]yiyjj^ji^j^^,gm 
their  conquests  or^p_^c£iLrc_jLliaLxiMLaiii£dJi^-lJ^  : 
DuTui^rrussian  States  formed  a  third  and  very  different 
element   in   the    general   situation.      The   destinies  of 


THE  IIUSSIAN   CAMPAIGN  OF  1812.  165 

Prussia  differed  from  tliose  of  other  states.  If  its 
dynasty  had  been  destroyed  by  Napoleon,  and  replaced 
by  another,  it  would  so  far  have  shared  the  fate  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  Bourbons,  the  royal  houses  of 
Hanover,  Hesse  Cassel,  Orange,  and  others.  If,  again. 
Napoleon  had  erased  the  name  of  Prussia  from  the 
map,  the  Prussian  state  would  have  shared  the  same 
fate  as  the  German  Empire,  Holland,  Piedmont,  the 
States  of  the  Church,  and  Tuscany.  But  Napoleon  had 
ruled  it  otherwise  with  Prussia.  The  tyranny  he  exer- 
cised on  it  was  unendurable,  and  he  kept  it  in  a  state 
bordering  on  an  impossible  existence  and  final  ex- 
tinction. • 

France  was  just  as  tired  of  never-ending  wars  as 
the  countries  which,  since  the  unsuccessful  campaign  of 
1792,  had  had  to  bear  the  hardships  of  the  actual  battle- 
fields, the  devastation  of  their  provinces,  and  the  pay- 
ment of  the  contributions.  Napoleon  had,  however, 
given  back  to  France  itself  the  internal  peace  which 
she  had-  lost,  and  the  country  was  grateful  for  this  bene- 
fit, whilst  French  patriotism  rejoiced  in  the  brilliant 
successes  of  his  armies. 

The  results  of  the  war  had  produced  very  different 
effects  on  the  German  Governments  and  the  various 
German  races.  Mixed  together  and  intermingled  by 
the  '  Mediatisation '  of  the  year  1803,  the  feelings  of  the 
people  of  the  various  German  races  took  quite  different 
directions.  The  people  of  those  German  States  whose 
territory  had  been  enlarged  by  the  Peace  of  Pressburg 
(1805)  and  the  Peace  of  Vienna  (1809)  were  contented 
with  these  and  the  protection  of  the  conqueror  of  the 
world.  North  Germany,  on  the  contrary,  could  not  see 
any  reason  for  satisfaction  either  in  the  union  of  the 
sea  coasts  with  the  Frencli  Empire,  or  in  the  estabhsh- 


166  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

ment  of  German  States  under  members  of  the  Bona- 
parte family  in  the  place  of  their  own  princes. 

The  decided  feehng  of  the  different  populations  of 
the  Austrian  Imperial  states  was  for  the  preservation  of 
peace.  Austria  had  borne  the  burden  of  all  the  former 
wars  except  that  of  1806,  which  had  ended  so  unfor- 
tunately for  Prussia ;  the  inner  strength  of  the  Empire 
seemed  to  be  exhausted,  and  the  people  to  have  lost  all 
hope  of  regaining  by  force  of  arms  what  they  had  lost. 
In  Austria,  deserted  since  the  peace  of  Basle  (1795) 
and  the  later  wars  (1805  and  1809)  by  its  German  alhes 
of  the  Confederation,  the  expression  German  feeling  Yi^^di 
no  more  meaning  than  a  myth,  especially  in  the  high 
sense  attached  to  it,  since  the  catastrophe  of  Prussia  and 
the  northern  German  territories,  by  the  upper  strata  of 
the  populations  of  those  countries. 

A  class  not  numerous  but  important  from  the  posi- 
tion of  the  individuals  composing  it  raised  the  banner 
of  war  in  our  country.  This  party  only  shared  the 
feehng  of  hatred  to  the  person  of  Napoleon  with  the 
people  of  the  north  of  Germany,  who  called  for  free- 
dom from  the  yoke  of  the  conqueror  of  the  world. 
They  took  the  name  of  '  Napoleon-haters ' ;  their  voices 
died  away  in  space,  and  their  efforts  would  never  have 
had,  even  if  the  party  had  been  stronger,  any  effect  on 
the  mind  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  or  on  the  voice  of  my 
pohtical  conscience.  The  monarch  would  not  suffer  a 
repetition  of  those  trials  which  the  Empire  had  gone 
through  after  the  campaigns  of  1805  and  1809  ;  and 
had  he  been  wilhng,  I  should  not  have  been  ready  to 
join  him. 

We  pursued  the  plan  known  only  to  ourselves  in 
seeming  quiet  and  under  the  protection  of  secrecy.^®^^ 
The  extension  of  the  armaments,  and  the  grave  prepara- 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAIMPAIGN  OF  1812.  167 

tions  of  every  kind,  were  justified  by  the  certainty,  which 
increased  every  day,  that  Napoleon  would  commence 
a  new  campaign  in  Germany  in  1813,  and  the  whole 
people  felt  them  to  be  measures  necessary  for  the  peace 
of  Austria. 

So  passed  the  winter  of  1812  to  1813.  The  belhge- 
rent  powers,  France  and  her  aUies  on  one  side,  Russia, 
Prussia,  and  Great  Britain  on  the  other,  drew  up  their 
armies,  in  the  beginning  of  spring,  in  strategic  positions. 
From  pohtical  as  well  as  mihtary  considerations,  we  took 
up  our  position  in  Bohemia.  The  army  collected  there 
was  placed  under  the  command  of  Prince  Schwarzen- 
berg.  The  Emperor  left  it  to  me  to  fix  the  moment 
which  I  thought  most  suitable  to  announce  to  the 
belhgerent  Powers  that  Austria  had  given  up  her 
neutrahty,  and  to  invite  them  to  recognise  her  armed 
mediation  as  the  most  fitting  attitude. 

Napoleon's  victories  at  Llitzen  and  Bautzen  were  the 
signs  which  told  me  that  the  hour  had  come.*  ' 

*  On  the  following  chapter  (Ohap.  VIII.)  see  Preliminary  Remark  to  the 
Notes  on  p.  381. — Ed. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 
ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES. 


171 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ON  THE   HISTOEY   OP  THE   ALLIANCES. 
(1813—1814.) 

Introduction — After  tlie  battle  of  Bautzen  to  tlie  war  manifesto  of  Austria — 
Journey  to  Gitschin — Meeting  with  Nesselrode— Napoleon's  attempt  to 
enter  into  direct  negotiations  with  the  two  belligerent  monarchs — Meet- 
ing of  Mettemich  with  the  Emperor  Alexander  in  Opocno — Inyitation  of 
Bassano  to  an  interview  of  Metternich  with  Napoleon  in  Dresden — Regu- 
lation of  the  institutions  for  the  Austrian  army — Metternich's  departure 
for  Dresden — ^Famous  conversation  with  Napoleon  himself — Character 
of  Maret — Question  of  lengthening  the  truce — Second  conversation  of 
Mettemich  with  Napoleon  in  the  Marcolini  Garden  —  Convention  of 
June  30 — Return  to  Gitschin — Conference  in  Prague — War  manifesto — 
War  breaks  out  — Stipulations  of  Teplitz — Administration  of  the  con- 
quered German  territory — ^The  King  of  Saxony  in  Leipzig — Residence  in 
Frankfort — Residence  in  Freiburg  and  Basle — Residence  in  Langres — 
Congress  of  Chatillon — Council  of  war  in  Bar-sur-Aube — Residence  in 
Dijon — Arrival  in  Paris — Entry  of  Louis  XVIII.  into  Paris,  and  the 
condition  of  France  after  the  return  of  the  Bourbons. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Since  we  intend  the  present  work  for  publication,  we  feel 
bound  to  say  something  on  the  object  we  have  in  view. 
One  of  the  most  important  epochs  of  our  time  was  in- 
disputably that  in  which  the  overthrow  of  the  French 
Empire  and  the  return  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  to  its 
old  inheritance  took  place. 

Many  particulars  of  this  enormous  revolution  have 
been  given  in  various  Memoirs.  Its  true  history  is  not 
yet  written,  and  although  we  make  no  pretension  to  take 
this  severe  task  upon  ourselves,  we  cannot  banish  the 
feeling  that  the  true  history  of  this  epoch  can  never 


172  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


I 


be  set  forth  with  exactitude  without  the  help  of  the 
materials  given  in  the  present  work. 

This  conviction  does  not  rest  on  any  personal  con- 
siderations ;  and  to  show  on  what  it  is  founded  we  only 
need  to  mention  the  following  circumstances. 

History  is  built  up  of  two  distinct  parts.  One  of 
these,  the  public  or  notorious  part,  consists  of  facts.  The 
other  part  is  that  which  is  secret.  It  consists  of  the 
negotiations  between  the  Courts,  and  includes  the  mo- 
tives  and  causes  of  events.  The  first  part,  which  we  call 
secret,  sooner  or  later  loses  this  peculiarity.  The  official 
and  confidential  communications  remain  in  the  archives, 
and  the  day  conies  when  they  are  picked  up  out  of  the 
dust. 

This,  however,  cannot  be  the  case  with  the  history 
of  the  AUiance  in  the  years  1813,  1814,  and  1815. 

By  a  coincidence  which  was  not  only  singular  at  the 
time,  but  without  example  in  the  annals  of  history,  the 
chief  personages  in  the  great  drama  found  themselves 
together  in  the  very  same  place.  The  Emperors  of 
Austria  and  of  Eussia,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  their 
three  cabinets,  were  really  never  separated.  The  leader 
of  the  Enghsh  cabinet  had  also  generally  been  with  his 
colleagues  of  Austria,  Russia,  and  Prussia.  At  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna  most  of  the  Princes  who  now  form  the 
German  Confederation  were  also  present  at  the  nego- 
tiations. Since,  therefore,  the  European  potentates  and 
their  ministers  were  in  the  same  place,  the  forms  of 
diplomatic  business  had  to  adapt  themselves  to  circum- 
stances. The  most  difficult  affairs,  and  the  arrangements 
most  compHcated  in  their  nature,  were,  so  to  speak, 
negotiated  from  one  room  to  another ;  no  sending  ol' 
couriers,  no  written  negotiations,  no  medium  between 
the  Courts :   all  these  things,  so  necessary  in  ordinary 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     173 

times,  had  disappeared.  Many  a  business  which  under 
any  other  circumstances  would  have  required  a  long 
time  for  arra,ngement  was  concluded  in  the  course  of 
a  forenoon.  This  state  of  things  had  two  results :  the 
first  and  the  happiest  was  the  success  of  the  vast 
undertakings  ;  the  second,  and  it  may  be  lamented, 
was  this,  that  now  the  courts  concerned  are  without 
any  written  accounts  of  the  course  of  the  most  im- 
portant negotiations. 

Necessity  always,  produces  new  forms.  So  it  was 
witfiTliose  observed  by  the  cabinets  during  their  meet- 
ings at  the  negotiations.  The  most  important  affairs 
were  always  discussed  in  confidential  conversations  be- 
tween the  three  monarchs,  as  well  as  between  the  heads 
of  the  cabinets.  Only  when  the  matter  had  reached  a 
certain  stage  of  ripeness  did  the  ministers  come  to- 
gether for  regular  conferences,  carried  on  with  Protocols. 
A  mere  glance  at  these  Protocols  suflices  to  show  that 
they  contain  no  discussions.  Where  they  are  anything 
more  than  the  mere  formula  of  the  point  agreed  upon, 
they  give  single  statements,  whicli  show  the  shades 
of  meaning  in  the  opinions  of  the  different  persons  who 
joined  in  them  :  shades  which,  however,  never  stood  in 
'the  way  of  a  general  conclusion.  Two  new  forms  in 
diplomacy  date  from  this  time  :  that  of  giving  Memoirs, 
as  additions  to  the  Protocols,  and  that  of  simple  Proto- 
cols, with  the  form  and  value  of  proper  conventions.  It 
is  to  be  wished  that  this  mode  had  been  retained,  for  it 
undoubtedly  affords  the  greatest  ease,  and  is  on  that 
very  account  the  most  suitable  for  the  handling  of 
great  political  affairs. 

While  asserting  the  fact  that  the  diplomatic  archives 
of  the  courts  most  concerned  contain  no  documents 
relating  to   some  of  the  most  important   negotiations 


174  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

of  the  years  1813,  1814,  and  1815,  we  must  except 
those  of  England  and  France  at  the  time  of  the  Vienna 
Congress.  Lord  Castlereagh  and  the  Plenipotentiaries 
of  England  and  France  have  constantly  corresponded 
with  their  Governments. 

It  is  therefore  with  the  conviction  that  it  will  be 
otherwise  almost  impossible  that  the  history  of  this 
extremely  important  period  should  be  based  on  sure 
foundations,  that  we  have  determined  to  put  together 
the  present  materials ;  but  we  have  also  been  influenced 
by  another  feeling,  and  this  we  will  confess  with  the 
utmost  candour. 

Few  monarchs  have  conferred  more  honour  on  their 
throne  than  the  Emperor  Francis.  His  people  knew 
his  value  as  a  man.  A  true  father  to  his  subjects, 
uniting  in  himself  all  the  virtues  of  private  life,  he  was 
not  honoured  so  much  as  he  ought  to  have  been  by 
many  of  his  contemporaries  in  regard  to  the  quaUties 
which  distinguished  him  as  a  sovereign.  Of  pure 
morals  and  simple  manners,  averse  to  every  kind  of 
parade,  he  disdained  even  the  distinctions  which  dazzle 
the  crowd  and  often  make  Princes  appear  what  they  are 
not.  In  everything  loving  and  seeking  only  the  truth,  firm 
in  his  principles  and  just  in  his  opinions,  this  Monarch 
nevertheless  often  played  what  seemed  to  his  contem- 
poraries a  subordinate  part,  exactly  at  those  times  when 
the  extraordinary  results  were  due  only  to  his  energy, 
his  determination,  and  his  virtues.  The  materials  which 
we  shaU  leave  to  an  impartial  posterity  will  not  contra- 
dict this  assertion. 

It  remains  to  us,  however  unwilhng  we  may  be,  to 
say  a  word  with  regard  to  ourselves.  The  part  which 
we  have  personally  played  in  the  events  of  our  time 
has  not  been  by  our  own  choice,  but  imposed  by  a  feel- 


^ 


ON  THE  lUSTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     175 

ing  of  duty.  Eree  from  every  ambition,  but  that  of 
honestly  fulfilHng  the  tasks  which,  owing  to  a  variety 
of  circumstances,  were  laid  upon  us  even  from  the  very 
commencement  of  our  ministry,  we  have  never  left  the 
path  which  seemed  to  us  to  be  the  right  one.  Unmoved 
by  the  errors  of  our  time — errors  which  always  lead 
society  to  the  abyss — ^we  have  had  the  happiness  in  a 
time  full  of  dangers  to  serve  the  cause  of  peace  and  the 
welfare  of  nations,  which  never  will  be  advanced  by 
pohtical  revolutions. 

In  the  reports  and  lampoons  of  the  time,  a  certain 
significance  has  been  always  attached  to  our  name,  in 
which  we  have  not  been  able  to  recognise  ourselves.  It 
belongs  to  posterity  to  judge  us  according  to  our  deeds  ; 
and  in  order  to  put  it  in  a  position  to  perform  this  im- 
portant office,  we  have  thought  proper  to  give  here  the 
true  grounds  on  which  a  rightjudgmentcan  be  formed. 

At  the  moment  when  we  write  these  hues  (1829) 
the  historian  is  not  yet  born  who  will  describe  the 
numerous  events  of  the  first  ten  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Contemporaries  cannot  reasonably  do  more 
than  collect  materials  for  those  who,  at  a  subsequent 
period,  will  be  called  upon  to  write  the  true  history  of 
the  past  with  that  calmness  and  impartiality  which  are 
always  wanting  to  those  who  have  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  events. 

We  ascribe,  therefore,  to  our  undertaking  no  other 
value  than  that  of  a  collection  of  materials  for  the 
history  of  a  certain  portion  of  our  time. 

We  have  still  to  mention  the  plan  of  our  work. 

It  is,  as  we  said,  not  the  history  of  the  years  1813, 
1814,  and  1815  which  we  undertake  to  write,  nor  even 
regular  Memoirs.  We  wish  nothing  more  than  to  indi- 
cate, with   unvarnished  truth,   the   great   causes   and 


176  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

motives  of  the  events.  We  desire  to  trace  back  known 
facts  to  their  true  causes,  and  to  show  the  connecting 
links  which  are  necessary  for  the  right  understanding 
of  events.  We  shall  be  quite  content  if  we  can  attain 
this  object. 


After  the  Battle  of  Bautzen  till  the  Austrian  War 
Manifesto,  1813. 

On  May  29th,  about  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I 
received  a  courier  from  Dresden,  who  brought  me  the 
news  of  the  loss  of  the  battle  at  Bautzen.  I  went 
immediately  to  Laxenburg,  where  the  Emperor  was 
staying.  I  had  made  my  choice.  The  point  was  this — 
to  prevent  Napoleon's  onward  march,  and  to  remove  all 
uncertainty  as  to  the  decision  of  the  Emperor  from  the 
minds  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  and  King  Frederick 
William.  The  Russian  army  Avas  much  demorahsed  ;  it 
had  but  one  wish — to  get  back  into  its  own  territory. 
The  Emperor  Alexander  had  indeed  resolved  to  carry 
on  the  war ;  but  the  will  of  the  army  might  at  last  have 
got  the  better  of  his  intentions.  The  Allied  armies  had 
decided  to  retreat  towards  Silesia.  This  manoeuvre, 
well-planned  from  a  military  point  of  view,  clearly 
showed  the  intention  of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  who 
desired  to  drive  Austria  into  a  corner  and  oblige  her 
to  join  the  Alliance.  If  Austria  showed  that  she  was 
not  inchned  to  take  part  in  the  war  against  Napoleon, 
this  would  give  the  Eussian  monarch  the  excuse  to  cross 
the  Warta,  and  conclude  the  war. 

The  head-quarters  of  Prince  Schwarzenberg  were 
then  in  Prague,  while  his  army  was  beginning  to  assemble 
round  that  city :  the  advanced  posts  occupied  the  dis- 


ON  THE  HISTOKY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814,     177 

tricts  of  Saaz  and  Leitmeritz.    Count  Bubna  had  arrived 
at  Napoleon's  head-quarters. 

I  was  convinced  that  if  we  joined  in  the  war  without 
having  assembled  sufficient  forces  to  be  able  to  keep 
the  field,  independently  of  the  ill-organised  and  demo- 
ralised Eussian  army,  and  of  the  Prussian  army,  which 
existed  only  in  name,  everything  would  be  staked  upon 
the  loss  of  one  single  battle.  It  was  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  prevent  Napoleon  from  carrying  out  his  usual 
system  of  leaving  an  army  of  observation  before  the 
Allied  armies,  and  himself  turning  to  Bohemia  to  deal  a 
great  blow  at  us,  the  effect  of  which  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  foresee  in  the  present  depressed  state  of  the 
great  majority  of  our  men. 

I  proposed  to  the  Emperor  that  he  should  go  in  a 
few  days  to  a  point  almost  exactly  between  Dresden  and 
the  head-quarters  of  the  Allied  monarchs.  We  looked 
out  on  the  map  for  such  a  place,  and  Gitschin  seemed  to 
us  the  right  spot.  His  Majesty  decided  to  start  the  next 
day  but  one,  while  I  immediately  despatched  couriers  to 
Dresden  and  Silesia.  The  first  conveyed  instructions  to 
Count  Bubna  to  press  on  Napoleon  the  acceptation  of 
the  mediation  of  Austria,  which  had  been  offered  to  him. 
The  other  carried  the  news  that  the  Emperor  would 
shortly  join  the  army.  It  seemed  to  me  that  these 
measures,  or  rather  the  mere  fact  of  the  Emperor's 
arrival  at  head-quarters,  must  exercise  a  decisive  effect ; 
and  it  was  so. 

The  Emperor  left  Vienna  with  a  very  small  retinue 
on  June  1,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning. ^^*^  The  day 
after,  near  Czaslau,  we  met  Count  Nesselrode,  who  had 
been  sent  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  in  order  to  urge 
Austria  to  a  rapid  decision.  He  brought  me  a  copy  of 
the  truce  concluded  at  Poischewitz. 
VOL.  L  N 


178  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

The  Emperor  Francis  despatched  Count  Nessekode 
with  the  following  short  instructions  : — '  Go  back,  and 
tell  the  Emperor,  your  master,  and  the  King  of  Prussia, 
that  you  met  me  on  my  way  to  the  head -quarters 
of  my  army  in  Bohemia.  I  beg  the  Emperor  to  choose  a 
point  on  the  frontiers  of  Bohemia  and  Silesia,  to  wliich 
I  can  send  my  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  in  order  to 
make  him  fully  acquainted  with  my  decision,' 

Through  Count  Bubna  proposals  of  mediation  had 
been  sent  to  Dresden. ^^^^  Napoleon,  in  the  hope  of  being 
again  able  to  beat  the  Eusso-Prussian  army,  and  reckon- 
ing on  the  effect  which  a  fresh  defeat  must  produce  on 
the  two  monarchs  and  their  armies,  as  well  as  on  Aus- 
tria, had  received  the  proposals  of  our  Ambassador 
coldly  and  proudly.  It  was  to  be  expected,  therefore, 
that  after  the  victory  of  Bautzen  he  would  be  more  in- 
chned  to  enter  into  negotiations ;  and  this  was  actually 
the  case  when  he,  according  to  his  usual  system,  put  him- 
self into  direct  communication  with  the  AlUed  monarchs. 

Adjutant  Flahault  was  despatched  to  the  spot  as 
Commissary  of  Demarcation ;  and  Napoleon  could  count 
on  his  imphcit  devotion.  He  had  flattered  himself  that 
he  could  influence  the  Emperor  Alexander  both  by 
the  choice  of  the  negotiator  (Caulaincourt)  and  by 
the  power  which  he  imagined  he  continued  to  exercise 
over  the  mind  of  this  monarch.  He  deceived  him- 
self. The  attempt  had  no  other  result  but  to  let  the 
monarchs  perceive  that  Napoleon  was  striving  once 
more  to  strengthen  his  tottering  position  by  means  of 
deceitful  negotiations,  in  which  he  sought  only  to  pre- 
vent the  formation  of  a  Quadruple  Alliance,  and  gain  the 
necessary  time  to  replace  the  men  he  had  lost  by  the 
forced  marches  of  his  army,  and  by  the  battles  of  Liitzen 
and  Bautzen.    The  Emperor  Alexander  and  King  Fred- 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1818—1814.     179 

erick  William  informed  the  Emperor  Francis  of  their 
firm  determination  not  to  entertain  the  proposals  for  a 
negotiation  ;  at  the  same  time  they  -expressed  to  his 
Majesty  their  thorough  confidence  in  his  loyalty  and 
enlightened  principles. 

On  June  3,  we  reached  Gitschin.  I  at  once  ac- 
quainted the  Duke  of  Bassano  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Emperor  at  head-quarters.  At  the  same  time  I  de- 
manded a  personal  interview,  to  inform  him  that  his 
Majesty  had  quite  determined  to  give  the  proposals  for 
a  mediation  the  necessary  authority.  I  was  convinced 
that  the  answer  of  the  French  minister  would  be  an 
evasive  one  ;  and  this  was  the  case.  I,  however,  needed 
such  a  refusal  as  a  suitable  pretext  for  a  meeting  with 
the  Emperor  Alexander,  which  I  begged  for  on  the 
very  same  day  that  I  received  the  answer  from  Bassano. 
Opocno  was  the  place  chosen  for  the  rendezvous  ;  I  had 
chosen  it  on  account  of  its  proximity  to  the  frontier,  and 
being  so  retired  a  spot.  In  order  not  to  be  there  at  the 
same  time,  the  Emperor  Francis  pretended  to  have 
business  in  Gitschin.  June  16  I  started,  and  arrived 
the  following  day  at  Opocno,  where  I  found  the  Em- 
peror Alexander,  who  had  already  been  there  for  some 
hours.  The  Grand-Duchess  Katharine,  the  Emperor 
Alexander's  sister,  who  at  this  time  was  staying  in 
Prague,  had  also  arrived.  In  attendance  on  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  was  Count  Nesselrode  and  several 
adjutants.  Count  Stadion  and  Herr  von  Lebzeltern,  in 
consequence  of  the  instructions  they  had  received,  had 
already  repaired  thither. 

I  went  immediately  to  the  Emperor  Alexander.  From 
the  communication  I  had  already  had  with  Count  Nes- 
selrode in  Czaslau,  I  was  generally  acquainted  with  that 
monarch's  feehngs   both    about   the   affairs   and   with 

N  2 


180  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

regard  to  myself.  I  had  learned  to  know  the  Emperor 
Alexander  during  the  Berhn  negotiations  of  1805,  and 
at  that  time  he  showed  me  many  attentions.  By  his 
express  desire  I  was  to  have  gone  to  St.  Petersburg  as  Am- 
bassador in  the  year  1806.  The  relations  which  I  had 
with  his  ambassador  in  Paris  in  the  years  1807  and  1808 
confirmed  his  former  inchnation  for  me  ;  and  not  till 
Count  Eomanzow  went  to  Paris,  in  consequence  of  the 
Erfurt  conferences,  was  there  any  estrangement  between 
the  Emperor  Alexander  and  myself,  when  it  arose  from 
the  views  of  that  minister  being  at  variance  with  mine. 
The  marriage  of  the  Archduchess  Marie  Louise,  and  the 
absolutely  necessary  refusal  of  the  Austrian  Cabinet  to 
enter  into  a  secret  treaty  with  Eussia  in  the  year  1811, 
did  the  rest.  The  Emperor  Alexander  did  not  allow  of 
any  graduations  in  the  behaviour  of  another,  because  he 
knew  none  in  his  own  political  conduct,  as  he  was  always 
going  backwards  and  forwards  from  one  extreme  to 
another,  in  the  most  opposite  directions;  he  therefore 
suspected  me  of  being  altogether  on  the  side  of  France, 
and  of  nourishing  great  prejudices  against  Eussia.  At 
this  first  meeting,  then,  I  had  to  be  prepared  to  combat 
the  personal  bias,  always  so  powerful  with  the  Emperor, 
as  well  as  all  the  difficulties  presented  by  the  poHtical 
and  mihtary  attitude  of  Austria. 

I  went  to  meet  the  Emperor  with  the  greatest 
frankness.  I  did  not  at  once  attack  his  prejudices,  but 
made  no  secret  of  my  conviction  that  the  only  sheet- 
anchor  for  the  AUies  lay  in  an  unbounded  confidence  in 
that  Power  which,  without  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
character  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  as  weU  as  of  the 
principles  and  projects  of  his  cabinet,  might  easily  be 
suspected.  I  assured  him,  at  the  same  time,  that 
nothing  could  turn  us  aside  from  the  position  which  we 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     181 

had  taken  up  for  the  good  of  Europe,  whose  preserver 
we  desired  to  be. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  begged  me  not  to  doubt 
his  confidence,  but  said  that  he  could  only  see  the 
ruin  of  the  cause  in  every  measure  which  did  not  there 
and  then  proclaim  the  true  intention  of  Austria. 

As  I  could  not  and  would  not  give  up  the  project  in 
which  alone  I  saw  safety,  I  explained  to  the  Emperor 
that  I  was  ready  to  lay  the  whole  plan  before  him,  but 
must  not  raise  any  false  hope  that  we  could  ever  give  it 
up,  or  even  make  any  substantial  change  in  it.  I  in- 
sisted on  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  mediation  of 
Austria,  the  formal  acknowledgment  of  which  I  desired 
to  obtain  from  him. 

'  What  will  become  of  our  cause  ?  '  asked  the  Em- 
peror, '  if  Napoleon  accepts  the  mediation  ? ' 

'  If  he  decHnes,'  I  answered,  '  the  truce  will  come  to 
an  end,  and  you  will  find  us  among  the  number  of  your 
allies  ;  if  he  accepts,  the  negotiations  will  most  cer- 
tainly show  Napoleon  to  be  neither  wise  nor  just,  and 
then  the  result  will  be  the  same.  In  any  case,  we 
shall  have  gained  the  necessary  time  to  bring  our  armies 
into  such  positions  that  we  need  not  again  fear  a  sepa- 
rate attack  on  any  one  of  them,  and  from  which  we 
may  ourselves  take  the  ofiensive.' 

This  first  conversation  lasted  over  two  hours,  and 
we  separated  without  coming  to  any  conclusion.  How- 
ever, a  short  time  afterwards,  I  had  a  proof  that  the 
Emperor  could  no  longer  shut  out  from  himself  the 
clear  facts,  though  his  natural  distrust  had  not  yet  quite 
disappeared.  The  next  day  I  succeeded  in  gaining  him 
entirely  over  to  the  project  which  I  had  advised.  I 
asked  him  to  send  an  able  officer  to  Prince  Scliwarzen- 
berg,   at   head-quarters,  which   from   this   time   were 


182 


AUTOBIOGRAPinCAL  MEMOIR. 


to  be  with  the  Emperor  Francis.  This  officer  should  be 
commissioned  to  inform  us  of  the  condition  and  position 
of  the  AUied  armies.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  to  be 
under  the  orders  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  to 
co-operate  with  him  in  the  plan  of  operations  with 
reference  to  the  alternatives  before  mentioned. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  seemed  exceedingly  well 
pleased :  he  considered  this  to  be  a  guarantee  of  our 
intentions.  The  good  spirit  which  Count  Nesselrode 
constantly  showed  in  the  management  of  his  depart- 
ment, and  the  support  given  by  Prince  Wolkonski,  one 
of  the  Emperor  Alexander's  staff,  and  Count  Tolstoy, 
greatly  facihtated  the  attainment  of  my  object.  Tolstoy, 
at  that  time,  had  the  ear.  of  his  master,  and  indulged 
in  a  freedom  of  speech  which  subsequently  brought 
him  into  disfavour.  On  June  20  I  parted  from  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  who  was  quite  pleased  with  our 
prospects,  and  able  to  look  calmly  at  the  chances  for 
the  future.^^^ 

To  enhven  the  Emperor  Alexander's  leisure,  two 
cavalry  regiments  had  been  brought  to  Opocno,  which 
were  manoeuvred  by  his  Majesty  during  the  two  days 
for  which  the  Emperor  prolonged  his  stay  after  my 
departure. 

I  went  straight  back  to  Gitschin,  where  I  found  a 
very  pressing  invitation  from  the  Duke  of  Bassano  to 
go  to  Dresden.     Xapoleon  had  jieard  of  my  meeting 

I  had  foreseen,  was  a  proof  to  me  that  Napoleon  did 
not  feel  strong  enough  to  break  with  us  openly.  I 
begged  the  Emperor  to  allow  me  to  accept  the  in- 
vitation ;  and  immediately  informed  the  Eusso-Prussian 
cabinet  assembled    at  Eeichenbach,   in   Silesia,  of  the 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     183 

matter.  I  saw  on  their  side  much  dejection.  In  my 
position,  the  strongest  which  ever  a  minister  took,  I 
was  only  anxious  to  convince  the  two  cabinets  that  the 
future  weI!aSB3QST!rope*5ep^nne  on  tli^iiB£_Q£_£Qn- 
luct  follo^sied  by  Austria,  omce^m.  tne  course  of  my 
official  career,  1  have  never  derived  support  except 
from  the  resources  of  my  country  and  the  strength  of 
mind  and  firm  principles  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  I  was 
far  from  fearing  the  great  responsibihty  heaped  upon 
me  by  an  -attitude  which  has  ended  in  raising  our 
position,  and  in  the  triumph  of  the  common  cause. 

The  Emperor  arranged  with  Prince  Schwarzenberg 
and  myself  all  that  could  accelerate  the  marching  and 
arrival  of  our  troops.  His  Majesty  issued  the  most 
vigorous  orders.  Great  as  was  this  monarch's  constant 
care  for  his  provinces,  such  a  consideration  had  now  no 
place  in  his  reckoning.  His  thoughts  were  fixed  only 
on  the  great  work  that  was  laid  upon  him.  It  con- 
cerned the  salvation  of  the  world,  and  in  this  enormous 
benefit  his  people  would  find  their  compensation.  All 
supphes  which  were  likely  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  were  removed  from  the  theatre  of  war ;  the 
most  suitable  places  were  fortified  ;  the  Hues  of  Prague 
were  closed,  for  this  place  was  intended  for  a  fortress. 
They  began  to  lay  tetes  de  pont  on  the  Elbe  and 
Moldau  ;  enormous  magazines  were  estabhshed  for  the 
use  of  the  Austrian  and  Allied  armies,  which  were  to 
be  summoned  to  Bohemia ;  a  general  conscription  was 
begun  of  provisions  and  everything  else  that  could 
be  made  useful  in  the  war.  The  spirit  of  the  people 
answered  the  expectations  of  the  monarch  ;  it  rose  as 
they  gained  confidence  in  the  measures  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  east  and  north  part  of  Bohemia  had  now 
the  appearance  of  a  great  camp. 


184  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

I  travelled  from  Gitscliin  on  June  24,  arrived  the 
next  day  at  Dresden,  and  went  to  Count  Bubna.  Napo- 
leon was  just  then  absent  from  Dresden,  and  returned 
in  the  evening  of  the  day  of  my  arrival.  I  therefore 
did  not  receive  Napoleon's  invitation  to  go  to  him  till 
the  next  day,  the  26th.  His  head-quarters  were  at  the 
Marcohni  Garden,  near  the  Elster  meadows.     He  had 


not  the  courage  to  live  in  the  town ;  more  than  twenty 
thousand  men  of  his  troops  were  assembled  in  Fried- 
richstadt,  and  about  this  suburb. 

The  position  of  Napoleon  with  regard  to  the  army 
and  the  French  people  was  at  that  time  a  very  critical 
one.  The  nation,  formerly  spHt  up  into  several  different 
parties,  had  now  only  two — the  party  of  the  Revolu- 
tionists and  the  party  of  the  Bourbon  Eoyahsts.  The 
first  of  these  consisted  of  the  immense  number  of  indi- 
viduals whose  fate  was  bound  up  with  the  Government, 
or  who  relied  on  it  for  their  positions,  their  professions, 
or  their  property,  which  was  mostly  derived  from  the 
nation.  The  first  party  lamented  the  precarious  posi- 
tion in  which  Napoleon's  love  of  conquest  had  placed 
their  interests ;  the  latter,  not  yet  daring  to  raise  their 
heads,  waited  with  anxiety  to  see  the  result  of  the  new 
campaign,  for  which  the  nation  had  just  made  new  and 
enormous  efforts. 

The  French  army  sighed  for  peace.  The  generals, 
without  exception,  had  httle  confidence  in  the  issue  of  a 
war  which  was  more  than  unequal  when  the  Eussians 
and  Prussians  entered  into  the  new  alliance.  The  hatred 
of  the  German  races  could  hardly  be  longer  restrained  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Governments  of  the  Confederation  of 
the  Rhine,  and  when  the  attitude  of  this  Government 
itself  began  to  be  somewhat  equivocal,  Europe  looked 
all  the  more  anxiously  at  Austria. 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     185 

The  appearance  of  the  Austrian  Minister  of  Foreign 
Afiairs  at  Napoleon's  head-quarters  could,  under  such 
circumstances,  only  be  regarded  by  the  leaders  of  the 
French  army  as  decisive  in  its  results,  I  was  received  in 
Dresden  with  this  feeling.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
describe  the  expression  of  painful  anxiety  shown  on  the 
faces  of  the  crowd  of  men  in  uniform,  who  were  as- 
sembled in  the  waiting-rooms  of  the  Emperor.  The 
Prince  of  Neufchatel  (Berthier)  said  to  me  in  a  low 
voice,  '  D^^ngiii^yijjggtjJj^jJJ^jljyj^^jjgfljj,^ 
especially  France,  which  will  have  nothin^but  peace.' 
Not  seeingmyS^alle^ipoi^^m'swertliis,  I  at  once 
entered  the  Emperor's  reception-room. 

Napoleon  waited  for  me,  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  with  his  sword  at  his  side  and  his  hat  under 
his  arm.  He  came  up  to  me  in  a  studied  manner,  and 
inquired  after  the  health  of  the  Emperor.  His  counte- 
nance then  soon  clouded  over,  and  he  spoke,  standing 
in  front  of  me,  as  follows : 

''  So  you,  too,  want  war  ;  well,  you  shall  have  it.  I 
have 'annihilated  the  Prussian  armv  at  Tjtitzpri  •  T  haaf 
Deaten  the  Russians  at^autzen  ;_.  now  you  wish  your 
turn  to  come.  Be  it  so  ;  the  rendezvous  shall  be  in 
\  lenna.  Jdenare  incorrigible  :  experience  is  lost  upon 
you.  TJiree  tnnes  ii4V^  IT^pTace^  tlie  JjimDeror  Francis 
on  his  throne.  I  have  promised  always  to  live  in  peace 
with  him ;  I  have  married  his  daughter.  At  the  time 
F  said  t^  myselt"  you  a_m— D£rpetrating  a  folly  ;  but  it 
was  done,  and  to-day  I  repent  of  it ! ' 

This  introduction  doubled  my  feeling  of  the  strength 
of  my  position.  I  felt  myself,  at  this  crisis,  the  repre- 
sentative of  all  European  society.  If  I  may  say  so — 
Napoleon  seemed  to  me  small ! 

'  Peace  and  war,'  I  answered,  '  He  in  your  Majesty's 


186  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

^^fl.|]|ds.     Thfi  ^Emperor,  my  master,  has  duties  to  fulfil, 

into  the  back- 


pf^ourid.  TliP  ffltfi  nf  Enrnpp.  hftr  future  and  yours,  all  lie 
in  your  h|i||ds.  Eetweeu  Europe  ^^]d  t"hp  ajn^s  you  have 
jlitlierto  pursued  there  is  absolute  contradiction.  The 
world  requires  peace.  Tn  prder  to  secure  this  peace,  you 
mn^^^reducej^^r  ^^wg^^thm  bounds^g^^patible  with 
the  a;eneral  tranquillity,  or  you  will  fall  in  the  con- 
test.  To-day  you  can  yet  conclude  pc^c^  ;  |;g-morrow 
it  may  be  too  late.  Tlie**Emperor.  rny  inaster.  in  these 
"negotiations  is  only  guided  by  the  voice  of  conscience  ; 
it  is  for  you,  Sire,  now  to  take  counsel  of  yours.' 

'"^iYpP  nnw^  vjh^t  dn  |hpy  want,  m(^  to  do?'  said 
Napoleon,  sharply  ;  '  d^the^wantm^ode^rademy- 
self^^^^^rJ— L- shall  know  howJ^^di^^|^|it_J^  sliail 
not  yield  one  handbreadth  of  soil.  Your  sovereigns, 
born  to  the  throne,  may  be  beaten  twenty  times,  and 
still  go  back  to  their  palaces  ;  that  cannot  I — the  child 
of  fortune ;  my  reign  will  not  outlast  the  day  when  I 
have  ceased  to  be  strong,  and  therefore  to  be  feared.  |  I 
have  committed  one  great  fault  in  forgetting  what  this 
army  has  cost  me — the  most  splendid  army  that  ever 
existed.  I  may  defy  man,  but  not  the  elements ;  the 
cold  has  ruined  me.  In  one  night  I  lost  thirty  thousand 
horses.  I  have  lost  everything,  except  honour  and  the 
consciousness  of  what  I  owe  to  a  brave  people  who, 
after  such  enormous  misfortunes^  have  given  me  fresh 
proofs  of  their  devotion  and  their  conviction  that  I 
alone  can  rule  them..  I  have  madie  up  for  the  losses 
of  the  past  year ;  only  look  at  the  army,  after  the 
battles  I  have  just  won !  I  will  hold  a  review  before 
you ! ' 

'  And  it  is  that  very  army,'  I  answered,  'which 
desires  peace  i 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1»13— 1814.     187 


'J^igl^the^jjjjyjj^'  interrupted  Napoleon,  hastily.  J^J^^! 

my  generals  wish  ibr_oeace.     I^i2j^aj;iilj31Q];:ajy£a£];:aIs. 

"Ihe  cold  of  Moscow  ha^demQi|alisedtheni.     I  have 

T^^^^ch^^^j;;gi]jj^^g^w^^|]yn^i^^^ 

fortnightago 


^hdjg^j£^JIybr2]^y^,,^,^fortn^^ 

conclu^de^^yeace^Jojd^j^^ 

■^Tj^^g^^fi^hts^^haU^ng^iji^g^^ 

all  that  your  MajesfcgJias  just  said  to  me.'  I  re- 
mafked,  '  1  see  a  tresh  proof  that  Europe  and  your 
Majesty  cannmTomeT?ranunder 
is  never  more  tJian  a  truce.     Mis::ortune.  ]i'Ve  success. 


hurries  you  to  war.     The  Tnomprnt    has  arrived   whan 
you  and  Europe  both  throwdownthegamitj^t^ 
will  take  It  up — you  and  Europe  ;  and__it_wiU_not_be 
Europe  tnaTwiTrDe  aeieated. 

continued  Napoleon ;  'JniLhow  many  are  there  of  you 
Alhes — foLLc—fijia—iaa:— twenty  ?  The  more  vou  are,  so 
much  the  better  for  me.  I  take  up  the  challenge.  But 
I  can  assure  you,'  he  continued,  with  a  forced  laugh, 
*  that  in  next  October  we  shall  meet  in  Vienna ;  then  it 
will  be  seen  what  Has  become  oi'  your  good  friends,  the 
Eussians  and  Prussians.  Do  you  count  on  Germany? 
See  what  it  did  in  the  year  1809  !  To  hold  the  people 
there  in  check,  my  soldiers  are  sufficient ;  and  for  the 
faith  of  the  princes,  my  security  is  the  fear  they  have 
of  you.  Declare  your  neutrahty,  and  hold  to  ity  then 
I  will  consennytff^negotiations  m  I'rague^WiIl 
you  have  an  armed  neutrality  Y  Be  it  so !  Send 
three  hundred  thousand  men  to  Bohemia  ;  the 
word  of  the  Emperor  is  sufficient,  that  he  will  not 
make  war  against  me,  before  the  negotiation  is 
ended.' 

'  The  Emperor,'  answered  I,  '  has  offered  the  Powers 


188  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

his  mediation,  not  his  neutrahty.  Eussia  and  Prussia 
have  accepted  the  mediation :  it  is  for  you  to  declare 
yourself  to-day.  If  you  will  accept  what  I  have  just 
proposed,  we  will  fix  a  time  for  the  duration  of  the 
negotiations.  If  you  refuse  it,  the  Emperor,  my  gra- 
cious master,  will  consider  himself  free  to  make  what 
decisions  and  take  up  what  attitude  he  chooses.  The 
situation  is  critical :  the  army  must  live  ;  very  soon  there 
wiU  be  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  in  Bohemia ; 
they  may  stay  there  a  few  weeks,  but  they  cannot 
remain  for  months  in  quarters.' 

Here  Napoleon  again  interrupted  me,  to  go  into  a 
long  digression  on  the  possible  strength  of  our  army. 
According  to  his  calculation,  we  could  at  the  most  send 
seventy-five  thousand  men  to  take  the  field  in  Bohemia. 
He  based  these  calculations  on  the  normal  condition  of 
the  population  of  the  country,  on  the  supposed  losses 
in  the  last  wars,  and  on  our  rules  for  conscription. 
I  expressed  my  astonishment  at  the  incorrectness  of 
the  information  he  had  obtained,  when  it  would  have 
been  so  easy  for  him  to  obtain  fuller  and  more  correct 
statistics. 

'  I  will  pledge  myself,'  I  declared  to  him,  '  to  give 
you  an  exact  Hst  of  your  battalions ;  and  should  your 
Majesty  not  be  as  well  informed  on  the  strength  of  the 
Austrian  army  ? ' 

'  I  am  so  ; '  said  Napoleon,  '  I  possess  most  minute 
information  respecting  the  army,  and  am  certain  I  do 
not  deceive  myself  as  to  its  effectiveness.  M.  de  Nar- 
bonne,'  he  continued,  '  sent  a  number  of  spies  into  the 
field,  and  his  information  includes  the  very  drummers 
of  your  army — my  head-quarters  have  done  the  same  ; 
but  I  know  better  than  anyone  the  value  to  be  placed 
on  such  information.     My  calculations  rest  on  mathe- 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     189 

matical  grounds,  and  are  therefore  reliable  ;  in  fact,  no 
one  has  more  than  he  can  have.'  * 

Napoleon  took  me  into  his  study,  and  showed  me 
the  Hsts  of  our  forces  as  they  were  daily  sent  to  him. 
We  examined  this  with  great  particularity,  and  almost 
regiment  for  regiment.  Our  discussion  on  this  subject 
lasted  more  than  an  hour. 

On  returning  into  the  reception-room,  he  did  not 
speak  again  on  political  subjects,  and  I  might  have 
thought  that  he  wished  to  draw  my  attention  away 
from  the  object  of  my  mission,  if  a  former  experience 
had  not  taught  me  that  such  digressions  were  natural 
to  him.  He  spoke  of  the  whole  of  his  operations  in 
Eussia,  and  expatiated  at  length  and  with  the  pettiest 
details  about  his  last  return  to  France.  It  was  clear 
to  me  from  all  this  that  he  was  constantly  endeavour- 
ing to  show  that  his  defeat  of  1812  was  entirely  owing 
to  the  time  of  year,  and  that  his  moral  position  in 
France  had  never  been  firmer  than  it  was  in  conse- 
quence of  this  same  event.  '  It  was  a  hard  test,'  he 
said  to  me,  '  but  I  have  stood  it  perfectly  well.' 

After  I  had  listened  to  him  for  more  than  half  an 
hour,  I  interrupted  him  with  the  remark,  that  in  what 
he  had  just  told  me  I  saw  strong  proof  of  the  necessity 
of  putting  an  end  to  so  uncertain  a  fate.  '  Fortune,' 
I  said,  '  may  play  you  false  a  second  time,  as  it  did 
in  1812.  In  ordinary  times  armies  are  formed  of 
only  a  small  part  of  the  population,  to-day  it  is  the 
whole  people  that  you  have  called  to  arms.  Is  not 
your  present  army  anticipated  by  a  generation?  I 
have    seen   your   soldiers :    they   are    mere   children. 

*  The  number  of  Napoleon's  illusions  since  the  commencement  of  the  last 
campaign,  with  respect  to  the  forces  of  his  adversaries,  is  a  most  remarkable 
circumstance,  and  one  which  can  be  corroborated  by  more  than  one  proof. 


190 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


Your  Majesty  has  the  feeling  that  you  are  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  nation :  but  is  not  the  nation  also 
necessary  to  you?  And  if  this  juvenile  army  that 
you  levied  but  yesterday  should  be  swept  away,  what 
then?' 

When  Napoleon  heard  these  words  he  was  over- 
come with  rage,  he  turned  pale,  and  his  features  were 
distorted.     '  You  are  no  soldier,'  said  he,  '  and  you  do 


not  know  what  goes  on  in_llie_jidnd^  of  a  soldier 


was  broujiIiLllD  m  the  field_^_and  a  man  siidi_Bs_I  am 
does  not  conasnL-MsigglLilllifilL^iaflliLJhe  lives  of  a 
niillion  of  men.'  *  With  this  exclamation  he  threw  his 
hat,  whiciOi^nad  held  in  his  hand,  into  the  corner  of 
the  room.  I  remained  quite  quiet,  leaning  against  the 
edge  of  a  console  between  the  two  windows,  and  said, 
deeply  moved  by  what  I  had  just  heard,  ^J^^jjj^j^h^ve 
you  chosen  to  say  this  to  me  ')[yithin^,„these  four  walls  ; 
^^  the  doors,  and  lei  your  woxds  sound  from  onp  end 
ot- France  to  the  other.  The  cause  which  I  represent 
"syill  not  lose  tnerel 

lapoleon  recovered  himself,  and  with  calmer  tones 
said  to  me  the  following  words,  no  less  remarkable 
than  the  former :  '  The  French  cannot  complain  of  me  ; 
to  spare  them,  I  have  sacrificed  the  Germans  and  the 
roles^l  have  lost  in  the  camnaign  of  Moscow  three 
hundred  thousand  men,  and  there  were  not  more  than 
thirty  thousand  Frencnnien  among  them.' 

'JTou  forget,  sire,  I  exclaimed, '  that  you  are  speak- 
ing  to  a  (jerman. 

iNapoieon  walKed  up  and  down  the  room,  and  at 
the  second  turn  he  picked  up  his  hat  from  the  floor. 
Then  he  began  to  speak  of  his  marriage.     '  So  I  have 

*  I  do  not  dare  to  make  use  here  of  the  much  worse  expressions  employed 
by  Napoleon. 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     191 

perpetrated  a  very  stupid  piece  of  folly  in  marrying  an 
Archduchess  of  Austria.' 

'  Since  your  Majesty  desires  to  know  my  opinion,' 
I  answered,  '  I  will  candidly  say  that  Napoleon  the 
conqueror  made  a  mistake.' 

'  The  Emperor  Francis  will  then  dethrone  his  daugh- 
ter?' 

'  The  Emperor,'  I  replied,  '  knows  nothing  but  his 
duty,  and  he  will  fulfil  it.  Whatever  the  fate  of  his 
daughter  may  be,  the  Emperor  Francis  is  in  the  first 
place  a  monarch,  and  the  interests  of  his  people  will 
always  take  the  first  place  in  his  calculations.' 

'  Well,'  interrupted  Napoleon,  '  what  you  say  does 
not  astonish  me :  everything  confirms  my  idea  that  I 
have  made  an  inexcusable  mistake.  When  I  married 
an  Archduchess  I  tried  to  weld  the  new  with  the  old, 
Gothic  prejudices  with  the  institutions  of  my  century  : 
I  deceived  myself,  and  I,  this  day,  feel  the  whole  extent 
of  my  error.  It  Jfl^i^^^^mffiS^^^^Y  throne,  but_ 
bury  the  world  beneath  its  ruins.' 

Th^conversaSSnTia^iasted  till  half-past  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  It  was  already  quite  dark.  No 
one  had  ventured  to  come  into  the  room.  Not  one 
pause  of  silence  interrupted  this  animated  discussion, 
in  which  I  can  count  no  less  than  six  moments  in  which 
my  words  had  the  weight  of  a  formal  declaration  of 
war.  I  have  no  intention  of  reproducing  here  all  that 
Napoleon  said  during  this  long  interview.  I  have  only 
dwelt  upon  the  most  striking  points  in  it  which  bear 
directly  on  the  object  of  my  mission.  We  wandered 
far  away  from  it  twenty  times ;  *  those  who  have  known 

*  The  account  of  his  campaign  of  1812  alone  took  up  several  hours  of  our 
conversation  ;  many  other  things  quite  foreign  to  the  object  of  my  mission 
occupied  his  attention  for  a  long  time. 


192  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Napoleon,  and  transacted  business  with  him,  will  not  be 
surprised  at  that. 

When  Napoleon  dismissed  me,  his  tone  had  be- 
come calm  and  quiet.  I  could  no  longer  distinguish 
his  features.  He  accompanied  me  to  the  door  of 
the  reception-room.  Holding  the  handle  of  the  fold- 
ing-door, he  said  to  me,  '  We  shall  see  one  another 
again ! ' 

'At  your  pleasure.  Sire,'  was  my  answer,  '^^utl    ,- 
have  no  hope  of  attaining  the  object  of  my  mission.' 

*  WelLnow,'  said  Napoleon,  touching  me  on  the 
shoulder,  'do  you  know  what  will  happen?  You  will 
not  make  war  on  me  ?  ' 

'  You  are  lost,  Sim^  I  said,  quickly  ;  '^i^|,^j]j^£re- 
s^entiment  of  it  when  I  came  ;  now,  in  goin^;,  I  have  the 
certainty 

In  the  anterooms  I  found  the  same  generals  whom  I  ; 
had  seen  on  entering.    They  crowded  round  me  to  read 
in  my  face  the  impression  of  the  nearly  nine  hours'  con- 
versation.    I  did  not  stop,  and  I  do  not  think  I  satisfied 
their  curiosity. 

Berthier  accompanied  me  to  my  carriage.  He  seized 
a  moment  when  no  one  was  near  to  ask  me  whether  I 
had  been  satisfied  with  the  Emperor,  '^gg^'  I  answered, 
'  he  has  explained  everything  to  me  ;  il_is_aILQZ£r  with 
the  man.'  ^^''^ 

i  heard  afterwards  that  the  same  evening,  at  bed- 
time. Napoleon  said  to  some  one  about  him,ll  have  had 
a   long   conversation   with   Metternich.     He   held    ouT 
-fl^TTTy^thTrTSLJiiJimiL-diJ — l__LhxQw~  mT^hegauntT?^ 


nd  thirteen  times  did  he  pick-LLjiJ 


^^IfT^nT5i?m^ny*hand^tJ^a^  I  have  every  reason 
t^Soev^ro^one  ol  those  about  him  were  satisfied 
with  this  speech.     Napoleon's  most  devoted  courtiers 


i 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     193 

began  to  doubt  his  infallibility.    In  tlieir  eyes,  as  in  the 
eyes  of  Europe,  his  star  began  to  pale. 

One  man  only  could  not  break  away  from  the 
greatest  devotion  and  fascination  which  perhaps  history 
has  ever  portrayed  :  that  man  was  Maret  (Duke  of  Bas- 
sano),  who  continued  to  live  in  an  ideal  region  which  he 
himself  had  made,  and  of  which  the  genius  of  Napoleon 
was  the  centre ;  the  world  has  very  greatly  to  thank 
him  for  its  deliverance.  At  that  time  he  was  detested 
in  the  army.  •  The  incomprehensible  operation  of  Napo- 
leon against  Moscow  had  enabled  him  to  assume  a  mili- 
tary position  ;  all  the  reports  of  the  heads  of  the  differ- 
ent corps  d'armee  which  were  cut  off  from  direct  com- 
munication with  the  Emperor  were  sent  to  him.  The 
help  he  was  able  to  give  them  was  not  to  be  despised. 
He  disposed  of  all  the  material  resources  of  Lithuania, 
and  the  remains  of  those  of  the  Grand-Duchy  of  War- 
saw. It  was  less  a  question  of  fighting  than  of  sustain- 
ing life ;  from  this  time  Maret  believed  himself  almighty, 
and  thought  his  position  could  only  be  made  greater  by 
the  genius  of  his  leader.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  disco- 
vering this  when  I  had  a  conversation  with  him  the  day 
after  my  long  interview  with  Napoleon.  I  found  him 
in  my  drawing-room  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
waiting  for  me.  When  I  saw  that  he  only  thought  of 
paraphrasing  Napoleon's  words,  I  contented  myself 
with  telUng  him  how  that  I  was  about  to  send  him  an 
official  note  with  the  proposal  for  the  Austrian  Me- 
diation, and  informed  him  that  my  time  was  precious, 
my  departure  to  Bohemia  having  been  fixed  for  the 
next  day  but  one. 

I  had  left  the  head-quarters  at  the  moment  when 
our  different  army  corps  were  busy  assembling.  The 
flower  of   the  Austrian   army   numbered,   in   arms  of 

VOL.  I.  0 


194  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

all  descriptions  hardly men.     I  wished  to 

ascertain  a  certain  point  which  would  greatly  affect 
the  issue  of  the  war  ;  my  conversation  with  Napoleon 
himself  had  raised  the  doubt  in  my  mind  whether  it 
would  not  be  desirable  to  gain  some  weeks'  delay,  in 
order  to  bring  our  ordre  de  hataille  to  its  greatest  pos- 
sible completeness.  Before  the  night  was  over,  I  des- 
patched a  courier  to  Prince  Schwarzenberg  with  the 
two  following  questions  : — 

'  Would  a  prolongation  of  the  armistice  between  the 
French  and  the  Alhes  be  useful  for  the  purpose  I  have 
just  hinted  at  ?' 

'  What  would  be  the  most  useful  and  consequently 
the  only  allowable  extreme  length  of  such  a  prolonga- 
tion?' 

I  begged  the  Prince  to  give  me  an  immediate  and 
decisive  answer,  and  allowed  six-and-thirty  hours  for  ; 
the  return  of  the  courier.  The  adjutant  whom  I  had 
sent  came  back,  in  two-and-thirty  hours,  with  a  letter  i 
from  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  containing  only  the  few 
words,  '  My  army  would  in  twenty  days  add  to  its 
strength  seventy-five  thousand  men  :  I  should  consider 
the  possibility  of  obtaining  this  extension  a  happy  cir- 
cumstance, the  twenty-first  day  would  be  a  burden  to 
me.' 

From  this  moment  my  efforts  were  all  to  obtain  the 
twenty  days.  It  was  not  an  easy  matter,  for  Napoleon 
must  have  been  making  very  much  the  same  calcula- 
tion as  ourselves.  How  were  two  suspicious  monarchs 
to  be  brought  to  accept  this  delay  :  one  of  whom  knew 
his  very  existence  to  be  bound  up  in  Austria's  decision, 
and  the  other  of  whom  was  obliged  to  strike  some  great 
blow  in  order  to  keep  his  dissatisfied  and  beaten  army 
in  obedience ;  and  how,  finally,  should  the  impossibility 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     195 

— in  which  the  Eusso-Prussian  army  was  placed — be 
overcome,  of  hving  in  a  province  stripped  of  everything, 
and  how  were  the  wants  of  this  army  to  be  siippUed 
from  the  resources  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia  without  our 
being  exposed  to  the  danger  that  Napoleon  would  ter- 
minate the  whole  affair  by  a  sudden  attack  on  Bohemia, 
or  demand  of  us  that  we  should  come  to  the  help  of 
Saxony,  which  was  still  more  exhausted  than  Silesia?  I 
put  these  difficulties  distinctly  before  me,  and  I  sought 
and  found  the  means  to  remove  them. 

The  three  days  following  the  conversation  with 
Napoleon  I  was  in  constant  communication  with  the 
French  Emperor,  the  Duke  of  Bassano,  the  marshals 
and  the  generals.  In  our  conversations  Napoleon  did 
not  again  approach  the  object  of  my  mission,  but  referred 
me  to  Bassano,  who  again  declared  himself  without 
instructions,  and  recommended  me  to  wait  patiently ; 
while  the  heads  of  the  army  expressed  themselves  more 
urgently  and  more  anxiously  in  favour  of  peace. 

In  the  evening  of  the  last  day  of  my  stay  in  Dresden, 
I  received  from  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  a  written 
Projet  d' arrangement^  which  had  nothing  in  common 
with  my  demands,  and  which,  therefore,  I  immediately 
answered  by  saying .  that  I  should  start  from  Dresden 
without  delay. 

I  fixed  my  departure  for  seven  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  and  ordered  the  post-horses  for  that  hour.  A 
few  minutes  before  the  time  I  received  a  note  from  Bas- 
sano, which  only  contained  the  intimation  that  the  Em- 
peror wished  to  speak  with  me  before  my  departure, 
and  that  he  would  receive  me  at  eight  o'clock  in  my 
travelhng  dress. 

I  had  the  horses  taken  out  of  my  travelhng  carriage, 
and  gave  notice  that  the  time  of  my  departure  was  post- 

0  2 


196     .  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

poned,  and  I  repaired  at  the  appointed  hour  to  the  Mar- 
colini  Garden,  where  I  met  Napoleon  walking.  Here 
a  conversation  took  place  which  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
describe.  Napoleon's  first  words  were  :  '  So  you  are 
pretending  to  be  offended — what  for  ?  '  I  answered 
shortly  that  my  duty  required  me  not  to  lose  useless 
time  in  Dresden. 

Napoleon  then  went  over  the  text  of  the  Projet 
d' arrangement,  which  had  been  sent  me  by  his  minister, 
and  concluded  by  rejecting  it.  '  Pgjji^y,j;y^ftiliial^jgder- 
stand  one  aniiL]ia]:,J.2£tt££*— ^im^-and_I — -come  into  my 
room,  aiiiL]£L-LLS  comgjt^i.ai2m^_2£aaaBiMMaL^ 

When  we  had  got  into  his  private  room,  Napoleon 
asked  me  whether  there  would  be  any  objection  to 
the  presence  of  Bassano  ;  in  a  negotiation  there  should 
be  a  Protocol  writer,  and  this  part  should  be  entrusted 
to  his  minister.  He  rang  the  bell  and  sent  for  the  Duke 
of  Bassano,  who  soon  appeared. 

"We  sat  down  at  a  httle  table,  on  which  the  minister 
had  placed  the  necessary  writing  materials.  '  Formulate 
the  articles,'  said  Napoleon  to  me,  '  as  you  wish  them 
to  be.' 

I  limited  my  demands  to  the  following  declarations, 
in  a  few  words  : — 

1.  The  Emperor  of  the  French  accepts  the  armed 
mediation  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria. 

2.  The  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  belligerent  Powers 
will  meet  the  mediating  Court  at  a  Conference  to  be 
held  at  Prague  on  the  tenth  of  July. 

3.  The  tenth  of  August  shall  be  fixed  as  the  last  day 
of  the  negotiations. 

4.  All  warhke  operations  to  be  discontinued  till  that 
day. 

After  this  statement  of  my  demands.  Napoleon  said  : 


ON  THE  mSTOKY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     197 

'  Put  the  articles  upon  paper ;  I  will  add  my  ap- 
proval.' 

Never,  surely,  was  so  great  a  business  settled  in  so 
short  a  time  ! 

After  Bassano  and  I  had  signed  the  act,  and  Napo- 
leon had  confirmed  and  accepted  it  by  countersigning 
it,  he  said  to  me  :  '  He  who  wills  a  thing  must  also  will 
the  means  to  bring  it  about.  In  respect  of  the  fourth 
article  only,  there  is  a  little  difficulty  to  be  removed.  My 
truce  with  the  Eussians  and  Prussians  ends  in  the  middle 
of  July  ;  it  must  therefore  be  prolonged  to  the  10th  of 
August,  a  day  of  ominous  import.  Can  you  take  it 
on  yourself  to  prolong  the  existing  truce  ? ' 

I  replied  that  I  had  no  power  to  do  this ;  but  that 
I  was  prepared,  on  the  part  of  the  two  allied  monarchs, 
under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  to  guarantee  the 
prolongation  of  the  truce  ;  upon  this  condition,  I  ex- 
pressed myself  in  the  following  terms  :  — 

'  In  order  to  maintain  the  armed  territorial  neutrafity, 
the  Emperor  Francis  has  prohibited  the  exportation  of 
all  provisions  from  Bohemia  and  Moravia  since  the  cam- 
paign of  1813.  The  Russian  and  Prussian  forces  so 
closely  concentrated  in  Upper  Silesia  cannot  maintain 
their  present  position  beyond  the  existing  truce  (July 
20),  unless  the  necessary  help  be  granted  to  enable 
them  to  meet  the  prolongation.  But  we  have  just 
heard  the  declaration  from  your  Majesty  that  "  he  who 
wills  a  thing  must  also  will  the  means  to  bring  it 
about."  For  the  Emperor  of  Austria  the  means  exist 
only  and  solely  in  the  removal  of  the  prohibition  which 
applies  to  the  exportation  of  provisions  in  Silesia  as  well 
as  on  the  Saxon  frontier.  Will  your  Majesty  give  me 
the  assurance  that  the  removing  of  the  prohibition 
on    the   Silesian,   Bohemian,   and    Moravian    frontiers 


198       '  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

will  not   be  considered  as  a   breach   of  the  Austrian 
neutrahty  ? ' 

'  Without  the  least  hesitation ! '  answered  the  Em- 
peror. 

An  hour  after  this  last  conversation  I  left  Dresden. 

After  my  return  to  Gitschin  (July  1)  all  necessary 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  commissariat  of  the 
Eussian  and  Prussian  forces  in  Silesia,  and  for  the  rein- 
forcement of  our  own  forces  in  Bohemia,  for  which 
purpose  it  was  necessary  to  include  the  army  then  on 
the  Polish  frontiers.  At  the  same  time  Poniatowsky 
demanded  a  passage  through  the  Austrian  neutral  terri- 
tory, in  the  direction  of  Saxony.  The  Emperor  granted 
this  demand.  I,  for  my  part,  made  preparations  for 
the  meeting  of  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  belligerent 
Powers  in  Prague,  under  the  mediation  of  Austria ;  and 
the  Emperor  left  the  head-quarters  and  went  to  Brandeis, 
to  be  near  the  place  where  the  negotiations  were  to  be 
carried  on. 

The  Plenipotentiaries  of  Eussia  and  Prussia  made 
their  appearance  in  Prague  at  the  appointed  hour. 
Count  Narbonne,  French  Ambassador  at  the  Imperial 
court,  who  had  been  appointed  second  Plenipotentiary 
to  Napoleon,  had  also  arrived  punctually.  The  Duke  of 
Vicenza  (Caulaincourt),  Napoleon's  first  Plenipotentiary, 
was  the  only  one  behind»his  time.  When  he  appeared, 
after  the  hour  appointed  for  opening  the  negotiations, 
he  came  up  to  me  at  once.  On  my  request  that  he 
would  hand  me  his  credentials,  he  explained  that  he 
awaited  their  arrival,  but  was  nevertheless  ready  .to 
take  part  in  the  conferences.  I  answered  him  that  I 
should  not  open  the  conference  before  the  deUvery  of 
the  credentials.  He  begged  me  not  to  insist  upon  this 
mere  formality.    I  rephed  again,  that  I  could  not  do  this  ; 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     199 

on  the  contrary,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  avoid  every 
meeting  which  could  have  the  appearance  of  a  confer- 
ence till  the  arrival  of  the  credentials  of  the  French 
Plenipotentiaries.  '  The  Emperor,  your  master,'  I  said  to 
him,  '  knows  too  well  the  necessary  formalities,  to  have 
neglected  to  furnish  his  Plenipotentiaries  with  their  cre- 
dentials unintentionally.'  Caulaincourt  persisted  that  it 
was  not  so,  and  could  not  be  so.  '  The  Emperor  would 
not,'  he  said,  '  have  chosen  me  to  carry  out  any  under- 
hand proceeding.  He  knows  that  I  should  never  have 
accepted  a  mission  under  such  auspices.'  I  explained 
again  the  firm  determination  of  myself  and  the  other 
Plenipotentiaries  not  to  enter  on  any  conferences  with- 
out the  strict  observation  of  diplomatic  forms  ;  all  the 
less  since  there  were  still  differences  between  the  Allied 
courts  and  Napoleon  with  regard  to  the  kind  of  the 
negotiations  which  they  should  adopt.  Only  a  fortnight 
remained  open  until  August  10,  which  was  fixed  as  the 
last  day  for  the  negotiations.  They  passed  without  the 
letters  for  the  French  Plenipotentiaries  arriving,  and 
therefore  without  any  approach  to  the  subjects  about 
which  the  negotiation  was  to  have  been  held. 

I  had  the  passports  prepared  for  Count  Narbonne 
in  his  capacity  of  Ambassador  at  the  Imperial  court,  and 
I  put  the  finishing  touch  to  the  Emperor's  war  mani- 
festo. These  documents  I  despatched  as  the  clock 
struck  twelve  on  the  night  of  August  10.  Then  I  had 
the  beacons  hghted,  which  had  been  prepared  from 
Prague  to  the  Silesian  frontier,  as  a  sign  of  the  breach 
of  the  negotiations,  and  the  right  of  the  Allied  armies 
to  cross  the  Silesian  frontier. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  of  August  12  a  courier 
from  Dresden  arrived  at  Prague,  who  brought  the  let- 
ters to  the    French   Plenipotentiaries.     The   Duke  of 


200  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Vicenza  and  Count  Narbonne  then  came  to  me.  I  told 
them  it  would  be  no  longer  possible  to  make  use  of 
these  letters  ;  the  die  was  cast,  and  the  fate  of  Europe 
was  once  more  left  to  the  decision  of  arms. 

But  this  time  the  cards  were  mixed  differently, 
and  events  proved  that  fortune  and  chance  had  their 
limits. 

Stipulations  of  Teplitz. 

The  attitude  to  be  taken  by  Austria  was  clearly 
shown  when  the  last  prospect  of  a  peaceful  under- 
standing between  the  Powers  vanished.  The  mediation, 
which  was  hke  a  bridge  from  one  bank  of  a  stream  to 
the  other, — whether  the  bank  to  be  attained  was  peace 
or  war, — was  at  an  end,  and  that  not  by  the  fault  of 
the  mediating  Power,  nor  of  the  Powers  at  war  with 
Napoleon.  Our  proper  place  was,  therefore,  on  the  side 
of  the  AlHes.  To  take  this  position  rightly  the  basis  of 
an  enlarged  alhance  must  be  first  arranged. 

I  will  here  give  in  a  few  words  the  views  and 
feelings  which  the  Emperor  and  I,  in  the  most  perfect 
harmony,  laid  down  as  invariable  rules  for  our  guidance 
in  the  immediate  as  well  as  the  more  remote  future. 

The  object  we  must  keep  before  us  was  the  re- 
estabhshment  of  a  state  of  peace,  firmly  based  on  the 
principles  of  order.  As  the  means  to  attain  this,  I 
pointed  out  to  the  Emperor : — 

1.  The  removal  of  the  idea  of  conquest  from  the 
Alhance  by  the  return  of  France,  Austria,  and  Prussia 
to  their  former  territorial  hmits. 

2.  The  consideration  of  the  international  differences 
between  consummated  conquests  and  via  facti  incorpor- 
ations of  territory,  without  formal  renunciation  by  their 
former   possessors  in   favour  of  the   conqueror.     The 


i 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIA.NCES,  1813—1814.     201 

last-named  must  be  immediately  and  unconditionally 
restored  to  their  former  possessors,  whilst  the  first  must, 
as  countries  dehvered  from  the  dominion  of  France  by 
the  AUied  Powers,  be  considered  common  property,  and 
reserved  for  the  future  disposal  of  those  Powers. 

