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THE CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 PRINCE TALLEYRAND 
 
 AND 
 
 KING LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 DURING THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 
 
 (HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED.) 
 
LIBRARY. . 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 PRINCE TALLEYRAND 
 
 L and 
 
 KING LOUIS XVIII 
 
 V J 
 
 I' 
 
 DURING THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
 
 T / 
 
 , (HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED) 
 
 * / 
 
 /FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS PRESERVED IN THE ARCHIVES 
 OP THE MINISTRY OP FOREIGN AFFAIRS AT PARIS 
 
 4 
 
 WITH A PREFACE OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES BY 
 
 M. G. PALLAIN 
 
 » 
 
 AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION 
 WITH A PORTRAIT AND DESCRIPTIVE INDEX 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 
 
 743 and 745 Broadway. 
 
 PARIS : 
 
 e. plon et cm 
 
 LEIPSIC: 
 H0KHAUS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 -RY AN, 
 
4 
 
 Copyright, 1881 by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The publication of the Memoirs left by Prince 
 
 Talleyrand, who died in 1838, cannot be much 
 longer delayed. 
 
 Without passing premature judgment upon the 
 interest and piquancy of the revelations which may 
 
 be looked for when those Memoirs shall see the 
 light, we may fairly surmise that the great politician 
 
 who diplomatized so much with his contemporaries, 
 has not resisted the temptation to diplomatize a 
 little with posterity. 
 
 It would be surprising if, having always and' 
 in all things thoroughly understood and carefully 
 studied the mise en scene, he had not most skilfully, 
 arranged the conditions of perspective under which 
 he would choose to allow himself to be seen by 
 the generations who should come after him. But 
 although his own evidence upon himself and his 
 times is not yet available to us, we are enabled to 
 take him by surprise, at the present moment, by 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the aid of documents deposited in the archives of 
 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to examine the 
 details of his relations with many rulers of kingdoms 
 and chief ministers in his character of negotiator. 
 
 At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs there is a 
 manuscript comprising one hundred documents : 
 sixty of these are letters written by Prince Talley¬ 
 rand to King Louis XVIII. during the Congress 
 of Vienna. 
 
 This manuscript also contains letters of Louis 
 XVIII. The minutes of the latter are in the 
 same archives, and constitute an annexe; there are 
 also two letters, written, by the Kings command, 
 on the 9th of November and the 4th of December, 
 1814, by Count de Blacas. The manuscript also 
 contains some diplomatic documents which are fitly 
 included in our publication, especially the famous 
 report with which Prince Talleyrand furnished Louis 
 XVIII. on his departure from Ghent for Paris. 
 
 We have been allowed access to the whole of 
 this manuscript, and are authorized to publish it. 
 
 M. Thiers, who knew Prince Talleyrand very 
 well, frequently spoke of this correspondence, which 
 he had consulted in the course of his historical 
 studies of the period of the Consulate and the 
 Empire. He regarded the letters as among the 
 most curious and complete of the documents bearing 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 upon the history of that period. They had been, by 
 a special privilege, placed in his hands at an epoch 
 when the exclusive traditions of M. d’Hauterive still 
 prevailed at the Foreign Office—traditions which 
 have been so courteously set aside by the Commis¬ 
 sion of Diplomatic Archives, and by the learned 
 and liberal Keeper of the Archives, M. Girard 
 de Rialle. 
 
 The great diplomatic authority of Prince Talley¬ 
 rand, and the numerous arguments to be drawn 
 from his correspondence in favour of the Austro- 
 English alliance, did not prevent M. Thiers from 
 taking, in his history, the side of the Prusso-Russian 
 alliance which, from 1814, General Pozzo di Borgo 
 recommended. May we not therefore suppose that 
 M. Thiers, who had eluded the influence of Prince 
 Talleyrand, with respect to the history of that period, 
 had suffered himself to be convinced by General 
 Pozzo di Borgo, whose opinions and sayings he was 
 fond of quoting even during the closing years of 
 his life. 
 
 General Pozzo di Borgo never relinquished his 
 efforts to bring about that close political alliance 
 between France and Russia, which was attempted at 
 Tilsit and reconsidered at Vienna, where the repre¬ 
 sentative of the Czar wished to set the seal to it by 
 a marriage between the Due de Berry and the 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 sister of the Emperor Alexander. That alliance 
 was his principal object during the whole period of 
 the Restoration. We now know that when the folly of 
 the Polignac ministry brought about the Revolution 
 of 1830, the ideas of General Pozzo di Borgo were 
 on the point of realization. . France had the promise 
 of the banks of the Rhine; Russia, on her side, was 
 free to push her way so far as Constantinople; and 
 the expedition to Algeria, made at that very time, in 
 spite of the displeasure of England, makes it plain 
 that a part of this scheme of alliance and partition 
 was that France shouid be permitted to take a 
 portion of the Ottoman Empire.^) 
 
 The regret with which the Emperor Nicholas 
 regarded the defeat of this plan had had, no doubt, 
 something to do with his well-known hostility to 
 King Louis Philippe. This supposition is all the 
 more reasonable since the Government of the Czars 
 has never been very fond of legitimacy; and that 
 in the correspondence which we publish, it will be 
 seen that the Emperor Alexander was quite willing 
 to pass over the elder branch of the Bourbons, and 
 at once place on the throne of France, on the 
 occasion of the second Restoration, the prince who 
 was afterwards Louis Philippe. No doubt there 
 was something in these glimpses of exterior ag¬ 
 grandizement very seductive to the patriotic senti* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 ments of M. Thiers, and his predilection, as an 
 historian, for the Russian alliance is explicable. 
 
 The essential point which it is proposed to 
 elucidate in this introduction is : Was Prince Talley¬ 
 rand right, eminently right, in pronouncing in favour 
 of the Austro-English alliance, in 1814, at the risk of 
 clashing with the national sentiment ? We do not 
 intend to enter into a disquisition upon the Congress 
 of Vienna; and still less do we propose to draw, in 
 this first publication, a complete picture of the long 
 and eventful career of one whom foreigners, more 
 equitable it may be than ourselves, rank high among 
 our great statesmen. It will suffice for our purpose 
 if we can place the principle of the whole of his 
 conduct, and the results which he obtained in this 
 memorable negotiation, in a clear light. 
 
 That principle, or rather—for it ought to be called 
 by its true name—that supreme expedient, of which 
 he was about to make such great use, was legitimacy. 
 Against the ambition of old Europe, victorious, 
 and in coalition, it was plain he could not invoke the 
 principles of 1789, the rights of man and of citi¬ 
 zens, the sovereignty of the people. As he did 
 not possess material strength, he had to seek a new 
 force wherewith to hold his victorious enemies at 
 bay. All that he could do was to protect, in the 
 name of the legitimist principle, i.e. of historic right, 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the integrity of the territory which, within its neces¬ 
 sary frontiers, would still leave the France of 1789 
 able to profit by the application of the political, 
 civil, and economical conquests of the Revolution. 
 
 Vanquished France then profited in her defeat, 
 by the principle which it was the interest of the 
 other European monarchies to respect in her person 
 because those monarchies themselves had no other 
 foundation. She was placed by Prince Talleyrand 
 under the aegis of a principle which was sufficiently 
 accepted by the Allied Powers, to restrict their 
 victory. Thus she escaped that application of force 
 pure and simple which, under the Empire, she had 
 often inflicted upon them. 
 
 At a moment when the idea of the sovereignty 
 of the people, perverted and ruined by the Empire 
 which had disregarded it, had lost all practical value, 
 Prince Talleyrand cleverly exhumed from the history 
 of the past an idea whose moral qualities were to make 
 the future of the France of 1789 safe. It is not 
 necessary to believe that the scepticism of Prince 
 Talleyrand himself was relinquished unreservedly in 
 favour of the new doctrine which he sought to in¬ 
 culcate. He was the utilitarian advocate of it with 
 crowned heads. At that epoch, the force of circum¬ 
 stances, with which he liked to contend, was imposing 
 legitimacy upon the world. This was the moment 
 
I 
 
 J 
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 when Napoleon, lamenting, with Caulaincourt, that 
 he had received France so great and left her so 
 small, was debating whether he should not himself 
 send for the Bourbons. 
 
 In the “ Memorial de Sainte Helene” (tom. vii. 
 p. 283, edition of 1823) we find the following:— 
 
 “ After the defeat of Brienne, the evacuation of 
 Troyes, the forced retreat upon the Seine, and the 
 humiliating conditions sent from Chatillon, which 
 he bravely rejected, the Emperor, overcome at the 
 prospect of the deluge of evils wdiich was about to 
 overwhelm France, remained for some time absorbed 
 in sorrowful meditation ; but at length he started up 
 and exclaimed, ‘ It may be that I still possess a 
 means 7 of saving France! What if I myself were 
 to recall the Bourbons ! The Allies would be obliged 
 to stop short before them, under pain of the shame of 
 acknowledged duplicity—under pain of proving that 
 their action is directed against our territory more than 
 against my person. I would sacrifice everything to 
 the country; I would become the mediator between 
 the French people and them ; I would constrain 
 them to accede to the national laws ; I would make 
 them swear to observe the existing compact; my 
 glory and my name would serve as a guarantee to 
 the French. As for me, I have reigned long enough : 
 my career is replete with great deeds and the lustre 
 
Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 of them ; this last would not be the least among 
 them ; by means of it I should rather rise to a higher 
 place than descend from my own/ Then, after a 
 few moments of profound silence, he resumed, in a 
 tone of sadness : ‘ But does a dynasty which has 
 once been expelled ever pardon ? . . . Could it 
 return having forgotten anything ? . . . Could any 
 one trust them ? . . . Was Fox right in his famous 
 saying about Restorations ?' ” 
 
 So early as 1810, he said to M. de Metternich, 
 “Do you know why Louis XVIII. is not sitting 
 here in front of you ? It is only because I am 
 sitting here. Nobody else would have been able to 
 hold the place, and if ever a catastrophe occurs, 
 and I disappear, it will be filled by a Bourbon.” 
 
 Not only was the idea of legitimacy, according 
 to Prince Talleyrand’s intention, to serve as an aegis 
 for France; it was also to be the palladium of a 
 European balance of power of sufficient duration to 
 enable France, exhausted by so many struggles, to 
 secure long years of quiet and prosperity. 
 
 Prince Talleyrand had always had a private 
 leaning towards the English alliance; before the 
 Revolution of 1789, he made one of that small 
 group who, after the publication of Voltaire’s 
 “ Lettres Anglaises,” and the homage paid by Mon¬ 
 tesquieu to the great, free, and commercial nation, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 were asking whether it might not be possible to 
 get rid of traditional jealousy and prejudice, and 
 to form between reconciled France and England 
 an alliance which was demanded not only by the 
 interests of the two people, but by the cause of 
 civilization itself. 
 
 Mirabeau had similar tendencies : the following 
 advice is taken from two unpublished letters forming- 
 part of a correspondence between himself and his 
 friend, the Abbe de Perigord, in 1786, during his 
 secret mission to Berlin:—“ I have discussed the 
 so-called chimerical idea of an alliance between 
 Franee and England with the Duke of Brunswick ; 
 he regards it as the saviour of the world, and sees 
 no difficulty in it except the prejudices of false 
 science and the lukewarmness of pusillanimity. 
 
 “ I talked about it philosophically, at the English 
 Legation, and I found Lord Dalrymple and even his 
 very British Secretary of Legation infinitely more 
 disposed to the idea than I could have ventured to 
 hope. Lord Dalrymple told me that on hearing 
 the news of the Germanic Confederation, he had 
 at once said to the Marquis of Carmarthen and 
 Mr. Pitt that there was no longer any policy but 
 one for England—that of a coalition with France, 
 founded on unrestricted free trade. 
 
 “ The routine politicians may do their best; they 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 may bestir themselves as much as they like in their 
 petty ways; there is but one great plan, one 
 luminous idea, one project wide enough to embrace, 
 to reconcile, and to terminate everything. That 
 plan is yours ; by putting down not only the rival¬ 
 ries of commerce, but the absurd and sanguinary 
 enmity to which they give rise, it would confide the 
 peace and freedom of the two worlds to the vigilant 
 and paternal care of France and England. 
 
 “No doubt this idea appears romantic, but is it 
 our fault that everything which is simple has become 
 romantic? No doubt to the short-sighted it looks 
 like a chapter from ‘ Gullivers Travels,’ but is 
 it not the more or less remote distance from the 
 possible which distinguishes men ? 
 
 “ I only want to encourage you to show that it is 
 possible, almost easy, to establish on the imperishable 
 and immovable basis of common interest an alliance 
 between two countries which can and ought to 
 command the peace of the world, and which would 
 prevent continual strife and bloodshed between the 
 two nations.” Prophetic words not forgotten by 
 Mirabeau’s friend, for, when he was sent on a 
 mission to London in 1792, he attempted to bring 
 about such an alliance ; and no doubt often repeated 
 to himself during the fatal contests of the Empire, 
 whose fall recalled him to a sense of its necessity. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 The imperative obligation of securing repose 
 for France and preserving the European balance 
 of power induced him to decide upon making 
 approaches to the English Legation. 
 
 That the sole aim of Russia in uniting with 
 France would be domination had been made 
 manifest at Tilsit. The alliance between France 
 and Russia had a distinct preponderance of advan¬ 
 tage on the side of Russia, that empire proposing to 
 itself unlimited aggrandizement in Asia and even in 
 Europe. France, on the contrary, could not, even 
 under the most favourable conditions, claim anything 
 beyond the Rhine. Prince Talleyrand therefore 
 acted like a statesman in declaring that the real 
 strength of France, especially after her defeat, lay 
 in her clearly expressed desire for the restoration 
 
 i 
 
 and the maintenance of peace. Recurring to the 
 ideas of Voltaire and his Rdpublique Europdenne , at 
 that moment, he said (the words are reported by 
 Baron de Gagern, who heard him utter them), 
 “We must be good Europeans and moderate. 
 France ought to demand, and does demand, nothing, 
 
 ' absolutely nothing, beyond a just redivision among 
 the Powers ; that is to say, the balance of power.” 
 
 The balance of power was thus defined: “A 
 combination of the rights, the interests, and the 
 relations of the Powers among themselves, by 
 which Europe seeks to obtain — 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XVI 
 
 “ Firstly. That the rights and possessions of a 
 Power shall not be attacked by one or several other 
 Powers. 
 
 “ Secondly. That one or several other Powers 
 shall never attain to domination over Europe. 
 
 “ Thirdly. That the combination adopted shall 
 render a rupture of the established order and of 
 the tranquillity of Europe difficult or impossible.” 
 
 In order to obtain that equilibrium, he signed 
 the treaty of the 3rd of January, 1815. 
 
 He saw in Europe, on the one side ( 2 ) Austria, 
 an essentially diplomatic and conservative Power, of 
 which he gave M. de Metternich the following defini¬ 
 tion :—“Austria is the House of Lords of Europe; 
 so long as she remains undissolved, she will keep 
 down the Commons ”—and England, a parliamentary 
 Power, who had preceded us in the path of liberty. 
 On the other side, he saw Russia, a new and enig¬ 
 matical Power, represented by a theatrical, mystical, 
 and versatile personage, who changed his policy, his 
 alliances, and his friendships according to the whims 
 of his romantic imagination—a sort of Slav Napo¬ 
 leon, who had risen upon the ruins of the Napoleonic 
 Empire, and who, after having astonished the coali¬ 
 tion by his liberalism, was in the following year to 
 become the promoter of the Holy Alliance. 
 
 While Russia and England tended to encourage 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XVII 
 
 the ambition of Prussia ( 3 )—the only Power which 
 had presented itself at the Congress of Vienna 
 with a seriously elaborated plan, and laboured for 
 its fulfilment with the ardent tenacity inculcated 
 by its constitution—Prince Talleyrand applied him- 
 self to check that ambition. He had discerned in 
 the constitution of Prussia a principle of absorption 
 and conquest which must dispel any idea of an 
 alliance with that Power. 
 
 The following references to this point occur in 
 the instructions which he had received—and which 
 were probably drawn up by himself—on the 25th 
 of September, 1814, before he left Paris for 
 Vienna:— 
 
 “ In Italy, it is Austria that must be prevented 
 from predominating; in Germany, it is Prussia. 
 The constitution of the Prussian monarchy makes 
 ambition a kind of necessity. Every pretext is 
 good in its sight; no scruple arrests ic. Convencmce 
 is the law. The Allies have, it is said, pledged 
 themselves to replace Prussia in the same condition 
 of power as she was before her fall, that is to 
 say, with ten millions of subjects. If she be left 
 alone, she will soon have twenty millions, and all 
 Germany will be in subjection to her. It is, then, 
 necessary to curb her ambition, in the first place 
 
 by restricting as much as possible her status of 
 
 b 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
XV111 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 i 
 
 possession in Germany, and in the second place by 
 restricting her influence by federal organization.’^ 4 ) 
 
 An agreement between France and Prussia could 
 not do otherwise than hasten the unity of Germany; 
 it was easy to see that Protestant Prussia would 
 thenceforth attract Germany, which was in majority 
 Protestant, to herself. Now the unity of Germany, 
 at this epoch, meant war, and Prince Talleyrand 
 knew that France and Europe desired peace. 
 
 If Saxony had been given up to Prussia, in 
 accordance with the persistent and unwearying 
 demands of the Prussian plenipotentiary, would not 
 Prussia have rapidly assimilated to herself that rich 
 and industrious country, Protestant like herself, 
 half Slav and half Germanic, like herself, and with 
 tendencies similar to her own ? 
 
 Would not the' preponderance of Prussia over 
 Germany have been secured by the signature of 
 the final act of that Congress whose great object 
 was to insure peace by an equitable distribution 
 of the forces of attack and defence among the 
 nations ? 
 
 Would not the work of German unification, 
 already singularly accelerated by the destruction of 
 the former Germanic Empire, have been advanced 
 by the space of half a century ? 
 
 The existence of an autonomous Saxony guaran- 
 
PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 The return of Napoleon led Prince Talleyrand 
 to draw up a memorial addressed to the Powers 
 assembled at Vienna. This document has unfortu¬ 
 nately been lost; but, if we may judge of it by his 
 correspondence at that period, it must have contained 
 formulas of exorcism directed against the spectre 
 (revenant ) of the island of Elba, which smacked 
 rather of the former bishop than of the discerning 
 friend and undeceived associate of Napoleon. 
 
 The declaration of the 13th of March and that 
 of the 25th are known; the coalition was re-formed; 
 and at that moment Talleyrand, on the ground of 
 diplomacy, had a right to say that he defended the 
 cause of France by obtaining the maintenance of 
 the treaty of the 30th of May, which secured our 
 frontiers to us, and by signing the final act of the 
 Congress of Vienna. 
 
 Pie re-entered Paris with Louis XVIII., and 
 resumed his post as Prime Minister, but the memories 
 of Ghent had made only a transient impression 
 upon the King, and he who had promoted the return 
 of Louis XVIII. was very soon forced to retreat 
 before the triumphant reaction and the hostility of 
 Alexander. That hostility Prince Talleyrand had 
 nobly earned, by defending the principles of the law 
 of nations against the Emperor of Russia at the 
 Congress of Vienna. On the same day on which 
 
XXIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the Gazette Officielle announced the retirement of 
 Talleyrand, the Holy Alliance was concluded at 
 Paris, under the auspices of Alexander. We were 
 far indeed from the treaty of the 3rd of January, 
 1815. 
 
 Evidently, Prince Talleyrand had not sufficient 
 strength of character to make his system of parlia¬ 
 mentary and constitutional Monarchy, which would 
 place the Charter above royalty itself, prevail against 
 the personal preferences of Louis XVIII., and 
 especially against the retrograde passions of those 
 by whom the King was surrounded. But while he 
 yielded to the force of circumstances with which he 
 did not care to contend, his keen discernment and 
 his consummate experience made it plain to him 
 that, at a future period, more or less distant, the 
 restored Monarchy would, like Napoleon I., have 
 to pay dearly for the liberties it had taken with 
 his counsels. 
 
 When the Revolution of 1830 occurred, he was 
 perfectly prepared for it; he was not in the least 
 surprised by it; and, while he experienced the 
 bitter satisfaction of seeing his fears realized, he 
 doubtless hoped that he might at length behold 
 the establishment, by the new Charter, of that 
 regime which in reality he had always preferred. 
 It was then that, recurring to the violence and the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXV 
 
 excesses which he had witnessed, and opposing the 
 candidature of a prince of the House of Austria in 
 Belgium, he wrote on the 27th of November, 1830, 
 to M. Mole, in a letter which was to be shown to 
 King Louis Philippe: ( 7 ) “ I have said to Lord 
 Palmerston and Lord Grey, ‘ A prince of the 
 House of Austria in Belgium would look too like 
 a Restoration; and you ought to bear in mind a 
 thng which I forgot, fifteen years ago—that Mr. 
 Fox said, and put it in print, that the worst of 
 Revolutions is a Restoration.’ ” 
 
 ' NOTES TO THE PREFACE. 
 
 (1) It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that Algeria 
 was, with the whole coast of Barbary, the vassal and tributary ot 
 the Sultan of Turkey. 
 
 (2) “ There are in Europe at the present day four Great Powers ; 
 for I do not place Prussia in that rank. She is held to be great 
 because one of her monarchs did great things, and because we 
 are accustomed to confound the State which he rendered illus¬ 
 trious with Frederick II. But with a parcelled-out territory, open 
 on all sides, a soil for the most part ungrateful, a population of 
 ten millions only, little industry, and small capital, Prussia is in 
 reality only the first of the second-rate Powers. 
 
 “ At the head of the four Great Powers stands France ; stronger 
 than each of the other three, capable even of resisting them all, 
 the sole perfect Power, because she alone unites in correct pro¬ 
 portions the two elements of greatness which are unequally dis¬ 
 tributed among the others, that is to say, men and wealth. 
 
XXVI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Talleyrand’s Memorial to the Emperor Napoleon, dated from 
 Strasburg, 25 Vendemiairc, Year XIV. (1806). 
 
 (3) “ An alliance between France and Prussia had been re¬ 
 garded as a means of preserving peace on the Continent. But an 
 alliance with Prussia is now impossible. . . . Thus, it is not to be 
 hoped that for half a century to come Prussia can associate herself 
 with any noble enterprise.”—Memorial to the Emperor Napoleon, 
 
 25 Venddmiaire, Year XIV. (1806). 
 
 (4) See D’Angeberg, “ Le Congres de Vienne,” p. 23. 
 
 (5) On the day after the victory of Ulm, he advised Napoleon 
 to form that alliance with Austria. He wrote as follows:— 
 
 “I assume that after winning a great battle, your Majesty 
 would say to the House of Austria, ‘ I did everything to main¬ 
 tain peace; you would only have war. I predicted the conse¬ 
 quences to you. I have conquered you reluctantly, but I am 
 the conqueror. I desire that my victory should be for the 
 common good. I want to extirpate even the very least germ of 
 misunderstanding between us. Our dissensions can arise from a 
 too close neighbourhood only. Let you and the princes of your 
 house relinquish Lindau and the island of Monau, from whence 
 you disturb Switzerland, and give us the State of Venice, Trieste, 
 and the Tyrol. I, for my part, will separate the crowns of France 
 and Italy, as I have promised. The kingdom of Italy shall never 
 be enlarged. 
 
 “ ‘ The republic of Venice, to which Trieste will be joined, 
 shall be restored under the presidency of a magistrate of its own 
 selection. While I exact sacrifices from you, I do not intend that 
 they shall remain without compensation; on the contrary, I desire 
 that the compensation shall exceed them in value. 
 
 “ ‘ Extend yourself along the Danube. Occupy Wallachia, 
 Moldavia, and Bessarabia. I will intervene to procure the sur¬ 
 render of those possessions to you by the Ottoman Porte, and if * 
 the Russians attack you, I will be your ally.’ . . . 
 
 “ I venture to think that after a victory, such proposals will be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXV11 
 
 joyfully accepted by the House of Austria, and then a fair peace 
 will terminate a glorious war. . . . 
 
 “ In past times it was held necessary to fortify Austria, which 
 was regarded as a bulwark against the Ottomans, then formidable 
 to Christendom. Notwithstanding the ancient rivalry between the 
 Houses of Austria and Bourbon, and the ancient alliance of 
 France with the Ottoman Porte, Louis XIV. perceived the danger 
 of Europe, and gave his rival aid. At the present time, the Turks 
 are no longer to be feared ; they have everything to fear. 
 
 “ But they have been replaced by the Prussians; Austria is 
 still the chief bulwark which Europe has to oppose to them, and 
 it is against them that Austria must now be fortified. 
 
 “ So that sound policy requires, not that the sacrifices which 
 Austria must make be recompensed, but that the compensation 
 be such as to leave her no dissatisfaction. 
 
 “Let her, in exchange for the State of Venice, the Tyrol, and 
 her possessions in Swabia and the neighbouring States, which will 
 remain extinct ever afterwards, be given Wallachia, Moldavia, 
 Bessarabia, and the most northern portion of Bulgaria. She 
 will then be mistress of two fertile provinces; she will acquire, 
 through her former States, an outlet on the Danube, nearly the 
 whole course of that river will be subject to her laws, and a 
 portion of the shores of the Black Sea; and she will have no 
 cause to regret losses so richly compensated.”—Memorial to the 
 Emperor Napoleon, 25 Vendemiaire, Year XIV. (1806). 
 
 (6) We have been enabled to consult the manuscript of the 
 letters of M. de Jaucourt, and a copy of a correspondence which 
 is attributed in the Department to M. d’Hauterive. We give 
 some extracts in the course of this volume. 
 
 (7) It was in the same letter that he said, “France ought not 
 to think of making what are called alliances; she ought to stand 
 well with all, and only better with a few Powers; that is to say, to 
 keep up such relations of friendship with them as find expression 
 when political events present themselves. This kind of relation 
 
XXV111 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 « 
 
 is formed nowadays on a different principle from that of earlier 
 times. The progress of civilization* will henceforth form our ties 
 of kindred. We ought, then, to endeavour to attract towards us 
 those Governments in which civilization is most advanced. There 
 we shall find our real family alliances.” 
 
 N.B.—For information regarding the names of places or 
 persons alluded to in this correspondence, the reader is referred 
 to the Biographical and Geographical Index at the end of the 
 volume. 
 
 ERRATUM-Vol. I. 
 
 Page 27, line 27 ,for Reinhart ' read “ d’Hauterive.” 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Vienna, 25 th September, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 7 
 
 I left Paris on the 16th, and arrived here 
 on the evening of the 23rd. I only stopped on 
 my journey at Strasburg and Munich. 
 
 The Princess of Wales has just left Strasburg. 
 She went while there to a ball given by Madame 
 Franck, the banker’s widow, and danced all night. 
 She gave Talma a supper at the inn where I put 
 up. Her proceedings at Strasburg entirely ac¬ 
 count for the Prince Regent’s being better pleased 
 that she should be in Italy than in England. 
 
 At Munich, the King spoke to me of his attach¬ 
 ment to your Majesty, and of the fears with which 
 Prussian ambition inspire him. He said, with a very 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 1 
 
2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 good grace: “I have served France twenty-one 
 years; a thing not to be forgotten.” A conversation 
 of two hours’ duration with M. de Montgelas 
 proved to me conclusively that we have only to 
 carry out the principles laid down by your Majesty 
 as the basis of the political system of France to 
 secure the adherence and win the confidence of the 
 minor Powers. 
 
 At Vienna, the language of the plenipotentiaries 
 is not yet that of reason and moderation. 
 
 One of the Russian ministers said to us yesterday : 
 “ They wanted to make an Asiatic Power of us ; 
 Poland will make us European.” 
 
 Russia would not ask anything better than to 
 exchange her old Polish provinces ( x ) for those which 
 she covets in Germany and on the banks of the 
 Rhine. These two Powers ought to be regarded 
 as closely united on that point. 
 
 The Russian ministers insist, without having 
 admitted the slightest discussion up to the present 
 time, upon an extension of territory which would 
 carry that Power to the banks of the Vistula, and 
 even add Old Prussia ( 2 ) to their empire. 
 
 I hope the Emperor,( 3 ) who, under different cir¬ 
 cumstances, allowed me to put frankly before him 
 what I judged to be most conducive to his true 
 interests and to his fame, will permit me to contest 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 O 
 
 the policy of his ministers in his presence. La 
 Harpe, the philanthropist, objects strongly to the 
 former partition of Poland, and urges its subjection 
 to Russia. He has been at Vienna these ten days. 
 
 The right of the King of Saxony to have a 
 minister at the Congress is disputed. M. de 
 Schulenburg,( 4 ) whom I have known for a long 
 time, told me yesterday that the King had declared 
 that he would make no act of cession, abdication, or 
 exchange whatever which could destroy the existence 
 of Saxony and do injury to the rights of his house. 
 This honourable resistance on the part of the King 
 may make some impression on those who still favour 
 the idea of uniting Saxony to Prussia. 
 
 Bavaria has offered the King of Saxony to 
 support these claims with a considerable body of 
 troops, if necessary. Prince de Wrede says that 
 he is ordered to give as many as 40,000 men. 
 
 The question of Naples is not decided.( 5 ) Austria 
 wants to place Naples and Saxony on the same foot¬ 
 ing, and Russia wants to make them subjects for 
 compensation. 
 
 The Queen of Naples is but little regretted.( 6 ) 
 Her death seems to have made things easier for 
 M. de Metternich. 
 
 Nothing has been settled with respect to the 
 order and conduct of the business of the Congress. 
 
4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Even the English, whom I believed to be more 
 methodical than the others, have made no prepara¬ 
 tory plan. 
 
 I am inclined to think that there will be a 
 general assent to the idea of two Commissions: one 
 composed of the six Great Powers, ( 7 ) to be occupied 
 with the general affairs of Europe ; the other com¬ 
 posed of the six leading German Powers,( 8 ) (I 
 should have wished the number to be seven ( 9 )), to 
 prepare the affairs of Germany. The idea of a 
 Commission for Italy is highly displeasing to 
 Austria. 
 
 The line of conduct which your Majesty has 
 laid down for your ministers is so noble that it must 
 necessarily, if all reason have not vanished from 
 the earth, give them some influence in the end. 
 
 I am, Sire, 
 
 With the most profound respect, 
 
 Your Majesty's most humble and 
 
 obedient servant and subject, 
 
 Talleyrand. 
 
 P.S.—The Emperor of Russia and the King of 
 Prussia ( 10 ) have just arrived. Their entry was a 
 fine sight. They were on horseback, the Emperor 
 of Austria in the middle. Some slight disorder 
 occasioned by the horses led to the King of Prussia's 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 0 
 
 being for a considerable part of the way on the right 
 of the Emperor Francis ;( n ) the proper order of 
 things was not restored until shortly before they 
 reached the palace. ( 12 ) 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER I. 
 
 (1) Prussia had shared in the three partitions of Poland (1773, 
 1793, 1795). At the last partition Warsaw had fallen to the 
 share of that kingdom. 
 
 (2) By “Old Prussia,” Prince Talleyrand means Royal, formerly 
 called Ducal Prussia, whose capital is Koningsberg. 
 
 (3) The Emperor of Russia. 
 
 (4) The King of Saxony had sent M. de Gaerz, his confidential 
 adviser, to Vienna in September. In the declaration of the King 
 of Saxony, plated from Friedriechsfeld, 4th November, 1814, the 
 following passage occurs :—“ The preservation and the consolida¬ 
 tion of the legitimate dynasties has been the great object of a war 
 which has just been happily terminated : the Powers which entered 
 into a coalition for that purpose have repeatedly proclaimed in the 
 most solemn manner, that far from entertaining any project of 
 conquest or aggrandizement, they have solely in view the re-estab¬ 
 lishment of law and liberty in Europe.” 
 
 In December, he entrusted all his powers to M. de Schulen- 
 burg, who had just published a pamphlet entitled, “ Do the 
 People of Saxony wish for a Change of Dynasty?” 
 
 (5) Joachim Murat had remained in possession of the king¬ 
 dom of Naples after the fall of Napoleon I., his brother-in-law 
 (April, 1814). 
 
 (6) Marie Caroline (1752-1814). See Appendix. 
 
 (7) Russia, Austria, Prussia, England, France, Spain. 
 
 (8) Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, and Hanover; the 
 sixth ought to have been Saxony, which was, in fact, excluded. 
 
6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (9) No doubt by the addition of the grand-duchy of Baden. 
 
 (10) Frederick William III. See Appendix. 
 
 (it) Francis I. of Austria. See Appendix. 
 
 (12) In the Moniteur Universel of 9th October, an account is 
 given of the entry of the sovereigns into Vienna, 26th September, 
 1814: “The procession lasted more than an hour: a salute of 
 one thousand guns was fired from the ramparts.” 
 
 A caricature of the period represents the Emperor Alexander 
 driving a huge travelling-carriage, the King of Prussia acting as 
 chasseur; the Emperor Napoleon following the vehicle on foot, 
 and crying out to the Emperor Francis, “Father-in-law, father- 
 in-law, they have put me out.” The Emperor of Austria, who 
 occupies the interior of the carriage, looks out of the window 
 and answers, “ And me in i ” 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Vienna, 29th September, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 At last we have almost finished our round of 
 visits to the members of the numerous Royal family. 
 It has been most pleasant to me to meet everywhere 
 with evidence of the high consideration with which 
 the person of your Majesty is regarded ; the interest 
 and the good wishes of all are expressed in language 
 more or less complimentary indeed, but with sin< 
 cerity that cannot be suspected. The Empress^ 1 ) 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 7 
 
 who had been obliged since our arrival to devote 
 herself exclusively to the Empress of Russia,( 2 ) had 
 appointed an hour for receiving us to-day. She is un¬ 
 fortunately indisposed, and although she deputed the 
 Archduchess her mother to receive several persons 
 on her behalf, she received your Majesty’s embassy 
 in person. She questioned me respecting your 
 Majesty’s health with interest which was not dictated 
 by mere politeness. “ I remember,” said she, “ to 
 have seen the King at Milan. I was very young- 
 then, and he was all kindness to me ; I have never 
 forgotten that under any circumstances.” She spoke 
 in similar terms of the Duchesse d’Angouleme, of 
 her good 1 qualities, of the affection with which she 
 was regarded at Vienna, and the remembrance of 
 her that is preserved there. She was also pleased 
 to say very obliging things about your Majesty’s 
 minister. Twice she mentioned the name of the 
 Archduchess Marie Louise; the second time she 
 called her, with a sort of affectation, “ my daughter 
 Louise.” Notwithstanding the cough by which she 
 is frequently interrupted, and in spite of her thin¬ 
 ness, the Empress has the gift of pleasing, and 
 certain graces which I should call French, were they 
 not, to a critical eye, a little affected. 
 
 M. de Metternich is very polite to me; M. de 
 Stadion is more confidential with me. The latter, 
 
8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 indeed, being displeased at what the former does, 
 confines himself altogether to matters of finance;— 
 their management has been given to him, and 
 I greatly doubt his understanding them;—and has 
 abandoned Cabinet business ; this perhaps makes 
 him more communicative. I have to congratulate 
 myself upon the frankness with which I am treated 
 by Lord Castlereagh.( 3 ) A few days ago he had a 
 conversation with the Emperor Alexander,( 4 ) which 
 lasted for an hour and a half, and he came to me 
 afterwards to tell me all about it. He states that in 
 this conversation the Emperor employed all the 
 resources of a subtle mind, but that he (Lord Castle- 
 reagh) spoke in very positive terms, and indeed said 
 things so hard that they would have been unbe¬ 
 coming, had he not, in order to make them go down, 
 mixed up with them ardent protestations of zeal 
 for the Emperor’s glory. Notwithstanding all this, 
 however, I am afraid Lord Castlereagh has not 
 the spirit of decision which it would be so necessary 
 for us that he should have, and that the idea of 
 the English Parliament of which he never shakes 
 
 o 
 
 himself free, makes him timid. I will do all that in 
 me lies to inspire him with firmness. 
 
 Count Nesselrode had told me that the Em¬ 
 peror Alexander wished to see me, and it had been 
 arranged that I should write to him to ask for a 
 
 o 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 9 
 
 private audience. I did this several days ago, but 
 as yet I have no answer. Are our principles, of 
 which we make no secret, known to the Emperor 
 Alexander, and have they made him feel a kind of 
 awkwardness with me ? 
 
 If he does me the honour to converse with me 
 upon the affairs of Saxony and Poland—and all that 
 reaches me leads me to expect he will do so—I shall 
 be miM and conciliatory, but quite firm, speaking of 
 principles only, and never departing from them. 
 
 I am convinced that Russia and Prussia are 
 making so much noise and talking so big merely to 
 find out what is thought, and that if they see that 
 they stand alone they will think twice of it before 
 they carry things to extremity. The Polish enthu¬ 
 siasm which the Emperor Alexander took up in 
 Paris, cooled at St. Petersburg, was warmed up 
 again at Pulawy,( 5 ) and may decline once more, 
 although we have M. de la Harpe here, and we are 
 expecting the Czartoryskis. I can scarcely believe 
 that a simple but unanimous declaration by the 
 Great Powers would not be sufficient to quell it. 
 Unhappily the person who is at the head of affairs 
 in Austria, and who lays claim to the regulation of 
 those of Europe, regards as the infallible mark of 
 superior genius, that levity, which he carries on 
 the one side to absurdity, and on the other to a 
 
IO 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 point at which, in the minister of a great State, 
 and in circumstances like the present, it becomes 
 a calamity. 
 
 In this state of things, when so many passions 
 are in a ferment, and so many people are disturbed 
 in various ways, it seems to me that two errors 
 are equally to be avoided—impetuosity and indo- 
 lence ; and I therefore endeavour to preserve that 
 attitude of calm dignity which I regard as the only 
 one befitting your Majesty’s ministers, who, thanks 
 to the wise instructions they have received from 
 your Majesty, have to defend principles only, without 
 having any scheme of personal interest to carry 
 through. ( 6 ) 
 
 Whatever may be the issue of the Congress, 
 there are two points which must be established and 
 preserved : the justice of your Majesty, and the 
 strength of your Majesty’s Government; for they 
 afford the best, or rather the only, pledges for con¬ 
 sideration without and stability within. These two 
 points once thoroughly established, as I hope they 
 will be, whether the result of the Congress be or be 
 not in accordance with our wishes and the good of 
 Europe, we shall come out of it with honour. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I I 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER II. 
 
 (1) Maria Louise Beatrix of Austria. See Appendix. 
 
 (2) Elizabeth Alexievna (1779-1826). See Appendix. 
 
 (3) Giving an account of an audience of the King, Jaucourt 
 writes, 18th October, 1814: 
 
 “ I had given expression to some reflections to the effect 
 that it appeared to me Lord Castlereagh did not present a union 
 of very frank and exact principles and views. The King defended 
 his personal character as that of a gallant gentleman, but said he 
 did not rate his political character so highly.” 
 
 (4) On the 15th of October, M. de Jaucourt writes to Prince 
 Talleyrand : 
 
 “ Lord Wellington came to see me; his visit was a friendly 
 one. ... We talked freely enough. He told me that Lord 
 Castlereagh had found the Emperor Alexander, at his first visit, 
 in such ‘a state of violence’ that all he could obtain from him 
 was the following :—‘ I will think of what you have said to me by 
 way of objection, and we will talk of it another time.’ With this 
 the Czar dismissed him.”* 
 
 (5) Pulawy, on the Vistula, a Polish town, forty-two kilometres 
 from Lublin. Prince Adam Czartoryski had a magnificent estate 
 there. 
 
 (6) “ The King’s ministers strictly observe the line laid down 
 for them by their instructions. They recur in all their con_ 
 versations to the article of the treaty of 30th May, which assigns to 
 the Congress the honourable mission of establishing a real and 
 durable equilibrium. That impartial method leads them to enter 
 into the principles of public law recognized by all Europe, and 
 which imply, in an almost obligatory manner, the re-establish¬ 
 ment of King Ferdinand II. on the throne of Naples, as well as 
 the succession of the house of Savoy in the Carignano branch.”— 
 Talleyrand’s letter to the department, 27th September, 1814. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I 2 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Vienna, 4th October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 On the 30th of September, between nine 
 and ten o’clock in the morning, I received from M. 
 de Metternich a letter consisting of five lines, and 
 dated the previous evening, in which he proposed to 
 me, in his own name only, to come and assist at a 
 preliminary conference, for which I should find the 
 Russian, English, and Prussian ministers met at his 
 house. He added that he was making a similar 
 request of the Spanish minister, M. de Labrador. 
 
 The words “assist” and “met” were evidently 
 employed with design. I replied that it would give 
 me great pleasure to present myself at his house 
 with the Russian, English, Spanish , and Prussian 
 ministers. 
 
 The invitation addressed to M. de Labrador 
 was couched in the same terms as that which I had 
 received, with this difference, that it was in the form 
 of a note in the third person, and written in the 
 name of M. de Metternich and his colleagues . 
 
 M. de Labrador having come to communicate 
 this note to me, and to consult me upon the answer 
 to be sent, I showed him mine, and he wrote one 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 exactly similar, in which France was named with 
 and before the other Powers. Thus M. de Labrador 
 and myself purposely combined what it seemed the 
 others wanted to divide, and separated what it 
 appeared to be their object to unite by a special 
 link. 
 
 I was at the house of M. de Metternich before 
 two o’clock, and found that the ministers of the four 
 Courts had already met, and were sitting at a long 
 table. At one end was Lord Castlereagh, who 
 seemed to be presiding; at the other end was a man 
 whom M. de Metternich presented to me as “ hold¬ 
 ing the pen ” in their conference. This was M. 
 Gentz. * A seat had been left vacant between Lord 
 Castlereagh and M. de Metternich; this I took. I 
 asked why I only of all your Majesty’s embassy had 
 been summoned, and my question led to the follow¬ 
 ing dialogue:— 
 
 “ It was wished that none but the Secretaries of 
 State should meet at the preliminary conferences.” 
 “ M. de Labrador is not one, and yet he is 
 summoned.” “True, but the Spanish Secretary is 
 not at Vienna.” “ But, beside Prince Hardenberg, 
 I see M. de Humboldt, who is not a Secretary of 
 State.” “ That is an exception rendered necessary 
 by the infirmity from which, as you know, Prince 
 Hardenberg suffers.” “ If only infirmities were 
 
T 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 in question, each might have his own, and an equal 
 right to make use of them. ,, ( 1 ) 
 
 They then seemed inclined to admit that each 
 Secretary of State might bring one of the plenipo¬ 
 tentiaries his colleagues, and so I thought it useless 
 to insist any further for the moment. 
 
 Count Palmella, the Portuguese Ambassador, 
 being informed by Lord Castlereagh that there 
 were to be preliminary conferences at which M. de 
 Labrador and I were to be present, but that he 
 was not to be summoned, thought fit to protest 
 against an exclusion which he regarded as unjust 
 and humiliating to the crown of Portugal. He had 
 therefore written to Lord Castlereagh a letter which 
 the latter produced at the conference. His reasons 
 were strong and well put. He demanded that the 
 eight Powers who signed the treaty of the 30th 
 of May,( 2 ) and not six of those Powers, should form 
 the Preparatory Commission by which the Con¬ 
 gress for whose assembling they had stipulated, 
 was to be set going. M. de Labrador and myself 
 supported this demand ; and the rest seemed dis¬ 
 posed to accede to it, but the decision was adjourned 
 until the next sitting. Sweden is not yet repre¬ 
 sented here by a plenipotentiary, and is therefore 
 not in a position to make any claim. 
 
 “ The object of to-day’s conference,” said Lord 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 15 
 
 Castlereagh to me, “ is to make you acquainted with 
 what the four Courts ( 3 ) have done since we have 
 been here,” Addressing M. de Metternich, he said, 
 “You have the protocol.” M. de Metternich then 
 handed me a paper signed by him, Count 
 Nesselrode, Lord Castlereagh, and Prince Harden- 
 berg. In this document the word “allies” occurred 
 in every paragraph. I pointed out the word, and 
 said that the use of it placed me under the necessity 
 of asking where we were, whether we were still at 
 Chaumont ( 4 ) or at Laon,( 5 ) whether peace had not 
 been made, whether there was any quarrel, and 
 with whom. I was answered by all, that they did 
 
 not attribute a sense contrary to the state of our 
 
 % 
 
 actual relations to the word “ allies,” and that they 
 had only employed it for brevity’s sake. On which 
 I impressed upon them that, however valuable 
 brevity might be, it ought not to be purchased at 
 the expense of accuracy. 
 
 The tenour of the protocol was a tissue of meta¬ 
 physical arguments intended to enforce pretensions 
 which were supported by treaties unknown to us. 
 To discuss those reasonings and pretensions would 
 have been to embark upon an ocean of disputes; 
 I felt that it was necessary to repel the whole by 
 one peremptory argument; so I read several 
 paragraphs, and said, “ I do not understand.” 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I 6 
 
 Then I read the same paragraphs through, very 
 carefully, a second time, with the air of earnestly 
 striving to penetrate the meaning of a thing, and 
 said, “ I do not understand any the more.” I 
 added : “ I hold to two dates between which there 
 is nothing : that of the 31st of May on which the 
 formation of the Congress was stipulated, and that 
 of the 1 st of October, on which it ought to meet. 
 All that has been done in the interval is foreign 
 to me, and does not exist for me.” The answer 
 of the plenipotentiaries was that they cared so little 
 for the paper in question, that they asked nothing 
 better than to withdraw it; upon which M. de 
 Labrador observed that nevertheless they had 
 signed it. They took it back, M. de Metternich 
 laid it aside, and there was no more about it. 
 
 After having abandoned this document, they 
 produced another. This was the draft of a declara¬ 
 tion which M. de Labrador and I were to sign with 
 them, if we adopted it. After a long preamble on 
 the necessity of simplifying and abridging the labours 
 of the Congress, and after protestations that there 
 was to be no infringement of the rights of anybody, 
 the draft set forth that the subjects to be settled by 
 the Congress were to be divided into two series ; that 
 a committee was to be formed for each, to which 
 the States interested might address themselves; 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 1 7 
 
 and that, these two committees having- completed 
 their task, the Congress should then be assembled 
 for the first time, and the whole submitted to its 
 sanction. 
 
 The visible aim of this plan was to make the 
 four Powers who called themselves allied absolute 
 masters of all the operations of the Congress; for, 
 on the hypothesis that the six principal Powers 
 were to constitute themselves judges of the questions 
 relating to the composition of the Congress, to the 
 matters which it was to regulate, to the methods to 
 be adopted in the settlement of them, and the order 
 in which they were to be taken; and that they 
 should have the uncontrolled nomination of the 
 committees which were to prepare everything, 
 France and Spain would never be otherwise than 
 two against four, even supposing them to be 
 always agreed upon every question. 
 
 I said at once that a first reading was not 
 sufficient for the formation of an opinion upon a 
 project of this nature, which needed to be thought 
 over; that we must especially, and in the first place, 
 ascertain whether it was compatible with rights 
 which we intended to respect ; that we had all come 
 here to secure the rights of each, and that it 
 would be most unfortunate if we were to set out by 
 violating them ; that the idea of arranging every- 
 
 YOL. I. 
 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 thing before convening the Congress was a novel 
 one to me ; that they proposed to finish where I 
 had thought it would be necessary to begin ; that 
 probably the power which it was proposed to 
 confer upon the six Powers could not be given to 
 them except by the Congress ; that there were 
 measures which s ministers without responsibility 
 might easily adopt, but that Lord Castlereagh and I 
 were in quite a different case. Here Lord Castle¬ 
 reagh said that the reflections which I was making 
 had occurred to his mind also, that he felt all their 
 force, but, he added, what other expedient is there 
 by which we can avoid being led into proceedings 
 of interminable length ? I asked why the Congress 
 could not be assembled at once—what were the 
 difficulties in the way ? Then each brought forward 
 one of his own, and a general conversation ensued. 
 The name of the King of Naples ( 6 ) being mentioned 
 by somebody, M. de Labrador expressed himself 
 unreservedly about him. I contented myself with 
 saying, “What King of Naples is referred to? 
 We do not know the man in question.” Upon 
 which M. de Humboldt remarked that the Powers 
 had recognized him and guaranteed his States to 
 him. I replied in a cold, firm tone : “ Those who 
 guaranteed them ought not to have done so, and 
 consequently could not ; ” and then, in order not to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 19 
 
 prolong the effect which this speech had veritably 
 and visibly produced, I added, “ But this is not 
 just now the question.” Then, returning to that of 
 the Congress, I said that the apprehended difficulties 
 would perhaps be less than was supposed, and that 
 a means of obviating them surely might be found. 
 Prince Hardenberg stated that he did not give the 
 preference to any one expedient over any other, but 
 that one would be needed according to which the 
 Princes of Layen and Lichtenstein ( 7 ) should not 
 interfere in the general arrangements of Europe. 
 Thereupon we adjourned until two days later, after 
 it had been promised that copies of the draft of the 
 proposed declaration and of Count Palmella’s letter 
 should be sent to me and to M. de Labrador. (The 
 papers mentioned in the letter which I have the 
 honour to write to your Majesty are appended to 
 my official letter of to-day to the department.) 
 After having received and reflected upon these, 
 I thought that it would not do to wait for the 
 next conference to make known my opinion. Ac 
 first I drew up an answer in the form of a verbal 
 note ; but then, having reflected that the four Courts 
 had had conferences between them, at which they 
 had produced protocols which they signed, I con¬ 
 sidered it was not fitting that between them and 
 your Majesty’s minister there should be only con- 
 
20 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 versations of which no trace remained, and that an 
 official note would be the most correct method of 
 setting negotiation going. Accordingly, on the ist 
 of October, I addressed to the five other Powers a 
 signed note, to the effect that the eight Powers who 
 had signed the treaty of May seemed to me, by that 
 circumstance alone, and in the absence of a 
 mediator, fully qualified to form a commission to 
 prepare those questions which it would have to 
 decide, for the decision of the Congress, and to pro¬ 
 pose to it the formation of the committees expedient 
 to be established, and the names of those who should 
 be considered most suitable to form them, but that 
 its competence ought not to extend any farther : that 
 not being the Congress, but only a portion of the 
 Congress, to attribute to themselves a power which 
 could only belong to the entire Congress, would be 
 a usurpation which I should find it very difficult, in 
 case of my co-operating with it, to reconcile with 
 my responsibility; that the difficulty which attended 
 the meeting of the Congress was not of a nature to 
 diminish with time, and that since it must be over¬ 
 come once for all, there was nothing to gain by 
 delaying; that no doubt the small States ought not 
 to meddle with the general arrangements of Europe, 
 but that they would not even wish to do so, and 
 consequently could not give trouble; and that I 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 2 I 
 
 was naturally led by all these considerations to 
 desire that the eisfht Powers should address them- 
 selves without delay to the preliminary questions to 
 be decided by the Congress, so that it might be 
 promptly called together, and those questions sub¬ 
 mitted to it. 
 
 After I had despatched this note, I set out for 
 my private audience of the Emperor Alexander. 
 M. de Nesselrode had come on his behalf to tell me 
 that he wished to see me alone, and he had himself 
 reminded me of this on the preceding evening, at a 
 Court ball, where I had the honour of seeing him. 
 On addressing me he took my hand, but his manner 
 was not so affable as it usually is. He spoke in 
 short sentences ; his demeanour was grave, and even 
 solemn. I saw plainly that he was playing a part. 
 “ First of all,” said he, “what is the situation in 
 your country?” “As good as your Majesty could 
 desire, and better than could have been hoped.” 
 “And the spirit of the public?” “It improves 
 every day.” “ Liberal ideas ? ” “ They prevail 
 
 nowhere more than in Franee.” “But the liberty 
 of the Press?” “It has been re-established, with 
 a few restrictions demanded by circumstances. ( s ) In 
 two years those restrictions will be removed, and 
 in the mean time they will not hinder the publica¬ 
 tion of anything that is good and useful.” “And 
 
22 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the army?”( 9 ) “ It is all for the King-. One 
 
 hundred and thirty thousand men are ready to take 
 the field, and at the first summons three hundred 
 thousand could join them.’ , “ The Marshals ? ” 
 “Which of them, Sire?” “Oudinot.” “He is 
 devoted to the King.” “ Soult ?” “ He was rather 
 
 sulky at first; but he has been given the government 
 of La Vendee, and gets on admirably there. He 
 has made himself both liked and respected.” “And 
 Ney?” “He frets about his endowments a good 
 deal. Your Majesty might diminish his regrets.” 
 “ The two Chambers ? It seems to me there is 
 opposition.”( 10 ) “As is always the case where 
 there are deliberative assemblies ; opinions may 
 differ, but affections are unanimous; and in the 
 difference of opinions that of the Government always 
 has a large majority.” “ But there is no agreement.” 
 “Who can have told your Majesty such things? 
 After twenty-five years of revolution, in a few months 
 the King is as firmly established on his throne 
 as if he had never left France ; what more certain 
 proof can be given that everything tends to the 
 same end ? ” “ Your own personal position ? ” “ The 
 confidence and the kindness of the King surpass my 
 hopes.” ( n ) “Now let us talk of our affairs: we 
 must finish them here.” “ That depends on your 
 Majesty. They will be promptly and happily ter- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 2 3 
 
 minated if your Majesty brings to bear on them the 
 same nobility and greatness of soul as in the affairs 
 of France.” “ But each must find what suits it here.” 
 “ And what is right.” “ I shall keep what I hold.” 
 “Your Majesty would only wish to keep that which 
 is legitimately yours.” “ I am in accord with the 
 Great Powers.” “ I do not know whether your 
 Majesty reckons France among those Powers.” 
 “Yes, certainly; but if you will not have each 
 have its convejiances , what do you propose ?” “I 
 place right first, and les convenances after.” “ The 
 co 7 ivenances of Europe are the right.”( 12 ) “ This 
 
 language, Sire, is not yours; it is foreign to you, and 
 your heart disowns it.” “No, I repeat it; les con¬ 
 venances of Europe are the right.”( 13 ) I turned 
 towards the wall near which I was standing, leaned 
 my head against the panelling, and exclaimed, 
 “ Europe, unhappy Europe! ” Then turning once 
 more to the Emperor, “ Shall it be said,” I asked 
 him, “ that you have destroyed it ? ” He answered 
 me, “ Rather war than that I should renounce what 
 I hold.” I let my arms drop in the attitude of one 
 grieved indeed but resolute, and with the air of 
 saying to him, “ The fault is none of ours,” I kept 
 silence, which for some moments the Emperor did 
 not break. Presently he said, “Yes, rather war.” I 
 remained in the selfsame attitude. Then, lilting up 
 
24 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 his arms, waving his hands as I had never seen him 
 do previously, and in a manner which reminded me 
 of the passage at the end of the “ Eloge de Marc- 
 Aurele,” he cried rather than said, “ It is time for the 
 play; I must go. I promised the Emperor; they are 
 waiting for me.” He then withdrew, but returned 
 from the open door, put his two hands on my sides, 
 gave me a squeeze, and said, in a voice quite unlike 
 his own, “ Adieu, adieu; we shall meet one another 
 again.” In all this conversation, of which I can 
 only convey the most striking part to your Majesty, 
 Poland and Saxony were never once named ; they 
 were only indicated in roundabout ways. Thus, 
 when the Emperor said, meaning Saxony, “Those 
 who have betrayed the cause of Europe,” I was 
 in a position to answer, “ Sire, that is a question 
 of date; ”( 14 ) and after a pause, I added, “ And the 
 effect of difficulties into which one may have been 
 thrown by circumstances.” 
 
 Once the Emperor spoke of “ the allies,” but 
 I took up the phrase, just as I had done at the 
 conference, and he set it down to habit. 
 
 Yesterday, which was to have been the day of 
 the second conference, M. de Mercy was deputed 
 by M. de Metternich to inform me that it would not 
 take place. A friend of M. de Gentz called on him 
 in the afternoon, and found him busy with some 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 25 
 
 work which he said was urgent. I thought it was 
 an answer to my note. 
 
 That evening, at Prince Trautmansdorffs, the 
 plenipotentaries reproached me with having ad¬ 
 dressed that note to them, and especially with 
 having given it an official character by signing it. 
 I replied that as they wrote and signed amongst 
 themselves, I thought that I too must write and 
 sign. I concluded from this that my note had em¬ 
 barrassed them not a little. 
 
 To-day, Count Metternich wrote to me that 
 there would be a conference at eight o’clock, and 
 then sent me word that it could not take place 
 because he had been summoned to attend the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Such, Sire, is the present situation of affairs. 
 
 Your Majesty sees that our position here is 
 difficult; it may become more so every day. The 
 Emperor Alexander gives full play to his ambition, 
 which is fostered by M. de la Harpe and Prince 
 Czartoryski; Prussia hopes for large increase ; pusil¬ 
 lanimous Austria has only a shamefaced ambition, 
 but she is complaisant thtit she may get help ; and 
 these are not the only difficulties. There are others, 
 springing from engagements which the hitherto allied 
 Courts have entered into at a time when they did not 
 expect to defeat him whose overthrow they have 
 
2 6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 witnessed and when it was their purpose to make such 
 a peace with him as would permit them to imitate 
 him. 
 
 Now that your Majesty, being replaced upon the 
 throne, has seated justice there once more, the 
 Powers for whose advantage those engagements 
 were made do not wish to renounce them, and those 
 who probably regret having made them do not 
 know how to get out of them. Your Majesty’s 
 ministers may have to encounter such obstacles that 
 they shall have to abandon all hope except that 
 of* saving honour. But we have not come to that 
 yet 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER III. 
 
 (1) Prince Hardenberg was deaf, and M. de Talleyrand was 
 lame. 
 
 (2) The treaty by which France re-entered in 1814 her fron¬ 
 tiers of 1790. 
 
 (3) England, Russia, Austria, Prussia. 
 
 (4) Chaumont, the principal town of Haute-Marne, on the 
 Marne. At Chaumont the treaty of the 1st of March, between 
 Austria, Russia, Great Britain, and Prussia, was concluded. 
 
 (5) Laon, chief place of the department of the Aisne, 150 kilo¬ 
 metres to the north-east of Paris. Napoleon was defeated under 
 its walls, 9th and 10th March, 1814. The declaration of the 
 Allied Powers after the rupture of the negotiations of Chatillon, 
 bearing a solemn confirmation of the preceding treaties which 
 intervened, was made from Vitry and Laon, and bore date 25th 
 March, 1814. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 2 7 
 
 During the “campaign of France” diplomatic conferences 
 took place in these two towns. 
 
 (6) Murat. See Appendix. 
 
 (7) The principality of Layen (its chief place is Ahrenfel-on- 
 the-Rhine) is one of the smallest in Germany. It was in¬ 
 corporated with the grand-duchy of Baden in 1815. The princi¬ 
 pality of Lichtenstein, situated between the Tyrol and Switzerland 
 (its chief place is Vadaz), contains at the present time only eight 
 thousand inhabitants. 
 
 (8) The charter had promised freedom of the Press. 
 
 (9) The Minister of War wrote to M. de Talleyrand (8th 
 October): “ The army is in a state of perfect submission, in every 
 part of the kingdom; and most satisfactory and praiseworthy 
 manifestations have been made by all the corps on the occasion 
 of the journey of the princes.” 
 
 At the same date, M. de Jaucourt wrote to M. de Talleyrand : 
 “Yesterday I gave a great dinner to several generals—the Duke 
 of Placentia, General Maison and his staff, etc., etc., and I am 
 well enough pleased with them. To say that they have no regrets, 
 and are in a completely good humour, would be too much, but 
 they like the King, and they are all agreed that it is to the 
 military condition of 1792, and not to that of Bonaparte, that we 
 must return. The military nobility of recent date is certainly 
 jealous of the hereditary nobility.” 
 
 (10) “ It is difficult to form an idea of the slovenliness and 
 makeshift character of the administration. Every day affords 
 some fresh proof of this.”—Reinhart to M. de Talleyrand, 18th 
 October, 1814. 
 
 (n) “The King pronounced an eulogium on you, Prince, the 
 day before yesterday. He praised your talent and your conduct 
 at the Congress, and seemed to me to bring all the justice and 
 eminent sagacity of his mind to bear on this subject.”—Jaucourt 
 to Talleyrand. 
 
 Later, he writes : “He (the King) seems convinced that if you 
 
28 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 do not succeed in all that he wishes, you will succeed in all that 
 is necessary, just, and useful for France.” 
 
 (12) “It is to be hoped that in Europe force will no longer be 
 transformed into law, and that equity, not expediency, will be made 
 the rule.”—Circular to the Ambassadors by M. de Talleyrand, 
 3rd October, 1814. 
 
 (13) For the expression used here, “ les convenances,” there 
 is no entirely exact equivalent in English. —Translator. 
 
 (14) Talleyrand thus discreetly reminded the Emperor Alex¬ 
 ander I. that he also had betrayed the cause of the Kings in 1807 
 (Treaty of Tilsit). 
 
 -H- 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Vienna, 9th October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The ministers of the four Courts, embar¬ 
 rassed by my note of the 1st of October, and find¬ 
 ing no argument with which to contest it, have 
 taken the line of being offended. That note, said 
 M. de Humboldt, is a firebrand flung into our midst; 
 the object of it, said M. de Nesselrode, is to disunite 
 us ; it shall not be successful. While they openly 
 avowed what it was easy to perceive, that they had 
 formed a league to make themselves masters of 
 everything, and constitute themselves supreme 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 29 
 
 arbiters of Europe, Lord Castlereagh, speaking with 
 more moderation and in a milder tone, told me 
 it had been intended that the conference to which 
 M. de Labrador and myself had been summoned 
 should be entirely confidential, but that I had 
 deprived it of that character by my note, and 
 especially as it was a signed note. I replied that 
 the fault was theirs, not mine ; they had asked my 
 opinion, and I was bound to give it, and if I had 
 thought proper to give it in writing and signed, it 
 was because I had observed that in their conferences 
 between themselves they wrote and signed, and there¬ 
 fore I considered that I too ought to write and sign. 
 
 Meantime, the contents of my note having 
 transpired, these gentlemen, in order to lessen its 
 effect, have had recourse to the habitual ways of 
 the Cabinet of Berlin ; they have spread it abroad 
 that the principles which I set forth are merely a 
 decoy, that we are demanding the left bank of the 
 Rhine, that we have designs upon Belgium, and that 
 we want war. This has reached me from all sides, 
 but I have given orders to all connected with the 
 Legation to explain themselves to everybody with 
 such frankness and simplicity, and in so positive a 
 manner, that the authors of those absurd rumours 
 
 will reap nothing from them except the shame of 
 
 • 
 
 having disseminated them. 
 
30 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 On the 3rd of October, in the evening, M. de 
 Metternich, whom I met at the house of the 
 Duchesse de Sagan,(*) handed to me a new draft of 
 declaration drawn up by Lord Castlereagh. This 
 second scheme did not differ from the first, except 
 as it tended to represent the proposal of the 
 four Courts as nothing more than a conse¬ 
 quence of the first of the secret articles of the 
 30th of May. But neither was the principle from 
 which it took its departure just (for Lord Castle¬ 
 reagh evidently lent to one of the provisions of the 
 article a sense which it has not, and which we could 
 not admit), nor, if it had been just, would the con¬ 
 sequence which is drawn from it have been legiti¬ 
 mate ; the attempt was therefore doubly unfortunate. 
 
 I wrote to Lord Castlereagh. I gave my letter 
 a confidential form; I strove to bring together all 
 the reasons that militate against the proposed plan. 
 (The copy of my letter is appended to the despatch 
 which I forward to-day to the department). Your 
 Majesty will see that I have taken particular care 
 to make it evident, in the politest manner possible, 
 that the motive for proposing the plan has not 
 escaped me. I thought it right to declare that it 
 was impossible for me to coalesce in anything which 
 would be contrary to principles, because it was only 
 by remaining steadily attached to them that we 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 3 1 
 
 could resume the rank and consideration in the 
 eyes of the nations of Europe, which, since the 
 return of your Majesty, are ours of right, because 
 to depart from them would be only to revive the 
 Revolution, which had been one long oblivion of 
 them. 
 
 I ascertained that Lord Castlereagh, when he 
 received my letter, handed it to the Portuguese 
 minister, who was with him, and that he acknow¬ 
 ledged we were right in point of fact; but that 
 it remained to be seen whether what we proposed 
 was practicable. This was, in other words, asking 
 whether the four Courts could dispense with arro¬ 
 gating to themselves a power over Europe which 
 Europe had not given them. 
 
 That day we had a conference, at which only 
 two or three of us were present at first, the other 
 ministers arriving at intervals of a quarter of an 
 hour. Lord Castlereagh had brought my letter, on 
 purpose to communicate it to the conference; it 
 was passed from hand to hand. MM. de Metternich 
 
 ► 
 
 and Nesselrode merely glanced at it with the air 
 of men who require only to look at a paper to 
 lay hold of all its contents. I had been forewarned 
 that I should be requested to withdraw my note; 
 and in fact M. de Metternich did ask me to do so. 
 I replied that I could not. M. de Labrador said 
 
3 2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 it was too late, and would serve no purpose, because 
 he had sent a copy of it to his Court. “ Then we 
 must answer you,” said M. de Metternich to me. 
 “ If you will kindly do so,” I replied. “ I should,” 
 he resumed, “ be of opinion that we ought to settle 
 our affairs by ourselves, meaning by us the four 
 Courts.” I answered unhesitatingly, “If you take 
 the question in that way, I am altogether your man ; 
 I am quite ready, and ask nothing better.” “What 
 do you mean ? ” said he. “ This ; it is very simple,” 
 I replied: “ I shall take no more part in your 
 conferences; I shall be nothing here but a member 
 of the Congress, and I shall wait until it is opened.” 
 Instead of renewing his proposition, M. de Metter¬ 
 nich reverted, by degrees and in circuitous ways, 
 to general statements concerning the inconvenience 
 which would attend the actual opening of the Con¬ 
 gress. M. de Nesselrode said, without much reflec¬ 
 tion, that the Emperor Alexander wanted to leave 
 Vienna on the 25th; to which I replied, in a tone 
 of indifference, that I was sorry to hear it, as he 
 would not see the end of the business. “How can 
 the Congress be assembled,” said M. de Metternich, 
 “when nothing is ready to lay before it?” “Well, 
 then,” I replied, to show that I did not want to 
 make difficulties, and was prepared to agree to any¬ 
 thing that did not clash with the principles from 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 33 
 
 which I could not depart, “since nothing is ready 
 as yet for the opening of the Congress, and since 
 you wish to adjourn, let it be put off for a fortnight 
 or three weeks. I consent to that, but on two con¬ 
 ditions : one is that you summon it for a fixed day; 
 the other is that in the note of convocation you 
 lay down the rule for admission to it.” 
 
 I wrote out that rule on a sheet of paper, almost 
 exactly as it is drawn up in the instructions given 
 to us by your Majesty. The paper was passed 
 from hand to hand, some questions were asked, a 
 few objecticftis were made, but no resolution was 
 adopted, and, the ministers who had come in one 
 after the other going away in like manner, the con¬ 
 ference, so to speak, evaporated rather than ended. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, who remained to the last, and 
 with whom I walked downstairs, endeavoured to 
 bring me over to their way of thinking by giving 
 me to understand that certain matters which were 
 of special interest to my Court might be arranged 
 to my satisfaction. I told him that the present 
 question was not one of such and such particular 
 objects, but of the law by which they were all 
 
 to be regulated. “If,” I said, “the thread be once 
 
 * 
 
 broken, how shall we reunite it ? We have to 
 respond to the desire and demand of all. Europe. 
 What shall we have done for Europe if we have not 
 
 3 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
34 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 re-established the rule of the maxims whose breach 
 has wrought so much evil ? The present epoch is 
 one of those which hardly occur once in the course 
 of several centuries. • A fairer opportunity can never 
 be offered to us. Why should we not place our¬ 
 selves in a position to profit by it ? ” “ Ah,” he said, 
 
 with some embarrassment, “ there are difficulties of 
 which you are not aware.” “No, I am not aware 
 of them,” I answered, in a tone implying that I 
 had no curiosity to learn them. We parted then, 
 and I dined with Prince Windischgratz. M. de 
 Gentz was there. We talked for a long time over 
 the points that had been discussed in the conference 
 at w r hich he had been present. He seemed to 
 regret that I had not arrived earlier at Vienna; and 
 was pleased to think that things with which he 
 professed to be discontented might have assumed a 
 different complexion. Lastly, he acknowledged that 
 in reality they all felt I was right, but that their 
 amour-pi'opre was concerned, and even the best 
 intentioned among them felt it difficult to retreat 
 from the position they had taken up. 
 
 Two days elapsed without a conference: a fete 
 on one of them, and a hunting party on the other, 
 were the causes of this.( 2 ) 
 
 In the interim I was presented to the Duchess 
 Oldenburg. I expressed my regret that she had 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 35 
 
 not accompanied her brother to Paris, and she 
 answered that she hoped the journey thither was 
 only delayed. Then she began at once to put 
 questions to me, such as the Emperor had not put, 
 about your Majesty, about public opinion, the 
 finances, the army—questions which would have 
 surprised me much, coming from a woman of twenty- 
 two years old, even if they had not contrasted still 
 more strongly with her bearing, her expression, and 
 the tone of her voice. I replied to all in a sense 
 conformable with the things which we have to do 
 here, and the interests which we have to defend. 
 She questioned me further about the King of Spain,( 3 ) 
 his brother,( 4 ) and his uncle,( 5 ) speaking of them in 
 somewhat unbecoming terms, and I answered in a 
 tone which I thought would give weight to my 
 opinion of the personal merits of those princes. 
 
