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THE 
 
 CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 
 
 </ 
 
 a 
 
 BY M. DE PRADT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "THE ANTIDOTE TO THE CONGRESS OE RADSTADT," AND 
 "THE HISTORY OE THE EMBASSY TO WARSAW," ^c. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 COMPLETE m ONE VOLUME. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 PCBilSHED BY M. CAREY, NO. 121, CHESNTIT-STKBET^ 
 
 AND 
 
 WEUiS AND LILLY, BOSTON. 
 18i6. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface 
 
 Cha?M. 
 
 2. 
 
 4. 
 5. 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 Preliminaries of the Congress 
 
 Reappearance of Diplomacy 
 
 Object of the Congress 
 
 Division of Europe into two Zones 
 
 New State of Nations 
 
 Of the Political Balahce of Europe in gene- 
 ral . . . . 
 
 Of the Opportunities lost during the last Cen- 
 tury of establishing the Political Balance 
 of Europe .... 
 
 "What has been done in Europe for the last 
 One Hundred Years towards establishing 
 the Balance of Power 
 
 The Spirit presumed to actuate the Congress 
 
 Of the real Spirit which actuates the Con- 
 gress .... 
 
 Of the Establishment of the Political System 
 
 Page 
 ix 
 
 17 
 19 
 
 21 
 23 
 32 
 
 45 
 
 59 
 
 66 
 
 78 
 
 86 
 
 
 that existed 
 
 in 1789 
 
 96 
 
 12. 
 
 France 
 
 
 100 
 
 13. 
 
 Great Britain 
 
 
 114 
 
 14. 
 
 Prussia 
 
 
 120 
 
 15. 
 
 Russia 
 
 
 129 
 
 16. 
 
 Poland 
 
 
 133 
 
 17. 
 
 Austria 
 
 
 137 
 
 18. 
 
 The Empire 
 
 
 143 
 
 19. 
 
 Italy.— The Pope . . ' . 
 
 146 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 Page 
 
 Chap. 20. Saxony and Naples . . . 157 
 
 21. Free Cities. — Hanse Towns . . 171 
 
 22. Portugal.—Malta . . . 174 
 
 23. Spain .... 179 
 ^ 24. Cession and Incorporation of Nations 180 
 "™" 25. Permanent Policy of Europe . 184 
 
 ' 26. Twofold State of Europe . . 192 
 -^ 27. Errors of the Congress.— Religion. — Colo- 
 nies and Commerce . . 194 
 38. Unfortunate Condition of Europe. — Dan- 
 gers arising from it . . 216 
 
 29. Of Political Writers, and their Relations 
 
 with the maintenance of general Peace 330 
 
 30. Last Treaty . , . . 235 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Work on the Consress at Vienna, now offered 
 to public notice, may be considered as a continuation oi 
 those which I have written on the principal events of the 
 past eighteen years. 
 
 At Radstadtj the Germannic empire supported the 
 weight of negotiations, which proved as useless in their 
 results as the forms which accompanied them were pain- 
 ful. At that time, appeared the ^^ Antidote to the Con- 
 gress at Radstadt ,-'' sl Work, in which it was attempt- 
 ed to correct the mistakes of the Congress, either by an 
 exposition of the nature of revolutions, and the conside- 
 ration of which appeared to have escaped its notice ; 
 or by pointing out a system more appropriate to circum- 
 stances than that which was adopted. 
 
 In 1799, Austria, Russia, and a part of the empire, 
 marched against the reigning authority in France. It 
 was very clear that all their eflbrts, without the co- 
 operation of Prussia, would be of no avail, and that, 
 with it, their success would have been certain. It was 
 not less evident that Prussia, entangled in the web of a 
 policy, of the nature of which she herself was neither 
 aware, nor could foresee the result, by thus separating 
 herself from Europe, advanced towards the catastrophe 
 she experienced within the course of six years. The 
 consideration of the dangers attached to this conduct 
 
X Preface, 
 
 occasioned the publication of the work, entitled, ^^ Prus- 
 sia and her JSTentrality. 1799." 
 
 Ten years since, the West India colonies were, some 
 of them, subverted, and others threatened with the dis- 
 orders, that, since the year 1790, have affected the co- 
 lonial system. At that time, the great American conti- 
 nent, in some of its divisions, experienced the effects 
 of revolutionary principles, proceeding either from the 
 events of a protracted contest, or the influence of its 
 neighbour, the United States. In a word, the funda- 
 mental principle of the colonial system was attacked, 
 as well as its actual sitoation. An attempt was made 
 to re-establish this principle, and to call the attention, 
 of Europe to the state of the colonies, in a Work, en- 
 titled '^The Three ^.ges of Colonies. 1801.'^ 
 
 The Congress at Yieana, destined to put an end to 
 the agitation of Europe, and to determine its situation 
 for a long succession of ages, offers a most extensive 
 field for reflection, on a subject irjUuitely more import- 
 ant than the circumstances to which we have alluded. 
 Europe should, for a length of time, have considered 
 the Congress of Vienna as the commencement of a new 
 era. From tliat period the spirit by which it was actu- 
 ated should have been regarded with an high interest, 
 as well as the results to be expected. Its object was 
 no less than the arrangement of a political futurity for 
 all Europe. If the edifice was solidly constructed, if 
 its parts were well proportioned, it would remain, and 
 Europe would, for a considerable time, have reposed 
 under its tutelar protection. If, on the contrary, it 
 erred from a want of the qualities essential to every 
 species of construction, then the Congress will have 
 proved itself to be a lesser benefit ; and its acts will not 
 be found of such a character as we could have desired: 
 It partakes more of the nature of a system of warfare 
 than an establishment for the preservation of peace.) 
 The f(jrraer is, in its very nature, transient. One cam- 
 paign may repair the false calculations of another; but 
 the object of peace being to correct the errors of war, 
 
Preface. xi 
 
 it is more durable, and deserves a more serious consi- 
 deration. If we seek for the causes of the wars that 
 have crimsoned the plains of Europe for many ages, 
 we sliall trace their origin to the very treaties which, 
 under the appearance of putting au end to existing war, 
 in fact did nothing else than lay the foundation of a new 
 one. Since that which, in his energetic language, the 
 illustrious Burke called W\q market of Bash,, how many 
 treaties of peace have there been, that have not pro. 
 duced new wars? Therefore, it would have been curi- 
 ous to ascertain whether the Congress of Vienna, the 
 absolute master of the subject, an advantage not pos- 
 sessed in any other negotiations, would make use of 
 this advantage with the latitude that circumstances re- 
 quired, and the power with which it had been invested. 
 To ascertain wliether this was or was not effected, is 
 the object of this Work. It is not a history of the ne- 
 gotiations of the Congress, but an investigation of the 
 spirit by which it was actuated, and the probable con- 
 sequences of the system it established. The determi- 
 nations of the Congress are become public acts ; they 
 concern the world, and should become the object of its 
 scrutiny. We have proceeded in this investigation with 
 the most perfect candour, and free from any party or 
 local spirit. If we have expressed our opinion on every 
 subject, it is because we have written for every person, 
 and because truth is the interest of all. In uniting an 
 accurate observation of this principle, to that regard 
 which is due in its application to individuals, and more 
 especially to the chiefs of nations, we believe that we 
 have equally availed ourselves of what were our rights, 
 and fulfilled the duties prescribed to us. 
 
 If our earlier productions have been stamped with a 
 sufficiently impartial character, not to be more attributed 
 to an inhabitant of France, than to one of any other 
 country, we may presume to hopevthat the same cha- 
 racter will be no less distinguishable in the present. 
 We might even say, that the more extensive the scene, 
 it becomes the more difficult to abandon this impartial!- 
 
xii Preface. 
 
 ty. In fact, can personal feelins^s find a place in the 
 midst of sucli important interests ? Thus it is by no 
 means with a view to favour Prussia, that our opinions 
 on the subject of that state have been so fully expressed 
 in the present work. Truth has alone guided and sup- 
 ported us in the ideas, which we well know will not 
 suit every taste. The same observation may be applied 
 to an opinion on the subject of the union of Belgium and 
 Holland, which will occasion a great loss to France, 
 and be as contrary to our inclinations as our interests. 
 But, in rejecting every personal idea, we have balanced 
 the advantages and disadvantages of a political aqt, re- 
 sulling from an established system, and the actual state 
 of things, wherever may be found their origin. 
 
 In treating of the Congress of Vienna we wish to re- 
 mark : 
 
 First; the extent of its labours, which embraced an 
 immense mass of interests. At other periods, many 
 years would have been scarcely sufficient to arrange this 
 chaos; even when ability and sincerity in the agents, 
 as well as good order, were supposed to exist. 
 
 Second ; The vigour and determination displayed in 
 the pursuit of the enemy, who appeared in the month of 
 March. The Congress did not show a moment's hesi- 
 tation, or division of opinion. By this conduct, the first 
 expression of Napoleon, when he landed on the French 
 shores, *' The Congress is dissolved,^' was rendered 
 vain. Business and war have gone hand in hand. More 
 time was not lost in the cabinet than in the field. If, 
 from the first appearance of the revolution, such promp- 
 titude of action had been exhibited, what misfortunes 
 would not have been prevented ! 
 
 Third ; The liberality of the sentiments professed 
 and carried into execution by the Congress. Its object 
 was not confined to individuals, whom they sought to 
 unite in bonds of mutual friendship, but it also had the 
 interests of nations^ in view ; vvitii regard to Switzer- 
 land particiilarly, it evinced an honourable solicitude. 
 The sovereigns, the guardians of its interests^ have 
 
Preface. xiii 
 
 shown a perseverance in powerful efforts, that cannot 
 be too much applauded, in order to overcome all the 
 principles of hatred and dissension that divided the in- 
 terests of Switzerland, and the various parties existing 
 in that country. We have seen them arm themselves 
 one against the other. We have seen the allies interfere 
 between men ready to quarrel, labour to dissipate their 
 prejudices, to conciliate their pretensions, and at last 
 succeed, by leading them into the bosom of the same 
 family. To their care will Switzerland be indebted 
 for the enjoyment of a durable repose under the laws of 
 her ancient association, and remain as she ever has, the 
 last asylum of innocence, the most happy residence in 
 Europe. 
 
 Because we do not enter into all the views of the 
 Congress, because we have dared to compare our own 
 ideas with those it adopted, it does not follow that we 
 call for their revision, still less for the destruction of its 
 work. 
 
 Too cruel experience has taught us the danger of 
 proceeding so violently. We have only wished to show 
 the probable consequences of the system established by 
 the Congress, and, at the same time, to indicate the 
 correctives which maybe applied for public benefit. To 
 time alone it belongs to produce the circumstances fa- 
 vourable to their application. Above all, it was of im- 
 portance to render the condition of the various parties 
 permanent; to distinguish the powerful and the weak; 
 and thus to furnish the first elements of reflection to 
 those men, who are every where charged with the main- 
 tenance of a system that, however imperfect may be its 
 arrangements, has cost them dear. 
 
 Some may class part of this work with Utopian pro=. 
 ductions ; an accusation very common with those who 
 themselves possess neither foresight nor the means of 
 action. This is granted. But let them also be careful 
 in recollecting, that the Utopian ideas of '^ The Con- 
 gress at Radstadt," of " Prussia and its Neutrality,'' 
 
xiv Preface. 
 
 " The Three Ages of Colonies," have been, in a great 
 measure, and long since, realised. 
 
 The order of argument observed in this Work has 
 I often led us to refer to the acts of Napoleon, of which 
 I we shall for many ages experience the eflPect. He has 
 covered Europe with wrecks aud monuments. Modern 
 states are erected with the scattered fragments of his 
 empire, as in former ages they were formed out of the 
 wreclis of the Roman empire. This prince, who had 
 visited Egypt, must have remarked, that the pyramids, 
 for four thousand years, bad braved the ravages of 
 time, because they rested on their base. He preferred 
 placing his own on its point, and giving for its support 
 piers, formed of a continually increasing number of 
 bayonets. A storm proceeding from the North over- 
 turned the building, and buried the architect under its 
 ruins. The error, evident in the construction of this 
 edifice, was as much for the want of a foundation, as a 
 supposition that its events would only be such as occnr 
 in the ordinary course of nature ; and an expectation 
 that, at least, it would have sunk in a less violent, 
 though, in good truth, a manner no less certain. 
 
 We have taken great care to distinguish the divi- 
 sions of Europe into two confederations ; the one con- 
 tinental, the other maritime. These for the future form 
 the pivot of her policy. Correctly speaking, Europe 
 in its present state has only three great interests : 
 
 First ; To disarm and destroy tfie military spirit, 
 / Second ; To confirm good order in France. 
 
 Third ; To terminate the troubles of Spanish Ame- 
 rica, by the emancipation of that country. 
 
 The two first objects will form the safety of Europe; 
 the latter its wealth. To become quiet, it is necessary 
 she should repossess herself of her wealth, and repair 
 the losses occasioned by the disorders of the past twen- 
 ty-five years. Men contented with their lot, gradually 
 advancing towards a happier futurity, will be more ea- 
 sily governed than those interdicted from alleviating the 
 
Preface. xv 
 
 feelings of past losses, by the hope of there being a pe- 
 riod to their privations and their siiiferings. 
 
 It is satisfactory to think, that, with the exception of 
 these events, which surpass all belief because they sur- 
 pass all sort of calculation, nothing appears to prevent 
 our announcing to Europe that this is the commence- 
 ment of a prolonged scene of repose. We may say 
 that the contentious matter is exhausted. Every thing 
 is regulated. On the other hand, Europe is protected 
 from every attempt at extensive conquest. In three hun- 
 dred years it has suffered under three enterprises of 
 this nature. One by Spain under Charles the Fifth 
 and Philip the Second. By France, under Louis the 
 Fourteenth and Napoleon. All have had equal suc- 
 cess, and have terminated by plunging the two coun- 
 tries into an abyss, which they will for a long time bear 
 in mind. Hence, Europe may be disarmed ; may re- 
 turn to her civil state, and relieve her inhabitants from 
 the burden of immense armies ; the estahlisiiraent of 
 which exhausts the wealth of its people, and the spirit 
 of which is only calculated to extinguish that of liberty. 
 
 We may also remark, as a circumstance favourable 
 to the maintenance of peace, that there prevails such an 
 uniformity of age among the sovereigns who have con- 
 curred in its conclusion, as to enable us to hope that 
 the same hands which have contributed to establish, 
 will for a long time continue to preserve it. This cor- 
 respondence of age will prevent those sudden transi- 
 tions from one system to another, that too often distin- 
 guish the changes in a reign ; for, to succeed to the 
 same situation is not to succeed to the same ideas and 
 the same inclinations. We may also congratulate our- 
 selves on being able to think, that these princes are 
 equally induced by their own virtues, as the interests 
 of their states, to consolidate this sreat work. 
 
THE 
 
 CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Preliminaries of the Congress, 
 
 The thirty.first day of March 1814 ! A day that 
 will he memorable to eternity ! No longer did Madrid, 
 Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, behold their former masters 
 flying, and their conquerors planting their ensigns on 
 their battered and degraded walls. The thunder has 
 returned to peal over those places whence, for the past 
 twenty years, it has never ceased to issue. In its turn, 
 Paris has received its conquerors. They entered into 
 the city that had conveyed terror, with its decrees, into 
 every empire. He who for a long time had burst froni 
 the capital with the rapidity of the eagle and the strength 
 of the lion, in order to seize, either as an easy prey, or 
 as a trembling victim, every people in Europe, tamely 
 submitted to the triumphant entry of the enemies he had 
 produced, and whom he was less able to deceive thaii 
 to conquer. He approached near enough to hear the 
 cries that distinguished the overthrow of his throne- 
 silent and pale, he separated himself from the city he 
 knew not how to defend, and which, for the happiaesg 
 of Fiance, he ought never to have revisited. 
 
 Similar to the condition of a man relieved of a most 
 oppressive load, Europe gave a long sigh, and began to 
 breathe. Henceforward, all the revolutionary policyj, 
 
 G 
 
18 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 which had been established with such difficulty, disap- 
 peared, like the decorations of a theatre. In an instant, 
 from Hamburgh to Rome, the marks of the new go- 
 vernment are effaced ; the former ones are brought for- 
 ward; the ill-assorted ties uniting twenty various na- 
 tions, formed by violence, burst of their own accord. 
 Then sovereigns re-entered the palaces where acclama- 
 tions, of which they were no longer objects, had but 
 recently resounded. Never had there been witnessed 
 such a scene — one day changing the face of the whole 
 world, and destroying the work of twenty ages ; for in 
 the revolutionary scale, it is not by years, but by ages, 
 that we are to reckon. France, that has occasioned all 
 this subversion, must be first quieted. This great body 
 must be fixed, in order that Europe shall not vacillate: 
 so much, even in its fall, does it preserve its influence. 
 A treaty recalled this country to its ancient possessions, 
 and there it remained. But all that the war had affect- 
 ed, and what has it not affected ? was to be regulated. 
 The one sought for spoils ; the other found itself too 
 weak for its more powerful neighbour. Here the situa- 
 tion was vacant : there many disputed it. One implored 
 an indemnity for the past ; another showed the dangers 
 of the future. On all sides were heard cries of justice, 
 indemnity, peace, and the balance of power. Who was 
 to organise this chaos, and oppose a barrier to this tor- 
 rent of pretension? Arms had produced their effect. It 
 remained for policy to avail itself of their operations and 
 complete the work ; or, in the words of the Homan ora- 
 -. tor, Cedant arma togce. Vienna is to become the noble 
 \ tlieatre of the most expanded and generous patriotism 
 / that ever existed ; for it embraced Europe — through it, 
 / the universe. Already has the scene commenced ; and 
 this august assemblage will take place, after the short 
 space of time of which the sovereigns had made use to 
 revisit those places whence the cares of war had so long 
 withdrawn their attention. For in our days, as in those 
 of the Crusades, war has brought sovereigns into the 
 field. At last the hour arrived, and pleasures, inter- 
 
Congress of Vienna, 19 
 
 preted as sincere pledges of mutually benevolent dispo- 
 sitions, gaily introduced tliese arbiters of tbe destinies 
 of Europe into the sanctuary where they were to be 
 decided. The Congress was opened. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Me-appearance of Diplomacy. 
 
 Here Europe discovered that which it had for a long 
 time lost — diplomacy re-appeared. 
 
 It had for ages afforded to those distinguished in its 
 services the exalted honours reserved in all countries for 
 the most eminent personages. The names of celebrated 
 negotiators are united, in history and the archives of 
 nations, with those who have rendered them the most 
 illustrious. Men who have defended the interests of the 
 state by the extent, the force, the suppleness of their 
 talents, may place themselves, without fear, in the same 
 rank with those who have exerted their valour in the 
 field ; and their wise combinations have not obtained 
 less honour, or had a less right to the admiration of 
 mankind, because they have not possessed an eclat so 
 brilliant as the successful efforts of the warrior. Often, 
 nay, almost always, the latter has been but the instru- 
 ment of diplomacy, the agent of the statesman. 
 
 Since the peace made between the Convention (of 
 France) and the powers of Europe in 1795, and which 
 was signed by Count Carletti, in the name of the Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany, there have been no real negotiations 
 in Europe. We have seen stipulations, acts signed, 
 truces clothed with the name and deceitful appearance 
 
so Congress of Vienna. 
 
 of peace s but there have been none of those negotiations 
 to which Europe had been so long accustomed. Strength 
 was too much on one side — weakness too marked on the 
 other. Dangers too imminent, too grave, to constitute 
 that species of discussion, to be termed diplomacy. It 
 exists only among equals. Hence, what equality can be 
 found with those who have the power of taking every 
 thing, and those who can retain nothing ; between those 
 who have lost all, or almost all, and those who have 
 obtained everything; between those who painfully de- 
 fend a mere wreck, and those who command in the capi- 
 tal of the sovereign with whom they treat, who occupy 
 his states, and make use of their resources to supply 
 their wants, with as little discretion as fear? Thus have 
 all the negotiations been characterised for the past twen- 
 ty years — negotiations in which the Gauls have always 
 put tiieir swords into one of the scales. In short, all 
 these treaties have been traced by the sword. 
 
 After a lapse of eighteen hundred years, we have seen 
 Europe return to that state of things established in 
 Rome, in which the conquered, at the feet of the con- 
 queror, received what was convenient for him to let re- 
 main, and what he was neither able to take nor distri- 
 bute. A little more, and even this limit would have 
 been over-stepped. The Congress of yienna will stop 
 these invasions of force ; it will banish these Roman 
 prai-tices ; it will re-establish those humane habits that 
 have governed Europe ; and, in the silence of arms, 
 reason will he heard. 
 
 Surely, after so many years of distress and violence, 
 of attacks without motives, of battles without end, of 
 convulsions without result, of transactions without unity 
 or solidity, without a guarantee for their duration, it is an 
 imposing spectacle to see the senate of Europe assembled 
 under its most powerful and august chiefs, formed by all 
 the names whom policy recommends to the public con- 
 fidence; of all those wlio, having known how to cut the 
 Oordian knot of the power of Napoleon, will not find it 
 difficult to unravel the thread of the labyrinth in which 
 
Congress of Vienna. SI 
 
 his policy lias bewildered them. Many other difficul- 
 culties have been overcome ; and surely it is nearer from 
 Paris to Vienna, than from Moscow to Paris. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Object of the Congress. 
 
 But on what subject, I could almost say on what ma- 7 
 terials, will this Congress begin to work? Oa,,a new j 
 worJLd. Twenty-five years have changed every thing. ^ 
 Seek no longer in Europe for the men who once were | 
 there, who agitated it, and who shone in more recent ^ 
 epochas. All is passed. From the pole, to that deli- 
 cious climate inhabited by the children of great Greece, 
 discover, if you are able, what existed in those daysj, of 
 which the twilight is scarcely extinct. What is become 
 of thou, son of Vasa? What is this new crown, which, 
 taken from tlie forehead of Margaret of Waldemar, is 
 united with yours, on that of a successor, that in your 
 time 3'ou would not have acknowledged? Why is on© 
 part of Scandinavia detached from the sceptre of Chris- 
 tian, which it cherished, and separated from him by 
 new laws, as it is by its shores ? What are the cries 
 and tears that resound and flow around this king, whose 
 possessions would for ever have remained inviolablcj, 
 if virtue would have been sufficient to defend men? 
 Whom have ye offended, countries of Jagellon and So> 
 bieski? Into what hands will your wrecks fall, uncer- 
 tain of a place of repose ? And thou, throne of the C{e= 
 sars, consecrated by immortal recollections, prolonged 
 by the respect of ages, a veneration for whom has sur- 
 vived their power, how has it happened that you are not 
 occupied by your former possessor? What are the new 
 majesties, the recent sovereignties that have replaced so- 
 
S;3 Cong^^ess of Vienna. 
 
 vereiSjiities, still more recent in the bosom of Germany ? 
 The Rhine no longer flows under its ancient laws. The 
 division that religion created between the Belgians and 
 the Bataviaiis, approaches its term. Amsterdam and 
 Brussels reassume the ties of their ancient fraternity 
 under the same sceptre. Venice, notwithstanding its 
 ancient wisdom, has disappeared. Austria, not the 
 Adriatic, has swallowed it. Italy had scarcely tasted 
 the cup of independence, and already has the Austrian 
 eagle pounced upon her. Genoa will not see its doges 
 at Versailles ; still more astonished to behold them- 
 selves there than of all the wonders of their pompous 
 residence. For the future she will receive her laws 
 from Turin; her groans will not be understood; her 
 complaints will not be heard. Naples was a long time 
 astonished by its new master. For many years Sicily 
 remained separate from Italy, as in the days of Syra- 
 cuse and Hiero. Ask not the Isle of Elba for that 
 which it possessed, nor why Europe has demanded, in 
 the solitudes of the ocean, a more secure depositary. 
 Lisbon asks Brazil to terminate her widowhood. The 
 new has began to draw kings from the old world : soon 
 will it furnish them itself from among its own chil- 
 dren. There thrones are not wanting. The feeble 
 bonds that unite the vast America with its rigorous and 
 distant metropolis, are bursting. Throughout this new 
 soil the cry of liberty is heard. Mexico communicates 
 with Peru. It resounds in this immense continent, that 
 the ocean encloses in its at once tumultuous and tran- 
 quil waves. All is agitation and bustle : they cast off 
 the leading strings of their political childhood. Na- 
 ture acts agreeably to its eternal laws, and America, 
 become adolescent, escapes from a decrepid and deso- 
 lated mother, like robust youth from the tutelage of 
 their infantine days. 
 
 The errors of the revolution have spared nothing, and 
 ' it is on the ruins heaped up by inexorable fate that the 
 Congress should begin its work. 
 
 But it would require little trouble to depict the polL 
 
Congress of Vienna. 33 
 
 tical changes produced in this age of convulsions ; or, 
 to use the expression, that it has sown on the face of 
 the globe. It exists still more in the dispositions of the 
 mind. The moral infinitely surpasses the political re- 
 volution. Above all, it has surpassed it in extent and 
 duration. For, in fact, whatever may be the latitude of 
 the changes that aifect the latter, there are certain limits 
 and bounds in its mode of application ; whereas tha 
 changes that affect the moral faculties naturally aug- 
 ment and know no other limits than those of the hu- 
 man mind. To these none can be affixed. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Division of Europe into tiao Zones. 
 
 At the period of the restoration, Europe, if the ex= 
 pression may be permitted, appeared to be divided into 
 two zones : each mingled in the contest. The people, 
 of the north and of the south all partook of the strife, 
 and endeavoured to bring it to a conclusion. But, ifc 
 may be said that the sovereigns of these two divisions 
 were differently inspired, and had different objects ia 
 view. 
 
 On one side we beheld the sovereigns of the north and 
 of Germany, themselves conducting their legions to- 
 wards Paris, which they at last gained, as the period 
 and price of a sanguinary contest, in which all might 
 have been lost, had calculations been made upon sea- 
 sons, dangers, fatigues, and, I may say, sacrifices. 
 
 On the other hand, the possesses of those thrones 
 that the fall of that of Napoleon had restored, and 
 even brought forth by an action of the feame spring, be- 
 held themselves reinvested witliout anv other trouble 
 
^4< Congress of Vienna. 
 
 tlian going; from the seat of their exile to that of their 
 power. One half of Europe was transferred to the 
 other on the throne, without any effort on the part of the 
 latter. It is here that we see the difference of disposi- 
 tion hetween those who give and those who receive. 
 
 Hence, sovereigns tvho we may believe to have been 
 exasperated by the greatness of the losses they have 
 sustained, the grossness of the outrages they have expe- 
 rienced, by the length and impetuosity of the contest, 
 speak only of liberty for the |ieople, of clemency for in- 
 dividuals, of the forgetfulness of the injuries they have 
 suffered ; but of wishes for the approximation of minds. 
 They have only conquered for the triumph of clemency; 
 and behold princes, that the chance of events have re- 
 placed on their thrones, as if they had never been re- 
 moved, who have taken a part neither in the dangers 
 nor the labour of the scenes of which they have reaped 
 the advantage. Scarcely in possession of power, than 
 here have they attributed it to force alone ; there they 
 seem to consider it but an emanation of it, and declare 
 themselves its source ; elsewhere, they pretend that a 
 breath from their lips will occasion every thing to dis^ 
 appear that has been ardently cherished during the 
 course of a revolution that has occupied the quarter of 
 a century, and which has been as various in its appear- 
 ances, as it has been rapid in its progress. 
 
 If ever a country deserved good treatment, and that 
 its king should wholly devote himself to its happiness, 
 surely it was Spain. What devotion ! What patience! 
 What blood ! And what the reward — the Inquisition, 
 and all the terror it inspires — the return of all the mo- 
 nastic instituiions, from which the spirit of the times 
 has taken the force that the barbaric ages could alone 
 have coramunicated them, and that nothing will be again 
 able to give to them. Exile, corfiscation by the hands 
 of avarice, the separation and the tears of families, and, 
 thatwhieh cannot fail to follow, the dilapidation of the 
 public stock, which, in scenes of violence and gloom, 
 uniformly disappear. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 2o 
 
 Europe contemplates with horror that fatal contempt 
 which induces a young prince to attempt an apology for 
 its oppressor, and permits those cries to be heard which 
 comhine to occasion a regret that it should have con- 
 tributed to restore a power so cruelly employed.* The 
 first victims, those most severely treated, are precisely 
 those who, inaccessible to fear and every species of se= 
 duction, who fixed to the last spot of earth that should 
 remain to Spain, and, by a courage of the most obsti- 
 nate and unexampled character, have chased their ene= 
 mies from the Spanish soil, and to restore a prince who 
 weighs them down with the very hand whose fetters 
 these very mf?n broke into pieces. Doubtless the cortes 
 gave umbrage, and took prcrantinns against the royal 
 authority. Doubtless they have removed a part of the 
 power necessary for the good of the people; but was 
 not this measure necessary for the real benefit of Spain? 
 But what crimes are there for Spain to punish? What 
 occasioned Spain being deprived of a constitution, a 
 benefit common to all Europe, and her being aban- 
 doned to the storms of those ancient doctrines that 
 had already rendered her desolate, and which again 
 began to rise in order to render her completely bar- 
 ren '^ 
 
 Let it not be said, that the situation of Spain left no 
 other choice of government than an illiberal one, and 
 that it was consonant to her intelligence and her wishes. 
 To assert this, is to vilify Spain and human nature. 
 
 Spain is calumniated if we attribute to her a want of 
 generosity and intelligence, a desire for vengeance and 
 intellectual darkness. On the contrary, Spain is filled 
 with generous and enlightened men. We have been 
 struck with the circumstance when chance led us among 
 them, 
 
 * Every thing which has been written on the subject of Spain is well 
 known. Wo will not allude to the language of the opposition in England; 
 Ihey rarely confine themselves within limits. But we cannot reject the tes- 
 timony of Lord Castlereagh. He has termed the conduct of the one party 
 
 to the other in Spain, "■ Binffusting proceedings.'^ 
 
 B 
 
5^6 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 If a great number of acts of abuse have marked the 
 resentment of Spain to an unjust aggression, they have 
 been balanced and redeemed by a far greater number of 
 acts distinguished by their humanity, generosity, and 
 fidelity. In Spain, as in France, the history of the re- 
 volution may be written so as to bear two aspects, that 
 of virtue and vice ; and surely, if an exact account is to 
 be kept, it is on the most honourable side that the ba- 
 lance should incline. 
 
 That which induces us to believe the contrary is, that, 
 generally speaking, we are more struck with crime. In 
 its very nature it is notorious. Virtue is silent. More- 
 over, is it so astonishing that barbarity and ferocity 
 should prevail in the classes that are ignorant, and pas- 
 sionate because ignorant ; that excess should be com- 
 mitted by the dregs of a nation, inflamed by provoca- 
 tions, and intoxicated with fury? Spain lias only re- 
 acted that which was done in France, when the popu- 
 lace, springing as it were from the bowels of the earth, 
 placed the statue of Moloch on the altar, in the public 
 places, on the tribunes, with inflammatory orations, and 
 chose the priests from among the lowest and most de- 
 praved of mankind. Is it to be believed, that because 
 she bent the knee, that France adored this disgusting 
 idol ? On the contrary, have we not seen with what 
 transport she has overturned and broken it into pieces, 
 as soon as the mob was driven to its disgusting hiding 
 places? At the departure of this cortege of barbarism, 
 civilisation was reinvested with its rights. It would 
 have been the same in Spain, if, instead of what has 
 taken place, a call had been made on the generous 
 principles that pervade the breasts of almost all Spa- 
 niards, The evil has arisen, because that elevation of 
 sentiment common to Spaniards has not been duly ap- 
 preciated. Of this we have had a fine proof; and all 
 that has occurred, proves the resources to be found in 
 such men. 
 
 Let us cease to assert, that to govern thus is to govern 
 with the dominant party in Spain j as if the lowest classes 
 
Congress of Vienna. S7 
 
 of a nation could ever be the powerful party ; as if that 
 which was constituted to obey could ever be called to 
 command. 
 
 To talk thus is to calumniate human nature, and to 
 assert that government ought not to rest with virtue, but 
 that it ought to remain with low, dull, vicious disposi- 
 tions — a ruinous doctrine, as injurious to the honour as 
 the morality of man. 
 
 If from Spain we pass into Italy, shall we find that 
 the governments restored in that country have shewn 
 themselves much superior in intelligence and genero- 
 sity ? 
 
 One of them appears to think, that to hate the past, 
 to bring back former times, is every thing, and suiSeient 
 for the happiness of the people. There, as elsewhere, 
 hatred has become the most commendable of qualities. 
 Not to administer the government with a view to the 
 public happiness, but to purify it after its own manner, 
 appears to be the object. There also there is no idea of 
 the rights of the people, nor of a constitution, called for 
 hy their wants, balanced by a general council, and con- 
 secrated by the safeguard of an intelligent representa- 
 tion. 
 
 What new glory awaited the sovereign pontiff, who, 
 shielded by the milder and courageous virtues, had 
 found means to triumph over the arm that levelled all 
 before it ? Was there ever a more lively interest, were 
 there ever more ardent wishes than those which accom- 
 panied him to the capitol, where, differently from the 
 ancient heroes in their triumphal car, this prince of 
 peace ought to have conducted in chains the bickerings, 
 the hatred, the love of revenge — passions that disturb 
 the repose of man. Would his triumph have been less 
 splendid, if on !iis triple crown had appeared that of 
 universal charity ? If the common father of the greater 
 part of the children of Europe, venerated even by those 
 separated from his own communion, had called for a 
 general reconciliation ? If he had afforded the influence 
 of his mild and insinuating virtues to quell those pas- 
 
2S Congress of Vienna. 
 
 sions that the times had aroused ? It seemed that this 
 part, poiiited out by the very nature of his good quali- 
 ties, had been reserved for him as their price. The pope, 
 oftering his hand to those that had offended him, de- 
 prived vengeance of apology. It was Constantine re- 
 pelling the solicitations for avenging the insults offered 
 to his statues, by these admirably simple expressions : 
 ^'I am not wounded." Instead of this, what have we 
 beheld? Some princes of the church citing before their 
 tribunal other princes of the same church ; the grave 
 restoring with regret a society said to he re-deraanded. 
 by the whole Christian, while it was repulsed by all 
 the social, world. What prince is there that would not 
 have found himself more dependent at the appearance 
 of these phantoms that had, for a length of time, in- 
 sinuated themselves among the secret springs (tf govern- 
 ment? What father did not feel himself less the master 
 of his family at the announcement of this strange resur- 
 rection ?* 
 
 From one end of Europe to the other, religion has 
 exhibited her complaints, and most pressingly implored 
 succours. The time was occupied on the subject of the 
 inquisition and the free masons. The religious edifice 
 tottered on all sides, and it was the return of the monks, 
 
 * Montesquieu, speaking of the Jesuits, observes, " ihat they view the 
 pleasure of domination as the chief good of life." — Spirit of Laws, Vol. I. 
 book iv. chap. vi. 
 
 This is a pleasure that this society enjoyed for a century. While it ha- 
 rassed France, it is singular enough that it made some happy efforts to 
 carry civilisation into the American colonies. Its true glory consists in its 
 missionaries, its preachers, and its professors. In this triple career, its place 
 has not been filled up. 
 
 It is said, that the revolution would not have happened if the Jesuits had 
 still existed. Is this assertion founded ? Have not the men accused of putting 
 in motion or preparing the way for the revolation, been for the most part 
 educated in the colleges of the Jesuits ? It would be unfair to conclude, that 
 from them they have imbibed the ideas. This is far from our intention. But 
 the education of these establishments, with all the advantages that must be 
 allowed them, were not sufficient to arm men sufficiently strong to resist 
 the torrent of innovation. Hence, we may conclude, that it would have been 
 inefficacious in our times. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 29 
 
 saifl to be its ornaments, that occupied the attention. 
 The south of Europe prosecuted, as the pest of society, 
 these associations, which in other countries were only 
 objects of amusement and curiosity, and which the sons 
 of liings honoured with their connexion. The corals of 
 the north became the terror of the south. Let us turn 
 our eyes from this picture, one which we never wished 
 to have contemplated. 
 
 If we return to France, shall we be more satisfied ? 
 A nation still labouring under the pangs of a severe 
 and bloody contest of twenty-five years' duration ; 
 more proud of, than intimidated by, its wounds ; not 
 forgetful of its errors, but unwilling to be reproached 
 for them ; almost wholly grown up amidst these new 
 doctrines ; for the most part ignorant of the character 
 of the masters that chance has restored to her ; expect- 
 ing every thing, and fearing nothing, from them : in. 
 such an attitude, a nation forbids the exercise of discre- 
 tion. 
 
 Had she a charter, but without her immediate parti- 
 cipation — she possessed it, but not in virtue of an ac= 
 knowledged right. And when she prepared herself to 
 enjoy its fruits, new convulsions retarded this happy 
 time, and compelled her to trust to the future for the 
 amelioration of the laws destined to ameliorate her^ 
 self.* 
 
 * In the kingfdom of the Low Countries the fundamental act was pro- 
 posed for the investigation and acceptance of the notables. The same cir- 
 cumstance occurred in Holland, when the Prince of Oi-ange wished to give 
 it a constitution, after the recovery of that country. He assembled a nu- 
 merous body, the object of which was to discuss and accept the proposed 
 charter. 
 
 The King of Prussia went still farther. Crowned by victory, after three 
 years of exertion, that had re-established his throne in all its splendour, he 
 has of his own accord ordered the plan of a constitution, which has for its 
 object the greatest extension of the liberty of his subjects. There is no 
 Prussian that will not be called upon to deliberate and pronounce for its 
 acceptance or rejection. It is to be examined and discussed at Berlin, in 
 an assembly formed of the most distinguished men among the public func= 
 tionai'iesj and the principal inhabitants of tlje monarchy. There does not 
 
30 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 It appeared that the general tendency of the conduct 
 of the southern sovereiii;ns, had for its object power, as 
 the inherent right of the prince, that every thing was 
 made to assimilate with this idea, and every attentiou 
 was paid in order To establish it as a principle, before 
 which all considerations of the public service were to 
 bend. Above all, it appears that it was intended gene- 
 rally to efface the remembrance even of the twenty-five 
 |)ast years, and that it was wished tliat they should not 
 confine themselves to banish them altogether from his- 
 tory, after the example of the mose. of Chantilly, but 
 to leave the pages blank in history itself. 
 
 The northern princes, who have been either establish- 
 ed or re-established, have done nothing similar ; and, it 
 is much to be regretted, that detaching themselves from 
 the ideas, otherwise so correct, of that independence 
 which belongs to each sovereign, those of the north, 
 the saviours of those of the south, have not, in virtue 
 of the right that the restoration has given them, assum- 
 ed the initiative of general conduct and general direc- 
 tion ; and that, on an occasion when it influenced not 
 merely the dignity of some men, but the safety of all, 
 that they should not have chalked out a path not con- 
 ducting us so immediately to new precipices. 
 
 The error of this great omission has already cost the 
 
 exist in history a greater trait of generosity. It only wants to be removed 
 from us by tlie lapse of ages, to excite universal admiration. 
 
 The King of WUrtemberg h^s proposed a new constitution to his states. 
 They have rejected it. The contest still continues. 
 
 The states have called for the interference of the powers guaranteeing 
 the constitution of the country. Their address is very curious. We there 
 find that the king has given them such a constitution as he has thought pro- 
 per, and added modifications that circumstances required. Such is the na- 
 ture of the complaint made by the states. 
 
 This state paper is still more i-emarkable, by the guarantee given to 
 the former constitution of WUrtemberg by three powers. How can fo- 
 reigners guarantee the constitution of a country ? We know what has 
 happened in Poland, when it had a constitution guaranteed by three of its 
 neighbours. 
 
 What would the English say if it was proposed to them to guarantee 
 their constitution ? 
 
Congress of Vienna. 31 
 
 whole world dear. It furnished an opening for the re- 
 turn of Napoleon, attracted rather by his knowledge 
 of the interior state of Francefc than called by the ma- 
 chinations of his accomplices. Those who contributed 
 to the restoration, ought to have seen how it was em- 
 ployed. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that princes, remounting 
 their thrones, in a manner as sudden as it was unex- 
 pected, did not consider themselves as united in their 
 views, and establish a concert among themselves that 
 would have afforded much assistance to each. As great 
 an error as that into which we fall when we commit 
 one blunder without reference to another ; that the des- 
 potism established in Spain should not dread the liber- 
 ty of other countries ; that Italy should cover herself 
 with inquisitors and Jesuits, forgetting that elsewhere 
 she had seen these phantoms reassume possession of 
 the soil ! Hence an unfortunate opinion is formed, bor- 
 dering on distrustj interpreting every thing in an unfa- 
 vourable sense, and calculated to facilitate the attacks 
 which might be made on an edifice already sapped bj 
 a concomitance of causes, the injustice or futility of 
 which did not preserve them from dangerous conse- 
 quences.* 
 
 * The Court of Naples magnanimously declared itself opposed to a 
 system of reaction, and Naples has not been persecuted by a spectacle, 
 similar to that of which, a diiferent plan had rendered it the theatre in 
 2r99. 
 
 The Court of Florence has conducted itself in that mild and liberal man- 
 ner, characterising' a government truly paternal. It is said, that, since the 
 age of the Medicis, there is something in the air of Tuscany, which only 
 disposes the hearts of men to sensations of mildaess and mutual benevo- 
 lence. 
 
 The second return of the pope to Rome, and his restoration to the three 
 legations, have been distinguished with that moderation well calculated to 
 ensure the tranquillity of these countries. We cannot but congratulate our- 
 selves on the general direction of the affairs intrusted to Cardinal Gonsalvij 
 one of the most moderate and enligiitened statesmen in Europe. Austria 
 does not appear to recollect that a revolution of many years had happened 
 in her Italian states. For this moderation she will be rewarded by many 
 years of tranquillity. 
 
33 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The new state of JSTations. 
 
 ^^ IT is not the coalition which has dethroned me : 
 liberal ideas have effected it/' said Napoleon, on his 
 departure for Elba.* Princes ! people ! hear ! The 
 destiny of all of you is included in this sentence. 
 
 Behold him acknowledging, that, for having outrag- 
 ed the civilised feelings of his age, he, who of all men 
 had it in his power to triumph over them, if this fright- 
 ful privilege were given to any one among us, had lost 
 his throne. 
 
 Believe his words, because they are those of a maa 
 who never was equalled in sagacity ; because they are 
 those of a man who was never surpassed in self4ove ; 
 who was merely led to the confession by the conviction, 
 of the irremediable consequences of his error. ^' Ihave 
 sinned against liberal ideas, and I die.'' Behold the 
 will, the amende honorable of the greatest warrior, of 
 the most powerful monarch, that ever appeared on the 
 vast theatre of the world. He overturned, he subdued 
 every thing, people and sovereigns ; but, destitute of 
 liberal ideas, he perished. 
 
 Learn from this the power of civilisation, the natural 
 tendency of the information of the age, the spirit which 
 
 * At the same time he said, " / cannot re-establish myself, I have offended 
 the people." 
 
 We have seen with what alacrity foreign nations have advanced against 
 him, and whole countries have abandoned him ! After experiencing' such 
 grandeur,he finds himself alone for having offended the world! 
 
Congress of Vienna, 33 
 
 impels and directs every thing, yon who, whatever title 
 you bear, govern and instruct mankind ; for, princes or 
 professors! it is empire, whatever name it bears, on 
 which it operates. Be careful of what you say, as well 
 as of what you do; for contempt is sure to be followed 
 by dangerous consequences. 
 
 Whence arises this circumstance? From the rapid 
 strides that the human race has made within one hun- 
 dred years. Nothing is to be recognised which existed 
 previous to that epoch. The soil has remained, but a 
 new race has inhabited it. It remains under the same 
 sky ; but under the domination of a different mind. 
 
 In its turn, each people have shone in the world. In 
 its turn, each sentiment has enjoyed a period of influ- 
 ence. If we trace the march of human nature, war^ 
 religion, have formed the principal occupation of na» 
 tions. Little else is to be found in the pages of history. 
 The round of civilisation is at last complete. No one 
 can assume peculiar honour; each has furnished his 
 contingent. 
 
 As soon as a communication of the arts, of language^ 
 of travel, of correspondence, of commerce commenced, 
 the character of mankind underwent a change. Shut up 
 within themselves, their domestic affairs alone excited 
 their attention, obtained their admiration, and called 
 forth their applause. There were no objects of com= 
 parison. Since this period, nations communicating one 
 with another have been struck with objects hitherto un- 
 known to them, and their minds have been expanded. 
 Then commenced with them, as with children, a period 
 of age and instruction. Heretofgre, their attention had 
 been divided among a multiplicity of objects, of the na» 
 ture of which they scarcely had been aware. They gave 
 themselves up to new discussions. Things have been 
 elevated, enlarged, while men have diminished them in 
 proportion. Discussions of right took place of discus- 
 sions of fact. By the natural progression of ideas, they 
 no longer confined themselves to a knowledge of the 
 
 E 
 
^^4i Congress of Vienna, 
 
 laws under which they lived, but have endeavoured to 
 learn the spirit of those laws. They have even ques- 
 tioned the nature of the laws themselves, and have gone 
 so far as to demand whether or not they were founded 
 injustice? 
 
 Arrived at this point, the world assumed a different 
 appearance. As has uniformly happened, powerful 
 geniuses appeared, and possessed themselves of the 
 new arena. Their intelligence, that at other times 
 would have heen exhausted in questions of fact and 
 mere abstraction, has been rendered useful in the exa- 
 mination of questions vitally important to humanity. 
 After the manner of genius, these writers dived into 
 the nature of principles, and found themselves firmly 
 established in exalted situations. The remainder of 
 society followed in their train. Opinions extended them- 
 selves every where, were circulated and confirmed. It 
 would have been as ridiculous to have appeared under 
 other colours, as to have assumed a dress forbidden by 
 the taste of the day. The communications established 
 between nations served as the vehicle of change. A 
 new language was introducled among all classes. The 
 re-discovered titles of the human race became the chan- 
 nels of the rising generation. After a lapse of five 
 thousand years, the world has learned that it no longer 
 belongs to masters. Hence, the contract binding all 
 human society has been dated from this period ; and the 
 nature of the ancient sovereignties have been altogether 
 changed. 
 
 If there can be any doubt entertained of this general 
 tendency of opinion in Europe, it is only necessary to 
 examine the writings of the past sixty years ; — to be- 
 hold, whatever are the subjects to the elucidation of 
 which they have been directed, that in their career 
 the authors have acquired glory ; — to recollect the 
 school to which Catherine and Frederick were attach- 
 ed, and the applauses those illustrious monarchs re- 
 ceived. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 35 
 
 Doubtless all their works do not bear the same stamp, 
 nor the same grandeur of character, nor are they re- 
 commended by the same merit in their execution; but 
 all have a similar tendency. We need not add to that 
 union which already exists; a union which, like the 
 instruments of a concert, cannot be heard without be- 
 ing distinguished. The education of all nations thus 
 found itself suddenly completed. Formerly they un- 
 derstood without speaking; now, by means of the re- 
 volution, for twenty-five years they have been taught 
 to speak. This terrible interpreter has frightened, but 
 not separated, them. Hence, as in most cases, justice 
 has been done. That which it possessed of barbarisnij, 
 and a contempt of the rights of the people, and which 
 inspired horror, has been rejected. The good which it 
 contained, and which was productive of beneiit to the 
 people, has floated, been gathered up, and now remains 
 among the treasures of nations. 
 
 The revolution only gave despots to France; Civili- 
 sation has destroyed despotism in Europe. But, above 
 all, it has brought constitutions to light, and occasion- 
 ed the want of them to be universally felt. The revo- 
 lution gave twenty years of war to Europe. It has 
 pressed the deceiving delusions accompanying it far- 
 ther than they ought to have been carried. Civilisation, 
 in conferring honour on generous warriors, brought 
 war into disrepute. For the future it has rendered im- 
 practicable the character which hitherto has been the 
 most seducing, the most alluring, toman; that of con- 
 queror, is for the future rendered unattainable. It has 
 banished it to Tartary. Barbarism burned Moscow- 
 civilisation preserved Paris. The revolution banished 
 commerce, to place it under the yoke of power and 
 war. Civilisation, spreading its wings, has dismissed 
 its gaolers and opened its prison. The revolution paid 
 no regard to religion. Civilisation has fully confirmed 
 the feeling which convinces us of the want of a mild 
 and tolerant religion ; the protectress of order, in its 
 social and domestic state. Civilisation has served as a 
 
 j- 
 
 } 
 
36 Cotigress of Vienna. 
 
 (safeguard for the world in the terrible career that it has 
 ran : tliroiigh it, and with the assistance of beneficent 
 artS) of methods, more appropriate to the preservation 
 of men, the scythe of death, that nothing can wholly 
 destroy, has been in a small measure blunted. Popu- 
 lation has been extricated from all the pits into which 
 war had precipitated it for twenty years. It is to obey 
 the dictates oi" civilisation, that men have been uniform- 
 ly engaged in impelling their battalions on their ene- 
 mies, calling forth the arts, raising monuments, appro- 
 priating those of genius to the decorations of their coun- 
 try — destroyers on the one hand, restorers on the other. 
 On one side they appeared to labour, to efface the out- 
 rages which, on the other, they committed against civi- 
 lisation ; and thus acknowledging that they could not 
 support themselves without its assistance. 
 
 We cannot but condemn tliat blind hatred that in- 
 duces people to regard all the chiefs of the revolution 
 as enemies of civilisation. However they may have 
 conducted themselves on other points, to it they have 
 always been obliged to have recourse ; and the instant 
 they deserted it, they have perished. Robespierre fell 
 when he had made France a field of civil carnage, and 
 had completed the effectual banishment of civilisation. 
 Napoleon, who in no point of view is to be compared 
 with him, perished in his turn, when he made Eu- 
 rope a field of military carnage ; when he wished to 
 form a civilisation of his own, or rather to render it his 
 slave. 
 
 The spectacle offered by this potentate is very strange. 
 Covering with monuments of the boldest and most 
 exquisite character every land that he visited; convey- 
 ing to the learned honours and fortune as useless as 
 they were unprecedented ; erecting the mofst learned 
 polytechnic schools in the universe ; and all in order 
 that the same men whom he had armed with all the 
 means of science and of art, should increase the pro- 
 gress of the human mind, and acquire this mass of 
 power^ but to lay it at his feet ; but to be silent for 
 
Congress of Vienna. 37 
 
 eighteen years, and confine themselves to composing 
 hymns in his praise. 
 
 The Turks, with their gross ignorance, which they 
 apply to every thing, look more to results. 
 
 But the reward of blind temerity was not expected. 
 The explosion of compressed light lias overturned the 
 author of this anti-social system. The electrical ma- 
 chine has given a fatal shock — the inexpert mechanic 
 was ignorant of its springs and its play. By his fall, 
 he learned that light shines at all times, and is quite as 
 apt to be the means of an overthrow, as instrumental 
 to our comforts. 
 
 In the midst of the world this terrible machine is 
 established. To destroy it is impossible. We can 
 only direct its operations. 
 