The  countries  which  were  included  in  the  category 
of  via  facti  incorporations  were : 

a)  The  possessions  of  the  House  of  Hanover  ; 
h)  That  part  of  the  States  of  the  Church    not 
mentioned  in  the  Peace  of  Tolentino  ; 

c)  The  possessions  of  the  King  of  Sardinia  on  the 
continent ; 

d)  The  possessions  of  the  House    of  Orange  in 
Germany  ;  and, 

e)  The  possessions  of  the  Electorate  of  Hesse. 

3.  The  adjournment  of  all  negotiations  regarding 
the  disposal  of  the  countries  which  would  form  the 
common  property  of  the  AlHance  till  peace  is  con- 
cluded ;  and  the  reference  of  their  final  destination  to  a 
European  Congress  to  be  held  after  the  Peace. 

The  three  measures  just  named,  besides  their  own 
innate  value,  presented  the  incalculable  advantage  of 
preserving  the  great  enterprise  from  discord  amongst 
the  AlUes. 

With  these  we  considered  another  object  of  the 
highest  importance :  the  question  of  quid  faciendum 
with  the  German  territories.  The  points  already  else- 
where mentioned,  which  arose  between  the  Emperor 
and  myself  on  the  question,  determined  us  to  give  up 
the  idea  of  a  restoration  of  the  old  Empire,  and  to  keep 
to  the  form  of  a  Confederation. 

That  this  determination  would  meet  with  opponents 
from  different  and  quite  opposite  quarters  was  to  be 


202  AUTOBIOGRAPmCAL  MEMOIR. 

expected,  and  we  did  not  deceive  ourselves  in  the 
matter.  We  were  well  aware  that  many  desires  for 
conquest  would  have  to  be  checked,  many  individual 
interests  would  have  to  be  restrained.  All  considera- 
tions of  this  kind  were  subordinate  to  the  aim  and 
intention  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  to  secure  to  Europe 
and  his  own  Empire  the  blessings  of  political  peace  for 
as  many  years  as  possible.  Party  spirit  was  not  to  be 
considered  in  an  undertaking  of  this  magnitude,  and  we 
did  not  concern  ourselves  about  it. 

After  the  battle  of  Liitzen,  the  King  of  Saxony  had, 
in  consequence  of  Napoleon's  threat  of  dethroning  him, 
broken  off  his  alliance  with  Austria,  and  returned  from 
Prague  to  Dresden.  If  this  step,  which  was  explained 
by  the  condition  of  Saxony,  cost  the  King  half  of  his 
country,  the  other  half  owed  its  existence  as  an  inde- 
pendent state  to  the  monarch  so  richly  endowed  with 
virtue,  but  so  hardly  pressed  by  destiny ;  and  at  any 
rate  it  was  only  Austria  who  could  complain  of  the 
breach  of  faith. 

After  the  campaign  of  1812,  so  unfortunate  for 
Napoleon  and  his  allies,  the  King  of  Bavaria  took  steps 
to  obtain  an  understanding  with  Austria.  We  entered 
into  this,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  reinforcements  of 
our  armies  which  w^ould  result  to  the  Alliance  from 
the  accession  of  Bavaria  in  case  of  a  continuation  of  the 
war,  but  also  to  secure  our  plan  for  the  estabhshment 
of  a  German  Confederation. 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  Congress  of  Prague 
(which  had  never  been  a  living  power),  the  Monarchs  of 
Austria,  Eussia,  and  Prussia,  with  the  leaders  of  their 
cabinets,  met  at  Teplitz,  where  Field-Marshal  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  had  his  head-quarters.  Negotiations  as 
to  the  establishment  and  securing  of  fixed  bases  for  the 


ON  THE    HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     203 

Quadruple  Alliance,  and  for  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
were  the  tasks  of  the  Allied  cabinets.  We  pointed  out, 
as  the  foundation,  as  far  as  we  were  concerned,  the 
three  points  alluded  to  above,  as  well  as  the  conditio 
sine  qud  non  of  Austria  joining  the  Alhance.  For  the 
crreatest  possible  security  of  the  miUtary  operations,  we 
demanded  further  the  union  of  the  forces  of  the  three 
continental  Powers  under  the  command  of  Field- 
Marshal  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  and  the  division  of  the 
operations  of  the  war  into  campaigns,  with  definite 
objects. 

We  appointed  for  the  first  campaign  the  time  from 
the  commencement  of  the  war  to  the  arrival  of  the 
united  armies  at  the  Ehine,  where  the  three  monarchs, 
with  their  cabinets  and  chief  generals,  would  have  to 
arrange  the  beginning  and  hmitation  of  a  new  cam- 
paign. According  to  my  conviction,  we  could  not  ask 
more,  neither  could  it  be  less.  The  result  proved  that 
I  was  right.  The  elements  of  which  the  three  Allied 
armies  consisted  were  essentially  difierent. 

The  Austrian  army  burned  with  a  passionate  desire 
to  revenge  the  numerous  defeats  which  they  had  sus- 
tained in  the  course  of  the  long  wars  of  the  Eevolution. 
But  accustomed  always  to  obedience  and  strict  disci- 
phne,  they  waited  in  patience  till  the  order  should  reach 
them. 

Two  feehngs  appeared  in  the  Russian  army  which, 
though  they  arose  from  the  same  source,  differed  much 
in  their  effects.  It  was  filled  with  a  proud  conscious- 
ness (which,  with  the  Eussians,  easily  degenerates  into 
swagger)  founded  on  the  campaign  of  1812,  and  a 
decided  antipathy  to  seek  new  battles  in  distant  coun- 
tries, when  they  saw  an  easy  and  certain  conquest  close 
at  hand,  and  that  Poland  could  be  brought  beneath  the 


204  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL   MEMOIR. 

sceptre  of  their  Emperor,  without  their  requiring  to 
make  any  further  sacrifices.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  Marshal  Kutusow,  if  he  had  been  still  alive,  would 
have  opposed  in  the  most  determined  manner  his 
master's  order  to  cross  the  Oder. 

The  Prussian  army  only  thought  of  taking  revenge 
for  a  long  and  unsupportable  pressure.  This  army, 
hastily  collected  from  thoroughly  national  elements, 
long  prepared  and  instructed  by  the  Tugendbund,  con- 
tained many  battahons  of  fanatic  volunteers, — fanatic 
as  so  many  of  the  students  and  professors,  literati  and 
poets  were  at  that  time,  — and  burned  with  a  desire  to 
break  forth  at  once  into  a  war  of  extermination. 

In  this  picture  the  portraits  of  the  Princes  and  their 
generals  must  not  be  omitted. 

The  Emperor  Francis,  ripened  by  nature  in  the  school 
of  experience,  ever  dispassionate  in  his  conclusions, 
never  withholding  a  calm  judgment,  always  acknow- 
ledged and  respected  the  reasons  for  and  against  every- 
thing :  holding  his  army  well  in  hand,  this  monarch 
was  always  raised  above  inferior  ends  and  the  play  of 
passion. 

The  Emperor  of  Eussia  was  animated  by  a  noble 
ambition,  but  he  well  knew  that  he  did  not  possess  the 
qualities  necessary  for  a  commander-in-chief.  Deter- 
mined, on  the  one  hand,  to  carry  out  the  great  work  of 
restoration,  but  full  of  respect  for  the  feeling  of  his 
people  and  his  army,  which  he  knew  not  to  be  inchned 
for  the  enterprise,  he  was  most  anxious  to  secure  suc- 
cess by  rapid  and  decisive  operations. 

The  King  of  Prussia,  calm  in  the  midst  of  a  highly 
excited  people,  and  by  nature  little  inclined  to  believe 
in  easily  gained  victories,  even  where  his  army  thought 
them  certain,  was  a  severe  critic  of  all  plans  (withou 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     205 

himself  bringing  forward  any)  for  the  intended  ope- 
rations. 

But  if  there  were  essential  differences  between  the 
characters  of  the  monarchs,  those  between  the  com- 
manders of  the  three  armies  were  no  less  evident. 

The  chief  qualities  requisite  for  a  great  general  were 
as  obviously  possessed  by  Prince  Schwarzenberg  as  they 
were  wanting  in  General  Barclay  de  Tolly. 

General  Bliicher,  was  a  man  of  overflowing  courage 
and  energy,  but  impartial  history  will  deny  him  many 
other  quahties,  without  which  a  general  cannot  inspire 
lasting  confidence.  He  was,  however,  the  true  repre- 
sentative of  the  national  spirit  of  the  time,  and  the  King 
could  not  have  given  his  army  a  better  head. 

Behind  the  scenes  moved  two  very  different  men. 
General  Jomini  had  deserted  the  flag  of  the  French  army, 
and  had  just  enlisted  under  that  of  Eussia.  General 
Moreau  had  been  summoned  by  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
and  had  reached  him  at  Prague.  Mistrusting  his  own 
military  talent,  this  monarch  had  formed  of  these  men 
a  sort  of  secret  council,  and  indulged  the  idea  that 
with  their  help  he  could  take  upon  himself  the  chief 
command  of  the  Allied  armies.  This  plan  was,  however, 
soon  abandoned. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  urged  that  the  chief 
command  should  be  given  to  Field-Marshal  Prince 
Schwarzenberg,  and  the  Emperor  Alexander  gave  his 
consent. 

The  ill-timed  attack  on  Dresden  was  made  at  the 
request  of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  against  the  wish 
of  the  Commander-in-Chief.  The  great  head-quarters 
were  removed  from  TepJitz  to  Komotau,  and  the  Allied 
armies  crossed  the  Saxon  frontier.  The  Emperor 
Alexander  and  the  King  of  Prussia  followed  this  opera- 


206  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

tion  ;  the  Emperor  Francis,  who  was  opposed  to  it,  re- 
mained at  TepUtz. 

A  few  days  after  the  frontier  was  crossed  by  the 
AlHed  army,  I  received  an  urgent  request  from  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  that  I  would  go  to  him.  This  I  did, 
and  met  the  Emperor  in  Saxon  Altenburg. 

The  Emperor  declared  to  me  that  affairs  could  not 
go  on  longer  as  they  were,  and  that  a  new  arrangement 
must  be  made  in  place  of  that  agreed  on  at  Teplitz. 
To  my  question,  what  change  was  to  be  made,  the 
Emperor  rephed  that  he  had  decided  to  entrust  the  con- 
duct of  the  war  to  General  Moreau.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, conceal  from  himself  that  General  Moreau,  being 
a  Frenchman,  would  not  obtain  the  confidence  of  the 
AlHed  armies  ;  that  he,  the  Emperor,  therefore,  would 
take  the  title  of  Generahssimo,  but  that,  knowing  his 
own  want  of  the  necessary  qualities,  he  would  always 
follow  the  advice  of  the  general,  whom  he  would  always 
keep  at  his  side  as  his  lieutenant.  The  appointment  of  _^ 
General  Moreau,  the  Emperor  thought,  would  soon  be  '^ 
justified  in  the  eyes  of  the  army  by  new  successes  ;  and 
the  very  difiiculty  which  was  thought  to  exclude  him 
from  the  position  intended  for  him,  would  in  itself 
have  a  great  effect  upon  the  French  army.  He  was 
certain  that  the  mere  name  of  Moreau,  at  the  head  of 
the  AlUes,  would  have  a  magical  effect  upon  the  enemy's 
army. 

I  at  once  declared  that  if  his  Imperial  Majesty  meant 
to  insist  on  this  arrangement,  the  Emperor,  my  master, 
would  withdraw  from  the  Alliance.  With  equal  decision 
I  withstood  the  expectations  which  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander connected  with  the  appearance  of  General  Moreau 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Allies,  for,  according  to  my  sincere 
convictions — convictions,  too,  grounded  on  an  intimate 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     207 

knowledge  of  the  French  character — the  effect  would  be 
the  very  opposite,  and  would  be  seen  only  in  the  in- 
creased animosity  of  the  French  army. 

After  a  long  pause,  during  which  he  seemed  lost  in 
profound  thought,  the  Emperor  at  last  broke  silence, 
saying,  '  Well  and  good,  we  will  postpone  the  question, 
but  I  make  you  responsible  for  all  the  mischief  which 
may  arise  from  it.' 

Two  days  after  this.  General  Moreau  was  mortally 
wounded  by  the  side  of  the  Emperor  Alexander.  When 
he  met  me  the  next  day,  he  said  to  me,  '  God  has  uttered 
His  judgment :  He  was  of  your  opinion  ! ' 

There  was  one  view  which  vehement  politicians 
Hke  Von  Stein  and  others  were  never  able  to  appre- 
ciate, but  which  was  constantly  before  the  Imperial 
cabinets :  namely,  that  to  secure  the  triumph  of  the 
Alliance  so  far  as  this  was  in  the  power  of  the  leaders  of 
the  mighty  undertaking,  they  had  to  consider  not  only 
the  enemy,  but  also  the  Allies.  If  the  agreement  of  mem- 
bers of  an  alliance  upon  a  common  object,  and  the 
sacrifices  which  it  demands,  is  a  problem  difficult  to  be 
resolved  in  ordinary  political  alliances,  this  was  pre- 
eminently the  case  in  the  impending  war,  in  the  waging 
of  which  Powers  were  leagued  together  whose  posi- 
tions, geographical  and  political,  were  as  different  from 
each  other  as  were  their  actual  relations  to  the  common 
enemy.  How  profoundly  different  were  the  situations 
of  England,  of  Eussia,  of  Prussia,  of  Austria,  and  of  the 
Princes  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Ehine,  who  owed 
all  the  growth  of  their  power  to  the  wars  of  Napoleon  ! 
In  league  with  these  there  was  one  element  essentially 
different  from  all  the  others — the  Swedish  element, 
under  Bernadotte,  then  Crown  Prince,  afterwards  Charles 
John,  King  of  Sweden. 


208  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

It  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt  that  the  Crown  Prince 
had  personal  designs  on  the  throne  of  France.  Even  if 
his  operations  in  the  campaigns  of  1813  and  1814  did 
not  furnish  the  actual  proof  of  the  existence  of  this  pre- 
tension, the  words  spoken  by  him  would  be  equivalent 
to  a  confession.  When  he  perceived  at  Zerbst  the  pe- 
culiar courtesy  of  the  Swedish  soldiers  to  the  French 
prisoners-of-war,  it  is  reported  that  he  said  to  the  people 
about  him  :  '  It  is  inconceivable  with  what  gentleness 
the  Swedish  soldier  tends  the  French  prisoners ;  what 
instinct ! '  And  on  another  occasion,  after  the  battle  of 
Grossbeeren,  when  an  adjutant  of  the  Prussian  General 
Bulow  brought  the  news  of  victory  to  Bernadotte,  as  he 
was  riding  along  the  road,  accompanied  by  General  Pozzo 
di  Borgo,  who  was  acting  as  Eussian  Commissary,  Ber- 
nadotte cried  out  enthusiastically  :  '  La  France  au  plus 
digne  I '  '  Grands  Dieux,'  answered  Pozzo,  '  la  France 
est  a  moi.'     The  Crown  Prince  was  silent. 

An  account  of  the  mihtary  operations  of  the  AUied 
armies  does  not  fall  in  with  the  plan  of  this  work,  I 
wiU,  therefore,  touch  upon  these  only  in  a  summary 
way,  remarking  at  the  same  time  that  the  mysterious 
attitude  of  Napoleon,  after  the  defeat,  at  Kulm,  of  the 
corps  under  command  of  Yandamme,  which  had  forced 
its  way  into  Bohemia,  reversed  the  position  of  things, 
and  that  Prince  Schwarzenberg  availed  himself  of  that 
favourable  moment  to  carry  out  his  first  plan  of  opera- 
tion, which  culminated  in  the  battle  of  Leipsic*     By 

*  On  the  18th  of  Octoher,  1813,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  went,  in 
attendance  on  the  three  monarchs,  to  the  place  chosen  hy  Prince  Schwarzen- 
herg  as  the  most  suitable  point  for  himself  and  the  monarchs  to  watch  the 
battle ;  and  I  did  not  leave  this  point  of  observation  till  the  end  of  that 
bloody  day,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  I  returned  with  them. 
The  monarchs  required  no  report  of  the  victory,  for  they  were  themselves 
spectators  of  it  from  a  point  commanding  a  view  of  the  whole  vast  extent 


ON  THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.    209 

the  event,  rightly  designated  by  universal  consent  as  the 
Battle  of  the  Nations,  the  power  of  Napoleon  beyond  the 
frontiers  of  his  own  empire  was  crushed  ;  and  in  order 
to  terminate  the  first  campaign  of  the  AlHed  Powers, 
nothing  more  was  now  required  but  to  clear  the  Ger- 
man provinces  between  the  Pleiss  and  the  Rhine  of 
the  French  forces. 

Administration  of  the  Conquered  German  Countries. 

The  revolutionary  spirit  which  in  1807  had  dis- 
guised itself  under  the  cloak  of  Prussian  patriotism,  and 
afterwards  in  Teutonic  colours,  was,  in  the  years  1812  and 
1813,  introduced  into  the  councils  of  the  Emperor  of 
Eussia  by  Baron  Stein,  General  Gneisenau,  and  other 
Prussian  and  German  fugitives.  One  need  only  look  at 
some  of  the  Russian  proclamations  in  the  campaign  of 
1812  to  remove  all  doubt  on  this  subject.  The  same  spirit 
prevailed  in  the  negotiations  between  Russia  and  Prussia 
in  Kalisch.  The  immediate  interests  of  the  two  Powers 
were,  however,  not  left  out  of  sight.  They  promised  to 
help  each  other  in  the  conquest  of  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw 
for  Russia,  and  of  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony  for  Prussia. 

of  the  battle-field.  The  fate  of  this  decisive  day  (not  reckoning  on  acci- 
dents which  may  happen  on  any  'battle-field)  was  evident  even  by  twelve 
o'clock  at  noon.  The  position  taken  by  the  French  forces  after  the  first 
morning  hours  was,  and  could  only  be,  entirely  a  defensive  one,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  covering  their  retreat  over  the  river,  which  made  a  retreat  to  the 
west  of  Leipsic  more  difficult.  An  attack  on  Schonefeld,  the  farthest  point 
on  the  outposts,  and  its  capture  by  the  Russian  Guards,  had  no  effect  in 
deciding  the  event  of  the  day,  which  had,  as  we  before  said,  been  certain 
for  many  hours.  The  arrangements  of  the  Oommander-in-Ohief  were  there- 
fore concerned  only  with  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  the  taking  possession 
of  the  town  of  Leipsic  on  the  following  morning. 

Knowing  the  religious  feeling  of  the  three  monarchs,  we  may  be  sure 
that  they  ascribed  the  victory  of  the  day  to  the  Disposer  of  events,  with 
truly  thankful  hearts ;  but  that,  on  the  news  of  the  victory  of  October  18, 
they  fell  down  on  their  knees,  on  the  hill  from  which  they  had  watched  the 
battle,  is  only  a  poetic  embellishment. 

VOL.  I.  P 


'/ 


210  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

The  conventions  made  on  this  subject  between  the  two 
monarchs  placed  them  afterwards  in  a  false  position  in 
the  carrying  out  of  the  great  work  of  the  political  resto- 
ration of  Europe,  and  they  were  the  source  of  many 
and  great  difficulties  between  those  two  courts  and  that 
of  Austria. 

Von  Stein  was  selected  by  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
after  the  retreat  of  Napoleon  in  1812,  to  be  the  director 
of  the  future  fate  of  Germany.  His  influence  in  the 
deliberations  at  Kahsch  was  very  marked,  and  it  made 
itself  felt  tin  the  second  Peace  of  Paris  in  1815.  But  it 
was  in  Leipsic  that  the  Emperor  of  Eussia  first  intro- 
duced him  to  the  Austrian  Cabinet. 

After  the  entrance  of  the  Allies  into  that  town, 
October  19,  the  Emperor  Alexander  sent  for  me  on  the 
20th  to  inform  me  of  the  necessity  of  putting  Von 
Stein  at  the  head  of  the  administration  of  the  Ger- 
man countries  already  conquered  or  expected  to  be  so. 
This  administration  had  really  become  necessary,  in 
consequence  of  the  agreement,  made  in  Teplitz,  for  the 
provisional  destination  of  these  conquests.  As  I  had 
long  known  the  perversity  of  Von  Stein's  character,  I 
strongly  protested  against  his  being  chosen.  The  Em- 
peror Francis  personally  supported  my  endeavours,  but 
they  were  ineffectual.  The  Emperor  of  Eussia  in- 
formed me  at  last  that  he  had  given  his  word  to  Stein, 
and  that  it  was  impossible  to  break  it,  without  exposing 
himself  to  the  reproach  of  great  weakness.  It  was, 
therefore,  necessary  to  yield  the  point.  The  committee 
of  arrangement  was  appointed,  under  the  presidency  of 
Von  Stein ;  but  I  acquainted  the  Eussian  monarch 
with  my  opinion  of  the  deplorable  consequences  to  '. 
Germany  from  the  appointment  of  a  man  who  was 
under   the  immediate   guidance   of  the   revolutionary 


i 


ox  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     211 

party.  Events  proved  that  my  prediction  was  well 
founded.  The  administration,  of  which  the  internal 
arrangement  was  made  at  Leipsie,  became  the  support 
and  engine  of  that  party,  and  to  its  immediate  influence 
may  be  chiefly  ascribed  the  revolutionary  turn  which 
the  public  spirit  of  Germany  took  at  a  later  period. 
This  administration  was  composed  of  the  leaders  of  the 
popular  party  at  that  time,  and  this  it  was  which  organ- 
ised the  revolution  that  would  certainly  have  broken 
out  in  Germany  but  for  the  vigorous  efibrts  of  the 
AlUed  courts  for  the  safety  of  themselves  and  their 
peoples.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention  Jahn,  Arndt,  even 
Gorres,  and  many  others,  to  remove  all  doubt  on  the 
matter. 

The  King  of  Saxony  in  Leipsie. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  Allied  monarchs  into  Leipsie 
(October  19,  1813),  the  King  of  Saxony  stood  at  the 
window  of  his  hotel  to  see  them  pass.  None  of  the 
monarchs  turned  to  look  at  him. 

The  three  monarchs  met  to  consider  the  fate  of  this 

Prince.     We  wished  to  appoint  Prague  as  his  place  of 

residence  for  the  present.     The  Emperor  of  Eussia  and^ 

the  King  of  Prussia  had  already  determined  to  send  him 

to  Berlin.     We  agreed  that  the  monarchs  should  not 

see  the  King,  and  I  was  charged  to  announce  his  fate  to 

him.     I  went  to  the  King's  palace,  and  was  admitted 

without  delay.     The  King  awaited  me  standing  in  his 

reception-room,  and  received  me  with  friendHness.     I 

executed  my  mission  with  as  much  delicacy  as  possible. 

The  King  listened,  not  without  emotion,  but  with  an 

expression  of  thorough  resignation.    He  said  some  words 

and  tried  to  make  me  understand  that  his  position  was 

of  such  a  kind  that  no  other  attitude  had  been  possible 

p  2 


212  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR 

for  him.  I  answered  that,  in  my  capacity  of  leader  of 
the  cabinet,  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  point  out  to  him 
that  all  his  misfortunes  were  the  consequence  of  his  first 
mistake  of  refusing  the  hand  we  had  stretched  out  to 
save  him  and  his  country.  The  King  ofiered  me  his 
sword.  I  explained  to  him  that  I  did  not  consider  my- 
self authorised  to  receive  it. 

During  our  conversation  the  Queen  of  Saxony  entered 
the  room.  When  she  heard  the  object  of  my  visit,  she 
betrayed  the  greatest  agitation.  She  reproached  me 
bitterly  that  I  myself  had  opposed  Napoleon's  cause, 
which  she  called  the  cause  of  God.  I  answered  her 
quietly  that  I  had  not  come  to  the  King  to  argue  this 
matter  with  her.  The  King  immediately  departed  for 
Berlin  and  Freienwalde. 

Residence  in  Frankfort. 

Frankfort  was,  from  its  situation,  the  place  where 
the  future  operations  had  to  be  arranged.  Up  to  this 
time  the  monarchs  had  only  followed  the  movements  of 
the  army  after  the  battle  of  Leipsic.  The  only  diplo- 
matic action  between  October  18  and  November  6,  the 
day  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria's  arrival  in  Frankfort, 
was  the  Peace  which  I  signed  at  Fulda,  on  November  2, 
with  the  King  of  Wurtemberg.  The  Princes  of  the 
Confederation  of  the  Ehine  had  sent  plenipotentiaries 
in  great  haste  to  Frankfort,  in  order  to  join  in  the 
conference  with  the  Allies.  The  united  Cabinets  ap- 
pointed Plenipotentiaries  for  the  business  of  signing  the 
different  documents.  These  Plenipotentiaries  were,  for 
Austria  Baron  Binder,  for  Eussia  Herr  von  Anstett,  and 
for  Prussia  Baron  von  Humboldt.  They  signed  in  one 
day  twenty-two  treaties. 

The  great  poHtical  question  was  to  fix  the  course  of 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     213 

a  new  campaign.  Germany  was  evacuated  :  of  French 
military  there  Avere  only  the  garrisons  of  some  fortresses 
on  the  Oder  and  the  Elbe.  The  AlHed  armies,  every- 
where victorious,  were  now  still  further  reinforced  by 
the  German  contingents.  The  object  of  the  war  of  1813 
was  attained — Napoleon  was  repulsed  and  driven  back 
over  the  Ehine.  What  was  to  be  done  in  the  next  year  ? 
This  was  what  we  had  to  decide. 

On  the  following  points  we  were  all  agreed  : — 

1.  To  carry  the  war  beyond  the  Ehine  into  the 
interior  of  France. 

2.  By  this  proceeding  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  very 
existence  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  which  might  be 
decisive  in  its  consequences. 

3.  To  wait  to  see  what  effect  the  misfortunes  of  the 
two  last  campaigns  and  the  invasion  of  the  French  ter- 
ritory would  have  on  the  mind  of  the  nation ;  further 

4.  It  was  resolved,  at  my  suggestion,  that  if  once 
the  heights  of  the  Vosges  and  the  Ardennes  were  occu- 
pied, a  plan  must  be  made  for  the  mihtary  operations 
which  would  amount  to  a  third  campaign,  deciding  the 
future  fate  of  France,  and  therefore  also  the  triumph 
of  the  Quadruple  Alliance.  The  most  important  motives 
decided  me  to  this  course.  They  will  be  seen  more 
clearly  in  the  sketch  I  shall  afterwards  give  of  the 
'  Eesidence  in  Langres.' 

But,  before  crossing  the  Ehine,  some  resolutions 
must  be  taken  on  both  moral  and  mihtary  grounds.  It 
was  not  an  easy  undertaking. 

The  Emperor  of  Eussia,  prepossessed  by  revolution- 
ary ideas,  surrounded  by  men  like  Laharpe,  Stein,  and 
Jomini,  entertained  plans  which  would  have  led  the 
world  to  ruin.  The  Eussian  army  remained  quiet,  and 
thought  its  object  gained.    If  Marshal  Kutusow  had  been 


214  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

still  living,  it  would  not  liave  left  the  Oder.  The  Prus- 
sian army  ruled  the  cabinet ;  it  thirsted  only  for  revenge. 
Bllicher  and  the  Free  Corps  thought  only  of  the  destruc- 
tion and  plundering  of  Paris.  The  revolutionary  seed, 
which  had  borne  so  much  fruit  in  Prussia  since  18U8, 
grew  and  flourished  on  this  extensive  field.  Men  like 
Arndt,  Jahn,  and  others,  who  distinguished  themselves 
so  deplorably,  had  all  appointments  in  the  army  at 
Frankfort,  or  about  the  ministers. 

The  efforts  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  were  directed 
to  good  ends  only ;  and  the  task  fell  on  me,  in  these 
difficult  circumstances,  to  clear  the  way  for  events,  and 
prevent  evil  designs  from  neutralising  the  really  good, 
and  bringing  about  a  situation  which  would  only  too 
easily  have  involved  the  future  of  society  itself. 

I  proposed,  in  the  first  place,  to  issue  a  manifesto  to 
the  French  people,  in  the  name  of  the  Allied  monarchs, 
to  enhghten  the  French  nation  on  the  motives  and  ob- 
jects of  the  invasion. 

Being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  public  feehng 
in  France,  I  felt  certain  that  in  the  appeal  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  Ehine,  the  Alps,  and  the  Pyre- 
nees as  the  natural  boundaries  of  France,  thus  offering 
a  bait  which  would  be  taken  by  all,  and  flattering  the 
vanity  instead  of  embittering  the  feehngs  of  the  nation. 
Intending  to  separate  Napoleon  still  more  from  the 
nation,  and  at  the  same  time  to  act  on  the  mind  of  the 
army,  I  proposed  further  to  join  with  the  idea  of  natural 
boundaries  the  offer  of  an  immediate  negotiation.  As 
the  Emperor  Francis  sanctioned  my  intention,  I  laid  it 
before  their  Majesties  of  Eussia  and  Prussia.  Both  of 
them  feared  that  Napoleon,  trusting  to  the  chances  of 
the  future,  might  by  accepting  the  proposal  with  quick 
and  energetic  decision,  put  an  end  to  the  affair.     I  used 


ON  THE  fflSTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     215 

all  my  powers  of  persuasion  on  the  two  monarchs  to 
lead  them  to  share  my  conviction  that  Napoleon  would 
never  voluntarily  take  such  a  decision.  The  substance 
of  the  proclamation  was  decided  on,  and  it  was  left  to 
me  to  fill  up  the  details. 

Baron  St.-Aignan,  the  French  Ambassador  at  the 
ducal  court  of  Saxony,  had  been  taken  prisoner  in 
Gotha,  and  brought  to  Bohemia  by  the  troops  of  the 
Alhes.  I  proposed  to  make  amends  for  a  proceeding  so 
contrary  to  •  all  international  rights,  and  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  being  summoned  to  Frankfort,  to  let  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  know  of  our  projected  plan.  Baron 
St.-Aignan  was  summoned,  and  I  had  a  long  conversation 
with  him,  in  the  presence  of  Count  Nesselrode  and  Lord 
Aberdeen,  and  we  then  allowed  him  to  depart  imme- 
diately for  Paris.  At  the  same  time  twenty  thousand 
copies  of  the  proclamation  were  printed  and  sent,  by  all 
possible  means,  across  the  Ehine  and  all  over  France. 
Afterwards  I  heard  from  the  Prince  of  Neufchatel  that  the 
fij*st  of  the  proclamations  which  was  posted  up  in  Paris 
was  brought  by  Savary,  then  Minister  of  Pohce,  to  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  who,  on  reading  it,  said :  '  No  one  but 
Metternich  can  have  concocted  this  document ;  talking 
of  the  Ehine,  the  Alps,  and  the  Pyrenees  is  a  thorough 
piece  of  cunning.  It  could  only  enter  into  the  head  of 
a  man  who  knows  France  as  well  as  he  does.' 

Napoleon  had  made  a  proposal  for  the  renewal  of 
the  negotiations  for  the  conclusion  of  peace.  On  the 
side  of  Prussia,  the  feeling  was  decidedly  against  any  such 
negotiations.  The  Emperor  Alexander  inclined  to  the 
opinion  of  the  Austrian  Cabinet,  that  the  way  should 
never  be  closed  against  peaceful  tendencies,  even  in 
the  hottest  fight.  The  Emperor  Francis  believed  in 
the  sincerity  of  Napoleon's  mood  ;  but  I  was  convinced 


216  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  IiIEMOIR. 

of  the  contrary.  It  seemed  to  me  that  an  acceptable 
end  of  the  war  could  not  be  intended  by  the  man  who 
had,  as  it  were,  burned  his  ships  behind  him ;  but  I 
thought  it  the  duty  of  the  Powers  at  least  to  hear  the 
conditions  with  which  Napoleon  was  prepared  to  come 
forward. 

The  three  courts  answered  the  proposals  of  Napo- 
leon with  the  calm  consciousness  of  strength,  and  de- 
clared themselves  ready  for  a  meeting  of  deputies  in 
Mannheim ;  but  refused  to  listen  to  any  hints  for  the 
suspension  of  warlike  operations.  My  prediction  that 
the  idea  of  peace  was  far  from  Napoleon  proved  to  be 
right.  He  never  carried  out  the  meeting  in  Mann- 
heim. 

The  question  was  now  to  arrange  the  plans  for  the 
mihtary  operations,  and  this  presented  great  difficulties. 

Field-Marshal  Prince  Schwarzenberg  proposed  a 
general  attack  on  three  hnes  of  operation :  namely,  the 
right  wing  of  the  great  army,  consisting  of  the  Prussian 
forces,  under  the  command  of  General  Bluchcr,  should 
cross  the  Ehine  between  Mayence  and  Cologne,  advance 
towards  the  Netherlands,  and  take  the  direction  to 
Lothringen  and  the  slopes  of  the  Ardennes.  The  centre 
of  the  army,  composed  of  Austrian  and  Eussian  troops, 
should  cross  the  Rhine  between  Mannheim  and  Basle,  and 
lead  the  chief  line  of  operations  of  the  Austrian  army 
through  Switzerland.  A  corps  of  the  latter,  under  the 
command  of  General  Bubna,  would  have  to  march  out 
of  Italy  by  the  Simplon  Pass,  to  occupy  La  Vallee,  to 
take  Geneva  and  Lyons,  and  thus  to  form  the  extreme 
outer  left  wing. 

The  impatience  of  the  Prussian  army,  and  its  wish  to 
get  to  Paris  as  soon  as  possible,  even  if  it  went  alone,  de- 
cided Marshal  Blucher  to  propose  an  operation  directed 


ON  THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     217 

towards  Verdun,  like  the  one  which  ended  so  unfortu- 
nately in  1792.  Supported  by  the  Russian  and  Austrian 
forces,  he  did  not  fear  similar  misfortunes,  whilst  this 
operation  would  really  have  brought  him  to  Paris  by 
the  shortest  route. 

A  subordinate  circumstance,  but  one  of  the  kind 
which  had  already  so  often  influenced  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  determined  his  Imperial  Majesty  to  propose  a 
modified  plan,  between  those  of  the  Austrian  and  Prussian 
generals.  This  proposal  was  grounded  on  the  desire 
that  the  neutrality  of  Switzerland  should  be  respected, 
and  presupposed  a  general  and  simultaneous  movement 
of  the  Allied  armies,  to  cross  the  Rhine  in  several  places 
between  Altbreisach  and  Cologne.  The  secret  of  this 
plan  was  as  follows  : — 

Laharpe,  Jomini,  and  other  Swiss  revolutionaries, 
had  urged  vehemently  on  the  Emperor  Alexander  what 
they  called  respect  for  Helvetian  neutrality.  Several 
considerations  had  led  them  to  this  wish.  Laharpe  and 
the  Vaudois  feared  a  return  to  the  old  order  of  things, 
as  a  consequence  of  which  the  new  Cantons  might  lose 
their  pohtical  existence.  Whereas  by  preserving  their 
political  existence,  they  hoped  to  succeed  in  transform- 
ing the  old  Cantons  into  an  entirely  democratic  system. 
Lastly,  Laharpe  and  his  friends  wished  to  keep  Switzer- 
land, whatever  might  happen,  open  as  an  asylum  for  the 
revolutionaries  of  France,  and  of  all  other  countries  oc- 
cupied, or  which  might  be  occupied,  by-the  Allies.  The 
Emperor  of  Russia  had  committed  himself  to  them  by 
certain  engagements  ;  but  they  set  other  springs  in 
motion  to  make  their  cause  certain.  They  suggested 
the  despatch  of  a  deputation  to  Frankfort  to  require  the 
confirmation  of  the  neutrahty.  The  Emperor  of  Russia, 
without  giving  any  decided  promises,  such  as  he  had 


218  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

given  to  some  of  his  intimate  friends,  did  not,  however, 
fail  to  dismiss  the  deputation  with  a  confident  hope  that 
the  neutrahty  of  Switzerland  would  not  be  violated. 
But  there  was  another  circumstance  which  had  a  much 
more  decisive  effect  upon  the  attitude  of  the  Emperor. 

A  lady,  formerly  governess  of  the  Grand-Duchess 
Marie  of  Weimar,  a  Vaudois  who  had  been  sent  by  the 
Cantons  to  Frankfort  to  implore  the  support  of  her 
Imperial  Highness,  had  been  listened  to  by  the  Princess. 
The  Emperor  Alexander,  on  his  side,  had  promised  his 
sister  that  he  would  never  allow  the  Allied  armies  to 
enter  Switzerland.  He  even  empowered  her  to  mention 
this  promise  in  a  letter  which  the  Grand-Duchess  wrote 
to  her  former  governess,  and  which  the  Grand-Duchess 
expressly  allowed  her  to  show  in  confidence  to  her 
friends  at  Lausanne. 

Several  daj^'s  were  lost  in  mere  councils  of  war 
between  the  leaders  of  the  different  armies.  Each  of 
them  defended  his  own  plan  of  operation ;  and  all 
rational  arguments  supported  the  plan  of  Field-Marshal 
Prince  Schwarzenberg,  which  had  the  more  to  say  for 
itself  as  the  prehminary  preparations,  made  by  me  in 
Switzerland,  could  leave  us  no  doubt  that  the  sound 
part  of  the  Swiss  people  would  give  a  good  reception 
to  the  Austrian  army,  which  was  the  only  one  that 
could  enter  Switzerland,  and  would  welcome  them  as 
liberators.  When  the  Emperor  of  Russia  had  lost  all 
hope  of  bringing  the  Austrian  and  Prussian  generals 
over  to  his  plan,  one  evening  about  ten  o'clock  he  sent 
to  me  Prince  Demeter  Wolkonski,  chief  of  the  staff, 
with  an  invitation  to  come  to  him  without  delay. 

Introduced  into  the  closet  of  his  Imperial  Majesty, 
I  found  the  generals  of  the  three  armies  assembled 
there.     The  Emperor  at  once  began,  and  said  to  me 


ON  THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     219 

that  the  council  of  war,  after  fruitless  endeavours  to 
;i<Tree  about  the  plan  of  impending  operations,  had  come 
to  the  resolution  of  referring  the  decision  to  a  third 
person,  and  that  his — the  Emperor's — choice  had  fallen 
upon  me.  Although  not  in  doubt  what  I  should  do,  I 
nevertheless  asked  to  be  informed  of  the  discussion 
which  had  taken  place.  The  Emperor  then  undertook 
to  explain  to  me  the  different  plans  of  operation. 

I  began  by  insisting  on  the  analogy  of  the  views 
of  his  Imperial  Majesty  with  those  of  the  Austrian 
(.^ommander,  and  on  the  strong  grounds  which  existed 
for  the  choice  of  Switzerland  as  a  basis  of  operation. 
The  Emperor,  although  he  allowed  me  to  unfold  all  the 
mihtary  and  poHtical  grounds  which  I  brought  forward 
in  the  support  of  my  advice,  at  last  expressed  himself 
to  this  effect :  that,  although  he  did  not  deny  the 
cogency  of  my  arguments,  he  could  never  agree  to  the 
violation  of  the  neutrality  of  Switzerland.  I  repUed  to 
the  Emperor  that  such  a  measure  would  as  little  fall  in 
with  my  views ;  but  the  most  important  grounds  per- 
mitted me  to  assume  it  as  a  certainty  that  whenever  we 
appeared  on  the  soil  of  the  Confederation  we  should  be 
received  as  friends  and  hberators.  His  Majesty  replied 
to  me  that  special  grounds  and  considerations,  which 
perhaps  applied  only  to  himself,  would  always  restrain 
him  from  exposing  himself  to  the  danger,  or  even  the 
possibility,  of  meeting  with  opposition  from  the  Cantons. 
Ultimately  the  Emperor  consented  that  if  we  should 
succeed  in  obtaining  permission  from  the  Swiss  to  make 
use  of  the  bridge  at  Basle,  to  this  he  would  make  no 
objection.  Upon  this  concession,  I  advanced  a  step 
further,  and,  without  rejecting  it,  I  expressed  my  con- 
viction that  the  permission  to  pass  through  the  whole 
territory   of    the   Confederation    would    encounter   no 


220  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

more  opposition  than  would  the  permission  to  cross  the 
one  bridge,  by  which  the  partisans  of  the  pretended 
neutraUty  would  consider  it  just  as  much  violated.  1 
concluded  the  discussion  by  deciding  in  favour  of  the 
plan  of  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  with  due  consideration 
for  the  wishes  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
especially  in  paying  all  possible  respect  to  the  Swiss 
Confederation. 

Residence  in  Freiburg  and  Basle. 

During  the  negotiations  in  Frankfort  I  had  taken 
every  possible  step  to  obtain  permission  for  the  entrance 
of  the  Imperial  troops  into  Switzerland.  Baron  Leb- 
zeltern  was  in  Zurich  at  the  Bundesdirectorium^  Count 
Senfft  in  Berne.  Prince  Schwarzenberg  had  put  him- 
self into  immediate  communication  with  the  mihtary 
chiefs  of  the  Swiss  contingents.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  that  the  army  would  be  well  received  in  Switzer- 
land, and  that  at  their  first  appearance  the  troops  of 
the  Eepublie  would  join  them. 

Since  Marshal  Bliicher's  plan  of  operations  was  set 
aside,  the  head-quarters  of  the  Russian  and  Austrian 
army  were  removed  to  Brisgau. 

Prince  Schwarzenberg  had  hastened  on  several  days 
before  the  departure  of  their  Majesties,  and  fixed  on 
Lorrach  for  their  head-quarters.  When  I  was  in 
Frankfort,  I  received  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he 
informed  me  of  the  impossibility  of  his  putting  ofi* 
crossing  the  Ehine  beyond  the  end  of  the  year,  because 
the  means  were  wanting  to  support  the  numerous  forces 
drawn  up  from  Schafi"hausen  to  the  heights  of  Freiburg. 
At  the  same  time  he  let  me  know  that,  in  concert 
with  the  Swiss  generals,  he  had  made  arrangements 
to  cross  the  Ehine  from  SchafThausen  to  Basle  at  all  f 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     221 

the  necessary  points.  I  presented  myself  to  take  the 
orders  of  the  Emperor,  and  set  out  without  delay  to 
Freiburg,  authorised  by  his  Majesty  to  make  all  ar- 
rangements for  carrying  out  the  operation  with  the 
commander-in-chief. 

The  Emperor  of  Eussia  had  left  Frankfort  two  days 
earher,  and  was  in  Carlsruhe  with  the  family  of  the 
Empress.  I  made  my  arrangements  so  that  I  had  to 
pass  this  town  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
Emperor  Francis  followed  me  five-and-twenty  hours 
later.  Immediately  on  my  arrival  in  Freiburg,  I  found 
the  last  news  required  for  the  final  arrangement  of  my 
diplomatic  plan,  which  was  designed  to  support  the 
mihtary  plan  of  the  field-marshal.  The  same  night  I 
sent  to  Baron  Lebzeltern  in  Zurich  a  courier  with  the 
sketch  of  the  official  note,  which  was  to  be  delivered 
to  the  Diet  assembled  in  that  town.  Prince  Schwarzen- 
berg  ordered  the  crossing  of  the  Rhine ;  and  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Emperor  in  Freiburg,  I  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  be  able  to  inform  him  that  the  troops  of  the 
Confederation  had  joined  those  of  his  Majesty,  and  that 
the  latter  had  everywhere  met  with  the  most  favourable 
reception. 

There  still  remained  the  difficulty  of  informing  his 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Russia  that  the  event  had- 
really  been  accomphshed  which  he  had  pronounced  to 
be  impossible.  The  Emperor  Francis  instructed  me  to 
execute  this  commission  on  the  following  day,  when  the 
arrival  of  his  ally  was  expected. 

On  December  22  the  Emperor  went  to  meet  the 
Russian  monarch  two  miles  outside  the  town.  I  ac- 
companied his  Majesty.  At  the  moment  of  the  meeting 
of  the  two  monarch s,  the  Emperor  Alexander  addressed 
me  with  the  question  whether  there  was  any  news.     I 


222  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


replied  that  I  could  not  answer  his  question  till  we 
had  arrived  at  the  hotel.  The  Emperor  Francis  accom- 
panied the  Emperor  of  Russia  to  his  apartments,  and 
then  left  him.  The  latter  asked  me  to  come  into  his 
private  room :  '  Your  Majesty,'  I  said,  '  has  addressed 
a  question  to  me  which  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
answer  in  the  presence  of  so  many  persons.  I  am 
not  yet  certain  how  your  Majesty  will  take  what  I  have 
to  tell  you,  even  here  between  ourselves.  The  Austrian 
army  crossed  the  Rhine,  the  night  before  last,  at  several 
points  between  Schaffhausen  and  Basle.' 

The  Emperor  was  very  much  agitated  by  this  news  ; 
when  he  had  collected  himself,  he  asked  how  the  army 
had  been  received.  '  Amid  cheers  for  the  Alhance,  your 
Majesty.  The  Confederate  troops  in  a  body  have  joined 
our  flag,  and  the  people  came  in  crowds  from  all  sides 
to  bring  provisions  to  the  army,  for  which  we  paid  in 
ready  money.' 

I  could  easily  read  in  the  Emperor's  features  the 
conflicting  feelings  which  this  news  excited.  After  a 
longer  pause,  he  took  my  hand  and  said : — '  Success 
crowns  the  undertaking :  it  remains  for  success  to 
justify  what  you  have  done.  As  one  of  the  Allied 
monarchs  I  have  nothing  more  to  say  to  you ;  but  as  a 
.  man  I  declare  to  you  that  you  have  grieved  me  in  a 
way  that  you  can  never  repair.' 

I  remained  quiet,  and  repHed  to  his  Majesty  that  my 
conscience  did  not  reproach  me,  because  his  glory  was 
as  dear  to  me  as  the  great  cause  which  was  his  as  well 
as  that  of  all  Europe. 

'  You  do  not  know  how  you  have  grieved  me,'  said 
the  Emperor  hastily.  '  You  do  not  know  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  my  position.' 

'  I  know  them,'  I  rephed,  '  and  I  beheve  I  know 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     223 

them  fully.  It  is  not  for  you  to  reproach  me,  your 
Majesty.  The  regret  is  much  more  on  my  side.  Why 
did  your  Majesty  not  let  me  know  what  I  ought  to  have 
known,  even  if  it  were  only  to  oppose  it?  Your  Majesty 
would  have  been  spared  many  griefs,  and  your  friend 
the  Emperor  also.' 

'  The  thing  is  done,'  said  the  Emperor  quietly  ;  '  it 
is  good  from  a  miHtary  point  of  view,  so  then  let  per- 
sonal considerations  yield  to  the  common  good.  Let  us 
go  straight  on  to  the  end  in  view,  and  talk  no  more 
about  it.' 

And,  in  fact,  we  did  not  talk  any  more  about  it,  and 
the  Emperor  Alexander  never  mentioned  the  subject  to 
the  Emperor  Francis. 

The  military  arrangements  for  carrying  out  the 
operations  were  quickly  made.  The  Emperor  of  Eussia 
asked  as  a  favour  that  his  guard,  which  formed  the  head 
of  the  Eussian  columns,  might  pass  the  bridge  of  Basle 
on  the  Greek  New  Year's  Day  (January  13,  1814). 
His  wish  was  granted,  although  the  general  operation 
suffered  some  useless  delay  in  consequence. 

Our  stay  in  Basle  had  nothing  remarkable  in  it  but 
the  arrival  of  Lord  Castlereagh.  It  was  here  that  a 
few  hours'  conversation  sufficed  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
a  good  feeling  between  this  upright  and  enlightened 
statesman  and  myself,  which  the  following  eventful 
years  cemented  and  enlarged. 

I  found  Lord  Castlereagh  not  quite  thoroughly  in- 
formed of  the  real  state  of  affairs  on  the  Continent. 
His  straightforward  feeling,  free  from  all  prejudice  and 
prepossession,  and  his  justice  and  benevolence  gave  him 
a  quick  insight  into  the  truth  of  things.  I  soon  saw 
that  his  ideas  about  the  reconstruction  of  France  in  a 
manner  compatible  with  the  general  interests  of  Europe 


224 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


did  not  materially  differ  from  mine.  Thus  the  resi- 
dence in  Basle  was  merely  a  preparation  for  the  poUtical 
scene  which  was  soon  inaugurated  in  Langres. 

Residence  in  Langres. 

Langres,  the  crowning  point  of  the  Vosges  where 
they  overlook  the  plains  of  France,  and  the  heights  of 
the  Ardennes,  were  fixed  on  by  the  Frankfort  decrees  as 
the  strategic  line  where  the  third  operation  was  to 
begin.  We  entered  Langres  on  January  25,  1814,  and 
the  following  days  were  occupied  with  negotiations  of 
the  greatest  importance.  These  would  remain  unknown 
to  the  world  for  ever  if  I  did  not  record  them  here. 

As  the  monarchs  and  their  cabinets  were  here 
together,  no  protocols  were  drawn  up,  so  that  no  written 
trace  exists  of  proceedings  which  had  the  most  impor- 
tant consequences.  The  correspondence  of  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  with  his  cabinet  may  contain  some  fragments,  but 
it  cannot  give  the  complete  course,  for  the  principal 
questions  were  only  discussed  between  the  Emperor  of  j 
Eussia  and  myself. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  monarchs  in  Langres, 
I  was  informed  by  the  sagacious  and  far-seeing  men  of] 
the  cabinet  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  that  this  monarch 
was  much  agitated  at  the  necessity  of  coming  to  a  con- 
clusion with  respect  to  the  future  form  of  government  j 
to  be  estabhshed  in  France,  which  indeed  was  the  most 
important  of  all  questions.  The  overthrow  of  Napoleon 
seemed  to  be  inevitable.  The  attempt  to  come  to  a 
treaty  of  peace  which  should  maintain  him  on  the 
throne  had  been  unsuccessful  from  his  own  fault,  and 
would  in  no  way  have  attained  the  objects  of  the  great 
AUiance — the  object,  namely,  of  establishing  a  state  of 
peace  based  on  the  due  consideration  of  the  relations 


ON  THE  mSTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,   1813—1814.     225 

of  the  Powers  to  each  other,  and  promising  as  much 
durabihty  as  can  be  expected  from  any  pohtical  crea- 
tion. 

Every  peace  with  Napoleon  which  would  have 
thrown  him  back  to  the  old  boundaries  of  France,  and 
which  would  have  deprived  him  of  districts  that  had 
been  conquered  before  he  came  to  power,  would  only 
have  been  a  ridiculous  armistice,  and  would  at  once  have 
been  repelled  by  him.  There  remained,  therefore,  only 
three  possibihties :  the  recall  of  the  Bourbons ;  a  regency 
till  the  majority  of  Napoleon's  son  ;  the  nomination  of  a 
third  person  to  the  throne  of  France. 

Everything — ^just  rights  as  well  as  reason,  the  interest 
of  France  as  well  as  the  general  interest  of  Europe — 
spoke  in  favour  of  the  first  course.  The  Emperor  of 
Austria  did  not  for  a  moment  doubt  this.  The  same 
thing  cannot  be  said  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
Eussia.  The  revolutionary  spirits  who  surrounded  this 
monarch,  and  who  at  that  time  exercised  a  pernicious 
and  only  too  decisive  influence  on  the  tendencies  of  his 
mind,  had  laboured  for  a  long  time  in  a  direction  opposed 
to  the  legitimate  claims  of  the  Bourbon  family.  They 
ceased  not  to  represent  its  return  as  a  vain  under- 
taking. The  Emperor  was  convinced  of  this.  Diffi- 
culties easy  to  be  conceived  were  raised  against  the 
accession  to  the  throne  of  Napoleon's  son,  then  a  httle 
child.  The  man  who  was  at  once  suggested  for  the 
third  of  the  supposed  cases  was  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Sweden.  The  intrigues  of  himself  and  of  his  friends 
had  not  been  without  their  efiects.  His  previous  life 
and  career  rendered  him  accessible  to  the  revolutionary 
party ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  Laharpe  himself 
would  have  raised  him  to  the  throne  had  not  his  tho- 
roughly republican  feehng  and  sentiment  preferred  a 
VOL.  L  Q, 


226  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

return  "to  that  constitution   which   best   corresponded 
with  his  mode  of  thinking. 

I  allowed  the  first  days  to  pass  ;  they  were  devoted 
to  purely  mihtary  arrangements.  The  exaggerated  zeal 
of  the  Prussian  generals  needed  to  be  restrained.  We 
at  last  settled  on  the  plan  which  promised  most  success 
against  the  resistance  to  be  expected  from  Napoleon's 
genius  when  driven  to  its  last  defences.  It  was  re- 
solved that  the  Austrian  army  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  Eussian  and  Prussian  Guards  should  form  one  great 
army.  Another  was  formed  by  the  Prussian  army,  re- 
inforced by  two  Eussian  corps.  The  object  of  all  the 
operations  was  to  be — Paris.  The  hue  of  operation  of 
Prince  Schwarzenberg  was  to  be  in  the  direction  of  the 
Seine — that  of  General  Bllicher  the  direction  of  the 
Marne.  If  Napoleon  offered  battle  to  one  or  other  of 
the  armies,  the  one  attacked  was  not  to  accept  the 
challenge,  but  to  wait  till  the  Allies  came  to  its  help. 
The  corps  under  the  command  of  General  Bubna, 
should  take  Lyons,  and  keep  in  check  and  beat  the 
army  opposed  to  him  under  Augereau. 

When  these  dispositions  were  determined  on,  I  was 
sent  for,  one  evening,  by  the  Emperor  of  Eussia.  He 
began  the  conversation  with  the  explanation  of  the  chief  \ 
reasons  which  had  prevented  him  from  sooner  expres- 
sing his  thoughts  to  the  Allies  regarding  the  future 
government  of  France.  He  imparted  to  me  his  par- 
ticular wish,  for  these  same  reasons,  to  learn  on  the  very 
spot  itself  the  true  feeling  of  the  French  nation.  '  It 
is  against  the  Bourbons,'  said  the  Emperor  to  me ;  '  and 
to  bring  these  back  to  a  throne  which  they  had  not 
known  how  to  keep  would  be  to  expose  France,  and 
eventually  aU  Europe,  to  another  Eevolution,  of  which 
no  one  can  foretell  the  consequences.     To  choose  a  new 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     227 

ruler  is  a  very  difficult  undertaking  for  a  foreigner.  My 
resolution,  therefore,  is  taken.  The  operations  against 
Paris  must  be  continued  with  vigour ;  we  must  take 
possession  of  the  city.  On  the  approach  of  this  event, 
which  will  crown  the  military  successes  of  the  Alliance, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  issue  a  Proclamation  to  the 
French  people,  declaring  our  determination  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  choice  of  a  form  of  government, 
or  the  selection  of  a  ruler.  At  the  same  time  we  must 
summon  the  original  assemblies,  and  demand  that  a 
proper  number  of  deputies  should  be  sent  to  Paris  to 
decide  both  these  points  in  the  name  of  the  nation.' 

I  did  not  think  it  prudent  directly  to  oppose  a  scheme 
which  apparently  was  not  merely  the  Emperor's  own 
idea.  As  it  was  most  important  to  me  to  learn  the 
details  of  this  plan,  I  only  expressed  my  doubt  whether 
its  results  would  ever  answer  the  expectations  of  his 
Majesty.  '  Bonaparte,'  I  observed  to  the  Emperor,  '  has 
mastered  the  Eevolution  ;  the  plan  of  caUing  the  nation 
to  dehberate  on  questions  concerning  the  foundation 
of  the  social  edifice  of  France,  and  thereby  causing, 
as  it  were,  a  second  Convention,  would  unchain  the 
Eevolution  again,  and  that  can  never  be  the  object  of 
the  Alliance,  nor  the  meaning  of  their  deliberations.' 

The  Emperor  repHed,  with  vivacity,  that  my  obser- 
vations would  be  correct  if  the  monarchs  did  not  hold 
in  theii:  hands  the  measures  by  which  revolutionary 
evils  could  be  restrained.  '  We  are  in  France,'  he  con- 
tinued, '  and  our  armies  are  numerous :  they  will  inti- 
midate the  agitators.  The  deputies  of  the  nation  will 
only  have  to  give  their  opinion  on  two  questions — namely, 
the  form  of  government  and  the  selection  of  a  ruler. 
The  Repubhc  is  at  an  end.  It  has  fallen  by  its  own 
excesses.    The  Prince  whom  the  nation  will  give  to  itself 

Q  2 


228  AinX)BI06BAPmCAL  MEMOnL 

mil  have  less  difficulty  in  establishing  his  authority.  The 
authority  of  Napoleon  is  broken,  and  no  one  will  haire 
anything  more  to  do  with  it.  A  more  essential  point 
will  be  to  direct  the  assembly  aright.  I  have  in  readi- 
ness, the  man  most  suitable  for  this,  most  fitted  for  an 
affair,  which  would  perhaps  be  impossible  to  a  novice. 
We  entrust  the  direction  of  this  matter  to  Laharpe.' 

I  thought  this  the  right  moment  to  attack  the 
question. 

*  This  plan,'  I  replied, '  will  never  be  accepted  by 
the  Emperor,  my  master ;  and  if  he  shoidd  give  way,  I 
should  immediately  lay  my  resignation  at  his  feet.  The 
carrying  out  of  this  plan  would  cause  France  and  the 
whole  of  Europe  years  of  confimon  and  sorrow.  If 
M.  Laharpe  thinks  himself  able  to  answer  for  tiie  result, 
he  is  mistakpTi ;  and  I  speak  only  of  the  material  dis- 
advantages, for  what  will  become  of  Europe  even  firom 
the  mere  starting  of  the  principle  on  which  the  idea 
rests  ?  The  confidence  which  your  Majesty  has  just 
shown  me  by  giving  me  an  insight  into  your  views  on 
the  most  important  question  of  the  day,*  I  continued, 
'demands  from  me  the  most  perfect  candour.  What  I 
am  now  going  to  say  to  you,  your  Majesty,  is  what  the 
Emperor  Francis  thinks.  Mapoleon's  power  i?  broken, 
and  will  not  lise  again.  This  is  the  fate  of  the  power  of 
a  usurper  when  a  crisis  arrives.  When  the  overthrow 
of  the  Empire  comes,  there  will  be  only  the  Bourbons 
to  take  possession  again  of  their  undying  rights.  They 
will  do  it  by  the  power  of  events  and  the  wish  of  the 
nation ;  about  which,  in  my  opinion,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  The  Emperor  Frauds  will  never  £a,vour  any 
other  dynasty.' 

The  Emperor  Alexander  dismissed  me  with  the 
charge  to  report  our  conversation  to  my  master.   It  was 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     229 

midnight.  On  my  return,  I  found  at  my  house,  Count 
Nesselrode  and  General  Pozzo  di  Borgo.  They  knew 
that  I  had  spent  the  evening  with  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander. I  trusted  them  sufficiently  to  inform  them  of  the 
subject  of  our  conversation.  They  were  both  much 
agitated,  and  begged  me  never  to  r^lax  my  opposition 
to  ideas  which  they  judged  as  I  did,  both  from  a  con- 
sideration of  their  real  meaning  and  the  source  from 
which  alone  they  could  have  sprung. 

I  was  authorised  by  the  Emperor  Francis  to  go  so 
far  as  to  threaten  th-e  immediate  withdrawal  of  his 
army. 

The  following  evening,  I  went  again  to  the  Emperor 
of  Eussia.  I  had  heard  during  the  day  that  he  was  much 
excited,  but  did  not  speak  to  any  of  his  ministers  on  the 
subject  of  our  conversation  of  the  preceding  day.  His 
Majesty  enquired  from  me  what  were  the  views  of  the 
Emperor  of  Austria  on  this  subject. 

'  To  answer  your  Majesty  in  a  few  words,'  I  replied, 
'  I  can  only  repeat  what  I  said  yesterday.  The  Emperor 
is  against  any  appeal  to  the  nation — to  a  people  who 
would  be  in  the  false  position  of  deliberating  in  face  of 
seven  hundred  thousand  foreign  bayonets.  The  Em- 
peror does  not  see  either,  what  could  be  the  subject  of 
dehberation — the  legitimate  King  is  there.' 

The  Emperor  Alexander  composed  himself,  and  said, 
'  I  do  not  insist  on  my  idea  against  the  wish  of  my 
allies  :  I  have  spoken  according  to  my  conscience  ;  time 
will  do  the  rest ;  it  will  also  teach  us  who  was  right.' 

Seeing  the  Emperor  in  such  a  favourable  mood,  I 
gave  my  thoughts  full  course,  and  showed  him  the 
dangers  which  would  have  been  inseparable  from  a  plan 
which  would  have  left  no  choice  between  breaking  up 
the  Alliance  just  when  its   efforts  were   about  to  be 


230  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

crowned  with  success,  and  undermining  the  foundations 
of  social  order  and  throwing  Europe  into  confusions 
worse  than  those  which  attended  the  first  outbreak  of 
the  Eevolution.  The  Emperor  followed  my  argument 
step  by  step,  and  combated  what  was  most  opposed 
to  his  ideas  ;  but  we  parted  good  friends. 

I  should  not  have  described  this  circumstance  so 
fully,  if  ignorant  persons  from  party  spirit  had  not,  in 
the  important  question  of  the  internal  arrangement  of 
France,  attributed  to  the  Emperor  Francis  and  his 
cabinet  views  and  intentions  which  had  no  foundation 
whatever,  thus  placing  the  attitude  of  Austria  and  her 
allies  in  a  light  quite  opposed  to  truth.  The  feeling 
which  guided  Austria  was  well  considered,  and  was 
free  from  ambitious  or  sanguinary  feelings,  and  entirely 
devoted  to  the  great  task  of  attaining  and  securing  a 
state  of  peace  for  the  European  continent  resting  on 
solid  grounds.  This  was  the  direction  in  which  the 
cabinet  thought  and  acted  in  its  political  course,  as  well 
as  in  the  operations  of  the  war. 

The  rest  of  our  stay  in  Langres  was  devoted  to  ar- 
ranging the  mihtary  operations.  It  was  beyond  doubt 
that,  at  any  rate  at  first,  Napoleon  would  hmit  his 
defence  to  the  approaches  to  Paris,  and  that  therefore 
the  campaign  would  open  on  the  Aube. 

The  news  which  came  to  us  from  those  parts  of  the 
country  behind  the  Alhed  armies,  as  well  as  from  other 
parts  of  France,  as  to  the  feelings  of  the  nation,  were 
confirmed  by  the  observations  which  we  ourselves  were 
able  to  make  concerning  this  important  question,  at 
the  place  where  the  head-quarters  were  stationed.  The 
prevaihng  feehng  of  the  people  consisted  in  the  wish  for 
an  early  conclusion  of  the  operations,  and  by  far  the 
larger  majority  was  for  the  return  of  the  Bourbons. 


ON  THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     231 

The  political  question  was  discussed  no  more  by  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  and  his  allies.  The  course  of  events 
shows  how  useful  it  would  have  been  if  a  regular  plan 
for  our  future  attitude  had  been  made  at  the  right 
time,  resting  on  the  principle  of  a  restoration  of  the 
legitimate  power.  The  advantage,  however,  of  having 
removed  for  the  moment  so  fatal  an  idea  was  too  great 
not  to  be  very  satisfactory.  The  attempt  to  go  farther 
would  have  miscarried,  and  would  have  endangered  the 
necessary  harmony  between  the  Powers,  which  in  the 
very  midst  of  France  itself  were  occupied  in  an  under- 
taking still  liable  to  all  the  chances  of  war. 

There  was  no  danger  that  the  nation  might  wish 
the  maintenance  of  the  Imperial  government.  Our 
care  was  limited  to  a  successful  termination  of  the 
war,  and  the  final  result  of  the  great  undertaking  we 
committed  to  a  Power  higher  than  that  of  men. 

Congress  of  Chatillon. 

Few  negotiations  of  the  year  1814  were  better  known 
to  the  public  than  those  of  Chatillon.  The  acts  of  the 
Congress  have  been  given  to  the  public,  and  discussed 
by  the  historians  of  all  parties.  The  following  is  the 
truth  with  regard  to  the  spirit  which  guided  the  ca- 
binets in  this  juncture. 

The  four  Alhed  Powers,  harmonious  as  their  pro- 
ceedings appeared,  were  nevertheless  divided  in  their 
secret  views  about  many  points  of  high  and  decided 
importance. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  had  directed  his  thoughts 
and  wishes  only  to  a  state  of  things  which  enabled 
him  to  hope  that  the  political  peace  of  Europe  would 
be  secured  by  a  return  to  the  balance  of  power  and 


232  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  JtlEMOIR. 

political  equilibrium  which  had  been  entirely  destroyed 
by  the  French  conquests  during  the  Eevolution  and  the 
Empire.  At  the  time  we  are  speaking  of — namely,  after 
the  concentration  of  the  operations  between  the  Seine 
and  Marne — the  overthrow  of  the  French  Empire  was 
beyond  doubt  for  every  pohtician  who  did  not  give 
himself  up  to  illusions.  The  return  of  the  Bourbons 
and  the  reduction  of  France  to  her  old  boundaries 
seemed  to  the  Emperor  Francis  and  his  cabinet  the 
only  tenable  propositions,  since  they  alone  would  gua- 
rantee a  peace  founded  on  legitimacy.  Austria  was,  on 
this  fundamental  point,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
British  Government. 

The  ideas  of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  as  we  have 
seen,  hovered  sometimes  in  the  mists  of  a  vague  hberal- 
ism,  and  at  other  times  were  the  result  of  personal  or 
accidental  influences. 

Prussia  was  filled  with  thoughts  of  conquest  and 
with  a  thirst  for  the  revenge  of  all  her  sorrows  of  the 
last  few  years,  which  was  perhaps  natural.  The  King 
and  Prince  Hardenberg  agreed  much  better  with  our 
views  and  those  of  the  EngUsh  as  to  the  dynasty  to  be 
placed  on  the  French  throne,  than  with  the  exaggerated 
ideas  of  the  Emperor  of  Eussia. 

Napoleon  now  felt  that  it  was  quite  necessary  to 
make  use  of  the  last  chances  of  obtaining  a  peaceful 
adjustment. 

My  own  feeUng  in  pressing  the  opening  of  formal 
negotiations  was  only  the  continuation  of  that  which 
had  directed  my  calculations  and  my  pohtical  attitude 
since  the  beginning  of  the  year  1813.  I  had  so 
thorough  a  knowledge  of  the  inchnation  of  the  mass  of 
the  French  people,  of  the  feeling  of  the  Army,  and  also 
of  the  direction  of  Napoleon's  mind,  that  I  saw  only 


ox  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     233 

great  advantages  from  these  attempts  at  negotiation, 
without  any  fear  that  an  untimely  settlement  would 
delay  the  return  to  a  better  order  of  things. 

I  therefore  used  my  influence  to  carry  out  the 
declarations  which  had  been  made  by  the  Powers  in 
Frankfort  since  the  beginning  of  the  year.  In  this 
matter  I  was  greatly  assisted  by  the  perfect  agreement 
of  Lord  Castlereagh's  views  with  my  own. 

I  brought  about  the  appointment  of  Count  Stadion 
as  Plenipotentiary  of  Austria.  The  other  cabinets  fol- 
lowed this  example,  and  their  leaders  remained  in  the 
head-quarters  of  the  monarchs  ;  with  the  exception  only 
of  Lord  Castlereagh,  who  could  not  give  up  to  another 
so  important  a  matter  as  the  representation  of  Great 
Britain  at  the  Congress  where  the  foundations  of  a 
general  peace  were  to  be  arranged. 

It  soon  appeared  that  Napoleon,  notwithstanding 
the  enormous  difficulties  of  his  position,  did  not 
seriously  think  of  peace. 

He  gave  a  proof  of  how  easily  his  hopes  revived 
again,  by  the  extraordinary  importance  which  he  at- 
tributed to  the  trifling  success  of  the  skirmish  of 
Montereau.  The  day  after  this  fight,  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Emperor  of  Austria  quite  in  the  tone  as  if 
written  after  one  of  his  former  great  victories.  Among 
other  things,  he  was  weak  enough  to  give  in  this  letter 
a  calculation  of  the  losses  of  the  Allies  on  the  day  of 
the  battle  of  Montereau  which,  in  vain-glorious  boast- 
ing, far  surpassed  the  fabulous  accounts  of  his  '  war- 
bulletins.' 

The  course  of  military  events  put  an  end  to  the 
conferences  at  Chatillon. 


234  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 


The  Council  of  War  at  Bar-sur-VAuhe. 

The  great  Austrian  army  had,  in  consequence  of  the 
battle  of  Montereau,  become  separated  from  Blucher's 
army.     Obliged  to  evacuate  Troyes  and  to  retreat  to! 
Bar-sur-l'Aube,  the  three  monarchs  held  a  conference] 
at  which,  besides  their  Majesties  and  their   ministers,] 
several   generals   of  the  Allied   armies  assisted.     The] 
mihtary   measures   to  be   taken  were  there  discussed 
with  great  animation. 

The  King  of  Prussia  insisted  most  energetically  that 
the  three  armies  should  unite  and  make  an  immediate 
attack  upon  Paris.  The  Emperor  Francis,  Prince 
Schwarzenberg,  and  I  defended  the  opposite  proposal. 
The  plan  which  we  had  hitherto  followed  so  success- 
fully seemed  too  good  to  be  hastily  renounced.  Its 
object  was  to  avoid  risking  the  fate  of  the  campaign  on 
the  chance  of  one  general  battle,  but  gradually  to  ex- 
haust Napoleon's  strength.  This  plan,  though  slow  in 
its  operation,  seemed  certain  of  success.  Events  have 
proved  this  to  be  the  case.  A  subordinate  motive  con- 
tributed to  the  urgency  of  the  Prussian  party.  The 
army  of  Marshal  Bliicher  was  already  on  the  road  to 
Paris — all  their  desire  was  to  be  the  first  to  occupy 
Paris.  This  army  and  its  leaders  were  so  exasperated 
that  even  the  latter  did  not  shrink  from  the  idea  of 
abandoning  Paris  to  the  fury  of  the  soldiers,  whom  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  restrain  in  tlie  first 
moment  of  their  success.  Such  a  consideration  could 
not  be  left  out  of  our  reckoning,  and  if  prudence  had 
not  restrained  us  from  venturing  the  fate  of  the  cam- 
paign on  one  great  battle,  as  Napoleon  so  much  desired, 
the  intentions  of  the  Prussians  with  regard   to  Paris, 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     235 

which  were  no  secret  from  anyone,  would  alone  have 
been  sufficient  to  prevent  us  from  yielding. 