 - M. de Gentz, who called on me just as I 
 returned from my visit to the Duchess of Olden¬ 
 burg, told me that he had been charged to draw up 
 a plan for the convocation of the Congress. On the 
 preceding day I had made one in conformity with 
 that which I had proposed in the conference of the 
 day before, and I had sent it to M. de Metternich, 
 with a request that he would communicate it to the 
 other ministers. M. de Gentz assured me that he 
 had no knowledge of it; he told me that in his plan 
 
3 6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 there was no question of the rule of admission which 
 I had proposed, because M. de Metternich feared 
 that by publishing it we should drive him who 
 reigns at Naples to some extremity, his pleni¬ 
 potentiary being excluded by it.( 6 ) M. de Gentz and 
 I discussed this point; and he declared his con¬ 
 viction that what M. de Metternich feared would 
 not happen. 
 
 I expected there would be a conference on the 
 morrow, but three-fourths of the day having passed 
 over without my hearing anything of it, I no longer 
 reckoned on it, when I received a note from M. de 
 Metternich, announcing that a conference would 
 take place at eight o’clock, and that if I would come 
 to him a little earlier, he would find means of con¬ 
 versing with me on very important subjects. (These 
 are the exact terms of his note.) I was at his 
 residence at seven o’clock, and was admitted at 
 once. He spoke to me at first about a draft of a 
 declaration which he had had drawn up, and which 
 differed slightly, he said, from mine, but still ap¬ 
 proached very near to it, and with which he hoped 
 I should be satisfied. I asked him for this draft, 
 but he had it not. 
 
 “ Probably,” said I, it is in circulation amongst 
 the allies.” “ Do not talk of allies,” he answered; 
 “ there are no longer any.” “ There are people 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 37 
 
 here who ought to be allies in the sense of being of 
 the same way of thinking, and desiring the same 
 things without any concert between them. How 
 can you possibly contemplate placing Russia like a 
 girdle all round your principal and most important 
 possessions, Hungary and Bohemia ? How can 
 you endure that the patrimony of an old and good 
 neighbour, into whose family an archduchess has 
 married, ( 7 ) should be handed over to your natural 
 enemy ? It is strange that it should be we who 
 want to oppose this, and not you who do not wish 
 it to be.” He said then that I had no confidence 
 in him. I replied that he had not given me much 
 reason for having any, and reminded him of some 
 circumstances in which he had not kept his word. 
 “ Besides,” I added, “ how am I to be inspired 
 
 with confidence in a man who is all mystery towards 
 
 / 
 
 those who are most disposed to make his affairs 
 their own ? As for me, I make no mysteries; I do 
 not need them ; that is the advantage ot those who 
 deal with principles only. Here,” I continued, “ are 
 pen, ink, and paper; will you write that France 
 asks nothing, and even that she will accept nothing? 
 I am ready to sign.” “ But,” said he, “ there is the 
 affair of Naples, that is properly yours.” “Not 
 mine,” I answered, “ more than everybody else’s. 
 For me it is only a matter of principle. I ask that 
 
33 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 he who has a right to be at Naples should be at 
 Naples ; that is all. Now, that is just what every one, 
 as well as myself, ought to wish. Let principles be 
 acted upon, and I shall be found easy to deal with 
 in everything. I am going to tell you frankly to 
 what I can consent, and to what I never will con¬ 
 sent. I feel that in the present situation the King 
 of Saxony may be obliged to make sacrifices. I 
 suppose that, as he is a wise man, he will be dis¬ 
 posed to make them; but if it be proposed to 
 despoil him of all his States, and give the kingdom 
 of Saxony to Prussia, I will never consent to that. 
 Moreover, I will never consent that Luxembourg 
 and Mayence shall be given to Prussia. Nor will 
 I consent that Russia shall pass the Vistula, and have 
 forty-four millions of subjects in Europe, and her 
 frontiers on the Oder. But, if Luxembourg be given 
 to Holland and Mayence to Bavaria, if the King 
 and the kingdom of Saxony be maintained, and if 
 Russia does not pass the Vistula, I shall have no 
 objection to make about that part of Europe.” M. 
 de Metternich then took my hand, saying, “We 
 are much less divided than you think ; I promise 
 you that Prussia shall have neither Luxembourg nor 
 Mayence; we are no more anxious that Russia 
 should be unreasonably aggrandized than you are, 
 and as for Saxony, we will do all that in us lies to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 39 
 
 preserve at least a portion of it.” It was only in 
 order to find out how he was disposed on these 
 various points that I had spoken thus. Then, 
 returning to the convocation of the Congress, he 
 dwelt on the necessity of not publishing at this 
 moment the rule of admission that I had proposed ; 
 “ because,” he said, “ it startles everybody, and 
 embarrasses myself just now, seeing that Murat, 
 finding his plenipotentiary excluded, will think his 
 1 affair decided, and no one can tell what headstrong 
 course he may take; he is prepared in Italy and we 
 are not.” 
 
 We were informed that the ministers were 
 assembled, and we repaired to the conference. 
 M. de Metternich opened the proceedings by an¬ 
 nouncing that he was going to read aloud two 
 plans, one drafted by me, the other by himself. He 
 then read them, mine first, his own afterwards. 
 The Prussians declared themselves for that of M. de 
 Metternich, on the ground that it prejudged nothing, 
 and that mine prejudged a great deal. Count 
 Nesselrode was of the same opinion. M. de 
 Lowenhielm, the Swedish minister, who had not 
 been present at the previous conference, said that 
 nothing must be prejudged. This was also the 
 opinion of Lord Castlereagh, and I knew it was 
 that of M. de Metternich. His plan limited itself 
 
40 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 i 
 
 to adjourning the opening of the Congress to the ist 
 of November, and contained nothing more, which 
 drew from the Portuguese minister the remark 
 that a second declaration to convene the Congress 
 would be necessary, and this was admitted. All 
 that was done was, therefore, to adjourn the difficulty 
 without solving it; but as the former pretences were 
 abandoned, as it was no longer a question of having 
 everything settled by the eight Powers, and leaving 
 the Congress nothing but the privilege of approving ; 
 as nothing was now talked of except preparing the 
 questions upon which the Congress would have to 
 pronounce, by free and confidential communications 
 with the ministers of the other Powers, I thought 
 that an act of complaisance which would not 
 impinge upon principles, might facilitate the progress 
 of affairs ; and I stated that I consented to the 
 adoption of the scheme, but on the condition that 
 at the place where it was said that the formal open¬ 
 ing of the Congress was to be adjourned to the ist of 
 November,-there should be added : “And shall then 
 be conducted in conformity with the principles of public 
 law At these words, a tumult of which it is 
 difficult to form an idea arose. Prince Hardenberg, 
 standing up, with his clenched hands on the table in 
 an almost threatening attitude, and shouting, as 
 those who are afflicted with deafness so often do, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 41 
 
 said, in stuttering agitation, “ No, sir, ‘ public law" is 
 a useless phrase. Why say that we shall act accord¬ 
 ing to public law ? That is a matter of course.” 
 I replied, “ If it be a matter of course, it can do 
 no harm to specify it.” ( s ) M. Humboldt exclaimed, 
 “ What has public law to do here ? ” “ This,” I 
 
 answered : “ that it sends you here.” Lord Castle- 
 reagh, taking me aside, asked me whether, if 
 this point should be settled according to my wishes, 
 I would afterwards be more accommodating. I 
 asked him in my turn what, if I were accommo¬ 
 dating, I might hope he would do in the affair of 
 Naples. He promised to second me with all his 
 influence. “ I will speak of it,” said he, “ to Metter- 
 nich ; I have a right to have an opinion upon this 
 matter.” “You give me your word of honour to 
 that?” said I. He answered, “I do.” “And I 
 give you mine that I shall n6t be difficult, except 
 where the principles which I could not abandon 
 are concerned.” ( 9 ) Meanwhile, M. de Gentz, having 
 drawn near to M. de Metternich, represented to 
 him that it was impossible to avoid the mention of 
 public law in a document of the nature of the one 
 in question. Count Metternich had previously pro¬ 
 posed to put the matter to the vote, thus betraying 
 the use which they would have made of the power 
 that they had wanted to secure to themselves if their 
 
42 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 first plan had been accepted. They ended by con¬ 
 senting- to the admission which I demanded; but 
 there was an equally animated discussion concerning 
 where it should be placed. At length it was agreed 
 that it should come in a sentence earlier than that at 
 which I proposed to insert it.( 10 ) M. de Gentz could 
 not refrain from saying at the conference, “ This 
 evening, Gentlemen, belongs to the history of the 
 Congress. It is not I who shall narrate it, because 
 my duty prohibits me from doing so, but it will 
 certainly be told.” He has said to me since that 
 he had never seen anything like it. For this reason, 
 I regard it as fortunate that I have been able, without 
 departing from principles, to do something that may 
 be considered as a step towards the meeting of the 
 Congress. 
 
 M. de Lowenhielm is the Swedish minister in 
 Russia, and very Russian. It is most probably for 
 that reason that he has been sent here, for the Crown 
 Prince of Sweden ( n ) wishes everything that the 
 Russians wish. 
 
 The princes who formerly belonged to the 
 Confederation of the Rhine are beginning to unite 
 in pressing for the opening of the Congress; ( 12 ) they 
 are already forming plans among themselves for the 
 organization of Germany. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 43 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER IV. 
 
 (i) Sagan is a Silesian principality. The Emperor Ferdinand 
 II. sold it in 1627 to the famous Wallenstein. In 1646 Prince 
 Lubkowitz became the purchaser of it, and from his descendants 
 Peter Biren, Duke of Courland, bought it. At his death (1800) 
 it passed to his eldest daughter, the Princess Catherine Wilhel- 
 ' mina, whose third husband was Count Charles Rodolph von 
 Schulenburg. When she died, in 1839, the duchy passed into 
 the hands of her sister, Pauline, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hech- 
 ino-en, who sold it to the third daughter of Peter Biren, Doro¬ 
 thea, Duchesse de Talleyrand. The Duchess died on the 19th 
 of September, 1862, leaving her principality to her son, Prince 
 I Napoleon Louis de Talleyrand, Due de Sagan and Valency, 
 born 12th March, 1812. The chief place of the principality is 
 Sagan, on the Bober (9940 inhabitants). The chateau is large 
 and handsome ; it was built by Wallenstein, Lubkowitz, and Peter 
 
 Biren. . . , 
 
 (2) A commission of persons belonging to the Court had 
 
 been appointed to render the stay of the foreign sovereigns at 
 
 Vienna as pleasant as possible. 
 
 (3) See Appendix. 
 
 (4) See Appendix. 
 
 (5) See Appendix. 
 
 (6) His name was Campo-Chiaro ; he was a former servant o 
 Ferdinand L, and had joined Joseph Bonaparte first, and Murat 
 afterwards. Murat had a charge d*affaires at Pans, who was not 
 recognized, and had no official relation with the King’s Govern- 
 
 ment. 
 
 (7) See note concerning Prince Antoine. 
 
 (8) This is an idiomatic passage, of which the above is the 
 sense, but it is more neatly put in the original: “ ‘ Cela va sans 
 dire.’ ‘ Je lui repondais que si cela allait bien sans le dire, cela 
 
 irait encore mieux en le disant.’ ” Translator. 
 
 (9) See Appendix. 
 
44 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (io) On the 12th of October Prince Talleyrand writes to the 
 department: “ We are held to have achieved a victory because 
 we have had the expression ‘ public law ’ introduced. This 
 will make you understand the spirit that animates the Congress.” 
 (n) Bernadotte. See Appendix. 
 
 (12) The Confederation of the Rhine, created in 1806, and of 
 which Napoleon I. had been the protector. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 FROM LOUIS XVIII. TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 October 13, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your despatch of the 25th 
 September, and in the interest both of your eyes 
 and my own hand, I borrow a hand which is not 
 mine, but that of a person who is far from being a 
 stranger to my affairs. 
 
 The Kings of Naples and of Saxony are my 
 kinsmen in the same degree ; justice makes equal 
 demands in favour of both ; but my interests in 
 those demands cannot possibly be equal in each 
 case. The kingdom of Naples, in the possession 
 of a descendant of Louis XIV.,^) adds to the 
 power of France; but, remaining to an individual of 
 the family of the Corsican, jiagitio addit damnum .( 2 ) 
 I am no less shocked at the idea of that kingdom 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 45 
 
 and Saxony being used as compensation. I need 
 not set down here my reflections upon such a breach 
 of all public morality, but what I must hasten to 
 tell you is, that if I cannot prevent this iniquity, 
 at least I will not sanction it, but that I shall, on 
 the contrary, reserve to myself or to my successors 
 liberty to redress it, if opportunity should arise. 
 
 I say this indeed only to push the hypothesis 
 to the utmost; for I am far from despairing of the 
 success of the cause, if England holds firmly by 
 the principles which Lord Castlereagh professed 
 when here, and if Austria abides by the same 
 resolutions as Bavaria. 
 
 What M. de Schulenburg has told you of the 
 determination of the King of Saxony is perfectly 
 correct; that unfortunate prince has informed me 
 of this himself. ( 3 ) 
 
 You may readily judge with what impatience I 
 am expecting news of the Congress; its opera¬ 
 tions ought to have begun by this time. 
 
 Upon which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER V. 
 
 (1) Since the Treaty of Vienna of 1735, to 1738. 
 
 (2) Here the King uses the obsolete phrase “ demeurant h.” 
 
 (3) For the King of Saxony’s letter of the 19th of September, 
 1814, to Louis XVIII., see Appendix. 
 
46 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Vienna, 13th October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 % 
 
 I have forwarded the declaration, as pub¬ 
 lished this* morning, in my despatch to the depart¬ 
 ment. It adjourns the opening of the Congress 
 to the 1 st of November ; some changes have been 
 made in it, but they are only changes of phrase, 
 upon which the ministers agreed without meeting, 
 and through the medium of M. de Gentz. We 
 have had no conference since the 8th, and con¬ 
 sequently none of those discussions with which I 
 am afraid I must have wearied your Majesty in 
 my two last letters. 
 
 The Prussian minister at London, old Jacobi- 
 Kloest ( x ) is here ; he has been summoned to the 
 aid of M. de Humboldt; he is one of the lions 
 of Prussian diplomacy, and an old acquaintance of 
 mine. He came to see me, and our conversation 
 promptly took a direction which led me to speak 
 of the great difficulties that were presenting them¬ 
 selves, and the greatest of which, according to him, 
 was created by the Emperor Alexander, who 
 wants to have the duchy of Warsaw. I said that 
 if the Emperor Alexander wanted to have the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 47 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 duchy, he would probably present himself with a 
 formal deed of surrender from the King of Saxony, 
 and then we should see. ‘‘Why from the King 
 of Saxony ? ” asked he in astonishment. “ Because/’ 
 I answered, “the duchy of Warsaw belongs to him 
 in virtue of the cessions which you and Austria 
 have made to him, and of treaties which you, 
 Austria, and Russia have signed.” Then he said, 
 with the air of a man who has just made a dis¬ 
 covery, to whom one has revealed something totally 
 unexpected : “It is true, the duchy does belong to 
 him!” M. de Jacobi, at all events, is not one of 
 those who holds that sovereignty is lost and ac¬ 
 quired by the fact of conquest alone. 
 
 I have reason to believe that we shall obtain 
 Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla for the King of 
 Etruria; ( 2 ) but in that case we must not think any 
 more about Tuscany, although he might have rights 
 to it; the Emperor of Austria has already given 
 the Archduchess Marie Louise to understand that 
 he had but slight hopes of keeping Parma for him. 
 
 It is frequently asked by people about me 
 whether the treaty of the nth of April is being 
 carried out, and Lord Castlereagh has spoken to me 
 directly about it.( 3 ) The silence of the budget on 
 this head has been remarked by the Emperor of 
 Russia. Count Metternich says that Austria cannot 
 
4 8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 be held bound to discharge the assignments on 
 the Mont de Milan ,( 4 ) if France does not execute 
 the clauses of the treaty that are binding on her; 
 in short, this affair is constantly turning up under 
 different forms, and almost always in a disagreeable 
 manner. However unpleasant it may be to give 
 one’s mind to this kind of business, I cannot refrain 
 from saying to your Majesty that it is desirable 
 it should be attended to. A letter from M. de 
 Jaucourt,( 5 ) apprizing me, by order of your Majesty, 
 that something had been done, would certainly 
 produce a good effect. 
 
 A very decided intention of removing Bonaparte 
 from the island of Elba ( 6 ) is manifesting itself. 
 As yet no one has any settled idea of a place in 
 which to put him. I have proposed one of the 
 Azores ; it is five hundred leagues from any coast. 
 Lord Castlereagh seems inclined to think that the 
 Portuguese might be induced to agree to such an 
 arrangement; but when it comes to be discussed, 
 the question of money will turn up again. Bona¬ 
 parte’s son ( 7 ) is no longer treated as he was for 
 a short time after his arrival at Vienna. There 
 is less state and more simplicity. They have taken 
 the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour from 
 him, and substituted that of Saint Stephen. ( 8 ) 
 
 The Emperor Alexander talks, according to his 
 
! i 
 
 !• 
 
 PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 49 
 
 custom, of nothing but liberal ideas. I do not 
 know whether it is those ideas that have induced 
 him to regard an expedition to Wagram, to contem¬ 
 plate the scene of their defeat, as a delicate manner 
 of making himself agreeable to his hosts. It is a 
 fact that he sent, by M. de Czernicheff, for certain 
 officers, who, having been present at the battle, 
 could inform him as to the positions and movements 
 of the two armies, which he wished to study on the 
 ground. ( 9 ) The day before yesterday, the Arch¬ 
 duke John asked where the Emperor was, and was 
 answered, “At Wagram, your Highness/’ It seems 
 that he is to go from hence to Pesth in a few days ; 
 he has asked for a ball there on the 9th, and means 
 to appear at it in Hungarian costume. Either 
 before or after the ball he will make a visit to 
 his sister’s tomb. v 10 ) A crowd of Greeks who have 
 been informed beforehand, and will be eager to 
 behold the only monarch who belongs to their 
 rite, ( n ) are to be present at the ceremony. I do 
 not know to what extent all this is pleasing to 
 the Court here, but I should think it is not very 
 agreeable. 
 
 Lord Stewart, brother of Lord Castlereagh, and 
 Ambassador to the Court of Vienna, arrived here a 
 few days ago. He was presented to the Emperor 
 Alexander, who said to him what follows—he related 
 
 vol. r. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 it to me himself: “ We are going to do a fine thing, 
 a grand thing. We are going to raise up Poland 
 again by giving it one of my brothers as its king,( 12 ) 
 or else the husband of my sister (the Duchess of 
 Oldenburg).” Lord Stewart said, frankly, “ I do not 
 see independence for Poland in that, and I do not 
 think that England, although less interested than the 
 other Powers, can agree to such an arrangement.” 
 
 Either I deceive myself greatly, or the union 
 between the four Courts is more apparent than 
 real,( 13 ) and depends solely on the fact that some 
 of them do not choose to believe that we have 
 the means to act, while the others do not believe 
 that we have the will. 
 
 Those who know us to be against their preten¬ 
 sions think that we have nothing but reasoning to 
 oppose to them. A few days ago the Emperor 
 Alexander said, “Talleyrand acts the minister of 
 Louis XIV. here and Humboldt, endeavouring to 
 coax and at the same time to intimidate the Saxon 
 minister, said, “The minister of France presents 
 himself here with words which do not lack nobi¬ 
 lity, but either they conceal mental reservation, or 
 there is nothing behind to sustain them ; woe be 
 to those who put faith in them.” It would silence 
 all this foolish talk and put an end to the present 
 state of irresolution if your Majesty would, in a 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 5 r 
 
 manifesto addressed to your people, after having- 
 made known to them the principles which your 
 Majesty has commanded us to adhere to, and your 
 firm resolution never to depart from them, allow 
 it to be seen that the just cause would not be left 
 without support. Such a declaration, as I conceive 
 it, and as I shall presently submit a draft of it to 
 your Majesty, would not lead to war, for which 
 nobody wishes, but it would bring those who have 
 pretensions to moderate them, while it would give 
 courage to others to defend their own interests 
 and those of Europe. But as such a manifesto would 
 be premature at this moment, I ask your Majesty’s 
 permission to recur to it hereafter if ulterior circum¬ 
 stances appear to me to demand it. Our language 
 begins to make an impression. I greatly regret 
 that an accident ( 14 ) which has happened to Count 
 Munster has hitherto prevented his being with 
 Lord Castlereagh, who has great need of support. 
 From what we are told we may hope that he will be 
 here in two days, and able to take part in affairs. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER VI. 
 
 (i) Jacobi-Kloest, designated by the Moniteur Uirivcrsel under 
 the title of Minister of State, came to Vienna during the Congress. 
 He was Ambassador to London, and occupied that post until 
 1817, when he was replaced by Baron Humboldt. 
 
52 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (2) Louis II. (Charles Louis de Bourbon-Parma), son of 
 Louis I. and Marie Louise de Bourbon of Spain, King of Etruria, 
 succeeded his father on the 27th of May, 1805, and reigned until 
 the 10th of December, 1807. 
 
 (3) The Treaty of Fontainebleau. 
 
 (4) See Appendix. 
 
 (5) Arnail-Frangois, Marquis de Jaucourt, born at Paris in 
 1757, died in 1852, deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, 
 President of the Tribunate in 1802, senator in 1803, member of 
 the Provisional Government on the fall of the Emperor Napo¬ 
 leon I. in 1814. He directed the department of Foreign Affairs 
 during Prince Talleyrand’s stay at Vienna, accompanied Louis 
 XVIII. to Ghent, and was for a time Minister of Marine after the 
 Hundred Days. He was a zealous Protestant. Hardly had he 
 been installed in temporary command of the department than he 
 wrote to Prince Talleyrand : “ It is not, my dear friend, without 
 some pain and timidity that I take my seat before that little table 
 at which I have so often seen you seated, and at which that 
 business which in your absence will be done in groping and 
 uncertainty, was conducted with such superiority.” 
 
 (6) On the 8th of October, 1814, the Minister of War wrote to 
 Prince Talleyrand : “ The inhabitant of the island of Elba receives 
 frequent posts from Naples and elsewhere. He rises several 
 times at night, writes despatches, and seems very busy, although 
 he talks ostentatiously of his tranquillity and his forgetfulness of 
 affairs. It is really important that he should be placed at a distance 
 from Italy, by consent of the Powers. No doubt there will be no 
 war, but if it did recur, it is indisputable that Napoleon could 
 collect Italian and even French deserters and disturb certain 
 points of the Continent.” 
 
 (7) The King of Rome. 
 
 (8) Saint Stephen, the first Christian and Catholic King of 
 Hungary, Apostle of Hungary (997-1038). Pope Sylvester II. 
 sent him a crown, which is still used at the coronation of the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 53 
 
 Kings of Hungary (Emperors of Austria). The Order of Saint 
 Stephen was instituted by the Empress Marie Theresa. 
 
 (9) It was not to Wagram, but to Aspern (Essling) that Alex¬ 
 
 ander went. The Moniteur of the 23rd of October inserts the fol¬ 
 lowing among “faits divers” from Vienna of the date of the nth : 
 “ The Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia visited yesterday 
 morning the environs of Aspern, where his Imperial Highness the 
 Archduke Charles had the honour of showing the Emperor the 
 field of the battle which was fought there on May 21st and 22nd, 
 t8o 9 .” * 
 
 (10) The Grand-Duchess Paulowna. 
 
 (11) “He (the Emperor Alexander) returned yesterday even¬ 
 ing from his trip into Hungary with the Emperor of Austria and 
 the King of Prussia. This journey, which was his own doing, 
 was also made an occasion for scheming. He wanted to cajole 
 the Hungarian nation, and to surround himself with the heads of 
 the Greek clergy, which is very numerous in Hungary. We have 
 it from Lord Castlereagh himself that the Greeks are already 
 stirring up war with Turkey. The Servians have just taken up 
 arms again.”—Letter from Talleyrand to the department, 31st 
 October, 1814. 
 
 (12) The Grand-Duke Constantine, or the Grand-Duke 
 Nicholas. The former died in 1831, after having been Viceroy 
 of Poland ; the other became Emperor of Russia in 1825. Here 
 
 Talleyrand must be mistaken. Prince Peter Frederick George, 
 
 « 
 
 married to the sister of the Emperor Alexander, died on the 27th 
 of December, 1812; but he left a son, Constant Frederick Peter, 
 born on the 26th of August, 1812, and who still survives: he 
 received the title of “ Highness ” in Russia. 
 
 (13) “It cannot escape us that the real difficulty of the Allied 
 Powers at the Congress arises from the delusion which they 
 cherished, in believing that they could settle the affairs of Europe 
 upon bases which they commend to us as fixed, and which are 
 not so.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 23rd November, 1814. 
 
54 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (14) “The carriage of Count Munster, the Hanoverian 
 Minister, was overturned on his way hither. Two of the Count’s 
 ribs are broken. This accident prevents the minister from taking 
 part in the proceedings of the Congress .”—Moniteur Universe /, 
 24th October, 1814. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 FROM THE KING TO PRINCE* TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 14th October, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your despatches of the 
 29th September and the 4th October. (It will be 
 well, in future, to number them, as I do this one. 
 Consequently, those whose receipt I acknowledge 
 hereby ought to bear the numbers 2 and 3.) 
 
 I begin by telling you, with real satisfaction, that 
 I am perfectly content with the attitude which you 
 have taken up, and the language which you have 
 held, both towards the plenipotentiaries, and in your 
 trying conference with the Emperor of Russia. 
 You know, of course, that he has summoned General 
 Pozzo di Borgo.Q God grant that his wise mind 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 55 
 
 may bring his sovereign to more sensible views ! 
 But it is upon the contrary hypothesis that we must 
 reason. 
 
 The object at which we ought to aim is to 
 prevent the success of the ambitious projects of 
 Russia and Prussia. Pozzo di Borgo might perhaps 
 have been able to succeed unassisted, but he had 
 means which will never be mine, therefore I need 
 help. The petty States could not offer me any that 
 would be sufficient—of themselves only, I mean ; I 
 must, then, have that of at least one Great Power. 
 We should have Austria and England if they under¬ 
 stood their own interests aright; but I fear that they 
 are already bound. I am especially afraid of a 
 policy which is advocated by many of the English, 
 and with which the Duke of Wellington himself 
 seems to be imbued; that of entirely separating the 
 interests of Great Britain from those of Hanover. 
 
 I cannot, then, employ force to make the right 
 triumphant, but I can always refuse to be answerable 
 for iniquity ; we shall see whether they will venture 
 to attack me for that. 
 
 What I am now saying refers to Poland and 
 Saxony only, for as regards Naples I shall always 
 stand by the complete answer which you have made 
 to M. de Humboldt. 
 
 I put things at the worst, because I think that is 
 
56 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the true way in which to reason; but I hope much 
 from your skill and firmness. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER VII. 
 
 (i) The Minister of War wrote to M. de Talleyrand on the 
 8th of October : “ I am charmed that General Pozzo di Borgo has 
 been summoned to Vienna : he knows us well, and does not wish 
 us ill.” 
 
 -H- 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Vienna, 17 th October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the letter with which your 
 Majesty has deigned to honour me. I am happy to 
 find that the line of conduct which I have followed 
 is in accord with the indications that your Majesty 
 has been pleased to convey to me. I shall take 
 every care never to depart from it. 
 
 I have to give an account to your Majesty of the 
 position of things since my last letter. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, being anxious to make a fresh 
 attempt to induce the Emperor Alexander to abandon 
 his ideas on Poland, which disarrange everything 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 57 
 
 and tend to upset everything, asked for an audience. 
 The Emperor wanted to make a sort of mystery of 
 it, and did him the honour of going to his house; 
 then, knowing well on what subject Lord Castle- 
 reagh had to speak to him, he opened the matter 
 himself, by complaining of the opposition with which 
 his views were met. He did not understand, he 
 never should understand, how France and England 
 could be adverse to the restoration of the kingdom 
 of Poland. Its re-establishment, he said, would 
 be a reparation made to public morality, which 
 the partition had outraged—a sort of expiation. In 
 reality the point was not to restore Poland in its 
 entirety, although there was nothing to prevent that 
 being done some day, if Europe desired it; at pre¬ 
 sent the thing would be premature, and the country 
 itself needed to be prepared for it. There could be 
 no better means of doing this than the erection 
 of one part of Poland into a kingdom, to which 
 should be given institutions calculated to implant 
 and cultivate all the principles of civilization, which, 
 when it should be thought right to unite the whole 
 in one, would afterwards spread themselves over the 
 entire country. The execution of his plan would 
 entail no sacrifices on any but himself, since the new 
 kingdom would be formed of only those portions of 
 Poland over which conquest gave him indisputable 
 
53 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 rights, and to which he would also add those that 
 he had acquired before the last war and since the 
 last partition. Nobody had therefore any right to 
 complain of his choosing to make those sacrifices ; 
 he would make them with pleasure, on principle, for 
 conscience’ sake, for the consolation of an unhappy 
 nation, for the advance of civilization ; to do this he 
 held essential to his honour and his glory. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, who had his arguments pre¬ 
 pared, brought them all forward in a very long con¬ 
 versation, but he neither persuaded nor convinced 
 the Emperor Alexander,, who withdrew, leaving 
 Lord Castlereagh very ill at ease respecting his 
 intentions; but, as he did not consider himself 
 beaten, he put his reasons in writing and presented 
 them to the Emperor that same evening, under the 
 title of a Memorandum. 
 
 After having given me the preceding details in 
 a very long conversation, Lord Castlereagh asked 
 me to read the document. I may here observe 
 that M. de Metternich, when he knew this, betrayed 
 surprise which he would not have shown, had it 
 not been agreed between the ministers of the four 
 Courts that what was done amongst them should 
 not be communicated to others. 
 
 The Memorandum begins by quoting the articles 
 of the treaties concluded by the Allies in 1813, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 59 
 
 which set forth that “ Poland shall remain divided 
 between the. three Powers in proportions which shall 
 be agreed upon by their common consent , and without 
 the interference of France .” (Lord Castlereagh 
 hastened to tell me that the France here alluded 
 to was that of 1813, and not the France of to-day.) 
 It then textually reports speeches made, promises 
 and assurances given, by the Emperor Alexander 
 at different times, in various places, and especially 
 at Paris, and which are in opposition to the plan 
 which he is now pursuing. 
 
 This is followed by a statement of the services 
 rendered by England to the Emperor Alexander. 
 In order to secure to him the tranquil possession of 
 Finland, England began by making Norway pass 
 under the yoke of Sweden ; in this she sacrificed 
 her own inclination, and perhaps even her interests. 
 She then obtained for him, by her mediation, cer¬ 
 tain cessions and other advantages from the Otto¬ 
 man Porte, and from Persia the surrender of a 
 considerable territory. She therefore holds herself 
 entitled to speak to the Emperor Alexander more 
 plainly than the other Powers, who have not been 
 in a position to render him similar services. 
 
 Passing on to an examination of the Emperor’s 
 present plan, Lord Castlereagh declares that the 
 re-establishment of the whole of Poland as a com- 
 
6 o 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 pletely independent State would obtain a general 
 assent, but that to make a kingdom out of the fourth 
 part of Poland would be to create discontent in 
 the three other parts, and just apprehensions in 
 those who possess any portion of it whatsoever, 
 and who, from the moment there existed a king¬ 
 dom of Poland, could no longer rely upon the 
 fidelity of their subjects for an instant. Thus, 
 instead of a focus of civilization, a focus of insur¬ 
 rection and disturbance would have been estab¬ 
 lished, just when repose is the universal desire, as 
 it is the universal need. While acknowledging that 
 conquest has given rights to the Emperor, it maintains 
 that the boundary of his rights is that point which 
 cannot be passed without injury to the security of 
 the Emperors neighbours. It conjures him by all 
 that he holds dear, by his humanity and his glory, 
 not to desire to go beyond that point, and it 
 concludes by indicating that he is all the more 
 earnestly entreated to weigh the reflections submitted 
 to him, because, in the case of his persisting in his 
 views, England would be under the painful necessity 
 of refusing her consent. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander has not yet replied. 
 In proportion as Lord Castlereagh is sound on the 
 subject of Poland, he is unsound on that of Saxony.^) 
 He talks only of treason, of the necessity for an 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 6l 
 
 example ; principles do not appear to be his strong- 
 point. Count Munster, whose health is better, has 
 endeavoured to convince him that the balance, 
 perhaps even the existence, of Germany depends 
 on the preservation of Saxony; but he has at most 
 only succeeded in inspiring him with doubts. Never¬ 
 theless he has promised me, not indeed to take the 
 same line as ours on this question (he seems to have 
 given some pledge to the Prussians which binds 
 him in that respect), but to make friendly represen¬ 
 tations in our sense. 
 
 The step he has taken with regard to the 
 Emperor Alexander was made not only with the 
 knowledge, but also at the request of M. de Met- 
 ternich. I cannot doubt, although neither one nor 
 the other has told me so, that Austria is alive to the 
 consequences of the Russian projects ;( 2 ) but not ven¬ 
 turing to take the initiative herself, she has contrived 
 to make England take it. If the Emperor Alexander 
 persists, Austria, too much interested in not yielding, 
 will not, I think, yield, but her timidity will lead 
 her to let things drag on slowly. There are, how¬ 
 ever, dangers in such a course which daily become 
 greater, and might become extreme. I am the more 
 bound to call the attention of your Majesty to them, 
 that their cause may be prolonged far beyond the 
 present time, and in a manner to excite your solici- 
 
62 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 tude during the whole of your Majesty’s reign. 
 The revolutionary ferment has spread all over 
 Germany ; Jacobinism is reigning there, not as it 
 did five and twenty years ago in France, in the 
 middle and lower classes, but among the highest 
 and wealthiest nobility—the result of this difference 
 is that if a revolution should break out there, its 
 progress could not be calculated on the scale of the 
 progress of ours. Those whom the dissolution of 
 the Germanic Empire and the charter of the Con¬ 
 federation of the Rhine ( 3 ) have brought down from 
 the rank of petty rulers to the condition of subjects, 
 bear impatiently a state of things which turns person¬ 
 ages whose equals they were, or believed themselves, 
 into their masters, and they aspire to the reversal 
 of conditions which hurt their pride, and to the re¬ 
 placement of all the governments of this country by 
 one only. The men of the universities, and young 
 men imbued with their theories, conspire with these 
 malcontents, as do all those who attribute the cala¬ 
 mities inflicted upon Germany by the many wars of 
 which she is continually the theatre, to her division 
 into petty States. The unity of the German land is 
 their cry, their dogma ; it is a religion carried to the 
 height of fanaticism, and this fanaticism has infected 
 even the reigning princes.( 4 ) Now, that unity, from 
 which France might have nothing to fear if she 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 63 
 
 possessed the left bank of the Rhine and Belgium, 
 would be of grave import to her at present; besides, 
 who can foresee the consequences of the disturbance 
 of a vast bulk like that of Germany, when its divided 
 elements should come to be agitated and mixed ? 
 Who can say where the impulse, once given, might 
 stop ? 
 
 The situation of Germany, which is that a 
 great part of the country does not know who is 
 going to be its master, military occupations, with 
 the hardships which are their ordinary accompani¬ 
 ment ; fresh sacrifices demanded after so many 
 previous sacrifices, present suffering, future un¬ 
 certainty—all is favourable to subversive projects. 
 It is too evident that if the Congress adjourns, if 
 it delays, if it decides nothing, it will aggravate this 
 state of things, and it is much to be feared that 
 such an aggravation would bring about an explo¬ 
 sion. The most pressing interest of the time being 
 is that the labours of the Congress should be accele¬ 
 rated, and that it should come to an end, but how 
 is it to finish ? By yielding to what the Russians 
 and the Prussians want? Neither the safety of 
 Europe, nor honour, would permit that. By op¬ 
 posing force to force ? To do that, it would be 
 necessary that Austria, who I believe har the desire 
 to do it, should have the firmness of will. She has 
 
6 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 immense forces on a war footing, but she is afraid 
 of risings in Italy and dares not commit herself 
 backed only by Russia and Prussia. Bavaria( 5 ) may 
 be counted on ; she has pronounced very decidedly, 
 and has offered Austria fifty thousand men to defend 
 Saxony. Wtirtemberg would furnish her with ten 
 thousand; other German States would join her; 
 But this is not sufficient security; she would like 
 to be able to count upon our co-operation, and 
 does not believe that she can count upon it. 
 
 The Prussians have spread a report that your 
 Majesty’s ministers have received double instruc¬ 
 tions, one set prescribing the language which they 
 are to hold, and the other directing them to promise 
 nothing. M. de Metternich had Marshal Wrede 
 informed that he believed this to be the case. A 
 person intimately in his confidence said, a few days 
 ago, to M. de Dalberg :( 6 ) “Your Legation talks very 
 cleverly, but you do not want to act, and as for us, 
 we do not want to act alone.” Your Majesty will 
 readily believe that I do not like war, or wish for 
 it any more than your Majesty does, but in my 
 opinion it would suffice to hint at it, and we should 
 not require to make it; in my opinion also the 
 fear of war ought not to prevail over the fear of 
 a greater evil which may be preventable only by 
 war. I do not think that Russia and Prussia would 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 ^5 
 
 like to run the chances of a war with Austria, 
 France, Sardinia, Bavaria, and a good part of 
 Germany, or if they would run that risk, so much 
 the less would they be likely to retreat before 
 Austria only, supposing that she were to enter 
 upon the contest single-handed, which is incon¬ 
 ceivable. Thus Austria, deprived of our support, 
 would have no other resource except to prolong 
 the Congress indefinitely, or to dissolve it, thereby 
 opening the door to revolution; or to yield, and 
 consent to things which your Majesty is resolved 
 never to sanction. 
 
 In the latter case it would remain only for your 
 Majesty’s ministers to retire from the Congress, 
 relinquishing the effort to obtain any portion of that 
 which your Majesty most desires. Nevertheless, 
 the state of things that would be established in 
 Europe might, in a very few years, render inevitable 
 the war which it was sought to avoid, and we 
 might then find ourselves in a more disadvantageous 
 position for making war. I believe it not only 
 possible, but probable, that if the answer of the 
 Emperor of Russia destroys all hope of his yield¬ 
 ing to persuasion, Prince Metternich will ask me 
 whether, and to what extent, Austria may count 
 upon our co-operation. The instructions which 
 have been given us by your Majesty point out 
 
 5 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
66 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that the domination of Russia over the whole of 
 Poland would threaten Europe with so great a 
 danger, that if it were to be avoided by force of 
 arms only, there must not be a moments hesitation 
 in taking them up. This would seem to authorize 
 me to make a general promise of the assistance of 
 your Majesty in such a case, but to reply in a 
 positive manner to a precise demand, and to 
 promise defined support, require an authorization 
 and special instructions. I venture to entreat your 
 Majesty to be pleased to give me these, and 
 to be convinced that I will not make use of them 
 except in the event of an evident and extreme 
 necessity; but I still believe that the case for which 
 I am preparing will not arise. However, that I 
 may be ready for everything, I would wish that 
 your Majesty should deign to honour me with 
 your commands as promptly as possible. The 
 ministers of the eight Powers have not met since 
 the declaration which I have had the honour of 
 sending to your Majesty. A committee composed 
 of the Austrian minister, the Prussian minister, and 
 the ministers of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Hanover 
 are occupied with the federal constitution of Ger¬ 
 many. They have already held a conference, but 
 it is doubtful whether, considering the interests 
 of those whom they represent, and their own indi- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 67 
 
 vidual characters, they will succeed in coming to 
 an agreement. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER VIII. 
 
 (1) “ The policy of the Powers arises from the fright in which 
 they still are. . . . The English policy comes out very clearly 
 here. . . . Still, alarmed by the effect which the Continental 
 policy has produced upon England, the English ministers want 
 to place Powers sufficiently strong in the North, and on the 
 Baltic, to prevent France from interfering at any time with English 
 trade with the interior of the Continent. For this reason they 
 lend themselves to all that Prussia demands.”—Letter from the 
 French plenipotentiary to the department, 30th October, 1814. 
 
 On the 3rd of January, 1815, M, de Talleyrand wrote to 
 Jaucourt: “The English embassy at the Congress, which in the 
 beginning had adopted a policy by no means acceptable to us, 
 has changed entirely, and is now proceeding in harmony with 
 our views.” 
 
 (2) “ Prince Metternich, although in general guided by a timid 
 and uncertain policy, is, however, sufficiently alive to the opinion 
 of his country and the interest of his monarchy, to feel that the 
 Austrian States, hemmed in by Russia, Prussia, and a Poland 
 entirely in the hands of the former, would be constantly menaced, 
 and that France only can aid them in this difficulty. 5 ’—Letter to 
 the department, 16th October, 1814. 
 
 (3) In 1806. 
 
 (4) See Appendix. 
 
 (5) Count Alexis de Noailles reported the following words as 
 spoken by the King of Bavaria in an audience granted to him on 
 the 9th of the following November:—“I have learned that the 
 proceedings of the French envoys in every respect have been 
 
68 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 closely watched here; everything that they have done has been 
 observed, and it has been discovered with much surprise that they 
 avoid all secret manoeuvres, have not expended any money 
 at all, and that their conduct is stainless and free from in¬ 
 trigue, I have made a protest respecting the affairs of Saxony. 
 I am with you. I will not separate myself from your policy.” 
 M. de Noailles adds, “ Do you wish to know what is privately 
 said ? It is that his loyalty and his principles may be counted 
 on, but it is thought that he (the King of Bavaria) will not be 
 master of the army, and that after the negotiations he will be 
 forced into war by the clamour of generals greedy for conquest.” 
 
 (6) “ And this has been confirmed by a man attached to 
 Prince Metternich, who, in explaining himself to the Duke of 
 Dalberg, said to him, ‘You appear to us to be *dogs, who bark 
 very loud, but you do not bite and we do not want to bite 
 unassisted/”—Letter from the French plenipotentiary to the 
 department, 16th October, 1815. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Vienna, 19th October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 M. de Labrador has been reproached, 
 by the ministers of the four Courts, for having 
 been of the same opinion as myself in the con¬ 
 ference to which we were both summoned, and 
 also perhaps because he has come pretty often 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 69 
 
 to my house, where Lord Castlereagh found him 
 on one occasion. He has been called a turn¬ 
 coat, a man who separates himself from those 
 to whom Spain owed its deliverance, and it is 
 worthy of remark that M. de Metternich has taken 
 up this point most warmly. M. de Labrador has 
 not changed his opinion for all that, but he has 
 thought it necessary to visit me less frequently. 
 We may judge by this how far ministers who are, 
 from position or personal character, less independent, 
 are, or believe themselves, free to have constant 
 relations with your Majesty’s Legation.( x ) The five 
 ministers who met to prepare a draft of a federal 
 constitution, have been required to give their word 
 of honour that they will not communicate to any 
 one the proposals which may be made to them. 
 This precaution, quite a useless one, is especially 
 directed against the French Legation. The plan is 
 now to isolate it, as it has been found impossible to 
 make it accept the role proposed to it in the negotia¬ 
 tions. One ray of light has, however, pierced the 
 darkness in which it was sought to shroud the 
 Legation, and which, as time advances, they would 
 fain deepen. It may be that we have got hold of 
 the clue which will enable us to penetrate into the 
 labyrinth of intrigue in which it was hoped we 
 should lose our way. The following facts I have 
 
70 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 learned from a man whose position affords him an 
 opportunity of acquiring accurate information. 
 
 The four Courts have never ceased to be allied 
 in this sense, that the feelings with which they made 
 war have survived that war, and that they carry 
 into the arrangements of Europe the spirit with 
 which they fought. Their intention was to make 
 those arrangements themselves entirely; but they 
 felt that to ensure their being regarded as legitimate, 
 it was necessary to invest them with an apparent 
 sanction. That is why the Congress \yas’convened. 
 They would have wished to exclude France from 
 it, but they could not do so after the happy change 
 which had taken place in France, and for that reason 
 this change has vexed them. Nevertheless, they 
 flattered themselves that France, having been for 
 so long fully occupied by her internal difficulties, 
 would only formally intervene at the Congress. 
 Seeing that she presented herself there with prin¬ 
 ciples which they could not contest, and did not 
 want to follow, they have adopted the course of 
 setting her aside practically, without excluding her, 
 and keeping everything in their own hands, so that 
 they may proceed to carry out their plan unopposed. 
 This plan is, at bottom, no other than that ot 
 England.( 2 ) It is she who is the soul of it all. 
 Her indifference to principles ought not to surprise 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 71 
 
 us; her principles are her interests. Her object 
 is simple ; she wants to preserve her naval supre¬ 
 macy, and, with that supremacy, the commerce of 
 the world. To do this it is necessary for her that 
 the French navy should never become formidable, ■ 
 either in itself or in combination with others. 
 She has already taken care to isolate France from 
 the other naval Powers, by the engagements into 
 which she has induced them to enter. The resto¬ 
 ration of the House of Bourbon having led her to 
 apprehend a renewal of the family compact, she 
 hastened to conclude with Spain the treaty of the 
 5th of July, which provides that the compact shall 
 never be renewed. She has now to place France, as . 
 a continental power, in a position which will permit 
 her to devote only a small portion of her forces 
 to the naval service, and with this in view she 
 wants to unite Prussia and Austria closely, by ren¬ 
 dering the latter so strong that it would be possible 
 to place them both in opposition to France. It 
 was in pursuance of this design that Lord Stewart 
 was sent to Vienna. He is entirely Prussian ; hence 
 the selection of him as ambassador. They will 
 endeavour to place a man allied to Austria by in¬ 
 clination at Berlin, and the purpose of strengthening 
 Prussia could not be better served than by giving 
 Saxony to her. England, therefore, would have 
 
72 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Saxony sacrificed and given to Prussia. Lord 
 Castlereagh and Mr. Cook are so determined on this 
 question that they venture to assert that the sacrifice 
 of Saxony without any abdication, without any cession 
 on the part of the King, does not violate any prin¬ 
 ciple. Naturally, Austria ought to reject such a 
 doctrine: justice, propriety, even safety, require her 
 to do so. How has her resistance been overcome ? 
 The explanation is very simple; she has been 
 placed face to face with two difficulties, and assisted 
 to surmount the one on condition that she' yields 
 to the other. The Emperor of Russia comes in, 
 in the very nick of time, with his desire to have 
 the whole of the duchy of Warsaw, and to erect a 
 phantom kingdom of Poland. Lord Castlereagh 
 opposes this.( 3 ) He is drawing up a Memorandum 
 which he will present to Parliament, to make believe 
 that he has had so much trouble in arranging the 
 affairs of Poland that no blame can be imputed to 
 him for not having saved Saxony; and, as the 
 reward of his efforts, he is pressing Austria 
 to consent to the disappearance of that kingdom 
 Who can say whether the desire to form a phantom 
 Poland has not been suggested to the Emperor 
 Alexander by the very persons who are opposing 
 it, or if that desire is sincere ? Who knows but that 
 the Emperor, in order to please the Poles, has made 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 73 
 
 them promises which he would be very sorry to 
 keep ? In that case, the resistance with which he 
 meets is precisely what he most desires, while 
 a consent to what he appears to wish would 
 place him in the greatest difficulty ? Meanwhile 
 M. de Metternich, who piques himself on being 
 the motive power of the whole thing, is himself 
 set in motion without knowing it, and, being 
 the mere tool of the intrigues of which he believes 
 himself the leader, allows himself to be deceived 
 like a child. ( 4 ) Without affirming that all this in¬ 
 formation is perfectly exact, I may say that it 
 appears to me extremely probable. A few days 
 ago, a certain number of persons whom M. de 
 Metternich is in the habit of consulting, met at his 
 house ; they were all of opinion that Saxony 
 ought not to be abandoned. Nothing was settled, 
 and the day before yesterday I learnt, in the 
 evening, from a trustworthy source, that M. de 
 Metternich personally relinquished Saxony, but that 
 the Emperor of Austria still held out. A member of 
 the Commission for the drawing up of the Federal 
 Constitution says that the proposals which were made 
 to them implied that Saxony was no longer to exist. 
 
 The whole of yesterday was devoted to two 
 fetes: one was military, and commemorative of 
 the battle of Leipsic; the other was given by 
 
74 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Prince Metternich in honour of the peace. At 
 the former your Majesty’s Legation could not be 
 present, but at the latter I hoped to find an 
 opportunity of saying a word to the Emperor of 
 Austria. I was not so fortunate as to succeed 
 in this. I had been more so at the preceding ball, 
 where I laid before him certain reflections upon the 
 circumstances calculated to produce some effect 
 upon his mind. He then appeared to understand 
 me very well. Lord Castlereagh talked to him for 
 nearly twenty minutes, and I learned that Saxony 
 was the subject of the conversation. An arrange- 
 mcnt by which Saxony should be given to Prussia 
 would be regarded in Austria, even by the members 
 of the Cabinet, as a misfortune for the Austrian 
 monarchy, and by Germany at large as a calamity. ( 5 ) 
 It would be held there to be a certain indication 
 that Germany itself is destined to be partitioned, 
 sooner or later, as Poland has been. Yesterday the 
 King of Bavaria commanded his minister to make 
 fresh efforts for Saxony, and he said, “ This project 
 is grossly unjust, and it deprives me of all repose.” 
 If Austria wants to maintain Saxony it is probable 
 that she will, at all events, wish to make sure of our 
 co-opcration, and it is that I may be ready to answer 
 any demand of that nature that I have entreated your 
 Majesty to honour me with ypur commands. Still, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 75 
 
 as I have had the honour to tell your Majesty, I 
 hold it for certain that Russia and Prussia will not 
 enter into the contest. If Austria yields without 
 having asked our co-operation, it will be because 
 she has decided that she will not save Saxony. 
 In that case she would indeed deprive your Majesty 
 of all hope of preserving that kingdom, but she 
 could not deprive you of the glory of defending 
 principles on which rests the security of every 
 throne. After all, so long as Austria shall not have 
 finally yielded, I will not despair, and I believe 
 I have even found means, if not of preventing the 
 sacrifice of Saxony, at least of embarrassing those 
 who would sacrifice her. It is to make it known 
 to the Emperor of Russia that we do not oppose 
 his possession of, under whatever denomination, 
 that portion of Poland which shall be awarded to 
 him, provided that he does not extend his frontiers 
 so as to disturb his neighbours, and provided also 
 that Saxony be maintained. 
 
 If the Emperor does not really wish to make a 
 Kingdom of Poland, and if he be only seeking for 
 an excuse to offer to the Poles, this declaration will 
 1 embarrass him. He cannot tell the Poles, and 
 they cannot think, that it is France who opposes the 
 < accom 
 
 reagh will on his side find it difficult to explain to 
 
 plishment of their dearest wish. Lord Castle- 
 
76 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the English Parliament how, when France was not 
 against it, he came to oppose a thing which many 
 persons in England desired. ( 6 ) If the Emperor Alex¬ 
 ander really abides by the idea of this kingdom of 
 Poland, the consent of France will be a reason for 
 his persisting in it. Austria, thus thrown back 
 into the difficulty from which she thought to extri¬ 
 cate herself by the abandonment of Saxony, will be 
 obliged to rescind that abandonment, and will be 
 brought back to us. In no case can such a declara¬ 
 tion do us harm. What concerns us is thdt Russia 
 should have as little of Poland as possible, and that 
 Saxony should be saved. It concerns us less, or 
 does not concern us at all, that in one way or an¬ 
 other Russia should possess that which ought to 
 be hers ; that is the affair of Austria. Now when 
 she sacrifices needlessly what she knows is of 
 interest to us, and which ought to be of greater 
 interest to herself, why should we hesitate to replace 
 her in the position from which she wanted to extri¬ 
 cate herself, especially when it depends upon her to 
 put an end to her own embarrassment and also 
 to ours, and in order to do so she has only to join 
 us ? I am informed that the Emperor Alexander 
 has, within the last few days, repeatedly expressed 
 an intention of summoning me; if he does so I shall 
 have recourse to the expedient which I have had 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 77 
 
 the honour to explain to your Majesty. General 
 Pozzo, who has been here for some days, speaks of 
 France in a most becoming manner. The Elector 
 of Hanover, being no longer able to preserve that 
 title, since there is to be neither a Germanic Empire 
 nor an elective Emperor, and not choosing to be 
 of inferior rank to the sovereign of Wiirtemberg, 
 having once been a much greater personage, has 
 taken the title of King. Count Munster, who is 
 almost recovered from his fall, has notified the fact 
 to me. I await the authorization which your 
 Majesty will no doubt think proper to give me, to 
 reply to him and recognize the new titles which his 
 Master has assumed. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER IX. 
 
 (1) “ The King of Bavaria had asked M. de Labrador whether 
 he sometimes saw Prince Talleyrand, and the Spanish ambassador 
 had replied in the affirmative. ‘ I should like to see him also/ 
 said the King, ‘but I dare not/”—Talleyrand to Jaucofe, 28th 
 October, 1814. 
 
 (2) “I found Lord Castlereagh but indifferently informed 
 respecting the continental situation, very upright, totally free from 
 all bias and every kind of prejudice, as just as he was kindly. I 
 w&s speedily convinced that his ideas upon the subject of the 
 reconstitution of France in a sense conformable with the general 
 interests of Europe did not differ from my own in any point.”— 
 “Memoires du Prince de Metternich, tom. 1. p. 181.” 
 
78 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (3) In his letter on Poland Lord Castlereagh reminded the 
 Emperor of Russia of the assistance which he had received from 
 England, and said to him, “ I do not hesitate to impart to your 
 Majesty my private conviction that it will exclusively depend 
 upon the -spirit in which your Majesty shall treat the question 
 directly connected with your own Empire, whether the present 
 Congress is to insure the welfare of the world, or merely to present 
 a scene of disorder and intrigue, an ignoble contest for power at 
 the expense of principles. The place which your Majesty occupies 
 in Europe gives you the means of doing everything for the general 
 good, if your Majesty’s intervention is founded upon principles of 
 justice to which Europe may do homage, but if your Majesty 
 ceased to set store by public opinion ... I should despair of the 
 possibility of a just and stable order of things in Europe. And 
 I should have the mortification of seeing your Majesty for the 
 first time regarded by those whom you have delivered, as the 
 object of their dread, after having been that of their hope and 
 confidence.” 
 
 The Emperor Alexander answers Lord Castlereagh on the 
 30th October, 1814: 
 
 “ . . I go on to the clause in which you remind me of events the 
 memory of which I shall never lose, that is to say, of the frank and 
 cordial assistance that I received from England when I was con¬ 
 tending against the whole Continent, led by Napoleon. It is 
 always a mistake to remind an obliged person of services rendered. 
 If I had 1 thought that your remarks had such an intention, or were 
 meant to convey the unjust suspicion that I did not sufficiently 
 appreciate the lofty character of the English nation, and the 
 friendly and enlightened policy of the British Cabinet during the 
 course of the war, I should not have replied to them.” 
 
 (4) “M. de Metternich’s blindness in continuing to second the 
 designs of the three Powers is singular: he is making it easy for 
 Russia to lay hold of the duchy of Warsaw, for Prussia to occupy 
 Saxony, and for England to exercise the most absolute power 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 79 
 
 over what was called, and may still be called, the coalition. This 
 state of things produces a strange effect ; the Austrian monarchy 
 draws near to us in all that concerns it, while the ministry, in all 
 that concerns them, keep aloof.”—Talleyrand to the department, 
 20th October, 1814. - 
 
 (5) The reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld wrote to Lord 
 Castlereagh: 
 
 “ You have told me that in point of right the affair of the 
 King of Saxony is settled, and that there is nothing to be hoped 
 for, except clemency. I confess to your Excellency that I am at 
 a loss to understand how as a matter of right the matter could be 
 decided against the King of Saxony. How, in fact, can he have 
 lost his States ? By conquest ? By surrender ? By sentence ? 
 By conquest? You do not think so, my lord. England has 
 never believed that the King had lost the sovereignty of Hanover 
 because Bonaparte conquered that country. Bonaparte himself, 
 who desired to transform conquest into sovereignty, was ready 
 to protect such an abuse when, as an act of reprisal, you ceded 
 Guadaloupe to Sweden. By surrender? The King has not ceded 
 and never will cede his rights. By sentence ? Is the King to 
 be judged without being heard? And who shall judge him? 
 His oppressors ? Those who want to enrich themselves with his 
 spoils ? Shall it be the nation ? The nation claims him. Shall 
 it be Germany l All the States of which Germany is composed , with 
 one single exception , look upon Germany as lost if Saxony be 
 destroyed. 
 
 “ Are the interests of Germany to be consulted ? Doubtless 
 it will not be supposed that all the States which compose it are 
 so blind to their own interest as to mistake between what may 
 save and what may ruin Germany, and I have already told you, 
 my lord, they all regard the loss of Saxony as the sentence of 
 their own ruin.” 
 
 (6) See Lord Donoughmore’s motion in the House of Lords, 
 1st December, 1814, and the same proposal in the House of 
 Commons during the sitting of that day. 
 
8 o 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 T 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Paris, 21 st October, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your Nos. 4 and 5. The 
 most certain proof that your note of the 1st of 
 October was good is, that it has displeased the 
 plenipotentiaries of the formerly allied Courts, and 
 that at the same time it has forced them to retrace 
 their steps. But we must not let ourselves sleep on 
 this success.^) The existence of the league, of which 
 you tell me in No. 4, is made clear to me, and 
 especially the design of revenging upon France 
 ut sic the humiliations which the Directory, and 
 still more Bonaparte, have inflicted upon Europe.( 2 ) 
 I shall never allow myself to be reduced to sub¬ 
 mitting to this ; therefore I strongly adopt the idea 
 of the declaration, and desire that you send me the 
 draft at once. But this is not all. We must prove 
 that there is something behind\ and for that it seems 
 to me necessary to make preparations for placing 
 the army, at need, upon a more considerable footing 
 than the present. ( 3 ) I shall get M. cle Jaucourt to 
 write the letter which you desire at once, but, between 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 8 I 
 
 ourselves, I shall go beyond the stipulations of the 
 11 th of April if the excellent idea of one of the 
 Azores be carried out. I shall be very glad if 
 Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla are restored to 
 the young prince ; they are his patrimony. Tuscany 
 was a possession not very justly acquired. The 
 unfortunate Gustavus IV. announces to me his 
 intention of coming here very shortly. If this be 
 spoken of at Vienna, you may boldly affirm that 
 the journey conceals no political speculation, but 
 that my door shall never be shut to him who opened 
 his to me. I cannot conclude this letter without 
 renewing the expression of my satisfaction with 
 your conduct. 
 
 Upon which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER X. 
 
 (1) In the manuscript, the following passage, struck out by a 
 line, may still be read :— 
 
 “ Of the four Cabinets, I find three bent on aggrandizing, 
 or at least on maintaining themselves at the expense of their 
 neighbours; but what I observe in all is a design of enmity and 
 vengeance.” 
 
 (2) On the 12th of June, 1799, Sandoz Robin, the Prussian 
 ambassador to Paris, wrote to his Court: “ Talleyrand appears 
 content and settled in his place since the arrival of Sie'yes; at 
 least, so I judge from his countenance and his conversation. 
 ‘You shall be satisfied/ he said to me the day before yesterday; 
 ‘ in the space of six weeks we shall have a system of foreign 
 
 6 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
82 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 policy which will, I hope, procure us allies. It will no longer be 
 a question of hitting Europe blows that afterwards recoil upon 
 France.’ ” 
 
 (3) “ Count Dupont laid before the Council yesterday a 
 scheme for placing the whole effective strength of the army on a 
 peace footing, and passed in review the men who are discharged, but 
 liable to be recalled under arms.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 29th 
 October, 1814. 
 
 It was proposed to remove Napoleon I. from Elba to the 
 Azores. On the 27th of September, 1814, Jaucourt replied to 
 anxious inquiries from Talleyrand : “ Stories of all sorts are told 
 about the interview between Napoleon and a lady and a young 
 child at the island of Elba. The fact is that Madame W&lewska 
 has been there, and remained a few hours. The Minister of War 
 persists in believing that there is a garrison of from three to four 
 thousand men in the island. I have details here, and they all 
 agree that from six to eight hundred men, and about as many 
 more Corsicans or others, picked up here and there, form the 
 guard. Count Dupont is informed of this by an officer who has 
 just come from that country.” Chateaubriand, writing to Talley¬ 
 rand at Vienna, gave him the same information and similar 
 advice. On the 12th of October, 1814, Talleyrand wrote to 
 Jaucourt : “ M. Mariotti (consul at Leghorn) has done well 
 to refuse passports to the merchants who asked him for them 
 for the island of Elba; he always ought to be exceedingly 
 circumspect about this kind of passport.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 83 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Vienna, 25th October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I was very happy to receive the letter with 
 which your Majesty deigned to honour me, bearing 
 date the nth of October. It has sustained and 
 consoled me. Your Majesty may judge how much 
 need I have of support and consolation by the 
 account which I am about to give your Majesty 
 of an interview which I had with the Emperor 
 Alexander, two hours before the arrival of the post. 
 As I have had the honour to write to your Majesty, 
 I had been informed that the Emperor had re¬ 
 peatedly expressed his intention of seeing me. 
 This information having been given me by three 
 persons who have constant access to him, I believed 
 that it was conveyed by his orders, while I under¬ 
 stood that he wished me to request an audience. 
 He had not answered Lord Castlereagh,, but had 
 instead caused it to be notified to Austria that he 
 was about to withdraw his troops from Saxony, 
 and to hand over the administration of that country 
 to Prussia. The rumour was current that Austria 
 had consented to this, although with regret; the 
 
8 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 report of this consent was accredited by the 
 Prussians; and, lastly, the Emperor Alexander was 
 on the point of starting for Hungary. All these * 
 reasons made me decide upon asking for an 
 audience, and I was informed that the Emperor 
 would receive me at six the day before yesterday. 
 Four days ago Prince Adam Czartoryski, to whom 
 Poland constitutes the whole world, having come to 
 visit me, and excusing himself for not having come 
 before, acknowledged that he had been especially 
 prevented from doing so by hearing that I was 
 very ill disposed on the Polish question. “ I am 
 better disposed than anybody else,” said I ; “we 
 wish Poland to be complete and independent.” 
 “That would be a fine thing,” he replied, “but it 
 is a chimera; the Powers will never consent to it.” 
 
 “ Then,” said I,. “ Poland is no longer our principal 
 affair in the north. The preservation of Saxony con¬ 
 cerns us much more. We are in the first rank on 
 this question ; ( l ) we are only in the second on that 
 of Poland. When it becomes a question of boun¬ 
 daries, it is for Austria and Prussia to secure their 
 frontiers. We desire that they should be satisfied 
 on that point, but only let us be easy about your 
 neighbourhood, and we shall place no obstacle to 
 the Emperor of Russia giving any form of govern¬ 
 ment he pleases to the country which shall be ceded 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 85 
 
 to him : for which readiness on our part I demand 
 the maintenance of the Kingdom of Saxony.” 
 This communication was so pleasing to Prince 
 Adam, that he went straight from my house to 
 the Emperor, with whom he had a conversation 
 of three hours’ length; and the result was that 
 Count Nesselrode, whom I had never seen at my 
 own house since just after my arrival, called upon 
 me the next day in the evening, to obtain an 
 explanation, which I gave him, without however 
 making any advance on what I had said to Prince 
 Adam. I restricted myself to impressing upon him 
 that the preservation of the kingdom of Saxony was 
 a point from which it was impossible your Majesty 
 could ever depart. 
 
 The Emperor thus knowing beforehand to what 
 extent he might and might not hope that I w T ould 
 bend to his views, I was placed at the advantage 
 of being enabled to discern his disposition by his 
 manner of accosting me, and to judge whether 
 his object in the interview which he granted me 
 was to propose means of conciliation or to notify 
 his own will. He accosted me with some em¬ 
 barrassment. I expressed my regret at having 
 seen him only once. “He had been pleased,” 
 
 I said to him, “ not to accustom me to a depri¬ 
 vation of that nature when I formerly had the 
 
86 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 happiness of finding myself in the same places 
 with him.” His answer was that he should always 
 be pleased to see me, and that it was my own fault 
 if I had not seen him ; why did I not come ? He 
 added this singular sentence, “ I am a public man ; 
 I am always to be seen.” It is to be remarked 
 that his own ministers and those of his servants 
 whom he likes the best are often ainable for 
 several days to approach him. Then said he, 
 “ Let us speak of affairs.” I will not fatigue your 
 Majesty with idle details of a conversation which 
 lasted an hour and a half. I am the less afraid to 
 limit myself to the essential, as whatever pains I 
 may take to abridge what I have to report as pro¬ 
 ceeding from the mouth of the Emperor of Russia, 
 your Majesty will probably still hold it to be beyond 
 all belief. 
 
 “ At Paris,” said he, “ you had a mind to a 
 kingdom of Poland, how is it that you have 
 changed ? ” “ My mind, Sire, is still the same. At 
 
 Paris the question was of the restoration of the 
 whole of Poland ; we wished then, as we wish now, 
 for its independence. But the present is quite 
 another matter; the question is subordinate to a 
 settling of boundaries which places Austria and 
 Prussia in safety.” “ They need not be alarmed. 
 Besides, I have two hundred thousand men in the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 87 
 
 duchy of Warsaw ; let them put me out of that. I 
 have given Saxony to Prussia; Austria consents.” 
 “ I do not know,” I replied, “ whether Austria does 
 consent; I should find it difficult to believe that 
 she does—it would be so much against her interest. 
 But can the consent of Austria render Prussia the 
 proprietor of that which belongs to the King of 
 Saxony?” “ If the King of Saxony does not 
 abdicate he shall be taken to Russia. He will die 
 there; another has already died there.”( 2 ) “Your 
 Majesty will permit me not to believe that; the 
 Congress has not been called together to witness 
 such an outrage.” “ How, an outrage ? Why did 
 Stanislas go to Russia ? why should the King of 
 Saxony not. go to Russia ? The case of the one 
 is the case of the other; I see no difference.” I had 
 only too much to say in answer; but I confess to 
 your Majesty that I did not know how to control 
 my indignation. The Emperor spoke rapidly; one 
 of his sentences was the following :—“ I thought 
 that France owed me something. You are always 
 talking of principles. Your public law is nothing to 
 me ; I do not know what it is. What do you sup¬ 
 pose I care for all your parchments and all your 
 treaties ?” (I had reminded him of the treaty by which 
 the Allies agreed that the grand-duchy of Warsaw 
 should be divided between the three Courts.) 
 
88 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 “ There is one thing which is important above all 
 to me; that is my word. I have given my word 
 and I will keep it. I promised Saxony to the King 
 of Prussia at the moment when we met again.” 
 “ Your Majesty promised the King of Prussia from 
 nine to ten millions of souls; your Majesty can give 
 them to him without destroying Saxony.” (I had 
 a table of the districts which might be given to 
 Prussia, and which, without ruining Saxony, would 
 form the number of subjects stipulated by the 
 treaties. The Emperor took and has kept it.) 
 “ The King of Saxony is a traitor.” “ Sire, the 
 qualification of traitor can never be given to a king, 
 and it is of importance that it never should be 
 given to one.” I may have laid some emphasis on 
 the latter portion of my sentence. After a brief 
 silence, “The King of Prussia,” said he, “shall be 
 King of Prussia and of Saxony, as I shall be 
 Emperor of Russia and King of Poland. The 
 compliance of France with me on these two points 
 shall be the measure of mine on all that may interest 
 her.” During the course of this conversation, the 
 Emperor did not give way to restlessness and 
 gesticulation, as he had done at my first interview 
 with him ; he was imperious, and his manner plainly 
 showed irritation. After having said that he would 
 see me again, he went away to a private ball at the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 89 
 
 Court. I followed him, having had the honour to 
 be invited. I found Lord Castlereagh there, and I 
 was beginning to talk to him, when the Emperor 
 Alexander, observing us in the embrasure of a 
 window, called him, and then took him into another 
 room and spoke with him for twenty minutes. 
 Lord Castlereagh came back to me afterwards, and 
 told me that he was very ill satisfied with what had 
 been said to him. 
 