 If men should be afflicted with this truth, let them 
 console themselves by looking more closely at it. They 
 will find that that which agrees better with others, is 
 also that which agrees better with themselves ; that it 
 is to these lights which they would so boldly extinguish, 
 that they hitherto owe their preservation, and that they 
 still may be preserved : and finally, that it is but in di- 
 rect and good roads that they run no risk of precipices 
 and robbers ! 
 
 Nationality, truth, publicity ! Behold the three flags 
 under which the world for the future is to marchc 
 Misfortune will attend those who will not inlist under 
 them. 
 
 The people have acquired a knowledge of their 
 rights and dignity. They know that they are the prin- 
 ciple and object of society, and of its exertions ; that 
 they do not exist for a few individuals, but that indivi- 
 duals exist for them. 
 
 More than a century ago, Fenelon uttered this truthj, 
 which but for him would never have been heard. It is 
 known now, and it is to a pontiff educated in the 
 most idolatrous court of his king, that the world owes 
 the pablleation of this maxim^ the most important 
 
38 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 ever heard^ and which has now become common pro- 
 perty. 
 
 Hence, every thing should comport with the happi- 
 ness of nations. But how is this to be effected ? I5y 
 them or by others? Will nations resemble indolent 
 proprietors, who commit the charge of their affairs to 
 other hands ? Because they have done so hitherto, 
 will they do so always ? 
 
 Therefore the necessity of a government which will 
 permit nations to interfere in their own affairs and take 
 au immediate cognisance of them ; that in due time 
 they should determine the forms arising from the varie- 
 ties that distinguish different people. That this inter- 
 ference should e'xist is indispensable. 
 
 What are its guarantees? Truth and publicity. 
 To claim them is to ask for that which cannot be refus» 
 ed : that which inevitably exists in all polished coun- 
 tries. Otherwise, after all that has passed, is it possi- 
 ble for men to be deceived? Deceive them ! For how 
 long? To hide even for a moment! for with the mul- 
 titude of eyes that are open to public events, how is it 
 to be expected that the mystery of to-day will not be ex- 
 posed in the public squares to-morrow? Daylight has 
 burst into all cabinets. Their proceedings are read 
 through walls, through the most secret despatches ; and 
 the wings lent them by their couriers add but to their 
 publicity. Europe is covered with a population of 
 readers, of writers, of men accustomed, some to ma- 
 nage affairs, others to provide and become instrumental 
 to the increase and care of their fortune. Society is a 
 species of tribune that does not remain empty, and who 
 can flatter themselves with changing men possessed of 
 so many means of knowing and understanding every 
 thing? If they cannot be deceived, still less can any 
 thing be concealed. That which is not published in 
 one country is sure to be so in another ; and while there 
 is a parliament in England, there will be a tribune for 
 ail Europe. Bat what would be the fruit of this conceal- 
 
Congress of Vienna. 39 
 
 ment? That which was gathered by Napoleon-— a 
 general incredulity. In the actual state of the mind 
 of man, every thing that does not appear clear occa- 
 sions distrust. They have been so deceived, that 
 they have adopted a system of incredulity, against 
 even what is uttered and established by authority. A 
 giant of falsehood elevated himself in France ; he 
 made use of deceptions to establish his power. Well ! 
 be was unable to establish one. They were all con- 
 tradicted by truths, the escape of which could not ba 
 prevented. Its evidence was disputed ; and the man 
 wlio could make every body obey him, could make no 
 one believe him. Men, driven from the domains of 
 truth, seek refuge in those of imagination. There on- 
 ly can they reach. 
 
 It may be calculated that there are in France four 
 millions of men, who, by education, profession, and 
 fortune, can pay an attention to public affairs. It is 
 proper to deduct from this number one hundred thou- 
 sand persons, whose personal feelings render them will- 
 ing to afford confidence to the authority that speaks. 
 All the rest are on the alert. And, nevertheless, this 
 population represents the manly and active part of tha 
 nation, and that which inSuences its motives. It fills 
 almost all the inferior ranks of public administration. 
 It serves it with eyes and vtith hands. It directs the 
 interests of all the citizens, and by means of commerce 
 it provides for their wants. This class is more nume- 
 rous in the states of the North, among whom the first 
 classes have less social consistence than in France. 
 These are the classes that, in foreign countries as well 
 as in France, have sapped the power of Napoleon ; in 
 France, by separating the people from him; in G^erma- 
 ny, by raising them against him. 
 
 Therefore the relations of governments with the peo- 
 ple are changed. Nations are become more enlighten- 
 ed, and consequently stronger than the governments. 
 Hitherto it has been directly the reverse^ Then the 
 
40 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 light came only from above; now it flows in on all 
 sides.* 
 
 Governments act only according to their own intelli- 
 gence — nations with that of the mass. On what side 
 rests the advantage? It is that which we must acknow- 
 ledge, because a proof of it has just been afforded. It 
 is the people that have redressed the governments, and 
 have forced them to rouse themselves. Falling one af- 
 ter another, they had almost all sunk at the feet of Na- 
 poleon ; they humiliated themselves— the nations trera- 
 filed— a refuge was sought in a concealment of the out- 
 rages'—the nations burned to be avenged^ — they joined 
 their flags to the troops of Napoleon- — they deserted 
 his ranks, and flew into those of his enemies. Was it 
 the Prussian government or the Prussian people that 
 gave the signal for the German insurrection against 
 France ? When General Yorck, calculating on the 
 new situation of Napoleon, that of his enemies, and the 
 disposition of the Prussian nation^ ^-anged himself on 
 the side of the national feeling when he declared 
 against France, in opposition to that of the Cahinet of 
 Berlin, where were to be found intelligence and 
 strength ? Of all the men of modern times, General 
 Yorck has struck the most decisive blow. How many 
 times would the Cabinet of Vienna have been able to 
 maintain its alliance with France? The nation abjur- 
 ed it. The army acted with regret. How did the Sax- 
 on and other German troops act? What did the Spa- 
 niards do when Ferdinand abdicated, and sought for 
 the title of the adopted son of Napoleon ? 
 
 * Montesquieu would not now say, " The prince impresses his character 
 '■' on the court, the court on the city, the city on -the provinces. The soul of the 
 *' sovereign is the mould luMch gives its form to all others." 
 
 There is in this assertion an evident allusion to what passed in the time 
 of Louis XIV. Montesquieu wrote in the twilight of his reign. Now we 
 look to nothing but substantial things. The court does not influence the 
 city, nor the city the provinces^ as much is known on one side as on the 
 other. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 41 
 
 Hence, it ii9 evident that there has arisen in every 
 country a new power, called opinion, from the empire 
 of which nothing can he taken, at the trihunal of which 
 governmentH themselves incessantly appeal ; for there 
 is not one of their acts which is not a request, or rather 
 an appeal to this power that conducts itself mildly to 
 those willing to make their submission to it, but which, 
 like a torrent, swallows those who would act otherwise. 
 It is this opinion which, introducing into Europe one 
 change, confirms those already existing, and opens a 
 road for others. This is manifestly its work. On all 
 sides constitutions are established, or are promised. On 
 all sides, in dividing the nearly-equal distances of the 
 social contract, respect is yielded to it, and its turn is 
 Come to reign. Thus is realised that which General 
 Buonaparte said to the Directory in 1798, on his return 
 from Campo Formio : *» The era of representative go^ 
 vernment is arrived^ Therefore nations are in pos- 
 session of the exercise of rights, of which, for one 
 hundred years, they had not an idea. What a progress 
 made by one step ! 
 
 When these constitutions shall be established, will 
 the one become the safeguard of the other? It will be 
 with them as with books; to destroy one, it would be 
 necessary to annihilate all the libraries and the arts 
 with which the\^orld abounds. 
 
 To how many improvements will not this comparison 
 of national codes give rise? This is the most important 
 event ever known, and one of those which will be most 
 generally felt, and which will lay the foundation of the 
 greatest benefits to society. 
 
 This it was that produced to France all the iptelli- 
 gent minds she possessed at the commencement of the 
 revolution. Chance has otherwise disposed ii; but the 
 thing itself is so essentially good, that after twenty-five 
 years' aberrations, it is still deemed fortauate that we 
 have this port of common safety. 
 
 The natural course of things will lead to the British 
 constitution. One or two examples liberally made, will 
 
 F 
 
4S Congress of Vienna, 
 
 introduce many others. Besides, how will it be possi- 
 ble to prevent men, sooner or later, from becoming pos- 
 sessed of it? How will it be possible to resist a dispo- 
 sition which leads every one to seek what is best for 
 Jiimself? If they traverse the seas to gratify the most 
 frivolous taste, how are they to be interdicted from seek- 
 ing that which they think of more consequence to their 
 own comfort, and which is to be found at their own 
 doors ? It is true, that to the titles of glory already pos- 
 sessed by Great Britain, she adds another, that of le- 
 gislatrix of the universe; peaceable and beneficent laws ; 
 a sceptre more honourable than that which she wields 
 over the ocean. This uniformity of legislation will esta- 
 blish very powerful bonds of union among men. It will 
 render wars less frequent and more mild. The more 
 wars become national, they will be the more rare and 
 the less cruel, and widely dilTerent from the ancient 
 wars, between people who had no communication with 
 each other. There are very few causes of war among 
 nations ! When the ministers of a people shall have to 
 propose the payment of the expenses of a war of which 
 they cannot justify the motives, their conduct will be 
 more closely canvassed. By an astonishing effect, the 
 more the popular influence is increased, the higher will 
 the power of the sovereign be elevated ; the more deeply 
 will its foundations be placed, and the more widely 
 will its branches extend. 
 
 This Great Britain, to which we must ever refer in 
 political legislation, presents at once to people and kings 
 this double guarantee of their stability. What sovereign 
 is more powerful than in the midst of a people associat- 
 ed with him in power? The Stuarts failed, for having 
 wished to monopolise it. The Brunswicks behold theirs 
 increase from day to day, because they know how to 
 let the nation partake of it. The Stuarts erred in wish- 
 ing to act separately from the national will and national 
 interests. The Brunswicks freely unite themselves with 
 the people, and,' full of confidence in the princes, who 
 place all confidence in them, load with their gifts those 
 
Congress of Vienna. 43 
 
 whom they find connected with them in interest and in 
 opinion. 
 
 Such is the route now traced out for governments. 
 There is no embarrassment as to choice — it is civilisa- 
 tion that has determined it. Let them remain intimately 
 connected with their people ; and, above all, not sepa- 
 rate themselves from the power of knowledge. This se- 
 paration is fatal to whomsoever it happens. To advance 
 with the times, is like embarking on a stream that we 
 can safely navigate. 
 
 Behold the particular character of the age in which 
 we live ; a character, the traits of which will every day 
 be strengthened. Civilisation, that divinity, the pro- 
 tectress of the human race, shall for the future cover 
 all with her beneficent segis. Ask not what particular 
 climes. She is every where ; she is with us in all situ- 
 ations. All her acts are at once cause and effect. Do 
 not seek to restrain her ; still less to banish her. It 
 would be necessary to extinguish her at a blow through- 
 out the world, and he who should be guilty of this great 
 rashness, would hasten to recal this noble exile, and 
 again seek for the benefits she communicates ; benefits 
 as requisite to our moral existence as the air is to sustain 
 us by its freshness, and the sun to illuminate us by his 
 beams. 
 
 Civilisation has provided, that science, which former- 
 ly was the apanage of a few, should become the pro- 
 perty of all. Knowledge is a common benefit. There 
 is not more mind than there was formerly. We remark 
 that there are fewer great geniuses. It is with them as 
 with wealth. Its division affords fewer large fortunes, 
 but creates a more general degree of comfort. Occu- 
 pations that some men exclusively possessed an ability 
 to exercise, have become common to all. How many 
 men in France knew, thirt^^ years ago, what the taille 
 and the gabelle produced ? Administration, and, above 
 all, the finances, were an occult science, in which 
 adepts were alone initiated. Now where is it hidden in 
 a sanctuary ? Europe is filled with statistics; with the 
 
41* Congress of Vienna. 
 
 balance of all nations. A hundred journals offer every 
 day some tribute of knowledge, that is become a want 
 of the first necessity, and of which, at no very distant 
 period, we had not an idea. Public discussions, deli- 
 berative assemblies, have communicated other concep- 
 tions to the mind, and other opinions, far different to 
 those that formerly occupied its attention. But a short 
 time since pujiilic situations belonged exclusively to 
 some classes or professions. Now, who has not been 
 minister, ambassador, deputy, general, king? The 
 consideration of places has, in proportion, lowered the 
 number of candidates. We have seen the French at 
 Grand Cairo, at Moscow, and the Russians at Paris. 
 What a sensation will not the battles of Ivary and 
 Bouvines excite ! It is this change, which, penetrating 
 at once into all nations, by communications that unite 
 them, has given them another mind, other eyes, otlier 
 tastes, other inclinations; and which, throughout the 
 world, induces another conduct. At the same time, 
 "whatever may be said, nati(tns were never more sound 
 in their judgment. It would be as impossible to esta- 
 blish among them a system, destructive of their true in- 
 terests, as to establish one in geometry. They have ac- 
 quired so correct, so fine a tact, that if, for a short time, 
 governments proceed in the wrong road, they imme- 
 diately withdraw, and grve them their lesson by their 
 retreat and the silence of their language. There is no 
 greater error than that which induces a belief, that na- 
 tions consent because they are silent. Reflect a moment, 
 and you will see if it is not then that they call out the 
 most loudly. It is equally certain that nations, in be- 
 coming more enlightened, are not become more diffi- 
 cult to govern; they only wish to be governed differ- 
 ently. Do not attempt to propose the same thing to 
 the wise and the ignorant man, to put the same bit into 
 the mouth of the unbroken horse as into the mouth of 
 one whom habit has taught to regulate his paces. In 
 order easily to govern nations possessed of intelligence, 
 they must be governed agreeably to their intelligence- 
 
Congress of Vieniiia, 45 
 
 If you proceed in a contrary manner, they will become 
 restless. Would it be possible to govern the British 
 one single day in opposition to the wishes of the na- 
 tion ? while, on the other hand, making use of it, the go- 
 vernment is at perfect ease, as powerful at home as it is 
 feared in every quarter of the globe. 
 
 The disrepute into which liberal ideas have fallen do 
 not prevent us yielding them our homage. If much er- 
 ror has existed under their sanction, they have, on the 
 other hand, admitted of a sober and correct applica- 
 lion ; for there is not a liberal idea known that has not 
 been duly acted upon within the last twenty-five years. 
 
 Reason and justice, these two inseparable sisters, re = 
 quire that we should not confound liberal ideas with 
 the blunders of those who adopt them« The material 
 is one thing,, the workman another. 
 
 Those who at their ease ridicule liberal ideas, should 
 think of their personal interests, and reflect, that it 
 may so happen that they will not be permitted to 
 laugh at them. In such a case it is prudent not to 
 commence it. 
 
 CHAPTER VI, 
 
 Of the Political Balance of Europe in general. 
 
 For a century past the political balance of Europe 
 has been the object of the solicitude of statesmen, of 
 publicists, and, we may say, that of all the thinking 
 men of Europe. During this whole period there has 
 not been a book written on political subjects that hag 
 
46 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 not directly, or indirectly, had the political balance for 
 its object, of animadversion or research. The intimate 
 communication recently established among all nations, 
 Las rendered this an inevitable circumstance.* 
 
 " This system, foreseen by Henry IV. created by 
 '^ Cardinal Richelieu, confirmed by the Treaty of 
 *^ Westphalia, received much elucidation from King 
 a William, during the course of his protracted contest 
 <^ with Louis the Fourteenth. From that period to the 
 " revolution, as a matter of habit and routine, it has 
 ^' uniformly received an attention. That event enve- 
 " loped it in a general ruin, and proved the frailty of 
 ^^ this so much boasted edifice. 
 
 ^* There are two species of political balances. 
 
 " The one natural and independent; the other de- 
 ^' pendent and factitious. 
 
 "The first consists of a proportionate equality be- 
 '^ tween states, that possess nearly an equal portion of 
 " power in territory, in population, in wealth, and in 
 '^ geographical position. Frequently very substantial 
 " inequalities are recompensed by particular advan- 
 '^ tages, and which, in fact, completely counteract them. 
 " Such as between France and Great Britain ; com- 
 ^^ merce, a marine, and an insular position. These ad- 
 *'^ vantages compensate for the relative inequality of 
 ^' population, of territory and military force. Whence 
 ''^ results a correspondence of strength, by means that 
 " possess no similarity ? Thus the British fleets coun- 
 '' terbalance the armies of France. They obtain by 
 *^ sea advantages equal to those gained on land by 
 " France. Commerce gives a wealth to Great Britain, 
 *^ by which she is enabled to pay those armies she pro- 
 *^ cures on the Continent to enter into a contest with 
 " France. Rome and Carthage also were rivals ; but 
 *^ their power and resources were not equal. Prussia 
 " and Austria, Austria and Russia, Russia and Tur- 
 
 * In this chapter, all within inverted commas is extracted from the 
 " Anudote to the Congress s,t R.uistadt." By M. de Pradt, 
 
Congress of Vienna. 47 
 
 ^' key, have among themj notwithstanding very appa- 
 " rent ineijualties, a real parity of force. This parity 
 " of force has been the pledge of their independence, 
 " and in it they have possessed the means of defending 
 " and preserving it. The second species of balance 
 " proceeds from the natural jealousies of great states 
 " among themselves, of the protection they afford to 
 ^' smaller ones ; in fact, of the attention paid by each 
 " of them to the conduct of the other, in order to pre- 
 " vent those encroachments, which, if permitted, would 
 " prove too advantageous for one power, and too detri- 
 " mental to others. 
 
 " France, by her population, by her industry, and 
 ^^ the character of her subjects ; by her position in the 
 *^ centre of Europe, commanding two seas, belted with 
 " a triple frontier, which almost as much isolates her 
 " as she could be by the ocean ; France, with all these 
 ^^ advantages, really influences all her continental 
 " neighbours, and fully justifies the expression of the 
 " celebrated Marquis of Ormea, ^ Bo you speak of the 
 ^^ jwlitical balance of Eurojje,^ said this intelligent mi- 
 ^^ nister of Victor Amadeus ; ^ It rests with the cabinet 
 " of Versailles, if it knows how to hold it.' This ex- 
 ^' pression says every thing: and the conquests of 
 " Louis XIV. and the recent triumphs of France, suf- 
 ^^ ficiently prove the preponderance that this nation, 
 '^ well managed, can always obtain, before K-ussia and 
 " England can increase their establishments, and occu- 
 ^'^ py her place. 
 
 " Spain is a species of colony for France, as well as 
 " a counting-house for other nations; but she has no 
 " specific weight in the balance of Europe : singly, 
 '^ she can do nothing, being as powerless by land 
 " against France as by sea against England." It is 
 with Spain as with Turkey. Neither possess a politi- 
 cal activity, and are only connected with Europe i)y a 
 commerce, that both have permitted to fie carried on to 
 their own disadvantage. Far from effectually coniri- 
 buting to the balance of Europe, Europe, on the con- 
 
48 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 trarj, is obliged to look to their preservation. Great 
 Britain should always be ready to defend Spain against 
 France. In the last century, Sweden, Great Britain, 
 and Prussia, often exhibited a similar disposition, in 
 order that they might protect Turkey against the at- 
 tacks of Austria and Russia. 
 
 " Portugal is of still less consequence in the balance 
 *' of European powers. She is to be sought for at the 
 " Brazils. The body of the state is there — its head only 
 *^ is in Europe. Its extremities are too distant to have a 
 " real existence and self-action. Hitherto this country 
 *^ has not been any thing else than a commercial colony 
 *^ for Great Britain : such a one as Spain has been for 
 ^' France.'^ The removal of the Prince Regent to the 
 Brazils has altered all the relations of this country. It 
 will have an immense influence on all the nations of 
 JEurope. The sovereign of Portugal, who was the first 
 to give the example of removing himself into another 
 hemisphere, will have repeated for Europe the benefit 
 that it owes to another king of that country, who disco- 
 vered the Cape of Good Hope, It is not always the 
 smallest states that furnish the most trivial advantages, 
 and render the least service to the world. 
 
 " Before the revolution Italy was but a gallery of 
 ^^ pictures ; a museum that all the world visited ; but 
 " she never had any influence on piditieal affairs. It 
 <* was alw ys this Italy, of which the author of the Per- 
 ** sian Letters says, that, divided into an infinity of 
 ^^ states, its jirinces are, properly speaking, martyrs of 
 *^ sovereignty. Our glorious sultans often have more 
 ** wives than individuals among them have subjects. 
 ^' Tlie.ir habitual divisions keep their states open, like 
 ^' caravanseras, for the first who choose to take up their 
 *^ abode. This it is that compels them to attach them- 
 ^' selves to great sovereigns, and partake of their fears, as 
 •^ well as of their friendship. This picture remained uu- 
 ^^ changed till the French invaded this beautiful country, 
 '' and they had well studied it. There was no part of it 
 ^' for which they might have not fought longer, but the 
 
Congress of Vienna. 49 
 
 " effortsi would have been fruitless ; from a distributiou 
 ^^ of powers, in which it was impossible to trace any 
 "plan, or any thing that announced the least appear- 
 ** ance of order in the arrangements for this country, all 
 ^•^ these contests produced but a wretched result. 
 
 *' Thus Germans reigned at Milan, and could only 
 "reach thereby crossing the territory of Venice. The 
 " King of Sardinia, placed between Austria and France, 
 "'•^ could balance neither the one nor the other. Each. 
 ^* wished to devour him. In these disputes he furnished 
 *' the road and the field of battle; and, in fact, the 
 " gaoler of the Alps was too feeble to keep the keys. 
 '^ On the side of the Milanese his position was still 
 " worse ; for, in his affairs with the Germans, he did 
 " not possess the advantages that the Alps offered him 
 "against the French. Henee Italy was defended nei- 
 ^^ ther against France nor against Germany. His passive 
 " state was aggravated by the dissentions of her petty 
 ^^ princes, all prepossessed the one against the other, 
 *'and always at variance.'' Thus the King of Sardinia 
 feared and encroached on the Duke of Milan ;* who^ 
 in his turn, frightened Genoa. 
 
 France surprised Italy in the midst of this confusion 
 of inclinations and interests ; of this absence of any 
 Italian public spirit; but its interference in the affairs 
 of Italy has, at least, had its effect ; and this effect 
 will continue to create a determined spirit of indepen- 
 dence. At this moment we may speak of Italy as we 
 speak of liquors in a state of fermentation ; we must 
 wait for their precipitation in order to ascertaii* their 
 quality. 
 
 " The south of Europe was wholly a stranger to the 
 "balance of Europe. VVe only begin to perceive traces 
 *^of it on arriving in Germany and advancing towards 
 " the north. There at least tliere exi'^ted a species of 
 " plan, and a general corrective, for the innumerable 
 
 * " The Milanese is an artichoke that we must eat leaf by leaf," said Vic- 
 tor Amad'f'ns. 
 
 G 
 
50 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 ^' defects that existed in the bosom of its states. The 
 " Treaty of Westphalia had regulated the political 
 " state of Germany, and formed its code of public law. 
 " A great number of powers had concurred in its for- 
 *' mation and support; and, in later times, states, fo- 
 ** reign even to Germany, had attached themselves to 
 ^' it. But the multitude of changes, produced in the 
 '* course of time, had so altered ihe substance of this 
 *^ treaty, as to render it wholly inadecjuate to actual cir- 
 •^ cumstances. The cessions made to Louis XIV. vio- 
 " lated its integrity. Some of tiie powers that had as- 
 " sisted at its formation, particularly Sweden, had lost 
 " their influence, and were not attached to the empire 
 " by other than imperceptible ties. New powers, such 
 " as Prussia, had raised themselves in the bosom of the 
 ^^ empire. Russia advanced towards it every day. On 
 '^'^ the contrary, Austria detached herself in a similar 
 " proportion, and appeared more willing to bear the 
 ^^ title than the burthen. 
 
 " The constant opposition of Austria to Prussia had 
 "divided Germany into two parts: all were ranged 
 " under two banners ; so that there was nothing more 
 ^^ rare in Germany than a German :'^ there were only 
 Austrians and Prussians. The necessity of defending 
 themselves in the latter periods of Napoleon, has re» 
 vived the German spirit, but it visibly tends to make it 
 again fall into its first division. In fact, a higher and 
 lower empire still exists in Germany. 
 
 " Austria possesses an immense extent of territory, 
 " which contributes as much to her weakness as her 
 " strength : for she has neighbours every where, and 
 *^ frontiers no where. In her distant possessions in the 
 '* Low Countries she succeeded to a degree of embar- 
 »^ rassment still greater than that experienced by Spain: 
 *'• the latter could send those armies by sea which 
 " Austria could only despatch by land. These conti- 
 ^^ nental colonies do not answer; inasmuch as maritime 
 " powers can always invade them, and at a little ex~ 
 ^^ pense. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 51 
 
 " The Low Countries placed Austria in a state of 
 ^^ dependence on France and on the north. The Mila- 
 ^' nese made part of Italy his enemy. With all these 
 ^' embarrassments, Austria had to encounter those of 
 ^' the empire ; a body inert as to useful political action^ 
 '' but ever in a state of agitation. 
 
 " Poland, for one hundred years, has not had a pro- 
 ^' fitable existence for Europe. If the partition of this 
 '^ country outraged morality, its government outraged 
 ^^ reason. Morally speaking, nothing will authorise 
 *^ partition ; but, since the appearance of Russia on 
 <* the great theatre of the world, it has become indis- 
 " pensable. A new river has began to flow from the 
 ^^ pole to the south of Europe. A part of the globe, if 
 " the expression may be allowed, has altered the direc- 
 ^^ tion of its course, and has imposed a new load on 
 " Europe. It now has to support a burthen that here- 
 " tofore it would not have been able to bear. Similar 
 *' to those rocks, that, separating from the mountains, 
 ** tumble to the bottom ; and, dragging down every 
 " thing that comes in the way, the unwieldy body of 
 ^* the Russian empire, once put in motion on the side 
 *^ of Europe, will pursue its career till she meets bar- 
 ^^ riers strong enough to arrest it. These barriers are 
 ^' in Poland.'^ 
 
 Prussia is a power newly created. She has scarcely 
 existed one hundred years, and has passed the eigh- 
 teenth century in aggrandising herself. Not being able 
 to extend her territory at tiie expense of powers stron- 
 ger than herself, nor of those which are weaker ; sought 
 after by France, dreaded by Austria, the safeguard of 
 the German empire, the shield of Holland ; also strong 
 in the necessity she is under of using her own means, 
 capable of defending, unable to destroy ; before the re- 
 volution Prussia was one of the main supports of the 
 balance of Europe. None of the innovations that have 
 since taken place have sprung directly from her. She 
 lias known how to lend and conform herself to them for 
 lier own safety, in order to remain in a state of relative 
 
^*Z Congress of Vienna, 
 
 inferiority, that, in politics, is equal to an effectual de- 
 privati(»n ; l>ut far from provoking invasions, effected 
 or projected against other states, she has armed herself 
 against them. ¥ov instance, the treaties of Teschen, 
 of Reichenbach, and the line of demarcation fn)m 1795 
 to 1801. If, since this period, Prussia has accepted 
 territories that did not lielong to her, we may say that, 
 in sinning agamst morality, ((tn this subject we do not 
 presume to judge,) she has not sinned against the 
 European balance ; for these additions of territory 
 were either compensations f(»r losses experienced, or 
 equalisations proportioned to the acquisitions of tlie 
 nrighhouring powers, w hich it was necessary she should 
 approach in the same proportion as tliey approached 
 Ber territory : and that which finally demonstrated the 
 importance of Prussia in the political balance was, that 
 rather surprised than conq\iered, more beaten by the 
 inexperience of her officers than the strength of her 
 enemy, Prussia fell in her first contest with France, 
 at the very moment that the great empires of France 
 and Russia came into contact, and fought battles 
 which gave the world a new appearance. Of such 
 importance is Prussia to Europe: — placed as the 
 centre of her political balance, and always sufficient- 
 ly strong to prevent one of the scales outweighing the 
 other. 
 
 Russia, like Prussia, born as to Europe in the eigh- 
 teenth century, has uniformly disturbed it. Instead of 
 steadying tlie balance, her conduct has been diametri- 
 cally opposite. The Russian empire is one that for the 
 last century has continued in a state of increase. 
 
 Finland, one of its great objects, was not annexed to 
 it. In the hands of Sweden, tlsis country was to Peters- 
 burg what Normandy would be to Paris in the hands of 
 Great Britain. Neither the one nor the other could 
 escape from a power so effectually surrounding them. 
 These are objects, the possession of which nations re- 
 gard as of the first necessity ; so much so, that they can-r 
 not be quiet until they have gained them. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 53 
 
 At this time, Russia asked Europe to watch her for- 
 ward march, proQiisin^ that this step should he the 
 last ; and protesting, that having thus arrived at the 
 height of her desires, she should only wish to enjoy re- 
 pose, and contribute to that of others. 
 
 This would surely be the most noble employment for 
 her immense forces ; as much the more formidable, as 
 an extensive experience !ias just proved, that to her 
 alone on the continent beloni^s the frightful privilege of 
 being able to commit an outrage on others that they can- 
 not retaliate upon her. 
 
 When Sweden possessed a large territory in Germa- 
 ny and in Russia, she influenced the former nearly as 
 much as Prussia does in our times. The latter had 
 not yet an exis,tence ; Poland was in a state of chaotic 
 barbarism : but, since Sweden, in consequence of the 
 wars of Charles the Xllth, lost almost all her con- 
 tinental possessions, her sovereigns, withdrawn into the 
 extreme regions of the north, were rather spectators 
 than actors on the great theatre of the world. If the 
 union of Calmar could have been preserved, it would 
 have given an importance to Sweden very superior to 
 tliat which siie now enjoys. But, by the annexation, 
 of Norway to Sweden, this power has assumed a rank 
 nearly equal to that assigned her by the union of Cal- 
 mar. 
 
 Invulnerable at home, unable to conquer, not liable 
 to be conquered, formed into one body by the acquisi- 
 tion of Norway, as she was divided into two parts by 
 tlie possession of Finland, Sweden has obtained a very 
 great defensive force and off'ensive strength, very pro- 
 per for the support of ti»e political balance. For the 
 future, Sweden can have but two enemies. To Rus-= 
 sia, she will be the England of the north ; and the 
 guardian of the Baltic against England, as well as the 
 ally of the powers on its shores. Having no longer to 
 defend her interior, she will be able to turn all her at- 
 tention to internal and foreign commerce. This com- 
 
51^ Congress of Vienna, 
 
 merce will give her wealth, and her foreign traffic will 
 furnish her with a numerous and hardy marine ; which, 
 united with that of the other powers of Europe, will 
 one day perhaps force England to temper with justice 
 the exercise of her maritime superiority. "' Denmark 
 i( weighs heavier in the balance of commerce than in 
 f/< that of politics. Her states are too small, too much 
 <^ separated from the Continent, too detached from one 
 i' another; and, for the most part, too much neglected 
 «^ by nature. The loss of Norway completed her loss 
 i^ of any species of importance. By the side of the 
 i' great states that are formed on all sides, Denmark is 
 i' nothing more than a great and line lordship, invested 
 ii with a royal crown. Since the war of the succes- 
 i^ sion in Spain, Holland has lost all active influence 
 " in the affairs of Europe. Devoting herself entirely 
 «^ to commerce, she has given up playing the part act- 
 (' ed by William and his magistrates, who were the 
 i' constant enemies of Louis the XlVth. As to Eng- 
 i^ land, it is a matter of question whetlier she maio- 
 i<^ tains or subverts the political balance. She governs 
 <i the seas, reigns over commerce, and gathers the 
 « wealth of all nations. The latter were sometimes 
 " compelled to unite against her. Inattackable in her 
 '^ islands, present every where with her thousand ships, 
 " she enjoys with satisfaction the storms she raises on 
 " the Continent. They constitute her safety ; and, if 
 «^ she takes any pains to assuage them, it is when dif- 
 " ferences proceed too far, or when they threaten some 
 <^^ of the parties that she has an interest in preserving, 
 " with ruin. Thus, in 1790, England assuming the 
 " part of France, prevented Turkey from falling into 
 " the clutches of llussia.^' 
 
 Fortunate is the lot of England ; for undoubtedly 
 she is the most powerful nation in Europe. Inaccessi- 
 ble at home, it is not possible to arrive at London by 
 the roads, of the nature of tliose that lead to Yienna, 
 Berlin, and Moscow; and, may I say? even to Paris. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 55 
 
 The element that must furnish the road belongs to 
 her. For how many ages will Europe have to labour^ 
 in order to enable her united flags to brave those of 
 England alone ! Imprudent provocations have taught 
 her how to defend her shores. Other provocations 
 have led her to the formation of armies, and have 
 furnished her with names illustrious by their exploits. 
 In vain has the most intelligent of her enemies sought 
 for her vulnerable points. On all sides he found a ro- 
 bust body, rendered impenetrable by the double shield 
 of the best constitution existing in the universe ; and 
 that unanimity and patriotism that have attached her 
 people to the interest of their country. In vain has 
 lie attempted to unstring the nerve of her power, in 
 attacking her finances and iho, commerce of which they 
 are the soul. In vain has he directed against them all 
 the eiforts of his mind and his strength. Similar to 
 those singular productions of nature that revive after 
 the steel has mutilated them, her power has aug- 
 mented in proportion to the measures taken to restrict 
 it; and England attacked in its credit, deceived the 
 hopes entertained on the subject of her exhaustion, and 
 enjoyed the delusions of her enemies. She replied to 
 those prognostics which were formed as to her future 
 distress, by miracles of wealth hitherto unknown to 
 the world, by a devotion that had the air of calling 
 for sacrifices? in order that she might make them.* 
 
 * Financial predictions have not been more fortunate in England than ia 
 Fran'-e. 
 
 For a long time Mr. Pitt founded his hopes on the assignats, the mandats, 
 and rtscnptions ; and on all the financial operations which the Convention 
 and the Directory successively adopted. 
 
 Also for a long period M. d'lvernois did not permit a year to pass, with- 
 out announcing that the French government was about to sink, in conse- 
 quence of the state of its finances ; and even fixed the day, the 31st Decem- 
 ber. 
 
 On the other hand, the French were not in arrear, as to predictions equal- 
 ly sinister and quite as vain. 
 
5$ Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Happy the people with whom every new want has thfe 
 effect of opening a new source of wealth. For exam- 
 ple, to what an elevation has not the power of Grreat 
 Eritain raised her? The war has rendered her mistress 
 of the most important parts of the globe. See how 
 fearless she floats on the ocean, and casts her anchor at 
 
 It seems that on both sides the question was not understood. On the 
 side of England, they fancied a cause of destruction that which was not 
 even a cause of embarrassment to the French government, still less to the 
 French people. Behold the facility with which money, sufficient for all 
 the wants of the country, has been obtained, after all the paper thatRamel, 
 comptroller-general of the finances after Cambon, had valued at not more 
 than forty-five milliards, had disappeared. During all this time, thei'e was 
 not an acre of ground less cultivated, nor one house less built. Where* 
 then, was the embarx'assment of the finances ? 
 
 On the side of France, the error was in searching for the wealth of Eng- 
 land in her budget, and not in her resolution to sacrifice all her wealth for 
 her preservation. Here it was that she found a resource for every deficit _ 
 It had for its mortgage, England, Scotland, Ireland, India, America, and 
 the commerce of the world. All would have been exhausted, rather than 
 she would yield. Hence, what signifies the deficit and the prognostic to 
 which they gave rise ? We have only to look to what has happened. 
 
 Besides, it is a false doctrine that a state necessarily sinks in consequence 
 of the bad state of its finances. If it were true, there would not be a state 
 in existence in Europe. The financial affairs of Austria, for fifteen years, 
 have been in a most pitiable state. The monarchy has never been more 
 powerful, more victorious. 
 
 For eighteen years, the finances of Prussia have scarcely had an existence. 
 Prussia is more powerful than ever, and the Prussians have been at Paris 
 twice in fifteen months. 
 
 A general rule : financial difficulties only afTect the weak and the timid. 
 Another general rule : in revolution there are no finances, neither for one 
 party nor another ; for the states that create them, and who attack, nor 
 those who defend themselves. It is only after the contest that financial 
 systems can be established. 
 
 America, for instance, did she think of her financial system during the 
 •war of independence ? Assuredly not. Besides, they were in great disor- 
 der when General Hamilton took charge of them, and established a system 
 which attracted to America the great treasures of the whole world, until 
 the moment when she had the imprudence to enter into the contest with 
 Great Britain ; a contest in vvhicbj to adopt a vulgar expression, she had. 
 " nothing to gain but blo-ivs." 
 
Congress of Vienna. 57 
 
 every spot that commands every sea ; thus enclosing 
 the world in the net that she appears to have thrown 
 over it. The domination of Great Britain differs wide- 
 ly from that of the great continental powers. It is very 
 true that she cannot, as France has so often done, march 
 her armies to all the capitals of Europe. They never 
 can reach her's. She strikes at a distance, and always 
 makes a sure blow. Her armies are at once in India, 
 and before Boston.* 
 
 To this direct influence it is necessary to add that of 
 the wealth, which, for the past twenty-five years, has 
 furnished Great Britain with the means of supplying 
 the wants that other powers experience in the coni= 
 mencement of their operations; and by which she 
 makes vassals of these people, jnst as much as if they 
 were tributary to her. Hence Great Britain is the pre- 
 ponderating power ; and still more preponderating, as 
 this power is the combined result of a state of things of 
 which nothing can deprive her; namely, her insular 
 position ; her marine strength ; her constitution and 
 public spirit. t 
 
 "The result from this picture of Europe is, that 
 " there never has been a balance of power formed on 
 " fixed and regular bases. 
 
 * In 1811, we have beheld a British armament leaving' the coasts of 
 Malabar and Coromandel, in order to g'o and disembark twenty-five thou= 
 sand men on the shores of the Isle of France. This circumstance is un- 
 equalled in the annals of the world. In the space of ten n.onths, a British, 
 army left Bayonne and Bordeaux, appeared before New Orleans, in Canada, 
 and returned to the plains of Picard)'. 
 
 We here behold the value of the sea to those who have made themsehes 
 its masters. Thus do we see realised in favour of England what a French 
 poet has said, 
 
 " Le trident de Neptune est le sceptre du monde." 
 
 + Speaking- of the British, Montesquieu says, " They are the people 
 " who best imderstand to re .der themselves superior in three great 
 " things ; religion, liberty, and commerce."' Spirit of Laws, book xx. chap, 
 viii. 
 
 H 
 
58 Congress of Vienna,, 
 
 " The treaty of Westphalia is the only monument 
 " of this kind. Still it was applicable to but a small 
 «^ portion of Europe. It has given rise to an idea of A 
 " balance, as well as of a necessity, of restraining one 
 ^' great power by the efforts of another, and to guaran- 
 ^< tee the smaller ones by an honourable dependence. 
 " But in this plan there is more of habit than of calcu- 
 " lation to be discovered ; it is true that some powers 
 ^' are tolerably well balanced; but they do not form a 
 ^^ combined whole, nor are they adapted to a general 
 ^* system. 
 
 " The shocks which Europe has experienced since 
 ^* the peace of Westphalia have not been sufficiently 
 *^ powerful nor general to render it desirable to go much 
 ^» farther. The favourable opportunity offered at the 
 ^^ commencement of the war of the succession of Spain 
 ^^ was lost. Also that, at the epoch of the contest for 
 " the succession of the Emperor Charles the Sixth, was 
 " missed. 
 
 " At a critical period Europe was surprised by the 
 ^* French revolution, produced by an infinity of causes, 
 " all of them calculated to exhibit the weakness of her 
 " system. They were, 
 
 " First, The resentment of Great Britain to France, 
 ^^ for having become the auxiliary of the United States 
 ^* in the war of independence. 
 
 " Second, The war made by Russia on the Ottoman 
 " Porte. 
 
 " Third, The quarrels of Austria in the Low Coun- 
 ^* tries. 
 
 " Fourth, The discontent in Holland with Joseph the 
 ** Second, on account of the war of the Scheldt. 
 
 " Fifth, The imprudence of the latter in his war 
 " against the Turks. 
 
 " Sixth, The internal dissentions in Holland, pro- 
 " duced by Prussia. 
 
 " Seventh, The coolness that this interference pro 
 " duced between France and her ancient ally. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 59 
 
 " Eighth, The rapacity of the three powers as to 
 ^^ Poland, to whose political existence they gradually 
 '^ put an end. 
 
 " Ninth, The apprehensions of Austria on the score 
 « of Italy. 
 
 " Some powers found themselves in a state of in- 
 " crease, or, to use the expression, at their acme, such 
 " as Prussia and Russia. Others, on the contrary, ex- 
 " perienced a decline, and were at the lowest ebb. 
 
 " Hence, all was disorder and division in Europe. 
 " Never were the bonds of association more relaxed. 
 '^ The revolution had not much trouble in breaking 
 " up interests so discordant. There was no compact 
 " and well-connected body that could offer any resist- 
 ^^ ance.^' 
 
 We shall soon see whether the congress at Vienna 
 has put more cement into its work. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Of the Opportunities lost during the last Century of 
 establishing the Political Balance of Europe. 
 
 In the fortune of nations, as in that of individuals^ 
 there are always circumstances decisive of their fate« 
 It is but seldom that they meet with those opportuni- 
 ties, of which it is necessary that they should avail 
 themselves, for they perhaps will not again occur but 
 after a long interval of time. Fortune, attentive to the 
 welfare of nations, often offers them this species of re- 
 source, in order that they may be enabled to correct 
 their errors, or repair their losses. But it is rare that 
 they ever take advantage of the opportunity, and prove 
 
60 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 themselves, by embracing it, more intelligent than iii- 
 ilivitluais. The passions that preclude the latter from, 
 profiting of these happy correctives of tiieir situation, 
 do not operate less actively on nations, and in the same 
 manner divert their attention from making the attempt 
 to give their affairs a direction by which a good use of 
 these favourahle opportunities might be made. 
 
 Eurojje will rifford us four great examples of a for- 
 getfulness of this sort, exhibited during the past cen- 
 tury. 
 
 (harles the Second, King of Spain, died without 
 c! 5 lien, but not without slutes. The latter were to be 
 found every whe«e. 
 
 His will, made not unlike those of which a picture 
 is to be found in the theatres, by the manoeuvres of 
 avaricious heirs, was opposed by other acts more or 
 less clear, more or less legitimate. But it was attack- 
 ed more efficaciously by almost all Europe, which, un- 
 der the guidance of the greatest politician of his time, 
 King William, who, having been twenty-five years in 
 arms, and greatly jealous of Louis the Fourteenth, was 
 not disjiosed to behold the house of this prince receive 
 an inheritance that gave him for an ally even the power 
 that had fought with France for two hundred years; 
 an inheritance which, under the grandson of Louis the 
 Fourteenth, woubl make the Spanisli Low Countries a 
 French province, place at the gates of Holland, and 
 without a blow, the same sovereign whom the patriotism 
 of the Hollanders exalted, so far as to inundate their 
 own country, and leave themselves only able to shut 
 the gates of Amsterdam. 
 
 Europe could n(»t behold with tranquillity, that this 
 arrangement should be permitted to destroy its liberties, 
 in giving to France, under the name of Spain, a great 
 part of Italy «nd the wealthy America. The war of the 
 succession burst out and embroiled Europe in a bloody 
 contest for twelve years ; and as it had been instigated 
 by some with a view to personal interests, and by others, 
 more from a hatred of Louis the Fourteenth than an 
 
Congress of Vienna^ 61 
 
 attachment to Europe, it failed in its object. Spain 
 remained to Pliilip the Fiftii ; and the branches torn 
 from this superb tree were not employed for the gene- 
 ral benefit of Europe, but to satisfy individual amiii- 
 tion, or rather to consolidate pretended rights. The 
 war of the succession terminated like a cause between 
 fatigued and exhausted lawyers, rather than as an aifair 
 between statesmen ; and however Europe at that time 
 may have calculated on names, both in the course of war 
 and the business of the cabinet, their celebrity has not 
 long since been surpassed. It was not at that period aff 
 it is at present throughout Europe. With the excep- 
 tion of the British, ail individuals were excluded from 
 any participation in public affairs. Hence, political 
 transactions concentred in the cabinets of princes, par- 
 took, under their hands and in those of their ministers^ 
 of a complexion purely personal, and which induced 
 them to prefer the affections of their families, and the 
 private taste of princes, to the general interests of the 
 people. So much is the state of nations changed, that 
 at this time such a system could not be established with- 
 out great clamour. 
 
 The succession of the Emperor Charles the Sixth 
 presented to the European powers a second opportunity 
 for a regular arrangement of policy among the various 
 members of which they were composed. 
 
 Surely there was great injustice in speculating on the 
 youth and weakness of a princess, presuming her in the 
 age of inexperience, and thinking her fortunate in pre- 
 serving one part of her states by the sacrifice of the 
 others. It was a horrible act of violence ; and with the 
 exception of the imperial dignity, elective in its nature, 
 and which may without impropriety be transferred to 
 another person, we cannoi conceive how they could 
 apply to Maria Theresa any other public law than 
 that which had existed amon^ other sovereigns ; and 
 bow she would not have been able to inherit the pos- 
 sessions of her fatlier, by the same title tha|, all other 
 
62i Congress of Vienna. 
 
 princes inherit theirs. It partakes of ideas highly in- 
 jurious to public law, antl is most essentially forgetful 
 of that of nations. The latter are not litigious ; and a 
 thousand wars occasioned by the right of succession in 
 princes, would have been averted by an understanding 
 of the positive rights of the people. 
 
 Instead of turning her attention to herself, Europe 
 devoted it to Prussia ; the imperial dignity, and the 
 apanages that were to be created in Italy, in favour 
 of some cadets of the House of Bourbon. Then it 
 was that the great Frederick averted the danger, by 
 liis appearance on the political theatre, and then first 
 dawned the Aurora of his reign — ^a reign, the glory of 
 "which never has been eclipsed. Then it was that 
 Messieurs de Belleisle, so blustering and noisy, and 
 now so perfectly forgotten, — a fate reserved for every 
 administration that possesses a character neither nation- 
 al nor European, — succeeded in plunging Cardinal 
 Fleury into a war, of which that venerable statesman 
 wholly disapproved. The courage, the unconquerable 
 firmness of Maria Theresa, surmounted all these obsta- 
 cles. They disappeared before the imposing character 
 of a young princess, as distinguished by the beauty of 
 lier person, as by the elevation of her rank, and which 
 so well knew how to inflame and arouse her subjects 
 by one of those traits which constitute the true secret 
 of a mother's heart. 
 
 Thus for many years chances were balanced, and the 
 war terminated, as wars will ever terminate, when it was 
 waged without a great object, by weakness and intrigue, 
 by family arrangements ; and eventually, by a total for- 
 getfulness of the general interests of Europe. 
 
 Maria Theresa preserved the central part of her states 
 and the imperial crown, the ancient apanage of her 
 family, by the sacrifice of Silesia, and that of some 
 parts of her dominions in Italy. The Low Countries 
 were restored to her; but much less on her own ac- 
 count^ than of the step being hostile to France and 
 
Congress of Vienna, 63 
 
 frieudly to Holland. The barrier treaty was renewed, 
 instead of advantage being taken of the opportunity to 
 unite Holland and Belgium, and to establish a kingdom 
 in Italy. But these grand measures surpassed the po- 
 licy of the times. Henee, this second epoch was not 
 more favourable to the balance of Europe than the first 
 had been. The succeeding periods have not served it 
 more essentially. If ever a time had occurred when 
 it might have occupied the attention, it was at the epoch 
 of the revolution, which having altered, renewed every 
 thing, and which having placed Europe at the disposi- 
 tion of France, did not give, during the course of this 
 long neglect of the general interests of Europe, any 
 other tendency than to furnish this country, not with 
 the superiority, (that she had already,) but the supre- 
 macy ; not the general safety of Europe, but the admi- 
 nistration of its government. 
 
 At Radstadt, at CampoFormio, at Presburg, at Til- 
 sit, at Vienna in 1809, at Prague, there was not heard 
 a single word, there was not a single look cast, that 
 had the slightest tendency to establish a balance in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 It was principally the Emperor Napoleon who show- 
 ed himself the most destitute of this public spirit for 
 Europe. For him this quarter of the globe only ex- 
 isted, but as a house in ruins, on the foundations of 
 which he proposed to erect an edifice after new plans 
 and according to views wholly personal. ^^ I have,'' 
 as this sovereign often said, " a great political system.'' 
 This manner of operating was not more to the taste of 
 France than to that of Europe, for he well knew that 
 France, for her own reputation, would at all times, and 
 in all places, applaud the victories of her armies, be- 
 cause they redounded to his honour, and were his work. 
 But this motive did not induce her to applaud those en- 
 terprises that have merely produced to him the glory 
 of triumph. Thus France was highly delighted with 
 the victory of the Moskowa, but she was far from ap= 
 proving of the war with Russia. 
 
64 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 la lier conquests, France has exhibited a good sensGj 
 of which her chief has been destitute. For her, the 
 line of demarcation and the point at which she wanted 
 to stop, was the Hhine. That was the only thing of 
 which France was truly desirous, and the abandonment 
 of which she has deeply regretted. 
 
 How much is it to be deplored, that a mind, the 
 views of which were so extensive and the ideas so lu- 
 minous, as that of the Emperor Napoleon, should have 
 suffered itself to wander so far as to dream of amalga- 
 mating of materials so hostile to one another, without 
 the common bonds that are to be found in geographical 
 situation, in language, in manners, in habits ; that he 
 should ever be able to make S-ome and Lubeck mem- 
 bers of the same state; that all people should consent 
 to a common and voluntary forgetfulness of all the an- 
 tecedents of the glory and the renown that belonged to 
 them. On the contrary, why did Napoleon not disco- 
 ver the solidity that would have been attached to his 
 own establishment, or that of an order of things that 
 should have combined the interests of all Europe? How 
 is it that he has measured not only the grandeur, the 
 real grandeur that he would have acquired in the eyes 
 of all Europeans, by resolving the still irresolvable 
 problem of the true system of Europe ? 
 
 No one can doubt, in fact, who recollects what has 
 occurred in the last twenty- five years; (and who has 
 not regarded the events that have passed in the course 
 of them with indignation and disdain ?) that no oppor- 
 tunity similar to that which presented itself to Napoleon 
 lias ever offered itself to any other man. He had done 
 for people, what may be said of the Greeks, at the end 
 of the Trojan wat, 
 
 " Fracti bello, fatisque repulsi." 
 
 On all sides peace, stability, and a tolerable degree of 
 order, were demanded. The fear inspired by France 
 was great. The renown of her chief redoubled this fear. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 65 
 
 He was able to propose any thing for which he wished, 
 in order to efl'ect the regular arrangement of Europe, 
 and he could have obtained any thing. What do I 
 say? They would have esteemed themselves happy in 
 obeying him. Had he formed this establishment, which 
 combined the interests of all, he would have received 
 as many benedictions as he did in France for the re- 
 establishment of religious worship, and for all that he 
 Lad done in the cause of civilisation :* for it was less 
 to the warrior, than the restorer of social order, that 
 the wishes and submission of France were addressed. 
 It would have been the same with Europe, Of the en- 
 tire and absolute resignation with which France had 
 given herself up to the direction of Napoleon, by her 
 conviction of the superiority of his views and the purity 
 of his intentions, all Europe would have partaken on 
 the subject of tlie order of her policy. 
 