The  discussion  was  animated,  and  was  led  by  the 
King  of  Prussia  with  some  heat.  The  Emperor 
Alexander  hesitated  to  favour  either  one  side  or  the 
other.  Only  in  consequence  of  an  energetic  declaration 
of  the  Emperor  Francis,  which  I  supported  with  perfect 
openness,  and  with  all  my  might,  did  the  Eussian 
monarch  agree  to  Austria's  views.  He  offered  to  take 
the  office  of  secretary,  and  I  dictated  to  him  the  points 
agreed  upon  as  follows  : 

1.  No  battle  is  to  be  fought  near  Bar-sur-l'Aube. 

2.  Blucher  shall  continue  his  separate  movement. 

3.  The  great  army  shall  continue  its  march  by 
Chaumont  and  Langres. 

4.  The  continuation  of  this  movement  will  depend 
on  circumstances. 

5.  To  inform  Blucher  of  the  movements  decided  on 
for  the  great  army^  and  that  Wintzingerode  and  Biilow 
are  to  be  at  his  command. 

6.  To  give  the  necessary  orders  to  Wintzingerode 
and  Btilow. 

7.  To  give  to  Blucher  a  certain  latitude  in  his 
movements,  provided  always  that  military  prudence  be 
observed. 

The  council  of  war  separated,  but  the  Prussian 
party  were  very  much  out  of  humour. 

As  I  have  no  intention  of  entering  into  the  details 
of  mihtary  operations,  I  shall  here  limit  myself  to  those 
circumstances  which  have  a  political  bearing.  The 
battle  which  Prince  Schwarzenberg  accepted  near 
Arcis  proved  to  be  a  mere  skirmish  with  the  outposts, 
for  Napoleon  broke  it  off  as  soon  as  he  had  convinced 
himself  that   both    the  Austrian  and  Prussian  armies 


236  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  IMEMOIR. 

would  take  part  in  the  fight  To  his  astonishment  the 
commander-in-chief  saw,  from  the  heights  behind  Arcis, 
the  French  army  in  full  retreat,  eastwards. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  remained  behind  in  Bar- 
sur-lAube  with  the  intention  of  leaving  it  for  Arcis, 
if  a  battle  should  take  place.  His  Majesty  had  all  the 
ministers  with  him,  except  Count  Nesselrode. 

In  the  meantime  arrived  an  adjutant.  Count  Paar, 
sent  to  head- quarters  by  Prince  Schwarzenberg.  He 
brought  the  new  arrangemejits  for  the  generals  in 
command.  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  having  crossed  the 
Aube,  and  made  certain  that  Napoleon  was  continuing 
his  march  eastwards,  proposed  to  the  Emperor  of 
Eussia  and  the  King  of  Prussia  to  attack  Paris  with  the 
united  forces  of  the  AUies.  Bui  by  this  movement  the 
Austrian  army  and  part  -of  the  Eussian  were  in  danger 
of  being  cut  off  from  their  line  of  operations.  Napoleon 
might  have  two  plans.  He  might  either  attack  the 
rearguard  of  the  army  near  Nancy,  or  the  fortified 
places  to  the  east,  and,  reinforced  by  their  occupation, 
he  might  begin  a  new  war  at  some  place  between  the 
Ehine  and  the  invading  army. 

The  Field-Marshal  informed  the  Emperor  that  if 
this  operation  was  successful,  he  would  take  the  city  of 
Paris,  and  remain  there — if  unsuccessful,  he  would 
retire  upon  Belgium.  He  begged  his  Majesty  at  the 
same  time  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  and  to 
inform  the  miUtary  commissariat  of  the  dangers  which 
threatened  them.  Count  Paar  brought  the  order  to  the 
chief  ofiicer  of  the  Eussian  commissariat,  who  had 
remained  in  Bar-sur-l'Aube,  to  repair  immediately  to 
the  Eussian  head-quarters.  The  first  thought  of  the 
Emperor  was  to  go  himself  to  head-quarters  without 
loss  of  time ;  but  by  a  simple  calculation  it  was  soon 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     237 

seen  that  this  was  not  feasible.  At  the  time  of  Count 
Paar's  arrival  the  army  was  already  a  day's  march  on 
the  way  to  Paris,  and  therefore  the  Emperor  could  only 
liave  reached  the  head-quarters  at  the  third  halting- 
place,  while  the  country  between  was  open  to  French 
stragglers.  His  Majesty  was  obliged,  with  great  regret, 
to  await  the  course  of  events.  I  considered  for  a  long 
time  whether  I  should  run  the  risk  of  attempting  to 
reach  the  head-quarters  myself.  The  impossibility  of 
securing  the  necessary  change  of  horses  for  making  a 
three  days'  march  without  delay,  prevented  me  from 
carrying  out  my  wishes.  Count  Paar  had  taken  the 
precaution  of  securing  beforehand  the  change  of  horses 
required  for  his  own  journey.  He  arrived  safely  at 
liead-quarters,  and  carried  with  him  the  full  consent  of 
tlie  Emperor  to  the  Field-Marshal's  plan. 

The  chief  of  the  Eussian  commissariat  was  seized 
the  day  after  his  departure  by  some  French  cavalry, 
who  had  attacked  the  rear  of  the  great  Alhed  army.  In 
the  course  of  the  same  night  we  received,  at  2  o'clock 
A.M.,  the  news  that  Napoleon  had  gone  eastwards  as  far 
as  St.-Dizier,  and  that  on  receipt  of  the  news  of  the 
bold  movement  against  Paris  he  had  turned  into  the 
road  to  Bar-sur-l'Aube.  This  movement  showed  that 
Napoleon's  eccentric  march  had  no  other  object  but  to 
cause  the  commander  of  the  Austrian  army  to  retreat, 
by  threatening  his  connecting  line  of  operations. 
Napoleon  was  mistaken  ;  and  when  he  heard  of  the 
march  of  the  army  to  Paris,  he  exclaimed,  '  A  fine 
move  !  I  should  not  have  expected  it  from  a  general 
of  the  Coalition.' 

Preparations  were  immediately  made  for  departure 
from  Bar-sur-l'Aube,  and  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
Emperor  and  his  ministers  set  out  for  Dijon,  with  the 


238  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

small  escort  of  a  few  battalions  who  were  on  their 
march  to  join  the  great  army,  and  one  of  which  had 
happened  to  arrive  in  Bar  the  night  before.  This 
march  brought  us  nearer  to  the  army  of  the  hereditary 
Prince  of  Hesse-Homburg,  some  troops  of  which  were 
now  in  Dijon. 

Stay  in  Dijon. 

As  the  Emperor  did  not  wish  to  be  long  on  the  road, 
he  posted  from  Chatillon  to  Dijon.  We  made  the  last 
part  of  the  way  in  two  post-chaises,  among  a  popula- 
tion who  were  greatly  astonished  at  the  arrival  of  his 
Imperial  Majesty,  and  at  the  confidence  which  allowed 
us  to  come  among  them  without  escort.  The  impres- 
sion made  by  this  unexpected  arrival  of  the  Emperor  in 
Dijon  was  the  same  as  it  had  been  on  the  road.  We 
arrived  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  in  Dijon,  and  the 
Emperor  alighted  at  the  palace  of  the  Prefecture.  We 
were  obhged  to  mention  the  Emperor's  name  to  gain 
admittance.  In  a  few  hours  the  populace  rushed  into 
the  open  space  before  the  Prefecture,  and  a  great 
Eoyalist  agitation  took  place.  His  Majesty  called  upon 
the  different  parties  to  keep  quiet,  and  forbade  every 
kind  of  reaction.     These  orders  were  strictly  followed. 

Some  days  after  our  arrival  in  the  town.  Baron 
Wessenberg  arrived,  who  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
General  Pire,  on  his  return  from  an  embassy  to  England. 

The  country  to  the  west  of  Dijon  was  unsafe ; 
General  Alhx  commanded  there  a  corps  of  mobihsed 
National  Guards.  Some  troops  collected  from  different 
directions  and,  united  with  those  who  had  left  Bar  with 
us,  sufficed  to  guard  our  stay  in  Dijon,  where  we 
remained  till  we  received  the  news  of  the  capitulation 
of  Paris.     Nearly  at  the  same  time  with  this  news  the 


J 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.     239 

Duke  of  Cadore  (Champagny)  was  announced  to  deliver 
a  communication  from  Napoleon  to  the  Emperor.  I 
did  not  see  him,  because  his  Majesty  had  ordered  me  to 
start  for  Paris  without  delay.  This  mission  had  no 
success. 

The  news  of  the  capitulation  of  Paris  caused  a  great 
sensation  in  Dijon.  The  courtyard  of  the  hotel  where 
I  lived  was  soon  filled  with  thousands  of  men.  A 
deputation  came  to  ask  me  whether  it  was  permitted  to 
set  up  the  royal  colours.  His  Majesty  gave  his  consent, 
and  I  communicated  it  to  the  assembled  public. 
Shortly  afterwards  the  royal  flag  waved  in  Dijon.  I 
departed  in  company  with  Lord  Castlereagh  and  Chan- 
cellor Hardenberg. 

Arrival  in  Paris. 

I  arrived  in  Paris  on  April  10.  A  few  minutes 
afterwards  I  went  to  the  Emperor  Alexander.  He  had 
taken  up  his  abode  in  the  hotel  of  Prince  Talleyrand. 
His  Majesty  informed  me  of  his  communications  with 
Napoleon  since  the  entrance  of  the  Allied  armies  into 
Paris,  and  of  the  presence  of  the  Marshals  Ney  and 
Macdonald,  Napoleon's  plenipotentiaries,  in  Paris,  for 
the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  with  the  Allies,  in  which  he 
renounced  the  throne  of  France,  and  accepted  the 
sovereignty  of  the  island  of  Elba. 

I  expressed  my  astonishment  at  the  last  point  of 
this  agreement.  I  represented  to  him  how  many  un- 
pleasantnesses would  arise  from  an  arrangement  by 
which  a  residence  was  chosen  for  the  dethroned  Em- 
peror so  near  to  the  country  he  had  formerly  governed. 
It  was  easy  to  support  my  apprehensions  by  considera- 
tions arising  from  Napoleon's  character,  and  others 
which  were  made  evident  by  the  force  of  circumstances. 


240  AUTOBIOGRAPinCAL  MEMOIR. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  met  my  argument  with  reasons 
which  did  him  great  credit,  but  were  little  suited  to 
tranquilUse  me  as  to  my  predictions.  One  of  his  argu- 
ments was  that  without  insult  the  word  of  a  soldier 
and  a  sovereign  could  not  be  doubted.  I  declared 
to  his  Majesty  that  I  did  not  feel  authorised  to  take 
upon  myself  a  decision  of  such  great  consequence  for 
the  future  repose  of  France  and  of  Europe  without 
having  received  the  commands  of  the  Emperor,  my 
master.  'This  cannot  now  be  done,'  replied  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  warmly.  '  In  the  expectation  of  your 
arrival,  and  of  Lord  Castlereagh's,  I  have  put  off  the 
signature  of  the  treaty  for  several  days  ;  this  must  be 
brought  to  a  conclusion  in  the  course  of  the  evening  ; 
the  marshals  must  dehver  the  act  to  Napoleon  this  very 
night.  If  the  signing  of  this  act  is  not  completed, 
hostihties  will  begin  again  to-morrow,  and  God  knows 
what  the  result  may  be.  Napoleon  is  at  the  head  of  his 
army  at  Fontainebleau,  and  it  is  not  unknown  to  him 
that  the  act  is  approved  by  myself  and  the  King  of 
Prussia;  I  cannot  take  back  my  word.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  cannot  force  you  to  sign  the  document  which 
has  been  already  drawn  up,  and  which  Nesselrode  will 
lay  before  you ;  but  you  will  incur  a  very  heavy 
responsibility  if  you  do  not  sign.'  I  told  his  Majesty 
that  before  I  resolved  what  was  to  be  done,  I  wished 
to  consult  with  Prince  Schwarzenberg  and  Lord  Castle- 
reagh. 

After  this  consultation,  I  returned  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander.  I  said  to  him,  '  The  negotiation  between 
your  Majesty,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  Napoleon  has 
gone  too  far  for  my  opposition  to  stop  it.  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  has  taken  part  in  the  preliminary  dis- 
cussions ;  the  conference  in  which  this  treaty  is  to  be 


i 


1 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.      241 

signed  has  actually  met.  I  will  go  to  it,  and  there  place 
my  name  to  a  treaty  which  in  less  than  two  years  will 
bring  us  back  again  to  the  battle-field.' 

Events  proved  that  I  had  made  a  mistake  of  only  a 
year.  The  treaty  was  signed  in  the  course  of  that 
evening. 

The  terms  of  this  treaty  have  been  very  variously 
judged,  and  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  The  truth  is, 
that  a  display  of  magnanimity  was  in  this  case  out  of 
place,  and  the  facility  with  which  the  Emperor  Alex 
ander  surrendered  himself  to  the  force  of  illusions  had 
the  same  effect  on  his  side  as  the  pressure  of  circum- 
stances had  in  compelling  the  Emperor  Napoleon  to 
sign  it.  I  shall  always  consider  the  conference  between 
the  Plenipotentiaries  which  preceded  the  signing  of  the 
convention  as  the  most  remarkable  scene  of  my  public 
life.  The  articles  were  determined  on,  except  in  some 
unimportant  deviations  in  the  composition,  at  the  very 
opening  of  the  sitting.  I  did  not  conceal  from  my  col- 
leagues the  impression  which  the  investing  of  Napoleon 
with  the  island  of  Elba  made  upon  me.  There  was 
not  one  of  them  who  did  not  share  it,  and  the  lan- 
guage of  Napoleon's  two  plenipotentiaries  differed  little 
from  our  own.  The  feehngs  which  they  expressed  on 
this  subject  were  perfectly  correct  and  free  from  all  il- 
lusions. On  my  return  from  the  conference,  I  despatched 
a  courier  to  the  Emperor  Francis,  who  at  once  left 
Dijon  and  set  out  for  Paris,  where  the  hotel  of  the  Prin- 
cess Borghese  had  been  prepared  for  his  reception. 

Commissioners  of  the  Allies  accompanied  Napoleon 
to  his  new  destination.  The  Imperial  General  von 
KoUer,  who  acted  in  this  capacity  in  the  name  of 
Austria,  on  one  occasion,  by  his  presence  of  mind  and 
courage,  saved  Napoleon  from  dangers  which  threatened 
VOL.  I.  E 


242  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

his  life  in  the  midst  of  the  hot-blooded  country-people 
of  Provence. 

The  monarchs  placed  the  Empress  Marie  Louise 
and  the  King  of  Eome  under  the  protection  of  her 
father.     Marie  Louise  went  to  Schonbrunn. 

Entrance  of  Louis  XVIII.  into  Paris,  and  the  condition 
of  France  after  the  return  of  the  Bourbons. 

On  May  4  King  Louis  XV ill.  made  his  entrance 
into  Paris.  I  had  placed  myself,  with  Prince  Schwarzen- 
berg,  at  a  window  in  the  Eue  Montmartre  to  see  the 
procession  go  by.  It  made  a  most  painful  impression 
upon  me.  A  contrast  prevailed  between  the  gloomy 
countenances  of  the  Imperial  Guard  who  preceded  and 
followed  the  royal  carriage,  and  that  of  the  King  beam- 
ing with  studied  affabihty,  which  seemed  to  reflect  the 
general  feeling  of  the  country.  The  attitude  of  the 
crowd  in  the  streets  completed  the  picture  in  this 
respect.  The  most  opposite  feelings  were  depicted  in 
their  faces,  and  found  their  expression  in  the  cry  '  Vive 
le  Roi '  from  the  side  of  the  Eoyalists,  and  the  sullen  ^ 
silence  of  the  enemies  of  the  monarchy.  I  could  almost] 
have  thought  that  the  King  was  too  eager  to  respond 
with  his  movement  of  salutation  to  so  mixed  a  manifes- 
tation of  feeling. 

The  three  monarchs  went  immediately  to  pay  their 
visits  to  the  King,  and  immediately  afterwards  I  pre- 
sented myself  at  the  Tuileries.  The  King  received  me 
in  his  closet.  In  the  course  of  conversation  I  could 
not  help  remarking  to  him  that  in  this  same  room,  sit- 
ting at  the  same  writing  table,  surrounded  by  the  same 
articles  of  furniture,  I  had  passed  many  hours  with 
Napoleon.  '  Your  Majesty,'  I  said  to  the  King,  '  seems  J 
however,  to  be  quite  at  home  here.' 


ON  THE   HISTORY  OF  THE   ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.      243 

'  It  must  be  allowed,'  answered  the  King,  '  that 
Napoleon  was  a  very  good  tenant ;  he  made  everything 
most  comfortable ;  he  has  arranged  everything  ex- 
cellently for  me.' 

I  spent  two  hours  with  his  Majesty,  and  left  the 
King  without  having  at  all  the  satisfactory  impression 
which  I  ought  to  have  had  with  regard  to  the  future  of 
France.  We  talked  over  the  maps  which  had  just  been 
pubHshed,  of  the  difficulties  which,  according  to  my 
views,  had  to  be  faced  in  carrying  them  out,  of  the 
mood  of  the  public,  &c.  I  therefore  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  convincing  myself  that  the  King  had  decided 
views  on  all  those  subjects  which  differed  from  my 
own  in  more  than  one  point  of  importance. 

Time  has,  more  indeed  than  I  could  have  desired, 
verified  the  views  which  I  even  then  held  to  be  correct. 

The  question  whether  the  return  of  the  Bourbon 
family  to  France  was  according  to  the  wish  of  the 
country  has  received  very  difierent  rephes.  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  affirm  that  it  was  accepted  most  wilhngly 
by  the  enormous  majority  of  the  people,  and  the  cause 
of  this  feeling  lay  so  deep  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that 
it  could  not  be  otherwise.* 

France  has  gone  through  the  phases  of  social  Revo- 
lution in  a  comparatively  very  short  time.  These 
phases,  between   the   years    1789  and    1814,  may  be 

*  During  my  stay  in  Paris  in  1825,  when  1  was  summoned  thither  by 
a  domestic  affliction,  I  was  received  by  King  Oharies  X.  After  dinner  we 
spoke  much  of  the  past,  and  lively  recollections,  called  forth  by  the  very 
rooms  in  which  we  stood,  rushed  into  my  mind.  '  1  remember,'  I  remarked 
among  other  things  to  the  King,  'that  in  1810  in  this  very  salon  I  was 
sitting  with  Napoleon,  and  that,  when  we  came  to  speak  of  the  Bourbons, 
Napoleon  said  to  me :  "  Do  you  know  why  Louis  XVIIl.  is  not  sitting 
opposite  to  you  ?  It  is  only  because  it  is  I  who  am  sitting  here.  No  other 
person  could  maintain  his  position ;  and  if  ever  I  disappear  in  consequence  of 
a  catastrophe,  no  one  but  a  Bourbon  could  sit  here.'" 

B  2 


244  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

divided  into  three  epochs  :  the  first,  from  1789  to  1792, 
was  the  epoch  of  the  overthrow  of  centuries  of  ancient 
institutions  and  the  creation  of  a  Eepubhc  modelled 
after  the  illusive  ideas  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  the 
second,  from  1792  to  1804,  was  the  attempt  at  a  Ee- 
publican  government ;  and  lastly,  the  Empire,  between 
the  years  1804  and  1814,  has  fulfilled  the  end  which 
Napoleon's  vast  genius  proposed  to  itself,  and  the  king- 
dom of  France  is  once  more  established  on  a  monarchical 
foundation. 

With  the  exception  of  a  handful  of  incorrigible 
enthusiasts,  the  repubhcan  form  of  government  "iiind  few 
supporters  in  the  country ;  they  had  disappeared,  first 
in  consequence  of  the  Eeign  of  Terror,  which  had  raised 
itself  on  the  ruins  of  the  throne,  the  old  institutions  and 
everything  which  had  outlasted  the  governments  of 
Louis  Xm.  and  XIY.,  and  the  moral  decay  and  the 
governmental  disorders  of  the  Eegency  and  the  time 
of  Louis  XV.,  and  then  the  depravity  and  weakness  of 
the  Directorate.  The  form  of  government  which  Na- 
poleon had  introduced  was  agreeable  to  all  France,  but 
it  was  weary  of  wars  of  which  it  could  see  no  end. 
The  return  of  the  Bourbons  was  not  longed  for  in 
the  sense  which  the  Eoyalists  attributed  to  this  feeling, 
and  the  Eoyalist  party  itself  had  much  diminished  dur- 
ing the  course  of  five-and-twenty  years.  It  was  longed 
for  by  the  friends  of  public  order  and  political  peace — 
that  is,  by  the  great  majority  of  the  nation,  which  in  all 
times  and  in  all  countries  ever  places  first  in  their  cal- 
culations the  true  interests  of  the  Fatherland. 

Therefore  the  real  difficulties  of  the  monarchy  on 
the  reappearance  of  the  government  did  not  lie  in  the 
pubhc  feehng,  but  in  the  line  of  conduct  which  it  had 
taken.     The  return  to  what  was  called  '  the  old  Regime ' 


ON   THE   HISTORY  OF  THE   ALLIANCES,  1813—1814.      245 

was  impossible,  because  nothing  was  left  of  it  but  the 
remembrance  of  the  causes  of  its  decay.  Neither  had 
the  Bourbons  ever  thought  of  it,  and  even  the  name 
was  at  no  time  anything  more  than  a  brand  wherewith 
to  terrify  the  masses.* 

*  Here  ends  the  manuscript  '  On  the  History  ol'  the  Alliances.'     The 
following  chapter  is  taken  from  the  text  of  the  '  Guide.' — Ed. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  DAWN  OF  PEACE. 


I 


i 


I 


J49 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   DAWN   OF   PEACE. 

Character  of  the  first  Peace  of  Paris— Journey  to  England — Return  to 
Vienna — German  Confederation — Congress  of  Vienna — Napoleon's  flight 
from  Elba — Betrospect  on  the  Congress  of  Vienna — Episode  of  the 
Hundred  Days — Project  for  elevating  the  King  of  Rome  to  the  throne  of 
France — The  Battle  of  Waterloo — Bonapartism — Louis  XVIII. — The 
second  Peace  of  Paris — Origin  of  the  Holy  Alliance-^ Austria — Want  of 
a  name  for  the  Empire — Coronation  of  the  Emperor — Austria  renounces 
the  Austrian  Netherlands  and  Vorlands — A  moral  Pentarchy. 

I  SHOULD  exceed  the  limits  I  have  proposed  to  myself  in 
the  present  work,  if  I  were  to  enter  into  the  details  of 
the  negotiations  which  preceded  the  Peace  of  May  30, 
1814. 

The  Peace  itself  bore  the  stamp  of  the  moderation 
of  the  monarchs  and  their  cabinets — a  moderation  which 
did  not  arise  from  weakness,  but  from  the  resolve  to 
secure  a  lasting  peace  to  Europe.  The  situation  was 
one  of  those  when,  for  the  attainment  of  an  object,  it  is 
more  dangerous  to  do  too  much  than  too  little. 

Only  a  calculation  resting  on  firm  foundations  can 
secure  the  success  of  an  undertaking.  (It  had  been 
proved  that  the  peace  to  be  concluded  with  France 
could  only  be  look:ed  at  either  as  a  revenge  on  the 
country,  or  as  estabhshing  the  greatest  possible  political 
equihbrium  between  the  PowerX^  That  the  Emperor 
I^rancTs  prepared,  in  perfect  harmony  with  my  convic- 
tion, to  bring  about  the  solution  of  the  problem  in  the 
latter  direction,  had  been  proved  by  the  conditions 
under  which  Austria  entered  the  AUiance.     The  rejec- 


250  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

tion  of  the  system  of  conquest,  and  the  estabhshment  of 
the  system  of  restitution  and  equivalents  in  the  forming 
of  kingdoms  and  states,  remove  all  doubt  on  this  point. 

I  was  beforehand  well  aware  that  the  Imperial 
cabinet  would,  from  this  manner  of  looking  at  the 
whole  question,  come  into  conflict  with  all  kinds  of 
poUtical  swindlers  and  with  the  separate  interests  of 
single  governments,  but  I  did  not  allow  my  course  to  be 
altered  thereby.  Just  as  the  entrance  of  Austria  into 
the  Quadruple  Alliance  had  formed  the  foundation  for 
the  Peace  of  Paris,  that  peace  formed  the  foundation 
for  the  settlement  of  the  difficult  problem  by  the 
Vienna  Congress. 

After  the  signature  of  the  Paris  Peace,  I  went  with 
the  Emperor  Alexander  and  the  King  of  Prussia  to 
England,  taking  with  me  the  excuses  of  the  Emperor 
Francis  to  the  Prince  Eegent.  I  also  received  myself  a 
personal  invitation  from  the  Prince  Eegent.  Twenty 
years  had  elapsed  since  I  had  first  visited  that  country, 
and  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  then  Prince  of  Wales. 
I  wished  to  see  England  again,  to  behold  with  my  own 
eyes  the  impression  which  the  changes  in  the  political 
situation  on  the  Continent  must  have  made  there,  and  m 
at  the  same  time  to  confer  with  the  English  Cabinet  " 
on  the  negotiations  prehminary  to  the  Congress  of 
Vienna. 

After  an  absence  of  several  months,  I  arrived  again 
in  Vienna  on  July  18.  The  moral  impression  made  on 
me  by  the  mood  in  which  I  found  the  country  was  not 
elevating,  but  so  far  satisfactory  that  it  convinced  me 
that  the  poHtical  line  which  I  followed  was  right,  in 
reference  to  the  position  of  our  own  empire  as  well  as  to 
the  securing  of  a  long  general  peace.  Austria  was  endur- 
ing the  after-pains  of  a  two-and-twenty  years'  war,  and 


THE   DAWN   OF   PEACE.  251 

felt  her  very  existence  in  danger.  The  people  of  Austria, 
always  calm  and  reasonable,  had  imagined  that  the 
union  of  the  Emperor's  daughter  with  Napoleon  would 
have  been  a  pledge  of  peace,  and  they  yielded  reluc- 
tantly to  the  fate  of  a  new  war.  The  result  to  be  ex- 
pected from  this  war  seemed  to  the  populace  to  be 
nothing  more  than  a  second  edition  of  the  former 
peace  in  rather  a  different  form. 

What  a  striking  contrast  was  there  in  the  situation 
of  Prussia  as  compared  with  that  of  Austria !  Only  a 
dreamer  could  put  them  on  the  same  level,  and  to  the 
dreamers  I  have  never  belonged.  The  domain  which 
opened  the  widest  field  for  men  of  this  class  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Congress  was  Germany,  and  with  this 
conviction  I  looked  continually  in  that  direction  during 
the  weeks  preceding  the  opening  of  the  Congress. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  saying  of  the  Emperor 
that  a  German  political  body  must  be  called  into  exist- 
ence in  the  form  of  a  Confederation,  and  have  asserted 
that  this  had  practically  the  value  of  a  conditio  sine  qua 
non  as  to  the  first  entrance  of  Austria  into  the  Alliance. 
The  direction  I  had  to  follow  was  therefore  clearly 
pointed  out.  The  only  question  was,  the  choice  of 
means  for  the  attainment  of  the  end.  This  matter  was 
made  extremely  difficult  by  the  Powers  which  opposed 
it.  In  the  first  rank  stood  the  separatist  efforts  of 
Prussia ;  then  the  dread  of  the  German  princes  of  any 
limitation  of  their  sovereign  rights ;  and,  lastly,  the 
aspirations  which  had  emerged  in  North  Germany  and 
the  Ehine  Provinces  since  1806 — aspirations  which 
showed  themselves  partly  in  decided  democratic  ten- 
dencies, and  partly  can  only  be  described  as  '  deutsch- 
thiimehide  Geluste '  (predilections  for  German  nation- 
ahty  and  principles).     In  the  conflict  which  arose,  the 


252  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

aristocratic  tendencies  blended  with  the  democratic  m 
the  mind  of  Freiherr  von  Stein  played  a  peculiar  and 
prominent  part.  Among  all  these  parties  the  latter, 
however,  was  the  most  divided,  both  with  regard  to  end 
and  means.  To  the  dictates  of  party  I  paid  no  other 
attention  than  to  be  conscious  of  their  existence,  and  to 
redouble  our  efforts  to  keep  our  own  path  clear. 

I  summoned  the  few  officials  of  the  time  of  the 
Empire  to  a  consultation  upon  German  questions,  but 
I  was  soon  convinced  that  I  could  find  in  them  the  aid 
only  of  mere  antiquarianism.  I  determined,  therefore, 
to  take  my  stand  immovably  upon  the  general  principles 
of  the  Confederation,  and  to  relegate  its  more  special 
provisions  to  the  German  deputies  at  the  Congress. 

This  Congress  was  opened  on  November  3,  1814, 
by  a  simple  unpretending  conference  not  at  all  corre- 
sponding to  the  expectations  of  a  public  greedy  for 
'  spectacle.'  * 

The  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  different  states  and 
countries  begged  me  to  undertake  the  direction  of  the 
negotiations.  I  undertook  that  office  in  the  conviction 
that  the  questions  to  be  submitted  to  the  Congress 
could  only  be  settled  if  brought  forward  in  systematic 
order,  everything  unnecessary  being  rigorously  rejected, 
with  a  clear  apprehension  of  everything  that  time  and 
circumstances  demanded.  I  submitted  a  scheme  for 
the  order  of  proceeding,  which  embraced — 

{a)  The  consultations  of  the  members  of  the  Quad- 
ruple Alliance  and  of  France,  under  the  designation  of 
the  '  Comite  des  cinq  Puissances' 

*  The  public  had  taken  it  into  its  head  that  the  meetings  of  the  Pleni- 
potentiaries at  the  Congress  would  be  held  in  the  great  Ball-room  of  the 
Imperial  Palace,  and  that  the  public  would  be  admitted  to  the  galleries 
which  run  round  it. 


THE  DAWN  OF  PEACE.  253 

[b]  The  meetings  of  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  these 
five  Powers  with  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  Spain,  Portu- 
gal, and  Sweden,  under  the  designation  of  the  '  Assem- 
hlee  des  huit  Cours^  and  their  connection  with  the 
representatives  of  the  other  states. 

(c)  The  institution  of  a  commission  to  be  formed 
from  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  German  states,  spe- 
cially devoted  to  the  regulation  of  German  affairs. 

This  form  was  accepted ;  and  under  its  protection 
the  grave  matters  submitted  to  the  assembly  were 
brought  to  a  solution. 

The  history  of  the  Congress  is  written  in  its  Acts 
and  in  its  results,  and  has  no  place  in  these  pages.  It 
lias  experienced  the  destiny  of  all  remarkable  events, 
it  has  not  escaped  the  criticism  of  the  prejudiced,  or 
the  censure  of  the  superficial ;  and,  in  order  to  estimate 
the  importance  of  its  transactions,  the  consideration 
may  suffice  that  from  this  Congress  the  foundations  of 
the  political  peace  which  has  subsisted  for  eight-and- 
thirty  years  have  proceeded,  and  that  its  most  important 
decrees  have  been  able  not  only  to  defy  the  storms 
which  arose  in  the  intermediate  period,  but  even  to  sur- 
vive the  revolutions  of  the  year  1848.* 

The  news  received  on  March  7, 1815,  that  Napoleon 
had  left  the  island  of  Elba  contributed  much  to  the 
acceleration  of  the  negotiations  just  begun  in  the  Con- 
gress, and  especially  to  a  more  speedy  agreement  of  the 
German  courts  with  regard  to  the  Acts  of  Confedera- 

*  The  mot  of  Field-Marshal  the  Prince  de  Ligne, '  le  Congres  danse  mats  ne 
marche  pas,^  has  gone  the  round  of  the  newspapers.  During  the  Congress  a 
number  of  crowned  heads  with  numerous  retinues  and  a  crowd  of  tourists 
assembled  within  the  walls  of  Vienna.  To  provide  social  recreation  for 
them  was  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Imperial  Court ;  that  these  festivities  had 
no  connection  with  the  labours  of  the  Congress,  and  did  not  interfere  with 
them,  is  proved  by  the  short  duration  of  the  Conj^ress,  which  accomplished 
its  work  in  five  months. 


254  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

tion.  The  course  of  the  affair  was  as  follows,  and  the 
decision  for  war  was  taken  in  almost  as  short  a  time  as 
I  shall  require  for  describing  it. 

I  received  the  first  news  of  Napoleon  having  left 
Elba  in  the  following  manner.  A  conference  between 
the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  five  Powers  took  place  in 
my  house  on  the  night  of  March  6,  and  lasted  till 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Since  the  Cabinets  had 
met  in  Vienna,  I  had  given  my  servant  orders  that  if 
a  courier  arrived  at  night  he  was  not  to  awake  me.  In 
spite  of  this  order,  the  servant  brought  me  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning  a  despatch,  sent  by  courier,  and  marked 
urgent  When  I  saw  on  the  envelope  the  words  '  from 
the  Consul-general  at  Genoa,'  having  been  only  two 
hours  in  bed,  I  laid  the  despatch  unopened  on  the 
nearest  table,  and  turned  round  again  to  sleep.  One 
disturbed,  however,  sleep  would  not  come  again.  About 
half-past  seven  I  resolved  to  open  the  despatch.  It 
contained  the  information  in  six  hues :  '  The  EngHsh 
Commissary,  Campbell,  has  just  appeared  in  the  har- 
bour, to  inquire  whether  Napoleon  has  been  seen  in 
Genoa,  as  he  has  disappeared  from  the  island  of  Elba ; 
this  question  being  answered  in  the  negative,  the  Eng- 
lish ship  has  again  put  out  to  sea.' 

I  was  dressed  in  a  few  minutes,  and  before  eisfht 
o'clock  I  was  with  the  Emperor.  He  read  the  despatch, 
and  said  to  me  quietly  and  calmly,  as  he  always  did  on 
great  occasions :  '  Napoleon  seems  to  wish  to  play  the 
adventurer :  that  is  his  concern  ;  ours  is  to  secure  to  the 
world  that  peace  which  he  has  disturbed  for  years.  Gd 
without  delay  to  the  Emperor  of  Eussia  and  the  King 
of  Prussia,  and  tell  them  that  I  am  ready  to  order  my 
army  to  march  back  to  France.  I  do  not  doubt  but 
that  both  monarchs  mil  agree  with  me.' 


I 


THi;  DAWN  OF  PEACE.  255 

At  a  quarter-past  eight  I  was  with  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  who  dismissed  me  with  the  same  words  as 
the  Emperor  Francis  had  used.  At  half-past  eight  I 
received  a  similar  declaration  from  the  mouth  of  King 
Frederic  Wilham  III.  At  nine  o'clock  I  was  at  my 
house  again,  where  I  had  directed  Field-Marshal  Prince 
Schwarzenberg  to  meet  me.  At  ten  o'clock  the  minis- 
ters of  the  four  Powers  came  at  my  request.  At  the 
same  hour  adjutants  were  already  on  their  way,  in  all 
directions,  to  order  the  armies  to  halt  who  were  return- 
ing home. 

Thus  war  was  decided  on  in  less  than  an  hour. 
When  the  ministers  assembled  at  my  house,  the  event 
was  unknown  to  them.  Talleyrand  was  the  first  to 
enter.  I  gave  him  the  despatch  from  Genoa  to  read. 
He  remained  calm,  and  the  following  laconic  conversa- 
tion took  place  between  us  : 

Talleyrand. — '  Do  you  know  where  Napoleon  is 
going  ? ' 

Metternich. — '  The  despatch  does  not  say  anything 
about  it.' 

Talleyrand. — '  He  will  embark  somewhere  on  the 
coast  of  Italy,  and  throw  himself  into  Switzerland.' 

Metternich. — '  He  will  go  straight  to  Paris.' 

This  is  the  history  in  its  full  simplicity. 

One  great  stumbling-block  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  German  territorial  questions  at  the  Vienna  Congress 
proved  to  be  the  agreement  made  at  Kalisch  between 
the  Emperor  of  Eussia  and  the  King  of  Prussia  with 
regard  to  the  incorporation  of  the  kingdom  of  Saxony 
with  the  Prussian  monarchy.  When  at  last  the  Powers 
had  come  to  an  agreement  between  themselves  about  this 
important  question,  the  consent  of  the  King  of  Saxony 
not  having  been  yet  received,  the  news  arrived  in  Vienna 


256  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

of  Napoleon's  escape.  The  Congress  commissioned  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  Prince  Talleyrand,  and  myself  to 
gain  the  consent  of  King  Frederick  Augustus,  who  was 
at  that  time  in  Presburg.  We  repaired  to  the  much- 
harassed  Prince,  and  concluded  the  business  in  a  few  \ 
hours. 

As  a  circumstance  very  characteristic  of  the  time, 
I  will  mention  that  the  Duke  of  Welhngton,  on  the  day  J 
of  our  return  to  Vienna,  was  present  at  a  review  at  Pres- 
burg of  a  regiment  of  cuirassiers,  which  was  going  to 
the  Ehine,  whose  march  through  Vienna  on  their  way 
to  Hungary  the  Duke  had  also  seen. 

In  looking  back,  quite  impartially,  on  the  results  of 
the  Congress  now  concluded,  I  may  be  allowed  to  say 
a  few  words. 

The  pecuhar  characteristic  of  the  French  Eevolu-  , 
tion,  from  its  very  beginning,  was  that  it  was  thoroughly  ^ 
social.     Its  pohtical  character,  of  which  Xapoleon  was 
the  highest  expression,  was  at  first  foreign  to  it.     Napo- 
leon in  endeavouring  to  restore  France  to  internal  order, 
knew  no  bounds  to  his  love  of  power. 

The  unexpected  opposition  he  met  with  in  his  enter- 
prise against  Kussia,  on  which  he  had  not  calculated, 
but  which  the  force  of  circumstances  opposed  to  his 
erroneous  plans,  had  caused  an  agreement  among  the 
Powers  which  did  not  exist  in  the  earlier  wars  with 
the  Republic  and  the  French  Empire,  and  which  Napo- 
leon had  thought  unattainable. 

That  the  fatal  result  to  Napoleon  of  the  campaign 
in  Russia  did  not  deceive  the  Emperor  Francis  as  to 
the  difficulty  of  attaining  for  the  Continent  a  secure 
political  peace,  events  have  shewn.  That  the  pohtical 
rebuilding  required  after  Napoleon's  fall  would  be  a 
most  difficult  task  was   evident  to  the  Emperor  and 


4 


THE  DAWN  OF  PEACE.  257 

myself.  In  our  views  and  feelings,  the  rejection  of  all 
undertakings  founded  merely  on  sentiment  predominated 
so  strongly  as  to  give  to  the  work  whose  forerunners 
were  the  victories  of  the  Alliance,  and  whose  result 
was  the  Peace  of  Paris,  the  same  impress  of  quiet 
deliberation,  which  had  marked  our  course  in  the  pre- 
liminary period. 

There  was  no  doubt  that  if  the  Congress  confined 
itself  to  the  Umits  of  calm  calculation,  it  would  be  ex- 
posed to  great  opposition.  The  longest  time  of  pohtical 
peace  which  Europe  has  ever  enjoyed  would,  how- 
ever, suffice  to  tranquillise  the  conscience  of  the  great 
monarch  and  his  assistant,  even  if  the  work  of  the 
Congress  itself  had  not  remained  triumphantly  fire- 
proof in  the  years  1848  and  1849  ! 

The  history  of  the  Hundred  Days  was  but  an  episode, 
in  illustration  of  which  I  will  relate  only  the  following 
incident : — 

When  Napoleon,  after  his  return  to  Paris,  restored 
to  Fouche  his  former  position  as  Minister  of  PoHce,  the 
latter  followed  exactly  in  the  footsteps  of  his  old  course 
of  action,  which  was  a  strange  mixture  of  abject  sub- 
jection to  the  views  of  the  Emperor  and  of  rebellion 
against  them.  Fouche,  who  undeniably  had  great  in- 
sight into  the  position  of  Napoleon  and  of  France,  as 
veil  as  that  of  the  great  Powers,  and  who  saw  no  pros- 
pect of  final  victory  in  the  return  of  Napoleon  to  the 
French  Imperial  throne,  sent  to  me  at  Vienna  a  secret 
agent,  with  a  proposal,  addressed  to  the  Emperor 
Francis,  to  proclaim  the  King  of  Eorae  Emperor,  and 
accompariied  also  with  a  request  addressed  to  myself 
to  despatch  a  commissioner  to  Basle,  to  come  to  an 
arrangement  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  project.  How 
abhorrent  such  a  step  as  this  would  be  to  the  Emperor 

VOL.  I.  S 


258  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

Francis,  on  this  the  French  Minister  of  Police  alone 
could    entertain    any   delusion.      The    Emperor   com 
manded  me  at  once  to  communicate  the  proposal  to  the 
Emperor  Alexander  and  King  Frederick  William,  and 
'  to  leave  it  to  their  judgment,  not  whether   the  idea 
should  be  entertained,  but  whether  a  confidential  ageni 
should  be  despatched  to  obtain  information  with  respect 
to  the  proposal.     Both  monarchs  advised  this  step.     I 
commissioned  an  official  of  my  department  to  undertake 
this  business,  informed  him  of  the  secret  password,  and 
bade  him  hear  everything  and  say  nothing.    The  agents 
met  at  an  appointed  hour,  and  after  a  short  time  sepa- 
rated because  neither  had  anything  to  communicate  to 
the  other.     It  afterwards  came  out  that  Napoleon  had 
been  informed  of  the  step  of  his  Minister  of  Police,  and 
instead  of  a  representative  of  Fouche's,  had  sent  to 
Basle  an  agent  of  his  own.     This  history  has  found  its 
way  into  the  memoirs  of  the  time,  and  originated  a 
report  of  an  understanding  between  Napoleon  and  thel 
Emperor  Francis.     Thus  is  history  written  ! 

The  battle  of  Waterloo  gave  the  finishing  stroke  ^ 
to  the  destiny  of  Napoleon.      Even  if  this  battle  had 
not  resulted  in  the  success  due  to  the  iron  resolution  ofi 
the  English  General  and  the  courageous  assistance  of 
Field-Marshal  Bliicher,  the  cause  of  Napoleon  would 
nevertheless  have  been  irretrievably  lost.     The  Austrian 
and  Eussian  armies  together,  with  the  contingent  of  the ' 
German  Confederation,  moving  towards  the  Ehine,  would  i 
have  spread  over  France.     The  power  which  she  before 
possessed  under  the  Empire  was  completely  broken  in 
consequence  of  the  destructive  concessions  which  Na- 
poleon in  the  course  of  the  Hundred  Days  was  con- 
strained to  make.     Bonapartism  hved  only  in  the  army 
and  with  some  adherents   among   the   civihans.     The 


THE  DAWN  OF  PEACE.  259 

country  sighed  for  peace  in  1815  as  it  had  sighed  for 
it  in  preceding  years.  If  the  character  of  Louis  XVIII. 
had  been  different,  the  house  of  Bourbon  would  have 
lasted  longer  than  it  did.  My  feeling  in  this  respect 
was  not  the  product  of  a  later  time :  I  held  it  after  the 
first  return  of  Louis  XVIII.  and  briefly  expressed  it  to 
the  King  himself  in  these  words :  Voire  Majeste  croit 
fonder  la  Monarchie:  Elle  se  trompe,  c'est  la  Revolution 
qu'EUe  prend  en  sous-ceuvre ! 

I  took .  the  hberty  of  reminding  the  King  of  this 
remark,  after  his  second  return.  Louis  XVIII.  was 
gifted  with  much  power  of  mind,  which,  however,  took 
rather  a  theoretical  than  a  practical  direction.  He 
ascended  the  throne  in  1814,  still  under  the  influence  of 
those  views  which  had  caused  him  to  play  the  part  of 
president  of  a  section  of  the  Assemhlee  des  Notables.  To 
these  he  had  added  some  ideas,  gathered,  during  his 
emigration,  from  the  ecole  anglaise,  of  the  same  kind  as 
those  which  since  Montesquieu's  time  had  perplexed  so 
many  minds  in  France. 

The  second  Peace  of  Paris  was  the  complement  of 
the  first,  and  differed  from  it  only  in  this,  that  the 
Powers  desired  to  give  to  the  country  a  lesson,  by  taking 
away  some  places  on  the  frontier,  by  restoring  to  fo- 
reign countries  the  art-treasures  seized  in  the  wars  of 
the  Revolution,  by  imposing  a  contribution,  and  by  the 
temporary  occupation  of  some  of  the  departments,  in 
order  to  secure  internal  peace  and  the  safety  of  the 
ancient  throne  of  France. 

During  the  negotiations  of  the  second  Peace  of  Paris, 
the  Emperor  Alexander  desired  me  to  come  to  him,  that 
he  might  impart  to  me  that  he  was  occupied  with  a 
great  undertaking,  about  which  he  wished  especially  to 
consult  the  Emperor  Francis.     '  There  are  things,'  said 

82 


260  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

the  Emperor,  '  which  feehngs  must  decide,  and  feehngs 
are  under  the  influence  of  personal  position  and  situa- 
tion. These  have  a  commanding  influence  on  indivi- 
duals. If  it  was  a  matter  of  business,  I  should  ask  you 
for  your  advice,  but  the  present  matter  is  of  such  a 
kind  that  not  the  ministers  but  only  the  monarchs 
are  capable  of  deciding  it.  Tell  the  Emperor  Francis 
that  I  wish  to  speak  to  him  on  a  subject  on  which  I  can 
explain  myself  only  to  him.  It  will  then  be  in  his 
power  to  take  counsel  of  you,  my  dear  Prince.' 

After  a  lapse  of  some  days,  I  was  summoned  by  the 
Emperor  Francis,  who  told  me  that  early  on  that  day 
he  had  called  upon  the  Emperor  Alexander  in  conse- 
quence of  a  request  from  him  for  a  personal  interview 
on  a  most  important  subject.  '  You  will  learn,'  said  his 
Majesty,  'what  the  subject  is  from  this  document,  which 
he  committed  to  my  careful  consideration.  You  know 
I  do  not  like  to  express  myself  on  a  subject  which  I 
have  not  thoroughly  examined.  I  have  therefore  taken 
this  paper,  which  is  written  in  the  Emperor  Alexander's 
own  hand,  and  reserved  to  myself  the  power  of  express- 
ing an  opinion  upon  it.  Eead  and  examine  it,  and  tell 
me  your  opinion  of  the  document,  which  does  not  please 
me  at  all ;  it  has  indeed  excited  the  most  grave  re- 
flections in  my  mind.' 

No  very  severe  examination  was  required  on  my 
part  to  see  that  the  paper  was  nothing  more  than  a 
philanthropic  aspiration  clothed  in  a  reUgious  garb, 
which  supplied  no  material  for  a  treaty  between  the 
monarchs,  and  which  contained  many  phrases  that  might 
even  have  given  occasion  to  reHgious  misconstructions. 

On  the  projected  treaty,  therefore,  my  views  coin- 
cided with  those  of  the  Emperor  Francis ;  and  as  the 
Emperor  Alexander  had  told  the  Emperor  Francis  that 


THE  DAWN  OF  PEACE.  261 

the  document  was  to  be  shown  to  the  King  of  Prussia, 
his  Majesty  ordered  me  to  go  to  the  King  and  ask  his 
opinion  of  it.  I  found  the  King  also  agreed  with  the 
Emperor  Francis,  except  that  he  hesitated  to  reject  the 
views  of  the  Eussian  monarch  entirely.  However,  we 
came  to  an  agreement  as  to  the  impossibility  of  execut- 
ing the  document  without  some  absolutely  necessary 
changes  in  the  text.  Even  to  this  the  Emperor  Francis 
did  not  quite  agree. 

In  consequence  of  this,  I  was  charged  by  both  mon- 
archs  to  go  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  as  their  common 
representative.  In  a  conversation  of  several  hours,  I 
succeeded,  not  without  great  difficulty,  in  persuading 
the  author  of  the  necessity  of  changing  several  sentences 
and  omitting  some  passages  entirely. 

I  gave  his  Majesty,  my  Imperial  master,  an  account 
of  the  objections  which  I  had  made  without  reserve 
about  this,  at  any  rate,  useless  scheme,  and  of  my  pre- 
diction of  the  malicious  interpretation  which  I  felt  cer- 
tain it  would  not  escape. 

The  Emperor  Francis,  although  he  did  not  approve 
the  project  even  when  modified,  agreed  to  sign  it,  for 
reasons  which  I  for  my  part  could  not  oppose. 

This  is  the  history  of  the  '  Holy  Alhance,'  which  even 
in  the  partial  feehng  of  its  originator  had  no  other 
object  than  that  of  a  moral  demonstration,  whilst  in 
the  eyes  of  the  other  persons  concerned  the  document 
had  no  such  meaning,  and  therefore  does  not  deserve 
the  interpretation  which  was  afterwards  put  on  it  by 
party  spirit. 

The  most  unanswerable  proof  of  the  correctness  of 
this  statement  exists  in  the  circumstance  that  never 
afterwards  did  it  happen  that  the  '  Holy  Alliance  '  was 
made   mention   of   between   the   cabinets,  nor   indeed 


262  AIJTOBIOGEAPIITCAL  MEMOIR. 

could  it  have  been  mentioned.  Only  the  parties  hostile 
to  the  monarchs  used  it  as  a  weapon  for  the  calumnia- 
tion of  the  purest  intentions  of  their  opponents. 

The  '  Holy  Alliance '  was  not  an  institution  to  keep 
down  the  rights  of  the  people,  to  promote  absolutism  or 
any  other  tyranny.  It  was  only  the  overflow  of  the 
pietistic  feehng  of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  and  the 
application  of  Christian  principles  to  politics. 

From  a  union  of  religious  and  political-liberal  ideas 
the  '  Holy  Alliance  '  was  developed  under  the  influence 
of  Frau  von  Kriidener  and  Monsieur  Bergasse.  No  one 
is  so  well  acquainted  as  I  am  with  the  circumstances  of 
this  '  loud-sounding  nothing.' 

In  conclusion,  I  may  be  allowed  to  throw  a  passing 
glance  over  the  Austrian  Monarchy,  and  to  give  in  a 
few  hues  the  picture  of  a  country  which  to  foreigners 
has  always  had  the  character  of  a  terra  incognita. 

The  kingdom,  which  only  since  1806  has  taken  the 
name  of  the  Austrian  Empire,  is  like  no  other  either  in 
its  origin  or  its  maturity.  To  the  Ostmark  of  the 
Empire  many  other  districts  have  been  added  under  the 
House  of  Hapsburg,  which  were  formerly  separated  from 
each  other  by  history  or  nationality.  These  have  brought 
to  this  dynasty  in  the  course  of  generations  a  great  pos- 
session, not,  with  few  exceptions,  by  way  of  conquest, 
but  by  hereditary  succession,  contracts  of  marriage, 
and  voluntary  submission  with  reservation  of  individual 
rights.  That  these  rights  and  reservations  were  gene- 
rally maintained  by  the  rulers,  when  they  were  not 
forfeited  by  single  portions  of  the  Empire,  is  a  truth 
which  the  party  spirit  and  political  strife  of  foreigners 
may  attack  but  can  never  destroy.  If  this  may  be 
maintained  in  general  of  the  rulers  of  the  House  of 
Hapsburg,  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Joseph  H.  is  an 


THE  DAWN   OF  PEACE.  263 

exception  in  the  history  of  Austria,  the  consequences  of 
which,  so  far  from  answering  the  expectations  of  that 
monarch,  have  led  the  kingdom  and  the  government 
into  difficulties  in  exact  opposition  to  his  intentions. 

From  the  singular  formation  of  the  whole  kingdom, 
united  under  a  succession  of  rulers  unbroken  for  cen- 
turies, arose  the  extraordinary  want  of  a  name  for  this 
whole — a  want  which  is  shown  by  its  appellation  of  the 
'House  of  Hapsburg,'  or  the  'House  of  Austria.'  This 
case  is  unique  in  the  history  of  states,  for  in  no  other 
country  has  the  name  of  the  ruling  family  been  used 
instead  of  the  name  of  the  country  in  ordinary,  and 
still  less  in  diplomatic,  usage.  Not  until  1806,  at  the 
same  time  with  the  extinction  of  the  German  Imperial 
dignity,  did  the  Emperor  Francis  give  to  his  Empire 
the  name  of  the  '  Empire  of  Austria,'  which  appellation 
was  not  chosen  arbitrarily,  but  was  a  necessity,  and 
gave  the  appearance  as  if  the  parts  were  united  to  the 
whole  and  to  each  other  only  by  a  personal  union. 

The  coronation  of  the  Emperor  should  form  the 
keystone  of  the  new  edifice.  This  design  was  executed 
in  the  Patent  of  1806,  but,  from  the  circumstances  of 
the  times,  not  carried  into  effect.  Subsequently  there 
were  two  moments  when  this  omission  might  have  been 
repaired :  first,  the  General  Peace  ;  secondly,  at  the 
accession  of  the  first  successor  to  the  Pounder  of  the 
Austrian  Empire.  Both  times  I  raised  my  voice  in 
favour  of  the  coronation.  According  to  my  views, 
deputations  from  all  parts  of  the  monarchy  should  assist 
at  the  coronation,  thus  performing  an  act  of  common 
homage  to  the  common  head  of  the  State,  whilst  they 
should  receive  the  assurance  of  the  maintenance  of  the 
constitutional  rights  of  each  country. 

The  Empire  of  Austria,  without   being   a  federal 


264  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR. 

state,  had  yet  the  advantage  and  the  disadvantage  of  a 
federal  constitution.  If  the  head  of  the  house  was  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word  absolute,  this  notion  was  re- 
stricted in  its  sovereign  power,  according  to  the  different 
constitutions  of  the  several  countries  whose  crowns  he 
united  on  his  own  head.  That  this  position  was  a  most 
peculiar  one  cannot  be  doubted  ;  and  it  is  no  less 
certain  that  it  would  have  been  untenable,  if  it  had 
not  been  founded  on  the  most  important  of  motives — 
namely,  the  interest  of  the  different  parts  of  the  Empire 
in  being  united.  These  facts,  which  were  clearly  seen 
by  the  Emperor  and  myself,  exercised  a  decided  influ- 
ence on  the  reconstruction  of  the  Empire  in  the  years 
1813  to  1815. 

The  union  of  the  former  Austrian  Netherlands  and 
of  the  districts  known  under  the  name  of  the  Austrian 
Vorlande  with  the  Austrian  Empire  would,  in  the  years 
just  mentioned,  not  only  not  have  been  objected  to,  but  the 
re-union  of  Belgium  with  the  Empire  was  even  desired 
by  the  AUied  Powers  on  natural  pohtical  grounds.  We 
rejected  it,  in  consequence  of  a  consideration,  not  refer- 
ring to  our  Empire  alone,  but  to  the  great  work  of  peace. 
We  wished  to  remove  our  country  from  direct  contact 
with  France,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  wars  which 
had  been  in  consequence  of  this  contact  perpetually 
occurring  between  the  two  neighbouring  empires.  For 
France  is  the  country  where  innovations  of  all  kinds  are 
most  easily  introduced,  but  where  old  accustomed  im- 
pressions last  the  longest.  From  this  latter  reason,  the 
altered  situation  of  Austria  and  France,  after  the  return 
of  the  old  dynasty  to  the  French  throne,  was  not  noticed 
either  by  the  public  or  even  in  the  cabinet,  and  there  was 
in  many  minds  the  same  idea  of  wars  between  France 
and  Austria  as  if  the  geographical  position  of  the  two 


J 


THE   DAWN  OF  PEACE.  265" 

countries  was  the  same  as  in  the  times  of  Francis  I.  and 
Louis  XIV. 

The  Act  of  Congress  had  placed  the  possessions  of 
the  kinofdora  and  the  states  on  firm  foundations.  The 
four  Powers  which  had  so  successfully  driven  back 
France  into  her  old  boundaries,  admitted  the  French 
crown  into  their  alliance  replaced  in  its  former  rights. 
From  the  Quadruple  AUiance,  dissolved  in  consequence 
of  its  pohtical  end  being  attained,  arose  the  moral 
Pentarchy,  whose  power  was  afterwards  estabhshed, 
limited,  and  regulated  in  the  Congress  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Thus  the  foundations  of  a  lasting  Peace  were  secured 
as  far  as  possible. 


NOTE  to  page  41. 

Hugh  Elliot,  son  of  Sii*  Gilbert  Elliot,  had  a  commission  given 
him  in  1762,  when  he  wa^  only  ten  years  old.  This  scandal  s 
pointedly  alluded  to  in  the  '  North  Briton,'  Nos.  43  and  45.  In 
1771,  when  he  wished  to  take  active  service,  the  ratification  of  the 
appointment  was  refused,  though  the  rank  of  captain  appears  to  have 
been  granted  to  him.  He  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Leeward 
Islands  in  1809,  and  in  1814  recalled  and  made  Governor  of  Madras. 
He  died  in  1830,  His  brother  Gilbert,  first  Earl  Minto,  was 
Governor-General  of  India. — Tr. 


BOOK   II 


GALLEEY   OF    CELEBEATED    CONTEMPOEARIES. 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE. 
A  PORTRAIT 

BT 

PRINCE  METTERNICH,  1820. 


Among  individuals  by  their  position  independent  of  this 
extraordinary  man,  there  are  few  who  have  had  so  many 
points  of  contact  and  such  direct  relations  with  him  as 
I  have  had. 

In  the  different  phases  of  these  relations,  my  opinion 
of  Napoleon  has  never  varied.  I  have  seen  and  studied 
him  in  the  moments  of  his  greatest  success ;  I  have  seen 
and  followed  him  in  those  of  his  decline  ;  and  though  he 
may  have  attempted  to  induce  me  to  form  wrong  con- 
clusions about  him — as  it  was  often  his  interest  to 
do — he  has  never  succeeded.  I  may  then  flatter  myself 
with  having  seized  the  essential  traits  of  his  character, 
and  with  having  formed  an  impartial  judgment  with 
respect  to  it,  while  the  great  majority  of  his  contempo- 
raries have  seen  as  it  were  through  a  prism  only  the 
brilHant  sides  and  the  defective  or  evil  sides  of  a  man 
whom  the  force  of  circumstances  and  great  personal 
quaUties  raised  to  a  height  of  power  unexampled  in 
modern  history. 

Endeavouring  with  a  rare  sagacity  and  an  indefatig- 
able perseverance  to  make  the  most  of  what  half  a 


270     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED   CONTEMPORARIES. 

century  of  events  seemed  to  have  prepared  in  his 
favour ;  animated  by  a  spirit  of  domination  as  active  as 
clearsighted ;  skilful  in  appreciating  every  advantage 
which  the  circumstances  of  the  moment  offered  to  his 
ambition ;  knowing  how  to  turn  to  his  own  advantage 
with  remarkable  skill  the  faults  and  weaknesses  of 
others,  Bonaparte  was  left  alone  on  the  battle-field 
where  blind  passions  and  furious  factions  had  raged 
and  disputed  for  ten  years.  Having  at  last  confiscated 
to  his  own  advantage  the  whole  Revolution,  he  seemed 
to  me  from  that  time  to  be  the  indivisible  point 
on  which  all  observations  should  be  centred,  and  my  ap- 
pointment as  Ambassador  in  France  furnished  me  with 
peculiar  facihties,  which  I  have  been  careful  not  to 
neglect. 

The  judgment  is  often  influenced  by  first  impres- 
sions. I  had  never  seen  Napoleon  till  the  audience 
which  he  gave  me  at  St.-Cloud,  when  I  deUvered  my 
credentials.  I  found  him  standing  in  the  middle  of  one 
of  the  rooms,  with  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  and 
six  other  members  of  the  Court.  He  wore  the  Guard's 
uniform,  and  had  his  hat  on  his  head.  This  latter  cir- 
cumstance, improper  in  any  case,  for  the  audience  was 
not  a  public  one,  struck  me  as  misplaced  pretension, 
showing  the  parvenu ;  I  even  hesitated  for  a  moment, 
whether  I  too  should  not  cover.  However,  I  delivered 
a  short  speech,  the  concise  and  exact  style  of  which 
differed  essentially  from  that  which  had  come  into  use 
in  the  new  Court  of  France. 

His  attitude  seemed  to  me  to  show  constraint  and 
even  embarrassment.  His  short,  broad  figure,  neghgent 
dress,  and  marked  endeavour  to  make  an  imposing 
effect,  combined  to  weaken  in  me  the  feeling  of  gran- 
deur  naturally  attached   to  the  idea  of  a  man  before 


PORTKAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.     271 

whom  the  world  trembled.  This  impression  has  never 
been  entirely  effaced  from  my  mind :  it  was  present 
with  me  in  the  most  important  interviews  which  I  have 
had  with  Napoleon,  at  different  epochs  in  his  career. 
Possibly  it  helped  to  show  me  the  man  as  he  was,  be- 
hind the  masks  with  which  he  knew  how  to  cover  him- 
self. In  his  freaks,  in  his  fits  of  passion,  in  his  brusque 
interpellations,  I  saw  prepared  scenes,  studied  and  cal- 
culated to  produce  a  certain  effect  on  the  person  to 
whom  he  was  speaking. 

In  my  relations  with  Napoleon,  relations  which  from 
the  beginning  I  endeavoured  to  make  frequent  and  con- 
fidential, what  at  first  struck  me  most  was  the  re- 
markable perspicuity  and  grand  simpHcity  of  his  mind 
and  its  processes.  Conversation  with  him  always  had  a 
charm  for  me,  difficult  to  define.  Seizing  the  essential 
point  of  subjects,  stripping  them  of  useless  accessories, 
developing  his  thought  and  never  ceasing  to  elaborate 
it  till  he  had  made  it  perfectly  clear  and  conclusive, 
always  finding  the  fitting  word  for  the  thing,  or  invent- 
ing one  where  the  usage  of  the  language  had  not 
created  it,  his  conversation  was  ever  full  of  interest. 
He  did  not  converse,  he  talked ;  by  the  wealth  of 
his  ideas  and  the  facihty  of  his  elocution,  he  was  able 
to  lead  the  conversation,  and  one  of  his  habitual  ex- 
pressions was,  '  I  see  what  you  want ;  you  wish  to  come 
to  such  or  such  a  point ;  well,  let  us  go  straight  to  it.' 

Yet  he  did  not  fail  to  listen  to  the  remarks  and 
objections  which  were  addressed  to  him ;  he  accepted 
them,  questioned  them,  or  opposed  them,  without  losing 
the  tone  or  overstepping  the  bounds  of  a  business  dis- 
cussion ;  and  I  have  never  felt  the  least  difficulty  in  say- 
ing to  him  what  I  believed  to  be  the  truth,  even  when 
it  was  not  Ukely  to  please  him. 


272     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

Whilst  in  his  conceptions  all  was  clear  and  precise, 
in  what  required  action  he  knew  neither  difficulty  nor 
uncertainty.  Ordinary  rules  did  not  embarrass  him  at 
all.  In  practice,  as  in  discussion,  he  went  straight  to 
the  end  in  view  without  being  delayed  by  considera- 
tions which  he  treated  as  secondary,  and  of  which  he 
perhaps  too  often  disdained  the  importance.  The  most 
direct  hue  to  the  object  he  desired  to  reach  was  that 
which  he  chose  by  preference,  and  which  he  followed 
to  the  end,  while  nothing  could  entice  him  to  deviate 
from  it ;  but  then,  being  no  slave  to  his  plans,  he  knew 
how  to  give  them  up  or  modify  them  the  moment  that 
his  point  of  view  changed,  or  new  combinations  gave 
him  the  means  of  attaining  it  more  effectually  by  a 
different  path. 

He  had  Httle  scientific  knowledge,  although  his  parti- 
sans encouraged  the  behef  that  he  was  a  profound  mathe- 
matician. His  knowledge  of  mathematical  science 
would  not  have  raised  him  above  the  level  of  any 
officer  destined,  as  he  was  himself,  for  the  Artillery  ; 
but  his  natural  abilities  supphed  the  want  of  knowledge. 
He  became  a  legislator  and  administrator,  as  he  became  a 
great  soldier,  by  following  his  own  instinct.  The  turn 
of  his  mind  always  led  him  towards  the  positive ;  he 
disHked  vague  ideas,  and  hated  equally  the  dreams  of 
visionaries  and  the  abstraction  of  idealists,  and  treated 
as  mere  nonsense  everything  that  was  not  clearly  and 
practically  presented  to  him.  He  valued  only  those 
sciences  which  can  be  controlled  and  verified  by  the 
senses  or  which  rest  on  observation  and  experience. 
He  had  the  greatest  contempt  for  the  false  philosophy 
and  the  false  philanthropy  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Among  the  chief  teachers  of  these  doctrines,  Voltaire 
wag  the  special  object  of  his  aversion,  and  he  even  went 


I 


PORTKAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.     273 

so  far  as  to  attack,  whenever  he  had  the  opportunity, 
the  general  opinion  as  to  his  Hterary  power. 

Napoleon  was  not  irreligious  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  word.  He  would  not  admit  that  there  had  ever 
existed  a  genuine  atheist ;  he  condemned  Deism  as  the 
result  of  rash  speculation.  A  Christian  and  a  Catholic, 
he  recognised  in  religion  alone  the  right  to  govern 
human  societies.  He  looked  on  Christianity  as  the 
basis  of  all  real  civihsation  ;  and  considered  CathoHcism 
as  the  form  of  worship  most  favourable  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  order  and  the  true  tranquillity  of  the  moral 
world  ;  Protestantism  as  a  source  of  trouble  and  dis- 
agreements. Personally  indifferent  to  religious  prac- 
tices, he  respected  them  too  much  to  permit  the 
slightest  ridicule  of  those  who  followed  them.  It  is 
possible  that  religion  was,  with  him,  more  the  result  of 
an  enlightened  pohcy  than  an  affair  of  sentiment ;  but 
whatever  might  have  been  the  secret  of  his  heart,  he 
took  care  never  to  betray  it.  His  opinions  of  men  w^re 
concentrated  in  one  idea  which,  unhappily  for  him,  had 
in  his  mind  gained  the  force  of  an  axiom.  He  was  per- 
suaded that  no  man,  called  to  appear  in  public  life,  or 
even  only  engaged  in  the  active  pursuits  of  life,  was 
L*:uided  or  could  be  guided  by  any  other  motive  than 
that  of  interest.  He  did  not  deny  the  existence  of 
virtue  and  honour ;  but  he  maintained  that  neither  of 
these  sentiments  had  ever  been  the  chief  guide  of  any 
but  those  whom  he  called  dreamers,  and  to  whom,  by 
this  title,  he,  in  his  own  mind,  denied  the  existence  of 
tlie  requisite  faculty  for  taking  a  successful  part  in  the 
affairs  of  society.  I  had  long  arguments  with  him  on 
an  assertion  which  my  conviction  repelled,  and  of 
which  I  endeavoured  to  show  him  the  fallacy,  at  any 
VOL.  L  T 


274    GALLEKT  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPOEARIES. 

rate,  to  the  extent  to  which  he  apphed  it,  but  I  never 
succeeded  in  moving  him  on  this  point.* 

He  was  gifted  with  a  particular  tact  for  recognising 
those  men  who  could  be  useful  to  him.  He  discovered 
in  them  very  quickly  the  side  by  which  he  could  best 
attach  them  to  his  interest.  Never  forgetting,  however, 
to  seek  the  guarantee  of  their  fidelity  in  a  calculation 
of  interest,  he  took  care  to  join  their  fortune  to  his 
own,  involving  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  cut  off  the 
possibility  of  retreat  to  other  engagements.  He  had, 
above  all,  studied  the  national  character  of  the  French, 
and  the  history  of  his  hfe  proved  that  he  had  under- 
stood it  rightly.  He  privately  regarded  the  Parisians 
as  children,  and  often  compared  Paris  to  the  opera. 
Having  reproached  him  one  day  with  the  palpable 
falsehoods  which  formed  the  chief  part  of  his  bulletins, 
he  said,  to  me  with  a  smile,  '  They  are  not  written  for 

*  This  allusion  to  Napoleon's  haWt  of  attributing  all  human  actions  to  un- 
worthy motives  recalls  the  0]:inion  which  Montaigne  has  expressed  on  the 
celebrated  historian  Guicciardini.  The  following  passage  might  be  applied, 
word  for  word,  to  Napoleon ;  '  I  have  remarked  that  of  all  the  many  acts  and 
deeds,  of  all  the  many  movements  and  courses,  on  which  he  passed  his  opinion, 
he  does  not  attribute  a  single  one  to  virtue,  religion,  and  conscience  ;  as  if  these 
things  were  quite  extinct  in  the  world  ;  and  of  all  actions,  however  good 
they  may  seem  to  be,  he  attributes  the  motive  to  some  bad  reason,  or  the 
gaining  of  some  advantage.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  that,  amongst  the 
infinite  niunber  of  actions  of  which  he  judges,  there  should  not  be  one  pro- 
duced by  the  voice  of  reason  ;  corruption  cannot  have  seized  men  so  univer- 
sally that  not  one  escapes  the  contagion.  This  leads  me  to  fear  that  there 
may  be  something  wrong  in  his  judgment ;  and  it  may  chance  that  he  has 
estimated  others  by  himself.' — {Essays,  I.  it.  c.  6).  I  think  I  have  read 
somewhere  that  Napoleon  had  a  great  opinion  of  Guicciardini.  Certainly 
he  greatly  admired  Macchiavelli.  But  there  was  this  important  difference 
between  Guicciardini  and  Macchiavelli,  although  both  were  truly  the 
offspring  of  the  age  :  the  one  was  content  to  paint  the  general  depravity  of 
his  contemporaries  in  the  hideous  colours  of  truth,  without  seeming  to 
applaud  them  ;  whilst  the  other  is  a  most  zealous  and  impudent  panegyrist : 
all  that  has  been  done  to  absolve  Macchiavelli  from  this  reproach  is  only  a 
tissue  of  evil  sophisms.  He  was  the  man  of  his  time,  and  that  is  all  that 
can  be  said  in  his  excuse. 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.     275 

you  ;  the  Parisians  believe  everything,  and  I  might  tell 
them  a  great  deal  more  which  they  would  not  refuse  to 
accept.' 