 I cannot doubt that Lord Castlereagh has either 
 prescribed to himself, or received an order from 
 his Court, to pursue the plan of which I had the 
 honour to inform your Majesty in my letter of the 
 19th of this month. That plan consists of isb- 
 lating France, reducing her to her own unaided 
 strength, by depriving her of alliances and prevent¬ 
 ing her from having a powerful navy. Thus, while 
 your Majesty brings to the Congress no purposes 
 but those of justice and goodwill, England is actuated 
 by a spirit of jealousy and interested selfishness ; 
 but Lord Castlereagh finds unforeseen difficulties 
 cropping up in the way of his plan. As he 
 would like to escape the reproach of having left 
 Europe a prey to Russia, he wants to detach from 
 her those Powers which he desires to place in opposi¬ 
 tion to France; and his main object is that Prussia 
 shall become, like Holland, an entirely English 
 
90 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Power, which England may, by subsidizing, manage 
 according to her pleasure. As it suits this view 
 that Prussia should be strong, he desires to 
 aggrandize her, and to have all the merit of it in 
 her eyes. But the zeal of the Emperor Alexander 
 in the interests of the King of Prussia will not 
 allow of this. The object for which Lord Castle- 
 reagh is striving is, if possible, to unite Prussia and 
 Austria, and the kind of aggrandizement which he 
 wants to procure for Prussia is precisely an obstacle 
 to that union. He wants to break the ties which 
 exist between the King of Prussia and the Emperor 
 Alexander, and he endeavours to form others, which 
 are rejected by habit, by remembrances, by a rivalry 
 which is suspended but not extinct, and which a 
 number of interests will inevitably revive. Besides, 
 before Prussia and Austria can be united, the in¬ 
 terests of the latter monarchy must be secured, and 
 its safety provided for; and Lord Castlereagh finds 
 the claims of Russia an obstacle to the accom¬ 
 plishment of those ends. Thus the problem which 
 he has proposed to himself, and which I hope he 
 will not succeed in solving in a sense injurious to 
 France, at least to the extent which he probably 
 desires, presents such difficulties as might check 
 a greater political genius than he. So far as he is 
 himself concerned, he sees none but those which 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 91 
 
 proceed from the Emperor Alexander, because he 
 does not hesitate to sacrifice Saxony. I told Lord 
 Castlereagh that the trouble he was in was created 
 by his own conduct and that of M. de Metternich ; 
 that it was they who had made the Emperor of 
 Russia what he is, and that if, from the beginning, 
 instead of rejecting a proposal to convene the Con¬ 
 gress, they had supported it, what is now going on 
 would not have happened; that they wanted to take 
 up a position of their own towards Russia and 
 Prussia, and that they found themselves too weak ; 
 but that if the Emperor of Russia had been 
 confronted by the Congress, and consequently by 
 the common desire of all Europe, he would never 
 have ventured to hold the language that he is hold¬ 
 ing to-day. Lord Castlereagh assented to this,( 3 ) 
 regretted that the Congress had not met sooner, 
 hoped it would meet shortly, and proposed to me 
 to arrange in concert with him a form of convo- 
 cation which could not leave room for any objection, 
 and would reserve the difficulties which might crop 
 up until the time for the verification of the Powers 
 had come. 
 
 M. de Zeugwitz, a Saxon officer, just come from 
 London, and who before his departure had seen 
 the Prince Regent, states that the prince spoke to 
 him of the King of Saxony in terms of the 
 
92 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 strongest interest, and told him that he had given 
 his ministers orders to defend conservative prin¬ 
 ciples at the Congress, and not to depart from 
 them. The Prince Regent had spoken in the same 
 sense to Duke Leopold of Saxe-Coburg,( 4 ) who 
 told me this two days ago. I cannot but believe, 
 therefore, that the line which the English mission 
 is taking is opposed to the Prince Regent’s views 
 and personal wishes. 
 
 Austria has not yet consented, though the 
 Emperor of Russia told me she had, to Saxony’s 
 being given to Prussia. She has said, on the con¬ 
 trary, that the question of Saxony is essentially 
 subordinate to that of Poland, and that she could 
 not reply on the first until after the latter had been 
 settled ; but although in her note she spoke of the 
 design of sacrificing Saxony as odious and infi¬ 
 nitely painful to her, she has allowed her dis¬ 
 position to yield on this point, if she can obtain 
 satisfaction on the other, to become too plainly 
 evident. It is even affirmed that the Emperor of 
 Russia told his brother-in-law, Prince Antoine,( 5 ) 
 that the cause of Saxony was lost. 
 
 What is certain is that Austria .consents to the 
 occupation of Saxony by Prussian troops, and its 
 administration on behalf of the King of Prussia. 
 Meantime public opinion becomes dav by day 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 93 
 
 more favourable to the cause of the King of 
 Saxony; it is certainly to this that I am to 
 attribute the flattering reception with which the 
 Archdukes and the Empress of Austria were pleased 
 to honour me, at a ball given by Count Zichy three 
 days ago, and at a Court ball on the day before 
 yesterday. 
 
 Yesterday morning the Emperor of Austria set 
 out for Ofen, preceding the Emperor of Russia, 
 who started in the evening. He is going to visit 
 the tomb of the Grand-Duchess his sister, who 
 married the Archduke Palatine, after which the 
 ball and the fetes which have been prepared for 
 him will occupy him entirely. He will return to 
 Vienna on the 29th. As he has gone away without 
 leaving either powers or directions with anybody, 
 nothing can be discussed, and of course nothing of 
 importance can take place during his absence. I 
 saw M. de Metternich this evening; he is plucking 
 up a little courage. I spoke to him as strongly as it 
 was possible to speak. The Austrian generals, of 
 whom I have seen a great number, declare for the 
 maintenance of Saxony ; they advance military argu¬ 
 ments on this subject which are beginning to make 
 an impression. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
94 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 * 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XI. 
 
 (1) The instructions given to Prince Talleyrand on the ioth 
 of September, 1814, classed the questions in which France was 
 interested at the Congress of Vienna in the following order of 
 importance :— 
 
 1. To prevent its ever being possible for Austria to get 
 possession of the dominions of the King of Sardinia. 
 
 2. To secure the restitution of Naples. 
 
 3. To prevent Russia from getting possession of the whole 
 of Poland. 
 
 4. To prevent Prussia from getting possession either of 
 Saxony, at least in its entirety, or of Mayence. 
 
 (2) Stanislas Poniatowski. 
 
 (3) “ Lord Castlereagh himself now admits that he thought 
 he was stronger with regard to the Emperor of Russia; and that 
 he has to regret that he did not confront him with the whole 
 of Europe assembled in Congress, as it had been proposed to him 
 at Paris.”—Letter from the French plenipotentiaries to the depart¬ 
 ment, 24th October 1814. 
 
 (4) Afterwards King of the Belgians as Leopold I. 
 
 (5) Prince Antoine, afterwards King of Saxony, 1827-1836, 
 was brother of King Frederic Augustus III., and married the 
 eldest sister of the Emperor Francis II. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 95 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Paris, 27th October, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 6. I was very 
 much hurried when I sent you by Wednesdays 
 post the supplement to your instructions for which 
 you asked me, and I hope that the proceedings you 
 will have taken in consequence may suffice; but, as 
 I said to you in No. 3, we must make it evident 
 that there is something behind ’ and I am about to 
 give orders that the army be placed in a state to 
 take the field. God is my witness that, far from 
 wishing for war, my desire would be to have some 
 years of quietude, that I might heal the wounds of 
 the State at leisure; but I desire before all things to 
 preserve the honour of France intact, and to hinder 
 principles and an order of things which are as con¬ 
 trary to all morality as they are prejudicial to repose 
 from being established. It is no less necessary, 
 and it is also my desire, to cause my own personal 
 character to be respected, and not to allow it to be 
 said, as it was in the matter of the Spanish chargd 
 d'affaires ,(*) that I am strong only with the weak. 
 
96 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 My life, my crown, are nothing to me in comparison 
 with interests so much greater. 
 
 It would, however, be very painful to me to be 
 forced to ally myself for this with Austria, and with 
 Austria only !( 2 ) I cannot conceive how Lord Castle- 
 reagh, who has spoken so well on the subject of 
 Poland, can be of a different opinion respecting 
 Saxony. I would count much upon Count Munster’s 
 efforts to persuade him, if the language of the Duke 
 of Wellington on the same subject did not lead me 
 to fear that this policy is not that of the minister, but 
 of the ministry= Arguments with which to meet it 
 will be readily forthcoming, but examples often pro¬ 
 duce more effect, and I know one striking example, 
 that of Charles XIL The punishment of Patkul is 
 a sufficient proof of how vindictive Charles XII. 
 was, and how unscrupulous about the rights of 
 nations ; and yet, though he may be said to have been 
 master of all the dominions of King Augustus, he 
 was content with taking Poland from him, and did not 
 consider it allowable to touch Saxony. It seems to 
 me that, on comparing the two circumstances, the 
 analogy of the duchy of Warsaw with the king¬ 
 dom of Poland, and that of Saxony with herself, 
 is evident. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 97 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XII. 
 
 (1) The Spanish charge d'affaires , Count Casaflores, had 
 given orders directly to a commissary of French police to arrest 
 the celebrated Spanish general Mina. The commissary was guilty 
 of the grave fault of acting on the instructions of the represen¬ 
 tative of Spain, without a previous reference to the Prefect of 
 Police. The King’s Government, offended at this, dismissed the 
 Spanish charge daffaires. In consequence of that occurrence, the 
 Duke de Laval-Montmorency, ambassador of France at the Court 
 of Spain, was on the point of asking for his passports and leaving 
 Madrid, when the landing of Napoleon took place. 
 
 “ I have seen General Mina; at first sight he strikes one as 
 being merely an active quartermaster of a hussar regiment.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 29th October, 1814. 
 
 (2) “ He (the King) feels strongly the situation of Italy, and 
 the position in which your proceeding has placed us; for the 
 burden of a war, if it takes place, will fall almost entirely upon 
 us. The Austrian armies will take care of the fate of Italy, 
 and the Bavarians and ourselves must bear the brunt of the efforts 
 of the Prussians and the Emperor Alexander. 
 
 “ The Duke of Wellington said to me here just what the 
 English minister said to you at Vienna; principles are settled, 
 therefore, and not sentiments only. The King of Saxony has 
 ceased to interest: it is said that Prussia powerful is useful as 
 a rival to Austria, and a future barrier against Russia; that the 
 independence of Poland is necessary, and self-evident, if she 
 is united as one corporate nation; that the war movements, 
 however they are accomplished, will probably bring about a 
 revolution in Germany, and set Europe on fire. On the spot, 
 as you are, and with your experience, you will smile, dear prince, 
 at our Parisian notions. I shall, therefore, only add that the 
 union of our troops with the Austrian troops would be entirely 
 
 7 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
9 8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 opposed to the national feelings and to public opinion, and 
 especially distasteful to our soldiers.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 25 th October, 1814. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 5. * 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 8. I have read 
 it with great interest, but also with great indignation. 
 The tone and the principles with which Bonaparte 
 was so justly reproached were no others than 
 those of the Emperor of Russia. I hope that the 
 opinion of the army, and that of the Imperial family, 
 will recall Prince Metternich to more wholesome 
 views, that Lord Castlereagh will enter more than 
 he has yet done into those of the Prince Regent, 
 and that then you will be able to use the weapons 
 which I have given you with advantage. But, how¬ 
 ever that may be, continue to merit the just eulogium 
 which I have great pleasure in reiterating on the 
 present occasion, by remaining firm in the course 
 that you are pursuing, and rest assured that my 
 name shall never be affixed to an act which would 
 sanction the most disgraceful immorality. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 * No date is given in the original. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 99 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Vienna, 31st October, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The state of things is still the same in 
 appearance, but there are certain symptoms of a 
 change, and these may be increased by the de¬ 
 meanour and language of the Emperor Alexander. 
 On the morning of the day of his departure for 
 Hungary, he had an interview with M. de Metter- 
 nich, in which it appears quite certain that he 
 addressed that minister with such haughtiness, and 
 violence of language, such as might have appeared 
 extraordinary even if applied to one of his own 
 servants. M. de Metternich having said, on the 
 subject of Poland, that if it were a question of 
 making a Poland, they also could do that, he not 
 only stigmatized the observation as unbecoming and 
 indecent, but went so far as to say that M. de 
 Metternich was the only man in Austria who could 
 thus take a tone of revolt . It is said that things 
 reached such a point that M. de Metternich informed 
 the Emperor he would at once beg his master 
 to nominate another minister in his place for the 
 Congress. M. de Metternich came away from this 
 
IOO 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 * 
 
 interview in a state in which the persons who know 
 him intimately say they never before saw him. 
 He who a few days previously had said to Count 
 Schulenburg that he entrenched himself behind time , 
 and made a weapon of patience, would be likely to 
 discard that weapon it it were often put to a similar 
 trial. 
 
 It is not likely that he will be inclined to any 
 increase of complaisance towards the Emperor of 
 Russia by all this, and the opinion of the Austrian 
 officers whom I see, and that of the Archdukes, ought 
 not to make him more ready to abandon Saxony. 
 I have reason to think that the Emperor of Austria 
 is now inclined to make some resistance. There is 
 here a certain Count Sickingen, who enjoys much 
 intimacy with the Emperor, and whom I know. 
 After the departure for Hungary he went to the 
 house of Marshal Wrede, and then came to mine, 
 to request us, on the part of the Emperor, to let 
 everything remain in abeyance until his return. It 
 is said here that during the journey the Emperor 
 Alexander complained of M. de Metternich, and 
 the Emperor Francis replied that he thought it 
 was better that affairs should be dealt with by the 
 ministers; (*) that by this means they were handled 
 with more freedom and greater result; that he never 
 did his own business, but his ministers did nothing 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 IOI 
 
 except by his orders. Afterwards, and in the course 
 of conversation, he said, amongst other things, that 
 when people who had never forsaken him, who had 
 done everything for him and had given him all, 
 were disturbed as they were at present, his duty 
 was to do all in his power to tranquillize them. 
 Upon that, the Emperor Alexander having asked 
 whether his character and his loyalty ought not to 
 prevent or remove every kind of alarm, the Emperor 
 Francis replied that good frontiers were the best 
 securities for peace. This conversation was repeated 
 to me, and almost in the same terms, by M. de 
 Sickingen and M. de Metternich. It seems that 
 the Emperor, who is but little in the habit of putting 
 out his strength, came back very well pleased with 
 himself. 
 
 All the precautions that are taken to deprive me 
 of the knowledge of what is being done at the 
 Commission of the Political Organization of Ger¬ 
 many, have failed. 
 
 At the first sitting it was proposed by Prussia 
 that all the princes, the whole of whose States are 
 included in the Confederation, shall renounce the 
 right to make war and peace, and also that of lega¬ 
 tion. Marshal Wrede having declined this proposal, 
 M. de Humboldt explained that it was plain Bavaria 
 still had at heart an alliance with France, and that 
 
102 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the fact was a fresh reason for them to insist; but, 
 at the second sitting, the marshal, who had taken 
 the King’s orders, peremptorily rejected the pro¬ 
 posal, and it was withdrawn. 
 
 It was then proposed that one-half of the entire 
 military force of the Confederation should be placed 
 under the direction of Austria, and one-half under 
 that of Prussia. Marshal Wrede demanded that 
 the number of directors should be augmented, and 
 that the direction should alternate between them. 
 It was proposed, in addition, that a close league 
 should be formed between all the confederate States, 
 for the defence of the possessive status of each, such 
 as it should be defined by the arrangements 
 about to be made. The King of Bavaria, who was 
 well aware that Russia especially intended by this 
 league to secure to herself the possession of Saxony 
 against the opposition of the Powers who wanted to 
 preserve that kingdom, who felt that he should have 
 everything to fear if Saxony were once sacrificed, 
 and is ready to defend her if only he be not 
 left to his own strength, has given orders to levy 
 20,000 recruits in his territory. This will bring his 
 army up to 70,000 strong. Far from wishing to 
 enter into the proposed league, his intention, at 
 least at present, is that so soon as the Prussians 
 shall have got hold of Saxony, his minister shall 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 103 
 
 retire from the Commission, declaring that he will 
 not be an accomplice of such a usurpation, and 
 still less its quarantor. 
 
 The Prussians do not know that this is the 
 King’s intention, but they are aware of the state 
 of his armament, and they very probably suspect 
 him of being inclined to join his forces with those 
 of the Powers who would like to defend Saxony. 
 They also feel that, without the consent of France, 
 Saxony would not be a secure acquisition. It is 
 said that the Cabinet, which does not share the 
 blind attachment of the King to the Emperor 
 Alexander, is not at all easy about Russia ; that it 
 will probably renounce Saxony, provided it can find 
 elsewhere the means of making up the number o. 
 subjects which Prussia, according to the treaties, 
 ought to have. Whatever may be their sentiments 
 and their desires, the Prussian ministers are making 
 approaches to us ; they send us invitation after 
 invitation. Lord Castlereagh, who has conceived 
 the idea of fortifying Prussia below the Elbe, under 
 the pretext of making that river serve as a barrier 
 against Russia, has this project much at heart. In 
 a conversation with me a few days ago, he re¬ 
 proached me with making the question of Saxony 
 one of the first order, whereas according to him it 
 is nothing, and that of Poland is everything. I 
 
104 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 answered him that the question of Poland would 
 have been for me the foremost of all, if he had not 
 reduced it to a simple matter of boundaries. If 
 he wants to restore the whole of Poland to complete 
 independence, I should be with him in the first rank; 
 
 t 
 
 but when it was merely a question of boundaries, it 
 was for Austria and Prussia, who were the most 
 interested, to put themselves forward. My part was 
 then limited to supporting them, and I should do 
 so. I put before him certain arguments on his 
 project of uniting Austria and Prussia which he 
 could not meet, and I quoted facts concerning the 
 policy of Prussia for the last sixty years which he 
 could not deny; but, while condemning the former 
 acts of the Cabinet, he declared that his hopes of 
 a better future were strong. 
 
 Nevertheless, I know that various persons have 
 made objections by which he has been impressed. 
 He has been asked how he could consent to place 
 one of the largest cities of Germany, Leipsic,( 2 ) in 
 which one of the greatest European fairs is held, 
 under the supremacy of Prussia, with which country 
 England cannot be certain to be always at peace, 
 instead of leaving it in the hands of a prince with 
 whom England cannot have any cause of quarrel. 
 This took him by surprise, and evidently made 
 him feel some alarm lest his project should com¬ 
 promise the mercantile interests of England. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 105 
 
 He had asked me to draw up a plan for the 
 convocation of the Congress in concert with him. I 
 sent him one, and he was pleased with it. I also 
 drew up some plans for the first meeting of the 
 ministers, the verification of powers, and the Com¬ 
 mission to be formed at the first sitting of the 
 Congress. These documents are appended to my 
 despatch to the department, which M. de Jaucourt 
 will submit to your Majesty. 
 
 As M. de Dal berg, as well as myself, owed a 
 visit to Lord Castlereagh, we went together to call 
 upon him yesterday evening. He had nothing to 
 say, but he observed that the fear of us which the 
 Prussians evidently entertained was a sure indication 
 that they suspected some concealed design. The 
 real or affected apprehensions of Prussia naturally 
 led the conversation to the everlasting subject of 
 Poland and Saxony. There were maps on the table, 
 and I pointed out to him upon them how that, 
 Saxony and Silesia being in the same hands, Bohemia 
 might be taken in a few weeks,( 3 ) and that if Bohemia 
 were taken, the heart of the Austrian monarchy 
 would be laid bare and defenceless. He seemed 
 astonished ; he had talked to us as if he had allowed 
 all his hopes to turn towards Prussia, because he 
 found it impossible to place any in Austria.( 4 ) He 
 was quite surprised when we told him that she 
 
io6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 only wanted money to muster her troops ; that she 
 had very large forces, and would at present 
 require only one million sterling for that purpose. 
 At this he became animated, and seemed inclined 
 to support the affair of Poland to the end. He 
 knew that an answer to his memorandum was in 
 course of preparation at the Russian Chancellery, and 
 he did not seem to expect that it would be satis¬ 
 factory. He had been apprised that the Servians ( 5 ) 
 had again taken up arms, and informed us that a 
 Russian corps, commanded by one of the most dis¬ 
 tinguished of the Russian generals, was advancing 
 to the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire. It was 
 plain, therefore, that nothing was more necessary 
 and more urgent than to oppose a barrier to the 
 ambition of Russia; but he wanted this to be done 
 without war, or, if war could not be avoided, he 
 wanted it to be done with the help of France. From 
 his way of estimating our forces, it is easy to see 
 that it is France he fears most. 
 
 “You have,” said he, “twenty-five millions of 
 men; we rate them as forty millions.” And once 
 he let the following sentence escape him :—“ Ah ! 
 if you only had relinquished your designs on the 
 left bank of the Rhine!” It was easy for me to 
 prove to him, by the situation of France and Europe, 
 all in arms, that it was impossible to impute ambitious 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 107 
 
 projects to France without supposing her to be mad ! 
 “That may be,” he answered, “but a French army 
 marching through Germany for any cause whatso¬ 
 ever would make too much impression, and awaken 
 too many memories.” I represented to him that 
 war would not be necessary, and that it would suffice 
 if Russia were confronted by Europe, united in 
 one purpose; and this brought us back to the open¬ 
 ing of the Congress. But he still went on talking 
 of difficulties without stating what those difficulties 
 were, and advised me to see M. de Metternich. I 
 conclude from this that something has been agreed 
 to between them, which they would not have kept 
 secret from me if they had not reason to believe that 
 I should object to it. Moreover, by accusing us 
 of having retarded everything, they have foolishly 
 acknowledged to us that only for us everything 
 would now be settled, because they were agreed in 
 principle. This avowal gives us the exact measure 
 of the influence which, in their opinion, belongs to 
 your Majesty in the affairs of Europe. 
 
 On the whole, Lord Castlereagh’s inclinations, 
 without being exactly good, seem to me to tend that 
 way, and it may be that the Emperor Alexanders 
 answer, for which he is waiting, will help to improve 
 them.( 6 ) 
 
 Yesterday morning I received a note from M. de 
 
io8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Metternich, inviting me to attend a conference at 
 eight o’clock in the evening. I will not weary 
 your Majesty with the details of this conference; it 
 abounded in words and was barren of facts. These 
 details will be found in my letter to the depart¬ 
 ment. The result was that a Commission of 
 verification, composed of three members named by 
 lot , was formed; that the powers are to be sent to 
 them ; and that after the verification the Congress 
 is to meet. This evening another conference took 
 place, at which the draft of declaration relative to 
 the verification of powers was read and agreed to. 
 This declaration will be published to-morrow, and I 
 send a copy of it in a despatch to the department 
 this evening. I thought your Majesty would prefer 
 that all documents should be added to the letter 
 which I address to M. de Jaucourt, so that the 
 department may have and preserve them in their 
 sequence. The situation of France has been such 
 for eight months, that no sooner has she reached 
 one goal, than another of equal importance is set 
 before her, and it most frequently happens that 
 she has no choice of means for its attainment. 
 Hardly had the oppressor been overthrown, and 
 those desires for the restoration of your Majesty 
 to the b'osom of your kingdom, which had been 
 long and universally entertained in secret, found 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 109 
 
 utterance, than it became necessary to provide 
 for your Majesty’s finding France disarmed at the 
 moment of your arrival—France, which then con¬ 
 tained five hundred thousand foreigners. This 
 could only be obtained by procuring the cessation of 
 hostilities, by an armistice at any cost. And then, 
 to rid the kingdom of the troops which were 
 devouring its substance, we had to direct all our 
 efforts to the conclusion of peace. Afterwards it 
 seemed as though your Majesty had nothing more 
 to do, and might enjoy the love of your people 
 and the fruit of your wisdom; but a fresh demand 
 was made upon your Majesty’s firmness and energy; 
 they had to be exerted to save Europe, if possible, 
 from the perils with which it is menaced by the 
 ambition and the passions of some Powers, and 
 the blindness and pusillanimity of others. All 
 the difficulties of that enterprise have failed to make 
 me regard its success as entirely impossible, and 
 the letter with which your Majesty has been pleased 
 to honour me, dated the 21st of October, raises my 
 hopes, while the testimony it bears to the satisfaction 
 with which your Majesty deigns to regard my zeal, 
 gives me fresh courage. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
I IO 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XIV. 
 
 (1) “ The sovereigns meet every day an hour before dinner, 
 and discuss familiarly among themselves the principal subjects 
 with which the ministers plenipotentiary are occupied. 
 
 “ They show the documents to each other, talk of their inte¬ 
 rests like private individuals, and definitely note the points to 
 which they agree .”—Moniteur Universe /, 21st November, 1814. 
 
 (2) This city was subjected to a strong military occupation. 
 On the 7th of November, 1814, the Prussian Major-General von 
 Bismarck arrived at Leipsic to take the command of the city. 
 
 (3) In each of their wars with Austria the tactics of -the Kings 
 of Prussia have been to fall on Bohemia in the first instance 
 (1741, 1759, 1778, 1866). 
 
 (4) “ Metternich lacks confidence in the resources of his 
 monarchy ; he is not of a decided character.” This estimate of 
 Metternich is frequently repeated in the letters transmitted to the 
 department by the French plenipotentiaries at the Congress of 
 Vienna. 
 
 (5) George Czerny was justly entitled the Liberator of Servia. 
 He was abandoned by the Russians at the treaty of Bucharest 
 (1812), and emigrated to Bessarabia (1813); but at this time he 
 was preparing to return to his native country. 
 
 (6) On the 3rd of January Prince Talleyrand wrote to the 
 department: “ The English embassy to the Congress, whose 
 system we at first did not like, have entirely changed it, and are 
 now taking the same course as ourselves.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I I I 
 
 » 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 No. io. 
 
 Vienna, 6th November, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Count de Noailles, who arrived here 
 on Wednesday morning, the 2nd of November, has 
 brought me the supplementary instructions which 
 your Majesty has been pleased to have addressed 
 to me.f) The resolutions of your Majesty are now 
 known to the Austrian Cabinet, to the Emperor of 
 Austria himself, and to Bavaria. I have thought 
 it best not to speak of them to Lord Castlereagh, 
 who is always ready to take alarm at an interven¬ 
 tion on the part of France, and I have not spoken 
 of them to Count Munster, who, hardly out of the 
 hands of his doctors, is making preparations for 
 his marriage with the Countess of Lippe, sister of 
 the reigning Prince of Buckberg. On the day of 
 his arrival M. de Noailles was present at a con¬ 
 ference which terminated without any result. The 
 matter in hand was to examine whether, when the 
 verification of powers was completed, commissions 
 should be nominated to prepare the papers, and 
 how and by whom they should be named. Prince 
 Metternich argued at great length that the name 
 
I 12 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of “ commission ” could not be applied, because it 
 supposes a delegation of powers, which in its turn 
 supposes a deliberating assembly, and that the 
 Congress could not be. He proposed various 
 denominations, instead of that one to which he 
 objected, but he was not himself satisfied with any; 
 at last he said that we must fix on one at the next 
 conference. None has as yet taken place. These 
 scruples about the term “commission” were no 
 doubt strange, and certainly came rather late, as 
 no difficulty had been made about giving that name 
 to the three ministers who are charged with the 
 verification of powers, and to the five who are pre¬ 
 paring the political organization of Germany. But 
 if I could have supposed M. de Metternich to 
 have any other intention in this than a pretext 
 to gain time, I should have been undeceived by 
 himself. After the conference he requested me 
 to accompany him into his cabinet, and he told 
 me that he and Lord Castlereagh were resolved 
 not to suffer Russia to pass the line of the Vistula; 
 that they were working to induce Prussia to make 
 common cause with them on that question, and that 
 they hoped to succeed. He conjured me to give 
 them time to do this, and not to hurry them. I 
 wanted to know on what conditions they expected 
 to obtain the co-operation of Prussia. He replied 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 113 
 
 that they would promise Prussia a portion of Saxony, 
 that is to say, four or five hundred thousand souls 
 of that country, and particularly the fortress and 
 circle of Wittenberg, which might be considered 
 necessary to cover Berlin, so that the King of 
 Saxony would still preserve from fifteen to sixteen 
 hundred thousand souls, Turgau and Koningstein, 
 and the course of the Elbe from the circle of Wit¬ 
 tenberg to Bohemia. I learned that in a Council 
 of State presided over by the Emperor himself, and 
 composed of M. de Stadion, Prince Schwartzenberg, 
 M. de Metternich, Count Zichy, and General Daka, 
 it was laid down as a principle that the question 
 of Saxony was of still greater interest for Austria 
 than even that of Poland, and that the safety of the 
 monarchy was concerned in not allowing the passes 
 of Thuringia and Saal to fall into the hands of 
 Russia. (I enter more fully into details on this 
 subject in my letter of to-day addressed to the 
 Department.) 
 
 This circumstance has made me place more 
 confidence than I generally do in what M. de Met¬ 
 ternich had said to me. If four-fifths or three- 
 fourths of its actual population, and its principal 
 strong places and military positions, can be preserved 
 to the kingdom, we shall have done much for justice, 
 
 much for utility, and much for your Majesty’s glory. 
 
 8 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
J1 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The Emperor of Russia has replied to Lord 
 Castlereagh’s memorandum. I shall see his answer, 
 and I shall have the honour of speaking of it to 
 your Majesty in my next despatch, more positively 
 than by on dit. I only know, of a certainty, that 
 the Emperor complains of the injustice which he 
 asserts is done to him, by imputing to him an ambi¬ 
 tion that has no place in his heart; he represents 
 himself as ridden over, so to speak, and then, with 
 very slight transition, goes on to declare that he will 
 not desist from any of his pretensions. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, who took fire at this answer, 
 has made a reply, which Lord Stewart was to 
 deliver yesterday. His brother charged him with 
 this commission because he had during the war, and 
 still has, the entrde to the Emperor Alexander. M. 
 de Gentz has translated the document for the Austrian 
 Cabinet, to whom it has been communicated, and 
 tells me that it is very strong and very good.( 2 ) 
 
 The affairs of Sweden are to be set going; I 
 have made choice of M. de Dalberg to take part in 
 the conferences at which they are to be discussed. 
 I do not recapitulate to your Majesty in this letter 
 all that has passed on that matter; my despatch 
 to the Government gives an account of it. 
 
 I went yesterday at four o’clock to see M. de 
 Mctternich, who had requested me to do so; there 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. I 15 
 
 I found M. de Nesselrode and Lord Castlereaeh. 
 M. de Metternich began with great protestations of 
 his wish to be confidential with me, to have a good 
 understanding with France, and to do nothing 
 without her. What they desire is, he said, that 
 all feelings of irritation should be laid aside, and 
 that I should aid them to advance matters, and to 
 get out of the difficulty in which he frankly acknow¬ 
 ledged they find themselves. ( 3 ) I answered that 
 their position with regard to me was quite different 
 from mine with regard to them ; that I neither 
 wanted, did, nor knew anything with which they 
 were not as well acquainted as myself; but that 
 they, on the contrary, had done, and were daily 
 doing, many things of which I either knew nothing, 
 or came to hear of them through the town talk; that 
 it was in this way I had been apprised of the exist¬ 
 ence of the Emperor Alexander’s answer to Lord 
 Castlereagh. I saw that I embarrassed him, and I 
 perceived that he did not want to appear to Count 
 Nesselrode to have committed any indiscretion in 
 that respect; so I hastened to add that I did not 
 know the bearing of that reply, nor, indeed, for 
 certain, whether there was any such thing. Then I 
 remarked that as for the difficulties of which he 
 complained, I could only attribute them to one 
 single origin—that they had not convened the 
 
I I 6 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Congress. “ It must meet one day or another,” 
 said I, “ sooner or later, and the more delay there is, 
 the more appearance of self-accusation, of purposes 
 which will not bear daylight. So much procrasti¬ 
 nation will seem to indicate a bad conscience. Why,” 
 I continued, “ should you make any difficulty about 
 proclaiming, that, without waiting for the verification 
 of powers, which may be tedious, all those who 
 have delivered theirs at the State Chancellery are 
 to meet at an appointed place ? The Commission 
 will be announced there; it will be made known 
 that each may send in his demand, and then the 
 meeting will break up. Afterwards the Commission 
 will get to their work, and business will go on with 
 some sort of regularity.” Lord Castlereagh ap¬ 
 proved of this course, which had the merit in his 
 eyes of disposing of the difficulties respecting the 
 contested powers; but he observed that the mere 
 word “ Congress ” frightened the Prussians, and 
 that Prince Hardenberg especially had a horror of 
 it. M. de Metternich reproduced the greater part 
 of the arguments which he had brought before us at 
 the last conference. He considered it preferable 
 that the Congress should not meet until we were 
 agreed, at least upon all the great questions. 
 “There is one,” said he, “with which we are face to 
 face.” Pie meant Poland, though he did not choose 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 1 I 7 
 
 / 
 
 to name that country, and he passed at once to the 
 affairs of Germany proper, saying that everything 
 was in the best train among the persons who are 
 occupied with them. “ The affairs of Sweden are 
 also to be taken up,” he added, “ and they ought 
 not to be regulated without France taking part in 
 them.” I told him that I never thought there could 
 be any other intention, and that I had conse¬ 
 quently chosen M. de Dalberg to assist at the con¬ 
 ferences which were to be held on the matter. 
 Passing from thence to the affairs of Italy, the word 
 “ complications ”—of which M. de Metternich is per¬ 
 petually making use, so as to keep up the vagueness 
 which his weak policy requires—was employed 
 throughout, from the affairs of Germany and Tuscany 
 to those of Naples and Sicily; he wanted to arrive 
 at proving that the tranquillity of Italy, and conse¬ 
 quently that of Europe, depended on the Naples 
 business not being settled at the Congress, but rele¬ 
 gated to a more distant epoch. “ The force of cir¬ 
 cumstances,” said he, “ will necessarily bring back 
 the House of Bourbon to the throne of Naples.” 
 “The force of circumstances,” said I, “appears to 
 me to be now at its full height; it is at the Congress 
 that this question must end. This question is the 
 last of the Italian questions in the geographical 
 order, and I consent that the geographical order 
 
n8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 should be observed ; my compliance can go no 
 farther.” M. de Metternich then spoke of Murat’s 
 partisans in Italy. ‘‘Organize Italy,” said I, “and 
 he will no longer have any. Put an end to a pro¬ 
 visional situation which is detestable ; fix the posses¬ 
 sive status in Upper and Central Italy; let there not 
 be a foot of ground in military occupation from the 
 Alps to the frontiers of Naples; let there be legiti¬ 
 mate sovereigns everywhere, and a regular adminis¬ 
 tration to fix the succession of Sardinia.( 4 ) Send an 
 Archduke into the Milanese province to govern it, 
 recognize the rights of the Oueen of Etruria, restore 
 to the Pope the territory that belongs to him and 
 which you occupy, and Murat will have no longer 
 any hold upon the people; for he will be no more 
 to Italy than a brigand.” This geographical method 
 of treating the affairs of Italy seemed to take, and it 
 was decided that M. de Saint-Marsan should be 
 summoned to the next conference, and the affairs of 
 Italy regulated with him in conformity with this 
 plan. M. de Brignole, deputy from the city of 
 Naples, is also to be heard on matters concerning 
 the commercial interests of that city. Lord Castle- 
 reagh insists strongly that Genoa ought to be a 
 free port, and he spoke with both approbation 
 and bitterness of the enfranchisement of that of 
 Marseilles. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I 19 
 
 It looks as if our position were bettering itself 
 a little, but I dare not trust to appearances, having 
 only too much reason not to rely upon the 
 sincerity of M. de Metternich ; and besides this, 
 I do not know how to regard the unexpected de¬ 
 parture of the Grand-Duke Constantine, who leaves 
 Vienna the day after to-morrow, and goes direct to 
 Warsaw. It is said that the Emperor Alexander 
 is about to make a journey to Gratz, and that he 
 proposes to go as far as Trieste. One of the 
 Archdukes is to do the honours of that portion of the 
 Austrian monarchy. The journey is to commence 
 on the 20th. 
 
 The Court of Vienna continues to entertain 
 its noble guests with hospitality, which, considering 
 the state of its finances, must be very onerous to it. 
 Everywhere are to be seen emperors, kings, em¬ 
 presses, queens, hereditary princes, reigning princes, 
 etc., etc. ; the Court pays everybody’s expenses, 
 and the expenditure of each day is estimated at 
 two hundred and twenty thousand paper florins. 
 Royalty certainly loses some of the grandeur which 
 is proper to it, at these gatherings. To meet three 
 or four kings and a still greater number of princes 
 at balls and teas at the houses of private individuals, 
 as one does at Vienna, seems to me to be unbe¬ 
 coming. It is in France alone that royalty pre- 
 
I 20 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 serves the <fclat and the dignity that render it at 
 once august and precious in the eyes of nations. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XV. 
 
 (1) “The supplementary instructions of the King, brought by 
 M. de Noailles, has rendered it possible for the plenipotentiaries to 
 hint that ‘ France would take an active part to secure a real and 
 durable equilibrium, and to prevent Russia from laying hold of 
 the grand-duchy of Warsaw, and Prussia of Saxony.’ v —Letter from 
 the plenipotentiaries to the Department. 
 
 (2) See D’Angeberg, p. 394. 
 
 (3) Talleyrand writes to the Department, 23rd November, 
 1814 : “It cannot escape us in general that the real difficulty of 
 the Allied Powers at the Congress arises from the delusion which 
 they cherished by thinking they could settle the affairs of Europe 
 upon bases which they had announced to us as decided, and 
 which are not so.” 
 
 (4) The reigning King, Victor Emanuel I. (1802-1821), and 
 his brother, Charles Felix (1821-1851), had no children. The 
 matter in hand was the appointing of the branch of Savoy- 
 Carignan to the eventual succession. This branch descended from 
 Thomas, fifth son of Duke Charles Emanuel I. (a contemporary 
 of Henry IV.), and has since given to Piedmont and Italy 
 the kings Charles Albert (1831-1849), Victor Emanuel II. (1849- 
 1878), and Humbert I. 
 
 Talleyrand, faithful to his instructions, as much with the object 
 of maintaining the principle of dynastic right, which he called the 
 principle of legitimacy, as with that of giving check to the House 
 of Austria and preventing it from acquiring at a future day the 
 inheritance of the House of Savoy, was working for the accession 
 of the Savoy-Carignan branch. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I 2 I 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 TPIE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Paris, 9th November, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 9. I observe 
 with satisfaction that the opening of the Congress 
 draws near, but I still foresee many difficulties. 
 I charge Count de Blacas to inform you, firstly, of 
 an interview which he has had with the Duke of 
 Wellington : you will see that the latter speaks 
 in terms much more explicit than those of Lord 
 Castlereagh ; which of the two speaks in accordance 
 with the real intentions of his Court, I do not know, 
 but the Duke of Wellington will be in any case 
 a good weapon in your hands : secondly, of a docu¬ 
 ment which that ambassador asserts is authentic. 
 Nothing can astonish me on the part of Prince 
 Metternich, but I should be surprised if on the 
 3rd of October you were not yet cognizant of a 
 step that had been taken. Efowever that may have 
 been, it is necessary that you should be in¬ 
 formed of it. 
 
 You will be glad to know that my brother 
 arrived on Sunday in good health. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
122 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 FROM COUNT DE BLACAS TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 [minute.] 
 
 Paris, 9th November, 1814. 
 
 In obedience to an order of the King, I hasten 
 to transmit to you, prince, certain important in¬ 
 formation, and also instructions which his Majesty 
 considers no less essential. Your recent interview 
 with the Emperor of Russia, and still more your 
 apprehensions of compliance on the part of Austria 
 and England, have made the King most anxious 
 to ascertain everything that can throw a light on 
 the real intentions of the latter Power. The 
 language that has been reported to you, as that 
 held by the Prince Regent, and what his Majesty 
 was already aware of in that quarter, made him 
 think it necessary to sound the intentions of the 
 British Cabinet. A conversation which I have 
 just had with Lord Wellington has accomplished 
 that object, or at least afforded the King an oppor¬ 
 tunity for invoking more strongly than ever the 
 aid of England on the most intricate points of the 
 negotiation. 
 
 Lord Wellington, after having assured me that 
 
 o 7 <0 
 
 he knew what instructions had been given to Lord 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I23 
 
 Castlereagh, and that they were entirely opposed 
 to the designs of the Emperor Alexander upon 
 Poland, and consequently upon Saxony, since the 
 fate of Saxony depends absolutely on the determina¬ 
 tion which shall be taken with regard to Poland, 
 said to me that by. applying ourselves solely to this 
 great question, and laying aside all secondary in¬ 
 terests, we might readily arrive at an understanding. 
 According to him, Austria will not lend her hand 
 to the scheme which France rejects, and Prussia 
 herself, for whom Saxony is a pis alter , would be 
 extremely well satisfied with being reinstated in the 
 duchy of Warsaw. Finding him so explicit upon 
 this point, I thought I should be carrying out the 
 wishes of the King by making an overture which, 
 while entirely devoid of an official character, might 
 still more explicitly pledge him in such communica¬ 
 tions as the Court of St. James’s may be willing 
 to authorize. I pointed out to him that if the 
 intentions of his Government were such as he repre¬ 
 sented them, and that the only difficulty in the way 
 of a prompt and happy issue to the negotiations was 
 that of reducing opposition of various kinds to a 
 compact and uniform resistance, it seemed to me 
 that a convention concluded between France, Eng¬ 
 land, Spain, and Holland, for the sole purpose of 
 setting forth the views which they conjointly hold 
 
12 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 upon this question, would speedily obtain the consent 
 of the other Courts. This expedient, by exhibiting 
 an imposing unanimity of purpose, would at once 
 dispel the charm which is leading so many States 
 in a direction that is contrary to their respective 
 interests; and the King, whose only ambition is the 
 restoration of the principles of public law, and of a 
 just balance of power in Europe, might fairly hope 
 that those who, sharing his sentiments, had been 
 invited to ally themselves with his policy, would 
 not be induced by any motive to swerve from it. 
 Although Lord Wellington could not entirely refuse 
 to recognize the advantages of this proposal, he 
 rejected it as superfluous; but he thereupon pro¬ 
 tested all the more strongly that the purposes of his 
 Government in the question of Poland and Saxony, 
 and even in that of Naples^ 1 ) are sound ; and he 
 repeated that, if exclusive attention were directed 
 to those great interests, the plenipotentiaries would 
 soon be brought to the goal from which the Court 
 of St. Petersburg is wandering. 
 
 You see, prince, that England, whatever may 
 be the reserve of its negotiator at' the Congress, 
 here acknowledges openly the nature of his in¬ 
 structions, and that those instructions, when the 
 question of Poland is linked with that of Saxony 
 (as it is by Lord Wellington), tender to the King 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I2 5 
 
 most important support. Under these circum¬ 
 stances, his Majesty thinks that you may usefully 
 avail yourself of the information which I have the 
 honour to transmit to you. 
 
 You are now enabled, by appealing to Lord 
 Castlereagh’s instructions, to place him under the 
 necessity of giving you an answer, which he can 
 hardly make negative, as he will hereafter be bound 
 to prove that he has acted in conformity with the 
 views of his Government and the interests of his 
 country. The independence of Poland would be 
 very popular in England, if it were complete; but 
 it will not be at all popular on the Russian plan. 
 You, prince, will doubtless appreciate the importance 
 of observing the distinction between these two hypo¬ 
 theses in your communications with the English 
 minister. The King is convinced that the more 
 strongly you express yourself in favour of the real 
 and complete independence of the Polish nation, in 
 case that should be practicable, the more effectually 
 you will deprive Lord Castlereagh of the means 
 of justifying, in the eyes of the English nation, 
 the abandonment of the grand-duchy of Warsaw to 
 the Emperor Alexander. The King has informed 
 you that his Majesty has ordered the Minister of 
 War to raise the army to its full strength on a peace 
 footing. I am in hopes that this resolution, which 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I 26 
 
 has been dictated by considerations of whose gravity 
 you are fully aware, will shortly become superfluous. 
 
 Receive, prince, the most sincere assurance of 
 my unalterable attachment and high consideration. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XVII. 
 
 (1) “From the 14th December, 1814, Austria decided on 
 supporting Saxony, and England- changed her tone. The Russian 
 and Prussian intrigues were exposed. . . . Lord Castlereagh has 
 communicated to Prince Talleyrand the whole correspondence in 
 reference to the affair of Naples, and he appeared to wish in order 
 rather to confirm what he had said than what he had written— 
 that our presses should be searched for every paper that might 
 prove to the coalition that Murat, while going along with them, 
 had been carrying on a double intrigue with Bonaparte. • • — 
 
 The French plenipotentiaries to the Department. 
 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Vienna, 12th November, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 M. de Metternich and Lord Castlereagh 
 had persuaded the Prussian Cabinet to make common 
 cause with them on the question of Poland. The 
 hopes which they had built upon the co-operation of 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I27 
 
 Prussia have, however, been of brief duration. The 
 Emperor of Russia, having invited the King of 
 Prussia to dinner a few days ago, had a conversa¬ 
 tion with him, some details of which I have learned 
 from Prince Adam Czartoryski. The Emperor re¬ 
 minded the King of the amity subsisting between 
 them, the value which he set upon it, and all that 
 he had done to render it lasting ; adding that, as 
 they are about the same age, he had hoped to wit¬ 
 ness for a long time the happiness for which their 
 respective peoples would be indebted to their close 
 friendship, and that he had always connected his 
 own glory with the re-establishment of a kingdom 
 of Poland. Now that he was on the eve of the 
 accomplishment of his desires, was he to have the 
 grief of counting his dearest friend, and the only 
 person upon whose sentiments he had reckoned, 
 among those who opposed them ? The King made 
 a thousand protestations, and swore that he would 
 support him on the Polish question. “It is not 
 enough,” said the Emperor, “ that you should be of 
 this mind ; your ministers also should be of the 
 same; ” and he urged the King to send for Prince 
 Hardenberg. The prince arrived, and the Emperor 
 repeated in his presence what he had previously 
 said, and the promise that the King had given him. 
 Prince Hardenberg endeavoured to object; but, being 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I 28 
 
 pressed by the Emperor Alexander, who asked him 
 whether he would not obey the orders of the King, 
 and those orders being absolute, there was nothing 
 for him except to promise that he would punctually 
 execute them. This is all that I have been able to 
 learn respecting the scene ; much must have occurred 
 of which I know nothing, if it be true, as M. de 
 Gentz has assured me, that Prince Hardenberg said 
 he had never seen anything like it. 
 
 This change on the part of Prussia has greatly 
 disconcerted M. de Metternich and Lord Castle- 
 reagh. They would have wished that Prince Harden¬ 
 berg should have resigned—and such a step would 
 certainly have embarrassed the Emperor and the 
 King—but he does not seem to have even thought 
 of doing so. 
 
 For my own part, suspecting as I did that M. de 
 Metternich had obtained the co-operation of the 
 Prussians by greater concessions than those which 
 he acknowledged, I was inclined to regard the 
 defection of Prussia as an advantage, and your 
 Majesty will see that my surmises were but too well 
 founded. 
 
 The Grand-Duke Constantine, who left Vienna 
 two days ago, is to organize the army of the duchy 
 of Warsaw; he is also entrusted with the civil 
 organization of the country, and the tone of his in- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 I29 
 
 structions indicates, according to the report of M. 
 d’Anstetten, who drew them up, that the Emperor 
 Alexander will not retire from any of his preten¬ 
 sions. The Emperor must likewise have induced 
 the King of Prussia to give a civil and military 
 organization to Saxony. It is reported that he said 
 to him, “ It is not far from civil organization to 
 ownership.” A letter which I have just received 
 from M. de Caraman, tells me that the brother of 
 the Prussian Minister of Finance, General de Bulow, 
 andseYeral generals have left Berlin for the purpose 
 of effecting the organization of Saxony in both the 
 civil and military departments. M. de Caraman 
 adds that the occupation of Saxony is nevertheless 
 represented at Berlin, not as definitive, but as pro¬ 
 visional only. I am also told that the Emperor 
 Alexander, speaking of the opposition of Austria to 
 
 his views, said, after complaining bitterly of M. de 
 
 « 
 
 Metternich, “Austria thinks herself certain of Italy, 
 but there is a Napoleon there, and use may be made 
 of him.” I am not sure that this saying is authentic, 
 but it is in circulation, and if it be true it gives the 
 exact measure of the speaker. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh has not yet received a reply to 
 his last Note. Some persons think that the Emperor 
 will not deign even to answer it. 
 
 While the affairs of Poland and Saxony are in 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 9 
 
130 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 suspense, the views respecting the organization of 
 Italy which I put forward, in the conference of 
 which I have had the honour to give an account to 
 your Majesty, have borne fruit. The day before 
 yesterday I called on Lord Castlereagh and found 
 him full of them; also M. de Metternich, who dined 
 yesterday with M. Rasoumowski, as we all did. 
 M. de Metternich brought Lord Castlereagh, M. de 
 Nesselrode, and myself together to-day to talk 
 about them. On my arrival, he informed me that 
 no other subject was to be discussed ; that to-morrow, 
 the day after to-morrow, or perhaps even an hour 
 hence, he might be in a condition to speak to me of 
 Poland and Saxony, but that at present he could 
 not do so. I did not insist. The conference was 
 solely occupied with Genoa. It was proposed, not 
 to incorporate that country with Piedmont, but to 
 give it to the King of Sardinia by a treaty, by which 
 special privileges and institutions should be secured 
 to it. Lord Castlereagh had brought certain memo¬ 
 randa and plans which had been addressed to him 
 on the subject, and these he read aloud. He strongly 
 urged the establishment of a free port, an entrepot , 
 and transit through Piedmont with very moderate 
 duties. It was agreed that we should meet to-morrow, 
 and that M. de Brignole and M. de Saint-Marsan 
 should be summoned to the conference. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 131 
 
 After the conference, I remained alone with M. de 
 Metternich, and as I wanted to know how he stood 
 with regard to Poland and Saxony, and what he 
 proposed to do, instead of putting questions to him 
 on those points, which he w r ould have avoided, I 
 spoke to him about himself only, assuming the 
 tone of an old friend, and said that while attending 
 to affairs, he ought also to consider himself; that it 
 seemed to me that he did not do so sufficiently ; 
 that one might be compelled by necessity to do 
 certain things, but that necessity ought to be made 
 evident to everybody ; that although one might act 
 upon the purest motives, unless those motives were 
 known to the public, one was none the less certain 
 to be calumniated, because the public in that case 
 could only judge by results ; that he was exposed 
 to reproaches of all sorts; that he was accused, for 
 instance, of having sacrificed Saxony; that 1 
 earnestly hoped he had not done this, but why 
 leave any pretext for such reports ? Why not give 
 his friends the means of defending and justifying 
 him ? The unrestraint with which I spoke led him 
 to open his mind a little way. He read me his Note 
 to the Prussians on the question of Saxony, and my 
 warm thanks induced him to- entrust it to me. I 
 promised him that it should be kept secret. I 
 subjoin a copy which I have had the honour to 
 
132 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 make for your Majesty, and beg that your Majesty 
 will be pleased to keep it and permit me to ask for 
 it on my return. 
 
 Your Majesty will see by this document^) that 
 M. de Metternich had promised the Prussians, not 
 a portion of Saxony, as he had assured me, but the 
 whole of it. This promise he had fortunately made 
 subject to a condition, whose non-fulfilment renders 
 it null and void. Your Majesty will also see that 
 M. de Metternich gives up Luxemburg to the 
 Prussians,( 2 ) after having repeatedly assured me that 
 it should not be given to them. This same Note 
 also reveals the plan which was formed long ago, 
 for placing Germany under what is called the in¬ 
 fluence, but would be really the exclusive and 
 absolute dominion, of Austria and Prussia. 
 
 Now, M. de Metternich protests that he will 
 not forsake Saxony. As for Poland, he has given 
 me to understand that he will yield much ; this 
 signifies that he will yield all, if the Emperor Alex¬ 
 ander persists in refusing to concede anything. I 
 was still with him when the report of the state of 
 the Austrian army was brought to him, and he 
 allowed me to see it. The actual strength of that 
 army consists of three hundred and seventy-four 
 thousand men, of which fifty-two thousand are cavalry, 
 and eight hundred pieces of cannon. With such 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 forces as these, he believes that the Austrian 
 monarchy can do no better than resign itself to 
 everything, and put up with everything! Your 
 Majesty will be pleased to remark that the number 
 of the troops is the effective strength of the army. 
 I will not close the letter which I have the honour 
 to write to your Majesty until after my return from 
 a conference to be held this morning. 
 
 The conference is over. M. de Nesselrode, 
 M. de Metternich, and Lord Castlereagh were there. 
 M. de Saint-Marsan, who came by appointment, was 
 . admitted. No question except that of the union of 
 Genoa with Piedmont was discussed. ( 3 ) A kind of 
 power given by the provisional Government of 
 Genoa, fabricated a few months ago by Lord 
 William Bentinck, has given rise to some difficulties, 
 but they will be removed by its being granted that 
 Genoa is vacant territory. It has been agreed 
 that the eight Powers shall meet to-morrow to make 
 a declaration to that effect, and to hand to M. de 
 Brignole, the deputy from Genoa, a copy of the 
 protocol containing a declaration to that effect. 
 Nothing will then remain to be decided, except the 
 mode of meeting. I have availed myself of to-day s 
 conference to speak of the Sardinian succession. 
 M. de Saint-Marsan, to whom I had previously 
 given notice, had received instructions conformable 
 
134 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to the rights of the House of Carignan from his 
 Court. I proposed a form of words which recog¬ 
 nizes them; M. de Saint-Marsan has adopted it; it 
 has been drafted, and I have every reason to believe 
 that it will be admitted. The conferences on the 
 affairs of Switzerland will now begin without delay. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XVIIL 
 
 (1) See Appendix. 
 
 (2) Luxemburg, the capital city of the grand-duchy of Luxem¬ 
 burg, was a federal fortress. Prussia furnished the garrison from 
 1815 to 1867. 
 
 (3) By a secret provision of the Treaty of Paris the depart¬ 
 ments that previously composed the State of Genoa were to form 
 an addition to Piedmont, and the port of Genoa to remain free. 
 
 ■*+ 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Paris, 15th November, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 10, and I await 
 with impatience the important further details which 
 you notify to me. I lay hold eagerly on the hope 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 135 
 
 for Saxony which you extend to me, and I think 
 that I may rest in it with some confidence, now 
 that Prince Metternich speaks, not his own mind, 
 but that of a council. I should certainly be much 
 better pleased that Saxony should remain a whole, 
 but I think its unfortunate King ought to esteem 
 himself happy if two-thirds or three-fourths of it 
 be saved for him. 
 
 As for the proposed exchange, I do not in 
 general like to cede what is mine ; it is still more 
 repugnant to me to despoil others ; and, after all, 
 the rights of the Prince-Bishop of Basle,(*) though 
 no doubt less important to the repose of Europe, 
 are no less sacred than those of the King of Saxony. 
 If, however, the spoliation of the Prince-Bishop 
 be inevitable, I will consent to the exchange, moved 
 thereto by the double consideration of preserving 
 a portion of his States to the King of Sardinia, 
 and rendering a great service to the canton of 
 Berne. I send you an authorization ad koc,( 2 ) of 
 which you will make use on the five following con¬ 
 ditions, the first of which is only a rule of conduct 
 for yourself:— 
 
 1. The impossibility of saving the Prince 
 Bishop of Basle. 
 
 2. The securing to the King of Sardinia that 
 part of Savoy ( 3 ) which remains to him. 
 
136 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 «■ 
 
 3. The restoration of its portion of Aargau to 
 the canton of Berne. 
 
 4. The free exercise of the Catholic religion 
 in the portion of the territory of Gex ceded to the 
 canton of Geneva. ( 4 ) 
 
 5. Free navigation for France on the Lake of 
 Geneva. 
 
 On these terms you may sign the exchange. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XIX. 
 
 (1) The bishopric of Basle, an ecclesiastical principality of 
 the Germanic Empire until 1801, had been incorporated with 
 France. It was about to be partitioned between the cantons of 
 Basle and Berne. 
 
 (2) The treaty of the 30th of May, 1814, had lfeft Chambdry 
 and Annecy to France (she lost them by the treaty of the 20th of 
 November, 1815); besides, the canton of Geneva was about to 
 receive several communes of Savoy to the south and east of the 
 town. The largest of those communes is Carouge. 
 
 (3) Four free states—Aaran, Brugg, Leinburg, Zofingen— 
 under the sovereignty of Berne. Aargau was constituted a 
 canton. 
 
 (4) The part of the country of Gex bounded by Lake Leman, 
 the chief town oi which is Versoix. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 1 3 7 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Vienna, 17th September, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Before the Emperor Alexander brought 
 Prussia round to his views, he was advised by 
 persons in his confidence to turn to the side of 
 France, to come to an understanding with her, and 
 to see me. He answered that he would willingly 
 see me, and that in future, when I wanted to make 
 application for an audience, I must apply, not to 
 Count Nesselrode, but to Prince Wollonsky, his first 
 aide-de-camp. I said to the person by whom I 
 was told this, that if I were to have the Emperor 
 asked for an audience, the Austrians and the English 
 would certainly be aware of the fact; that they 
 would take umbrage at it, and build all sorts of 
 conjectures upon it; and that to make the request 
 through the unusual medium of an aide-de-camp 
 would give an appearance of intrigue to my relations 
 with the Emperor, which would be unbecoming to 
 both one and the other. A few days afterwards, as 
 he asked why he had not seen me, my motives were 
 explained to him, and he approved of them, adding, 
 “ Then I will attack him first.” At the great 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 assemblies where I have frequently occasion to meet 
 him, I make it a rule to put myself in his way as 
 little as possible, to avoid him as much as I can 
 without a breach of propriety, and I acted on this 
 rule at Count Zichy’s, where he was, on Saturday. 
 I had remained almost all the evening in the card- 
 room, and was about to avail myself of the announce¬ 
 ment of supper to retire—I had indeed reached the 
 door of the ante-chamber—when a hand was placed 
 upon my shoulder. I turned and saw that it was 
 that of the Emperor Alexander. He asked me why 
 I did not go to see him, when he should see me, 
 and what I was going to do on Monday; then he 
 told me to go and see him on that day at eleven 
 o’clock, and to come in plain clothes, to resume my 
 plain clothes ways with him; and, saying this, he 
 took my arm and gave it a friendly squeeze. 
 
 I took care to inform M. de Metternich and 
 Lord Castlereagh of what had passed, so as to 
 remove any idea of concealment, and prevent all 
 suspicion on their part. 
 
 I waited on the Emperor at the appointed hour. 
 He said, “ I am very glad to see you ; and you too— 
 you did wish to see me : is it not so ? ” I made 
 answer that I never concealed my regret at seeing 
 him so seldom while in the same place with him. 
 After this the conversation was set going. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 139 
 
 “ How do affairs stand, and what is now your 
 position?” “Sire, it is always the same. If your 
 Majesty wishes to restore Poland as a completely 
 independent State, we are ready to support you.” 
 “At Paris, I desired the restoration of Poland, and 
 you approved of it; as a man, ever faithful to liberal 
 ideas which I never will relinquish, I desire it still. 
 But, in my position, the man’s wishes cannot be the 
 rule of the sovereign’s conduct. Perhaps the day 
 may come when Poland can be restored, but as for 
 the present time, it is not to be thought of.” “ If 
 the partition of the duchy of Warsaw only be in 
 question, that is much more the affair of Prussia and 
 Austria than it is ours. Those two Powers once 
 satisfied on that point, we shall be satisfied also ; but 
 so long as they are not, we are instructed to support 
 them, and our duty is to do so, since Austria has 
 allowed so many difficulties to arise, which it would 
 have been easy for her to prevent.” “In what 
 way ? ” “ By claiming, at the time of her alliance 
 
 with us, the right to occupy by her troops that portion 
 of the duchy of Warsaw which had belonged to her; 
 you would certainly not have refused this, and if she 
 had occupied that country you would not have 
 thought of taking it from her.” “ Austria and I are 
 of one accord.” “ That is not what the public 
 believe.” “ We are agreed upon the principal points; 
 
140 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 4 
 
 the only dispute is about a few villages.” “France 
 is in the second rank on that question; but on 
 the question of Saxony she is in the first rank.” 
 “ True ; the question of Saxony is a family matter (*) 
 for the House of Bourbon.” “ Not at all, Sire. In 
 the matter of Saxony there is no question of the 
 interests of an individual or of a family ; the interests 
 of all kings are concerned in it; in the first place, 
 those of your Majesty, because the foremost of your 
 interests is the care of that personal glory which you 
 have acquired, and whose lustre is reflected upon 
 your Empire. Your Majesty must guard that glory, 
 not for your own sake only, but also for the sake of 
 your people, whose patrimony it is; and you will set 
 the seal upon it by protecting those principles which 
 are the foundation of public order and security, and 
 by making them respected. I speak to you, Sire, 
 not as the Minister of France, but as a man who is 
 sincerely attached to you.” “You talk of principles, 
 but that one ought to keep ones word is one of 
 them, and I have given mine.” “ Pledges have 
 different degrees of gravity, and that which your 
 Majesty gave to Europe when you passed the 
 Niemen ought to carry more weight than any other. 
 Allow me, Sire, to add, that the intervention of 
 Russia in the affairs of Europe is regarded with 
 general jealousy and uneasiness, and that it has been 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 14 I 
 
 suffered to take place solely on account of your 
 Majesty’s personal character. That character must 
 therefore necessarily be preserved intact.” “ That 
 is a matter which concerns nobody but myself, and 
 I am the sole judge of it.” “ Pardon me, Sire, when 
 one is a man of history all mankind is one’s judge.” 
 
 “ The King of Saxony is a man little worthy of 
 interest; he has violated his engagements.” “He 
 had not entered into any with your Majesty, but 
 only with Austria ; ( 2 ) therefore she alone would have 
 a right to be resentful towards him ; and so far is 
 she from being so, that I know the designs that are 
 formed upon Saxony cause the greatest pain to the 
 Emperor of Austria. Your Majesty must most 
 certainly be unaware of this ; for otherwise, living, as 
 your Majesty and your family have been living, with 
 him and as his guests for two months past, your 
 Majesty never could have made up your mind to * 
 inflict such pain upon him. These same designs 
 also afflict and alarm the people of Vienna; of that 
 every day brings me proofs.” “ But Austria has 
 abandoned Saxony.” “ M. de Metternich, whom I 
 saw yesterday, manifested a very different disposition 
 from that of which your Majesty does me the honour 
 to tell me.” “And yourself? It is said that you 
 consent to abandon a portion.” “We shall only do 
 so with extreme regret. But if it be necessary to 
 
142 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 give Prussia from three to four hundred thousand 
 Saxons, so that she may have a population equal to 
 that which she had in 1806, and which did not 
 exceed nine million, two hundred thousand souls, we 
 will make the sacrifice for the sake of the blessing of 
 peace.” “And that is just what the Saxons are 
 most afraid of; they do not ask anything better than 
 to belong to the King of Prussia; all they desire is 
 that they shall not be divided.” “We have the 
 means of knowing all that is taking place in Saxony, 
 and we know that the Saxons are in despair at the 
 idea of becoming Prussians.” “ No; the only thing 
 they fear is being divided; and indeed there is 
 nothing more unfortunate for a people.” “ Sire, if 
 that argument were applied to Poland ? ” “ The 
 
 partition of Poland is none of my doing; it is no 
 business of mine to repair that evil. I have already 
 said to you that it may perhaps be undone some 
 day.” “ The cession of a portion of the two Lusatias 
 would not be a dismemberment, properly speaking, 
 of Saxony. They were not incorporated with her; 
 they were until recent times a fief of the crown of 
 Bohemia ; they had nothing in common with Saxony, 
 except the fact that they belonged to the same 
 sovereign.” “ Tell me, is it true that you are raising 
 troops in France?” (As he put this question, the 
 Emperor approached me so closely that his face 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 143 
 
 almost touched mine.) “Yes, Sire.” “What troops 
 has the King ? ” ( 3 ) “ One hundred and thirty thou¬ 
 
 sand men under the colours, and three hundred thou¬ 
 sand who have been sent back to their homes, but 
 who can be recalled at any moment.” “ How many 
 are being recalled at present? ” “The number neces¬ 
 sary to make up the peace footing. We felt at one 
 and the same time that we must get rid of an army, 
 and that we must have an army; that we must get 
 rid of the army that was Bonaparte’s, and have one 
 which should be the Kings. To do this we had to 
 dissolve and to recompose, first to disarm and then 
 to rearm, and we are just now completing those 
 operations. Such is the motive of our present 
 armament; it is not a threat to any one; but when 
 all Europe is armed, it seemed necessary that 
 France should be armed also, in fitting proportion.” 
 “ That is well. I hope that these affairs here will 
 lead to a good understanding between France and 
 Russia. What are the King’s inclinations in that 
 respect ? ” “ The King will never forget the 
 
 services which your Majesty has rendered them, and 
 will always be ready to recognize them. But he 
 has his duties as the sovereign of a great country, 
 and the head of one of the most powerful and 
 ancient houses of Europe. He could not abandon 
 the House of Saxony, he wishes us to protest in 
 
144 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 case of necessity. Spain, Bavaria,( 4 ) and other 
 States as well would protest together with us.” ( 5 ) 
 “ Listen; let us make a bargain : be amiable to me 
 in the matter of Saxony, and I will be the same to 
 you in that of Naples. I am not pledged to any¬ 
 thing on that side.” “Your Majesty knows well 
 that no bargain is practicable. There is no parity 
 between the two questions. It is impossible that 
 your Majesty should not be of the same mind as 
 ourselves with respect to Naples.” “Very well, then, 
 persuade the Prussians to let me retract my word.” 
 “ I see very little of the Prussians, and should cer¬ 
 tainly not succeed in persuading them. But your 
 
 9 
 
 Majesty has facilities for doing so. You have com¬ 
 plete power over the mind of the King. Besides, 
 your Majesty can requite them.” “In what 
 manner ? ” “ By leaving them something more in 
 
 Poland.” “You propose a singular expedient to 
 me. You want me to take upon myself to give 
 to them.” 
 
 The conversation was interrupted at this point 
 by the Empress of Russia’s coming into the room. 
 She was pleased to say some obliging things to me; 
 but she remained only a few minutes. The Emperor 
 resumed: “ Let us sum up the case.” I briefly 
 recapitulated the points upon which I could, and 
 those upon which I could not come to terms, and I 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 T 45 
 
 concluded by saying that I must insist upon the 
 maintenance of the kingdom of Saxony with sixteen 
 hundred thousand inhabitants. “ Yes,” said the 
 Emperor, “ you insist strongly upon a thing that is 
 
 decided; ” but he did not utter that word in the tone 
 
 ¥ 
 
 which conveys an unchangeable resolution. 
 
 His object in summoning me to him was to 
 learn— 
 
 1. To what extent the arming that was talked 
 about was going on in France, and what was its 
 purpose. I think I answered him in such a manner 
 as neither to let him believe himself threatened, nor 
 yet to leave him too much at his ease. 
 
 2. Whether your Majesty would be inclined to 
 make an alliance with him at some future day. 
 Unless he should lay aside his spirit of conquest, 
 which is by no means likely, I do not see that 
 it would be possible for your Majesty, whose spirit 
 is so entirely conservative, to ally yourself with him, 
 if indeed it were not in an exceptional case, and for 
 a temporary object. But it was not advisable, if he 
 wished for such an alliance, to deprive him of all 
 hope of it, and I avoided doing so. 
 
 3. What determination we had really come 
 to with regard to Saxony. On that point I 
 left him so little in doubt that he said to Count 
 Nesselrode, from whom I heard it, “The French 
 
 VOL 1. 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 are decided on the question of Saxony, but let them 
 settle it with Prussia. They want to take from me 
 to give to her, but I do not consent to that.” I have 
 related this conversation in so much detail so 
 that your Majesty may be enabled to judge how 
 much the Emperor s tone has changed since I had 
 my last audience of him. During the whole course 
 of our conversation, he never exhibited a single 
 symptom of irritation or temper. All was calm and 
 pleasant. He is certainly less moved by the in¬ 
 terests of Prussia, and less withheld by his friend¬ 
 ship for the King, than he is embarrassed by the 
 promises which he has made him ; and I am inclined 
 to believe that, notwithstanding the chivalrous dis¬ 
 position which he affects, and his desire to pass for 
 being strictly bound by his word, in his own secret 
 heart he would be enchanted to have a fair pretext 
 for releasing himself from it I base this opinion 
 especially upon a conversation which he has had 
 with Prince Schwartzenberg, and which I think 
 contributed in no small degree to making him wish 
 to see me. He asked the Prince how matters 
 stood, and whether they would succeed in coming 
 to an understanding, and then pressed him to give 
 his opinion, not as the Austrian minister, but as a 
 friend. After having parried the question for some 
 time, Prince Schwartzenberg told him plainly that 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 147 
 
 his conduct towards Austria had been hardly frank, 
 and even hardly loyal ; that his pretensions tended 
 to place the Austrian monarchy in actual danger, 
 and things in general in a position which would 
 render war inevitable ; that if war were not made 
 now (either out of respect for the incipient alliance, 
 or to prevent their figuring in the eyes of Europe 
 as blunderers, utterly devoid of foresight, whose 
 blind confidence had placed them at the mercy of 
 events), it would inevitably break out in eighteen 
 months or two years. Then the Emperor said, in¬ 
 cautiously, “ Oh, if I had only not gone so far ! ” but 
 he added, “ How am I to get out of it now ? You 
 must feel that it is impossible for me to withdraw 
 from the point where I now stand.” 
 