 More fortunate than ever had been any man in power, 
 in the means of influencing his equals, Napoleon would 
 have found the world so fatigued, that he might have 
 done any thing in the name of the general repose. 
 Everything was so completely overturned, that he had 
 the power of reconstruction, when and how he chose, 
 completely within his reach. He found terror so per- 
 fectly established, that the absence of evil, or even of 
 contests less rude, would have passed for a benefit. 
 
 If in the place of that mass of negotiations and trea- 
 ties that parcelled out Germany — if in the place of the 
 successive re-unions of Italy, he had founded a good 
 order of things for the one, at the same time keeping 
 within the limit of the Rhine, the loss of which is 
 now so regretted ; and if he had profited of the vacan- 
 cy of a great part of the territories of Italy, in order to 
 establish a system which we shall, in a future page, 
 explain more fully, he would have seen every one fly to 
 him, and make their own happiness the pledge of his 
 stability. But it was otherwise ordered by Providence. 
 It has willed that to the power with which he had been 
 invested to overturn every thing, he should not add the 
 
 I 
 
66 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 knowledge of establishing any thing ; that to the abili- 
 ty he possessed to restore every thing, should not be 
 added the means of assuring the existence of any thing; 
 and that for having substituted himself for Europe, he 
 should terminate his career by being expelled from her 
 shores. 
 
 Thus was lost the finest opportunity ever offered for 
 at last constituting Europe into a well organised body, 
 and of finding irt this establishment a reparation for the 
 evils she has suffered, and a solid guarantee against 
 their return. 
 
 We shall soon see whether the Congress at Vienna, 
 which forms the last epoch, has legislated on the same 
 occasion with a view to universality and stability, the 
 absence of which has characterised the epochaof which 
 we have just spoken. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 What has been done in Europe for the last one hun- 
 dred years towards establishing the Balance of 
 Power. 
 
 Political Europe, for the most part, resembles an- 
 cient cities, the plans of which appear to have been 
 traced by a race of men hostile to right lines, the sun, 
 and the air. To move about, to see clearly, aud breathe 
 freely, we must betake ourselves to the suburbs. 
 
 All the ancient political organisation of Europe was 
 tortuous and gloomy. The various states of which it is 
 composed, were principally formed from the wrecks of 
 the Roman empire. For fifteen 'hundred years, this 
 political vulture has gnawed at this great body without 
 having been able to exhaust it. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 67 
 
 All the states have been formed by the fortuitous 
 aggregation of a multitude of others, more or less ex= 
 tensive, and which a variety of causes have added to 
 them. 
 
 At first France, with her Roman Gauls, then with the 
 kingdoms of Aries, of Austratia, of Orleans, of Sois- 
 sons ; with the dutchies, the earldoms, and the sove- 
 reignties, which were successively formed from the 
 wreck of the Roman empire, and which have termi- 
 nated by being absorbed into that state now called 
 France. Each had, as it happened, its king, duke, or 
 earl. 
 
 Germany, Italy, took the same direction. On all 
 sides they availed themselves of the circumstances of 
 the times to arrondise their territories, and avail them- 
 selves of all the conveniences within their reach. 
 
 Eleanor of Guyenne, in the shape of a dower, in- 
 vested a king of England with one of the finest provin- 
 ces of France. This dower cost the two countries tiiree 
 hundred years of war. Maria, of Burgundy, trans- 
 ferred to the House of Austria a superb heritage, form- 
 ed, in a great measure, of the spoils of France. The 
 torches of this hymeneal connexion lighted up a war of 
 many years' duration between the two houses reigning 
 over France and Austria. The rights of Louis the Xllth 
 to the Milanese, cost France sixty years of war in that 
 country ; which, occupied and lost a thousand times 
 by the French, appeared, at each new attempt on their 
 part, fully to confirm this sentence of Livy. JSTon sine 
 providentissimo deorum immortalium consilio, Jilfes^ 
 Italiam et Galliam, dimserimt. Nature even has is- 
 sued a decree for their separation. But Europe has 
 ever been governed in the spirit of property by patrimo- 
 nial title, and not with a view to political and general 
 good order. 
 
 If princes, whose numbers are few, have divided 
 among their heirs those states too extensive or too much 
 detached from one another, these arrangements have 
 all been made with relation to their families^ and not 
 
6$ Congress of Vienna. 
 
 to the political order of Europe. This arose from a 
 want of civilisation, and from the little communication 
 which people had with each other. 
 
 The first trace of any solicitude for the general inter- 
 ests of Europe, is not to be found farther back than the 
 treaty of Utrecht: by which it was stipulated tliat in 
 no case could the two crowns of France and Spain be 
 placed on the same head. This was an act truly Eu- 
 ropean. 
 
 Besides, to take and keep for one's self has nearly 
 formed the whole of the diplomatic dictionary of Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The present period is not destitute of well assorted 
 arraneienjents in the political constitution of Europe. 
 We have just seen two formed that cannot be other- 
 wise than highly favourable. 
 
 1st. The union of Norway with Sweden. 
 
 2d. That of Belgium and Holland. 
 
 We have already shown the advantages of the union 
 of Sweden to Norway. That which is beneficial for 
 both parties is equally so to Europe, very appropriate 
 to the two countries, and an arrangement of which all 
 Europe is called to reap the advantages. 
 
 Not less benefit will be derived from the union of 
 Belgium and Holland ; and the more extensive this 
 connexion, the more it will become useful to the whole 
 body of Europe. This subject requires a peculiar de- 
 velopement. 
 
 Holland, in her ancient state, did not serve for any 
 useful purpose in the political balance of Europe. She 
 was only its bank and storehouse, and she no longer 
 formed one of its body politic. 
 
 The population of Holland was very contracted ; too 
 much occupietl in commercial pursuits to be able to 
 furnish a national army. In consequence of this circum- 
 stance, the Dutch army was almost wholly composed of 
 foreign troops ; in fact, this army had ceased to be so 
 considered. Her marine was rather extensive : her 
 colonies were badly provided with troops, and still were 
 
Congress of Vienna. 69 
 
 difficult to keep, in consequence of those principles of 
 dissolution that, for twenty-five years, had generally 
 affected colonial affairs. 
 
 Belgium, abandoned to herself, did not present any 
 stronger guarantees to Europe. Austria had actually, 
 and intentionally, renounced the right. It was at Ve- 
 nice, and at Milan, that she completed the surrender of 
 Brussels. 
 
 The Belgians have exhibited a persevering attach- 
 ment to Austria. This circumstance does honour both to 
 the government and the people. It could not fail to add 
 to the mutual regret at their separation. But Austria 
 had, for a long time, felt the inconvenience of this con- 
 tinental colony. She was unable, like Spain, to land 
 there from her ships, and which thus placed her in a 
 state of dependence on the whole world. One year of 
 war would absorb the produce of ten years of peace. 
 The country could be invaded before the corps destined 
 for its defence could leave their garrisons. The enemy 
 was at Lisle, and the defenders in Bohemia and Hun- 
 gary. 
 
 In fine, the possession of Belgium by Austria de- 
 prived the country of the enjoyment of that commerce, 
 for which, by her natural situa^tion, she was so well 
 calculated, by her rivers, her ciinals, and the genius of 
 her inhabitants. 
 
 Belgium independent, under a particular prince, 
 would not have placed her in such a state as to be use= 
 ful to the general balance of Europe. It might have 
 flattered the taste of the inhabitants, but it must termi- 
 nate by proving itself a dear bargain to all. Thus iso- 
 lated, Belgium was a prey to the whole world, without 
 being of any direct utility to any one. In this condi- 
 tion they could continue to interdict her maritime com- 
 merce, and restrain her domestic traffic, by a raultipli» 
 city of laws framed by the custom-houses. 
 
 Her connexion with some sovereignty of the empire of- 
 fered the least inconveniences. Wecannot see to what so- 
 vereign of Gerraanyj, Belgium could have been assigned 
 
70 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 with the least appearance of utility to the two coun- 
 tries and Europe. 
 
 It must be allowed that all these suppositions want 
 plausibility. The more we examine them, the more 
 evident appears their vanity, and the necessity of re- 
 turning to the only combination that nature and the 
 power of things have consecrated ; that of the union of 
 Holland with the Low Countries. 
 
 Let us develope still farther the advantages likely to 
 arise to the two countries and to Europe. 
 
 Geography, climate, language, habits, unite the two 
 people. Religion does not oppose this union ; for it is 
 not possible to effect a community of political interests, 
 if religious opinions and duties are at variance with 
 them. Almost all the sovereigns of Germany present a 
 picture of the same mixture, without any inconvenience. 
 The king of Saxony exercises the Catholic religion 
 with the greatest regularity, and has never lost the good 
 opinion and affections of his people, who are zealous 
 Lutherans. Near him the King of Prussia, a Luthe- 
 ran, is an object of equal affection to his Catholic and 
 Protestant subjects. Catholicism prevails in Silesia; 
 and in the war which has just been terminated, this 
 country has been distinguished by its attachment to 
 Prussia. Surely an uniformity of religious opinions be- 
 tween the prince and his subjects, as well as between the 
 subjects themselves, is a principle productive of tran- 
 quillity and ease to the government: but a difference of 
 opinion does notexclude the possibility of a government 
 calculated for the good of the country. Besides, the 
 sixth part of Holland professes the same religion as the 
 Belgians. Perhaps we may say that the great number 
 of Catholics in the two countries will become the object 
 of that particular regard and management Which pru- 
 dence will not fail to present. Hence all natural con- 
 veniences concur in the union of Belgium and Hollanda 
 
 Let us add, that the conveniences of Europe are not 
 less consulted by this union. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 71 
 
 A state placed in such a situation as to be able to ar=. 
 rest the first movements of "a powerful enemy, too fee- 
 ble herself to conquer, but sufficiently strong not to be 
 conquered without a contest, and without giving time to 
 its defenders to come within succour ; equally interest- 
 ed in protecting its neighbours, and to weaken any : 
 this state, we say, is well constituted. It will not prove 
 itself offensive to any. It will be an object dear to 
 all. 
 
 These countries will contain a population of more 
 than five millions of inhabitants. Their political wealth 
 is sufficient for great public services. Let us recollect 
 what Frederick performed with a much smaller number 
 of subjects. 
 
 The riches of these two countries are very great, 
 whether we estimate those arising from commerce or 
 from agriculture. Hence it possesses financial resources 
 equal or superior to those of greater states. Thus con- 
 stituted, the kingdom of the Low Countries, and situated 
 as it is, will place a weight in the balance of Europe 
 at once conservative and pacific ; and which, without it, 
 would not exist. It covers France from the attacks of 
 the north, and the north from the attacks of France. 
 
 Its principle should be not to permit the north to 
 intrude upon France : on the other hand, not to allow 
 France to encroach on the north. It is a body inter- 
 posing itself to prevent the shocks, and deaden the 
 blows, that may pass between them. 
 
 In this circumstance there is nothing disquieting to 
 France. What, by its means, can be effected against 
 her? If it should produce hostility, even with foreign 
 assistance, it is into the centre of the Netherlands that 
 its own armies would proceed from Lisle and Valen- 
 ciennes, and there, as they have always done, establish 
 the theatre of war. 
 
 On her part, France has no longer any interest in 
 making an attack ; for surely she will not continue to 
 preserve this disposition. After all that has passed 
 since the occupation of Belgium, is it to be believed 
 
^% Congress of Vienna. 
 
 that an invasion of this country would not become a 
 signal for a call to arms, that would be general through- 
 out Europe ? At the same time, is it to be credited that 
 Great Britain, unconquerable as she is, so interested in 
 the preservation of this arrangement, which is partly 
 her work, would not cover the seas with her thousand 
 vessels, interdict all communications with the ports of 
 France, and lay open all her treasures, in order to arm 
 the world against her? Hence, there can be no doubt, 
 but that France would obtain Belgium at the price of a 
 general war, and without the hope of eventually pre- 
 serving it. 
 
 Let us be bold enough to say, that it is not its sincere 
 regrets, but its true interests, that it is the duty of 
 France to consult. It is at Bourdeaux,™it is on its 
 coasts,— it is in its colonies, that it ought to calculate 
 on the price of a precarious acquisition ; and that it 
 will leave as much less on the one band as it will pro- 
 duce on the other. 
 
 France ought to found her system on new circum- 
 stances : and these circumstances should induce her to 
 consider the United Provinces of the Low Countries in 
 the same light as she did when they were those of Spain, 
 and to abandon a jealousy of their interests for a disposi- 
 tion that should have common preservation for its ob- 
 ject. 
 
 An improper policy may tend to create disputes be- 
 tween the states. A more enlightened policy will tend 
 to prevent them ; will assimilate the two countries ; will 
 show them, that, in the new state of Europe, to divide 
 their interests is to ruin them effectually, and that every 
 attempt should be made to unite them. In fact, France 
 and the United Provinces have one interest. Russia 
 and Great Britain have created it. 
 
 In the state of continental increase in which we behold 
 Russia, Europe requires many lines to defend herself 
 as;ainst her. Prussia and Austria form the first; the states 
 covered by the Rhine, the second. If Russia should fall 
 upon Germany, would not the defensive line be naturally 
 
Congress of Vienna, 73 
 
 that of the Rhine? Hence the powers on its border 
 form the reserve of Kurope ; and are not France and 
 the United Provinces those which cover its banks? 
 
 On the other hand, Great Britain is equal at sea 
 to Russia on land. Hence Europe is situated between 
 two giants, which menace her equally on both ele- 
 ments. 
 
 Should not the same motives induce France and the 
 Low Countries to unite their marine as well as land 
 force? Henceforth will not the maritime strength of 
 Spain connect itself, from the nature of things, with 
 that of France, as originally that of Spain ? Indepen- 
 dent of any other calculation, will not the superiority 
 of that of Great Britain create a necessity for the union 
 of all three? Being the second maritime power, will 
 not France become the centre, around which all the 
 powers of lesser rank ought to rally, in compliance 
 with the general rule, of an uwion with the principal 
 enemy of those who can exercise oppression? Hence 
 the maritime strength of France and the Low Coun- 
 tries will be united against Great Britain, in the same 
 manner as their armies will co-operate against any 
 power who shall menace the passage of the Rhine. 
 
 We have bad occasion to remark, that the former 
 state of Holland rendered the preservation of her colo=. 
 iiies, and particularly those in Asia, a very difficult 
 task ; that this charge very much exceeded her power; 
 but the union (the Hutch colonies becoming the com- 
 mon properly of Belgium and Holland,) will be suffix 
 ciently preserved by the means that the Low Coun- 
 tries, in their present state, offer for the purpose. 
 
 From this deduction of principles and facts, it fol- 
 lows, that the most important act of policy yet conceiv- 
 ed, and executed for the general benefit of Europe, is 
 certainly the union of Holland with Belgium. We did 
 not attend at the conferences at Chatillon ; we have 
 not heaul what was said at that place ; but there is not 
 much temerity in thinking, that the transactions there 
 were very much opposed to that line of ideas of which 
 
 K 
 
74 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 we wish wow to show the nature. Of these ideas, the 
 iniative, for many years, has not been assumed.* 
 
 It remains for us to speak of the effect, on the arrange- 
 ments of the political balance of Europe, arising from 
 the partition of Poland. 
 
 We believe that we have so sufficiently explained 
 ourselves on the subject of the morality of this act, that 
 we shall be excused from recurring to it. Therefore, let 
 us cease to speak of its principles, in order that we may 
 merely consider it in its relations to the general arrange- 
 ment of Europe. 
 
 This partition commenced in 1773. It may be said, 
 that then it only became visible. In embrio, it had 
 existed ever since the commencement of the century. 
 Men are accustomed to consider things only in their 
 effects, without having a recurrence to causes. Polities 
 even are not more exempt from this error than inferior 
 subjects. 
 
 Thus both parties are equally mistaken as to the true 
 epoch of this partition. They agree to date it from the 
 day when it was proclaimed, although, if they had at- 
 tended to the result of the following considerations, 
 they would have gone still farther back. The exist- 
 ence of Poland was commensurate with its misfortunes, 
 while Russia was not known in Europe. But from the 
 very day that Russia, altering her course, to make use 
 of a common expression, had faced about from Asia 
 towards Europe, the condition of Poland became al- 
 tered. 
 
 Russia could not invade Europe but throiligh Poland. 
 The elective sovereigns of that country, — sovereigns 
 uniformly badly supported, — lived in a truly indefina- 
 ble and indescribable state with Russia; alternately 
 supplicating, fearing, and rejecting her patronage and 
 expensive succour, to- operate either against her domes- 
 tic factions, or external intrigues, and attacks. The 
 
 * See " The Antidote to the Congress at Radstadt," 179S; " Prussia and 
 " its Neutrality," 1800 ; both by M. de Pradt. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 75! 
 
 high Polish nobility, who then formed the mass of the 
 nation, had done nothing else for one hundred years 
 than endeavour, by its intrigues, to induce Russia to 
 assume the protectorate of Poland. The cause which 
 has excited, and which still excites, a portion of the 
 cries with which the west of Europe has resounded, on 
 the subject of this partition, is the absolute ignorance 
 that existed of all the events that had passed for seven- 
 ty years between Poland and Russia. Poland is always 
 represented as a free state, and independent at home. 
 On the contrary, Poland had been morally invaded for 
 half a century, and what remained of her strength she 
 employed in disputes, to which there was neither ob- 
 ject nor end. 
 
 After this internal anarchy, it was the change of the 
 relations of Russia with Europe that produced the par- 
 tition of Poland. Peter, and Charles the Twelftli, were 
 the real authors of this work. 
 
 It was Peter who partitioned Poland by polishing his 
 people ; in converting them from Asiatics into Euro- 
 peans, and making them look to Europe, instead of 
 Tartary, as hitherto they had been accustomed to do ; 
 in founding at Saint Petersburg one of the principal 
 capitals of Europe, instead of confining himself to a 
 residence in the first capital of Asia. Moscow was not 
 yet an European town. 
 
 It was Charles the Twelfth who partitioned Poland, 
 in drawing upon Europe an enemy that hitherto had 
 been a stranger; in forcing him to adopt the manners 
 and customs of Europe ; in losing, in the horrible game 
 of war, the only ©ne of which he had a knowledge and 
 a fondness, his provinces in Germany, the fruits of the 
 conquests of his predecessors. They bordered on the 
 Baltic Sea, excluded Russia from it, and, by taking 
 her in flank, effectually confined her within her ancient 
 boundary. Charles the Twelfth, by his warlike dispo- 
 sition, attracted the Russians into Europe, as N'lpo- 
 leon, by a similar character, has drawn them to Paris 5 
 
76 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 so much were these thunderbolts of war deficient in 
 understanding. 
 
 When Russia, once transplanted, if the expression 
 may be used, from A-^ia into Europe, by the establish- 
 ment Of the principal seat of empire at St. Petersljurg, 
 enjoying a great extent of coast on the Baltic, had in- 
 terested herself in the affairs of Europe, and had found 
 out the roads leading into it, what means did there re- 
 main of driving her back into Asia, and excluding 
 her altogether from Europe, by shutting ail the avenues 
 against her ? 
 
 Like their ancestors, the Huns, when they became 
 acquainted wilii the climate, the fruit, and the beauties 
 of Greece, have tiie Russians acted. These are things 
 of which men ought never to be permitted to taste; for 
 a relish once contracted, is never f rgotten. The Rus- 
 sians having thus entered into Europe, have never once 
 quitted the road. Hence who furnished them with this 
 road ? Was it not Poland ? Was it not across Poland 
 that the Russian armies advanced to the Rhine in the 
 war of 1740? Was it not again, by the way of Poland, 
 that they marched each year against Frederick the 
 Great, in that of 1756? For a century back, there have 
 been but few years in which Poland has been wholly 
 free from Russian troops. Indeed, we cannot consider 
 Poland as existing any longer in a state which consti- 
 tutes the sovereignty and in<lependence of a country. 
 Her neighbours, aware of her impotence, of the dangers 
 arising from the anarchy of her government, divided 
 her dominions, in order that she might not wholly be- 
 long to Russia, and be\ detrimental to their interest. 
 Thus was Poland partitioned, in defiance of morality; 
 but in consonance to the maintenance of the balance of 
 Europe. On the contrary, this partition was favour- 
 able to Europe ; and the more general it was, the 
 greater the advantage. Austria, Prussia, and Russia 
 backed, the one against the other, formed a mass of 
 power very capable of being balanced. In this state 
 
Congress of Vienna. 77 
 
 of contiguity, it became useful to the princes in the west 
 of Europe, because it afforded them the means of di- 
 recting all their strength towards the ocean, on which 
 are to be found tlieir true power and their true ene- 
 mies. 
 
 Surely, if Poland had been suffered to remain un- 
 touched, its neighbours must have occupied it, (and the 
 care of their own repose imperiously prescribed it,) 
 but to lead it into a less turbulent state of existence, 
 and which had rendered it as insupportable for others 
 as themselves. But when, notwithstanding the scruples 
 of Maria Theresa, the partition had been permitted, it 
 ought not to have been suffered to drag oh for twenty- 
 five years (from 1773 to 1797)> but it ought to have 
 h^en completed at once. The brevity of the scandal 
 would, in some measure, have extenuated the profliga- 
 cy of the act. It is impossible to conceive what they 
 would do with Poland parcelled out ; but not more than 
 we are able to account for having made a dutehy or 
 kingdom of Warsaw. 
 
 It results from the above exposition, that the parti- 
 tion of Poland has not been injurious to the general ba- 
 lance of Europe ; that, on the contrary, the consolida- 
 tion arising from this partition has contributed to pre- 
 serve it ; that the union of Norway with Sweden, that 
 of Belgium with Holland, are operations well adapted 
 to the general interests of Europe ; and that by these 
 arrangements, in these latter times, there have been 
 made more rapid strides, and more improved measures 
 taken for the general benefit, than have ever been wit^ 
 nessed at any epoch of the history of modern Europe^ 
 
78 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Of the Spirit presumed to actuate the Congress, 
 
 Iisr every affair there exists a first sketch, a point of 
 general view, out of which, from a conviction of its 
 truth, and which represents it with some degree of cer- 
 tainty, we may say that an opinion proceeds. So long 
 as we obey this first, or, so to express it, this native 
 impression, we proceed quickly and surely. In conse- 
 quence of the effect of a secret affection, from which 
 we cannot wholly abstract ourselves, obstacles disap- 
 pear, or are cleared away ; resistance loses its intensi- 
 ty. It is the mind and the conscience applied to the 
 business of life. 
 
 We too often meet with a multitude of contracted 
 and narrow views, of prejudices, of personal interests, 
 that endeavour to obtain a preponderance on their 
 part. When we yield to these excitations, and give 
 ourselves wholly up to them, then there is no certain 
 course, no fixed object, no period assigned, no concert 
 of the disposition, no persuasion in the mind, no satis- 
 faction in the heart. 
 
 We may compare the primum moMle to the states- 
 man, and the others to the people. 
 
 How many faults would be corrected and regrets 
 saved, if men, at the moment of acting, would so far 
 continue masters of their feelings, as to ask themselves 
 to think about what they are going to perform ; what 
 price they affix to the object, the hope of possessing 
 which occasions such violent desires ; or, in what view 
 they will consider the satisfactioa that their passion, so 
 
Congress of Vienna. 79 
 
 violent in its calls to be heard, will leave them ; to 
 think in the present time of that which is to come ; to 
 transport ourselves in thought, if it is the greatest ef- 
 fort of the human mind, it is also the surest guarantee 
 for a judicious choice of action. 
 
 Hence, that which is good in morals, is not less so 
 in politics. Not to act with a view to the present time, 
 is not to act with a view to any time. 
 
 Merely to act for ourselves, is not to act for any one 
 — in fact, not for our own true interest. 
 
 When men shall be able to act independent of each 
 other, they will be able to act independent of the con- 
 sideration of the relations that unite them : but, as long 
 as they shall form a society, in which all parties are 
 connected and firmly united, a society that cannot be 
 dissolved even if an attempt shall be made, by it hav- 
 ing then become an union, or, so to term it, an adherence 
 of all parties to the social compact, — this society is in- 
 spired with one common spirit. In this case, each in-^ 
 dividual acts for his own interests, and pursuant to his , 
 own means, but under the general impression madeon \^ 
 the whole body. "" * 
 
 It is this which has rendered Europe a species of re- 
 public, of which war has not even relaxed the ties. 
 The intercourse established among the different mem- 
 bers of this body, only tends to extend and strengthen 
 the bonds of association. 
 
 Agreeably to this principle, a public European spirit 
 was to be expected from the Congress. 
 
 Every remedy should be proportionate to the nature, 
 the duration, the strength of the disease. 
 
 All Europe had been subject to its attacks. From 
 Petersburg to Cadiz there have not been witnessed, for 
 twenty-five years, any other transactions than those 
 arising from that of the revolution. From Cadiz to 
 Petersburg, there was nothing to do but arrange all that 
 which had been deranged ; and not according to con- 
 tracted views, but to those of a general character and 
 tendency. 
 
80 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 P Hence the necessity of a public European spirit; 
 that should proportion the reparation to the injury 
 sustained, and that should have nothing else for its ob- 
 ject. 
 
 But from St. Petersburg to Cadiz what wajs the ge- 
 neral want? Stability and repose. What was the ge- 
 neral wish? Stability and repose. And this voice, as 
 the voice of the people, was the voice of God. 
 
 The work thus in hand, the Congress should no lon- 
 ger have neglected it. From this period, they should 
 have done nothing but fix this place of repose — they 
 should have known that it was only to be found in the 
 general order of things in Europe, wisely combined, 
 intelligently and liberally marked out, or in the gratifi- 
 cations of certain interests and certain systems. 
 
 Victory in favour of Europe was for a long time ex- 
 pected. Every thing appeared ready to announce it. 
 The sovereigns, forgetting their mutual jealousies, their 
 personal speculations, their common fears, were at last 
 imited. This was, indeed, a great step. The success 
 attending their arms rendered it complete. It had been 
 ennobled by the most generous declarations, by the an- 
 nouncement of every thing consistent with the general 
 welfare. At no period had Europe proceeded with the 
 same concert, nor towards so elevated an object ; and 
 elevated because it was general. Never had she held 
 a language so consoling ; and consoling because it was 
 European and clear.* 
 
 It was in this light, and we dare affirm it without fear of 
 contradiction, that every European beheld the Congress at 
 Vienna, and thus did heexpecttoseeitproceed.'Thecon- 
 tinued good understanding among the sovereigns induc- 
 ed a belief, that a mode of concert had been established, 
 
 * " Let repose and content at last return to the world ! Let each peo- 
 
 '•' pie find its happiness in its own laws, under its own government ; and 
 
 " let religions the arts and sciences, again flourish for the general happi- 
 
 «' ness and the welfare of the human race." {Words of the Emperor Alex- 
 ander J. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 8i 
 
 and arrangements made beforehand. The promptitude 
 and facility with which the state of France had been 
 determined ; the same circumstances attending the union 
 of Belgium and Holland, showed at once the nature of 
 their operations, and the celerity with which they pro* 
 posed to carry them into effect. 
 
 The allies, in quitting Paris to meet again at Vienna, 
 after having regulated so important a part of the west 
 of Europe, seemed to commence, by the regular arrange- 
 ment of that country, thus leaving nothing of a dis-, 
 quieting nature behin^l them. They believed that they 1 
 had before them the table of contents of a work already 
 arranged. 
 
 Europe assembled at Vienna in the person of its / 
 greatest sovereigns, explaining its wishes by the organ 
 of its most distinguished ministers, presented, in this 
 senate, a spectacle such as we have never seen- — such 
 a one as the seriousness of the surrounding circumstan- 
 ces imperiously required. 
 
 We were then justified in expecting that the Con- 
 gress would not confine its exertions to become a tribu-^ 
 nal, judging trivial and unimportant causes, but a su= 
 preme court, that should proceed and pronounce in the 
 name of the general interests of Europe, and prove it- 
 self wholly exempt from private attachments. In this 
 new establishment, an establishment formed upon ge- 
 neral principles, would have been found that stability 
 and repose of which all Europe had been so long de= 
 prived. 
 
 By this great act, Europe exercised over itself the 
 right of sovereignty in its fullest extent. It was an as- 
 sociation decreeing and stipulating for itself. Then the 
 Congress presented the character of a grand solemnity, 
 celebrated in honour of the pacification of Europe. It 
 was, so to express it, the festival of its repose. What 
 advantages wou4d not such a line of conduct have pro- 
 duced, if it had been pursued by the Congress? 
 
 Firmness and promptitude of resolutions add to the 
 respect that they command. Those of the Congress 
 
8S Congress of Vienna. 
 
 would have carried witli them the impression of that 
 superiority of command always so favourable to obe- 
 dience. 
 
 The power of Europe would have borne down all 
 opposition ; the happiness of its subjects, at last as- 
 sured of repose and stability, would have stifled trifling 
 complaints. Europe would have experienced a new 
 circulation — a circulation that had been so long shop- 
 ped. 
 
 The sovereigns, in the name of the general interests 
 of Europe, had been able to compel France to give up 
 the fruit of her protracted and sanguinary contests ; 
 those who, in the same name, had united Holland and 
 Belgium, might, in a similar character, have dictated 
 to the other parts of it a regenerative plan, and, in con- 
 sideration of a benefit of such general extent, forced 
 those who opposed it to be silent. We do not under- 
 stand how they could have denied their authority in 
 some instances, when they acknowledged it in others. 
 
 Tiie sovereigns collected at Yienna were, in point of 
 fact, Europe. They were so recognised when they 
 fought for it. How could they be refused this title after 
 victory ? The war had been of the most extraordinary 
 nature. The coalition had not been less so. The union 
 of so many flags, astonished with their new fraternity, 
 was it no more than an ordinary circumstance? and the 
 Congress, which was the result of the combination of so 
 many elements opposite io their character and unknown 
 to every established rule, was it only an assembly in the 
 ordinary course of European transactions ? No ; the 
 Congress was a tribunal that formed an exception to 
 the general rule, unique in its kind, and intended for 
 causes and circumstances as unique : and, as the nature 
 of every judgment is that it should be correspondent to 
 the nature of the cause, it follows that the Congress 
 possessed all the powers that the nature of the cause 
 and the circumstances could confer on it for the general 
 benefit of Europe. The Congress was not the chamber 
 at Wetzlar; nor a commission of the empire. We should 
 
Congress of ViennUo 83 
 
 degrade it too much if we compared its character to that 
 of the Congress that made the peace of Westphalia. 
 The jurisdiction of the one is as far as it is from that of 
 the other, as the objects that engaged the attention of 
 that assembled at Munster were different from those 
 with which that at Vienna was occupied. We cannot 
 render sufficient justice to the grandeur of the charac- 
 ter assumed by the Congress at Vienna. Tiiis, perhaps, 
 it did not do itself; and it appears not to have suffi- 
 ciently known the extent of its power, and the object 
 of its mission. When Europe was tranquillised by the 
 peace of Westphalia, and when at last its inhabitants 
 perceived the Aurora of those days of repose that for 
 thirty years had flown before them, they did not ask of 
 the Congress the right of disposing of this or that ter- 
 ritory, to cede to the catholics that which had been pro- 
 testant, to the protestants that which had been catho- 
 lic; but they thanked them for having, by the establish- 
 ment of general order, and independently of their pri- 
 vate views, at last assured their repose, and that of 
 their descendants. It acted with a view to the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 Did not the Europeans interrogate the Congress at 
 Vienna in the same manner on the subject of the use it 
 intended to make of such a portion of sovereignty? but 
 they demanded if, after so many storms, there was at 
 last to be a calm ; if, after so many agitations, there 
 was at last to be repose ; if, after so many changes, 
 there was at last to be permanence ; if, after so many 
 spoliations, there was at last to be a security for pro- 
 perty; if, after such uncertainty as to the employment 
 of life, there was at last to be assured positions and 
 certain indemnifications for what it costs to obtain it? 
 They demanded not only under what governments, in 
 what social order, they should live ; but, if at last there 
 was to be a certain government and social order, under 
 which they could live ? Because, for twenty-five years, 
 they had not known how they had lived ; and, if order 
 was not to be restored, what European was there that 
 
8^ Congress of Vienna. 
 
 corild say under what laws he, with his children, was 
 destined Jo pass his life ? 
 
 Hear, nm\ do not douhf: the truth of it, the language 
 that Europe addressed to the Congress — language which 
 indicated the high rank wiih wiiich it had heen invest- 
 ed. From the summit of i.arope viewing, at one coup 
 d^mil, the times past, present, and to come, it ought 
 only to have thought of the order of things most con- 
 sistent with the good of the whole ; of tliat system 
 which would have given most stahility to the present, 
 and which opposed the strongest harriers against those 
 future changes that in the course of time are ever in- 
 troduced. That the nohle motives to this establishment 
 should have been offered to Europe under those impos- 
 ing colours that general principles always communicate 
 "—principles that have uniformly the effect of possess- 
 ing themselves of men's minds, and producing an obe- 
 dience to its dictates by the surest of all ways, convic- 
 tion ; that they should to this have added consolatory 
 declarations in favour of humanity, such as the aboli- 
 tion of practices, as contrary to good sense as general 
 order; then the work was complete, and left in the. 
 human mind a durable solace ; and the Congress would 
 have dissolved itself amidst the acclamations of all Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 It appears also that the Congress has not sufficiently 
 appreciated the dangers attached to the prolongation of 
 discussions on certain questions. Europe is no longer 
 that Furope that it was when ten years were spent in 
 negotiations at Munster and Osnahiirg. The times are 
 changed. Then no one occupied himself with public 
 affairs. They were confined to a few heads. Thfe 
 people awaited the decisions, and complied with them. 
 Then there was not a public paper in all Europe, no 
 political union ; now Europe is filled and covered with 
 them. 
 
 At each political movement, the mass of private in^ 
 terests begin to operate and place themselves in motion/ 
 The times do not regulate their steps by the scale^ that . 
 
Congress of Vienna, 85 
 
 it pleases the actors on the political theatre to prescribe 
 to thera. They go on without the assistance of the latter, 
 and soon outstep them in their career : also, they are 
 not long before they find themselves a great distance 
 from the point of their departure ; and when they fancy 
 that they have reached the goal, they appear in such a 
 light as to be no longer known. This happened to the 
 Congress at Vienna. 
 
 While it exhausted three months in order to parcel 
 out Saxony; to dispose of Genoa; while it multiplied 
 it« fetes,* the enemy was on the alert, and, by his sud- 
 den appearance, changed the face of affairs, and com- 
 pelled the Congress, surprised at having been so long 
 engaged on a subject foreign to that which was the ob- 
 ject of discussion, to reassume that situation at Paris 
 which it had occupied about a year before. The tardiness 
 and hesitation evident in the proceedings of the Con- 
 gress, the divisions which reigned there, the complaints, 
 of which many of its acts had become the subject in Eu- 
 rope, formed part of the elements of the attempt made by 
 Napoleon. Happily his calculations, tiie children of his 
 ordinary illusions, were, as they have been in a thousand 
 other occasions, found to be erroneous; but it is no less 
 true, that he reckoned on that part of the conduct of the 
 Congress which he discovered was defective, and that it 
 had furnished him with additional hopes. Napoleon 
 perceived that public opinion had withdrawn its sanction 
 from the Congress ; from the heat of the disputes, the 
 issue of which was ever certain, it had ceased to excite 
 attention. In fact, it was very singular, and at the sara© 
 time highly worthy of observation, that the Assembly, 
 which had the power of sovereignly deciding the fate of 
 princes and states, no longer inspired the least interest. 
 The Congress was permitted to act; nothing it did was 
 contested ; but it no longer engaged the attention of 
 Kurope. It was necessary that Napoleon should reap» 
 pear, to give it a sensible life and the power of speech. 
 
 * See what the Prince of Ligne said on this occasion. 
 
86 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 In some measure it was resuscitated, inasmuch as the 
 actual dispositions of men's minds required a degree of 
 attention in the manner of conducting affairs, and dif- 
 fered from that which other times would have permit- 
 ted. 
 
 CHAPTER X, 
 Of the real Spirit ivMch actuated the Congress, 
 
 As soon as the true public European spirit ceased to 
 influence the Congress, the selfish or personal interests 
 obtained an existence : with them appeared all the 
 claims, all the questions of right and of fact, all the 
 comparisons of losses and reparations, the times past, 
 the times present, and those to come. The barrier bro- 
 ken, the inundation commenced. 
 
 This we have seen occur; and not to discover it were 
 impossible, in the line of conduct the Congress thought 
 proper to pursue. 
 
 It had established two distinct species of principles, 
 relatively to persons and to things. The first were dis- 
 tinguished by the most generous liberality ; and it was 
 not without a lively emotion of gratitude for the spirit 
 in which these honourable and reassuring stipulations 
 were dictated ; it was not without singular satisfaction, 
 at the proofs it afforded of the real progress of civilisa- 
 tion, that we have remarked the care which was taken 
 to solace and consolidate the fate of individuals ; to ex- 
 tend the general security by a total forgetfulness of the 
 past, by the extinction of all the causes of injury : the 
 only way to restore order among men, and dispose 
 them to live together in a social state. The Congress 
 
Congress of Vienna. 87 
 
 has the honour of having banished every species of re- 
 action, — that scourge produced by revolutions — -that 
 element of revengeful hearts and contracted minds, and 
 which is only calculated to enable vengeance to suc- 
 ceed to vengeance, to render men irreconcileable with 
 men, and to present, in every country where such a 
 melancholy system shall prevail, the appearance of that 
 spectacle which Spain has exhibited ; which has been 
 offered to France, and of which there is too much rea- 
 son to fear there will be experienced an eventual tri- 
 umph. 
 
 The Congress at Vienna may be considered as the 
 conclusion of that which had signed the treaty of Paris. 
 Its political principles appear to have been, 
 
 First, To secure Germany from any new acts of su- 
 premacy on the part of France, and to prevent the lat- 
 ter from making use of Germany either against herself 
 or against others. 
 
 Second, To keep in reserve certain vacant territo- 
 ries, as a common fund, whence they might draw such 
 indemnities as it should be necessary to apportion. 
 
 Third, To stipulate for the establishment of consti- 
 tutions, in which the people should discover a respect 
 paid to their understandings, and a better guarantee for 
 the future. 
 
 Fourth, To re-establish, as far as possible, each so- 
 vereign in his possessions ; in only requiring sacrifices 
 for the general benefit, and assuming legitimacy for the 
 basis of the restitutions ; and considering it as the prin- 
 cipal title to the restoration of the so long violated or- 
 der of Europe, and the conservator of that order^ which 
 it was the great object of the Congress to establish. 
 
 These views were distinguished by their generosity 
 and elevation. To acknowledg;e it, is a source of satis- 
 faction : but were they, at the same time, sufficiently 
 extended, whether in themselves or in their applica- 
 tion ? Were they, in every point of view, adapted to 
 the decisions of the Congress ? This it is which we 
 have now to examine. 
 
88 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 The first part of this plan is evidently marked in the 
 precaution they have taken to place, at the gates of 
 France, apparently as sentinels, 
 
 First, The King of the Low Countries. 
 
 Second, The king of Prussia ; who, by his posses- 
 sions behind the Meuse and the Rhine, and by those 
 which, with a view to these precautions, have been giv- 
 en him on the Moselle, supports it in the first line. 
 
 Third, The German Empire, guardian of the for- 
 tress of Luxembourg. 
 
 Fourth, Austria, by the cession of Mentz, and of 
 parts of the departments of the Saar and Mount Ton- 
 iierre, which formerly belonged to France, and which 
 extend the territories ceded to divers princes, called to 
 occupy them from many parts of Germany. 
 
 The intention of confining France within strong and 
 more efficient barriers than those in which, by the ancient 
 order of Europe, she was kept, is particularly marked in 
 the near approach of Austria ; for, by this arrangement, 
 the rule is violated that the two states appear to have 
 made at the treaty of Campo Formio, of keeping at as 
 great a distance as possible from one another, in order to 
 prevent those quarrels that their contiguity had so often 
 produced. Except it has been done with this intention, 
 we cannot see why Austria, so magnificently treated in 
 Italy and in Illyria, should have been allowed to acquire 
 so great a territory, and at so great a distance from the 
 body of the monarchy, and with which these stray 
 (epaves) provinces can have no connexion. But it is 
 evident that it was intended to place the keys of Mentz 
 in powerful hands, and to load France with the weight 
 of all Germany, joined to that of the kingdom of the 
 Low Countries and of Great Britain, who will never 
 separate itself from the latter state, more peculiarly its 
 work, and who will always be ready to protect it against 
 France, as a father would defend its child. France, sur- 
 rounded as she will be by all the military powers of 
 Germany, will, at no very distant period, find herself 
 
Congress of Vienna. 89 
 
 enclosed ; and slie, who hitherto has been so vain of 
 her triple rampart, will, for the future, have to witness 
 the circumstance of heing as firmly enclosed by her 
 fortresses, as heretofore she has experienced that which 
 has enabled her to make so powerful an offensive and. 
 defensive use of them. By this arrangement France 
 loses all political importance on the Continent. Twice 
 has she been taught, and by severe experience, that this 
 renowned rampart of fortresses, in the actual state and 
 number of the European armies, availed her nothing : 
 it is to be observed, that it is on the weakest part of 
 France that the forces of Germany will always press : 
 for it is on the higher Meuse and the Sambre, which 
 is the most feeble part, and through which an approach 
 can be most easily made to the capital. This more 
 clearly demonstrates the intention thus indicated. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh declared, in the parliament of 
 Great Britain, that the scheme for bringing France and 
 Prussia so nearly into contact, by the establishment of 
 the latter between the Meuse and the Rhine, was to be 
 dated from the time of Mr. Pitt, and that it was aa 
 idea of that illustrious minister. Whatever may be 
 the respect due to the opinions of that celebrated man, 
 it is impossible not to recognise a spirit in this plan 
 truly anti-Gallican, but still not less anti- European. 
 One danger is often resorted to from the fear of ano= 
 ther. 
 
 Occupied as Mr. Pitt had been, for so many years, 
 by a contest with France, whose power he saw increas- 
 ed and strengthened by the very game that would have 
 ruined so many other states, he devoted his attention to 
 the discovery of means proper to raise a barrier against 
 France ; and he lost sight of Russia, of whom he then 
 endeavoured to make an use in his eff'^rts to restrain 
 his enemy. Therefore he laboured to divide that which 
 was, and which, for the general benefit of Europe, 
 should have continued to be united. This minister well 
 knew, that to be neighbouring and hostile to each other, 
 ■was, with states, gyngnimous : and, in this view of 
 
 M 
 
90 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 things, lie perceivetl no better method of substituting 
 jealousy, for the friendship that had so long united 
 Prussia and France, than making them border one on 
 the other. 
 
 This was a political idea of no very high character ; 
 it embraced but a short period, while those of a more 
 correct nature embrace space and time. In his own 
 time Mr. Pitt was unable to see his ideas realised ; and 
 perhaps it is at this moment, when it has been fully ac- 
 complished, that it would have been to him a source of 
 regret: for the intellectual light of a character, so su- 
 perior as was that of Mr. Pitt, may reappear after a 
 short eclipse, and replace him in that situation whence 
 liis pressing political wants had sometimes driven 
 him. 
 
 But, in providing so well for the preservation of Ger- 
 many from new invasions on the part of France, the 
 Congress has forgotten that nothing whatever has been 
 done in its behalf against those irruptions with which 
 ilussia, in her turn, may menace her. Look beyond the 
 Vistula, and here we shall find that she touches on 
 Germany. The defence of the latter is weakened by 
 the parcelling out of Saxony, which in its actual con- 
 dition is only fit to be engaged in interminable quarrels 
 with Prussia. 
 
 The Russian fleets are able to threaten the German 
 states of the Baltic, on which the French marine can 
 never, land. In this state of things there are many 
 dangers ; and, unfortunately, nothing has been done to 
 counteract them. 
 
 We feel convinced that the Congress has been ham- 
 pered by the privileges of which all the great powers 
 availed themselves, in order to obtain the peculiar ob- 
 jects of their convenience. The cause was not fully un- 
 derstood before the discussions commenced : therefore, 
 the decisions could only be made upon objects of a se- 
 condary character, and powers of an inferior order. 
 Making use of the privileges of the strong and the 
 powerful, Russia went to the Congress with the Dutchy 
 
• Congress of Vienna. 9JL 
 
 of Warsaw retained beforehand. On lier side Austria 
 retained Italy. Prussia did the same with Saxony. 
 Surely England would not have permitted a discussion 
 on the subject of Malta, Heligoland, and the Cape of 
 Good Hope. In this situation of possessions, put as it 
 were hors de cause, and the chiefs of the Congress 
 pleading with their hands full, the latter could not any 
 longer give a liberty and latitude to its discussions; 
 but, on the contrary, they were confined to a very nar= 
 row circle. 
 
 It was evident that as soon as all those powers, who, 
 before they had formed the coalition, had treated sepa- 
 rately, should come to compare their different treaties, 
 in order to produce a general agreement, they would 
 find themselves in a state of embarrassment. Most of 
 the princes did not understand how to save any thing: 
 before they had put themselves to the expense necessary 
 to their common safety, or even that of their persons, 
 they had made new conditions. The King of Prussia 
 made his treaty at Kalish. Naples had secured a con- 
 vention that gave it an increase of 400,000 souls. 
 Denmark^ its treaty at Kiel. After these and many 
 others come the mediatises, Prince Eugene, and all 
 those who on the preceding confusion had experienced 
 losses. 
 
 Of course, the Congress always retained that essen- 
 tial and primitive quality, that rendered it a crucible, 
 in which all the treaties were to be melted down and 
 re-cast, in order to be rendered co-existent with the 
 general good. From this circumstance it followed that 
 all that preceded the Congress should have been con- 
 sidered in the shape of a preliminary to the Congress 
 itself, in which all the interest and all the opinions 
 should form one general interest ; and public spirit act- 
 ing at one and the same time, for all and in all. With- 
 out this method, at each instant the Congress would 
 have encountered new difficulties, and some of them 
 would have remained without solution. 
 
 It was equally clear that the plan adopted by the 
 
9S Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Congress, calculated, perhaps, to procure a short re- 
 ^ pose, difl not naturally create a durable order, in 
 consequence of the general lassitude rendering the 
 idea of tlie benefit arising from quiet very lively, and 
 requiring that they should be satisfied with it. This 
 momentary happiness did not prevent them feeling, 
 with an equal degree of vivacity, on the subject of the 
 future, the difficulties that must eventually result from 
 the dispositions made by this Congress. It is true that 
 this species of lassitude, which makes us accommodate 
 ourselves to every thing tlse rather than that state of 
 things which had excited and had produced such in- 
 convenience. It is this poignant pricking at the mo- 
 ment, of which Bacon speaks : but, in a short time, 
 \ the dispositions become changed, the idea of past evils 
 
 is effaced, and gives rise to that of present inconve- 
 niences ; which, in their turn, make us seek for repara- 
 tion with a similar ardour. Doubtless this is the fate 
 that will attend the deliberations of this Congress. We 
 sigh after repose. In the system we pursued, we ima- 
 gined that we had obtained it; soon we shall feel 
 that there are inconveniences ; then will arise regrets, 
 and all the sentiments ever naturally accompanying 
 them. 
 
 The difference between the Congress at Westphalia 
 and that at Vienna, consists in the circumstance, that 
 the one bad created a system, the other had formed only 
 parts and proportions ; the one built a perfect and dura- 
 ble edifice ; the other, a mere foundation. 
 
 When Europe, delivered from the torment she had 
 experienced, shall begin to feel the effect of its new 
 condition, then will she clearly perceive the inconve- 
 nience of the false position in which she is placed; then 
 will she experience the necessity of a change, and these 
 distressing sentiments will cost her new sacrifices, sa- 
 crifices that a better order of things would have render- 
 ed unnecessary. 
 
 The acquisition that Russia has made in Poland has 
 deranged every thin^. It has rendered every wise com- 
 
Congress of Vienna. 93 
 
 biuation impracticable. It has added to the viev/s of 
 asjgrandiseinent that Austria may have formed. In fact, 
 what in the Congress could have been opposed to Rus- 
 sia, after she had been permitted to make such rapid 
 strides, and to menace the whole body of Europe? 
 Therefore, Austria found herself at liberty to take pos- 
 session of the major part of Italy : another great de- 
 parture from the system that has for its object the safety 
 i)f Europe. But Prussia could not remain a passive 
 spectator of all these acquisitions ; and, as not to in- 
 crease in proportion to our neighbours is in fact to de- 
 crease, it was necessary that she should, on her side, 
 obtain compensation, and the means of an equilibrium. 
 Hence, every where have we beheld the parties seeking 
 for indemnities. 
 
 By the increase of the territory of Russia in Poland, 
 Prussia wholly lost the great proportion of the Grand 
 Butehy of Warsaw, which had belonged to her. 
 
 By this arrangement she found herself exposed to the 
 first attack of Russia : therefore she directed her atten- 
 tion towards Saxony. In this arrangement she beheld 
 two circumstances. 
 
 First, An indemnity. 
 
 Second, A means of resistance to Russia by the prin- 
 ciples of adhesions that its occupation would give to 
 the diflferent parts of her monarchy. 
 
 Whatever may be the amount of the personal inter- 
 ests contained in this system, it was not less European 
 than Prussian. It corrected two great errors in the geo- 
 graphical situation of Prussia — the division of her 
 states by the intevposition of Saxony, and her exten=. 
 sion of dominion towards the Meuse. The latter is an 
 arrangement that has been allowed contrary to all esta- 
 blished principles, whether for Prussia, France, the 
 Low Countries, or Germany. That which is inconve- 
 nient to the whole world can be good for no one. 
 
 That Prussia should be re-established in the whole 
 of her possessions in Germany and Poland, and Cleves, 
 except at a very remote period^ the natural key of HoL 
 
9-i Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Hm). This even was conformable to the principle of 
 the Congress ; that then if Prussia should have wished 
 to make an attempt on her neighbours, they had put 
 her in mind of the laws of good neighbourhood, all the 
 world would have applauded the act; but, that she 
 should remain despoiled of all her former benefit, and 
 prevented deriving any new one, whilst her powerful 
 neighbours and ancient rivals gratified themselves with 
 every object pointed out by their conveniences :— was 
 Ity in good truth, to be supposed ? 
 
 In leaving Saxony in a state of division substituted 
 for that of total destitution, with which it at first was 
 menaced, the Congress did at one and the same time 
 too much and too little, as we shall soon have occasion 
 to demonstrate. In the despoiling of Saxony, it esta- 
 blished the monument of a contradiction of that princi- 
 ple of legitimacy which they had laboured to establish. 
 Sovereigns should not be despoiled of their territories 
 from mere motives of convenience ; they could not be 
 Judged, as has been said with much reason, and with 
 jnany marks of approbation, by the plenipotentiaries of 
 France. But, is it not to despoil to take the half? Does 
 not the violation of principle, which protects property, 
 commence with the thus taken half? But is it not to 
 be condemned^ without being judged^ to lose the half of 
 one's property ? 
 