It  frequently  happened  that  he  turned  his  conversa- 
tion into  historical  discussions.  These  discussions  gen- 
erally revealed  his  imperfect  knowledge  of  facts,  but 
an  extreme  sagacity  in  appreciating  causes  and  fore- 
seeing consequences.  Thus  he  guessed  more  than 
lie  knew,  and,  while  lending  to  persons  and  events  the 
colour  of  his  "own  mind,  he  explained  them  in  an  in- 
genious manner.  As  he  always  made  use  of  the  same 
quotations,  he  must  have  drawn  from  a  very  few  books, 
and  those  principally  abridgments,  the  most  salient 
points  of  ancient  history  and  the  history  of  France. 
He,  however,  charged  his  memory  with  a  collection  of 
names  and.  facts  sufficiently  copious  to  impose  on  those 
whose  studies  had  been  still  less  thorough  than  his  own. 
Ilis  heroes  were  Alexander,  Cassar,  and,  above  all, 
Charlemagne.  He  was  singularly  occupied  with  his 
claim  to  be  the  successor  of  Charlemagne  by  right  and 
title.  He  would  lose  himself  in  interminable  discussions 
with  me  in  endeavouring  to  sustain  this  paradox  by  the 
feeblest  reasoning.  Apparently  it  was  my  quaUty  of 
Austrian  Ambassador  which  I  had  to  thank  for  his 
obstinacy  on  this  point. 

One  thing  which  he  always  regretted  extremely  was, 
that  he  could  not  invoke  the  principle  of  Legitimacy 
as  the  basis  of  his  power.  Few  men  have  been  so  pro- 
foundly conscious  as  he  was  that  authority  deprived  of 
this  foundation  is  precarious  and  fragile,  and  open  to 
attack.  He  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  anxiously 
protesting  against  those  who  imagined  that  he  occupied 
the  throne  as  a  usurper.  '  The  throne  of  France,' 
he  said   to   me   once,  'was  vacant.     Louis  XVI.  had 

T  2 


276    GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED   CONTEMPORARIES. 

not  been  able  to  maintain  himself.  If  I  had  been 
in  his  place,  the  Eevolution — notwithstanding  the  im- 
mense progress  it  had  made  in  men's  minds  in  the  pre- 
ceding reign — would  never  have  been  consummated. 
The  King  overthrown,  the  Eepublic  was  master  of  the 
soil  of  France.  It  is  that  which  I  have  replaced.  The 
old  throne  of  France  is  buried  under  its  rubbish  ;  I  had 
to  found  a  new  one.  The  Bourbons  could  not  reign 
over  this  creation.  My  strength  hes  in  my  fortune  : 
I  am  new,  Uke  the  Empire  ;  there  is,  therefore,  a  perfect 
homogeneity  between  the  Empire  and  myself.' 

However,  I  have  often  thought  that  Napoleon,  by 
talking  in  this  way,  merely  sought  to  study  the  opinion 
of  others  or  to  confuse  it,  and  the  direct  advance  which 
lie  made  to  Louis  XV  ill.  in  1804  seemed  to  confirm 
this  suspicion.  Speaking  to  me  one  day  of  this  ad- 
vance, he  said  : — '  Monsieur's  reply  was  grand ;  it  was 
full  of  fine  traditions.  There  is  something  in  legiti- 
mate rights  w^hich  appeals  to  more  than  the  mere  mind. 
If  Monsieur  had  consulted  his  mind  only,  he  would 
have  arranged  with  me,  and  I  should  have  made  for 
him  a  magnificent  future.' 

He  was  also  much  impressed  with  the  idea  of 
deriving  the  origin  of  supreme  authority  from  the 
Divinity.  He  said  to  me  one  day  at  Compiegne,  shortly 
after  his  marriage  with  the  Archduchess,  '  I  see  that 
the  Empress,  in  writing  to  her  father,  addresses  her 
letter  to  His  Sacred  and  Imperial  Majesty.  Is  this  title 
customary  with  you  ?  '  I  told  him  that  it  was,  from  the 
tradition  of  the  old  German  Empire,  which  bore  the 
title  of  the  Holy  Empire,  and  because  it  was  also  at- 
tached to  the  Apostolic  crown  of  Hungary.  Napoleon 
then  replied,  in  a  grave  tone  : — '  It  is  a  fine  custom,  and 
a  good  expression.     Power  comes  from  God,  and  it  is 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.     '277 

that  alone  which  places  it  beyond  the  attacks  of  men. 
Hence  I  shall  adopt  the  title  some  day.' 

He  laid  great  stress  on  his  aristocratic  birth  and  the 
antiquity  of  his  family.  He  has  more  than  once  en- 
leavoured  to  explain  to  me  that  envy  and  calumny 
alone  could  throw  any  doubt  on  the  nobility  of  his 
birth.  '  I  am  placed,'  he  said  to  me,  '  in  a  singular 
position.  There  are  genealogists  who  would  date  my 
family  from  the  Deluge,  and  there  are  people  who  pre- 
tend that  I  am  of  plebeian  birth.  The  truth  lies  between 
these  two.  The  Bonapartes  are  a  good  Corsican  family, 
little  known,  for  we  have  hardly  ever  left  our  island, 
but  much  better  than  many  of  the  coxcombs  who  take 
upon  themselves  to  vilify  us.' 

Napoleon  looked  upon  himself  as  a  being  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  made  to  govern  it,  and  to 
direct  every  one  according  to  his  own  will.  He  had  no 
other  regard  for  men  than  a  foreman  in  a  manufactory 
feels  for  his  workpeople.*  The  person  to  whom  he  was 
most  attached  was  Duroc.  '  He  loves  me  as  a  dog 
loves  his  master,'  was  the  expression  he  used  in  speak- 
ing to  me  about  him.  Berthier's  feeling  for  him  he 
compared  to  that  of  a  child's  nurse.  These  comparisons, 
far  from  being  opposed  to  his  theory  of  the  motives 
which  actuate  men,  were  the  natural  consequence  of  it, 
for  where  he  met  with  sentiments  which  he  could  not 
explain  simply  by  interest,^  he  attributed  them  to  a  kind 
of  instinct. 

*  Marshal  Lannes  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Aspem.  The 
bulletins  of  the  French  army  related  the  occurrence,  and  gave  the  very 
words  the  Marshal  had  used.  This  is  what  Napoleon  said  to  me  about  it : — 
*  You  have  read  the  sentence  I  put  into  Lannes'  mouth  ? — he  never 
thought  of  it !  When  the  Marshal  pronounced  my  name,  they  came  to  tell 
me,  and  immediately  I  declared  he  must  be  dead.  Lannes  hated  me  cor- 
dially. He  spoke  my  name  as  atheists  do  the  name  of  God,  when  they  come 
to  die.    Lannes  having  called  for  me,  I  looked  upon  his  case  as  hopeless.' 


278  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

Much  has  been  said  of  Napoleon's  superstition,  and 
almost  as  much  of  his  want  of  personal  bravery.  Both 
of  these  accusations  rest  either  on  false  ideas  or  mis- 
taken observations.  Napoleon  beheved  in  fortune,  and 
who  has  made  the  trial  of  it  that  he  has  ?  He  liked  to 
boast  of  his  good  star ;  he  was  very  glad  that  the  com- 
mon herd  did  not  object  to  believe  him  to  be  a  privi- 
leged being ;  but  he  did  not  deceive  himself  about  him- 
self :  and,  what  is  more,  he  did  not  care  to  grant  too 
large  a  share  to  fortune  in  considering  his  elevation. 
I  have  often  heard  him  say  :  '  They  call  me  lucky,  be- 
cause I  am  able ;  it  is  weak  men  who  accuse  the  strong 
of  good  fortune.' 

I  will  here  mention  an  anecdote  which  shows  to 
what  an  extent  he  rehed  on  his  innate  energy  and  vigour 
of  mind.  Among  the  paradoxes  which  he  hked  to 
maintain  on  questions  of  medicine  and  physiology  (sub- 
jects for  which  he  had  a  natural  predilection),  he  as- 
serted that  death  is  often  only  the  effect  of  an  absence 
of  energetic  will  in  the  individual.  One  day  at  St.- 
Cloud,  he  had  had  a  dangerous  fall  (he  had  been  thrown 
out  of  a  carriage  on  to  a  great  block  of  stone,  nar- 
rowly escaping  severe  injury  to  his  stomach) ;  *  the  next 
day,  when  I  inquired  how  he  was,  he  replied  very 
gravely  :  '  I  yesterday  completed  my  experiences  on  the 
power  of  the  will ;  when  I  was  struck  in  the  stomach  I 
felt  my  life  going  ;  I  had  only  just  time  to  say  to  myself 
that  I  did  not  wish  to  die,  and  I  live  1  Anyone  else  in 
ray  place  would  have  died.'  If  this  is  to  be  called 
superstition,  it  must,  at  any  rate,  be  granted  that  it  is 

*  I  could  almost  imagine  tliat  this  accident  may  have  assisted  to  develop 
the  germ  of  the  malady  to  which  Napoleon  succumbed  at  St.  Helena,  and  I 
am  surprised  that  this  has  not  been  already  remarked.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  he  has  often  told  me  that  this  malady  was  hereditary  in  his  family. 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.     279 

very  different  from  that  which  had  been  attributed  to 
liim. 

It  is  the  same  with  his  courage.  He  was  most  tena- 
cious of  hfe  ;  but,  since  so  vast  a  number  of  destinies 
were  bound  up  with  his,  it  was  doubtless  allowable  in 
liim  to  see  something  more  in  it  than  the  pitiful  exist- 
ence of  an  individual.  He  did  not,  therefore,  think 
liimself  called  upon  to  expose  '  Ccesar  and  his  fortune ' 
simply  to  prove  his  courage.  Other  great  commanders 
liave  thought  and  acted  as  he  did.  If  he  had  not  that 
stimulus  which  makes  break-neck  daring,  that  is  cer- 
tainly not  a  reason  for  accusing  him  of  cowardice,  as 
some  of  his  enemies  have  not  hesitated  to  do.  The  his- 
tory of  his  campaigns  suffices  to  prove  that  he  was 
always  at  the  place,  dangerous  or  not,  which  was  proper 
for  the  head  of  a  great  army. 

In  private  life,  without  being  amiable,  he  was  good- 
natured,  and  even  carried  indulgence  to  the  point  of 
weakness.  A  good  son  and  good  kinsman,  with  those 
Httle  peculiarities  that  are  met  with  more  particularly 
in  the  family  interiors  of  the  Itahan  bourgeoisie,  he 
allowed  the  extravagant  courses  of  some  of  his  relations 
without  using  sufficient  strength  of  will  to  stop  them, 
even  when  it  would  have  been  clearly  to  his  interest 
to  do  so.  His  sisters,  in  particular,  got  from  him 
everything  that  they  wanted. 

Neither  of  his  wives  had  ever  anything  to  complain 
of  from  Napoleon's  personal  manners.  Although  the 
fact  is  well  known  already,  a  saying  of  the  Arch- 
duchesse  Marie  Louise  will  put  it  in  a  new  hght.  *  I 
am  sure,'  she  said  to  me  some  time  after  her  marriage, 
'  that  they  think  a  great  deal  about  me  in  Vienna,  and 
that  the  general  opinion  is  that  I  hve  a  hfe  of  daily 
suffering.     So  true  is  it  that  truth  is  often  not  probable. 


280  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

I  have  no  fear  of  Napoleon,  but  I  begin  to  think  that 
he  is  afraid  of  me.' 

Simple  and  even  easy  as  he  was  in  private  hfe,  he 
showed  himself  to  little  advantage  in  the  great  world. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  awkward  than 
Napoleon's  manner  in  a  drawing-room.  The  pains 
which  he  took  to  correct  the  faults  of  his  nature  and 
education  only  served  to  make  his  deficiencies  more 
evident.  I  am  satisfied  that  he  would  have  made  great 
sacrifices  to  add  to  his  height  and  give  dignity  to  his 
appearance,  which  became  more  common  in  proportion 
as  his  embonpoint  incresised.  He  walked  by  preference 
on  tiptoe.  His  costumes  were  studied  to  form  a  con- 
trast by  comparison  with  the  circle  which  surrounded 
him,  either  by  their  extreme  simplicity  or  by  their  ex- 
treme magnificence.  It  is  certain  that  he  made  Talma 
come  to  teach  him  particular  attitudes.  He  showed  much 
favour  to  this  actor,  and  his  affection  was  greatly 
founded  on  the  hkeness  which  really  existed  between 
them.  He  hked  very  much  to  see  Talma  on  the  stage  : 
it  might  be  said,  in  fact,  that  he  saw  himself  repro- 
duced. Out  of  his  mouth  there  never  came  one 
graceful  or  even  a  well-turned  speech  to  a  woman, 
although  the  effort  to  make  one  was  often  expressed  on 
his  face  and  in  the  sound  of  his  voice.  He  spoke  to 
ladies  only  of  their  dress,  of  which  he  declared  himself 
a  severe  judge,  or  perhaps  of  the  number  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  one  of  his  usual  questions  was  if  they  had 
nursed  their  children  themselves,  a  question  which  he 
commonly  made  in  terms  seldom  used  in  good  society. 
He  sometimes  tried  to  inflict  upon  them  questions  on 
the  private  relations  of  society,  which  gave  to  his  conver- 
sations more  the  character  of  misplaced  admonitions — 
misplaced  at  least  as  to  the  choice  of  place  and  manner — 


PORTRAIT  OF   NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.  _^L 

than  that  of  polite  drawing-room  conversations.  This 
want  of  savoir-vivre  more  than  once  exposed  him  to 
repartees  which  he  was  not  able  to  return.  His  feeling 
against  women  who  mixed  in  politics  or  affairs  almost 
amounted  to  hatred.* 

In  order  to  judge  of  this  extraordinary  man,  we 
must  follow  him  upon  the  grand  theatre  for  which  he 
was  born.  Fortune  had  no  doubt  done  much  for  Napo- 
leon ;  but  by  the  force  of  his  character,  the  activity 
and  lucidity  -of  his  mind,  and  by  his  genius,  for  the  great 
combinations  of  mihtary  science,  he  had  risen  to  the 
level  of  the  position  which  she  had  destined  for  him. 
Having  but  one  passion,  that  of  power,  he  never  lost 
either  his  time  or  his  means  on  those  objects  which 
might  have  diverted  him  from  his  aim.  Master  of 
himself,  he  soon  became  master  of  men  and  events.  In 
whatever  time  he  had  appeared  he  would  have  played 
a  prominent  part.  But  the  epoch  when  he  first  entered 
on  his  career  was  particularly  fitted  to  facilitate  his 
elevation.  Surrounded  by  individuals  who,  in  the 
midst  of  a  world  in  ruins,  walked  at  random  without 
any  fixed  guidance,  given  up  to  all  kinds  of  ambition 
and  greed,  he  alone  was  able   to   form  a  plan,   hold 

*  Madame  de  Stael  applied  to  me  in  1810,  to  obtain  for  her  from  Napo- 
leon permission  to  live  in  Paris.  Everybody  knew  the  extraordinary  value 
she  placed  on  this  favour,  of  vy^hich  I  need  not  attempt  to  discover  the 
motives.  I  had  no  reason  to  take  any  particular  interest  in  the  request  of 
Madame  de  Stael ;  I  knew,  too,  that  my  assistance  would  not  be  of  much 
use  to  her.  An  opportunity,  however,  occurred,  when  I  was  able  to  make 
known  to  Napoleon  the  request  of  this  celebrated  woman.  '  I  do  not  want 
Madame  de  Stael  in  Paris,'  he  said  to  me,  '  and  I  have  good  reasons  foi- 
saying  so.'  I  replied  that  it  might  be  so,  but  it  was  no  less  certain  that  by 
this  way  of  treating  a  lady  he  gave  her  a  distinction  which,  without  that, 
she  might  not,  perhaps,  have.  *  If  Madame  de  Stael,'  Napoleon  replied, 
'  would  be  or  could  be  either  a  royalist  or  a  republican,  I  should  have 
nothing  to  say  against  her ;  but  she  is  a  machine  in  motion  which  will  make 
a  disturbance  in  the  sfdotis.  It  is  only  in  France  that  such  a  woman  is  to 
be  feared,  and  I  will  not  agree  to  it.' 


282  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTE»IPORARIES. 

it  fast,  and  conduct  it  to  its  conclusion.  It  was  in  the 
course  of  the  second  campaign  in  Italy  that  he  con- 
ceived the  one  which  was  to  carry  him  to  the  summit 
of  power.  '  When  I  was  young,'  he  said  to  me ;  *  I  was 
revolutionary  from  ignorance  and  ambition.  At  the 
age  of  reason,  I  have  followed  its  counsels  and  my  own 
instinct,  and  I  crushed  the  Revolution.' 

He  was  so  accustomed  to  think  of  himself  as  neces- 
sary for  the  maintenance  of  the  system  he  had  created 
that  at  last  he  no  longer  understood  how  the  world 
could  go  on  without  him.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he 
spoke  from  a  deep  and  thorough  conviction  when,  in 
our  conversation  at  Dresden  in  1813,  he  said  to  me 
these  very  words  :  '  I  shall  perish,  perhaps  ;  but  in  my 
fall  I  shall  drag  down  thrones,  and  with  them  the  whole 
of  society  I ' 

The  prodigious  successes  of  which  his  life  was  full 
had  doubtless  ended  by  bhnding  him ;  but  up  to  the 
time  of  the  campaign  of  1812,  when  he  for  the  first 
time  succumbed  under  the  weight  of  illusions,  he 
never  lost  sight  of  the  profound  calculations  by  which 
lie  had  so  often  conquered.  Even  after  the  disaster  of 
Moscow,  we  have  seen  him  defend  himself  with  as  much 
coolness  as  energy,  and  the  campaign  of  1814  was 
certainly  that  in  which  he  displayed  most  mihtary  talent, 
and  that  with  much  reduced  means.  I  have  never  been 
among  those—  and  their  number  was  considerable — who 
thought  that  after  the  events  of  1814  and  1815,  he 
tried  to  create  a  new  career,  by  descending  to  the  part 
of  an  adventurer,  and  by  giving  in  to  the  most  romantic 
projects.  His  character  and  the  turn  of  his  mind  made 
him  despise  all  that  was  petty.  Like  great  gamblers, 
instead  of  being  pleased  with  the  chances  of  a  petty 
game,  they  would  have  filled  him  with  disgust. 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.     283 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  Whether  Napo- 
leon was  radically  good  or  bad  ?  It  has  always  seemed  to 
me  that  these  epithets,  as  they  are  generally  understood, 
are  not  appHcable  to  a  character  such  as  his.  Constantly 
occupied  with  one  sole  object,  given  up  day  and  night 
to  the  task  of  holding  the  helm  of  an  empire  which,  by 
progressive  encroachments,  had  finished  by  including 
the  interests  of  a  great  part  of  Europe,  he  never  re- 
coiled from  fear  of  the  wounds  he  might  cause,  nor 
even  from  the  immense  amount  of  individual  suffering 
inseparable  from  the  execution  of  his  projects.  As  a 
war-chariot  crushes  everything  which  it  meets  on  its 
way.  Napoleon  thought  of  nothing  but  to  advance.  He 
took  no  notice  of  those  who  had  not  been  on  their 
guard  ;  he  was  sometimes  tempted  to  accuse  them  of 
stupidity.  Unmoved  by  anything  which  was  out  of  his 
path,  he  did  not  concern  himself  with  it  for  good  or 
evil.  He  could  sympathise  with  family  troubles,  he 
was  indifferent  to  poHtical  calamities. 

It  was  the  same  with  the  instruments  he  made  use 
of.  Disinterested  generosity  he  had  none ;  he  only  dis- 
pensed his  favours  and  kindnesses  in  proportion  to  the 
value  he  put  on  the  utility  of  those  who  received  them. 
He  treated  others  as  he  thought  himself  treated  by 
them.  He  accepted  all  services,  without  scrutinising 
either  the  motives,  the  opinions,  or  the  antecedents 
of  those  who  offered  them  to  him,  except  to  make  use 
of  them  for  his  own  purposes. 

Napoleon  had  two  aspects.  As  a  private  man,  he 
was  easy  tempered  and  tractable,  without  being  either 
good  or  bad.  In  his  public  capacity  he  admitted  no 
sentiment ;  he  was  never  influenced  either  by  affection 
or  by  hatred.  He  crushed  or  removed  his  enemies, 
without  thinking  of  anything  but  the  necessity  or  advi- 


284  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

sability  of  getting  rid  of  them.     This  object  gained,  he 
forgot  them  entirely  and  injured  them  no  more. 

Many  useless  attempts  have  been  made,  and  much 
learning  vainly  expended  in  order  to  compare  Napoleon 
to  such  or  such  of  his  predecessors  in  the  career  of 
conquest  and  poHtical  revolution.  The  mania  for  paral-  ; 
lels  has  been  a  real  evil  for  history  ;  it  has  cast  a  false  ; 
Hght  on  the  most  remarkable  characters,  and  has  often 
quite  distorted  the  point  of  view  from  which  they  ought 
to  be  regarded.  It  is  impossible  to  judge  of  a  man 
when  separated  from  the  setting  in  which  he  was  placed, 
and  the  circumstances  which  combined  to  act  upon  him. 
If  nature,  even,  were  pleased  to  create  two  individuals 
absolutely  ahke,  their  development  in  periods  and  situa-^ 
tions  which  admit  of  no  analogy  would  necessarily 
efface  the  first  resemblance  and  confuse  the  unskilful 
painter  who  wishes  to  reproduce  it.  The  true  historian, 
he  who  is  aware  of  the  infinitely  varied  elements  whicli 
ought  to  enter  into  the  composition  of  his  pictures,  will 
gladly  give  up  the  vain  idea  of  comparing  Napoleon, 
either  to  the  heroes  of  antiquity,  the  barbarian  con- 
querors of  the  Middle  Ages,  a  great  king  of  the  last 
century,  or  a  usurper  of  the  stamp  of  Cromwell. 
None  of  these  chance  resemblances  can  ofier  any  new 
light  for  the  instruction  of  posterity ;  but  they  inevitably 
falsify  the  truth  of  history. 

Napoleon's  system  of  conquests  was,  too,  of  a  quite 
pecuhar  character.  The  object  of  the  universal  domi- 
nation to  which  he  aspired  was  not  the  concentration 
of  an  enormous  region  in  the  immediate  hands  of  the 
government,  but  the  establishing  of  a  central  supremacy 
over  the  states  of  Europe,  after  the  ideal  disfigured  and 
exaggerated  in  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne.  If  mo- 
mentary considerations  made  him  abandon  this  system, 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.      285 

if  they  led  him  to  appropriate  or  to  incorporate  with 
French  territory  countries  which  for  his  own  interests 
he  ought  not  to  have  touched,  these  measures  so  in- 
jurious to  the  strength  of  his  power,  far  from  advanc- 
ing the  development  of  the  great  plan  which  he  had 
really  in  his  mind,  only  served  to  overturn  and  destroy 
it.  This  plan  would  have  been  extended  to  the  Church. 
He  wished  to  make  Paris  the  seat  of  Cathohcism,  and 
to  detach  the  Pope  from  all  temporal  interests,  while 
assuring  to  him  the  spiritual  supremacy  under  the  segis 
of  Imperial  France. 

In  these  pohtical  and  military  combinations.  Napo- 
leon did  not  fail  to  reckon  largely  on  the  weakness  and 
errors  of  his  adversaries.  It  must  be  confessed  that  a 
long  experience  only  too  well  justified  him  in  following 
this  principle.  But  it  is  also  certain  that  he  abused  it, 
and  that  the  habit  of  despising  the  means  and  capa- 
bihties  of  his  adversaries  was  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  his  downfall.  The  Alhance  of  1813  destroyed 
him,  because  he  was  never  able  to  persuade  himself, 
that  the  members  of  a  coalition  could  remain  united 
and  persevere  in  a  given  course  of  action. 

The  opinion  of  the  world  is  still  divided,  and  per- 
haps will  always  be,  on  the  question,  Whether  Napoleon 
did  in  fact  deserve  to  be  called  a  great  man  ?  It  would 
be  impossible  to  dispute  the  great  qualities  of  one  who, 
rising  from  obscurity,  has  become  in  a  few  years  the 
strongest  and  most  powerful  of  his  contemporaries. 
But  strength,  power,  and  superiority  are  more  or  less 
relative  terms.  To  appreciate  properly  the  degree  of 
genius  which  has  been  required  for  a  man  to  dominate 
his  age,  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  measure  of  that  age. 
This  is  the  point  from  which  opinions  with  regard  to 
Napoleon   diverge   so  essentially.     If  the  era  of   the 


286     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

Eevolution  was,  as  its  admirers  think,  the  most  brilhant, 
the  most  glorious  epoch  of  modern  history,  Napoleon, 
who  has  been  able  to  take  the  first  place  in  it,  and  to 
keep  it  for  fifteen  years,  was,  certainly,  one  of  the 
greatest  men  who  have  ever  appeared.  If,  on  the  con- 
trary, he  has  only  had  to  move  hke  a  meteor  above  the 
mists  of  a  general  dissolution  ;  if  he  has  found  nothing 
around  him  but  the  debris  of  a  social  condition  ruined 
by  the  excess  of  false  civihsation ;  if  he  has  only  had 
to  combat  a  resistance  weakened  by  universal  lassitude, 
feeble  rivalries,  ignoble  passions,  in  fact,  adversaries 
everywhere  disunited  and  paralysed  by  their  disagree- 
ments, the  splendour  of  his  success  diminishes  with  the 
facihty  with  which  he  obtained  it.  Now,  as  in  our 
opinion,  this  was  really  the  state  of  things,  we  are  in 
no  danger  of  exaggerating  the  idea  of  Napoleon's  gran- 
deur, though  acknowledging  that  there  was  something 
extraordinary  and  imposing  in  his  career. 

The  vast  edifice  which  he  had  constructed  was  exclu- 
sively the  work  of  his  hands,  and  he  was  himself  the  key- 
stone of  the  arch.  But  this  gigantic  construction  was 
essentially  wanting  in  its  foundation ;  the  materials  of 
which  it  was  composed  were  nothing  but  the  ruins  of 
other  buildings  ;  some  were  rotten  from  decay,  others 
had  never  possessed  any  consistency  from  their  very 
beginning.  The  keystone  of  the  arch  has  been  with- 
drawn, and  the  whole  edifice  has  fallen  in. 

Such  is,  in  a  few  words,  the  history  of  the  French 
Empire.  Conceived  and  created  by  Napoleon,  it  only 
existed  in  him  ;  and  with  him  it  was  extinguished.* 

*  In  the  last  months  of  the  year  1853,  two  works  appeared  which, 
though  not  of  equal  importance,  have  a  peculiar  value  for  enabling  us  to 
form  an  opinion  of  the  character  of  Napoleon.  These  works  are  the 
Memoirs  of  King  Joseph  (of  Naples  and  Spain),  and  the  History  of  Napoleon 
at  St.  Helena,  from  the  papers  left  by  Sir  Hudson  Lowe.    In  these  two 


PORTRAIT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.  287 

works  the  inind  and  character  of  the  man  are  pourtrayed  in  situations  the 
most  opposite.  In  one  he  is  the  conqueror  of  the  world  :  in  the  other  a  pri- 
soner on  an  island  in  the  ocean.  To  both  these  works  Napoleon  contributed 
not  merely  the  matter,  but  he  appears  in  them  as  the  author  as  well  as 
the  subject  of  the  history.  What  result  does  the  impartial  observer  de- 
rive from  the  study  of  these  works  ?  Certainly  not  an  exalted  estimate  of 
the  man  who  had  for  many  years  the  destiny  of  human  society  in  his 
hands. 

As  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  these  books  revealed  nothing 
new,  and  did  not  even  serve  to  correct  the  judgment  forced  upon  me  by  long 
immediate  contact — such  contact  as  never  existed  between  Napoleon  and 
any  other  person  not  a  Frenchman.  Ilis  rare  intellectual  gifts,  his  strength 
of  will  and  his  weaknesses  I  always  regarded  without  prejudice  in  the  light 
of  truth,  and  I  have  depicted,  under  strong  control  but  yet  fearlessly,  not 
only  myself  but  Napoleon  in  the  most  decisive  moments. 

These  latest  historical  performances  are  all  that  have  come  from  the 
pen  of  Napoleon's  companion  at  St.  Helena,  and  greatly  originate  with 
Napoleon  himself,  setting  before  us,  not  the  portrait  of  the  man  as  he  was, 
but  as  he  wished  to  represent  himself  to  the  world. 


288 


CONTRIBUTIONS  TO   THE  PORTRAIT  OF 
NAPOLEON. 


PRINCE  METTERNICH. 


The  Coronation  of  the  Empress  Josephine. 

Shortly  after  his  retirement  from  the  ministry,  Cardinal 
Consalvi  related  to  me  the  following  fact  with  regard 
to  the  invalidity  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon's  marriage 
with  the  Empress  Josephine. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  had  invited  the  Pope  to 
come  to  Paris  to  crown  him  alone.  There  was  no 
({uestion  of  the  coronation  of  the  Empress  Josephine  in 
the  long  negotiations  which  took  place  with  the  object 
of  overcoming  the  repugnance  of  his  Holiness  to  make 
this  journey ;  they  did  not  even  mention  this  princess 
to  him  when  he  was  actually  in  Paris,  till  the  evening 
before  the  coronation. 

His  Hohness  begged  repeatedly  to  be  informed  of 
the  details  and  ceremonial  of  the  fete ;  but  they  avoided 
giving  him  the  least  idea  of  it,  alleging  frivolous  pre- 
texts which  irritated  the  Pope  so  much  that  he  declared 
he  would  not  officiate  at  this  solemn  occasion  if  he  was 
not  informed  some  days  beforehand  of  the  part  he  was 
to  take,  and  the  form  of  the  oath  which  was  to  be 
repeated.     Then  they  promised  to  satisfy  him,  but  by 


THE   CORONATION  OF  THE  EMPRESS  JOSEPHINE.      289 

constant  delays  the  communication  he  desired  was  not 
made  till  the  evening  before  the  day  fixed  for  the 
coronation,  and  announced  to  the  nation  in  the  pubhc 
papers. 

The  Holy  Father  perceived  to  his  great  surprise 
that  it  was  intended  to  crown  the  Empress  at  the  same 
time  as  Napoleon. 

The  Pope  was  undecided  as  to  the  part  he  ought  to 
take  :  on  one  side,  he  had  no  proof  of  the  validity  of  the 
Emperor's  niarriage,  which  was  contracted  at  a  time 
when  that  sacrament  was  only  considered  as  a  civil 
ffontract ;  on  the  other,  how  could  he  hesitate  to  cele- 
brate the  coronation  the  next  day,  when  it  had  been 
publicly  announced  to  the  nation?  A  refusal  on  his 
part  would  have  exposed  him  to  humiliation,  for  Napo- 
leon could  have  been  crowned  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris  or  Cardinal  Fesch,  and  the  Pope  would  have  been 
condemned  to  a  situation  which  the  eclat  of  his  journey 
would  have  made  the  more  ignominious ;  besides  Napo- 
leon's dissatisfaction  would  doubtless  have  rendered 
abortive  the  real  object  which  induced  the  Holy  Father 
to  take  this  journey.  He  would  have  run  the  risk  of 
obtaining  no  advantage  from  a  step  which  could  not  at 
this  time  have  been  agreeable  to  the  Catholic  Powers 
or  the  Christian  world.  He  had  received  repeated 
assurances  that  the  articles  inserted  by  the  French 
Government  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Concordat,  by  the 
request  of  his  Holiness,  should  be  reformed  and  recast, 
and  that  arrangements  should  be  made  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs  and  in  favour  of  the  French  clergy.  These  con- 
siderations, important  for  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  had 
outweighed  the  censure  which  he  did  not  conceal  from 
himself  must  be  incurred  by  a  journey  about  which  he 
had  been  long  reproached.  The  Holy  Father,  never- 
VOL.  T.  U 


290     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED   CONTEMPORARIES. 

theless,  constrained  by  the  sentiment  of  duty,  declared 
that  he  would  not  appear  at  the  august  ceremony,  and 
that  he  would  sacrifice  all  his  interests  if  he  did  not 
receive  direct  proofs  of  the  vahdity  of  the  marriage 
between  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  Josephine. 

In  the  meantime,  two  or  three  French  bishops,  whom 
Cardinal  Consalvi  named  to  me,  came  to  present  their 
homage  to  the  Holy  Father  ;  he  communicated  to  them 
the  cause  of  the  agitation  and  disquiet  which  his  coun- 
tenance betrayed.  The  bishops  reassured  him,  and  gave 
him  details  of  the  marriage  of  Napoleon  with  Josephine, 
and  the  sacramental  bond  by  which  they  were  united. 
The  Holy  Father,  quite  taken  in,  crowned  them  the 
next  day;  and  it  was  not  till  several  days  after  the 
ceremony  that  he  learned  that  his  credulity  had  been 
abused.  He  was  inchned  to  speak  out  with  vehemence, 
but  was  constrained  by  the  consideration  that  he  would 
draw  general  condemnation  on  himself  if  he  informed 
the  pubUc  that  he  had  consecrated  and  crowned  the 
Empress  without  first  being  sure  of  the  tie  which 
united  this  Princess  to  Napoleon,  and  that  he  had, 
so  to  speak,  sanctioned  a  concubinage.  He  felt  that 
the  dissimulation  and  deceit  which  had  been  practised 
did  not  excuse  him,  and  that  he  would  be  taxed  with 
weakness ;  he  took,  therefore,  the  part  of  silence,  but 
never  ceased  to  make  the  strongest  remonstrances  to 
Napoleon,  and  to  persuade  him  to  repair  a  wrong  for 
which  the  Pope  has  never  forgiven  him. 

The  hot  discussions  arising  from  the  misfortunes  of 
the  Pope  commenced  shortly  afterwards,  and  this  con- 
fidential communication  was  made  to  me  at  a  moment 
when  bitterness  and  animosity  had  brought  affairs  to  a 
point  when  all  conciliation  became  impossible,  and  it 
was  given  to  me  as  an  additional  proof  that  the  griev- 


i 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  DIPLOMATISTS  BY  NAPOLEON.       291 

ances  of  the  Pope  were  of  old  standing,  and  were  botli 
many  and  great. 

This  circumstance  was  known  only  to  the  three 
Cardinals ;  they  were  shocked  at  the  unjustifiable  per- 
fidy of  the  bishops,  but  they  also  charged  the  Holy 
Father  with  having  shown  a  little  too  much  credulity 
on  the  occasion. 

Reception  of^  the  Diplomatists  after  Napoleon^'s  Return 
from  Tilsit,  1807. 

The  Emperor,  at  the  diplomatic  audience  of  August 
2,  appearing  to  be  in  a  very  good  humour,  it  was  very 
generally  whispered  that  since  his  arrival  at  Paris  his 
manners  had  much  changed,  and  that  probably  the 
Corps  Diplomatique  would  not  be  again  exposed  to  the 
insults  to  which  it  was  too  well  known  he  often  obhged 
them  to  submit.  The  following  sketch  will  show  how 
far  this  expectation  was  well  founded  : — 

The  Emperor,  according  to  custom,  began  his  round 
by  the  Cardinal  Legate,  but  did  not  speak  to  him ;  he 
came  straight  up  to  me,  and  conversed  very  pleasantly 
on  difierent  subjects.  He  asked  after  his  Imperial 
Majesty ;  spoke  of  his  stay  at  Baden,  &c.  When  he 
came  to   the  Prince   de  Masserano,  he   said   to  him, 

*  I  understand  that  the  King  of  Spain  has  been  ill :  that 
will  not  have  hindered  him  from  hunting  as  usual  twice 
a  day.' 

Then,  addressing  the  Minister  of  Denmark,  '  So  you 
have  allowed  the  Baltic  to  be  violated.  We  laid  down 
the  principle  that  you  were  to  be  its  guardians.'  The 
Baron  de  Dreger  having  replied  in  rather  a  long  speech, 
which  I  could  not  understand,  the  Emperor   rephed, 

*  The  thing  will,  I  hope,  now  be  arranged.' 

U2 


293     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED   CONTEMPORARIES. 

To  General  Armstrong,  Minister  of  the  United 
States,  he  said  (in  French),  '  Have  you  learned  French 
yet  ? '  This  Minister  neither  spoke  nor  understood  any 
language  but  English. 

When  the  Emperor,  in  returning — for  he  always 
^vent  twice  round  the  circle — approached  him  again,  the 
General  turned  his  head  to  avoid  the  grammatical  dis- 
cussion which  he  probably  feared. 

After  a  long  speech  to  the  Ambassador  of  Portugal, 
lie  ended  by  saying,  '  That  cannot  continue ;  we  must 
have  peace  or  war.' 

In  returning,  he  talked  again  witli  me,  and  ended  the 
circ^le  by  the  following  tirade,  addressed  in  Italian  to 
the  Nuncio:  'You  are  bad  Christians,  you  people  at 
Eome  ;  you  leave  fifteen  episcopal  sees  vacant,  and  then] 
this  pretension  of  making  all  the  Bishops  in  the  ItaHan 
kingdom  go  to  Eome  for  investiture!  The  Emperor 
Joseph  has  already  opposed  it ;  how  could  they  sup- 
pose that  I  should  consent  at  the  present  moment  ?  If 
Jesus  Christ  had  instituted  the  pilgrimage  to  Eome,  as 
Mahomet  did  that  "to  Mecca,  everyone  would  go  ;  but 
where  do  you  find  that  written  f  And  why  should  you 
exact  fpom  the  Archbishop  of  Milan  what  you  do  not 
require  from  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  or  of  Vienna  ?  ' 
The  NuDci©  Avished  to  put  in  a  word.  '  The  Holy 
Father,'  interrupted  the  Emperor,  '  is  a  good  man,  but 
none  of  the  people  about  him  have  any  head.  Now,  if] 
he  gives  up  all  sovereign  power,  and  confines  himself  to 
spiritual  power  like  Saint  Peter,  then  the  Bishops  can 
be  allowed  to  go  there  ;  but  I  shall  never  allow  my 
subjects  to  do  fealty  and  homage  to  a  foreign  Prince.' 
The  Nuncio  again  seemed  to  wish  to  speak.  '  Every- j 
thing  which  is  done  there  is  without  common  sense,* 
rejoined  the  Emperor  ;  and  becoming  more  and  more 


I 


THE   COURT  AT   FONTAINEBLEAU,    3807,  29^ 

excited,  he  ended  by  saying,  'Well,  I  shall  be  obhged 
to  put  you  in  order,  and  then  I  shall  crush  you  so  that 
you  will  be  utterly  ruined.'  With  this  speech  he 
bowed  his  adieus  to  the  circle,  and  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  took  their  departure. 

The  Court  at  Fontainebleau,  1807. 

The  aspect  of  the  Court  at  Fontainebleau  could  not 
but  offer  many  objects  of  curiosity  to  an  impartial  ob- 
server. 

This  Court  sometimes  endeavoured  to  go  back  to 
tlie  old  forms,  and  sometimes  rejected  them  as  beneath 
the  dignity  of  the  moment.  The  Emperor  hunted  forty 
miserable  deer  which  had  been  brought  from  Hanover 
and  other  parts  of  Germany  to  refill  a  forest  twenty 
leagues  round,  because  the  kings  too  had  their  fixed 
days  for  hunting.  He  did  not  really  care  for  the  sport, 
except  for  the  violent  exercise,  which  suited  his  health  ; 
and,  besides,  he  merely  went  at  full  speed,  right  and  left, 
through  the  forest,  without  regularly  following  the 
hunt.  In  this  matter  he  was  the  despair  of  Marshal 
Berthier,  who,  as  Master  of  the  Hounds,  wished  to  esta- 
bhsh  order  in  his  department..  The  number  of  horses 
and  equipages  being  quite  insufficient,  no  one,  except 
the  foreign  Princes,  was  admitted  to  these  parties. 

Three  times  a  week  there  was  a  play  at  the  Court. 
The  actors  of  the  Comedie  Franqaise  received  a  thou- 
sand crowns  for  each  representation  ;  this  rate  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  old  time.  The  other  evenings  wer6 
divided  between  the  Courts  of  the  Queen  of  Holland, 
the  King  of  Westphaha,  the  Grand-Duchess  of  Berg,  and 
the  Princess  de  Bade.  The  Empress  held  her  Court  on 
Sundays.  The  diplomatic  body  was  only  received  from 
time  to  time  by  the  Princes,  and  they  chose  for  this  the 


29-1  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  COXTEMPORARIES. 

time  when  the  Emperor  was  absent ;  neither  I  nor  any 
of  my  colleagues  had  as  yet  seen  him,  except  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

The  Secretaries  of  State  of  France  and  of  Italy, 
and  the  two  ministers  for  the  exterior  and  interior,  were 
estabUshed  at  Fontainebleau,  and  kept  open  house  for 
all  foreigners.  It  would  be  difficult  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  prodigious  expenses  of  the  Court  and  of  the 
ministers ;  the  chateau  had  been  dilapidated,  and  the  fur- 
niture sold ;  now  all  is  repaired,  and  while  every  corner 
of  Paris,  and  all  the  principal  towns  of  France,  are  full 
of  new  buildings,  millions  are  spent  for  objects  of  pure 
luxury  or  mere  fancy.  On  the  fourteenth  of  this  month 
there  were  fetes  in  honour  of  the  marriage  of  Prince 
Jerome  with  the  Princess  of  Wurtemberg.  On  this 
same  occasion,  at  Paris,  they  gave  the  '  Triumph  of 
Trajan,'  a  grand  opera  which  had  been  preparing  for 
several  months. 

The  marriage  of  the  Due  d'Arenberg  and  that  of 
the  Hereditary  Prince  of  HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen 
with  Mesdemoiselles  Tascher  and  Bonafoux — the  first  a 
niece  of  the  Empress,  and  the  second  a  niece  of  Prince 
Murat,  whose  name  she  now  bears — were  to  have  taken 
place  the  same  day,  but  they  have  just  been  put  oil 
for  one  or  two  weeks.  It  does  not  look  as  if  the  first 
were  to  obtain  the  title  of  Imperial  Highness,  as  the 
family  of  her  future  husband  have  flattered  themselves. 
Monsignor  the  Grand -Duke  of  Wurzburg,  and  th.e 
Prince  Primates  of  Nassau  and  Waldeck,  are  staying  at 
the  chateau.  The  first  receives  all  the  honours  and 
respect  due  to  his  rank,  and  his  Imperial  Highness 
continues  to  gain  the  good  opinions  of  everyone. 


THE  NAPOLEONIC  ARISTOCRACY.  295 

The  Napoleonic  Aristocracy ^  1808. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  employed  the  last  moments 
of  his  stay  in  Paris  in  unfolding  his  vast  plan  of  orga- 
nisation. The  Moniteurs  of  March  14  and  16  contained 
all  the  arrangements  concerning  the  execution  of  his 
plan.  We  are  continually  to  see  titles  given  to  numbers 
of  individuals  ;  all  the  members  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
taking  the  title  of  ChevaHer,  there  will  be  some  of  these 
in  the  ranks  of  the  army  and  in  the  artists'  studios. 

The  bestowal  of  these  titles  is  a  great  object  of 
interest  to  a  foreign  observer.  Napoleon's  genius  has 
seized  new  opportunities  for  connecting  with  his  person, 
with  his  succession,  with  the  extent  of  his  conquests, 
even  private  interest,  that  most  powerful  motive,  espe- 
cially with  individuals  who  have  already  experienced 
the  Imperial  favour,  or  desire  to  do  so.  He  now  dis- 
poses of  the  immense  mass  of  domains  which  he  had 
reserved  to  himself  in  the  arrangements  which  followed 
the  last  war.  A  few  examples  will  no  doubt  suffice  for 
the  calculation  of  the  remainder  of  the  favours  about 
to  be  distributed.  Marshal  Ney  told  me  himself  that 
the  leases  of  the  different  dotations  in  landed  property 
which  he  had  received  in  Italy,  in  Poland,  and  which 
were  just  announced  to  him  in  WestphaUa  and  Hanover, 
amounted  to  five  hundred  thousand  Hvres  yearly.  Alto- 
gether, his  appointments,  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and 
what  he  got  under  various  titles  from  the  coffers  of  the 
State,  amounted  to  three  hundred  thousand  francs.  He 
assured  me  that  his  revenues  were  far  from  the  maxi- 
mum granted  to  many  of  his  companions. 

The  Arch-Chancellor  Cambaceres  received  a  dotation 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  ad  perpetuum 
from  the  revenues  of  Parma,  of  which  he  took  the  title 


296     GALLERY   OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

of  Duke.  The  arch-treasurer  Lebrun,  while  taking  the 
title  of  Due  de  Plaisance,  received  a  like  revenue. 
MM.  de  Segur,  de  Champagny,  and  Maret,  have  eacli 
received  between  fifty  and  a  hundred  thousand  francs 
a  year  from  land  in  Westphalia  and  in  Hanover.  It  is 
supposed  that  the  ducal  title  is  reserved  for  them,  as 
well  as  for  MM.  Duroc,  Coulaincourt,  Savary,  etc.  etc. 
The  latter  found  in  his  office  just  as  he  was  about  to  re- 
turn to  St.  Petersburg  a  cheque  for  five  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  from  the  pubhc  treasury.  Every  general 
who  returned  here  from  the  army,  received  one,  two, 
or  three  thousand  louis,  .to  amuse  himself  with  for  a 
few  days  in  Paris  ;  and  this  was  given  as  the  ground  on 
which  the  Vice-Constable  distributed  the  gratuity.  The 
Imperial  Guard  has  received  a  particular  mark  of  the 
favour  of  the  Sovereign,  who  has  just  allotted  to  all 
his  officers  a  pension  transmissible  to  their  descendants 
in  the  direct  line,  namely,  500  francs  to  the  sub-Heu- 
tenants,  1,000  to  the  heutenants,  2,000  to  the  captains, 
and  so  on. 

If  the  great  point  of  attaching  a  great  number  of 
citizens  of  the  Empire  to  his  person  and  dynasty  was 
one  evident  motive  of  these  immense  concessions,  there 
are  others  which  cannot  escape  the  attention  of  the 
enhghtened  observer.  The  law  which  prevents  the 
new  nobility  from  selling  to  a  foreigner,  without  special 
authority,  the  dotations  they  receive,  clearly  serves  to 
unite  these  individuals  in  defence  of  their  territories. 
The  Imperial  supremacy  not  only  extends  to  the  banks 
of  the  Vistula ;  Napoleon  has  diminished  the  power 
and  the  means  of  the  sovereigns,  who  rule  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  great  empire  under  his  protection,  by 
depriving  them  of  a  great  mass  of  their  revenues 
He  increased  his  own  power  by  placing  this  wealth  in 


THE  NAPOLEONIC   ARISTOCRACY.  207 

the  hands  of  French  subjects,  who,  with  this  title,  find 
themselves  among  the  richest  proprietors  of  the  States 
of  the  Confederation.  Twenty  millions  will  flow  every 
year  into  the  interior  of  France  ;  the  new  nobility  will 
throw  them  into  the  channels  of  industry,  and  this  con- 
sideration alone  gives  a  balance  of  twenty  millions  in 
favour  of  the  Empire.  Whether  France  exports  more 
for  a  similar  sum  in  the  countries  under  her  influence, 
or  whether  it  comes  to  her  from  other  causes,  the  fact 
is  and  will  remain  the  same  as  to  the  result ;  the 
landed  estates,  too,  will  maintain  a  very  high  value,  if, 
httle  by  little,  the  titled  possessors  are  allowed  to  sell 
to  foreigners,  and  to  increase  their  property  in  France 
itself,  a  slow  operation  which  will  never  pass  beyond 
the  hands  of  the  government,  and  which  some  happy 
chances  for  the  new  dynasty  will  no  doubt  accelerate, 
whilst  it  can  be  arrested  the  moment  the  least  danger 
threatens  the  existing  order  of  things. 

The  old  noblesse  seems  also  to  be  favoured  in  tlie 
distribution  of  the  new  titles.  This  measure  must 
greatly  influence  the  views  of  the  Emperor.  Nothing 
could  more  effectively  extinguish  the  old  claims  than 
their  finding  a  new  existence.  The  ashes  of  the  house 
of  Montmorency  preserved  in  a  cinerary  urn  since 
1789  will  be  scattered  to  the  winds  in  1808.  MM. 
Montmorency,  de  Mortemart  and  others  are  mentioned 
as  likely  to  receive  dotations  and  titles. 

The  only  nominations  to  titles  of  nobility,  besides 
those  included  in  the  last  message  to  the  Senate,  have 
been  just  given  to  military  men.  Nearly  all  the 
marshals  are  made  Dukes. 

Augereau  takes  the  title  of  Due  de  Castighone,  Mas- 
sena  that  of  Eivoh,  Ney  that  of  d'Elchingen,  Davoust 
that  of  Auerstadt,  etc.  etc.     Marshal  Duroc  takes  tlie 


298  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

title  of  Due  de  Friuli ;  Coulaincourt  that  of  Vicenza ; 
Colonel  Arrighi,  a  cousin  of  the  Emperor,  that  of  Padua ; 
Junot  that  of  Abrantes.  It  should  be  observed  that 
the  real  Marquis  d'Abrantes  is  expected  here  some  day, 
soon,  with  a  deputation  from  Portugal,  of  which  M.  de 
Lima  will  be  one. 

The  ministers  will  be  mostly  dukes  ;  and  all  the 
titles  have  immense  dotations.  Nearly  all  the  generals 
of  brigade  have  received  10,000  livres  annually  in  per- 
petuity ;  the  colonels  between  2,000  and  8,000.  And, 
lastly,  every  passion  was  set  in  motion  by  a  man  who 
knew  but  one.  Europe  has  been  chased  and  hunted 
down,  and  la  curee  is  being  enacted  on  her  carcase  at 
the  present  moment ;  ambition,  vanity,  cupidity,  all  the 
passions  are  put  in  movement  as  accessories  of  the  great 
work  of  destruction.  Many  will  be  satisfied  by  it,  but 
not  all ;  some  bait  will  be  necessary  for  the  rest :  this 
bait  will  be  sought  in  every  direction,  and  history  ofiers 
too  many  examples  of  the  success  of  the  system  of 
dividing  the  best  of  the  spoil  among  the  collahorateurs 
to  have  escaped  the  attention  of  Napoleon. 

Napoleon  at  the  Fatal  Ball  at  Prince  Schwarzenherg's, 
in  Paris^  July  1,  1810.  From  a  Report  sent  to  the 
Emperor  Francis. 

Your  Majesty's  Ambassador  had  fixed  July  1  to  give 
fete  to  their  Imperial  Majesties  on  the  occasion  of  their 
marriage.  AU  the  arrangements  were  made  with  as 
much  taste  as  magnificence.    The  programme  *  enclosed 

•  Programme  de  la  Fete. — Un  groupe  de  musique  plac6  dans  la  coxir 
d'honneur  jouera  des  fanfares  et  autres  airs  choisis  a  I'arrivee  de  Leura 
Majest^s,  de  la  famille  iraperiale,  des  grrands  dignitaires,  &c. 

Les  musiciens  du  concert  seront  places  dans  I'orchestre  &  sept  heures. 

Le  concert  ne  commencera  que  lorsque  les  dames  invitees  seront  arriy^, 
et  continuera  jusqu  a  Tarriv^e  de  Leurs  Majest^a. 


THE  FATAL  BALL  AT  PRINCE  SCHWARZENBERG'S.   299 

gives  only  a  poor  idea  of  the  intention  of  the  whole, 
or  of  the  perfection  with  which  the  details  were  carried 
out. 

The  Emperor  arrived  at  the  gates  of  Paris  at  a 
quarter  to  ten.  Their  Majesties  changed  their  carriages 
there,  and  were  received  by  the  Ambassador,  at  the 
door  of  his  hotel,  about  ten  o'clock.  The  Emperor 
wore  the  ribbon  of  St.-Etienne  over  his  coat.  He  had 
ordered  that  all  persons  decorated  with  Austrian  orders 
should  wear  them.  Those  who  had  French  orders 
wore  them  under  their  coats. 

Their  Majesties,  after  having  walked  round  the 
gardens,  and  seen  a  charming  ballet  which  was  danced 
on  a  lawn  in  the  garden  of  the  Luxembourg,  w^ent 
through  a  great  gallery  newly  constructed  along  the 

Lorsque  Leurs  Majestes  entreront  dans  la  galerie,  I'orchestre  jouera  une 
fknfare. 

Leurs  Majestes,  conduites  par  son  Excellence,  traverseront  la  salle  de 
concert  et  passeront  dans  le  jardin ;  Elles  s'arreteront  un  instant  devant  le 
temple  d'Apollon : — les  Muses  qui  I'entourent  ex^cuteront  un  choeur. 

Leurs  Majestes  passeront  par  I'all^e  de  la  cascade ;  une  harmonie  placee 
dans  la  grotte  souterraine  s'y  fera  entendre. 

De  la  Leurs  Majestes  iront  sous  le  berceau  de  vigne,  qui  sera  omd  de 
chiffres,  de  fleurs,  de  guirlandes  et  de  glaces.  Au  fond  sera  6le\6  un  vaste 
buffet.  En  passant  sous  ce  berceau,  Leurs  Majestes  y  entendront  des  con- 
certs de  musique  voca.o  et  inutrumentale,  I'un  allemand  et  I'autre  frangais — 
plus  un  solo  d'un  instrument  nomm6  glass-cord  (instrument  nouveau  invents 
par  Franklin). 

En  continuant  a  circuler  dans  le  jardin,  Leurs  Majestes  arriveront  en 
face  d'un  temple  dedie  a  la  Renommee.  Trois  figurantes  qui  seront  au  faite 
representeront :  la  Victoire,  Olio,  Muse  de  I'histoire,  et,  au  milieu,  la  Re- 
nommee. Les  trompettes  y  executeront  des  fanfares  et  on  y  chantera  un 
thoeur.  Devant  ce  monument  brillamment  illuming  seront  des  tr^pieds,  ou 
Ton  brulera  des  parfums. 

Leurs  Majestes  se  rendront  au  pavilion  imperial,  sur  une  estrade  ou  il  y 
aura  des  sieges  pour  elles  et  Leur  famille. 

Ici  s'ex^cutera  une  fete  de  chateau,  suivie  du  feu  d'artifice. 

Apres  le  feu,  Leurs  Majestes  et  Leur  suite  rentreront  dans  le  salon 
dtonneur,  et  tout  le  monde  se  rendra  par  la  galerie  dans  la  salle  de  bal. 

Leurs  Majestes,  apres  avoir  pris  des  glaces,  se  rendront  dana  ladite  salle. 

Apres  le  bal,  festin  dans  le  temple  de  la  Renommde. 


300  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

facade  of  the  hotel  to  a  ball-room  made  to  hold  1,2U() 
to  1,500  persons.  The  ball  was  opened  by  a  quadrille. 
This  quadrille  finished,  the  Emperor  came  down  from 
the  raised  part  of  the  ball-room  in  order  to  walk  round, 
according  to  his  custom.  Her  Majesty  the  Empress, 
the  Queen  of  Westphaha,  the  Queen  of  Naples,  and 
the  Vice-Queen  of  Italy  remained  in  their  places  on 
this  same  platform.  All  at  once  a  garland  took  fire 
in  the  gallery,  and  set  fire  to  some  of  the  draperies. 
The  Emperor  was  only  a  few  steps  from  the  spot- 
Many  persons  tried  to  pull  doAvn  the  part  that  was 
burning  ;  their  efforts  set  the  draperies  in  motion,  and 
may  have  helped  to  extend  the  flames  ;  at  last  the  con- 
flagration became  general. 

I  was  at  the  foot  of  the  platform :  I  ascended  the 
steps,  in  order  to  warn  her  Majesty  the  Empress  of  tlie 
accident ;  begging  her  to  follow  me  when  I  thought 
the  right  moment  had  arrived.  The  Emperor,  who  was 
with  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  w^as,  so  to  speak,  forced 
by  him  to  retire ;  he  crossed  the  ball-room,  rejoined 
the  Empress,  and  all  four  went  out  together.  The 
Prince  of  Schwarzenberg  did  not  leave  their  Majesties 
till,  having  crossed  the  gardens^  they  entered  their  car-^ 
riages. 

Seeing  the  Emperor  and  his  august  consort  in  safety, 
I  wished  to  return  to  the  ball-room.  It  was  all  on  fire ; 
I  met  the  crowd  hastening  towards  me ;  I  got  to  tlie 
lop  of  the  steps  that  led  to  the  ball-room;  I  saw  the 
Queen  of  Westphalia,  who  was  fainting ;  I  seized  hold 
of  her,  and  earried  her  far  enough  to  be  out  of  all 
danger,  when  I  left  her  to  some  persons  about  the 
Court. 

The  Queen  of  Naples,  the  Viceroy  and  the  Vice-'' 
Queen  of  Italy,  six  months  enceinte,  had  remained  on 


THE  FATAL   BALL  AT  TRIXCE   SCIIWARZEXBERGS.       301 

the  platform,  reassured  by  the  coolness  of  the  Viceroy. 
The  first  of  these  Princesses  wanted  to  try  and  get 
away  by  the  great  door  by  which  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  had  escaped ;  she  was  soon  so  surrounded 
by  the  crowd  that,  being  quite  behind,  she  would  inevi- 
tably have  been  caught  by  the  fire,  as  many  other 
j)ersons  were,  but  for  the  help  of  Monsignor  the  Arch- 
(hike  Grand-Due  and  Marshal  Moncey,  who  seized  her 
and  got  her  out.  The  Viceroy,  seeing  the  lustres  in  the 
ball-room  fall,  and  consequently  not  being  able  to  get 
across  the  room,  took  his  wife  into  the  house  by 
a  small  door  wdiicli  he  discovered  near  by.  No  acci- 
dent, therefore,  happened  to  the  Imperial  family,  who, 
following  the  example  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
showed  the  greatest  calmness  and  courage. 

Her  Majesty  the  Empress  was  not  alarmed  for  a 
inoment ;  and  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  assure  your 
Majesty  that  this  frightful  accident  has  not  had  the 
least  ill  effect  upon  her. 

I  have  the  honour  to  enclose,  with  this  report,  the 
Moniteur  of  to-day,  which  gives  a  detailed  account  of 
the  event.  It  would  be  difficult  to  add  anything  to 
it.  I  had,  however,  another  account  written  out  to  be 
inserted  in  the  Gazette  de  Vienna.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  we  ought  to  pay  a  just  tribute  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  Emperor  behaved  on  this  occasion. 

He  conducted  his  august  consort  only  as  far  as  the 
place  where,  in  coming,  they  had  changed  carriages. 
He  put  her  into  the  coach  which  had  brought  them 
from  St.-Cloud,  and  returned  himself  to  the  Ambas- 
sador's house.  Present  everywhere,  giving  orders  both 
to  save  the  house  from  the  fire,  and  to  guard  its  interior 
from  the  effects  of  disorder,  directing,  ordering  every- 
'thing,  he  remained  there,   for  more   than  two  hours, 


302  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

exposed  sometimes  to  a  heavy  rain  which  came  on, 
sometimes  to  the  efiects  of  the  heat  and  smoke.  He 
was  alone,  without  any  guard  whatever,  and  evidently 
anxious  to  prevent  any  false  interpretation  of  an  event 
the  sad  character  of  which  would  not  deter  ill-natured 
people  from  turning  it  to  account. 

Many  persons,  who  had  been  kept  back  or  thrown 
down,  were  grievously  injured  by  the  flames.  Prince 
Kourakin  fell  on  the  burning  steps  of  the  ball-room,  and 
was  only  saved  by  a  man  who  pulled  him  out  by  the 
legs.  He  had  all  his  hair  and  the  skin  of  his  forehead, 
his  hands,  and  his  legs  burned.  The  doctors  do  not 
think  him  dangerously  injured.  Madame  la  Princesse 
de  la  Ley  en  (mere)  received  injuries  which  seem  to  be 
mortal,  both  from  being  thrown  down  by  the  crowd 
and  from  burns.  The  wife  of  the  Consul  of  Eussia, 
Labensky,  struck  by  a  lustre  in  its  fall  and  frightfully 
burned,  died  yesterday  in  the  course  of  the  day. 

Amongst  the  persons  most  injured  must  be  men- 
tioned the  second  daughter  of  Prince  Joseph  Schwarzen- 
berg  ;  the  Prefect  of  Istria  and  his  wife  ;  General  Tou- 
sard  and  his  wife  ;  Madame  de  la  Force,  and  at  least 
a  dozen  others  more  or  less  dangerously  wounded. 
About  twenty  persons  were  slightly  injured  ;  but  one 
victim,  who  cannot  be  sufficiently  deplored,  and  who 
perished  from  following  the  greatest  of  all  sentiments, 
that  of  a  mother  trying  to  help  her  children,  the  Prin- 
cess Pauline  de  Schwarzenberg,  wife  of  Prince  Joseph, 
fills  all  hearts. 

Placed  at  the  lower  end  of  the  ball-room,  by  the 
side  of  Madame  de  Metternich,  near  the  Imperial  plat- 
form, these  two  mothers  threw  themselves  into  the 
'  Anglaise,  which  was  then  being  danced,  in  order  to 
get  hold  of  their  daughters  who — happily  placed  near 


THE  FATAL  BALL  AT  PRINCE  SCHWARZEXBERGS.   308 

the  door  into  the  garden — were  saved  by  this  accident 
from  all  danger.     Madame  de  Metternich  was  dragged 
by  the  crowd  into  the  garden,  where  she  was  imme- 
diately joined  by  her  daughter  and  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Princess  de  Schwarzenberg.    That  Princess  perceiving 
her  youngest  daughter  at  some  way  off  at  the  side  of 
the  great  ball-room  ran  up  to  her,  and  carried  her  off ; 
but  the  mother  was  soon  thrown  into  the  garden  and 
separated  from  her  child,  who  fell  down  insensible  in 
a  corner.     The  mother  ran  about  weeping,  and  asking 
everyone  if  they  had  not  seen  her  children.     In  the 
garden  she  had  spoken  to  the  King  of  Westphaha,  to 
Minister  Regnaud,  and  two  or  three  other  persons ;  and 
we  waited  till  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  most 
frightful  anxiety  about  her,  all  efforts  to  find  her  having 
been  useless  up  to  that  time.     As  she  had  been  seen 
in  the  garden,  there  was  no  suspicion   that  she   had 
been  burnt.     Covered  with  diamonds,  she  might  have 
been  seized  and  plundered  by  thieves,  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  she  had  ventured  alone  into  the  street.     The 
Emperor  himself  directed  a  search,  all  the  houses  in  the 
neighbourhood  being  visited.     It  was  not  till  five  o'clock 
that,  in  moving  the  heaps  of  cinders  and  ruins  of  the 
ball-room,  a  dead  body  was  discovered,  entirely  burnt, 
in  a  little  recess  which  there  was  in  the  imperial  plat- 
form at  the  end  of  the  ball-room.     Doctor  GaU  was 
the  first  to  recognise  it  as  the  body  of  Princess  Pauhne 
de  Schwarzenberg,  and  the  inquest  held  by  the  Prefect  of 
poHce  confirmed  the  melancholy  fact.     It  is  only  to  be 
explained  by  the  circumstance  that  the  Princess,  know- 
ing the  locaHties  thoroughly,  certain  that  the  daughter 
she  had  been  leading  was  left  behind,  and  not  being 
able  to  reach  the  door  by  which  the  crowd  was  going 
out,  had  returned  to  the  baU-room  by  the  interior  of  the 


o04     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

liouse,  that  she  had  wished  to  cross  the  room  to  get  t 
the  Httle  door  by  which  the  Viceroy  had  escaped,  but 
tliat,  suffocated  by  the  smoke  or  by  the  intense  heat, 
or  perhaps  crushed  by  the  fall  of  the  roof,  which  first 
fell  in  at  this  part  of  the  ball-room,  she  perished  only  a 
few  steps  from  this  same  door,  and  a  little  behind  the 
spot  where  the  Imperial  family  had  been  placed. 

I  was  the  more  inclined  to  this  supposition  as,  after 
having  put  the  Queen  of  Westphalia  in  safety,  wishing 
once  more  to  penetrate  into  the  ball-room,  and  stopped 
by  the  crowd  going  out,  I  took  the  same  road  to  get 
to  the  back  of  the  ball-room  and  satisfy  myself  that 
no  one  was  there.  I  did  not  meet  a  single  person. 
When  I  came  to  the  door  of  the  ball-room,  which  com- 
municated with  the  rest  of  the  house,  I  was  stopped 
for  a  moment  by  the  general  conflagration  of  all  the 
Avails  and  of  the  ceiling.  The  lustres  had  fallen  ;  the 
part  of  the  roof  on  my  right,  where  they  after- 
Avards  found  the  body  of  the  Princess,  had  fallen  in  ; 
the  one  over  my  head  was  still  firm.  I  made  some 
steps  forward,  and  convinced  myself  that  the  ball-room 
was  perfectly  empty.  All  this  building  fell  in  two  or 
three  minutes  afterwards.  The  Princess  must  have 
preceded  me  by  only  a  very  few  minutes. 

The  second  daughter  of  Prince  Joseph  de  Schwarzen- 
berg,  the  same  who  was  separated  from  her  mother, 
was  saved  by  a  Frenchman.  She  was  badly  burnt,  but 
they  hope  to  save  her. 

Such  is  the  true  account  of  an  event  which  will  be 
misrepresented  in  twenty  ways  ;  but  which  obliges  me 
to  pay  a  tribute  of  just  praise  to  your  Majesty's  Ambas- 
sador, who  carried  himself  with  a  calm,  a  courage,  and 
a  dignity  beyond  all  expression.  Occupied  with  the  . 
personal   safety  of  the  Sovereigns,  he  forgot  his  own 


THE  FLIGHT  OF  THE   KING  OF  HOLLAND.         305 

frightful  position.  The  employes  of  the  Embassy,  the 
Austrians  in  Paris,  the  couriers  employed  by  the  cabinet, 
rescued  from  the  flames,  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  all 
those  whom  they  were  able  to  help,  and  many  belonging 
to  the  French  Court  showed  no  less  calmness  and 
courage.  At  the  moment  when  the  fire  was  at  its 
worst,  the  firemen  being  deficient,  the  preservation  of 
the  house,  which  began  to  burn  in  every  direction,  was 
entirely  due  to  the  efforts  of  persons  in  the  company. 

On  the  Flight  of  the  King  of  Holland.     From  a  Report 
to  the  Emperor  Francis,  Paris,  July  28,  1810. 

It  was  by  a  courier  sent  to  Paris  by  the  Saxon  Cabi- 
net that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  was  informed  of  the 
arrival  of  the  King  of  Holland  at  Teplitz. 

I  saw  the  Emperor  the  same  day,  and  when  his 
Majesty  told  me  of  the  news  he  had  just  received,  I  felt 
all  the  more  authorised  to  express  myself  plainly  on  the 
subject,  as  the  evening  before  his  Majesty  had  talked 
freely  with  me  about  his-  brother's  proceedings.  I  said 
to  the  Emperor  that  I  knew  I  should  be  doing  your 
Imperial  Majesty  a  service  if  I  could  inform  you  of  the 
wishes  of  the  head  of  the  family  in  this  respect,  as  I 
was  certain  that  my  Court  would  wish  neither  to  fail  in 
showing  respect  to  a  Prince  of  the  Imperial  family  of 
France,  nor  to  appear  too  attentive  to  him  who  had 
taken  refuge  with  them.  I  added  that  I  should  be  glad 
to  know  whether  he  would  prefer  that  the  King  should 
be  treated  as  a  French  Prince,  or  simply  as  a  traveller. 

The  Emperor  seemed  pleased  with  the  attention, 
and  said  that,  the  King  having  taken  a  private  name, 
it  appeared  to  him  that  he  had  no  right  to  expect  to 
be  treated  as  a  Royal  personage.  The  Emperor  ex- 
pressed his  satisfaction  at  his  coming  to  us,  and  did  not 

VOL.  L  X 


306     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

conceal  that  he  had  feared  he  would  cross  the  seas,  and 
that  if  he  had  gone  to  Russia  it  would  hardly  have 
pleased  him  better.  I  observed  to  the  Emperor  that,  in 
coming  to  us,  the  King,  no  doubt,  felt  as  if  he  were  not 
leaving  the  family ;  and  in  what  followed,  the  Emperor 
returned  twenty  times  to  this  idea,  which  seemed  to 
flatter  him  so  much. 