 At the very time when M. de Schwartzenberg 
 was representing war as inevitable sooner or later, 
 the movements of a body of Austrian troops in 
 Galicia seemed to indicate that it might be near at 
 hand. The Cabinet of Vienna appears to be waking 
 up from its lethargy. M. de Metternich talked to 
 Prince de Wrede of an alliance, asking him whether 
 Bavaria would not now add twenty-five thousand 
 men to the Austrian forces ; to which Prince de 
 Wrede replied that Bavaria would be willing to 
 furnish as many as seventy-five thousand men, under 
 the following conditions 
 
148 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 1. That an alliance should be concluded with 
 France. 
 
 2. That Bavaria should furnish twenty-five 
 thousand men, and no more, for each hundred 
 thousand men furnished by Austria. 
 
 3. That if England gave subsidies to Austria, 
 Bavaria should receive her portion of them in pro¬ 
 portion to their respective strength. 
 
 I am convinced that up to the present time these 
 are words only, mere demonstrations, but it is no 
 slight thing that Austria should have resolved upon 
 making them; and, in consequence, the Emperor 
 Alexander was naturally anxious to know what he 
 had to fear or to expect from us. 
 
 Knowing that his habit, when he is speaking to 
 any one of those who are opposed to his wishes, is 
 to affirm that he is in agreement with the others, 
 and being desirous that the results of my interview 
 with him should not be presented in a false light, 
 I took advantage of a visit made to me by M. de 
 Sickingen, to make them known to the Emperor of 
 Austria through him. The Emperor repeated them 
 to M. de Metternich, by whose recapitulation I 
 have ascertained that M. de Sickengen has reported 
 them faithfully. 
 
 This disclosure has produced the best effect; 
 the universal feeling of distrust with which we were 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 149 
 
 regarded at the beginning of our sojourn here is 
 lessening day by day, and the opposite feeling is 
 gaining ground. 
 
 On my return from my audience of the Emperor 
 Alexander, I found the Saxon minister here. 
 Ele had come to communicate to me—firstly, a 
 protest by the King of Saxony, which the King 
 had sent to him, with orders to lay it before the 
 Congress, after having communicated it to M. de 
 Metternich, upon whose advice he is directed to 
 act; secondly, a circular of Prince Repnin, who 
 was Governor-General for the Russians in Saxony. ( G ) 
 This document (a copy of which I subjoin to my 
 despatch to the Department, for publication in the 
 Moniteur ) has given rise to the protest of the King, 
 which cannot be printed until after it has been 
 officially laid before the Congress; until then I 
 shall not have a copy of it. This circular—by which 
 Prince Repnin announces to the Saxon authorities 
 that, in consequence of a convention concluded on 
 the 27th of September, the Emperor Alexander, with 
 the consent of Austria and of England, has ordered 
 the administration of Saxony to be handed over to 
 the delegates of the King of Prussia, who is in 
 future to possess that country, not as a province of 
 his kingdom, but as a separate kingdom, whose 
 integrity he has promised to maintain—has thrown 
 
150 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 M, de Metternich and Lord Castlereagh into the 
 greatest perplexity, and is bitterly complained of by 
 them. 
 
 It is very true that their consent has been 
 shamefully perverted by being represented as abso¬ 
 lute, whereas it was purely conditional, and that this 
 justifies their complaints, but it is no less true that 
 they have given a consent which they now bitterly 
 regret. 
 
 Your Majesty is already in possession of the 
 Note of M. de Metternich. 
 
 I have the honour this day to forward to 
 your Majesty that of Lord Castlereagh. ( 7 ) I re¬ 
 ceived it only two days ago; it was procured for me 
 under a promise of profound secrecy, therefore I 
 address it directly to your Majesty. I am told that 
 v Lord Castlereagh tried hard to induce the Prussians 
 to return it to him. - The Note confirms all that I 
 have had the honour to convey to your Majesty 
 during the last six weeks, and even reveals things 
 which I should not have believed, did it not afford 
 so undeniable a proof of them. 
 
 However strange M. de Metternich’s Note may 
 be, on comparing it with that of Lord Castlereagh, 
 differences entirely to the advantage of the former 
 become apparent. 
 
 M. de Metternich endeavours to persuade 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 X 5 T 
 
 Prussia that she ought to renounce her views upon 
 Saxony ; he sets forth the moral and political reasons 
 which lead him to object to giving his consent, and, 
 while giving it, acknowledges that it is wrung from 
 him by a sort of necessity. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, on the contrary, after some ex¬ 
 pressions of vain and sterile pity for the royal family 
 of Saxony, declares that he has no sort of moral or 
 political repugnance to abandon Saxony to Prussia. 
 
 M. de Metternich’s consent is given on the 
 ground that Prussia will have sustained losses, for 
 which it will be impossible to compensate her in any 
 other manner. Lord Castlereagh’s consent, on the 
 contrary, is given on the grounds that Prussia shall 
 preserve that for which M. de Metternich talks of 
 making compensation to her; he means her to 
 have Saxony as an increase of power, and not an 
 equivalent. 
 
 Thus they both make the question of Saxony 
 subordinate to that of Poland, but in essentially 
 opposite senses, which shows how little real agree¬ 
 ment there is between these much-united allies, who 
 cried out so loudly that France wanted to divide 
 them. 
 
 They are, however, agreed upon getting Prince 
 Repnins circular withdrawn, and I think it will be 
 repudiated by the Prussians themselves. 
 
152 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 For the rest, it appears to me that neglect, if not 
 contempt for the principles and even the commonest 
 notions of sound policy, could hardly be carried 
 farther than in that Note of Lord Castlereagh’s. 
 
 He came yesterday to ask me to dinner, and 
 proposed an interview for to-day. I had expected 
 some disclosure or some important overture, but he 
 came to talk to me solely of his troubles. Deceived 
 in the hopes that he had built upon Prussia, and 
 finding the ground cut completely from under his 
 feet in consequence, he is greatly depressed. He 
 came to consult me as to how an impulse might be 
 given to affairs so as to set them going. I told him 
 that the Emperor Alexander asserts that he is in 
 agreement with Austria on the question of Poland, 
 and that only a few details remain to be settled ; 
 that if this were really the case, the best thing he 
 could do would be to induce Austria to terminate 
 that arrangement promptly ; that they had subordi¬ 
 nated the question of Poland and Saxony one to the 
 other, and this not having succeeded, they must be 
 separated, and that of Poland terminated first; that 
 Austria, quiet on that side, and no longer obliged to 
 divide herself between the two questions, might give 
 her entire attention to that of Saxony, which all the 
 Austrian officers regarded as much more important 
 of the two; that Russia, being satisfied on the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 153 
 
 point which directly interests her, will probably give 
 little trouble upon the other; and that when Prussia 
 finds herself standing alone relatively to Austria, 
 England, France, and Spain, the afiair will be easily 
 and promptly settled. 
 
 Prince Repnin’s circular was the signal for which 
 Bavaria was waiting, to declare that she would not 
 subscribe to any arrangement, and would not enter 
 into any German league, until the maintenance of 
 the King of Saxony had been previously secured; 
 this Prince de Wrede declared positively to M. de 
 Hardenberg, who, while saying that he could not 
 take anything upon himself, and would refer it to the 
 King, hinted, nevertheless, that the King of Saxony 
 might be maintained with a million of subjects. 
 Thus all is still in abeyance, but the chances of 
 saving a great part of Saxony are increased. 
 
 I had written so much of my letter when I re¬ 
 ceived that with which your Majesty has honoured 
 me, of the 9th of November, and also that of the 
 Count de Blacas, written by your Majesty’s orders. 
 
 Your Majesty will judge by Lord Castlereagh’s 
 Note, which I have the honour to forward, either 
 that the minister has instructions of which the Duke 
 of Wellington knows nothing, or that he does not 
 consider himself bound by those which have been 
 given to him; and that if he has made the question 
 
1 54 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of Saxony depend upon that of Poland, he has done 
 so in a sense precisely inverse to that which the 
 Duke of Wellington supposed. 
 
 As for what concerns Naples, I have given an 
 account to your Majesty of the proposal made by 
 M. de Metternich in one of those conferences, at 
 which only he, M. de Nesselrode, Lord Castlereagh, 
 and myself were present, that we should not enter 
 upon this affair until after the Congress, and of my 
 answer. (In No. io of my correspondence this 
 detail is given.) The threats contained in the letter 
 from which the Count de Blacas has sent me an 
 extract, are contained, I am told, in a pamphlet 
 published by an aide-de-camp of Murat’s, named 
 Filangieri, who was at Vienna quite recently. ( 8 ) 
 (This pamphlet has been seized by the police.) But 
 I hope that if Italy be once organized, from the 
 Alps to the frontiers of Naples, as I have proposed, 
 such threats will be no longer formidable. 
 
 I waited to close my letter until I had returned 
 from a conference to which we were summoned for 
 this evening at eight o’clock. Nothing was done 
 there but the reading and signing of the protocol of 
 the last conference. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia is indisposed, sufficiently 
 so to keep his bed, but it is only an indisposition. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 155 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XX. 
 
 (1) Louis XVIII. and Frederick Augustus III. were cousins- 
 german. 
 
 (2) On the 26th of April, Prince Metternich had denounced 
 the treaty, or Franco-Austrian alliance, of the 14th of March, 
 1812. He had withdrawn the auxiliary aid stipulated by that 
 alliance. Austria, who became neutral in the interval before de¬ 
 claring war against us, had obtained a promise of neutrality from 
 the King of Saxony which Napoleon’s victories at Lutzen and 
 Bautzen made it impossible for him to keep. 
 
 (3) See Appendix. 
 
 (4) His Majesty the King of Bavaria used the following words 
 to Count Alexis de Noailles on the 9th of November, 1814:— 
 
 “I learn that a close watch has been kept on the French 
 envoys; their proceedings have been minutely observed; and it 
 has been discovered with much surprise that they keep aloof from 
 all secret manoeuvring, that they have not distributed the smallest 
 sum of money, and that their conduct is stainless and free from 
 intrigue. I have made a protest on the affairs of Saxony. I am 
 with you. I will not separate myself from your policy. Would 
 you like to know what is privately said ? The word of the King, 
 his loyalty, and his principles are relied upon; but it is believed 
 that he will not be master of the army, and that after the negotia¬ 
 tions he will be forced into war by the clamour of generals greedy 
 for conquest.” 
 
 (5) On the 8th of November, 1814, the Archduke Charles 
 used the following words to Count Alexis de Noailles:— 
 
 “ I have no doubt that France will play a fine part in the 
 Congress, and that the talents and experience of M. de Talleyrand 
 will be as useful to Europe as to your own country. You have set 
 a valuable example by your manner of not demanding increase of 
 territory. That example will be useful in Europe in the restora¬ 
 tion of the former relations between nations. France is a suffi- 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ciently fine country, by reason of its situation, to regain its former 
 preponderance without any extraneous aid. We soldiers have 
 drawn the sword; now let the politicians finish the work, and 
 build up the welfare of Europe upon solid foundations, so as to 
 prevent fresh devastation. I have read your scheme of finance; it 
 appears to me to be a good one, but I do not pretend to understand 
 the subject thoroughly. The chief thing in politics and in finance 
 is to do what you will do, no doubt—that is, to hold to what has 
 b< £n promised ; mark out a certain course, as I am sure you have 
 done, and follow it inexorably; to perseverance of that quality 
 success is certain.” 
 
 (6) See D’Angeberg, “Congres de Vienne,” p. 413. 
 
 (7) In this Note of the nth of October, 1814, Lord Castle- 
 reagh wrote confidentially to Prince Hardenberg: 
 
 “ As for the question of Saxony, I declare to you that if the 
 incorporation of the whole of that country in the Prussian 
 monarchy is necessary to secure so great a boon to Europe, how¬ 
 ever deeply I should personally regret to see so ancient a family 
 so profoundly afflicted, I could not feel any moral or political 
 repugnance to the measure itself. If ever a sovereign has placed 
 himself in a position in which he ought to be sacrificed to the 
 future tranquillity of Europe, I think the King of Saxony has done 
 so; both by his perpetual tergiversation, and because he has 
 been not only the most devoted, but the most favoured of the 
 vassals of Bonaparte, contributing zealously, and with all his might, 
 in his double capacity of head of a German State and of a Polish 
 State, to extend the general thraldom even to the heart of Russia.” 
 
 (8) “A pamphlet of a revolutionary and threatening cha¬ 
 racter, by one Filangieri, an aide-de-camp of Murat’s, is in 
 circulation here. The police have had it bought up. Prince 
 Metternich makes use of scares of this kind to mislead public 
 opinion with respect to the maintenance of Murat on the throne 
 of Naples; but he is the only one, even of the ministers of the 
 Emperor of Austria, who supports this cause, of which Europe will 
 dispose.”—Letter of the French plenipotentiary to the Department. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 T 57 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 22nd November, 1814, 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 11. It would 
 afford me ample matter for observations, if I had not 
 forbidden myself to make any, when they can serve 
 no purpose beyond that of personal satisfaction. 
 Count Alexis de Noailles’ report of what he heard 
 from the lips of the princes with whom he has con¬ 
 versed, has.afforded me pleasure. I am especially 
 struck with what the King of Bavaria says. But 
 what will any good intentions avail, if they be not 
 sustained by Austria and England ? Now, I very 
 much fear that, notwithstanding the infinitely adroit 
 manner in which you have spoken to Prince Metter- 
 nich, notwithstanding the unfulfilled conditions of 
 the Note of the 22nd of October, Poland and Saxony 
 will be abandoned. If this misfortune does befall, 
 there will still remain to my unfortunate cousin 
 his firmness and patience in adversity, and to me 
 the consolation (for I am more resolute in this than 
 ever) that I shall not have shared, by any consent, 
 in these iniquitous spoliations. I believe in the 
 
I5& UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 utterances attributed to the Emperor Alexander, on 
 the subject of Italy ; it is of the utmost importance, 
 in this case, that Austria and England should be 
 imbued with the adage—a trivial one it may be, but 
 full of good sense, and eminently applicable to the 
 circumstances —Sublata causa, tollitur effectus. 
 
 I am better satisfied with the turn which the 
 affairs of Italy are taking. The union of Genoa, 
 the male succession in the House of Savoy, are two 
 important points, but one of much greater import¬ 
 ance is that, notwithstanding all the boasting of 
 Murat in his gazettes (perhaps too well founded in 
 reality), the kingdom of Naples is turning back to 
 its legitimate sovereign. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Vienna, 25 th November, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 No sooner had we uttered the word prin- 
 ciples here, and demanded the immediate meeting 
 of the Congress, than a rumour was industriously 
 spread on all sides, that France was still hankering 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 159 
 
 after the left bank of the Rhine and Belgium,^) and 
 would never rest until she had recovered them; 
 that your Majesty’s Government might well share 
 the desire of the nation and of the army on these 
 points, seeing that if it did not share, it would not 
 be strong enough to resist it; that under either sup¬ 
 position the danger was the same ; that therefore 
 the utmost precaution should be taken against 
 France ; that barriers through which she could not 
 break must be opposed to her ; that the arrange¬ 
 ments of Europe must be co-ordinated to that end; 
 and that all should hold themselves vigilantly on 
 their guard against her negotiators, who would not 
 fail to do everything to defeat it. We at once 
 found ourselves exposed to prejudices against which 
 we had to contend for two months. We have suc¬ 
 ceeded in conquering the most painful of these; it 
 is no longer said that we have been given double 
 instructions (as M. de Metternich assured Prince de 
 Wrede), that we have been ordered to speak in one 
 sense and to act in another, and are sent here to sow 
 discord. The public does justice to your Majesty, 
 to whom they no longer impute a hidden purpose ; 
 they praise your Majesty’s disinterestedness, and 
 applaud your defence of principles. They acknow¬ 
 ledge that no other Power plays so honourable a 
 part as that of your Majesty. But those whose 
 
i6o 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 object it is that France should still be regarded with 
 distrust and fear, being unable to excite those senti¬ 
 ments under one pretext, are rousing them under 
 another. They represent the internal condition of 
 the kingdom in an alarming light, and, unfortunately, 
 they found their statements upon news from Paris 
 given by men whose names, reputation, and official 
 position inspire respect. ( 2 ) The Duke of Wellington, 
 who keeps up a very active correspondence with 
 Lord Castlereagh, talks to him of nothing but con¬ 
 spiracies, secret discontent, and murmuring, the pre¬ 
 cursors of a storm about to burst. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander says that his letters 
 from Paris foretell coming trouble. Mr. Vincent 
 informs his Court that a change of ministry is to take 
 place, that he is sure of it, and they affect to regard 
 a change of ministry as a certain indication of a 
 change in foreign and domestic policy. ( 3 ) From this 
 they conclude that they cannot reckon upon France, 
 and ought not to enter into any agreement with 
 her. In vain do we refute these Statements, quote 
 dates and facts which contradict them, meet them 
 with the counter information of which we are in 
 receipt, indicate the source from which we have 
 reason to believe the Duke of Wellington has 
 derived his, and show how little trustworthy is that 
 source ; they still persist in asserting that, at our 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 1 6 I 
 
 present distance from Paris, we do not know what 
 is taking place there, or that it is our interest to 
 conceal it, and that the Duke of Wellington and 
 Baron Vincent, being on the spot, are better in¬ 
 formed or more sincere. 
 
 I will not accuse Lord Castlereagh of having 
 disseminated the prejudices with which we have had 
 to contend,( 4 ) but he has either conceived them 
 himself, or they have been suggested to him, for 
 he is certainly more deeply imbued with those 
 prejudices than anybody. The long war that 
 England has had to wage almost single-handed, 
 and the danger in which it placed her, have made 
 an impression upon him so strong, that it deprives 
 him, so to speak, of the power of recognizing the 
 total change of the times. The least reasonable 
 of all fears, at present, is certainly that of the 
 restoration of the continental policy. Those per¬ 
 sons, however, who have the closest relations 
 with him, assert that he is always full of that 
 particular apprehension, and that he thinks it im¬ 
 possible to pile up too many precautions against 
 this imaginary danger. He fancies himself still at 
 Chatillon, treating with Bonaparte, and wanting to 
 treat for peace. It is easy to imagine the effect 
 which the Duke of Wellington’s reports produce 
 upon a mind thus disposed, and to perceive that the 
 
 11 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
162 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Duke himself forms an obstacle to that good under¬ 
 standing which he seemed to think it would be easy 
 to establish between Lord Castlereagh and us. 
 
 I have done everything I can to bring about 
 such an understanding, not only since we have been 
 at Vienna, but before Lord Castlereagh left London, 
 when he was on his way through Paris. That it has 
 not been established is due not only to Lord Castle- 
 reagh’s prejudices, but also to the real and complete 
 opposition that exists between his views and ours. 
 Your Majesty has directed us to defend principles; 
 the Note of the nth of October, which I have had 
 the honour to send to your Majesty, shows what 
 respect Lord Castlereagh has for them. We are 
 to employ every means to maintain the King and 
 the kingdom of Saxony. Lord Castlereagh ab¬ 
 solutely wants to treat the one as a condemned 
 criminal, of whom he, Castlereagh, has constituted 
 himself the judge, and to sacrifice the other. We 
 wish that Prussia should acquire or preserve a great 
 part of the duchy of Warsaw, and Lord Castlereagh 
 wishes this as well, but from motives so different, 
 that he takes the same means for the destruction 
 of Saxony which we employ for its salvation. He 
 wants to turn the assistance which we shall have 
 given him in the question of Poland against us. 
 It is impossible to reconcile such opposite purposes. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 1 63 
 
 I have often spoken, and to the Emperor Alex¬ 
 ander himself, of the restoration of Poland as a thing 
 which France desires, and which she would be ready 
 to support. I have not demanded that restoration 
 without an alternative, because, as Lord Castlereagh 
 has not demanded it himself, I should have stood 
 alone in making the demand, and should thereby 
 have irritated the Emperor Alexander without ac¬ 
 quiring any merit in the eyes of the others ; and I 
 should also have offended Austria, who, up to the 
 present at all events, is against the restoration. 
 Only two days ago Lord Castlereagh, with whom I 
 was remonstrating upon the way in which he had 
 conducted affairs for the past two months, answered 
 me, “ I have always thought that when one was in 
 a league, one must not separate one’s self from it.” 
 He regards himself then as in a league ; that 
 league is certainly no other than a sequel to their 
 treaties prior to the peace. Now, how can we hope 
 that he will come to an understanding with those 
 against whom he acknowledges he is leagued ? 
 
 The other members of the league, or coali¬ 
 tion, against France are in a similar case. Russia 
 and Prussia expect nothing but opposition on our 
 part; Austria may desire our support in the question 
 of Poland and in that of Saxony, but her minister 
 dreads our interference in other matters, much more 
 
164 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 than he desires it on behalf of those two objects. 
 He knows how much we have the Neapolitan 
 question at heart, and he has it no less at heart 
 himself, but in a very different sense from ours. 
 Last Sunday, on coming away from a dinner at 
 Prince Trautmannsdorf’s, I went to see him. On 
 the previous evening I had received a letter from 
 Italy, informing me that Murat had seventy thousand 
 men ; mostly armed, thanks to the Austrians, who 
 had sold him twenty-five thousand muskets. I 
 wished to have an explanation about this with 
 M. de Metternich, or at all events to let him see 
 
 that I knew it. I led him to talk on the Neapo¬ 
 
 litan question ; and as we were among a great many 
 people in the salon, I offered to withdraw into 
 his cabinet in order to show him the letter. 
 
 He said there was no hurry, and that the question 
 would come up again afterwards. I asked him 
 
 whether it was not already decided. He replied 
 that it: was, but that he did not want to set things in 
 a blaze all at once; and, as he alleged his customary 
 fear that Murat would raise Italy, “Why, then,” said 
 I, “do you furnish him with arms ? If you are afraid 
 of that, why have you sold him twenty-five thousand 
 muskets ?” He denied the fact, which was just what 
 I expected, but I did not allow him to have the satis¬ 
 faction of thinking that his denial had convinced me. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 165 
 
 After I left him he went to the Ridotto,( 5 ) for he 
 spends three-fourths of his time at balls and fetes /( 6 ) 
 and his head was so full of the Neapolitan question, 
 that haying met a lady whom he knew, he told 
 her he was harassed about this matter, but that 
 he could not consent; that he had some considera¬ 
 tion for the position of a man who had made himself 
 beloved in the country which he governs; and that 
 he passionately loved the Queen, and was in con¬ 
 stant communication with her.( 7 ) He was masked 
 while saying all this, and perhaps a little more on the 
 latter point. It is to be expected that, in accord¬ 
 ance with the hint which he gave some time ago in 
 a conference, of which I have had the honour to send 
 your Majesty an account, he will resort to every 
 imaginable device to hinder the Neapolitan ques¬ 
 tion from being treated at the Congress. 
 
 The four Allied Courts, having each some reason 
 to dread the influence that France might exert in 
 the Congress, have naturally united, and they are 
 afraid to approach us when there is any division 
 between themselves, because an approach would 
 involve concessions which they do not want to make. 
 Amour propre is also, as might be expected, con¬ 
 cerned in this. Lord Castlereagh believed that he 
 would be able to make the Emperor of Russia give 
 way, and he has only irritated him. 
 
i66 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lastly, jealousy of France is added to these 
 motives. The Allies believed that they had weakened 
 her to a greater degree; they were not prepared to 
 find that she has the best army and the soundest 
 finances of all Europe; now they believe this, and 
 say so ; and they even go so far as to regret that 
 the Peace of Paris was made. They reproach 
 each other with it, wonder how they were ever 
 induced to make it, and admit this, even at the 
 conferences and in our presence. 
 
 It cannot, therefore, reasonably be expected that 
 England and Austria should make real and sincere 
 approaches to us, except in a case of extreme neces¬ 
 sity, such as would arise should their disputes with 
 Russia end in an open rupture. 
 
 Still, notwithstanding this position of affairs, the 
 difficulties in which it involves us, and those which 
 the letters from Paris create, the Powers here are 
 now in an attitude of consideration and complaisance 
 towards us, such as we could hardly have hoped for 
 six weeks ago—an attitude which, I may even say, 
 is surprising to themselves. 
 
 Up to the present the Emperor Alexander has 
 not wavered. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, personally piqued, although 
 he has recently received a blandly worded note 
 from Russia, says, but not to us, that if the Emperor 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 167 
 
 will not stop at the Vistula, he must be forced to do 
 so by war; that England can only furnish a small 
 body of troops on account of the American war, but 
 that she would furnish subsidies, and that the 
 Hanoverian and Dutch troops might be employed 
 on the Lower Rhine. 
 
 Prince Schwartzenberg inclines to war, saying 
 that it can be made now with more advantage than 
 some years hence. 
 
 A plan of campaign has been already drawn up 
 at the Chancellery of War; and Prince de Wrede 
 has also made one. 
 
 Austria, Bavaria, and the other German States 
 would put three hundred and twenty thousand men 
 in the field; two hundred thousand, under the 
 orders of Prince Schwartzenberg, would advance 
 upon the Vistula, by Galicia and Moldavia; a 
 hundred and twenty thousand, commanded by 
 Prince de Wrede, would advance from Bohemia, 
 upon Saxony, where they would produce a rising, 
 and from thence between the Oder and the Elbe. 
 At the same time Glatz and Neiss would be be- 
 seiged. The campaign would not commence before 
 the end of March. 
 
 But this plan necessitates the co-operation of 
 a hundred thousand French troops; one half to be 
 directed upon Franconia to prevent the Prussians 
 
168 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 from turning the army of Bohemia, the other half to 
 occupy them on the Lower Rhine. 
 
 We must therefore expect that this co-operation, 
 upon the absolute necessity of which the military 
 authorities are agreed, will be demanded of us if the 
 war is to take place. 
 
 Up to the present time, however, neither M. de 
 Metternich nor Lord Castlereagh talks to us of war, 
 and I am even assured that there has been no 
 question of it between them. It is only with 
 Bavaria that they have severally exchanged con¬ 
 fidences on the subject. 
 
 Either they continue to build some hope upon 
 the negotiations they are still carrying on, or they 
 want to gain time. Lord Castlereagh having failed, 
 they wished to put Prince Hardenberg forward 
 again, but he could not see the Emperor Alexander 
 either yesterday or the day before. The Emperor 
 is much better, but he still keeps his room, and I 
 do not think that Prince Hardenberg has seen him 
 to-day. 
 
 The arrangements relative to Genoa are agreed 
 to in the Italian Commission. They are now being 
 drawn up; the commissaries requested M. de 
 Noailles to undertake that task. The rights of the 
 House of Carignan being recognized, M. de Noailles 
 has instructions from me not to accept the arrange- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 169 
 
 ments made for Piedmont, except as an integral 
 
 portion of a settlement to be made for the whole 
 
 \ 
 
 of Italy, with the concurrence of France. This 
 is a sort of reservation which I have thought it well 
 to make on account of Naples. 
 
 The affairs of Switzerland are to be treated in 
 a Commission of which M. de Dalberg is, as I have 
 had the honour to inform your Majesty, a member. 
 
 The affairs of Germany are brought to a stand 
 by the refusal of Bavaria and Wtirtemberg to take 
 part in the deliberations until the fate of Saxony 
 shall have been fixed. 
 
 A thousand reasons make me desire to be with 
 your Majesty. I am, however, retained here by the 
 belief that I may be more useful to your Majesty’s 
 service in this place, and by the hope that, in spite 
 of every obstacle, we shall succeed in carrying out 
 a good part at least of your Majesty’s desires. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXII. 
 
 (1) “No doubt all the soldiers, and even the recruits, would 
 rush to retake Belgium, and to advance once more upon the 
 Rhine; but if you should have to go to Naples, you could not put 
 France in motion except by submitting to that.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 29th October, 1814. 
 
 (2) For a letter from Fouche to Talleyrand, bearing on the 
 state of things in France at that date, see Appendix. 
 
170 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (3) On the 3rd of the following December, Marshal Soult suc¬ 
 ceeded General Dupont at the Ministry of War, Beugnot was made 
 Minister of Marine, and D’Andre Prefect of Police. Jaucourt 
 wrote to Talleyrand at the same date: 
 
 “ You will see by the newspapers that Marshal Soult has been 
 appointed to War, Beugnot to the Navy, and D’Andre to Police. 
 
 . . . The latter appointment astounds me. About Marshal Soult 
 I had a sort of notion, because M. de Blacas asked me a number 
 of questions concerning him, but the idea had gone out of my 
 head. This morning the Marshal made a positive declaration of 
 love for you, to me; and I received it so as to let him think that 
 in your opinion nobody could be better fitted to enter a conjointly 
 responsible ( solidaire ) ministry than himself. D’Andre will please 
 you; so will Beugnot.” 
 
 (4) “i assure you that during the course of the Congress, and 
 in your absence, a less considerable personage (than the Duke of 
 Wellington) would be more convenient for us; small affairs seem 
 to take the place of great ones in his head, and to occupy him 
 quite as much.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 2nd October, 1814. 
 
 “The Duke of Wellington is not popular, and the English 
 become daily less so. He went to a hunt and ran two wretche.d 
 wolves to earth across the newly sown corn-fields. He did not 
 think fit to indemnify the farmers; this has caused great annoy¬ 
 ance. He is going to renounce that sort of amusement.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 19th November, 1814. 
 
 “The Duke of Wellington gets on well with us. I endeavour 
 to remove his prejudices . I have no reason to be anything but 
 satisfied with him. Just at this moment there is a slight cause 
 of annoyance which I wished to do away with, but M. de Blacas 
 would not assist me. His hunting over the fields with dogs has 
 given rise to complaints; he gives up doing so, and even wants 
 to give his dogs to the Due de Berry. At first I had an idea 
 of offering him one of the King’s forests; I do not know why 
 I could not obtain it. The result would Jiave been the same, only 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 171 
 
 we should have been polite. You know so well what politeness 
 can do, prevent, or excuse, that I shall not be so foolish as to add 
 a word.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 27th November, 1814. 
 
 (5) For a description of a Ridotto, taken from the Vienna 
 correspondence of the Mohiteur Universel ’ sdfe Appendix. 
 
 (6) On the 7th of December, 1814, M. de la Tour du Pin 
 wrote to the Department: 
 
 “The public is generally discontented with the position of 
 affairs, they lay the blame especially on the Emperor of Russia, 
 who loses ground with them day by day. It is not that he is not 
 gracious, and it may even be said affable, in society, in which he 
 likes to mix without being noticed, he dines with a party of 
 twenty guests chosen without restriction, and at a small dance, 
 where there were only forty persons, he danced with almost all the 
 women: but these pleasant ways do not compensate, in the minds 
 of clear-sighted Austrians, for the faults of his ambition, and they 
 are held to be aggravated by the fact that in the very palace 
 of his host he is contriving means to injure him. Any other 
 minister than M. de Metternich would turn this mood of the 
 public mind to great account; but what is to be expected of one 
 who, m the most solemn position in which a man can be placed, 
 passes the greater part of his time in mere follies, who did not 
 hesitate to have the Bacha de Surene performed at his house, and 
 many of whose days, since the Congress,, have been wasted in 
 equally lutile amusements ? After that, Count, you need not be 
 surprised that our affairs make but little progress.” 
 
 In the Moniteur Universel of the 10th November, we find 
 the following :—“ Prince Hardenberg is so busy that he can hardly 
 spare a moment to fetes and public ceremonies. He is less often 
 seen than any of the ministers.” 
 
 (7) “In the course of that summer, there arrived in Paris 
 M. de Metternich, the Austrian ambassador, who has played a 
 considerable role in Europe, taken part in most important 
 events, and made an immense fortune, without possessing talents 
 
172 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to raise him above the intrigue of a second-rate politician. At 
 this period he was young, agreeable, and successful with women. 
 A little later he seemed to attach himself to Madame Murat, and 
 continued to entertain feelings towards her which for a long time 
 maintained her husband on the throne of Naples.”—“ Memoires 
 de Mme. de Rcmusat,” tom. iii. p. 48. 
 
 44 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Paris, 26th November [1814]. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 12, and I can 
 say with truth that it is the first with which I 
 have been satisfied; not but that I have always 
 been so with your conduct, and your manner of 
 rendering me an account of the state of affairs, but 
 because I perceive that, for the first time, ideas of 
 justice are rising to the surface. The Emperor of 
 Russia has made a retrograde step; and in politics, 
 as in everything else, one such step leads to another. 
 The Emperor will, however, deceive himself if he 
 thinks to pledge me to an alliance (political, be it 
 understood) with him. You know that my system 
 is a general alliance, but no particular alliances. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 173 
 
 The latter are a source of war, the former is the 
 guarantee of peace; and although I do not fear war, 
 peace is what I most ardently desire. That I may 
 secure peace I have augmented my army, and I 
 have authorized you to promise my co-operation to 
 Austria and Bavaria. These measures are begin¬ 
 ning to succeed; I may hope for otimn aim dignitate , 
 and that is enough to inspire me with satisfaction. 
 You have said all that I could have said concern¬ 
 ing Lord Castlereagh’s Note. I account for the 
 difference between his language and that of the 
 Duke of Wellington by their respective positions—• 
 the one follows instructions, the other gives them.( x ) 
 I wish I could see the affairs of Italy settled from 
 the Alps to the Terracina, for I ardently desire 
 the important result which must ensue from the 
 arrangement. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER NXIII. 
 
 (1) “We exult in our chief! You have won the battle of 
 talent and principles, in the King’s name and your own. No 
 matter what turn things may take, you have obtained a great 
 personal success, and France fresh honour. That is much. 
 
 “We expect more. We think here that they will draw back 
 in the affair of Saxony; the Duke of Wellington expresses himself 
 plainly about it, and urges forward the proceedings of Lord Castle- 
 reagh.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 3rd December, 1814. 
 
i 74 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Vienna, 30th November, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the letter with which your 
 Majesty deigned to honour me on the 15th of this 
 month, and by the same post the authorization to 
 consent to the exchange of a small portion of the 
 country of Gex for a part of Porentruy, which your 
 Majesty has been pleased to give me. The former 
 Prince-Bishop of Basle ( x ) has already resumed, as 
 bishop, the spiritual administration of Porentruy, 
 but he will not be able, as prince, to recover the 
 possession of it, which he has lost, not merely by 
 the fact of conquest, but by the general consolidation 
 of the ecclesiastical States of Germany in 1803. He 
 enjoys, as prince, a pension of sixty thousand florins, 
 and he does not claim anything more; he cannot there¬ 
 fore be an obstacle to the exchange which we have 
 had the honour to lay before your Majesty, but that 
 exchange might be rendered difficult by one of the 
 conditions upon which your Majesty makes it depend, 
 viz. the restitution of Bernese Aargau to the canton 
 of Berne ; for, according to all appearance, that resti¬ 
 tution will encounter great, and perhaps even insur- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 T 75 
 
 mountable opposition. I suppose, however, that if 
 a few bailiwicks of Aargau only were restored to 
 Berne ; that those portions of the bishopric of Basle 
 comprised within the former boundaries of Switzer¬ 
 land were given as compensation for the surplus ; 
 and that Berne were content with this arrangement, 
 your Majesty would also be content. 
 
 The Commission charged with the affairs of 
 Switzerland has done nothing up to the present, 
 except ascertain that the multiplicity and the diverg¬ 
 ence of claims will make its task very onerous. 
 They who at first were all for regulating those 
 claims without any intervention on our part, and 
 even contested our right to a voice in the matter, 
 have been the first to ask for our assistance and our 
 advice. It is true that the Swiss envoys here, 
 who have been friendly with us from the begin¬ 
 ning of our stay at Vienna, assured them that if 
 they believed they could establish a stable order 
 of things in Switzerland, without the intervention 
 and even without the assent of France, they were 
 .entertaining an entirely groundless hope. 
 
 When the Allies treated for, and wanted to make 
 peace with Bonaparte, they addressed themselves to 
 the cantons which had suffered most from Swiss 
 revolutions, appealing to the memory of their losses, 
 and to their regrets, and holding out a prospect 
 
Ij6 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of repairing those losses. Their object was to 
 detach Switzerland from France, and this expedient 
 appeared to them to be infallible. But it so hap¬ 
 pened that those were precisely the cantons that 
 were most attached to the House of Bourbon ; then 
 the Allies cared no longer to employ means which 
 did not lead to their end, but rather led away from it, 
 and nothing came of their attempts, except the diffi¬ 
 culty of retracing their steps and quieting things 
 down again. A scheme was then formed for uniting 
 Switzerland and Germany in the same coalition. 
 That idea is now given up, and there seems to be a 
 sincere desire to terminate matters by satisfying the 
 most considerable and the most just claims, and 
 beyond that, making as little change as possible. 
 We may therefore hope that an arrangement for * 
 Switzerland will be come to, which, if not the best in 
 itself, is at least the best that can be made under the 
 circumstances ; that the independence of the country 
 will be proclaimed, and, which is no less important 
 for us, its neutrality. 
 
 The Commission on the affairs of Italy has made 
 a report on the question of Genoa, and prepared a 
 draft of articles, which will be signed to-morrow, and 
 addressed to the eight Powers. I shall have the 
 honour of sending a copy of this draft to your 
 Majesty by the next post. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 177 
 
 After the affairs of Genoa* will come those of 
 Parma. These will be more difficult, if it be true, 
 as it is reported, that the Emperor of Austria and 
 M. de Metternich have recently given positive 
 assurances to the Archduchess Marie Louise that 
 she shall retain Parma. It is a certainty that the 
 Archduchess, who up to the present carried only her 
 husband’s arms on her carriages, has had the arms 
 of the duchy of Parma painted on one of them. 
 I hope, nevertheless, that we shall succeed in having 
 the duchy restored to the Queen of Etruria. 
 
 It is at Venice that the twenty-five thousand 
 muskets sold to Murat were taken. It seems that, 
 notwithstanding the patronage of M. de Metternich, 
 he does not feel very safe ; for he has just written a 
 long letter to the Archduchess Marie Louise, in 
 which he announces, among other things, that if 
 Austria will assist him to remain at Naples, he 
 will raise her once more to the rank from which she 
 ought never to have descended. These are his own 
 words. Such an extravagant utterance, even from a 
 man of his country and his character, can only be 
 explained as an effect of self-betraying fear. 
 
 The conferences of the German Commission are 
 still suspended. Wtirtemberg has declared that it 
 can give no opinion whatever upon portions of a 
 whole which it is only allowed to see one by one, 
 
 VOL. 1 
 
 12 
 
178 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and that it will not deliberate upon any until it is 
 acquainted with all. This has been met, on the part 
 of Austria and Prussia, by a Note in which those two 
 Powers plainly manifest the kind of predomi¬ 
 nance they w T ant to exercise over Germany. ( 2 ) All 
 the States of the Rhenish Confederation, with the 
 exception of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, being con¬ 
 vinced that influence thus divided between two 
 Powers would soon be converted into predominance 
 and sovereignty, have united to express their desire 
 for the restoration of the former Germanic Empire 
 in the person of him who was its head. 
 
 These same States are on the point of forming a 
 league, with the object of resisting, by non-consent 
 and inertia, the system which Austria and Prussia 
 . are endeavouring to establish. The Grand-Duke of 
 Baden held aloof at first, but he has joined the 
 others by the advice of the Empress of Russia, his 
 sister, who in this matter has been simply the mouth¬ 
 piece of the Emperor Alexander. 
 
 The affairs of Poland and Saxony are still in the 
 same position. The step which Prince Hardenberg 
 took, at the instigation of M. de Metternich, and 
 which was not approved by Lord Castlereagh, has 
 produced no result, neither has the discussion of 
 Lord Castlereagh with the Emperor Alexander. 
 
 I have the honour to forward to your Majesty 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 179 
 
 the papers respecting that discussion, six in number. 
 A letter which I shall get, and which I have read, 
 is still wanting; it is the Emperor Alexanders 
 last, and in it he says to Lord Castlereagh that 
 there has been enough of all this, and directs him 
 henceforward to take the official course. Those 
 who have read these documents do not see how 
 Lord Castlereagh, having put himself so much 
 forward as he has done, can recede, but he himseli 
 does not see how and in what direction he can take 
 another step. 
 
 For the rest, your Majesty will see that Lord 
 Castlereagh has concerned himself about Poland only, 
 being resolved to sacrifice Saxony, in pursuance 
 of that policy which regards masses only, but takes 
 no account of the elements of which they are 
 formed. This is the policy of schoolboys anc 
 coalitions. 
 
 I have to make the same request of youi 
 Majesty, with respect to these papers, as I have 
 made concerning those I have already had the 
 honour to forward ; for I obtained them in the same 
 manner and under the same conditions. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander seems inclined to make 
 approaches to us. He complains of those who, since 
 we have been here, and especially in the early days 
 intervened between him and us, and he designate: 
 
l8o UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 M. de Metternich and M. de Nesselrode. It is 
 Prince Adam Czartoryski whom he employs to com¬ 
 municate with me. The prince is now high in his 
 confidence, and has been taken into his Council, to 
 which M. de Nesselrode is no longer summoned. 
 The Council is composed of Prince Adam, Count 
 Capo d’ I stria, and Baron Stein. ( 3 ) 
 
 The Emperor is convalescent, and goes out. 
 M. de Metternich is ill, and has not left his room 
 either yesterday or to-day, so that there could be no 
 meeting of the ministers of the eight Powers. Lord 
 Castlereagh came to me this morning to propose 
 that we should profit by this idle time to enter upon 
 the affair of the negroes. I spoke jestingly about his 
 proposal, and the personal motives which led him to 
 make it, but said to him so positively that this matter 
 must come last of all, the affairs of Europe having 
 to be attended to before we entered upon those of 
 Africa, that I hope he will not give me occasion to 
 repeat it. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXIV. 
 
 (i) At the commencement of the Revolution, the Bishop of 
 Basle, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and an ally of the 
 Swiss Cantons, was Joseph Sigismund von Roggenbach. The 
 French invasion put him to flight on the 27th of April, 1792; on 
 the 22nd of November of the same year the Republic of Raurasia, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 181 
 
 which only lasted until the 23rd of March, 1793, was constituted. 
 Roggenbach died on the 9th of March, 1794. He was succeeded 
 by a prelate named Neveu, who figures in the “Almanach de 
 Gotha” until the fall of the Empire, notwithstanding the seculari¬ 
 zation of 1803. 
 
 (2) On the 29th of September, Talleyrand wrote to the Depart¬ 
 ment : “ The agents of the small Courts are trying to make 
 approaches to France, and we are encouraging them.” 
 
 (3) “ After the retreat of Napoleon in 1812, the Emperor 
 Alexander selected Baron Stein to make of him the future arbiter 
 of the destinies of Germany. Stein played a considerable part 
 in the conferences of Kalisch, and his influence made itself 
 felt until" the second peace of Pans in 1815.”—“Memoiresde 
 Metternich,” tom. i. p. 169. 
 
 -H- 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. IO. 
 
 4th December, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received youf No. 13, and while 
 I am still equally satisfied with your conduct, I am, 
 as you will not be surprised to hear, very ill pleased 
 with the position of affairs,^) which seems to me to 
 be very different from that which they had attained 
 when you despatched your No. 12. God only can 
 
l%2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 rule the minds of men; man can do nothing in 
 that; but, whatever may happen, if I hold firmly by 
 my principles, and perhaps deserve that the phrase 
 justum et tenacem propositi vinim should be applied 
 to me, honour at least will remain, and that is what 
 I most desire. 
 
 I am not surprised at the reports that are 
 current, the news that is sent, and the confirmation 
 which ill-will lends to them. As for myself, if I 
 heeded all that is said, I should never have an 
 instant’s peace, but nevertheless my sleep is as tran¬ 
 quil as in my youth. The simple reason is that I 
 have never had any other expectation than that the 
 mixture of so many heterogeneous elements would 
 produce a state of ferment when the first days of 
 the Restoration were past. I know that it exists, but 
 I do not let it disturb me. Resolved as I am never 
 to depart, outside my kingdom, from the dictates 
 of equity, or, inside it, from the constitution which 
 I have given to my people, and never to relax 
 in the exercise of my legitimate authority, I fear 
 nothing; and a little sooner or later the clouds, 
 whose gathering I have foreseen, will be dispersed. 
 
 They talk to you of changes in the ministry, and 
 I now announce them to you. I do all justice to 
 the zeal and good qualities of Count Dupont, but 
 I cannot equally commend his administration, and 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 185 
 
 therefore I have removed him from his department, 
 and confided it to Marshal Soult.( 2 ) I give the Navy 
 to Count Beugnot,( 3 ) and the general direction of 
 Police to M. d’Andre ; but these removals, of which 
 I wished you to be the first informed, make no 
 change in the system of policy which is mine, and 
 this you will be careful to say plainly to whomsoever 
 may speak to you of these occurrences. 
 
 I shall be very glad to see you again when the 
 time comes, but the reasons which have determined 
 me to deprive myself of your services here have 
 gathered additional force from the very difficulties 
 which you experience. It is necessary that you 
 should continue to represent me at the Congress, 
 until its dissolution, as ably as you are now doing. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXV. 
 
 (1) “The King seemed to me to be much pleased with the 
 order, perseverance, and success of our negotiation, but not with 
 our progress in general. He had the extreme goodness to impart 
 to me the conversation of the two Emperors, and although he 
 said with satisfaction, ‘Here, you see, is a little firmness on 
 the part of the Emperor Francis,’ I thought I could perceive 
 that he did not as yet put any confidence in the reconciliation 
 with the Emperor Alexander, of which you have hopes.”—Jaucourt 
 to Talleyrand, 18th December, 1814. 
 
 (2) “ The last point in my last letter will be the first in this— 
 the dismissal of General Dupont. Everybody declares that the 
 
184 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 nomination of Marshal Soult was unexpected. Monsieur (the 
 Count d’Artois) talked, on his arrival, about the complaints; the 
 subject of those complaints was the ill-provided condition of the 
 regiments.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 7th December, 1814. 
 
 (3) See Appendix. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 COUNT DE BLACAS TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 Paris, 4th December, 1814. 
 
 The letter, Prince, which the King- has received 
 from you, by a post which could not have brought 
 me your answer to that which I had the honour 
 to write on the 9th of last month, had already 
 furnished me with important information on the 
 principal subjects treated of in the letter which 
 you were so good as to address to me on the 23rd. 
 His Majesty was pleased to communicate to me 
 your despatch, as well as Lord Castlereagh’s Note, 
 and while it is, as you observe, impossible to avoid 
 observing the difference that exists between the 
 style of that Note and the language of the Duke 
 of Wellington, yet I confess that I am unable to 
 make up my mind as to the real causes of that 
 difference. The King recoils from the idea of attri- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 185 
 
 buting it only to a cunning policy whose object 
 would be the discrediting of France. The Duke of 
 Wellington, both by semi-official communications 
 such as I have already mentioned to you on the 
 subject of the relations of Naples with Paris, and by 
 his recent conduct on the occasion of a corre¬ 
 spondence found in Lord Oxford’s possession, and 
 seized^ 1 ) has manifested a disposition, which is quite 
 opposed to the notion of his spreading abroad 
 unfounded apprehensions. It may, indeed, be pos¬ 
 sible that he has done an ill office to the King’s 
 policy, without meaning to do so, by taking an 
 exaggerated view of the dangers with which timid 
 minds are constantly alarmed by too readily 
 credited rumours. It is certain that several circum¬ 
 stances have, independently of the views of England, 
 furnished pretexts for the vexatious notions from 
 which you apprehend ill effects. You know, Prince, 
 and you have often deplored with me the insecurity 
 from which the Government of his Majesty suffers, 
 for want of vigour and unity in the ministerial opera¬ 
 tions. ( 2 ) This defect, which was for some time 
 known to the Cabinet only, cannot fail to acquire an 
 unfortunate publicity in the long run. If there be 
 added to this the discontent of the army ( 3 )—its 
 complaints have been incessantly dinned into the 
 ears of the Princes throughout the entire duration of 
 
i86 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 their journeys in the departments—the disturb¬ 
 ance kept up by constant protests against the 
 incompetency of the police; lastly, the constant 
 accusations against men whose known views and 
 manner of talking point them out, perhaps without 
 justice, but certainly not without probability, as 
 instigators of dangerous plots;—it is clear that all 
 these things, including measures of safety, wdiich 
 have been taken too openly, owing to the zeal of 
 the military commandants, has produced an impres¬ 
 sion by which foreigners may profit without having 
 helped to create it. 
 
 This state of things will explain to you, Prince, 
 the imperative motives by which the King has been 
 actuated in making a partial change in his ministry. 
 His Majesty made known his resolution on this 
 subject yesterday. While doing justice to the zeal 
 and the good intentions of Count Dupont, his 
 Majesty was aware that the army, probably im¬ 
 puting to that minister evils which were rendered 
 inevitable by the difficulties of the moment, ardently 
 desired the institution of a new system, and the 
 King selected the Duke of Dalmatia for the port¬ 
 folio of War. That choice, in which his Majesty 
 has been guided by a desire to restore to his troops 
 the obedience, confidence, and ardour that are neces¬ 
 sary to the maintenance of the national strength, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 187 
 
 will no doubt appear to you to be in accordance 
 with the principles on which the King has invariably 
 acted. 
 
 The Ministry of Marine confided to Count 
 Beugnot, and the general direction of Police en¬ 
 trusted to M. d’Andre, are other alterations by which 
 the King hopes to be enabled to realize the public 
 expectation. 
 
 You will no doubt think, Prince, that this change, 
 although not very considerable when considered in 
 its relation to the composition of the Council, will 
 nevertheless bring about important results. In 
 fact, a good spirit in the army and the efficiency 
 of the police are so imperatively demanded by 
 public opinion, that, from this point of view, 
 the King’s resolution is of the greatest interest. 
 His Majesty relies upon you to present this 
 event in its true light at Vienna, and to cause it 
 to be regarded, not as a ministerial revolution, but 
 rather as a gain of additional strength and intelli¬ 
 gence to the Government. The King deeply regrets 
 that, instead of having to entrust this task to 
 your care, he cannot have you with himself, to 
 strengthen the favourable impression which he hopes 
 his ministry will inspire.( 4 ) N evertheless, his Majesty 
 feels the truth of your observations upon the ad¬ 
 vantageous effect which has been produced by your 
 
188 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 continuous efforts. It may be that affairs, taking 
 a more rapid course, will detain you for a shorter 
 period than you lead us to fear, and, for myself, 
 I greatly wish that you may be able to return sooner 
 than you seem to hope. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXVI. 
 
 (i) The Moniteur Universel of the 16th of September, 1814, 
 contains the following :— 
 
 “The Earl of Oxford arrived recently from Naples, where he 
 has left the Countess and their children. It is known that the 
 chief object of his journey is to communicate the exact state of 
 affairs at the Court of Naples at present to the Government of 
 the Prince Regent” 
 
 The following is the incident referred to, as explained in the 
 private correspondence of M. de Jaucourt with M. de Talleyrand:— 
 “ The Earl of Oxford was arrested yesterday at a short distance 
 from Paris. I only know this from the Marquis de Saint-Elie, 
 charge d'affaires , but not recognized by King Murat; he insisted 
 upon seeing me this morning, and told me that the police agent, 
 on arresting Lord Oxford, had said that he must examine 
 
 his papers, knowing him to be especially in communication with 
 
 * 
 
 the Marquis de Saint-Elie. I did not enter into any explanation 
 with him ; I merely said, ‘ You have nothing to do with me in all 
 this, no relations existing between us; but you can see the Minister 
 of Police, and you had better do sod 
 
 “ Lord Oxford was on such intimate terms, and so openly, with 
 the Bonapartist brawlers and the zealous Muratists here, that the 
 police were obliged to take action. They alleged that he had 
 broken the rules of the Post Office, which forbid travellers to 
 carry letters, as a pretext for seizing those which he had in his 
 possession. At Villejuif a police agent presented himself at the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 189 
 
 carriage door, and Lord Oxford was brought back to Paris. His 
 papers were handed over in a packet sealed with his arms; the 
 packet was opened in the presence of M. de Beugnot, and not only 
 his papers but his letters were returned to him, with the exception 
 of three addressed to King Joachim.”—20th November, 1814. 
 
 “ I have, I think, sent you some details of the affair of the Earl 
 of Oxford, through which letters that prove the agitation and 
 alarm of the King of Naples’ people have fallen into Beugnot’s 
 hands. Madame de Stael figures in those letters, but as a high 
 priestess of the temple of peace and liberty. She loves Joachim 
 because of his love for those two benefactresses of the world.”— 
 3rd December, 1814. 
 
 (2) On the 20th of September, M. de Jaucourt wrote to M. de 
 Talleyrand: “Yesterday we met at the Chancellor’s . . . the 
 customary persons and the new-comer. If the Minister of War 
 had not told me that this dinner was not so unmeaning as others at 
 which the same persons had met, I should have thought they were 
 all waiting to talk until I should have gone away. M. de Montes- 
 quiou slept and snored, or listened derisively; poor Ferrand con¬ 
 temptuously put his head on his knees ; the Chancellor talked. . . . 
 
 “ I made some observation on the want of forethought, ability, 
 and, above all, sincerity, that was shown in the way in which the 
 Chambers were treated, and said that public opinion was not 
 grasped in any way; that there was no useful writing, no sincere 
 communication. Believe, my dear friend, that I have the same 
 feelings which animated us on the 30th of April, but a time of 
 crisis and danger gives much advantage. It is easier to place a 
 hundred senators at the foot of the scaffold, than to construct a 
 united and responsible ministry now and here.” 
 
 1 st October. 
 
 “ The departure of the deputies, the time of their return, the 
 disposition of the Assembly, which, as well as a great part of that 
 of the peers, will not form its opinion except on the presumption 
 that what is proposed is more or less constituent—all this annoyed 
 him (Baron Louis) and rendered him less tractable. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 190 
 
 “It has been proposed, with the good faith of alarm, and 
 the confidence of fear, to put the ministers into the Assembly, 
 to increase the number of deputies, to declare the Assembly 
 formed for a period of five years, and then to renew it wholly. . . . 
 Madame de Stael is starting from Clichy to make a constitutional 
 disturbance.” 
 
 4th October. 
 
 “ M. de Vitrolles came here to scent out something that he 
 might put in the Moniteur. 
 
 “I should not be too much disposed to use the Moniteur; its 
 official character gives it an embarrassing importance, and its 
 Vitrolique supervision is very disagreeable. 
 
 “ The purchasers of national property are uniting, preparing 
 to canvass the electors and get themselves nominated. Their 
 fortune is at stake; it is designed to despoil them of their goods, 
 if possible, if not, of their honour. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1814, D’Hauterive writes: “A fresh 
 quarrel has just broken out between the Abbe de Montesquiou 
 and Beugnot. The former has authorized the prefects to have 
 agents, who have been sent by the latter into the departments, un¬ 
 known to the minister, to study what is called public opinion, but 
 as the prefect, sub-prefects, mayors, etc., write, to spy upon them 
 and misrepresent their conduct by lying reports. There is still 
 great enmity between the two magistrates. The Abb£ de Montes¬ 
 quiou expresses his sentiments very openly.” 
 
 (3) “It is reported as certain, and this comes from the principal 
 personages at the War Office, that a certain regiment of infantry 
 of the Guard has burnt its eagles, collected the ashes, and each 
 soldier swallowed a portion of them while drinking a cup of wine 
 to the health of Bonaparte.”—D’Hauterive to Talleyrand, 14th 
 November, 1814. 
 
 (4) M. de Jaucourt writes on the 10th of December: “We are 
 not confirming ourselves in the principles of a' representative 
 government, of the collective responsibility (. solidarity) of the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 X9 1 
 
 ministers, and of the kind of ministerial authority and inde¬ 
 pendence, without which responsibility is nothing but an obstacle 
 and a hindrance to all public service.” 
 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 Vienna, 7th December/1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The letter I now have the honour to 
 write to your Majesty will be short. I have only 
 just learned the facts which I am about to narrate ; 
 substituting them for others of a more vague and 
 less interesting character which I had collected. 
 
 I am informed, as I have every reason to 
 believe correctly, that a post which arrived last 
 night brought Lord Castlereagh and Count Munster 
 orders to support Saxony (I do not yet know to 
 what extent, and whether under any hypothesis, or 
 only within given conditions). It is added that 
 Lord Castlereagh has, this morning, addressed a 
 Note to M. de Metternich announcing this to him, 
 and that Count Munster, who has always, though 
 rather timidly, taken our side on the question of 
 Saxony, means to declare himself on the matter very 
 
192 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 strongly indeed. Prince de Wrede must have read 
 Lord Castlereagh’s Note when he was with M. de 
 Metternich. 
 
 The day before yesterday M. de Metternich had 
 an interview with the Emperor Alexander, in which 
 each of them displayed all the tricks and subtleties 
 of which he is capable; but it came to nothing. 
 As, however, M. de Metternich had declared that 
 his master would never consent to give up Saxony 
 to Prussia, the Emperor Alexander accosted the 
 Emperor P'rancis in the evening, after the carrousel , 
 and said, “ At the present day, we sovereigns are 
 obliged to conform to the wishes of the people, and 
 to observe them. The wish of the Saxon people is 
 not to be divided. They would rather belong to 
 Prussia as a whole, than that Saxony should be 
 divided or parcelled out.” The Emperor Francis 
 replied to this : “ I know nothing about that doc¬ 
 trine ; but this is mine: a prince may, if he likes, 
 give up a portion of his country and the whole of 
 his people ; but if he abdicates, his rights pass to his 
 legitimate heirs. He cannot deprive those heirs of 
 them, and Europe has no right to do so.” “That 
 is not according to the intelligence of the age,” 
 said the Emperor Alexander. “It is my opinion,” 
 replied the Emperor of Austria; “ it ought to be 
 that of all sovereigns, and consequently yours. As 
 for me, I shall never depart from it.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 *93 
 
 This conversation (which was reported to me by 
 two different persons in precisely the same way) is a 
 certain fact. It was, then, quite right to say that the 
 Emperor of Austria held an opinion on the Saxon 
 affair which did not leave M. de Metternich free to 
 choose between defending and abandoning it, and it 
 was not without reason that the Saxon minister 
 flattered himself Saxony would not be forsaken. 
 
 It is reported that the Emperor Alexander has 
 said, “ One conversation with the Emperor Francis 
 is worth more than ten conversations with M. de 
 Metternich, because the former always expresses 
 himself clearly, and with him one knows what one 
 is about.” 
 
 The princes of Germany, who have met to 
 consult upon the means to be taken for the defence 
 of their rights against the designs which they know 
 or suppose to be entertained by the Commission 
 charged with German affairs, are about, I hear, to 
 issue a statement of their desire for the main¬ 
 tenance of Saxony, with reasons assigned. Prince 
 de Wrede, to whom most of them have addressed 
 themselves, has told them to make haste, for this 
 is a favourable moment. He has promised that 
 
 Bavaria will join them ; but Wtirtemberg, on the 
 
 \ 
 
 contrary, ranges itself, at present, on the side of 
 Prussia. The Prince Royal, who is in love with the 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
194 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Grand-Duchess Catherine, has induced the Cabinet 
 to take this new turn ; a mean act on the part of 
 the Court of Stuttgard, and one that will neither 
 profit that Court nor hurt any other. It seems 
 to me that conduct so far from noble and loyal, 
 to say no worse of it, on the part of the King of 
 Wurtemberg, is not calculated to make it very 
 desirable to become his nephew.^) On another 
 occasion I shall beg your Majesty to permit me to 
 speak more at length on the subject to which I 
 allude here. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia wished to see me; then 
 he wished before doing so to clear up the confusion 
 with which, as he desired Prince Czartoryski to 
 tell me, his head was “ encumbered.” I could not 
 make use of General Pozzo in this, for he is on 
 indifferent terms with him. His servants find it 
 difficult to see him. The Due de Richelieu had to 
 wait a whole month for an audience. ( 2 ) Prince 
 Adam, although he is an interested party in our dis¬ 
 cussions, is my most serviceable go-between. I have 
 not seen the Emperor as yet, and I am told he is 
 shaken, but still undecided ; I do not know when or 
 to what he will ultimately make up his mind. 
 
 I have the honour to forward to your Majesty 
 copies of the two documents by which he closed his 
 correspondence with Lord Castlereagh. He has 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 195 
 
 been generally blamed for having engaged in a 
 hand-to-hand contest (so to speak), which might 
 have been considered derogatory to his rank even 
 if he had had the best of it, and the opposite was 
 the case. Thus, instead of the triumph which he no 
 doubt anticipated, the result was wounded amour 
 propre . 
 
 Your Majesty will see that in the whole of this 
 discussion Lord Castlereagh regarded the question 
 of Poland from one point of view only, and that 
 he kept it apart from every other question. Not 
 only has he not demanded the restoration of in¬ 
 dependent Poland, but he has not expressed any 
 desire for such a restoration; and he has even 
 spoken of the Polish people in terms which are 
 calculated rather to hinder than to conduce to it. 
 He has been especially careful to abstain from 
 uniting-the Polish question with that of Saxony, 
 which he had completely given up, but is going 
 henceforward to sustain. 
 
 I have also the honour to forward to your 
 Majesty a letter from your Majesty’s consul at 
 Leghorn. ( 3 ) I have made efficient use here of the 
 information which it contains, and which I have had 
 conveyed to the Emperor of Russia. M. de Saint- 
 Marsan has received similar information, and M. 
 de Metternich has acknowledged that the same 
 
196 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 particulars have reached him from Paris. The 
 conclusion which I draw from all this is that it 
 would be well to get rid without delay of the man 
 of the island of Elba, and of Murat. My opinion 
 is spreading. Count Munster shares it, and with 
 ardour : he has written about it to his Court, and 
 talked of it with Lord Castlereagh, whom he has 
 excited to the point of going to M. de Metternich, to 
 stir him up in his turn ; but M. de Metternich does 
 all in his power to support an opposite view. 
 
 His favourite artifice is to make us lose time, 
 thinking to gain by that device. The Commission 
 on the affairs of Italy have settled the Genoa busi¬ 
 ness a week ago. I have already had the honour to 
 inform your Majesty that they had been regulated 
 according to your Majesty’s wishes. I forward the 
 report of the Commission together with my letter of 
 to-day to the Department. Your Majesty will find 
 that it contains the clauses, and even the express 
 terms prescribed by our instructions. To-morrow, 
 the Commission of the eight Powers will take cogni¬ 
 zance of the report, and will pronounce upon it. 
 Afterwards Tuscany and Parma will be dealt with. 
 This section of the task, which ought to have been 
 finished already, has been retarded by the slight 
 illness of M. de Metternich, who, that nothing may 
 be ended, calls his present condition “ convalescence.’’ 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 197 
 
 V* 
 
 The time which is lost to our business is con¬ 
 sumed in fetes; the Emperor Alexander asks for, 
 and indeed commands them, as if he were at home. 
 We are invited to these fetes, attention is paid to 
 us, we are treated with great distinction, as a mark 
 of the feelings entertained towards your Majesty, 
 whose praises are sounded everywhere ; but all this 
 does not make me forget that it is nearly three 
 months since I left your Majesty. 
 
 I have spoken to Lord Castlereagh about the 
 arrest of Lord Oxford, of which M. de Jaucourt had 
 informed me. Far from showing any displeasure, 
 he told me he was “ charmed ” at it, and described 
 Lord Oxford as a man who deserved no kind of 
 esteem. I should be very glad if among his papers 
 some were found which would compromise Murat( 4 ) 
 with this Court. 
 
 The two last mails from Paris have brought me 
 the letters with which your Majesty has honoured 
 me, bearing date the 22nd and 26th of November. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXVII. 
 
 (1) If the Due de Berry had married the Grand-Duchess 
 Anne, he would have become the nephew of King Frederick of 
 Wiirtemberg. 
 
 (2) On the 24th of December, 1814, M. de Jaucourt writes 
 from Paris to Prince Talleyrand: “If you have been told that 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 198 
 
 the Due de Richelieu was ill-disposed towards you here, do not 
 believe it; I am certain of the contrary. I do not know the 
 exact measure of his regard, but that of his praise was unmistak¬ 
 able. He speaks highly of the character, the intentions, and 
 the sentiments of the Emperor Alexander, and yet he condemns 
 his policy.” 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1815, he writes : “I assure you that, 
 let his motive be what it may, calculation, belief, personal liking, 
 or any other, nothing can possibly be more friendly than the 
 tone of the Due de Richelieu with respect to you, everywhere 
 and always. There is no doubt that he wants to be sent to 
 Vienna.” 
 
 M. de Talleyrand was replaced at the Ministry of Foreign 
 Affairs by the Due de Richelieu on the 26th of September, 1815. 
 
 (3) 
 
 “To Prince Talleyrand. “Leghorn, 15th November, 1814. 
 
 “ Monseigneur, 
 
 “ I think it my duty to inform your Most Serene High¬ 
 ness, directly, that for some days past the number of travellers 
 who arrive at and depart from the island of Elba is considerable, 
 and that they all speak in the same way to persons who are 
 in my confidence. They are Italians, Swiss, or Piedmontese. 
 They all say that Bonaparte will not remain in banishment at 
 Elba; that he will get out of the island; and that so soon as 
 he appears at the head of his Guards in Italy, more than fifty 
 thousand men, who are ready, will rise and rally round his 
 standard, and thousands of French soldiers will join them. Two 
 persons, among others, have been more particularly pointed out 
 to me; they are men named Eltovi and Louis Cavani, from Milan. 
 At a supper which they gave yesterday in the outskirts of the 
 town, they named more than one hundred and fifty superior 
 officers of the former Army of Italy, who are scattered about in 
 the different cantons of the former kingdom, and who keep up 
 correspondence among themselves. These two individuals had 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 195 
 
 come on the day before from Porto Ferrajo. Eltovi left the town 
 this morning, stating that he was going to Lucca; the other says 
 he is shortly going to Parma. I have sent a description of them 
 to the Governor of Leghorn, but as Italian and Austrian subjects, 
 these bearers of correspondence and agents of secret intrigue 
 cannot be proceeded against in any vigorous way. The Austrian 
 consul at this port is an estimable man, but he is over seventy 
 years of age. He has probably no instructions to watch the 
 subjects of the Emperor his master who come and go, and he has 
 neither the means nor the activity that would be requisite for 
 doing so. If severe measures be not taken to prevent and stop 
 this correspondence, the tranquillity of Italy will not last long. 
 Recruiting has ceased in Italy and Tuscany, since the recruiters 
 have been arrested and put in prison. 
 
 “ King Joachim received Bonaparte’s officers well. He ques¬ 
 tioned them concerning the health and the occupations of the 
 Prince of Elba, and particularly inquired into the quality and 
 number of his troops. Captain Jaillade having answered that 
 there were only fifteen hundred men on the island, Joachim 
 replied, ‘Well, that is the nucleus of five hundred thousand.’ 
 
 “If soldiers are not recruited, officers are. The latter are 
 content with a very small sum, and they are afterwards placed 
 in the Guard. 
 
 “The Tunisians have been well received at Porto Ferrajo, 
 and one of them has availed himself of that fact to maintain 
 a cruiser in these waters, and strike terror into the coast. The 
 Tuscan Government has ordered a levy of National Guards, to 
 defend it against these pirates. 
 
 “ I beg you to accept, etc., 
 
 “ Chevalier Mariotti, 
 
 “His Majesty’s Consul at Leghorn.” 
 
 (4) The Duke of Campo-Chiaro then stated that Murat had 
 an army of fifty thousand men; that he had it in his power to 
 raise the whole of Italy, and to have himself declared head of the 
 Confederation; and that certainly he would die a king. 
 
200 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 In December, 1814, he sent the following note to Prince 
 Talleyrand :— 
 
 “Vienna, 7th December, 1814. 
 
 “ The King of Naples was included in the coalition by whose 
 successful efforts Louis XVIII. was raised to the throne of France; 
 his accession to that coalition was not without utility to the 
 common cause. 
 
 “ The King of Naples is therefore entitled to expect friendly 
 relations with the House of Bourbon, on whose side he had found 
 himself on the battle-field. 
 
 “In the treaty of peace, concluded 30th May, 1814, Austria 
 stipulates as much in her own name as in that of her allies, and 
 the King of Naples had a solemn treaty of alliance with Austria, 
 which was known to all Europe.” 
 
 
 LETTER XXVIIL 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 10th December, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 14. You have 
 quite correctly interpreted my meaning on the 
 subject of the canton of Aargau. I should cer¬ 
 tainly prefer that Switzerland should become what 
 she formerly was ;(*) but I do not want the impossible, 
 and provided that the canton of Berne be satisfied, 
 so far as it can be under the circumstances, I shall 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 201 
 
 be satisfied also. As for the Prince-Bishop of Basle, 
 I had not remembered the last decrees of the 
 Empire ; but I see that he has settled the question 
 with respect to himself, and I have no objections 
 to make to the arrangements concerning Portentruy. 
 
 I have read with interest, and I shall carefully 
 preserve, the papers you have sent me. Lord Castle- 
 reagh speaks very fairly with regard to Poland, 
 but his Note of the nth of October contradicts 
 his language. If, however, he should succeed in 
 persuading the Emperor of Russia, that would be a 
 great advantage for Saxony; but I do not see any 
 appearance of this, and we must continue to pursue 
 our own course. 
 