 This very principle has been equally violated with 
 regard to the republic of Genoa, This country, with 
 the difference in its situation from that of Venice^ con- 
 sisted merely in the fact, that it had made no part of an 
 anterior treaty. It passed directly from its original 
 state of independence into that of a French province. 
 It might, therefore, return into its ancient condition, 
 without injuring any particular pre-existing interest : 
 on the contrary, it might have been made the means of 
 producing satisfaction. Instead of this, it has been 
 given to the King of Sardinia, who has lost nothing; and 
 who with this coiuitry is not rendered stronger ; for it is 
 
 
Congress of Vienna. 95 
 
 not Genoa, small or great, that makes Sardinia a pow- 
 er, nor a defence for Italy. 
 
 The Congress has not been more prudent in the dis- 
 tribution of the indemnities granted to the Queen of 
 Etruria and to her son. If ever plunder assumed an 
 odious character, it is surely tliat to which this branch 
 of the House of Bourbon has submitted. It has been 
 immolated on the altar of a system erected for the over- 
 throw of the throne of Spain — it has been overcome by 
 the grossest perfidy. Force has arrested her ancient 
 dominions, without her having committed any wrong, 
 or having given her consent. By the treaty of Fon- 
 tainebleau, signed the S6th October, 1807, the treaty 
 that laid open all the roads for the attacks upon Spain, 
 this unfortunate family was called upon to receive a 
 part of Portugal, which was to be divided between this 
 Queen and the Prince of Peace, as an indemnity for 
 Tuscany. All this was but a lure, in order that it 
 might be made to cover the project then ready to be 
 put into execution against the court of Spain. In des- 
 pite of its principles, the Congress neither gave it its 
 original or its second apanage. It has been given back 
 to Lucca, and has almost been placed upon a level 
 with Prince Ludovisi, the former proprietor of the Isle 
 of Elba. 
 
 A crowd of petty princes, from all parts of Germany, 
 are made masters of the territories in the ancient de- 
 partments of the Saar and Mount Tonnerre. There 
 is no principle of adhesion between the old and the 
 new states. There is not an atom of political calcula- 
 tion in this arrangement. Sovereignty is distributed 
 like common property. This latter part of the proceed- 
 ings of Congress partakes of that lassitude, as well as 
 of that haste, in public affairs, that is by no means pro- 
 fitable ; and which occasions us to pass from one sub- 
 ject to another, and to get rid of an affair rather than 
 to bring it to a conclusion. 
 
 These observations might have been extended ; but 
 those circumstances that we are about to explain will 
 
96 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 be sufficient to show the spirit that reigned so decidedly 
 in the Congress, and to establish a just comparison be- 
 tween it, and that with which it had been presumed to 
 be inspired. The latter has been analysed in the pre- 
 ceding Chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Of the Establishment of that Political System that ex- 
 isted in 1789. 
 
 But some persons will say, what is the use of so ma- 
 ny questions ? Why seek elsewhere for a new order 
 of things ? we have one ready to our hands. When 
 that which existed before the year 1789 appeared, and, 
 to use the expression, offered itself, ^nd it was so good? 
 To restore every thing to its place, and keep it there, 
 would be at once the chastisement of past innovators, 
 and occasion despair in those that shall arise in future. 
 Very well. This system was good ; but, it is no more. 
 
 Ancient Rome, Thebes, Tyre, Carthage, were also 
 very fine towns, and their inhabitants found in them 
 very commodious houses ; but, unfortunately, they are 
 no more. Time, ever in progression, has disposed of 
 them, and on their ruins has established others, or per- 
 haps none whatever. This simile will apply to the 
 present times. 
 
 If at the proper time Europe could have been left 
 as she was, and ourselves with it, all the world would 
 thereby have gained twenty-five years of repose ; but, 
 iu this prolonged contest, it has been shaken to its 
 
Congress of Vienna, 97 
 
 foHutlations. Here its system has been shattered, 
 there it has been divided— elsewhere it has been ag- 
 grandised, despoiled, amended : one part, esteemed 
 living and active, has been found torpid and dead ; — ■ 
 another, that had been believed to be dead, is disco> 
 vered to be full of nerve and vigour. Those which 
 were united, have experienced a tendency to separa- 
 tion : — those which were separated, have a similar dis- 
 position to union. Such a one, for which some per- 
 sons solicited a dismissal at once, was almost in a si» 
 tuation to give it to others instead of receiving it from 
 them. 
 
 Here we discover the foundation on which it was in- 
 tended to fix the bases for the re-establishment of the. 
 former system. 
 
 In this case, what would have become of all the 
 princes who have received the brilliant titles with which 
 they are invested ; of the events which this order of 
 things would eiface? Almost all the sovereigns of Ger-= 
 many have no other titles than those conferred on them 
 in latter times, which have furnished to them a great 
 part of tlieir territory. Who is it that has decorated 
 some princes of the House of Bourbon with their titles? 
 Who has made kings of Etruria? Who precipitated 
 from the throne the old King of Spain? Will the out= 
 rages of a favourite legitimate the overthrow of a legi^ 
 timate monarch ? How long since is it that an insurrec» 
 tion of body-guards would merely give to the sou the 
 right of sitting on the throne of the father? Is it not 
 the Prince of Peace that they have dethroned in the 
 person of Charles the IVth? To whom will they give 
 the kingdom of Sweden? To the uncle, to the nephew^ 
 to his son, to one who has been chosen by the nation ? 
 This country should burst asunder the ties recently 
 created between it and Norway. Russia should re- 
 turn Finland, as a revolutionary spoil. England rcr 
 store Malta and other possessions, by means of which 
 she governs the seas. Austria return peaceably to 
 the Low Countries, which she left go short a. time 
 
 N 
 
98 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 since : in return, she should give up Venice, which 
 she coveted for so many years. Great and Little Ma- 
 gusa and France, Lucca and Prussia, ought equally to 
 seek for the places that they once occupied, and there 
 remain. 
 
 This system will prove itself most excellent when 
 we shall be able to make the world stand still, and 
 communicate to it that immovability that, in their igno- 
 rance of the laws by which it was regulated, our fa- 
 thers attributed to it : but, as long as it continues to 
 turn on its axis, its political movement will be co-exist- 
 ent with its physical movement, and will not continue 
 in a lesser degree, because there is the want of better 
 regulation. 
 
 Surely it is with very laudaWe views of public or- 
 der that such ideas are proposed. But a mere wish for 
 order is not sufficient. Means to ensure it must be 
 found ; and, above all, great care should be taken that 
 we do not open the road towards order by a general dis- 
 order. 
 
 It would also be as impracticable to re-establish the 
 former order in Europe in general, as it would be to 
 effect it in each particular state. The changes having 
 had the same relative proportions, the same resistances 
 would arise ; in the one instance they would lead to 
 disputes among the citizens ; in the other, to strife and 
 confusion between the states. 
 
 Let us reflect, whether it was from an attachment to 
 the pursuit of pleasure, or motives of insensibility, or 
 those of idleness, that governments have ordered so 
 many of the victims of the subversions that have taken 
 place, to attend at the feasts of which their spoils are 
 to pay the expense ? Who could have entertained this 
 barbarous idea? On the contrary, the most enlightened 
 one that could have directed them, would have been 
 that which establishes in public order the means of in- 
 demniflcation for rights that have been subverted, and 
 provides a safeguard to protect those remnants that 
 have been collected after the convulsion. None but a 
 
Congress of Vienna. 99 
 
 fool, like Xerxes, would have whipped the sea after a 
 storm. On the contrary, common sense would direct 
 you to assemble all those that have escaped shipwreck, 
 and assure to them future enjoyment. Have those who 
 would order the world to make these easy retrogres- 
 sions, beheld the descendant of St. Louis, of Henry 
 the IVtli, of Louis the XlVth, in the midst of a le- 
 gislative body, occupying a chair ? What is become of 
 old France ? Where are the venerable clergy who only 
 diverted their attention from another life, but to con- 
 vey to their fellow citizens counsels or succour that 
 might aid them in this ? Where is that nobility, the 
 flower of the chevaliers of France and the warriors of 
 Europe, as brilliant in war as they were at the tourna- 
 ment, at once the asgis of the throne, and the frontier 
 barriers of the state ? Who has taken place of those 
 humble representatives of the cities that Philip intro= 
 duced six hundred years ago for the first time, and who 
 appeared before him on their knees? 
 
 What should have determined the monarch, on his 
 return to his newlj'-recovered states, to proclaim, that 
 those great changes that had raised the tempest, and 
 against which in other times he would have armed 
 himself, were his work ? What would be his own opi- 
 nion of himself in so singular a situation? Europe and 
 France thought, that in sacrificing at once the remem- 
 brance of the country of their forefathers, and the af- 
 fection with which the heart of its citizen should be 
 filled, he would exhibit to the world an act of heroism 
 and intelligence ; that hii proved by this, that he knew 
 how to command himself as well as others ; that, as a 
 just estimate of men and things, he knew how, by an 
 equal distribution of strength, to participate with all 
 parties ; all of wliich he found in a state of equality. 
 Let them apply to politics the lessons of superior wis- 
 dom, and in a short period the world will not expe= 
 rience any more irritation, in consequence of its 
 having the good sense to confirm the spirit of the 
 times. 
 
100 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 CHAPTEH XIll 
 
 France. 
 
 France appeared at the Congress in a very singular 
 ■atttitude. ' ^.,..-...-.-..-.- ... ...-....._,. — 
 
 *'^''he government that had just been destroyed had 
 armed all Europe against itself. It had received pt^ee 
 in the midst of its capital; and those whom it had Ren- 
 dered its enemies, who had not abused the rightgiven 
 them by the success of their armS;, had determined its 
 new situation, if not with generosity, at least without 
 rigour. It must be allowed, this non-exercise of seve- 
 rity may, after all that has passed within the course of 
 the last twenty-five years, pass for generosity. If the 
 allies, masters of Paris, have done nothing for France, 
 they have done nothing to injure her; as, in fact, was 
 in their power. They did not come to Paris Jforjhe 
 benefit of France, in order to render her powerful, to 
 consult her inclinationsj, as well as the fooleries exist- 
 ing there ; but to redress themselves for the blows they 
 had received, and prevent their recurrence in fufure. 
 The allies had to reconcile i\m permanent interests 
 of Europe, with the rank that France was to occupy 
 among the other powers. She was therefore replaced 
 within her ancient frontier, without acquisitions and 
 without loss. From having been an enemy, she had 
 become an ally. She appeared in an assembly of paei- 
 
Congress of Vienna. lOi 
 
 fieators, by the side of those to whom she had but just 
 before been hostilely opposed. 
 
 This change in her attitude was altogether retnarka- 
 ble, if any thing, after v/ bat we have witnessed, has the 
 power of creating astonishment. It does honour to the 
 minister with whom the plan originated, and it has giv- 
 en a new face to the affairs of the country. This trait 
 of ability has not been sufficiently noticed ; and it well 
 deserves to be so. 
 
 But, although sitting hy the side of other nations, 
 and marching apparently in equal pace, she was far 
 from finding herself in a situation parallel to that of the 
 four great powers that formed the Congress, 
 
 Victory, after having been so long since her exclu- 
 sive property; this evanescent goddess, who governs 
 the world, had conferred on others those favours, of 
 which, during an uninterrupted course of years, she had 
 been so exclusively prodigal to France. With her va- 
 nished that domination which had been the fruit of her 
 patronage, which was too forced for France, and too 
 bitter for others, for the remembrance of it to remain 
 long on the mind. That power which France still pos- 
 sessed, was in some degree that of concession. Her 
 fate was fixed. The alliance existing between the pow= 
 ers of the first rank, to a degree unexampled in the 
 history of states and sovereigns, left no hope of draw- 
 ing from their rivalry any of those advantages that ge- 
 nerally is the main object of ahle diplomatists. The 
 great powers had given a sort of tacit consent on the 
 subject of their respective pretensions. Hence, the 
 game which France had to play out of doors was very 
 difficult. The circumstances of her domestic situation 
 rendered that which she had to manage at home not 
 less so. France did not conduct herself at the Con- 
 gress at Vienna as she once did at that of Munster. 
 Every thing was in a very different situation. Louis 
 the XlVth did not arrive in his country after the gene« 
 ral subversion of his states. His throne has not been 
 
103 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 established by people, whose name at that epoch was 
 scarcely known in Europe. 
 
 This fortunate alteration has restored to France her 
 ancient sovereigns. They returned there with senti* 
 ments the most truly French, but with the sentiments 
 of old France only« It was ever to be recollected, 
 that they were the descendants of St, Louis and Henry 
 IVth who re-appeared in the land of their fathers : but 
 all which has been done out of the country, may ap- 
 pear to them not to belong to it. Hence, no efforis will 
 be made to retain it; and it will cost nothing to get 
 rid of all the personal part of the power and glory 
 which did not form a portion of the ancient personal 
 glory of the crown of France, and which was all that 
 they aspired to reach. Besides, it is comprised in the 
 inventory of a revolution, the principles and the acts 
 of which are too odious, and from which they have 
 suffered so much, that such a conduct may be necessa- 
 ry to avert the dangerous consequences that may arise. 
 Therefore it was without resistance, as without chagrin, 
 that they have renounced every thing unknown to an- 
 cient France. 
 
 Hence, France, from the peculiar circumstances in 
 which its government had been placed, was in an infe- 
 rior situation. But these were not the only reasons. 
 There were others, that contributed in many cases to 
 weaken its operations. 
 
 Thus, France was, in the first place, completely dis- 
 interested on her own account. She entered into an 
 arena, open to the pretensions of all other powers. 
 
 In the second place, she appeared disarmed, while 
 the other powers assumed all the apparel with which 
 power and victory could clothe them. 
 
 In the third place, she could not inspire that degree 
 of consideration and confidence that results from the 
 disposition which a state can make of its means, when 
 its establisliment is solid, complete, and protected from 
 any appearance of convulsion. The government of 
 
Congress of Vienna, 10^ 
 
 France was but just established. It was altogether 
 new. Nothing withia the kingdom had yet acquired 
 the necessary degree of consistence. Calculations 
 might have been made upon errors likely to exist on the 
 part of the government ; upon discontents on that of 
 the governed ; upon factious dispositions still existing 
 in too great a number of minds ; on an extremely doubt- 
 ful fidelity on the part of the troops : in a word, it was 
 possible to discover an immense multitude of causes of 
 confusion, the melancholy prognostics of which have 
 been too correctly realised. 
 
 In the fourth place, France, surrounded as she was 
 by this number of embarrassments, could not possibly 
 show any active dispositions. Besides, it is well known 
 that it was not more in the power than it was agreeable 
 to the temper of the government ; and every menace 
 that she made could not affect the states which were 
 freed from those incumbrances that on every side ham- 
 pered and paralised the movements of France. 
 
 In the fifth place, the great powers who were the 
 arbiters of the proceedings of the Congress proceeded 
 with au unanimity, of which the annals of diplomacy 
 do not offer an example; and evinced an union of 
 spirit, of which it was impossible to break or detach a 
 single link. Hence, every trivial alliance with France 
 was interdicted ; its position deprived it of the advan- 
 tages springing from that great political resource, 
 and confined her to those exertions that her own 
 strength would enable her to make, in the face of 
 those powers who pressed upon her Vi^ith all the weight 
 of their quadruple alliance. Let us search for the rea- 
 sons. 
 
 Alliance may exist, when the parties to the treaty 
 not only understand each other on certain points, but 
 when their most important general interests harmonise. 
 But an alliance cannot exist when there is an under- 
 standing only on some points relative to other parties 
 altogether independent, and when they depart among 
 
iOi^ ' Congress of Vienna, 
 
 themselves from points of the first importance to their 
 own interests. There can be no alliance in this in- 
 stance, nor where there can be no acting in common, 
 nor when the parties cannot with equal plenitude of 
 power dispose of all their means. 
 
 This is precisely the situation in which France found 
 herself with regard to Austria, to Russia, and I may 
 say with regard to all Europe. 
 
 France could proceed, in concurrence with Austria, 
 in her opposition to Prussia, for the protection of 
 Saxony — in opposition to Russia, who was project- 
 ing the appropriation of Poland to herself: but she 
 must differ from Austria, showing, as that power did, 
 a disposition to convert Italy into an Austrian pro* 
 vince ; to consolidate the new throne of Naples ; and 
 to substitute in the Dutchy of Parma a race hostile 
 to the princes of France. France might also pro- 
 ceed, in concurrence with Grreat Britain, in her oppo- 
 sition to the designs of Prussia on Saxony ; but cer- 
 tainly she must withhold her consent to the idea pos- 
 sessed by her, of supporting the new sovereigns of Na* 
 pies and Parma, and retaining various possessions, the 
 occupation of which rendered the whole marine of Eu- 
 rope her prisoner. 
 
 Still more might France agree with Prussia, des- 
 tined as she was to serve as a barrier to Russia, and 
 to balance the power of Austria. But how could this 
 unanimity be maintained co- existent with the idea of 
 Prussia occupying Saxony, and the country compris- 
 ed between the Meuse and the Rhine? Thus all the 
 states, experiencing the effects of simultaneous repul- 
 sion and attraction, advanced and retreated at the same 
 moment. 
 
 On the other side of the question, France, to obtain 
 an alliance, could not offer guarantees comparable to 
 those that other powers could tender. This difference 
 of situation arose from the state of her interior. 
 
 For example, the governments of Austria and Great 
 
Congress of Vienna. 105 
 
 Britain had not experienced the same checks that had 
 afl'ected that of France. 
 
 In the two fornjer countries, every thing is establish- 
 ed, and proceeds, in all iis branches, according to an 
 old, determined, and fixed impulse. We should per- 
 haps be understood as going too far, even if we were 
 not to say whether France did offer the same pledges to 
 this association. But every association receives its form 
 and consistence in proportion to, and in consideration 
 of, mutual safety; and who could wish for those which 
 are so opposed in their character, and so deprived of 
 strength and guarantee, that they only hold out the 
 prospect of either becoming a burthen, or a brokea 
 reed. 
 
 From this confined situation of her affairs proceeded 
 the system pursued by France. Her play was forced. 
 Let us see how she acted her part. 
 
 Here a new distinction presents itself, which it i^ 
 very necessary to mark. She dates her birth from the 
 situation of the princes occupying the throne of France. 
 In remounting it, they found every thing, both within 
 and without, altogether changed. 
 
 In some places, the members of their family were re- 
 placed by their more fortunate competitors. 
 
 On one side we see every thing the result of favour 
 or dislike : on others, a prince, allied by blood, had his 
 existence threatened, They would of course feel for 
 him the most tender interest. The ties of blood would 
 give strength, and be productive of favour, to the claim 
 of justice. 
 
 Besides, many illustrious but modern names were 
 found. This new fraternity cannot be acknowledged 
 without great difficulty. 
 
 If a dangerous neighbourhood should inspire too 
 well-founded fears, the principal care would be to re- 
 move the cause of alarm. 
 
 Hence, French policy is discovered to be mid-way 
 between national and private interests ; between the 
 affections of the prince and those of the family. 
 
100 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 In setting out from these principles, it will be found 
 that French influence ought to attach itself to them. 
 
 First, To banish every thing that gave umbrage to 
 the family reigning in France ; and consequently the 
 principal views would be directed against the despot 
 confined in the Isle of Elba, and against all that were 
 attached to him. 
 
 Second, To prevent a young plant taking root at 
 Parma, whose shoots would always be abhorred and 
 dreaded. 
 
 Third, To purify those thrones that are found so 
 much degraded, and that they should be restored to 
 that species of possessors who are regarded as fit only 
 io occupy them. 
 
 Fourth, To establish an order of things in which 
 their own preservation shall be provided for, and to 
 render it the principal dogma of the new policy to be 
 adopted by the kings of Europe. 
 
 Hence would proceed the great efforts that would be 
 made to bring back to Naples and to Parma the princes 
 of the royal family of France. 
 
 From this circumstance, we may learn the necessity 
 of renewing that alliance with Sweden that a sound 
 policy should prescribe to France, as more necessary 
 than it was in the days of Gustavus and Oxenstiern. 
 
 We may also see the propriety of connecting toge- 
 ther all the princes who, during the course of the revo- 
 lution, have experienced the same sufferings as those 
 of France, and demand for them a justice, the effects 
 of which should be useful to them. 
 
 France, not demanding any thing of the Congress, 
 and at once willing to cover the inferiority of the part 
 she had to play — an inferiority very new to her, — was 
 obliged to depart from that policy in which she no lon- 
 ger occupied the principal place, in order to recur to 
 those general principles, the discussions of which be- 
 longed to the whole world, and to assume the merit of 
 justice of peace to Europe, in place of being able to 
 
Congress of Vienna. 107 
 
 show herself its regulator. It was this circumstance 
 that produced the connexion between France and Aus- 
 tria and Great Britain, and her avowed interference in 
 favour of Saxony. By this means she formed a princi- 
 pal member of the opposition in favour of Saxony. We 
 cannot but render our homage to the force and the con- 
 stancy with which the French ministers have defended 
 a prince worthy of all the respect that the purest virtue 
 commands ; worthy, from his misfortunesj of the interest 
 of every sensible heart. 
 
 But in the extraordinary circumstances in which Eu= 
 rope discovered itself to be placed ; above all, with 
 the new dangers that the near approach of Russia creat- 
 ed ; was it well to enter into the discussion of the pre- 
 sent and future interests of Europe, by merely consider- 
 ing Saxony as the properly of the king, and to show 
 what in this grand question was the side termed legiti- 
 mate, and on which they coold uot^ if a proper feeling 
 existed, suffer an attempt to be made ? 
 
 There were many means of avoidiog oSencej which 
 we shall point out in a succeediog chapter. 
 
 Is it necessary on this account to avoid the diseus=. 
 sion of the high consideratiosis that eommaaded the ab- 
 solute union of Saxooy to Prussia ? BesisleSj, what have 
 ig of SaxoQjj in reslorlog him but 
 
 the half of Ms sisbjects aod bis states? Aslillle for his 
 virtue as his power. 
 
 We may perceive that Fraaee mad© in© 
 that resistance to the nnmn of Italj aa^ Austria which 
 she made to that of Saxooj aail Frossia. However, 
 interest in favour of Fraijee^, aatl ialeiresl in favour of 
 Europe, were two very different Ihliigs. The misfor- 
 tunes of Italy were ffiucia greater anil SB©re affecting. 
 France, haviog a wish t© make im& of Aastria against 
 Prussia in favour of Saxoojj was obliged to be tender 
 on the score of Ilalj. This is ili© eSl^et of ih^t two- fold 
 system that we have before intlicated. It will perhaps 
 be said^ that there was^ on the pari of Austria; an 
 
10S Congress of Vienna^ 
 
 opinion so decided with regard to this question, that 
 the attempt to alter it would have been ineffectual. 
 France was more fortunate in the attempts she made 
 for the restitution of the dominions belonging to the. 
 pope, and to procure an act, called for by justice, 
 and by the rank that Catholicism occupied in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 Since the peace of Westphalia, France has adopted 
 the maxim of exercising a species of protectorate in 
 Germany, in opposition to the House of Austria. Sure- 
 ly she was correct in endeavouring to renew it with the 
 princes and the sovereigns of the empire. 
 
 It is necessary to remark, that there are in Germany 
 three species of states. 
 
 In the first rank, are Austria and Prussia. 
 
 In the second, the ci-devant electorates, erected into 
 kingdoms. 
 
 In the third, the petty princes or states, of which 
 there were a great number, and which occupied each 
 their sovereignties, or territories, throughout the whole 
 extent of the empire. 
 
 France had to consider these states in various points 
 of view. Thus she could not regard Austria in the 
 same light as Prussia. 
 
 The former is always sufficiently powerful in Ger-- 
 many. Sometimes the latter is not enough. France 
 ought no longer to view in the same light the two states, 
 so various are their circumstances : thus it is not her 
 province to mingle in disputes perfectly personal be- 
 tween Austria and Prussia. These two powers possess 
 in themselves the means of balancing each other. The 
 interference of France only begins to be reasonable 
 wljen either of the two should abuse its superiority, in 
 order to destroy the balance, and lay too heavy a bur- 
 then on Germany. Till then they ought to remain un- 
 interrupted. 
 
 But France should have a constant and habitual con- 
 nexion with the powers of the second order : they form 
 
Congress of Vienna. 109 
 
 a barrier against the two former states, if they should 
 have any idea of encroachment. France did this for 
 Bavaria in 177^ ; and she ought always to be ready to 
 do it again for all the states of the second order in Ger- 
 many, without any distinction as to Protestant or Catho- 
 lic. All these states are equally necessary to the safe- 
 ty of the empire and that of France. 
 
 With the states of the third order the case is widely 
 different. They do not possess any strength; they can 
 lend no support to any one; they always require it 
 from others. They do little else but render the ma- 
 chine more complicated, and serve to embarrass its 
 movements. 
 
 We have no hesitation in saying, that, with regard 
 to them, France should change the system which she 
 has hitherto observed, and did actually support in the, 
 Congress. ' The difference in the events of the times 
 is the reason. When Austria alone governed the Ger- 
 man empire, the existence of this multitude of petty 
 princes, who formerly were the sources of anarchy, 
 might have had an useful result. Then too many ob- 
 stacles could not be created, nor too many impediments 
 offered. At that period France was the only support 
 of the empire against Austria, and the only corrective 
 of the diminutiveness of the German states. But, since 
 the elevation of the Prussian power ; since the states 
 of Bavaria, of Wiirtemberg, of Hanover, have acquir- 
 ed such an extent of territory, and increase of influ- 
 ence, Austria is sufficiently balanced. The smaller 
 states cannot act against her ; it is much more prohable 
 that they will act for her, and that Austria will endea- 
 vour to create among them an honourable dependence 
 upon her, and support them against the states of the 
 second order. 
 
 The interests of Germany and France equally require 
 that this country should he relieved from the load of all 
 the little sovereignties that hitherto have been of no 
 use but to their possessors^ and they should be incor= 
 
110 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 porated with the states of the second order. This, in 
 proportion as Russia approaches Grerraanyj will become 
 more necessary. The appearance of this new danger 
 should have induced a system of fortifying the German 
 powers, whose care and defence of their common mo- 
 ther is prevented by the consequences arising from the 
 existence of these little states. These powers are, with 
 Austria and Prussia, the rulers of the second order. 
 The reader should not be tired with the repetition of 
 the opinion, that, since unconquerable Russia has taken 
 such a position as to enable her to knock at the doors 
 of the German empire, every thing has undergone a to= 
 tal change in that country. Instead of being interest- 
 ed in the preservation of the petty states, it is rather 
 for their abolition that we should now seek ; for the 
 simplification, rather than the complication, and for the 
 concentration, rather than the dispersion, of sovereign- 
 ties, in order to be able to oppose the largest njasses to 
 those masses by which they are menaced. New dan= 
 gers ought to lead us to seek for new safeguards. The 
 French system has been very erroneous on this subject. 
 But, where its error has been at once the more remark- 
 able and the more melancholy, is in the mode of oppo- 
 sition to Prussia ; to give effect to which, she uniformly 
 paid such great attention. 
 
 In tlie system which France should establish be- 
 tween herself and Prussia, there are two invariable 
 principles : alliance and distance. The one gives ef- 
 fect to the other. 
 
 Hence, throughout the whole course of the Con- 
 gress, France only laboured to put Prussia at a dis- 
 tance, and force her to withdraw to her own frontier. 
 In short, to prevent that which at one and the same time 
 precluded alliance, and created hostility. This fatal 
 mistake arose from the warmth with which France de- 
 fended Saxony: for it is impossible not to remark, that^ 
 in proportion to her exertions in favour of the latter 
 country, she increased the difficulties she 
 
Congress of Vienna. Ill 
 
 eoimter in her opposition to the approach of Prussia to 
 the frontiers of France. There have been seen a vast 
 number of notes on the subject of the incorporation of 
 Saxony ; but we have seen none on that of the incon- 
 veniences likely to arise from the establishment of Prus- 
 sia, at the very doors of France, between the Meuse 
 and the Rhine, as well as between the Rhine and the 
 Moselle. 
 
 On her arrival at the Congress, France found Saxo- 
 ny abandoned by Prussia and Russia, abandoned by 
 Austria, neglected by Great Britain, and by the princes 
 of the empire, who offered her nothing but vain regrets. 
 In this distressing situation it was that France under- 
 took her cause. We have seen her spend four months 
 in setting all the springs of her policy at work to in- 
 crease the number of the defenders of Saxony. 
 
 This system appeared alike contrary to the interests 
 of France, of Saxony, and of Europe. 
 
 First ; To France it occasioned the loss of the most 
 necessary of her allies, and indeed it changed her into 
 an enemy. It brought near to her a power that ought 
 ever to have been kept at a distance. It has embittered 
 the minds of the Prussians^ whose animosity, so active 
 and fatal to France, has proceeded, in a great measure, 
 from their resentment on the score of an opposition that 
 frustrated the object of their most ardent desires. If 
 France remained silent on the invasion of Italy by Au- 
 stria, why did she make such a noise on that of Saxony, 
 of importance to the liberties of Europe, while that of 
 Italy cut it up by the roots ? 
 
 Second ; The preservation of Saxony in its integrity 
 being demonstrably impossible, but little service could 
 be rendered to her by attaching so much importance to 
 a question, the most fortunate result to which could 
 not preserve her from being torn in pieces. Saxony 
 should either have remained undivided under its own 
 king, or that of Prussia. In fact, why was Saxony dir 
 vided into two parts ? Whom can the half of Saxony, 
 by the side of Prussia^, of Austria, and of Russia, serve 
 
lis Congress of Vienna. 
 
 or assist? In its state of consolidation it would have 
 been lost amidst these three colossal powers. What 
 situation will it occupy in its actual condition? Was 
 it not a line present to make to the King of Saxony, 
 that of his dominions thus parcelled ? Was it very con- 
 solatory to his subjects that some Saxons should remain 
 to Saxony and its kin^, while they had to hehold their 
 separation from their fellow-citizens, and the division 
 of their country ? Was not the King of Saxony a very 
 liappy prince in the midst of the shreds of his states, 
 and the wrecks of a family, in which he could only 
 calculate on hearing sighs, and witnessing a flow of 
 tears ? Was royalty well defended, most honoured, by 
 being left on the half of a throne ? Let us be candid. 
 It is not the title that makes the king, but the power. 
 We can never conceive how they can reconcile the re- 
 spect due to royalty, with the trifling consideration as- 
 signed to it in some countries. The throne should be 
 raised so as to be seen from afar, and afford an impos- 
 ing spectacle ; in all countries it comes within the defi- 
 nition given of it by Napoleon : *' Four bits of wood 
 and a velvet carpet.^' 
 
 Third ; Tli\p opposition made by France to the de- 
 signs of Prussia in favour of Saxony ; which, taking 
 from the latter the means of defence against Hussia, 
 has deprived Europe of its principal defensive point. 
 It has now become the great interest of Europe. The 
 colossal power of Russia has changed all its rela- 
 tions : a circumstance of which we must never lose 
 sight. 
 
 From all this, what has resulted ? That Prussia has 
 been rendered hostile to France ; that she is weak- 
 ened in the principal part of her defensive system 
 against Russia ; and that Saxony has been rendered 
 useless either to its own sovereign, who no longer 
 possesses power; or to Prussia, who can reckon, for 
 no great length of time, on the good will of the 
 Saxons. The Congress has taken too good care to 
 catechise them on the subject of the union with 
 
Congress of Vienna, 113 
 
 Saxony, in order that the Saxons may, in a few years, 
 become good Prussians. Of the probability of this 
 alteration in character and feeling, we may judge by 
 the circumstances that happened at Liege. 
 
 Nothing has occurred to show the proceedings of 
 France in favour of Denmark. This state, that, in the 
 midst of the troubles of Europe, has, for a centurj% 
 exhibited an example of all the civil virtues, modera- 
 tion, temperance, justice, and economy : this country, 
 which has only rendered herself remarkable by the 
 peaceable conquests she has made, by means of her 
 industry and commerce^ beheld herself on a sudden 
 enveloped in disputes, to which she was, from her cha- 
 racter and habits, as great a stranger as by her geogra- 
 phical situation. There never was a more noble nor 
 ,more impartial conduct, than that which Denmark ob- 
 served during the whole course of the revolution : how- 
 ever, she has lost her Norwegian dominions, and the 
 very important point of Heligoland. There has only 
 been assigned to her the shadow of an indemnity, not- 
 withstanding the promise she received. The idea which 
 has been evinced of re-erecting the Hanseatic towns, 
 has frustrated the wish she had for two of them, Ham- 
 burgh and Lubeck, which, from their locality, appear- 
 ed to belong to her. We cannot finish this chapter 
 without paying a tribute of respect to the French iega« 
 tion. It was in a situation surrounded with difficulties : 
 inheriting all the errors of French diplomacy for the 
 last twenty-five years, although it was altogether a 
 stranger to them : surrounded by jealousies^ coalitions 
 always directed against it, it v/as necessary for this 
 legation to conduct itself through all these dilSculties, 
 and it has effected it with so much ability as to produce 
 the remarkable circumstance, that the power, by far 
 the least considerable as to strength, should have oc- 
 cupied a most distinguished situation ; and the voice 
 which had been esteemed the least able, should have 
 brought Europe to listen to it with the greatest atteu- 
 
 p 
 
114; Congress of Vienna, 
 
 tion : so well did the French negotiators know to re- 
 compense France for the difficulties of the part they 
 had to act, by their personal consistency and distin- 
 guished talents. 
 
 It has been asked, if it would not have been correct 
 if France had not appeared at the Congress? This 
 question gives rise to a vast number of considerations. 
 If her absence had, in some measure, compromised her 
 dignity, perhaps it would have served interests no less 
 precious to her. 
 
 CHAPTEH XIII. 
 
 Great Sritain. 
 
 Great Britain has gathered the friiits of her perse- 
 veraoce, of. 'hy,r.' courage^ of lier patriotism, awd oT'^11 
 .|jer sacriiices. This power offered a most intere^ng 
 spectacle at the period when she constantly proportion- 
 ed her means of defence to the attacks which she had 
 to sustain ; attacks of the most violent nature to which 
 she had ever been subjected ; and finished, by victo- 
 riously releasing herself from a contest, in whicli„s,he 
 no longer contet^ded, as in former ones, for a pre-e^ii- 
 nence of honour, wealth, or power ; but, for an exist- 
 ence. For it is impossible to deny that the existence of 
 Great Britain was threatened from the opening of the 
 war in February 1793, to the 31st March 1814^. Dur- 
 ing this whole space of time, a single day did not pass, 
 in which Great Britain was not devoted to a complete 
 
Congress of Vienna. 115 
 
 overthrow. First, revolutionary, daring the whole pe- 
 riod of the reign of the Convention and the Directory. 
 Second, politically, as late as 1814. If the mutiny at- 
 tempted in the British fleet had succeeded, what would 
 have become of Great Britain ? If the invasion should 
 have succeeded, Great Britain would have been divided 
 into three parts ; England, properly so called, Ireland, 
 and Scotland. In this case, we may also assert that 
 India would have been lost, her maritime power de- 
 stroyed, and every species of influence from without, 
 overturned by the neighbourhood of two governments 
 hostile to her and friendly with her enemies. 
 
 But a good genius watched over her, and this good 
 genius was that of her adversary. His attacks were so 
 direct, so menacing, that the nation could refuse nothing 
 to the minister, who, on his part, had only to show it 
 the precipice into which it was wished to plunge her. 
 Napoleon furnished the British ministers with talent. 
 They required no other art than to oppose him with all 
 their strength, than to seek on all sides for enemies, to 
 whom he wished to abandon her. Their game was pre- 
 determined ; and it is truly curious to observe that Mr. 
 Pitt either knew not how, or could not do* what minis- 
 ters, regarded as very inferior in capacity, have accom- 
 plished, by having one regular plan ; namely, that of 
 defence. 
 
 Thus threatened with annihilation, Great Britain has 
 saved herself. 
 
 Great Britain has regenerated Portugal. By her 
 means, the troops of a country that never have enjoyed 
 any reputation, have been brought to the level of all the 
 troops of Europe. The defence of Lisbon, the sacrifices 
 of the inhabitants on all the roads that the enemy had 
 to traverse, form prodigies of resignation on the part of 
 the Portuguese. 
 
 * what would Mr. Pitt have said, who so many times declared in Parlia- 
 ment that no attack, direct on France, could meet with success, if he had 
 seen the British Guards standin.e^ as sentries at the Louvre, and the Russians 
 at Paris, twice in the course of fifteen months I 
 
116 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 Iq the co-operation of Great Britain, Spain found 
 powerful means of nourishing and prolonging her re- 
 sistance ; although in the usual state of this nation her 
 triumph would have been as sure. Such is the nature 
 of the country, that Spain never can be conquered. 
 
 Great Britain has covered Europe with her gold : 
 whoever has asked for subsidies to fight Napoleon has 
 obtained thera ; to her largesses she has placed no 
 bounds. This uniformly appears. Similar to an athletic 
 mau;, who, from the impetuosity of the combat, docs 
 not experience the severity of his wounds, Great Bri- 
 tain arrived at the end of t!ie war without ever casting 
 a look of regret on the load with which slse had bur- 
 theued herself. But the battle is over, the account must 
 be made up ; and then it is that Great Britain will be 
 able to form an idea of the extent of her sacriftces, and 
 the injuries it has produced to her in all her social re- 
 lations. Thus have we beheld her engaged in the abo- 
 lition of taxes disliked by the nation. She has endea- 
 voured to discover how she can make the products of 
 her soil compete with those of other countries which 
 have a tendency to reduce her markets. In Great Bri- 
 tain there is a contest between the cultivator and the 
 consumer, A combination of wealth and taxes have so 
 raised the price of produce, that it is impossible to con- 
 tinue a competition with the Continent, in the most es- 
 sential articles, and a portion of manufactured commo- 
 dities.* 
 
 Great Britain was beforehand with the Congress in 
 retaining Malta, Heligoland, the Isle of France, the 
 Cape, and other points, well calculated for. her conve- 
 s nience, on the coasts of South America and India. She 
 ,' bore a principal share in the erection of the new king- 
 dom of the United Provinces. Profiting of this opportu- 
 nity, that hitherto has rarely offered itself to any one, 
 Great Britain has obtained more than at any time she 
 could have promised herself. She has realised that of 
 
 * See the disciiss'ions in Parliament on the Importation of Foreign Wheals, 
 and the debates on the Reduction of the Prices of Farms, 
 
Congress of Vienna. 117 
 
 which her greatest politician, William the Third, had 
 but a glimpse. 
 
 The erection of Hanover into a kingdom did not 
 directly concern Great Britain. It was intended to 
 provide for the situation of the future sovereigns of 
 Hanover, in the event of the throne of Great Britain 
 not being occupied by the House of Brunswick, and 
 thus ensure their remaining equal to the Electors raised 
 into the rank of Kings. 
 
 Hence, Great Britain arrived at the Congress in the 
 most favourable condition, that of not having even one 
 demand to make. Thus detached from all personal in- 
 terest, nothing remained for her but to watch over the 
 general welfare of Europe. To this affair she does not 
 appear to have paid an efficacious attention. She seems 
 never to have interfered but on private objects, and ne- 
 glected the ensemble and the elevated views presented 
 by the common interests. 
 
 The language of Great Britain has varied. 
 
 If the documents that have been permitted to be seen 
 contain the truth, Great Britain seems at first to have 
 acceded to the incorporation of Saxony with Prussia. It 
 was only in consequence of the remonstrances made in 
 Parliament, and the suggestions of France, that this 
 opinion took another direction. 
 
 Its system as to Italy appeared also to have under- 
 gone many variations : for the proclamations of Lord 
 William Bentinck announcing to the Genoese the re- 
 turn of their independence ; and that of General Dal- 
 rymple, when he transferred the country to the King of 
 Sardinia, are widely different. 
 
 In these two acts we discover a primary and personal 
 direction yielding to action foreign to that foreseen, and 
 which could not be mastered. A fine field of glory for 
 his country and himself lay before the British negotia- 
 tor, if he had proclaimed the necessity of a general and 
 definitive arrangement of all Europe, as having been 
 the object and the recompense of the labours of Great 
 Britain : she who has boasted of having been the 
 
118 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 saviour of Europe. In leaving it a prey to the disor- 
 ders to which it was devoted by the Congress, she has 
 only performed half her work. 
 
 To prevent Russia from passing the Vistula, Austria 
 from invading Italy, fortifying Prussia, extending the 
 United Provinces to the Rhine, emancipating Spanish 
 
 America such were the objects of British policy. 
 
 The negotiator who should have conveyed into Great 
 Britain stipulations so assuring for the whole body of 
 Europe, would have been rewarded with the thanks of 
 . all the correctly thinking men of his nation, who must 
 have regretted the recurrence of such a vacillating sys- 
 tem, and of the loss of so much time, in order to pro- 
 duce the result which we now witness. 
 
 The cries of the British Opposition made the British 
 Cabinet alter its ideas with regard to the incorporation 
 of Saxony. Why did it not exert itself more for the 
 liberties of Europe, and endeavour to assuage the af- 
 llictions of the Italians ; afflictions much greater than 
 those of the Saxons ? 
 
 The French legislature felt its humiliation, in being 
 forced to preserve a silence with regard to those very 
 objects upon which its British rival was called to give 
 so unbiassed an opinion, and to exhibit itself using so 
 frequently, and in so honourable a manner, this valua- 
 ble prerogative ; one, from the exercise of which, na- 
 tions should never in the slightest degree desist. The 
 glory of the Opposition would have been complete, if 
 to the just indignations that it testified against the ex- 
 changes and the transfer {transvasemens) of people, 
 which present, a spectacle so afflicting to humanity, it 
 had added a superior solicitude for the general interests 
 of Europe, which evidently were compromised by the 
 Congress. 
 /"'"■x^For some time Great Britain appeared to give its 
 / support to the King of Naples, and to the sovereign 
 Lthen reigning in Sicily. The fact has been attempted 
 to be discovered in opposition to itself, from the ambi- 
 dexter interference between two interests diametrically 
 
Congress of Vienna. 119 
 
 opposite to each other. The reproach is without foun- 
 dation. 
 
 Nothing is so essentially opposite as that system un- 
 der which Naples and Sicily form two distinct states. 
 For a long time they have rather been separated than 
 united. However desirable may be the union of these 
 two countries, nevertheless we may say with truth, that 
 Naples could exist alone as well as Sicily Naples 
 can do still more ; she can contribute to the general be- 
 nefit of Italy, of which she may preserve the balance, 
 and to that of Europe, which is interested in keeping 
 the southern part of Italy from the domination of those 
 who prevail in Upper Italy. 
 
 Great Britain has done nothing that can imply any 
 contradiction in her conduct. It could not have parta- 
 ken of the character of duplicity, as in the case of her 
 having contracted at one and the same time engage- 
 ments with the Court of Naples against that of Paler- 
 mo, or with that of Palermo against that of Naples. 
 It is clearly to be seen that there was a medium between 
 the two, that of guaranteeing to the two courts their 
 respective possessions. This Great Britain did. The 
 enterprise of Napoleon, and the war of Murat, have 
 given another appearance to affairs in this quarter ; and 
 every thing has been replaced in a situation more con- 
 venient for the two countries. 
 
 It is to be remarked, that Great Britain is the only 
 power, the aggrandisements of which have not been 
 submitted to the deliberations of the Congress, and re- 
 ceived its guarantee. Russia, Austria, and Prussia, 
 submitted theirs in Poland, in Saxony, and in Italy. 
 France and Spain were out of the question ; the situa- 
 tion of the former having been determined by the Trea- 
 ty of Paris, and the second having experienced no 
 change in her situation. But the power of Great Bri- 
 tain had experienced an immense increase by the occu- 
 pation of Heligoland, of Malta, of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, of the Isle of France, and many other points on 
 the coasts of India and America : of all these acquisi- 
 
ISO Congress of Vienna. 
 
 tions, not a word was said at the Congress. Was it 
 forgetfulness on the part of tlie former, or an act of su~ 
 premacy on the part of Great Britain ? 
 
 CHAPTER XIV, 
 
 Frussia. . 
 
 A CENTURY has beheld the birth, the elevation^ the 
 fall, and the resurrection of this power. 
 
 H he is no w ranked- among thQse oOhj^^te^ ia 
 
 Kurope, and constitutes one of its first necessities. 
 
 When, in consequence of a surprise rather than a de- 
 feat, Prussia yielded at the first shock to France, it 
 was curious to observe to what cause her fall might be 
 attributed. A distinguished writer goes so far back as 
 to impute it to Frederick the Great. 
 
 It was precisely to Frederick the Great that she has 
 to attribute her salvation. 
 
 We are ignorant of all the patriotism concealed in 
 the hearts of the Prussians, of all the desire of ven- 
 geance with which they burned, of the undefiled ho- 
 nour that had remained so long attached to their flag, 
 since the death of this sovereign. We have seen with 
 v/hat oceans of blood they have washed out the affront. 
 We are ignorant of that mass of intelligence, existing 
 from Koningsberg to Berlin. There was the resource. 
 With what vigour has not this state been restored to 
 its rank! It is this which has redressed Europe. It 
 is General D'Yorck, disobedient to his sovereign, but 
 implicitly obedient to the spirit of the nation. With- 
 out Prussia, indignant at its abasement, burning with 
 
Congress of Vienim. 131 
 
 ardour, and the desire of regaining its rank, Hussia 
 could not have pushed so far the pursuit of the victory, 
 that the madness of her enemy and the severity of the 
 climate had granted to her. Without Prussia, Austria 
 would have still hesitated, and Vienna would not have 
 witnessed the meeting of the Congress. 
 
 In this assembly, Prussia had to obtain its establish- 
 ment, and to assure its safety for the future. Ties of 
 the most friendly character united the sovereigns of 
 Prussia dnd Russia. These friendships are those of an- 
 cient times between demigods. 
 
 In her present state there are three Prussias : Prus» 
 sia in Poland, Prussia in Germany, Prussia on the 
 Meuse and the Rhine. Her boundaries are not to be 
 defined. Prussia powerfully feels this truth. She has 
 enemies on all sides. No where has she frontiers. 
 
 At Memel and Koningsberg, Russia presses her by 
 the point of her states. Austria cuts through the cenire 
 of her possessions. Every thing which goes out of 
 Bohemia, is in an instant in the heart of Prussia. 
 France touches on the extremity of her dominions, se- 
 parated from the heart of the monarchy. She is made 
 up of small parcels, on an immense line, without ad- 
 hesion and without consistency. The length and nar- 
 rowness (maigreur) of Prussia occasioned Voltaire al- 
 ways to compare her^o a pair of garters. She resem- 
 bles the houses at Berlin that are only built on one side 
 of the street. Even now she has hut one aspect towards 
 Europe. 
 
 France, allied to Prussia at Berlin, becomes her ene- 
 my on the Meuse. She would open the war against 
 her by the occupation of that division of her monarchy 
 situated between the Rhine and the Meuse. 
 
 Russia, occupying Poland, would commence war 
 against her on the Oder, at the very gates of her capi- 
 tal. 
 
 Austria shuts her in as closely, hy all the passes into 
 
ISS Congress of Vienna. 
 
 It is rarely that we see assembled and accumulated 
 such embarrassment. 
 
 Prussia powerfully contended for the complete incor- 
 poration of Saxony. She appeared to be convinced of 
 the inconveniences arising from the dispersion of her 
 difterent provinces, and of those that would spring from 
 the want of connexion among them. She felt that her 
 approach to France would invert the nature of her re- 
 lations with those countries, and occasion her to pass 
 from the state of friendship that had hitherto existed, to 
 that of enmity, the inevitable result of being such near 
 neighbours ; for to be neighbouring and inimical, are 
 synonimous between political bodies. 
 
 Prussia could not flatter herself that the friendly re- 
 lations existing between her sovereign and that of Rus- 
 sia, would become permanent between the two coun- 
 tries, and pass from age to age to Russians and Prus- 
 sians. It is not on the affections existing between men, 
 but on their permanent interests, that the relations be- 
 tween states can be founded in a durable manner. The 
 arrangements should be made independent of such tran- 
 sient harmony. Prussia wished to fortify herself for the 
 future, and combine her forces as much as possible. 
 She lost more than a million of inhabitants when she 
 ceded the Dutehy of Warsaw. She had to recover, as 
 well as consolidate, every thing. Such were the two 
 branches of her system. We shall see whether or nut 
 she obtained her object. 
 
 During the latter periods of the last age, Prussia 
 found herself at the head of the Protectorate of the 
 North of Germany. It extended to every part of that 
 country that was attacked. For instance, the war of 
 Bavaria in 1778? and the line of demarcation in 179^. 
 In both cases, Prussia acted without distinction of 
 either Catholic or Protestant league, and afforded equal 
 protection to both. 
 
 The states of the North of Germany, such as Meck- 
 lenberg, Hanover, Hesse, formed a species of federa- 
 
Congress of Vienna. 1S3 
 
 tion with her. Since the war of 1756^ these allies have 
 scarcely ever been separated. 
 
 Until the revolution, and during the greater part of 
 its course, the object of Prussia was to maintain the 
 integrity of the German empire, to cultivate a good un- 
 derstanding with France, and oppose Austria. 
 
 At present every thing is changed for her, as well as 
 for the others, and Hussia is the cause of this change. 
 In fact, in proportion as Russia shall approach Europe, 
 the whole world will experience new cares. It is now 
 only that empire, and the dangers consequent to her 
 aggrandisement, which will now occupy the public at- 
 tention. 
 
 Hussia is not like the other states of Europe, that 
 may be beaten and compelled to withdraw. Russia will 
 not retrograde. Late experience will for a long time 
 prevent any attempt of this sort. 
 
 When we pass under the yoke of a people of Europe, 
 we remain in Europe. Under that of Russia, we be- 
 come the half of Asia. This is a truth that cannot be 
 too often repeated ; and one, the force of which Prussia 
 will soon most assuredly acknowledge. 
 
 She forms the first line in the way of this torrent. 
 Through Prussia it is that its course lies. The road, 
 through Austria is more out of the way ; more diflieult 
 to pass, in consequence of the mountains of Bohemia 
 and Hungary. But Prussia has no defence. The Oder 
 does not commence to be a barrier till below Breslau. 
 Berlin is between it and the Elbe. Prussia Proper re- 
 mains in the rear of the monarchy. All in that quarter 
 is cut off from the body of the state. 
 
 Hence, Prussia is ever in great danger ; and, there- 
 fore, is not the bulwark of Europe. Of course, it is the 
 interest of Europe to strengthen her, whether by addi- 
 tions of territory, or whether by facilities that shall 
 connect the detached parts of the Prussian monarchy. 
 It is the interest of Europe to deny nothing to Prussia; 
 on the contrary, to give her, and facilitate all the ar- 
 
124 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 rangements that shall enable her to procure strength, 
 and a rapidity of movement. Prussia is, in fact, the 
 guardian power of Europe : for her that kingdom is, on 
 the Oder, what the King of Sardinia was at the foot of 
 the Alps for Italy. Prussia never will be sufficiently 
 strong, not for herself, but for Europe, against the 
 Colossus of the north. In this we learn what, in the 
 actual state of things, cannot be too often repeated, nor 
 too often become an object of consideration. Unfortii-v 
 nately, in her own neighbourhood we see nothing that 
 we can give to Prussia. All the situations are occu- 
 pied; and surely Prussia covets that of no one. She 
 would not wish to displace the sovereigns of Mecklen- 
 berg, nor those of Hanover, Brunswick, or Hesse. 
 Saxony alone remained, that would servo to strengthen 
 her. The federation of Lower Germany could not in the 
 slightest degree aiford the necessary forces to Prussia. 
 All the inconveniences arising from dependencies are 
 known ; their fears, their delays, their jealousies. 
 Those who have to act with them, can never inspire 
 them with the same opinions, nor make them do what 
 is necessary. Every thing must submit to those at the 
 head of affairs. 
 