He  went  into  many  details  of  the  inconsistency  of 
the  King's  conduct,  which  he  had  pubhcly  blamed  in  the 
article  in  the  Moniteur  of  December  22.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  King  was  really  placed  in  a  very 
false  position ;  he  had  only  the  choice  between  acting 
the  part  of  Napoleon's  brother  or  that  of  a  despoiled 
Sovereign ;  he  must  by  choosing  the  former  avoid  a  com- 
pHcation  and  yield  to  force  ;  if  he  followed  the  second, 
he  must  imitate  the  Prince  of  Brazil,  and  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  Colonies.  This  is  the  opinion  of  the 
pubHc ;  and  this  pubhc,  too,  is  still  ignorant  that  he  had 
made  the  amende  honorable  at  Dresden,  which  might 
very  well  cause  the  supposition  that  outward  evils  had 
been  added  to  moral  misfortunes.  The  Emperor  has 
lodged  the  Prince  Royal  at  St.-Cloud  ;  but  he  is  not  the 
less  anxious  to  justify  the  principles  advanced  in  the 
above-mentioned  article  of  the  Moniteur,  the  reading 
of  which  has  caused  a  sensation  among  those  occupied 
with  pubhc  affairs  difficult  to  describe. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  has  commanded  that  no 
notice  is  to  be  taken  of  the  King's  stay.  This  measure 
is  perfectly  in  accordance  wdth  the  wishes  of  the  Em- 
peror of  the  French.  I  think,  however,  I  ought  to  lay 
before  your  Majesty  my  conviction  that,  while  leaving 
the  King  the  strictest  incognito,  it  would  not  be  amiss 
to  order  the  local  authorities  to  show  him  particular 
attention.     The  Emperor  will  be  pleased  if  tlie  King 


NAPOLEON'S  OPINION  OF  CHATEAUBRIAND.        307 

on  his  return  expresses  himself  gratified  with  his  stay, 
and  he  thinks  a  great  deal  of  these'  forms  of  mere- 
courtesy.  The  Emperor,  indeed,  is  more  influenced  by 
these  httle  matters  than  it  is  possible  to  imagine. 

The  Church  of  La  Madeleine. 

Napoleon  talking  one  day  with  M.  Mole  about  the 
edifices  being  constructed  in  Paris,  the  latter  asked  him 
when  the  Church  of  the  Madeleine  was  to  be  thought  of. 
'  Well,'  asked  the  Emperor,  '  what  do  you  wish  me  to 
do  with  it  ? '  M.  Mole  replied  that  he  had  understood 
that  his  Majesty  intended  it  for  a  temple  de  la  Gloire. 
'  That  is  what  people  think,'  said  Napoleon  ;  '  but  I 
intend  it  for  an  expiatory  monument  for  the  murder  of 
Louis  XVI. ;  the  moment,  however,  for  me  to  announce 
this  has  not  yet  arrived.' 

A  similar  project  was  carried  out  a  few  years  after- 
wards by  Louis  XVIII. 

Napoleon's  Opinion  of  Chateaubriand. 

The  following  anecdote  will  serve  to  throw  Hght  on 
the  claim  made  by  M.  de  Chateaubriand  and  his  friends 
of  having  been  able  to  resist  the  seductive  power  which 
Napoleon  knew  how  to  exercise  on  his  opponents : — 

One  day  the  Emperor  of  the  French  was  passing  in 
review  the  remarkable  men  of  the  time,  and  he  said  to 
me,  '  There  are  men,  and  France  unhappily  abounds  in 
them,  who  think  themselves  fit  for  everything,  because' 
they  have  one  quality  or  one  talent.  Amongst  these 
men  is  Chateaubriand,  who  joins  the  opposition,  because 
I  will  not  employ  him.  This  man  is  a  reasoner  in  the 
clouds,  but  gifted  with  great  dialectic  power.  If  he 
would  use  his  talent  in  the  fine  marked  out  for  him,  he 
might  be  useful.     But  he  will  not  comply  with  this, 

X2 


308   GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

and  he  is,  therefore,  good  for  nothing.  It  is  necessary 
either  to  be  able  to  guide  one's  self,  or  to  submit  to 
orders.  He  can  neither  do  one  nor  the  other :  therefore 
I  cannot  employ  him.  He  has  offered  himself  to  me 
twenty  times ;  but  as  it  was  to  make  me  bend  to  his 
imagination,  which  always  leads  to  errors,  and  not  to 
obey  me,  I  dechned  his  services — that  is  to  say,  I  de- 
chned  to  serve  him.' 

Napoleon's  Family. 

Napoleon  had  a  great  weakness  for  his  family. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  changes  of  Sove- 
reigns were  due  to  the  covetousness  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters. 

All  the  members  of  this  too  numerous  family  were 
not,  however,  equally  ambitious.  Napoleon's  mother 
cared  for  nothing  but  money.  Neither  her  turn  of 
mind,  nor  her  tastes  inclined  her  towards  social  eleva- 
tion. She  had  an  immense  income  ;  and,  without  the 
precise  orders  of  her  son,  she  would  not  have  dreamed 
of  doing  anything  but  invest  it.  When  her  children 
turned  her  extreme  economy  to  ridicule,  she  said  to 
them,  '  You  don't  know  what  you  do ;  the  world  will 
not  always  go  on  in  this  way,  and  if  ever  you  come 
back  on  my  hands,  you  will  be  glad  enough  of  what  I 
have  done  to-day.' 

In  1814,  Madame  Lgetitia  had  amassed  a  large  sum 
of  money,  which  she  hid  in  a  corner  covered  by  the 
portrait  of  her  late  husband.  The  fact  and  the  place 
where  the  treasure  was  hid  being  mentioned  to  Napo- 
leon, he  went  to  his  mother's  house,  and  took  away 
the  money.  She  must  have  taken  from  France  a  for- 
tune of  nearly  six  millions  of  francs. 

I  did  not  know  either  Joseph  or  Lucien  Bonaparte 


NAPOLEON'S  FAMILY.  309 

personally ;  I  cannot,  therefore,  give  any  opinion  about 
them.  Napoleon  thought  well  of  Lucien's  mind,  but  he 
never  ceased  accusing  him  of  uncontrolled  and  mis- 
directed ambition. 

In  an  interview  that  Lucien  had  with  his  brother  at 
Milan,  he  offered  as  a  pledge  of  reconcihation  a  declara- 
tion by  his  wife,  given  of  her  own  accord,  that  she 
would  be  no  obstacle  to  her  husband's  fortune.  The 
Emperor,  after  one  of  their  conferences,  said  to  the 
persons  collected  in  the  ante-room, '  Lucien  wiU  not  give 
up  his  rubbish ;  he  wants  to  prove  to  me  that  he  has  a 
hard  head  ;  I  will  show  him  that  mine  is  harder  than 
his.'  From  that  time  there  was  no  question  of  a  re- 
concihation. It  is,  in  fact,  known  that,  while  agreeing 
to  leave  his  wife,  he  insisted  on  the  recognition  of  his 
children.  His  conduct  in  1815  enables  one  to  judge  of 
the  severity  of  his  repubhcan  principles. 

Napoleon  has  often  described  Joseph  to  me  as  a 
man  gentle  in  mind  and  temper,  but  incapable  of  under- 
taking a  career  which  required  much  vigour. 

Louis  was-  like  a  stranger  in  the  family.  Injustice 
alone  could  find  anything  to  blame  in  his  moral  cha- 
racter. 

Jerome  was  clever  ;  but  the  depravity  of  his  man- 
ners, absurd  vanity,  and  mania  for  imitating  his  brother 
in  everything,  covered  him  with  ridicule. 

Two  of  Napoleon's  sisters  were  remarkable  from 
character ;  the  third  from  her  great  beauty. 

Elisa,  the  eldest  of  the  sisters — older,  also,  than 
Napoleon,  had  a  mascuHne  mind,  and  both  in  character 
and  appearance  closely  resembled  her  brother.  Ambi- 
tion was  her  ruling  passion ;  and  if  the  low  extraction 
of  her  husband,  Baciocchi,  and  his  entire  want  of  in- 
tellectual faculties,  had  not  prevented  it,  there  is  no 


310     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

doubt  that  this  branch  of  the  family  would  have  been 
raised  to  a  very  high  position.  Of  the  three  sisters,  she 
had,  however,  the  least  power  over  Napoleon,  who 
feared  and  resisted  her. 

Caroline  joined  to  a  pleasant  exterior  uncommon 
powers  of  mind.  She  had  carefully  studied  the  charac- 
ter of  her  brother,  and  did  not  deceive  herself  as  to 
his  defects,  or  the  danger  to  himself  of  the  excess  of 
his  ambition  and  love  of  power.  She  also  knew  per- 
fectly the  weak  side  of  her  husband,  and  she  would 
have  guided  him  had  it  been  possible  for  anyone  to 
guide  him. 

Murat  was  nothing  but  a  soldier  ;  but  a  soldier  of 
the  Eevolution,  and  gifted  with  a  certain  instinct  for 
domination,  which  I  have  constantly  seen  to  be  the 
apanage  of  Jacobins.  Caroline  exercised  great  power 
over  the  mind  of  her  brother,  and  it  was  she 
who  cemented  the  family  bonds.  Her  desire  was  to 
create  for  herself  and  her  family  a  position  as  inde- 
pendent as  possible  of  Napoleon — independent  even 
of  the  chances  of  his  fortune — a  fortune  which  she 
thought  endangered  by  every  act  of  violence  resulting 
from  his  insatiable  ambition. 

PauHne  was  as  handsome  as  it  is  possible  to  be ;  she 
was  in  love  with  herself,  and  her  only  occupation  was 
pleasure.  Of  amiable  character  and  extreme  good- 
nature, Napoleon  entertained  a  different  sentiment  for 
her  from  that  with  which  he  regarded  the  rest  of  his 
family.  '  Pauhne,'  he  has  often  told  me, '  Pauhne  never 
asks  me  for  anything.'  The  Princess  Borghese,  on  her 
side,  used  to  say, '  I  do  not  care  for  crowns ;  if  I  had 
wished  for  one,  I  should  have  had  it ;  but  I  left  that 
taste  to  my  relations.'  She  had  a  veneration  for  Napo- 
leon which  almost  amounted  to  worship. 


i 


NAPOLEON'S  FAMILY.  3ll 

Josephine  long  held  an  empire  over  Napoleon ;  she 
was  gifted  with  a  character  of  extreme  benevolence  and 
a  quite  pecuhar  social  tact.  Her  mind  was  narrow,  but 
in  a  good  direction.  Her  excessive  taste  for  expense 
often  led  to  painful  explanations  between  her  and  her 
husband.  It  would  be  unjust  to  attribute  any  of 
Napoleon's  ambitious  flights  to  her  influence.  Without 
doubt,  she  would,  if  she  could,  have  put  spokes  in  the 
wheel  of  the  chariot  on  which,  however,  she  had,  in  the 
early  days  of  his  fortune,  directly  assisted  to  place  the 
future  Emperor. 

Endowed  with  more  intellect  and  a  much  larger 
ambition,  Josephine's  daughter  Hortense  always  played 
a  part  in  Napoleon's  career.  Napoleon  loved  her,  and 
his  kindness  to  her  was  the  constant  cause  of  jealousy 
between  her  and  her  sisters-in-law.  More  than  one 
embarrassment  in  the  personal  situation  of  Napoleon, 
and  even  in  the  progress  of  afiairs,  was  due  to  this 
cause. 

Cardinal  Fesch  was  a  curious  compound  of  bigotry 
and  ambition.  A  sincere  devotee,  he  yet  was  not  far 
from  beUeving  Napoleon  to  be  an  instrument  of  heaven 
and  a  being  almost  supernatural.  He  thought  his  reign 
was  written  in  the  book  of  destiny,  and  looked  on  his 
flights  of  ambition  as  so  many  decrees  of  God. 

Napoleon  knew  all  the  individual  peculiarities  of  his 
family ;  and  did  not  conceal  from  himself  that  he  had 
been  much  to  blame  in  giving  way  to  the  love  of  power 
and  insatiable  covetousness  of  some  among  them. 

He  said  to  me  one  day  in  1810,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
long  conversation  in  which  he  had  just  given  me  the 
history  of  his  Ufe :  'I  have  clouded  and  obstructed 
my  career  by  placing  my  relations  on  thrones.  We 
learn  as  we  go,  and  I  now  see  that  the  fundamental 


312     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED   CONTEMPORARIES. 

principle  of  ancient  monarchies,  of  keeping  the  princes 
of  the  reigning  house  in  constant  and  real  dependence 
on  the  throne,  is  wise  and  necessary.  My  relations  have 
done  me  more  harm  than  I  have  done  them  good  ;  and  I 
if  I  had  to  begin  again,  my  brothers  and  sisters  should 
have  nothing  more  than  a  palace  in  Paris,  and  a  few 
millions  to  spend  in  idleness.  The  line  arts  and  charity 
should  be  their  domains,  and  not  kingdoms — which 
some  do  not  know  how  to  guide,  and  others  commit 
me  by  carrying  their  imitation  to  the  point  of  parody. 

Napoleon  took  care  to  place  near  each  of  his  brothers 
and  relations  a  man  whom  he  could  trust.  The  fortune 
of  M.  Decazes  sprang  out  of  the  post  which  he  occupied 
as  secretary  to  Madame  Lsetitia. 

The  Manuscript  from  St.  Helena. 

At  the  time  when  it  appeared  the  Manuscript  of 
St.  Helena  made  a  great  impression  upon  Europe. 

This  pamphlet  was  generally  regarded  as  a  pre- 
cursor of  the  Memoirs  which  Napoleon  was  thought  to 
be  writing  in  his  place  of  exile.  One  consideration  only 
strikes  one — namely,  the  pecuHarity  of  the  fact  that  the 
author  has,  in  a  short  abridgment,  given  the  resume  of 
a  work  which  he  was  preparing  to  pubhsh  in  extenso.,  and 
that  in  this  abridgment  he  puts  forth  a  number  of  sen- 
timents and  ideas  of  which  the  reproduction  certainly 
formed  the  essential  part  of  the  work  itself.  This 
argument  is,  however,  weakened  by  the  consideration 
of  the  advantage  which  Napoleon  might  think  he  found 
in  keeping  the  mind  of  Europe  occupied  with  him  and 
his  thoughts ;  as  well  as  by  the  boldness  of  the  views 
expressed,  and  their  agreement  with  the  antecedents  of 
his  life. 

Opinions  were,  however,  soon  divided  with  respect 


THE  MANUSCRirT  FROM  ST.  HELENA.  31.3 

to  this  pamphlet ;  and  if  there  were  no  serious  doubt 
raised  on  the  nature  of  its  contents,  which  were  univer- 
sally attributed  to  Bonaparte  himself,  some  thought  that 
it  emanated  directly  from  St.  Helena,  others  only  took  it 
to  be  a  compilation  of  the  opinions  and  views  of  Napo- 
leon on  the  principal  acts  of  his  political  life,  drawn  up 
by  some  person  who,  formerly,  had  had  the  opportunity 
of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  expression  of  his 
thoughts  and  views. 

But  to  put  together  the  thoughts  of  a  third  person, 
in  a  style  so  individual,  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  the 
author  to  be  gifted  with  a  very  peculiar  talent.  The 
report  soon  spread  that  the  work  was  conceived  and 
executed  by  Madame  de  Stael.  Madame  de  Stael,  for 
her  part,  attributed  it  to  Benjamin  Constant,  from  whom 
she  was  at  this  time  separated  by  some  disagreement. 
Afterwards  it  came  to  be  know^n  that  the  author  was 
the  Marquis  LuUin  de  Chateauvieux, — a  man  in  society, 
whom  no  one  had  suspected  of  being  able  to  hold  a 
pen. 


314 


ALEXANDER  L,  EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA. 
A  POETKAIT 

BT 

PRINCE  METTERNICH  (1829). 


To   draw  a  picture  of  the   Emperor  Alexander  is   a 
most  difficult  undertaking. 

Napoleon  expressed  his  opinion  of  this  prince  in  a 
manner  the  most  apt  and  striking.  In  one  of  our  con- 
versations, in  the  year  1810,  he  asked  me  whether  I 
knew  the  Emperor  of  Eussia  intimately.  I  answered 
that  I  had  had  no  personal  interview  with  him,  except 
at  the  time  of  his  residence  in  Berhn,  in  1805.  '  Well,' 
replied  Napoleon,  '  the  course  of  events  may  bring  you 
and  this  Prince  together  again ;  the  Emperor  Alexander' 
is  an  attractive  person,  quite  the  man  to  exercise  a 
singular  spell  over  those  with  whom  he  comes  in  con- 
tact. If  I  were  given  to  yielding  to  mere  impressions, 
I  could  hke  him  with  all  my  heart.  With  so  many 
intellectual  advantages  and  dazzling  quahties,  there  is 
something  in  him  for  which  I  have  no  name,  and  which 
I  cannot  better  express  than  by  saying  that  there  is 
always  something  wanting  in  him.  The  most  singular 
thing  is,  that  one  cannot  foresee,  in  any  given  case  or 
special  affair,  what  wiU  be  wanting,  because  that  which 
is  wanting  changes  perpetually.' 

In  foreseeing  that  the  course  of  events  would  bring 


ALEXANDER  L,  EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  315 

me  into  close  contact  with  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
Napoleon  had  spoken  prophetically,  without  believing, 
assuredly,  that  the  fulfilment  of  his  prediction  was  so 
near  as  it  really  was.  Three  years  afterwards,  I  was  in 
the  most  intimate  relations  with  the  Emperor  of  Eussia. 
These  relations  lasted  for  thirteen  years  in  a  constant 
(interchange  of  real  confidence,  of  more  or  less  expressed 
•coldness,  and  of  personal  and  open  disagreements.  Each 
of  these  phases  has  enabled  me  to  see  the  correctness  of 
Napoleon's  judgment. 

Eelations  so  lasting  and  yet  so  variable  have  given 
me  an  opportunity  of  forming  an  exact  idea  of  the 
character  of  this  monarch. 

For  my  part,  I  cannot  better  give  the  impressions 
I  received  than  by  summing  them  up  in  this  sen- 
tence ;  that  Alexander's  character  showed  a  pecuHar 
mixture  of  masculine  virtues  and  feminine  weaknesses. 

The  Emperor  Alexander  certainly  possessed  mind, 
but  his  mind,  refined  and  keen  as  it  was,  had  no  depth  ; 
he  was  as  easily  led  astray  by  an  excess  of  distrust  as 
by  an  inclination  to  erroneous  theories.  His  judgment 
was  always  influenced  by  fanciful  ideas  ;  he  seized  upon 
them  as  if  by  sudden  inspiration,  and  with  the  greatest 
eagerness  ;  and  they  soon  gained  weight  enough  to  rule 
him,  and  make  the  subjection  of  his  will  an  easy  matter 
to  their  originators. 

Such  ideas  soon  came  to  be  regarded  by  him  as  sys- 
tems ;  quick  as  his  mind  was,  even  to  an  extraordinary 
versatihty,  these  systems  did  not  assimilate,  they  fol- 
lowed one  another  in  rapid  succession.  Devoted  to  the 
system  whose  turn  it  was,  he  arrived  at  the  exact 
opposite  by  intermediate  steps,  of  which  he  was  not 
aware,  and  nothing  remained  of  the  convictions  with 
which  he  had  been  penetrated  but  the  remembrance 


316  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTE^IPORARIES. 

of  the  obligations  under  which  they  had  placed  him  to 
different  individuals.  Hence  arose  the  number  of  in- 
surmountable embarrassments  which  were  always  pres- 
sing on  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  Emperor ;  and  the 
frequent  favours  bestowed  on  men  and  things  quite 
opposite  to  one  another  ;  hence  the  difficulty  to  most 
spectators  of  understanding  his  attitude,  who  was  not 
in  a  position  to  penetrate  into  the  true  causes  of  such 
strange  appearances. 

The  Emperor  Alexander's  hfe  was  worn  out  between 
devotion  to  certain  systems  and  disappointment  in  their 
results ;  the  feehngs  prompted  by  both  moods  were 
spontaneous  and  vigorous  and,  strange  as  it  may  sound, 
their  course  showed  a  certain  periodicity,  of  which  I 
shall  afterwards  give  pertinent  examples. 

He  was  a  man  of  his  word,  entering  with  facility 
into  the  obligations  of  the  ideas  for  the  m^oment  para- 
mount ;  he  knew  how  to  avoid  with  delicacy  those  who 
might  lead  him  in  an  opposite  direction  ;  but  since  his 
mind,  from  taking  up  systems  so  easily,  was  constantly 
undergoing  changes,  this  very  regard  for  his  given  word 
placed  his  conscience,  as  well  as  his  whole  attitude,  in  a 
situation  as  painful  to  himself  as  injurious  to  the  pubhc 
cause. 

Many  contemporaries  have  wrongly  ascribed  to 
Alexander  the  possession  of  a  restless  ambition.  In  his 
character  there  was  neither  sufficient  strength  for  true 
ambition,  nor  sufficient  weakness  for  mere  vanity.  He 
acted  generally  from  conviction,  and  if  he  seemed  now 
and  then  somewhat  full  of  pretension,  this  was  connected , 
more  with  the  little  victories  of  a  man  of  the  worldj 
than  with  his  success  as  the  ruler  of  a  great  empire. 

His  youth  passed  in  a  time  which  is  unequalled  in] 
the   annals  of  Bussia.     The  government   of  Catherine  | 


ALEXANDER  I.,  EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  317 

gave  him  the  example  of  a  brilliant  despotism ;  in  that 
of  Paul,  he  was  himself  several  times  nearly  a  victim  to 
a  despotism  mean  even  in  its  very  choice  of  forms.  It 
suffices  to  know  what  Eussia  was  under  these  two 
governments,  to  conceive  that  a  mind  like  Alexander's 
would  find  there  neither  models  for  imitation  nor  men 
to  advise  him. 

La  Harpe  was  entrusted  by  Catherine  II.  with  the 
first  education  of  Alexander.  It  is,  therefore,  not  sur- 
prising that  wrong  ideas  of  liberalism  and  philanthropy 
long  dominated  the  pupil  of  such  a  master ;  or  that 
such  a  wonderful  mixture  as  the  lessons  of  a  Hberal 
mentor  with  the  practice  of  the  Russian  government 
must  lead  his  judgment  and  his  action  in  a  wrong  direc- 
tion, far,  indeed,  beyond  the  Hmits  in  which  experience 
could  help  him. 

The  method  of  education  followed  by  La  Harpe  was 
far  more  suited  to  fill  the  mind  of  his  pupil  with  doc- 
trines wrong  in  themselves,  and  ridiculous  in  their  appli- 
cation, than  to  enrich  it  with  positive  knowledge.  Con- 
vinced, no  doubt,  that  the  empire  which  his  pupil  would 
one  day  be  called  on  to  govern  was  not  sufficiently  ad- 
vanced in  civihsation  to  bear  immediately  the  practice 
of  these  doctrines,  he  thought  of  preparing  in  the  future 
autocrat  a  mighty  lever,  to  secure  the  upheaval  of 
other  countries  which  he  considered  more  ripe  for  the 
purpose,  and  especially  his  own  fatherland,  Switzerland. 
The  part  of  a  philanthropic  monarch  appeared  to 
Alexander  the  one  which  would  secure  to  him  the 
palm  of  certain  glory — a  glory  which  was  easy  to  gain 
by  a  monarch  who  was  removed  from  the  dangers  with 
which  other  thrones  and  the  old  institutions  of  Central 
Europe  were  surrounded. 

Simple  in  his  enjoyments,  cool  in  temperament,  with 


318  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

many  tastes  which  were,  if  I  may  say  so,  somewhat 
plebeian,  Alexander  was  too  easily  guided  not  to  be 
taken  advantage  of  by  such  leaders. 

A  long  observation  of  the  moral  peculiarities  of  this 
monarch  and  of  his  poHtical  course  led  me  to  discover, 
what  I  have  called  above,  the  periodicity  of  his  thoughts. 
This  periodicity  followed  a  measure  of  about  five  years. 
I  do  not  know  how  to  express  this  observation  more 
exactly. 

The  Emperor  seized  an  idea,  and  followed  it  out 
quickly.  It  grew  in  his  mind  for  about  two  years,  till 
it  came  to  be  regarded  by  him  as  a  system.  In  the 
course  of  the  third  year  he  remained  faithful  to  the 
system  he  had  adopted  and  learned  to  love,  hstened 
with  real  fervour  to  its  promoters,  and  was  inaccessible 
to  any  calculation  as  to  its  worth  or  dangerous  conse- 
quences. In  the  fourth  year  the  sight  of  those  conse- 
quences began  to  calm  down  his  fervour  ;  the  fifth  year 
showed  an  unseemly  mixture  of  the  old  and  nearly  ex- 
tinct system  with  the  new  idea.  This  new  idea  was 
often  diametrically  opposite  to  the  one  he  had  just  left. 
To  prove  this  remark,  I  will  give  the  following  his- 
torical facts. 

My  first  connection  with  the  Emperor  Alexander 
took  place  at  the  time  of  my  embassy  toBerhn  in  1805. 
I  found  him  then  liberal  in  the  largest  sense  of  the 
word,  and  a  bitter  enemy  of  Bonaparte,  he  loaded  him 
— in  his  double  quality  of  despot  and  conqueror — with 
execrations.  In  the  year  1807  a  great  change  came 
over  his  mode  of  thinking.  In  1808  his  personal  feel- 
ings even  inchned  towards  the  Emperor  of  the  French. 
The  year  1812  brought  a  new  change  in  his  mood  :  even 
if  Napoleon  had  not  made  war  on  Eussia,  Alexander's 
feehngs  for  him   would   nevertheless  have  died  away. 


ALEXANDER  I.,  EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  319 

The  old  ideas  of  philantliropy  and   free-thinking  had 
not  only  regained  the  power  over  his  mind,  but  they 
even  took  fire  from  the  spirit  of  the  time.     In  1814 
they  had  reached  their  highest  point.     In  1815  they 
had  already  given  way  to  religious  mysticism.     In  the 
year  1817,  this  new  turn  of  mind   underwent  a  great 
change ;  and  in  1818,  I  found  the  Emperor  a  zealous 
champion  of  monarchic  and  conservative  principles,  a 
declared  enemy  of  every  revolutionary  tendency,  and 
already  on  his  way  to  return  to  religious  mysticism. 
He  followed  this  direction  till  1823.     Then  the  embar- 
rassments arose  which  his  own   counsellors  had  pre- 
pared for  him  by  their  pohcy  in  the  affairs  in  Greece, 
and  he  was  able    everywhere  to   see  the  increase  of 
revolutionary  principles,  whose  germs  he,  in  his  bhnd- 
ness,  had  himself  scattered  in  his  own  empire  in  past 
years.     All  these  painful  circumstances  caused  a  visible 
languor  in  his  mind  and  feehngs.     A  great  weariness  of 
life  began  to  show  itself  in  him.     His  body,  apparently 
so  active,  suffered  under  these  moral  influences.    It  was 
during  his  residence  in  Yerona  towards  the  end  of  the 
year  1822,  that  Alexander  confided  to  the   Emperor 
Erancis,  his  sure  presentiment  that  his  life  would  not  be 
of  long  duration.     The  evil  made  rapid  steps,  and  in 
1825,  Alexander  died  of  thorough  weariness  of  life. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  amongst  the  causes  which 
contributed  to  shorten  his  days  was  that  bitter  conflict  of 
feelings  caused  by  the  prospect  of  a  trial  of  conspirators, 
the  principal  culprits  among  whom  might  reproach  the 
Emperor  with  having  been  the  cause  of  their  error. 

By  giving  this  picture  of  the  very  peculiar  perso- 
naUty  of  this  prince,  about  whom  the  world  would  other- 
wise with  difficulty  form  a.  right  judgment,  I  believe  I 
supply  the  key  to  many  apparently  insoluble  problems. 


320     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

All  the  constancy  of  the  Emperor  Alexander's  affec- 
tions seemed  concentrated  in  the  feehng  which  he  had 
for  the  Emperor  Francis.  The  particulars  which  I 
can  supply  in  this  respect  will  fill  up  this  sketch  of  the 
monarch's  character,  and  also  throw  some  light  on  his 
relations  to  me. 

The  two  Emperors  were  for  the  first  time  in  per- 
sonal contact  on  the  battle-fields  of  Moravia  in  the 
autumn  of  the  year  1805.  The  misfortune  which  the 
bad  arrangements  of  the  Austrian  generals  brought 
about  at  the  beginning  of  the  single  campaign  of  this 
war  was  completed  by  the  Eussian  generals  at  its 
close.  The  Emperor  Alexander,  young  and  without 
any  experience  of  war,  lent  his  ear  to  high-flown  and 
quite  unpractical  plans,  rather  than  to  the  calm  and 
prudent  advice  which  suited  the  vigorous  understand- 
ing of  the  Emperor  Francis.  Everything  which  this 
monarch  had  foreseen  and  predicted  to  his  ally  was 
fulfilled  in  sad  succession.  This  fact  was  always  present 
to  the  mind  of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  and  laid  the 
first  foundation  of  that  close  and  complete  confidence 
which  he  never  afterwards  ceased  to  bestow  on  his 
friend. 

Many  subsequent  political  events  made  it  impossible 
that  this  feeling  on  the  part  of  his  Imperial  Majesty 
should  always  be  expressed :  but  in  reahty  it  always 
existed.  The  events  of  the  years  1814  and  1815  gave 
rise  to  direct  and  continuous  relations  between  the  two 
raonarchs,  which  at  last  grew  into  a  sincere  hearty 
personal  friendship.  J| 

A  friendship  which  has  stood  every  trial,  and  which 
nothing  could  shake,  in  spite  of  the  most  important  11 
pohtical  interests,  and,  strangest  of  all,  a  thorough  dif-  " 
ference  in  the  personahty  of  the  two  friends,  is  a  prob- 


I 


ALEXANDER  L,   EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  321 

lem  which  can  only  be  solved  by  a  true  insight  into  the 
character  of  the  two  monarchs. 

The  Emperor  Francis  united  in  himself  the  most 
valuable  positive  quahties.  His  calmness,  impartiahty, 
soundness  of  judgment,  and  unvarying  and  tranquil 
temper  inspired  Alexander  with  a  feehng  of  devotion 
which  almost  resembled  the  veneration  of  a  child. 
This  feehng  was  afterwards  heightened  by  a  colouring 
quite  pecuHar  to  the  mind  of  this  prince.  It  was  reh- 
gious.  The  Emperor  Alexander  considered  his  friend 
as  a  monarch  after  the  will  of  God,  as  the  representa- 
tive of  God's  will,  and  of  godly  wisdom,  and  almost 
worshipped  him.  On  several  occasions,  when  the 
Emperor  Francis  directly  opposed  the  personal  inclina- 
tions of  Alexander,  the  opinion  of  the  wise  monarch 
sufficed  to  arrest  the  decisions  of  Alexander,  and  to 
decide  him  either  to  relinquish  or  change  them. 

The  devotion  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  to  the 
Emperor  Francis  continued  to  the  end  of  his  Hfe  to  be 
one  of  his  predominant  sentiments. 
'  In  everything  relating  to  private  hfe  Alexander  fol- 
lowed the  most  pure  and  simple  tastes,  bearing,  how- 
ever, the  stamp  of  distinguished  elegance.  With  the 
sciences  he  did  not  concern  himself,  and  I  never 
saw  in  him  a  leaning  to  any  of  them.  Amongst  the 
fine  arts,  he  cared  only  for  architecture.  His  short 
sight  and  shght  deafness  did  not  allow  him  to  devote 
himself  to  the  cultivation  of  those  arts  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  which  depends  on  the  perfection  of  senses 
which  were  partially  denied  to  him.  He  hked  work 
belonging  to  the  Cabinet,  provided  it  did  not  go  beyond 
pohtical  afiairs  or  mihtary  details.  He  had  an  evident 
dishke  to  merely  administrative  subjects ;  and  if  he  ever 
took  part  in  them,  it  could   only  be  that  he  was  in- 

VOL.  I.  Y 


322     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

fluenced  by  the  political  theories  which  then  attracted! 
his   mind.     The   history    of  the  administration  of  his] 
empire  during  the  whole  of  his  reign  proves  how  power- 
ful and  how  hurtful  those  influences  were. 

To  the  outhnes  of  this  sketch  I  will  add  some  illus- 1 
trations  taken  from  my  intercourse  with  the  Emperor. 
They  will  not  be  without  value  as  forming  a  standpoint  ■ 
from  which  to  consider  the  history  of  the  time,  and  they  j 
will  also  serve  to  confirm  the  opinion  I  have  expressed 
as  to  the  mind  and  character  of  this  prince. 

I  shall  begin  by  making  the  general  statement  that 
nothing  could  be  so  little  in  harmony  as  the  direction 
of  the  Emperor's  mind  and  my  own.  Our  tastes  also — 
with  the  exception  of  a  certain  agreement  in  the  choice 
of  our  social  relations — were  exactly  opposite,  and 
probably  nothing  would  have  led  to  a  lasting  and  often 
intimate  connection  but  our  overwhelming  interest  in 
the  questions  which  were  impending. 

I  have  already  said  that  my  first  direct  relations 
with  the  Emperor  took  place  in  Berhn  in  the  year 
1805.  Alexander  had  come  to  this  city  to  represent  in 
person  the  cause  and  interests  of  the  Austro-Eussian 
aUiance.  Association  in  the  same  cause  easily  brings 
two  men  together,  whatever  may  be  the  difference  of 
their  positions. 

The  Emperor  was  accustomed  to  handle  the  great 
political  questions  himself,  thus  being — as  he  was  fond 
of  saying — his  own  minister,  and  from  that  time  we 
entered  into  close  and  subsequently  even  into  familiar 
relations. 

Peace  was  concluded  at  the  end  of  the  same  year' 
between  Austria  and  France,  and  since  Count  Stadion, 
then  Ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg,  had  accepted  the 
direction  of  foreign  affairs  at  home,  Alexander  wished 


ALEXANDER  I.,  EMPEROR   OF  RUSSIA.  323 

me  to  represent  Austria  at  his  court.  A  singular  con- 
catenation of  circumstances  led  to  my  nomination  as 
Austrian  Ambassador  in  France.  When  I  again  met 
the  Emperor,  on  the  Bohemian  frontier,  seven  years 
later,  I  found  him  apparently  reserved  towards  me.  The 
reasons  for  this  I  have  explained  in  another  part  of 
these  Memoirs.  With  the  charming  kindness  and  cor- 
diality peculiar  to  him,  the  Emperor  seemed  to  reproach 
me  with  infidelity  in  my  friendship.  The  conclusion  of 
the  alliance  dispersed  these  clouds ;  but  a  real  intimacy 
in  our  personal  relations  began  to  revive  only^  after  the 
unhappy  result  of  the  first  military  undertaking  of  the 
Allies  against  Dresden.  The  efforts  which  I  had  vainly 
made  in  harmony  with  the  Emperor  Francis  and  Field- 
Marshal  Prince  Schwarzenberg  to  avoid  this  operation, 
the  frankness  of  my  declaration  on-  this  subject  to  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  perhaps  also  the  fulfilment  of  my 
predictions,  laid  the  foundation  of  an  increased  inti- 
macy. 

In  spite  of  the  decided  opposition  of  our  views  on 
many  subjects  and  notwithstanding  many  important 
circumstances,  and  the  discomfort  which  might  so  natu- 
rally have  arisen,  nothing  disturbed  our  intimate  and 
daily  relations  in  the  course  of  the  campaign — relations, 
indeed,  of  a  kind  rarely  occurring  between  the  Sove- 
reign of  one  great  empire  and  the  head  of  the  cabinet 
of  another. 

During  the  whole  time  of  the  war  operations  I 
spent  the  evenings  with  his  Imperial  Majesty.  We  re- 
mained alone  together  from  eight  or  nine  in  the  evening 
till  midnight  in  unrestrained  conversation,  which  in- 
cluded the  most  different  subjects  in  private  life  as  well 
as  the  great  moral  and  political  questions  and  the  affairs 
of  the  day.     Thorough  frankness  in  our  interchange  of 

Y2 


324   GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

opinions  about  everything  gave  to  this  intercourse  the 
charm  of  perfect  ease. 

I  never  concealed  the  truth  from  the  Emperor, 
either  about  himself  or  anything  else  which  had,  in 
my  eyes,  the  high  value  of  a  principle.  Only  too 
often  I  had  to  combat  some  favourite  idea  of  his,  which 
he  maintained  with  great  emphasis  ;  our  discussions 
were  sometimes  very  animated — ^the  narrative  of  our 
stay  in  Langres  is  a  proof  of  this.  Yet  our  intercourse 
never  suffered  from  this,  but  was  long  continued  and 
maintained  with  the  same  frankness  and  heartiness. 

Whilst  we  were  stajdng  in  Paris  in  1814  I  had 
many  discussions  with  Alexander  as  to  the  principles 
which  Louis  XVIII.  ought  to  follow.  As  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  was  at  that  time  enthusiastic  for 
hberal  ideas,  our  opinions  were  often  in  direct  opposi- 
tion about  what  would  be  most  likely  to  contribute  to 
the  estabhshment  of  internal  peace  in  France  under  the 
government  of  the  Bourbons. 

After  the  Peace  of  Paris  I  went  to  England  at  the 
same  time  as  the  Emperor  of  Eussia  and  the  King  of 
Prussia.  Whilst  we  stayed  in  that  country  my  personal 
relations  with  the  Emperor  preserved  the  same  character 
of  intimacy.  Considerable  differences  between  Alex- 
ander and  George  IV.,  then  Prince  Eegent,  often  placed 
me  in  a  difficult  position.  Being  kindly  regarded  by 
both  princes  and  a  confidant  of  their  daily  and  personal 
troubles,  my  efforts  were  necessarily  directed  to  pre- 
vent their  mutual  irritation  from  growing  into  a  serious 
dissension.  The  Emperor,  in  truth,  was  always  in  the 
wrong :  his  sensitiveness  was  constantly  kept  ahve  by 
the  Grand-Duchess  Katherine,  who  had  been  in  Eng- 
land some  weeks  before  the  arrival  of  her  brother. 
The  conduct  at  that  time  of  this  Princess,  who  was 


ALEXANDER  I.,  EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  325 

gifted  with  very  estimable  qualities  of  mind  and  heart, 
has  always  been  a  problem  to  me.  No  doubt,  one  of 
the  motives  of  her  journey  was  to  break  off  the  mar- 
riage agreed  upon  between  the  Prince  of  Orange  and 
the  heiress  to  the  English  throne,  and  to  place  her  own 
sister  on  the  throne  of  Holland.  But  this  object,  which 
indeed  she  attained,  will  not  account  for  all  which  was 
strange  and  unpleasant  in  her  behaviour,  nor  for  the 
conduct  to  which  she  persuaded  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander. 

I  may  here  give  an  anecdote  which  will  throw  some 
light  on  the  often  strange  and  inexphcable  character  of 
the  Emperor  Alexander's  mind. 

His  Imperial  Majesty  Hked  to  flatter  the  most  dis- 
tinguished persons  belonging  to  the  Enghsh  Opposition. 
One  day  he  asked  Lord  Grey  to  lay  before  him  a  work 
on  the  formation  of  an  Opposition  in  Russia.  After  the 
audience,  Lord  Grey  called  on  me,  to  ask  an  explana- 
tion of  a  caprice  as  unintelligible  in  its  object  as  unprac- 
tical in  its  execution,  '  Does  the  Emperor  intend  to  in- 
troduce a  Parliament  into  his  country  ?  If  he  really 
means  to  do  so — and  I  should  take  good  care  not  to 
advise  it — he  need  not  concern  himself  about  an  Oppo- 
sition, it  would  certainly  not  be  wanting.' 

It  was  the  Vienna  Congress  which  brought  a  change 
in  my  relations  with  the  Emperor. 

The  creation  of  a  kingdom  of  Poland  which  should 
include  under  the  Eussian  sceptre  the  whole  district  of 
the  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  and  the  surrender  of  the  king- 
dom of  Saxony  to.  Prussia,  had  been  agreed  upon  at  the 
negotiations  in  Kalisch,  between  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der and  King  Wilham  IIL  This  was  known  to  us.  The 
incorporation  of  Saxony  with  Prussia  was  contrary  to 
the  Emperor  of  Austria's  fixed  principles,  and  would 


326     GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

also  cause  much  lamentable  irritation  between  his  em- 
pire and  Prussia.  The  Emperor  Francis  being  deter- 
mined, at  the  very  outset,  to  oppose  this  proposition 
firmly,  he,  however,  thought  it  prudent  to  delay  all 
discussion  on  the  subject  till  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
Peace  with  France :  reserving  it  till  the  Congress,  which 
was  to  regulate  the  reconstruction  of  the  different 
Powers  of  Europe. 

This  important  question  had  somewhat  disturbed 
the  relations  of  the  two  courts.  Each  of  them  hesitated 
to  speak  of  it.  Thus  several  weeks  passed,  even  after 
the  meeting  of  the  Congress,  without  the  question 
being  mentioned  on  either  side.  The  first  approaches 
to  the  subject  were  made  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  to 
Lord  Castlereagh.  The  latter  informed  me  immediately, 
and  I  advised  a  decided  refusal.  Some  days  after- 
wards thfe  Emperor  spoke  himself  to  me  about  it.  I 
found  him  a  little  embarrassed.  My  decided  answer 
met  with  only  a  feeble  resistance,  and  he  at  last  expressed 
a  wish  that  I  should  speak  to  th-e  Prussian  Chancellor 
myself  on  the  matter.  The  very  day  of  my  conversa- 
tion with  his  Imperial  Majesty,  Prince  Hardenberg 
made  a  communication  to  me  on  the  point,  which  he 
supported  by  a  written  one.  My  verbal  and  written  ex- 
planations were  the  same  as  I  had  already  given  to  the 
Emperor.  Prince  Hardenberg  found  all  his  calculations 
crossed,  and  himself  placed  in  a  painful  position.  The 
Prussian  Chancellor  considered  the  affair  lost,  in  conse- 
quence of  my  informing  him  of  the  sHght  importance 
which  the  Emperor  Alexander  had  seemed  to  attach  to 
the  question  of  the  incorporation  of  Saxony  in  his  con- 
versation with  me.  Perhaps,  too,  he  had  misunderstood 
my  words  from  being  shghtly  deaf  and  very  nervous ; 
and  he  therefore  felt  himself  obliged  to  appeal  to  the 


ALEXANDER  L,   EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  327 

Emperor  himself,  who  m  his  turn  may  have  felt  hurt  by 
some  misrepresentation  of  my  words. 

This  afiair  gave  rise  to  the  most  extraordinary  and 
hasty  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor  Alexander. 
The  day  after  my  explanation  with  the  Prussian  Chan- 
cellor, the  Emperor,  my  master,  sent  for  me  at  a  very 
early  hour.  His  Majesty  informed  me  that  the  Empe- 
ror Alexander  had  just  left  him  after  a  very  animated 
conversation,  in  which  that  prince,  thinking  himself  per- 
sonally offended  by  me,  had  told  his  Majesty  his  deci- 
sion to  challenge  me  to  a  duel.  The  Emperor  added 
that  he  had  endeavoured  to  point  out  to  Alexander  how 
very  strange  such  a  proceeding  would  appear  ;  but, 
seeing  that  his  remonstrances  were  without  success,  he 
had  told  him  at  last  that  if  he  persisted  in  his  design,  he 
would  certainly  find  me  ready  to  obey  the  challenge, 
which,  though  my  reason  would  no  doubt  condemn,  my 
honour  would  command  me  to  accept.  His  Majesty 
told  me  at  last  that  he  had  most  vigorously  urged 
the  Emperor  to  have  a  third  explanation  with  me 
before  giving  the  challenge,  to  which  Alexander  at  last 
agreed. 

I  declared  to  his  Imperial  Majesty  that  I  should 
await  with  tranquillity  the  further  steps  of  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  and  had  hardly  returned  to  my  house  when 
Count  Ozarowsky,  one  of  Alexander's  Adjutants-General, 
was  announced.  He  told  me  that  he  was  charged  by 
his  Imperial  master  to  call  upon  me  to  declare  to  the 
Prussian  Chancellor  that  I  had  been  mistaken  in  what 
I  had  told  him  about  my  conversation  with  the  Empe- 
ror Alexander.  I  begged  the  adjutant  to  tell  his  Impe- 
rial master  that  I  should  never  recall  one  word  of  the 
correctness  of  which  I  was  certain ;  but  that,  if  Prince 
Hardenberg  had  misunderstood  me,  and  had  therefore 


328     GALLERY  OF  CELEBEATED   COJN'TEMPORARIES. 

repeated  my  words  incorrectly,  I  should  be  ready  to 
remove  the  mistake.  Count  Ozarowsky  retired.  A  few 
moments  afterward  his  Imperial  Majesty  sent  word  to 
me  that  he  would  not  appear  at  the  ball  in  my  house,  to 
which  all  the  Princes  and  all  the  members  of  the  Con- 
gress were  invited  for  that  very  day. 

The  same  day  I  saw  the  Russian  ministers,  and 
informed  Count  Nesselrode  of  what  had  happened.  He 
said  he  had  not  received  any  instructions  from  the  Em- 
peror with  regard  to  this  affair.  The  conferences  went 
on  as  if  no  difficulties  at  all  had  been  raised,  and  their 
result  was  that  half  of  Saxony  remained  to  its  King. 

This  strange  incident  caused  no  disturbance  in  the 
course  of  the  important  discussions  of  the  Congress. 
Even  the  open  friendship  which  existed  between  the 
two  Imperial  courts  did  not  suffer  any  injury  from  it ; 
but  this  was  not  the  case  with  regard  to  the  personal 
relations  between  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  myself. 
Alexander,  who  went  a  great  deal  into  society,  liked 
especially  certain  more  intimate  circles,  which  I,  too, 
used  to  visit.  Thus  hardly  a  day  passed  without  my 
meeting  him.  We  did  not  take  any  notice  of  each  other. 
The  peculiarity  of  this  conduct  before  the  crowd  of 
spectators  who  at  that  time  frequented  the  salons  of 
Vienna  was  gradually  effaced  by  custom.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Imperial  Russian  family  were  present  as 
usual  at  the  balls  and  parties  at  my  house.  The  Empe- 
ror only  appeared  amongst  us  no  more.  The  pubhc 
grew  accustomed  to  the  idea  that  the  Emperor  was  out 
of  humour  with  me ;  but  since  business  affairs  did  not 
suffer,  even  the  restless  curiosity  of  diplomatists  could 
find  nothing  to  gratify  it  in  a  state  of  things  in  itself 
so  odd.  I  often  received  hints  to  take  some  steps 
to  approach  his  Majesty,  but  I  thought  it  best  to  leave 


ALEXANDER  I.,  EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  329 

the  return  to  the  natural  order  of  things  to  be  effected 
by  time. 

This  disagreement  lasted,  in  fact,  till  the  moment 
when  a  great  event  changed  the  prospects  of  the  whole 
of  Europe. 

The  first  news  of  Napoleon's  leaving  the  island  of 
Elba  reached  me  on  the  sixth  of  March,  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  by  an  express  sent  from  the  Austrian 
Consul-General  from  Genoa.  The  report  gave  nothing 
but  the  simple  announcement  of  the  fact.  I  repaired 
immediately  to  the  Emperor,  my  master.  His  Imperial 
Majesty  commanded  me  to  take  the  news  without  delay 
to  the  Emperor  of  Eussia  and  the  King  of  Prussia.  It 
was  the  first  time  for  nearly  three  months  that  I  had 
presented  myself  to  the  first  of  these  monarchs.  He 
received  me  at  once.  I  told  him  the  news  of  the  great 
event  in  execution  of  the  wishes  of  the  Emperor,  my 
master.  The  Emperor  Alexander  expressed  himself 
with  calmness  and  dignity,  in  the  same  manner  as  his 
august  ally.  We  did  not  require  much  time  to  delibe- 
rate about  the  measures  that  had  to  be  taken.  The 
,  decision  was  prompt  and  decided. 

Having  settled  this  subject,  the  Emperor  said  to 
me :  '  We  have  still  to  adjust  a  personal  difference.  We 
are  both  Christians,  and  our  sacred  law  commands  us  to 
forgive  offences.  Let  us  embrace,  and  let  everything 
be  forgotten.' 

I  replied  to  the  Emperor  that  I,  on  my  part,  had 
nothing  to  forgive,  but  only  to  forget  painful  occur- 
rences ;  that,  according  to  all  justice,  his  Imperial  Ma- 
jesty must  be  in  the  same  condition ;  that  I  therefore 
did  not  accept  the  forgiveness,  but  agreed  to  forget. 

The  Emperor  embraced  me,  and  dismissed  me  with 
the  request  that  I  would  be  his  friend  once  more. 


330     GALLERY  OF   CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

In  our  subsequent  frequent  relations  no  mention  was 
ever  made  of  our  former  disagreement.  Our  inter- 
course soon  returned  to  its  former  intimacy.  This  was 
maintained  during  our  meetings  in  1815,  and  again 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1818. 

I  have  still  to  mention  a  circumstance  which  oc- 
curred in  1822,  which,  perhaps,  throws  more  hght  than 
any  other  on  the  character  of  Alexander. 

About  six  weeks  after  the  meeting  in  Verona,  I  went 
to  see  the  Emperor  one  evening,  to  talk  over  the  affairs 
of  the  day.  I  found  him  in  a  state  of  great  excitement, 
and  hastened  to  enquire  the  cause.  '  I  am  in  a  strange 
position,'  said  his  Imperial  Majesty.  '  I  feel  compelled 
to  speak  to  you  on  a  subject  which  I  think  most  im- 
portant, and  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  do  it.'  I  answered 
that  I  could  well  understand  that  some  important  affair 
occupied  his  thoughts,  but  that  I  could  not  see  how,  if 
he  wished  to  speak  to  me  about  it,  he  could  have  the 
least  difficulty  in  doing  so. 

'  It  is,'  rephed  the  Emperor,  '  because  the  subject 
does  not  concern  the  ordinary  domain  of  politics :  it 
regards  us  personally,  and  I  fear  lest  you  should  not 
exactly  understand  what  I  mean.'  It  was  only  after 
a  real  effort  that  the  Emperor  was  able  to  address  me  in 
the  following  memorable  words  : — '  People  wish  to 
separate  us,  and  to  tear  asunder  those  bonds  which 
unite  us  ;  I  consider  these  bonds  sacred,  for  they  unite 
us  for  the  general  good.  You  desire  the  Peace  of  the 
world,  and  I  have  no  other  ambition  but  to  maintain  j 
it.  The  enemies  of  Europe's  peace  are  right  in  this, 
and  in  regard  to  the  strength  of  the  resistance  which  our 
agreement  opposes  to  their  mahcious  plans.  They 
desire  to  remove  this  hindrance  in  any  way  possible, 
and,  conscious  that  they  will  not  succeed  by  open  means, 


I 


J 


ALEXANDER  I.,   EMPEROR  OF  RUSSIA.  331 

they  resort  to  indirect  methods.  I  am  overwhelmed 
with  reproaches  for  having  relinquished  my  independ- 
ence, and  allowed  myself  to  be  guided  by  you.' 

I  answered  the  Emperor  warmly,  that  what  he  had 
done  me  the  honour  to  say  was  not  new  to  me,  and  that 
I  did  not  hesitate  to  return  his  confidence  by  a  confession 
which  would  only  confirm  the  truth  of  what  he  had  just 
said.  'You  are  accused,  Sire,  of  giving  yourself  up 
entirely  to  my  advice ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  am 
accused  of  sacrificing  the  interests  of  my  country  to  my 
relations  to  your  Majesty.  One  accusation  is  of  as 
much  value  as  the  other.  The  conscience  of  your 
Majesty  is  as  pure  as  mine.  We  serve  one  and  the 
same  cause,  and  this  cause  is  that  of  Eussia  and  of 
Austria,  as  well  as  of  society  in  general.  I  have  long 
been  the  butt  of  the  various  parties,  and  I  consider  the 
cordial  relations  of  our  two  courts  as  a  bulwark,  which 
alone  can  withstand  the  inroads  of  a  general  confusion. 
On  the  other  hand,  you  will  judge  from  the  extreme 
reserve  of  my  attitude  what  importance  I  attach  to  the 
preservation  of  this  intimacy.  Does  your  Majesty  wish 
anything  altered  in  this  respect  ?  ' 

'I  expected  this  from  you,'  interrupted  the  Em- 
])eror.  '  If  I  have  felt  some  difficulty  in  confessing 
the  embarrassments  in  my  position,  it  is  not  because 
I  am  not  perfectly  resolved  to  defy  them  ;  what  I  feared 
was,  that  you  might  begin  to  hesitate.' 

We  then  went  into  many  details  of  the  intrigues  of 
one  party,  of  which  there  were  many  disciples  in  Eus- 
sia, even  in  the  circle  immediately  surrounding  the 
Emperor. 

At  the  end  of  our  long  conversation  he  made  me 
promise  formally  '  not  to  be  intimidated  by  any  rumour, 
but  to  remain  faithful  to  the  most  intimate  aUiance  with 


332  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

him,'  and  he  begged  me  *  to  accept  from  him  the  not 
less  formal  promise  of  the  inviolable  constancy  of  hiaa 
trust  in  me.' 

To  loosen  the  harmony  which  united  the  two  Em-1 
perors  and  their  cabinets  had  been  the  design  of  some 
persons  in  this  faction,  as  well  as  of  some  ambitious 
men,  and  of  the  many  Eussian  courtiers  who  though! 
little  and  desired  much.     In  direct  connection  with  thd 
Liberahsm  of  the  day,  these  men  followed  its  impulse 
and  became  its  tools,  when  they,  in  their  bhnd  self- 
conceit,  imagined  themselves  its  leaders.     An  alliance 
having   no    other    object  but  the   protection   of    true 
poUtical  freedom,  which  was  founded  on  regard  for  the 
real  independence  of  States,  and  desired  only   public 
peace  and  the  removal  of  all  desire  for  conquest  and 
disturbance,   such  an    alliance  was  not  likely  to   suit 
the  crowd  of  sophists  and  self-seekers. 

The  insurrection  in  Greece  was^  afterwards  provoked 
by  these  men.  According  to  the  calculations  of  the 
agitators,  this  was  to  act  as  a  wedge  to  separate  the 
Powers,  and  especially  the  two  Imperial  Courts ;  and 
as  a  means  of  dissolving  the  aUiance.  These  calcula- 
tions were  correct,  but  they  were  fulfilled  in  a  sense 
which  was  quite  unexpected.  The  monarch  who,  in 
his  own  kingdom,  had  worked  so  much  into  the  hands 
of  the  Eevolutionists,  succumbed  mentally  and  bodily 
in  the  fight.  The  Emperor  Alexander  died  of  weariness 
of  Hfe.  Seeing  himself  deceived  in  all  his  calculations, 
under  the  necessity  of  himself  striking  at  a  class  of  his 
own  subjects  who  had  been  led  astray  and  instigated 
by  men  and  principles  whom  he  himself  had  long  su] 
ported,  his  heart  broke,  and  the  events  which  cloud( 
the  accession  of  his  successor  remained  a  proof  of  th| 
troubles  which  embittered  the  last  moments  of  Alexandei 


ALEXANDER  I.,  EMPEROR  OF   RUSSIA.  333 

The  true  historian  will  find  it  difficult  to  judge 
aright  the  character  of  this  Prince.  So  many  sharp 
contradictions  will  pass  before  him  that  his  mind  will 
with  difficulty  gain  the  firm  standpoint  so  necessary  for 
those  who  feel  it  their  noble  task  to  write  history. 

The  mind  and  heart  of  this  Prince  included  such 
opposite  moral  qualities  that  the  strength  of  character 
which  he  possessed  was  not  sufficient  to  maintain  the 
balance  of  his  different  incHnations. 

Every  part  of  his  life  was  marked  by  errors  and 
mistakes  sufficient  to  bring  exposure  to  himself  and  the 
public  cause.  Always  carried  away  by  enthusiasm,  and 
always  changeable  in  the  direction  of  his  mind,  Alex- 
ander never  enjoyed  one  moment  of  real  repose.  He 
had  valuable  quahties :  his  disposition  was  noble,  and 
his  word  was  sacred.  These  advantages  were  counter- 
balanced by  great  deficiencies. 

Had  he  been  born  in  ordinary  society,  his  quahties 
would  not  have  attracted  notice  ;  but  on  the  throne  it 
ia  otherwise.  If  he  had  been  the  Euler  of  any  other 
country  but  Eussia,  neither  his  faults  nor  his  virtues 
would  have  been  so  apparent.  Alexander  much  needed 
support;  his  mind  and  heart  needed  to  be  led  and 
guided.  Whilst  every  Prince  has  difficulty  in  finding 
really  unselfish  servants,  independent  enough  in  cha- 
racter and  position  to  rise  to  the  part  of  a  friend,  an 
Emperor  of  Eussia  is  in  a  position  less  favourable  to 
do  so  than  any  other  monarch. 

The  reign  of  Alexander,  we  must  not  forget,  oc- 
curred in  a  time  overflowing  with  numberless  difficul- 
ties for  the  heads  of  all  governments ;  and  if  this  could 
be  said  of  all  Princes  of  that  time,  it  was  particularly 
the  case  with  Alexander. 

Before  his  time,  the  germ  of  a  false  civihsation  had 


334  GALLERY  OF  CELEBRATED  CONTEMPORARIES. 

been  sown  on  the  soil  of  his  vast  Empire,  which,  despoti- 
cally governed  and  in  want  of  every  real  institution, 
contained  a  mass  of  people  sunk  in  complete  darl 
ness.  This  germ  Paul  I.  would  fain  have  smotherec 
To  his  short  reign  followed  that  of  Alexander.  Welfl 
known  Eevolutionists,  after  having  guided  his  education, 
exercised  an  evil  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  young 
monarch.  Alexander,  without  experience  and  full  of 
vain  theories,  caused  evil  where  he  only  intended  good. 
He  deceived  himself,  and  the  discovery  of  his  errors 
brought  him  to  the  grave. 

A  mind  subject  to  such  changes  must  be  considered 
frail  and  sensitive ;  a  strong  mind  it  cannot  be. 


BOOK   III. 


A  COLLECTION  OF  DOCUMENTS  FROM  THE  FIRST 
PERIOD  OF  METTERNICH'S  LIFE. 

1773—1816. 


J 


PRELIMINARY  REMARK  OF  THE  EDITOR. 


[j  The  abundance  of  materials  for  the  Third  Book  does 

j  not  allow  us  to  embrace  in  the  First  Volume  the  whole 
collection  of  papers  up  to  1815  :  they  will  be  continued 
in  the   Second.      We  mention   this   here  because  the 

il  arrangement   is    made   only   from   typographical   con- 

;i  siderations. 

The  essays  and  letters,  the  despatches  and  memoirs, 
mostly  from  Metternich's  own  hand,  are  all  numbered, 
and  are  also  in  chronological  order :  their  connection 
with  the  Autobiographical  Memoir,  which  they  are  in- 
tended to  complete  and  elucidate,  is  made  more  evident 
by  the  addition  of  titles  pointing  out  to  what  part  of  it 
they  refer. 

We  conclude  the  First  Volume  with  the  papers 
referring  to  the  '  Apprenticeship,'  and  commence  the 
Second  with  those  which  refer  to  '  Metternich's  Entrance 
into  Pubhc  Life  ; '  this  seeming  the  most  suitable  divi- 
sion of  the  Third  Book,  for  here  a  new  phase  of  Metter- 
nich's Hfe  begins,  his  action  as  a  statesman  comes  to  the 
front,  and  gives  to  all  he  wrote  a  specially  pohtical 

.  character. 

f  I        The  restless  activity  of  Metternich's  pen,  first  while 

Envoy  to  Dresden  and  Berlin,  then  as  Ambassador  in 

Paris,  and  lastly  as  Minister  of  Foreign  Afiairs,  has  left 

such  an  enormous  mass  of  materials  that  it  was  no  easy 

VOL.  I.  Z 


338   DOCUMENTS  FROM   METTERNICH'S   FIRST   PERIOD. 

task,  in  selecting  the  documents  to  be  published,  to  hit 
the  right  mean  between  the  wants  of  the  general  reader 
and  the  demands  of  the  earnest  student  of  EQstory,  who 
would  deem  nothing  uninteresting  which  came  from 
the  hand  of  so  important  an  historical  character  as 
Metternich. 

The  documents  chosen  are,  from  their  constitution 
and  objects,  to  be  considered  neither  as  additions  to 
the  Autobiography,  nor  as  so-called  ^pieces  justijica- 
tives.'  In  many  of  these  will  be  found  no  direct  con- 
nection with  the  Autobiography,  except  the  common 
object  of  explaining  Metternich's  actions,  and  of  fiUing 
up  the  picture  of  his  life.  We  have  abstained,  on  prin- 
ciple, from  all  explanatory  remarks  on  the  different 
papers  ;  neither  connecting  them  by  any  sort  of  bio- 
graphical thread,  nor  offering  a  critical  review  of  the 
whole.  To  have  attempted  this  would  have  involved 
the  Editor  in  the  danger  of  departing  from  the  point  of 
view  he  had  chosen,  and  drawing  him  into  a  province 
he  would  neither  himself  enter  nor  permit  another  to 
do  so.  He  was  determined  that  the  Chancellor's  opinions 
should  appear  before  the  pubhc  in  no  other  light  than 
their  own.  The  absence  of  all  connecting  remarks  will 
not  be  regretted.  It  will  rather  prove  an  advantage, 
that  no  apologies  for  the  Chancellor,  no  criticism  of  his 
adversaries,  no  extraneous  opinions,  should  weaken  the 
impression  made  by  hearing  Metternich's  poHcy  from 
Metternich's  o\^ti  mouth. 


339 


APPRENTICESHIP,   1773—1800. 
1793. 

Appeal  to  the  Army. 

The  Sketch  of  an  Appeal  to  the  Imperial  Army,  composed  in  my 
youthful  zeal  in  1793.     (See  note  4.) 


1.  Soldiers !  Your  couragej  your  bravery  needs  not 
to  be  inflamed  ;  redouble  then  your  zeal  and  passionate 
desire  to  avenge  the  hideous  crime,  Maria  Theresa's 
blood,  upon  the  monsters  who  make  war  upon  you. 

Maria  Antonia  op  Austria,  Queen  of  France. 
Innocence  have  they  slaughtered  on  the  scaffold,  the 
place  of  malefactors. 

Ruin  fall  on  the  heads  of  these  impious  murderers, 
murderers  of  their  kings  and  of  their  Fatherland. 

The  blood  of  your  immortal  Theresa,  the  blood  of 
Austria  herself,  spilled  upon  a  scaffold  !.! 

Listen  !  that  blood  calls  you  to  Vengeance.  Heaven 
and  Earth  cry  out  for  Vengeance,  even  to- death  ! 

Brave  defenders  of  your  lawful  monarchs,  rest  not 
Until  that  cry  is  accomplished  I. 


Z2 


340   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 


1794. 

On  the  Necessity  of  a  general  Arming  of  the  People  on  the 
Frontiers  of  France,  by  a  Friend  of  Universal  Peace. 

An  anonymous  pamphlet,  by   Count  Clemens  von  Mettemich, 
printed  August  1794.     (Note  4.) 

2.  jUifiJFrench  B evolution  has  reached  that  stage 
fro-m  which   it  seeins  to  nTreaTeyTnTTTTTrfHT^ITff^^LTps 


of  Europe.  The  spreaTor*^nerai  anarchy  is  itsaim![ 
linci  Its  means  are  enormous,  i^our  years  ^y^in tern al 
msomer  and  three  oi  war'wTfT^ffiegreat  Powers  did 
not  diminish  it.  Without  money,  without  a  settled  form 
of  government,  without  a  disciplined  army,  without 
unity,  the  Eevolution  established  itself  in  no  class  of  tlie 
people  within  the  realm,  but  rather  threatened  foreign 
countries.  The  conflagration  was  thought  distant  and 
unimportant — when  suddenly  people  awoke. 

A  general  cry  for  help  sounded  through  all  king- 
doms, men  rushed  to  arms,  and  insignificant  armies 
were  despatched.  The  disasters  of  the  first  campaign 
spread  terror — more  vigorous  means  were  seen  to  be 
necessary,  and  surprise  was  everywhere  felt  at  the 
strength  of  the  so-called  farce  of  Liberty. 

Brilliant  was  the  beginning  of  the  year  1793.    Army 
fought  against  army,  and  the  history  of  this  month  of 
March  will  always  be  distinguished  in  mihtary  annals. ; 
The  French  army,  everywhere  beaten,  almost  destroyed, 3 
fled  to  the  frontier,  and  found  safety  only  behind  the  l 
numerous  fortresses  which  formed  the  bulwarks  of  the 
ruined  Empire.     The  tyrants  of  the  Convention  werej 
struck  with  terror,  and  commanded  the  nation  to  pre- 
pare for  a  general  rising.     The  population  was  divided 


I 


NECESSITY  OF  A  GENERAL  ARMING.  341 

into  so-called  requisitions  ;  those  who  refused  fell  by  the 
i^millotine.  Immediately  the  French  people  flocked  in 
swarms  to  the  frontiers  ;  old  men  and  children,  wilhn" 
or  unwilling,  timid  or  brave,  all  fought  in  the  same 
ranks.  Mobs  attacked  armies,  and  small  forces  had  to 
-tand  against  enormous  masses.  Thousands  fell  on  one 
side,  and  thousands  replaced  them  ;  hundreds  fell  on 
the  other,  and  their  places  remained  empty.  Incom- 
prehensible it  is  that  the  armies  of  the  Alhes  could 
resist,  but  less  so  to  him  who  knows  the  universal  bra- 
very of  Austrian  troops.  Actions  occurred  almost  daily, 
and  marches  and  counter-marches  more  toilsome  still 
wore  out  the  physical  strength  of  the  soldier.  The 
campaign  was  nearly  over  ;  the  Austrian,  EngHsh,  and 
Dutch  armies  in  the  Netherlands  made  themselves 
secure  in  the  newly-acquired  places.  The  united  Aus- 
trian and  Prussian  army  retired-  across  the  Ehine ;  the 
Spanish  army  crossed  the  frontier,  and  even  Italy  was 
threatened  by  an.  attack.  In  this  state  of  things  the 
combined  armies  took,  up  their  winter  quarters,  and 
Republican,  masses  nearly  everywhere  kept  the  field. 
The  astonishment  was  general  at  the  small  success  and 
the  great  loss  of  troops,  in  this  year  which  began  so 
brilliantly  for  the  cause  of  humanity.  Men  reflected  on 
the  causes  of  this  unhappy  event.  .  The  amplest  re- 
sources in  money  and  troops  had  been  applied,  and  no 
frontier  was  protected  after  a  two  years'  war.  Astonish- 
ment at  the- strength  of  an  ever-encroaching  anarchy, 
with.  a. consciousness  of  weakness  in  themselves,  possessed 
most  minds.  Insufiicient  execution  of  plans,  the  great  difli- 
culty  of  self-defence,  the  impossibihty  of  restoring  repose 
in  France,  was  evident  to  everyone,  except  the  Powers. 
There  remained  but  one  single  resource,  not  perhaps 
easy^  but  certain  in  its  execution.     Two  campaigns  had 


342   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

taught  what  may  be  expected  when  armies  have  to 
contend  against  a  whole  people  in  arms,  and  tlie  fear  of 
neighbouring  nations  daily  increased.  The  Austrian 
Netherlands,  scarcely  escaped  from  the  yoke  of  France, 
knew  better  than  any  other  country  the  crushing  weight 
of  anarchy,  and  was  prepared  for  self-defence.  A  ge 
iieral  arming  of  the  people  was  proposed,  and  weapons 
and  ammunition  were  actually  distributed  in  some 
threatened  districts  of  the  province  of  Flanders.  The 
peasant  took  them  -with  joy,  he  who  possessed  goods 
took  them  for  their  preservation,  and  he  who  possessed 
nothing  ^desired  to  follow  the  general  impulse.  The 
newly-made  army  was  distributed  among  the  troops,  and 
small  bands  constantly  braved  the  inevitable  dangers  of 
war.  A  medal  given  at  the  right  moment  raised  the! 
first  zeal*  to  enthusiasm,  and  peasants  accompanied  in 
crowds  the  mihtary  patrols  going  to  a  distance.  The 
aversion  which  narrow  minds  felt  at  the  first  movement 
of  this  resource,  which  promised  everythi^ig, -is  incon- 
ceivable. A  bugbear  was  held  up  before  the  eyes  of 
the  monarchs,  and  this  decisive  measure  of  the  Go- 
vernment of  the  Netherlands  was  prohibited.  At  the' 
beginning  of  this  year,  the  Emperor  resolved  himself  to 
take  the  command  of  the  army  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
campaign  opened  late,  and  began  by  the  taking  of  a 
fortress,  but  alas !  the  sequence  did  not  correspond  with 
the  beginning — daily  the  number  of  enemies  increased, 


*  A  young  man,  who  had  specially  distingiiished  himself  in  the  defence 
of  Templeuvre,  in  West  Flanders,  received  this  medal  from  the  hands  of 
Major  d'Aspre.  The  honour  of  the  public  mark  of  personal  bravery,  the 
magnificence  of  the  ceremony  with  which  it  was  presented,  all  raised  the 
delight  of  the  people  to  the  highest  pitch.  Every  peasant  desired  to 
become  a  hero.  Everyone  wished  to  wear  the  red-and- white  ribbon  in  his 
button-hole.  The  next  day,  more  volunteers  presented  themselves  for  the 
jtuost  dangerous  patrols  than  were  wanted.  Princes  !  With  what  small 
means  can  you  not  attain  the  greatest  ends ! 


NECESSITY  OF  A  GENERAL  ARMING.  343 

and  daily  the  armies  of  the  Powers  diminished.  Attacks 
on  the  left  wing  necessitated  immediate  and  considerable 
i-einforcements  from  the  right,  and  in  a  few  days  a 
similar  danger  threatened  the  other  wing.  The  army, 
almost  wearied  out  by  marches,  scarcely  rested  a  mo- 
ment, scarcely  enjoyed  a  victory  when  fresh  efforts 
were  required  in  consequence  of  new  attacks  on  the 
]:)Iace  they  had  but  just  left.  The  Emperor  quitted  the 
army,  returned  to  his  kingdom,  and  with  him  fled  the 
hope  of  the  whole  nation.  Every  day  afterwards  was 
marked  by  some  action,  affairs  looked  more  threatening, 
and  it  became  more  probable  that  many  thousand  men 
would  be  lost,  large  sums  of  money,  and,  eventually, 
even  the  Netherlands. 