 You know Prince Czartoryski; I know him also. 
 The fact that the Emperor Alexander has selected 
 him as an intermediary leads me to believe that his 
 Imperial Majesty wishes rather to draw me towards 
 him than to approach me himself. Go on, never- 
 „ theless, with these conferences, but at the same time 
 pursue my designs. No evil can result from them, 
 and perhaps they may do some good. 
 
 I am inclined to think that it is from fear that 
 Murat is playing the braggart.( 2 ) Never lose sight 
 of the fact that if there exists a resource for Bona¬ 
 parte, it is in Italy and by means of Murat, and that 
 thus Delenda est Carthago. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
202 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 (1) Before 1789, the Republic of Switzerland was formed of 
 Sixteen Cantons : it now consists of twenty-two. 
 
 (2) Murat had made an offer of his services to Louis XVIII. 
 through the Marquis de Saint-Elie, who said to Jaucourt in No¬ 
 vember, 1814: “I can assure you once again that only the 
 devoted services of the King of Naples, which are at the disposal 
 of the King of France, can secure the execution of Prince Talley¬ 
 rand’s designs.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 27th November, 1814. 
 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 Vienna, 15 th December, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Note by which the German princes 
 of the second and third order intended to record 
 their unanimous desire for the maintenance of 
 Saxony was on the point of being - signed; it has 
 not been, and it will not be signed. ( x ) 
 
 The Duke of Coburg was at the head of those 
 princes. His conduct cannot be too highly praised. 
 One of his sisters is married to the Grand-Duke 
 Constantine. His younger brother is aide-de-camp 
 to the Grand-Duke and a major-general in the 
 Russian service. In the last campaign the Duke 
 himself wore the Russian uniform. He stands high 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 203 
 
 in the good graces of the Emperor Alexander, and 
 is on very intimate terms with the King of Prussia. 
 If he opposed the designs of those sovereigns he 
 might very reasonably have dreaded their resent¬ 
 ment ; and, on the other hand, he had every reason to 
 hope that if Saxony came to be sacrificed, he might 
 obtain a share of the fragments. All these motives 
 have not availed to silence the voice of gratitude 
 and justice in the Duke’s heart, or to make him 
 oblivious of what he owes to his House and to 
 his country. When, after the death of the Duke, 
 his father, in 1807, his possessions were sequestrated 
 because he was in the Russian camp, and Bonaparte 
 wanted to proscribe him, he was protected by the 
 intercession of the King of Saxony. Since then the 
 King might have extended his sovereignty over all 
 the duchies of Saxony, had he chosen to do so, but 
 he refused. The Duke, in his turn, zealously de¬ 
 fended the cause of the King. He made his brother 
 Leopold plead that cause in London, and the Prince 
 Regent heard him with attention and favour. He 
 had pleaded it here himself with the Sovereigns and 
 their ministers. He even went so far as to send a 
 Memorandum in his own name to Lord Castlereagh 
 refuting his arguments ; this he drew up in con¬ 
 sultation with us. The Emperor Alexander, being 
 informed by the Duke of Weimar of the Note that 
 
204 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was in preparation, sent for the Duke of Coburg, 
 and overwhelmed him with reproaches, as much on 
 account of the Memorandum which he had sent 
 to Lord Castlereagh as of his recent proceedings; 
 accused him of scheming; quoted the conduct of the 
 Duke of Weimar as an example which he ought to 
 have followed ; told him that if he had representa¬ 
 tions to make, it was to Prince Hardenberg he 
 ought to have addressed them, and declared that 
 of what had been promised to him he should have 
 nothing. 
 
 The Duke’s demeanour was firm and noble. He 
 spoke of his rights as a prince of the House of 
 Saxony, and of his duties as a German prince and 
 a man of honour. He did not hold himself free 
 to leave them unfulfilled; if the Duke of Weimar 
 thought otherwise, he could only compassionate him. 
 For the rest, he had, he said, twice risked his 
 existence for the sake of his Imperial Majesty; if 
 he had to sacrifice it to-day for the sake of honour, 
 he was ready to do so. 
 
 On the other hand, the Prussians, their emis¬ 
 saries, and particularly the Prince Royal of Wtir- 
 temberg, have intimidated a certain number of 
 German ministers by declaring that they would 
 regard all those who should sign anything in favour 
 of Saxony as enemies. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 205 
 
 This is why the Note has not been signed ; but 
 that it was to have been done is known, and also 
 what prevented its being done, and the desire 
 which that Note was to have expressed has probably 
 gained in intensity by the violence that has been 
 used to suppress it. 
 
 Perhaps I have dwelt at too great a length upon 
 this particular circumstance ; but I have been led 
 to do so by the double motive of wishing to do the 
 justice to the Duke of Coburg that I believe to be 
 his due, and to make the nature and the diversity 
 of the obstacles with which we have to contend 
 better known to your Majesty. 
 
 While these things were happening, the Prussians 
 received a Note from M. de Metternich, in which he 
 stated to them that the kingdom of Saxony ought 
 to be maintained ; showing, by statistical calculations 
 appended to his Note, that their population would 
 be the same as in 1805, if only three hundred and 
 thirty thousand Saxons were added to that of the 
 territory which they have kept, and that of the 
 disposable territories which are destined for them. 
 
 I hasten to inform your Majesty of Count 
 Munster’s statement that, if it be necessary to 
 secure the maintenance of Saxony, he will renounce 
 the aggrandizement promised to Hanover. Your 
 Majesty will assuredly learn this with pleasure, 
 
206 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 because of the facilitation of affairs which it affords, 
 and also because of the esteem with which your 
 Majesty honours Count Munster. 
 
 A passage in M. de Metternich’s Note, in which 
 he backed himself up with the opposition of France 
 to the Prussian views upon Saxony, led the Emperor 
 Alexander to fear that an agreement was already 
 formed, or was about to be formed between Austria 
 and us, and he immediately sent Prince Adam 
 Czartoryski to me. 
 
 The Prince began by renewing the proposal 
 which the Emperor himself had made to me in 
 the last interview with which he honoured me— 
 that we should lend ourselves to his wishes in the 
 matter of Saxony, while he would promise us his 
 utmost support in that of Naples. He regarded 
 his proposal as all the more acceptable because 
 he now no longer demanded the relinquishment of 
 the whole of Saxony, but consented that a nucleus 
 of the Kingdom should remain. 
 
 I answered that, as regarded the question of 
 Naples, I held by what the Emperor had said to 
 me ; that I placed my confidence in his word ; that, 
 at all events, his interests in the matter were the 
 same as our own, and he could not be of any other 
 mind than ours; that if the question of Poland, 
 which must be regarded as personal to the Emperor 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 207 
 
 Alexander, since he set his satisfaction and his fame 
 upon it, had been decided in accordance with his 
 wishes (this is not yet completely, but it is very 
 nearly, done), he owed it to the conviction of Austria 
 and Prussia that we should be only in the second 
 rank in that respect; that on the question of Saxony, 
 which was really foreign to the interests of the 
 Emperor, we had taken it upon ourselves to pledge 
 the King of Saxony to certain sacrifices; but that 
 the spirit of conciliation could not lead us to go so 
 far as the Emperor seemed to desire. The Prince 
 talked to me of alliance and of marriage: I said to 
 him that so many grave matters could not be 
 discussed at the same time; and that, besides, cer¬ 
 tain things must not be mixed up with others, 
 because such a combination would assume the base 
 character of a bargain. 
 
 He asked me whether we had entered into 
 engagements with Austria. I said, no. Then he 
 asked whether we would enter into any in case of 
 our not coming to an agreement about Saxony, to 
 which I replied, “ / should be grieved at that ” 
 \J'en serai fachd\ After a moment’s silence, we 
 parted, politely, but coldly. 
 
 The Emperor, who was to have gone in the 
 evening to a fete given by M. de Metternich, did not 
 go there. A sudden headache was the cause of, 
 
208 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 or the pretext for, his absence. He sent the 
 Empress and the Grand-Duchesses. Next morning 
 M. de Metternich waited on him by his request. 
 
 At the ball, M. de Metternich came up to me, 
 and after having thanked me for a small service 
 I had rendered him, he complained of the difficulty 
 in which Lord Castlereagh’s Notes on Saxony placed 
 him. I thought there had only been one Note of a 
 compromising nature (that of .the nth of October). 
 But he talked of another, which I have procured, 
 and have the honour to send your Majesty a copy 
 of it. Although it bears the title of a Verbal Note 
 of Lord Castlereagh’s, I know that it is the work 
 of Mr. Cook, to whom it does little credit in point 
 either of doctrine or style. This Note has been 
 sent to the three Powers who for so long a time 
 called themselves Allied . 
 
 M. de Metternich promised me that on leaving 
 the Emperor Alexander he would come to me, if 
 it were not too late, to tell me what had passed ; 
 this time he kept his word. The Emperor was 
 cold, stiff, and severe. He maintained that M. de 
 Metternich said things to him on the part of the 
 Prussians which they disavowed, and that the 
 Prussians said things on the part of M. de Metter¬ 
 nich which were entirely opposed to what he wrote 
 in his Notes, so that he (the Emperor) did not know 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 209 
 
 what to believe. He reproached M. de Metternich 
 with having inspired Prince Hardenberg with I 
 know not what ideas. M. de Metternich had with 
 him a letter from Prince Hardenberg which proved 
 the contrary, and he produced it. The Emperor 
 took that opportunity to reproach M. de. Metternich 
 with writing unbecoming letters, and this charge 
 is.not unfounded. The Emperor had in his hands 
 certain communications of an entirely private and 
 confidential character, which could only have reached 
 him through a most culpable indiscretion on the 
 part of the Prussians. Lastly, the Emperor ap¬ 
 peared to be in doubt whether M. de Metternich’s 
 Note contained the expression of the real sentiments 
 of the Emperor of Austria, and added that he wished 
 to have an explanation on the point with the 
 Emperor himself. M. de Metternich went at once 
 to give his master notice of this, and the Emperor 
 of Austria, if questioned on the subject by the 
 Emperor Alexander, will reply that the Note was 
 drawn up by his orders, and contains nothing that 
 he does not endorse. 
 
 In a conference between M. de Metternich and 
 Prince Hardenberg the only difficulties that arose 
 were concerning the statistical calculations appended 
 to M. de Metternich’s Note. They parted without 
 having arranged anything, on M. de Metternich’s 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 14 
 
2 IO 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 proposing to nominate a Commission to verify his 
 statistics. 
 
 This, Sire, is the state of things at present. 
 Austria, in her calculations, lets Saxony off with 
 a loss of four hundred thousand men only. She 
 does not want to abandon Upper Lusatia, on 
 account of the Gabel Pass, which lies before the 
 entrance into Bohemia, and through which the 
 French penetrated in 1813. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia consents to allow a 
 kingdom of Saxony to subsist, but one which, 
 according to Prince Czartoryski, must be only one- 
 half of what it is at present. 
 
 Lastly, Prussia now seems to limit her claims 
 to a numbering of population, and consequently 
 she subordinates them to the result and the verifica¬ 
 tion of her reckoning. 
 
 No doubt the question is not yet decicied, but 
 the chances are now more favourable than they have 
 ever hitherto been. 
 
 M. de Metternich proposed that I should read 
 his Note. I thanked him, and said I was already 
 acquainted with it, but that I begged he would 
 communicate it officially to me; that I considered 
 he ought to do so, since he had quoted us 
 in it, which I might object to his having done 
 without informing us; that it was necessary we 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 21 I 
 
 should sustain the Note, but that we could not 
 do so with propriety unless a regular communica¬ 
 tion of it were made to us. He gave me his word 
 that what I desired should be done. My particular 
 motive for making a point of a formal participation 
 is because that will be the real date of the rupture 
 of the coalition. 
 
 A few days ago, I proposed that a Commission 
 should be formed to deal with the affair of the Slave 
 Trade. This proposal was about to be made, and 
 I wanted to get hold of it myself in order to pro¬ 
 pitiate Lord Castlereagh, and induce him by that 
 means to act with us in the difficult Italian questions 
 which we were approaching. I did obtain some¬ 
 thing, for he asked me of his own accord to let him 
 know in what way I proposed to settle the affair of 
 Naples, and promised to send a courier for the 
 orders which he might require. I have written 
 the subjoined letter to him.( 2 ) After having re¬ 
 ceived it, he proposed to let me see his correspond¬ 
 ence with Lord Bentinck. This I have read, and 
 it is certain that the English are perfectly free in 
 that matter. But certain promises have been made 
 to Murat, the breach of which would place the 
 promiser in a difficult position as a man , if Murat 
 himself had observed his own promises strictly. “ I 
 believe,” said Lord Castlereagh, “ I am correctly 
 
212 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 informed that Murat kept up communications with 
 Bonaparte in the months of December, 1813, and 
 January and February, 1814, ( 2 ) but I should be 
 very glad to have positive proofs of this ; it would 
 greatly facilitate my course of proceeding. If you 
 have such proofs among your archives, you would 
 do me a great favour by procuring them for me.” I 
 am writing to-day, in my letter to the Department, 
 to have a search made for any that may be at the 
 Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is possible that 
 traces of a correspondence between Murat and 
 Bonaparte may be found in the Secretary of State’s 
 office. Lord Castlereagh made no objection to the 
 form which I proposed to him to adopt. 
 
 Count de Jaucourt will of course lay before your 
 Majesty the two letters which I address to the 
 Department to-day; I entreat your Majesty to be 
 pleased to reject the proposals with respect to Gex 
 which will be made to your Majesty at Paris. We 
 have much reason to be displeased with the Gene¬ 
 vese who are here. The authority of the Chancellor 
 is more than sufficient to justify the abandonment 
 of this question, which has been conducted too 
 hastily. 
 
 ' I am, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 213 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXIX. 
 
 (1) This protest in favour of the King of Saxony, signed by 
 the Ministers of the princely houses of Germany, then assembled 
 at Vienna, was couched in the following strong terms :— 
 
 “ The general voice, not of Germany only, but of all Europe, 
 is raised on behalf of the King of Saxony. His restoration ought, 
 without doubt, to be effected simultaneously with that of peace. To 
 doubt for a moment the keen interest taken by the monarchs in 
 the fate of their unfortunate brother, would be to wound them 
 deeply, and it would be doing them a still greater wrong to believe 
 that they could, by sanctioning the deprivation of an entire family 
 of their most sacred rights of possession, sanction an act of 
 violence in the modern, which is unexampled in the ancient 
 history of the -Fatherland. 
 
 “ Assuredly, if it be established beyond question that no 
 prince of the Empire can be condemned except by a judgment of 
 his peers; that hostile enterprises on the part of the legitimate 
 sovereigns of Germany have been sternly opposed, such an 
 attempt on the part of the other States ought to be much less to 
 be apprehended in our day. Let the grand-duchy of Warsaw 
 be treated as a conquered country, and as the expiatory sacrifice 
 for a moment of error or weakness; let even the legitimacy of its 
 creation be contested,—but can such a term ever be applied to a 
 principality of Germany? And is not the first article of every 
 treaty of peace, according to the practice of the law of nations, 
 amnesty and restitution to the status quo ante bellum ? Where is 
 there a prince to whom the most sacred and solemn of titles 
 could secure the inheritance of his ancestors and the cradle of his 
 race, if it might be wrested from him by a mere agreement, or 
 he could even be forced into some exchange, utterly reprobated 
 by his people, who would demand their former master ? 
 
2 14 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 “When, in the last century, the princes of Germany—alarmed 
 by the apprehended exchange of Bavaria, in virtue of which one 
 of the ancient German corporations was to be subjected against 
 its will to a foreign dynasty, and which might disturb the balance 
 of the States of the Empire—rallied round the banner of Frederick 
 the Great, in a close federation, with the purpo'se of protecting 
 property against systems of arrondissemcnt and projects of con - 
 venances , it was not held allowable to contest the legitimacy of 
 that precaution, and Bavaria owed her preservation to it. 
 
 “ If Germany is the keystone of the arch of the political edifice 
 of Europe, Saxony is the corner-stone of the new federation in 
 that portion of it. To remove it would be to shake the new 
 building to its foundations, and we believe ourselves to be ex¬ 
 pressing the unanimous desire of all the integral portions of the 
 German nation by declaring loudly : Without a free and indepen¬ 
 dent Saxony, there is no stable federal Germany .” 
 
 (2) See D’Angeberg, p. 525. 
 
 (3) Towards the end of December, 1813, Murat had an offer 
 of his co-operation conveyed to Napoleon, on condition that he 
 should be allowed to put himself in possession of the whole of 
 Italy on the right of the Po, and to proclaim Italian indepen¬ 
 dence. This proposal received no reply. About the middle of 
 January, 1814, La Besnardiere sounded the ex-Emperor once more 
 on this subject, in consequence of the receipt of letters from Naples, 
 probably from Queen Caroline. “ What answer would you have 
 me make to a madman?” said Napoleon. “How can this fool 
 fail to see that only my entire preponderance in Europe could 
 prevent the Pope’s being at Rome ? It is the interest and the 
 desire of Europe that he should return thither, and I myself am 
 the first to wish it.” And when it was observed to him that it 
 would perhaps be well to do something to attach Murat to him¬ 
 self, he answered, “What good would that do? He is a man 
 with a weathercock for a head. You can see that by his con¬ 
 tinual changes.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 215 
 
 “The Emperor Napoleon,” adds La Besnardiere, “did not 
 doubt that it depended entirely on himself to keep King Joachim 
 in alliance with him, or to recall him how and when he choose.”— 
 Memorandum from La Besnardiere to Talleyrand, 5th February 
 1S15. 
 
 -M- 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 18th December, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 15, and it has 
 given me great satisfaction. If England declares 
 frankly in favour of Saxony, her agreement with 
 Austria and the greater part of Germany ought to 
 triumph over the lights of the age. ( l ) I like the 
 firmness of the Emperor Francis, and I care little 
 for the defection of the King of Wtirtemberg. I 
 await the explanation of what you tell me on the 
 subject of that prince, but, from what I know of him, 
 I should not attempt to advise any one to form a 
 close alliance with him. 
 
 The letters found among Lord Oxford’s papers 
 have not thrown any light upon Murat’s proceed¬ 
 ings ; ( 2 ) but the facts contained in the letter from 
 Leghorn, whose truth is not to be questioned, since 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 2l6 
 
 Prince Metternich admits his knowledge of them, 
 speak for- themselves ; ( 3 ) and it is more than time 
 that all the Powers should combine together to 
 eradicate the evil. M. de Jaucourt will certainly 
 have informed you of the unjust, and I must say 
 ungrateful, reproach which has been made to Count 
 Hector d’A gout on this subject. It would be well 
 that you should speak to M. de Labrador about 
 this, so that his testimony may serve to enlighten 
 M. de Cevallos, if he be in error, or at least to shame 
 him, if, as I very strongly suspect, he lies to himself. 
 
 I look upon the wish of the Emperor of Russia 
 to see you again as a good sign. I have nothing 
 to add to what I have said to you concerning the 
 great affairs, but there is one of them which I should 
 like to see brought to a conclusion ; it is that of 
 the marriage. I have given my ultimatum. I 
 shall not look into what may take place in a foreign 
 country, but the Duchesse de Berry, whomsoever 
 she may be, shall not cross the frontiers of France 
 without making open profession of the Catholic, 
 Apostolic, and Roman religion. ( 4 ) On that con¬ 
 dition I am not only ready, but eager, to conclude 
 the matter. If that condition does not suit the 
 Emperor of Russia, let him say so; he and I will 
 be none the less good friends, and I will arrange 
 another marriage. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 2 I 7 
 
 I feel your absence as deeply as you do, but in 
 affairs of such importance we must apply to our¬ 
 selves what Lucan said of Caesar. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXX. 
 
 (1) The Emperor Alexander and Councillors La Harpe, etc. 
 
 (2) General Exelmans was the person most seriously com¬ 
 promised in this affair. Among the papers which were seized 
 was a letter written by him to Murat, which M. de Jaucourt 
 described as “ altogether insensate.” 
 
 (3) In his letter to Talleyrand of the 18th of December, 
 jaucourt speaks of “ this roundabout correspondence that goes 
 from the island of Elba to Tuscany, from Florence to Chambe'ry, 
 to Franche Comte, to Paris.” 
 
 At this very time the French minister in Switzerland, M. 
 Auguste de Talleyrand, had a watch kept on King Joseph, 
 who had taken refuge at Prangins, and was demanding his 
 expulsion. 
 
 (4) “The Due de Berry has asked me whether you said 
 anything to me concerning his marriage; he displayed some 
 annoyance at the papistical and Roman rigidity of the King. 
 I replied that you said nothing to me about it. I suppose the 
 birth of the Due de Nemours has inspired him with this 
 matrimonial avidity.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 29th October, 1814. 
 
 “ The Due de Berry is much occupied about his marriage, 
 no matter with whom ; and on this point he is right: it is neces¬ 
 sary that he should marry and have children. It is your affair, 
 Prince, to get him married, in the interests of France.”—Jaucourt 
 to Talleyrand, 1st November, 1814. 
 
 “ I have just left Monsieur (the Count d’Artois, afterwards 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 2l8 
 
 Charles X.). At the close of the conversation he returned to the 
 themes of Vienna and the marriage of his son, who has quite 
 made up his mind to that important step. If one were to search 
 for the cause among the smaller feelings hidden in his heart, 
 I think the birth of a prince in the family would be found to have 
 contributed to it. Monsieur asked me whether you had written 
 to me about the Emperor Alexander’s sister. He said, * It is 
 this chapel business, on which it seems there is to be no con¬ 
 cession, that is stopping everything. And, after all, I do not 
 know why so much importance is attached to a political marriage. 
 I don’t believe in the results. Has M. de Talleyrand said any¬ 
 thing to you about the King of Saxony’s niece ? You might 
 question him concerning her, that is to say, after having taken 
 the orders of the King.’ ”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 9th November, 
 1814. 
 
 44 - 
 
 LETTER XXXI, 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 Vienna, 20th December, 1814. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the letter with which your 
 Majesty has deigned to honour me, bearing date 
 the 10th of December, and numbered 12. 
 
 I have the honour to forward to your Majesty 
 copies of the Note of Prince Hardenberg to M. de 
 Metternich, on the subject of Saxony, the tables 
 attached to it, and the official letter written to me 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 219 
 
 by Count Metternich, which accompanied them. 
 There was also a note in his own hand,( x ) in which 
 he repeated to me, but less explicitly, what he had 
 already said in conversation, i.e. that this document 
 should be the last to proceed from the coalition, and 
 added that he was happy to find himself side by 
 side with your Majesty’s Cabinet in the defence of 
 so good a cause. 
 
 I earnestly desired this communication for the 
 reason which I have had the honour to explain to 
 your Majesty in my previous letter; I was also 
 anxious for it, because it would give me a perfectly 
 natural opportunity of making such a profession of 
 faith as would place the principles, views, and resolu¬ 
 tions of your Majesty beyond the possibility of 
 doubt. I had long been seeking for an opportunity, 
 I had tried in many ways to create one, and so 
 soon as it offered, I hastened to turn it to account by 
 making the answer of which I have the honour to 
 send your Majesty a copy herewith.' v 2 ) 
 
 I pointed out what the question of Poland might 
 have been for us, and why it had lost its interest, 
 and I added that the fault had not been ours. 
 
 In dealing with the question of Saxony, I 
 refuted the revolutionary arguments of the Prussians, 
 and those of Mr. Cook in his “ Saxon Point,” and 1 
 think I have proved what, up to the present time, 
 
220 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lord Castlereagh either could not or would not 
 understand—that, as regards the balance of power, 
 the Saxon question was more important than that of 
 Poland in the terms to which the latter is reduced. 
 The equilibrium of Germany would be destroyed 
 if Saxony were sacrificed, and it is evident that she 
 could not then contribute to the general balance 
 of power. 
 
 While doing my best to convince, I was careful 
 to say nothing that could offend him. I attributed 
 the opinions which I contested to a kind of fatality, 
 and praised the monarchs who maintain, in order to 
 lead them to abandon, them. 
 
 I did not bestow any praises upon your Majesty; 
 I only set forth the instructions with which we have 
 been honoured. What more could I have said ? 
 The facts speak for themselves. 
 
 I am assured that the Prussians had, on their 
 side, prepared a Note in answer to that of M. de 
 Metternich, and that it was very strong ; but that 
 the Emperor of Russia, to whom it was shown, 
 would not have it sent. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh is like a traveller who has lost 
 his way, and does not know how to find it. He 
 is ashamed of having narrowed the Polish question, 
 and, after having expended all his efforts on that 
 
 4 
 
 question in vain, being duped by Prussia, in spite 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 22 r 
 
 of our warnings, into giving up Saxony to her. He 
 knows not what to do. He is also very uneasy 
 about the state of public opinion in England, and 
 intends, it is said, to return thither for the opening 
 of Parliament, leaving Lord Clancarty here to carry 
 on the negotiations. 
 
 The affairs of Italy are getting on pretty well. 
 
 I am disposed to think that the Queen of Etruria 
 will get the advantage over the Archduchess Marie 
 Louise in the matter of Parma ; and I am endea¬ 
 vouring so to dispose things that these arrange¬ 
 ments shall be made without touching the Legations. 
 
 The Commission of Precedence, ( 3 ) for which I 
 have nominated M. de la Tour du Pin, to whom 
 I have given instructions on this subject in con¬ 
 formity with your Majesty’s, will probably be in a 
 condition to make its report in ten or twelve days 
 from the present. 
 
 Your Majesty will perhaps consider my Note 
 addressed to M. de Metternich rather long; but 
 I could not make it shorter, having calculated upon 
 its being published and read in England as well as 
 in France. Every word that I used has a special 
 object which your Majesty will recognize in my 
 voluminous correspondence. 
 
 I am, etc* 
 
222 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXXI. 
 
 (1) At the beginning of December, Austria joined France on 
 the question of Saxony, by sending to Prince Hardenberg a 
 Memorandum from Prince Metternich, in which Austria pro¬ 
 nounced against the incorporation of the whole kingdom of Saxony 
 with Prussia. 
 
 M. de Metternich transmitted this Memorandum to M. de 
 Talleyrand on the 16th December, 1814. He ended as follows : 
 
 “ I congratulate myself on being on the same side as your 
 Cabinet on a question so worthy to be defended.” 
 
 (2) On the 19th of December, 1814, M. de Talleyrand replied 
 to M. de Metternich : 
 
 “ I am enabled to answer for the satisfaction with which 
 the King will learn the resolutions announced by this Note, 
 by comparing them with the orders given by his Majesty to his 
 ambassadors at the Congress :— 
 
 “ ‘ France does not bring thither any ambitious project or 
 personal interest; she is replaced within her former boundaries, 
 and she no longer thinks of extending them. Her armies, crowned 
 with glory, aspire to no fresh conquests. Delivered from that 
 oppression of which she was rather the victim than the instrument, 
 happy to have recovered her legitimate princes, and with them 
 the repose that she might have feared was lost for ever, she 
 has no claims to make, she advances no pretensions, nor will she 
 advance any; all that remains for her to desire is that the restora¬ 
 tion of the whole of Europe should, like her own, be accom¬ 
 plished.’ ”—D’Arenberg, p. 140. 
 
 (3) This Commission was nominated to fix precedence, the 
 rank of the Crowned heads present or represented at the Congress, 
 and other matters of State etiquette. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 223 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Paris, 23-24^ December, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 16, and have 
 heard with much satisfaction of the firm and noble 
 conduct of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Count 
 Munster. You know how much I think of the 
 latter, and the Duke, in addition to the ties of 
 kindred between us, is brother to a princess for 
 whom I entertain a great affection, the Duchess 
 Alexander of Wurtemberg; but this satisfaction 
 does not prevent me from regretting that the Note 
 was not signed. Verba volant , scripta autem manent . 
 I am also pleased with your interview with Prince 
 Adam. You will have seen by my last number that 
 I am desirous of a definite answer in the matter of 
 the marriage, but that I am far from wishing to give 
 it the character of a bargain. 
 
 The affair of the Slave Trade seems to me to be 
 going well. As for that of Naples, which concerns 
 me much more nearly, a very vexatious report was 
 spread in Vienna at the departure of the Due de 
 Richelieu—a report which was confirmed by private 
 
224 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 letters, but which your silence hinders me from 
 crediting: no other than that Austria had declared 
 openly in favour of Murat ,( l ) and was endeavouring 
 to induce England to do likewise. The success of 
 your letter to Lord Castlereagh, and that of the 
 steps which I have ordered to be taken in conse¬ 
 quence, will speedily apprise me of what I have to 
 hope or to fear. Nothing can be better than what 
 you propose in that letter, but I am not free from 
 uneasiness respecting certain promises made to 
 Murat. Even if we should find the plainest proofs 
 —of which I feel by no means certain, for Bonaparte 
 had many things destroyed at the last—we know 
 too well that a crafty policy can always draw what 
 deductions it chooses from anything. Let us, 
 however, pursue our own course; I shall never be 
 found making a backward step. 
 
 It was for the advantage of Berne that I con¬ 
 sented to the exchange of a portion of Gex ; but 
 since the conditions which I required are not accept¬ 
 able, I shall absolutely refuse my consent; and 
 neither will I accord it to an arrangement by which 
 something more would be taken away from the 
 King my brother-in-law.( 2 ) 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 225 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXXII. 
 
 (1) “ A general who is still almost in the service of Murat, 
 whose wife is still at Naples, and who will re-enter the King’s 
 service if the freedom with which he has answered Marshal Soult 
 has not ended his military career—came to see me. He even 
 told me that Murat had begged him to do so ; that he reckoned 
 on the pledges formerly given by Austria and recently renewed; 
 that it was a mistake to have refused to come to an understand¬ 
 ing with him. ... You know more about that than Murat, and 
 probably more than Prince Metternich. As for me, I speak only 
 of the late ( feu ) Murat; not even of the former ( ci-devant ) General 
 Murat.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 14th February, 1814. 
 
 (2) Victor Emanuel, King of Sardinia. 
 
 - 44 - 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 27th December, 1814. 
 
 I have just received the news that a treaty 
 of peace and amity between England and the United 
 States was signed on the 24th.(*) You will, no 
 doubt, be informed of this before the present de¬ 
 spatch reaches you, and I feel sure of the steps which 
 you have taken in consequence. Nevertheless, I 
 hasten to charge you, in congratulating Lord Castle- 
 reagh on this happy event, on my behalf, to call his 
 
 is 
 
 VOL, I. 
 
226 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 attention to the purpose to which Great Britain may 
 turn it. She will be henceforth free to use all 
 her resources, and what nobler use can she make of 
 them than to secure the repose of Europe upon the 
 only solid basis, that of equity ? And how can she 
 do that more effectually than by uniting herself 
 closely with me ? The Prince Regent and I are the 
 most impartial in this affair; for Saxony never was 
 the ally of France, Naples never was in a position 
 to assist her in any war, and the same is the case 
 with regard to England. It is true that I am the 
 nearest relative of the two Kings, but I am, above 
 all, King of France and father of my people. It is 
 for the honour of my crown, it is for the welfare of 
 my people, that I will not consent to allow a germ 
 of European war to be sown in Germany; that I 
 will not tolerate in Italy a usurper, whose existence 
 is a disgrace to all the Sovereigns and a menace 
 to the tranquillity of all their States. The Prince 
 Regent entertains similar sentiments; and it is with 
 the utmost satisfaction that I find him in a better 
 position to act upon them. 
 
 I have just spoken to you as a King, and now 
 I cannot refrain from speaking to you as a man. 
 There is a case, but I must not forecast it, in which 
 I could think only of the ties of blood. If the two 
 Kings, my cousins, were, as I was for so long, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUISXVIII. 
 
 227 
 
 wanderers on the face of the earth, deprived of their 
 sceptres, then I would hasten to receive them, to 
 supply their wants, to mitigate their ill fortune by 
 my good offices—in a word, to imitate on their 
 behalf what several sovereigns, and especially the 
 Prince Regent, did on mine ; and, like them, I would 
 consult at once both my feelings and my dignity. 
 This case, however, will never arise. I have a sure 
 guarantee for that in the generosity of some and the 
 interests of all. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 (1) Under President Madison, war was declared against 
 England by the United States, which defended the principle of 
 the freedom of the seas (1811—1814). Peace was concluded at 
 Ghent on the 24th of December, 1814, on the footing of the status 
 quo ante helium. “ In my opinion,” Jaucourt wrote to Talleyrand, 
 28th of December, 1814, “ the Duke of Wellington had a great deal 
 to do with the conclusion of the peace.” 
 
 
 No. 18. 
 Sire, 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 Vienna, 28th December, 1814. 
 
 While I was writing the letter to Prince 
 Metternich, of which I have had the honour to send 
 
228 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 your Majesty a copy, the Prussians were replying 
 to his Note of the ioth of December, referring to 
 that which he had addressed to them on the 22nd 
 of October, and showing that he was contradicting 
 himself. They endeavour to justify their claims 
 on Saxony by authority and example, and they 
 especially challenge the correctness of the calcula¬ 
 tions on which M. de Metternich relies. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh came to me, bringing this 
 answer from the Prussians, which he had ob¬ 
 tained permission to communicate to me. (It will 
 be given to me, and I shall have the honour of 
 sending it to your Majesty by the next post.) 
 He read it to me. I pointed out the sophistry of 
 their reasoning, and showed that their authorities 
 had no weight and their examples no force, the 
 times and the circumstances being quite different. 
 Then, in my turn, I made Lord Castlereagh read 
 my Note to M. de Metternich. He read it very 
 attentively, and quite through, and then handed it 
 back to me without a word, either of approval or 
 dissent. 
 
 The object of his visit was to talk to me about 
 a Commission which he wants me to have appointed 
 for the verification of the calculations that are 
 produced by Prussia and Austria respectively. I 
 told him I had no objection to make to this, but 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 229 
 
 that if we were to set about accomplishing the object, 
 as we have done in so many other cases up to the 
 present time, we should not arrive at any result; 
 that we must begin by laying down principles; that 
 before these calculations were verified, the rights 
 of the King of Saxony must be recognized ; and 
 that we—M. de Metternich and I—might come to 
 an agreement on this subject. “An agreement?” 
 he repeated. “It is, then, an alliance that you are 
 proposing?” “This agreement,” said I, “can very 
 well be made without an alliance ; but it shall be an 
 alliance if you wish. For my part, I have no objec¬ 
 tion.” “ But an alliance supposes war, or may lead 
 to it, and we ought to do everything to avoid war.” 
 “ I agree with you. We ought to do everything, 
 except to sacrifice honour, justice, and the future of 
 Europe.” “War,” he replied, “would be regarded 
 with disfavour among us.” “War would be popular 
 with you if it had a great object—one truly Euro¬ 
 pean.” “ What would that aim be ? ” “ The 
 
 restoration of Poland.” ( 1 ) He did not reject this 
 idea, but merely answered, “ Not yet.” I had only 
 given this turn to the conversation in order to sound 
 
 o 
 
 him, and to find out how he would be inclined in a 
 given case. “ Whether it be,” said I, “ by a Con¬ 
 vention, or by Notes, or by a protest signed by you, 
 M. de Metternich, and myself, that we recognize 
 
230 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the rights of the King of Saxony, is a matter of 
 indifference to me. I do not care about the form; 
 the thing only is important.” “ Austria,” he an¬ 
 swered, “ has officially recognized the rights of the 
 King of Saxony; you have also recognized them 
 officially ; I recognize them vehemently . Is the dif¬ 
 ference between us, then, so great that it requires an 
 act such as you demand ? ” We parted, after having 
 agreed that he should propose the formation of the 
 Commission, for which each of us was to nominate a 
 plenipotentiary. 
 
 The following morning, he sent Lord Stewart 
 to tell me that every one consented to the formation 
 of the Commission, and that the only objection made 
 was to a French plenipotentiary being included in 
 it. “ Who opposes that ? ” said I to Lord Stewart, 
 sharply. “ It is not my brother.” “ Who is it, 
 then?” He answered me hesitatingly, “Well—it 
 
 is-” and then he stammered out the word 
 
 “ Allies.” At that word my patience gave way, and, 
 without allowing my expressions to go beyond the 
 limit I was bound to observe, I put more than 
 warmth, more than vehemence into my tone. I 
 drew a picture of the course which, under circum¬ 
 stances like the present, Europe had a right to expect 
 such a nation as the English to follow, and going 
 on to speak of what Lord Castlereagh had never 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 231 
 
 ceased doing since he came to Vienna, I said his 
 conduct should not remain unknown; that it would 
 be judged in England, and how it would be judged, 
 and I hinted at the consequences to him. I dealt 
 no less severely with Lord Stewart himself for his 
 zeal for the Prussians, and I ended by declaring 
 that, if they persisted in being men of Chaumont, and 
 in promoting the coalition, France would owe it to 
 her dignity to retire from the Congress ; and that if 
 the projected Commission was formed without a 
 French plenipotentiary being summoned to it, your 
 Majesty’s embassy would not remain a single day 
 at Vienna. Lord Stewart was quite confounded, 
 and, with an air of alarm, hurried off to his brother. 
 
 In the evening I received a note from him, 
 written by his own hand, in which he said that, 
 having learned my wishes from his brother, he had 
 hastened to make them known to our colleagues, 
 and they all acceded with great pleasure to what 
 they were informed would be agreeable to me. 
 
 The same evening, M. de Metternich, whom I 
 had seen during the day, made a proposal, which 
 I had suggested to him, to the Powers who were 
 to co-operate in the formation of the Commission. 
 This was that they should agree to grant the 
 authority and force of an adjudicated matter to the 
 estimates made by the Commission. He added two 
 
232 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 other proposals, to which I readily subscribed : one 
 was that the valuation should comprise all territories 
 conquered by France and her allies; the other was 
 that it should bear only upon the population. But 
 I requested it to be added that the population 
 should be estimated not by numbers merely, but 
 by its condition also; for a Polish peasant, without 
 capital, land, or industry, ought not to be placed 
 upon a par with an inhabitant of the left bank of 
 the Rhine, or the richest and most fertile districts 
 of Germany. ( 2 ) 
 
 The Commission, on which I had nominated 
 M. de Dalberg, met on the following day. It is 
 working unremittingly, and Lord Clancarty exhibits 
 the same zeal, firmness, and uprightness which have 
 distinguished him in the Commission for the affairs 
 of Italy, of which he is also a member. 
 
 It is but just to say that Lord Castlereagh has 
 been weak rather than ill-intentioned in this matter; 
 but his weakness has been all the more inexcusable 
 in that the opposition, of which he has made himself 
 the mouthpiece, proceeded from the Prussians only. 
 
 My Note to M. de Metternich was pleasing to 
 the Austrian Cabinet on two points : the declaration 
 that France does not claim and does not demand 
 anything for herself, and the conclusion. After he 
 had read the Note, the Emperor of Austria said to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 233 
 
 M. de Sickingen, “All that is written in that I 
 acjree with.” 
 
 The Emperor of Austria having asked him 
 whether he had read the reply of the Prussians to 
 M. de Metternich’s Note of the 10th of December, 
 he answered, “ Before reading it, I had taken my 
 own line, and I adhere to that line more strongly, 
 after having read it.” It is said that he added, 
 “ Settle the affair, if it be possible; but I beg your 
 Majesty not to talk to me any more of these 
 * factums.' ” 
 
 He said to the King of Bavaria, “ I am an 
 Austrian born, but my head is Bohemian ” (this 
 answers to the French phrase, “a Breton head”). 
 “ My line is taken in the Saxon affair, and I will not 
 deviate from it.” 
 
 Prince Czartoryski, to whom I had communicated 
 my Note to Prince Metternich, had a copy made of 
 it, which he submitted to the Emperor Alexander. 
 The Emperor was satisfied w T ith the portion that 
 related to him and his interests. He acknowledges 
 that France is the only Power whose language has 
 not varied, and which has not deceived him. Never¬ 
 theless, he thought he discerned that he was 
 indirectly reproached with having departed from 
 his principles, and he sent Prince Czartoryski to 
 tell me that his principle was the welfare of the 
 

 UJN PUBLISH ED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 people; to which I replied that such was also the 
 principle of the leaders of the French Revolution, 
 and at all its stages. The Emperor was also seized 
 with a scruple arising from the fear that the King of 
 Saxony, if maintained as we wish him to be, will be 
 very unhappy. He compassionates him, not in his 
 actual position, as a captive and despoiled, but in the 
 future, when he shall have reascended his throne, 
 and re-entered the palace of his ancestors. This 
 scruple means that he is more firmly resolved than 
 before to avert such a misfortune from the King. 
 
 The Prussians, by consenting to the formation 
 of the Statistical Commission and sending their 
 plenipotentiaries thither, have evidently subordinated 
 their claims upon Saxony and their hopes to the 
 result of the labours of the Commission, and that 
 result will, most probably, be favourable to Saxony. 
 
 Thus, the affair of Saxony is in a better position 
 than it has yet been. 
 
 That of Poland is not concluded, but its ter¬ 
 mination is talked of. 
 
 Counts Rasoumowski and Capo d’Istria will act 
 for Russia ; M. de Metternich will be the Austrian 
 plenipotentiary. It has been resolved that a tho¬ 
 roughly official character shall be given to these 
 conferences. M. de Wessenburg is to draft the 
 protocol; M. de Hardenberg will be the Prussian 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 plenipotentiary ; he will be alone. As boundaries 
 only are to form the subject of this negotiation, the 
 matter ought to be arranged in a few days. 
 
 Although I had given Lord Castlereagh my 
 letter to M. de Metternich to read, I .have thought 
 it well to send him a copy of it, so that it may 
 be placed among the documents which he may 
 be called upon to lay before Parliament, and I have 
 sent with it, not a letter of advice, pure and simple, 
 but one of which I have the honour to subjoin 
 a copy.( 3 ) The great problem which the Con¬ 
 gress is to solve is therein stated under a new form, 
 and reduced to its simplest terms. The premisses 
 are so incontestable, and the consequences are 
 deduced so inevitably, that I cannot think any 
 reply to it is possible. I was not, therefore, at all 
 surprised when M. de Metternich told me that Lord 
 Castlereagh, who had shown him my letter, seemed 
 much embarrassed by it. 
 
 There exists in Italy, as in Germany, a sect 
 of ‘‘Unitarians,” or people whose aspiration is to 
 make of Germany one single State. Austria, being 
 warned of this, had a great number of arrests made, 
 all in one night. Among the persons arrested are 
 three generals of division. The papers of the sect 
 have been seized at the house of a professor named 
 Rosari. It is not known from whence Austria got 
 
236 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the information ; some believe that Murat was the 
 informer,( 4 ) and that he has betrayed men with 
 whom he was hand in hand, in order to curry favour 
 with the Austrian Court. 
 
 Your Majesty will have perceived, by the docu¬ 
 ments which I have had the honour to forward, 
 that I do not lose sight of the affair of Naples. 
 Neither do I forget the delenda Carthago; but it 
 is not possible to commence in that way. I am 
 also mindful of the marriage. Circumstances have 
 so changed, that while a year ago your Majesty 
 might have desired that alliance, it is now for the 
 Emperor of Russia to desire it. But the matter 
 requires explanations which I must beg your 
 Majesty’s permission to reserve for a special letter, 
 which I shortly shall have the honour to write. 
 
 When this letter reaches your Majesty, we shall 
 have entered upon a new year. I shall not have 
 the happiness of being with you, Sire, on the first 
 day of it, and of offering your Majesty my respect¬ 
 ful congratulations and best wishes in person; but 
 I beg to be permitted to make them, and that your 
 Majesty will accept my homage. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 2 37 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 (1) “ Of all the questions which are to be treated at the Con¬ 
 gress, the King would have regarded that of Poland as the first, 
 the greatest, the most eminently European—as, indeed, beyond 
 comparison with any other—had it been possible for him to hope 
 as reasonably as he desires ardently that its ancient and complete 
 independence might be restored to a people, so worthy, by reason 
 of its antiquity, its valour, and the services which it has rendered 
 to Europe, of the interest of all other peoples. The partition 
 which erased Poland from the number of the nations of Europe, 
 was the prelude to, the cause of, and, up to a certain point, the 
 excuse for, the convulsions of which Europe has been the victim. 
 But when the force of circumstances, overriding the noblest 
 and most generous inclinations of the Sovereigns to whom the 
 provinces which were formerly Polish are subject, had reduced 
 the question of Poland to a mere matter of partition and boun¬ 
 daries, which was discussed among themselves by the three 
 interested Powers, and from which France was excluded by 
 their previous treaties, it only remains for the latter, after 
 having offered, as she had done, to support the most equitable 
 claims, to wish that you may be satisfied, and in that case to be so 
 herself.”—Letter from Talleyrand to Metternich, 19th December, 
 1814. 
 
 (2) In his letter to Metternich of the 19th of December, 
 Talleyrand refers to the following passage from Montesquieu :— 
 
 “ Athens had the same forces within her, during her rule in pride 
 and glory, and during her servitude in shame. She had twenty thou¬ 
 sand citizens when she defended the Greeks against the Persians, 
 when she contested for supremacy with Lacedemonia, and invaded 
 Sicily; and she had twenty thousand when Demetrius of Phalaris 
 counted them, as slaves are reckoned in a market.” 
 
 (3) See D’Angeberg, p. 570. 
 
238 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (4) “ A secret sympathy with revolutionary principles acts in 
 his favour. A man like us is the king for plebeians. He inspires 
 them with a feeling of private satisfaction, which they will regret 
 to part with. To the nobles such a being is an object of ridicule, 
 but the cause of the nobility is at least difficult to defend.—We 
 raise our hands to Heaven during the fight; that is all we can 
 do.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 28th February. 
 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 30th December, 1814. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 17. I am pleased 
 with M. de Metternich’s Note, because it positively 
 pledges Austria; but I am still more pleased with 
 your answer. I do not know whether it could be 
 abridged ; but I know quite well that I should not 
 wish it to be shorter; first, because it says every¬ 
 thing, and nothing but what ought to be said ; 
 and secondly, because I think that more of the 
 amenity so useful and frequently so necessary in 
 affairs, is displayed by amplifying one’s ideas a little 
 than in stating them too laconically. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 239 
 
 What you tell me of the difficulty in which 
 Lord Castlereagh finds himself, proves to me that 
 I was right to send you my last despatch; it is 
 possible that he may fail to perceive how excellent 
 an opportunity for retracing his steps is afforded 
 him by the peace with America.^) 
 
 I am very glad that the affairs of the Queen 
 of Etruria are assuming a more favourable aspect; 
 but I regard that point as only an advance towards 
 another, far more excellent, and to which I attach 
 much greater value. 
 
 M. de Jaucourt is, no doubt, informing you of 
 what M. de Butiakin has said to him; you have 
 much better means than I have of learning the 
 truth of what he reports on the subject of Vienna; 
 but if it be true, as it seems likely, that the amour 
 propre of the Russian nation, which counts for 
 something in spite of the aristocracy, is excited on 
 behalf of the marriage, let that nation remember 
 that he who desires the end desires the means . As 
 for me, I have given my ultimatum , and it is irre¬ 
 vocable. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XXXV. 
 
 (1) “The Due de Berry said to me this morning (31st 
 December), that he had seen the Duke of Wellington, who had 
 
240 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 spoken to him of Murat, and that he had given him to under¬ 
 stand that it would be for England, in the position in which she 
 was now placed, to settle the destinies of the world. 
 
 “ The Duke of Wellington replied by acquiescing in these 
 assertions, undertaking to write, and even, if the Due de Berry is 
 to be believed, so far pledging himself as to say that he would 
 bring it to pass ”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 31st December, 1814. 
 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 Vienna, 4th January, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the letter of the 23rd of 
 last month, with which your Majesty has deigned 
 to honour me. 
 
 On the 21 st of the present month, the anniver 
 sary of a day of horror and eternal mourning, a 
 solemn expiatory service will be celebrated in one 
 of the principal churches of Vienna. I am having 
 the preparations made; and, in giving orders for 
 them I have acted not only on the impulse of my 
 feelings, but from a sense that it becomes the am¬ 
 bassadors of your Majesty, while acting as the 
 interpreters of the sorrow of France, to proclaim 
 that sorrow aloud in a foreign land and before the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 265 
 
 had said of the great Conde : “ This second Alexander had to 
 be awakened.” 
 
 (2) “ I have reason to believe that the Emperor of Russia will 
 consent to include Turkey in the general guarantees which it is 
 purposed to stipulate for ail the Powers, after the settlement of 
 the affairs which are occupying the Congress.”—Talleyrand to the 
 Department, 15th January, 1815. 
 
 (3) Louis XVIIL makes an allusion here to his wandering 
 and precarious life ir: Italy, Courland, Prussia, Poland, and 
 England. 
 
 (4) In 1814 he said to the Emperor Alexander, who was 
 surprised at his resumption of the old formula, “ King of France 
 and Navarre by the grace of God ”— 
 
 “ Divine right is a consequence of religious dogma, and of the 
 law of the country. Owing to that law the monarchy has been 
 hereditary in my family for eight centuries. Without Divine right, 
 I am nothing but an infirm old man, long proscribed, reduced to 
 beg for shelter; but by that right the proscribed old man is King 
 of France.” 
 
 (5) “They say he (Murat) is very uneasy; that he constantly 
 says he will not go and be buried alive in an island of Elba, 
 but talks confidently of his troops, of the public spirit of Italy, 
 and of sixty thousand men ready to arm for independence, if 
 Austria does not respect her pledges.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 15th January, 1815. 
 
 “ The King appeared to be, as usual, very well satisfied with 
 your progress, and with the success which seems probable in the 
 case of Saxony; but he said to Monsieur (with whom I had 
 exchanged a few words behind the King’s chair, and whose 
 answer was the question, 4 Do you not think Prince Talleyrand 
 will soon come back? 5 ), ‘But after this battle is fought, there 
 is another to come; what about Naples? 5 Monsieur replied, 
 hesitating a little : ‘ I fear Murat will not be so easy a matter.’ 
 
 I say the same. Murat does not seem to me an easy matter 
 
266 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 He is attacked by a mortal malady, but it is a lingering one ; the 
 best chance that can be offered to him, in my poor opinion, is that 
 of fighting as soon as possible. If you destroy the feeling with 
 which his people regard him in hope of their independence; if 
 you isolate him ; if you create federal States with national repre¬ 
 sentation, the great Joachim Murat is no longer necessary, and 
 he becomes ridiculous : but what is useful and necessary is never 
 really ridiculous.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 20th January, 1815. 
 
 LETTER XLII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 19th January, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 21. I was not 
 uneasy about your views on the Spanish affair, but 
 I am very glad to find that they are in conformity 
 with the measures which I have taken, and also that 
 M. de Labrador does not share the insensate ideas 
 of his Cabinet; I hope he may be able to inspire 
 it with others more reasonable, and in accordance 
 with its true interests. 
 
 Last week, I was very well satisfied, but now 
 I cannot but regard the tendency of Lord Castle- 
 reagh to his former weaknesses, and the versatility 
 of Prince Metternich, with some uneasiness. Lord 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 267 
 
 Castlereagh ought to bear in mind that the path of 
 honour is a firm adherence to what is right, or a. 
 prompt return to it if unhappily there has been any 
 straying from it. Prince Metternich forgets that to 
 augment the share of Prussia is to weaken Austria. 
 As for me, I will never lend myself, as you know, to 
 the entire spoliation of the King of Saxony. I 
 know that he will have a certain surrender to 
 make, but if such concessions were required from 
 him as would reduce him to being a fourth-rate, or 
 even a third-rate Power, I am not disposed to consent 
 to that. I await with equal impatience the result of 
 your conference and the opening of the great affair 
 of Naples. 
 
 These are days of mourning and sadness. 
 I should have wished to be present at the cere¬ 
 monies which are to take place on Saturday ; but 
 I am prevented by the dread of the gout. One does 
 not suffer less, however, in giving the orders for 
 such ceremonies, than in witnessing them. You 
 will thank the Archbishop of Vienna, on my behalf, 
 for having officiated at the service. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
268 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER XLIII. 
 
 No. 2 2. 
 
 Vienna, 19th January, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the letter of the 7th of 
 this month, with which your Majesty has deigned 
 to honour me, and I have derived fresh encourage¬ 
 ment to zeal and energy from the expressions of 
 kindness which it contains. 
 
 I have the honour to write to your Majesty 
 to-day only because I do not wish that there should 
 be too much interval between my letters, for I have 
 nothing new to announce to your Majesty. We 
 
 make but slow progress in our affairs, and yet we 
 
 / 
 
 are not idle. 
 
 Bavaria has joined the triple alliance; Hanover 
 and Holland will come after. The Grand-Duke 
 of Darmstadt joins Bavaria with a like purpose, and 
 promises six thousand men. 
 
 The Commissions on the affairs of Italy, Switzer¬ 
 land, and the statistics are in full work. My letter 
 to the ministry, which will be laid before your 
 Majesty, will inform you of the state of affairs in 
 this respect, the obstacles which have to be en- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 269 
 
 countered, and the reasons why everything cannot 
 be arranged in the most desirable manner. 
 
 Austria, England, Bavaria, Holland, Hanover, 
 and almost the whole of Germany are agreed with 
 us upon the maintenance of the King and the King¬ 
 dom of Saxony. Saxony will therefore be main 
 tained, although Prince Hardenberg has ventured 
 once more to demand the whole kingdom in a plan 
 for the reconstruction of the Prussian monarchy, 
 which he recently sent in. M. de Metternich was 
 to reply to this plan, and I awaited his answer 
 before despatching my courier; but it is not yet 
 complete. I have only seen the elements of it; 
 these are very good. The mere inspection of the 
 Prussian plan leads to the conclusion that what 
 Prussia had in 1805, and which is all she is entitled 
 to demand, may be restored to her, and one million 
 five hundred thousand subjects be preserved to 
 Saxony. But Prussia claims that she ought to have 
 six hundred thousand more than in 1805, under the 
 pretext of aggrandizements obtained by Russia and 
 Austria. 
 
 All that concerns the principles of legitimacy 
 has been agreed upon between Lord Castlereagh, 
 M. de Metternich, and me. We have only to arrive 
 at a complete understanding touching the equili¬ 
 brium to be enabled to make a joint proposal. With 
 
270 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 this we are occupied daily, and again to-day I 
 have had a conference with them on the subject. 
 M. de Metternich was at first ready to make un¬ 
 limited concessions, but I checked him in that 
 direction by placing before him the consequences 
 to himself of a readiness which would endanger 
 his Monarchy, and he now warmly defends what 
 he would previously have relinquished. I have 
 advised him to bring some of the best-informed 
 Austrian officers to our conferences, to give their 
 opinions and the reasons upon which they are 
 fo.unded ; and, to induce him to take my advice, I 
 told him that, if he did not act upon it, I would 
 proclaim that I had given it. He made up his mind 
 to act on it. Prince Schwarzenburg will have a 
 conference with Lord Stewart, and will afterwards 
 attend with some of his officers at a conference 
 which we are to hold the day after to-morrow. It 
 is unfortunate that Lord Castlereagh, in addition 
 to the remains of his former likinof for Prussia, and 
 his fear of compromising what he calls his character, 
 by consenting to leave only a small portion of 
 that kingdom in the hands of Prussia, after having 
 given up the whole of Saxony by his Note of 
 the 10th of October, has such imperfect, and I 
 may say foolish, notions about everything relating 
 to military topography, and even about mere con- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 271 
 
 tinental geography, that, while it is necessary to 
 convince him in even the smallest things, he is 
 extremely difficult to be convinced. A story is 
 told of an Englishman who was here in the time 
 of Prince Kaunitz, and who talked a great deal 
 of nonsense in his presence about the States of 
 Germany. Prince Kaunitz exclaimed, in a tone of 
 the utmost amazement, “It is prodigious all that 
 these English do not know.” How many times 
 have I had occasion to make the same remark to 
 myself in my conferences with Lord Castlereagh! 
 
 We have some reason to hope that in the 
 arrangement of the affairs of Italy which is in 
 preparation, the Archduchess Marie Louise will 
 be limited to a liberal pension. I must tell your 
 Majesty that I lay great stress on this, because 
 the name of Bonaparte will be by that means ex¬ 
 punged from the list of Sovereigns, now and for 
 all future time, as the island of Elba is the property 
 of the dweller in it for his own life only, and the son 
 of the Archduchess cannot possess any independent 
 State. 
 
 The preparations for the ceremony of the 21st 
 are almost finished. So great is the general eager¬ 
 ness to witness the service, that it is difficult for us 
 to answer the applications, and the church of St. 
 Stephen, the largest in Vienna, could not hold all 
 who wish to attend. 
 
272 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 All the Sovereigns have been apprised of the 
 ceremony, and all, with the exception of the 
 Emperor ( x ) and Empress of Russia, whose answer 
 has not yet been received, have made known their 
 intention of being present. 
 
 The Empress of Austria, whose health does not 
 permit her to attend, wished her excuses to be pre¬ 
 sented to your Majesty (I use her own words). The 
 Archduchess Beatrix, her mother, will be present. 
 The ladies will all be veiled ; this is the mark of 
 deepest mourning. 
 
 General Pozzo is still awaiting his instructions. 
 He was told to hold himself in readiness, and he has 
 been prepared for a week past; but the instructions 
 do not arrive. 
 
 General Andreossi passed through Vienna on 
 his return from Constantinople. He speaks us fair, 
 and made to me a profession of faith such as I 
 desired. He is a clever man, who has filled im¬ 
 portant posts, and might be employed with ad¬ 
 vantage. ( 2 ) 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XLIIX. 
 
 » / 
 
 (1) “The Emperor Alexander only, without sending a refusal, 
 
 made a simple observation. He said that nobody could doubt what 
 were the sentiments of Europe towards the unfortunate Louis XVI., 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 273 
 
 nevertheless this ceremony was a party demonstration, which, while 
 it was very impolitic in Paris, was at Vienna a clumsy and undigni¬ 
 fied imitation.”—Thiers, “ Consulat et Empire,” vol. xviii. p. 588. 
 
 No doubt La Harpe had reminded his royal pupil of the 
 following passage from Tacitus:—“Valerius Messalicus proposed 
 to erect a golden statue in the temple of Mars the Avenger; 
 Cecina Severus, to raise an altar to Vengeance. Caesar opposed 
 both. 1 Monuments of this kind,’ said he, ‘ were made for foreign 
 victories. Domestic misfortunes ought to be hidden beneath a 
 veil of mourning.’ ”—Burnouf’s Tacitus, Book iii. p. 105. 
 
 (2) “ We shall receive General Andreossi as your satisfaction 
 with him prescribes. We are your echo ; but we should like to be 
 that of your thoughts, and to divine them is not given to every¬ 
 body.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 30th January, 1815. 
 
 
 LETTER XLIV. 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 Vienna, 21st January, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I am to-day to have the honour of writing 
 to your Majesty respecting the ceremony which 
 was celebrated here this morning. 
 
 I have had a circumstantial but simple account 
 of it drawn up, to be inserted in the Moniteur,( l ) if 
 your Majesty approves of it. I thought it best 
 merely to narrate the facts, but to abstain from 
 
 offering those reflections which will come naturally 
 
 18 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
274 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to the minds of all readers, and, because they are 
 withheld from expression, will impress themselves 
 all the more deeply. 
 
 The address of the cure of St. Anne, who is a 
 Frenchman by birth,( 2 ) is included in this narrative. 
 It is not a funeral oration ; it is not a sermon ; it is 
 a speech. He had only a few days in which to pre¬ 
 pare it, to adapt it to the object of the ceremony, 
 and to the quality of the principal personages among 
 the spectators ; it was less necessary that it should 
 be eloquent than that it should be prudent, and 
 those who heard it are agreed that in this respect it 
 was all that was to be desired. 
 
 The ceremony lacked nothing, neither the pomp 
 befitting its object, nor quality in its spectators, 
 nor the sorrow which the event that it recalls must 
 ever awaken. By evoking the memory of a great 
 misfortune it affords a great lesson. Its aim was both 
 moral and political, and personages of importance who 
 dined with me after it had taken place have led me 
 to believe that its aim has been attained.( 3 ) 
 
 I cannot speak too highly of the kindness and 
 graciousness with which the Emperor of Austria 
 permitted and indeed prescribed every arrange¬ 
 ment that could add to the orderliness and the 
 dignity of the ceremony. He alone attended at the 
 church in black ; the other sovereigns wore uniform. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 275 
 
 Count Alexis de Noailles in particular seconded 
 my efforts; but I was admirably assisted by all. 
 
 M. Moreau, the architect who was entrusted 
 with the preparations, has acted with equal in¬ 
 telligence and zeal. The music was very fine; it 
 was composed by M. Neukomm, who conducted the 
 performance of it, conjointly with the first Kappel- 
 meister to the Court, M. Salieri. 
 
 I entreat your Majesty to be pleased to give 
 those three artists, and also M. Isabey, who has been 
 very useful, a mark of your satisfaction, by sending 
 me decorations of the Legion of Honour for them. 
 
 I also entreat your Majesty to be pleased to 
 grant the same grace to MM. Rouen, Damour, 
 Formont, Saint-Mars, and Sers, attaches to your 
 Majesty’s embassy, with whose conduct I have reason 
 to be extremely pleased, and who only, of all the 
 attaches to the embassies of the Congress, have no 
 decorations. 
 
 On Wednesday I purpose to send off' a courier, 
 by whom I shall have the honour of writing to your 
 Majesty on the subject of the marriage. I feel all the 
 importance and have never lost sight of that subject. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—General Pozzo’s departure is, it seems, 
 fixed for Saturday, the 24th. 
 
276 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XLIV. 
 
 (1) The Moniteur published this account, on the 30th 
 January, 1815, under the form of correspondence from Vienna. 
 On the 22nd the following appeared:—“At the corners of the 
 catafalque were placed four statues, representing France sunk in 
 grief j Europe shedding tears, Religion holding the Will of Louis 
 XVI., and Hope raising her eyes to heaven .” 
 
 (2) The Moniteur gives his name, Abbd de Zaignelins, and 
 publishes his address in full. 
 
 (3) “You will hear so much, Prince, of the effect which you 
 produce at Court, among private individuals, as well as in the 
 royal family, that my little tribute of special praise will not be 
 very interesting to you. It was a grand and fine idea to make a 
 political stroke out of a ceremony quite simple and natural in 
 appearance, and a regular affair of Congress out of a religious act. 
 Joachim would be very glad to get rid of it with only the cost to 
 pay, and your 1 speech ’ will do him more harm than the Austrian 
 army. As I am nothing if not critical, I confess, to praise you 
 in strict conscience, that I would have changed the phrase ‘ sixty 
 years of unbelief/ for if we have been unbelievers for sixty years, 
 we can only be hypocrites to-day; and if, as you afterwards 
 say, the innovators have brought nothing but evils and errors 
 among us, we ought to have back again Church Lands, parlia¬ 
 ments to try us, and Jesuits to teach us Latin.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 1st February, 1815. 
 
 “ I wind up by once more admiring your expiatory, monarchical, 
 European idea; the idea which has given the Congress its first 
 result: the meeting of the Sovereigns at a solemn requiem for 
 Louis XVI. . . . We call you the prince of diplomatists.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 25th January, 1815. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 277 
 
 LETTER XLV. 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 Vienna, 25th January, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I was present yesterday at a conference 
 with M. de Metternich and Prince Schwarzenbure, 
 
 o 7 
 
 for the purpose of deciding, according to the judg¬ 
 ment of the Austrian military authorities, what 
 points of Saxony may, and what points may not, be 
 left to Prussia, without endangering the safety of 
 Austria. 
 
 The Emperor of Austria wished this conference 
 to take place, and desired that I should be present 
 at it. 
 
 Two plans were proposed. 
 
 The first would leave Torgau to Saxony, with 
 the sole condition of razing the fortifications of 
 Dresden. 
 
 The second would give Torgau to Prussia, but 
 razed. Dresden would also be razed. 
 
 In either case Prussia would keep Erftirth. 
 
 It was agreed that the two plans should be sub¬ 
 mitted to his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and 
 that a draft of a Memorandum upon that which he 
 adopts should be made; this draft the Emperor 
 
2 7 8 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 himself will hand to Lord Castlereagh, as it is Lord 
 Castlereagh whom it is essential to convince. 
 
 Russia has offered Austria the restoration of the 
 district of Tarnopol, containing four hundred thou¬ 
 sand souls. Austria renounces it on condition that 
 a similar population shall be given to Prussia in the 
 contiguous portion of Poland, so as to diminish by 
 so much the sacrifices which Saxony will have to 
 make. This will be explained in the Memorandum. 
 
 I do not know which of the two plans has been 
 adopted ; but I know that Lord Castlereagh is to 
 go to the Emperor of Austria this evening. I will 
 send an account of what shall have taken place at 
 that audience, by the first post. 
 
 Your Majesty will judge of the amount of confi¬ 
 dence that is placed by the Emperor of Austria in 
 his minister, on learning that he sent Count Sick- 
 ingen to me this morning, to ask whether the report 
 which M. de Metternich had made to‘him of the 
 conference of yesterday was the truth. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander, with his liberal ideas, 
 has made so little way here, that it has been found 
 necessary to triple the police force in order to prevent 
 his being insulted by the people in his daily walks. 
 
 I have the honour to send to your Majesty an 
 article from the Beobacliter, which I have had drawn 
 up by M. de Gentz^ 1 ) I subjoin the translation 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 279 
 
 that he has made ; it is very well done. It seems 
 to me that the article might appear in the Moniteur 
 with advantage, under the heading of “Vienna;” 
 and that it would be well if the other journals were 
 to copy it.( 2 ) 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XLV. 
 
 (1) This article from the Observer (Bcobachter) of Vienna was 
 reproduced by the Moniteur on the 2nd January, 1815. The 
 King informs Talleyrand of this in a later letter. 
 
 (2) “Our journals have a much stronger influence abroad 
 than that which is exercised by the Press in other countries, 
 because it is well known that ours are under the supervision and 
 censorship of the Government.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, from 
 Vienna, 24th November, 1814. 
 
 “The journals think proper to give, on what authority nobody 
 knows, a list of the persons who compose several of the Com 
 missions formed here for the different objects that are in negotia¬ 
 tion, and they do not name any French plenipotentiary, just as if 
 France were excluded from affairs, whereas a French pleni¬ 
 potentiary, who is present at the conferences, and whose opinion, 
 I am able to assert, carries some weight, is attached to each Com¬ 
 mission. Then, they say that the Emperor of Austria wished to 
 defray all the expenses of the service that was celebrated on the 
 21 st of January; whereas he never even thought of making such 
 an offer, and France paid, as it was fitting she should pay, the 
 whole cost. A newspaper, which is, I believe, published under 
 the auspices of one of the ministers, announces that / attend the 
 receptions ( cercles) of the Archduchess Marie Louise. Now, she 
 never receives. I have not seen her even once, and she has 
 
28o 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 certainly no desire to see me. I can understand that newspapers 
 should be left entirely free—that they should not be meddled 
 with in any way; that is a system which may, like any other, have 
 advantages as well as drawbacks ; but that they should be supposed 
 to be supervised and directed, and yet be neither, is for a Govern¬ 
 ment to take upon itself the blame of the untrue and uncalled-for 
 things which they report; in fact, to render itself responsible, 
 without any utility, for all the ill effects which they produce.”— 
 Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 7th February, 1815. 
 
 -M- 
 
 LETTER XLVI. 
 
 x (Private.) 
 
 No. 24 (A). 
 
 Vienna, 25th January, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 It seems likely that General Pozzo di 
 Borgo will leave Vienna this week, on his return 
 to Paris. He will probably have received orders 
 relative to the marriage from the Emperor Alex¬ 
 ander. I think it my duty to lay before your 
 Majesty to-day some observations upon a matter 
 which is so delicate, and in many respects so serious. 
 
 Your Majesty requires, and is quite right to 
 require, that the princess, whomsoever she may 
 be, to whom the Due de Berry shall give his hand 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 28l 
 
 should enter France as a Catholic princess. Your 
 Majesty makes, and could not dispense with making, 
 this an absolute condition.^) The Most Christian 
 King and Eldest Son of the Church cannot carry 
 concession on that point farther than Bonaparte 
 himself was inclined to do when he asked for the 
 hand of the Grand-Duchess Anne. 
 
 If this condition were accepted by the Emperor 
 Alexander, and supposing that your Majesty had 
 given your word, your Majesty would certainly not 
 feel yourself free to retract it; but it seems that the 
 Emperor, while he does not oppose his sister’s 
 change of religion, does not choose that it should be 
 imputed to him, and there would be fair grounds for 
 such an imputation if the change were a stipula¬ 
 tion. He wishes the adoption of the Princess by 
 Catholic Faith to be regarded as the result of a 
 resolution of her own, arrived at when she had 
 passed under other laws, and he therefore wishes 
 the change to follow, instead of preceding, the 
 marriage. He requires, then, that his sister shall 
 proceed to France accompanied by her “ chapel,” ( 2 ) 
 but consents that the pope, who is to attend her, 
 shall wear lay costume. The reasons which lead 
 him to adhere to this are his own scruples—for he 
 is deeply attached to his creed—and his fear of 
 wounding the susceptibilities of his people on so 
 
2S2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 delicate a point. By persisting in these views he 
 will himself release your Majesty from any engage¬ 
 ment into which you may have entered, and he will 
 furnish the means of release if he delays his consent 
 to the conditions which your Majesty has imposed. 
 Now, I have no hesitation in acknowledging to your 
 Majesty that anything which may tend to set you 
 free in this matter seems to me most desirable. 
 