 Prussia will be feebly supported by the Confedera- 
 tion of the North of Germany. In future, it will be diffi- 
 cult to calculate on a perfect agreement between her, 
 and what remains of Saxony, as an independent state. 
 
 The acquisition of Swedish Pomerania adds hut 
 little to the real strength of Prussia. It was merely 
 well that she should possess it, as it was proper that 
 Sweden should give it up. 
 
 Prussia is EQ loiigec„tli,e enemiy of A^^^ ; and, for 
 the future, Mussia will make them allies. ToFmeFjea- 
 lousies have disappeared before greater dangers; for in 
 this instance the contest is not, as it formerly was, about 
 some trifling pre-eminence, but for existence itself, uni- 
 formly menaced by Russia. 
 
 Under a proper system, Prussia ought never to have 
 
Congress of Vienna. 1S5 
 
 passed the Rhine ; for by that step she hecomes the \ 
 enemy of France, an alliance with whom should be the 
 pivot of her policy ; not on the score of Austria, as^ it 
 formerly was, but on that of Russia. The Prussians 
 and the French are no longer destined to fight on the 
 plains of Rosbach or Jena, but to afford mutual suc- 
 cour and prevent the Russians meeting them in those 
 places. 
 
 Prussia ought not to multiply her affairs, nor render 
 her system complicated. Russia is preparing business 
 for her sufficiently important. 
 
 When Holland was divided into two parties, Prus- 
 sia lent an efficacious succour to the House of Orange. 
 This intervention will be no longer necessary. A bet- 
 ter order of things is established in tliat country. But 
 if the state to which the Orange family has been called 
 should be attacked, Prussia ought to fly to her succour, 
 and not to permit her to lose the smallest portion of her 
 territory. In its turn, this country should not permit 
 the slightest encroachment upon Prussia. 
 
 It was essential for Prussia, as well as for Europe, 
 that the new state of the Low Countries should at once 
 have received its full and perfect developement, a de- 
 velopement that would have carried it to the Rhine and 
 the Moselle, which are its natural limits. 
 
 It ought ever to be recollected, that with France 
 this state forms the second defensive line of Europe 
 against Russia, as she does the first against Great Bri= 
 tain. 
 
 The Congress, in opposing itself to the views of 
 Prussia on Saxony, and in offering it indemnities or 
 possessions that had no connexion with the other parts 
 of the monarchy, did not enter into the real spirit of the 
 permanent interests of Europe ; whether from former 
 jealousies of Prussia; whether interest for an unfortu- 
 nate prince or a suppliant nation, discussions contrary 
 to the interests of Europe were permitted ; for, in fact, 
 it is ever Europe, not Prussia, whose welfare should be 
 consulted. For example, it appears that Austria, in a 
 
135 Co7igress of Vienna, 
 
 consent she gave in the month of October 1814, to the 
 incorporation of Saxony with Prussia, prohibited the 
 establishment of a fortress at Dresden. In this, she 
 acted as the enemy of Prussia, not the friend of Europe 
 and of Germany. It is very evident that she only 
 looked to the safety of Bohemia, and not to that of 
 Germany ; for, in opposing herself to any thing that 
 should fortify the line of the Elbe, she would weaken 
 the defence of Germany, and leave a chanoel open for 
 the torrent rushing from the north. When the Russians 
 shall have poured themselves upon Germany, of what 
 consequence to Europe and to this country will it be 
 that Bohemia has been a little more or a little less 
 threatened on the side of Prussia ? Before the war in 
 1808, Prussia reckoned on nearly ten millions of inha- 
 bitants. It appears that she is now confined to the 
 same, perhaps a smaller, population : but if as to nu- 
 merical force there is an equality, there is an inequality 
 of physical strength. 
 
 For in 1806 Russia did not possess Finland and her 
 new provinces in Poland. 
 
 Austria did not extend as far as Illyria and the Unit- 
 ed Provinces of Italy. 
 
 Prussia then enjoyed, by the evacuation of the Dutehy 
 of Warsaw, a compactness of territory. It is now re- 
 placed by a division of the monarchy. Then Prussia was 
 not the neighbour of France, as she has since become, 
 in the third division, between the Meuse and the Rhine. 
 
 All these considerations indicate the necessity of car- 
 rying Prussia as far as the banks of the Vistula. They 
 also prescribe the incorporation of Saxony, and the 
 placing her at a great distance from France. Then 
 would Prussia find herself restored to what ought to be 
 lier invariable destination in the actual state of things, 
 that of watching the movements of Russia, and guard- 
 ing the avenues of Europe. 
 
 This fatal mistake will compel Prussia to keep on 
 foot an army much too large for her population and her 
 finances. 
 
Congress of Vienna, i27 
 
 III any war, wlietlier with France or with Russia, 
 Prussia must begin by losing part of her states. If 
 with France, she must abandon all her possessions on 
 the left bank of the Rhine. Prussia cannot defend 
 them against France. 
 
 If with Russia, she must abandon all her territory 
 on this side the Vistula, for it is cut off from the rest of 
 the monarchy, and nearer to Russia than Prussia. It is 
 an open country. 
 
 A worse combination could not have existed, and 
 consequently a state more painful than that in which 
 Prussia has been placed by the result of the Congress. 
 However, it must be acknowledged that Napoleon is 
 the cause of all this disorder. He has done more inju- 
 ry to the north than he has to the south of Europe. 
 Let us compare the state of the case. 
 
 The principal feature of his policy was to prevent 
 Russia from interfering so much in the affairs of Europe. 
 He wished also to exclude Great Eritain from them. 
 He endeavoured to drive the one back into Asia, as he 
 had aspired to expel the other to the most distant part 
 of the globe. He neither succeeded in the former nor 
 the latter of these schemes. But if it was not in his 
 power to offer a direct opposition to Great Britain, he 
 was not equally deprived of the means to contend with 
 Russia : not, however, that he could have driven her as 
 far back as his ideas had induced him to think was in 
 his power ; although he might have raised before her a 
 barrier sufficient to arrest her progress. The means were 
 ready. These means were to be found in Prussia. She 
 then possessed a part of Poland ; she sensibly felt all 
 the inconveniences attached to the contiguity of Russia, 
 and only required to be put into a situation to preserve 
 herself from them. It was the policy of the time. Na- 
 poleon had a right to calculate upon it. But, instead 
 of making use of what he found ready to his hands, 
 what did he not do, after all his false caresses, that were 
 continued for four years ? He fell upon Prussia, and 
 
i2S Congress of Vienna, 
 
 crushed her with the weight of his power. It pleased 
 him to create a dutchy of Warsaw with the spoils. He 
 gave to Russia part of the Prussian possessions in Po- 
 land. He amused himself, if we may so term it, by the 
 re-erection of the repuldic of Dantzic. In the war with 
 Austria in 1809, he enriched Russia still more, by giv- 
 ing her some parts of GalUcia. In short, he began to 
 strengthen that which he proposed to weaken. It is 
 true, that it was rather loans than cessions he intended 
 to make to Russia. The benefits he conferred were 
 merely to conceal his perfidy. He fully purposed to re- 
 turn, and demand the surrender of these gifts, as in fact 
 he did. He sought to make them the foundation of jea- 
 lousies between Austria, Russia, and Prussia. But, in 
 order to seize these donations from Russia, he at last 
 commenced a war^ and the war that ruined him. 
 
 On the contrary, if Napoleon, faithful to the ancient 
 system of France, had strengthened the ties which united 
 her to Prussia ; if, instead of plundering and humiliating 
 her, of harassing her in a thousand ways, he had culti- 
 vated a sood understanding; with as much care as he 
 took pains to oppress her ; had he done this, he would 
 have found in her the barrier for which he sought to the 
 power of Russia ; he might have calculated on fiading a 
 faithful ally, where he met a sanguinary enemy. The 
 King of Prussia would never have left Berlin, nor Napo- 
 leon Paris. An important lesson to teach men not to 
 direct their affairs on chimerical plans, nor to gratify 
 private prejudices, nor the dislike of man to man. It is 
 neither by the affections, nor by the contradictions of the 
 human mind, that states are to be governed. Napoleon 
 detested Prussia. Why, he was at a loss to account. 
 The whole conduct of Prussia in the course of the re- 
 volution, its constant refusal to enter into any coalition 
 against it from the year 1795, should with him have 
 served as a guarantee for the goodness of her disposition 
 towards France. Well ! he wished to crush her. He 
 was pleased in ruining her military reputation, that 
 
Congress of Vienna. 129 
 
 dimmed his own ; and he went to seek an avenger for 
 Europe. But necessity having brought Russia and 
 Prussia together, the former being able to consider it- 
 self the saviour of the latter, nothing could be denied, 
 and Russia has thus remained mistress of all the ar- 
 rangements as to Poland — a circumstance as much op- 
 posed to the natural system of Prussia as that of Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Russia. 
 
 In many places we have had occasion to show the 
 dangers with which the uniform approach of Russia 
 towards Europe menaces that quarter of the globe. 
 Either by the real or silent consent of the Congress, 
 we see her crossing the Vistula and touching on Silesia 
 and Moravia. By her flanks, by her rear, by all the 
 territory that belongs to her, Europe is kept in a state 
 of apprehension. 
 
 Hence, Russia has iakea the place of France. Op- 
 pression came from the West ; for the future it will 
 proceed from the East. Let us explain ourselves. 
 
 Every army purely European is civilised. Every 
 Russian army is so in its leaders, and not so in the re- 
 mainder of its members. Whatever may have been the 
 progress of civilisation in Russia, this distance between 
 the chiefs and the subalterns will yet last a long time. 
 This is precisely the danger that we have to fear. A 
 barbarism, robust and obedient, is always subservient 
 to the orders of a refined civilisation. Barbarous hands 
 may manage the instruments of the seientifie, and be 
 made to use them as well as those of the learned. Rus- 
 
 R 
 
130 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 sia resembles Rome under the emperors, finisliing the 
 conquest of the world by means of Gallic legions and 
 German troopers. If the Russians were wholly bar- 
 barous and made use of arrows, the danger would not 
 be so great. By means of its arts, Europe could pre- 
 serve itself: but Russia will make use of the arts of 
 Europe against Europe. Education has its effect every 
 where. 
 
 What difference is to be perceived between the Rus- 
 sian and French officers ? Fifty millions of men, bent 
 by the discipline of the North to the obedience of the 
 East, are at the disposal of others equal in civilisation 
 to those of the most polished character in Europe. It 
 is in the establishments of every nature that are formed 
 in all parts of Russia, as well as in its arsenals, that 
 the chains of Europe are preparing. The creation of 
 arts and commerce at Odessa inspire us with more fear 
 than Souvoroff with his army in Italy. Armies pass 
 away. The arts remain. 
 
 Russia has taken the road {o the south. She advances 
 with a brave and robust population, with the instru- 
 ments of all the arts, and under chiefs as polished as 
 Europeans. 
 
 We have uniformly declared that the Russians are 
 barbarians. Ah ! would to God that it were true, and 
 so many causes for fear would not exist. It is because 
 they become daily more civilised, and their chiefs are 
 as advanced in civilisation as other Europeans, that they 
 are unconquerable. The Sirelitzers would not have 
 found the road to Paris so easy as did the Russian im- 
 perial guard. 
 
 Since the occupation of Finland, Russia only comes 
 in contact with Sweden on the polar ices. She has dis- 
 engaged herself from a troublesome neighbour. 
 
 The tranquillity of the Turks makes her easy on the 
 side of Constantinople. They, and not the Russians, 
 have occasion for fear. 
 
 Russia borders on East Prussia, and crosses all the 
 line of the kingdom of Prussia. Koenigsburg is more 
 
Congress of Vienna. 13| 
 
 in Russia than in Prussia. She also touches on the 
 frontiers of Austria, and, crossing the Vistula, has thus 
 established herself in face of the centre of Europe. 
 Never was there a prospect more threatening. It ap- 
 pears that the friendship and gratitude of Prussia have 
 assisted in making these arrangements for Russia. We 
 may easily be brought to believe, that nothing can be re- 
 fused to those whom we think it our duty to grant every 
 thing. It is much to be regretted that their connexion 
 has not taken a different direction ; that, losing sight 
 of themselves, these august friends have not carefully 
 regarded their own states, the time to come, and the so- 
 cial body of Europe, and paid an attention to them that 
 seems to have been absorbed in personal considerations. 
 They would have acknowledged that their states would 
 one day experience great inconvenience from the order 
 of things thus to remain established ; they would have 
 seen that to leave a shadow of liberty to Prussia and to 
 Europe, it was indispensable that Russia should not 
 cross the Vistula. Here was her limit, and here Europe 
 commenced : if otherwise, the war of the independence 
 of Europe has terminated by her submission to Russia^ 
 The latter did not put herself to much trouble on this 
 occasion. 
 
 The engagements voluntarily contracted Vi^ith the 
 Poles, did not, in any manner, connect them with the 
 Russian empire. She had formed many other connexions 
 with Europe, to which she had promised happiness and 
 repose ; but never will she safely enjoy them while 
 Russia continues to advance upon her with the steps of 
 a giant. In vain will they say that the finances of Rus- 
 sia are low, and that it is not in her power to go to war. 
 But when were her finances good, and when did she not 
 go to war? Besides, when there are as many soldiers 
 as are to be found in Russia, are not the finances of her 
 neighbours exposed to great danger? 
 
 The French supremacy, against which there has been 
 such a cry, and with great reason, was far from threat- 
 ening the same danger. France may, as has in fact hap= 
 
iS2 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 penefl, be restored to order. Will this be the case with 
 Ilussia? The French nation co-operated in this work, 
 although very much against its inclination ; and in fact 
 it v'vas only tiie instruaient. On the other hand, this 
 system of domination is quite agreeable to the taste of 
 the Russian nation. The French never will he attract- 
 ed towards the North ; but the temptations that bring 
 the Russians to the South are great. 
 
 Hence, it was against the aggrandisement of Russia 
 that the Congress should have directed all the powers 
 of its intellect, all the force of its representation, and all 
 the vigour of its opposition. It would have been in- 
 teresting to witness the pleadings of the south of Eu- 
 rope, to hear her demanding that its northern districts 
 should cease to give causes of alarm, and that they 
 should at last be restrained. This would have presented 
 a picture very different to that furnished by Saxony, 
 and other interests still more trivial. 
 
 In neglecting this capital point, the Congress has 
 completely mistaken the true interest of Europe. It 
 did not know in what consisted the key-stone of the 
 arch of their own work. 
 
 However dangerous might be this establishment of 
 Russia on the Vistula, and precisely because it is dan- 
 gerous, they should have obtained a barrier at least, in 
 fixing it there ; and even then there would not be suffi- 
 cient distance between Russia and Europe, The pub- 
 lic safety demands that this river should be bristled with 
 defences similar to those erected by France in Alsace 
 against Germany; and others, which Germany has 
 erected on the banks of the Rhine against France. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Poland. 
 
 The illustrious Burke declared, that the partition of 
 Poland would cost much to its authors and to Europe. 
 The prophecy of this great statesman has been accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Already has it cost Moscow to Russia : it has cost 
 Napoleon his crown : and it is about to cost Europe its 
 balance. 
 
 It is very certain that Napoleon, wishing to remain 
 master of all the west of Europe, did every thing to 
 expel Russia, and drive her back into the east. To ef- 
 fect this object, it was necessary to erect a party-wall 
 between its two great divisions. For this purpose Po- 
 land was destined. The dutchy of Warsaw was but a 
 projecting abutment. It had been formed of parts, re- 
 covered from Prussia by the treatj^ of Tilsit, and of 
 those surrendered by Austria at tile treaty of Vienna 
 (1809). Some dismemberments of the Austrian and 
 Prussian possessions, such as Byalistock and Tarnopol, 
 had been ceded to Russia. They were in tliis state at 
 the commencement of the war. This contest has de- 
 stroyed the power of the founder of the dutchy of War- 
 saw. This dutchy has fallen iuto the hands of his ene- 
 my. The grand-duke himself has not been more for- 
 tunate. Far from being able to preserve his dutchy, he 
 has had much trouble, to preserve a part of his own 
 kingdom. This crealjon of the dutchy of Warsaw had 
 roused and relumed ail the ideas of iudepeudence im- 
 planted in the Polish heart. In Poland they pant to 
 
13-i Congress of Vienna. 
 
 become oaee more a nation. All classes, every indivi- 
 dual, are inspired with the same sentiments on this sub- 
 ject. How have they suffered under the new circum- 
 stances that have borne down Poland ? The conse- 
 quences of the war have placed her wholly at the dis- 
 posal of Russia. 
 
 This prodigious increase of a power, already too 
 great, injures too numerous and too sensible interests, to 
 be long permitted. 
 
 It was attempted to remedy the inconvenience by, 
 
 First; To ceJe to Prussia that part of'^the dutehy 
 which was the nearest to the heart of the Prussian mo- 
 narchy. The country would have been benefited by 
 this arrangement. The Poles bad already had the hap- 
 piest experience of the Prussian government. 
 
 Second ; To restore to Austria the neighbouring parts 
 of Gallicia, that had been ceded by the treaty of Vien- 
 na, in 1809. Cracow had been declared a free tawn. 
 
 Third ; To abandon to Russia all that remained of 
 the dutehy of Warsaw. 
 
 Thus, instead of being united, as many persons ex- 
 pected, the Poles have been still more divided. 
 
 Fourth ; The Congress has declared that the Poles, 
 the respective subjects of Austria and Prussia, should 
 obtain a representation and national constitutions, re- 
 gulated into their political arrangements, as the powers 
 to which they belong shall think proper and useful to 
 be established. 
 
 This disposition is conformable to the generous senti- 
 ments that have always inspired the sovereigns of these 
 countries. In their display of it they have wished to 
 find the means of consoling the Poles, in leaving them 
 in possession of at least the shadow of their country. 
 They entertained the beneficent idea of not altogether 
 separating them from those customs which they are able 
 to retrace. 
 
 We must easily see what this simultaneous establish- 
 ment of constitutions will produce, and that they will 
 be necessary to make the Poles bear the yoke more or 
 
Congress of Vienna, 135 
 
 less patiently. Time alone can decide this question, 
 as well as many others ; the agitators of which, when 
 they originated them, knew not, and, perhaps, will ne- 
 ver witness their solution. 
 
 There were no species of reports that, in the course 
 of the negotiations, were not spread on the subject of 
 the future destination of Poland. They evidently arose 
 from the exaggerated expectations of some ; in the dif- 
 ficulty experienced by others of abandoning a hope, that 
 attached them to recollections too precious to be surren- 
 dered : so long, at least, as there remained tlie smallest 
 probability of seeing it realised. The want of reflec- 
 tion in the minds of many others, had also contributed 
 to give currenc}'^ to the same reports. 
 
 Thus we see that men, who surely only consulting 
 the generosity of their own sentiments, (a generosity 
 very foreign to the ordinary course of business,) did. 
 not hesitate to erect an independent state in Poland, re- 
 united into one body by the Emperor of Russia, who 
 would thus be satisfietl with having, by such an act, 
 obliterated the injustice of her partition. 
 
 Such politicians do not perceive that they reform the 
 plan against which this princearraed, the plan that had 
 cost him Moscow, and which sequestered him for ever 
 from the affairs of Europe, towards which, if he lost Po- 
 land, he would have no road : for Poland, in its inte- 
 grity, would render Russia an Asiatic power. 
 
 Besides, how is it possible to believe that the Empe- 
 ror of Russia would be willing to surrender his finest 
 provinces, peopled with seven millions of inhabitants? 
 All this was perfectly chimerical. 
 
 It has not been proved that Russia would have cal- 
 culated correctly for herself in forming, under her scep- 
 tre, a single state of Poland ; for Poland united forms 
 a great mass of population and territory. Feeling its 
 natural strength, tormented with the hopes of indepen- 
 dence, and the desire of reassuming her pulitical exist- 
 ence, Poland would have run the risk of reassuming 
 lier former turbulence. On their part, those powers 
 
136 Congress of ViennUe 
 
 who are interested in creating embarrassments for Rus^ 
 sia, would not have failed to profit of these circum- 
 stances, and again attempt the work of Napoleon. A 
 hatred to an author should never be transferred to his 
 work. This object never was contemptible : and he 
 never entered more fully into the interests of Europe, 
 than when he endeavoured to raise a barrier against a 
 power, on so many accounts formidable. If other pro- 
 jects, proceeding from the same mind, have given the 
 world much trouble, this possessed a character widely 
 different, and wholly tended to the conservation of Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The preservation of the Dutchy of Warsaw as an 
 independent state has also been mentioned. In this case 
 we should have more of which we ought to complain 
 than rejoice; for nothing was more unfortunate and 
 more insignificant than this little state, enclosed between 
 the three great powers of Russia, Austria, and Prus- 
 sia ; exposed to the conflicts and the wants of this tri- 
 ple band of neighbours. 
 
 A general rule : Poland united, or Poland divided 
 equally among its neighbours. It is only on one of 
 these two conditions that it will serve as a balance for 
 Europe : but, under any supposition, Russia should not 
 cross the Vistula. If she does, the principle of the 
 safety of Europe is violated in a most essential man- 
 ner. However, it is the state in which the Congress 
 has placed it. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 137 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 Austria. 
 
 Fkom the 22d April, 1793, to the 31st March, 181*, 
 Austria has been for more than twenty years at war 
 with France. The contest has only been interrupted by 
 truces of short duration. 
 
 In this contest, Austria has shown more constancy 
 than she has experienced good fortune. According to 
 her usual custom, she was always the last of the allies 
 that withdrew from the field of battle. Constancy is 
 the distinguishing characteristic of this power. She 
 hesitates before she contracts engagements ; but once 
 made, she tenaciously adheres to them. The same may 
 be said of her schemes ; and it is to this pursuit of her 
 ideas, in defiance of the vicissitudes of the times, that 
 she owes the means of extending and consolidating her 
 empire. Austria has participated in the alterations pro- 
 duced by the French revolution. It has beheld her 
 changiug her power in Belgium for influence in Italy; 
 cast aside the imperial crown as a burthen, and abundon 
 all her jealousies of Prussia ; from whom no alarms any 
 longer spring, but from the North. Austria, as well as 
 Prussia, has now no other enemy. 
 
 For a long time Austria felt the burthen occasioned 
 by the possession of the Low Countries. This distant 
 dependency compromised her with all the world; and 
 cost her, in one year of war, more than she produced to 
 her in the course of ten years of peace. Austria felt 
 
 s 
 
i38 CJongress of Vienna. 
 
 all this ; but as she was not accustomed to cede hei* ter- 
 ritory for nothing, she sought where she could find an 
 equivalent. In 1778» France and Prussia prevented her 
 possessing herself of Bavaria. She could not forget 
 that she would ever have to meet both these powers on 
 her road to carry into effect any project she might en- 
 tertain for the invasion of Germany. Italy alone re- 
 mained to her. She fell upon that as occasions offered. 
 The Treaty of Carapo F(U'nuo gave her all the state 
 of Venice. She lust it at Presburg and at Vienna, in 
 1809. She has now recovered it, and with it Lom- 
 bardy; to which she has also added the Valteline, and 
 the Valley of Bormio and Chiavenna. Besides these 
 acquisitions, she has obtained the Islands of the Ad- 
 riatic. 
 
 Here, then, we behold Northern Italy nearly become 
 an Austrian property ; and Austria crushing or protect- 
 ing its southern departments. 
 
 Also she prevails, either directly or indirectly, from 
 the frontiers of Russia and Turkey, to the shores of 
 the Mediterranean. Never, since the separation of the 
 House of Austria into two branches, those of Germany 
 and Spain, has this house been raised to an equal de- 
 gree of power. She has gained by yielding the imperial 
 crown, an ancient but useless ornament; a wreath set 
 in thorns. She has as little reason to regret the little 
 properties scattered in the bosom of the empire. By 
 the new arrangement, she has acquired a contiguity 
 and consistency as to her possessions that she never 
 before enjoyed. Mistress of the shores of the Adriatic, 
 from the mouths of the Po to those of the Cattaro, she 
 will find in this extent of coasts, and in the possession 
 of the Adriatic Isles, immense means for the commerce 
 of Hungary and Germany. On the other side, her 
 system is very much simplified. In giving up the Low 
 Countries, slie has nothing more in common with the 
 North, Great Britain, Holland, nor with France. Her 
 disputes with Prussia have disappeared, and been 
 changed into a common vigilance, as to Russia. On 
 
Congress of Vienna. 139 
 
 the side of Turkey she has nothing to fear : a nation 
 pacific in its character, and which will require a great 
 portion of stimulus before it can he roused. Thus, 
 in place of the great number of enemies that she for- 
 merly had, and of the numerous points of contact 
 with other states, Austria has but one, and that is 
 Hussia. 
 
 Considering the danger of this neighbour, we may 
 continue to ask, how Austria can consent to Russia 
 passing the Vistula? for, in crossing it, the latter 
 touches on Moravia ; that is to say, she approaches the 
 gates of Vienna. Instead of raising her voice, as she 
 did, against the incorporation of Saxony, she ought to 
 have employed all the strength of her representations, 
 all her opposition, and all her means of alliance, to pre- 
 vent an establishment, so injurious, and so near to her, 
 being formed. In this way should she have employed 
 her power. 
 
 After having been free and independent, after having 
 entertained other ideas than those which she has been 
 permitted to do, it will require great care to ensure the 
 allegiance of Austrian Italy, weakened as it is by a 
 doubtful fidelity ; and her internal administration will 
 be difficult to manage. The number of Unitarian Ita- 
 lians are too great not to be an object of alarm. It will 
 be necessary that a use should be made of them for the 
 administration of public afi'airs, and the tribunals of 
 the country. Hence, at home they will be masters ; 
 and masters of their own masters. Surely they ought 
 to be given a particular constitution ; but it would do 
 nothing else than ags^ravate their feelings as to their 
 situation. They would only assemble but to speak of 
 their misfortunes : and it would be with the Italians as 
 it is with the Poles. As soon as there existed a Dutchy 
 of Warsaw, then there was no more doubt on the sub- 
 ject of independence. As it is the first want, so it is 
 the first subject of conversation. 
 
 At a period when every thing was fortunate for Na- 
 poleon, Austria formed connexions with the King of 
 
140 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Naples. He was determined at any price to have a co- 
 operator, and an enemy the less. The possession and 
 increase of his states were guaranteed to him. Almost 
 to the very end of the Congress there seemed to be a> 
 perfect agreement between the two countries. In this \ 
 measure, we may conjecture^ Austria as much consult- ] 
 ed her policy as her personal affections. In her system | 
 of universal dominion in Italy, Austria wished to re-*»^ 
 move the House of Bourbon from Parma and Naples. 
 The reason evidently was, that Austria having ap- 
 proached France, by her acquisitions in Italy, she has 
 endeavoured to weaken the opposition with which she 
 may one day expect to meet in that country. In that 
 case, this opposition will come principally from France ; 
 for the House of Bourbon reigning at once in Naples 
 and at Parma, the Austro-Italian states are placed be- 
 tween the possessions of this house ; so that some day 
 or other they will experience great inconvenience. This 
 is to be expected in the nature of things ; the only cir- 
 cumstance which ought to engage our attention. As to 
 the dispositions o^ -persons, they are evanescent in their 
 nature. On the contrary, if a prince hostile to France, 
 if, above all, this prince was firmly supported by Aus- 
 tria, and had a great interest in attaching himself to 
 her, then Austria would have nothing to fear on the 
 side of Naples, and would have to calculate on a faith- 
 ful ally ; whereas, under other circumstances, time may 
 create for her a jealous neighbour. Thus may we ex- 
 plain the motives of Austria in her conduct towards 
 Murat. 
 
 Austria represented the invasion of Italy as the 
 means of an indemnity for her losses, and a compen- 
 sation for the acquisitions that her neighbours have 
 made. 
 
 But first, as to an indemnity; was it due to her? and 
 was it not to compromise the safety of Italy, and with it 
 the most valuable part of the true system of Europe? 
 This question will occasion much trouble in its solu- 
 tion. 
 
Congress of Vienna^ 141 
 
 Austria has recovered the two Tyrols, German and 
 Italian; the Voralboarg,* Carniola ; what she lost in 
 Carinthia, in Istria, and all Dalmatia. To these we 
 may add the Islands in the xldriatic. Has not the re- 
 turn of possessions so valuable appeared to her an event 
 as fortunate as it was unexpected ? Has she not to con- 
 gratulate herself on having got rid of so troublesome a 
 neighbour as Illyria, converted into a French province? 
 We may then allow, that, without injustice, Austria 
 might have been placed in the condition we assign her. 
 But this was not the case. Not content with what she 
 has recovered, she has returned to her Italian system ; 
 and, profiting of the opportunity, she became possessed 
 in gross of tliat which, until that period, she only pos^ 
 sessed in detail. Hence has she pounced upon Italy ; 
 and without regard either for her, or France, or Eu- 
 rope, she has adopted the measures against this country 
 that we have stated, and which destroy all its natural 
 relations. Therefore here we discover a circumstance 
 which must be prevented; and, if it should be indis- 
 pensable not to counteract the views of aggrandisement 
 formed by Austria in this quarter, at least it will be 
 proper to assign it one whicli shall have nothing inju= 
 rious to Europe, and which might in its nature have be- 
 come profitable. This concession should have been ob- 
 tained in Bosnia, Croatia, and Servia. These countries 
 influence Dalmatia and Austrian Sclavonia. They but 
 nominally belong to Constantinople, whose authority is 
 continually disputed and contested. This union would 
 form a superb arrondissement for Austria. It has for 
 a long time engaged her attention ; and, particularly at 
 the epoch of the great prosperity of France, she only 
 wished to get to a distance from this formidable neigh- 
 bour. But the system of Europe would have been as 
 much ameliorated by the annexation of this part of the 
 Ottoman Empire, as it has been injured by the invasion 
 
 * At this time Austria neg'otiated for the cession of Salzbourg and the 
 Brisgau. 
 
142 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 of Italy. All the dependencies of the Turkish empire 
 are but as a dead weight in their relation to the main 
 body of Europe. In those countries we know that they 
 have no other object in their system of destruction, than 
 to remain masters of a desolated land, and inhabitants 
 brutified and plundered. Consequently all that can be 
 taken from this barbarous system, in order to aiFord it 
 a participation in the civilisation of Europe, will be- 
 come subservient to its advantage. This is necessary to 
 be well understood in any discussion, the object of 
 which may be the state of Europe. In acting for Austria, 
 and in bestowing new possessions on her, we should^ 
 also have acted for the benefit of Europe. The Con- | 
 gress would have fulfilled the obligations into which it \ 
 had entered, if it had ceded these two provinces to tjhijft 
 government of Austria. 
 
 For ten years Servia has sustained a bloody and suc- 
 cessful war against the Turks. The enterprise of Na- 
 poleon against Russia having forced the latter to with- 
 draw her support from the Servians, the Turks then 
 became possessed of the means of turning upon them. 
 In a few months the Servians lost all the fruit of their 
 truly generous efforts. They had shown talents and 
 resolution, but what could they do against forces so dis- 
 proporiioiied ; and, above all, wlien they found them- 
 selves perfectly surrounded ?' They were compelled to 
 yield. The chiefs, as ever happens, found honours 
 and a refuge in other countries ; but the nation expe- 
 rienced all the evils that re-actions produce, and parti- 
 cularly when they spring from the Turks. Therefore 
 the annexation of tliis country to Austria would have 
 hern beneficial to itself, to Europe, and to Turkey. 
 Perhaps also the moment had arrived to put an end to 
 these quarrels, that for forty years have constantly oc- 
 curred in Wallachia and Moldavia. Even if these 
 provinces had been annexed to Austria, in order to their 
 civilisation and moral restoration to Europe, much be- 
 nefit would have been derived to the whole world, and 
 a new subject for praise would have been foundo For 
 
Congress of Vienna. 143 
 
 a long time the contest has been carried on between 
 the two countries. The Turks only govern there in 
 name ; for what denomination can be given to such in- 
 fluence as the regime of the Hospodars, who constantly 
 pass from ihe palaces of Bucharest and Jassy to the pri- 
 sons of Constantinople, and from thence to the Court 
 of St. Petersburg? It will be necessary to prevent the 
 ever imminput danger of the invasion of these two 
 countries by Russia. She has, by the acquisition of 
 Bessarabia, brought herself still nearer to them. The 
 loss of these two provinces will not be felt by the 
 Turks. In that case, their empire will be bounded by 
 the Danube, which, in fact, is its natural limit. Advan- 
 tage may be taken of this opportunity to terminate a 
 desultory warfare that has lasted so long a time ; and 
 to obtain, without a contest, a fortunate result to the 
 unanimous representations of the powers of Europe. 
 This conduct will at least be distinguished by candour 
 and generosity, which ever command success. 
 
 We have said elsewhere with what object Mentz has 
 been restored to Austria.* 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 The Empire. 
 
 The empire has never corresponded to the wishes of 
 the negotiators at Westphalia. 
 
 Destined to form a balance between Austria and 
 France, it has never been otherwise than an instrument 
 in their hands. 
 
 A portion of the quarrels that have imbrued Germa- 
 ny with blood, was independent of the majority of the 
 
 * See the chapter on the real Spirit tvhich actuated the Congress. 
 
144 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 princes that compose that body, who possess a recollec- 
 tion of past power, and but little of its present reality. 
 
 The debasement of Sweden, the elevation of Prus- 
 sia, the appearance of Russia, have changed the state 
 of Europe. 
 
 In the great wars of Louis the Fourteenth, the em- 
 pire became divided. The princes ceased to consider 
 themselves as members of the Germanic body, and be- 
 gan to act as independent sovereigns, pursuing those in- 
 terests that led them either to a connexion with Austria 
 or with France. Owing to this system, the electors of 
 Bavaria and Cologne lost their states for many years. 
 
 In the war to which the succession of the Emperor 
 Charles the Fifth gave rise, the empire was neither 
 more wise nor more united. One party fought for the 
 French. They lavished both men and money, in order 
 to place the imperial crown on the head of the Bavarian 
 House, — a scheme which at present would please no 
 one, but it was the policy of the time. 
 
 From the middle of the last century the rivalry of 
 Austria and Prussia have agitated the empire. There 
 have been established a higher and lower empire. All 
 the north of Germany, and all in the south that feared 
 Austria, attached themselves, as to a natural protector, 
 to Prussia, without any regard to a catholic or protest- 
 ant league. This was witnessed in the Bavarian war 
 in 1778. Not only did we cease to hear of the empire, 
 but we heard no more of Germany ; for, since the reign 
 of Frederick, Germany, properly speaking, consisted 
 only of Austrians and Prussians : the last had a ma- 
 jority. 
 
 The empire was a grave and august body, ever agitat- 
 ed but never acting. It appeared like an ancient palace, 
 unfit for habitation. It had crumbled to pieces under 
 the blows of the revolution. Its chief had abandoned it. 
 One part of its members have elsewhere sought assist- 
 ance. While masses of authority, such as th^ electoral 
 and the other ecclesiastical states, have disappeared, 
 other authorities have passed into the ordinary condition 
 
Congress of Vienna, 145 
 
 of subjects. Hence, the empire no longer exists ; and 
 in this state the Congress found it. 
 
 Therefore it appeared that with it they had nothing 
 more to do, but merely with the good order of the 
 Powers of which it was composed, or rather of those 
 who occupied the territory of what was formerly the 
 empire. 
 
 These Powers experience the twofold necessity of 
 protecting themselves against France and against Rus- 
 sia ; of preventing the recurrence of the invasions of 
 the one and the commencement of the attacks of the 
 other ; but with this difference, that if the one assailed 
 their independence, the other would be able to menace 
 their existence. 
 
 Germany ought therefore to be so organised, that 
 Fraace and Hussia should be for ever excluded. Ger- 
 many has no longer to fear either Austrian or Prussian 
 ambition. At the very first step that either should take 
 of this nature, all would declare against the aggressor, 
 and find themselves supported by France and Russia. 
 
 Some of the sovereigns in Germany have acquired 
 higher titles than they formerly possessed. This is un- 
 fortunate for the dignity of thrones, — a dignity that 
 ought neither to be lavished nor its influence weakened. 
 Rarity forms the price of things ; and it is because kings 
 are rare that they are honoured. 
 
 At the same time, this multiplication of thrones be- 
 comes an injury to subjects ; for the elevation of the 
 rank requires an augmentation of expense. A king must 
 have an army more numerous than an elector ; an elec- 
 tor, one more numerous than a landgrave. The emu- 
 lation of luxury establishes itself in all ranks of socie- 
 ty ; and in a short time, people and subjects, all are 
 equally ruined. 
 
 Unfortunately there was not sufficient room in Ger\ 
 many to give a convenient extent to the new kingdoms. \ 
 Eivery place was occupied. The Congress bas stiown, \ 
 itself highly forgetful of this part in redu'^in^ Saxony, 
 already too small for a kingdom, into one half its origi- 
 
146 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 nal size. In this state, it is impossible to say which it 
 is that signifies Saxony, or the royalty of Saxony. We 
 cannot too often repeat, that if kings are to be made, 
 they should be great ones. All the petty sovereignties 
 serve but to reduce the general sovereignty ; in fact, the 
 general power of Europe. They create embarrassment 
 in its proceedings. 
 
 The system of the division of Germany may have 
 been tolerable when they had only to support the weight 
 of one Power, such as Austria; when it was only sus- 
 tained by the rival of Austria. France was the correc- 
 tive of the inconveniences of the Germanic constitution. 
 But now that to Austria we may add Prussia, and, 
 above all, Russia, how will it be possible to adapt cir- 
 cumstances to the new order of things ? Hence, in the 
 system of the general interests of Europe, it was all 
 lost time that was granted to a crowd of little claims, 
 "which the establishment or maintenance of some gene- 
 ral principles would at once have been sufficient to dis- 
 miss. ~ ,. 
 
 General rule : The Germanic system must be simpli- 
 fied. The Congress at Vienna should have endeavoured 
 to finish the work commenced by the treaty of l^xmu 
 Yille. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Italy. — The Pope, 
 
 We have before described what Italy was before the 
 revolution. Let us now see what it has been rendered 
 by that event, and by the Congress. 
 
 Italy has undergone a painful second childhood ; but 
 at last she has submitted. Better directed, it would have 
 rendered her happy. 
 
Congress of Vienna. ±^ 
 
 France had appropriated to herself a great part of it. 
 She possessed herself of all the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean as far as the kingdom of Naples. This esta- 
 blishment was injudicious. It belonged not in the slight- 
 est degree to France, who never will be able to esta- 
 blish itself in Italy : indeed where is the occasion for 
 it? 
 
 The mass of Italians united to the French were too 
 great not to consider themselves a separate nation. It 
 was too near to its Italian brothers, and the latter too 
 much interested in their union, for the different mem- 
 bers of this family not to have a tendency to become 
 one state. Thus Napoleon, in founding the kingdom 
 of Italy at the extremity of his lengthened empire, did 
 little else but create a constant state of war and sinister 
 manoeuvres. The empire of France must inevitably ab- 
 sorb Italy, or Italy would absorb that part of itself, de- 
 tached from the main body of the empire. 
 
 This conduct of Napoleon was destitute of foresight 
 and that species of wisdom that assigns to every thing 
 its just value and its proper place. 
 
 Thus this acquisition cannot, in a political point of 
 view, be applauded ; but, viewed in its moral light, it 
 has purified Italy, and opened the sources of wealth 
 and happiness she possesses. Crime disappeared from 
 a country which to that period it had called its own. 
 On the retreat of the French it resumed its place. Per- 
 haps they never had before received such a mark of ho- 
 mage. The barriers, so carefully erected between its 
 different divisions by the jealousy of sovereigns and the 
 fiscal department, fell on all sides. The communica- 
 tions were free ; and the sovereigns themselves, finding 
 their states covered with monuments, the grandeur of 
 "which surpasses their ancient power, cannot deny them 
 their admiration, whatever repugnance they may show 
 to their toleration, or aversion they may experience to 
 their existence. 
 
 By the partition of Italy between France and the 
 kingdom of Italy, this country has lost the finest oppor- 
 
4 'IS Congress of Vienna, 
 
 tunity it ever possessed of becoraiag jjii independent^ 
 state since the time of the Romans. If, instead of pre- 
 cipiiaiing himself with the most impruiSent violence on 
 the states of the Fape, on Tuscany, and Genoa, Napo- 
 leon had united Upper Italy, this country would then 
 h'^ve acquired suiBcient force to protect itself, without 
 being in a situation to be attacked or to conquer others: 
 for it could only be assailed by France or Austria; to 
 either of whom, separately or together, it would ever 
 have been unable to ofier an effectual opposition. It 
 was with her as has been of late with the kingdom of 
 the Low Countries, which forms a conservative state, 
 only calculated to have friends every where and no 
 where.* 
 
 A confederation between the states of Italy, at all 
 times pointed out by geography and the interests of the 
 country, would place all its strength at the disposition 
 of its natural protector, who should be sovereign of 
 this state. Its system was very simple, being formed 
 out of three states, Upper Italy, the Pope, and Na- 
 ples. No one would have had a pretence to encroach 
 on the other. The whole of Italy was freed from fo- 
 reign dominion. France had an interest to keep Aus- 
 tria at a distance ; Austria the same with France?! 
 This state, thus constituted, could afford jealousyjto I 
 no one. "^ 
 
 How unfortunate that this combination, so simple and 
 so natural, should not have been able to strike him who 
 could do every thing. This sad forgetfulness has plun- 
 ged Italy into a state of chaos. 
 
 The Grand-Buke of Tuscany returned home, as if 
 lie had but been absent on a short journey. He found 
 every thing again :— he has done still better ; for his 
 estates have been completed by the union of many 
 territories and sovereignties, that now form a part of 
 
 * The plan of this establishment was traced eighteen years ago, together 
 with that adopted in detail for the kingdom of the Low Countries, in the 
 work entitled "Antidote to the Congress at Radstadt." Vide p. 80, et seq. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 149 
 
 it, such as the estate of the Presides, tlie Neapolitan 
 part of Elba, the principality of Piombino, the impe- 
 rial fiefs of Tuscany, and the reversion of Lucca, which 
 have been granted to him. 
 
 Parma has lost its Bourbon princes. They have ac- 
 quired a title, and lost their estates. By the treaty of 
 Paris, Parma was appropriated to a family mid- way be- 
 tween past grandeur ancl present good fortune. 
 
 The Congress granted it to the Arch-Duchess Maria 
 Louisa for life, without excluding Austria from the 
 right of reversion. -/ 
 
 An act of the 14th of September, 1815, signed at 
 Vienna, definitively fixed the state of this country, and 
 confirmed it to the arch-duchess ; and after her to her 
 son, who, by the last enterprise of his father, was placed 
 in an unnatural situation. 
 
 Genoa is united to Piedmont, notwithstanding her 
 aversion to the measure. The King of Sardinia has 
 repassed the mountains, and repossessed himself of 
 the territory which was the cradle of his illustrious 
 House. 
 
 The last sprout of the House of Este occupies a lit- 
 tle sovereignty at Modena. The race being extinct, an 
 Austrian prince will succeed to it. 
 
 All that forms the rest of northern Italy has fallen 
 into the hands of Austria. 
 
 This new order of things is at once contrary to the 
 welfare of Italy, the wishes of its inhabitants, and the 
 interest of Europe. 
 
 In this situation the King of Sardinia crosses the 
 Alps. This never should have taken place. They 
 should serve as an eternal barrier between France and 
 Italy. Nature created them for this purpose. To this 
 intention every thing should give way. Not to do so, 
 will be to renew the sanguinary and bloody wars that 
 have alike desolated the two countries ; to create facili» 
 ties for fraud, and refuge for crime. 
 
 Savoy can never be defended against France, This 
 
150 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 country every where directs itself toward France, and 
 not on Istria. 
 ]n. The King of Sardinia is too weak against France, as 
 well as against Austria. It is a dwarf between two 
 giants. 
 
 When the entrance to his states was defended by the 
 strongest places in Europe, this gaoler of the Alps could 
 not keep the keys. What will he now do, with an open 
 and defenceless country, and when Turin cannot hold 
 out a siege ? 
 
 The acquisition of Geneva does not give him a real 
 strength, still less a strength correspondent to that of 
 his neighbours. 
 
 V/hen Austria shall go as far as the Tesino, what 
 will the King of Sardinia do against his powerful op- 
 pressor? Will he not naturally have recourse to 
 France ? Here we behold Italy again in conflagration 
 by the hands of Frenchmen and Germans, as if this 
 coontry never could be emancipated by the descendants 
 of the Cimbri and Teutons, instead of those of Bren- 
 nus. 
 
 If it was impossible to prevent Austria taking root in 
 Italy, at least a watch should have been kept, so that it 
 should have been done ad libitum. She ought to have 
 been precluded the passage of the Po, on the side of the 
 legations, and her simultaneous establishments in all the 
 little sovereignties of Italy and Modena, in Tuscany, at 
 Parma, prevented. The King of Sardinia should have 
 been aggrandised, as we have stated elsewhere, and 
 some correctives of the evil inherent in the entrance of 
 Austria into this country attempted. It should be the in- 
 variable and eternal principle of Europe not to permit 
 either France or Austria to set foot in Italy. The wel- 
 fare of Europe requires that there should be a kingdom 
 established, to commence at the Izonzo and terminate 
 at the foot of the Alps and the states of the Pope. 
 Then Italy would form three states ; this kingdom^ the 
 states of the Pope, and those of Naples. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 151 
 
 Reason, and, we may say, the nature of things, ad- 
 judge the throne of Italy to the House of Savoy. The 
 Italians would feel themselves honoured in having fop 
 their first king, for their permanent sovereigns, the 
 princes of a House that has produced so many illustri- 
 ous men, who will recal to them so many impressive re- 
 collections ; and which, in its elevated rank, will show 
 one of its own children to Italy in the person of its so- 
 vereign. 
 
 To have neglected this establishment is to have aban- 
 doned the system of Europe — is to have taken a false 
 step — is to have paralysed one of its most important 
 portions — is to have created frequent causes of war for 
 Europe—is to have formed great embarrassments even 
 for Austria, in giving her a great mass of subjects, 
 whose affection is doubtful, to protect ; and to have cre- 
 ated for Italy a source of eternal regret. 
 
 If it is not possible to deny that our interest is excited 
 by the circumstance of a people being deprived of their 
 sovereign and sovereignty, to whom is it more due than 
 to the Italians? The day-star of liberty had began to 
 dawn on them. Its very first rays had cast a new light 
 on a land hitherto held in foreign fetters. The Italians, 
 formed into one family, appeared to have a community 
 of affection, and shone on the theatre of that world from 
 which it had been so long exiled. Introduced into the 
 great family of Europe, they proved that in attainments 
 they yielded to no one of its members ; that they pos- 
 sessed talents which could raise them to the considera- 
 tion of the most important subjects, as well as desceud 
 to those that luxury has provided for more frivolous 
 enjoyment. Here behold their rising happiness, their 
 personal existence, the care of their own affairs wrested 
 from them. Their wealth, produced by the sweat of 
 their brows, their laborious and delightful industry, are 
 to be divided between themselves and foreigners. The 
 defence of the approaches to their superb country was 
 no longer to be exclusively committed to their care. 
 But the children of Italy were to proceed to the defence 
 
152 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 of Teneswal and Cracow, and contend with Russians;, 
 Prussians, and Turks. Ah ! if the Saxons complained, 
 how much more reason have not the Italians to lament 
 their bitter lot! The Saxon inhabits a country reseaP7 
 bling Prussia : he speaks the same language ; possesses 
 the same taste. He is a German as well as a Prussian: 
 under, it is true, a diU'erent government : but he is in 
 all situations a German. On the other hand, the Ita- 
 lian is neither Hungarian, German, nor Pole. Born un- 
 der another sky, struck with the sight of other objects 
 from his birth, the Italian must accustom his ear to they 
 roughness of the German and Selavonian dialects. HeJ^ 
 must order his eyes and all his senses not to be dls'- 
 gusted with the homeliness of the places he is to inha- 
 bit, and the customs with which he has to meet. Such 
 were the people that called for the interest of Europe 
 and that of the Congress. Hence, their profound and 
 lasting regret! 
 
 Italy protested herself against the appropriation 
 proposed by Austria. It is necessary that the latter 
 should be on her guard. This Italy, of which she has 
 disposed so summarily, is no longer t!»at Lombardy 
 which she possessed a century since. At that period 
 she did not possess Venice, the union of which with the 
 Milanese forms a mass of power and population fully 
 equal to the extent of a nation. The Italians are no 
 longer the Milanese, the Genoese, that they were- 
 twenty years ago. There, as every where, every thing / 
 IS changed. Then Italy slumbered ; now she is awake, j 
 The Italians had not then tasted of independence ; they^ 
 have opened to themselves a new existence, a new 
 world ; and the instant that they commenced the en- 
 joyment of their new happiness, it has been torn 
 from them. They are supported by the sentiments 
 predominant in the minds of their brethren, as well as 
 those of the generous men of all countries : they are 
 esteemed, and have appeared with honour, on the field 
 of battle : they are convinced that they possess every 
 thing necessary to the formation and the glory of a 
 
Congress of Vienna, 153 
 
 nation. They know it by experience ; and find them- 
 selves in the service of masters to whom they do not 
 regard themselves as inferior in any circumstances. 
 The Italians have expressed their aversion from the 
 yoke that has been imposed on them. The feeling of 
 independence has made so rapid a progress in this 
 country, that in the course of time a general reunion 
 of Italy, in a single and sovereign capacity, must re- 
 sult from the restraint to which she has been compelled 
 to submit. The necessity of putting an end to all her 
 vexations, of no longer serving as aliment for the ava- 
 rice of some, and remaining victims to the interested 
 views of others, will lead the Italians to the adoption 
 of a system that the universe will applaud. It was in 
 the power of Napoleon ; but he acted with this mate- 
 riel as he did with so many others. 
 
 Whatever House may prevail at Xaples, it will in- 
 crease the desire of Upper Italy for independence, in 
 order to diminish the oppressive burthens of Austria, 
 of which Naples will not be long before she has her 
 share. Joachim appeared to guarantee Italy to Austria^ 
 In the course of twenty years he would have endea- 
 voared to counteract her designs : to drive her from it, 
 if he should be able, and substitute the state of which 
 we speak. Necessity, it is true, has given another di- 
 reciion to affairs. It was the moment for men ; but 
 when that of things should return, they would act 
 agreeably to their nature, and great changes will take 
 place. With the House of Bourbon it will be the same, 
 and even worse. Tranquil as to its family interests, and 
 restored to its own policy, it will not be long before it 
 experiences great inconvenience from this Austrian do- 
 mination in Italy. Id this case, it will not fail to <rMrecfc 
 its views towards the reduction of the Austrian power 
 in that country, and to call to its assistance the sove- 
 reign of Naples, also interested in diminishing the in- 
 fluence of Austria. France could for ever have been 
 separated from Austria, its great and ancient rival. 
 
 u 
 
154) Go7igress of Vienna. 
 