It  will  be  incomprehensible  to  posterity  that  even 
such  brave  armies  could  so  long  withstand  the  masses, 
and  equally  incomprehensible  how  unwilhngly,  at  last, 
the  only  means  available  under  the  desperate  circum- 
stances was  adopted,  of  arming  masses  against  masses. 
Now  the  multitude  was  asked  for  assistance,  and  excuse 
was  made  for  the  long  delay  by  showing  confidence  in 
their  strength.  But  the  attempt  was  too  late ;  and  it 
will  ever  disgrace  the  memory  of  those  who  stopped 
this  salutary  measure  at  the  right  moment,  and  sur- 
rendered one  of  the  most  flourishing  countries  to  a 
second,  perhaps  a  perpetual,  anarchy,  and  by  cowardice 
or  folly  hurried  on  the  ruin  of  the  whole  of  Europe. 
Great  and  extraordinary  evils    can  onlv  be    stemmed 


:-di 


reat    and    extraordinary  means ;    great   was   the 


py   gi:e     _«_^. _ 

■danger  to  all  members   of  society  from  the__beginnmg 

of  the   French  Eevolution ;    the   dullest  minds  could 

see  JnniL-iiia»-ifi£al_JIQniinencem^iiL— tl^^ 

which  must  result_Jbr  centuries  ;  but  what  were  tl^e 

means  to  prevent  its  further  spread  P     Armies  of  the 


344   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 


1 


different  Powers,  divided  by  political  interests :  armies 
suitable  only  for  the  decision  of  little  quarrels — on  thes^ 
depended  the  fate  of  future  generations.  The  sacrifice 
of  some  thousands  never  terrifies  an  oligarchic  govern 
ment :  that  of  some  hundreds  is  a  considerable  loss  for 
armies  which  have  alone  to  bear  the  enormous  burden 
of  both  offensive  and  defensive  warfare,  and  can  expect 
help  only  from  the  most  remote  regions.  In  this  man- 
ner the  belHgerent  Powers  were  shedding  their  blood 
since  the  first  declaration  of  war,  which  was  the  conse- 
quence of  a  feeling  of  their  own  strength  and  of  th 
necessity  of  occupying  a  people  in  revolution  on  the 
frontiers.* 

The  National  Assembly,  profoundly  acquainted  wit 
all  cabinets,  knew  the  small  preparations  of  the  scarcel 
united  courts,  and  rightly  estimated  their  weak  mean 
of  self-defence.  Enormous  armies  were  to  cross  the 
frontiers  from  all  sides,  and  the  undertaking  could  not 
fail.  Part  of  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  whole  Nether- 
lands were  quickly  covered  with  a  vile  mob,  gathered 
from  every  quarter,  whose  strength  was  in  its  numbers. 
Certainly  the  attempt  would  have  failed  in  its  birth  had 
a  similar  mass,  supported  by  the  bravery  of  disciplined 
armies,  been  opposed  to  this  attack.  Men  of  that  numer 
ous  class  who  consider  the  present  war  like  any  other, 
and  the  Eevolution  in  its  commencement  mere  child' 
play,  and  who  regard  the  general  conflagration  wit 
the  true  cold-bloodedness  of  a  physician,  exclaim — 

'  What  ?  arm  the  people  ?  put  arms  in  the  hands  o; 
the  mob  ?     You  are,  then,  resolved  on  your  own  d 
struction ! ' 

True  a  few  years  ago,  but  false  at  the  present  m 

*  This  reason  -will  always  hinder  the  Convention  from  entering  into  ar 
]peace  negotiations.  ^ 


NECESSITY  OF  A   GENEE.AX  ARMING.  345 

ment.  And  what  madman  would  advise  the  arminGr  of 
the  mob?  Never  is  the  difference  between  the  real 
people  and  the  mob  more  evident  than  at  times  when 
the  former  have  to  defend  their  property  against  the 
attacks  of  the  latter.  The  people  is  everywhere  against 
the  introduction  of  the  new  principles :  the  mob  is  for 
them.  The  existence  of  the  first  and  much  larger 
class  depends  on  general  peace,  and  the  other  only 
desires  disorder.  The  people  finds  its  salvation  in  self- 
defence,  in  defence  of  its  property,  be  it  ever  so  small ; 
the  mob,  who  have  nothing  to  lose  but  everything 
to  gain  in  disorder,  is  found  only  in  cities ;  in  the 
country  a  hundred  different  works  and  services  occupy 
men  where  they  owe  their  existence  entirely  to  the  yeo- 
man, and  therefore  entirely  depend  upon  him. 

In  a  general  arming  of  the  people  I  do  not,  there- 
fore,'Understand  the  class  of  the  unoccupied,  so  dangerous 
to  the  state,  men  who  possess  nothing,  and  are  constantly 
ready  for  a  revolt,  and  who  have  extraordinarily  in- 
creased in  recent  times,  especially  in  great  cities.  Let 
us  give,  or,  rather,  let  us  permit,  the  citizen  and  the  yeo- 
man to  take  arms  to  help  to  avert  a  danger  which  is  so 
threatening.  Who  would  refuse  to  defend  his  property, 
his  money  and  possessions,  his  wife  and  children  ?  * 
Who  would  not  gladly  join  with  victorious  armies? 
Let  there  be  but  a  few  happy  successes,  and  insurmount- 
able barriers  would  soon  be  raised  against  the  progress 
of  the  enemy. 

The  present  war  has  for  some  time  taken  the  same 
course  as  the  first  attempts  at  the  migration  of  nations. 

*  A  truth  which  fairly  answers  another  objection  of  the  diplomatists  above 
mentioned,  '  What  would  our  newly-armed  people  do  against  the  French, 
accustomed  to  war  as  they  are  ? '  they  ask.  They  would  do  what  a  free 
people  fighting  for  themselves  and  xheir  property  can  always  do  against 
men  who  are  forced  to  fight  by  some  tyrant  they  detest. 


346   DOCUMENTS  FKOM  METTERXICIl'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

Enormous  masses  attack  smaller  armies,  are  constantly 
beaten,  yet  always  invincible.  Death  and  desolation 
open  the  way  to  them.  Atrocities  of  every  kind  are 
performed  with  more  than  the  cruelty  of  Vandals.  Too 
narrow  appear  their  boundaries  to  a  people  dying  of 
hunger  in  a  country  formerly  so  blooming.  Destruction 
of  all  monuments  and  works  of  art,  and  subjugation  of 
the  nations,  present  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  deeds 
of  the  Northern  hordes  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 
The  breaking  up  of  all  manners  and  customs  make 
them  still  more  dangerous.  The  cause  of  the  first  mi- 
gration of  nations  wsls  either  the  supplanting  by  neigh- 
bouring peoples,  or  the  desire  to  exchange  a  gloomy 
sky  for  brighter  chmates. 

Innovations  in  morahty,  the  overthrow  of  the  most 
sacred  duties,  the  introduction  of  the  horrors  of  a  Eevo- 
lution  never  lay  in  its  purpose.  The  object  of  the 
second  is  the  dissolution  of  all  social  ties,  the  destruction 
of  all  principles,  and  the  spoHation  of  all  property. 
Italy  fell  by  its  indiflerence  from  the  highest  stage  of 
cultivation  to  the  most  dreadful  barbarism  ;  indifference 
threatens  Europe  with  the  same  fate. 

Eulers  of  nations  !  and  Nations  I  bound  so  closely 
together  by  mutual  interest,  ye  are  drawing  daily  nearer 
to  the  end  of  your  peace.  Few  moments  remain  to  you ; 
then  perhaps  you  w^ill  repent  too  late  of  the  time  lost  in 
shameful  inactivity.  This  moment  decides  your  fate  and 
that  of  your  descendants.  The  example  of  three  useless 
campaigns  teaches  you  the  necessity  of  applying  stronger 
measures  to  avert  the  threatening  danger  so  close  at 
hand.  Make  use  of  these  means  which  have  hitherto 
supported  the  enemy.  Fathers  of  famihes,  possessors 
of  property  fight  in  the  same  rank  with  the  brave 
defenders  of  your  Fatherland  and  of  your  provinces ! 


I 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     347 

If  you  are  united  the  rapacious  hordes  will  flee  from 
you,  and  the  well-intentioned  of  all  nations  will  join  you. 
To  you  then  Europe  will  owe  her  preservation,  and 
whole  generations  their  peace. 


1797. 
From  Rastadt. 

Fragments  from  Mettemich's  private  Letters  to  his  Wife,  in  the 
years  1797  and  1798.     (Note  7.) 

.Arrival  in  Rastadt — Bonaparte's  departure — residence  in  the  castle.  4. 
MM.   Treilhard  and    Bonnier — opening   of  a  theatre.     5.  Dinner  with 

.  Cohenzl — Citoyen  Perret.  6.  First  visit  from  Treilhard  and  Bonnier. 
7.  Confusion  of  affairs — secularisation.  8.  The  French  deputies  decline  the 
invitation  to  dine  with  Oohenzl !  9.  Merveldt  goes  to  Vienna.  10.  Visit 
to  Oarlsruhe.  11.  Characteristics  of  the  French  deputies.  12.  The  epide- 
mic among  cats.  13.  Visit  to  Strashurg.  14.  Characteristics  of  the 
French  Comedy.  15.  Progress  of  affairs — Napoleon  expected.  16. 
Uneasiness  in  Vienna  on  account  of  the  non-arrival  of  Napoleon — block- 
ade of  Mayence — thoughts  of  a  landing  in  England.  18.  Bonaparte 
still  expected.  19.  Midnight  mass  with  the  Piarists.  20.  General  satis- 
faction with  F.  G.  Metternich's  manner  of  conducting  the  negotiations. 
21.  Entrance  of  the  French  into  Basle.  22.  Bonaparte  expected  at  Ras- 
tadt. 24.  Ball  at  Rastadt.  25.  Bonaparte  supposed  to  be  occupied  in 
planning  an  attack  on  England.  26.  Metternich  plays  at  an  Amateur 
Concert — monotonous  life  at  Rastadt.  27.  Opening  of  the  Congress.  29. 
Opera  and  Comedy.  31.  Supper  with  the  Opera  Singers.  32.  France 
for,  Austria  against,  secularisation.  33.  Metternich  likely  to  return  to 
Vienna  in  the  month  of  May.  34.  Passion-week.  36.  Feeling  of  the 
people  of  Alsace.  36.  Anecdote  of  a  colony  of  French  ^jmyr^'s.  38.  At 
Frankfort.  89.  Bernadotte  at  Vienna.  41,  Return  to  Rastadt.  43. 
Miserable  theatre.  44.  Bonaparte's  return  certain.  46.  Bonaparte's 
journey  from  Paris  to  Toulon  a  critical  moment.  48.  Treilhard  named 
Director  of  the  Republic  —  Bernadotte's  departure.  50.  Dinner  with 
Oobenzl.    52-53.  Madame  de  Metternich's  journey  to  Rastadt. 

Count  Metternich  to  his  wife,  the  Countess  Eleanor. 

3.  Rastadt,  December  2,  1797.— I  am  just  out  of  the 
carriage,  and  my  first  anxiety  is  to  announce  to  you  our 
safe  arrival  at  the  place  of  our  destination. 


348   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

Bonaparte  sets  out   to-night  for  Paris,  and  he  will 
not  return  here  for  eight  or  ten  days  ;  the  other  depu-J 
ties  are  all  there,  and  we  begin  work  to-morrow. 

The  chateau  is  superb  ;  it  had  been  much  injurec 
by  the  French,  but  great  efforts  have  been  made  to| 
put  it  in  order  again.  We  occupy*  that  part  of  it 
which  was  inhabited  by  Prince  Eugene  during  the  last 
Peace  of  Eastadt,  and  Bonaparte  the  part  which  was 
then  occupied  by  Marshal  de  Villars.  We  have  the 
French  play  in  the  chateau  itself,  which  is  very  con- 
venient. Everything  is  horribly  dear ;  to  give  you  an 
instance,  I  wiH  only  mention  that  for  one  supper  of  six 
very  indifferent  dishes,  just  like  those  you  get  from  a 
cook-shop,  they  made  us  pay  fifty-five  florins  at 
Cannstadt. 

4.  December  3. — I  told  you  yesterday  that  Bona- 
parte set  ©ut  for  Paris-  a  few  hours  after  our  arrival. 
He  leaves  us  only  MM.  Treilhard  and  Bonnier. f  They 
are  quartered  opposite  my  windows,  which  look  into  the 
courtyard;  they  have  a  great  many  people  in  their 
suite.  Bonaparte  himself  never  goes  out  without  seven 
or  eight  aides-de-camp  all  very  well  dressed,  and  he 
with  all  the  seams-  of  his  uniform  embroidered.  The 
entrance  to  my  father's  apartment  is  the  same  as  that 
used  by  the  French.  It  is  a  very  large  hall ;  on  one 
side  are  our  people,  and  on  the  other  all  the  citoyens, 
servants,  hussars,  and  couriers,  of  whom  there  are  at 
least  a  score,  in  little  laced  jackets,.  &c.  &c.  My  father 
occupies  thechief  apartment,  which  they  have  arranged 


*  The  writer  of  this  letter  accompanied  his  father,  who  was  Imperialj 
Plenipotentiary  to  the  Rastadt  Oongrftss. — Ed. 

t  Bonnier  d'Arco,  sprung  from  a  noble  Italian  family,  bom  1742.     Treil-] 
hard,  properly  John  Count  de  Treiliard,  born  1742.    French  Ministers  at 
tb.Q  Rastadt  Conorress, — Ed. 


i-KAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     349 

in  great  haste  to  render  it  habitable,  and  the  rest  of 
the  house  is  swallowed  up  by  the  French. 

The  French  deputies  are  invisible  :  they  do  not  leave 
their  rooms  ;  and  Bonnier  is  so  afraid  that  anyone  should 
enter  his,  that  he  has  had  all  the  doors  bricked  up 
that  lead  out  of  his  quarters,  leaving  only  one  open  to 
go  in  and  out  at  himself,  and  this  he  bolts  when 
he  is  alone.  All  their  servants  look  like  porters,  and 
the  masters  themselves  are  dressed  in  a  vulgar  way, 
dress  coats  and  pantaloons,  not  as  we  should  be  in  the 
morning. 

They  are  working  hard  to  arrange  the  theatre  for 
ihe  Strasburg  troupe  \  they  will  also  give  some  enter- 
t  ainments  and  balls,  but  as  the  Ambassadors  can  scarcely 
1  e  expected  to  dance,  I  believe  it  will  only  be  necessary 
to  walk  about,  and  I  suspect  they  will  not  do  anything 
I'lse.  Eastadt  is  nearly  full  of  deputies  and  envoys  of 
all  kinds.  There  are,  however,  still  some  apartments  to 
1)6  let  at  a  very  high  figure,  or  rather  not  to  be  let,  for 
strangers,  who  might  be  tempted  to  come,  would  die  of 
ennui. 

6.  December  5. — I  have  just  come  from  a  half  French 
dinner  at  M.  de  Cobenzl's.*  We  found  ourselves  with  an 
aide-de-camp  of  General  Bonaparte's,  and  Citizen  Ferret, 
Secretary  to  the  Legation.  The  first  is  a  small  crea- 
ture, indifferent  enough,  and  the  second,  a  good-looking 
young  man,  who  speaks  German  perfectly,  and  who  has 
studied  at  Jena  and  Leipsic,  the  same  who  attended  the 
negotiations  at  Udine.  They  were  all  very  pohte,  giving 
the  full  titles,  &c.  I  shall  dine  with  Treilhard  and  Bon- 
nier :  so  confess  that  I  am  in  good  company.  Alas  !  I 
do  not  think  so.     I  think  I  see  the  nucleus  of  the  men 

*  John  Ludwig  Count  Oobenzl,  Imperial  Plenipotentiary  for  the  King- 
dom of  Hungary  and  Bolieaiia  at  the  Congress  of  liastadt. — Ed. 


350  DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

of  September,    and  those  of  the  guillotine,   and  I  in- 
wardly shudder. 

6.  December  6. — The  French  deputies  Treilhard  and 
Bonnier  have  this  morning  paid  their  first  visit  to  mj 
father,  and  I  leave  you  to  go  with  him  to  return  it.  J 
gain  nothing  by  it,  but  still  it  is  necessary.  They  were 
very  pohte,  better  got  up  than  usual,  in  blue  frock  coats, 
shoes,  and  stockings,  &c.,  without  any  national  colour, 
neither  cockade  nor  scarf. 

7.  December  7. — Our  affairs  are  still  in  such  confu- 
sion that  their  issue  is  not  ascertained,  but  it  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  terrible  for  the  Empire.  Whatever  it  is, 
we  must  bear  it.  Our  private  afiairs,  T  believe,  will 
prosper  in  the  way  I  explained  to  you  before  my  de- 
parture for  Eastadt ;  and  I  am  convinced  that  taken 
individually  we  shall  lose  nothing,  we  shall,  perhaps, 
even  gain ;  but  I  cannot  bear  the  idea  of  seeing  my 
home  in  the  hands  of  these  rogues,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  secularisations  so  little  fall  in  with  my  views 
that  nothing  but  the  certainty  that  what  is  not  given  to 
us  as  compensation  will  only  go  to  increase  the  patri- 
mony of  some  one  else  makes  me  catch  at  this  last 
resource.  Say  nothing  to  anyone  ;  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
quoted ;  but  according  to  my  way  of  seeing  things, 
everything  is  gone  to  the  devil ;  and  the  time  is  come 
when  everyone  must  save  from  the  wreck  what  he 
can. 

8.  December  9. — This  is  the  second  time  that  I  hav^ 
been  going  to  dine  with  the  French  deputies,  and  at  th 
last  moment  they  have  sent  excuses  to  M.  de  Cobenzl 
I  declare  that  in  all  my  life  I  never  saw  such  ill-condi- 
tioned animals.  They  see  no  one,  are  sealed  up  in  their 
apartments,  and  are  more  savage  than  white  bears. 
Good  God !  how  this  nation  is  changed  !     To  extreme 


e 

\ 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICHS  PRIVATE  LETTERa     351 

neatness,  aad  that  elegance  which  one  could  hardly 
imitate,  has  succeeded  the  greatest  slovenliness ;  the 
most  perfect  amiabihty  is  replaced  by  a  dull  sinister  air, 
which  I  can  only  fully  describe  by  calling  it  Eevolu- 
tionary !  Among  all  those  whom  we  have  here,  I  have 
not  found  one  amiable,  or  even  supportable,  except  a 
certain  Ferret,  Secretary  of  the  Legation  of  Bonaparte, 
the  same  of  whom  I  told  you  some  days  ago.  He  is  a 
very  good-looking  young  man,  well  informed,  and  speaks 
German  as  if  "he  had  never  left  the  Empire.  You  can 
form  no  idea  what  a  pack  of  wretches  they  are  here. 
AlWhf^^p  fpHows  have  coay^f  mnrlrly  t^lmpg   rrreat  blue 


pantaloons^^vesL.QLMu^^oil_ilL^^ 
JTanakerchijefea,£iiJafit.ai]LiK^ay;i;ai^^ 


airJ^ns[,.bla;£^a^B^^i£tX>^Ii^Jk£iud§o]l§i^^ 
by  an  enormous  hsit^vdlh.^2t^i££^SlmJ:^^^-^BMiGL^^Q^ 


wuTddie  of  frightri  believe,  if  one  met  the  best  clothed 


01  ihem  m  a  wood.  They  have  a  sullen_air,  and  seem  more 
Ti^conteii^^^^^^nemselvesinan  with  anyone  else. 

Lerveldt*  will  aelive^msleiter  to  you,  my  dear. 
He  goes  to  Vienna,  and  will  not  return :  his  work  is 
finished.  I  wish  it  were  the  same  with  the  great  busi- 
ness ;  but  that  becomes  worse  every  day.  Bonaparte 
will  take  vigorous  measures  on  his  arrival,  I  have  no 
doubt,  but  all  possible  data  prove  to  me  that  the  affair 
both  on  our  side  and  on  that  of  the  French  was  ill- 
considered.  But  certainly  the  Empire  has  gone  to  the 
devil.  .  .  . 

I  send  you  a  programme  of  our  theatre,  which  will 
open  to-morrow  ;  it  is  the  troupe  from  Strasburg  which 
has  had  the  happy  idea  of  coming.  I  beheve  that 
in  the  end  we  shall  die  of  ennui ;   I  pass  my  evenings 

*  Max.  Count  Merveldt,  Major-General,  came  to  Rastadt  for  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  Military  Oouvention  of  December  1, 1797. 


0.32   DOCUMENTS  FliOM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST   PERIOD. 

in  playing  macao,  or  some  other  game  of  chance  at 
my.  Aunt  Eeinach's ;  or  play  with  dice,  &c.  M.  de 
Cobenzl  or  I  make  a  fortune  with  a  ducat.  I  sup  fre- 
quently at  the  Count  de  Sickingen's,*  who  sees  his  coli 
leagues  every  evening,  the  deputies,  the  Counts,  anc 
some  other  men.  I  should  laugh  at  it  all,  if  the  genera 
affairs  were  going  better. 

10.  December  11. — I  have  been  to  Carlsruhe ;  w( 
returned  very  late,  and,  by  no  fault  of  mine,  have  missec 
the  post.  It  is  five  good  leagues  from  here  to  Carlsruhe : 
the  road  is  charming  in  summer,  bordered  by  an 
avenue  of  superb  poplars  ;  the  country  is  beautiful,  but 
there  is  nothing  pleasant  about  it  at  this  time  of  year 
It  did  nothing  but  rain,  and  we  could  scarcely  get  on  at 
all.  The  arrival  of  my  father  was  announced  in  the 
evening ;  and  the  court  was  put  in  Jiocchi ;  the  Mar- 
shals, grand  chamberlains,  &c.,  came  to  meet  him  at 
the  door  of  his  carriage  ;  the  Margrave  himself  received 
him  in  the  first  hall.  I  was  very  much  pleased  with 
the  court ;  the  Margrave  is  a  good  old  man,  of  very 
fine  appearance,  and  extremely  polite ;  he  has  three 
sons,  who  were  all  present ;  the  hereditary  Princess, 
mother  of  the  Grand-Duchess  Alexandra  and  of  the 
Queen  of  Sweden,  seems  a  pleasant  person :  he  has  three 
daughters  remaining,  two  of  them  quite  small,  and  an 
older  one  who  is  not  at  all  pretty.  The  Duchess  o 
Deux-Ponts,  who  is  also  one  of  his  daughters,  is  good 
looking,  but  they  say  she  is  not  nearly  so  pretty  as  the 
Queen.  I  have  seen  the  portrait  of  the  King  of  Sweden, 
which  is  said  to  be  not  the  least  flattered,  and  which  is 
charming.  The  hereditary  Princess  could  not  spea 
kindly  enough  to  me,  and  I  beheve  myself  she  is  a  Httld 

•  Count  Sicking:en,  the  representative  of  the  Swabian  Counts  at  the 
Congress  of  Rastadt. 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    353 

in  love.  We  had  very  good  cheer ;  the  court  is  well 
arranged,  and  I  am  convinced  that  you  would  be  well 
pleased  with  all  the  individuals  who  compose  it.  We 
left  directly  after  dinner ;  but  the  night  and  the  roads 
were  so  against  any  speed  in  our  progress  that  it  took 
us  three  hours  and  a  half  to  return  to  Rastadt,  making 
me  lose  the  first  play  at  the  French  Theatre,  which 

is  just  opened We  shall  have 

the  Opera  Comique  for  a  fortnight,  and  the  singers 
alternately  with  the  Comedie,  who  in  the  meantime  play 
at  Strasburg.  Bonaparte  has  promised  the  Director  to 
bring  him  some  of  the  best  actors  from  Paris,  and  I 
hope  he  will  keep  his  word. 

11.  December  12. — The  French  deputies  are  toler- 
ably old  men.  Bonaparte's  suite  is  composed  of  young 
men ;  he  himself  was  twenty-eight  years  old  in  June, 
and  is  older  than  any  of  his  aides-de-camp  or  secre- 
taries ;  he  is  expected  to  return  to  Rastadt  in  a  week. 
Everyone  about  him  is  extremely  cold  towards  the 
deputies  ;  they  say  that  he  himself  treats  them  with 
great  haughtiness.  Treilhard  is  very  pohte  ;  he  came 
yesterday  to  our  box  at  the  theatre,  giving  us  all  our 
titles,  conversing  well  hke  all  the  old  advocates.  All 
who  belong  to  the  Corps  Diplomatique  wear  blue  frock 
coats,  with  yellow  buttons,  on  which  is  the  figure  of 
Liberty  and  the  inscription  of  Liberie,  Egalite.  The  mili- 
tary are  always  in  uniform,  and  are  very  well  appointed. 
.  .  .  .  I  am  a  little  reconciled  to  the  theatre.  There 
are  some  very  pretty  subjects,  and  above  all  the  women 
are  dressed  most  perfectly.  They  have  new  dresses, 
really  charming,  and  as  all  the  properties  have  changed 
masters,  the  actresses  have  no  end  of  diamonds.  The 
costume  of  the  actors  is  incredible,  and  one  is  incUned 
to  take  them  all  for  caricatures.  An  enormous  tuft  of 
VOL.  L  A  A 


354  DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

hair  curled  round  the  head,  leaving  the  ears  uncovered, 
and  two  long  locks  of  hair  which  fall  on  the  shoulders, 
are  the  peculiarities  of  the  perruque  worn  by  fashion- 
able gentlemen.  A  monstrous  cravat  covers  the  chin 
and  half  the  mouth  ;  two  enormous  earrings  appear  at 
the  sides.  A  frock  coat,  short  and  as  loose  as  a  sack, 
a  small  waistcoat,  and  shoes  well  cut  down  and  of  the 
shape  of  slippers,  complete  this  charming  costume.  It 
appears  that  fair  perruques  are  the  most  in  vogue  :  they 
are  all  fair,  men  and  women,  almost  flaxen.  The  pieces 
they  give  us  are  good,  and  do  not  refer  to  the  Eevo- 
lution  at  all.  From  the  cockade  one  would  not  suppose 
any  differences  of  opinion :  all  the  roles  have  their  cock- 
ade, in  fact,  Crispin,  Scapin,  the  old  cavalier — all  have 
those  cursed  colours,  which,  besides  the  evil  they  have 
already  done,  now  destroy  all  illusion. 

12.  December  13. — My  father  is  too  much  occupied 
to  think  of  the  details  of  the  house ;  he  is  no  longer 
in  a  state  to  be  sole  representative,  and  the  dignity  of 
his  office  even  will  suffer.  Our  baggage  arrived  to-day ; 
they  are  busy  unpacking,  and  the  house  will  be  open 
immediately. 

You  have  no  idea  of  the  noise  which  the  epidemic 
at  Vienna  among  cats  has  made  here.  Every  letter 
which  has  arrived  for  some  days  speaks  of  it,  and 
the  Viennese  are  already  reproached  for  not  being  able 
to  think  of  anything  else  at  a  time  so  interesting  as  the 
present.* 

13.  December  15.— I  leave  to-night  for  Strasburg., 

•'fl 

*  Private  letters  of  this  period  mention  that  tbe  epidemic  among  cats, 
■which  then  hroke  out  in  Vienna,  was  considered  a  sign  of  the  approach  of 
the  Plague.  This  fear,  originally  limited  to  a  few  anxious  persons,  soo: 
grew  to  be  a  universal  terror  among  the  people  in  consequence  of  a  false  r 
port  that  the  Plague  had  appeared  in  Oalicia,  and  already  spread  to  Bohi 
mia,  though  called  by  another  name. 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     355 

I  seize  this  opportunity  because  there  is  less  to  do  here 
than  if  Bonaparte  had  come,  and  I  wish  to  be  able  to 
stay  there  at  least  two  days  to  see  everything.  You 
cannot  think  how  curious  I  am  to  see  once  more  the 
places  I  have  known  so  well  both  before  and  since  the 
commencement  of  the  Eevolution,  and  which  I  am 
told  are  changed  entirely, 

14.  December  17. — You  are  waiting  for  details  of 
Strasburg,  my  dear  ;  alas  !  you  will  not  have  them,  and 
for  the  best  of  all  reasons,  I  have  not  been  there.  An 
accident  prevented  me  from  carrying  out  my  plan, 
which  I  must  now  leave  till  another  time.  Bonaparte 
left  Paris  yesterday,  and  is  expected  here  next  Tuesday. 
I  am  just  out  from  the  first  dinner  we  have  given,  my 
father  having  opened  his  house  to-day ;  the  French 
deputies  ought  to  have  been  here,  but  they  are  re- 
ceiving company  themselves.  Ferret  and  Lavalette,  the 
one  secretary  to  Bonaparte's  Legation,  and  the  other 
liis  aide-de-camp,  and  M.  Eosenstiel,  secretary  to  the 
French  Mission,  were  all  that  we  had,  besides  those  who 
are  here  belonging  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Envoy  of 
Mayence.  Aime  *  gave  us  a  very  good  repast,  and 
things  are  beginning  to  be  got  into  order.  Do  not  be 
uneasy  about  the  finances,  everything  is  going  on 
smoothly. 

The  Comedie  Franqaise,  which  we  have  now  had  for 
several  days,  is  very  good.  There  is  a  Mdlle.  Legrand 
and  a  Mdlle.  Delile  of  the  Odeon  at  Paris,  who  are  both 
very  good.  The  former  is  very  much  like  Madame 
Spettel,  SardeUen-Konigin,  so  much  so  that  a  certain 
person  would  not  be  able  to  contain  himself  if  he  were 
here.  They  give  us  this  evening  Un  pas  de  trois  de 
sabotiers,   which  is  translated  in  the  programme   Ein 

*  Count  Franz  Qeorg  von  Metternich's  cook. 
A  A  2 


356   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

Tritt  von  drei  Holzschuhtrdgern.     I  could  not  help  bursty 
ing  with  laughter  when  I  read  it. 

15.  December  19. — Our  affairs  here  go  on  as  well 
as  the  extraordinary  circumstances  in  which  we  find 
ourselves  permit.  I  pity  you,  my  dear,  being  at  Vienna ; 
you  will  hear  all  the  events  criticised  and  talked  over 
in  the  most  insupportable  manner ;  people  will  always 
concern  themselves  with  your  interests  and  those  of  the 
persons  connected  with  you  ;  but  I  can  only  recommend 
you  to  preserve  the  utmost  calmness  and  tranquilHty. 
Events  are  so  extraordinary  in  themselves,  the  military 
movements  which  the  French  are  constantly  making 
with  respect  to  the  Empire  are  so  inexphcable  to  the 
ignorant,  that  I  can  imagine  all  Vienna  in  combustion. 
On  twenty  different  sides  one  hears  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  Congress ;  the  fact  is,  that  it  is  not  possible  to 
calculate  its  duration — ^it  has  really  only  just  commenced ; 
but  our  private  interests  will  be  perfectly  safe. 

We  expect  Bonaparte  to  return  to-morrow ;  they 
have  prepared  a  fete  for  him  as  he  passes  through 
Strasburg,  without  knowing  if  he  intends  to  stay  there. 
I  will  write  and  tell  you  all  the  particulars  of  his  con- 
versations when  he  has  once  arrived  ;  they  will  be 
more  interesting  than  those  of  the  ministers  who  are 
here — one  of  whom  speaks  the  most  beautiful  Gascon, 
and  the  other,  Bonnier,  says  nothing.  We  do  not  know 
yet  if  Madame  Bonaparte  accompanies  or  follows  Bona- 
parte. J 

16.  December  21. — Bonaparte  has  not  yet  returned} 
the  Directory  detains  him  still  in  Paris,  but  we  expect? 
him  from  one  moment  to  another,  without  knowing 
exactly  when  he  will  arrive.  His  absence,  which  apij 
pears  to  make  you  and  all  Vienna  uneasy,  has  nothing:* 
to  do  with  present  affairs :  he  would  not  have  much  tqj 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICHS  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    357 

do  even  if  he  were  here,  for  a  Congress  of  the  Empire 
is  very  different  from  a  negotiation  between  two  Powers ; 
liere  there  are  so  many  different  interests  at  stake,  so 
many  heads  to  put  into  one  cap,  that  in  spite  of  the 
greatest  desire  one  cannot  get  on  more  quickly  than  we 
do.  There  is  no  part  of  the  country  where  the  Empire 
is  less  understood  than  at  Vienna,  nor  where  they  have 
more  mistaken  ideas  about  it.  I  already  seem  to  hear 
you  saying  twenty  times  over,  Jct^  wenn's  so  ist,  when, 
on  my  return  to  Vienna,  I  show  you  things  in  a  very 
different  light  from  that  in  which  you  and  your  society 
Jiave  been  accustomed  to  see  them,  and  I  wish  to 
heaven  that  time  had'  already  come. 

The  secretary  of  the  Legation  and'  Bonaparte's 
aide-de-camp  have  interrupted  me.  They  are  very 
good  fellows,  and  I  often  see  them  ;  up  to  the  present 
time  they  are  the  only  people  with  whom  one  can 
associate.  Good  God  !  how  extraordinary  the  times 
and  the  events  are.  Seven  months  ago  everyone  fled- 
before  these  men,  and  now  there  they  are  under  the 
same  roof,  and  often  in  the  same  room  with  us. 

17.  December  22: — I  have  absolutely  nothing  new  to-. 
tell  you  ;  you  have  do  idea  how  barren  is  a  sojourn  in 
Rastadt  for  newsmongers ;  the  great  affairs  would  not 
interest  you  in  their  details,  and  there  is  nothing  else 
to  relate.  All  days  are  ahke :  I  dine  either  with  my 
father  or  with  M.  de  Cobenzl ;  they  are  the  only  people 
who  keep  house.  I  spend  all  my  morning  in  writing, 
I  do  the  same  after  dinner,  and  in  the  evening  I  gene- 
rally go  to  the  theatre,  which  is  excellent.  They  give- 
only  good  pieces,  which  never  refer  to  the  Eevolution. 
I  sup  three  or  four  times  a  week  with  M.  de-  Sickingen ; 
I  either  pass  my  evening  at  Madame  de  Reinach's,  or  !» 
come  home  after  the  theatre  and  write  again,  often  till 


358   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST   PERIOD. 

two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.     You  see  that 
this  is  a  very  uniform  and  very  simple  manner  of  living, 
so  uniform  that  I  cannot  write  you  anything  new.     I 
enclose  an  invitation  to  dine  with  the  Frenchmen,  which  j 
you  will  find  quite  in  the  old-fashioned  style.    Treilhard 
is  in  general  very  poHte,  and  a  striking  contrast  to  his 
colleague,  who  is  what  we  should  call  the  quintessence^ 
of  a  clown.     Even  a  Parisian  journal,  the  Courrier  d%^ 
Jour,  in  yesterday's  number,  censures  his  cool  and  vulgar 
^ir,  and  with  perfect  reason.     They  are  still  ignorant  of 
the  day  of  Bonaparte's  arrival.      The  French,  mean- 
time, are  progressing  on  all  sides  ;  they  have  blockaded 
Mayence,    and   taken   possession   of  the   Bishopric   ofj 
Basle,  which  makes  the  Swiss  very  uneasy,  seeing  them;^ 
actually  in  the  midst  of  their  country,  which  promises 
to  become  as  revolutionary  as  Italy.     Heaven  knows 
where  it  will  stop ;   but  there  is   certainly  no  reason 
why  the  rest  of  Europe  should  not  be  shaken  to  itsE 
foundations  by  forty  milHons  of  men  aiming  at  the  same. 
mark.     All  they  dream  of  in  France  at  this  moment  is- 
a  descent  on  England.   The  wildest  projects  are  formed,, 
and  it  appears  to  me  that  those  that  are  the  least  so 
are  quite  impossible.     A  certain  man   Tillorier  thinks 
of  p'(^^pQL_OYer  in   a,  b^lToo^^anoth^j^.  ji^ped  (j^rmer. 
proposes  elastic    skates  ;  a    third  pretends  to  have  in- 
vented a  species  o^DoaT^^pas^mae^Iie^^^ater  witlioii 


^^^^^^nT^n^Tff^^^^JJI^^^^^^^^^^^^ll,. 
would  have  guns  made  to  carry  fifty  miles  which  shall 
4sal£Qz''^^nglanT'^rom^Fren^^  1  ou   may 

think  these  are  the  plans  of  some  madmen — not  at  all ; 
th^se  are  the  proiect-makers_of  the  day.      They  say 
that  Bonaparte  received  in  one  day  two  thousand  pro- 
jects, plans,  and  letters,  directly  he  arrived  in  Paris. 
18.  December  24. — We  are  always  in  expectation  of  .^ 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    359 

Bonaparte's  arrival.  The  Paris  newspapers  announce 
his  departure  in  almost  every  one  of  their  numbers ; 
they  expected  him  at  Strasburg  the  day  before  yesterday, 
and  he  has  not  yet  arrived  there.  In  the  meantime 
Mayence  is  gone  to  the  devil,  and  on  all  the  left  bank 
everybody  must  cross  himself;  many  people  do  not  beheve 
it  yet,  but  for  myself  I  made  the  sacrifice  long  ago,  and 
come  what  will,  I  shall  be  astonished  at  nothing. 

19.  December  25. — I  have  just  come  from  Treil- 
hard,  who  has  given  us  his  first  dinner.  We  had 
very  good  cheer ;  I  do  not  know  who  cooked  it,  for 
three  days  ago  he  asked  Aime  if  he  would  prepare  a 
diimer  for  him — be  that  as  it  may,  it  was  very  well 
appointed.  Good  wine  and  good  cheer — see  to  what 
the  rehgion  of  this  regenerated  nation  is  reduced :  they 
know  no  other  God  than  their  stomach,  and  no  enjoy- 
ment but  that  of  their  senses.  Doubtless  this  is  Christ- 
mas Day,  but  they  know  it  only  as  the  5th  Nivose.  I 
have  been  to  a  midnight  mass  at  the  Piaristes  with  my 
father  and  the  Count  de  Lehrbach.*  I  do  not  beheve 
that  a  single  member  of  the  French  embassy,  either 
master  or  servant,  has  dreamt  of  attending  mass.  We 
were  rather  less  than  twenty  at  dinner ;  first,  naturally, 
all  their  suite,  then  ourselves,  and  some  of  the  envoys. 
The  dinner  passed  off  very  well ;  they  talked  much  and 
eat  much — this  is  the  best  I  can  say  for  it. 

20.  December  27. — What  Mer veldt  said  to  you  of  the 
duration  of  the  Congress  is  quite  vague.  I  defy  anyone 
to  tell  how  long  it  will  last,  but  as  it  has  only  just  com- 
menced, judge  for  yourself  if  it  can  be  finished  in  a 
month.     The  French,  who  refuse  to  receive  the  creden- 

*  Kom-ad  Ludwig  von  Leiirbacli,  IMinister  for  the  Austrian  Circle  at  the 
Rastadt  Congress,  he  afterwards  represented  also  Hungary  and  Bohemia. — 
Ed. 


360   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICHS  FIRST  PERIOD. 

tials  of  the  Deputation  of  the  Empire  in  their  present 
form,  have  obhged  the  latter  to  procure  new  ones.  It! 
is  absolutely  impossible  that  they  can  arrive  for  five  ori 
six  weeks.  So  you  see  how  it  is.  My  father  is  the) 
only  one  who  deals  with  them,  their  full  powers  being^ 
exchanged  for  his.  Everyone  is  very  much  pleased 
with  him  and  his  mode  of  deahng,  and  I  have  no  doubt, 
the  court  will  be  equally  satisfied. 

21.  December  31. — The  French  have  entered  Basle, 
and  under  the  pretext  of  occupying  only  the  houses 
which  belong  to  the  Bishop,  and  which  they  have  de- 
clared to  be  their  property,  and  not  to  violate  the  neu- 
trahty,  they  have  sent  there  several  thousand  unarmed 
men.  This  is  the  first  step  against  the  hberty  of  the 
Swiss,  and  you  will  see  that  in  a  few  months  the  whole 
of  that  fine  country  will  be  a  prey  to  revolution.  Of 
what  horrible  augury  is  this  unheard-of  infringement 
of  people's  rights  for  all  the  countries  near  the  whirl- 
pool !  The  Ee volution  will  have  carried  away  in  its 
torrent  nearly  fifty  millions  of  men  in  less  than  seventy 
years,  and  where  will  it  stop  ?  I  pity  these  poor  Swiss  ; 
but  they  are  lost,  and  we  shall  have  the  Eevolution  in 
all  the  frontiers  of  Tyrol.  The  French  yesterday  en- 
tered Mayence. 

1798. 

22.  Rastadt,  January  1. — Bonaparte  is  expected  oi 
Saturday  or  Sunday.  I  do  not  know  whether  to  be  glac 
at  his  arrival  or  not.  I  am  afraid  that  he  will  not  decidel 
very  quickly  ;  his  expedition  to  England  torments  him,] 
not  that  I  believe  it  will  ever  succeed,  and  he  wants  his 
hands  fi*ee.  They  still  say  that  his  wife  will  accompan] 
him. 

23.  January  6. — Our  affairs  go  steadily  on ;  the] 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICIIS  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    36 1 

will  move  more  quickly  when  once  Bonaparte  has 
iirrived.  There  will  be  the  devil  to  pay  when  once  the 
machine  is  set  agoing.  The  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  is 
irretrievably  lost ;  but  I  have  well-founded  hopes  of 
being  successful  in  the  matter  of  our  indemnities.  I 
liave  broken  the  ice ;  I  had  a  conversation  of  an  hour 
with  Treilhard,  and  the  result  was  so  curious  that  I 
have  sent  by  the  same  courier  a  report  to  Thugut,*  who 
will,  I  hope,  give  me  some  credit.  My  position,  as 
deputy  of  the  Counts,  is  an  inestimable  advantage  to  me. 
It  gives  me  the  opportunity  of  acting  by  and  for  myself, 
and  I  swear  to  you  that  I  never  lose  a  minute  nor  an 
occasion.  My  project  of  an  indemnity  on  the  right 
bank  has  been  accepted  by  the  French  the  more  easily 
inasmuch  as  they  had  conceived  the  same  idea  them- 
selves some  time  ago.  My  father  conciliates  himself 
with  everybody ;  you  have  no  idea  how  general  the 
satisfaction  with  him  is ;  and  how  everybody  does  him 
justice.  No  post  could  have  suited  him  better,  and  no 
man  could  have  better  filled  the  post ;  he  comes  out 
from  every  difficult  question  with  infinite  honour  and 
advantage.  I  do  not  enter  into  the  detail  of  affairs  ;  I 
will  explain  everything  to  you  by  word  of  mouth  when 
I  return  to  Vienna  ;  but  be  happy  and  contented.  Mi- 
nisters are  arriving  here  from  all  parts  of  the  universe. 
We  have  Cisalpine  Envoys,  Ligurian,  Dutch,  Swiss,  &c.; 
many  people  and  especially  at  Vienna,  where  they  only 
know  what  passes  within  a  circle  of  three  leagues,  be- 
Heve  that  the  Congress  of  Rastadt  is  nothing  but  a  farce : 
everything  is  already  arranged — say  our  great  pohti- 
cians  ;  you  may  remember  that  I  always  said  the  con- 
trary. The  fate  of  the  whole  world  is  being  decided- 
here,  and  from  the  Peace  of  Rastadt  only  will  date  that 

*  Johann  Amadeus  von  Tliugut,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.— Ed. 


362   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICHS  FIRST  PERIOD. 


of  Europe,  if  this  stormy  age  permits  it  to  have  any.  All 
that  I  foresaw  has  come  to  pass :  each  Power  seeks  to 
regain  something  of  what  it  has  lost  by  preventing  a 
third  from  aggrandising  itself ;  all  the  poHtical  elements ! 
are  in  combustion,  and  the  end  is  known  to  nobody. 

24.  January  9. — The  day  before  yesterday  we  had^ 
a  ball  in  the  hall  of  the  theatre ;  we  are  to  have  another -j 
to-day.  There  is  not  under  the  canopy  of  heaven  a 
more  wearisome  thing  than  a  ball  at  Eastadt ;  there  are- 
nearly  a  hundred  men,  almost  all  ministers  and  depu 
ties,  and  eight  or  ten  women,  half  of  them  more  than,' 
fifty  years  old.  It  is  only  for  want  of  something  better 
to  do  that  one  ever  goes  to  them. 

26.  January  13. — Bonaparte  has  not  arrived  yet.^ 
I  do  not  know  to  what  to  attribute  the  causes  of  this 
delay ;  some  say  that  business  about  this  descent  on' 
England  occupies  him  very  much;  others  suppose  that 
he  wishes  to  wait  the  arrival  of  the  full  powers  of  the 
deputies  of  the  Empire ;  and  a  third  party  beheve  that 
his  omnipotence  has  much  decreased  now  he  is  no- 
longer  surrounded  by  all  his  army  and  a  crowd  of 
aides-de-camp  and  admirers.  It  is  certain  that  Bona 
parte  is  the  creature  of  Barras,  and  that  Kewbell,*  who  isfl 
no  friend  of  the  latter,  has  much  more  power  at  this" 
moment.  Time  wiU  explain  the  mystery,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  of  his  return  ;  only  the  time  is  not  fixed,  and 
I  am  annoyed  not  to  see  him  before  my  departure.  La 
Comedie  goes  on  playing  in  the  meantime  as  if  he  were 
here,  and  aU  goes  on  as  usual. 

26.  January  16. — The    new  full   powers  for   the^ 
deputies  of  the  Empire  have  arrived;  the  negotiation^ 
which  up  to  this  time  has  been  managed  by  my  father  > 

*  Barras  and  BewbeU,  well-known  members  of  the  National  Oonven- 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    363 

alone,  will  go  on  now  with  the  Deputation,  and  affairs 
will  be  much  more  exciting.  I  shall  be  charged  with 
very  interesting  despatches  for  Vienna,  and  I  shall  be 
able  to  tell  you  much  more  on  my  return  than  I  can 
at  present.  The  bomb  is  in  the  air ;  it  will  burst ; 
happy  those  who  are  not  struck  by  it !  You  have  no 
idea  of  the  despair  which  reigns  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
I  Rhine;  the  inhabitants  have  been  hoping  that  they 
i  would  become  Germans  again,  but  their  hopes  sink  day 
by  day,  and  give  place  to  the  most  profound  grief;  cer- 
tainly the  lot  of  the  proprietors  is  very  sad,  and  if  ever 
the  being  a  State  of  the  Empire  were  valuable,  it  is  so 
at  tliis  moment.  I  have  gathered  together  a  number  of 
data  on  the  internal  state  of  this  unhappy  country,  and 
I  beheve  I  have  heard  enough  from  people  of  all 
;  parties  to  be  perfectly  well  informed  of  all  that  is 
passing  there.  I  do  not  enter  into  any  details  ;  I  shall 
enjoy  telhng  you  everything  myself,  and  I  do  not  wish 
to  trust  to  paper  what  I  can  tell  you  so  much  better  by 
word  of  mouth. 

We  had  a  concert  yesterday,  at  which  I  played  a 
good  deal.  One  of  the  Envoys  of  the  Empire  has  a 
i  young  man  here  with  him  who  has  a  very  considerable 
J  talent  for  the  vioHn,  and  who  will  be  a  perfect  master 
!  of  it,  if  he  apphes  himself ;  we  arranged  a  concert  for 
i  him  with  some  amateurs,  and  the  pubhc  paid  a  small 
jsum  for  admission.  The  music  was  well  chosen,  and 
i  the  concert  perfect,  so  that  everyone  was  astonished^  I 
conducted  the  orchestra  in  the  sj^iiphonies^and__the_con^ 

c^^^^^^^2^^^^^^33S^SS^^^Sȣi^r 

che^jgjjWan^^w^ma^urs^w^ 
everyone  talks  of  it  to-day.     It  was  about  the  pleasant- 
est  evening  I  have  passed  in  Rastadt,  for  I  Uke  extremely 
to  play  music. 


( 


364   DOCUMENTS  FROM   METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

27.  January  19. — The  Congress  was  opened  this 
morning  as  splendidly  as  possible.  My  father  was  at' 
the  deputation,  and  communicated  the  first  proposition 
of  the  French,  which  was  nothing  less  than  the  keeping 
of  the  left  bank.  We  have  known  this  a  long  time, 
and  you  can  say  that  this  is  the  proposition,  if  you  see 
that  it  is  no  mystery  at  Vienna.  You  know  that  it  is  not 
well  to  be  the  first  to  tell  anything.  .  .  I  am  waitin 
for  the  despatches  I  am  to  take  with  me,  which  prevents 
me  from  fixing  the  day  of  my  departure  ;  but  believe  me, 
and  expect  me  at  Vienna  before  the  end  of  the  month 

28.  January  21. — This  is  the  last  letter  which 
you  will  receive  from  me,  my  dear ;  perhaps  I  shall  arrive 
at  the  same  time  as  this  does.  I  am  really  to  go  on: 
Tuesday  the  23rd  ;  it  will  take  me  nearly  six  days  to 
make  the  journey,  and  I  shall  embrace  you  on  the  29th 
or  30th  of  this  month. 

The  news  I  told  you  some  days  ago  that  the  French? 
had  occupied  Basle  is  false ;  what  is  more  astonishing  isi 
that  the  French  themselves  had  spread  this  report  here.; 
One  of  them  told  me  himself.  So  there  is  the  first  un- 
truth I  have  written  to  you  from  Eastadt. 

29.  March  19. — Here  I  am  once  more  in  this 
miserable  Eastadt,  two  hundred  leagues  from  you  and 
our  dear  little  children.  I  arrived  yesterday  evening ; 
no  one  expected  me,  and  I  fell  hke  a  bombshell  in  my 
mother's  room,  who  had  just  come  from  the  theatre. 
My  journey  was  very  agreeable.  .  .  Eastadt  is  always 
the  same. 

30.  March  20. — I  had  supper  yesterday  with  the. 
Frenchmen;  there  were  very  few  people,  and  I  retire 
to  rest  in  good  time.  .  .  We  have  the  opera  still  for 
few  days  more,  and  then  we  shall  have  the  comedy 
take  its  place.     I  find  no  change ;  the  same  characte 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICHS  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    365 

and  the  same  pieces,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  novel- 
ties which  the  director  will  give  for  me  before  their  de- 
parture. I  shall  pay  my  visits  to-day,  to  be  perfectly 
correct. 

31.  March  24. — Yesterday  we  had  supper  at  M.  de 
Cobenzl's,  with  all  the  actors  of  the  opera.  There  were 
no  ladies,  except  Mdlle.  Hyacinthe.  They  have  all  gone 
to-day  for  good ;  La  Comedie  will  take  their  place,  and 
after  Easter  a  new  opera  company  is  coming,  which  we 
do  not  know  at  all.  You  have  no  idea  how  sorry  all 
these  people  are  to  be  obliged  to  return  to  France ;  they 
wished  to  remain  always  at  Eastadt,  or  to  find  some 
place  in  Germany ;  they  feel  themselves  so  free  here, 
people  can  do  what  they  like,  and,  above  all,  everyone 
is  so  polite.     What  a  regeneration  is  this ! 

Fair  perruques  are  still  the  fashion ;  you  have  no 
-idea  of  the  number  that  are  sold  in  Eastadt.  Hair  is 
so  scarce  in  France  that  they  have  already  begun  to 
get  it  from  Eussia  and  Sweden.  Madame  de  Pdlffy 
would  get  a  fortune  for  life  with  her  head,  if  she  were 
in  the  mind  to  be  shaved  regularly,  and  if  this  rage  for 
fair  hair  continued.  The  French  are  still  exercisinsr  the 
most  frightful  persecutions  on  all  the  Belgian  emigres ; 
the  ambassador  of  your  friend  VanderHst,  and  several 
other  Braban^ons,  is  in  prison  at  Brussels  ;  he  will  be 
in  despair,  and  with  reason.  It  is  all  the  more  annoying 
because  the  papers  he  had  with  him  have  been  seized, 
and  sent  to  Paris.  It  seems  to  be  decided  that  Bona- 
parte will  not  return  to  Eastadt,  notwithstanding  all 
that  people  say. 

32.  March  27. — Our  affairs  are  going  on  as  well  as 
they  can,  considering  the  feebleness  and  inaction  of  the 
Princes  and  States  of  the  Empire  ;  the  French  lay  down 
the  law,  and  that  witli  an  arrogance  and  certainty  of 


366   DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 


success  incredible  to  those  who  do  not  know  the  secret 
supporters  and  authors  of  all  our  evils.     They  declare 
strongly  for  secularisation.    The  Court  of  Vienna,  whicl 
knows  all  the  inconveniences,  is  very  much  opposed  toj 
it ;  and  I  am  daily  confirmed  in  my  opinion  that  theyj 
will  end  by  adopting  the  middle  course,  which  will  be 
the  happiest  for  the  persons  concerned.     The  arrival  of 
the  next  courier  from  Vienna  will  partly  decide  this 
question,   and   considerably   advance   the   negotiation, 
which  has  languished  for  some  time. 

The  non-arrival  of  Bonaparte  is  now  certain  ;  all 
his  people  have  gone  to  rejoin  him  at  Paris,  and  Perret 
and  Lavalette  go  to-day.  They  believe  that  the  expedi- 
tion against  England  is  very  near,  and  that  they  will 
soon  be  embarked  on  this  enterprise — the  most  sad  and 
dangerous  of  all ;  they  are  all  in  despair ;  and  Pitt 
would  be  more  tranquil  about  the  result,  if  he  could 
only  calculate  the  danger  by  the  zeal  of  the  troops 
destined  to  fight  against  England :  all  of  them  have 
made  their  wills. 

33.  March  31. — How  I  shall  thank  Heaven  when 
once  I  am  with  you  again.  I  will  leave  you  no  more. 
I  will  devote  all  my  cares  and  all  my  leisure  to  you  and 
my  dear  children.  That  time  is  not  very  far  off,  I  hope. 
I  ha^e  come  back  to  my  old  idea  of  the  month  of  May : 
it  is  impossible  for  me  to  return  in  April.  The  Congress 
must  first  be  over,  which  cannot  yet  be  foreseen ;  but 
rely  upon  me,  in  the  month  of  May  I  will  be  with  you, 
let  affairs  go  as  they  may ;  besides,  the  conclusion  will 
be  about  that  time,  or  will  be  so  near  that  my  pre- 
sence here  will  not  be  the  least  use,  and  you  cannot 
doubt  that  when  once  there  is  no  urgent  necessity  tc 
stay,  I  shall  know  no  other  care  than  that  of  returninc 
to  you.     I  shall  dine  on  Tuesday  with  Treilhard,  and,] 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.    367 

as  you  like  knick-knacks,  I  send  you  his  card  of  in- 
vitation ;  you  will  see  that  he  gives  me  a  title  which 
does  not  belong  to  me. 

34.  April  2. — Our  affairs  here  go  on  slowly.  I 
wish  they  had  no  further  to  go,  and  that  we  were  all 
safe  at  home.  I  cannot  express  to  you  the  pleasure  it 
will  give  me  to  get  back  to  Vienna,  in  the  most  lovely 
season  of  the  year,  to  our  little  garc  en.  of  which  T  mn 


8^Mj,y,,j^yi,jjfl4Bajjj^j^  you  shall  be 


very  gay ;  and  we  will  not  be  separated  again.  We 
shall  give  parties  to  amuse  you,  and  we  will  spend 
some  months  in  the  country.  .  . 

Holy  Week  occupies  us  here,  much  as  it  does  in 
Vienna.  I  am  going  to  take  the  Sacrament  the  day 
.after  to-morrow.  I  will  pray  for  my  dear  httle  wife 
aiid  children ;  do  the  same  for  me.  The  theatre 
is  open  to-morrow ;  but  the  Cathohc  and  Protestant 
Legations  of  all  countries  have  given  the  word  not  to 
go  to  it  during  Holy  Week,  and  consequently  only  the 
French  and  some  strangers  were  at  the  representation 
yesterday.  The  former  wished  them  not  to  omit  any 
day,  but  everybody  opposed  that.  One  should  not  lose 
the  opportunity  of  setting  a  good  example  at  a  time 
when  the  whole  world,  so  to  speak,  only  furnishes  bad 
ones,  and  those  destructive  of  social  order  and  individual 
happiness. 

35.  April  5. — You  have  no  idea  of  the  number  of 
poor  peasants  and  inhabitants  of  Alsace  who  cross  the 
Ehine  daily  to  be  present  at  Divine  service  during  Holy 
Week.  To-day  being  very  fine,  I  was  walking  about 
midday  on  the  bank  of  the  Ehine ;  I  saw  a  number  of 
men  and  women  re-embarking  sadly  in  a  boat.  I  ac- 
costed them  and  asked  whence  they  came,  and  where 
they  were  going.     '  Alas  !  my  good  sir,'  said  an  old  man 


3G8  DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICHS  FIRST   PERIOD. 


! 


to  me,  '  you  are  very  happy  to  be  able  to  remain  on  the 
right  bank  ;  one  is  quiet  there,  but  we   must  return  to 
our  unhappy  country,  where  everything  is  upside  down.' 
I  asked  him  why  he  had  come  to  this  side.     '  We  cros> 
the  Rhine  on  the  great  Feast  Days,'  said  he  to  me,  '  to 
pray  to  God.     There  is  nothing  with  us,  the  church  is 
closed ;  in  the  evening  our  schoolmaster  says  the  Cha- 
peletf  everyone  in  the  village  attends,  and  that  is  all 
our  Divine  service.     They  dare  not  ring  the  bells ;  but 
at  midday  the  bell  is  hit  several  times  as  if  the  hour 
struck,  so  that  we  may  know  the  hour  of  the  Angelus.' 
I  asked  him  if  the  Mayor  would  object  to  this  infringe- 
ment of  the  laws.    '  The  Mayor,'  replied  he,  *  is  a  good 
man ;  he  is  also  forbidden  to  receive  emigres,  but  our 
village  is  full  of  them ;  he  tells  us  always  to  hide  them, 
and  not  to  let  him  know  of  it,  so  as  not  to  involve  him 
and  get  him  into  trouble.'     I  informed  myself  on  all 
matters   one  could  talk  about  to  the   peasants ;    they 
assured  me  that  they  pay  double  what  they  did  in  the 
hardest  times  of  the  old  regime,  and  if  the  thing  does 
not  end  soon  they  will  pack  up  their  things  and  go.    Fine 
regeneration  and  fine  hberty !   E^fig^^  jeers  or  weeps 
whep^Jll^wor^^ibert^is  pronounced,  or^^qualiT?:.' 
at  which  they  mock  still  mor^'^n^Yet  with  so  many 
conditions  against  them,  these  folks  make  laws  for  the 
world,  and  for  us,  above  all,  they  make  some  every  day. 

36.  April  7. — I  dined  yesterday  with  Treilhard  ;i 
we  had  in  the  middle  of  the  table  a  sort  of  pyramid^ 
made  en  croquants,  with  enormous  tri-coloured  flags  ;  I' 
declare  I  quite  lost  my  appetite  at  the  sight  of  these 
execrable  colours.  The  dinner  itself  was  very  good; 
ne  has  taken  possession  of  Bonaparte's  apartments,  no" 
that  it  is  quite  certain  he  will  not  return. 

A  newspaper  which  I  saw  to-day  contains  an  aneC' 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     369 

dote  good  enough  to  be  repeated  to  you.  A  Portuguese 
vessel  going  round  the  world  to  make  discoveries,  prin- 
cipally in  the  Southern  Seas,  came  upon  an  island  up  to 
that  time  unknown.  They  put  in,  and  were  very  much 
astonished  at  being  received  there  by  Frenchmen. 
Three  hundred  emigres^  the  greater  number  of  them 
naval  officers,  had  formed  a  colony ;  flying  from  the 
disasters  of  the  Eevolution,  they  had  quitted  France  at 
its  very  beginning,  taking  their  wives  and  children,  and 
all  things  necessary,  &c. ;  they  landed  on  this  island, 
chose  a  part  where  nature  was  very  bountiful,  and 
where  nothing  was  wanting  but  cattle.  The  Portu- 
guese made  a  present  of  some  to  the  colony,  who  lead 
a  patriarchal  Hfe,  and  do  not  regret  in  the  least  what 
they  have  left  behind.  What  a  resource  in  these  civil 
disturbances  !  If  ever  we  were  obhged  to  fly,  we  could 
do  the  same,  and  one  need  not  be  unhappy  in  a  dehcious 
country,  under  a  pleasant  sky,  with  all  one's  friends  and 
relations.  I  am  sure  this  history  is  hke  a  pleasant 
dream :  it  is  not,  however,  the  less  true ;  it  is  men- 
tioned in  the  official  account  of  this  voyage,  which  I 
intend  to  get  from  Paris. 

37.  April  11. — I  seize  this  opportunity  to  give  you 
for  once  a  succinct  account  of  our  affairs  here.  You 
know  that  the  left  bank  of  the  Ehine  is  ceded  by  the 
deputies  of  the  Empire ;  you  know,  too,  that  the  prin- 
ciple of  secularisation  for  the  indemnification  of  the 
states  is  also  adopted  ;  my  father  has  not  yet  in  the  name 
of  the  Emperor  acquiesced  in  these  two  propositions, 
but  it  cannot  be  avoided,  and  no  doubt  the  first  courier 
will  bring  us  news  of  the  Imperial  ratification.  We 
are  sure  to  lose  all  we  have  on  the  left  bank ;  the  French 
declare  openly  their  intention  of  regarding  these  do- 
mains as  national  property,  and  of  indemnifying  us  on 
,     VOL.  I.  B  B 


370      DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

the  right  bank  for  what  we  have  lost  on  the  left.  The 
difficulty  now  is  to  know  what  portion  Heaven  destines 
for  us.  I  have  my  eye  on  an  estate  which  has  ever] 
advantage,  and  I  have  every  reason  to  beheve  that  H 
will  fall  to  our  share.  Be  that  as  it  may,  we  can  b< 
perfectly  easy  about  our  future. 

You  see,  then,  that  the  two  principal  points  ar^ 
settled,  and  without  doubt  they  are  the  most  difficult  to 
digest.  Do  not  worry  yourself  about  the  duration  of 
the  Congress  and  that  confounded  business  :  it  may  end 
very  soon,  or  drag  on  for  some  time,  according  to  the 
course  they  take. 

38.  Frankfort,  April  19. — Here  I  am  at  Frankfort, 
and  very  well  pleased  to  find  myself  where  I  have  not 
been  for  five  years.  I  could  not  describe  to  you  the 
various  feehngs  which  pass  through  my  mind  ;  my  exist- 
ence, my  country,  my  position,  all  are  changed  in  tliis 
time,  though  it  is  not  so  very  long ;  and  the  objects 
that  surround  me  are  the  only  things  which  remain  the 
same.  An  irresistible  longing,  most  powerful  and  most 
sweet,  draws  me  towards  you  and  my  children,  of  all 
which  I  had  nothing  five  years  ago ;  you  did  not  exist, 
at  least  for  me,  and  the  poor  children  could  not  boast 
of  being  much.  During  my  last  sojourn  at  Frankfort, 
I  thought  of  Vienna  much  as  you  would  think  of  Naples 
or  St.  Petersburg ;  I  was  to  have  stayed  there  three 
weeks,  and  there  I  am  for  life.  All  this  is  very  well, 
and  I  would  not  give  up  these  advantages  for  the 
treasure  of  the  universe ;  but  there  are  other  changes 
which  pain  me  beyond  expression.  As  I  draw  near 
my  home,  I  feel  more  keenly  its  loss  ;  I  am  surrounded 
here  by  persons  whom  I  once  knew  happy  and  pros- 
perous ;  the  greater  number  of  them  have  now  notliing, 
and  a  miserable  cockade  takes   the   place   of  all  the 


TRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     371 

advantages  of  the  past.  The  inhabitants  of  tlie  left 
bank  are  all  obHged  to  wea^n^cocKaaeeveirwtien 
ffavellin^^^^uc^^^^aOh^eopTe^irBie'Sr^ 
w!ioare,  in  fact,  mgiij^lia^ts  of  Mayence^Soffne!^??., 
loo^iKeso^nany  FrenchmST*TE?T7Sc}^rTT!v1?a'M 
its  outposts  about  a  league  from  the  town ;  the  soldiers 
may  walk  there  as  much  as  they  like,  and  you  may  be 
sure  they  take  advantage  of  the  privilege. 

The  fair  is  splendid  for  purchasers :  much  merchan- 
dise, much  display,  and  very  little  business.  All  the 
merchants  complain  of  losses  which  they  suffer  daily. 

The  theatre  is  good  ;  I  went  yesterday  to  an  opera 
which  was  much  better  than  our  German  operas  at 
Vienna,  though  that  is  not  saying  much.  I  dined  yester- 
day with  Bethmann  ;  I  shall  dine  to-day  with  Count  de 
Schhck,  and  I  shall  go  after  dinner  to  see  the  Elector  of 
Cologne.  He  has  become  enormous  :  he  is  stouter  than 
Schreibers,*  which  is  saying  a  good  deal. 

39.  Frankfort,  April  22. — I  have  just  received  the 

news  of  the  13th  and  14th  from  Vienna.f  I  am  ignorant 

•of  the  details  :  twenty  letters  have  arrived  which  all 

•  contradict  each  other  about  the  principal  facts.  I  am 
very  impatient  for  an  explanation,  especially  from  you, 
my  dear ;  I  cannot  rest  till  I  know  how  you  are,  and  if 
you  have  been  much  alarmed,  the  scene  of  the  event 
being  so  near  you  ;  and  to  think  that  I  was  not  with 
you  !  I  hope  PepiJ  has  been  helpful  to  you;  he  has 
enough  coolness  and  love  for  you  to  have  kept  the  Httle 

*  Dr.  Sclireibers  was  physician'to  Countess  Metternich. 

t  This  refers  to  an  act  of  provocation  on  the  part  of  the  French  Ambas- 
sador, then  in  Vienna,  Bernadotte,  who  on  April  13  exliibited  the  tri-co- 
louredflag  on  his  hotel  in  Wallnerstnme,  only  a  few  houses  distant  from  the 
one  in  which  Countess  Metternieh  lived,  thereby  causin?  a  very  tumultuous 

•  counter-demonstration  on  the  part  of  the  populace. 

X  Count  Joseph  Metlernich,  the  only  brother  of  Metternieh. 

B  B  2 


372      DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 


family  in  order.     I  think  I  see  you  running  to  the  little- 
ones  at  the  first  alarm  ;  it  was  the  first  thought  which 
struck  me.     Tliank  Heaven  we  had  not  let  the  house  to- 
the  Ambassador  :  there  is  no  depending  on  these  men. 
I  suspend  judgment   on   the  affair  itself  until  I  know 
more  about  it,  but  it  is  sure  to  be  annoying  in  one  way 
or   another.      If  the  French  are  the  abettors  and  in- 
stigators, I  foresee  nothing  but  war  ;  if  not,  the  thing 
may  be  arranged.     What  a  time  and  what  a  future !     I 
shall   stay  here   two   or   three   days  longer,  and  then 
return  to  Rastadt,  unless  I  receive  letters  which  obhge- 
me  to  return  sooner.    This  event  in  any  case  will  hasten 
the  negotiations :  it  may  break  them  off,  or  they  may 
begin  with  new  vigour,  and  finish  once  for  all. 

40.  Frankfort,  April  24. — I  have  seen  some  one 
who  came  yesterday  from  Rastadt ;  the  news  of  the  scene- 
at  the  Ambassador's  had  made  a  terrible  sensation  there. 
I  think  the  conduct  of  the  court  was  perfect,  and  only' 
fools  could  have  wished  it  otherwise.  Bernadotte's 
conduct  is  inexcusable,  and  he  is  generally  blamed  by 
the  French,  of  whom  there  are  a  great  many  in  these 
parts.  We  are  waiting  with  impatience  the  arrival  of 
news  from  Paris,  to  know  what  will  be  the  resolution  of" 
the  Directory ;  it  cannot  be  otherwise  than  favourable 
to  us. 

41.  Rastadt,  April  30. — I  arrived  from  Frankfort 
some  hours  ago.  ...  I  found  everything  very  quiet  here  ; 
Bernadotte  located  in  the  chdteau  opposite  to  me.  He  has^ 
not  paid  a  visit  to  my  father  and  M.  de  Lehrbach,  who 
have  not  seen  him.  I  met  him  a  moment  ago  :  he  seemed 
rather  ashamed,  and  with  good  reason.  The  Directory 
pretends  to  disapprove  of  the  insolent  steps  which  it  has 
allowed  ;  they  have  shocked  tlie  whole  French  army,  as 
I  heard  from  many  of  the  ofiicers  at  Frankfort.     I  look 


I 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     373 

upon  this  event  as  rather  happy,  for  it  will  show  the 
weakness  of  the  French  Government  and  the  strength  of 
ours,  to  which  it  is  dictating,  especially  at  a  time  when 
tliey  are  uneasy  about  the  detestable  success  of  the  elec- 
tions in  the  greater  number  of  the  departments. 

42.  May  4. — I  work  all  day :  I  am  overwhelmed 
with  demands  and  requests  from  my  constituents; 
everyone  thinks  only  of  indemnifying  himself,  and 
this  is  the  most  important  moment  of  the  crisis. 
To  make  it  worse,  I  have  been  obhged  to  allow  my 
secretary  to  go  away  for  a  time,  his  wife  is  so  ill 
that  it  would  have  been  cruelty  to  prevent  him,  and  I 
am  left  alone  with  this  mass  of  papers.  In  a  httle  while 
I  shall  be  able  to  turn  round ;  my  demands  will  be 
presented  to  the  Deputation ;  I  shall  have  done  my  duty 
and  will  occupy  myself  only  with  the  thought  of  rejoin- 
ing you.  This  is  all  my  ambition,  it  is  that  to  which 
all  my  wishes  tend,  which  bounds  all  my  desires,  and 
nothing  shall  prevent  me  executing  what  I  long  for  more 
than  anything  in  the  world. 