 Eight months ago, when, even amid the 
 general joy of the actual moment, and the happy 
 hopes which we all formed for the future, it was, 
 nevertheless, impossible to regard that future with 
 security untroubled by any fear, a family alliance 
 with Russia might well appear, and did appear to 
 myself, to offer advantages whose utility would out¬ 
 weigh those considerations which, in a different posi¬ 
 tion of affairs, I should have placed in the first 
 rank and regarded as decisive. 
 
 But now that the throne, so marvellouslv restored 
 
 ' * 
 
 by Providence, has also been established by the same 
 power; now that it is girt and guarded by the love 
 and veneration of the people; now that the coalition 
 is dissolved, that France has no further need to 
 count on foreign aid, but that, on the contrary, it 
 is from her that the other Powers expect succour, 
 your Majesty has no longer to sacrifice any of the 
 convenances which are essential to this kind of 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 283 
 
 alliance to the necessities of circumstances, but may 
 consult them only. 
 
 The Grand-Duchess Anne is considered the 
 handsomest of the five daughters of the Emperor 
 Paul,( 3 ) and beauty is a most precious and desirable 
 quality in a princess who may be called by the 
 course of events to ascend the throne of France. 
 No people are so tenacious as the French of being 
 able to say of the princes who rule them—- 
 
 “ Le monde en les voyant reconnaitrait ses maitres.” 
 
 The Grand-Duchess appears to have been very 
 carefully brought up. To personal charms she adds, 
 it is said, a good disposition. She is twenty-one 
 years old, so that the frequently injurious effects 
 of a too early marriage are not to be apprehended 
 in her case. She was destined for the present reign¬ 
 ing Duke of Saxe-Coburg, before Bonaparte asked 
 for her hand. It was entirely Bonaparte’s own 
 doing that the marriage did not take place; for it is 
 certain that they would not have asked better than 
 to give her to him, if he could and would have 
 waited. I do not know whether these two circum¬ 
 stances could be held to raise a sort of objection 
 to the marriage of the princess with the Due de 
 Berry, but I must say, that if the marriage is to take 
 place, I should prefer their not having existed. . . . 
 
284 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Its being necessary, not that the Grand-Duchess 
 should change her religion, but that she should 
 change it in such fashion that it would appear im¬ 
 possible to attribute the act to any except purely 
 political motives, is, it strikes me, a strong objec¬ 
 tion, for such an impression would inevitably tend 
 to foster the religious indifference among the people 
 which is the disease of the age we live in. 
 
 As marriage binds not only those who contract 
 it, but their families also, suitability between the 
 latter ouuht to be the first consideration even in 
 
 o 
 
 the marriages of private individuals, and with still 
 greater reason in those of kings, or princes who 
 may be called to occupy thrones. That the House 
 of Bourbon should ally itself with houses which are 
 inferior to it is a necessity of the case, since Europe 
 does not possess a house which is its equal. I will 
 not therefore object that the House of Holstein, 
 although it occupy the three thrones of the North, 
 is comparatively new among kings. But I may say 
 that when the House of Bourbon honours another 
 house by its alliance, it is better it should be a 
 house which holds itself to be honoured, than one 
 which might pretend to equality by pretending 
 that nobility and antiquity of origin can be balanced 
 by extent of possessions. One of the four sisters of 
 the Grand-Duchess Anne married an Austrian 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 285 
 
 Archduke; the other three married petty German 
 princes. 
 
 Is Russia, who has never been able to place any 
 of her princesses upon a throne, to see one of them 
 called to that of F ranee ? I venture to say that 
 such a prospect would be good fortune too great for 
 her, and I should not like the Due de Berry to find 
 himself brought by means of this kind into close 
 relations of kindred with a crowd of princes in the 
 lowermost ranks of sovereignty. 
 
 The chief object of Russia in marrying her prin¬ 
 cesses as she has done has been to secure pretexts 
 and means for intervention in the affairs of 
 Europe, to which she was almost unknown a century 
 a^o. The effects of her intervention have made 
 the danger of her influence sufficiently evident. ( 4 ) 
 How greatly would that influence be increased if 
 a Russian princess were called to ascend the throne 
 of France! 
 
 A family alliance is not, I am aware, a political 
 alliance, and the one does not necessarily bring 
 about the other. The projected marriage would 
 certainly not make France favour the ambitious 
 views and the revolutionary ideas of which the 
 Emperor Alexander is full, and which he seeks 
 to disguise under the specious name of liberal ideas ; 
 but how are we to prevent foreign Powers from 
 
-86 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 being of a different opinion, and conceiving mistrust 
 of us ? How are we to prevent the ties between 
 ourselves and them from being weakened in con¬ 
 sequence, or their being deterred from forming any ; 
 and Russia from availing herself of all this for the 
 accomplishment of her purposes ? 
 
 Such, Sire, are the objections to which the 
 marriage of the Due de Berry with the Grand- 
 Duchess Anne appears to me to be open. I was 
 bound to lay them unreservedly before your Majesty, 
 but I have not exaggerated them. Your Majesty’s 
 wisdom will judge whether they have all the weight 
 with which I invest them. 
 
 I must add that it appears to me the greatness 
 of the House of Bourbon would be most fittingly 
 displayed, especially at this time, when all its 
 branches, buffeted by the same tempest, have been 
 simultaneously raised up again, by seeking the means 
 of perpetuating itself in its own Dosom only. I hear 
 a young princess of Sicily, the daughter of the Prince 
 Royal, very highly praised. Portugal, Tuscany, and 
 Saxony offer princesses, among whom your Majesty 
 might make a choice. I have the honour to subjoin 
 a list of them. 
 
 If the negotiation for the marriage with the 
 Grand-Duchess should be broken off in consequence 
 of the impossibility of arranging the religious diffi- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 287 
 
 culty, or if your Majesty should think fit to relinquish 
 it, I would entreat your Majesty to be pleased so to 
 manage matters that the affair shall not be irre¬ 
 vocably decided until we have brought the others 
 with which we are occupied here to a conclusion ; 
 for if the Emperor Alexander has shown us so little 
 good will, notwithstanding the hope of such a 
 marriage for his sister, that hope being so flattering 
 to himself, what might we not expect from him 
 if he had lost it ? 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XLVI. 
 
 (0 “ The Due de Berry asked me whether you spoke to me 
 of his marriage; he let me see that he is annoyed by the papist 
 and Roman rigidity of the King. 5 ’—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 29th 
 October, 1814. 
 
 (2) “ I gave a dinner yesterday, among others to M. Butiakine, 
 the Russian charge d'affaires . . . . We talked about the marriage, 
 which I suppose you discuss with the King, and of which the 
 Due de Berry speaks to me every day, while I, not knowing what 
 to say, do not say a word. Marry him, however, to some one 
 or other, for that is just now his idee fixe , and nothing can turn 
 him from it. M. Butiakine spoke to me of the extreme facility 
 with which the princess might be brought to perfect submission 
 to the Roman Church, but said that it was indispensable to the 
 dignity due to her rank that she should have a chapel, or the 
 equivalent of one, at least in her apartment .”—Jaucourt to Talley¬ 
 rand, 22nd November, 1815. 
 
 (3) The Emperor Paul had six daughters: 1. Olga, died 
 
288 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 young; 2. Alexandra, wife of the Archduke Joseph, died in 
 1801; 3. Helena, wife of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 
 died in 1803 ; 4. Mary, Grand-Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, died in 
 1 859 ; 5. Catharine; 6. Anne. 
 
 (4) “ From thenceforth (1806-1807) M. de Talleyrand felt great 
 alarm at the importance which Russia might assume in Europe; 
 he constantly urged that an independent Power should be set up 
 between us and the Russians, and he was in favour, with this 
 view, of the ardent though vague desires of the Poles. ‘ It is 
 the kingdom of Poland/ he always said, ‘ which ought to be 
 created; there is the real bulwark of our independence; but it 
 must not be done by halves.’ ”—Memoires de Madame de Remusat, 
 tom. iii. p. 90. 
 
 
 LETTER XLVII. 
 
 SUBJOINED TO NO. 24 (a). 
 
 A ust via. 
 
 Archduchess Leopoldine, born 22nd January, 
 1797; Archduchess Marie Clementine, born 1st 
 March, 1798.O 
 
 Ties cany. 
 
 Archduchess Marie Louise, born 30th August, 
 
 1798.O 
 
 Saxony . 
 
 Princess Marie Amelie, born 17th August, 1794 * 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 289 
 
 Princess Maria Ferdinancla, born 27th April, 1796 
 (daughters of Prince Maximilian).( 3 ) 
 
 Portugal. 
 
 Princess Maria Teresa, born 29th April, 1793 
 (widow of Pedro Carlos, Infante of Spain) ; Princess 
 Isabella, born 9th May, 1797 ; Princess Maria 
 PTancisca, born 22nd April, i8oo,( 4 ) 
 
 Savoy-Carignan. 
 
 Princess Maria Elizabeth, born 19th April, 1800 
 (sister of the prince).( 5 ) 
 
 Two Sicilies. 
 
 Princess Maria Caroline, born 5th March, 1798 
 (daughter of the hereditary Prince).( 6 ) 
 
 There are no other unmarried Catholic princesses 
 over fourteen and under twenty-five years of age. 
 
 NOTES TO THE ABOVE LIST. 
 
 (1) Both daughters of Francis II., Emperor of Austria, and 
 his second wife, and, consequently, sisters of the Empress Marie 
 Louise. The Archduchess Leopoldine married the Emperor of 
 Brazil, Don Pedro I., and died in 1826 ; she was mother of Doha 
 Maria II., Queen of Portugal, of Don Pedro II., of the Countess 
 d’Aquila (Two Sicilies), and of the Princess de Joinville. The 
 Archduchess Marie Clementine was married 28th July, 1816, to 
 the Prince of Salerno (Two Sicilies); she became a widow in 
 1851. Her daughter married the Due d’Aumale. 
 
 (2) Daughter of the Archduke Ferdinand (1769-1824), succes- 
 
290 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sively Grand-Duke of Tuscany (1790), of Salzburg (1813), and 
 of Wurzburg (1806), and again Grand-Duke of Tuscany (18/4). 
 She did not marry, and died in 1852. 
 
 (3) Both daughters of Prince Maximilian (who died in 1838), 
 father of Augustus III. and Anthony, successively Kings of 
 Saxony, and of a Princess of Parma, and aunts of the present 
 King of Saxony. The first did not marry; she died in 1870. 
 The second married, in 1821, Ferdinand, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, 
 and died in 1865. 
 
 (4) All three daughters of Juan II., King of Portugal (1816- 
 1826). Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira, was the widow of the 
 Infante Pedro Carlos from 1812 ; on the 2nd of February, 1833, 
 she married the Infante Don Carlos, the chief of the Carlists, and 
 widower of her second sister. 
 
 Isabella was the second wife of Ferdinand VII., King of 
 Spain, and died in 1834 ; she was mother of the future Conde de 
 Montemolin and of the Infante Don Juan, and grandmother of the 
 present Duke of Madrid. 
 
 (5) The prince to whom Talleyrand alludes here was Charles 
 Albert, father of Victor Emanuel II., and afterwards King of 
 Sardinia. His sister Marie Elizabeth married, in 1820, Regnier, 
 Archduke of Austria, Viceroy of the Lombardo-Venetian king¬ 
 dom, and died in 1856. His daughter, the Archduchess Marie 
 Adelaide, married Victor Emanuel II., and was mother of Hum¬ 
 bert I., the present King of Italy; of Amadeo I., ex-King of 
 Spain; of the Princess Clotilda Napoleon Bonaparte; and of the 
 present Queen of Portugal, Maria Pia, wife of Dom Louis I. 
 
 (6) Carolina Ferdinanda Louisa, daughter of Francis I., King 
 of the Two Sicilies, and of an Archduchess of Austria, grand¬ 
 daughter of King Ferdinand I., married the Due de Berry in 
 1806, became a widow in 1820. The children of the marriage 
 were Mademoiselle, afterwards Duchess of Parma (1809-1864), 
 and the Due de Bordeaux (Comte de Chambord), the present head 
 of the elder branch of the Bourbons. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 2y I 
 
 Of the eleven princesses whom Prince Talleyrand destined 
 for the Due de Berry, the only one now living is the Archduchess, 
 widow of Leopold, Prince of Salerno. 
 
 LETTER XLVIII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 28th January, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 22. Long before 
 this reaches you, you will have seen the Duke of 
 Wellington, the selection of whom to replace Lord 
 Castlereagh has been very agreeable to me. I saw 
 him before his departure; I could not have been 
 better pleased with him, and I think he has gone 
 away not ill satisfied with me.^ 1 ) The Duke also has 
 a character to sustain, that, not of a king-maker, but 
 of a king-restorer , which is better. ( 2 ) Besides, he is 
 not committed by the acts of his predecessor, for 
 while walking in his footsteps he has, so to speak, 
 the choice between two extremes. I do not know 
 exactly what is the total population of Saxony. I 
 think the King ought to consent to a reduction of 
 fifteen hundred thousand; but if it be proposed 
 
292 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to diminish the number still more, bear in mind 
 what I wrote to you lately. 
 
 Count Jules de Polignac ( 3 ) arrived here on 
 Sunday. His report, which agrees with those I had 
 previously received from various sources, describes 
 Italy as in a state of ferment, and the existence of 
 Murat as very dangerous. I have reason to believe 
 that England would enter into a compact to secure a 
 pecuniary provision for this man on his relinquishing 
 his pretended throne. I would gladly lend myself 
 to a measure of the kind, provided it be agreed at 
 the same time that, if he prove obstinate, force shall 
 do that which negotiation has failed to effect. 
 
 The sorrowful and consoling ceremony of Satur¬ 
 day passed off very well. I charge you to express 
 my feelings to the Sovereigns who took part in the 
 solemnization at St. Stephen’s, and in particular to 
 say to the Empress of Austria how deeply I am 
 affected by her wish to attend, and by the regret 
 which she has been good enough to express to me 
 on this occasion. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 P.S.—General Ricard has arrived, and will be at 
 Vienna shortly after this letter. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS xYIil. 293 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XLVIII. 
 
 (1) “The Duke of Wellington starts for Vienna to-morrow 
 evening. He had a private audience of the King at half-past 
 eleven this morning. In this audience the King was very gracious 
 to the Duke, and even treated him, it seems to me, with some 
 cajolerie. The King expressed his intentions, principles, and 
 sentiments very strongly. The Duke of Wellington responded 
 to the King’s overtures with a respectful friendliness, but never¬ 
 theless maintained the strictest reserve. ‘ Fate destines you/ the 
 King said to him, ‘to bring the greatest affairs to a termina¬ 
 tion, when it does not charge you with them throughout. You 
 know my intentions; I shall never depart from them. They are 
 —to restore his crown and his States to the King of Saxony; to 
 drive out Murat, and form a ministry which shall guarantee peace. 
 This is what I want to do. For these ends Prince Talleyrand has 
 zealously worked; he will work still better in concert with you.’ ” 
 —Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 25th January, 1815. 
 
 (2) No doubt an allusion to the Earl of Warwick, called 
 “the King-Maker,” who was killed at the battle of Barnet (1471) 
 in the Wars of the Roses. 
 
 (3) Jaucourt wrote to Talleyrand on the 19th of December, 
 1814: “This is the history of M. de Polignac’s journey. Some 
 days ago he came to ask me whether, before going to Munich, he 
 might not have a month’s leave of absence. . . . 
 
 “ I promised him that I would ask the King’s pleasure. He 
 then told me that his purpose was to go to Rome. I talked with 
 him, and found that he knew all about the affairs of the Con¬ 
 cordat as well as I did; it was not difficult for me to perceive that 
 he was being sent, by whom, and with what intention. Then I 
 came to the conclusion that the best means of regulating his 
 conduct and fixing his ideas, was to put him in thorough 
 relations with us.” 
 
294 
 
 Unpublished correspondence of 
 
 LETTER XLIX. 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 Vienna, 1st February, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The audience given to Lord Castlereagh 
 by the Emperor has had no effect, beyond making 
 the former say that the Emperor appeared to him 
 to be full of loyalty and candour. Otherwise, Lord 
 Castlereagh remained unshaken in his opinion that 
 Prussia must be great and powerful, and that a large 
 portion of Saxony, and the fortress of Torgau in 
 particular, should be given to her.Q I wanted to 
 save Torgau, and the Austrians were of the same 
 mind at first, but they finally relinquished it, ac¬ 
 cording to their usual custom. In consequence, 
 neither one nor the other of the two plans which 
 I have had the honour to lay before your Majesty 
 has been adopted. A third has been formed, and 
 according to it a population of seven hundred and 
 eighty-two thousand Saxons is given over to Russia. 
 This plan of the Austrians has been drafted and 
 sent to the Prussians, who have taken it ad re¬ 
 ferendum ; they have not yet replied to it. 
 
 We had announced from the first our consent 
 that from four to five hundred thousand souls should 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 295 
 
 be taken from Saxony. Lord Castlereagh, after 
 having abandoned Saxony, and just because he had 
 abandoned it, obstinately required that a million 
 should be taken. Although I was very ill supported 
 by the Austrians, I have succeeded in obtaining very 
 nearly the middle term between those two numbers, 
 and I am still astonished at my success. The 
 Saxon Minister, who is here, had drawn up a table 
 of those portions of the kingdom that might not 
 be considered absolutely essential to its existence. 
 The population of these portions amounted to seven 
 hundred and fifty thousand souls. The new project 
 cedes only thirty-two thousand more than that 
 number, and of the portion ceded certain parts 
 would revert, by exchanges, to the ducal houses of 
 Saxony. 
 
 The Prussians are said to be little disposed 
 to be content with what is offered to them, or 
 else to be feigning discontent. It is not only 
 a question of territory with them, it is also one of 
 amour propre . After having demanded the whole 
 of Saxony, and that quite recently; after having 
 occupied it; after all the Powers with the exception 
 of France had abandoned it to them; after having 
 so many times declared that they would never 
 renounce it, it must be painful to them to forego 
 their claim to two-thirds of that kingdom. But 
 
296 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 they will not make a struggle without the co-opera¬ 
 tion of Russia, and the Emperor Alexander, who has 
 got what he wanted in Poland, and whose interest 
 in the matter is solely one of amour propre , will, ac¬ 
 cording to all appearance, advise the Prussians to 
 accept the proposals that are made to them, and 
 there is reason to believe that they will be accepted 
 with very few changes. 
 
 Never did the fate of a country appear to be 
 more irrevocably fixed than that of Saxony, at the 
 moment of our arrival here. Prussia demanded 
 the whole of it for herself, and Russia demanded 
 it for Prussia. Lord Castlereagh had completely 
 abandoned it, and so had Austria, with the exception 
 of certain frontier arrangements. Your Majesty 
 undertook singly the defence of the King and the 
 kingdom of Saxony; your Majesty only has sus¬ 
 tained principles. Your Majesty had to win a 
 triumph over passions of every kind, over the spirit 
 of coalition which existed in all its strength, and, 
 perhaps a more difficult task, over the amour 
 propre of all the Great Powers, who had so far 
 committed themselves by their pretensions, their 
 declarations, and their concessions, that it appeared 
 as though they could not retreat from the position 
 they had assumed without disgrace. Your Majesty’s 
 noble resistance to an almost consummated injustice 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 297 
 
 has gloriously vanquished all these obstacles; and 
 not only has it achieved that triumph, but the 
 coalition has been dissolved, and your Majesty has 
 entered into an agreement with two of the greatest 
 of the Powers, which will probably save Europe ( 2 ) 
 from the dangers with which it is threatened by 
 certain States. ( 3 ) 
 
 The kingdom of Saxony, which was a third- 
 rate Power, will continue to hold that rank. Its 
 population, added to that of the ducal possessions, 
 and to that of the Houses of Reuss and Schwarz- 
 burg, which are inside the bounds of the kingdom, 
 will form a compact body of two millions of in¬ 
 habitants interposed between Prussia and Austria 
 and between Prussia and Bavaria. 
 
 The affair of Saxony being terminated, I shall 
 devote myself entirely to that of Naples, and I will 
 bring to it all the energy and skill of which I am 
 capable. England will not oppose us in this in¬ 
 stance, but she will not serve us openly and in 
 a decided way, because she has again committed 
 herself in the matter, as your Majesty will see by 
 the document which I have the honour to send 
 herewith. Lord Castlereagh has received instruc¬ 
 tions from his Government with respect to this, 
 given in the sense that I have just indicated. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh will remain here with the 
 
298 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Duke of Wellington for a week only. 1 am con¬ 
 vinced, by despatches received from his Court, 
 which he has shown me, that his partiality for 
 Prussia, and his tenacity on the Saxon question, are 
 to be imputed to Lord Liverpool as much as to him¬ 
 self. Lord Bathurst tells him that he must be liberal 
 towards Prussia, and that, after having advanced 
 so far with respect to Saxony, the honour of the 
 British Government would be compromised by a too 
 retrograde step. For the rest, the treaty which he 
 has concluded is entirely approved, and he is in¬ 
 formed that the ratifications are to be sent out 
 immediately. 
 
 He dwelt upon his desire to see the best under¬ 
 standing established between France and England. 
 He does not delude himself to the point of believing 
 that the result of the arrangements which shall be 
 made here can be a peace of long duration ; he 
 only desires that war should not break out for two 
 years to come. Then, if it must take place, he 
 would wish France, England, and Austria to be 
 united ; and as he thinks it necessary that all should 
 be in readiness, and that we should concert measures 
 beforehand, he proposes to maintain a direct corre¬ 
 spondence with me. But he looks upon a change 
 of ministry in Austria, where the ministry is very 
 weak, to say the least of it, as desirable.( 4 ) 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 299 
 
 I am, generally speaking, satisfied with the dis¬ 
 position he has manifested. 
 
 He proposes to solicit an audience of your 
 Majesty on his way through Paris. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XLIX. 
 
 r 
 
 (1) Torgau was, in fact, given to the kingdom of Prussia. 
 
 (2) A secret treaty of defensive alliance, concluded at Vienna, 
 between Austria, Great Britain, and France, against Russia and 
 Prussia, 3rd January, 1815 (see D’Angeberg, p. 589). 
 
 (3) “ I am quite convinced of all that you have the goodness 
 to tell me respecting the principles that govern the Cabinet of 
 France and the success which will attend them. The very dan¬ 
 gerous design of drawing back our frontiers, binding ourselves to 
 Russia, sacrificing Saxony, and making matters up with Murat 
 was probably a preparation for fresh adventures. 
 
 “ If, as I think, you have founded peace; if you have restored 
 Europe to a spirit of conservatism and wisdom; and if to that, 
 Prince, you enable us to unite those principles that the Revolution 
 laid down, and which must either remain for the welfare of nations, 
 or bring about fresh revolutions if they be attacked, I believe your 
 life will be the greatest and the most illustrious of your epoch.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 8th February, 1815. 
 
 (4) “ Persons well acquainted with Viennese politics have told 
 me that everybody is tired of M. de Metternich, and want to have 
 him replaced by M. de Stadion; that you are co-operating in this ; 
 and that the change would expedite affairs which are delayed by his 
 indecision and frivolity.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 28th December, 
 1814. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 300 
 
 LETTER L. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 21. 
 
 Paris, 4th February, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your Nos. 23 and 24. I 
 did not answer the first immediately, as it did not 
 deal with official matters, but I was none the less 
 gratified and affected by its contents. Neither St. 
 Denis nor any of the churches of Paris, except that 
 of St. Thomas Aquinas, where the preacher simply 
 read out the will of the Martyr King, re-echoed 
 to a discourse at all worthy of comparison with that 
 which was delivered at St. Stephen’s in Vienna, 
 and I desire that you will make my compliments 
 upon it to the author. I was also much pleased 
 with the extract by M. de Gentz, and had it im¬ 
 mediately inserted in the Moniteur.( l ) I have given 
 Count de Jaucourt the necessary orders on the 
 subject of the marks of approbation which you wish 
 to have bestowed upon the artists engaged in the 
 ceremony of the 21st. 
 
 The cession of Erfiirth to Prussia affects me 
 little, but I should regret to see the fortifications 
 of Dresden razed, especially if Torgau be left to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 301 
 
 the King of Prussia.( 2 ) I wish the Emperor Francis 
 had given the preference to the first plan, and had 
 got Lord Castlereagh to adopt it; but he is no 
 longer at Vienna. You know how pressing the 
 Duke of Wellington has been about the abolition 
 of the slave-trade; you will very soon be made 
 acquainted with the report on St. Domingo, made 
 to me on Monday at the Council by Count 
 Beugnot.( 3 ) I confess that I begin to reconcile myself 
 with the idea of the advantages that may ensue 
 from the almost instantaneous relinquishment of a 
 traffic which it seems to me very difficult to main¬ 
 tain beyond the epoch fixed by the treaty. 
 
 Marshal Soult has written to you on the subject 
 of Bouillon. ( 4 ) The matter is one of protection 
 and not of possession, and for that reason it is 
 important that the duchy should belong to Prince 
 de Rohan, who besides has right on his side a 
 hundredfold, notwithstanding the English patronage. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 / 
 
 P.S.—Your ideas on the marriage are identical 
 with my own. I shall await the coming of General 
 Pozzo di Borgo, and not hasten anything. ( 5 ) 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 302 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER L. 
 
 (1) See the Moniteur of the 2nd February, 1815. 
 
 (2) “The positions on the Elbe were of more importance 
 than the extent of the soil. One was hotly contested—that of 
 Torgau. It was a grave matter, after having given up Wittenberg, 
 to give up Torgau, which, according to the well-known opinion of 
 Napoleon, and one which he had himself acted upon, had become 
 the principal fortress of the Upper Elbe. Prince Schwarr.enberg 
 and M. de Talleyrand wanted to resist, but as they were deserted 
 by Lord Castlereagh, they were constrained to yield.”—Thiers, 
 “ Histoire du Consulat et de TEmpire,” tom. xviii. p. 590. 
 
 (3) In 1664 France had occupied the western part of the 
 island of St. Domingo. A terrible insurrection broke out in 
 1791. Spain ceded the eastern part of the island to France by 
 the Treaty of Basle. The First Consul sent General Leclerc 
 (his brother-in-law) to Hayti; he captured Toussaint Louverture, 
 but died of yellow fever. The French were completely expelled 
 in 1809, but France did not recognize the Republic of Hayti 
 until 1825. An indemnity was then stipulated for by the French 
 Government 
 
 (4) According to the Treaty of Paris, which replaced France 
 within the boundaries of 1792, the canton of. Bouillon, acquired 
 in 1792, could no longer be considered as belonging to France. 
 Admiral Philippe d’Auvergne disputed the right over Bouillon 
 with Prince de Rohan Guemene. A prolonged arbitration 
 assigned it to the latter on the 1st of July, 1816. He required 
 an indemnity from the King of the Netherlands, who incorporated 
 the duchy with his States (see D’Arenberg, p. 1206). 
 
 (5) “ The letter (private) to the King has remained in his 
 heart , for the Due de Berry said to me yesterday, ‘ Does Prince 
 
 T- not speak to you of it ? ’ ‘ Provided he speaks of it to 
 
 the King, Monseigneur,’ I replied, ‘that is all that is necessary,* 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 303 
 
 ‘Tell me only whether there is a breaking-off with Russia.’ 
 ‘Monseigneur, at the distance at which things are placed, no 
 one wishes to take another step.’ ‘ Come, come,’ said he, ‘ write 
 to Prince Talleyrand that a line must be taken.’”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 4th February, 1815. 
 
 LETTER LI. 
 
 No. 26. 
 
 Vienna, 8th February, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Duke of Wellington arrived here on 
 the evening of the ist. At ten o’clock the next 
 morning the Emperor of Russia went to see him, 
 and began by saying, “ Things are going on very 
 badly in France, are they not ? ” Q “By no 
 means,” replied the Duke. “ The King is much 
 loved and respected, and behaves with admirable 
 circumspection.” “You could have told me nothing,” 
 rejoined the Emperor, “ which could have given 
 me so much pleasure. And the army?” “For 
 foreign wars, against any Power in the world,” said 
 Wellington, “ the army is as good as ever it was; 
 
304 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 but in questions of internal policy it would pro¬ 
 bably be worthless.” From what Prince Adam told 
 me, these replies struck the Emperor more than 
 he allowed to appear. They certainly influenced 
 the decision which he was anxious to make on the 
 affairs of Saxony, which, on the arrival of Welling¬ 
 ton, were still in much uncertainty. They may now 
 be considered as settled. 
 
 It is not only to the Emperor of Russia that 
 the Duke of Wellington sounds your Majesty’s 
 praises. He repeats them in every direction, not 
 alone in general terms, but entering into details, 
 quoting facts, and thus adding to the great estima¬ 
 tion in which your Majesty’s character is held here. 
 He treated the affair of St. Roch as a trifle.( 2 ) The 
 German newspapers had much exaggerated its im¬ 
 portance. He owns that everything in France is 
 not exactly as he would have it, but he adds that 
 all will come right in time. According to him, the 
 thing wanted above all others is a ministry. “ There 
 are,” he says, “ ministers, but no ministry.” ( 3 ) 
 
 The conclusions that we may draw from his 
 language are, that as the army cannot yet be relied 
 on in questions of home policy, every care must be 
 taken not to raise questions in which the army 
 would have to take part, and, with regard to any 
 remaining agitation in the public mind, we should 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 305 
 
 be neither astonished nor annoyed by it. Too 
 sudden a conversion would be suspicious. I myself 
 gave utterance to this observation, and its justness 
 was acknowledged by every one. 
 
 On Saturday last I gave a great dinner to the 
 Duke of Wellington. All the members of the 
 Congress were present. I was glad that he should 
 be introduced to them through the medium of the 
 French Legation. 
 
 The Austrian proposal, which I had the honour 
 of mentioning to your Majesty in my last letter, 
 did not satisfy the Prussians. They wanted more : 
 especially Leipsic. The King of Prussia, in an 
 audience he granted to Lord Castlereagh, expressed 
 himself with much warmth, declaring that, after 
 having had Saxony given to him, and having 
 occupied it with his troops, it was making him play 
 a sorry part to allow him to keep only a portion 
 of the country; that he had conquered Leipsic, and 
 that, after the battle, all the Allies had considered 
 the town as belonging to him, and had congratulated 
 him thereupon. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, always convinced that Prussia 
 ought to be strong, and wishing above all things 
 to avoid war (the Duke of Wellington himself 
 believes that England could not make war at the 
 present moment, and that France alone is in a 
 
305 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 position to do so), maintained that in order to calm 
 down Prussia it was necessary to give her something 
 more. 
 
 To increase the share awarded to them, a hun¬ 
 dred thousand souls have been taken from Holland 
 and fifty thousand from Hanover. Fulda has been 
 added to it. The Emperor of Russia, to do him 
 justice,-wished also to contribute to this settlement, 
 and Restored Thorn to Prussia, so that the affair 
 may be considered as arranged, although it is not 
 finally settled. 
 
 Saxony will be reduced to less than one million 
 five hundred thousand souls ; but, besides this popu¬ 
 lation, that of the duchies of Saxony and the States 
 of Schwarzburg and Reuss must be counted ; they 
 are enclosed within the kingdom, and, if it had been 
 Prussia instead of Saxony, would doubtless have 
 been acknowledged as belonging to her in fact. 
 But if our consent had been withheld to the reduc¬ 
 tion of Saxony to less than one million five hundred 
 thousand souls, we must have formally protested. 
 By protesting, the principle of legitimacy,( 4 ) which 
 it was so important to preserve, and which we have 
 preserved as if by a miracle, would have been com¬ 
 promised ; we should in reality have given to Prussia 
 two millions of subjects, which she could not have 
 acquired without danger to Bohemia and Bavaria; 
 
FRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. Z°7 
 
 and the captivity of the King, who will now be 
 at liberty, would have been indefinitely prolonged. 
 (I asked Prince Hardenberg to allow the King 
 to repair to Austria, and that orders might be 
 immediately issued to this effect. He consented, 
 and gave me his word that it should be so. The 
 necessary order will be despatched to-morrow to 
 Berlin, and the King may leave at once.) Although 
 we have not succeeded in obtaining all we wanted 
 for Saxony, she will remain a third-rate Power. If 
 it be an evil that she has not a few hundred thousand 
 more subjects, it is a comparatively slight one, and 
 one which is possibly not irremediable; while if 
 Saxony had been sacrificed in the presence of 
 Europe unwilling or unable to save her, the evil 
 would have been extreme and fraught with most 
 dangerous consequences. The important thing, 
 therefore, was to save her, and the glory of having 
 done so belongs solely to your Majesty. There is 
 no one who does not feel and say this; and we have 
 obtained our object without quarrelling with any¬ 
 body, and it has even been the means of giving us 
 supporters in the Naples affair. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh, whom I told, in order to flatter 
 him, that I had been honoured by your Majesty’s 
 command to express your Majesty’s desire to see 
 him as he passed through Paris, has thereby been 
 
308 unpublished correspondence of 
 
 determined to take that route. He had at first in¬ 
 tended to go by Holland. Lady Castlereagh hopes 
 that she may be permitted to see the Duchess 
 of Angouleme. They will not be able to stay more 
 than twenty-four hours in Paris. Their intention is 
 to start on Monday, the 13th, but not without Lord 
 Castlereagh’s having made some overtures with 
 regard to the Naples affair that I think it would be 
 advisable to have made by him. The Duke of 
 Wellington is sound upon this question. I hope 
 that we shall also have Russia and Prussia on our 
 side. Nevertheless I foresee more than one kind of 
 obstacle, and I will strain every nerve to overcome 
 them. 
 
 It would complicate and spoil this affair to mix 
 it up with that of Bernadotte, which is of a totally 
 different character. 
 
 Bernadotte did not succeed in Sweden by 
 conquest, but by the adoption of the reigning 
 sovereign and the consent of the country. He is not 
 a king, but only an heir-presumptive. He cannot 
 be attacked without attacking the King who adopted 
 him, a King whose legitimacy is acknowledged even 
 by the man ( 5 ) whom he has displaced, and whom 
 your Majesty has also recognized, having made 
 peace directly with him. As long as the King 
 lives, Bernadotte has only eventual rights, which 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 3 09 
 
 relatively to Europe are the same as non-existent, 
 and consequently any dispute concerning them is 
 in no way the business of Europe or of the Con¬ 
 gress. It is undoubtedly an evil, a very great 
 evil, that that man should have been called upon 
 to succeed to the throne of Sweden. But it is an 
 evil which, if ever it can be remedied at all, can 
 only be remedied by time and the events that time 
 will bring. 
 
 War, which is desired by no one, which probably 
 scarcely any Power is in a position to make, will 
 most probably not take place,. There will there¬ 
 fore be no need to ask Sweden for her alliance, nor 
 for Sweden to ask us for a guarantee, which your 
 Majesty would shrink from granting. 
 
 General Ricard has arrived, but I now hope 
 that his journey will prove unnecessary. 
 
 General Pozzo’s departure will not take place 
 yet. I have even asked him to take no step to 
 hasten it; he is of use to me as a medium of 
 communication with the Emperor of Russia. 
 
 I hear that the King of Sweden is to go to 
 Presburg, and to stay there until the conclusion of 
 negotiations. 
 
 In a conference held to-day the affairs of the 
 blacks were. settled. Spain and Portugal will 
 definitely give up the slave-trade in eight years. 
 
3io 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 For these two countries eight years are a much 
 shorter time than five years were for us, taking into 
 consideration the enormous difference in the re¬ 
 spective possessions, and, above all, in the progress 
 of intelligence. We have yielded nothing, and yet 
 the English are satisfied with us. Lord Castlereagh 
 thanked me in the public conference for the assist¬ 
 ance I had rendered to him. Another conference 
 took place to-night, in which the Prussians replied to 
 the proposals which have been made to them. The 
 substance of their answer is that they accept. They 
 will get neither Luxembourg nor Mayence.( 6 ) Your 
 Majesty’s instructions were that they were not to 
 obtain the latter; they will not have Luxembourg 
 either. 
 
 The next few days will be employed in drawing 
 up and signing the articles included in the protocol 
 concerning the arrangements agreed on for Poland, 
 Prussia, and Saxony. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LI. 
 
 (i) “During the last few days I have seen the Abb£ de Mon- 
 tesquiou and M. d’Andr£. Neither of them appeared to me to 
 be satisfied with the progress which affairs are making, or with 
 their present position. There is a general cause for this in the 
 divergence of opinions. The great, the very great majority of 
 the nation wishes to be guided by a constitutional charter, i.e. to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 311 
 
 adopt the ideas, opinions, modes of looking and judging, which 
 the advance of intelligence has for nearly a century gradually 
 introduced in Europe, especially in France, but which in our 
 country are the results of twenty-five long years of calamity and 
 bloody experience. In opposition to this immense majority is a 
 party feeble in point of numbers, but strong by virtue of the influ¬ 
 ence, the power, the places to be given away, and the confidence 
 of the sovereign—the ancient nobility—which is always preaching 
 the return to the old monarchy, to its abuses, its customs, its 
 fundamental prejudices. This party is gradually taking possession 
 of the important posts in the administration, and giving the 
 inferior places to its adherents, endeavouring by these means to 
 propagate its opinions. The daily dismissal of the men whom 
 I call, but in the most honourable sense of the term, the men of 
 the Revolution estranges those who have been sent away, disturbs 
 those who have not yet been dismissed, and alarms everybody. 
 Add to this that the majority of the new placemen are totally 
 unversed in administration, so that their ignorance reacts upon 
 the general progress of affairs, while their counsels influence the 
 opinions of those over whom they are set. Here is the real evil. 
 The struggle can have, however, no doubtful issue : it is clear 
 that the majority will cany the day; but if the majority has power 
 as well as firmness, it is clear that there will be a fight for it, and 
 who can say what this may lead to? This state of affairs, and 
 some tidings which are said to have come from Italy, and which 
 have been spread abroad during the last few days, have revived the 
 hopes of the Bonaparte faction. Savary, who came to see me 
 three days ago, said to me with an air of extraordinary conviction, 
 ‘ We shall see Bonaparte again , and it will be entirely their fault’ 
 (speaking of the Bourbons). I tried to disabuse him, to prove to 
 him that he was wrong in entertaining the slightest hopes of the 
 return of any member of that family, which is so justly detested 
 by the French, and, indeed, by the whole of Europe. I saw that 
 my efforts did not succeed in persuading him. I feel that Daru 
 
3 1 2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and Maret agree with him. The latter is kept accurately informed 
 as to all that is going on by little Monnier, formerly his private 
 secretary, whom some unknown fatality has placed at the side of 
 M. d’Andre, and who is considerably trusted by him. I am assured 
 that M. d’Andre is beginning to find out that his surroundings are 
 bad, and that he says so. But why, then, does he hesitate to get 
 rid of those who embarrass him and do him harm ? 
 
 “ Another cause which seems unimportant, but the effects of 
 which are daily and keenly felt because it concerns the vanity of 
 the nation, is the sort of humiliating position in which the Go¬ 
 vernment places us with regard to foreigners. The English and 
 Spanish newspapers are filled with gross insults to us. We are 
 forbidden to reply : we are forbidden to insert in a French news¬ 
 paper a single word against England or Spain. From a tragedy 
 written and acted in 1769, this line has been suppressed— 
 
 ‘ In all times England has been fruitful in crime.’ 
 
 What happens when this tragedy is performed? The line is 
 recited by the whole pit. We ask each other with reason if the 
 Comte de la Chatre would dare to ask in London for the sup¬ 
 pression of a single line of Shakespeare; and if even he did 
 venture, whether the Government would accede to his request. 
 All this increases the exasperation against the English, and those 
 who came to Paris, or who still are in Paris, must often have been 
 aware of it. Of course, it would be much more proper if neither 
 party insulted the other. But as we are a mark for all the most 
 offensive things which hatred can inspire in our neighbours, let us 
 at least be permitted to answer them. 
 
 “ It is round you that all the partisans of the charter and of 
 what I still call liberal ideas (although the term has been so much 
 abused) rally. Your position at Vienna has magnified you in the 
 eyes of the public, and your long absence has made your presence 
 all the more eagerly desired. Believe me, there is not a shade of 
 flattery in all this.”—D’Hauterive to Talleyrand, 14th February, 
 1815. 
 
rRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 313 
 
 (2) “ We are far from doing things as well and as vigorously 
 as you do at Vienna. The funeral of poor Mademoiselle Raucourt 
 was a mischievous and ridiculous misadventure. That cure of 
 St. Rocli has the misfortune of always giving trouble. The King 
 was asked what he thought would be proper. He replied with 
 his usual perfect good sense and judgment, ‘ I do not in the least 
 object to Mademoiselle Raucourt’s body being received in the 
 church, but I will not give any orders to the clergy.’ Neither the 
 officials, nor the Ministry for Public Worship, nor the friends Of 
 Mademoiselle Raucourt warned D’Andrd, and D’Andre accordingly 
 expected the ceremony would not take place until the following 
 day, and that he would have due notice of it. Neither Maison, 
 nor Grundeler, nor any other authorities were informed. The 
 body was, notwithstanding, on its way to the cemetery, when 
 about twenty people turned it back. When it reached St. Roch, 
 the procession was ordered to pass on by half a dozen gendarmes 
 sent by the police. But at the Rue de PEchelle, four or five 
 hundred people assembled, brought it back, and, finding the 
 principal door shut, took it in by a side door. No impiety or 
 scandal was committed ; the police officer only went to the cure. 
 The cure had already sent to M. de l’Espinasse, who, like the cure', 
 thought that nothing ought to be conceded to an old grand 
 vicaire. The police officer easily proved the danger of this reso¬ 
 lution, and the cure allowed them to have a priest, four acolytes, 
 an ophicleide, and the officer put on a blue scarf, got up on a 
 chair, and announced that they were going to sing or say (I 
 forget which) the absolution and the De profundis. When the 
 officer showed himself, the church resounded with cries of 4 Vive 
 le Roi! ’ The priest got over the business as quickly as possible ; 
 the funeral procession started again, and all was finished. But 
 they say that the cure had considered Mademoiselle Raucourt a 
 sufficiently good Catholic to accept from her the pain binit* 
 
 * Which was distributed in the Parisian churches on Sundays.— Trans¬ 
 lator. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 34 
 
 last month, and a purse containing three or four hundred francs 
 for charitable purposes.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 20th January, 
 1815. 
 
 (3) “If we make haste, if at length we manage to understand 
 the position of a ministry in a representative Government, we 
 may gain sufficient time to allow you to come back. But we 
 really are going on very badly, and we must do better if we do 
 not wish to perish utterly.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 25th January, 
 
 815. 
 
 (4) The word “ legitimacy ” is, in this sense, a creation of 
 Talleyrand himself, who meant to express by it dynastic right as 
 opposed to the right of conquest. (See Thiers, “ History of the 
 Consulate and the Empire,” tom. xviii. p. 5.) 
 
 (5) Gustavus IV. 
 
 (6) Luxembourg and Mayence were federal fortresses, but the 
 one belonged to the King of the Low Countries as Grand-Duke 
 of Luxembourg, and the other to the duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. 
 
 
 LETTER LIE 
 
 THE KING TO THE PRINCE DE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 22. 
 
 nth February, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your despatch No. 25. 
 Lord Castlereagh s praise of the Emperor of Austria 
 would be flattering if spoken of a private individual, 
 but when addressed to the sovereign who has just 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 315 
 
 been manifesting extraordinary weakness, it re¬ 
 sembles irony. As for me, I ought certainly to 
 be satisfied, when I consider the condition of affairs 
 four months ago, with the fate of the King of 
 Saxony; but I hoped better things from the Em¬ 
 peror Francis, and I shall be uneasy until I see at 
 least his last plan definitely adopted. 
 
 The document ( x ) added to your despatch is by 
 no means reassuring for the King of Naples, in 
 whom I take a much greater interest than in the 
 King of Saxony; but, although it unfolds the secrets 
 of the most shameful policy that ever was heard 
 of, I am not discouraged, and I continue to be 
 convinced, with a steadfast belief which I will never 
 abandon, that in the end we shall destroy the scandal 
 and the danger of Murat. 
 
 I am astonished that the Duke of Wellington 
 
 « ; 
 
 had not already arrived at Vienna on the 1st of 
 this month; but I fancy he cannot have long 
 delayed, so I suppose that Lord Castlereagh will 
 reach Paris towards the end of next week. To speak 
 truly, I am not much edified by his behaviour at 
 the Congress; but I have too much reason to pre¬ 
 serve the alliance which I have just formed to omit 
 treating him so as to insure his satisfaction with the 
 reception I shall give to him. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
316 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LII. 
 
 (i) The treaty of the nth of January, 1S14, between the King 
 of Naples and Austria, in which Austria guaranteed to Joachim 
 the possession of his kingdom, and promised him a similar 
 guarantee from the other allies, as well as the renunciation by 
 Ferdinand IV. of his rights on Naples. 
 
 LETTER LIII. 
 
 No. 27. 
 
 Vienna, 15th February, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Lord Castlereagh starts to-day (the 18th), 
 and although he intends to sleep every night on the 
 road, he expects to reach Paris on the eighth day 
 of his journey.( x ) He will spend the whole of the 
 next day there, and will set off again on the follow¬ 
 ing day, so as to be in London on the 1st or 2nd 
 
 0 
 
 of March. 
 
 The fate of the duchy of Warsaw, of Saxony, 
 what we call here the reconstruction of the Prussian 
 monarchy, the additions to be made to Hanover, 
 the demarcation of the United Provinces, which are 
 to take the name of the kingdom of the Nether¬ 
 lands, are points which are now entirely settled. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 317 
 
 They were the most complicated, and the only ones 
 which might have caused war. Lord Castlereagh 
 therefore carries with him to England the assurance 
 that peace will be maintained. 
 
 Saxony is left with a population of one million 
 three hundred thousand.( 2 ) The King, to whom a 
 courier has been sent, will, towards the end of this 
 month, be, not at Presburg (I represented that the 
 choice of this town would be very like an exile), 
 but at Briinn, on the road to Vienna, where nothing 
 will prevent his arriving as soon as he has given 
 his consent to the cessions which the Powers have 
 agreed upon. 
 
 The duchy of Luxembourg, with Limbourg 
 and the adjacent territories, will be given to the 
 Prince of Orange, as an indemnity for the old 
 hereditary provinces which he yields to Prussia, ( 3 ) 
 and the latter will not touch our frontier on a single 
 point.( 4 ) This appeared to your Majesty to be an 
 object of the highest importance. The duchy of 
 Luxembourg will, however, remain German terri¬ 
 tory, and the fortress will remain a federal fortress. 
 
 The retrocessions Austria asks from Bavaria, 
 and the equivalent to be granted to the latter, are 
 the most important, and even the only important, 
 territorial arrangements which remain to be settled 
 in Germany. ( r ’) The two Courts, on each side, ask 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 for our support. The one will yield nothing with¬ 
 out a perfect equivalent, and will not give up the 
 things which the other covets ardently. From 
 different motives we are almost equally interested 
 in conciliating them both, which renders the part 
 of arbitration very delicate. I hope, however, the 
 difficulty will not surpass our power. 
 
 With regard to the territorial arrangements in 
 Italy, the Commission charged with drawing up the 
 plan proposed to restore to the Oueen of Etruria 
 Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, and the legations 
 to the Holy See; and to give to the Grand- 
 Duke of Tuscany Lucca, the State of Presidi, the 
 sovereignty of Piombino, and the reversion of the 
 island of Elba. The Archduchess Marie Louise 
 was to have only a pension paid by Tuscany, and 
 certain fiefs belonging formerly to the German 
 Empire, and now in the possession of the Grand- 
 Duke of Tuscany, to whom they were given by the 
 Diet of the Empire as part of his indemnity. These 
 fiefs, which are in Bohemia, afford a revenue of four 
 hundred thousand florins. This scheme was pre¬ 
 sented to the Congress by our influence. It was 
 found to possess two advantages: one that of 
 diminishing the number of petty principalities in 
 Italy, and the other, far more important, of keeping 
 away the son of the Archduchess, and depriving 
 him of all hope of reigning. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 319 
 
 Austria let a whole month slip by without ex¬ 
 plaining herself.( c ) The Emperor at last decided on 
 restoring the duchies to the Queen of Etruria, 
 saying that he could not with propriety take for 
 himself or any member of his family one of the 
 States of the House of Bourbon, with whom it was 
 his interest and his desire to keep well. But, 
 knowing that his daughter was anxious to have 
 an independent establishment, he selected Lucca, and 
 desired his minister to negotiate the affair with the 
 Archduchess, and to this effect he gave instructions 
 containing the arguments which the minister was 
 to use. Prince Metternich, under the Emperor’s 
 instructions, has presented us with a counter-project, 
 which suits us in most respects, as the Archduchess’ 
 son is not mentioned in it, and the reversion of 
 Lucca would fall to Austria or Tuscany. Although 
 we shall have to make several objections, I thought 
 I perceived in my conversation with Prince Metter¬ 
 nich that he would give way. 
 
 This counter-proposal states that the duchies 
 should be restored to the Queen of Etruria, with 
 the exception of Piacenza, with a circumference round 
 the town containing a population of thirty thousand ; 
 that Lucca be given to the Archduchess for her life 
 only, with two pensions, the one chargeable on 
 Austria, the other on France, and that Austria 
 
320 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 should receive and hold permanently—ist, Piacenza 
 and the circumference above stated; 2nd, the part 
 of Mantua on the right bank of the Po ; 3rd, the 
 Valtelline; 4th, Lucca, after the Archduchess; and, 
 finally, the imperial fiefs, as much in compensation 
 for Parma and Piacenza, with its enceinte , as to 
 afford material for exchange. 
 
 The proposal of charging a pension on France 
 in compensation for things which France is never 
 to receive, that of making Lucca revert to the 
 Austrian Empire, and that of putting the Imperial 
 fiefs, even those enclosed in the neighbouring States, 
 at the disposal of Austria, were almost equally 
 inadmissible, and Prince Metternich seemed pretty 
 well aware of this. There would have been fewer 
 objections to surrendering to Austria the part of 
 Mantua on the right of the Po, and even Piacenza, 
 which, from what General Ricard told me, is, from 
 its position and in the present state of Italy, of little 
 importance. 
 
 It is not essential to deprive Austria of the 
 Valtelline, ( 7 ) as that territory is no longer indispens¬ 
 able for her communication with Lombardy. But 
 Switzerland, to whom the Valtelline once belonged, 
 
 o ' 
 
 has demanded it, and has been promised its restora¬ 
 tion. The Emperor of Russia, as I shall have 
 occasion further on to inform your Majesty, seems 
 anxious to give it back. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 321 
 
 Prince Metternich presented his counter-project, 
 and discussed it with me before he had seen the 
 Archduchess. His great presumption and shallow¬ 
 ness prevented his foreseeing that he would not 
 obtain complete success. But at the very first word 
 the Archduchess Marie Louise showed her indis¬ 
 position to content herself with Lucca, or even to 
 care at all about that principality, where, she said, 
 it would not be agreeable for her to reside as lone 
 as Napoleon was at Elba. She, or rather her coun¬ 
 sellors^ 8 ) stipulate for the right conceded to her 
 by the treaty of the nth of April. She does not 
 ask to keep Parma, but she wants something 
 equivalent, or nearly equivalent. The only way 
 to satisfy her would be to give her the Legations, 
 reserving the reversion to the Holy See. But the 
 Court of Rome, which cannot reconcile itself even 
 to the loss of Avignon, ( 9 ) would cry out loudly, and 
 would perhaps even have recourse to employing 
 force, which would recoil upon itself. Prince 
 Metternich has asked me for three days in which 
 to make up his mind for the one course or the other, 
 and to give me his answer. 
 
 When once these difficulties are raised, the only 
 serious objections will be in regard to the question 
 of Naples, to which I am coming by-ancl-by. The 
 arrangements relating to the free navigation of rivers 
 
722 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 are as yet barely sketched in; but the principles 
 have been decided on, and they will secure to 
 commerce all the advantages that European industry 
 could ask for, and particularly it will secure to France, 
 by the navigation of the Scheldt, all those which the 
 possession of Belgium could give herd. 10 ) 
 
 Finally, the question which is an object of passion, 
 even of frenzy, for the English—the abolition of 
 the slave-trade—has been yielded by the only two 
 Powers who had not yet given it up.( n ) 
 
 Lord Castlereagh is therefore armed against all 
 attacks of the Opposition, and he carries with him 
 all that is necessary to flatter public opinion. ( 12 ) But, 
 as I have taken care to point out to him, ministers 
 in a representative Government have not only to 
 please the popular party; they must likewise satisfy 
 the Government, and this “you can effect,” I told 
 him, “ only by acting in concert with us, and in 
 a new direction in the question of Naples.” 
 
 I spent the last eight or ten days in exciting his 
 interest in this question, and if I have not quite 
 persuaded him to adopt a policy (which he does not 
 consider himself free to do), I have brought him to 
 desire almost as ardently as we do the expulsion of 
 Murat, and he leaves us with the resolution of doing 
 all he can to induce his Government to concur in it. 
 He is embarrassed by two considerations : first, to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. Z 2 Z 
 
 see how to declare himself against Murat without ap¬ 
 pearing to violate the promises made to the latter ( 13 ) 
 (this is what Lord Castlereagh calls not compromis¬ 
 ing his reputation) ; the other, to choose the means 
 of execution, so as to make sure of success in case of 
 resistance, without compromising interests or wound¬ 
 ing prejudices, and without exciting alarm in any 
 quarter. He promised me that on the third day 
 after his arrival in London he would send a courier 
 bearing the decision of his Court, and, armed with all 
 our arguments, he hopes that the decision will be 
 favourable. What I wish is, that without entering 
 into discussions, all of which weaken the principal 
 object, the Duke of Wellington may be authorized 
 to declare that his Court recognizes Ferdinand IV. 
 as Kino: of the Two Sicilies. It is in this sense that 
 I entreat your Majesty to be kind enough to speak 
 to him in Paris. In the latter days of his stay in 
 Vienna, Lord Castlereagh lent himself very oblig¬ 
 ingly to making the overtures I was anxious for. 
 He spoke against Murat to the Emperor of Russia, 
 whom he saw at the same time with the Duke of 
 Wellington. He said to the Emperor of Austria, 
 “ Russia is your natural enemy; Prussia is devoted 
 to Russia; the only Power you can possibly depend 
 upon on the Continent is France: it is your interest, 
 therefore, to keep well with the House of Bourbon, 
 
324 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which you cannot do unless Murat is turned out.” 
 The Emperor of Austria replied, “ I feel the truth 
 of all you say.” Finally, he told Prince Metter- 
 nich, on whom he and the Duke of Wellington called 
 together, “ You will have a sharp contest on the 
 question of Naples; do not think that you can 
 escape it. I warn you that it is a question which 
 will be brought before the Congress. Take, there¬ 
 fore, measures in consequence ; send troops to Italy, 
 if necessary.” Each told me separately that this 
 declaration had thrown Prince Metternich into great 
 dejection—these were their words—and your Majesty 
 will understand Prince Metternich’s dejection still 
 better after reading the secret articles of his treaty 
 with Murat, of which I have the honour of enclosine 
 
 o 
 
 a copy.( 14 ) That he should have guaranteed the 
 kingdom of Naples to him under the circumstances 
 existing at that time, is easy to conceive; but that 
 he should have carried his humiliation so far as to 
 allow a clause to be inserted in the treaty, stating 
 that Murat has the generosity to renounce his rights 
 to the kingdom of Sicily, and to guarantee that 
 kingdom to Ferdinand IV., is a fact which seems 
 incredible even though it be proved. ( 15 ) 
 
 Your Majesty will probably learn, not without 
 surprise, that attachment to the principle of legiti¬ 
 macy enters little into the calculations of Lord Castle- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUJS XVIII. 
 
 325 
 
 reagh, or even of the Duke of Wellington, with 
 regard to Murat; it touches them very feebly; 
 they do not even seem quite to take it in. In Murat 
 it is the man whom they detest more than the usurper. 
 The principles on which the English act in India 
 prevent their having any exact ideas as to legitimacy. 
 Nothing has made so much impression on Lord 
 Castlereagh, who wishes above all things for peace, 
 as my declaring to him that peace would be impossible 
 if Murat were not driven out, for that his occupation 
 of the throne of Naples was incompatible with the 
 existence of the House of Bourbon. 
 
 I have also seen the Emperc-r of Russia. It 
 was on Monday morning, the 13th instant. I wished 
 to speak only of Naples to him, to remind him of 
 the promises he made to me on this subject; but 
 he took the opportunity of talking to me of many 
 other things which I must report to your Majesty, 
 whom I would ask to allow me, as I have already 
 done in several other letters, to employ the form of 
 dialogue for that purpose. 
 
 I began by telling the Emperor that I had long 
 refrained from troubling him, out of respect for his 
 occupations, and even for his pleasures ; that the 
 carnival having put an end to these, and the others 
 being now arranged, I had asked for an audience. 
 I added that even the Congress had only one more 
 affair of the first importance to settle. 
 
3 2 6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 “You wish to speak of Naples ? ” “Yes, Sire.” 
 And I reminded him that he had promised his 
 support. “But you must help me.” “We have 
 done so as far as it depended on us. Your Majesty 
 is aware that, as we could not think of completely 
 re-establishing the kingdom of Poland, we did not 
 help her private arrangements when they clashed 
 with the views of your Majesty, who must surely 
 have forgotten that in the beginning of the Con¬ 
 gress the English were rather ill-disposed on this 
 question.” “In the affairs of Switzerland ? ” “I do 
 not know that we have ever been in opposition to 
 your Majesty in the affairs of Switzerland. It 
 was our plan to use every endeavour to calm 
 excitement. I do not know to what extent we have 
 succeeded, but that was our only aim. The Bernese 
 were the most irritated ; they had lost most and 
 demanded most. An indemnity which they con¬ 
 sidered very insufficient had been offered to them ; 
 we induced them to put up with it.( 16 ) All I know 
 is that they ask the whole of the bishopric of Basle, 
 and that they are determined not to accept less.” 
 “ And what will you do for Geneva ? ” “ Nothing, 
 
 Sire.” “ Ah ! ” (in a tone of surprise and reproach). 
 “ It was not possible for us to give her anything; 
 the King will never give up French subjects.” 
 “ And can nothing be got from Sardinia ? ” “I 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 3 2 7 
 
 am perfectly ignorant on the subject.” “Why do 
 you give the Valtelline to Austria?” “Nothing, 
 Sire, has been decided on that subject. The 
 Austrian affairs have been badly managed. “It 
 is her fault,” replied the Emperor ; “ why does she 
 not choose skilful ministers ? ” “ As Austria has 
 
 had to make great sacrifices which must have cost 
 her much, I should think it natural, especially 
 in matters of such importance, to endeavour to 
 please her.” “ The Valtelline was promised to be 
 restored to Switzerland, to whom it belonged.” 
 “ The Valtelline has been separated from Switzer¬ 
 land for the last eighteen years; it has never 
 known anything of the government to which your 
 Majesty would restore it. To give it back to 
 the Grisons, to which it formerly belonged, would 
 be to make it miserable. It seems to me that 
 it would be best to make a separate canton of 
 it, unless Austria obtained it.” “ This will be 
 arranged. And what will you do with Prince 
 Eugene ?” ( 17 ) “Prince Eugene is a French sub¬ 
 ject, and in that character he can demand nothing. 
 But he is the son-in-law of the King of Bavaria 
 .—he owed this to the position and influence of 
 France at that time; it is therefore right that 
 France should try to obtain for him all that it 
 would be reasonable and possible for him to obtain 
 
328 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 in consideration of this alliance. We wish, there¬ 
 fore, to do something for him; we wish him to 
 receive an appanage from the House of Bavaria, 
 and that the King’s share of the territories 
 still undisposed of may be increased for this pur¬ 
 pose.” “ Why not give him a sovereignty ? ” 
 “ Sire, his marriage with a Princess of Bavaria 
 is not a sufficient motive. The Prince Radziwill 
 is brother-in-law to the King of Prussia, and he 
 has no sovereignty.” “ But why not, for instance, 
 give him Deux-Ponts ? That is a small thing.” “ I 
 ask your Majesty’s pardon; the duchy of Deux- 
 Ponts has always been considered as something 
 considerable, and, besides, the territories remaining 
 at our disposal are scarcely sufficient to fulfil the 
 engagements already entered into.” “ And the mar¬ 
 riage ? ” “ The King has done me the honour of in¬ 
 forming me that he still ardently desired it.” “ And 
 so do I,” replied the Emperor. “ My mother ( 1S ) is 
 also equally anxious for it; she speaks of it to me in 
 the letters I have had lately.” “ The King,” I said, 
 “ has refused several other proposals while waiting 
 for your Majesty’s answer.” “ I have also refused 
 one, but I have also been refused myself. The 
 King of Spain asked for my sister,( 19 ) but on being- 
 told that she must have a chapel, and that this 
 was a peremptory condition, he retracted his offer.” ( 20 ) 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAN 
 
 “ From the conduct of the 
 Majesty may see what are the 
 Very Christian King.” “ I wanted 
 I was to think.” “ Sire, my last order? 
 what General Pozzo told you.” “ Why do y'dj 
 execute the treaty of April i ith ? ” ( 21 ) “ As 1 
 
 been absent from Paris for five months, I do not 
 know what has been done in this respect.” “ The 
 treaty has not been executed; we ought to insist 
 on its execution. Our honour is at stake ; we can¬ 
 not possibly draw back. The Emperor of Austria 
 insists upon it as much as I do, and I assure you 
 he is hurt at its not being executed.” “ Sire, I will 
 report all that you have done me the honour of 
 saying to me ; but I must observe that in the un¬ 
 settled state of the countries round France, and 
 particularly of Italy, it may be dangerous to furnish 
 the means of intrigue to persons who we think it 
 probable may take advantage of them.” ( 22 ) 
 
 At length we returned to Murat, I recapitulated 
 briefly all the reasons of justice, morality, and pro¬ 
 priety which ought to unite Europe against him. 
 
 I distinguished his position from that of Bernadotte, 
 which particularly affects the Emperor, and in sup¬ 
 port of my words I quoted the Royal Almanack,( 23 ) 
 which I had just received. He begged me to send 
 it to him, adding, “ What you tell me gives me the 
 
feared the contrary, and Ber¬ 
 ios very much afraid of it.” The 
 Ren spoke of Murat with the utmost 
 ry~w “He is a vulgar rascal,” he said, “who 
 betrayed us all. But,” he added, “ when I 
 [die with an affair, I like to be sure of the means 
 of success. If Murat resists, he must be driven out. 
 I have spoken of it,” he added, “ with the Duke 
 of Wellington. He thinks that a considerable force 
 would be wanted, and that, if it were necessary to 
 send one, there would be great difficulties in the way.” 
 I answered that I did not ask for troops (for I knew 
 that they would not be given to me), but a line—a 
 single line—in the new treaty, and that France and 
 Spain would undertake the rest. On which the 
 Emperor replied, “You shall have my support.”( 24 ) 
 During the whole of the conversation the Emperor 
 was cold, but, on the whole, I was rather satisfied 
 with him than otherwise. 
 
 Lord Castlereagh also spoke to me warmly about 
 the treaty of the 11th of April, and I have no 
 doubt he will mention it to your Majesty. This 
 subject has been revived lately, and is now in every 
 one’s mouth. I ought to tell your Majesty that it 
 is constantly recurring, and in a disagreeable way ; 
 its influence is felt in the question of the Mont de 
 Milan, , ( 25 ) which interests so many subjects and 
 servants of your Majesty. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 33 I 
 
 It seems to me, however, that your Majesty 
 might get rid of all that is most embarrassing in the 
 treaty of the nth of April by coming to an agree¬ 
 ment with England. 
 
 In the beginning of my sojourn here Lord 
 Castlereagh expressed his desire that France should 
 at once renounce the slave-trade, offering in return 
 certain indemnities. It is generally more easy to 
 obtain pecuniary than any other indemnities in 
 England. At that time I thought it necessary to 
 elude this proposition without decidedly rejecting 
 it, reserving to ourselves the right of taking it into 
 consideration later on. In speaking recently of 
 Murat, and of the provision which could not be 
 withheld from him if he submitted to the adverse 
 decision of Europe, Lord Castlereagh did not hesitate 
 to assure me that England would willingly under¬ 
 take to assign an income to Murat out of the English 
 funds, in case France consented to give up the slave- 
 trade. If such an arrangement were considered 
 practicable, I have no doubt that it would be easy 
 to include the pensions stipulated by the treaty of 
 the nth of April in the payments charged upon 
 England. 
 
 O 
 
 This arrangement would, in consequence of the 
 passion of the English for the abolition of the slave- 
 trade, have certainly the advantage of uniting Eng- 
 
332 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 land closely to our cause in the question of Naples, 
 and of inducing her to second us in every way. 
 
 It remains to be seen whether, considering the 
 present state of our colonies, the sacrifices France 
 would make by renouncing the slave-trade for the 
 four years and three months which it has yet to run 
 would be greater than the advantages she would 
 probably derive from the arrangement I have just 
 suggested. I venture to ask your Majesty to have 
 this closely examined into, so as to express your 
 Majesty’s intention on the subject to Lord Castle- 
 reagh, who will probably not fail to mention it. 
 
 I could have wished that the treaty of the 3rd 
 of January, which, when once the Congress is over, 
 will have no further meaning, had been postponed 
 for a longer or shorter period, if only by common 
 consent. Lord Castlereagh finds some difficulty in 
 the way, as he has no confidence in Prince Metter- 
 nich; but he assures me that, even after the expira¬ 
 tion of the treaty, its spirit will survive. Above all 
 things, he is anxious to give no umbrage to the other 
 continental Powers, which does not prevent his 
 desiring that a great intimacy may be established 
 between the two Governments, and that they may 
 continue to concur in peaceful and conservative 
 views.( 2G ) In one word, he left Vienna in a frame 
 of mind which I can only praise, and in which he 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 333 
 
 cannot help being confirmed by all that he will hear 
 from your Majesty’s lips. 
 
 I see that my letter is enormously long, and I 
 
 * \ 
 
 fear lest your Majesty should consider it too long 
 for what it is worth ; but I had rather run the risk 
 of being too diffuse than suppress any details which 
 your Majesty might think necessary. 
 
 By the next courier I shall have the honour of 
 enclosing the treaties of the coalition, which I have 
 succeeded in procuring. ( 27 ) I would ask your Majesty, 
 after looking through them, to give them to M. de 
 Jaucourt, to be preserved at the Foreign Office. 
 
 General Pozzo has again been spoken to about 
 his departure. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LIII. 
 
 (1) “Lord Castlereagh arrived last night in Paris. The King 
 honoured his Excellency to-day with a private audience.”— Moni- 
 teur Universel , 27th February, 1815. 
 
 (2) “ The portion of the kingdom of Saxony which has been 
 preserved, joined to the ducal territories, will altogether interpose 
 a tract covered by two million inhabitants between the Prussian 
 and Austrian monarchies.”—Talleyrand to the Department, 8th 
 February, 1815. 
 
 (3) M. Himly says, in his “ History of the Formation of the 
 States of Central Europe,” vol. ii. p. 509, “ They wished to make 
 Luxembourg an equivalent for the German patrimonial possessions 
 
334 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which had been given up by the line of Nassau-Orange, and to 
 assure their reversion to the line of Nassau-Nassau. This is why 
 it was treated as joined to the kingdom of the Low Countries only 
 by a personal tie, so personal that the King was authorized to 
 transmit it to any one of his sons.” 
 
 (4) The events of 1815 seem to have determined the Powers 
 on establishing an absolute contact between Prussia and France. 
 
 (5) The question of the retrocession of the provinces of the 
 Inn and Hansruck, of the duchy of Salzburg, and of Berchtols- 
 gaden, had been referred to the Congress of Vienna, which did 
 not settle it definitely. By the treaty of Munich, on the 14th 
 of April, 1816, Bavaria accepted the territories which were to be 
 disposed of on the banks of the Rhine as an indemnity. She also 
 refused to give up Berchtolsgaden, which is still in her possession 
 (see Himly, vol. i. p. 461). The principle followed out in these 
 territorial arrangements of Bavaria with Austria had been already 
 mooted in Paris. 
 
 (6) “The Italian affairs make no progress; they all stop in 
 the bureau of Prince Metternich.”—Letter from the French pleni¬ 
 potentiaries to the Department, 24th January, 1815. 
 