 Here, however, are we again to behold those fields of 
 battle, on the very places which Francis the First, and 
 Charles the Fifth, and their successors, uselessly con- 
 tested for so long a period. What an inconsiderate 
 conduct ! How contrary at once to the welfare of Italy, 
 to that of France, of Austria, and of Europe ? 
 
 It is far from being certain, that Austria will gain 
 by this arrangement, so apparently advantageous to her. 
 Italy will be difficult to keep. A considerable part of 
 the Austrian forces must be kept there, and this will 
 tend to weaken her on the side of Russia. This system.- 
 is as Anti-European, as it is Anti-Italian and Anti- 
 Gallican. It is impossible to omit repeating, that Aus- 
 tria as well as Prussia has but one great interest, that 
 of watching Russia. In order to discharge this duty, 
 she must not divide her forces, nor weaken them by 
 retaining unwilling subjects. It is better to have a 
 smaller number, on whose aifections full reliance can 
 be placed. 
 
 Perhaps they will say, that Austria will give a libe- 
 ral constitution to Italy, and place it on the same foot- 
 ing that it does Hungary. Well, that which affords 
 Italy consolation, will be the means of raising an ene- 
 my against Austria. Let us wait a moment for the em- 
 barrassment on the part of Austria ; let us permit fo- 
 reign intrigues to operate, and we shall see what mil- 
 lions of Italians, collected to discuss their own interests 
 and establish their own rights, will do. If Italians are 
 mistaken for Sclavonians, Transylvauians, Hungarians, 
 in earlier periods ; but it would be as well to mistake 
 Milan, Venice, Bologna, for Italian towns, and for 
 the Grothie towns inhabited by the descendants of 
 Herules and the Huns. This is the point to which 
 habit would induce us to assimilate times and things 
 in which there is no community either of acts or feel- 
 ing. 
 
 It is with the utmost astonishment that the Congress 
 has been seen pass so lightly over this grand invasion 
 
Congress of Vienna, 15^ 
 
 of Italy by Austria. In their wandering from general 
 ideas, it appears that the negotiators of the North have 
 permitted Austria to do what she chose in the South, on 
 a tacit condition, that they might do the same in the 
 North. We may conjecture, that this was determined 
 before-hand. After a great number of propositions on 
 the destination of the Papal states, the Congress at 
 last decided to restore them in their integrity. They 
 have not even excepted the principalities of Beneven- 
 tum and Ponte Corvo. Austria is to retain a garrison 
 at Ferrara. The Pope had ceded these legations by 
 the Treaty of Toleutino. This country has been re- 
 presented as abandoned by the sovereign of Rome ; as 
 reconquered, and consequently a fit subject for indem- 
 nification, as well as other territories equally ceded and 
 reconquered. An increase of four hundred thousand 
 souls had been promised to the King of Naples, to be 
 taken from the Marches. This prince strongly insisted 
 on this clause in the treaty. 
 
 The Congress took a part much more honourable, 
 and the only one that remained to it. It thought it 
 ridiculous to convey an idea that the Pope could have 
 made war, that he should become a victim to a war 
 that he had neither entered into nor managed. Under 
 this conviction, things relative to the Pope were placed 
 in the slate they ever ought to have been, that of in- 
 violability. All the plunder of the Pope was as con- 
 trary to decency as justice; injurious at once to the 
 mind and the heart. In the present condition of Ca- 
 tholicism, all eyes should be dazzled by the brilliancy 
 of its chief. The beauties of this superb tree, that 
 extends so beneficent a shade, cannot be supported on 
 a decayed trunk. The Pope should be in Europe, as 
 the tribe of Levi in Israel, wholly exempt from the 
 effects of war. The Pope has been treated with uni- 
 form contempt. Nothing but his hierarchy has been 
 regarded. On the contrary, to the good order in which 
 he exercised his spiritual functions; an attention should 
 have been paid. 
 
156 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 At the termination of a doubtful debate, the Congress 
 determined the re-establishment of the former King of 
 Naples. It is to the invasion of Napoleon that this 
 prince is indebted. This unexpected event dissipated 
 all the doubts and all the clouds with which private in- 
 terests or private feelings had enveloped certain ques- 
 tions. Thus the King of Naples has been re-establish- 
 ed by the person who expelled him; a fate widely dif- 
 ferent from his competitor, Murat, who has been also 
 dethroned by Napoleon, but who greatly contributed 
 by his own defection to his own overthrow. Wretched 
 calculator ! He could not see that he was but the feeble 
 link of a chain, the rupture of one part of which en- 
 sured the destruction of the whole ! 
 
 If the return of the King of Naples has gratified all 
 the wishes of the prince and of his family, it has also 
 gratified the minds and hearts of all those alive to senti- 
 ments of public convenience, and who possess the sym- 
 pathy due to misfortunes. His re-establishment is also 
 the commencement of a signal benefit to Naples and to 
 Sicily. The division of the sovereignty of the two 
 countries rendered them hostile. While there were 
 Bourbons in Sicily, and Mo rats at Naples, the two 
 countries would have remained in a state of permanent 
 hostility. The enmity of sovereigns affects their sub- 
 jects in every thing, and on all occasions they are too 
 near each other; and the pretensions and jealousies 
 that exist between the two sovereigns would make their 
 separation very injurious to both. Besides, this divi- 
 sion rendering commercial communications difficult, 
 "would have still farther restricted the trade of the Me- 
 diterranean, which the Barbary Powers have already 
 rendered too difficult. 
 
 Hence, the re-establishment of the King of Naples 
 is not alone a benefit for himself and his family, but 
 for Sicily and Naples. It is still more beneficial for 
 Europe, that has the greatest necessity for a facility 
 and enlargement of the channels of commerce. In fa- 
 
Congress of Vienna. 157 
 
 ture, the mariner will proceed from Naples to Sicily, 
 without the fear of falling from (Jharybdis into Scylla. 
 It is under this general and European idea that we 
 have from the first regarded this question. It was not 
 without surprise that we witnessed the long plea for and 
 against Murat ; so true it is, that we live in a time 
 when general ideas have little influence, and in which 
 questions of public interest terminate by family or per- 
 sonal considerations. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Saxony and JVaples. 
 
 We now proceed to discuss delicate points. Our 
 disinterestedness in the cause, the freedom with which 
 we have expressed ourselves, will, we trust, place us 
 above every suspicion of partiality. We are fond of 
 recollecting that it is for Europe, and as Europeans, 
 that we write, regardless of persons or countries. If 
 we could for a moment abandon this course of inflexi- 
 ble impartiality, doubtless nothing would render it more 
 pardonable than when it yielded to the interest inspired 
 by the King of Saxony ; a prince, the object of his peo- 
 pie's affection, and the veneration of Europe. But we 
 cannot think of men, but of Europe, and its permanent 
 interests. 
 
 Of Murat, we know nothing, neither during or before 
 his reign. He is no more, and his relations have dis- 
 appeared. No prejudice, arising from attachment or 
 gratitude, shall influence the decision that we are about 
 to give. Had we reproaches to address to this prince, 
 perhaps we should have sought them in other sources 
 
158 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 than those whence were drawn the grossest invectives 
 that it is possible to accumulate on the character of a 
 man, elevated to a rank that violence ought never to 
 reach. The king hides the man, and the royal mantle 
 the humble garb of the shepherd. All thrones are 
 marked with the blows struck at those who occupy 
 them. If we were to attack the character of the King 
 of Naples, it is not the commencement, but the latter 
 part of his life of which we should speak. We should 
 not reproach him for having been the son of an obscure 
 man ; for there exist laws, emanating from Heaven, to 
 prevent men continuing to be obscure ;* but we should 
 reproach him in having forgotten his origin in allying 
 himself with the enemies of France. We should re- 
 proach him for having separated himself from her, and 
 from him, to whom he owed every species of obliga- 
 tion, the forgetfulness of which never can be forgiven. 
 The situation of Murat was not similar to that of the 
 Prince Hoyal of Sweden. He in no degree owed his 
 elevation to Napoleon, who only permitted it : but he 
 had done every thing for Murat, in introducing him in- 
 to his family, and investing him with supreme rank, 
 which, in fact, he held by virtue of this alliance : for, 
 correctly speaking, it was rather to the sister of Napo- 
 leon than to Murat that the throne of Naples was 
 given. 
 
 On the other hand. Napoleon did not take advantage 
 of the error of Murat after the fruits of it had been 
 reaped. If the King of Naples had equalled Prince 
 Eugene in his fidelity to Napoleon, and uniting with 
 him, had given his brother-in-law the support that he 
 did to his enemies, many of those who have addressed 
 him in language so insulting and so haughty, would 
 have been more moderate in their expressions. The 
 
 * Who ever dreamt of asking of whom Washington and Franklin were 
 the sons ? It would be as much as to say, that before we can do any thing' 
 great we must prove our rank. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 159 
 
 freedom of these preliiniaaries will permit us to resume 
 this discussion. 
 
 The Augusti of Saxony became kings of Poland. 
 Hence Saxony was crushed. The first Augustus con- 
 nected himself with Tzar Peter, drew Charles the 
 Twelfth into Poland, and ruined both countries. The 
 second Augustus took part against Prussia. He left his 
 army in the hands of his enemy at Pirna, his states a 
 prey to the conqueror, and went to enjoy himself in 
 pleasure at Warsaw. He died, and, in order to indem- 
 nify her for the dissipation of others, bequeathed Saxo- 
 ny another treasure. This treasure was his son. This 
 wise prince, in the course of a reign of fifty years, and 
 a government as mild as it was insensibly felt, repaired 
 all the disasters of the seven years' war. The bank pa- 
 per of Saxony was the most current in Europe ; com- 
 merce made a daily progress, and Saxony became one 
 of the most happy countries in the universe : a new 
 proof that, to render people happy, it is necessary only 
 to spend little money, and exercise as little power as 
 possible. 
 
 For nearly forty years. Saxony, almost unperceived 
 in Europe, flourished without eclat, but also without 
 envy, tranquil as she was happy, and silent as she was 
 contented. During the first war of the revolution. Sax- 
 ony furnished the contingents fixed by the laws of the 
 empire. She profited, as did all northern Germany, 
 of the opportunity offered by the line of Prussian de- 
 marcation, from 1796 to 1801. The war with Prussia 
 precipitated her into the abyss. It is the third time, in 
 the space of sixty years, that the same cause has pro- 
 duced to her the same effects. The morning after the 
 battle of Ji^na the Saxons fought in the ranks of those 
 who had been their enemies the day before. The 
 Elecioi' of Saxony received the title that had so long 
 been attached to his ancestors in Poland. The treaty 
 
160 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 of Tilsit made him a Grand-Duke of Warsaw. By this 
 step he at once raised himself in Saxony, and lowered 
 himself in Poland. There commenced his misfortunes, 
 and those of Haxony. In this country, filled as it is 
 with enlightened men, there was a general repugnance 
 shown to this possession of the Grand-Dutehy of War- 
 saw. The Saxons had not forgotten what Poland had 
 cost them in the course of two reigns. On its part, the 
 Dutchy of Warsaw suffered from the absence of the 
 prince, the slow progress made in public business, the 
 Saxon influence experienced there, and the division 
 of attention necessarily produced by the separation of 
 the two countries. Saxony and the grand-dutchy had 
 a community of government, without a community of 
 interest ; the worst of combinations : and although the 
 parts may remain in a state of reciprocal dependence, 
 not, perhaps, to be expected from those who are un- 
 known to each other. This furnishes another source 
 of inquiry. 
 
 By a creation of the Dutchy of Warsaw, Napoleon 
 wished to oppose Saxony to Prussia. By its locality^^ 
 and all the circumstances of the country, Saxony is a 
 Prussian province, under a prince who is not a Prus- 
 sian. At Dresden the King of Saxony nearly resem- 
 bles the Kings of Orleans, under the first race of the 
 Kings of France. 
 
 The possessions of the two states were not only mix- 
 ed, but, so to express it, confused. Lusatia cut off 
 Prussia from its finest province, Silesia. The Prussian 
 custom-hoose officers surrounded Saxony. The prin- 
 cipal wars of Prussia being with Austria, Saxony al- 
 ways furnished a road, and a field of battle, for the ar- 
 mies. In this situation did Saxony take that direction 
 calculated for her ? She was at once too much without 
 and too much within ; too much detached from, and too 
 much dependent upon Prussia. 
 
 It was only the long calm that Germany enjoyed from 
 the peace of Hubersburg in 1763, that rendered this state 
 of things at all supportable. The only reason why Baxony 
 
Congress of Vienna. 161 
 
 existed independent for so long a time, was because the 
 Kings of Prussia were as yet but Electors of Banden- 
 burg ; but when by successive accessions of territory, 
 owing to the genius of these princes, to fortunate events, 
 to the force of arms, the House of HohenzoUern, so 
 long a time inferior to the Princes of Saxony, became 
 more powerful, then their relations mutually changed : 
 correctly speaking. Saxony has no longer existed, but 
 a Great Prussia. 
 
 Prussia has become a preponderating Power in Eu- 
 rope, necessary to balance Austria, more necessary still 
 to restrain Russia. Her possessions are cut asunder by 
 those of a foreigner. This foreigner, placed in the heart 
 of Prussia, naturally inclines towards the enemies of 
 Prussia. It belongs to them more than to her; but, if 
 attacked, who is to defend it but Prussia? If in the 
 actually approaching state of Russia towards the cen- 
 tre of Europe, what should Prussia, the advanced guard 
 of Europe, do, if she were attacked by Russia ? Does 
 not the inter-position of a state not belonging to her 
 weaken the means she ought to possess, in order to 
 protect the post assigned her for the general benefit? 
 If she should happen to be attacked on the side of 
 Saxony, what use would Europe derive from having 
 taken so much trouble to preserve that which thus would 
 contribute to her destruction? Prussia was perfectly 
 correct, both for herself and for Europe, in demanding 
 the incorporation of Saxony. She asked for an exist- 
 ence being given in public law to that which had al- 
 ready an existence in fact ; she asked Europe not to 
 weaken its protectress : above all, she asked France 
 not to promote the interests of a state, whose existence 
 did not concern her, in preference to those of her an- 
 cient ally ; — a state that she could no more be defend- 
 ed by than defend : she asked her to look at Europe, 
 and not at one member of the family ; she asked her 
 not to compel her to come and settle in her neighbour- 
 hood, which would necessarily cool the friendship so 
 mutually necessary to preserve. Instead of this, what 
 
16^ Congress of Vienna. 
 
 has taken place ? The interests of Europe have been 
 out of the question : they have given the preference to 
 the establishment of what is called the legitimacy of au 
 order of succession, rather than that of a political or- 
 der : they have talked of sensibility : above all, and it 
 is singular enough, they mentioned the rights of nations. 
 To hear all that took place for three months, a casual 
 observer would have thought that the Congress was 
 specially assembled to save Saxony, and the King of 
 Saxony. For three months we uniformly read in the 
 public papers, and under the same head, " The King 
 of Saxony is saved ; but he has ceded the tivo LusatiaSf 
 
 the circle of , the Lordship of , the Dutchy 
 
 of /" that is to say, the King of Saxony is saved, 
 
 but Saxony is lost. And how have they saved him ? 
 By taking from him almost as much as his whole king- 
 dom. Is not the King of Saxony in fact separated from 
 his best provinces? What is to become of the King of 
 Saxony if the King of Prussia almost touches the su- 
 burbs of Dresden? How bitterly will this sovereign 
 lament, in the midst of the cutting regrets that they have 
 prepared for him, his remaining attached to the muti- 
 lated body of his states ! Will not his heart be more 
 afflicted with the cries of that part of his family that 
 they have taken from him, than consoled by the aifec- 
 tions of those still left to him ? And the Saxons, se- 
 parated from Saxony, will they be more happy ? Will 
 they be more affectionate subjects, after all that has been 
 said about the rights of the people ? Will they be less 
 connected with Saxony remaining such, and less pre- 
 served by them in their primitive attachment to Saxony 
 and its sovereign, than those which are opposed to their 
 new duties ? 
 
 Therefore all this arrangement is improper. It should 
 have been with Saxony as with Poland: she should 
 have remained entire, or have altogether disappeared. 
 Half measures spoil all great affairs. They are only 
 useful in preparing the way for troubles, discontents, 
 and finally, for wars, the most decisive part of which 
 
Congress of Vienna. 163 
 
 is, at least, that which most spares the greatest portioiio 
 Besides, whatever may have been the sensation that 
 they wished to excite, on the conclusion of the business 
 of Saxony the public remained quiet, and only answer- 
 ed all these appeals by a silence that spoke loudly 
 enough, that they did not misunderstand the nature of 
 this arrangement. 
 
 In a future page we shall point out what ought to 
 have been done for Saxony. 
 
 Since the year 1740, when Admiral Mathews forced 
 the Court of Naples to separate itself from the cause of 
 France, this state disappeared from the political thea- 
 tre. It became, as did many portions of Italy, the ob- 
 ject of travels, which a taste for the arts and a want of 
 health induced those classes of society to undertake, 
 who, by their leisure or their fortune, v/ere enabled to 
 gratify and amend them. Naples has not been more 
 than any other state, exempt from the attempts of revo- 
 lution. 
 
 In i793, the troops of this country appeared at Tou- 
 lon. She furnished some contingents to the army of 
 Italy in the great campaign of 1799. They were not 
 long before they detached themselves from the Austrian, 
 aruiy. French policy, in order to weaken Austria, suc- 
 cessively separated Naples, and many princes of Italy, 
 from that alliance. Thus was formed the Cisalpine 
 Republic, the prelude to the kingdom of Italy. In 
 December 1798, the Court of Naples, outstripping the 
 coalition, made much ado about France. It was pre- 
 mature. The Neapolitan army could not bear the sight 
 of the iirst French co?'jt7s crarmee, disbanded itself, and. 
 the French entered Naples with them. The king went 
 to Sicily, the common place of refuge for his court. 
 The success of Souvoroff enabled him to return to 
 Naples ; and his return was distinguished by conduct 
 that alienated many minds from him. 
 
 Some years passed tranquilly enough. At last, in 
 
I64f Congress of Vien^ia. 
 
 1805, when the short war of Austria terminated by the 
 peace of Presburg, in consequence of the battle of Aus- 
 terlitz, the Court of Naples, that had just signed a trea- 
 ty with France, thought it had a favourable occasion to 
 distinguish itself: but, badly informed as to the moment, 
 she declared almost at the same instant that the House 
 of Austria yielded. To occupy Naples, and compel 
 the royal family again to seek an asylum in Sicily, was 
 but the work of a day. The brother of Napoleon was 
 placed on the throne. A short time after, he left it, to 
 seek another that daily shook under him. Murat re- 
 placed him. We know what has happened since. 
 
 This prince took part in the war against the coalition. 
 However, he eventually combined his interests with it, 
 and rendered it great service, but on conditions. 
 
 When ia a state of danger or of want, men are not 
 nice : when it is passed, they reassume all their bold- 
 ness, and all the urgency it produces. Let us under- 
 stand the subject. Is a prince, M^hose states have not 
 been conquered, who has made peace without sti-uilat- 
 ing for the cession of his states, subject to be dethroned 
 for private convenience? It is a question of public right 
 that well deserves to be considered. 
 
 But if the prince of whom we are about to speak has 
 lent a decisive succour, on the express condition of the 
 integrity of his states; and farther, on one, the object of 
 which is the increase of his power: if this engagement 
 has become common to all those acting with the con- 
 tracting parties ; if all have experienced the happiest 
 influence from this succour, and perhaps owe to it their 
 success, then is it not a good contract, and binding on 
 all parties ? Is it for loyalty, for dignity, for royal faith 
 to say, that, after they have received the benefit, they no 
 longer have occasion for the benefactor ; that they only 
 yielded to circumstances, and that they should dispense 
 with the exercise of sincerity in this engagement? To 
 avoid one inconvenience, do not they fall into one still 
 greater, into the greatest of all, a breach of faith ? The 
 King of Naples already recognised by his own country, 
 
Congress of Vienna. I6i 
 
 had he not, previous to the period, been acknowledged 
 in the college of the kings of Europe ? Had he not 
 his representatives vi^ith them? Had he been expelled 
 from his states, like the other princes of the family of 
 Napoleon ? Then what signifies the vulgar question, 
 Shall the King of JVaples be driven off? for it is in 
 thus confounding all notions and sentiments of conve- 
 nience, that we learn to speak of kings. That this 
 royalty at Naples might have soon offered, in the per- 
 son of Murat, a considerable inconvenience ; that the 
 exiled family should be preferred, all the world will 
 allow ; but in treating of principles and public affairs, 
 a circumstance essentially different, they represent as 
 ipso facto dethronable the sovereign who had been ac- 
 knowledged by all Europe, who had co-operated in the 
 event on which it congratulates itself so much — an event 
 which perhaps would not have taken place without that 
 co-operation. Can this mode of proceeding be justified 
 on any principle ? That they should have gone so far 
 as to demand this surrender with a repetition of the 
 grossest invectives, in stating their wish to subject this 
 monarch to the most humiliating treatment, is it not in 
 good truth as contrary to sound policy as to good man- 
 ners ? In short, as has in fact happened, if acknow- 
 ledged and confirmed on his throne by the general con- 
 sent, neither ignorant of nor able to forget the extent to 
 which it had been carried, any more than the senti- 
 ments that, lurking in the heart, this sovereign should 
 have unreservedly delivered himself to the enemies of 
 France, and obtained a guarantee for the possession of 
 one of those dominions in Italy, so prejudicial to the 
 former country, added to the other commercial advan- 
 tages of which she was so much in want. This con- 
 jecture does not appear chimerical, when we recollect 
 the support lent to Murat by Austria; for it was not 
 against him, in whom we only behold Murat, that Au- 
 stria armed herself, but against the conspirator ready to 
 attack Italy. If the King of Naples had exhibited a 
 conduct that would have inspired confidence, and if he 
 
166 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 could have tendered sufficient guarantees for his pre= 
 sent and future intentions ; if he had not threatened for 
 so long a time ; if he had not exercised odious vexa- 
 tions in the Papal territory ; above all, if he had not 
 been imprudent enough to ally himself with Napoleon, 
 Austria never would have attacked him, and she only 
 could have crushed him. Russia was nearly indiffer- 
 ent in the cause. Prussia, foiled by the House of Bour- 
 bon in its project on Saxony, would not have attached 
 much value to satisfy her on this subject. Great Bri- 
 tain sought to indemnify Ferdinand ; a certain proof 
 that she did not think of removing Murat. Lord Cas- 
 tlereagh did not conceal in the British Parliament, that 
 Murat owed his disaster only to the irresolute conduct 
 be evinced ; and that if a dependence could have been 
 placed on his integritj', bis right to the crown would not 
 have been questioned. In this case, we perceive that 
 the provocations offered to this prince presented a very 
 dangerous appearance. 
 
 To give to the King of Naples more direct and more 
 certain blows, the sacred words of legitimacy and the 
 honour of thrones should have been resounded. No 
 one would have dared to deny their sanctity ; no per- 
 son could have wished that nations should have sove- 
 reigns who were obscure, nor thrones that were degrad- 
 ed. He must have been the enemy of society who 
 could entertain such an idea : but, also, let them not be 
 hurried away by a zeal in which intemperance may 
 overcojiie intelligence. The word legitimacy sounds 
 great and profound, but it is enveloped in thick mists. 
 How are we to lind the sources of legitimacy ? Who 
 confers it? Who takes it away? Where does it com- 
 mence? Where does it terminate? Are the nations 
 whose sovereigns have been driven from their thrones 
 destined to remain eternally without a legitimate go- 
 vernment? To reign, is it necessary that a king should 
 always have reigned ? Can they begin to reign ? Have 
 they never commenced nor finished a reign ? Also, are 
 elective thrones destitute of honour ? Is the throne to 
 
Congress of Vienna. I67 
 
 receive it from him who occupies it ? Where does the 
 honour of the throne begin and terminate? Is it that 
 they should have acknowledged him as king, before or 
 after he had reigned ? Is the honour of thrones better 
 preserved by covering those who occupy them with 
 dirt, or with a veil of respect and silence ; in seeing 
 honour conferred on the man by the throne, rather than 
 dishonour imprinted on the throne by the man ? Be- 
 sides, is it well in this age, in which all ideas and all 
 rights are so scrutinised, that questions should be put 
 to the mass of men that inevitably produce a danger- 
 ous examination : and can they, with any prudence, tell 
 them, after all that has passed, and of which they 
 have so many monuments still before them, that there 
 is one rank in the universe, to which some privi- 
 leged mortals among their fellows have an exclusive 
 right? 
 
 In latter times there has been by far too much said 
 about legitimacy. 
 
 They have done for legitimacy that which the wri- 
 ters of Napoleon did for the warlike and anti-commer- 
 cial system ; the more they would persuade the public 
 of its excellence, the more the public disbelieved it. 
 The senate, the council, the legislative body, and au- 
 thors, either seduced by gold or induced by their own 
 folly, (and there were a great number,) uniformly re- 
 commended these exalted ideas to the admiration of 
 France and of Europe. But, the more they talked, the 
 less they were heard ; or, at least, they found a dimi- 
 nished degree of attention. The case is the same with 
 the principle of legitimacy. They have talked of it even 
 to satiety, they have written about it in so tiresome a 
 manner, they have souglit to agitate the most difficult of 
 questions at the very time that, as far as regards na- 
 tions, it is one of the most personal nature ; for, even- 
 tually, it is reduced to the inquiry, of whence comes the 
 power of the prince to reign over them ? and, conse- 
 quently, as they are its objects, and pay for its ex- 
 
168 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 penses, it is right that they should know its origin. 
 Hence, as may easily be seen, it is one of the most im- 
 portant questions of the social compact; and, as it en- 
 ters into the most sensible interests of the nation, there 
 is no doubt but that they will make such a use of, and 
 so resolve it, as shall suit themselves. I have no doubt 
 but that there are now in France a great number of men 
 who have opposed that legitimacy that has been present- 
 ed to them, who never had and never would have 
 thought of it, without these incitements. That friend- 
 ship is highly imprudent which induces all these men, 
 who are so ill provided with argument, to precipitate 
 themselves headlong, and at the first signal, into ques- 
 tions of which they know neither the beginning nor the 
 end, and which they generally terminate by ruining. 
 There are sovereigns who honour nations by their ori- 
 ginal nobility, by glorious recollections : let us enjoy 
 this benefit — let us preserve thera as our property with- 
 out debating about titles ; for, in so doing, we shall be 
 liable to find what we do not seek, and to seek that 
 which we shall not find. What happens to the property 
 of individuals will happen to that of sovereigns. A dis- 
 cussion inevitably produces law. Apply it to the latter, 
 dissentions must happen in states. Hather let us imi- 
 tate wise architects. They conceal the foundations of 
 their buildings in the earth ; and, so to express it, hide 
 the secret of their solidity in its bowels. 
 
 Let us now return to what passed at Naples. 
 
 The expulsion of Ferdinand did not proceed, as that 
 of Gustavus, from a conspiracy formed against their 
 sovereign by his subjects ; or, as in Spain, by a plot 
 contrived by a foreigner : but this prince lost his do- 
 minions in the ordinary course of war, which places 
 the conqueror in the situation of the conquered.* The 
 
 * Montesquieu says, " In public law, the most severe act of justice is 
 that of war, because it may have the effect of destroying society : to make 
 war on any one, is to endeavour to punish him with death." 
 
Congress of Vienna. 189 
 
 royalty of Naples in the person of Murat, was not like 
 that of Spain in the person of Joseph. The nation htid 
 not recognised the latter : on the contrary, she repulsed 
 him with all her power. The dethronement of the 
 King of Spain was founded in so odious a principle, 
 that nothing could palliate it; and his prison suffieieut- 
 3y explained his silence. 
 
 It appears that a manner of proceeding, much more 
 eligible, presented itself with regard to the King of 
 Naples. It was evident that the fate of Napoleon 
 created a palpable incompatibility between Europe, in 
 the shape into which this event had converted it, and 
 the sovereign established by Napoleon, and forming 
 part of his family. He was his own work, and the 
 work must perish with the workman. 
 
 It was also evident that Murat was in a state of per- 
 petual conspiracy against the peace of the South of 
 Europe ; that he would be the rallying point of all the 
 discontented, the supporter of all the conspirators, and 
 the pivot on which would turn all their schemes ; which 
 had for their object the injur}' of France, or the return 
 of Napoleon. Experience has but too well justified their 
 conjectures. 
 
 It wf«s not less evident that Murat, the object of vidi- 
 cule at Paris, the victim of rapacity in the Osnnd Duchy 
 of Berg, the spendthrift and buffoon at Naples, vvas 
 not firmly established in the good opinion of Europe; 
 and t!jat his bravery as a yoldier could not compensate 
 for wliat was deficient in his charat^.tsr as a king. He 
 should no' tkerefore have beeu afif'.i-.ke'cS oa the score of 
 legitimacy, but on that of t!)e gene: xl luteresits «f Eu- 
 rope. The interests rec|uired tite deposition of this 
 prince; and justly considered him as wn linnecessary 
 appendage in its actual situation, and ^'« a source of 
 coiiiinual danger. Then the Congress would have pro- 
 ceeded against him with a view to the i:enes:al happi- 
 ness of Europe, as well as with an author'ty, which we 
 Ijave assigned to it in a preceding chapter. 
 
 Y 
 
17© Congress of Vienna. 
 
 This would have been an excellent foundation for 
 discussion, the best that could have been chosen; and 
 on which, in a detached discussion, the King of Na- 
 ples would have enjoyed many advantages. Murat has 
 been dethroned, and no one will regret him. He has 
 lost his throne, as it was obtained, by war. Nothing 
 is more just. He has paid by his fall for the impru- 
 dence of his attack : he died like General Mack, who 
 thought the Neapolitan could withstand the French 
 troops. In the same manner Murat believed that he 
 could conduct the Neapolitans against the Austrians ; 
 and he has in like manner failed. Murat supported 
 himself, in a great measure, by the hope of a great in- 
 surrection in Italy : an idea at once criminal, and which 
 made him deserving of his dethronement. It was an 
 illusion resembling those which led Napoleon to his 
 fate. This insurrection itself, when it had burst forth, 
 could not have had any important effect against the 
 Austrian arms. On a nearer inspection, Murat ought 
 to have known, that definitively it could never have 
 taken place ; for the Italians, better advised than him- 
 self, would not wantonly have exposed themselves to 
 the consequences of a general attack against the armies 
 which Austria could always command at their frontiers, 
 in opposition to Vienna. Every country is not a Spain ! 
 
 It follows, that Murat was dethroned very apropos. 
 The arguments used against him have been as mal- 
 apropos ; and the prince who has been most ably at- 
 tacked in the field of battle, has in that of logic been 
 weakly combated. The catastrophe of Murat has been 
 brought on by a defective judgment. He wished to give 
 us a second representation of the farce of the descent 
 at Cannes. He did not know, that nothing was so dif- 
 ficult as to make the same enterprise succeed twice ; 
 that there is always some difference in things which 
 appear to resemble each other, and that it is in conse- 
 quence of this difference that they deceive. The greater 
 part of mankind endeavour to show their talent in tra- 
 
Congress of Vienna. I71 
 
 cing resemblances : it would be much more sensible, 
 and much more advantageous, to distinguish differ- 
 ences. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Free CitieS'-'Hanse Towns. 
 
 The allusions that we have made to the empire, may 
 be very powerfully applied to the free Hanse Towns. 
 They are not considered in a political point of view, 
 on account of the little strength they possess, and the 
 only design of their creation having been commerce. 
 These cities have no ally but the consumer, and no 
 enemy but the custom-house oflBcer. They exist but in 
 commerce and profit. The free cities of Germany are 
 the great marts of trade, and the most flourishing towns 
 in that country. The necessity of protecting commerce 
 gave rise to that league, of which vestiges are still to 
 be found in the towns called Hanse Towns. 
 
 These towns, governed by their own magistrates, 
 enjoy all those advantages which a paternal govern- 
 ment will uniformly procure in effect as well as in 
 name. 
 
 Ease, opulence itself, and intelligence, were gene- 
 rally diffused among the inhabitants of these towns. 
 The most perfect and most beneficent institutions in 
 Europe do honour to some of these cities. Gratitude 
 will never be able to find expressions adequate to com- 
 memorate, as they deserve, that infinite number of ge- 
 nerous and humane actions, which, in periods of mis- 
 fortune, the virtuous and sensible inhabitants of these 
 
17^ Congress of Vie7ina, 
 
 towns performed for those who had become victims to 
 the events that took place in France. But, in their 
 turn, these places have experienced similar misfor- 
 tunes. 
 
 For ten years has Hamburgh been burthened with 
 extortions. We cannot at all conceive by what right 
 the Directory so uniformly applied, in moments of emer- 
 gency, to the peaceable Hamburgh for continually in- 
 creasing contributions. It did not dilFer from what we 
 witness in Asia, in the midst of the plunders exercised 
 by the pachas. But in a short time their seizures were 
 not confined to the wealth, but extended to the towns 
 themselves. Hamburgh, Bremen, Lubeck, were taken, 
 and discovered themselves, to their astonishment, in 
 the possession of France. Dantsick has ex[)erienced a 
 similar fate. Thus commercial have been on a sudden 
 converted into fortified towns, which, in the hands of 
 experienced generals and French engineers, have be- 
 come formidable to Europe. All these misfortunes are 
 the consequence of the imbecility of these states. To 
 appreciate fully their consequence, and the conduct 
 pursued towards them, we must trace their origin. The 
 barbarism of Europe was their source ; its civilisation 
 has renderetl them unnecessary. Seas swarming with 
 pirates may have created a necessity for associations, 
 the object of which would be the protection of com- 
 merce : seas, governed by the general laws of civilisa- 
 tion, ought to have removed the same associations, 
 which fell of themselves, in the same proportion as 
 people becoming polished, formed laws under which 
 commerce flourished. The guarantees which were 
 the objects of the institution of the Hanse Towns hav- 
 ing become the common right of all trading nations, 
 there is no longer any necessity for supporting these 
 associations. From that period the Hanse Towns 
 have lost their importance. They had preserved none, 
 but by the tradition of commerce, and by the wealtli 
 which, in the lapse of time, they had accumulated. 
 Commerce does not often change its habits. It na« 
 
Congress of Vienna, 173 
 
 turally returns to the' place which it has once oc- 
 eupied. 
 
 We may apply the same observations to the free 
 towns. When Europe was a fenced field, and its inha- 
 bitants thought of nothing but war; when every part 
 was covered with turnpikes, constituting the financial 
 science of the time ; when commerce, confined to spe- 
 culations, and an extensive change of its commodities, 
 was concentred in a fixed number of privileged places ; 
 free towns were necessary for the intercourse of peo- 
 ple : an intercourse that, however opinions and affec- 
 tions might divide them, could never wholly be inter- 
 rupted. Then the free towns were open asylums of 
 commerce, the magazines and rendezvous of the mer- 
 chant ; for, at this period, Europe did not calculate on 
 the idea of the multitude of commercial towns, mer- 
 chants, and places of exchange, which, universally dif- 
 fused, have opened sure and easy sources for satisfying 
 all the wants of society, and the various tastes of the 
 consumers. Every person has now the means of satis- 
 fying each wish and each want : then, on the contrary, 
 such things were to be had only in a privileged place, 
 or at some particular period. The Free and Hanse 
 Towns may date their origin at the same time as the 
 fair, known in the ancient annals of Paris by that of 
 Lande ; to which, in order to enable the students of the 
 University of Paris to procure pens and paper, the 
 Kings of France granted so many privileges. At pre- 
 sent there is not a street in which these articles are not 
 to be purchased. 
 
 Hence the free cities were produced in the infancy of 
 commerce and civilisation. They were to Germany 
 what the fairs of Saint Ovide and Saint Lawrence were 
 to Paris. Germany has acted in the same manner as 
 Paris, and Paris as Germany ; and all the world, like 
 them, by civilising themselves in the same manner. 
 Every town has become a permanent fair, and all the 
 worliJ a magazine, which is replenished merely to be 
 emptied. 
 
174* Congress of Vienna. 
 
 The great fairs are accommodating only to those, 
 who, trading from a distance, and living in ill provided 
 countries, are obliged to procure large quantities of com- 
 modities which they came from a distance to seek. 
 This is what has given rise to the great fairs in Russia, 
 and those at Leipsic and Beauelaire, which attract mer- 
 chants from the remotest parts of Europe and Asia. It 
 is upon these principles that the Congress ought to have 
 determined the fate of the Hanse Towns. The use to 
 be made of them we shall indicate^ 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Portugal. — Malta . 
 
 There are two states, the situations of which are a 
 little similar. 
 
 Malta has lost its sovereignty ; Portugal its sove- 
 reign. 
 
 England retains Malta in its possession, and pro- 
 poses to make it the principal mart of its commerce in 
 the Mediterranean. Its vessels will be able, in case of 
 necessity, to defend it against all Europe ; in the same 
 manner as the valiant knights, who humbled the arms 
 of Solyman. 
 
 This possession of Malta, so offensive to all the trad- 
 ing nations of Europe, time only will enable it suffi- 
 ciently to appreciate. 
 
 During the struggle with France every thing appear- 
 ed useful if her chiefs were beaten and humiliated. The 
 period of reflection has arrived. We shall soon disco- 
 ver that the British are at Malta. 
 
 The seizure of Malta deprived the order of its chief 
 residence, and that to which it owed its title. At the 
 
Congress of Vienna. 175 
 
 game time that this order has lost its possessions in 
 some countries, its constitution does not square with that 
 of others already foroied, and will accord the less witli 
 those about to be established. How, indeed, could any 
 nation admit the existence of a sovereign order? or 
 permit any of its subjects to become members of a 
 foreign supreme order? How could they keep their 
 doors shut to any person who could not fulfil certain 
 conditions, as necessary in order to obtain admission? 
 It is very evident that the same Power which granted 
 its legal protection to this order of things, without a 
 constitution, will refuse its protection when it has one. 
 On the other hand, the order having lost all its posses- 
 sions in great states, with what could it provide for its 
 support, and to find for its members the advantages 
 they formerly procured for them ? Thus, in France, 
 the order of Malta will not find more than a million of 
 funds unsold. 
 
 Add to this, that out of Malta the order loses the 
 greater part of its importance. There are some situa- 
 tions which make the merit of an establishment : this is 
 the case with Malta. Its situation, in the middle of 
 the Mediterranean, makes the island of a similar use 
 to Mount Cenis, a refuge for travellers : level it, it 
 loses its value, and is attached to nothing. This would 
 be the case with Malta. Situated as it is, it is the re- 
 fuge of all who sail to, or return from, the Levant. In 
 this position, the destination of the order was valuable 
 to all the world. 
 
 Some mention has been made of ceding Corfu to it. 
 There the order would no longer be serviceable to all 
 the sailors of the Mediterranean, because they pass 
 Malta. It would indeed be difficult to avoid it. In= 
 stead of which, a search must be made for Corfu ; and 
 it is only to those who are traversing tlie Adriatic that 
 it can be at all vserviceable. 
 
 Moreover, the vigilance which the order maintained 
 with respect to the Barbary corsairs is to be consider- 
 ed J for the Turks hardly ever committed piracies. The 
 
176 Congress of Viemia. 
 
 situation of Malta is instrumental to their suppression. 
 The Barbary corsairs do not cruise except in the square 
 formed by the borders of Africa, of Western Italy, of 
 the Gulf of Lyons, and of Spain ; so that Malta is ad- 
 mirably situated for their surveillance. All tbat is be- 
 yond this to the east, is not within the navigation of the 
 order. 
 
 Besides, let us say a word in behalf of Europe ; — a 
 word so long expected; — and the scandal of the Bar- 
 bary Powers threatening the whole world will disap- 
 pear ; and the importance of the marine of Malta will 
 disappear at the same time. 
 
 I Were they to institute a supreme order of Malta in 
 every state, without unity, without a chief residence, 
 and without a marine to protect the Christian states ; 
 this illustrious order would gradually sink into the same 
 obscurity that those orders of knighthood of which it 
 was the parent, and wliich the ravages of time, together 
 with the changes of society, have reduced to mere em- 
 blems of honour ; but without eifective power and spe- 
 cial destination. 
 
 Even to this day the Congress has settled nothing 
 with respect to Malta ; because, being in the posses- 
 sion of the English, it was no longer a subject of dis- 
 cussion. It appears to have been quite abandoned. 
 Portugal has preserved its dorainion, but lost its sove-» 
 reign. The departure of the prince regent for the Bra- 
 zils has given rise to a new order of things. It is of 
 him alone we intend to speak. Ought Europe to per- 
 mit one of its portions to receive laws from America? 
 This is a question which the residence of the sovereign 
 of Portugal in the Brazils su^^gests. 
 
 This is a question, not only of the sovereignty pro- 
 per for a prince, but its object i« to ascertain whether 
 Araericashall have colonies in Europe, and those colonies 
 shall receive laws from America ? if, in fine, the King 
 of Spain should, as Philip the Fifth and Charlen the 
 Eourth were on the point of doing, establish himself at 
 Mexico, and the other princes live in their colonies^ 
 
Congress of Vienna. 177 
 
 Europe would become dependent on America, and the 
 metropolitans would submit to the colonists. In such 
 a ease, could Europe tolerate this change, or suffer 
 laws to be transmitted by her own children from ano- 
 ther hemisphere? Ought Europe to assume the right of 
 attending to her own interest in this affair, or is the 
 question to be decided by the natural right every one 
 has to choose that part of his dominions for a residence 
 that suits him best ? If the King of France should set- 
 tle at Martinique, and the King of the Low Countries 
 in Batavia, what would become of Europe?* Surely 
 I am not in the number of those who would threaten 
 Europe with being one day conquered by America. 
 
 Whatever may be the rapidity of its increase, it will 
 never be able to gain such as ascendency ; and Europe^ 
 with its arts and population, would soon punish an 
 enemy from such a distance. America could attack us 
 only with a part of its population : Europe would be 
 defended by the bulk of hers. Europe will never sub- 
 mit to any yoke imposed by America, but that of its 
 rich productions. Such a conquest is not very alarm- 
 ing. 
 
 Portugal could give laws to the Brazils, thinly as it 
 is peopled, in habits of obedience contracted in its in- 
 fancy. On the other hand, Brazil has not yet such a 
 population and such a commerce as Lisbon. Brazil 
 may have been necessary to Portugal, but Portugal 
 could never have been necessary to Brazil. Therefore 
 it is impossible that there can exist an union between 
 two countries in such opposite situations. In future the 
 same sovereign cannot govern both. A choice must be 
 made. 
 
 If he remains in America, Portugal can never sub- 
 mit to become a province of Brazil : if he return to 
 Portugal, Brazil, which has experienced the comfort 
 and value of a local government^ would always wish to 
 
 * When Louis XlVth threatened Amsterdam, the government of Holland 
 and the citizens were in readiness to embark for BatSiVia. 
 
 Z 
 
178 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 enjoy it. Portugal, as well as Spain, would no longer 
 have any subjects in America ; and as Brazil is placed 
 in the midst of the movement that agitates the American 
 continent, it is very evident that it will be affected by it. 
 In all these cases, a separation must take place between 
 Portugal and Brazil.* 
 
 The attack on Portugal has renovated her armies. 
 The Portuguese have displayed their cliaracter, and 
 have not been deterred by any sacrifice ; and as impar- 
 tial justice ought to be rendered to all the world without 
 a regard to country, we must recollect that to the Eng- 
 lish it is indebted for the regeneration of its people. 
 They found them dispirited and beaten. Happy is Por- 
 tugal to have found in their allies such an example of 
 order amidst the disorder of war ! such models of hu- 
 manity in the midst of its calamities ! Still more fortu- 
 nate in having yielded to their solicitations, in prevent- 
 ing those odious re-actions that have injured a neigh- 
 bouring country ; as if the evils of civil war had not 
 been sufficiently great, and the return of peace was to 
 he regretted. 
 
 We shall state the conduct necessary to be pursued 
 by this country. The determination of the Prince of 
 Brazil to fix his residence in tliat country, enforces the 
 necessity of the arrangement we had proposed for Por- 
 tugal, even before the resolution of this sovereign was 
 made known. 
 
 * Since this article has been written, the public papers have announced 
 that the Prince Regent has fixed his residence at Brazil from the above mo- 
 tives. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 179 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Spain. 
 
 Spain, separated from the rest of Europe, having 
 been at war only with France, and having concluded 
 it with success, having neither lost nor gained any 
 thing, consequently had nothing to demand of the Con- 
 gress. This is a situation most favourable for delibera- 
 tion. Spain, holding her territories but by the means 
 of France, is from her situation but an appendix to 
 Europe : with regard to her, Spain is iusular. Hence, 
 she has no direct iufluenee in Europe ; and to obtain 
 any, must connect herself with France. Thus did she 
 act at the Congress. The houses reigning in these coun- 
 tries, united in blood by the same alliances, by the same 
 misfortunes, and consequently by the same wants, ought 
 to show themselves united in sentiment and opinion. 
 Therefore, the voice of Spaiu at the Congress was no 
 other than that of France. When France made claims 
 for Naples, for the (^ueen of Etruria, for Saxony, 
 Spain ought to have joined her. It ought to be the same 
 as to the principles of legitimacy, which are equally 
 important to the interest of the Spanish as of the French 
 Bourbons. This is sufficient to show the manner ia 
 ■which Spain acted at the Congress. 
 
 We shall now conclude on the subject of European 
 Spain. For the future, it is only in America that we 
 are to seek for her. 
 
180 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Cessions and Incorjporations of JVations. 
 
 A CLAIM has arisen, which may he termed general, 
 relative to the cessions and incorporations of nations. In 
 no arrangement whatever could tliis have been avoided. 
 
 The Parliament of Great Britain, to which alone, 
 in Europe, belongs the power of expressing its opi- 
 nions and speaking in an elevated tone, on the subject 
 of the general affairs of Europe in the same manner as 
 it does those of its own country, has availed itself of 
 this glorious privilege, and been the cause of severe 
 complaints having been made against this facility of 
 dividing nations, of altering their situation, and of 
 transferring them from a dominion that they liked, and 
 to which they were familiarised, to one with which 
 they were unacquainted, and detested ; and all this for 
 the mere purpose of giving sovereigns new subjects, 
 and subjects new sovereigns. 
 
 This manner of proceeding in the affairs of nations, 
 has been introduced by the military and diplomatic ope- 
 rations of the last French government: what she has 
 not given, exchanged, retaken, and incorporated, to 
 conclude by losing all — 
 
 The division of Poland furnished the first example of 
 these attacks on the existence of nations ; attacks scarce- 
 ly known in Europe since the fall of the Homan Empire, 
 and the great invasions of the barbarians. The changes 
 which hitherto have taken place, have almost uniformly 
 been the result of marriages, successions, and pacific 
 arrangements: and it ought to be particularly remarked, 
 
Congress of Vienna. 181 
 
 that these changes were limited in their effects, and their 
 results continued for a great length of time. Let us 
 look at history, and we shall see that the least impor«. 
 tant incorporations have cost much time and many ef- 
 forts. At present it is quite the contrary. It is sud- 
 denly, and all at once, that nations lose their existence. 
 Thus Norway, Genoa, Venice, the kingdom of Italy, 
 Poland, part of Saxony, and other countries, experience 
 an alteration at the same instant. 
 
 We must attend to three things : 
 
 The number, the mode, and the motives of these ope- 
 rations. 
 
 Surely it will not be pretended that the world does 
 not change its appearance, that the sovereign power 
 ought always to remain in the same hands, and that war 
 cannot enrich the experienced or powerful with the 
 spoils of the inexperienced and feeble. The archives 
 of the universe contain a multiplicity of proofs to the 
 contrary.* 
 
 War never leaves a nation ivJwre it found it, said 
 Mr. Burke. This idea may be particularly applied to 
 the effects of the war which gave rise to the Congress„ 
 Never did the conclusion of any war leave nations far- 
 ther from where they set out. 
 
 We must not mistake the nature of the appeals 
 which the incorporation and cessions of nations have 
 occasioned. It is because we perceive that they have 
 no other object but the gratification of personal inter- 
 ests, and discover nothing occurring that has the gene- 
 ral benefit in view. Neither the price nor the indemni- 
 ty of the sacrifice are discernible. Assent never will 
 be refused to those things, the aim and end of which is 
 the general good. But with an opinion equally just to= 
 
 * La Fontaine has said, 
 
 " Jupin, pour chaqvie etat, mit deux tables au monde ; 
 L'adroit, le vig-ilant, et le fort, sont ass is 
 A la premiere, et les petits 
 Mangeant leur reste, ^ la seconde." 
 
18S Congress of Vienna. 
 
 wards themselves and othersj those sacrifices are refus- 
 ed which appear to be merely made to consult the in- 
 terests of individuals. No one, and with reason, thinks 
 so little of himself, as to consider that he is destined to 
 serve as the victim and food of another. 
 
 If the Congress had in its cessions and incorpora- 
 tions shown itself impelled by the irresistible motive of 
 great public utility, there is no doubt but that the noble 
 consolations offered by Europe to one poriion of her 
 children, sustained and favoured by the general opinion^ 
 would have been thankfully accepted. 
 
 We too much distrust the empire of reason, and its 
 influence over the heart. When once the justice and 
 reason of any thing are well determined, there is no 
 longer any point to dispute ; to demonstrate it is suffi- 
 cient. But, when it is evident that no one thinks but 
 of himself; that the security of Europe is no longer 
 the subject of discussion, but the indemnities of such a 
 prince ; that it is requisite that such and such a prince 
 should have so many millions of subjects ; that such 
 and such a one has retained such and such a nation; 
 another has some other nation ; then appeals have been 
 made, and ought to have found as many assenting voices 
 as there were auditors. The pride of mankind has an- 
 swered the inquiry, whether they were herds to be di- 
 vided among a certain number of shepherds? 
 
 This is an egregious error. It cannot be sufficiently 
 deplored. It leaves the germ of discontent in the 
 mind; it furnishes answers to those who complain that 
 the people will become mutinous and difficult to go- 
 vern : wonderful, indeed, that they should do so, when, 
 they perceive themselves reckoned as nothing by go- 
 vernments. 
 
 At what period are attacks on the dearest property 
 of a nation to be permitted ? Is it after Europe has 
 resounded with the complaint against those which Na- 
 poleon permitted ; is it after the repeated homages paid 
 to the rights of nations ; after formal declarations to 
 make every thing accord with their happiness ? They 
 
Congress of Vienna. 183 
 
 could perceive this happiness in general interests, but 
 never in those of individuals. How can Italy be per- 
 suaded that its happiness depends on its being iu the 
 possession of Austria ; Grenoa, that it should form a 
 part of Piedmont ; the half of Saxony to be induced, 
 for its own advantage, to increase the size of Prussia? 
 They might much sooner have persuaded the whole of 
 Saxony to believe it; for, at least on the part of those 
 who are opposed to the incorporation, an advantage 
 might have been discovered, such as forming the inte- 
 gral part of a state sufficiently strong to afford an effica- 
 cious protection. 
 