43.  May  5. — ^We  have  such  a  detestable  theatre 
here  now  that  we  can  hardly  go  to  it.  All  the  good 
-actors  have  returned  to  Paris,  or  do  not  play  ;  they  are 
waiting  for  some  fresh  ones  who  take  a  long  time  to 
come,  and  the  thing  is  beneath  criticism.  Walking  is 
•our  only  resource,  and  it  is  really  one  in  this  splendid 
country.  I  am  astonished  at  the  diiference  which  I 
found  between  the  season  at  Frankfort  and  Rastadt; 
everything  here  is  a  month  in  advance. 

44.  May  8. — It  appears  to  me  impossible  that  affairs 
should  not  be  decided  sooner  than  people  think.  The 
arrival  of  M.  de  Cobenzl  is  expected  every  moment,  and 
the  return  of  Bonaparte  is  certain.  The  question  of 
how  they  will  end  is  more  difficult  to  solve. 


374      DOCUMENTS   FROM  METTERNICH'S   FIRST  PERIOD. 

46.  May  12. — You  cover  me  with  reproaches  which 
both  amuse  and  vex  me.  You  wish  me  to  tell  you 
about  a  hundred  thousand  things,  not  one  of  which  is- 
known  at  Eastadt,  and  which  all  issue  from  the  empty- 
brain  of  some  Foreign  Office  poHtician.  They  tell  you 
that  Bonaparte  has  been  at  Eastadt  for  some  time  :  there- 
is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it ;  we  have  been  expecting- 
him  for  a  week  or  rather  more ;  the  French  courier, 
going  to  announce  to  him  the  arrival  of  M.  de  Cobenzl,, 
only  passed  by  the  day  before  yesterday.  They  tell  you 
that  Treilhard  is  appointed  Ambassador  to  Vienna :  it 
is  not  so  ;  we  are  perfectly  ignorant  who  is  going  there  ; 
and  there  is  a  great  probabihty  that  Treilhard  will  be 
appointed  Director.  The  elections  are  to  take  place 
between  the  20th  and  30th  Floreal,  this  is  the  24th, 
so  in  a  few  days  we  shall  know  who  it  is.  There  are 
only  two  competitors,  the  old  Bishop  of  Autun  (Tal- 
leyrand) and  Treilliard  ;  everyone  thinks  the  latter  will 
carry  the  day.  They  tell  you  that  a  great  number  of 
couriers  arrive  from  Eastadt  and  Paris :  there  is  not  one 
by  whom  I  do  not  send  a  few  hues  for  you,  my  dear,  so 
do  not  believe  what  they  say.  You  know  how  they 
lie ;  and  beheve  me  if  anything  interesting  occurs,  I 
shall  always  be  the  first  to  tell  you  of  it — that  is,  if  I 
possibly  can. 

46.  May  15. — ^Bonaparte  has  left  Paris  for  Toulon 
to  which  place  a  courier  has  been  sent  teUing  him  that 
M.  de  Cobenzl  awaits  him  at  Eastadt ;  all  this  has  the 
appearance  of  some  trick,  and  there  is  as  much  reason 
to  bet  for  as  against  the  arrival  of  Bonaparte.  In  that 
case  it  would  be  seen  if  the  Directory  sends  another  in 
his  place ;  if  not  M.  de  Cobenzl  will  not  remain  here, 
but  will  return  to  Vienna  ;  Treilhard  also  goes  to  Paris 
in  a  few  days ;  he  has  been  elected  to  the  Council  of 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     375 

the  Ancients,  and  has  already  received  263  votes  for 
the  Directory,  who  cannot  do  without  him.  It  is  not 
known  who  will  succeed  him  in  the  post  at  Eastadt. 
You  see  that  at  this  moment  the  crisis  is  very  in- 
teresting. 

47.  May  17. — It  is  now  certain  that  Bonaparte 
will  not  come  (this  is  between  ourselves),  and  it  is 
beheved  that  Francis  de  Neufchateau,  the  Director  now 
going  out,  will  replace  both  him  and  Treilhard.  One  will 
gain  by  the  change,  for  this  man  is  said  to  be  very  mild 
and  temperate  ;  we  shall  see  what  he  will  do,  and  if 
he  can  help  to  accelerate  the  business.  I  shall  soon 
know,  and  as  soon  as  he  has  set  forth  his  views  and 
]iis  measures,  I  shall  see  about  the  means  of  rejoin- 
ing you. 

48.  May  19. — Treilhard  has  been  appointed  Direc- 
tor of  the  EepubHc.  The  courier  who  brought  this 
news  arrived  the  day  before  yesterday,  whilst  we  were 
at  the  theatre  ;  the  radiant  face  of  the  new  king,  and 
the  congratulations  of  his  colleagues  and  friends,  told 
us  at  once  what  had  happened  ;  he  packed  up  yester- 
day, and  departed  this  morning  at  four  o'clock  to  take 
possession  of  his  new  place.  You  can  conceive  the 
effect  the  event  has  had  at  the  seat  of  the  Congress  ;  all 
the  underHngs  and  flatterers  crowded  round  him  to 
tender  homage.  He  received  no  one  this  morning.  I 
went  to  see  him  after  dinner  yesterday,  and  took  a  most 
tender  leave  of  the  illustrious  personage.  It  is  not  yet 
known  who  will  replace  him.  We  expect  the  Abbe 
Sieyes  *  here  this  evening  or  to-morrow ;  he  is  on  his 
way  to  Berlin,  where  he  is  appointed  Ambassador. 
Bernadotte  left  here  yesterday  for  Strasburg  with  all 

*  Abb^  Sieyes,  appointed  Member  of   the  Directory  in  the  place  of 
Eewbell,  was  afterwards  sent  to  Berlin  as  Ambassador.— Ed. 


376      DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

his  suite  ;  he  would  not  stop  here,  not  wishing  to  accept 
the  command  of  the  Fifth  Mihtary  Division,  which  had 
been  offered  to  him  on  his  retirement  from  the  diplo- 
matic career — the  Government  being  as  discontented 
with  him  as  he  is  with  the  Government.  This  is  the 
latest  news,  and  with  it  I  commence  my  letter.  .  .  . 

49.  May  26. — Jean  Debry,  a  furious  Jacobin,  has 
been  appointed  by  the  Directory  to  replace  Treilhard. 
We  shall  have  a  nice  business  with  him.  Francis  de 
Neufchateau  has  been  since  yesterday  at  Seltz,  a  small 
village  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ehine,  about  a  league 
from  here,  where  he  will  wait  till  the  conferences  with 
M.  de  Cobenzl  begin. 

50.  June  3. — I  dined  to-day  with  Count  Cobenzl 
at  Seltz  ;  there  were  no  strangers,  except  Francis  de 
Neufchateau,  MM.  Geoffroy  and  Gallois,  and  the  Com- 
mandant at  Seltz.  I  am  very  well  satisfied  with  the 
tone  of  these  gentlemen ;  Francis  de  Neufchateau  is 
very  courteous,  mild,  and  amiable  ;  he  is  a  man  of 
letters,  and  he  gives  one  that  impression.  I  could 
hardly  beheve  I  was  in  France  ;  the  Sunday  is  kept  as 
it  is  here,  no  one  was  working,  and  one  of  the  gentle- 
men told  me  he  had  attended  high  mass  that  morning. 
They  pay  all  possible  honour  to  M.  de  Cobenzl.  He 
has  two  grenadiers  and  two  mounted  soldiers  before  the 
door  of  his  house.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  extraordinary 
all  this  appeared  to  me  ;  I  could  not  believe  my  eyes  at 
table,  where  I  saw  nothing  but  Frenchmen,  both  civil 
and  mihtary,  and  French  soldiers  to  guard  us.  Francis 
de  Neufchateau  is  always  in  ministerial  costume,  which! 
in  my  opinion  is  very  ugly.  A  black  coat,  with  an-j 
enormous  round  collar  {ein  Pekeschkragen),  of  bright; 
orange  gros  de  Tours,  a  vest  of  the  same  stuff  and  colour, 
embroidered  in  black,  breeches  of  the  same,  and  halfj 


FRAGMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  PRIVATE  LETTERS.     377 

Ijoots,  a  large  sword,  and  a  hat  a  la  Henri  IV.,  with 
enormous  plumes. 

I  go  to-morrow  morning  to  Strasburg,  and  return 
on  Wednesday ;  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  again  a  number 
of  old  acquaintances  who  have  been  inviting  me  for 
some  time. 

51.  June  17. — Jean  D^bry  has  been  here  for  some 
days  with  wife  and  children,  arms  and  baggage  ;  we  are 
still  waiting  for  a  third  French  Envoy.  There  is  no 
end  to  this. 

52.  June  18. — If  you  leave  on  the  25th,  as  you  told 
me,  this  letter  will  not  find  you,  and  I  am  writing  it  at  a 
risk.  You  seem  to  be  uneasy  and  tormented  by  un- 
certainty, between  the  inconvenience  and  the  desire  of 
taking  Httle  Mary  with  you  ;  I  am  sorry  for  you,  for  I 
know  how  uncomfortable  such  a  state  is.  The  journey 
is  long,  but  many  people  take  their  children  with  them  ; 
everyone  takes  them  from  Vienna  to  the  other  side  of 
Bohemia,  for  instance,  and  my  opinion  is  that  fifty  or 
sixty  leagues  more  make  very  httle  difference.  I  can 
only  commend  you  all  to  the  paternal  care  of  the  best 
of  Fathers  ;  God  will  protect  you,  as  my  good  children 
deserve.  He  will  watch  over  you  all  the  way  and  bring 
you  to  my  arms  in  safety.  All  is  ready  for  your  recep- 
tion, and  I  will  do  everything  I  can  to  make  your  stay 
here  more  supportable;  Eastadt  will  acquire  charms 
for  me  from  the  moment  of  your  arrival.  I  shall  go  to 
meet  you  as  far  as  Ulm  ;  after  consideration,  I  think  it 
is  the  place  which  will  suit  me  best.  You  can  go  very 
comfortably  in  one  day  from  Munich  to  Augsburg ;  it 
will  not  take  the  whole  day,  but  it  is  necessary  to  sleep 
there,  because  of  getting  a  bed.  It  will  take  you  another 
day  to  get  to  Uhn  ;  I  will  meet  you  there  ;  we  will  go 


378      DOCUMENTS  FROM  METTERNICH'S  FIRST  PERIOD. 

the  next  day  as  far  as  Cannstadt,  and  the  following  daj 
will  bring  us  very  comfortably  to  Eastadt. 

53.  June  26. — Salut  a  ma  bonne  petite  femme  sui 
terre  d' Empire.  You  are  now  at  Munich,  twenty-eight 
posts  nearer  to  me.  I  shall  leave  here  on  the  evening 
of  Sunday,  July  1,  for  Ulm,  where  I  will  wait  for  you. 
Nothing  shall  prevent  my  departure,  except  a  letter  fro 
you  telHng  me  you  have  put  off  yours  from  Vienna.* 

*  This  letter  is  tiie  last  from  Rastadt,  where  Count  Metternich,  wit 
his  wife  and  child,  remained  tiU  March,  1790.     He  left  the  place  of  Cor 
gi-ess  before  the  conclusion  of  the  negotiations.     Of  the  three  French  Am-^ 
bassadors,  who  on  their  departure  from  Rastadt,  met  with  so  frightfully 
tragic  a  fate,  no  trace  is  left  in  these  papers,  except  a  few  unimportant  lines 
to  Count  Metternich,  written  by  Roberjot,  as  follows  : — 

'  I  was  not  able  to  receive  M.  le  Comte  de  Metternich  this  morning,, 
because  the  French  Legation  had  met  at  my  house.  If  he  has  anything  ta 
communicate  to  me,  I  beg  him  to  inform  me,  or  to  tell  me  the  hour  it  will 
suit  him  to  see  me.     I  beg  him  to  accept,  &c.,  &c. 

'  ROBBBJOT. 

*  10  Nivose,  an  VH.  (Dec.  30, 1798).' 


NOTES  BY  THE  EDITOE. 


NOTES    BY    THE    EDITOB. 


The  autobiographical  memoir  is  made  up  of  two,  or  more  pro- 
perly of  three,  component  parts  or  fragments,  which,  however, 
fit  in  so  well  together  that,  by  simple  arrangement,  portions  of 
the  original  text  form  a  perfect  whole  for  the  first  part  of 
Metternich's  life — ^that  is,  from  the  year  1773  to  1815.  These 
'    component  parts  are  : — 

A.  Materials  for  the  History  of  my  Public  Life. — A  me- 
moir  written    by    the  Prince-Chancellor    for    his  family  ar- 

!|  chives  in  the  year  1844.     This  breaks  off  suddenly  at  the  year 
'  1810  (see  pages  1-133).     To  this  is  joined  as  continuation — 

B.  Guide  to  explain  my  Manner  of  Thought  and  Actioiv 
during  the  Course  of  m/y  Ministry  from  1809  to  1848. — A 
memoir  (which  may  be  considered  a  continuation  of  the  *  Ma- 
terials ')  also  prepared  for  the  family  archives  in  the  year  1852, 
left  unfinished  in  the  year  1844,  and  which  is  simply  joined 
to  that  fragment  with  the  mere  omission  of  repetitions  of  facts 
already  known  (see  pages  133-167,  and  pages  249  to  end). 

C.  On  the  History  of  the  Alliances^  1813  to  1815. — A  manu- 
script of  Metternich's  of  the  year  1829,  which  was  originally  in- 
tended for  publication,  but  never  actually  published.  Although 
not  quite  complete  (the  year  1815  is  wanting),  this  Paper  is 
much  fuller,  in  the  important  years  1813  and  1814,  than  the 
corresponding  portion  of  the  '  Gruide,'  which  has  induced  us 
to  use  it  in  the  place  of  the  latter,  and  to  incorporate  it  with 
the  autobiographical  memoir  as  the  eighth  chapter  with  its 
original  title,  together  with  an  introduction  which  shows  the 


L 


:382  NOTES. 

reasons  which  decided  the  author  to  publish  a  special  history  of 
the  short  but   critical  period  from  1813  to   1815  (see  pages 
171-245).     Notes  by  the  Editor  show  the  beginning  and  end 
•of  the  different  parts  of  the  autobiography. 

Note  I,  page  5. 

Maria  Beatrix  Countess  von  Kagenegg,  born  December  8, 
1755;  died  November  23,  1828;  married,  January  9,  1771, 
Franz  Georg  Count  of  the  Empire  and  afterwards  Prince  von 
Mettemich-Winneburg-Ochsenhausen,  mother  of  the  auto- 
biographer. 

Note  2,  page  5. 

We  cannot  refrain  from  giving  a  letter  from  PVanz  Georg 
Metternich  to  his  son,  written  in  the  year  1785,  which  remarks 
on  the  handwriting  of  Clement,  who  was  then  twelve  years  old, 
and  which  is  very  characteristic  from  the  critical  and  prophetic 
exhortations  of  the  writer.  The  letter  is  dated  from  Mayence, 
April  9,  1785,  and  is  as  follows: — *  Your  two  letters,  my  dear 
Clement,  have  reached  me  safely.  I  am  very  much  pleased 
with  the  care  that  you  take  of  dear  Mamma's  health ;  and  that  - 
you  are  thoughtful  enough  to  inform  me  about  it.  It  shows  a  I 
good  and  grateful  heart  to  think  chiefly  of  what  children  have 
to  do  from  respect  to  their  parents,  and  the  consequences  are 
always  blessed.  I  am  also  much  pleased  with  the  style  of  the 
letter  and  your  handwriting.  But  in  the  first  I  wish  you  to 
avoid  repetitions  of  thoughts  and  expressions,  and  in  the  latter 
I  desire  that  you  will  use  larger  characters.  Time  always 
makes  them  smaller,  and  as  your  writing  is  already  so  very  small, 
it  will  one  day  become  illegible  ;  and  that  would  be  a  pity,  for  I 
hope  that  Clement  will  write  what  will  be  well  worth  reading.* 
In  a  subsequent  letter,  at  the  time  when  young  Metternich  was 
at  the  University,  Franz  Georg  von  Metternich  advised  his  son 
to  carry  on  his  correspondence  with  him  in  German,  and  gave 
him  good  counsel  as  to  his  behaviour  at  the  University.  He 
wrote  from  Coblenz,  December  30,  1790  : — 'For  a  German  it  is 
always  particularly  necessary,  not  only  to  speak  and  write  his 
mother  tongue,  but  to  do  so  with  that  excellence  which  cor- 
responds with  a  thorough  education,  and  a  perfection  of  Ian- 


NOTES.  383 

rimge  which  will  raise  him  above  the  crowd.  Much  reading 
;ind  writing  acts  on  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  in  order  to 
practise  these,  I  shall  continue  our  correspondence  in  German, 
dear  Clement,  whilst  you  can  carry  it  on  in  French  with  your 
mother I  recommend  to  you  and  your  brother  particu- 
larly to  devote  yourselves  during  your  stay  at  the  University 
to  the  higher  sciences  with  the  greatest  diligence,  and  to  gain 
regard  and  respect  by  correct  and  polite  behaviour.  I  have 
already  had  letters  speaking  much  in  your  favour.  You  must 
therefore  try  to  keep  up  this  good  reputation,  for  everything 
depends  on  that.' 

Note  3,  page  15. 

About  this  time  Metternieh  made  his  first  attempt  at  author- 
ship. First,  an  '  Appeal  to  the  Army,'  on  the  occasion  of  the 
execution  of  Marie  Antoinette — an  appeal  glowing  with  a  spirit 
of  noble  retribution,  of  which  we  are  ignorant  whether  it  ever 
left  the  author's  writing-desk,  or  is  to  be  considered  as  a  mere 
exercise  in  patriotic  style  by  a  youth  of  twenty.  Then  soon 
afterwards,  in  the  year  1794,  a  pamphlet  which  appeared  under 
the  title  *  On  the  Necessity  of  a  General  Arming  of  the  Popula- 
tion on  the  Frontiers  of  France,'  by  a  Friend  of  Public  Order ; 
the  anonymous  author  of  which  was  Metternieh  himself,  as  he 
avows  in  the  printed  copy  before  us.  These  two  pieces  begin, 
as  Nos.  1  and  2,  the  '  Collection  of  Papers  '  contained  in  the  third 
book,  for  the  completion  and  explanation  of  the  first  period  of 
Mettemich's  Life.  The  papers  composing  the  third  book  are 
marked  with  continuous  numbers  to  facilitate  quotation. 

Note  4,  page  15. 

Greneral-Lieutenant  Count  Ferraris  (born  1726,  died  1807), 
grandfather  of  Metternich's  third  wife,  Melanie  Countess  Zichy- 
Ferraris,  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Valenciennes. 

Note  5,  page  16. 
The  Hastings  trial,  so  called  after  Warren  Hastings,  Go-  • 
vernor-General  of  Bengal,  who  was  at  that  time  decried  as  a 
tyrant,  and  against  whom  Burke,  in  1787,  brought  an  indict- 


384  NOTES. 

ment  which  filled  460  pages.  This  monster  trial,  which  has 
become  femous  by  the  eloquence  shown  by  Pitt  and  Fox  pro  et 
contra,  began  February  13,  1788,  and  ended  April  23,  1795, 
with  the  acquittal  of  Hastings  on  all  the  twenty-two  articles  of 
accusation. 

Note  6,  page  24. 

We  fill  up  the  desultory  notices  on  Kastadt  by  portions  of 
Mettemich's  letters  to  his  wife,  then  staying  at  Vienna.  The 
correspondence  *  from  Eastadt '  only  gives  a  description  of  the 
life  there  (Nos.  3-53).  The  reader  who  does  not  expect  poli- 
tical disclosures  will  be  interested  in  the  details,  particularly 
regarding  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  French  Eepublic. 

Note  7,  page  26. 

The  Princess  Carl  Liechtenstein  (bom  Princess  Oettingen- 
Spielberg)  is  the  same  lady  fragments  of  whose  letters  Adam  Wolf~ 
has  published  in  the  work  '  Princess  Eleonore  Liechtenstein.*^ 
In  the  fourth  chapter  of  that  work  he  describes  more  fully  the 
*  Salon  of  the  five  Princesses  '  here  mentioned. 


Note  8,  page  33. 

The  opinions  here  expressed  of  Thugut  are  doubtless  taken 
from  an  essay  already  composed  by  Mettemich  when  he  was 
Ambassador  at  BerUn  in  1806,  and  are  so  far  remarkable  that  they 
show  the  feeling  which  then  prevailed  among  the  most  intelli- 
gent of  his  contemporaries  and  colleagues.  It  was  reserved  to 
modem  historical  investigation,  not  only  to  clear  his  private 
character  from  many  careless  imputations,  but  also  to  do  more 
justice  to  his  diplomatic  qualities.  Compare  Vivenot's  work^ 
*  Thugut,'  &c. 

Note  9,  page  35. 

The  collection  of  documents  owes  its  existence  chiefly  to  the 
Chancellor's  wish  here  expressed.  The  third  book  of  this  work 
contains  that  part  of  the  collection  which  refers  to  the  years 
before  1815.     Even  if  incomplete  in  comparison  with  treasures 


I 


I  NOTES.  885 

of  the  State  Archives,  this  collection  of  documents  gives  an 
insight  into  the  important  events  of  the  time,  and  enables  the 
reader  to  estimate  more  properly  the  works  of  the  autobio- 
grapher. 

Note  10,  page  38. 

The  first  document  of  the  newly  appointed  Ambassador  at 
the  Electoral  court  at  Dresden  was  the  '  Instruction '  which 
Count  Mettemich  composed  for  his  own  use,  and  wrote  down  with 
his  own  hand.  Besides  being  remarkable  on  that  account,  the 
contents  of  the  *  Instruction '  have  a  general  historical  interest, 
as  they  contain  a  review  of  the  whole  position  of  Europe  at  that 
time.  The  voluminous  character  of  this  document  has  decided 
us  to  omit  historical  facts  generally  known,  and  to  confine 
ourselves  to  an  abridgment,  under  the  title  of  '  Mettemich's 
Entrance  into  the  Imperial  Service'  (No.  54).  The  document 
immediately  following,  '  End  of  the  Dresden  Embassy '  (No. 
55),  gives  the  conclusion  of  his  three  years'  oflBcial  residence 
there. 

Note  II,  page  50. 

The  great  undertaking  which  Prussia  was  invited  to  join 
consisted  in  a  secret  treaty,  which  had  been  concluded  in 
Vienna  on  November  6,  1804,  between  Austria  and  Russia, 
with  the  intention  of  protecting  themselves  against  the  pre- 
dominant influence  of  France.  To  smooth  the  way  for  Prussia 
to  join  the  Austro-Russian  coalition  was  Mettemich's  chief 
work  in  Berlin;  and  therefore  the  documents  in  the  third 
hook  from  the  time  of  the  Berlin  embassy  refer  chiefly  to  this 
subject.  On  the  commencement  of  Mettemich's  action  in  this 
direction,  the  documents  'Mettemich's  First  Steps  in  Pre- 
paration for  Prussia's  joining  in  the  Coalition'  (Nos.  56-61), 
also  'Wintzingerode's  Mission  to  Berlin'  (Nos.  62-64),  give 
fuller  details. 

Note  12,  page  55, 

*The  Imminent  March  of  Russian  Troops  through  Prussian 
Territory  '  (Nos.  65,66),  and  '  The  Inroad  of  the  French  at  Ans- 
tach'  (Nos.  67-73),  relate  to  the  events  here  mentioned. 

VOL.  I.  ^  ^ 


386  NOTES. 

Note  13,  page  57. 

See  *  First  Meeting  of  Mettemich  with  the  Emperor 
Alexander  in  Berlin  '  (Nos.  74,  75). 

Note  14,  page  58. 

See  *The  Potsdam  Treaty  of  Alliance '  (Nos.  76-80).  See 
*The  Battle  of  Austerlitz '  (Nos.  83-85),  and  in  connection 
with  this  the  paper  *  On  the  French  Army  Bulletins,  and  the 
Necessity  of  publishing  a  Newspaper'  (Nos.  81,  82),  and  the 

*  Impression  made  by  the  Peace  of  Presburg '  (Nos.  88,  89). 

Note  15,  page  58. 
See  ' The  Haugwitz  Mission'  (Nos.  86,  87). 

Note  16,  page  58. 

See  '  The  Change  in  Prussian  Politics  after  Austerlitz  * 
(Nos.  90,  91). 

Note  17,  page  59. 

See  '  The  Prussian-French  Alliance  '  (Nos.  92-94). 

Note  18,  page  64. 

On  the  occasion  of  Metternich's  appointment  from  Berlin 
to  St.  Petersburg,  a  St.  Petersburg  newspaper,  VAbeille  dv, 
Nord,  contained  (in  No.  23)  the  following  announcement:  — 

*  Vienna,  March  12,  1806.  Count  Clement  de  Mettemich- 
Winneburg  has  just  arrived  here.  He  has  been  appointed 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  at  Berlin, 
and  is  a  young  man  of  great  talent,  who  has  a  great  future  be- 
fore him.     He  possesses  everything  necessary  to  ensure  success/ 

Note  19,  page  69. 
See  *The  Tilsit  Treaty  of  Peace '  (No.  95). 

Note  20,  page  71. 

Of  the  way  in  which  Napoleon  understood  how  to  influence 
public  opinion  and  guide  it  in  his  own  favour  we  have  already 


NOTES.  33y 

seen  some  examples.  The  reader  will  find  more  on  this  point  in 
the  section  on  '  Army  Bulletins  and  the  Necessity  for  the  Pub- 
lication of  a  Newspaper'  (Nos.  81,  82).  How  strongly  Metter- 
nich  saw  the  necessity  of  something  to  coimteract  Napoleon's 
move  is  to  be  seen  in  the  despatch  to  Count  Stadion,  *  On  the 
Necessity  of  Influencing  the  Press '  (No.  1 10).  It  is  interesting 
to  know  what  Napoleon  himself  said  of  the  joumaUsts.  At  the 
beginning  of  December,  1809,  the  news  went  the  round  of  the 
papers  that  Metternich  was  recalled  from  Paris  and  transferred 
to  St.  Petersburg.  This  was  contradicted  in  the  Journal  de 
V Empire  some  days  before  Napoleon's  return  to  Paris  by  some 
lines  written  in  the  police  style.  At  the  first  audience  of  the 
Diplomatic  Corps  Napoleon  took  the  opportunity  to  approach 
Metternich,  saying,  '  I  hope  that  the  journals  have  not  been 
correct  in  their  information  concerning  you.'  When  Metter- 
nich remarked  that  probably  his  court  knew  as  httle  as  he  did 
himself  of  such  a  change,  Napoleon  answered,  '  I  beg  you  to 
believe  that  personally  I  should  be  extremely  sorry  for  your 
departure,  but  these  wretched  joumahsts  form  a  state  within 
the  state.'  And  when  Metternich,  smiling,  said  that  in  that 
case  it  must  be  very  difficult  to  keep  order  and  discipline 
amongst  these  people,  the  Emperor  said,  *  More  than  that, 
they  often  try  to  lay  down  the  law  to  me  myself.' 

Note  21,  page  73. 

See  *  The  Keception  of  the  Diplomatists  after  Napoleon's 
Keturn  from  Tilsit,'  in  the  '  Contributions  to  the  Portrait  of 
Napoleon '  (page  291). 

Note  22,  page  73. 
See  '  The  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau '  (Nos.  96-98). 

Note  23,  page  74. 
See  'Arrival  of  the  Kussian  Ambassador  Tolstoy  in  Paris* 
MNo.  100).     Concerning  the  report   spread,  at  that  time,  of 
INapoleon's  divorce  from  Josephine  and  aUiance  with  a  Ruusian 
[^jGrrand-Duchess  see  Nos.  101,  102. 

C  C  2 


itS&SL 


388  NOTES. 

Note  24,  page  76. 

Further  particulars  are  contained  in  the  section  *  The  Meet- 
ing of  the  Monarchs  at  Erfurt'  (Nos.  118-121),  and  see  also 
*  The  Question  of  the  Kecognition  of  the  Kings  of  Spain  and 
Naples'  (Nos.  122-124),  and  'Napoleon's  Return  from  Erfurt ' 
(No.  126). 

Note  25,  page  76. 

See  *  Romanzow's  Mission  to  Paris  '  (Nos.  134-136). 

Note  26,  page  79. 

See  *  First  Indications  of  Napoleon's  Warlike  Views  against 
Austria'  (Nos.  108,  109),  and  *The  Clamour  at  Austria's  Pre- 
parations for  War '  (Nos.  111-113).  The  despatches  of  Metter- 
nich,  contained  under  the  last  title  to  Count  Stadion,  mention 
a  correspondence  which  had  arisen  between  the  French  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  Austrian  Ambassador  in  Paris — 
namely,  the  letters  of  Champagny,  dated  Bayonne,  July  16, 
Toulouse,  July  27,  and  Bordeaux,  July  30,  and  Mettemich's 
answers,  dated  Paris,  July  22  and  August  3.  This  exchange 
of  letters  is  amongst  the  collection  of  writings  which,  by 
Napoleon's  order,  were  brought  before  the  Senate  at  Paris,  during 
the  session,  April  15,  1809,  as  a  proof  of  the  hostile  attitude  of 
Austria,  and  which,  April  24  of  the  same  year,  were  published 
by  the  Moniteur  as  an  appendix  to  the  account  given  by 
Minister  Champagny  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  and  thereby 
brought  into  general  notice.  We  therefore  omit  giving  these 
diffuse  writings,  and  limit  ourselves  to  a  short  analysis  of  their 
contents,  which  will  render  the  despatches  more  easily  under- 
stood. 

The  occasion  of  this  correspondence  was  several  special 
occurrences  with  which  the  French  charged  the  Austrian 
Government,  and  in  which  she  saw  a  want  of  peaceable  inten- 
tions. Thus,  amongst  other  things,  the  arrest  of  the  Polish 
Lieutenant  Young  in  Gralicia ;  the  provisioning  of  the  English 
fleet  at  Trieste ;  the  purchase  of  the  prizes  brought  in  by 
English  cruisers  to  Lussin ;  the  admission  of  American  ships 
into  the  harbour  of  Trieste ;  the  warlike  speeches  made  in  the 


NOTES.  389 

coffeehouses  of  Marienbad,  Franzensbad,  and  Carlsbad  &c  • 
but  above  aU,  the  rumours  of  extraordinary  movemeiu  of 
troops  in  Bohemia  and  Galicia,  and  the  calling  out  of  the  town 
and  country  militias  at  different  places  of  the  Empire— of  all 
this  Champagny  desired  an  explanation,  and  Mettemich  gave 
it  in  the  same  sense  as  that  of  the  despatches  to  Stadion,  of 
xjourse  only  as  far  as  he  himself  was  instructed. 

Note  27 y  page  81. 

The  following  memoirs  give  fuller  details:  'The  famous 
Audience  with  Napoleon,  August  15, 1808 '  (Nos.  114, 115),  and 
*  Special  Audience  of  Mettemich  with  Napoleon'  (Nos.  116, 
117). 

Note  28,  page  82. 

See  '  On  the  Eventualities  of  a  War '  (Nos.  127, 128)  two  me- 
moirs written  by  Mettemich  during  his  residence  in  Vienna. 
A  third  memoir,  presented  at  the  same  time  as  the  two  others, 
we  have  omitted  here,  because  it  does  not  give  any  explanations 
of  Mettemich's  actions  or  of  the  situation,  and  because  the 
communications  referring  to  Tolstoy  are  known  already  from 
other  documents. 

Note  29,  page  83. 

Here  a  whole  sheet  is  wanting  in  the  manuscript.  By 
its  loss  the  discussion  on  the  unfortunate  issue  of  the  cam- 
paign of  1809  is  unfortunately  interrupted.  But  we  can 
guess  what  the  missing  sheet  contained  by  reading  an  essay 
written  in  Mettemich's  own  hand  under  the  title  *  Historical 
Eemarks  on  the  Letter  of  General  Grrunne  to  Prince  de  Ligne, 
September  27  and  28.'  We  read  there :  *  The  preparations  for 
the  war  were  now  resolved  upon,  and  an  element  was  added  t4> 
them  by  the  rising  of  popular  feeling  which  had  occurred  in 
North  Germany  since  the  defeat  of  Prussia  in  1806.  How 
illusive  this  assistance  was,  events  have  proved.  That  the  call- 
ing forth  of  this  feeling  would,  on  the  other  hand,  be  attended 
with  constant  danger,  the  cabinet  of  that  time  did  not  tee. 
At  the  head  of  the  undertaking  were  the  brother  of  Count 
Philip  Stadion  (Imperial  Ambassador  at  the  Royal  Imperial 


390  NOTES. 

court),  Hormayer,  and  some  other  persons  possessed  with  the 
ideas  of  Stein  and  Schamhorst.  I  filled  at  that  time  the  post 
of  Imperial  Ambassador  in  France.  The  cabinet  was  not  open 
and  candid  to  me,  as  it  ought  to  have  been.  I  therefore  did 
not  hide  my  feelings  about  the  enterprise,  and  insisted  on 
being  recalled  to  Vienna,  which  took  place  in  November  of  the 
year  1808.  Having  on  this  occasion  gained  a  knowledge  of  the 
military  plans,  I  told  the  Emperor  and  Count  Stadion  the 
doubts  which  the  Archduke  Charles  and  I  had  on  the  success 
of  the  popular  rising.  I  showed  the  wrong  estimation  of  the 
number  and  strength  of  the  forces  which  Napoleon  would  be 
able  to  send  against  us,  in  spite  of  the  failure  of  the  plans  he 
had  founded  on  a  conviction  of  the  easy  subjection  of  Spain. 
I  declared  the  trust  which  the  cabinet  put  in  Prussian  and 
Kussian  help  to  be  illusive,  and  I  also  rejected  the  idea  of 
energetic  support  from  the  Grerman  popular  feeling  which  had 
been  evoked  in  North  Grermany,  and  which,  in  case  of  an  un- 
fortunate beginning  of  the  war,  would  turn,  not  against  Napo- 
leon, but  against  Austria.'  Thus  Count  Mettemich  writes  in 
the  essay  mentioned  above.  Besides,  the  Autobiography  men- 
tions again  (page  116),  the  unfavourable  issue  of  the  Austrian 
rising  in  1809,  a  circumstance  which  makes  ;^the  gap  in  the 
manuscript  somewhat  less  important. 

The  following  may  serve  as  an  explanation  why  the  original 
military  plan,  which  is  mentioned  a  few  lines  before  the  unfor- 
tunate gap  in  the  manuscript,  was  altered.  With  reference  to 
the  chief  army,  which  was  to  operate  in  Grermany  under  the 
command  of  the  Archduke  Charles,  the  opinions  amongst  the 
principal  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Archduke  were  divided  as 
to  the  plan  that  should  be  followed.  One  opinion  was  that 
Bohemia  should  be  the  place  of  issue ;  that  the  army  should 
break  off  to  Baireuth,  defeat  singly  the  French  dispersed  in 
Saxony,  Franconia,  and  the  Upper  Palatine,  and,  by  their 
sudden  appearance  and  quick  success,  move  the  Grerman  peoples 
to  a  general  rising.  This  bold  plan,  which  was  to  lead  the 
Austrians  through  Baireuth  and  Wiirzburg  till  under  the  gates 
of  Mayence,  and  bring  them  by  the  shortest  way  to  the  Khine, 
was  advanced  by  Greneral  Mayer.  The  second  plan,  more 
modest  but  apparently  more  sure  of  success,  consisted  in  taking" 


NOTES.  39J 

the  ordinary  road  along  the  Danube,  where  the  French  naturally 
would  advance  because  of  the  faciHty  of  the  communication, 
to  oppose  them  on  this  road  with  the  whole  chief  force* 
and  defeat  them  before  they  were  strong  enough  in  number  to 
make  the  victory  questionable.  This  was  Count  Griinne's  plan. 
When  the  Emperor  Francis  suddenly  recalled  Mayer,  Griinne's 
plan  was  adopted,  but,  being  accepted  too  late,  it  could  be  only 
partially  carried  out,  and  one  part  of  the  army  was  obliged  to 
break  out  from  Bohemia. 


Note  30,  'page  83. 

See  '  Metternich's  Eeturn  to  Paris  '  (No.  129),  and  'Napo- 
leon's Eetum  from  Spain '  (Nos.  130-132). 

Note  31,  page  85. 

/S'ee  'The  Last  Despatches  of  the  Austrian  AmbassadorinParis' 
(Nos.  141-144).  On  Metternich's  work  and  action  as  Austrian 
Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  Napoleon,  we  find  in  the  collection 
of  documents,  besides  the  papers  already  mentioned,  the  follow- 
ing, to  which,  since  the  text  of  the  autobiography  gave  us 
no  opportunity  of  doing  so,  we  draw  the  attention  of  the 
reader  here,  at  the  conclusion  of  Metternich's  embassy.  These 
papers  are :  '  Napoleon's  War  with  Portugal,  and  the  Continental 
Embargo'  (No.  99);  'Napoleon's  Plans  for  the  Partition  of 
Turkey'  (Nos,  103-106);  'Necessity  of  an  Austro-Russian 
Alliance'  (No.  107);  'The  Peace  between  England  and  the 
Porte '(No.  137);  'The  Causes  of  Napoleon's  Delay  of  the 
War'  (No.  138);  and  '  On  the  Question  of  Guarantees'  (Nos. 
139,  140). 

Note  32,  page  85. 
See  '  The  Aristocracy  created  by  Napoleon,'  amongst  the 
characteristic  contributions  to  the  portrait  of  Napoleon  (page 
295). 

Note  33,  page  88. 
To  obtain  a  better  idea  of  Talleyrand,  and  his  position  in 
France,  we   recommend  to  the   reader  the  foUowing  papem 


392  NOTES. 

amongst  the  collections  of  the  third  book :  *  Talleyrand's  Posi- 
tion '  (No.  125);  <  Talleyrand  in  Disgrace '  (No.  133);  and  the 
memoir  already  mentioned  *  On  the  Eventualities  of  a  War ' 
(No.  127). 

Note  34,  'page  88. 

The  memoir  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note  (No.  127) 
contains  also  interesting  details  on  Fouche. 

Note  35,  page  92. 
The  country  house  here  mentioned  still  exists,  and  bears 
now,  as  it  did  at  that  time,  on  its  chief  front  the  Grreek  inscrip- 
tion XAIPE  (Salve). 

Note  36,  page  94. 

Probably  this  refers  to  the  proclamation  which  Napoleon  issued 
to  his  army  at  the  occupation  of  Vienna,  in  which  the  princes  of 
the  house  of  Lorraine  are  mentioned  in  the  most  shameful 
manner.  (Bourrienne,  'Memoires  contemporains,'  vol.  viii. 
p.  191.) 

Note  37,  page  98. 

Military  history  has  since  shown  that  the  inaction  of  the 
Austrian  army  after  the  victory  of  Aspern  was  only  a  necessary 
consequence  of  the  exhaustion  of  the  troops  after  the  great 
battle  and  the  enormous  marches  which  preceded  it ;  and  is 
also  explained  by  the  want  of  munition  and  the  loss  of  the 
pontoons  which  took  place  at  Eegensburg,  as  well  as  the  great 
reinforcements  which  Napoleon  received  a  few  days  after 
Aspern. 

Note  38,  page  99.  \ 

We  gather  from  the  above  authority  that  Napoleon  took 
advantage  of  the  non-appearance  of  the  corps  of  the  Archduke 
John — which  had  been  hourly  expected  for  four  and  twenty 
hours — to  outjBank  our  left  wing,  about  noon,  with  a  superior 
force ;  indeed,  at  that  time  he  was  stronger  by  a  third. 

Note  39,  page  107. 

We  place  under  the  title  of  '  Antecedents  of  Altenburg,* 
chosen  by  the  author  himself,  a  collection  of  the  Eeports  of 


NOTES.  393 

Metternich  to  the  Emperor  Francis,  together  with  the  Em- 
peror's decree  which  had  to  serve  at  the  same  time  as  an  in- 
struction for  the  negotiation  of  the  peace.  Apart  from  their 
intrinsic  merit,  these  reports  are  of  special  interest,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  the  first  papers  of  the  new  minister  now  in  imme- 
diate intercourse  with  his  monarch  (Nos.  145-148).  Of 
the  feelings  which  actuated  Metternich  in  entering  upon  his 
new  and  difficult  position  some  extracts  from  letters  of  that 
time  will  inform  us. 

He  writes  to  his  mother  from  Komom,  July  25,  1809  : — 
'  You  have  good  reason  to  pity  me  in  my  position,  and  you 
are  far  from  knowing  it  thoroughly.  Count  Stadion,  in  an  ex- 
tremely generous  and  noble  impulse,  had  given  in  his  resigna- 
tion to  the  Emperor,  when  at  Znaim.  He  thinks  that  in  a 
negotiation  his  presence  may  do  more  harm  than  good  to  the 
Ministry.  His  Majesty  at  once  appointed  me  to  fill  his  place, 
which  I  have  only  accepted  with  many  conditions.  For  one 
thing,  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  see  such  a  servant  as  M. 
Stadion  lost  to  the  state ;  for  another,  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have 
moral  strength  to  guide  the  ship  in  a  sense  which  is  as  much 
opposed  to  my  principles  as  to  my  feelings.  All  that  I  have,  at 
the  moment,  engaged  myself  to  do  is,  not  to  leave  the  Em- 
peror, who  deserves,  under  all  possible  relations,  all  the  happi- 
ness of  which  he  has  so  little.  I  am  charged  with  the  depart- 
ment of  Foreign  Afiairs  near  his  person.  M.  de  Stadion,  who 
still  keeps  the  title  of  Minister  of  this  department,  remains  at 
the  quarters  of  the  Archduke.  I  do  not  wish  on  any  account  to 
appear  at  the  head  of  the  department  at  the  time  of  a  negotiation. 
If  I  can  persuade  Stadion  to  keep  his  position,  I  shall  be  the 
happiest  man  in  the  world — but  I  despair  of  doing  so.  Pray 
do  not  breathe  a  word  of  all  this  to  anyone,  neither  to  Stadion's 
family  nor  to  anyone  else ;  the  negotiation  itself  would  suffer 

*>y  it.  ... 

« You  may  imagine,  my  dear  mother,  that  the  position  in 
which  I  find  myself  is  the  most  compUcated  one  possible.  Three 
months' interruption  have  made  affairs  seem  strange  to  me.  I 
am  placed  between  the  affairs  of  the  past  and  the  tasks  of  the 
present  day;  to  arrange  a  negotiation  Uke  the  present  one 
alone,  without  any  aid  whatever,  is  a  terrible  task,  at  a  cnsis 


394  NOTES. 

such  as  has  never  been  before.  I  speak  of  negotiation ;  I  would 
not  speak  to  you  of  capitulation — I  would  leave  that  to  some 
one  else — even  if  we  had  not  these  means.  You  will  shortly 
see  an  army  of  250,000  men,  troops  of  the  line,  support  my  ne- 
gotiation, and  these  250,000  men  form  the  finest  army  in  the 
world.  Add  to  this  all  the  vnsurrection,  the  descent  of  25,000 
to  30,000  English  on  the  Weser — a  descent  actually  made 
— and  you  will  not  deny  the  material  means  of  negotiation. 
If  we  had  but  a  quarter  of  the  moral  means !  Grood  God, 
where  are  we  going  ?  ' 

Then  again  on  August  1,  1809,  he  writes: — 

'  It  is  true  that  it  is  not  we  who  hang  back,  it  is  true  that 
it  is  we  who  desire  peace,  but  it  must  be  a  peace  which  shall 
rid  us  of  the  necessity  of  watching  our  safety  every  hour  of  the 
day  and  night,  which  shall  allow  us  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of 
peace — to  disarm,  to  flatter  ourselves  with  the  possibility  of 
remaining  quiet  for  a  time.  Again,  if  we  do  not  wish  to 
undergo  certain  death  in  six  months,  if  we  do  not  wish  to  throw 
the  monarchy  out  of  the  window,  and  that  window  one  from 
which  the  leap  would  be  equivalent  to  the  Emperor's  last  re- 
source, we  must  not  desire  it.  If  Napoleon  desires  the  destruc- 
tion of  Austria — at  any  rate  it  is  better  to  fight  him  with 
300,000  men,  than  with  50,000.  Here  you  have  a  resuTne  of 
our  policy,  which  it  seems  to  me  is  simple  and  clear.  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  reading  every  now  and  then  articles  about  my- 
self, worthy  of  the  second  or  third  year  of  the  KepubHc.  Do 
not  vex  or  distress  yourself  about  them,  dear  mother  :  I  know 
what  they  mean  by  taking  this  line.  I  receive  much  atten- 
tion, more  than  I  deserve,  except  for  my  attachment  to  my 
master,  and  my  desire  to  do  right.  I  shall  be  the  happiest 
man  in  the  world  when  I  have  only  to  take  care  of  my  fields 
and  the  education  of  my  children ;  but  meantime  I  shall  go 
my  way  so  directly,  I  shall  follow  the  dictates  of  my  conscience 
so  impKcitly,  that  nothing  will  stop  my  path.' 

Note  40,  page  108. 

Some  notices  of  the  stay  in  Altenburg,  and  life  in  Altenburg, 
will  not  be  without  interest,  and  these  we  take  from  Metter- 
nich's  letters  to  his  mother.     He  writes  from  thence  : — 


NOTES.  395 

<  August  17. — You  see,  my  dear  mother,  that  I  have  arrived 
at  the  place  of  my  destination.  Altenburg  is  a  little  town  of 
the  existence  of  which  you  are  no  doubt  ignorant.  It  is  situ- 
ated between  Vienna  and  Kaab,  a  stage  and  a  half  from  Pres- 
burg.  We  are  almost  alone  here.  M.  de  Champagny,  general 
Nugent,  myself,  our  employes,  and  two  French  generals,  a  few 
French  officers,  and  some  provincial  officials,  these  are  our  only 
social  resources.  The  place  is  healthy,  and,  in  this  respect,  in- 
finitely preferable  to  Kaab,  which  was  at  one  time  proposed  as  the 
place  of  the  negotiations.  I  have  with  me  here  Paul  Esterhazy, 
Floret,  Hope,  and  some  other  employes  of  the  department. 
When  we  left  Znaim  I  sent  Mier  to  Prague.  I  have  since 
written  to  him  to  come  nearer  to  us.  We  divide  our  day 
between  work  and  eating ;  we  have  no  other  kind  of  recreation  ; 
the  word  pleasure  has,  I  should  think,  never  been  pronounced 
at  Altenburg,  and  I  am  not  enough  of  an  innovator  to  intro- 
duce it. 

*  August  23. — I  am  extremely  busy,  first  because,  my  work 
being  here,  and  having  all  the  department  of  Foreign  Affairs  in 
my  charge,  at  a  distance  from  the  Emperor,  I  have  three  times 
the  trouble  that  I  shoiUd  have  if  I  were  with  him.  What  could 
be  finished  in  half  an  hour's  verbal  conversation  costs  me  five 
or  six  hours  of  writing.  Our  mode  of  Hfe  is  regular  and  uni- 
form. I  work  from  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  one  o'clock. 
We  confer  from  one  to  four  or  five.  I  work  again  from 
five  to  seven.  We  dine  at  half-past  seven  o'clock,  and  I  send 
off  my  courier  at  twelve  or  one.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
say  how  and  when  we  shall  finish.  I  shall  not  be  surprised 
at  the  result ;  I  have  seen  as  much  good  will  in  the  adverse 
party  as  with  us.  In  fact,  my  dear  mother,  you  must  be  ready 
for  everything,  for  I  can  answer  for  nothing. 

i  September  3.— We  are  much  occupied  with  our  difficult 
business.  I  do  not  beheve  that  anyone  can  tell  the  resiilt 
of  a  negotiation  which  in  one  way  or  other  will  decide  the  fet« 
of  Europe  and  of  Austria.  It  is  certainly  only  possible  to  work 
with  a  very  firm,  decided  wiU  in  an  affair  of  this  kind,  when  the 
eyes  of  all  the  world,  and  of  generations  present  and  to  come, 
are  fixed  upon  us  ;  when  one  false  step  may  bnng  <lown Jh^ 
venerable  edifice,  stiU  so  strong  and  so  much  threatened,  «. 


396  NOTES. 

great  and  yet  so  small.  It  is  assuredly  no  easy  thing  to  satisfy 
one's  conscience  and  sense  of  responsibility.  But  if  ever  the 
day  comes  when  I  am  afraid,  I  shall  do  nothing  but  make  mis- 
takes. I  now  occupy  a  position  which  the  love  of  good  alone 
has  given  me  strength  not  to  fly  from.  I  hesitated  a  long  time, 
and  at  last  said  to  myself  that  I  was  nothing,  and  that  the  cause 
was  everything — and  I  think  it  right  to  do  what  I  can.' 

Note  4:1,  page  114. 

The  accounts  of  contemporaries,  even  of  those  most  closely 
connected  with  him,  vary  extremely  as  to  the  exact  date  of  Na- 
poleon's departure  from  Schonbrunn.  Thus  the  French  Minister, 
Champagny,  who  conducted  the  peace  negotiations  at  Schon- 
brunn, in  a  letter  to  Bourrienne,  quoted  in  his  *  Memoirs,'  makes 
Napoleon  go  to  Munich  on  October  17.  Whilst  in  a  secret 
memoir  of  the  time,  written  by  the  Austrian  Minister,  Count 
Stadion  (published  by  Klinkowstrom  in  his  '  Extracts  from  the 
Old  Eegisters  of  the  State '),  October  16  is  mentioned  as  the  day 
of  Napoleon's  journey.  Thiers  in  his  *  Histoire  du  Consulat  et 
de  I'Empire'  makes  his  journey  take  place  in  the  night  of 
October  15-16 ;  whilst  in  the  *  Correspondance  de  I'Empereur 
Napoleon  '  several  letters  are  given  as  written  at  Schonbrunn, 
and  dated  October  16  (?).  According  to  Mettemich's  account, 
Napoleon,  on  the  day  of  the  proclamation  of  peace,  had  already 
left  Schonbrunn.  But  the  expression  *  left '  still  leaves  something 
undecided — that  is,  whether  Napoleon  had  actually  departed,  or 
was  only  temporarily  absent,  as  for  hunting,  inspecting  troops, 
&c.,  &c.  But  in  any  case  the  correctness  of  the  actions  them- 
selves would  be  in  no  wise  altered.  For  very  probably  Liech- 
tenstein had  returned  to  Totis  immediately  after  the  projected 
peace  was  signed,  on  his  important  and  urgent  mission.  It  is 
also  almost  certain  that  Napoleon  at  the  moment  when  he 
ordered  the  guns  to  be  fired  was  engaged  with  Liechtenstein's 
energetic  protest,  and  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  if  Napoleon 
resorted  to  this  ruse,  it  was  because  he  was  glad  to  get  out  of 
the  way  of  an  unpleasant  interview  with  the  Austrian  General. 
There  was  certainly  a  shade  of  mystery  over  these  peace  nego- 
tiatons,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  expression  of  Mettemich's 
-(Oct.  26,  1809),  when  in  writing  to  his  wife  from  Totis  he  says. 


NOTES.  59T 

♦What  absurdities  and  follies  have  taken  place!  You  cannot 
understand  it,  and  no  one  can  understand  it  who  has  not  the 
key — and  there  are  perhaps  not  two  persons  in  the  world  who 
have  it  besides  myself.' 

Note  4:2,  page  115. 

On  his  arrival  at  Vienna,  Metternich  wrote  to  his  wife: — 

*  Vienna,  November  28, 1809. 

'  I  arrived  here  to-day,  a  few  hours  after  the  Emperor ;  I 
have  therefore  not  seen  the  extreme  enthusiasm  which  met  him 
everywhere  on  the  road ;  he  was  literally  carried  into  the  house. 
It  is  no  slight  matter  to  be  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  for  Aus- 
tria in  1809.  But  the  Emperor  is  so  perfect  in  his  way  of 
treating  me,  he  honours  me  vrith  so  thorough  a  confidence, 
that  I  should  be  the  most  ungrateful  man  in  the  world  if  I  were 
not  entirely  devoted  to  his  service.  I  have  done  a  great  deal 
already,  but  there  is  still  a  terrible  amount  to  be  done.  What 
things  have  passed  round  me  for  some  years,  what  events  and 
occurrences  in  which  I  have  been  called  on  to  play  a  first  part ! 
And  I  of  all  people,  who  would  have  been  so  happy  if  in  a 
quiet  but  independent  way  I  could  have  followed  my  own  tastes, 
so  different  from  the  firightful  agitation  by  which  I  constantly 
find  myself  surrounded  ! ' 

Note  43,  page  117. 
See  'Organisation  of  a  Secret  Department'  (No.  149). 
Metternich  writes  to  his  wife  about  this  from  Totis : — 

'November  14, 1809. 
'  I  have  just  reorganised  the  office  ;  I  have  given  it  a  shape 
more  suited  to  the  times ;  I  shall  do  three  times  the  work,  and 
with  less  time  to  do  it  in  than  many  others,  or  any  of  my  pre- 
decessors had.  I  have  to  a  great  extent  put  things  back  to 
the  footing  of  the  department  as  it  was  under  your  grand- 
father.' 

Note  44,  page  120. 

The  third  book  contains  papers  relating  to  this  under  the 
title  *  The  Marriage  of  Napoleon  with  Marie  Louise '  (Nos.  150- 


398  NOTES. 

155),  of  which  some  have  been  already  published  in  Heifer's 
-excellent  work,  '  Marie  Louise.' 

Note  45,  jpage  126. 

The  happy  impression  made  by  the  marriage  of  Marie  Louise, 
in  Vienna,  is  described  by  Mettemich  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  as 
follows : — 

*  All  Vienna  is  occupied  with  the  question  of  the  marriage  : 
it  would  be  difficult  to  give  an  idea  of  the  excitement  this  has 
caused  in  the  mind  of  the  public,  and  the  extreme  popularity  of 
the  thing.  If  I  were  the  saviour  of  the  world,  I  could  not 
receive  more  congratulations  nor  more  homage  on  the  part 
which  it  is  thought  I  must  have  taken.  In  the  promotions 
which  wiU  take  place  I  shall  have  the  Toison.  If  it  comes  to 
me  just  now,  it  will  not  be  very  much  apropos,  but  it  is  no  less 
certain  that  it  required  circumstances  both  very  extraordinary 
and  quite  unexpected  to  bring  me  to  a  position  far  beyond  what 
r  desired — I  who  never  have  had  any  ambition.  The  fetes  here 
will  be  very  fine,  and  although  they  have  had  to  send  all  over 
the  world  for  necessary  things,  all  is  here  at  last.  I  sent  the 
programme  to  Paris.  Schwarzenberg  will  have  shown  it  to  you. 
The  new  Empress  will  please  at  Paris,  and  ought  to  please,  from 
her  goodness,  her  great  sweetness,  and  simplicity.  Rather  plain 
than  handsome  in  face,  she  has  a  very  fine  figure,  and  when  she 
is  a  little  "  arrangee,''^  dressed,  etc.,  she  will  do  very  well.  I 
have  begged  her,  as  soon  as  she  arrives,  to  take  a  dancing-master, 
and  not  to  dance  till  she  can  do  so  thoroughly  well.  She  has  a 
^eat  wish  to  please,  and  with  that  desire  people  do  please.' 

Note  46,  page  127. 

For  a  further  account  of  Mettemich's  meeting  with  Napo- 
leon, see  *  Mettemich's  Arrival  in  Paris,  and  his  Conversation 
with  Napoleon  in  Compi^gne'  (Nos.  156,  157). 

Notes  47-49,  page  127. 

See  the  documents  relating  to  this  entitled  *  Mettemich  as 
a  Mediator  between  Pius  VII.  and  Napoleon  '  (Nos.  158-164). 


1 


NOTES.  399 


Note  50y  page  131. 

See  *  Napoleon  at  the  Fatal  Ball  at  Prince  Schwarzenberg's ' 
'(*  Gallery  of  Famous  Contemporaries,'  page  298). 

Note  51,  page  131. 

Under  the  '  Negotiations  for  the  Execution  of  certain  Ar- 
rangements in  the  last  Peace '  are  two  conventions,  both  of 
which  were  concluded  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Met- 
ternich  :  one  of  these  refers  to  the  trade  of  Austria,  and  the 
erection  of  depots  on  the  Adriatic  coasts;  the  other  to  the 
sequestration  of  estates  in  the  former  Grerman  Empire  (No. 
172). 

Note  52,  page  131. 

Concerning  Metternich's  anxiety  for  the  destruction  of  the 
false  Vienna  bank-notes,  see  Nos.  165-167 ;  and  the  negotiation 
of  an  Austrian  loan  under  Napoleon's  auspices  (No.  171). 

Note  53,  page  134. 

The  reader  will  find  further  details  in  the  paper  *  On  Eus- 
sia's  Kelations  with  France  (No.  168),  and  the  Danubian 
Principalities  and  Servia'  (Nos.  169,  170). 

Note  54:,  page  136. 

See  '  Metternich's  Conversation  with  Napoleon  on  the 
Swedish  Throne'  (Nos.  173,  174). 

Note  55,  page  139. 

On  this  highly  interesting  conversation  of  September  20, 
the  collection  of  documents  contains  a  sketch  written  by  Met- 
ternich  in  Grerman  for  the  Emperor  Francis,  under  the  fresh 
impression  of  the  occurrence.  This  sketch  follows  the  text 
of  the  Autobiography  so  exactly  that  it  was  not  necessary  to 
repeat  the  document  in  the  collection  of  the  third  book. 


400  NOTES. 

Note  56,  page  139. 

See  *  Metternich's  Farewell  Audience  with  Napoleon  ^ 
(No.  175). 

Note  57,  page  140. 

Metternich's  account  to  the  Emperor  Francis  seems  to 
have  been  a  verbal  one,  for  the  written  report  was  not  made  by 
Mettemich  till  January  19,  1811.  See  *  Keport  on  the  Results 
of  the  Paris  Mission  '  (No.  177). 

Note  58,  page  141. 
See  *  Schouvalow's  Treaty  of  Alliance'  (No.  176). 

Note  59,  pa^e  148. 

See  *  On  the  Organisation  of  an  Imperial  Council  in  Austria '' 
(No.  183). 

Note  60,  page  149. 

Metternich's  introduction  to  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  at 
Vienna,  as  its  newly  elected  Curator,  took  place  January  10, 
1811.  On  this  occasion  the  President — Sonnenfels — who  was 
also  newly  elected,  addressed  the  new  Curator,  in  the  name  of 
the  whole  academy,  as  follows : — 

*  The  solemn  moment  when  your  Excellency  enters  on  the 
executive  administration  of  Art,  as  I  think  I  may  call  it,  jus- 
tifies the  Academy  in  great  expectations.  The  destiny  of  the 
Arts,  their  growth  and  perfection,  the  encouragement  and 
support  of  promising  talent,  the  respect  and  esteem  of  the 
finished  artist,  the  improvement  of  all  branches  of  art  industry, 
in  short,  the  glory  and  prosperity  which  flow  back  to  the  nation 
from  the  culture  of  artists,  are  given  into  your  hands.  We 
are  certain  that  our  confidence  is  not  misplaced,  but  that  we 
shall  soon  feel  the  effects  of  your  vigorous  action.' 

To  this  Mettemich  replied  : — 

*  I  use  with  pleasure  the  first  moment  in  which  I  enter  the 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts  to  thank  you  most  heartily  for  the  trust 
you  have  reposed  in  me.  "We  are  henceforth  united  in  one 
great  aim  for  the  good  of  the  whole  nation.  Vast  is  the  domain 
of  Art !     All  parts  of  the  national  industry  are  connected  with 


NOTES.  401 

it ;  every  onward  step  is  a  gain  for  the  whole.  The  Arts  must 
prosper  under  the  government  of  the  best  of  monarehs ;  in  the 
Austrian  Empire  every  advantage  is  united — artists,  amateurs, 
encouragement,  material.  On  us,  gentlemen,  much  depends. 
Most  justly  should  we  be  reproached  for  the  slightest  neglect. 
Nothing  is  more  susceptible  than  Art :  it  either  advances  to 
the  highest  perfection  or  sinks  down  instantaneously  to  nothing. 
Let  it  be  our  effort  to  nourish  this  vigorous  life,  to  guide  this 
advancement  to  our  advantage'  {Beobachter,  January  17, 1811, 
No.  15).  A  year  later,  February,  1812,  on  the  festival  for  the 
birthday  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  the  new  statutes  of  the  Aca- 
demy were  proclaimed  in  a  solemn  manner.  Mettemich  on 
this  occasion  delivered  his  great  speech  containing  an  historical 
retrospect  of  former  results,  and  an  allusion  to  future  fields  for 
action  in  the  domain  of  Art.  This  speech  is  to  be  found  com- 
plete in  the  third  book  (No.  184).  On  this  solemn  occasion 
proclamation  was  also  made  of  the  foreign  notabilities  of  Art 
and  Science  who  had  been  made  honorary  members ;  amongst 
them  were  W.  Humboldt  in  Berlin,  Bottinger  in  Dresden, 
Raphael  Morghen  in  Florence,  Thorwaldsen  in  Eome,  Schelling 
in  Munich,  David  and  Gerard  in  Paris,  Kohler  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, Danneker  in  Stuttgart ;  Groethe  also  in  Weimar  had  been 
appointed  an  honorary  member.  The  letter  in  which  he  thanked 
Mettemich  for  this  honour,  dated  Weimar,  March  16,  1812, 
runs  as  follows :  *  That  your  Excellency,  presiding  over  the 
most  important  and  urgent  affairs,  takes  also  an  interest  in 
Science  and  Art,  could  not  be  unknown  even  to  me  at  this  dis- 
tance ;  moreover,  I  was  informed  of  it  long  ago,  and  silently 
rejoiced  in  it  for  the  general  good.  But  I  could  hardly  have 
believed  that  I  should  have  the  happiness  to  present  the 
heartiest  thanks  to  your  Excellency  for  the  extension  of  a  great 
favour  to  my  person.  When  we  devote  our  lives  to  special 
spheres  of  action,  and  attain  a  certain  facility  in  them,  we 
certainly  wish  to  exercise  them,  and  therewith  to  be  useful  to 
others ;  and  how  can  this  be  better  and  more  certainly  done 
than  when  we  surround  ourselves  with  men  well  tried  in  such 
departments,  and  associate  ourselves  with  their  advantages, 
which  can  only  be  attained  by  a  number  all  working  for  the 
same  object  ?     Thus  each  individual  is  encouraged,  and  what 

VOL.  I.  D  D 


402  NOTES. 

human  idleness,  unfavourable  circumstances,  ill-will  might 
have  lulled  to  sleep,  contracted,  or  even  injured,  is  stimulated 
and  roused  to  action.  Great,  therefore,  are  your  Excellency's 
merits  in  endeavouring  to  create,  renew,  preserve,  extend  and 
animate  such  imions  by  the  patronage  of  the  court.  I  shall 
not  fail  to  return  my  heartiest  thanks  to  the  Royal  Imperial 
Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts,  although  words  fail  me  to  express 
how  dehghted  I  am  that  in  so  flattering  a  manner,  and  on  such 
a  brilliant  occasion,  they  have  been  good  enough  to  think  of  me, 
and  thus  marked  a  new  epoch  in  my  life.  I  cannot  but  see 
here  the  influence  of  your  Excellency,  and  the  high  honour 
you  have  done  me  by  announcing  this  beautiful  gift  yourself.  I 
must  not  insist  with  many  words  on  the  high  value  I  place  on 
these  favourable  regards,  which  I  only  wish  I  could  respond  to 
in  some  manner  by  action.' 

Note  61,  page  150. 

*  The  Position  and  Attitude  of  Austria  in  the  Impending  War 
with  France  and  Russia.'  Four  reports  by  Mettemich  to  the 
Emperor  Francis  (Nos.  178-182). 

During  this  time  of  serious  negotiation,  which  rendered 
the  intercourse  of  the  monarch  and  his  minister  more  and  more 
intimate,  a  little  occurrence  happened  which,  though  not  of  a 
political  character,  we  will  not  leave  unmentioned,  because  it 
helps  to  show  the  character  of  the  Emperor  Francis.  One 
might  feel  inclined  to  laugh  at  the  pedantic  strictness  of  the 
Emperor  on  this  occasion,  if  his  maintenance  of  legal  equality 
did  not  give  a  certain  dignity  to  the  trifling  incident.  Met- 
temich's  report,  June  25, 1812,  runs  as  follows :  '  The  President 
of  the  Exchequer  refuses  the  order  for  importation,  which 
I  wanted  for  a  little  barrel  of  French  wine  that  has  been 
lying  waiting  for  me  in  Ulm  for  months,  because  the  quantity 
of  the  wine  is  not  given  in  Eimer^  (a  measure), 'but  only  in 
weight,  456  pounds  (about  four  Eimers).  I  can  say  nothing  in 
answer  to  this  objection,  but  that  it  can  be  easily  removed. 
The  second  objection,  however,  is  of  another  kind.  The  Presi- 
dent of  the  Exchequer  refers  to  an  Imperial  order  by  which 
one  person  has  every  year  the  privilege  of  importing  one  Eimer 
and  a  half  only  of  foreign  wine.     I  consider  that  one  of  the 


NOTES.  403 

troublesome  duties  of  my  office  is  the  entertainment  of  the  corps 
diplomatique  and  foreigners.  Now  one  Eimer  and  a  half  of 
foreign  wine  is  just  as  good  as  none  at  all,  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  it  would  answer  the  purpose  of  my  entertainments  or 
be  at  all  in  good  taste,  if  I  were  no  longer  able  to  give  foreign 
wine  to  that  very  class  of  guests  which  is  accustomed  only  to 
foreign  wines.  I  dare  all  the  more  openly  express  this  asser- 
tion, as  in  the  case  in  question  my  private  interest  is  quite 
opposed  to  the  sacrifices  which,  however,  I  have  never  shunned 
if  required  for  the  honour  or  welfare  of  the  Imperial  service. 
My  most  humble  request,  therefore,  is  that  your  Majesty  may 
please  either  to  give  me  a  decided  order  to  give  no  more  foreign 
wines  in  future,  or  that  your  Majesty  may  have  the  grace  to 
send  an  order  to  the  President  of  the  Exchequer,  which  might 
run  as  follows : — 

' "  To  the  President  of  the  Exchequer. 

'  "  Dear  Count  Stadion,  my  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  has 
most  humbly  represented  to  me  that  he  might  be  exempted 
by  the  Exchequer  from  the  general  decree  concerning  the 
foreign  wines  necessary  for  his  entertainments — the  decree 
according  to  which  a  single  person  is  only  allowed  to  receive  the 
annual  quantity  of  one  Eimer  and  a  half  of  these  wines. 
Since  these  requirements  arise  from  the  position  of  the  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  you  have  to  act  in  future  with  regard  to 
him  according  to  the  rules  that  existed  before  the  above 
decree." ' 

In  answer  to  this  the  Emperor  himself  wrote  from  Stra- 
konitz,  July  9,  1812:— 

'  No  exception  can  be  made  to  the  order  I  gave  concerning 
the  importation  of  foreign  wines,  and  to  the  limitation  ordered 
in  general,  and  you  have  to  follow  out  this  arrangement  as 
strictly  as  any  of  my  subjects. — Francis.' 

As  is  to  be  seen,  the  influence  of  the  minister,  which  was 
already  very  powerful  at  that  time  over  his  monarch,  was 
restricted  by  firm  and  insurmountable  barriers,  which  must 
not  be  left  unconsidered  in  judging  Metternich's  course  of 
action.  On  the  other  hand,  the  relation  of  this  minister  to 
the  Emperor  Francis,  especially  in  all  private  matters,  may  be 
called — if  it  is  allowed  to  use  this  expression — that  of  a  patri- 

D  D  2 


404  NOTES. 

archal  heartiness.  Another  little  occurrence  from  the  year  1811, 
which  concerns  Mettemich's  domestic  life,  proves  this,  and  may 
find  a  place  here.  The  Emperor  Francis,  namely,  had  promised, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  expected  confinement  of  Mettemich's 
wife,  to  act  as  godfather  if  the  child  should  be  a  son.  But 
a  daughter  came  into  the  world.  Mettemich  reports  on  this 
to  the  Emperor: — 

*  Vienna,  June  18,  1811.  Your  Majesty!  I  was  prevented 
from  undertaking  the  journey  to  Baden  to-day,  as  I  had 
intended,  because  of  my  wife's  most  difficult  and  dangerous 
confinement.  I  shall  try  to  set  out  on  my  journey  to-morrow 
evening,  or  at  the  latest  early  the  day  after  to-morrow,  accord- 
ing as  I  get  on  with  the  despatches  for  Petersburg.  Since 
my  wife  has  given  birth  to  a  daughter,  I  can  only  lay  at  your 
Majesty's  feet  the  most  humble  and  hearty  thanks  for  the 
gracious  condescension  with  which  your  Majesty  designed  to 
take  the  place  of  a  godfather  if  the  case  had  been  otherwise. 
I  should  have  been  extremely  happy  to  give  to  your  Majesty 
in  a  second  son  another  faithful  and  active  servant.  Now  my 
hopes  are  limited  to  my  only  son,  who  certainly  will  never 
forget  the  double  duty  towards  your  Majesty  and  your  most 
illustrious  house.' 

To  this  the  Emperor  himself  replied : 

*  I  hope  that  your  wife's  health  has  not  suflfered,  and  regret 
that  I  have  not  the  opportunity  of  acting  as  godfather,  as  I 
promised  you.  I  count  on  your  educating  your  son  to  be  as 
clever  and  skilful  a  statesman  as  you  are  yourself. — Francis.' 