 (7) The Valtelline (Val Tellina) is a little valley about three 
 thousand three hundred kilometres in extent, and containing ninety 
 thousand inhabitants. It is divided by the Adda; its chief town, 
 Sondrio. The Bishops of Coire gave it up to the Grisons in 
 1530. Spain wanted to take it to establish permanent communi¬ 
 cations between the Italian possessions and those of the House of 
 Austria in the Tyrol, but Richelieu succeeded in driving out the 
 Spanish troops (1624). This was one of the most important acts 
 of his glorious administration. In 1814 Austria incorporated it in 
 the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. Since 1859 it has belonged to 
 the kingdom of Italy. 
 
 (8) The position of the Archduchess Marie Louise was long a 
 cause of anxiety. On the 9th of August, 1814, Talleyrand wrote to 
 Prince Metternich: 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 “On your last visit to Paris, my dear Prince, you told the 
 King that you did not approve of the visit of the Archduchess 
 Marie Louise to Aix-les-Bains. 
 
 “ As soon as it appeared that these waters would be of benefit 
 to her, the King shut his eyes to any inconveniences attending 
 this journey, if indeed there were any to be seen. But you, my 
 dear Prince, thought that it might give rise, not to intrigues, but 
 to gossip. You know how they cackle at watering-places; you 
 know how idle people are there, and all the consequences of 
 idleness. Some thoughtless heads have even been known to com¬ 
 promise themselves, and it is this that we must avoid. Joseph 
 Bonaparte, who lives not far from Aix, has committed follies 
 which he would never have thought of in another neighbourhood. 
 All this has little importance, and the King attaches none to it, 
 but the rumour of it reaches Paris; it is talked of in every direc¬ 
 tion, by diplomatists among the rest. People try to impute 
 very secret and grave motives to perfectly simple and natural 
 actions. 
 
 “ I fancy, my dear Prince, that you will think it advisable, both 
 for you and for us (the Archduchess’s cure being now complete), 
 that she should not prolong her stay at Aix. You will not, 
 I am sure, misapprehend the motives which prompt my speaking 
 to you in this way. . . . 
 
 “ Adieu, dear Prince; preserve a little friendship for me, and 
 believe in my very sincere attachment to you. 
 
 “ Prince Benevento.” 
 
 (9) The Holy See acquired the marquisate of Provence (Comtat 
 Venaissin) in 1271 by the will of Alfonso, Count of Artois ana 
 Toulouse, and in 1348 Avignon was purchased by Pope Clement VI. 
 from Jeanne of Anjou, Queen of Naples and Countess of Pro¬ 
 vence. During the Revolution it was occupied by the French, and 
 the Comtat and Avignon itself were formally reunited to France. 
 On the 19th of February, 1797, Pope Pius VI. renounced his ancient 
 right to both (Treaty of Tolentino). The Court of Rome, in the 
 
336 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 name of that very principle of legitimacy, which Talleyrand tried 
 to use as a factor in the affairs of Europe, redemanded Avignon. 
 
 (io) “By the fifth article in the Treaty of Paris the signatory 
 Powers contracted the engagement to consider at the future Con¬ 
 gress the principles on which the navigation of the Rhine should be 
 regulated in the fairest and most favourable manner for the com¬ 
 merce of all nations. The special Commission, charged with this 
 part of the negotiations, has adopted a basis in agreement with 
 the Treaty of Paris, and, among other questions of importance to 
 French commerce, it decided that the tariffs should not be raised, 
 and that the Powers should each receive their share of the funds 
 produced by the octroi in proportion to the distance watered by 
 the river in their respective territories. As only one bank of the 
 river belongs to France, she will share the sum due to her with 
 the opposite bank. 
 
 “ It was not, however, on this question that we had most 
 difficulty in gaining our point. The right which was disputed 
 to France of sharing in the administration of the octroi , and of 
 sending a French delegate to the Central Committee which will 
 direct this administration, was the object of the most lively 
 discussion. But the firmness and pertinacity which enabled his 
 Majesty’s embassy to succeed in still more important affairs have 
 also assured its success on the present occasion. This is the 
 more satisfactory, as the obstacles were more difficult to vanquish ; 
 for, besides private interests, it was necessary to overcome the ill 
 will which some of the intervening Powers bore to France in 
 this question.”—Letter to the Department, 3rd March, 1815. 
 
 (n) Spain and Portugal. 
 
 (12) The conduct of the English Cabinet, and of its plenipo¬ 
 tentiary at the Congress of Vienna, was at that time the object of 
 the most violent attacks in both Houses of Parliament. In the 
 sitting of the 21st of January Lord Grenville said to the Lords, 
 “ England is affording the unique spectacle of a nation which is 
 granting subsidies not only to her allies, in support of her own 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 337 
 
 interests or to attain some great object, but which grants them 
 also to every nation to enable it to uphold against some other 
 nation interests which that other is paid to attack. England, since 
 the 'Treaty of Paris and for a year after the conclusion cf the 
 peace, subsidizes every power, whether military or not, on the 
 Continent.” # And, in truth, in the supplementary Convention 
 signed (29th May, 1814) between Great Britain and Russia, 
 England bound herself to maintain her army on a war footing, not 
 only as long as her own interests required it, but also as long as 
 the negotiations were not terminated between the other Powers, 
 so that the engagement had no limit. 
 
 The transfer of Genoa to the King of Sardinia had also raised 
 a very ardent opposition in the Etouse of Commons. 
 
 The English Cabinet was reminded that in September, 1806, 
 Austria had declared that the occupation of Genoa by Bonaparte 
 was a sufficient reason for declaring war; that in the month of 
 May, in the same year, Russia had refused to mediate between 
 France and England for the same reason; that at the Peace of 
 Amiens Austria had demanded that the Ligurian Republic should 
 be restored to the independent position it held in 1795; that 
 finally, the Treaty of Chaumont had solemnly declared that a 
 general treaty of peace should be negotiated, and that the rights 
 and liberties of every nation should be established by it, and that 
 by virtue of this treaty Lord William Bentinck had promised 
 independence to Genoa in the proclamation he made on his entry 
 into Italy. 
 
 It was in this House of Commons that a member of the 
 Opposition quoted the following principle from YateTs “ Rights of 
 Nations “ If during a war a nation has been unduly oppressed, 
 the first care of the victorious nation should be, not to change the 
 ruler of that people, but to restore to the oppressed nation its 
 ancient liberties.” 
 
 * These are not the exact words of the speech; the French of which this 
 is a translation gives only the substance.— Translator. 
 
33 § 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (13) “ A general who is still almost in the service of Murat, 
 whose wife is still at Naples, who is a clever man, and who intends 
 to return to the King’s service, unless indeed the freedom with 
 which he answered Marshal Soult does not hang him, called upon 
 me. He even said that Murat had asked him to do so, and he 
 told me that Murat was determined to fight and to die sword in 
 hand, but that he depended on the promises of Austria; that they 
 were of ancient date and had been renewed; that the Allies, in 
 his opinion, were wrong in never having come to an understanding 
 with Murat, for he would have sold himself soul and body, etc., 
 etc., but that to this day he was sure of Austria, the proof of 
 which was that he had not seized the Roman States and set Italy 
 in a blaze.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 14th February, 1815. 
 
 (14) Treaty between Austria and Naples, concluded on the 
 nth of January, 1814. Secret Articles signed by Metternich, 
 Campo-Chiaro, and Cariati (see D’Angeberg, p. 81, et seq.). 
 
 “ Prince Metternich has all sorts of intrigues with the Queen 
 of Naples. It is certain that he acts in concert with her.”—Letter 
 from Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 4th January, 1815. 
 
 (15) Talleyrand forgets that at. the time when Metternich nego¬ 
 tiated and signed the treaty of the nth of January, 1814, with 
 Murat, there had not been any question between the Allies of 
 overthrowing Napoleon and the dynasties established under the 
 Empire. Austria would not otherwise have founded and settled 
 this negotiation on the basis of the maintenance of Napoleon’s 
 own brother-in-law. 
 
 (16) “The canton of Berne had formerly been so vast and so 
 wealthy, and was so little of either at the present time, that there was 
 both justice and prudence in compensating it. The French Empire, 
 whose remains were used at that time to put everybody in good 
 temper, had left unoccupied some fragments of the territory 
 beyond the Jura. They were Porentruyand the ancient bishopric 
 of Basle. Together they formed an indemnity which was offered 
 at once to Berne and finally accepted.”—Thiers, “ History of the 
 Consulate and the Empire,” tom. xviii. p. 305. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 339 
 
 (17) The eighth article of the treaty was in these words : 
 “ Prince Eugene, Viceroy of Italy, shall be given a suitable 
 establishment out of France.” 
 
 (18) Paul I., after the death of his first wife, a princess of 
 Hesse-Darmstadt, married, on the 18th of October, 1776, the Prin¬ 
 cess Dorothea Sophia Augusta (Marie Feodorowna), a Princess of 
 Wiirtemberg, who was the mother of the Emperors Alexander and 
 Nicholas. She died on the 5th of November, 1828. 
 
 (19) The Grand-Duchess Anne. 
 
 (20) “Monsieur wishes you to tell us about the Princesses of 
 Prussia, Saxony, and Portugal, as he wants you to arrange a 
 marriage for him; he has reproached me for forgetting to tell you 
 about, etc. I did not forget, but I trusted to Pozzo and to the 
 compromise which you might arrange with Heaven.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 13th February, 1815. 
 
 (21) At the end of the conference held in Paris on the 10th 
 of April, 1814, between the plenipotentiaries of the Emperor 
 Napoleon and those of the Allies, between Caulaincourt, Metter- 
 nich, Castlereagh, Hardenberg, Nesselrode, Ney, and Macdonald 
 the same plenipotentiaries concluded the treaty of the nth of 
 April, called the Treaty of Fontainebleau, between the Emperor 
 Napoleon, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It contains the following 
 articles :— 
 
 “Art. 1. His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon renounces for 
 himself, his successors, and descendants, as well as for all the 
 members of his family, all right of sovereignty and dominion, as 
 well as to the French Empire and the kingdom of Italy, as over 
 every other country.” 
 
 “Art. 3. The isle of Elba, adopted by his Majesty the 
 Emperor Napoleon as the place of his residence, shall form, 
 during his life, a separate principality, which shall be possessed 
 by him, in full sovereignty and property; there shall be besides 
 granted, in full property, to the Emperor Napoleon an annual 
 revenue of two million francs, in rent-charge, in the great book 
 
340 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of France, of which one million shall be in reversion for the 
 Empress.” 
 
 “ Art. 4. The duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla 
 shall be granted, in full property and sovereignty, to her Majesty 
 the Empress Marie Louise; they shall pass to her son, and to 
 the descendants in the right line. The prince, her son, shall from 
 henceforth take the title of Prince of Parma, Placentia, and 
 Guastalla.” 
 
 “ Art. 6. There shall be reserved in the territories hereby 
 renounced, to his Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, for himself 
 and his family, domains or rent-charges in the great book of 
 France, producing a revenue, clear of all deductions and charges, 
 of two million five hundred thousand francs. These domains and 
 rents shall belong in full property, to be disposed of as they shall 
 think fit, to the princes and princesses of his family.” 
 
 Most of these articles were still unexecuted when Napoleon 
 returned from the island of Elba.—D’Angeberg, p. 148, et seq. 
 
 It was this violation of the Treaty of Paris of which the 
 
 / 
 
 Commission of the Presidents of the Conseil d’Etat complained, 
 when they were called upon for their opinion on the declaration 
 of the 13th of March, 1815, to authorize and legitimatize 
 Napoleon’s return from Elba. 
 
 (22) I must tell you that, according to him [M. d’Osmond, 
 
 French ambassador at the Court of Sardinia], the distribution of 
 the Bonaparte family all over Italy, at Trieste, Bologna, Parma, 
 Florence, Rome, and Naples, seems inconceivable. . . —Jau- 
 
 court to Talleyrand, nth February, 1815. 
 
 (23) It is true that the Royal Almanack of 1815 does not 
 mention Murat as King of Naples, but mentions Bernadotte as 
 Prince Royal of Sweden, without omitting his wife, Mademoiselle 
 Josephine Clary. On his return from the island of Elba, Napoleon 
 published, in May, a supplement to the Royal Almanack of 1815, 
 excluding the Bourbons, and mentioning Murat, who had already 
 been driven out of his kingdom, as King of Naples. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 341 
 
 (24) The Emperor of Russia had formally promised us his 
 support. I hear, nevertheless, that his language to those who are 
 around him is not much in harmony with this promise. Not being 
 able, he says, to make the whole of Italy independent, he wishes 
 that there should be a strong power in that country, under the 
 influence neither of France nor of Austria. As this power can 
 only be Naples, it is evident that, in order to attain this object, 
 Naples must not belong to the House of Bourbon. He 
 therefore intends to support Murat.”—Talleyrand to the Depart¬ 
 ment, 27th February, 1815. 
 
 (25) Mont de Milan. See note in the Appendix at the end of 
 this volume. 
 
 (26) “ Lord Castlereagh seemed to me to be full of confidence 
 in you and esteem for your character, disposed to concur in your 
 views, and to combat the unfriendly disposition of the two nations 
 by a durable system of peace and alliance. There seem to be the 
 conflicting sentiments of a desire for peace and extreme vanity in 
 the English nation with respect to the Congress.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 4th March, 1815. 
 
 (27) The treaties of Kalisch, Reichenbach, Teplitz, and Chau- 
 mont (see D’Angeberg, vol. i.). 
 
 44 
 
 LETTER LIV. 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 18th February, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your letter No. 26, and I 
 received it with great satisfaction. I certainly should 
 
342 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 have preferred that the King of Saxony should have 
 kept all his territories, but I did not hope it, and I 
 consider it as a miracle that, being as little seconded 
 as we were, we have been able to preserve for him 
 all we have done. Another thing on which it gives 
 me great pleasure to express my satisfaction is, that 
 Prussia has obtained neither Luxembourg nor May- 
 ence ; such a neighbour would have been dangerous 
 to the future peace of France. Let us, therefore, 
 leave the sword in the scabbard; General Ricard 
 will have taken an unnecessary journey, but one 
 which will have proved to my allies my eagerness 
 to set myself right with them. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington’s conduct at Vienna 
 touches me, but does not astonish me. He is an 
 honourable man. Your reflections on his language 
 are very just. 
 
 I expect, as you do, difficulties in the affair 
 of Naples, but they must be conquered. Putting 
 aside all sentiment, Murat’s position seems to me 
 to become every day more threatening.^) That 
 of Bernadotte is peculiar, but when once the prin¬ 
 ciple has been conceded the consequences must be 
 admitted. 
 
 Newspapers are full of the admirable conduct of 
 the Governor of Kcenigstein (whose name escapes 
 my memory at this moment).( 2 ) I should like to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 343 
 
 make him a commandant of the Legion of Honour: 
 but I wish to know, first, if the facts are true ; 
 secondly, if the King of Saxony would approve of 
 my giving this decoration to his officer : and I ask 
 you to obtain information on both points. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LIV. 
 
 (1) “Our anxiety respecting Rome is not without grounds, but 
 it seems that the report that Murat was on the march to seize it 
 was untrue. It is very possible that you may have had some 
 share in this plot, but I have too much respect for my minister to 
 venture a too curious glance into his—shall I dare to call it?—• 
 diplomatic game-bag.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 8th February, 
 1815. 
 
 “ You will see, from Mariotti’s despatch, that on the 2nd of 
 March Italy was perfectly tranquil. Nevertheless, the consul, who 
 arrived this morning, assures me that the public mind is stirred 
 up, and carries the desire for independence to the utmost. He 
 does not believe that Murat was in league with Bonaparte in 
 this affair. Murat was still convinced of the hidden protection of 
 the Emperor Alexander and of the certain support of Austria; he 
 was therefore careful not to offend those Powers. But if Bonaparte 
 throw's himself with his troops into Milan, if he raises the 
 people, Murat will act with all his might.”—Jaucourt to Talley¬ 
 rand, 8th March, 1815. 
 
 (2) The name of the Governor of Koenigstein was Saares de 
 Saar. He refused to yield up the fortress, which was the private 
 property of the King of Saxony, to Prussia. 
 
344 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LV. 
 
 No. 28. 
 
 Vienna, 20th February, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have the honour of sending to your 
 Majesty the papers announced in my last despatch. 
 If they are not a complete collection of the treaties 
 between the Allies, they are at least the most im¬ 
 portant. 
 
 They are: 
 
 1. A convention in the form of a Note ex¬ 
 changed between Austria and Russia, on the 29th of 
 March, 1813, called the Convention of Kalisch. 
 
 2. The treaty of peace and alliance between 
 Russia and Prussia. This has often been called the 
 Treaty of Kalisch, because it was negotiated and 
 even minuted down there; but it was signed at 
 Breslau on the 26th of February, 1813. 
 
 3. The Treaty of Reichenbach ( l ) of the 27th of 
 June in the same year, between Austria, Russia, and 
 Prussia. 
 
 4. The Treaty of Teplitz ( 2 ) of the 9th of Sep¬ 
 tember between the same Powers, and the secret 
 articles of this treaty. ’ 
 
 5. Finally, the Treaty of Chaumont,( 3 ) which 
 was intended to continue the alliance against France 
 
 <z> 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 345 
 
 for twenty years after the war, and which it was 
 proposed to renew before the expiration of this 
 term, for the purpose of perpetuating the coalition 
 which has been dissolved by the treaty of the 3rd 
 of January. 
 
 It may be agreeable to your Majesty to look 
 over these different papers. In them will be found 
 an explanation of some of the difficulties we have 
 had to struggle against, and the reason for the em¬ 
 barrassment experienced by the Allies themselves, 
 particularly by Austria, for want of having made, 
 when it depended entirely upon her, stipulations 
 which the most ordinary common sense would have 
 shown her to be indispensable. 
 
 I entreat your Majesty to be kind enough to give 
 these papers, after reading them, to M. de Jaucourt, 
 to be kept in the archives of the Foreign Office. 
 
 I have already had the honour of announcing to 
 your Majesty that the Kings of Bavaria and Han¬ 
 over had acceded to the alliance of the 3rd of 
 January. I intended not to have sent their acts 
 of agreement until I could have sent with them 
 that of Holland, but the latter has not yet been 
 forwarded, and Prince Wrede is so anxious for 
 me to exchange the ratifications of that of Bavaria, 
 that I have the honour of sending the enclosed at 
 once *0 your Majesty. I also send duplicates of the 
 
34-6 - UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 acts of acceptance which I have signed. The last 
 two acts are those which ought to be ratified by 
 your Majesty. 
 
 I entreat your Majesty to transmit them to 
 M. de Jaucourt, in order that he may, if your Majesty 
 thinks proper, prepare the ratifications. 
 
 A courier has just arrived, bringing me the letter 
 with which your Majesty has honoured me, dated 
 the 11 th of this month. I shall await with lively 
 impatience the one containing the result of Lord 
 Castlereagh’s conversations. I should like the article 
 on Naples to be such as I may show to Prince 
 Metternich. It cannot be too explicit. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LV. 
 
 (1) Prussia and Austria became reconciled at Reichenbach. 
 On the 27th of June, 1813, the convention was signed there 
 between Great Britain and Prussia, for defining the nature and 
 extent of the subsidies and mutual assistance they were to afford 
 each other (D’Angeberg, p. 59). 
 
 (2) The treaty was signed in the old hotel of Guillaume Rose, 
 now occupied by the mint. By this treaty the Allies decided to 
 restrict France to her limits before the Revolution (D’Angeberg, 
 p. 116). 
 
 (3) See D’Angeberg, p. 59. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 347 
 
 LETTER LVI. 
 
 No. 29. 
 
 Vienna, 24th February, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Joachim’s minister here has received from 
 his master an already executed Note, with instruc¬ 
 tions, after communicating the contents to Prince 
 Metternich (which he has done), to address it to me. 
 
 The object of this Note is to demand an ex¬ 
 planation of the steps I have taken against him, so 
 he expresses himself, at the Congress, and a decla¬ 
 ration specifying whether your Majesty considers 
 yourself at peace with him or not. 
 
 As Joachim’s minister has no doubt that this 
 letter was written, and the order to transmit it to me 
 given, only in consequence of the communication 
 he himself made to Joachim while under the belief 
 that we should not come to an understanding about 
 Saxony and that war was imminent, he therefore 
 thought that now that this supposition is falsified, he 
 could no longer make use of the Note without 
 hurting* the interests of his master instead of 
 
 o 
 
 serving them. He has therefore taken upon him¬ 
 self to suppress it, and it will not be sent to me. 
 
 I learnt these details from the Duke of Welling¬ 
 ton, with whom I considered what advantages we 
 
34-8 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 could derive from Prince Metternich’s having been 
 made acquainted with the note. 
 
 We agreed to ask Prince Metternich to profit 
 by it by announcing, in a declaration addressed to 
 me as well as the Duke of Campo-Chiaro, that 
 Austria will not allow any foreign army to pass 
 through her territory; and to support this declara¬ 
 tion by recalling the troops which are actually on the 
 frontiers of Poland, and sending them to Italy. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington spoke to this effect to 
 Prince Metternich, whom I saw afterwards, and to 
 whom I held similar language. 
 
 The result is that this very day the Emperor of 
 Austria has issued orders for a hundred and fifty 
 thousand men to march into Italy, and that the de¬ 
 claration which I mentioned above will be placed in 
 our hands to-morrow. 
 
 Austria’s chief pretext for.adjourning the question 
 of Naples was that she was not ready, and that she 
 feared Murat might excite a revolution in Italy. ( l ) 
 This objection was not without force, and made an 
 impression on the English and the Russians; but 
 it will be powerless as soon as the Austrians have 
 a considerable army in Italy. We may thank 
 Joachim’s Note for this result, which makes me think 
 the incident very useful. 
 
 The fact of this Note not having been handed 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 349 
 
 in, because it was ill-timed and opposed to the 
 interest of the writer now that the affairs of Saxony 
 have been arranged, proves that we may congratu¬ 
 late ourselves on their having been settled; and, in 
 fact, Austria would not otherwise have been able 
 to march a considerable force into Italy. 
 
 4 
 
 If I can procure a copy of the Note through 
 Prince Metternich, I shall have the honour of send¬ 
 ing it to your Majesty. 
 
 This being the state of affairs, does not your 
 Majesty think that there might be some advantage 
 in collecting, under some pretext other than the 
 real one, a considerable force in the south of 
 Franee ? 
 
 According to all probability, the affairs of Swit¬ 
 zerland will be terminated in a few days, with a 
 single exception, that of the Valtelline, which the 
 Powers seem to have resolved to leave in suspense— 
 at any rate, until they have obtained the acquies¬ 
 cence of the cantons to the proposals which will be 
 made ; for it has been decided to offer the terms 
 which are considered most expedient to the cantons 
 before taking measures for enforcing them in case 
 of a refusal. 
 
 Austria and Bavaria are in negotiation for the 
 retrocession demanded by Austria of the countries 
 occupied by Bavaria, and the compensation to be 
 
35° UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 given to the latter. As the two Powers are far 
 from being agreed, it has been proposed to take 
 France and England as arbitrators. But it seems 
 to me that by leaving the honour of this arbitration 
 to England alone, France would be able to influence 
 the arrangement without committing herself with 
 regard to either of the two Powers, which it is 
 equally her interest to conciliate. 
 
 Prince Metternich has come to ask me very 
 mysteriously to give him a respite for the affairs 
 of Italy until the 5th or 6th of March, by which 
 period he supposes that I shall have received your 
 Majesty’s commands, after Lord Castlereagh’s visit. 
 Although I do not quite understand his motive for 
 this demand, it did not seem to me possible to 
 refuse. But, on the other hand, I should see a great 
 objection to Austria arranging everything that 
 concerns her, with the exception of Italy, and that 
 the affairs of that country, which are those which 
 most affect us, should remain exposed to chance, 
 and ourselves to all the impediments which Austria 
 may raise up against us. I hope, therefore, that the 
 affairs of Bavaria may not be hurried. Therefore, 
 although my impatience to be once more with your 
 Majesty, after such a long absence, did not require 
 to be increased by the ennui which seems to have 
 fallen upon Vienna ever since the opening of the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 351 
 
 Congress, I find myself obliged to hurry nothing 
 at present, to slacken even, as far as depends upon 
 me, the progress of events, and to wait. 
 
 I annex to this letter the act of accession of 
 Holland,( 2 ) which has just been signed. I entreat 
 your Majesty to be pleased, after ratifying the act 
 of acceptance, to order it to be returned to me by 
 M. de Jaucourt. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LVI. 
 
 (1) “Ina private conversation with M. de Jaucourt, the Marquis 
 of St. Elie—recognized here as the Chamberlain, and virtually, 
 although not recognized in that character, charge d'affaires of 
 Murat at Paris—said to him: ‘ It is a great mistake to suppose 
 that Austria can take an active part against Russia, serve the 
 plans of France, and free Saxony, if the kingdom of Naples is not 
 united with this project. Believe me, Austria knows for certain 
 that Italy is on a volcano, and that nothing but the fidelity of the 
 King of Naples to the mutual engagements which unite the two 
 countries can allow Austria the free disposition of her forces. The 
 Duke of Campo-Chiaro has, no doubt, told all this to Prince 
 Talleyrand; but telling and persuading are very different things, 
 and I can once more assure you that the devotion of the King of 
 Naples to the King of France, a devotion which the King can 
 command, can alone be a guarantee for executing the political 
 views of Prince Talleyrand/ ”—Letter from Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 27th November, 1815. 
 
 (2) Note of the plenipotentiaries of the Low Countries in reply 
 to the Note addressed to them by the plenipotentiary of Great 
 Britain, inviting the sovereign princes of the Low Countries to 
 
352 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 accede to the treaty of defensive alliance concluded on the 
 3rd of January, 1815, between Great Britain, Austria, and France. 
 Vienna, 2nd January, 1815 (see D’Angeberg, p. 69 2). 
 
 LETTER LVII. 
 
 No. 30. 
 
 Vienna, 26th February, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have the honour of sending to your 
 Majesty a copy of Prince Metternich’s Declaration 
 mentioned in my last despatch, with the answer I 
 have just written to him. 
 
 Your Majesty will see that this answer agrees 
 entirely with the letter I wrote to Lord Castlereagh, 
 in which I told him that we had no intention of 
 passing through Italy in order to put down Murat. 
 
 I could have wished Austria to declare herself 
 more explicitly against Murat. But they feared 
 to give him a pretext for hostilities, the Austrians 
 not being ready in Italy. Orders have been given 
 to send troops thither. 
 
 They will have one hundred and fifty thousand 
 men there, and another fifty thousand in reserve in 
 Carinthia, which will be enough to keep Murat 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 353 
 
 quiet or baffle his attempts. But as everything is 
 done very slowly here, Prince Schwarzenberg asks 
 for seven weeks to enable all his troops to reach 
 their destination. 
 
 The Note which determined their being sent still 
 seems to me to have been a fortunate incident. 
 
 I go to-morrow to Presburg to see Madame de 
 Brionne,^) who received yesterday the last sacra¬ 
 ments, and who has sent for me. I shall return on 
 Monday night, and public affairs, which make no 
 progress, will not in any way suffer from these two 
 days’ absence. 
 
 It is settled that General Pozzo leaves on the 
 ist or 2nd of March: he will be ten days on his 
 ourney. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia is very active in the 
 affairs of the Archduchess Marie Louise; he has 
 made a scheme for taking away almost all the 
 Legations from the Pope. This brings him into 
 opposition with the principles agreed on by the 
 plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers. His new 
 scheme has hitherto remained in M. d’Anstett’s 
 portfolio. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
354 
 
 •UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LVII. 
 
 (i) M. Beugnot says of her in his Memoirs, vol. i. p. 57 
 (Paris, 1867), ‘‘Madame de Brionne had been one of the most 
 beautiful women of her time. Before the Revolution she was 
 intimate with the Abbe de Perigord, Bishop of Autun.” 
 
 On the 22nd of March, the day after her death, Talleyrand 
 wrote to M. de Jaucourt: 
 
 “ Tell Madame de Vaudemont, or get some one to tell her, 
 that Madame de Brionne died yesterday. Her sufferings were 
 terrible during the last days. I regret her deeply. She was one 
 of the supports of my youth; during more than fifteen years she 
 tended me as if I had been her own child. I took the Duke 
 of Wellington to see her; she made herself delightful to him. 
 Good-bye. At our age sorrow and anxiety try us much.” 
 
 -* 4 - 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 NOTE SUBJOINED TO LETTER LVII. (NO. 30). 
 
 The undersigned, Minister of State and for 
 Foreign Affairs of his Imperial and Royal Apos¬ 
 tolic Majesty, is commanded to .address the follow¬ 
 ing official communication to his Highness Prince 
 Talleyrand. 
 
 During the course of the negotiations at Vienna 
 between the plenipotentiaries of the Powers who 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 35*5. 
 
 signed the Treaty of Paris, the undersigned has 
 never ceased affording, in the name of his august 
 master, the Emperor, proofs of his Imperial 
 Majesty’s desire to obtain for Italy a condition of 
 peace and security which is directly bound up with 
 that of Europe and his Empire. 
 
 The tension still subsisting between the Courts 
 of France and Naples has all the more attracted 
 the Emperor’s attention, as, at the present moment, 
 large bodies of troops are occupying the frontiers 
 of the kingdom of Naples, and equal numbers are 
 concentrated in the south of France. 
 
 Although far from attributing hostile intentions 
 that might compromise the peace of Italy, and 
 consequently that of an important portion of the 
 Austrian monarchy, to either of these Powers, the 
 Emperor-King has thought it well to renew the 
 declaration that the undersigned found it necessary 
 to make in one of the first conferences, of his 
 Majesty’s firm determination never to permit the 
 peace of his provinces, or of those governed by 
 princes of his house, to be troubled by the entrance 
 of foreign troops into Italy; the Emperor being 
 obliged to consider all views or measures contrary 
 to this determination as directed against his interests, 
 and consequently against himself. 
 
 The undersigned, while informing Prince Talley- 
 
• UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 rand that he is addressing a similar Declaration 
 with the same objects to the Court of Naples, 
 entreats his Highness to accept the assurance of 
 his deep respect. 
 
 (Signed) Prince Metternich. 
 
 Vienna, 25th February, 1815. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 NOTE 2 ENCLOSED IN NO. 30. 
 
 The undersigned, Ambassador of his Majesty 
 the King of France and Navarre to the Congress, 
 and Minister and Secretary of State in the Depart¬ 
 ment of Foreign Affairs, has received the declaration 
 which his Highness Prince Metternich has done 
 him the honour of addressing to him, dated to-day. 
 
 If circumstances should exact that, in defence 
 of the principles constantly professed at the Con¬ 
 gress of Vienna by the ambassador of his Most 
 Christian Majesty relating to Naples, French troops 
 should be obliged to advance, those troops would 
 not march through the Austrian provinces in Italy, 
 nor through those which are governed by the princes 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 357 
 
 of the House of Austria. It has never entered 
 into the mind of his Most Christian Majesty to 
 undertake anything which could disturb or com¬ 
 promise the peace of those provinces, a peace in 
 the maintenance and consolidation of which he 
 takes, on the contrary, the most lively interest. 
 
 The undersigned hastens to transmit this as¬ 
 surance to his Highness Prince Metternich, and at 
 the same time renews the assurance of his deep 
 respect. 
 
 (Signed) Prince Benevento. 
 
 Vienna, 25 th February, 1815. 
 
 LETTER LX. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 Paris, 3rd March, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your Nos. 27 and 28. I 
 did not write to you last week, first, because I was 
 expecting Lord Castlereagh every minute, and also 
 because I had (as is usual with me in the beginning 
 of a fit of the gout) a good deal of fever, which 
 is not very favourable to dictation. Lord Castle¬ 
 reagh arrived on Sunday evening. I saw him on 
 
358 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Monday and Tuesday. I found him very sound 
 in principle on the Naples question, but rather over- 
 scrupulous in his official capacity, and always 
 very partial to the Cabinet of Vienna. After 
 repeating to me all that, as you told me, he said 
 to Prince Metternich, he came to certain proposals 
 on which he was of one mind with Prince Metter¬ 
 nich. Their substance is that the Court of Vienna 
 asks for nothing better than to co-operate in the 
 expulsion of Murat; “ but,” he said, “while yielding 
 in the south of Italy, she expects the same com¬ 
 pliance from us with regard to the north, and she 
 wishes Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla to belong 
 to the Archduchess Marie Louise, and that the 
 three Courts of the House of Bourbon should 
 undertake to indemnify the Oueen of Etruria.” (*) I 
 replied that the State of Parma was an hereditary 
 succession brought into my family by the Oueen 
 Elizabeth Farnese,( 2 ) and had nothing in common 
 with France, Spain, and the kingdom of Naples, 
 and that, setting aside family interests, justice alone 
 forbade me to allow a branch of my family to be 
 dispossessed ; that, nevertheless, if Austria insisted 
 upon the execution of the convention of the nth 
 of April, with regard to the Archduchess Marie 
 Louise, I would consent to the Queen of Etruria, 
 or rather her son, receiving Lucca and the State of 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 359 
 
 Presidi in exchange, provided that the sovereignty 
 of Parma was recognized as her property, to revert to 
 her on the death of the Archduchess, at which time 
 Lucca and the State of Presidi should be reunited 
 to Tuscany. He did not seem at all averse to this 
 arrangement, which, however, concerns Austria more 
 than England. 
 
 I saw yesterday Baron de Vincent, who had a 
 direct and secret mission to me. He gave me a 
 
 confidential Note, of which the principal article, with 
 
 • 
 
 regard to which, he said, his instructions were very 
 precise and very inflexible, was the one relating to 
 Parma that I have just mentioned to you. I 
 answered by a counter-proposal to the same effect 
 as my reply to Lord Castlereagh. We separated, 
 each holding our ground, but I think it will not be 
 difficult to arrange the affair. He said that after 
 this first overture addressed personally to me, Prince 
 Metternich wished the negotiations to be ca r ned 
 on at Vienna, but directly between you and him, 
 without admitting any other member of the diplo¬ 
 matic body. As I saw no objection I promised that 
 it should be so managed. 
 
 I will send you a copy of the documents I have 
 mentioned, with a few notes of instructions, by the 
 next courier. 
 
 I add a line to say that your conversation with 
 
360 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the Emperor of Russia interested me very much, 
 although I thought that on his side it was very 
 vague and shallow. I am perfectly satisfied with 
 the manner in which you answered him. 
 
 What I must not forget to tell you is that Lord 
 Castlereagh—who pressed me very closely, 1. on 
 the article in the treaty securing the payment of 
 the British claims; 2. on the execution of the con¬ 
 ventions of the nth of April, relating to the 
 Bonaparte family (a subject to which I shall recur 
 in my next letters)—did not say one word about 
 the slave-trade. 
 
 My gout is going on well, and I have reason to 
 think this attack will not be as long as usual. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 P.S. I have this instant received your No. 29. 
 I agree with you in thinking the incident of 
 Murat’s undelivered Note very favourable to us. 
 You will find in this letter (and you will have 
 further details in the next) the key to Prince 
 Metternich’s mysterious request. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LX. 
 
 (1) The Queen of Etruria had an agent at Vienna, M. Goupil 
 
 (2) Parma was given by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) 
 to Don Philip, second son of Philip V. and Elizabeth Farnese, 
 and ancestor of the Bourbons of Parma. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 361 
 
 LETTER LXI. 
 
 No. 31. 
 
 Vienna, 3rd March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Duke of Saxe-Tetschen, who went 
 to meet the King of Saxony at Briinn, came back 
 here this morning. The King will stop to-day at 
 two stages from Vienna, and will go to await at 
 Presburg the departure of the two northern sove¬ 
 reigns, who would certainly be much embarrassed 
 by his presence here, and whom he probably does not 
 care to meet. It was thought that he would be too 
 far off at Briinn, and there was no suitable residence 
 to offer him between Briinn and Vienna ; for which 
 reasons Presburg was chosen, in spite of the ob¬ 
 jections I had the honour of mentioning to your 
 Majesty in one of my preceding letters. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia talks of his departure ; 
 preparations are even being made for it. At first 
 it was said to be fixed for the 14th of this month, 
 then for the 17th ; and now they speak of the 20th. 
 The Emperor has promised to be at home for 
 the Russian Easter,^) and I think this is the only 
 one out of his many promises that he will keep, 
 because it would be personally inconvenient to him 
 
362 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to break it. When he is gone the other sovereigns 
 will not stay. The Emperor of Austria, on his 
 side, has lonq - meditated a visit to his Italian 
 provinces, and he would not like to put it off later 
 than the month of April. This desire on the part 
 of every one to go away will expedite the conclusion 
 of affairs. 
 
 In accordance with my promise to Prince 
 Metternich, I allow’ the Italian question to sleep, 
 until I have news of Lord Castlereagh’s visit to 
 Paris and arrival in London. 
 
 Austria and Bavaria are agreed, with one ex¬ 
 ception, that of Salzburg, of which Austria wants 
 to have the whole, and Bavaria to keep a portion. 
 I exhorted the two negotiators severally to try 
 to come to an understanding, in order to o-ive 
 Russia and Prussia no loophole for intervention, 
 which would be inevitable if they could not come 
 to an agreement. I think my advice will not be 
 without effect, and I gave it to escape the necessity 
 of pronouncing in favour of either, which could not 
 possibly have been done without offending the 
 other, while it is almost equally essential for us to 
 keep well with both. 
 
 The affairs of Switzerland are, or will soon 
 be, ready *to be carried from the Commission w r hich 
 has been preparing them, to the conference in 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 363 
 
 which they will be settled. There is no longer 
 any question of keeping Porentruy in reserve. It 
 will be ceded, as we wished, with the rest of the 
 bishopric of Basle, to the canton of Berne. The 
 fate of the Valtelline alone will remain in suspense 
 until the affairs of Italy are settled; even the 
 Russians agree to this. 
 
 The philosopher La Harpe, who thinks he can 
 never do enough harm to the Bernese, took it into 
 his head to prevent Berne ( 2 ) from becoming one 
 of the sovereign cantons, and he inspired his 
 illustrious pupil with this mad idea. Consequently, 
 a Russian minister went to one of the ministers 
 of Ferdinand IV., whom he did not know, and said 
 to him, “Try to obtain the consent of France to 
 the exclusion of Berne from the number of sovereign 
 cantons, and the Emperor Alexander, who is ex¬ 
 ceedingly anxious for the concession of this point, 
 will be very favourable to you.” The same minister 
 went on the same day to Prince Metternich, to whom 
 he said, “ The Emperor Alexander has not yet made 
 up his mind respecting Murat; he will help you 
 to support him according to your wishes, if you 
 will contribute to excluding Berne from the number 
 of governing cantons.” Prince Metternich replied 
 that what he asked was not feasible ; I had, on 
 my side, rejected the proposal at the very first word. 
 
364 ‘ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The Russians have in consequence relinquished 
 their scheme, and derived from their attempt only 
 the shame belonging to such gross duplicity, which 
 they probably think an instance of the most delicate 
 
 and admirable diplomacy. 
 
 At the outset, when the Emperor Alexander 
 asked for the greater part of the duchy of War¬ 
 saw^ 3 ) it was, he said, to form into a kingdom with 
 which to console the Poles by this shadow of their 
 old political existence, and to diminish, as much as 
 possible, the outrage to morality caused by the 
 partition.( 4 ) He afterwards abandoned this idea, 
 but he announced that he would give a special con¬ 
 stitution to that part of the duchy which would fall 
 to his share, and now he hesitates even on this point. 
 Prince Adam Czartoryski, whose penetration is far 
 from equalling his honesty, begins to suspect that he 
 was amused by a chimerical hope, and he complains 
 of it. It is probable that the Emperor will escape 
 from his difficulty with the Poles by staying only a 
 very short time at Warsaw, and with Prince Czar¬ 
 toryski by taking leave of him coldly and refusing 
 all explanations with him. 
 
 Your Majesty may judge of the regret which the 
 Emperor will leave behind him here by what has 
 happened during the last few days. 
 
 In the perplexity of finding some way of passing 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUTS XVIII. 365 
 
 the time now that we no longer dance, and to divert 
 the ennui which consumes us all, we have recourse 
 to all sorts of games and amusements. One that 
 has become the fashion in several houses is to 
 establish lotteries. Each person belonging to the 
 society brings a prize ; in this way every one con¬ 
 tributes, and every one wins. On the day before 
 yesterday there was a lottery of this kind at the 
 Princess Marie Esterhazy’s; she wished, and her 
 conduct in this respect was severely criticised, to 
 contrive that, by special management, the four chief 
 prizes should fall to the lot of the ladies especially 
 distinguished by the Emperor of Russia and the 
 King of Prussia, who were both present. But this 
 combination was upset by the young Countess 
 Metternich,( 5 ) the ministers daughter, who went to 
 the basket which held the tickets, and took one out 
 of her turn. Her ticket proved to give her the 
 claim to the most magnificent prize, which the 
 Emperor of Russia had himself brought. The 
 Emperor could not conceal his annoyance, and all 
 present were much amused by it. (Your Majesty 
 will remember that the Emperor latterly gave up 
 Q-oingf to Prince Metternich’s balls, and did not 
 speak to him when they met in other places.) 
 
 Everything turned out ill for the Emperor that 
 evening. A prize which had been brought by the 
 
366 ‘UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 young Princess of Aversberg, for whom the Emperor 
 seems to have a preference, was gained by an akle- 
 de-camp of the King of Prussia. The Emperor 
 proposed an exchange; the aide-de-camp refused. 
 The Emperor insisted—he even hinted that the prize 
 was intended for him ; the aide-de-camp replied that 
 it was too precious then to be parted with. This 
 delighted everybody, so much so that the Emperor 
 begins to think that the parties at Vienna are no 
 longer in such good taste as they were when he first 
 came. 
 
 I have just received the roll of the troops 
 which are marching towards Italy. There are one 
 hundred and twenty battalions and eighty-four 
 squadrons, all complete, and forming a hundred and 
 twenty-nine thousand infantry and fifteen thousand 
 cavalry. The generals in command are Bianchi, 
 Radetsky, Frimont, and Jerome Colloredo. There 
 is besides a reserve of fifty thousand men in 
 Carinthia, Styria, etc. 
 
 General Pozzo is expecting a last despatch from 
 the Emperor before he goes. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXI. 
 
 (1) The Russian Easter in 1815 fell on the 30th of April. 
 
 (2) This Directory, as is well known, was composed of Berne, 
 Zurich, and Lucerne. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 367 
 
 (3) “ We have been told in the most positive manner that 
 Russia abandons none of her pretensions to Poland; she declares 
 that the whole of Warsaw is occupied by two armies, and that she 
 would have to be driven out of it. . . . Prussia has given up to 
 Russia what she calls her rights upon the country, and is seeking 
 for an indemnity in the kingdom of Saxony.”—Letter from Talley¬ 
 rand to Jaucourt, 29th September, 1814. 
 
 (4) In 1830 Prince Talleyrand wrote from London: “The 
 events which have taken place in Poland remind me of what, 
 when I was still very young, I and all France felt on the occasion 
 of the partition. It is impossible to forget the impression it made 
 in the last century; the political honour of France was tarnished 
 by it, and neither the Due d’Aiguillon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
 nor the Cardinal de Rohan, ambassador at Vienna, ever over¬ 
 came the shame of having taken no notice of the negotiations 
 which preceded this great act of injustice and spoliation. Later 
 on, a most favourable occasion presented itself for restoring the 
 kingdom of Poland ; the Emperor Napoleon might have restored 
 its independence, which was so important to the balance of power 
 in Europe, but he would not. . . . 
 
 “In 1814 the chances of war brought us to the point of being 
 unable to think of anything but our own existence, and we were 
 obliged to be silent when the servitude of Poland was consum¬ 
 mated.” 
 
 (5) This lady was Metternich’s eldest daughter, by his marriage 
 with Marie Eleonore de Kaunitz. Countess Marie Le'opoldine 
 was born on the 17th of January, 1797; she married Count 
 Joseph Esterhazy in 1817. On the 2nd of April, 1811, Talleyrand 
 wrote to Metternich: “Be so good as to present my compliments 
 to Madame de Metternich and your divine Marie.” 
 
368 "UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OP’ 
 
 • LETTER LXII. 
 
 ADDENDUM TO NO. 31. 
 
 Instructions addressed by the King to Prince 
 
 Talleyrand. 
 
 Paris, 5th March, 1815. 
 
 Prince Talleyrand is to make every effort to 
 hasten the conclusion of a second treaty between 
 France, England, and Austria, in conformity with 
 the principles adopted in the Memorandum No. i 
 presented by Lord Castlereagh, and with the pro¬ 
 positions contained in the counter-project No. 2. 
 
 The points on which it is most necessary for the 
 prince to insist are— 
 
 1. The settlement of an early period for exe¬ 
 cuting the plan agreed upon. It seems that on this 
 point there will be no obstacle in the way. 
 
 2. The recognition of the hereditary rights of 
 the Infante Charles Louis to the sovereignty of 
 Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, while adopting 
 for the Archduchess Marie Louise the temporary 
 arrangements mentioned in the counter-project. It 
 is probable that the cession of the Presidi will be 
 the principal difficulty raised by Austria. In this 
 case Prince Talleyrand must try to obtain for the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 369 
 
 Infante and his mother, the Oueen, an equivalent, in 
 which the possession of Lucca and its territory shall 
 be included, under the condition of its reversion to 
 Tuscany. 
 
 None of the other articles of the proposed treaty 
 seem open to discussion. The reunion of the 
 Valtelline to the Milanese was already considered 
 as almost inevitable, and, consequently, all that can 
 be done is to treat it as a very important concession 
 on the part of France. With regard to the Austrian 
 acceptances,^) Prince Talleyrand is authorized to 
 pledge himself to the extent of twenty millions, the 
 amount defined in the offers which England may 
 make with regard to the same object, and on the 
 advances in kind which may be agreed upon. 
 
 Prince Talleyrand will treat directly with Prince 
 Mettermch and the Duke of Wellington on all these 
 points, not admitting any member of the French 
 Legation to join in the negotiations, and he will 
 carefully set aside every proposal differing from the 
 bases already established in the project and counter¬ 
 project, by which bases he is to be guided, as well 
 as by the present instructions. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 Louis. 
 
370 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXII. 
 
 (i) “ The Austrian funds are falling rapidly. According to the 
 opinion of business men, they cannot fail to go on falling day by 
 day. The last quotation was three hundred. To illustrate the 
 state of the public funds in Austria, a man who in 1811 (when 
 by a royal decree paper suffered a reduction of four-fifths) had 
 fifteen hundred francs, saw them diminished to three hundred; 
 and nowadays those three hundred francs would not be equivalent 
 to a hundred francs. Therefore the public has lost since that 
 period fourteen-fifteenths of its revenue, or 93 to 94 per cent.”— 
 La Tour du Pin to the Department, 30th January, 1815. 
 
 
 LETTER LXIII. 
 
 TPIE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 7th March, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 30. I think 
 that Prince Metternich’s declaration, which would 
 not satisfy me under any other circumstances, is 
 explained by what I told you the other day, and 
 by the papers I annex. The Instructions show you 
 my wishes so clearly that it would be superfluous 
 to add anything to them here. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 7 , 7 1 
 
 I intended to-day to have once more gone over 
 with you the convention of the 11th of April last. 
 Bonaparte saves me the trouble. Before you re¬ 
 ceive this letter you will no doubt have heard of his 
 audacious enterprise.^) I took at once the measures 
 which I judged most calculated to make him repent 
 of it, and I am confident of their success. ( 2 ) This 
 morning I received the ambassadors, ( 3 ) and ad¬ 
 dressing them all together, I asked them to tell 
 their Courts that they had found me not in the 
 least uneasy in consequence of the news I had 
 received, and firmly persuaded that the tranquillity 
 of Europe would no more be disturbed by it than I 
 was myself. 
 
 My gout has made considerable progress for the 
 better since the other day. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXIII. 
 
 (1) The Moniteur of March 8th announced the landing of 
 Napoleon at St. Juan on March ist. 
 
 (2) “I proposed to the King : ist. To send off a courier as 
 soon as the news arrived ; he wished to delay. 2nd. To address a 
 circular to the ambassadors and ministers. I send you a copy ; 
 it has been sent with the Moniteur. 3rd. I proposed to the King 
 to inform you of his intention to proclaim Bonaparte out of the 
 pale of the International Code of Europe , and to instruct you to 
 
372 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 propose this to the Congress. Yesterday evening he told me of 
 his letter to you of this morning; I took the liberty of asking him 
 if he had spoken of my proposal to you. We were alone, and he 
 said, ‘ No, but I desire you to mention it to him.’ The con¬ 
 sequence of this measure would be to obtain the consent of those 
 sovereigns who are not at the Congress. 
 
 “We gained an immense victory by persuading the King to 
 convoke the Chambers. I believe that even if events should prove 
 favourable to us and against Bonaparte, there might be enormous 
 difficulties in the way of the Government. The proclamation and 
 coronation will cause constitutional monarchy to be adopted into 
 the heart and language of the whole nation. The Chancellor, 
 M. de Blacas (who at first had favoured it), and especially the 
 Marshal , were against us; we declared that we should consider 
 the public safety endangered without this measure. The King 
 made up his mind to it. 
 
 “ An address to the King will be proposed to-morrow to the 
 Peers and Chamber of Deputies. The session will open naturally 
 and simply. 
 
 “ Marshal Soult lost (I think on purpose) twenty-four hours 
 in sending Marshal St. Cyr. The latter left his chateau in an 
 hour, and two hours after his arrival in Paris was on his way to 
 Lyons. He will find, and this is what Soult wanted, all prepara 
 tions made, and the generals already stirring at Lyons. I cannot 
 help thinking that the object was to give a personal success to 
 Monsieur, and to give it to him with the assistance of a few 
 persons, without any constitutional aid; but our firmness has 
 baffled these petty and very dangerous calculations.”—Jaucourtto 
 Talleyrand, 8th March, 1815. 
 
 (3) The ambassadors and charges d'affaires accredited to the 
 Court of Louis XVIII. were : 
 
 Baron Vincent (Austria). 
 
 Mr. Crawford (United States). 
 
 Baron Waltersdorf (Denmark). 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 373 
 
 Count Peralada (Spain). 
 
 The Duke of Wellington (England). 
 Baron Ompteda (Hanover). 
 
 General de Fagel (Low Countries). 
 Marquis Marialva (Portugal). 
 
 Count Goltz (Prussia). 
 
 General Count Pozzo di Borgo (Russia). 
 Marquis Alfieri Sostigno (Sardinia). 
 
 M. de Signeul (Sweden). 
 
 Count Zeppelin (Wiirtemberg). 
 
 . LETTER LXIV. 
 
 No. 32. 
 
 Vienna, 7 th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I believe that your Majesty must know 
 already, or will have heard before the arrival of this 
 letter, that Bonaparte has left Elba, but in any 
 case I hasten to inform your Majesty. I learned 
 it first from a note of Prince Metternich^ 1 ) to whom 
 I replied that I saw, from the date, that Bonaparte’s 
 escape was connected with Murat’s asking- Austria 
 to permit his troops to pass through her provinces. 
 The Duke of Wellington showed me afterwards 
 a despatch from Lord Burghersh, of which I have 
 the honour of enclosing a translation, as well as 
 
374 
 
 unpublished correspondence of 
 
 of an extract from a letter of the vice-consul of 
 Ancona,( 2 ) also communicated to me by the Duke 
 of Wellington. 
 
 It was at nine o’clock in the evening of the 
 26th that Bonaparte embarked from Porto Ferrajo. 
 He took with him about twelve hundred men, 
 ten pieces of cannon, of which six were field-pieces, 
 some horses, and provisions for five or six days. 
 The English, whose duty it was to watch his move¬ 
 ments, were guilty of a negligence which they will 
 find it difficult to excuse. ( 3 ) The direction he has 
 taken—that of the north—seems to indicate that he 
 is directing his steps towards Genoa or the south 
 of France. I cannot believe that he would dare to 
 make any attempt upon our southern provinces. 
 He could not venture to do this unless he had 
 confederates there, which we can hardly suppose 
 possible. It is, however, equally necessary to take 
 precautions in that quarter, and to send thither 
 chosen and perfectly safe troops. For the rest, 
 any attempt of his on France would be the act of 
 a brigand, and it is thus that he ought to be treated, 
 and every measure lawful against brigands ought to 
 be employed against him. 
 
 It seems to me much more likely that he will 
 choose the north of Italy as his field of operations. 
 The Duke of Wellington tells me that there are 
 
rRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 375 
 
 at Genoa two thousand English and three thousand 
 Italian troops, who fought in Spain, and who have 
 entered the service of the King of Sardinia. He 
 has no doubt but that these troops, which he says 
 are excellent, will do their duty. The King of Sar¬ 
 dinia is at this moment at Genoa, and must have 
 his guards with him. There are also three English 
 frigates in the harbour. If, therefore, Bonaparte 
 made a descent upon Genoa with his twelve 
 hundred men, he would fail. But it is to be feared 
 that he will cross over the mountains towards Parma 
 and Lombardy, and that his presence may be the 
 signal for an insurrection which has been long pre¬ 
 pared, to which the bad conduct of Austria and the 
 false policy of her Cabinet have been only too favour¬ 
 able—an insurrection which, if supported by the 
 troops of Murat, with whom Bonaparte is probably 
 in league, will set all Italy in a blaze. Both Prince 
 Schwarzenberg and Prince Metternich have told 
 me that if Bonaparte appeared in the north of Italy, 
 they would be greatly embarrassed, because they 
 are not yet ready for him. Last night express 
 messengers were sent to all the corps intended for 
 Italy, with orders to hurry their departure; but, 
 however much haste they make, they will take a 
 full month to reach their destination, and in a 
 month much may take place. It seems that Prince 
 
37 ^ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Schwarzenberg will be ordered to repair himself to 
 Italy. 
 
 In any case your Majesty will certainly think it 
 necessary to assemble sufficient forces in the south, 
 to be ready to act according to circumstances. 
 
 The consequences of this event cannot yet be 
 foreseen, but they may be fortunate if we know how 
 to turn them to account. I will do all in my power 
 to keep people here from going to sleep, and to 
 induce the Congress to depose Bonaparte from a 
 rank which, by an inconceivable weakness, he has 
 been suffered to preserve, and to render him at 
 length incapable of preparing fresh disasters in 
 Europe. 
 
 We have been deliberating on the manner of 
 acquainting the King of Saxony with the cessions 
 which the Powers have decided on his making 
 to Prussia, and for which his consent is necessary. 
 We have determined to extract from the general 
 protocol the articles containing the cessions, and 
 to make them into a private protocol, which, to 
 show greater respect, will be delivered to the King 
 by the Duke of Wellington, Prince Metternich, and 
 myself. We shall all three go to Presburg for this 
 purpose on the day after to-morrow. Any resist¬ 
 ance on the part of the King of Saxony would be 
 useless for him and very annoying for every one 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. Z 77 
 
 else, especially at a time when it is imperative to 
 unite all minds and all opinions against the attempts 
 of the man of Elba. We shall do, therefore, all 
 that is requisite for inducing the King of Saxony 
 to submit with a good grace to what this juncture 
 renders necessary. 
 
 We have come to an agreement on the affairs 
 of Switzerland. The Russians, forced to give up 
 the idea of excluding Berne from the number of 
 directing cantons, have asked that it may be at any 
 rate advised to modify its constitution by introduc¬ 
 ing partially the representative principle. All the 
 Powers joined in this demand, which is in harmony 
 with modern ideas, and France was not able to 
 refuse, as the letters of MM. de Watteville and 
 de Mullinen showed that this refusal would entail 
 no serious difficulties on Berne; and the Bernese 
 envoy, M. de Zerleder, is of the same opinion. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXIV. 
 
 (i) “When the ministers came to me they were still ignorant 
 of the event. Talleyrand entered first. I made him read the 
 despatch I had received from Genoa. He did not change 
 countenance, and we held the following laconic conversation :— 
 
 “ Talleyrand. Do you know whither Napoleon is going? 
 
 “ Z The report says nothing. 
 
37 ^ "UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 “ Talleyrand. He will land somewhere on the coast of Italy, 
 and throw himself into Switzerland. 
 
 He will go straight to Paris.”—Memoirs of Metternich, 
 vol. i. p. 206. 
 
 (2) M. Dumorey. 
 
 (3) In the sitting of the House of Commons of the 7th of April 
 the English minister said— 
 
 “We have been asked why Bonaparte was not watched more 
 closely in the island of Elba. 
 
 “The reason was that Bonaparte was not there in the cha¬ 
 racter of a prisoner. That island was assigned to him as a 
 sovereignty.” (See Hansard.) 
 
 Article 3 of the Treaty of Paris of the nth of April, 1814, 
 w r as in these words : 
 
 “The island of Elba, adopted by his Majesty Napoleon I. as 
 his place of residence, shall form, during his life, a separate 
 principality, which shall be possessed by him in full sovereignty 
 and property.” (See d’Angeberg, p. 148.) 
 
 Article 17 of the treaty ran thus : 
 
 “ The Emperor shall be allowed to take with him and retain 
 as his guard four hundred men, volunteers, as well officers as 
 sub-officers and soldiers.”—From the Annual Register for 1814. 
 
 ♦♦ 
 
 LETTER LXV. 
 
 No. 32 (A). 
 
 Vienna, 7th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 General Ricard is returning to Paris, in 
 consequence of the orders he has received from 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 2 > 7 9 
 
 the Minister of War, in case his presence here 
 should be no longer necessary. His journey hither 
 has not attained the object for which it was under¬ 
 taken, and this cannot be a subject for any regret; 
 but it has been useful in many other respects. 
 General Ricard has been presented to the sove¬ 
 reigns ; he has seen the principal ministers at the 
 Congress; many questions have been asked him, 
 and his answers, and in general his language and his 
 behaviour, have given a just and favourable idea 
 of the situation of France, and particularly of the 
 army. I beg your Majesty to express your satisfac¬ 
 tion to him on this subject. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 LETTER LXVI. 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 Vienna, 12th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have received the letter with which your 
 Majesty has honoured me, dated the 3rd of this 
 month. I am waiting for the one which your 
 Majesty is pleased to announce to me, as well as 
 for the instructions relating to the affairs of Parma, 
 
380 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to open this matter to Prince Metternich, who has 
 already asked me if I were not yet ready to treat 
 it. The mystery with which he tries to surround 
 it, the overtures which he made, unknown to me, 
 to your Majesty, his wish to settle it with me alone, 
 are in consequence of his being as well aware as 
 any one else of the objections to be made to his 
 scheme. By agreeing to it your Majesty will cer¬ 
 tainly be making a sacrifice, and one which, in my 
 opinion, may not be without serious consequences. 
 I own, however, that I shall not think it too great 
 if Austria, in return, co-operates loyally with us 
 against Murat, and if Prince Metternich is faithful 
 to his offers and promises. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington, Prince Metternich, 
 and I started for Presburg on Wednesday evening, 
 and arrived there at 4 a.m. At noon the King 
 of Saxony received us all three, took the protocol 
 Prince Metternich presented, and handed it without 
 opening it to his Minister, who was present, telling 
 us that he would take cognizance of its contents ; 
 and drawing nearer to us, he addressed us in very 
 polite terms, but very coldly. At one o’clock we 
 had the honour of dining with him and the Oueen. 
 
 O /V 
 
 In the evening he received us each separately— 
 Prince Metternich at four, me at five, and the Duke 
 of Wellington at six. He expressed his gratitude 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 381 
 
 to your Majesty several times over. On the next 
 day we all three had a very long conference with 
 his minister, Count Einsiedel, who does not under¬ 
 stand French well, and who speaks it even worse. 
 In this conversation we exhausted all the means 
 which ought to induce the King to make the conces¬ 
 sions agreed upon by the Powers in favour of Prussia. 
 The King and his ministers brought forward 
 nothing but objections. They seemed to nourish 
 a hope that the terms which have been agreed 
 upon were still open to negotiation. As this hope 
 was renewed in the Note addressed to us by the 
 Kings minister on Saturday, we thought it neces¬ 
 sary to destroy it by a positive declaration in the 
 answer we gave him just as we were leaving 
 Presburg. I have the honour of annexing copies 
 of these two documents.^) 
 
 When we delivered our account of our mission 
 at the conference of the five Powers, the Russians 
 demanded that the part of Saxony which has been 
 accorded to them might at once pass from under 
 martial law to ordinary civil rule, and that the 
 other portion might for the present remain under 
 martial law. 
 
 This demand, which it would be difficult to 
 refuse, will probably decide f) the consent of the 
 King of Saxony, who, according to the information 
 
382 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which we have obtained, wishes to consent, but at 
 the same time wants to appear in the eyes of his 
 people to have yielded to extreme and invincible 
 necessity. 
 
 When we were at Presburg the news reached 
 us that Bonaparte, repulsed by the guns from 
 Antibes, which he had summoned to surrender, had 
 landed in the Bay of St. Juan ; these are the last 
 tidings we have received of him. It was supposed 
 that he had no confederates either at Marseilles 
 or Toulon, as he did not present himself there, 
 nor at Antibes, which has repulsed him. These 
 reflections seem reassuring. But the Powers have 
 nevertheless thought it right to set on foot pre¬ 
 parations enabling them to offer assistance to 
 your Majesty, if it should be necessary. The 
 English, Prussian, and Austrian troops in the 
 neighbourhood of the Rhine have been ordered to 
 concentrate and to hold themselves in readiness. 
 The Emperor of Russia has ordered the Russian 
 troops which had returned to the Vistula, and to 
 draw near to the Elbe and the Oder. 
 
 So long as no one knew whither Bonaparte 
 was going, or what were his intentions, no de¬ 
 claration against him could be made. We tried to 
 get one adopted as soon as we knew. The draft 
 has been prepared by the French Legation and 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 383 
 
 communicated to the Duke of Wellington and 
 Prince Metternich. It will be read to-morrow in 
 the committee of the eight signatory Powers of 
 the Treaty of Paris, and it will probably undergo 
 some alterations. When it has been adopted, I 
 shall have the honour of transmitting it to your 
 Majesty by a courier, who will leave a copy with 
 the Prefect of Strasbourg, whom I shall ask to have 
 it printed and distributed in his and the neighbour¬ 
 ing department. I shall do the same with Metz 
 and Chalons. I shall desire M. de Saint-Marsan 
 to take similar means for distributing it in Nice, 
 Savoy, and Dauphiny. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia, who, on the whole, has 
 behaved very well at this juncture, is sending off 
 General Pozzo,( 3 ) and will entrust him with a letter 
 for your Majesty, to whom he offers his whole army. 
 It would be sad if France were obliged to accept 
 this offer, which must not be positively refused, but 
 which your Majesty will assuredly not think of 
 accepting except in an extreme case, and one which 
 I hope will not occur. 
 
 I have no doubt that your Majesty has ordered 
 troops to be sent to the south. If I ventured to 
 offer an opinion as to the general whom it would be 
 most advisable to set over them, I should mention 
 Marshal Macdonald, as a man of honour, who can 
 
3^4 . UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 be trusted, and who possesses the confidence of the 
 army; and likewise, because, as he signed the treaty 
 of the 11 th of April on Bonaparte’s side, his example 
 will have all the more weight when he marches 
 against him. 
 
 I have seen a list of the generals appointed 
 to command the thirty thousand men whom your 
 Majesty has ordered to be assembled between Lyons 
 and Chambery. The names of several of them are 
 unknown to me ; but there are some among them 
 in whom I can have no confidence, among others 
 General Maurice Matthieu, who, I believe, was the 
 devoted servant of Joseph Bonaparte. 
 
 The presence of the latter in the Pays de Vaud 
 cannot fail to be dangerous at the present moment. 
 I shall try to induce Russia, England, and Austria, 
 who have influence over that canton, to ask that he 
 may be sent away.( 4 ) 
 
 The Emperor of Russia, to do him justice, has 
 already, without prompting, ordered the new can¬ 
 tons ( 5 ) to be written to in the way that we wish. 
 I have mentioned this to M. Auguste de Talley¬ 
 rand^ 6 ) and advised him to come to an understanding 
 with the Russian chorgd d'affaires , Baron Krtidener. 
 
 This in other respects very disagreeable event 
 of Bonaparte’s appearance in France will have at 
 least one advantage, that it will hasten the conclu- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 3%5 
 
 sion of affairs. It has doubled the diligence and 
 the zeal of every one. The committee for drawing up 
 the treaty will set to work actively. The end of our 
 stay here may therefore be several weeks nearer. ( 7 ) 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXVI. 
 
 (1) See D’Angeberg, p. 908, 909. 
 
 (2) The King of Saxony did not give his adhesion to the 
 treaty until the 20th of May, 1815. From the date of the pro¬ 
 visional establishment of a Russian administration he refused the 
 subsidy which had previously been assigned to him. 
 
 (3) “We want General Pozzo. Send him to us ; he may be 
 of use to us, and I think that M. Butiakine is very anxious to 
 hav^ him.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 8th March, 1815. 
 
 ^4) “ I had the honour yesterday of writing to you that I 
 had\ asked Prince Metternich and Count Nesselrode to take 
 measures for obliging Joseph Bonaparte to leave the Pays de 
 VsluM and to keep at a distance from the French frontier. 
 Th A hastened to take these steps, and Austrian and Russian 
 offiB-s have already been sent to Switzerland for this purpose, 
 and hLve even been desired to take Joseph Bonaparte to Gratz 
 as soJn as the canton of Vaud shall have complied with this 
 requ^:.'’—Talleyrand to the Department, 4th March, 1815. 
 
 [letter from Jaucourt to Talleyrand, dated the 18th of 
 , 1814, says, “M. Dessoles has shown the King a letter 
 eph Bonaparte, who submits, if the order is peremptory, 
 to'I^^H away, but only for a time and without selling his pro- 
 pert}^* Mi answer to this effect was approved by the King and 
 Bed by Dessolles.” 
 
 The new Swiss cantons in 1814 were the Valais, Neuf- 
 chatelj and Geneva. 
 
 (6) M. de Jaucourt vvrites of him on the 8th of December, 
 
386 1 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 1814: “Old as I am, I still love danger; but I have a sovereign 
 contempt for worry; all fidgety people are intolerable to me. 
 I hope I shall not offend you by saying that Count Auguste de 
 Talleyrand is one.” 
 
 (7) “ My dear Henry, 
 
 “ Things here are _in such a state that I think we shall 
 finish them towards the end of the month, although there are 
 several matters which have not yet been settled. The King of 
 Saxony has not yet accepted the arrangement by which a large 
 portion of his dominions will be given to Russia, but I think 
 that he will accede to it. The subjects under discussion between 
 Austria and Bavaria have not yet been arranged, but we have the 
 materials for settling them, and the end is approaching. The 
 Italian question has not yet been attacked. I do not think, how¬ 
 ever, that it presents any very great difficulties. I wish you 
 could have been here last night and have seen Labrador con¬ 
 ferring with the plenipotentiaries. He is a perfect representative 
 of Spain, and the portrait you drew of him was excellent. 
 
 “ You must have heard of Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and 
 landing in France, near Antibes. We are going to issue 
 proclamation, of which I will send you a copy if I can g 
 before I close my letter. If we find that the King of Fra 
 not able to make an end of him alone, we shall set in motion all 
 the armies of Europe. Every one is very zealous and pro 
 offers; and I think that even if Bonaparte should succee 
 establishing himself in France, the forces directed against 
 well as the influence of opinion, would be so considerable 
 should certainly succeed in overthrowing him. 
 
 “ I am, dear Henry, 
 
 “ Yours most affectio 
 “ Wellino' 
 
 “Vienna, 12th March, 1815.” 
 
 This letter is addressed to the Marquis of Wellesley, British 
 Minister at Madrid. (N.B.—I have not had the opportunity of 
 collating the above with the original English.— Translator ) 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 387 
 
 LETTER LXVII. 
 
 No. 34. 
 
 Vienna, 14th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have just left the conference, in which 
 the declaration (*) which I had the honour of men¬ 
 tioning in my letter of yesterday to your Majesty 
 has been signed. It was settled this morning in the 
 conference of the five Powers ; we carried it this 
 evening to that of the eight Powers by whom it was 
 adopted. I hasten to forward it to your Majesty; 
 I send copies of it at the same time to the Pre¬ 
 fects of Strasburg, Besan^on, Lyons, Nancy, Metz, 
 and Chalons-sur-Marne, requesting them to have it 
 printed and distributed in their respective depart¬ 
 ments and sent to the neighbouring Prefects. 
 
 I am sure that your Majesty will think it ad¬ 
 visable to order its publication in every part of the 
 kino-dom. M. de Saint-Marsan, to whom I have 
 given a copy, will send it to Genoa and Nice. 
 
 It seems to me that this proclamation leaves 
 nothing to be desired in respect of strength, and 
 I hope that it will in no respect fail in the effect it 
 is intended to produce, in France as well as in the 
 rest of Europe, where it will be circulated in every 
 direction. One of Bonaparte’s sisters (Pauline 
 
338 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Borghese) has been arrested at Lucca, on her way 
 from Elba to Italy. Jerome, who was at Trieste, 
 will be conveyed to Gratz, as well as Joseph, as 
 soon as the Pays de Vaud has acceded to the 
 request which I have instructed M. de Talleyrand 
 to address to that canton in conjunction with the 
 ministers of Austria and Russia. 
 