 While the public spirit of Europe evinced these illi- 
 beral dispositions, members, even of the Congress, talk- 
 ed of the rights of the people in a high tone ; and, in 
 order to oppose certain projects, affixed the seal of re- 
 probation to the proposed incorporations.* It is true, 
 that at the same time they condemned a part of the 
 same incorporations : thus, in opposing that of Saxony, 
 they consented to its division. They have maintained 
 the strictest silence with respect to the incorporation of 
 Italy, which was also very important. 
 
 The Congress then has erred in this part of its con- 
 duct by what it has and what it has not said ; in what 
 it has and has not done. 
 
 The cessions and incorporations of nations having 
 ever been as painful a task to those which have been 
 ceded as to those which have not, more attention should 
 have been paid to the forms which accompanied those 
 sanctioned by the Congress. This should have been 
 done in a grandeur of character and a nobility at once 
 worthy the cause, the authors, and the destination of 
 these arrangements. Instead of this, we have heard 
 nothing for three months, but arithmetical calculations 
 most humiliating to human nature. 
 
 Of this inconvenience advantage has, naturally 
 enough, been taken at a period when to alter the ap- 
 
 * See the Note of the French embassy. 
 
iB4i Congress of Vienna. 
 
 pearance of subjects, and to change that of actions and 
 wordsj was so much the object. This violation of the\ 
 dignity of men and of the rights of nations has aroused \ 
 a sense of feeling : they proved themselves attached'^tS^ 
 them in proportion as they beheld them forgotten ; and 
 the indignation which this forgetfulness excited, has 
 been extended further than the regrets for cessions still 
 more extended would have produced, if they had been 
 accompanied with greater formalities. 
 
 In reckoning by souls, they have represented the 
 most noble part of man as the materiel object of the 
 least noble thing, destined for the use of another. Thus 
 the revolution which originated in the opinion of the 
 head, has been concluded by the division of the affec-^ 
 tions of the hearts 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Permanent Policy of Europe, 
 
 The general principles of the permanent policy of 
 Europe have been already pointed oHt in the various 
 articles on which we have treated : let us endeavour to 
 unite them under one head. Three principles ought to 
 direct Europe. 
 
 1. To incorporate her force, simplify her action, and 
 organise it according to the wants and convenience of 
 nations. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 185 
 
 2. To separate her means of defence into two grand 
 divisions, in opposition to the two Powers which menace 
 Europe, viz. Great Britain and Russia. 
 
 3. To extend general civilisation in its relations with 
 the interests of Europe. 
 
 It is evident, that by the accumulating strength of 
 Great Britain and Russia, Europe will be between two 
 domineering masses of power. The former threatens 
 all the wealth; the latter, all the liberty of Europe. 
 By this means Europe will be separated into two grand 
 divisions ; the one maritime, that of the West, extend- 
 ing from Norway to the straits of Gibraltar ; the other 
 continental, comprehending the states situated between 
 Sweden and Constantinople, from the Vistula to the 
 Rhine. 
 
 Let tliem refer to the map. 
 
 This picture is not overcharged if we examine the 
 unity of the assailing parties, and the dissensions of 
 those who are to be assailed. We ought to extend the 
 same opinion even with regard to Great Britain. Its 
 position separating the North of Europe from its 
 southern divisions, the unity of its councils, language, 
 interest, tactics, iBnances, affords it advantages over the 
 league of any of its adversaries, more than sufficient 
 to compensate for the inferiority of its physical force. 
 Surely France, Spain, Holland, and all the North, 
 combine and possess more of the means that form the 
 materiel of power than England can possibly contain. 
 But these states cannot make use of them with the same 
 facility, and are consequently less powerful. There- 
 fore we must endeavour to balance these two Powers 
 as nearly as the elements of which they are possessed 
 will allow. We consider that Sweden, Prussia, the 
 Empire, Austria, and Turkey, ought to be firmly al- 
 lied, and in a state to offer a permanent barrier to Eas- 
 sia : let it be remembered, that we say a state of per- 
 manent barrier, not enmity. Till now in politics no- 
 thing has been heard but this detestable idea. The point 
 
 A a 
 
186 Gongress of Vienna, 
 
 is not, whether we are to dispossess Russia of any of 
 her present territories, to foment troubles, to solicit the 
 assistance of the Poles, or to allure Sweden by a pros- 
 pect of Finland. These subtle practices belong to what 
 is properly called craft (/e metier), odious manoeuvres, 
 which should be banished for ever from the conduct of 
 affairs. Our aim is more elevated, our means more sim- 
 ple. Let every one preserve what he has ; let him keep 
 it in security. But as we do not live on words alone, 
 let him have those securities that are necessary to pro- 
 tect the weak against the powerful. 
 
 After having committed the egregious error of allow- 
 ing Russia to possess the Vistula, we must employ all 
 the means of correcting it, of which the unfortunate 
 situation in which we are placed will allow. They will 
 be found in the alliance we have just pointed out. The 
 uniformly transcendent power of Russia has changed 
 every thing. It has made those allies who had passed 
 their lives in hostility. For the future, the Turks will 
 never lay siege to Vienna ; but the sovereign of Vienna 
 will be united with them, in order to prevent the mas- 
 ter of St. Petersburg from besieging Constantinople. 
 
 This continental alliance will have for its second line 
 France and the Low Countries ; for the instant that Rus- 
 sia shall attack Germany by the route of Prussia, the 
 defensive operations will be carried to the line of the 
 Rhine ; and that it will then be the turn of France to 
 advance, in order to stem the torrent. 
 
 Russia having Austria and Prussia in her front, Swe- 
 den and Turkey on her flanks, is as it were put in a 
 state of tolerable restraint : we say tolerable restraint, 
 because she could not be kept sufficiently in check, 
 without the formation of a grand limit like that of the 
 Vistula, covered with fortresses, in the same manner 
 as the line of the Rhine in Alsace : instead of which, 
 the defence of Austria commences in the open plains of 
 Moravia and Silesia, and consequently is of no avail. 
 
 The division of the West ought to be formed of all 
 the Powers on the sea coasts. On this side^ likewise. 
 
Congress of Viemrn. 187 
 
 is another Russia, to which, with a continual coalition, 
 no check can he aiforded. Thus Sweden, Denmark, 
 the Low Countries, France, Spain, should have, if we 
 may be allowed the expression, but one flag, that of 
 alliance. Every dissension on their part would pro- 
 duce a common slavery. These Powers have nothing 
 to envy, nothing to demand, among themselves : they 
 are rendered natural allies only in consequence of the 
 pre-eminence of the marine of Great Britain. It is 
 their inferiority that unites them, not against her, nor 
 with a view to her annoyance, but merely to their own 
 protection. 
 
 The policy of Europe will in future turn upon the 
 pivot, of the circumstances of which we here give the 
 principal points of view. 
 
 If to these general ideas it were permitted us to add 
 some that have been suggested on the subject of the 
 system which the Congress should have established, 
 not in the latitude in which it possessed the power and 
 right to act, but in the limits which it has prescribed to 
 its jurisdiction, we would say, 
 
 1st, That they annihilated Italy by parcelling it out 
 as they have, and, above all, by rendering it Austrian. 
 It will enfeeble Austria, by the jealousies which it will 
 excite, for a long space of time, and force her to appro- 
 priate part of her troops to garrison it. On the contrary, 
 in a system even not accordant with that which we have 
 pointed out, Italy would have become a very efficient 
 member of the grand European association. They have 
 committed a fault very injurious to the general strength 
 of Europe. It appears as if it was the regulation of the 
 affairs of some prince, but never of those of this quar- 
 ter of the globe. 
 
 Sdly, That certain arrangements adopted for Germa- 
 ny are to be also regretted, as they occasion a similar 
 waste of strength. This country relies much on its so- 
 vereigns, and little on its own power. Each division 
 has its private policy, and occupies itself with its own 
 little interests, without attending to the main body, or 
 
188 Congress of Vienrm. 
 
 the principal interests of Europe, Mucli is lost by tliis 
 system. There mast be extreme danger in suffering the 
 secondary states to return to it. Hence, it was essen- 
 tial to diminish this inconvenience by strengthening the 
 kings of this country, in order to make them more Eu- 
 ropean. There are too many kings in Germany : a 
 circumstance as disadvantageous to the thrones them- 
 selves as to Europe. 
 
 3dly, That a suitable establishment ought'to have 
 been made for the King of Saxony, as an indemnity to 
 bim, and in conformity to the policy of Europe. 
 
 When we insisted on the incorporation of Saxony 
 into Prussia, in order to give a barrier on that side to 
 Germany, we were far from wishing to condemn a 
 prince, as much distinguished by his personal virtues 
 as by the eclat of his rank, to the loss of his posses- 
 sions. God forbid that such unwortlsy ideas should 
 exist in our minds ! but, convinced that as the hour of 
 sacrifice for the general benefit of Europe had arrived ; 
 and as it was shown that a part of Saxony must fall into 
 the hands of Prussia, a compensation equal in dignity 
 and power to the offering which he would have made to 
 the political constitution of Germany, should have been 
 found, and that this compensation should be the cession 
 of the Prussian territory between the Rhine and the 
 Weser. This territory, erected into a kingdom, would 
 have been more powerful than Hanover and Wiirtem- 
 burg, and at least equal to the kingdom of Saxony, 
 without having any of its inconveniences. This ar- 
 rangement presented many great advantages : the first, 
 for Germany, inasmuch as it fortified the barrier against 
 France ; the second, for the body of Europe, in pre- 
 venting the dispersion of the Prussian territories, and 
 placing them all in front of Russia ; the third, as it 
 permitted the Low Countries to reach the limit of the 
 Rhine and the Moselle, which form their natural bar- 
 riers. This state will remain without frontiers until 
 such an arrangement as this shall take place. 
 
Cons^ress of Vienna. 189 
 
 stilly, That it was necessary to restore to France the 
 countries comprised by the Rhine and the Moselle, and 
 in the whole of Savoy and the country of Nice. The 
 treaty of Paris had despoiled her of it. The Congress 
 of Vienna has delivered the country between the Rhine 
 and the Moselle to several German princes, for whom 
 they could find no other indemnities ; the German ter- 
 ritory was exhausted. This country has been taken 
 from France for three reasons : 
 
 1st. Because it had not always been French. This 
 is an idea of habit, but not of policy ; and it was not 
 at the moment when other nations were appropriating 
 to themselves countries that never had belonged to them, 
 that the rigorous application of this wholly arbitrary 
 principle should be made to France. 
 
 2d. Because they wished to separate France as 
 much as possible from Germany. This is an idea 
 which fear may have induced, and partaking of the ter- 
 ror yet existing which France once inspired. The ef- 
 fect follows the cause. On a closer investigation, this 
 fear might pass for an anachronism. They have ap- 
 plied the ideas of one period to another. They always 
 behold France arrayed in the terrors of its revolution, 
 with the twofold strength which this revolution lent to 
 it : whilst a consideration ought to have been had to 
 France, returned to the ordinary habits of the govern- 
 ments of Europe, pacific by nature, and still more pa- 
 cific if an arrangement more appropriate to circum- 
 stances had left her without any thing for which she 
 could wish. The future prospects were discussed, and 
 they have been regulated by the past. All the space 
 delivered in this country to princes at a distance from 
 each other is lost. Besides, it is not these petty sove- 
 reigns that could oppose France in case of an invasion 
 of Germany on her part. If Mentz was too great an 
 object of terror in the possession of France, it might 
 have been demolished, or counteracted, by the erection 
 of corresponding defences in its front. 
 
 5thly, That it would have been proper to have given 
 
190 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 to Denmark, to which nothing has been assigned but the 
 shadow of an indemnity ;— the cities of Lubeck and 
 Hamburgh, with that part of the Hanoverian territories 
 which are on the right of the Elbe, In vain they urge 
 the importance of the freedom of Hamburgh to Germa- 
 ny. What ! do they fear that in becoming Danish it 
 would cease to be commercial? Does not Altoua, at 
 the entrance of Hamburgh, enjoy an extensive com- 
 merce ? Do not both banks of the Elbe belong to Ha- 
 nover and Denmark, without injuring the commerce of 
 Grermany? This is another antiquated idea, and inap- 
 plicable to the present times. The same opinion must 
 be given concerning that which has induced the belief 
 that republics are more beneficial to commerce than mo- 
 narchies. Are not all the capitals of Europe, capitals 
 of monarchies ? Are Petersburg, Stockholm, Copen- 
 hagen, London, Lisbon, Naples, Constantinople itself, 
 a republic ? Paris carries on the principal commerce 
 of France. Commerce will flourish every where, pro- 
 vided this government will give it the only protection it 
 requires^ which is to avoid any interference with its con- 
 cerns. 
 
 6thly, That Portugal, abandoned by its sovereign, 
 fixed in another quarter of the world, ought to be as- 
 signed to an European prince, who would reside in it. 
 Thrones require a residence. The mutual good of this 
 country and Spain requires that this prince should be a 
 Bourbon. They have not been able to assign the Queen 
 of Etruria any other indemnity than that which appears 
 a mockery, and by no means desirable to her. Why 
 has not the king, her son, been called to govern this di- 
 lapidated state? This would have been the means of 
 extinguishing a part of those jealousies which rage be- 
 tween the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. 
 
 7thly, That the Grand Duke of Tuscany should 
 have been appointed King of Sardinia ; and Corsica 
 should be a part of his new apanage. These two 
 islands, situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 
 would have experienced a new existence; by the pre- 
 
Congress of Vienna. 191 
 
 seiice of a sovereign, whose attention would have been 
 devoted to thera. Sardinia wil] suifer from the absence 
 of its sovereign, in the same manner as Corsica does by 
 its distance from France. Otherwise, of what service 
 was Corsica to France? In 17^9, it cost her annually 
 800.000 francs. This establishment was useless and 
 expensive, and induced the belief that she held it not so 
 much for her own benefit as to prevent any other Power 
 possessing it. In consequence, Sardinia should receive 
 Lucca; and Tuscany would possess all the coast of the 
 Mediterranean, which connects Genoa with Piedmont. 
 
 Such is the order we have considered most suitable 
 to circumstances, and as easy to be established as eve- 
 ry other : — it depended on the v/ill of the Congress : — 
 it insured the accomplishment of the three conditions 
 we pointed out as indispensable to the new state pf Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 1st ; The simplification of its system. Sd ; The 
 union of its strength. And, 3d ; The distribution of 
 the European Powers adapted to the public wish, and 
 political and moral state of nations. 
 
 Let a comparison be made of this plan with that 
 which the Congress had before it, and then let it be con- 
 sidered which would have accorded best with the at- 
 tempt which has occasioned this assemblage of Europe, 
 in all the brilliancy of its majesty, in all the extent of 
 its power and of its intelligence. 
 
19^ Congress of Vienna. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The twofold state of Euro'pe. 
 
 After having treated in succession of all the states 
 of Europe, would not the picture be incomplete, were 
 we not to remark a singularity amidst them, for the first 
 time since the creation of the world. Every thing al- 
 most exists in a twofold state. Europe may be called 
 twofold, politically ; civilly and religiously. 
 
 At the opening of this Congress this twofold exist- 
 ence was more discernible tlian at present. Some of the 
 decisions of the Congress, the enterprise of Napoleon, 
 and the particular arrangements between some princes, 
 have obliterated many traits of this singular position. 
 Let us take some pains to pursue this subject. 
 Sweden has an acknowledged king, and one who 
 prefers his claims to the throne. 
 
 A little time ago there were two competitors for the 
 throne of Naples. 
 
 The Spaniards were divided between Charles the 
 Fourth and Ferdinand the Seventh.* 
 
 Many men now living have reigned where others 
 reign now. 
 
 Sweden and Norway, 
 Holland and Belgium, 
 Russia and Poland, 
 Prussia and Saxony, 
 Austria and Italy, 
 Piedmont and Genoa, 
 present total or partial unions and incorporations, often 
 
 * See the treaty between the fathei* and his son. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 193 
 
 on the pretence of equality, sometimes even of supe- 
 riority. Some of these states have their original laws : 
 thus Norway has a separate diet ; the divisions of Po- 
 land, attached to Russia, Prussia, and Austria, accord- 
 ing to the terms of the treaty, ought to have a represen- 
 tation and national institution. Italy is not to be govern- 
 ed by the laws of Austria and Hungary. 
 
 If. from Europe we pass to the colonies, we shall find 
 that the white and black flag dispute the possession of 
 St. Domingo ; that the ancient white proprietors demand 
 of the new black masters the restoration of this fertile 
 island, and that they cultivate it anew for them : we 
 shall find the immense American Continent all in arms^ 
 the blood flowing on all sides, for the liberty of the new 
 world, in opposition to the dependence in which the 
 old wishes to retain her, in order to the maintenance of 
 that superiority and domination claimed by Europeans, 
 in contra-distinetion to the equality and emancipation 
 sought for by their trans- Atlantic children. 
 
 Portugal and Brazil are still united in name ; but in 
 an inverse position to that which existed previously to 
 the prince departing for America : the difference in their 
 former and actual state is so great, they can no longer 
 maintain their ancient ties. 
 
 Surely the sun has never shone on such a scene in 
 the natural world. If we look to the events of the mo- 
 ral world, they present the same spectacle. In how 
 many countries is not the land considered as belonging 
 to two proprietors ? 
 
 What place is there that has not had many claimants, 
 to be met with every day? 
 
 It has been said that a twofold spirit animates and 
 has taken possession of mankind. Words have twofold 
 acceptations, actions twofold operations ; and to make 
 these balances less just, party always holds the beam. 
 
 The dogma has ceased to be a subject of discussion : 
 it is consolatory to consider that it has remained an ob- 
 ject of respect for all the world. But divisions have 
 been established in a manner to protect religion, by its 
 
 B b 
 
194 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 relations witli society. Some wish to make it of conse- 
 queuce by the rigorous maintenance of legal observan- 
 ces : others, without weakening them, consider morali- 
 ty as more peculiarly the safeguard of society. 
 
 Particular actions, useless in this place to allude to, 
 have given rise to this line of demarcation : it ought to 
 show the imprudent, how the light in which they view 
 a subject may be different from that of the rest of the 
 world. 
 
 We will hasten to a conclusion, though it would be 
 easy to go still further. But our point will be carried 
 if we have shown how necessary discernment and pru- 
 dence are to prevent so many elements of discussion 
 becoming the principle of discord, and the means of 
 giving rise to great moral conflagrations. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Errors in the conduct of the Congress. — Religion. 
 Colonies. — Commerce. 
 
 Religion. 
 
 It is not only the political order of Europe which 
 has been distracted in the course of the revolution ; it is 
 not only territories and governments that have been af- 
 fected by those subversions, intended by the Congress 
 as a remedy : the whole even of its social order has 
 also been affected by disasters similar to those expe- 
 rienced in the political world. In si.ort, the moral has 
 been as much disturbed as the political world. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 195 
 
 This observation principally applies to three circum- 
 stances : the state of the Catholic worship ; Colonies ; 
 Commerce. Great misfortunes have, at least, had the 
 effect of bringing men, who remain much divided ia 
 their opinion on other topics, to be united on this ; 
 namely, that religion is the basis of society. The prin=. 
 ciple is recognised, and there will be no more opposi- 
 tion on the subject. The consequence of the establish- 
 ment of this principle is, that the civil state of worship 
 will be permitted to remain uncertain and precarious. -^ 
 The Catholic religion is that of the greatest part of the \ 
 inhabitants of Europe. This quarter of the globe con- % 
 tains little less than a hundred millions of men attached % 
 to this mode of worship. Its civil state has been entire- 
 ly changed by the revolution. 
 
 The Catholic clergy throughout Europe were raised f 
 to a high rank, both as to honour and to fortune. A / 
 great number of its members, as well as ecclesiastical \ 
 bodies, ranked among sovereigns. In all political so- / 
 ciety, the clergy assumed the first rank. It was the / 
 general law of Europe. It is that of Great Britain with! 
 regard to its peers. The clergy has now almost every • 
 where lost its rank and its wealth. In France, in Ger- 
 many, in Poland, it occupies no space in the political 
 world, and is confined merely to the exercise of its spi- 
 ritual functions. We have since beheld this exclusion 
 attempted in a country that has always shown itself very 
 much attached to the Catholic religion, and to its mi- 
 nisters. The fundamental law of the Low Countries, 
 that grants distinctions of nobility, has assigned no 
 rank to the clergy, in the new organisation of the state. ^ 
 In France the clergy finds itself in a situation very dif- 
 ferent from what it was when the Sugers, the d'Am- 
 boises, the Wolseys, the Richelieus, the Mazarins, 
 the Grandvelles, the Fleurys, so powerfully, wisely, 
 
 * In France we have gone still farther; for, at the two latter meetings of 
 the Electoral Colleges, not a single clergyman has been nominated. This is 
 truly an unique example in the history of a modern nation, that lives under 
 the administration of the Christian religion. 
 
196 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 and with such eclat, administered the affairs of the 
 greatest states of Europe. 
 
 The clergy, in order to serve as intellectual guides 
 to the people, ought to be very intelligent. Those to 
 whom is confided the business of instruction, should 
 know more than those who are to be instructed. Also 
 those, whose business it is to regulate and correct the 
 conduct of others, should not be in a state of depen- 
 dence upon them ; otherwise the ministry is connected 
 ■with that which is considered as inferior. Thus intel- 
 ligence, and independence, are distinct and essential 
 attributes of the existence of the clergy. But, in its 
 new state, it is attacked in two principal sources of its 
 existence. 
 
 First ; By the nature of the elements that contribute 
 to its renewal. 
 
 It is necessary to consider well the constitution of the 
 ecclesiastical state. 
 
 The ecclesiastical education is tedious and expensive. 
 The Catholic priest is naturally sequestered from all 
 the lucrative occupations exercised by otiier professions. 
 He cannot, like them, add to, or vary his pursuits. For 
 him there is but one, and that is for life. Therefore, 
 viewing him in this light, he is placed in a condition 
 very inferior to that of the other orders of society. The 
 numerous and various degrees of rank, of which the 
 ancient hierarchy was composed, exist no longer. The 
 number of situations is so uniform and so small, that it 
 leaves but little difference between a poor bishop and a 
 curate still more poor. The means of obtaining situa- 
 tions, and the motives to emulation, are thus at once 
 taken from the clergy. Consequently, those classes that 
 formerly beheld in this mode of life, means of existence 
 as honourable as they were certain, have no longer the 
 same attraction. Parents, who regard themselves as 
 more immediately charged with the fortune than the 
 vocation of their children, will have no temptation to 
 put them into a way of life that offers such a slender 
 recompense for the sacrifices made to it. The compo- 
 
Congress of Vienna, 197 
 
 sition of the clergy will necessarily be affected ; and, 
 consequently, the existence of tiiis body will experience 
 an alteration. Its virtues will remain the same. There 
 is, and always has been, much araoog the Catholic 
 clergy ; but, in its renewal among less enlightened 
 classes, in occupying their attention with objects less 
 elevated, they will not attain the same elevation as their 
 predecessors. 
 
 Second : The means on which the clergy subsist are 
 drawn from the taxes paid by the people. It was Jo- 
 seph the Second that furnished this great example of 
 relieving his own wants, and derogating from the laws 
 and habits that Europe had for ages supported and fol- 
 lowed with respect to the clergy. The Catholic wor- 
 ship is defrayed like all other branches of the public 
 service. But it is necessary to observe, 
 
 First ; That, in a moment of necessity, the clergy is 
 most in danger of being neglected, as they are suppos- 
 ed to be the most passive. This is the second time, in 
 the course of two years, that the ecclesiastical payments 
 have been so far in arrear as to make the members of 
 the Church of France experience the greatest inconve- 
 niences. 
 
 Second ; That the clergy being generally composed 
 of younger sons of poor families, almost all uniformly 
 living from their respective homes, and not being able 
 either to add to, or change their occupations, is still 
 more dependent on the state, and filled with persons 
 unable to support the weight of this inconvenience. 
 Men placed in so high a situation in the state, require a 
 greater degree of certainty, as to their means of sub- 
 sistence, than those who live under a less severe disci- 
 pline. The contrary is the case at present. 
 
 This exposition should be sufficient to show that the 
 state of the Catholic clergy is affected in such a way, 
 that it ought to engage the attention of governments. 
 Religion, and all that belongs to it, are objects of too 
 high importance to be neglected by any of the parties 
 that contribute to its maintenance. It is not necessary 
 
198 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 to replace the clergy in the rank of sovereigns, any 
 more than to restore them to the enjoyment of the 
 wealth that they had acquired as legitimately as they 
 have relinquished it courageously : hsU it is necessary 
 that their situations should be so »"eg'ilated, and inde- 
 pendent, as to leave them equally distant from their for- 
 mer opulence and actual indigence ; for, after having 
 been an object of envy, they should not now become 
 one of pity. The clergy ought not to be in a state of 
 uneasiness on account of their daily support, indepen- 
 dent of the exercise of the functions, of which nothing 
 ought to vary the freedom and the dignity. It may ea- 
 sily be believed that we were justified in expecting that 
 this subject, so important to the social guarantees of 
 Europe, would have found a place among the discus- 
 sions of Congress. The state of the Church was refer- 
 red to it, and was the initiative of this important ques- 
 tion. But, in a short time, the appeals were confined to 
 the great chapters of the churches of Germany. As 
 these bodies are not precisely the most solid supports 
 of religion, we shall confine ourselves to an observa- 
 tion, that nothing resulted. 
 
 To these general considerations on the state of the 
 Catholic clergy we most add two others. 
 
 The first; concerns the exercise of the papal autho- 
 rity. 
 
 The second, the new spirit that animates the clergy. 
 
 All the world has been disgusted with the violences 
 that the two last pontiffs have experienced. The pro- 
 ceedings were so destitute of those habits of respect 
 that should have protected the father of all Christen- 
 dom, and which should have supplied the place of the 
 sovereign power which he had lost^ that there was no 
 one that did not feel himself injured by the outrages of 
 which he was the object. To personal ill-usage was 
 added the plunder of his property. To see its chief 
 clothed with the most respected attributes among men^ 
 and which, after so many ages of grandeur, was sought 
 after with anxiety, is a common benefit to the Christian. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 199 
 
 world ; and, perhaps, the finding it in a state inferior to 
 the idea that had been formed of it, as well as destitute 
 of the rank that had been assigned to it for ages, gave 
 rise to errors. At Rome, the Pope should be the in- 
 violable sovereign of all his states, having nothing to 
 do with any political quarrel. His safeguard should 
 he found in the morality of the Christian world. In 
 that alone ought to be his guard and his army. 
 
 But it is also necessary that the Pope, on his part, 
 should only see in all Christendom a society to be kept 
 tranquil, not to be governed ; that every pretension, 
 every return to that antiquity, of which the vestiges 
 and signification are lost, should finally disappear. This 
 is not antiquity. [La vetuste n'est pas Vantiquite.) 
 But without anticipating the events of the times — with- 
 out pressing at least their advance, we should not re- 
 tard but follow their progress. Let the bounds between 
 the temporal and spiritual interest be so ascertained, 
 that they shall be no longer confounded. How, in fact, 
 in these times, can we expect to attach men to any thing 
 under the name of religion, when this very thing occa- 
 sions the churches, situated in those states, the sove- 
 reigns of which are not of the same opinion on the sub- 
 ject of the temporal interests of the Pope, being left 
 without pastors ? How are men to be made believe 
 that the spiritual power should be sustained by the tem- 
 poral, and the temporal avenged by the spiritual ; and 
 that religion passes for nothing in this manifest contra- 
 diction of the nature of things? On the contrary, no- 
 thing can be more injurious. How are the men of the 
 present age to be made understand that acts most ne- 
 cessary to tlie government of the church, such as the in- 
 stitutions of primitive pastors, should be considered but 
 as a simple favour? 
 
 The Court of Rome will surely return within those 
 limits, the overstepping of which will lead to the most 
 serious inconveniences. It will not push ifs victory, a 
 very great one, so far as to be charged in its turn with 
 
200 Congress of Vienna, 
 
 ambition and a spirit of conquest. Thus, in latter times, 
 have we seen bishops submit, on a simple order from 
 Rome ; and changes that should only have resulted 
 from the observance of forms at onee recognised by the 
 church and the state. These invasions have, as was to 
 be expected, been checked by appeals. They are sure- 
 ly sufficient to put the Court of Rome on its ^uard 
 against the effect of similar enterprises, and to prevent 
 their recurrence.* 
 
 This court will soon discover itself in a position that 
 will compel it to alter its conduct. It will provide for 
 the changes that are taking place in a part of Christen- 
 dom. Catholic Poland is divided between two sove- 
 reigns, who are not of that persuasion. The acquisitions 
 of Prussia on the Rhine have given it for subjects 
 those of the former electors or ecclesiastical princes. 
 Belgium is governed by a prince, not of the same reli= 
 gion as the ancient sovereigns of the country. However, 
 the spiritual wants of these provinces, and the relations 
 consequent to them, will not change with the govern- 
 ment, and they will continue to address themselves to 
 Rome. Therefore, there will be established between 
 the Pope and these sovereigns, communications of a 
 nature yery different to those that have heretofore ex- 
 isted. Thus the King of Prussia wiil be considered at 
 Rome, as a simple Marquess of Brandenburgh. Holland 
 will be no longer restricted to the government of the 
 Austrians. The powerful sovereign of Russia, reckoning 
 among his former and present subjects in Poland many 
 millions of Catholics, will be regarded by the Pope as 
 the head of the Greek Church of Russia. It will be the 
 same with the Catholics of Ireland. They are become 
 too numerous, too turbulent, too much patronised by a 
 party in Great Britain itself, to avoid obtaining a 
 footing, which will give rise to the constant intercourse 
 of the British Grovernment with the Court of Rome. 
 
 * See what passed in 1814, relative to the Bishoprics of Constance and 
 
 Basle. 
 
Congress of VienncL gOl 
 
 Tiie King of Wiirtemburg erects bishoprics and 
 founds Catholic nniversities. Tiie Grand Duke of Ba- 
 den has acquired Catholic provinces. All is changed in 
 the relations of the Court of Rome with a great number 
 of sovereigns, to whom it has hitherto been a total stran- 
 ger. The existence of this new state of things is wor- 
 thy of observation, and requires a great attention on 
 the part of the Court of Rome, not to offend princes 
 bred in ideas foreign to its own, and who will attach 
 no great degree of importance to things that hereto- 
 fore have bpen considered as highly so in the sacred 
 college. 
 
 A part of the European clergy has submitted to the 
 most cruel privations for fifteen years. It has come out 
 of it covered with glory ; and a glory still more pure, 
 as it is entirely personal ; for it passed the whole time 
 without chiefs, without hope, without country, without 
 fortune, without any other ties than those of duty, and 
 from none of which has it strayed. 
 
 In all countries, the clergy has proved itself much 
 attached to the governments under which it has been in 
 the habit of living. In Poland, in Belgium, at Venice, 
 in Spain, in France, every where has the clergy proved 
 itself equally faithful. In Mexico it is the clergy that 
 supports the cause of Spain. Governments may calcu- 
 late on its zeal. They will find it religiously observing 
 all the engagements which it contracts. But to these 
 titles to glory, the clergy adds that of being able to pe- 
 netrate the spirit of the times, in the midst of which it 
 exercises its august functions : that to add more eflBca- 
 ciousness, let them be always presented as a benefit, 
 and their acceptance rather induced than commanded ; 
 let them penetrate to the heart as a mild light into deli- 
 cate eyes. Let the clergy, in continuing to be enlight- 
 ened by the intelligence of Bossuet, prove itself to be 
 also penetrated by the benevolent morality of Feuelon ; 
 let there be banished from the midst of it all sorts of 
 contention, all of those melancholy divisions that give 
 
 C 6 
 
SOS Congress of Vienna. 
 
 the appearance of there being two churches, when in 
 fact there is but one ^ being no longer the exclusive 
 sourse of intelligence, let it always find with them an 
 hospitable asylum ; let their understandings be ardent 
 and lively, but never violently exercised ; more direct- 
 ed towards the present and the future rather than to- 
 wards the past; and, that nothing may ^eaken the 
 respect that in all countries, and at all times, is paid 
 to talent and virtue, in diverting the attention from the 
 changes that have every where taken place; a change 
 that has assigned it a wholly new situation io the human 
 Blind.* 
 
 Colonies, — St. Domingo. 
 
 Colonies have opened sources of wealth, that have 
 changed the face of all Europe. Let us recollect that 
 the epoch of their discovery was but the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. But two principal streams proceeding from this 
 source, are diverted by the events of St. Domingo and 
 Spanish America. It is an elementary principle ; and 
 applies to colonies, that tliat which belongs to one, 
 concerns all others, the principal wealth of Europe pro- 
 ceeding from colonies, and distributing itself generally 
 among its inliabitants. They serve as channels to con- 
 vey fertility into the centre of Europe. Colonies are 
 the Nile of Europe. But in what state will they find 
 themselves after the ravages of which they have been 
 the victims for the past twenty-five years ? 
 
 * It is with regret that we have seen the Belgic clergy foment, by Its ex- 
 ample, considerable opposition to the acceptance of the law proposed by the 
 king. The pretext on which it supported itself was destitute of foundation, 
 and made it run the risk of losing its consideration in the opinion of all Eu- 
 ropeans. As to any thing else, all that has passed on the part of the Bel- 
 gian, Italian, Spanish, or Irish clergy, merits the attention of governments, 
 2\nd of the men who administer them. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 203 
 
 St. Domingo threatens to become the Algiers of the 
 West Indies. Her chiefs have induced us to fear that, 
 if attacked, they will leave but a heap of ashes moisten- 
 ed with blood. There, destruction and extermination 
 will form the means of defence ; there, we cannot cal- 
 culate on abdications, on arrangements, that in Europe 
 amicably ^rminate so many affairs : at St. Domingo all 
 is to be devastated. If such is the situation in which 
 we expect to find it, it is much better to leave it as it is ; 
 for, in fact, however deplorable may be this order of 
 things, in j^j commercial relations it has fulfilled the 
 great end of every colony. We may, at least, buy and 
 sell at St. Domingo : and this twofold communication 
 between the metropolis with the colony, and the co- 
 lony with the metropolis, may be preserved. We are 
 far from entertaining the opinion of those who would 
 prefer seeiftg St. Domingo swallowed up by the sea, 
 than possessed by a black population. This much re- 
 sembles the idea, ^^ Perish our colonies, rather than 
 our principles.^' But, in case of an attack on St. Do- 
 mingo by an armed force, if the negroes are killed, if 
 they withdraw to the Mornes, it will require numerous 
 corps of troops to confine them to this situation, and 
 prevent them rushing out with fire and sword ; we can- 
 not perceive how St. Domingo would be more profitable 
 for France than for its proprietors. The slaves destroy- 
 ed, others must be purchased. At what price? In what 
 number ii Will those who are disembarked from Africa 
 in this land of insurrecti«n be for ever ignorant of the 
 ideas of independence, that have roused and armed a 
 population similar to themselves ? It is very probable 
 that with these very recruits we should do nothing else 
 than find soldiers for Christophe and his descendants. 
 The whole business of St. Domingo is within a circle of 
 crimes committed and crimes to punish ; a labyrinth of 
 difficulties, formed to engender difficulties still more 
 ^rmidable : the fetters with which Laacoon fell encum- 
 bered were less inextricable ; and the head of the Fii- 
 
SO-i Congress of Viertna. 
 
 ries, beset with serpents, does not cause tlie terror oc- 
 casioned bv this more monstrous assemblage. 
 
 Trans 'Atlantic Spain. 
 
 It is also in the name of independence thfl; the vast 
 continent of South America is shedding* its blood. 
 From the straits of Magellan to California, a dreadful 
 conflict exists. It is the most terrible civil war at which 
 humanity has ever shuddered. Spain hl^ exhibited 
 herself in America as she has in Europe, firm and fero- 
 cious ; although often generous^ inflexible in her opi- 
 iiions, invariable in her determinations, equally im- 
 moveable and inexorable. To Spain, blood, ruins, all 
 signify nothing- — she triumphs, and that is|p, sufficient 
 justification. Thus in Caraccas and in Venezuela, the 
 same towns have been taken, retaken, and sacked ten 
 times. Monte Video resisted to the last. Buenos Ayres 
 has shown itself indefatigabFe in tlie pursuit of inde- 
 pendence. The Spanish character, ever the same in all 
 climates and situations, is truly remarkable. 
 
 America, separated from* Spain, resembles a vessel 
 floating on a tempestuous oc^ean that has lost its crew. 
 It was Napoleon who, in attacking Spain, cut the cable 
 which attached the vessel to the shore. But, while 
 Spain was throwing off the yoke of France, America, 
 on her side, prepared to thro\^^off that of Spain. This 
 evidently was a natural conclusion. The ideas of in- 
 dependence that for a long time have fermented in the 
 bosom of America, could not fail of exploding on re- 
 ceiving the first spark of liberty. Never was there so 
 favourable an opportuity, and a good use was made of 
 it. 
 
 But, while this dreadful contest continues, who is to 
 cultivate the fields of America? Who is to buy the 
 merchandises of Europe ? Who is to explore the mines 
 that Europe and the whole universe pay for them ? If 
 
Congress of Vienna. 20§ 
 
 they figlit in Mexico,* we suffer in Europe. This evil 
 should have been remedied ; and to what subject could 
 the Congress have more profitably turned its attention? 
 What better could they have done, than have thus 
 proved that they acted not only for Spain, but for all 
 Europe, which is visibly affected by these trans- Atlan- 
 tic commotions. It was according to the same order of 
 general ideas, in which may be discovered the means 
 of preventing the ruin of St. Domingo. Its resistance 
 will continue, because it expects that it will be France 
 alone with which it must contend. Perhaps it would 
 alter its opinions, if it discovered that all the colo- 
 nial powers were combined against it, and had de- 
 termined to inform its leaders, that no assistance 
 could be expected by them till they had returned to 
 a state of good order, and furnished a guarantee for 
 the enjoyment of the advantages that would be assured 
 to them. 
 
 Considering the stage at which the business has ar- 
 rived, America belongs no longer to Spain. Directly 
 she only belongs to herself; and, indirectly, to the 
 main body of Europe. Thus, it is not without the live- 
 liest sentiments of regret, that we see Spain engaged 
 in expeditions which terminate in their own ruin, and 
 have no other object but the extermination of their 
 American brethren, aspiring to liberty, by the means 
 of some thousands of soldiers who have reconquered 
 
 * In ordinary times Mexico sends annually to Europe : 
 
 In money 32,000,000 
 
 In 1814, there was only coined in Mexico , . . 7,624,132 
 In 1813, they have coined in copper ..... 6,124,132 
 It is the first lime since the Conquest that copper has been coin- 
 ed. 
 
 The diminution of the quantity of merchandise has been still more con- 
 siderable. In 1788, Mexico consumed annually more than five millions 
 worth {we presume sterling; but M. de P. does not state. Translator) of Eij. 
 ropean merchandise. For this it remitted a larg'e sum. This traffic is 
 stopped : What a loss to the two countries ! This will explain the reason 
 of the scarcity of specie in the United States, 
 
S06 (Congress of Vienna. 
 
 that of Spain. What can it think of doing with a 
 few regiments, landed on this immense continent, and 
 liaving to contend with its whole population, which the 
 announcement of the attack will not fail to unite ? The 
 councils of Spain, always so pre-occupied with an idea 
 of the importance of the tributes, of Mexico and Peru, 
 which Ihey believe should supply every want that Spain 
 experiences from the folly and defect of her adminis- 
 tration, are strangely insensible to the state of the two 
 countries. Do they figure to themselves that these are 
 the same Indians who could not resist the handful of 
 men led by Sortez, Almagro, and Pizarro? Are not 
 the Americans, whom they would thus insult, the de- 
 scendants of these illustrious warriors ? Can the cabi- 
 net of Madrid conceal that tlie arms and the animals, 
 before which the Indians, shrunk with terror and af- 
 fright, fell on their knees, are in as common use in 
 South America as they can possibly be in Spain ? It 
 is just as if they were to attack the Russians, in hope 
 of not finding them armed with any thing else than the 
 arrows used by their forefathers. If we could feel any 
 other sentiment than those inspired by the calamities 
 that these fatal mistakes inflict on those who are their 
 victims, we could not avoid smiling, to behold the 
 great confidence placed in similar enterprises, and see 
 the authors of these plans with an handful of men 
 scarcely sufficient to retain one point, trace a triumphal 
 route on the surface of the globe. It is like a train of 
 ants clambering up a mountain. Has it not thus uni- 
 formly happened ? The expedition of Morillo, so 
 long and so extensive in preparation, the language of 
 whose leader was so arrogant, has yielded to all the in- 
 conveniences universally attached to distant expedi- 
 tions, and particularly the Spaniards. Their delay, 
 their carelessness, their diet, are the principal enemies 
 to their success. At the moment of arrival, disease 
 lias already reaped its harvest of part of the troops. 
 Another portion has perished, with its valuable effects, 
 
Congress of Vienna. 207 
 
 by one of those defects ia management so common 
 amongst Spaniards. The remainder will be eonsum= 
 ed in these burning regions, while expecting the rein- 
 forcements, destined to experience no better fate. All 
 those which have landed find themselves opposed to 
 forces infinitely superior in a system of unconquerable 
 defensive war ;* and the very chief who, before he left 
 Europe, had, in idea, already engulphed America, was 
 seen trembling, submissive,! and not daring to set his 
 foot on shore. Every expedition fitted out by Spain 
 against Auierica will share the fate that its invincible 
 armada did against another enemy. The British pow- 
 er, even assisted as it is by the ability of its sailors in 
 expeditions of this nature, would be far from adequate 
 to an attack on the Continent of America. What, then, 
 can be expected from tardy and necessitous Spain ? j 
 Far from these expeditions having the power of restor- 
 ing her colonies to Spain, the only effect will be, that 
 she will irrevocably lose them. All the Americans will 
 unite against her, as they did on the appearance of Mo- 
 rillo's expedition.il Again, people annoyed by the at- 
 tacks, by the intrigues of the mother country, and em- 
 boldened by their own success, will finish, by destroy- 
 ing the connexion with her into which opinions, the ties 
 of blood, the similarity of manners, of language, and 
 habits, would have led her, and have continued to as- 
 sure to her a lucrative preference ; the only one of which 
 Spain is in want. 
 
 * The Spanish Americans carry on the wai* against the European Spa- 
 niards in the same manner as the latter did against the French. 
 
 f See Morillo's Proclamation on the departure of his expedition from 
 Cadiz. 
 
 t Spain is attempting to effect, against the whole population of South 
 America, with one of ten millions what Great Britain could not effect with 
 sixteen millions, against two millions and a half of North Americans, aided 
 hy German troops. 
 
 IJ See the Buenos Ayres Proclamation, and that of the Mexican Con- 
 gress. 
 
308 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Therefore Spanish America is for ever, and wholly, 
 separated from Spain. She need only have been par- 
 tially so ; but will finish with altogether losing her. 
 These are two very different things^ and Spain should 
 have distinguished them.* 
 
 It has been often said, that the conquest of America 
 has depopulated and ruined Spain. We may be assur- 
 ed that another conquest would inevitably finish the 
 work of the former. To terminate this sanguinary 
 scene should have occupied all the attention of the Con- 
 gress, and a most desirable end would have been ob- 
 tained. By this act alone it would have rendered it- 
 self the benefactor of the universe. 
 
 There are other considerations well worthy our at- 
 tention. 
 
 First ; That when even, in order to pay an unseason- 
 able homage to the possessive rights of a nation, Europe 
 had abstained from an interference between the metro- 
 polis and the colonies, the former would not be more its 
 mistress : she would only be in that situation in which 
 she was placed by the separation of the United States 
 and Great Britain. Hence, in forty years two similar 
 cases will have presented themselves. At that period, 
 American agents were spread over every quarter of 
 
 * Since the above was written, it has been announced that Morillo has 
 began the siege of Carthagena. It calls to our recollection the result of 
 Admiral Vernon's attempt against the same town. 
 
 The object of this enterprise is to furnish Spain points d'appid for the 
 troops she proposes to send to America. 
 
 Whatever success may attend a few actions, (success is generally various 
 jn war,) the result of this contest is the no less certain. The misfortunes 
 of Spain and America may be prolonged ; but the lot to be found in the ve- 
 ry nature of things will not be changed. 
 
 In the course of the war between the United States and Great Britain, 
 Generals Howe, Gage, Clinton, Burgoyne, and Cornwallis, commenced their 
 operations with great success. The two last finished by surrendering as 
 prisoners of war, with their whole force, 
 
 A general rule : Every war carried on by a metropolis against an exten- 
 sive and well-peopled colony, must terminate to the disadvantage of the 
 latter. 
 
Congress of Vienna, §09 
 
 Europe. Spain herself received them, and a short time 
 after assisted them with all her power. Europe will 
 soon discover the new sources of wealth that will be 
 thus opened to it. In the latter, the envoys of Mexico, 
 of Lima, of Buenos Ayres,* are expected. The citi- 
 zens of the United States swpport in every Way their 
 brethren of these countries. A triumphant insurrection 
 cannot fail to add to the assistance of that still in pro- 
 gress. On their side, a great number of Europeans 
 form temporary and permanent establishments on the 
 American continent. f These are constantly annoyed by 
 the attempts of Spain, always ready to present them- 
 selves with their exclusive right, the only regimen with 
 which it is acquainted. Will not all governments finish 
 by taking part with her subjects? The commerce of 
 this country is so advantageous, that for the future no 
 government will possess means of preventing its sub- 
 jects taking part : therefore the interference of govern- 
 ments will become indispensable, and we may easily 
 see the part that it will take. 
 
 Second ; It is probable that the reiterated attacks of 
 Spain upon America will embitter the minds of its inha- 
 bitants, induce them to reject the monarchical form of 
 government, and uniformly give themselves up to a re- 
 publican administration, of which they have, at their 
 very doors, a very seducing example. If it is too true 
 that the principles and example of the revolution of the 
 United States have, in a great measure, produced that 
 of France, what will not be the effect produced in Eu- 
 rope, when all America, excepting the Brazils, shall 
 be governed as a republic ; and, above all, when the 
 representative government shall become nearly that of 
 all Europe ? And did not subjects so new, dangers so 
 great, and advantages so important, not form a subject 
 
 * The Buenos Ayres deputies are already in London. 
 -}• See the accounts given of the produce of American commerce for the 
 years 1812 and 1813. 
 
 B d 
 
glO Congress of Vienna. 
 
 worthy the attention of Congress? The moment that 
 this great question will occupy the public attention is 
 at last arrived. Woukl it not be fortunate for Europe 
 to be able to imitate Great Britain at the termination of 
 her troubles, when she threw a crowd of men, rebel- 
 lious in principle as we;ll as habit, on her still savage 
 colonies, and in an half century after they opened new 
 sources of wealth and prosperity on these fertile shores, 
 and with the same hands that had torn in pieces their 
 own country ? Europe experiences the same want. She 
 would experience the same relief from an order of things 
 that would attract to the colonies a great number of the 
 persons whom the chances of revolution have deprived, 
 of those habits of quiet and security that society ex- 
 pects from its members^ and that, in their turn, its 
 members should receive from itself. The States of the 
 North have the greatest interest in the solution of this 
 question, and particularly Great Britain.* Spain her- 
 self, who, by a spirit of prejudice to system, is fright- 
 ened at what she terms the loss of the Americas, and, 
 in endeavouring to retake them, spends so much, as to 
 make their loss more certain and more quick. Spain is 
 not less interested in the immediate independence of her 
 colonies. 
 
 First; Because it was very evident that she could no 
 longer reign there. They are inevitably lost. 
 
 Second ; Because the prosperity of America, the in- 
 separable fruit of her emancipation, will turn to the pro- 
 lit of Spain as well as to that of Europe. 
 
 The more her colonies prosper, the more will Spain, 
 be benefited. America will enrich her former metro- 
 polis, to whom then she will cost nothing. The United 
 States have enriched Great Britain, since the supposed 
 misfortune of her loss. 
 
 We have attended closely to this question, it having 
 occupied our whole life : since the more we compare 
 its elements with those facts that we have been able 
 
 * See « The Three Ajres of Colonies." 
 
Congress of Vienna, ^11 
 
 to obtain, the more are we convinced that, in a few 
 years after the independence of America, Europe will 
 possess neither strength nor materials with which she 
 can furnish the markets of America. But let her hasten 
 to succour the latter. Each man whom war destroys 
 in America is a consumer lost to Europe ; and in the 
 state of depopulation in which she is at present, it is 
 an irreparable loss. Let America be free. Let her 
 ports, like those of the Brazils, be opened to all flags 
 without exception or preference, and Europe has no 
 more to desire. ^ 
 
 Commerce, 
 
 However military Europe may have been, she is 
 about to become commercial. If, of late, her attention 
 has been diverted from this course, she is ahout to re- 
 turn to it ; in order that she may be enabled to remain 
 in that situation, and protect herself from the injuries 
 and misery that this deviation has occasioned ; that 
 she has made those truly prodigious efforts which have 
 led to her release. For the future it will be in the 
 power of no one to arrest her flight. An elegant and 
 judicious writer (M. Benjamin de Constant) has placed 
 this subject in a very clear point of view. It is not dif- 
 ficult to foresee that for the future, war will have com- 
 merce for its object. We fight for territory, when all 
 wealth proceeds from it. We shall fight for commerce, 
 because it will be found still more productive of wealth 
 than territory, and that the latter owes all its value to 
 it. All nations are called, and at all times, to assem- 
 ble in this arena. May it never be stained with blood I 
 May God confine their peaceable contests to a pursuit 
 
^IS Congress of Vienna. 
 
 of industry, as admirable for the developement of their 
 talents, as tlie increase of their wealth ! But this ten- 
 dency to commerce throughout Europe is favoured by 
 many motives and various means. Commerce should 
 be employed to increase civilisation, and civilisation in 
 its turn v^^ill tend to the increase of commerce, and, by 
 its means, to the augmentation of the general wealtii. 
 Let us explain ourselves. 
 
 Europe is covered with a commercial population, 
 which much surpasses all the wants of commerce. 
 There are more mer#ants than there is commerce. 
 All the intermediate classes of society have pursued 
 it ; a circumstance widely different from former times, 
 when it was confined to a smaller number of persons. 
 This change proceeds from the diffusion of intelligence. 
 Since the middling and lower classes have so gene- 
 rally participated in the education hitherto reserved 
 for the higher ranks, the increase of wealth has 
 induced a desire for the increase of fortune. The 
 expense of education is not incurred, except to reap 
 its fruits. These fruits are fortune and social con- 
 sideration. Employments cannot be multiplied as 
 much as the intelligence produced by education; 
 therefore they must be sought in some other channel, 
 not to be found in the social order, and this channel 
 is commerce. The elements, the language, the rela- 
 tions of commerce, having become a common science, 
 those men of wiiooi we speak have found, in this 
 new kind of occupation, the means of obtaining for- 
 tunes that society otherwise would wholly deny them. 
 Thus is created that multitude of persons that in all 
 great cities direct their attention to commerce; but in 
 its ancient condition it was not extended in the same 
 proportion. It is no longer sufficient to employ all 
 the persons wishing to pursue it; therefore we must 
 labour to give it the required extent. But, where 
 are to be found the means? In a better colonial 
 order, and in the efforts that Europe should make 
 
Congress of Vienna, ^13 
 
 to carry civilisation wherever it has not yet reached ; 
 and, above all, to extend the taste for the enjoyments of 
 Europe, which spring from the produce of her territo- 
 ry and of her industry. Every country which neither 
 buys nor consumes any thing produced by Europe, is 
 to her as if it had no existence. Every European 
 taste communicated to a country is equal to a new dis- 
 covery of this very country. Then it is, in this sense, 
 that we extend the mutual relations of commerce and 
 civilisation, and yield the support that should be af- 
 forded them. 
 