It  does  not  become  us  to  dwell  on  the  fact  that  Prince 
Victor,  Mettemich's  firstborn  son,  who  is  mentioned  here,  an- 
swered these  expectations.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  life  (1828), 
a  faithful  servant  of  his  Emperor  and  master,  loved  and  re- 
spected by  all  who  knew  him,  and  deeply  deplored  by  those 
who  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  and  estimating  the  rich 
mental  gifts  of  the  young  diplomatist.  The  daughter  who  was 
then  bom  received  in  baptism  the  name  of  Leontine,  married 
(1835)  Count  Moritz  von  Sand,  died  1861,  and  was  the  mother 
of  Princess  Pauline,  the  wife  of  the  editor. 


NOTES.  405 

Note  62,  ^age  155. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Russo-Franco  war 
Gentz  wrote,  July  24th,  1812,  to  Count  Metternich  as  follows  : 
*  All  that  your  Excellency  has  foreseen  for  eight  months  and 
longer  has  now,  as  it  seems,  completely  come  to  pass.  All  your 
■calculations  are  justified.  But  even  the  evil  which  may  arise 
for  us  and  for  the  world  from  the  present  occurrences  was 
included  in  your  calculations,  and  whoever  is  even  slightly 
acquainted  with  former  negotiations,  must  acknowledge  that 
jour  Excellency  has  done  the  very  best  to  prevent  that  evil.' 
Besides,  there  is  in  Metternich's  handwriting  the  following  note 
of  the  year  1851 : — 

'  The  evil  that  is  mentioned  here  was  the  providential  begin- 
ning of  Napoleon's  end  !  That  I  have  helped  forward  this  as 
much  as  lay  in  my  power  history  will  testify.  Have  I  been 
able  to  supply  the  help  necessary  to  complete  the  work  of 
■deliverance  ? ' 

Note  63,  ^age  166. 

April  21,  1813,  Metternich  writes  to  Nesselrode:  'I  will 
not  delay  the  departure  of  the  present  courier.  I  beg  you, 
however,  to  remain  my  friend,  and,  above  all,  continue  to  con- 
fide in  me.  If  Napoleon  will  be  foolish  enough  to  fight,  let  us 
endeavour  not  to  meet  with  a  reverse,  which  I  feel  to  be  only 
too  possible. 

'  One  battle  lost  for  Napoleon,  and  all  Grermany  will  be  under 
arms.' 

Note  Q4:,page  177. 

It  is  interesting  to  hear  how  Gentz,  a  short  time  before  he 
was  ordered  to  Bohemia,  speaks  in  a  letter  to  Metternich  of 
the  general  feeling  in  consequence  of  the  sudden  departure  of 
the  Emperor  Francis,  accompanied  by  Metternich,  to  Gritschin, 
and  of  the  apprehensions  and  hopes  which  this  unexpected 
event  excited  in  the  provinces.  At  the  same  time,  the  rather 
desponding  feelings  of  the  letter-writer  contrast  well  with 
the  energy  and  foresight  of  the  Emperor  Francis  and  his 
minister.     The  letter  is  dated  from  Vienna,  June  5  : — 

*It  [public  judgment]  does  really  no  longer  exist.  The 
great  mass  of  silly  people  — that  is  to  say,  of  those  who  are 


406  NOTES. 

perfectly  ignorant  of  affairs — becomes  stupefied  and  crushed 
by  problems  which  are  daily  more  unintelligible  to  them  ;  and 
thosie  who  have  a  voice  in  the  matter  do  not  ask  of  a  new 
measure,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad,  but  only  how  far  it  suits 
their  ideas.  The  same  thing  happened  on  the  occasion  of 
the  journey  to  Gritschin.  The  many  have  nothing  to  say 
about  it,  because  the  whole  is  a  riddle.  The  two  extreme 
parties  disapprove  of  it.  Those  who  like  the  war  see  nothing 
in  it  but  disgraceful  negotiations  of  peace,  dangerous  meet- 
ings with  Napoleon  or  his  ministers,  mystifications,  loss  of 
time,  vain  pretences,  or  irresolution.  The  timid  think  it  the 
immediate  signal  for  war,  and  give  us  to  understand  (as  far  as 
this  may  be  done  now-a-days  entre  gens  de  bonne  coTnpagnie) 
that  those  who  brought  on  war  by  this  journey  will  one  day  have 
to  answer  for  it.  Your  Excellency  knows  I  am  thankful  to 
say  that  I  do  not  belong  to  either  of  these  parties.  I  owe 
it  to  my  intercourse  with  you,  and  only  to  this,  that  I  am  at 
present  on  a  height  where  at  least  none  of  the  common  illusions 
can  reach  me.  But  the  air  that  blows  on  this  height  is  never- 
theless heavy  with  cares  and  doubts ;  and  at  the  end  of  the 
most  fatiguing  and  anxious  meditations  on  the  dreadful  ques- 
tions of  the  present,  I  nearly  always  content  myself  with  prais- 
ing heaven  that  I  have  not  to  decide  them.  When  I  hear  men 
talk  like  Langenau,  Nugent  (whose  judgment  on  military 
matters  is  not  to  be  despised),  Wartensleben,  even  Marveldt, 
and  others  of  this  kind,  I  often  feel  inclined  to  believe  that  it 
only  requires  a  courageous  resolution  to  cut  asunder  the  whole 
knot  with  one  stroke  ;  that  the  mere  advancing  of  an  Austrian 
army  would  throw  Napoleon  into  such  embarrassment  that 
hardly  an  outlet  would  be  left  to  him ;  he  jyould  see  that  his 
present  operation  had  again  been  mad,  and  his  present  position 
in  reference  to  that  of  the  Allies  and  the  Austrian  power  so 
dangerous  that  if  these  two  were  to  act  together  only  for  a 
week  a  miracle  alone  would  save  him.  If,  however,  I  think, 
on  the  other  hand,  what  men  of  similar  feelings  have  said  three 
or  four  months  ago  about  the  alternate  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages under  which  the  campaign  began  for  the  Allies  and 
for  Napoleon,  and  how  all  this  has  been  knocked  down  by  the 
events  of  a  single  month ;  if  I  represent  to  myself  Napoleon's 


NOTES.  407 

enormous  military  superiority,  and  how  nobody  can  calculate 
beforehand  whether  he  with  his  skill  would  not  find  a  remedy 
even  for  the  most  dangerous  combinations ;  if  I  think  of  the 
Eussia-Prussian  army,  as  we  now  fully  know  it,  and  of  the  Aus- 
trian army,  as  it  will  be  in  all  probability,  and  necessarily 
must  be  with  its  innate  defects ;  if  the  dreadfal  case  appears 
before  my  imagination  that  he  might  by  one  of  his  violent 
movements  suddenly  scatter  the  united  forces,  and  then  pursue 
and  destroy  each  part  separately — and  what  could  then  be  done 
or  hoped  ? — it  seems  to  me  sometimes  that  I  should  heartily 
embrace  even  a  moderate  peace.' 

Full  of  this  thought  of  peace,  and  on  the  supposition 
that  the  question  of  war  or  peace  was  still  an  open  one, 
Gentz  expresses  his  wishes  and  convictions  a  few  days  later, 
in  a  letter  to  Metternich,  dated  from  Koniggratz,  June  10 : — 
'  My  wishes  are  entirely  directed  to  a  solution  of  the  great 
problem  of  the  moment  by  negotiations,  and  not  by  war.  Be- 
sides various  reasons  for  these  wishes  which  I  have,  or  at  least 
ought  to  have,  in  common  with  others,  one  quite  particular 
one  determines  me,  which  I  can  confide  only  to  your  Excellency 
and  to  a  few  congenial  spirits.  I  think  better  of  the  Austrian 
army,  without  comparison,  than  of  all  other  armies,  and  there- 
fore would  rejoice  if  the  glory  were  to  fall  to  her  share  to  give  a 
happy  end  to  this  crisis.  But — Grod  forgive  me  ! — I  love  you 
even  more  than  the  Austrian  army,  and  no  gained  battle  would, 
therefore,  give  me  the  joy  which  I  should  feel  in  a  peace  brought 
on  by  your  merit  and  your  skill,  if,  according  to  my  judgment, 
it  were  but  honourable  and  judicious.  Happily  my  best  and  most 
mature  convictions  agree  perfectly  with  this  my  secret  wish. 
First,  I  deny  altogether  that  it  is  a  question  here  of  the 
entire  political  and  moral  existence  of  our  state,  to  he  or 
not  to  6e,  whatever  the  great  phrases  are.  Austria  is  in  no 
immediate  danger  of  life,  however  things  may  go,  and  the 
prophecies  one  hears  from  so  many  sides,  as  if  the  ruin  of 
the  state  were  inevitable  if  this  or  the  other  were  not  done,  I 
count  simply  amongst  the  blank  firing  by  which  they  try  now 
to  frighten,  or  even  confuse,  the  Grovemment.  Napoleon's 
power  is  essentially  shaken  and  undermined,  not  perhaps  by 
the  Russian  campaign  or  since  the  Eussian  campaign :  a  build- 


408  NOTES. 

ing  that  has  no  foundation  at  all  sinks  from  the  moment  it  is 
erected.  Already  at  the  time  of  the  Peace  of  Tilsit,  which  was 
certainly  the  most  brilliant  in  Napoleon's  career  and  the  most 
dreadful  for  Europe,  the  signs  of  approaching  ruin  mani- 
fested themselves  to  clear  eyes  and  intrepid  natures.  In  the 
war  of  1809  they  became  more  evident.  The  campaign  of  1812 
and  its  consequences  have  disclosed  this  now  to  nearly  every- 
one. If  Napoleon — which  T  should  consider  a  great  evil — pre- 
served in  a  peace  concluded  now  even  the  whole  former  extent 
of  his  dominion,  Austria,  nevertheless,  would  maintain  her 
position,  invulnerable,  and  destined  to  outlive  the  ephemeral 
power  of  Napoleon  for  centuries.  If,  on  the  other  hand — ^which 
may  heaven  prevent! — the  war  were  to  have  an  unfortunate 
issue,  we  should  still  be  certain  of  an  undisturbed  continuance, 
and  should  only  be  the  poorer  from  the  loss  of  those  who  were 
uselessly  sacrificed.  For  the  situation  is  now  of  a  kind  that 
Napoleon,  even  after  a  battle  gained  against  our  army,  cannot 
penetrate  our  country  without  exposing  himself  to  the  utmost 
danger.  To  keep  to  this  point  of  view  seems  important  to  me, 
because  it  gives  the  greatest  freedom  to  our  calculations  and 
consultations  in  all  directions;  whereas  the  fatal  "  to  be  or  not  to 
be  "  confounds,  aggravates,  and  embitters  them  without  any  ne- 
cessity. To-day  the  question  is  only  in  what  way,  whether  by 
war  or  peace,  Austria  has  the  most  hope  of  hastening  the  over- 
throw of  a  predominant  power  destined  to  inevitable  ruin  by 
its  own  defects.  Every  peace  which  does  not  put  an  end 
to  all  direct  or  indirect  dominion  (influence  would  be  to  say 
too  much)  of  France  on  this  side  of  the  Khine,  and  at  least 
in  East  and  Middle  Italy,  is  an  incomplete  one,  and  only 
a  provisional  peace ;  for  no  balance  can  ever  be  established  as 
long  as  those  conditions  at  least  are  not  fulfilled.  Every 
peace  which  does  not  fulfil  them,  on  whatever  base  it  may 
be  concluded,  is  only  to  be  considered  as  a  truce.  After 
this  the  chief  question  will  be.  Is  there  more  probability  that 
the  (inevitable  in  itself)  ruin  of  the  French  power  will  be  pro- 
moted by  an  advantageous  truce,  or  by  Austria's  immediate 
participation  in  the  war  ?  My  answer  would  be.  The  results  of 
the  war  may  be  greater,  but  those  of  the  truce  are  more  cer- 
tain.    That  we  should  attain  by  war  advantages  of  the  first 


NOTES.  409 

rank,  a  better  truce  than  negotiations  could  give,  perhaps 
even  a  real  peace,  is  in  any  case  very  doubtful,  from  all  that 
we  know  of  the  powers,  the  faculties,  and  the  former  fate  of 
those  who  then  would  become  our  allies — for  alone  we  could 
not  execute  it.  On  the  other  hand,  every  advantage  which 
we  gain  by  the  peace — that  is  to  say,  by  the  truce — is  so  far 
always  a  gain  for  future  measures  and  enterprises,  and  what 
strength  we,  and  those  who  share  our  interests,  still  possess, 
will  be  reserved  for  these  future  enterprises :  a  consideration 
which  is  of  no  little  weight.  The  question  of  more  or  less  in 
the  conditions  of  peace  we  should  now  obtain  has  here  to  be 
considered,  but  the  chief  consideration  remains  always  the  same. 
If  we  can  bring  about  the  dissolution  of  the  Duchy  of  War- 
saw, the  re-establishment  of  Prussia  (which,  according  to  my 
opinion,  will  be  brought  about,  not  only  by  some  enlargement 
of  territory,  but  also  by  the  repossession  of  Magdeburg  and  the 
liberty  of  Hamburg),  and,  finally,  the  restitution  of  some 
countries  that  have  been  taken  away  from  us — the  Illyrian 
Provinces  at  least — I  think  this  a  very  happy  truce  and  agree 
to  it.  But  if  even  we  only  succeed  in  inducing  Napoleon  to 
renovate  Poland,  I  say  autant  de  gagnS  I  But  now  I  leave  it 
to  greater  arithmeticians  than  I  am  to  decide  if,  after  the 
rules  of  a  reasonable  probability,  more  is  to  be  expected  from  a 
war;  and  when  they  say  "yes,"  I  vote  immediately  for  war. 
Thus  only  I  judge  the  task ;  all  the  rest  is  chimera  or  idle 
discourse.  Moreover,  very  much  is  gained  by  peace — what- 
ever the  conditions  may  be — if  for  the  future  Austria,  Eussia, 
and  Prussia  remain  closely  united.  And  since  Austria  has 
spoken,  so  frankly,  so  wisely,  so  grandly,  and  even  so  plainly, 
to  Napoleon  with  regard  to  his  entire  poHtical  system,  that 
she  can  never  draw  back  in  this  respect,  such  an  alliance,  if  she 
does  not  forfeit  it  by  rough  awkwardness,  or  by  petulant 
mistakes,  is  quite  suited  to  the  present  situation.  Some  time 
ago  I  mentioned  these  ideas  to  somebody  whom  your  Excel- 
lency and  I  equally  esteem,  and  I  heard,  to  my  inexpressible 
satisfaction,  that  you  also  had  turned  your  attention  to  them, 
which  circumstance  would  be  to  me  the  greatest  guarantee  of 
their  fitness.  But  the  greatest  and  most  important  point  is 
gained,  and  irrevocably  gained.    The  world  and  Napoleon  know 


410  NOTES. 

that  the  Austrian  cabinet  considers  the  present  state  of  Europe  a 
state  not  to  be  depended  upon,  contrary  to  all  ideas  of  order,  quiet- 
ness, and  justice,  and  therefore  quite  unbearable.  This  is  of 
more  importance  than  six  provinces  snatched  away  from 
French  supremacy.  Concerning  public  opinion,  I  have  become, 
though  not  yet  quite  composed,  yet — I  must  candidly  confess 
it — much  more  indifferent,  in  consequence  of  the  quiet  and  free 
meditations  of  the  last  three  days,  than  I  may  have  seemed  ta 
your  Excellency  in  my  last  letter.  Everything  considered, 
I  feel  a  far  greater  desire  to  rule  or  reform  public  opinion  than 
to  accept  its  laws.  This  opinion  must  not  remain  as  it  is  now, 
lest  a  still  worse  preponderating  influence  than  the  French 
arise  from  it.  There  must  be  once  more  belief  and  obedience, 
with  much  less  talking,  or  there  can  be  no  more  governing. 
The  evil  has  become  colossal,  and  threatens  us  with  radical 
dissolution.  We  sneer  at  it  too  often,  we  detest  it  too- 
much,  we  are  much  too  indifferent  as  to  the  brawlers  and 
agitators ;  their  nonsense  amuses  us,  and  when  they  become 
more  serious  it  irritates  or  vexes  us,  at  the  most,  but  the 
way  that  it  injures,  corrupts,  and  discredits  Grovemments  is 
less  felt  by  statesmen  than  by  attentive  and  well-informed 
observers.  I  have  studied  this  thoroughly,  though  I  should 
tremble  if  I  were  asked  to  name  effective  remedies  for  this 
deadly  disease.  It  has  attained  its  height  in  the  upper  classes  ; 
there  it  has  destroyed  all  social  intercourse  and  erected  a 
spurious  tribunal,  before  which  not  a  single  measure  of  Govern- 
ment can  stand.  I  often  say  to  these  people :  But,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  do  we  know  this  better  than  Government  ?  Are 
we  better  informed  than  the  Emperor  ?  Have  we  more  means 
of  information  than  his  ministers  ?  But  they  all  think,  "  yes, 
yes  !  "  and  go  on  teaching  their  world,  and 

Hoc  fonte  derivata  clades 
In  patriam  populosque  fluxit. 

These  considerations  of  course  lessen  the  weight  which  the 
judgment  of  the  public  ought  otherwise  to  have,  and  by  degrees 
it  has  gone  so  far  that  a  measure  seems  to  me  suspicious  if  I 
see  it  protected  by  the  public' 

It  is  not  known  whether  an  answer  was  given  to  these  two 
letters ;  at  any  rate  we  do  not  possess  it.     We  may  easily  guess 


NOTES.  411 

what  JMetternich  thought  of  the  remarks  of  the  intelligent 
and  clever  aulic  councillor  from  the  following  remark  made  by 
him :  '  Grentz  was  always  inclined  to  describe  matters  in  the 
most  decided  colours,  and  to  pass  from  the  extreme  of  hope  to 
that  of  despair.  Everything  belonging  to  military  operations 
was  beyond  his  power  of  comprehension ;  he  even  shunned  the 
consideration  of  such  operations,  as  if  shot  could  faU  on  the 
field  of  thought.'  These  words  we  find  written  in  Mettemich's 
own  hand,  on  a  memoir  of  Grentz  of  that  period.  They  give  us, 
too,  a  glimpse  of  the  relations  of  Metternich  and  Grentz,  as  to 
Avhich  a  wrong  idea  formerly  obtained.  But  the  latest  his- 
torical literature  afibrds  more  light  on  this,  and  these  remarks 
show  how  little  GTentz  knew  of  the  intentions  of  Metternich, 
however  well  the  latter  was  able  to  value  the  talents  of  this 
extraordinary  man,  and  to  make  use  of  his  masterly  pen  in 
legal  matters  at  deliberations  of  the  Congress. 

Note  65ypage  178. 

The  propositions  of  mediation  which  Bubna  had  to  deliver 
to  Napoleon  were  :  1.  Abolition  of  the  political  existence  of 
the  Duchy  of  Warsaw  and  the  application  of  his  present  re- 
sources to  the  strengthening  of  the  intermediary  powers. 
2.  The  restoration  of  the  Illyrian  Provinces  to  Austria,  with 
a  good  frontier  towards  Italy.  3.  The  renunciation  by  France 
of  the  provinces  in  G-ermany  beyond  the  Khine.  There  are 
no  remarks  on  Bubna's  mission  in  Mettemich's  legacy  of 
documents.  To  supplement  this  want  by  documents  from  the 
State  Archives  seemed  unnecessary,  since  the  material  that  is 
there  has  only  lately  been  used  in  Onken's  work  *  Austria 
and  Prussia  in  the  War  of  Deliverance,' from  which  also  we  take 
the  above  three  points  of  mediation.  The  Austrian  State 
Archives  being  opened  to  Onken  for  literary  purposes  explains 
the  circumstance  that  many  documents  which  we  have  taken 
out  of  our  own  legacy  of  writings  are  identical  with  his  pub- 
lications— a  circumstance  which  we  mention  here  in  general 
without  pointing  it  out  in  every  single  case.  For  this  very 
reason  we  are  induced  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  reader  to 
this  parallel  work,  feeling  at  the  same  time  happy  to  be  able 
publicly  to  express  our  thanks  to  its  author  in  acknowledgment 


412  NOTES. 

of  his  helpful  labours ;  and  especially  grateful  to  him  as  one  of 
the  first  who,  without  apologetic  colouring,  but  also  without 
the  prejudices  which  have  too  much  influenced  even  Austrian 
historians,  has  searched  wisely  and  faithfully  to  discover  Met- 
temich's  line  of  action  during  one  of  the  most  brilliant  parts  of 
the  Chancellor's  life. 

Note  QQ.page  182. 

Within  the  two  following  days,  Gentz,  who  had  gone  to 
Opocno,  had  a  very  interesting  conversation  with  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  of  which  he  wrote  to  Metternich  on  June  22,  1813  : 
— *  I  found  the  Emperor  on  the  whole  just,  reasonable,  and 
pleasant ;  much  excited,  however,  at  certain  turns  of  the  con- 
versation. I  could  see  that  the  idea  of  withdrawing  from  the 
war,  without  the  attainment  of  the  great  end  with  which  he 
had  been  flattered,  pierced  his  very  soul,  and  that  he  (such  is 
his  feehng)  would  give  a  kingdom  if  he  could  stir  up  Austria 
to  seize  her  arms  without  any  attempt  at  peace.  Yet  he  seems 
to  see  that  it  would  be  utter  insanity  to  continue  the  war  with- 
out Austria's  concurrence.  At  the  beginning  of  the  conver- 
sation I  confined  myself  to  bringing  to  his  notice  the  different 
standpoints  from  which  Eussia,  Austria,  and  Prussia  must  con- 
sider and  negotiate  these  affairs.  I  reasoned  thus  :  For  Prussia 
the  war  is  a  war  of  necessity  and  almost  of  despair  ;  for  Kussia 
it  is  half  a  case  of  honour,  half  a  political  calculation ;  for  Aus- 
tria it  is  a  war  of  purer  calculation,  founded,  not  on  common 
interests  and  selfish  aims,  but  on  the  highest  and  largest  con- 
siderations for  the  present  and  the  future.  .  .  . 

'  I  then  begged  to  explain  to  him  what  possibly  appeared  to 
him,  in  many  instances,  as  indecision  and  weakness.  "  Austria," 
I  said,  "  has  full  right  to  retort,  '  If  M.  de  Metternich  were 
your  Majesty's  minister,  and  consequently  situated  as  a  minister 
of  your  Majesty's  now  is,  your  Majesty  would  perhaps  find 
in  him  one  of  the  warmest  advocates  of  the  war.'  As  Aus- 
trian Minister  he  must  look  on  things  differently,  and  your 
Majesty  is  too  just  and  too  noble  not  to  acknowledge 
this."  By  this  representation  I  apparently  gained  much 
ground.  My  discourse  was  founded  on  the  following  argu- 
ments.   Two  great,    enormous  results  are  already  won:  one, 


NOTES.  41 S 

the  close  union  and  faithful  understanding  between  the  two 
principal  Grerman  Powers  and  Russia,  the  other,  "  the  state  of 
permanent  protestation  against  all  system  of  invasion,  and  the 
preponderance  of  these  three  Powers,  whatever  may  be  the 
temporary  issue  of  the  crisis."  To  maintain  and  preserve  these 
two  immense  advantages  would  be  now,  in  my  opinion,  the  fun- 
damental law  of  all  anti-Napoleonic  policy,  and  an  almost  un- 
failing basis  for  the  establishment  of  the  balance  of  power  and 
general  order  in  Europe.  I  said  further :  "  If  his  Majesty  the 
Emperor  of  Austria  would  to-day  do  me  the  honour  to  consult 
me  on  the  part  to  be  taken  in  case  Russia  and  Prussia  are  im- 
movably decided  for  the  continuation  of  the  war,  I  should  say : 
Rather  war — even  if  your  Majesty  should  not  approve  it — than 
a  course  which  would  again  separate  us  from  Russia  and  Prussia. 
But,  if  your  Majesty  asks  me  my  advice  in  case  of  Austria 
thinking  she  had  strong  motives  for  avoiding  war,  I  should  not 
hesitate  to  say :  Rather  peace — whatever  repugnance  it  may 
inspire  in  your  Majesty — ^than  to  separate  yourself  again  from 
Austria."  He  seemed  much  struck  with  this  reasoning,  listened 
(as  he  always  does  to  what  I  say)  with  great  attention,  and  an- 
swered :  "  That  is  very  true  ;  that  is  very  fine  ;  see  what  it  is  to 
speak  as  a  statesman !  Union  is  necessary  beyond  everything ! " 
etc.  etc.  Your  Excellency  was  the  subject  of  a  great  part  of 
our  conversation.  The  Emperor  freely  acknowledged  that 
people  had  endeavoured  to  prejudice  him  against  your  political 
principles  and  political  character  (he  allowed  it  to  be  seen  that 
this  had  been  the  case  with  Romanzow),  and  hence  he  had  long 
felt  some  mistrust.  This,  however,  had  been  quite  effaced  by 
much  which  had  occurred  during  the  last  few  months,  and 
especially  by  his  late  conversation  with  you,  and  he  now  firmly 
believes  that  your  Excellency  had  done  and  would  do  all  that 
you  possibly  could.' 

Note  67,  page  192.  ' 

The  account  of  the  occurrence  in  the  Marcolini  Palace  at 
Dresden  is  word  for  word  the  same  as  the  one  given  by  Metter- 
nich  of  his  conversation  with  Napoleon,  in  the  year  1820,  since 
published  in  Helfert's  *  Marie  Louise.'  It  is  evident  that  Met- 
temich,  in  the  later  account  of  the  '  History  of  the  Alliances  * 


414  NOTES. 

(in  the  year  1829),  made  use  of  his  earlier  manuscript  (of  the] 
year  1820),  but  in  this  he  has  corrected  some  little  chrono-l 
logical  errors.     For  instance,  in  this  June  22  is  mentioned  as 
the  day  of  the  journey  from  Gritschin,  and  June  23  as  the  day 
of  the  conversation  with   Napoleon;    whereas   the  first   took 
place  on   Jime  24,  the  last  on  the  26th.     The  correctness  of  j 
these  dates  is  now  settled  beyond  doubt  by  their  agreement] 
with  the  statements  in  a  report  which  Metternich  sent  to  the] 
Emperor  Francis  the  very  same  evening  as  the  conversation 
with  Napoleon.     This  report,  written    under   the   immediate 
impression  of  the  great  and  momentous  event,  will  be  found  in  j 
the   third  book  (Nos.  185,  186).      From   this  document  not] 
merely  the  dates  will  be  rectified,  but  also  many  other  errors. 

Note  68,  page  198. 

On  the  documents  exchanged  at  Brandeis  between  the  Em- 
peror Francis  and  Metternich,  see  '  Metternich's  Instruction  for 
the  Conference  in  Prague '  (Nos.  187,  188).  At  that  time  Met- 
ternich wrote  on  the  question  '  Peace  or  War  ?  '  the  following 
letter  to  his  father  at  Prague :  '  Shall  we  have  war  or  no  ? 
Before  April  10  no  one  can  answer  that  question,  and  when 
say  no  one,  I  include  Napoleon.  But,  happen  what  may, 
shall  have  done  my  duty ;  and  if  I  exhaust  all  the  chances  of 
peace,  it  is  not  the  less  sure  that  war  will  be  made  with  chances 
of  success  far  beyond  what  you  can  imagine.  It  is  necessary  to 
be  at  the  centre  of  affairs,  to  be  situated  as  I  am,  to  see  all 
that  passes  everywhere,  to  know  the  resources  on  one  side  and 
the  lack  of  them  on  the  other  ;  in  a  word,  one  must  be  at  the 
very  focus  itself  in  order  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the  true  posi- 
tion of  things.  Never  was  there  one  more  complicated,  and 
never  has  a  part  been  played  by  any  Power  comparable  to  ours. 
We  are  so  completely  the  centre  of  everything  that  every  word 
— I  do  not  speak  of  negotiations — passes  through  us.  Napo- 
leon is  placed  so  peculiarly  that  wherever  he  knocks  he  receives 
for  answer,  "  Gro  and  ask  the  Austrian  Cabinet."  It  is  possible 
that  Caulaincourt  may  arrive  to-night.  All  that  is  nothing ; 
Prague  is  for  the  public,  and  all  that  is  done  out  of  Prague  is 
the  real  thing.' 


NOTES.  415 

Note  69,  ^age  199. 

On  the  celebrated  manifesto  of  war  of  1813,  of  which,  as 
everyone  knows,  Grentz  is  the  author,  the  latter  expresses 
himself,  in  a  letter  to  Metternich,  September  4,  1813,  in  the 
following  terms : — '  The  manifesto  could,  and  should,  have 
only  one  merit,  that  of  exhibiting  the  political  administration 
of  the  last  three  years  as  a  whole,  and  of  making  the  character 
of  it  clear  to  the  intelligent  part  of  our  contemporaries.  When 
Ancillon  wrote  to  me,  "  Vou8  avez  parle  comme  le  Tninistere 
autrichien  a  agi;  voila  voire  plus  bel  eloge"  this  was  the 
first  balm  of  comfort  to  my  heart.  When  I  afterwards  heard 
that  the  manifesto  was  regarded  as  a  sheet  of  glass,  through 
which  that  political  system  (which,  indeed,  I  had  not  devised, 
and  which  to  have  apprehended  was  glory  enough  for  me)  was 
seen  exactly  as  it  was — when  Frederick  Schlegel  himself  wrote 
to  me,  "  Now  I  understand  and  feel  that  the  course  of  events 
must  have  been  just  as  it  was ;  that  nothing,  yea  nothing, 
could  have  been  otherwise  " — then  I  began  to  feel  a  satisfac- 
tion and  joy  with  myself  such  as  I  had  not  known  since  1806, 
when,  as  was  felt  at  that  time,  my  measures  were  somewhat 
successful.  For  my  triumph  can  only  consist  in  this,  that  I 
help  to  make  our  triumph  the  true  triumph,  the  triumph  of 
which  language  is  only  the  weak  reflection,  and  which  the  world 
and  posterity  will  feel  and  acknowledge — glorious. 

Note  70,  page  203. 

With  what  feelings  of  confidence  the  heart  of  Metternich 
was  animated  we  have  a  convincing  proof  in  a  letter  which  he 
addressed  to  his  former  tutor.  Abbe  Hohn,  at  this  time  Pastor 
at  Tajax,  in  Moravia,  dated  Teplitz,  October  3,  1813  :— '  I  thank 
you,  dear  Abbe,  for  your  last  letter.  Certain  of  your  sympathy 
in  all  great  events,  and  equally  certain  of  the  friendly  interest 
which  you  take  in  my  political  welfare,  I  may  ask  you,  with 
confidence,  to  be  quite  easy :  I  have  begun  a  great  work ;  I  have 
slowly  advanced.  All  our  powers  must  be  concentrated.  We 
must  wait  our  opportunity.  We  must  have  moral  right  on  our 
side  in  order  to  carry  us  through  materially.  Heaven  has  blessed 
•our  undertaking  ;  heaven  helps  us  because  we  help  ourselves,  and 


416  NOTES. 

in  a  short  time  it  will  be  with  French  tyranny  as  with  the  cedar 
of  Lebanon.  The  springs  of  Napoleon's  power  are  broken. 
The  gigantic  edifice  totters  to  its  ruin ;  without  an  army,  even 
the  best  general  cannot  make  war :  and  the  army  of  Napoleon 
is  no  longer  an  army.  Our  strength  is  threefold  augmented,. 
our  resources  are  renovated  and  invigorated ;  his  are  old  and 
shattered :  we  go  slowly  because  we  will  go  surely.  We  wish 
for  no  temporary  action:  we  aspire  to  a  thorough  cure.  No 
heroic,  but  sure  measures ;  and  I,  if  Grod  give  me  life  and  health, 
will  c^rry  on  the  work  to  a  successful  end  :  on  this  point  have 
no  fear.  The  worst  is  past.  It  is  now  a  question  of  perseverance 
and  determination  to  follow  the  straight  path,  and  we  have  this 
perseverance  and  this  determination.' 

Some  days  before  this  Mettemich  wrote  to  his  father : 
*  Our  affairs  are  going  on  well,  and  that  upon  a  very  large 
scale.  Europe  will  be  saved,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  in  the 
end  no  little  merit  will  be  attributed  to  me.  Grod  has  en- 
dowed me  with  patience  and  strength.  For  some  years  my 
political  course  has  been  the  same,  and  a  great  power  like 
Austria  ought  to  conquer  all  obstacles,  if  it  is  well  directed, 
and  above  all  if  its  progress  is  uniform  and  always  towards 
the  same  end.  It  was  not  without  a  purpose  that  I  desired, 
before  undertaking  the  great  work,  thoroughly  to  know  my 
enemy  and  our  strength.  I  know  the  first  better  than  any- 
one in  Europe,  and  I  have  brought  the  last  to  a  point  which 
none  would  have  believed  it  capable  of  attaining  after  so 
many  years  of  defeats  and  misfortune.  It  only  remains  to  find 
the  moment  when  it  will  be  possible  to  undertake  the  thing 
without  excessive  risk.  I  have  prepared  this  time  by  the  armi- 
stice of  June  4,  and  I  have  attained  it  by  the  boldest  blow 
possible,  by  a  prolongation  of  the  armistice  of  twenty  days, 
which  I  have  taken  upon  myself  to  stipulate  in  the  name  of 
the  Powers,  without  saying  a  word  to  them ;  for,  with  their 
knowledge,  the  thing  would  be  impossible.  The  results  have 
proved  that  my  calculations  were  just.  The  Kussian  and  Prus- 
sian armies  have  come  in  time  to  cover  the  north  of  Bohemia, 
and  fix  the  chief  attention  of  Napoleon  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Elbe.  Bliicher  and  the  Prince  Royal  have  had  time  to  be 
ready ;  they  have  remained  far  enough  off  to  oblige  Napoleon  tO' 


NOTES.  417 

divide  his  forces  into  three  parts.  He  has  been  everywhere 
beaten,  and  one  cannot  but  estimate  his  loss,  since  the  opening 
of  the  campaign,  at  more  than  150,000  men,  and  300  guns. 
His  army  is  entirely  demoralised.  His  men  are  dying  of  hunger 
and  fatigue.  Ours  are  in  the  best  state,  and  animated  with  a 
rare  spirit.  I  saw,  two  days  ago,  battalions  crying  out  in  im- 
patience at  not  seeing  the  French  army  come  down  from  the 
mountains.  We  are  about  to  become  vigorous  once  more,  and 
Grod  will  crown  the  end  of  this  holy  enterprise.  Napoleon  has 
no  more  reserves,  and  we  have  one  of  more  than  200,0Q|S)  men. 
Benningsen's  army  has  just  formed  in  line.  Those  of  LabanofF 
and  de  Tolstoy  are  approaching  the  Oder.  We  shall  have  more 
fresh  men,  at  the  end  of  each  month,  than  we  can  lose.  All 
Prussia  is  under  arms,  and  all  Grermany  will  be  so.'  Metter- 
nich  wrote  to  his  daughter  Mary,  from  Teplitz,  October  1, 
1813  :  '  Everything  shows  that  the  hour  has  struck,  and  that  my 
mission  of  putting  an  end  to  so  many  evils  is  brought  to  a  point 
by  Heaven's  decree.  Napoleon  thinks  of  me  continually,  of 
this  I  am  certain ;  I  must  appear  to  him  like  a  sort  of  con- 
science personified.  I  told  him  everything  and  predicted 
everything  at  Dresden ;  he  would  not  believe  me,  and  the  Latin 
proverb,  "  Quos  deus  vult  perdere  dementat " — you  can  make 
Victor  translate  it — is  verified  anew.' 

Note  71,  x>age  206. 

In  a  memoir  of  that  time — it  is  dated  November  11,  1813, 
and  has  not  to  our  knowledge  ever  been  published — Gentz  de- 
votes to  the  men  who  had  brought  about  the  great  results  of 
the  battle  of  Leipzig  the  following  words  of  acknowledgment : — 
*  The  plan  of  campaign  which  was  not,  as  was  said,  the  work  of 
General  Moreau — although,  at  the  moment  of  the  arrival  of 
this  general  at  Prague,  this  plan  had  already  received  his  last 
sanction — was  planned  with  much  intelligence  and  executed  ^ 
with  much  precision  and  vigour.  Prince  Schwarzenberg,  never 
having  commanded  great  armies,  could  not  at  first  inspire  the 
absolute  confidence  which  is  only  given  to  a  successful  career. 
Besides,  he  was  a  man  of  great  modesty  and  of  extreme  gentle- 
ness and  simplicity.  When,  in  the  month  of  September,  it  was 
seen  that  he  would  risk  nothing,  but  waited  for  the  propitious 
VOL.  I.  E  E 


418  NOTES. 

moment,  anxious  people  and  timid  frondeurs  already  began  to 
condemn  his  prudence,  and  to  speak  of  him  as  of  a  general 
unequal  to  the  t^sk  imposed  upon  him.  These  charges  he 
gloriously  revenged.  Everyone  acknowledges  now  that  he  was 
exactly  the  man  required  to  moderate  the  passions  of  some, 
control  the  jealousies  of  others,  and  to  bring  into  one  scheme 
the  views  and  plans  of  three  sovereigns  and  half  a  dozen  generals 
supported  like  Barclay,  Wittgenstein,  Benningsen,  Kleist,  &c., 
by  a  long  and  brilhant  reputation.  The  wisdom  and  firmness 
with  which  Prince  Schwarzenberg  followed  his  operations,  with- 
out ever  yielding  to  the  clamours  of  the  multitude,  or  the  im- 
portunities of  the  great,  is  another  victory,  and  the  true  found- 
ation of  all  the  others.  The  edat  of  the  ser\aces  performed  by 
this  general  greatly  reflected  on  Prince  Metternich,  who  had  the 
mierit  of  having  designated  Prince  Schwarzenberg  for  the  com- 
mand, and  of  supporting  him  against  malcontents  and  de- 
tractors. But  for  M.  de  Metternich,  Prince  Schwarzenberg 
would  not  have  accepted  or  kept  the  chief  command ;  so  that 
the  same  minister  who  has  been  the  soul  of  all  the  political  com- 
binations, has  also  directly  insured  the  success  of  the  military 
operations.  He  has  even  followed  personally  all  the  movements 
of  the  army,  and  is  always  found  at  the  side  of  Prince  Schwarz- 
enberg during  action.  After  these,  the  first  place  as  to 
military  merit  must  undoubtedly  be  assigned  to  the  veteran 
Bliicher.  The  plan  of  operation  made  by  the  chief  of  his  staff. 
General  Gneisenau,  was  a  chef-cfceuvre,  and  the  execution  of 
this  plan  in  all  its  details,  from  Breslau  to  Leipzig,  was  the 
most  ingenious,  the  most  learned,  and  the  most  brilliant  of  the 
campaign.  One  cannot  be  as  satisfied  with  the  Prince  Eoyal 
of  Sweden.  The  general  opinion  is  that  the  splendid  move- 
ments which  led  to  and  followed  the  battle  of  Dennewitz,  and 
the  difierent  passages  of  the  Elbe,  were  rather  the  work  of 
some  excellent  Prussian  and  Russian  Generals,  such  as  Billow, 
Tauenzien,  Czemiczeflf,  and  Tettenborn,  who  were  under  his 
orders,  than  of  himself.' 

Note  72,  page  208. 

On  the  brilliant  success  of  the  enterprise,  Metternich  writes 
to   his   father,   from   Frankfort,    on   November    17,    1813,  as 


NOTES.  419 

follows:  'I  can  assure  you  an  end  more  glorious  than  all 
that  we  shall  have  intended.  Heaven  has  crowned  our  efforts  far 
beyond  what  appears  to  the  eyes  of  the  public.  One  must  be 
initiated,  as  I  am,  into  the  details  of  the  interior  of  France,  see  it 
as  closely  as  I  do,  to  be  able  to  place  oneself  exactly  at  the  true 
point  between  fear  and  hope,  truth  and  illusion.  I  have  the 
sweet  happiness  of  seeing  that  the  Emperor  recognises  that  my 
zeal  for  his  service  has  not  been  without  success;  he  feels 
that  he  owes  to  me  part  of  the  happiness  which  he  now  enjoys 
after  twenty  years  of  misfortune.  He  tells  me  so  ;  and  I  speak 
only  the  truth  when  I  reply  by  expressing  my  firm  conviction 
that  he,  by  his  firmness — and  by  that  precious  quality  of  which 
he  might  hardly  have  been  thought  susceptible — by  his  con- 
fidence, has  saved  Europe  :  and  Austria  would  never  have  saved 
herself  without  Europe.  I  know  that  this  last  truth  will  be 
considered  toute  vulgaire:  everyone  is  wise  after  the  blow; 
even  those  who  have  preached  that  nothing  should  be  done,  or 
taken  quite  an  opposite  side,  will  make  out  that  they  have  fore- 
told all  that  has  happened.  As  for  me,  I  content  myself  with 
feeling  that  I  have  not  deceived  myself  as  to  my  means  of 
action,  and  that  is  a  great  thing  to  say  in  1813.' 

Of  the  time  of  the  residence  of  the  Allied  Monarchs  in 
Frankfort,  Metternich  tells  a  very  characteristic  anecdote  of  the 
Emperor  Francis,  which  we  will  not  withhold  from  the  reader. 
*  In  the  year  1812,'  writes  Metternich,  'the  Prince  Primate 
von  Dalberg  had  founded  an  order  called  the  Order  of  Union 
{EintracM).  When  we  came  to  Frankfort,  after  the  battle  of 
Leipzig,  one  of  the  Knights  of  this  new  order  presented  himself 
to  the  Emperor  of  Austria  to  receive  his  Majesty's  consent  to 
wear  the  order.  "  If  you  are  not  ashamed,"  remarked  the 
Emperor  Francis,  "  it  is  perfectly  indifferent  to  me  whether 
you  wear  it  or  not." ' 

Note  73,  x>(^ge  214. 

In  the  famous  and  ever-memorable  declaration  from  Frank- 
fort of  December  1,  which  is  erroneously  ascribed  to  the 
pen  of  G-entz,  the  Allied  Powers,  confirmed  to  the  French  Em- 
pire an  extension  of  territory  such  as  France  never  had  under 
its  Kings.     *  The  Powers  confirm  to   the   French  Empire  an 

E  E  2 


420  NOTES. 

extent  of  territory  such  as  France  has  never  had  under  the- 
ancient  Kings,  for  a  brave  nation  does  not  lose  its  rank  because 
it  has  in  its  turn  sustained  reverses,  in  the  course  of  an  obsti- 
nate and  bloody  struggle,  in  which  it  has  fought  with  its  usual 
bravery.'  This  mode  of  expression  is  only  to  be  rightly  under- 
stood in  connection  with  the  proposals  of  mediation  by  the 
Allies  brought  by  St.  Aignan  to  Napoleon,  in  which  mention 
is  made  of  the  Pyrenees,  the  Alps,  and  the  Rhine,  as  the  natural- 
boundaries  of  France. 


Note  74,  page  222. 

On  the  reception  of  our  troops  in  Switzerland,  as  well  as  on 
the  impression  made  by  the  publications  from  Metternich's  pen, 
we  take  a  private  letter  of  the  Prince's,  written  at  Fribourg,  De- 
cember 26, 1813.  '  The  Swiss  have  received  us  wonderfully  ;  we 
are  in  full  march  towards  the  interior  of  France,  and  such  a 
conference  as  that  which  took  place  yesterday  at  my  house,  to 
regulate  the  manner  of  administrating  the  departments  that  we 
already  partly  occupy  and  are  going  to  occupy,  is  a  very  pleasant 
thing.  You  will  see  in  the  papers  a  note  which  I  have  addressed 
by  Lebzeltem  and  Capo  d'Istria  to  the  Landamman  of  Switzer- 
land, and  you  will  see  that  if  we  know  how  to  act  well,  we  also 
know  how  to  talk  well.  I  have  kept  up  a  general  conversation 
with  Europe  for  some  time,  and  it  is  a  difficult  matter.  What 
pleases  me  is  that  I  always  see  the  pieces  which  come  from  my 
pen  are  those  which  the  public  like  the  best.  I  am  certain  that 
my  little  proclamation  to  the  French  and  this  note  to  the  Swiss 
will  be  generally  approved.' 

Note  75,  page  234. 

In  the  collection  of  documents  left  by  Metternich  is  an 
original  pencil  sketch,  in  the  hand  of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  a 
fac-simile  of  which  we  give  in  this  work.  The  heading  of  the 
Protocol  of  the  Conference,  held  at  Bar-sur-l'Aube,  February 
25,  1814,  of  which  this  autograph  of  Alexander's  is  the  enclo- 
sure, is  written  by  Metternich,  as  follows  : — 


NOTES.  421 


Presents . 


Sa  Majeste  Imperiale  rEmpereur  d'Autriche. 

Sa  Majeste  Imperiale  TEmpereur  de  Kussie. 

Sa  Majeste  le  Koi  de  Prusse. 

Son  Altesse  le  Prince  de  Schwarzenberg,  Marechal  des 
armees  de  Sa  Majeste  Imperiale  et  Koyale  Apostolique,  Greneral- 
en-chef  des  armees  alliees. 

Son  Altesse  le  Prince  de  Metternich,  Ministre  des  affaires 
etrangeres  d'Autriche. 

Son  Excellence  Mylord  Viscount  Castlereagh,  principal  Se- 
cretaire d'etat  de  Sa  Majeste  Britannique  pour  le  departement 
des  affaires  etrangeres. 

Son  Excellence  le  Comte  de  Nesselrode,  Secretaire  d'Etat 
de  Sa  Majeste  I'Empereur  de  Russie. 

Son  Excellence  le  Baron  de  Hardenberg,  Chancelier  d'Etat 
de  Prusse. 

Son  Excellence  le  Comte  de  Radetzky,  Quartier-Maitre 
general  de  I'armee  autrichienne. 

Son  Excellence  le  Prince  Wolkonsky,  Chef  de  I'Etat-major 
general  de  Sa  Majeste  I'Empereur  de  toutes  les  Russies. 

Monsieur  le  Greneral  de  Diebitsch,  Quartier-Maitre  general 
de  I'armee  russe. 

Monsieur  le  General  de  Knesebeck,  Aide-de-camp  general 
de  Sa  Majeste  le  Roi  de  Prusse. 

Le  protocole  a  ete  tenu  par  Sa  Majeste  I'Empereur  de 
Russie,  dont  I'original  ci  inclus. 

En  foi  de  quoi  j'ai  signe  le  present  acte. 

Le  Pkince  de  Metternich. 

Note  7Q,  page  24:1. 
See  '  The  Abdication  of  Napoleon  and  the  arrival  of  Comte 
d'Artois  in  Paris.'     Two  reports  by  Metternich  to  the  Emperor 
Francis,  with  a  letter  in  answer  by  the  latter  (Nos.  189-191). 

Note  77,  page  250. 
After  the  conclusion  of  the  first  Paris  peace,  the  Emperor 
Francis  sent  a  royal  letter  to  the  famous  Field-marshal  Prince 
Carl    Schwarzenberg.       We  give   the   rough   copy   as  a  very 


422  NOTES. 

characteristic  fee-simile  of  Mettemich's  handwriting  and  that 
of  Emperor  Francis,  who  has  corrected  it. 

Note.  78,  page  250. 

The  return  of  Mettemich  to  Vienna  was  celebrated  by  a 
serenade  arranged  by  Count  Palflfy,  in  front  of  the  Chancellor's 
palace.  The  combined  musical  forces  of  the  Court  Theatre  and 
the  Vienna  Theatre  performed  the  overture  from  Beethoven's 
*  Prometheus.'  Baier  on  the  flute  and  Spohr  on  the  violin 
displayed  their  brilliant  talents  in  select  pieces.  At  the  end  of 
the  festivities,  a  Cantata  was  sung,  for  which  Dr.  Veith  had  com- 
posed the  words  and  Kinsky  the  music.  The  substance  of  this 
successftd  Cantata  consisted,  as  Der  Wanderer,  from  which  we 
take  this,  announces :  '  In  recognition  of  the  merits  of  the 
celebrated  statesman,  whose  wise  calculations  and  steadfast  per- 
severance, strengthened  by  the  choice  and  confidence  of  his 
Emperor,  effected  a  result,  by  earnest  prudence,  modera- 
tion and  wisdom,  which  a  year  ago  would  have  been  regarded 
as  the  most  fantastic  of  wishes.  Of  that  statesman  who,  un- 
concerned with  the  outcries  of  the  impatient  crowd,  knew  how, 
with  wise  caution,  to  delay  the  appeal  to  arms  until  certain  of 
the  implacabiHty  of  the  enemy,  and  till  he  was  also  convinced 
that  with  the  now  completed  armaments  of  the  Empire,  the  game 
of  war  might  be  begun  and  perfected  with  power  and  vigour, 
^ence  the  general  and  hearty  applause  which  the  public  paid  to 
all  those  passages  of  the  Cantata  which  celebrated  these  im- 
mortal deeds.'  This  Cantata  was  composed  by  Johann  Em- 
anuel Veith,  at  that  time  a  very  young  Doctor  of  Medicine,  but 
who  afterwards  became  celebrated  as  a  poet,  and  then  as  dis- 
tinguished as  a  theologian  as  he  had  been  as  a  physician. 

Note  79,  page  252. 

The  political  antagonism  between  the  national  and  progres- 
sive views  of  Freiherr  von  Stein  and  the  conservative  prin- 
ciples of  Mettemich  displays  itself  in  this  paper  wherever 
mention  is  made  of  Von  Stein ;  the  reader,  however,  receives 
no  hint  on  the  personal  relation  of  these  two  statesmen.  A 
letter  of  Mettemich  to  Freiherr  von  Gragem,  of  the  year  1833, 


NOTES.  423 

throws  some  light  on  this  point ;  and  is  also  in  many  respects 
of  great  interest.      Metternich  writes :  *  Your  friend  (Stein) 
hated  me ;  this  was  inevitable  from  his  character.     He  was  one 
of  those  men  who  are  well  described  by  the  English  word  "  im- 
pressionable."    For  my  own  part,  I  never  hated  Stein,  and  the 
hatred  of  individuals  is  a  weakness  which  exercises  no  influence 
upon  my  practical  life,  and  with  the  late  Baron  von  Stein  I 
never  had  other  than  business  relations.      In  these  we  had 
indeed  difficulty  in  agreeing,  for  where  the  objects  which  we 
pursued  did  not  stand  in  contradiction,  we  constantly  differed 
in  our  choice  of  means.     No  one  reverenced  more  than  I  did 
the  distinguished  gifts   of  heart   and   mind  of  Freiherr  von 
Stein.     I  very  much  doubt  whether  he  ever  formed  anything 
like    a    true   opinion  of  my   character.     If  he   ever   deemed 
me   worthy   of  the   trouble   of  investigating   what   the  man 
and  his  views  might  be  (an  undertaking  which  I  constantly 
made  my   duty),  he  never  understood  me,  and   consequently 
sought  me  where  I  was  not  to  be  found.     The  influence  of  each 
of  us  on  the  progress  of  events  between  1812  and  1820  furnishes 
a  proof  of  this.     His  letters  to  you  after  the  year  1830  prove 
to  me  that  their  author,  after  the  July  of  that  year,  had  taken 
up  ground  on  which  we  might  easily  have  met :  should  we  ever 
again    have    separated  ?      I  scarcely   think  it.     It  was   with 
Stein  as  with  men  of  much  mobility  of  character.     They  easily 
surrender  themselves,  even  in  the  most  important  cases,  to  the 
influence  of  mere  impressions,  and  by  these  men,  accordingly, 
illusions  are  often  taken  for  truth  until  the  force  of  things  un- 
looses knots  with  a  heavy  hand.'     Among  the  papers  left  by 
Metternich  there  are  only  three  letters  of  Stein,  two  of  the 
year  1810  and  one  of  the  year  1830.      The   former   letters 
belong  to  the  time  when  Stein,  banished  by  Napoleon  from 
Prussia,   had  found  an  asylum  in   Austria,  and   relate  to  his 
wish  to  exchange  his  residence  in  Briinn  for  that  in  Prague, 
which  was  at  once  granted  at  Metternich's  request,  and  brought 
forth  the  most  hearty  thanks  from  Stein.     The  letter  of  1830 
is  far   more  important,   because  it   shows   how   free   Metter- 
nich's conduct  towards  his  political  opponent  was  from  any  poli- 
tical prepossession.    Stein's  letter  contains  the  most  convincing 
roof  of  this. 


424  NOTES. 

'  The  formal  and  positive  denial  which  your  Excellency  has 
given  to  the  calumnious  assertion  of  M.  de  Bourrienne,  the  ex- 
pressions of  indignation  with  which  it  is  accompanied,  com- 
pletely destroy  the  impression  which  the  whining  and  cunning 
phrases  of  that  author  might  make  on  even  those  readers  the 
most  disposed  to  believe  evil  and  the  most  ignorant  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  time  and  the  character  of  the  persons.  It 
concerned  me  especially  that  this  effect  should  be  produced, 
because  the  "  Memoires  de  Bourrienne  "  will  remain  an  historical 
source  for  future  generations,  and  because  my  contemporaries, 
who  could  judge  me  with  knowledge  of  the  case,  are  disappear- 
ing in  rapid  succession.  Your  Excellency  has  granted  your 
attention  to  an  object  of  such  great  interest  for  me,  at  a  time 
when  your  feelings  have  been  so  cruelly  tried  by  the  loss  of  the 
dearest  objects  of  your  affection,  and  when  the  political  situa- 
tion of  Europe  demands  all  your  attention  and  vigoiur  of  mind. 
I  beg,  then,  that  your  Excellency  will  believe  that  I  know  how 
to  appreciate  your  goodness,'  &c.  &c. 

Note  80,  ^age  253. 

For  the  filling  up  of  the  history  of  the  Vienna  Congress, 
the  reader  will  make  use  of  the  Memoir  by  Friedrich  Gentz, 
left  among  Metternich's  papers,  and  illustrated  by  some  remarks 
of  the  Chancellor's  which  show  the  work  in  its  true  light,  and 
at  the  same  time  guarantee  the  accuracy  of  the  account  as  a 
whole.     See  'The  Vienna  Congress'  (Nos.  192-194). 

Note  S\^  page  25Z. 

At  the  grand  festivities  which  took  place  during  the  Vienna 
Congress,  a  peace  festival  was  held  at  Villa  Metternich,  to 
which  all  the  monarchs,  the  reigning  princes,  and  notabili- 
ties of  the  time  were  invited.  We  here  give  the  programme 
of  the  fete,  composed  by  the  inspector-general  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Music. 


NOTES.  426 

Programme  de  la  '  Fete  de  la  Paix '  pour  etre  ex^cuUe  dans 
les  jardins  de  Son  Excellence  le  Prwice  Mettemich  aupres 
de  Vienne. 

1.  Salle  pour  la  reception  de  Leurs  Majestes  les  Empereurs, 
le  Eoi  de  Prusse,  les  Imperatrices  et  Eeines,  et  autres  Princes 
et  Princesses,  invitees.  2.  Ballon  enlevant  dans  les  airs  un 
soleil  d'artifice  forme  de  lances  a  feu  avec  les  armes  des  sou- 
verains,  au  bruit  des  trompettes  et  tambours,  pour  annoncer 
le  commencement  de  la  fete.  3.  Depart  des  souverains, 
precedes  de  deux  directeurs  de  la  fete  qui  indiqueraient  la 
marche  et  la  promenade  dans  les  jardins,  les  pauses  et  repos 
necessaires  pour  faire  jouir  des  points  de  vue,  des  scenes,  des 
trophees,  des  danses,  des  differentes  musiques  vocales  et  instru- 
mentales,  solos,  duos,  trios,  masques  dans  les  bosquets  aux  tem- 
ples de  Mars,  d'Apollon  et  de  Minerve.  Apres  cette  prome- 
nade, qui  demande  beaucoup  de  soins  et  d'ordre,  pour  que 
per  Sonne  ne  precede  Leurs  Majestes  et  ne  masque  ces  tableaux 
mouvants,  il  faudra  conduire  les  souverains  au  grand  amphi- 
theatre. 4.  Grand  amphitheatre  qui  fera  face  a  la  pelouse. 
5.  Pelouse  qui  servira  de  theatre.  Trois  temples  decoreront  ce 
vaste  theatre  :  le  plus  considerable  occupera  le  milieu  et  sera 
dedie  a  la  Paix ;  les  deux  autres,  places  a  quelque  intervalle,  au- 
ront  pour  inscription  '  Aux  Arts,^  '  A  V Industrie.''  Derriere  ces 
deux  temples,  on  apercevra  une  partie  des  fortifications  et  des 
habitants  de  deux  grandes  villes.  La  pantomime  suivante 
s'exeeutera  au  feu  d'artifice.  Scene  I*"®.  La  Discorde,  .es- 
•cortee  de  divinites  infernales  et  trainee  sur  un  char  attele  de 
trois  chevaux  noirs,  parcourt  le  theatre  en  secouant  ses  torches ; 
elle  va  d'une  ville  a  I'autre  et  disperse  sur  sa  route  les  groupes  des 
peuples  qui  fuient  devant  elle ;  des  troupes  de  di verses  nations 
s'attaqvient ;  le  siege  des  villes  commence  ;  des  pelotons  de  ca- 
valerie  se  chargent,  I'infanterie  se  mele,  les  chefs  se  defient  au 
combat  singulier ;  le  bombardement  des  villes  continue,  les 
creneaux  des  remparts  sont  renverses,  les  tours  s'ecroulent,  un 
incendie  general  embrase  les  maisons,  les  femmes  se  sauvent 
emportant  leurs  enfants  et  vont  se  refugier  dans  les  temples. 
Un  bruit  de  victoire  se  fait  entendre,  des  chants  plus  doux 
viennent  frapper  I'oreille,  I'esperance  renait ;  le  temple  de  la 


426  NOTES. 

Paix,  ferme  jusqu'alors,  s'ouvre  de  nouveau :  les  divers  habi- 
tants sortent  des  asiles  oil  ils  s'etaient  refugies  et  forment  des 
groupes.  Ensuite,  une  marche  generale  oil  chaque  nation 
est  representee  par  un  officier  general  monte  sur  un  char 
tire  par  deux  chevaux  blancs  et  portant  des  drapeaux  et 
attributs  caracteristiques  de  chaque  Puissance.  Ce  cortege, 
entourant  un  autel  eleve  a  la  Paix,  entonnera  les  chants 
de  la  Concorde  et  prononcera  un  serment  d'alliance.  Pen- 
dant ce  temps  des  feux  de  joie,  tires  des  deux  villes, 
couronnent  ce  tableau  et  terminent  la  pantomime.  Pendant 
cette  pantomime,  il  faut  servir  le  souper  sur  nombre  de  tables 
rondes  qui  contiennent  dix  a  douze  converts.  Celles  des 
Puissances  auraient  fort  bon  effet  si  Ton  dressait  les  tables  sur 
des  caisses  de  tr^s-grands  orangers  dont  le  tronc  passerait  au 
centre  des  tables :  rien  n'est  plus  aise  en  faisant  la  table  de 
deux  morceaux.  6.  Apres  le  souper,  bal  general  dans  toils  les 
appartements. 

Note  82,  page  255. 

On  the  disagreement  which  took  place  between  the  Emperor 
Alexander  and  Prince  Mettemich  on  this  question,  the  reader 
will  find  further  particulars  in  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander in  the  'Grallery  of  Celebrated  Contemporaries,'  page  314. 
How  decided  was  the  attitude  of  the  Emperor  Francis  in  this 
Prusso-Saxon  controversy  is  shown  by  the  sentence  which  the 
Emperor  Francis,  in  answer  to  a  short  question  of  Mettemich's, 
wrote  with  his  own  hand  on  a  slip  of  paper :  '  I  have  declared 
to  the  King  of  Prussia  that  I  will  never  consent  that  Saxony 
shall  be  entirely  united  to  his  kingdom,  and  I  have  offered 
myself  as  mediator  between  Prussia  and  the  King  of  Saxony.' 

Note  83,  page  256. 

In  consequence  of  the  renewal  of  the  war  with  Napoleon, 
Mettemich  went  to  join  the  Emperor  Francis  at  his  head-quar- 
ters at  Heidelberg.  During  this  journey,  which  took  him  to 
Paris,  the  interesting  private  correspondence  occurs  which  we 
have  given,  and  amongst  them  a  letter  to  Talleyrand  and  two 
letters  to  the  Empress  Marie  Louise ;  the  other  seven  are  on 
family  matters.     See  'Journey  to  Paris'  (Nos.  1^7-207). 


NOTES.  42T 

Note  84,  page  258. 

Metternich's  secret  agent  was  Freiherr  von  Ottenfels,  then 
Court  Secretary  at  the  Chancery  of  State.  He  was  ordered  to 
go,  under  the  incognito  of  '  Henri  Werner,'  to  Basle,  and  there, 
at  the  hotel  *  The  Three  Kings,'  to  meet  the  confidant  of  Fouche. 
Instead  of  the  latter,  an  agent  sent  by  Napoleon  appeared  in 
the  person  of  M.  Fleury.  At  a  second  interview  the  mystifica- 
tion was  so  evident  that  the  negotiation  was  broken  off.  The 
interesting  instruction  for  Ottenfels,  which  the  reader  will  find 
under  the  head  of  '  Mission  of  Ottenfels  to  Basle,'  plainly  proves 
that  nothing  like  an  agreement  existed  between  the  Emperor 
Francis  and  Napoleon  (Nos.  206-209).  Metternich's  opinion 
of  the  way  in  which  this  subject  was  treated  by  history  cannot 
refer  to  Thiers's  '  Histoire  du  Consulat  et  de  I'Empire,'  the 
fourteenth  volume  of  which,  where  this  is  mentioned,  did  not 
appear  till  1861,  consequently  after  Metternich's  death.  In 
that  work  the  incident  is  related  pretty  accurately,  which  is 
perhaps  to  be  explained  from  the  circumstance  that  Thiers 
got  his  information  at  the  right  source — namely,  from  Met- 
temich  himself.  During  Metternich's  latter  years,  Thiers  had 
put  to  him  a  great  number  of  questions  which  at  his  re- 
quest Metternich  answered  by  letter.  Amongst  these  is  the 
following : — '  The  mission  of  M.  Werner  (Ottenfels)  to  Basle 
is  certain:  what  was  its  object  and  importance?'  This  point 
is  important,  for  this  mission  had  serious  consequences,  by 
setting  Napoleon  at  variance  with  Fouche.  Metternich's 
answer  to  this  letter  of  Thiers,  which  bears  date  May  1859,  is 
not  in  the  collection  of  writings  left  by  Metternich. 

Note  85,  j^age  263. 

The  very  short  description  of  the  peculiarity  of  the  Austrian 
Imperial  state  allowed  the  author  to  give  but  a  slight  notice  of 
the  time  of  the  Government  of  Joseph  II.     We  therefore  give  , 
here   the  opinion  of  Metternich    on    that   monarch  more   in 
detail.     It  is  taken  from  a  paper  written  in  1839. 

The  short  government  of  Francis  II.  bore  the  stamp  of  a 
purely  personal  government,  and  was  guided  by  the  influence  of 
the  philosophical  spirit  of  the  eighteenth  century,  which  appeared 
no  less  from  the  independent    decrees  of  this  monarch  than 


428  NOTES, 

the  counsels  of  the  men  who  surrounded  his  person.  In 
the  reign  of  Maria  Theresa  the  soil  was  still  wanting  for  the 
spread  of  philosophical  theories.  Their  subsequent  rise  is  to  be 
explained,  first,  from  the  character  of  the  heir  to  the  throne, 
but  it  was  also  excited  by  the  example  of  Frederick  II.  and 
Catherine  II.,  although  those  monarchs  in  reality  only  played 
with  these  philosophical  tendencies.  From  the  moment 
of  his  accession  to  the  throne  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  took 
quite  another  direction  from  what  the  philosophers  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  revolutionists  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury intended.  His  thoughts  were  all  directed  to  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  central  power,  which  he  endeavoured  to  support  by 
the  centralisation  of  the  administration  of  the  Empire  and  by  the 
Grermanisation  of  the  different  races.  To  attain  this  piu-pose, 
the  Emperor  surrounded  himself  with  counsellors,  out  of  whom 
he  formed  a  cabinet,  a  form  of  government  after  the  model  of 
Frederick  II.,  and  the  men  whom  he  called  to  this  position 
were  all  still  further  advanced  in  the  philosophical  ideas  of  the 
century  than  their  Imperial  master ! 

The  government  of  Joseph  II.  may  be  divided  into  three 
periods.  The  first,  from  1780  to  the  end  of  1783,  may  weU  be 
called  a  period  filled  with  unsuccessful  attempts ;  the  second, 
which  likewise  lasted  three  years,  was  devoted  to  useful  reforms 
of  government;  the  third  period  comprehended  the  war  with 
the  Porte,  which  was  badly  conducted  and  had  been  un- 
dertaken more  for  the  advantage  of  Russia  than  in  the  true 
interests  of  Austria.  The  last  year  of  Joseph  II.'s  life  is 
marked  by  the-  withdrawal  of  the  decrees  which  clashed  with  the 
constitutional  rights  of  the  separate  countries,  which  decrees 
had  excited  the  population  in  the  Netherlands,  and  had  incurred 
the  danger  of  an  insurrection  at  a  time  when  political  peace 
was  already  seriously  threatened  by  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
Revolution. 

Great  as  was  the  influence  of  Joseph  II.'s  government  on 
his  successors,  certainly  the  greatest  consequences  were  pro- 
duced by  the  period  when  the  revocation  of  the  encroachments 
on  the  old  Hungarian  constitution  took  place.  This  revoca- 
tion had  the  effect  of  a  real  change  of  constitution  because,  by 
decrees  of  the  Diet  in  1790-91  (which  at  the  Emperor  Francis's 


NOTES.  429 

accession  were  still  confirmed  by  those  of  the  year  1792),  a 
new  legislation  took  the  place  of  the  old. 

The  Emperor  Joseph,  by  carrying  out  his  ideas  of  Ger- 
nmrdsation  and  centralisation  in  Hungary,  also  injured  the 
national  feehng  and  the  constitution  of  the  country,  excited 
the  Magyar  feeling  and  caused  a  desire  for  separation  in  the 
Hungarian  people.  We  will  not  inquire  whether  the  under- 
taking would  have  had  more  prospect  of  success  if  the  Emperor 
Joseph,  instead  of  pursuing  his  aim  now  in  a  direct,  now  in  an 
indirect,  manner,  had  gone  straight  on  without  hesitation.  If 
instead  of  giving  up  the  ceremony  of  coronation,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  spirit  of  the  constitution  and  the  customs  of  the 
country,  has  a  legal  signification,  he  had  taken  the  initiative 
in  revising  the  existing  constitution  ;  and,  lastly,  had  appeared 
openly,  instead  of  hiding  his  idea  of  reform  with  scruples  as 
to  the  coronation-oath,  and  brought  his  projects  of  improve- 
ment before  the  Diet — ^thus  he  would  have  opened  a  vast 
field  for  useful  reforms,  in  the  real  interest  of  the  country. 
It  suffices  to  point  out,  on  the  one  hand,  the  failure  of  the 
system  followed  by  Joseph  II.,  and  on  the  other,  to  emphasise 
the  troubles  which  the  Emperor  has  left  to  his  successors  on 
the  throne  of  Hungary  in  consequence  of  this  very  proceeding, 
and  especially  by  his  change  of  opinion.  The  first  acts  of 
Joseph  II.'s  government  gained  the  approbation  of  all  innova- 
tors, an  approbation  which  was  preserved  to  this  monarch  for 
acts  of  a  later  period  of  his  reign,  which  had  nothing  in  common 
with  his  former  revolutionary  directions,  because  the  people 
who  had  applauded  him  before  would  not  own  to  themselves 
that  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  had  deserted  them.  The  greater 
part  of  the  concessions  which  he  made  to  the  spirit  of  the  age 
were  maintained  for  a  short  time  only.  Amongst  other  things, 
the  liberty  of  the  press  lasted  only  a  few  months.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment,  when  chas- 
tisement  was  inflicted  to  which  death  seemed  preferable. 

The  moral  consequences  of  so  many  unsuccessful  attempts, 
and  some  organic  laws  of  undeniable  value,  remain  to  us  from 
the  time  of  Joseph.  The  kingdom  of  Bohemia,  where  these  laws 
were  applied  more  vigorously  than  in  other  countries  of  the 
monarchy,  owes  to  them  the  height  to  which  she  has  risen  in 


430  NOTES. 

various  directions  in  consequence  of  the  regulations  of  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  administration  and  industry.  But  it  is 
especially  the  army  into  which  the "  reign  of  Joseph  II.  brought 
life,  under  the  direction  of  Field-Marshal  Lascy,  which  the 
Imperial  army  has  shown  most  brilliantly  on  every  occasion,  so 
that  Napoleon  himself  called  its  organisation  the  best  possible. 
These  and  other  arrangements  will  always  throw  a  favourable 
light  on  a  monarch  who,  though  involved  in  many  errors,  was 
yet  animated  by  a  creative  and  reforming  spirit.  None  of  his 
mistakes  were  rooted  in  revolutionary  ideas,  which  only  those 
will  not  acknowledge  who  see  something  meritorious  in  that 
very  circumstance. 

Joseph  II.  was  guided  by  autocratic  principles.  He  wished 
to  unite  in  his  hand  all  the  elements  of  power,  and  to  this  end 
he  would  remove  all  obstacles  which  the  singular  constitutions 
of  the  country,  and  the  variety  of  the  nationalities  of  his  empire, 
put  in  his  way.  Free  and  liberal  in  his  words,  he  was  not  so  in 
his  deeds,  and  certainly  not  so  in  the  sense  of  modern  liberalism. 
A  fifiend  of  order,  he  sought  the  metos  of  strengthening  it  by  a 
government  free  from  every  troublesome  fetter.  Joseph  II. 
was  certainly  more  an  organiser  than  a  legislator. 

Note  86,  page  265. 

The  continuation  of  the  Autobiographical  Notices  will  follow 
in  the  Second  Part  of  this  work — ^those  of  the  time  from  1816  to 
March  1848. 


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