 St. Petersburg rose, and was civilised. The com- 
 merce of Europe penetrated thither. St. Petersburg 
 was thus, at that period, born as to Europe. Civilisa- 
 tion attracted commerce to it; and commerce, in its 
 turn, extended and confirmed civilisation. One hun- 
 dred and fifty years ago North America was savage, 
 Tincultivated, and a forest. In 1810, it possessed twelve 
 thousand commercial vessels, and its shores exhibit tlie 
 finest cities in the universe. Was this produced from 
 any thing else but the combined operation of commerce 
 with civilisation ? 
 
 When Egypt was occupied by the French, what Eu- 
 ropean ought not to have rejoiced to behold this fertile 
 country, hitherto so degraded, about to become subject 
 to the dominion of Europe, and to see the habits of Eu- 
 rope established among its new inhabitants, and the 
 manners which they would adopt. Did it signify what 
 European people prevailed in Egypt, provided the 
 tastes, the industry, the wants, and the activity of Eu- 
 rope were introduced there, and assumed the place hi- 
 therto occupied by idleness, ignorance, poverty, and 
 that debasement of mind and fortune by which the de- 
 scendants of the people that erected the pyramids and 
 formed wonders which ennoble the country of Sesostris 
 and Ptolemy are distinguished ? The same observa- 
 tion applies to colonies. When we insist on the ne- 
 cessity of hastening their separation from their metro- 
 polisj what is our o|union as to its final result? Is it 
 
214 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 not to furnish them, by means of the civilisation that 
 the presence of a local government, similar to those of 
 Europe, will not fail to introduce amongst them — to 
 give them, I repeat, European tastes, the gratification 
 of which will tend to the increase of European wealth? 
 for, of this we ought never to lose sight. Of course, 
 each step that civilisation makes in the yet new coun- 
 tries will turn to the profit of Europe. For example, 
 see the sovereign of the Brazils transplanted and fixed 
 in that country. What an increase of benefit of every 
 kind will not his presence produce? In twenty years 
 we shall not be able to know the Brazils — they will 
 proceed from one increase to another : but who will 
 profit by these ameliorations ? Will it not be Europe ? 
 Why ? Because to her will it belong for ages to sup- 
 ply Brazil. The more it prospers, the more of Euro- 
 pean commodities will it require. When the Prince of 
 the Brazils quitted Lisbon, that very day was the fur- 
 niture of his new palace ordered in Europe, at Lon- 
 don, in Paris, and Lyons. Extend this idea, and 
 place at Mexico, at Lima, at Buenos A^'res, govern- 
 ments like that which exists at the Brazils, and we 
 shall discover what will be the result to Europe. W^hat 
 new movement, what new wealth, what new enjoy- 
 ment, what new intelligence, will not spread through- 
 out Europe by the exploration of these unknown lands, 
 by the innumerable and ever increasing relations of 
 these new countries ! In a little time it will be impos- 
 sible to recognise them. 
 
 We have before expressed a wish to see Servia and 
 Bosnia united to Austria. With similar satisfaction 
 should we behold Wallachia and Moldavia attached to 
 an European government. Why? Is it to increase 
 the power of this government? Assuredly not : but it 
 is to reattach to Europe countries whicli are in her 
 neighbourhood, without forming a part of her. Thus, 
 when short-sighted politicians congratulated them- 
 selves at seeing Egypt wrested from the French, and 
 Moldavia from the Bussians, what did they do but 
 
Congress of Vienna. 215 
 
 congratulate Europe on her beholding countries disin- 
 herited, into which civilisation was about to enter in 
 the effects of an European domination ? It is the ab- 
 sence of civilisation and European tastes, which foils 
 Europe in these countries. Consequently, their pre- 
 sence will produce them. Therefore carry to them the 
 tastes of Europe, the civilisation of Europe, and they 
 will be valuable to Europe. There is no necessity for 
 domination, but only to communicate our manners, and 
 what is wished for will follow : it is an error which has 
 lasted too long, that of believing a domination over a 
 country gives the only means of possessing and deriv- 
 ing advantage from it. The contrary is well demon- 
 strated, and particularly in the case of colonies, the 
 commerce, not the property of which, is of importance 
 to the metropolis. 
 
 We have passed fifty years in demanding the expul- 
 sion of the Turks from Europe. This is not so easily 
 to be achieved ; for the Turks will defend themselves 
 like the Spaniards, whom they very much resemble. 
 We should inflict, and truly without success, a horrible 
 evil on humanity. Well ! when the Turks should be 
 massacred, when they should become wanderers and 
 brigands, when their cities should be destroyed and 
 their fields desolated, what will have been done for 
 Turkey, and of what use would Turkey be to Europe? 
 What would be the fruits of this horrible idea? We 
 should commit an error as absurd as it is cruel. It is 
 not the territorial, but the moral conquest of Turkey, 
 that ought to occupy our attention. It would be rude 
 and savage habits that should be attacked : not the 
 arms of Europe, but its arts, its manners, its tastes, 
 that should be made to penetrate thither. The edifice 
 of Barbarism, that weighs down this unhappy country, 
 and renders it unproductive to Europe, should be over- 
 thrown. The unfortunate Selim has marked out this 
 transition to the manners of Europe; and the latter has 
 the greatest interest in seeing that empire resume its 
 march. 
 
216 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Therefore it is demonstrable, that the combined ope-^ 
 ration of commerce and civilisation should become the 
 principal and common occupation of Europe ; and that, 
 in its actual state, the latter has the greatest interest in 
 labouring to increase their united influence.* 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Unfortunate Condition of EurojjeanSy and consequent 
 
 Dangers. 
 
 The revolution has added much to intelligence, and 
 the means of obtaining it. Whatever dispute there may 
 be on this subject, relative to the points in which it ought 
 to be viewed, and the suggestions that may be offered, 
 this fact remains the no less certain. Whatever may be 
 the nature of this intelligence, and the effects rightly or 
 erroneously attributed to it, (a discussion, into which it 
 is notour intention now to enter,) it exists. It is only 
 necessary to reflect on the character of the men that now 
 inhabit the world. It is but to hear and see what they 
 are in common with their predecessors. It would evince 
 too much simplicity, or rather blindness, to believe that 
 so many events, so many discussions, as well as so many 
 
 '* We read, in " The Three Ages of Colonies ;" 
 
 " If it is acknowledged that the affairs of Europe can only be arranged 
 " in a congress, it is evident that those of the colonies still more urgently 
 *' require the same assistance : for it will be necessary on these accounts 
 " to discuss all the questions attached to European states more than those 
 " involving their peculiar interests." 
 
Congress vf Vienna. 217 
 
 exertions made by every one, should leave mankind 
 where it was twenty-five years ago. 
 
 There have been changes. These are undeniable. 
 But have we reaped an advantage from them ? If more 
 general intelligence, and of a superior nature, does 
 exist, is there to be found more happiness, or is it more 
 diffused among men? On the contrary, does not Europe 
 offer the appearance of a society more perfect in its na- 
 ture, but more miserable in its existence ? 
 
 We are much induced to believe this. Four principal 
 causes appear to us to produce these misfortunes. 
 
 First; The military character of all governments. 
 
 Second ; The still increasing burthen of taxes. 
 
 Third ; The oppression of subjects by governments. 
 
 Fourth ; The inequality between the fortune and the 
 intelligence of the majority of Europeans. 
 
 Europe has become a barrack ; and this miserably 
 furnished barrack exhausts her population. 
 
 Europe, with the exception of Turkey, possesses 
 about five hundred and fifty millions of inhabitants. 
 This population amounts to nearly three millions of sol- 
 diers and sailors. 
 
 It is one man out of fifty, or the double proportion 
 of that assigned to it by the best calculations, widch 
 the state of human nature will allow to the military 
 character. 
 
 Five hundred and forty- seven millions of men are 
 born, and labour during the whole year, in order to 
 pay, feed, clothe, and lodge three millions. It vi ould 
 be curious to ascertain what each soldier cost in com- 
 parison with a private individual, A frightful fViffer- 
 ence would be discovered. The one destroys and de- 
 solates ; the other builds and fertilises.* 
 
 * " A new disease has extended itself throughout Europe. It has reached 
 our princes, and made them retain a disproporcioned number of troops. 
 It has its paroxysms, and necess.'rily becomes ccatf.giouis ; for as soon as 
 one state increases the number of its troops, others s luddenly augment 
 
 E e 
 
gl8 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 That every state should keep up the number of 
 troops necessary to its internal and external safety no 
 one can deny ; but that the number of troops should 
 have no other bounds than the national ability to sup- 
 port them, or the example of the neighbouring Pow- 
 ers, is truly inconceivable, but the idea unfortunately 
 exists. 
 
 Louis the XlVth braved all Europe, confiscated and 
 incorporated all that came within his reach ; wished to 
 reign at Brussels, at Madrid, and send the Dutch to 
 Batavia. Hostile to all the world, he armed against 
 it; and, in return, every one opposed him. Europe fell 
 on him with its whole force, and he defended himself 
 with his whole people. If we read his story, we shall 
 find, that with eighteen millions of French he kept 
 up armies* comparatively more numerous than Napo- 
 leon did with forty-two millions. He supported this 
 expense for a great number of years ; and the dying 
 monarch thought he expiated his errors towards an 
 almost breathless and depopulated country, by saying 
 to his successor, " / have been too fond of war^ It 
 appears that these words made no very profound im- 
 pression on the latter ; for we find him keeping up, in 
 
 theirs, so that nothing but the common ruin is achieved by it. So much 
 is Europe injured, that individuals, who would be in the situation of the 
 three most opulent Powers of this part of the world, have not whereon to 
 live. We are poor, with the wealth and commerce of the whole universe ; 
 and soon, in consequence of having so many soldiers, we shall have still 
 more soldiers, andishall be like Tartars. The consequence of such a situa- 
 tion is the perpetuial augmentation of taxes; and that which prevents all 
 future remedy, we can no lons^er calculate on revenue, as war is made with 
 the capital. The prophecy has been accomplished" — MoNTEsaxJiEU. 
 
 * From 1689 to [1695, Louis XlVth kept up an army of more than 400,000 
 infantry and 60,000 cavalry. At the same time his fleets amounted to more 
 than one hundred large vessels, many of which mounted above one hundred 
 guns. This was the age of the French marine. 
 
 During the samj; period, from 1639 to 1695, there was created for extra- 
 ordinary affairs 45rO millions, le marc (Targent a 32 francs. It is certain 
 that this was owintj to the bankruptcy of Law and a French revolution. 
 
Congress of Vienna. SI 9 
 
 the war against Maria-Theresa, 400,000, and 350,000 
 in that he waged on her account ; for these two wars 
 offered but the appearance of one being but a passage 
 into the other. Louis the XlVth died insolvent, to 
 the amount of what would now be equal to four mil- 
 liards. At his death, Louis the XVth was in no better 
 situation. 
 
 In the course of the war just finished, the military 
 efforts of Europe were carried to a pitch that almost 
 exceeds belief. In short, Europe has become a camp. 
 
 Great Britain,* which has never supported large ar- 
 mies, has kept up a very numerous one. Its marine 
 has been much increased : and we have seen a country, 
 the population of which does not exceed seventeen, 
 millions, devote more than 400,000 men to its land and 
 sea service, and support it with, who can believe it ? an^ 
 expense of 800 millions ! 
 
 It has been with troops as with luxury. Emulation 
 operates upon both objects. Because one has so many 
 troops, the other must also obtain them. Hence, con- 
 scriptions that trade in Europeans ; taxes, and all their 
 inevitable consequences, oppress the people. While 
 an equality exists, what effect do numbers produce? 
 The greatest interests may be decided by the most 
 trifling armies. Numbers signify nothing. 
 
 An army of twenty-two thousand men gave Csesar 
 the empire of the world in the field of Pharsalia. 
 
 An army of ten thousand gave to Henry the Fourth 
 the throne of France on the plain of Ivry. The multi- 
 tude of soldiers have nothing to do with the decision of 
 affairs ; and if princes assemble such large ones, it does 
 not arise from an actual want. 
 
 Europe has been flattered with the hope of seeing a 
 
 * Adjutant-General's Office, 25th Dec. 1814, 
 
 In 1814 324,971 
 
 Peace Establishment . 91,185 
 1814, Militia . . . 63,753 
 
220 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 correspondent reduction take place in all states. The 
 idea was salutary and humane, the execution of which 
 would have honoured the decisions of Congress. This 
 is the reason we read of Austria reducing her force to 
 300,000, Prussia to gOO,000; so that, from reduction 
 to reduction, Europe would be disarmed. 
 
 It appears that in this, as in many other things, we 
 act not in proportion to the sources of popular strength, 
 but the use that we can make of it. 
 
 One evil ever inevitably involves another. Soldiers 
 occasion taxes. Governments are well acquainted with 
 this circumstance, and that it is not the least part of 
 their business. 
 
 The moment we have soldiers, that instant we must 
 have taxes ; and, reciprocally, the more taxes the more 
 soldiers. This is inevitable. Therefore nations have 
 not been asked, what they consider as necessary to their 
 prosperity : it has been only ascertained how much 
 they were able to pay. The exigencies of the state have 
 not been regulated by the welfare of the people, or the 
 capability they are supposed to possess of supporting 
 burthens. 
 
 Behold the financial state of Europe. It inspires 
 terror. For twenty years there have been nothing but 
 bankruptcies, paper money, another species of perma- 
 nent bankruptcy ; confiscations, requisitions, forced 
 loans, anticipations ; the present time always advancing 
 towards a previously exhausted futurity. 
 
 Great Britain, in the midst of her triumphs and her 
 wealth, offers a spectacle well worthy of our attention. 
 
 An interest on her National Debt of 800,000,000 
 francs. 
 
 A Military Establishment of 500,000,000 francs. 
 
 A Naval Establishment of 600,000,000 francs. 
 
 In this statement we see the nature of the discussions 
 that occupy the attention of Parliament. By the mere 
 dint of taxation and wealth, by this combination, that 
 at first view appears contradictory; things are arrived 
 
Congress of Vienna. 22i 
 
 at a height, that agriculture is threatened with being 
 abandoned, if a protection against foreign competition 
 15 not granted. This is necessary to enable the farmer 
 io subsist : if he gains a profit, the consumer must die 
 of hunger. This evidently is contrary to all social or- 
 der. The clashing of the interests of the producer and 
 the consumer is manifestly occasioned by taxes ; which 
 raise the price of land, and all the means of its culti- 
 vation, to a rate infinitely higher than it would have 
 been, without the accumulation of the charges to which 
 it has been subjected. 
 
 In Austria, for twenty years, her finances have not 
 been placed in a state of order. This country, ever 
 possessed of a regular supply, but never a superabun- 
 dance, has not been fortunate in her financial expedi- 
 ents. Every three months some admirable plan for the 
 amelioration of the finances is announced ; and as re- 
 gularly, under the operation of these plans, they become 
 worse. 
 
 All the princes of Germany are in debt. 
 
 We do not speak of some of the Italian states, nor 
 of Spain. This country has something else to do, than 
 attend to the details of administration.* 
 
 France, without possessing the most extensive funds 
 in Europe, has the most real and solid basis. This 
 circumstance results from the proportion of the re- 
 ceipts effected at a fixed expense, and annually dis- 
 charged. France, peculiar for being in this unexpect- 
 ed state, after all the pictures that have been drawn 
 of her exhaustion, furnishes this abundance of public 
 treasure by means of the greatest sufferings.! The 
 
 * We must recollect the forced loans made in all the commercial towns 
 of Spain, and the financial state of that country, as well as every thing that 
 has been published on the state of the Pope's finances, and those of the 
 King of Sardinia. 
 
 ■j- We truly feel that this picture is only that of the finances, previous to 
 the evils produced by foreign Invasion, as well as the last treaty. It is fair 
 to presume, that the consideration of this abundance, continuing aftev 
 
S33 Gongress of Vienna. 
 
 land-tax takes from the proprietor the greatest part of 
 his income ; so that almost every where the proprietor 
 is little more than a cultivator for the benefit of th^ 
 revenue [le colon du fisc). Such an inequality between 
 the produce of taxes and the price of all the objects 
 either of commerce or consumption has been created, 
 that no proprietor who does not add to his landed reve- 
 nue one arising from industry or a public situation, can 
 bring up his family, or live in common comfort. All 
 the departments situated from the left bank of the Loire, 
 to the Alps and Pyrenees, are filled with proprie- 
 tors of an annual income from three to five thousand 
 livres, the fee- simple of which is worth one hundred 
 thousand francs, or thereabouts, who live in wretched- 
 ness, and experience every difficulty in the educa- 
 tion of their children. The disorder in this respect is 
 very great, and wholly arises from the excess of 
 taxes. 
 
 The indirect taxes in France on consumption, and in 
 certain transactions, are also very heavy. 
 
 The Salt Duty subjects the article taxed to a duty 
 many times heavier than its original value. 
 
 The Assessed or Consolidated Taxes [Droits Reii- 
 ms)'excite universal horror. The detestation of which 
 they are the object, is diverted by being attached to 
 those who assess or collect them. They should be 
 reduced to those which have the supply of the real 
 wants of the state in a moment of emergency for their 
 object; but governments do not think how much 
 they can spare the people, but how much they can 
 extract from them. Provided the rope does not snap, 
 (we may be pardoned for the vulgarity of this ex- 
 pression,) it is of no consequence to what length it is 
 stretched. 
 
 Ideas of luxury and emulation in public monuments 
 
 such a crisis, has confirmed the severity of foreigners relative to an opu- 
 lence that they fear as much as they envy. 
 
Congress of Vienna. 233 
 
 liave gained ground in some countries. We seem to 
 wish to form towns into monuments. Shortly the idea 
 will he adopted as to whole countries. Self-love is 
 flattered by this demonstration of power ; but the peo- 
 ple pay dear for this satisfaction.* True monuments 
 are to be found in the good taste of individuals and the 
 comfort of nations. An opulent and happy nation is 
 of itself a sufficiently fine monument ; but, unfortunate- 
 ly, one of the most rare. It gratifies the eye at least as 
 much as domes and columns. 
 
 France has expended, in a few years, one hundred 
 and fifty-five millions of francs in public works and mo- 
 numents. 
 
 The City of Paris has absorbed almost all this enor- 
 mous sum. Many of these works are really useful ; 
 others are only distinguished embellishments. But, what 
 a charge upon a whole country for a single town !| 
 
 London is the finest city in the world; and in it there 
 are fewest monuments erected at the public expense. 
 To the good taste and wealth of the inhabitants it is in- 
 debted for those it possesses. 
 
 The cities of Holland and Belgium are superior to 
 any other in Europe, The respective governments 
 have done nothing for them. There the inhabitants 
 have furnished for their own gratification, what in other 
 countries is done at the public expense. 
 
 America presents, in her cities, habitations the best 
 
 * After the battlo of W'urchen, in May, 1813, Napoleon ordered that a 
 monutnent should be erected on Mount Cenis, to commemorate the names of 
 all those who had been engaged in that affair. This monument was to cost 
 twenty -five millions. What a subject for reflection does not this facility of 
 disposing of the wealth of nations create, in order to gratify such ridicu- 
 lous fancies ! ! 
 
 f Unfortunate is that country of which artists take possession. What 
 have they not cost to France, to Spain, to Italy, to Saxony, to Bavaria, 
 where their masters have given way to a profuso taste for the arts, and 
 have in consequence patronised artists to an injurious excess, in conse- 
 quence of listening to the poets and academies svho have celebrated these 
 chefs -erauvres .' 
 
2%-ii Congress of Vienna, 
 
 calculated for the convenience of men that have hithert© 
 existed. With some exceptions at the new capital, the 
 public purse has contributed nothing. 
 
 It is remarkable, that it is in the south of Europe ; 
 that is to say, in Catholic and despotic countries, in 
 which the condition of the people is the worst, where 
 the most expensive monuments are to be found. It may 
 be said that they are but veils, behind which the public 
 misery is hidden, in order to divert the attention from a 
 contemplation of what must disgust it. 
 
 For twenty-five years past the results arising from the 
 conduct of governments has been to accumulate on 
 their subjects the heaviest burthens that war could pro- 
 duce, and most especially by the way in which they 
 waged it. Men are become a species of projectile force, 
 destined to be used one against the other to their mutual 
 injury. By taxes, paper money, bankruptcies, and re-^ 
 quisitions ; a practice well worthy of the Turks ; by a 
 thousand other arrangements that governments have 
 made use of to obtain possession of the fortunes of indi- 
 viduals, men have at present no property. In the course 
 of one month we have seen Russia declaring the whole 
 property of the empire mortgaged for the maintenance 
 of its paper; and Austria, on her side, avow that the 
 tenth part of the property of her subjects was necessary 
 to her wants. At what point things have arrived in 
 Great Britain we may discover, as well as how much the 
 wants of the government have surpassed every thing hi- 
 therto known in that land of true liberty. For twenty- 
 five years every thing in Europe has been made to 
 square with politics, and nothing has been allowed to 
 yield to individual comfort, which is the true object of 
 all human associations.* 
 
 We may apply to Europe in general what Mr. Burke said of the revo- 
 iutionary government in particular. 
 ^ f Individual comfort is entirely left out of their system of government. 
 " The state is all in all. All belongs to it that will produce power. After. 
 " wards all ig entrusted to the use of power." 
 
Congress of Vienna. SS5 
 
 The light in which society has been viewed is 
 changed, and the nature of things is wholly altered : 
 the political world no longer exists for the social system^ 
 but the social system for the political world. The ac- 
 tion of government has been always rapid, inevitable, 
 and too often inflexible. Individuals have been too 
 much separated one from the other ; or, so to express 
 it, confined to themselves : then, comparing individual 
 Weakness to the power of government, no man could 
 feel himself disposed to enter into the unequal contest^ 
 States have been divided into a multiplicity of parts 5J 
 authority present every whcre_, but the subject is never 
 permitted to partake of it. These governments are be- 
 come like so many nets in which men are to be caught. 
 From hence, has arisen an impression of terror on the 
 score of government. It lasts still, and will require a 
 long time to efface. It is terror that explains how 
 France has always obeyed, with the same facility that 
 she permitted the various governments, in their turn, to 
 render themselves masters of the supreme power. As 
 they all proceeded in the same manner, with the same 
 gens- (Par mes, with the same punishments, with the 
 same commissaries, with the same removals from au- 
 thority, the public mind, oppressed under an equal 
 weight, has ever found itself in the same situation. It 
 has not varied for twenty years. Properly speaking, 
 there have only been dictatorships in France from the\ 
 14th of July, 1789, to the obtaiiraient of the charter ini 
 1815. The Constituent Assembly was a dictatorship 
 of thirty months. It would be going too far to say, 
 that it was a legislative assembly ; the passage of a mo- 
 narchy impossible to be maintained, into a democracy 
 as impracticable to be defined : a democracy rendered 
 hideous by its conduct, frightful by the horrid grandeur 
 of its acts, incessantly bordering on the extremes of 
 courage and ferocity. The Legislative Assembly could 
 occupy but a small portion of space between these 
 colossi, of which it rather marked the separatioE that 
 became the bond of connexion. 
 
%%Q Congress of Vienna. 
 
 The Directory seized, lost, and regained the dictato- 
 rial power. It availed itself of the 18th Fructidor to 
 repossess itself of it. The 18th Brumaire was made 
 subservient to the raeasore of its removal. The same 
 ahsolute power has uniformly prevailed till the 31st of 
 March, 1814. It reappeared under Buonaparte the 
 SOth of March, 1815. Each dictator has commanded, 
 terrified, taxed, displaced at his pleasure, has been 
 obeyed with the same facility, we may say with the 
 same ardour. Whence arises all this ? From the reign 
 of terror. It survived its authors. Men pass away, 
 but an impression remains, and the same disposition 
 exists in the mind. It has its essential principle in the 
 twofold state of legislation. There are two codes. The 
 number of laws being infinite, each individual in power 
 having created his own, by the preservation of those that 
 lie did not repeal, the whole of legislation was but a 
 labyrinth in which a regular system was no longer to 
 be recognised. Safe on one side, we did not think our- 
 selves so on the other. In the midst of the farrago of 
 laws that bore down France, who could possibly act ac- 
 cording to all of them ? Exception is always on the side 
 of the law, and in its favour. For example, individual 
 safety is guaranteed by the charter : still more, by all 
 the constitutions that have been made for twenty-five 
 years. But in the same codes are to be found laws that 
 are not repealed ; and they are such as, after the most 
 formal guarantees for individual safety, grant, as here- 
 tofore, the right of suspension. [Senatus Consulte 
 organique, an 12.) The press is declared free ; but 
 we have seen a four months discussion to ascertain 
 whether to repress abuses was the right of suppression 
 by the previons censure. We have attached to a certain 
 hook {volume determine) the power of printing without 
 the previous censure, and the legislation on this subject 
 has not been yet ascertained. The liberty which the 
 press now enjoys is much more a matter of fact than of 
 right, and the magistrate contributes more to it than the 
 legislator. It is owing to the complication of law that 
 
Congress of Vienna. SS7 
 
 we have seen additions to the constitution, called the 
 Constitution of the Empire, although no one observes 
 nor knows how to apply them. To this first considera- 
 tion we must add that of the increase of the armies 
 The greatest enemy to the mild spirit of civil life is that 
 of the military one. History is false if this assertion is 
 not true. The more soldiers are formed, the more ene- 
 mies are there to liberty ; the more numerous the ele- 
 ments of despotism. The Pretorian Band at Rome, the 
 Janizaries at Constantinople, the Imperial Guard at 
 Paris, were all equally incompatible with the liberty of 
 the various nations, and did not permit any idea of 
 liberty nor independence to exist. In such a condition 
 nothing remained but resignation. The military pro-"" 
 fession having been so much extended in France, it 
 having become the only road to honours and to fortune; 
 a taste for, and fear of its members, combined to form 
 the national mind ; and in this state is it now to be found 
 a condition perfectly anti-civil, and wholly subversive 
 of the great object of society,* 
 
 The uncertainty attached to places under government 
 is an aggravation of the misfortunes already remarked. 
 It is impossible to have an idea of the facility with which 
 they are dismissed by government, who discharge these 
 public officers, deprive them of the means of subsistence, 
 
 * There exist many good men, who, guarded by four invalids, have been, 
 for a great number of years, regarded as legislators. If a prince is furnished 
 with a numerous corps of troops, blindly attached to him, he may, in an in- 
 stant, become the master of the state. It was the imperial guard that formed 
 the foundation of the power of Napoleon. He augmented it in proportion 
 to his wish to augment his power. When he was at the head of a phalanx 
 of 40,000 men, entirely devoted to him, when it is known that the great am- 
 bition of the soldiery was to form a part of this guard; that it was the sole 
 end they had afterwards in view ; he imagined that he had the right to me- 
 nace, with this guard, bot!i France and Europe, and that behind this rampart 
 he could dare to do any thing. We may well recollect the renown of this 
 corps, and the tone it assumed. It was the idol of the people, the terror of 
 every thinking Frenchman, and made Europe tremble. 
 
 It was this guard, which, in 1812, was employed in searching for those 
 conscripts, which the repetition of conscriptions had made desert throughout 
 the empire. At this period we could reckon more than 160,000 deserters. 
 
SSS Congress of Vienna, 
 
 and refuse to fulfil the engagement contracted with 
 them ; interpret in their own way, or annul the contract 
 always formed between him who performs, and him who 
 has services performed for him : also the world is filled 
 with a number of men who have held situations and em- 
 ployments, who sre capable of attending to public busi- 
 ness, and wiio suffer, in all respects, most essentially 
 from being deprived of them, in consequence of a want 
 of employment, and the means of reaping its fruits. 
 Nothing is so much calculated to keep up sentiments of 
 dislike and factious dispositions in a state. 
 
 Government being the centre of all interest, attract- 
 ing every thing towards it, teaching every thing, selling 
 every thing, mixing in all transactions, there necessarily 
 results a multiplication of agents in proportion to the 
 complication of interests. This bureaucracy is become 
 the canker worm of states, the leprosy of modern socie- 
 ty. Tise nuiP.ber of persons who form these ad4i"iinistra- 
 tive armies is immense. It has contributed to extend 
 that unrestrained taste for public offices, which is to be 
 remarked every where. There is not one of those agents 
 that is not a tax. But, how are they treated ? With 
 what facility are they displaced, thrown back into ob- 
 scurity and misery ! New arrangements succeed to new 
 parties, and gives rise to an incessant change. If the 
 state should be the least in want, reductions take place; 
 payments are suspended; nothing is fixed ; forms vary 
 every hour ; delays are created ; the least error in exe- 
 cution suspends the most lawful claims; life passes in 
 attendance and dependence, and concludes at last in 
 misery. This is a frightful condition, and unfortunately 
 it is that of a great number of Europeans. It would be 
 dreadful to enter into a calculation of the number of 
 those persons, who, in the course of twenty-five years, 
 have lost their fortune, their rank, their situation ; and 
 who, in hopes of repairing some portion of honour or of 
 fortune, exhaust themselves in pushing through the 
 crowd; which, in consequence of having suffered so 
 much itself^ reg^ards them with as little curiosity as pity. 
 
Congress of Vienna, 2§9 
 
 Let us consider that, with the exception of that of 
 Great Britain, all the public banks have failed ; that a 
 great number of governments have been many times re- 
 newed ; that the administrations have been also changed; 
 that their agents are comprised in these alterations. If 
 we do this, we may form an idea of the number of vic- 
 tims. 
 
 The education of all classes of society is nearly the 
 same, and all the world can obtain it. But all persons 
 are not possessed of the same fortune. Among those 
 persons who participate in the means of instruction, 
 some in quitting their studies meet poverty, with its 
 horrors ; others wealth, with its enjoyments. But, it 
 also frequently happens that these persons, out of fa- 
 vour with fortune, are not so with Nature, and that 
 they are equal, or superior in faculties, in information, 
 to those who possess a larger proportion of worldly ad- 
 vantages. What are the sentiments which are then ex- 
 cited within them ? What attempts are not made to 
 establish an equality between fortune and talents ! 
 Again, if the best means present themselves the first, 
 as, for the welfare of society, should always be the 
 case ; but, on the contrary, what hateful comparisons, 
 what envious and ambitious projects exist in their 
 hearts, and inflame their passions ! It is in this crowd 
 that are to be found men, ever prone to mischief, at the 
 service of every person in power, and who obstruct the 
 avenues of all the places in which it is to be found. It 
 is not to be doubted, as we have seen so many persons 
 eagerly endeavour to obtain stations in those classes of 
 society that are superior to them ; the distinctions of 
 whicij they cannot obtain, in the wealth of which they 
 cannot participate ; it is to this principle that we must 
 attribute the evil. Avarice has assumed the mask of pa- 
 triotism, and man has become sophistical, plundering, 
 ferocious, in order to establish a balance between his 
 interests and the talents he supposes himself to possess^ 
 From this picture of the different causes, it is evident 
 that the whole social order of Europe is deranged. The 
 
2S& Songress of Vienna, 
 
 evil increases daily, and must produce melancholy con- 
 sequences. The situation of Europe is therefore far 
 from good. If we consider it en masse it is very 
 wretched. More intelligence than happiness is to be 
 found in it. There are some persons who conclude, 
 that it is this intelligence that has occasioned the loss 
 of happiness. On the contrary, it is because it has been, 
 governed in defiance of this intelligence that it has be- 
 come unfortunate. Thus the multiplication of troops, 
 of taxes, of constraints of every species, are not in con- 
 sonance with intelligence, but in direct contradiction to 
 it. The appeals made against these acts are the conse- 
 quence of this intellectual light ; and if this intellectual 
 light, the object of so many absurd and ridiculous com- 
 plaints, has been unable to arrest the course of this dis- 
 order, it is because it meets on all sides with an oppo- 
 sition of interests, of passions and prejudices. These, 
 armed with power, are incessantly occupied in endea- 
 vouring to overturn or destroy the salutary effects that 
 those intellectual lights cannot fail to produce, if suf- 
 fered to preside in the government of man. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Of Political Writers, and their Relations with the 
 Preservation of Peace, 
 
 "War has been made for twenty-five years, and we 
 have always spoken of peace. There were those who 
 v/ould have persuaded us that they wished for peace, 
 and it was their adversaries that desired war. All 
 feigned a desire for peace. It has been by constantly 
 keeping peace in view that people have been induced 
 to support the war. To make war, in order to conquer 
 peace, lias been the universal cry. At last this peace, 
 so ardently desired, so long expected, has arrived : but, 
 in order that the world should enjoy it, it will be ne- 
 
Congress of Vienna. 231 
 
 cessary to banish that tone and language which embit- 
 ter the actions of man, and ulcerate his heart. They 
 have succeeded too well in dividing the interests of 
 men, and in rendering those enemies who are in fact 
 members of one family. The custom of the Eastern 
 sovereigns on their accession to the throne, with regard 
 to their unfortunate brothers, has been too much adopt- 
 ed in the political world, and by those who occupy it. 
 'No', being able to overcome our enemies, we appear to 
 think that we cannot sufficiently hate them; that we 
 cannot sufficiently insult them ; that we cannot suffi- 
 ciently provoke them ; and that it is not in our power 
 to i-reat them with sufficient atrocity and perfidy. In 
 consequence of being constantly repeated, the language 
 Las become universal. There are nations of whom we 
 can only speak with insult, because we have insulted 
 them for twenty years.* The most odious imputations 
 have been received into general usa^e, and become a 
 part of our vocabularies. We have even gone so far as 
 to represent the happiness of some as incompatible with 
 that of others. In short, we have seen professors of na- 
 tional hatred. 
 
 This doctrine proceeds from the school of Caen. 
 
 It is time to put an end to these detestable practices. 
 The cure must proceed from whence the malady sprung 
 — politics and political writers. These are the inter- 
 preters of nations with regard to one another. They 
 speak but through the organs of this class of men, and 
 the sentiments with which they meet in their writings 
 pass as the legitimate expression of the sentiments of the 
 nations to which they belong. They become responsible 
 and bound with the writers who speak in their name. 
 They are exposed to submit to the efl'ects that arise 
 from those feelings, to which these writings shall give 
 birth. Now that our materiel armour is cast aside, let 
 that armour which may be termed moral armour be also 
 cast aside, this armour still more envenomed in its ef- 
 
 * Recollect the language used relative to Great Britain for the past 
 twenty years ! 
 
S3S Congress of Vienna. 
 
 fects than the former. Let the language of peace sue- 
 ceed to that of war. Let us act like the Romans, when 
 they deposited their military vestments and assumed the 
 habits of peaceable citizens. In vain will " peace " be 
 inscribed on the public records, if the feelings of war 
 still exist in our hearts. In vain will the language of 
 peace have been used by the representatives of nations, 
 if only the language of war is to be found in the mouth 
 of their interpreters. Let us understand the matter. Do 
 we wish to lead men to mutual extermination — to be- 
 lieve that a good neighbourhood is impossible — to grieve 
 at the prosperity of others-— to seek in all their actions 
 for causes of criminations and sinister designs ? If such 
 is the intention, it is in vain that we speak and think of 
 peace. What sign of reconciliation does it present to 
 men, visiting a country, if they hear only incessant com- 
 plaints of the ambition, perfidy, and malevolent views of 
 their^ hosts ? Let this dishonourable and murderous 
 language have a termination ! Let all provocations, 
 suspicions, and imputations, disappear. Let each nation 
 iind in the writings of others, the same safety offered 
 them by their territory. Let dignity preside in our judg- 
 ments of the actions of other nations, for none can with 
 propriety be assailed or contemned. Let benevolence 
 either palliate or conceal past wrongs. Let our mutual 
 envy be that which we can exercise without offence ;— 
 that of virtue and talents. 
 
 Unfortunately we are far from this point. Works 
 that have attracted the public attention, (and we take 
 these works for our sanction,) have too powerfully im- 
 bibed those hostile sentiments. In them, in order to 
 support propositions that, to say the least, are forgotten, 
 full half a volume* is dedicated, to form a complete 
 
 * The work of M. de Bonald, in which he shows :— 
 
 1st. That the left bank of the Rhine ought, three months after the treaty 
 of Paris, and while the Congress was sitting at Vienna, to have been given 
 to France. 
 
 2d, That the Pope ought to have been placed at the head of the Euro- 
 pean republic. 
 
Congress of Vienna. S33 
 
 treatise on the inconveniences of a ceded possession, 
 which they well know will not be given up, and vvbich 
 if attacked would be protected by ail Europe ; as if the 
 loss which they had sustained had not been the source 
 of sufficient regret; and that in thus renewing their 
 afflictions, they would find areraedy for them. Hence, 
 after a long train of imputations more than severe, they 
 conclude by affording advice which places a nation al- 
 most in ambuscade against another, and which would 
 induce her seriously to prepare herself for the re-posses- 
 sion of a benefit that had just been wrested from her. 
 
 Is this really peace, or only a hollow truce obtained 
 merely in order to prepare for war? What will be the 
 consequence? The display of these sentiments will 
 alarm those whom they threaten, who will always be 
 on their guard ; precautions will be redoubled ; and we 
 shall live in peace, as if in a state of war, behind a 
 rampart erected to protect a country menaced vi^ith at- 
 tack. 
 
 To the events of the epoch that has just passed, we 
 may apply the same observations. The writers on af- 
 fairs relative to the interior of France, afford us no 
 greater prospects of peace than those who have pub- 
 lished their sentiments on its external relations. 
 
 These portraits of past disorders are always the 
 same, and contain the same imputations— the same re- 
 proaches. It is always the whole nation that is repre- 
 
 3d. That the regulation of all public affairs shoald be superintended by 
 a body of the nobility ; all other classes having nothing more to do than at- 
 tend to their own, and at the same time be grateful to the body thus willing 
 to save them such unnecessary trouble. 
 
 4th. That the existence of Europe will cease when the atheistical dogma 
 of the sovereignty of the people shall prevail. Whatever respect may be due 
 to the talents as well as the habitually elevated ideas of this author, we may- 
 conjecture that when he permitted himself to form such combinations, his 
 genius was (for once) slumbering. There is another volume, the work of 
 M.Bignon, which, on account of much valuable information, demands our 
 attention. It relates to the different states of Europe ; but, unfortunately, 
 contains accusations of England, and opinions hostile to the interests of 
 Belgium. 
 
 Gg 
 
234 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 sented as blameable for those events at which almost all 
 the nation has shuddered. How many innocent men 
 find themselves thus assailed by a single ill-defined 
 word ! How many men, repulsed and chagrined by 
 these general, unqualified, and promiscuous attacks, 
 withdraw and separate themselves from those objects 
 which they desired, from those objects on which they 
 had began to place their afiections, but, in the pursuit 
 of which neither justice nor happiness were to be found. 
 
 Men are lightly and undeservedly brought before the 
 tribunal of history, under an imputation of charges of 
 which they were ignorant. The bar resounds with the 
 complaints of some, and the envenomed defences of 
 others. Party accusations re-echo party accusations ; 
 and as nothing conduces more to the formation of parties 
 than a supposition of their existence, the frequent men- 
 tion of them soon occasions their formation. 
 
 Without noticing the little genius indicated by these 
 declamations, repeated as well without limit as without 
 taste ; as fatiguing to their hearers as they are useless 
 to their object; it is sufficient that we observe their ef- 
 fects ; and the fruit which they have produced to France 
 •—discord instead of the peace which they expected — 
 which they invoked — which would have constituted 
 the happiness of all ; clouds instead of that serene sky 
 which might have been expected on a day which had 
 commenced so fair, and whose dawn had been hailed 
 with such joy and gladaess. Every Frenchman who 
 employs himself in writing ought ever to have in view 
 these circumstances : — 
 
 1st. That it is as profitable to tire a Frenchman as 
 to amuse a Lacedemonian. 
 
 Sd. That every opinion too strongly enforced, has 
 always an air of imposition [Vairirrfposee), and by that 
 means loses its authority. 
 
 3d. That the true Frenchman may be compared with 
 the Athenian who voted for the banishment of Aristides, 
 because he was tired with hearing him called the Just. 
 
Congress of Vienna. S35 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 The last Treaty. 
 
 The act connecting the affairs of France with the 
 Powers of Europe not forming part of the Congress of 
 Vienna, has not engaged our attention. Besides, the 
 period of great pain is not that most calculated for re- 
 flection. We shall confine ourselves to the following 
 ohservations : 
 
 1st. However sombre and well founded may be the 
 grief into which France has been plunged by this trea- 
 ty, nevertheless misfortune ought not to make her un- 
 just, in suffering a government, whose reputation has 
 immediately suffered by it, to be blamed for an act, the 
 necessity of which it has not itself created, and (if which 
 it could only moderate the severity. On those alone 
 who have been the cause of this dire necessity should 
 the censure fall. What crime had France committed 
 to induce them to involve her in this disaster? 
 
 2d. The transition from the rank which France 
 occupied, to its present degradation, is well calculated 
 to warn other nations of the danger of unreservedly 
 yielding the charge of their government into the hands 
 of one individual. Previous to the 18 Brumaire, France 
 was powerful, victorious, the mistress of Belgium and 
 the left bank of the Rhine. She never aspired to more ; 
 and if she has proceeded farther, it was owing to the 
 personal views of her chief; for if even his conquests 
 had been made without the assistance of France, he 
 would at least have conquered in spite of her. She has 
 ever been the instrument and the subject, but never the 
 object of what has been undertaken. To what may this 
 be ascribed ? To the want of a constitution in France. 
 Had she been supported by institutions so sufficiently 
 powerful as to prevent her learning from the gazette one 
 
236 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 day that she was at war with such a prince, another 
 that such a family has ceased to reign, France it is true 
 would never have assumed the character of a conquer- 
 ing nation, (fortius there was not much necessity;) but 
 she would not have been twice invaded : (of this there 
 was much less necessity.) Whatever constitotion France 
 possessed, having been merely formed to give power to 
 the prince, he found himself enabled to dispose of the 
 resources of a nation, active, intelligent, and brave. 
 With means like these, much might have been achieved 
 —-and much certainly has. But what are the conse- 
 quences? A good constitution would have eqjially pre- 
 vented victory and defeat. France would have had less 
 brilliant acts to commemorate, but !ier future prospects 
 would have borne a less gloomy aspect. Snares or ca- 
 lamities lurk concealed from the gaze of nations beneath 
 the laurels gathered by warlike princes. Besides, there 
 is no excess to which there is not a termination fixed, 
 and a punishment assigned. 
 
 3d. We find in this treaty a justification of the fears 
 we intimated on the subject of the approximation of the 
 Prussian to the French frontiers. Behold Prussia taking 
 possession of Saar Louis ; and the frontiers of France, 
 which extend to the possessions she has just obtained on 
 the Saar. Tiiis is the result of the system which de- 
 prived the former of Saxony. She has very soon gather- 
 ed its fruits. Prussia, stationed at the entrance of 
 France, has endeavoured to prepare herself for ward- 
 ing off the first blows which this powerful body could 
 strike at that division of the monarchy which lay at so 
 great a distance from its centre. To accomplish this, it 
 was necessary to enlarge and fortify her frontier ; and 
 as France was alone able to contribute to it, Prussia has 
 formed this frontier at her expense; a frontier not to 
 be obiainesi from any other source. She has availed 
 herself of the first opportunity to apply the dismem- 
 berment of France to her own advantage, in expecta- 
 tion of benefits arising from other circumstances. 
 
 4th. Whatever may be the amount of the pecuniary 
 
Congress of Vienna. 2S7 
 
 sacrifices made by France, it will not exceed lier pow- 
 ers of liquidating it; because it will not exceed her 
 wishes to fulfil her engagements. There is no country 
 that, as long as it has the wish, has not the power to 
 discharge its debts. As long as the sun shall shine on 
 France — as long as her soil continues fertile- — as long 
 as the industrious hands which support her manufacto- 
 ries are not chained, the wounds received may be found 
 to be severe, but they will not prove mortal. We are 
 far from participating in the vulgar fears as to the squan- 
 dering of money. M. Necker has informed us that the 
 sum of 500,000,000 was expended by France, in 17^6, 
 on the states of Lower Germany, in a war as vain in its 
 design as it was disastrous in its result. This sum of 
 500,000,000 was equivalent to more than 700,000,000 
 now. The expatriated French, in 1790, have been able 
 to ascertain that French capital formed the basis of pe- 
 cuniary transactions in these countries. But in what 
 way has this migration of the precious metals impove- 
 rished France, or affected the circulation necessary to 
 the exchanges ? The same will happen again. Then 
 let us carry our views still higher, and let us not re- 
 strict our search to the resources to be found in the cof- 
 fers of France. Public order is the foundation- stone ^ 
 and let this order be universally established ; let it be 
 rendered firm ; let it every day unite still more public 
 and private interests; let there be but one. Let the va- 
 lue be given to property, of which it is susceptible, by 
 an increase of that sentiment of sincerity, that will per« 
 manently fix in France that capital which, springing 
 from the bowels of the earth, will return with equal fa- 
 cility under an obscure or serene sky. Let every spe- 
 cies of industry continue free ; let every controversy 
 cease : and, above all, let division be banished from 
 this great family. The weight of calamity will then be- 
 come tolerable. Above all, let not the interest of the 
 state be betrayed by any of its members. We are not 
 now to think of the sacrifices that have been necessary 
 to our safety. When the vessel of the state is tossed 
 
238 Congress of Vienna 
 
 nbout by the tempest, it is relieved by throwing over- 
 board part of the cargo : the cargo, and not the rudder, 
 is cast into the sea, and which they offer as a sacrifice, 
 to appease the angry ocean. 
 
 5th. The military possession for many years of a vast 
 extent of country, and of the fortresses which constitute 
 the defence of France ; the renewal of treaties, which 
 originally were defensive, and which, in their actual 
 state, become threatening, sufficiently show the jealousy 
 Europe entertains of France, whether considered as a 
 political or a social body. By it, France (we are com- 
 pelled to allow it) is placed in a stsite of surveillance, and 
 excluded in some measure from the great society of Eu- 
 rope. Such a state contains too much constraint to be 
 long borne. But what is it necessary to do to bring it to 
 a conclusion ? We must labour to cure the evil by the 
 means that produced it. Thus Europe testifies her fears 
 fjf the possibility of an irruption of the French into those 
 territories which they have been obliged to surrender; 
 she suffers the same distrust to extend to ti»e state of her 
 public mind. It would be easy to show that these fears 
 are exaggerated, and that they arise from causes which 
 no longer exist. During the revolution, strangers have 
 not unfrequently been deceived with regard to the inte- 
 rior of France. It is because tiiey have been unable to 
 understand its internal system. 
 
 It is a thorough conviction of the probability of its en- 
 joying internal and external security, which will pro- 
 duce confidence in the minds of strangers. Now nothing 
 is more easy to achieve, if but a wish for it is entertain- 
 ed. To obtain this end, let every Frenchman imitate 
 and second the determination announced by govern- 
 ment, religiously to fulfil the condition of an act which 
 was called for by a necessity for preservation of the bo- 
 dy of the state. Let every regret for the past, and every 
 improper view to the future, be carefully discarded. Of 
 what service will they be? When all Europe can be- 
 lieve that the French have really given up all preten- 
 sions to Belgium and the left bank of the Khine ; that 
 
Congress of Vienna. 239 
 
 they are firmly resolved to confine themselves within 
 their own territories, and to remain there without am- 
 bition and without fear; then what motives can Europe 
 have to nourish hatred to France? In this respect, great 
 and frequent improprieties have been committed since 
 the treaty of Paris, and the greatest care ought to be 
 taken to prevent their recurrence. But this is not all : 
 for more than a year past, one half of the French have 
 endeavoured to get the other considered as a people 
 hostile to authority and morality ; the other half is sure 
 to recriminate. Thus is the nation forced by its own 
 conduct to go before a tribunal of foreigners. What 
 confidence and consideration can they allow to those 
 who do not allow it to themselves ? If they wish to calm 
 the fears of others, let them cease to evince any them- 
 selves. Let us display to Europe a people reunited in 
 the same sentiments of attachment to her government, 
 to the honour of the nation, and its prosperity; let them 
 rely on the same principles ; let them speak the same 
 language, equally a stranger to the exaggerations which 
 elevate the minds of some and depress the spirits of 
 others, and let them re-enter that family from which 
 misfortune has separated them ; then there would be no 
 source of fears for foreigners, and France will be in a 
 condition to demand that a period should be put to 
 those jealousies, the continuance of which can ouly be 
 considered as an insult. 
 
 Frenchmen ! If, at the close of a work in which your 
 interests have uniformly been the objects of our tender- 
 est solicitude, we were permitted to address you, we 
 would say, console yourselves ; your misfortunes are 
 not your own work, success alone is to be attributed to 
 you. It is your chiefs who, by abusing those powers 
 which in other hands would have insured to you a long 
 train of prosperity, have produced your calamities. One 
 of your sovereigns has immortalised himself by saying, 
 after a catastrophe, the result of which was more disas- 
 trous than the present, Every thing is lost hut honour I 
 This sentence obliterated the memory of his defeat, as 
 
210 congress of Vienna. 
 
 long as sincere expression shall possess influence among 
 you. Well, nothing is lost, and honour still less than 
 any thing else. You have not been defeated, for you 
 have not even had to fight. All that you feel is the ef- 
 fect of an action which, in its commencement, in its 
 progress, and in its conclusion, defies definition. Twice 
 has Europe in arras traversed your cities and your 
 country decked with the emblems of peace ; through 
 the midst of citizens, anxious to avoid all resistance, 
 and eager to show submission. If any of your ramparts 
 have been attacked, the courage of your warriors has 
 commanded the homage of the enemy, who could not 
 reconcile such resistance with such feeble means of sap- 
 porting it. You have filled the world with sufficient mo- 
 numents of your genius ; perhaps too many of your war- 
 like valour ; a new species of glory now awaits you, 
 that of constancy and dignity in misfortune. Show that 
 you are superior to it : the only way is to meet it fairly, 
 and support it without complaint. Turn your eyes from 
 the political field in which you have gathered nothing 
 but thorns, and in which you find all Europe in arms 
 against you. For years to come, think of nothing but 
 how to fertilise the soil on which you live, and there to 
 establish the virtues which placed your forefathers the 
 first in rank among the people of Europe. Then recon- 
 cile yourselves, and you will be enabled to offer a truly 
 brotherly hand to all nations, and require them to lay 
 aside their unjust suspicions, and for their own interest 
 even to add to the means of your prosperity. That land, 
 which has given birth to men such as Montesquieu, 
 Pascal, Bossuet, Fenelon, and to a hundred others who 
 have diffused lights pure as they are brilliant, will al- 
 ways be esteemed the country of true sociability and 
 reason. Sheltered by these great and illustrious names, 
 you may equally defy comparisons and reproach. 
 
 THE END. 
 

 
 

 
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