 Some Russian and Austrian officers are carry¬ 
 ing the demand to the canton of Vaud, and are 
 desired to escort Joseph Bonaparte to Gratz. 
 
 Orders have been issued for the occupation of 
 the island of Elba in the name of the Allies. 
 
 All therefore is working towards the same object 
 with a concert and unanimity which I think hitherto 
 unexampled among nations. 
 
 I have obtained information respecting the 
 generals appointed to command the troops stationed 
 between Chambery and Lyons. Generals Semele 
 and Dijon, and especially General Marchand, were 
 represented to me as worthy of absolute confidence. 
 
 I have seen no one who knew General Roussel 
 d’Harbel. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—I think there ought to be a very clear 
 line to break the declaration from the protocol 
 which follows it, at the end of which all the signa- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 3 8 9 
 
 tures should be appended as they are in the 
 enclosed copy. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXVII. 
 
 (i) The declaration of the 13th of March, 1815, issued by the 
 signatory Powers of the Treaty of Paris, assembled at the Con¬ 
 gress of Vienna, relating to Napoleon’s escape from the island of 
 Elba. It is printed in the Moniteur Universel of the 13th of 
 April, 1815 (see D’Angeberg, p. 912). 
 
 “I send to the King, my dear friend, the declaration I 
 mentioned to you yesterday. It is very strong; there. has never 
 been a document of so much power and importance signed by all 
 the sovereigns of Europe. It must be printed just as I send it, 
 with all the signatures. It had to be cast in the form of an ex¬ 
 tract from a protocol in order to enable us to sign it. Take care 
 that no change is made in printing it. Put a break between the 
 declaration and the extract from the protocol, to which the signa¬ 
 tures are appended. I am sending this document to Nice, to 
 Strasburg, to Besangon, and to Metz, and I ask the Prefects to 
 print and distribute it. 
 
 “ Adieu. I do not think 'that we could have done better 
 here.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 14th March, 1815. 
 
 — . 
 
 LETTER LXVIII. 
 
 No. 35. 
 
 Vienna, 14th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The courier I am sending off to-day 
 carries with him to Switzerland, to M. de Talleyrand, 
 
39 ° 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 orders to take, in concert with the ministers of 
 Austria and Russia, the steps which I had the 
 honour of mentioning to your Majesty yesterday, 
 for the purpose of removing Joseph Bonaparte 
 from the frontiers of France. 
 
 He will be longer on the way than the couriers 
 we send straight to Paris. I should not, however, 
 have liked to despatch him without a letter to your 
 Majesty, although I have no news to communicate, 
 the courier bearing the instructions which your 
 Majesty has done me the honour of announcing 
 in the letter of the 3rd having not yet arrived. 
 
 I hope that these instructions will not be, as 
 Prince Metternich flatters himself, such as to post¬ 
 pone the decision as to the fate of Murat to a 
 distant period. We cannot and ought not to believe 
 in Prince Metternich’s promises. I had rather 
 a warm discussion with him to-day on the subject. 
 My opinion is that if the Murat question is put off, 
 it will be lost for us, and in that case public opinion, 
 which is now all in our favour, will go against us. 
 
 I have procured, and in the next letter which 
 I shall have the honour of writing to your Majesty I 
 will enclose, a paper drawn up by this same Prince 
 Metternich, which will enable your Majesty to un¬ 
 derstand in what position with respect to the other 
 Powers the French envoys to the Congress found 
 
I 
 
 PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 39 1 
 
 themselves on their arrival at Vienna, and to see 
 how different is the position which we now occupy. 
 
 I annex one of the declarations ( x ) printed at 
 Vienna and distributed throughout Germany. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXVIII. 
 
 (1) Here is this furious declaration :— 
 
 “Address to the Nations. 
 
 “The object of Bonaparte’s reign will in future be the happi¬ 
 ness of the Jacobins. He is satisfied with the present limits of 
 France, and wishes to live in peace with the rest of Europe. 
 
 “His guarantees for this are— 
 
 “ 1. The grape-shot with which he destroyed the Parisian 
 sections. 
 
 “ 2. His poisoning the hospitals in Egypt 
 
 “ 3. The assassination of Pichegru. 
 
 “4. The murder of the Due d’Enghien. 
 
 “ 5. His oaths to the French Republic. 
 
 “ 6. His repeated attacks on the sovereigns of Europe. 
 
 “ 7. The pillage of the churches in Russia and Spain. 
 
 “ 8. His escape from the island of Elba. 
 
 “9. The organization of three thousand battalions of National 
 Guards in the place of the conscription. 
 
 “10. The violation of all the treaties he has signed, including 
 that of Fontainebleau. 
 
 “ 11. The abolition of all duties interfering with the practice 
 of drunkenness. 
 
 “ He also promises to issue, immediately after the Assemblies 
 of May, if they should be favourable to him, an edict against 
 perjury, drawn up by Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angely, and coun¬ 
 tersigned by Ney.” 
 
392 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LXIX. 
 
 No. 36. 
 
 Vienna, 14th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 My letter No. 35 will not reach your 
 Majesty until after the one I now have the honour 
 of writing, because the courier who has charge of 
 it has gone round by Zurich. 
 
 Although Bonaparte has only a handful of men 
 with him, I thought it would be a good thing to 
 deprive him especially of those who, not being 
 French, and finding themselves at a distance from 
 their own country, would have a double reason for 
 devotion to him. I have therefore requested that 
 the Polish troops in his service should be recalled 
 by their Government.^) My suggestion was re¬ 
 ceived with alacrity. The order for their return 
 was minuted in conjunction with me, and executed 
 on the spot. The courier I send is taking it with 
 him, and I have the honour of enclosing a copy. 
 I beg your Majesty to have the kindness to give 
 the necessary orders for providing these troops with 
 the route they will require for their journey. The 
 Emperor of Russia and Prince Czartoryski have 
 shown much good will in this little affair. ( 2 ) 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. S93 
 
 A Prussian courier, who preceded by twelve 
 hours the one sent to me on the 8th, brought news 
 which has been confirmed by all my letters from 
 Paris. This news, which was circulated without 
 delay, excited general rejoicing. Every one praises 
 the wisdom of your Majesty’s measures ; every one 
 is persuaded that Bonaparte will not be able to 
 escape punishment, and is glad of it. 
 
 M. de Jaucourt speaks of the good effect which 
 a declaration on the part of the Congress would 
 produce.( 3 ) He even speaks on behalf of your 
 Majesty, who by this time knows that his wishes 
 have been anticipated. I sent some printed decla¬ 
 rations to be distributed on the frontiers of Switzer¬ 
 land by yesterday’s courier. I have the honour 
 to-day of sending some copies to your Majesty. 
 The date of Vienna and the official Austrian type 
 seem to me calculated to produce a good effect. 
 
 The principles of legitimacy, which had to be 
 drawn from beneath the ruins under which the over¬ 
 throw of so many ancient and the establishment of 
 so many new dynasties had, as it were, buried them, 
 which were accepted so coldly by some and rejected 
 by others when we first produced them, have at last 
 become appreciated. Your firmness in supporting 
 them has not been without its effect. The whole 
 honour of it belongs to your Majesty, and the 
 
394 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 unanimity with which the Powers have pronounced 
 against Bonaparte’s last attempt is entirely due 
 to it. 
 
 I have often had the honour of informing your 
 Majesty that in the beginning the Allies had made 
 every arrangement for making us simply spectators 
 at the Congress ; but I thought their agreement to 
 this effect was only verbal, and I had no idea that 
 they had put it in writing. The two protocols ( 4 ) 
 which I have the honour of forwarding to your 
 Majesty prove the contrary, and they also show how 
 little resemblance our present position has to that 
 which they intended us to assume. These two 
 protocols are copied from the originals, which I have 
 actually held in my hand. Certainly the distance is 
 enormous between the wishes of the Powers on the 
 22nd of September and the declaration which they 
 have just made. 
 
 I shall have the honour of replying by one of 
 the next couriers respecting the orders which your 
 Majesty has been pleased to give me with regard to 
 the Italian affairs. 
 
 I received them only this evening. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 395 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXIX. 
 
 (1) In the official account of Napoleon’s return, inserted in 
 the Moniteur Universel of the 25th of March, 1815, it is said that 
 the Emperor left Elba with a hundred Polish light horse, etc. 
 
 (2) “ I have received your despatches of the morning of the 
 14th. Continue to send us information by every possible oppor¬ 
 tunity. We have no doubt as to the energy or the loyalty of the 
 nation. Set Lafitte at rest. The delay in paying him was 
 occasioned only by the delay in General Pozzo’s return. I am 
 sure that, if you were obliged to quit Paris, he would be able 
 to furnish you with the necessary funds out of our balance in his 
 hands. 
 
 “ Here the strongest possible measures continue to be taken. 
 If France does not make an end of Bonaparte, Europe will 
 bring him to justice. Never has Europe been more unanimous, 
 and all the Powers at the Congress vie with each other in zeal 
 and ' -4rgy. I advise you to follow the lead of the diplomatic 
 corp^ e hd, as far as possible, to follow the King. Adieu; I wish 
 you courage and resignation.”—Nesselrode to M. Butiakine, 
 Vienna, 22nd March, 1815. 
 
 (3) This is what M. de Jaucourt wrote to Prince Talleyrand 
 on the 14th of March : 
 
 “ Our position grows more and more critical. Monsieur goes 
 off again to-day. He came from Lyons, where Macdonald behaved 
 a)h noble fidelity but very bad success; he harangued three 
 thousand men who were at Lyons; he collected the officers. The 
 officers, instead of yielding to duty, declared that they had nc 
 influence over their troops; they recriminated by talking of the 
 faults committed with regard to the army, the injustice, the humi¬ 
 liation, etc. ; they spoke of the men chosen to surround the 
 princes, etc. Macdonald, however, drew them up behind the 
 bridge of La Guillotiere; as soon as they caught sight of the first 
 
396 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 hussars of Bonaparte they overset the Marshal, joined the hussars, 
 and fraternized , as they call it. The Marshal escaped, was followed 
 for six leagues, accomplished eleven in three hours, and rejoined 
 Monsieur at Moulins. Monsieur is to set off for Chalons witli 
 him; Dupont is on the way, but will arrive late with the rear¬ 
 guard. The garrisons in the north are sound. There may be, 
 perhaps, some firmness in the troops under Marshal Ney; those 
 of the Due de Trevise behaved well at La Fere. We make too 
 much of this small success. I do not believe in the steadiness of 
 the Royal Guard, nor in the good will of the National Guard; I 
 believe only in the firmness of the King. The Bonapartists are 
 doing all they can to induce him to leave. This would be taking 
 a step which would suppose the existence of some views, calcula¬ 
 tions, or at least plans; God has not permitted this miracle as the 
 result of our royal or ministerial councils. 
 
 “The tears came to my eyes at the Council yesterday, when I 
 saw the King, his brother, his nephew, and all his ministers de¬ 
 liberate for three hours on the arrests to be made. There is to be 
 a battle, i.e. an assemblage of troops, at I know not what d/'ince 
 from Paris. The Due de Berry is to join them. The ser^ n :s at 
 Fontainebleau are preparing the castle for Bonaparte, h M. de 
 Blacas said to me, ‘ This will, you know, give us a great many 
 places to distribute.’ I replied, ‘You may promise them to a 
 hundred people, you will not be compromised.’ I still think that 
 Bonaparte will give the slip to the Due de Berry and will reach 
 Paris without a battle. He will steal a march and arrive in Paris, 
 unless the presence of the King, as is very probable, embarrasses 
 him. He dares not use violence ; he cannot frighten him. If the 
 King decides on remaining, at the risk of being taken to Valen- 
 ^ay, Bonaparte will probably considerably tarnish his unheard-of 
 success. I shall not close my letter until I have seen M. de 
 Blacas. 
 
 “ The courier came from Lyons through Burgundy; at Macon 
 he found all the people in a ferment, crying, ‘ Long live Bona- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 397 
 
 parte !’ and he was obliged to take off his badge to pass. It cost 
 him some buttons stamped with the fleur-de-lys from his coat. 
 
 “ When I went out I left my vote in writing for M. de Bour- 
 rienne, whom it is proposed to make Prefect of Police. 
 
 “ I proposed, with the consent of the Abbe de Montesquieu, to 
 write thus to Oudinot: ‘ If the Old Guard swears fidelity, to 
 offer the rank of officers to all the grenadiers, of nobility to all 
 the officers, and to seize the Post horses for transport. If the guard 
 accept they will keep their word ; but the choice must be left to 
 them, for no one is really gained over unless his heart is in it.’ 
 
 “ Monsieur will not go away again; he expects wonders from 
 the review he is going to hold to-morrow of the Imperial Guard. 
 
 . . . It seems to me that the Congress is making up its mind to 
 issue a declaration. The King must be able to say that as long as 
 he is master here foreigners shall not come in, but that if Bona¬ 
 parte should by any possibility become master, this calamity 
 would be caused by him alone, and the consequences would fall 
 upon his head, etc. 
 
 “ It seems to me that this would make the King popular, and 
 excite animosity against Bonaparte. 
 
 (4) A separate protocol of a conference held on the 22nd of 
 September, 1814, by the plenipotentiaries of Austria, Great Britain, 
 France, and Russia, on the form and order of the discussion at the 
 Congress at Vienna (see D’Angeberg, p. 245). 
 
 The second protocol mentioned by Talleyrand, and which he 
 annexes to his letter, does not appear in any of the collections of 
 the archives of the Congress of Vienna. 
 
39^ 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LXIX. (A). 
 
 COPY OF THE ORDERS GIVEN TO COLONEL JEZAMA- 
 NOWSKI, OR, IN HIS ABSENCE, TO THE OFFICER IN 
 HIS PLACE. 
 
 By virtue of the - commands of his Imperial 
 Highness the Grand-Duke Constantine, Commander- 
 in-chief of the Polish troops in the grand-duchy of 
 Warsaw, I transmit to you, sir, the present orders, 
 in receiving which you will be kind enough, without 
 entering into any discussion with any other person, 
 to repair to Warsaw with the Polish troop which you 
 brought from the island of Elba, and to receive on 
 your arrival the further orders of the general of 
 division, Count Vincent Krasinski. You will com¬ 
 municate a copy of this order to the general under 
 whose command you may happen to be, informing 
 him that his Imperial Highness has desired you, on 
 pain of a most serious personal responsibility, to 
 fulfil this order literally and immediately on its 
 reception. 
 
 The annexed orders of the French Government 
 authorize you to demand a route of road from the 
 Government of the country nearest to the spot 
 which you now occupy. With regard to the pay of 
 your troop, as well as any arrears that may be due, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 399 
 
 you will apply in writing to Colonel Jankowski in 
 Paris, transmitting to him at the same time the 
 nominal lists and all. the ordinary and necessary 
 proofs for this purpose. 
 
 You will also send a report to M. Tolinski, the 
 chief of the staff of his Imperial Highness the 
 Grand-Duke Constantine, to tell him on what day 
 you commence your march, the stages which will 
 have been appointed for you, and the condition of 
 your detachment. 
 
 (Signed) Krukowiecki, 
 
 Brigadier- General. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 APPENDIX TO NO. 36. 
 
 Protocol drawn tip and signed on the 22nd of 
 
 September , 1814. 
 
 The Ministers of Austria, Russia, England, and 
 Prussia have met together to deliberate on the 
 modes of procedure to be adopted at the Congress 
 of Vienna, in order to bring it to a fortunate and 
 speedy conclusion. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 400 
 
 They have taken into consideration the stipula¬ 
 tions of the Treaty of Paris relating to the Congress. 
 
 These stipulations are contained in— 
 
 1. Article 32 of the public treaty in the following 
 words :— 
 
 “ Within a period of two months all the Powers 
 who have been engaged on either side in the present 
 war, shall send plenipotentiaries to Vienna in order 
 to regulate in a general congress the arrangements 
 necessary for completing the disposition of the 
 present treaty.” 
 
 2. In the first secret article, as follows :— 
 
 “The arrangements to be made respecting the 
 
 territories to which his Most Christian Majesty 
 relinquishes his claim by Article 3 of the public 
 treaty, and the deliberations which it is hoped will 
 result in the establishment of a real and durable 
 balance of power in Europe, will be regulated at the 
 Congress on the basis settled by the Allied Powers 
 in council, and in accordance with the general 
 arrangements contained in the following articles,” etc. 
 
 The above-mentioned Article 32 evidently re¬ 
 serves, to all the Powers named in it, the privilege 
 of watching over their own interests at the Con¬ 
 gress. 
 
 The first secret article gives to the Allied 
 Powers the initiative in every discussion, inasmuch 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 40 I 
 
 as they have the right to lay down as a basis the 
 arrangements settled by themselves. 
 
 Taking into consideration that it would be 
 impossible for so many Ministers as will be as¬ 
 sembled at the Congress to settle the subjects for 
 deliberation, and draw up a scheme of arrangement, 
 the Ministers have agreed in the opinion that the 
 course prescribed on the following points would be 
 the most favourable to the true interests of the 
 intervening Powers, and that it alone would bring 
 the negotiations to a speedy and fortunate con¬ 
 clusion. 
 
 1. In this course, the subject for discussion may 
 be divided into two parts : 
 
 The former relating to the great European in¬ 
 terests comprised in the mutual relations of the 
 Powers, the territorial divisions, the demarcation 
 of boundaries, and the disposal of the countries 
 occupied and administered provisionally by the 
 Allied Powers. 
 
 The latter relating to the formation of the 
 federative league of the German States. 
 
 2. That the preliminary work in both cases 
 shall be confided to two commissions, composed in 
 the following manner :— 
 
 Austria, Russia, England, Prussia, France, and 
 Spain, charged with the preliminaries relating to 
 the European question. 
 
402 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The Commissioners of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, 
 Hanover, and Wurtemberg to be charged with those 
 relating to the organization of Germany. 
 
 3. In accordance with the separate and secret 
 Article 1 of the Treaty of Paris, the four Cabinets 
 are to draw up a plan fixing the territorial arrange¬ 
 ments consequent on the principles announced in 
 the Treaty of Paris and recognized by France. 
 This plan to be communicated to France and Spain. 
 
 4. The six Powers will then communicate with 
 the other Powers and ask them to make known 
 their opinions and wishes. 
 
 5. As soon as the French plenipotentiary arrives, 
 the present plan shall be communicated to France 
 and to Spain, and not until that time shall the 
 method and the steps requisite for executing the 
 arrangements indicated in the present protocol be 
 definitively settled, in conjunction with their pleni¬ 
 potentiaries. 
 
 6. As soon as the bases of the Germanic 
 federation are settled, the internal details of the 
 federal compact of Germany shall be referred to 
 a session of the German Diet. 
 
 Approved by Metternich, Nesselrode, Castle- 
 reagh, Hardenberg, Humboldt. 1 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 403 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 (1) This is the protocol which does not appear in the catalogue, 
 although it is a very complete one, of Telot, nor is it reproduced 
 in Count d’Angeberg’s work on the Congress of Vienna. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 APPENDIX TO NO. 36. 
 
 Separate Protocol of the Conference of the 
 2 2 nd of September , 1814. (*) 
 
 A discussion arose on the Memorandum to be 
 sent to the plenipotentiaries of France and Spain 
 as to the forms to be observed at the Congress. 
 The ministers present at the conference adopted 
 it, after making a few changes. 
 
 At the same time, they observed, on reading this 
 instrument, that it was entirely for the sake of not 
 annoying or giving umbrage to the French Court 
 that they had abstained from fully developing the 
 third article, which speaks of the initiative to be 
 taken by the four Cabinets. For this reason, and 
 with this object in view, it seemed to them to be 
 doubly necessary to settle between themselves, and 
 
404 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 very accurately, the difference between the delibera¬ 
 tions of the four and of the six Powers, and they 
 have decided as follows :— 
 
 1. That the four Powers only should decide on 
 the distribution of the provinces ( 2 ) which the late 
 war and the Peace of Paris have placed at their 
 disposal, but that the other two Powers should be 
 admitted afterwards to <give their opinions, and 
 make, if they please, objections which shall be after¬ 
 wards discussed with them. 
 
 2. That, in order not to swerve from this rule, 
 the plenipotentiaries of the four Powers shall not 
 confer with the two others on this subject, until they 
 have entirely terminated, and a,re perfectly agreed on, 
 each of the three points relating to the territorial 
 distribution of the duchy of Warsaw, of Germany, 
 and of Italy. 
 
 3. That, in order to give themselves ample time 
 for these preliminary discussions, these four pleni¬ 
 potentiaries shall meanwhile, and from the opening 
 of the Congress, try to occupy themselves and the 
 other two plenipotentiaries with other questions, 
 in which the whole six Powers are fully entitled to 
 take leading parts during the discussions. 
 
 These three principles have been defined during 
 the conference as follows :— 
 
 The disposal of the conquered provinces belongs 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 405 
 
 naturally to the Powers to whose efforts their 
 conquest was due. This principle was fixed by the 
 Treaty of Paris itself, and the French Court already 
 consented to it from the first, for the secret article 
 of the Treaty of Paris asserts in the most precise 
 terms : 
 
 “ That the distribution of the territories shall be 
 settled at the Congress in accordance with the 
 principles laid down by the Allied Powers them¬ 
 selves,” 
 
 The words settled and laid down by themselves 
 clearly express that there is no suggestion here 
 of simple proposals, or of discussions in which 
 France would take part. It is not stated either 
 where or how these principles are to be settled, 
 and it would be an entirely unjust and arbitrary in¬ 
 terpretation if it were contended that the clause 
 meant only the contents of treaties already existing ( ;! ) 
 between the Allies. 
 
 But as France has adopted a legitimate Govern¬ 
 ment, the four Allied Powers do not wish to banish 
 either her or Spain from any discussion on the 
 distribution of territories in which these two Powers 
 may have a particular interest, or even which may 
 concern the general interests of Europe, as they 
 would have done had the peace been concluded 
 with Napoleon. 
 
406 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Therefore, of the three courses open to them on 
 this question—( 4 ) 
 
 1. To be admitted from the first with perfectly 
 equal influence in the deliberation ; 
 
 2. To be admitted only when the other parties 
 are already of one mind ; 
 
 3. To agree beforehand to all that the others 
 decide; 
 
 The second is evidently the one which France 
 has a right to claim, but with which she ought to be 
 satisfied. 
 
 Any other course would be fraught with extreme 
 inconvenience. If France be not admitted until 
 the other four Powers are already agreed among 
 themselves, she will still make all the objections 
 which she thinks advisable for her own safety, and 
 for promoting the general interests of Europe, but 
 she will not make any other objections. If she be 
 present at the first discussion, she will take sides 
 for and against every question, whether her interests 
 be involved in it or not ; she will favour or oppose 
 this or that prince, according to her particular 
 views, and the petty German princes will be en¬ 
 couraged by this to begin again all the manoeuvres, 
 intrigues, and plots which had so great a share 
 in causing the misfortunes of late years. This is 
 why it is of the greatest importance not to admit 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 407 
 
 the French plenipotentiaries to take part in any 
 discussion until the subject in question has bee*? 
 entirely settled. ( 5 ) 
 
 Approved by Metternich, Hardenberg, Hum¬ 
 boldt, Nesselrode. 
 
 NOTES TO ABOVE PROTOCOL. 
 
 (1) See D’Angeberg, p. 249. 
 
 (2) Martens writes “ Powers,” which is unintelligible. 
 
 (3) Martens gives here an erroneous text “ of the already 
 existing treaty.” 
 
 (4) Martens, and afterwards D’Angeberg, gives here another 
 text: 
 
 “ 1. Not to be admitted at all; 
 
 “ 2. Not to be admitted until all the other Powers are agreed ; 
 
 “ 3. To assent beforehand to all that the others may conclude ; 
 
 ‘‘The second is evidently the alternative which France has a 
 right to claim, but with which she ought to be satisfied.” 
 
 Talleyrand’s text is evidently preferable. 
 
 (5) It is impossible to explain how it is that this instrument is 
 found in Martens, and that the preceding one, drawn up to be seen 
 by France, is not there. 
 
 At the head of this instrument Martens writes : 
 
 “ France with the limits which were assigned to her,” by 
 M. Keratry, 2nd edit. 1824, Paris, p. 184-187. Perhaps Keratry 
 was acquainted only with this second instrument, and Martens 
 took it for his book. 
 
408 .unpublished correspondence of 
 
 LETTER LXXII. 
 
 No. 37. 
 
 Vienna, 16th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Finding myself obliged to send again to¬ 
 day a courier to Paris with the order recalling the 
 Poles who are with Bonaparte, which was omitted 
 by mistake in last night’s packet, I take advantage 
 of this opportunity to have the honour of telling your 
 Majesty how much I wish to be kept as fully and 
 accurately informed as possible of all that is going 
 on in France, and how necessary it is that I 
 should be so.( x ) 
 
 However well disposed the sovereigns, and even 
 the people, may be at Vienna, it would be a miracle 
 if there were not here evil-minded men ready to 
 spread alarming intelligence, and a great many 
 credulous people ready to receive and promulgate it. 
 Therefore it is very important that your Majesty’s 
 Legation may be always in a position to correct it. 
 
 The news of Bonaparte’s arrival in France made 
 the funds fall here. The declaration of the Congress 
 
 o 
 
 has made them rise again. I hope that it will pro¬ 
 duce a similar effect in France. This morning’s 
 news will perhaps make them fall again. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 409 
 
 The Genevese Government has written to the 
 Federal Government at Zurich that they heard this 
 morning that a regiment sent to oppose Bonaparte 
 had joined his standard; that he entered Grenoble 
 at eight o’clock on the evening of the 7th, and that 
 the town was illuminated. The Government there¬ 
 fore asked for aid, in case Geneva should be threat¬ 
 ened by any attempt of Bonaparte. 
 
 The King of Wtirtemberg has sent this news by 
 express to the Emperor Alexander; all his people 
 were repeating it this morning. I give what are at 
 any rate probable excuses for denying it; but they 
 are not enough to destroy an impression which is 
 produced, I think, by the apprehensions of the 
 Genevese. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXXII. 
 
 (1) On the same day Talleyrand wrote to Jaucourt: “I send 
 you a courier again to-day, my dear Jaucourt, to set you a good 
 example; and I must tell you that it is of the greatest importance 
 that I should be informed of the smallest details relating to Bona¬ 
 parte. Bad news is flying abroad; it ought to be contradicted, 
 and that I cannot do unless I have direct information. So do not 
 lose a minute in sending me all the news you hear. Remember 
 this : that the very Europe which has been brought to making the 
 declaration I sent you, is intensely jealous of France, of the King, 
 of the House of Bourbon. These sentiments show themselves 
 
4io 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 whenever the news is unfavourable. This morning three expresses 
 from Geneva came to the Emperor of Russia and to Austria, to 
 announce that Bonaparte was at Grenoble, and that a regiment 
 had deserted our colours to join his. I saw one of these letters 
 addressed to the Emperor of Russia. For Heaven’s sake, send 
 me some news. We have no reason to fear; our cause is safe ; but 
 news must be met by news. When the foreign couriers leave 
 Paris for this place, give them a line for me; I cannot be too 
 well informed. I am writing to M. Buisson to make him re¬ 
 sponsible. As the Chambers are to meet, all must be set in order, 
 and I must do at once what I intended to do only on my return. 
 
 I beg of you to see to this. If you act with the Constitution and 
 with the Constitution alone, you are strong. I am sorry not to be 
 with you, but I must finish my work here.” 
 
 On the same day he wrote to the Duchess of Courland: 
 
 “ I am setting a good example in the matter of couriers, for I 
 am sending another off to-day. Try to persuade Jaucourt to send 
 me one every day. It is too trying to be in a large town abound¬ 
 ing in false news and to have nothing direct or trustworthy to tell 
 people. 
 
 “ If not every day, at least they might write to me whenever 
 anything happens. Everything is of importance ; I would rather 
 be written to every day. Adieu, dear friend.” 
 
 On the same day, 16th March, he wrote to M. de Laval: 
 
 “Yesterday, the 15th, I had at last a courier. Of all.the 
 ministers at Vienna I was the last to receive letters. This caused 
 me two very disagreeable days. The news is good, so I console 
 myself. I think that this last dreadful attempt of Bonaparte’s 
 will not last long.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 411 
 
 LETTER LXXIII. 
 
 No. 38. 
 
 Vienna, 17 th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have the honour of sending to your 
 Majesty a letter which I received this morning from 
 Murat’s minister here ; I send it in the original, in 
 order to avoid delay, and also because I do not want 
 it here. 
 
 The Duke of Campo-Chiaro made a similar com¬ 
 munication to the Duke of Wellington, and after¬ 
 wards to the Court of Vienna, it having been 
 already communicated to the Austrian minister at 
 Naples. This proceeding, in addition to the news 
 received here to-day, and the language held by the 
 plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers, makes me 
 foresee that if Bonaparte should advance on Paris, 
 and if the Powers assemble their forces on our 
 frontiers, it will be almost impossible, not only to 
 obtain a declaration from the Congress against Murat 
 and in favour of Ferdinand IV., but even to per¬ 
 suade Austria, and perhaps England, to enter into 
 any actual and substantial engagement against him. 
 I must therefore ask your Majesty to be kind enough 
 to give me precise orders on this subject. We must 
 think of ourselves before thinking of others. 
 
412 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The news received to-day came to Prince Met- 
 ternich and by way of Milan. It announces the 
 defection of two regiments, the entry of Bonaparte 
 into Grenoble, and his departure from Grenoble for 
 Lyons on the evening of the 8th ; and it adds that 
 the disposition of the provinces he has passed through 
 is very unfavourable to us. 
 
 This news seemed of sufficient importance to 
 warrant a conference between the Legations of 
 Austria, Russia, England, Prussia, and France, at 
 which the following questions were proposed and 
 discussed :— 
 
 1. What shall be the policy of the Allied Powers 
 in case Bonaparte should succeed in re-establishing 
 himself in Paris ? 
 
 2. What are the military resources actually at 
 their disposal ? 
 
 3. What measures shall be proposed ? 
 
 The declaration issued by the Congress has 
 already proclaimed their policy. They will adhere 
 to that. 
 
 A military committee has been appointed to 
 deliberate on the other two questions. It is com¬ 
 posed of Schwarzenberg, Wellington, Wolkonski 
 (Russian), Knesebeck (Prussian). The committee 
 will meet to-night. The Emperor of Russia wishes 
 to be present. If I learn to-night the result of their 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 413 
 
 deliberations, I shall not wait till to-morrow to send 
 another courier to your Majesty. 
 
 M. Anatole de Montesquieu’s ( x ) visit here, 
 ostensibly in order to see his mother, having been 
 suspected by the Austrians to have a totally different 
 object, and not to have been without some political 
 motive, I have advised him to return immediately 
 to France. 
 
 I am inclined to think that in a few days the 
 Emperor of Austria will take under his care and 
 lodge in his palace Bonaparte’s son, lest the boy 
 should be carried away ; it has even been suspected 
 that this was the object of M. Anatole’s visit. The 
 language held by his mother, which was reported by 
 the Austrian police charged with watching her, 
 afforded some grounds for this belief. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXXIII. 
 
 (1) M. de Montesquieu-Fezenzac was detained at Vienna, and 
 on the 5th of June his mother was still asking for a passport for 
 her son, and entreated M. de Talleyrand to obtain for him, before 
 his departure, the passport for which he had been wishing and 
 waiting so long, together with all the necessary safeguards for 
 enabling him to reach the French frontier. 
 
414 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 
 
 No. 39. 
 
 Vienna, 19th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Duke of Wellington despatches a 
 courier to-day to London, who, if possible, will pass 
 through Paris. I take this opportunity of inform¬ 
 ing your Majesty that in the military conference 
 held on the day before yesterday, at which the 
 Emperor of Russia was present, it was decreed that 
 Bonaparte, with whom the Allied Powers will never 
 treat, must be stopped by prompt and enormous 
 efforts. They have therefore decided on renewing 
 the Treaty of Chaumont, of which I have had the 
 honour of sending a copy to your Majesty. But 
 it is to be directed only against Bonaparte, and not 
 against France, who, on the contrary, will be one of 
 the consenting parties. Sardinia, Bavaria, Wurtem- 
 berg, and Baden will likewise accede to it, as well 
 as Holland and Hanover. 
 
 The Sublime Porte will be invited, not to take 
 part in the war, but to refuse admittance to French 
 •ebels, as well as to their ships. 
 
 Proposals are also to be made to Switzerland. 
 The actual state of affairs allows of no neutrality, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 415 
 
 the man who is forcing all Europe to arm being no 
 better than a brigand.^) 
 
 I have received from Austria a Declaration ( 2 ) re¬ 
 lating to the Valtelline, to Bormio, and to Chiavenna. 
 This Declaration states that those places must be 
 included in the arrangements to be made respecting 
 Italy, and used for purposes of compensation. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—The courier who left Paris on the nth 
 has arrived without any obstacle. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXIV. 
 
 (1) “ These arrangements will, therefore, set all Europe at war, 
 no longer with France, but, on the contrary, to save France from 
 Bonaparte and his adherents. Therefore, when the object for 
 which this war has been set on foot has been attained, there will 
 be no treaty required, because the French nation is at peace with 
 every other. The treaty of the 30th of May is still valid, and will 
 continue to regulate our relations with foreign Powers.”—Talley¬ 
 rand to Jaucourt, 19th March, 1815. 
 
 M. Henri Martin (vol. iv. p. 150) says that “ Bonaparte sent 
 a message to Murat, desiring him to inform Austria that he would 
 soon be in Paris, and that he accepted the treaty of 1814.” M. 
 Martin adds, “ If he was sincere, his return had not even the 
 excuse of an attempt to restore to France the frontiers of which 
 his conduct had deprived her.” 
 
 (2) See D’Angeberg, p. 1933. 
 
4 i 6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LXXV. 
 
 No. 40. 
 
 Vienna, 19th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 No news has reached us to-day. I have 
 the honour of writing to your Majesty at 6 p.m. 
 
 The affairs of Switzerland were finished this 
 morning. The deputation which was at Vienna is 
 to carry the Declaration ( x ) agreed upon by the 
 Allied Powers and signed by them. I am sending 
 a copy to M. Auguste de Talleyrand. The Swiss 
 plenipotentiaries think that it will satisfy no party 
 completely, but that it will not much offend any one. 
 It is generally believed, therefore, that the stipula¬ 
 tions it contains will be adopted. 
 
 The next news that we receive here will 
 probably decide Wellington’s departure. His courier 
 ought properly to arrive on the 21st; he will make 
 up his mind on the 22nd. 
 
 An excellent spirit reigns here. We think of 
 nothing but Bonaparte. All the acts of the Con¬ 
 gress will be directed against him.( 2 ) 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXV. 
 
 (1) Declaration of the Powers assembled at Vienna on the 
 subject of Switzerland. Annex No. 11 of the act of the Congress 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 417 
 
 of Vienna. (See D’Angeberg, p. 934; Thiers, “ History of the 
 Consulate and the Empire,” vol. xviii. p. 604.) 
 
 (2) “You are doubtless already aware that Bonaparte has 
 appointed M. de Caulaincourt Minister for Foreign Affairs; he 
 has also nominated Carnot Minister of the Interior. The appoint¬ 
 ment of M. de Caulaincourt will, I think, necessitate on your part 
 some steps which of course you have already considered. As for 
 me, I am good for nothing; do not give me any mission—I will 
 not have any. All that will have to be done outside of the 
 Congress, if indeed the Congress lives, will be a certain amount 
 of intrigue, and already there are signs of emigration which are 
 odious to me. You have round you men who are a hundred 
 times more capable than I am. 
 
 “ Durand has made me such noble frank proposals that, if I 
 mentioned no one else, I should feel obliged to speak of him. 
 Reinhardt is at Brussels; he will retire to his country house between 
 Bonn and Cologne. He has, in accordance with my wish, carried 
 off the seals of the ministry, as well as some important documents ; 
 he will send them by a safe opportunity. He writes to me in the 
 bitterness of his heart, ‘ My family is safe, and I did not see 
 Bonaparte enter Paris. This must be enough for me.’ 
 
 “ He believes that Bonaparte will leave the nation to the 
 National Guard, even if they should come to blows ; and march 
 with his soldiers (who in reality are his only nation) to the banks 
 of the Rhine, where, thanks to the dilatoriness of the Congress, 
 he may find some adherents, as well as in Belgium. I myself 
 thought that he would like to be attacked in order to unite all 
 parties in a common hatred against the foreigner; but perhaps- 
 it is true that the reannexation of Belgium and of the frontier of 
 the Rhine are objects of almost equal interest to the nation; and a 
 success, if the rapidity of his advance should give him one, will 
 have a prodigious effect. 
 
 “The precautions taken in the country are an evidence of 
 uneasiness. No newspapers; they are all stopped. Passports are 
 
418 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 not given or vise without extreme difficulties. Trade is beginning 
 to complain. Do you not think that M. Zeppelin will stay at 
 Paris ? I have written as strongly as I could to tell them to send 
 you at least a duplicate of the whole correspondence. It is im¬ 
 portant that you should know all that is going on in the diplo¬ 
 matic corps. I have given passports to them all; but I have 
 some idea that M. de Zeppelin and M. de Waltersdorf will remain, 
 perhaps even M. de Fagel, the latter to watch: the pretence of 
 waiting for orders would be already a concession. You will, how¬ 
 ever, have means for obtaining information. At this juncture we 
 shall derive great advantage from the spirit which dictated the 
 appointments of our ambassadors. I think that the Prince de 
 Laval, who had asked for his passport, will stay at his post, or 
 even would return to it. He will be more in the way of corre¬ 
 sponding with you than many others as long as Italy remains quiet. 
 They will have, of course, the sense to think of their five or six 
 thousand exiles, whom they must not throw into the arms of 
 Bonaparte, but who are very much embittered. 
 
 “We are expecting the Duke of Wellington. Nothing less 
 than his presence can reassure the English, who are all moving 
 away. 
 
 “ The great Blacas has drawn out his travelling equipage; he 
 has not achieved wonders, he has made only a great middle-class 
 fortune. Louis leaves all his, amounting to thirty-five millions; it 
 is distressing, for this would have been enough to advance upon 
 the Rhine. The bonhomme has already taxed cotton and increased 
 the severity of the custom-house: people will kiss the tyrant’s 
 hand and pay. 
 
 “ Adieu. My misgivings were not premature when I sent you 
 my sad conjectures ; well, I am not any happier. 
 
 “ The King’s philosophy points to Hartwell, and the activity of 
 the princes just suffices to make them listen to every suggestion 
 and follow their own inclinations blindly. Perhaps you will write 
 the ep.taph of this madman; this will be a fine thing, but then 
 France will be ruined. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 419 
 
 “ D’Andre is at Brussels, where he is playing his own little 
 game with Fouche. 
 
 “ Good-bye. I hope you will be able to keep enough to be 
 only poor. The position is honourable, but I am not fond of 
 poverty. Bresson has thought of the sum which is not included 
 in the budget, and is no doubt awaiting your orders; it is reduced 
 to eighty thousand francs. I dare say that he will be able to 
 keep the disposal of it. As for me, dear friend, I have fifty 
 thousand francs, and yet not a sou, if, as is reported, the hero of 
 Elba seizes the property of the Provisional Government and 
 banishes its members/’—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, Ostend, 27th 
 March, 1815. 
 
 LETTER LXXVI. 
 
 No. 41. 
 
 Vienna, 19th March, p.m., 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have the honour of forwarding to your 
 Majesty a letter which I have just received from the 
 Russian minister. It seems to leave nothing to be 
 desired on the subject it relates to. The sentiments 
 it expresses are excellent, and in accordance with 
 the language the Emperor holds at present. He 
 has throughout shown the very best spirit. 
 
 It is proposed to have two armies in the field 
 and two in reserve. 
 
420 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The line of operations of the one will extend 
 from the sea to the Main; it will be composed of 
 English, Dutch, and Hanoverians, with the North 
 German contingents and Prussians. All to be under 
 the command of the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 The second will have its line of operations be¬ 
 tween the Main and the Mediterranean, and will be 
 commanded by Prince Schwarzenberg. This army 
 will consist of Austrians, Piedmontese, Swiss, and 
 South German contingents. 
 
 The commander-in-chief for the Italian army 
 has not yet been named. 
 
 Of the two armies in reserve, the one will be 
 called the Army in reserve of the North, and com¬ 
 manded by Marshal Bllicher. 
 
 The other, commanded by General Barclay de 
 Tolly, will be the Army in reserve of the South. ( l ) 
 
 All this is only what is proposed, but it seems to 
 suit Austria and England. We shall shortly have 
 some definite information as to the strength of each 
 of these armies. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXXVI. 
 
 (t) A letter from Vienna inserted in the Moniteur of the 21st 
 of April, 1815, said, “ Lord Wellington will operate in the Low 
 Countries, Field-Marshal Bllicher between the Rhine and the 
 Moselle, and Field-Marshal Schwarzenberg on the frontiers of 
 Switzerland.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 421 
 
 LETTER LXXVII. 
 
 No. 42. 
 
 Vienna, 20th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Emperor Francis has just ordered 
 Madame de Montesquieu to deliver up to him the 
 boy who is under her care. Her language at the 
 present juncture has been so opposed to the deci¬ 
 sions taken by Austria and the other Powers, that 
 the Emperor would not any longer allow his grand¬ 
 child to remain with her. She will to-morrow 
 receive orders to return to France. The boy will 
 be established at Vienna, in the palace. It will be 
 impossible, therefore, to carry him away. Several 
 circumstances induced the belief that this would 
 have been attempted.^) 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXXVII. 
 
 (1) The day when Talleyrand wrote this letter about the 
 King of Rome was the one chosen by Napoleon for his entry 
 into Paris, as being his son’s birthday. 
 
422 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LXXVIII. 
 
 No. 43. 
 
 Vienna, 23rd March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Due de Rohan-Montbazon arrived on 
 the night before last and brought me your Majesty’s 
 letters. All the measures had been already taken 
 when he arrived, and he found the declaration of 
 the 13th of this month posted up in the Rhenish 
 provinces. By this time it must be circulated all 
 over France. I hope that its effect may be to 
 deprive traitors of confidence and to give courage 
 to the loyal. 
 
 The forces which Austria, Russia, England, 
 Prussia, Bavaria, Holland, Germany, and Sardinia 
 will bring into the field, will form, including the gar¬ 
 risons, a total of more than seven hundred thousand 
 men, ready to act whenever they are required. The 
 Prussians have already eighty thousand men on the 
 Rhine ; the English, Dutch, and Hanoverians, an 
 equal number. Two hundred and fifty thousand 
 Russians will arrive there at the end of April, with 
 five hundred and ninety pieces of ordnance. I think 
 that, instead of three, there will be four armies in 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 423 
 
 the field, one of which will be under the command 
 of Marshal Bliicher. 
 
 The Allied Powers themselves earnestly wish 
 that it may not be necessary to employ any portion 
 of these forces, and that France may be able to do 
 without their help. But a request from your Majesty 
 will bring them at once into the field. The news¬ 
 papers we have received to-day from Paris, and which 
 reach to the 14th inclusive^ 1 ) give me hopes that 
 your Majesty will not be obliged to leave Paris.( 2 ) 
 If the contrary should be the case, what appears to 
 us here as most desirable would be that your Majesty 
 should retire, if it were absolutely necessary, to some 
 strong place in the north,( 3 ) on the fidelity of which 
 you could perfectly rely; that the two Chambers 
 and the portion of the army which remains faithful, 
 and to which some of the National Guard mieht 
 be added, should follow your Majesty thither. The 
 most important of all things to avoid is to allow 
 your Majesty to appear isolated, which might have 
 the effect of dividing your Majesty’s cause from that 
 of the nation, whereas they are in reality one and 
 the same.( 4 ) 
 
 The Duke of Wellington wishes he were already 
 in Belgium at the head of the troops he is to com¬ 
 mand, so as to be ready whatever may happen, and 
 this makes him very anxious to despatch the affairs 
 which have still to be terminated. 
 
424 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Some objections have been started here to the 
 departure of Madame de Montesquieu, and to-day 
 there was a talk of sending her to Linz. 
 
 Your Majesty will no doubt be sorry to hear 
 that Madame de Brionne died yesterday. She was 
 eighty-one years of age. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXVIII. 
 
 (1) “The newspapers, my dear Jaucourt, give a good im¬ 
 pression—I am speaking of those of the 12th, 13th, and 14th, 
 which are full of the regimental addresses; and I advise you to 
 arrange with the Foreign Ministers to send off, one or other of you, 
 every day, a courier to Vienna.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 23rd 
 March, 1815. 
 
 (2) “ To confess the truth, the King’s part would have been a 
 splendid one if he had remained in Paris. The King announced 
 this resolution at first; he changed his mind twice. It is a 
 great pity. I shall never believe that the town of Paris would 
 have allowed him to be murdered by that man. The troops 
 would have fired on us. However, it is all over. It is absolutely 
 necessary to reconstruct a nucleus, to gain over the commander 
 of a fortified post and keep a footing on the sacred soil. For if 
 the King returns in the rear of a foreign army, he will give famous 
 opportunities to all the machinations of the Jacobins and of 
 Bonaparte, who make common cause at present.”—From Ghent, 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 4th April, 1815. 
 
 (3) “ I believe I told you what passed on the day of the 
 King’s departure. In the first place, M. de Blacas did not own 
 to it except very ambiguously, begging at the same time that it 
 might be kept secret. I found myself in the King’s way as he 
 leit his apartment. He whispered to me, ‘Tell my ministers that 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 425. 
 
 I am going to Lille, and that I wish them to assemble there. Tell 
 the ambassadors that I shall be charmed to see them at Lille, but 
 that they are perfectly free, if they prefer it, to return to their 
 respective Courts.’”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 2nd April, 1815. 
 
 (4) On the 19th of April Talleyrand writes to Jaucourt: “We 
 cannot understand here why so many people have been sent away. 
 It seems to me that it would have been very useful if a nucleus of 
 Frenchmen of all opinions and conditions had surrounded the 
 King. . . . 
 
 “ Marshal the Duke of Ragusa’s wish not to remain inactive 
 is, no doubt, as natural as it is praiseworthy; but, in my opinion, it 
 is not with the aid of foreigners that it becomes him and the other 
 generals who surround the King to give proofs of their devotion. 
 
 “The Swiss, although they have long been friendly to France 
 and well affected to our royal family, are, nevertheless, not 
 French. The thing to be desired is that the King should raise 
 an army of Frenchmen, under the orders of his officers, of which 
 the nucleus, it seems to me, might be formed at once, and which, 
 beyond doubt, would be easily recruited, and would become 
 numerous as soon as, by means of the King’s armies entering our 
 territory, the country they occupy will be freed from the influence 
 of Bonaparte. The return of the King to his kingdom at the 
 head of a national army would exercise, both in the provinces 
 which are faithful to him, as well as in those which have not yet 
 returned to their allegiance, a very different and more powerful 
 influence than that which he would produce by entering only at 
 the back of foreign armies. 
 
 “As for you, Count, it is necessary that you should remain 
 with the King. You must be with him in order to lay before him 
 the correspondences of his ministers at foreign Courts, to transmit 
 his orders and instructions to them, and to give them intelligence. 
 It is very essential that, in circumstances like the present, he 
 should receive frequent information on all that is going on. I beg 
 of you to write to them as often as possible.”—Talleyrand to 
 Jaucourt, 19th April, 1815. 
 
426 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LXXIX. 
 
 No. 44. 
 
 Vienna, 23rd March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 This letter will be taken to your Majesty 
 by a Prussian courier who starts to-day. 
 
 I have just seen a letter written entirely 
 by the hand of Bonaparte, and addressed to the 
 Archduchess Marie Louise. It is dated the nth of 
 March from Lyons, and announces that he will 
 reach Paris about the 21st. This letter, which is 
 entrusted to General Songeon, who betrayed your 
 Majesty, was carried by an officer of the 7th 
 H ussars, called Nyon, to M. de Bubna, who sent 
 it on hither. It is written for two purposes: first, 
 to make his army and his followers believe that he is 
 in relations with Austria; and, secondly, to persuade 
 Austria that he has an immense following in France. 
 To this letter were added a number of proclama¬ 
 tions^ 1 ) all horrible. He talks of a former letter 
 which has not arrived. 
 
 At Lyons his army was composed of the 14th 
 Hussars, and the 23rd, 24th, 5th, 7th, and 1 ith of the 
 line. Each of these regiments consists of only one 
 thousand men, and, added to those he had already, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 427 
 
 bring his army up to from nine to ten thousand men 
 at the utmost. (His date is the i ith.) ( 2 ) 
 
 It was reported that he was marching towards 
 Charolais, where the feeling in general is said 
 to be unfavourable to us. He was still at Lyons 
 on the 13th. 
 
 Here there is complete unanimity. Your Majesty 
 may rely upon this. I will answer for it. 
 
 To accelerate matters the Emperor of Russia 
 proposes to draw up the stipulations relating to 
 Poland as a special treaty between Russia, Austria, 
 and Prussia. This was settled at this morning’s 
 
 0 
 
 conference. This private agreement will be in¬ 
 serted in the general treaty. 
 
 The sovereign prince of the Low Countries will 
 take the title of King of the Netherlands. It will 
 be announced to-morrow, and acceded to on the 
 same day. 
 
 We are now going to tackle the question of 
 Italy, in which we have gained considerable ground 
 against Murat. 
 
 I have obtained the recall of Herr von Schraut, 
 the Austrian minister in Switzerland, who has been 
 holding very objectionable language. It seems 
 that his health has a great deal to do with his 
 misdemeanours. 
 
 I am sending to France M. de la Tour du Pin, 
 
428 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 who is, at present, of no use to me here. My object 
 is to place him with Marshal Massena, to encourage 
 the Marshal to take possession in your Majesty’s 
 name of all that Bonaparte has temporarily seized ; 
 to let him know that he has no possible cause for 
 
 X 
 
 fearing the disposition of the Allied Powers, and 
 to offer him all the external succours which your 
 Majesty thinks he can require. I shall take no 
 steps in this matter until I have received a formal 
 order from your Majesty. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXIX. 
 
 (1) This allusion is to Napoleon’s two proclamations, one to 
 his soldiers, the other to the French people from the Gulf of 
 St. Juan, 1 st March, 1815. 
 
 (2) “ When the King left Paris, his effective force, all included, 
 amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand men. To increase it, 
 Bonaparte recalled all who were on leave. One hundred and six 
 thousand of these have returned. He also recalled all who had 
 retired, and the opinion of the military bureaux is that this recall 
 will bring in one hundred and fifty thousand men; but the 
 country between Bordeaux and Marseilles will yield few or 
 none at all, so that the best calculators estimate that the utmost 
 this measure would afford would be one hundred thousand men,, 
 but these would be seasoned troops. On the whole, therefore, the 
 army at his disposal on the 20th of March would amount to two 
 hundred and fifty thousand men; of which fifty thousand must be 
 subtracted for the depots and those in hospital, so that his army 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 429 
 
 will consist of not less than two hundred thousand efficient troops 
 between the 20th and 25th of March. 
 
 “ The cavalry of this army amounted, when the King left, to 
 twenty-one thousand. Marshal Macdonald, who furnished these 
 details to me, estimates that, in spite of the paucity of saddle 
 horses, it may be carried to thirty thousand. These are naturally 
 included in the two hundred thousand efficient troops. 
 
 “ The King left behind twelve thousand pieces of ordnance of 
 all calibres; so Bonaparte may have as large an artillery force as 
 he wishes. He will have plenty of draught horses ; he will take 
 one or two from every commune according to its strength, and 
 he will pay for them by reducing his requisitions, by which 
 means he will not exhaust his funds. He will take the peasants’ 
 carts to supply his want of ammunition waggons. 
 
 “ I do not attach much value to the two million two hundred 
 and fifty thousand National Guards that he is forming into 
 battalions in every department. The Marshal thinks, however, 
 that he will be able with the battalions of grenadiers and 
 chasseurs to furnish the garrisons of his fortresses, which he will 
 hold by throwing into them the depots, with officers of the line to 
 command them. 
 
 “ Bonaparte, when I left, had three hundred thousand muskets, 
 without including the arms of the hundred and fifty thousand 
 men of his army. He can therefore only arm four hundred and 
 fifty thousand men. He has powder and projectiles enough for 
 his summer campaign.”—Ghent, Beurnonville to Talleyrand, 26th 
 April, 1815. 
 
430 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER LXXX. 
 
 No. 45. 
 
 Vienna, 26th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Emperor Alexander having yester¬ 
 day desired me to go to see him, this morning, at 
 11 o’clock, I went to the Palace. He has never 
 been so civil to me since I reached Vienna. “We 
 must,” he said, “ banish all recriminations, and con¬ 
 sider frankly what may be useful in the present 
 state of affairs, not in order to seek out what has 
 led to it, but to find a remedy.” He talked to me 
 abundantly, and with enthusiasm, of his affection for 
 your Majesty. If necessary, he is ready to spend 
 his last soldier and his last shilling in your Majesty’s 
 service. He even spoke like a valiant soldier who 
 does not fear the risk of life or limb. He would 
 sacrifice his life rather than abandon a cause in 
 which he feels that his honour is engaged. On 
 my side, I professed the utmost trust in him ; 
 and indeed I have for some time let him know 
 that I entertained this confidence, through the 
 medium of those who are most with him, and with 
 whom I am intimate. If the assistance of foreign 
 Powers becomes indispensable, it will be good for 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 431 
 
 us that the Emperor, who can have no ambitious 
 project at our expense, should play the chief part. 
 
 He often repeated to me: “Tell the King that 
 this is not the time for clemency; he is defending 
 the interests of Europe.” He several times praised 
 your Majesty for having resolved on not quitting 
 Paris. 
 
 The forces to be employed, and of which he 
 had the return, make up a total of eight hundred 
 and sixty thousand men. 
 
 The Treaty of Chaumont, the stipulations of 
 which are renewed, gives six hundred thousand, and 
 this without counting the Army of Italy, which 
 amounts to a hundred and fifty thousand, besides 
 the Russian and Prussian reserves. 
 
 The Prussians have already on the Rhine 
 seventy thousand infantry, seven thousand cavalry, 
 and five thousand artillery. They are preparing in 
 addition a hundred and fifty-nine thousand in¬ 
 fantry, nineteen thousand cavalry, and six thousand 
 artillery. 
 
 The Russians begin to understand that they 
 cannot repose a full confidence in Austria until she 
 has absolutely declared herself against Murat. I 
 found the Emperor very well disposed on this 
 subject. We meet this evening to sign the treaty 
 of co-operation. I proposed yesterday to insert in 
 
43 2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 it the following article :—“ The present treaty, having 
 no other end in view but to support France, or any 
 other country which may be invaded, against the 
 enterprises of Bonaparte and his adherents, his 
 Most Christian Majesty shall be specially invited 
 to accede hereunto ; and, in the event of his Majesty’s 
 requiring the forces stipulated in the second article, 
 to make known what assistance circumstances will 
 allow him to bring forward in furtherance of the 
 objects of the present treaty.” Although this 
 article has not been definitively adopted, I have 
 every reason to believe that it will be. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 
 LETTER LXXXI. 
 
 No. 46. 
 
 Vienna, 29th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I need not express to your Majesty my 
 feelings on learning the disasters which have followed 
 each other with such incredible rapidity. Your 
 Majesty may estimate my sorrow by remembering 
 my attachment to your person, which is as well 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 433 
 
 known as my zeal and devotion. All my energies 
 shall be always consecrated to your Majesty’s 
 service. I say so once for all; I shall not repeat 
 this. 
 
 The treaty of co-operation was signed on the 
 evening of the 25th; it was officially notified to me 
 on the 27th. I have the honour of enclosing to 
 your Majesty a copy of this treaty^ 1 ) as well as 
 copies of the Note communicated to me at the same 
 time by the plenipotentiaries, and of my reply. ( 2 ) 
 
 As soon as this important affair was concluded, 
 the Duke of Wellington would no longer put off 
 joining his army ; he left Vienna this morning at 
 six o’clock. 
 
 We are redoubling our efforts to bring the. affairs 
 of the Congress to a termination. In my opinion, 
 it will end in April. More than ever I think it 
 important that its last act should be one of solemn 
 significance, for it will prove to the whole world 
 that the Powers are of one mind, and steadfastly 
 determined on maintaining the conditions which 
 Bonaparte’s attempt is calculated to overturn. 
 
 As your Majesty may be embarrassed at this 
 moment for defraying the expenses of the French 
 Chancellerie, of the mission to the Congress, and of 
 the couriers and other messengers for obtaining 
 information, I have made arrangements with Eng- 
 
434 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 land to meet them. Your Majesty need not, there¬ 
 fore, be troubled with this subject.( 3 ) 
 
 I am very anxious for news, and to hear of 
 your Majesty’s arrival. I trust that your Majesty 
 has taken with you all the letters I had the honour 
 of addressing to your Majesty, and that you have 
 ordered M. de Jaucourt to carry with him every 
 paper relating to the Congress. ( 4 ) I think that 
 there must be some things in my letters which 
 would displease the Powers who now are favourable 
 to us, but who may often have been severely com¬ 
 mented upon during the last six months. 
 
 I am keeping with me two ( 5 ) trustworthy couriers 
 to communicate with the place chosen as a retreat 
 by your Majesty. They will never attempt to 
 enter France except by the frontiers which your 
 Majesty considers safe. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXXI. 
 
 (1) Treaty of the Quadruple Alliance, concluded at Vienna on 
 the 25th 01 March, 1815, between Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, 
 and Russia (see D’Angeberg, p. 971). 
 
 (2) A Note of Prince Talleyrand’s of the 27th March gives 
 the adhesion of France to the treaty of the 25th March (D’Ange- 
 berg, p. 984). 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 435 
 
 ( 3 ) “I suppose that M. de Blacas has made you acquainted 
 with his pecuniary situation. If he speaks truly it is very in¬ 
 different. He has the crown diamonds and four millions. I hear 
 from other quarters—not from him—that he has, besides, all that 
 remains out of the extra six millions which may have been 
 squeezed out of the taxes for the works at Versailles.”—Ghent, 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, ioth April, 1815. 
 
 “ I recommend you to take the King’s orders with regard to 
 his ministers at foreign Courts who are neither able nor willing 
 to return to France; they must receive a salary. We can do 
 nothing here in this respect, because our payments have been 
 suspended since the date of the 20th of March, the day of Bona¬ 
 parte’s entry into Paris. I have arranged for ourselves at Vienna 
 with the English Legation, which, after receiving the assent of its 
 Government, will advance us enough for our daily expenses.”— 
 Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 19th April, 1815. 
 
 (4) Reinhardt writes to M. de Talleyrand from Brussels, 28th 
 March, 1815 :— 
 
 “ I did not take with me, Prince, any important papers. At 
 midnight M. de Jaucourt came to the office to send off couriers 
 to Vienna, and he signed the circular letters giving to the foreign 
 envoys the choice of either joining the King at Lille or returning 
 straight to their respective Governments. 
 
 “ M. de Jaucourt, knowing that I was resolved not to remain, 
 wrote an order to M. d’Hauterive authorizing him to sign in the 
 interim; but, as I was the first in rank, I was obliged to have a 
 reason to enable me to leave. He gave me the commission of 
 carrying the seals of the office. 
 
 “As for the papers, not one of the Department took any 
 away. Not one of the subordinates was willing to follow without 
 an express order from the King. It would have been more 
 dangerous to carry them away than to hide or burn them, as 
 M. de Bresson ordered with regard to those under his charge 
 which might have compromised people. . . . 
 
436 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 # 
 
 “Nevertheless, I am sorry that I did not take away the 
 treaties of the 3rd of January. I cannot remember that there 
 were any others in the Chancellerie which might lead to serious 
 consequences.” 
 
 “Reinhardt was to have joined us with some of the materials 
 of his office. He broke the seal, and started probably on the 
 same day as I did, which was the day after the King’s departure. 
 All I did was to burn your letters and to leave word that 
 Mariotti’s should be burnt. ... I should have done better if 
 I had removed those documents; but, besides that I was very 
 much hurried, the chiefs of the Department were in bed, and 
 I do not know if they would have been willing to allow me.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 27th March, 1815. 
 
 (5) “I strongly suspect that your courier, who I am told was 
 Augustin, did not take much pains to go straight to M. de 
 Caulaincourt.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 4th April, 1815. 
 
 
 LETTER LXXXII. 
 
 No. 47. 
 
 Vienna, 30th March, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 General Pozzo is setting out to join your 
 
 Majesty; I cannot let him go without a letter 
 from me. 
 
 All the Powers are perfectly agreed as to the 
 destruction of Bonaparte ; they consider it a matter 
 of personal interest. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 437 
 
 % 
 
 The Emperor of Russia holds the very best 
 language ; he is setting all his troops in movement, 
 and thinks this question of such importance that he 
 ought to spend in it his last soldier and his last 
 shilling. He will himself march with the army. 
 I hope the diplomatic corps has followed your 
 Majesty. I am expecting news of your Majesty’s 
 movements with extreme impatience. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 No. 48. 
 
 Vienna, 3rd April, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 As Lord Clancarty is sending a courier 
 to London who will pass through Belgium, I seize 
 the opportunity for acquainting your Majesty with 
 the present state of affairs here. 
 
 A few days ago, we heard that Murat had * 
 entered the Papal States, and that the Pope had 
 been obliged to quit Rome. This event has at last 
 opened the eyes of Austria, and made an end of all 
 
438 UNPUBLISHED correspondence of 
 
 her hesitations. We are now very nearly of one 
 mind with regard to the Italian question, which 
 will very soon be definitively settled. All that will 
 then remain for us to do will be to collect all the 
 articles already agreed upon, and form them into the 
 act which is to terminate the Congress; for I am 
 more than ever anxious that there should be such 
 an act. 
 
 Your Majesty’s embassy here has not lost 
 position; it enjoys as much respect and exercises as 
 much influence as if your Majesty were still in Paris 
 and the royal authority unimpaired throughout the 
 kingdom. I can assure your Majesty that this 
 position will not be altered. 
 
 I have received no direct news since your 
 Majesty’s departure from Paris ; (*) I am awaiting 
 it with extreme impatience. I venture to add that 
 it is of the highest importance that I should be 
 kept informed of your Majesty’s movements and 
 intentions. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—I much wish that your Majesty would 
 ‘ bestow on me a detailed list of the persons who 
 followed the Court, and of those who are expected. 
 Proper names are very useful. Was the Archbishop 
 of Rheims able to follow your Majesty ? 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 439 
 
 I have heard nothing from M. de Jaucourt. 
 Your Majesty will allow me to put this letter into 
 his envelope. 
 
 M. de Vincent arrived here this morning. The 
 Austrian Government will probably receive through 
 the Secretary of the Austrian Legation, M. Le- 
 febvre, a letter from Bonaparte or the Duke of 
 Vicenza; but this communication will receive no 
 answer and produce no effect. 
 
 My letter No. 45, which has come back to me, 
 will show your Majesty how many have miscarried. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXXXIII. 
 (1) On the night of the i£jth-2oth March, 1815. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIV. 
 
 No. 49. 
 
 Vienna, 5th April, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The events which have taken place in 
 France have in no respect altered the position of 
 your Majesty’s ministers at the Congress, where the 
 
44° UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 affairs which concern the future arrangements of 
 Europe continue to be discussed in the same way 
 as they were before. I have reason to hope that 
 all that remains to be settled will be arranged in 
 conformity with the washes which your Majesty 
 has expressed to me. 
 
 In several letters which I have had the honour 
 of writing, and which have perhaps not reached 
 your Majesty, I said that it appeared very im¬ 
 portant to all who are here, as well as to myself, 
 that your Majesty should not quit French territory, 
 or, at any rate, if this were impossible, that you 
 should remain as near to it as practicable. If I were 
 to venture to give an opinion, which is also that 
 of the ministers of all the Powers, I should say 
 that a residence in a town as near the sea as Ostend 
 can only produce a hurtful effect on public opinion, 
 because it may give the impression that your 
 Majesty is disposed to quit the Continent and to 
 put the sea between yourself and your kingdom. 
 The residence which, under the present circum¬ 
 stances, seems, if the state of affairs will allow of it, 
 the most suitable for your Majesty, would be Liege 
 it is thought that the disposition of the army would 
 make that town safe. 
 
 We are now occupied here in settling a second 
 declaration of the Congress, which will confirm all 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 441 
 
 the arrangements announced by the Powers in that 
 of the 13th of March. It will be an answer to all 
 Bonaparte’s (*) proclamations since he has become 
 the master of Paris, and I cannot help thinking that 
 it will produce a great effect wherever it is published ; 
 it is especially calculated to affect the public mind 
 in France. 
 
 The only letter I have received since your 
 Majesty quitted Paris is the one with which you 
 condescended to honour me, dated the 26th of 
 March.( 2 ) I have received none from M. de Blacas 
 nor from M. de Jaucourt, and I must inform your 
 Majesty that this neglect is extremely painful to me 
 and hurtful to our affairs here. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—I enclose a letter which I sent by a 
 courier, and which has come back to me, as well as* 
 one which the same courier was taking to M. de 
 Jaucourt. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXXIV. 
 
 (1) “You will have seen an answer from M. Bignon to the 
 Declaration of the Powers in which there is some of Bonaparte’s 
 own work. He takes care to suppress the document, and after¬ 
 wards choosing some isolated passages, he answers and distributes 
 in every direction his reply to an unknown document. Lally is 
 charged with answering it, and he will do so admirably, but the 
 
442 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 difficulty is how to make his answer known to the French public.” 
 —Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 9th April, 1815. 
 
 (2) This letter is wanting in the manuscripts of the Depart¬ 
 ment for Foreign Affairs. It will be found after Letter C. 
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. i from Ghent. 
 
 Ghent, 9th April, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 1 have received your No. 46 by the hand 
 of Prince V. de R- .( l ) Your expressions of at¬ 
 
 tachment are always very agreeable to me, and in 
 such a painful moment they are, of course, more 
 welcome than ever ; but I had no need of them 
 to give me an absolute trust in your fidelity. 
 
 The treaty of the 25th of March, the sequel and 
 complement of the declaration of the 13th, being 
 directed solely against Bonaparte, I do not hesitate 
 in desiring you to accede to it in my name. If 
 you require an authorization ad hoc , you shall have 
 it immediately ; but in the meanwhile I authorize 
 you in these words to act as if you had received 
 
 one. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 443 
 
 The weight that I am able to put into the 
 balance is nineteen-twentieths of the French nation, 
 of whose sentiments neither I nor the Powers can 
 entertain any doubt. But this powerful engine 
 cannot be set in motion without external succours; 
 the Allied armies must therefore enter France, and 
 the sooner the better. Each instant of delay de¬ 
 prives me of strength, because it is in the nature 
 of intense excitement to be always on the point 
 of declining : and, on the other hand, delay gives 
 strength to the enemy, because it gives him time 
 to assemble his forces, and, by means which he 
 knows only too well how to employ, to turn in his 
 favour those who at present ask nothing better 
 than to arm in my cause. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington, whom I saw yesterday, 
 and whose zeal in my service I cannot possibly 
 overpraise, has despatched a courier to ask per¬ 
 mission to act without waiting until all the other 
 armies are assembled. I need not tell you to 
 support this request earnestly. If they wait until 
 all the forces are assembled, it will be impossible 
 for the troops to effect anything before the ist of 
 June. I have no doubt as to our ultimate success, 
 but Bonaparte would then be crushed only under 
 the ruins of France,( 2 ) while immediate action will 
 still more certainly insure his destruction and save 
 
444 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 our country. This may not be the object of other 
 nations, but it must be ours. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington tells me that the 
 counter-proposal which I sent to you on the 7th of 
 March has .been adopted. I am very glad of it. 
 I am also much pleased with the arrangements you 
 have made regarding the Chancellerie, the couriers, 
 etc. It relieves my finances, which are very slender 
 at present. ( 3 ) 
 
 I have brought with me all the letters and 
 documents you have sent me since you reached 
 Vienna, and I ordered M. de Jaucourt to do 
 
 likewise. 
 
 Your courage has not been shaken by these 
 events ; of this I was convinced beforehand. You 
 see that mine is not so either. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXXV. * 
 
 (1) Prince Victor de Rohan. 
 
 (2) “ I would bet ten to one that Bonaparte will fall, but I 
 should not like to bet that the Bourbons will succeed, still less 
 that they will remain. Nothing is so easy as to destroy and lay 
 waste France, and to bring about a revolution in her Government; 
 nothing is so difficult as to maintain her—to replace her as she 
 was on the day after the royal Council. 
 
 “ Great God ! what a long way have we travelled since that 
 day! 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 “To express it in one word, the road led straight to the 
 island of Elba.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, ioth April, 1815. 
 
 (3) In a letter to Talleyrand, dated 24th April, 1815, M. de 
 Jaucourt says— 
 
 “ I own that the confusion of orders, the shame of the flight, 
 our impotency in consequence of our not having a penny, the 
 quiet imbecility with which M. de Blacas replies, “ I am very 
 sorry, but I could not make the King unpopular,” as if the 
 twenty-five millions which ought to have been taken out three 
 days earlier might not have been replaced a week later. ... I 
 could fill ten pages with this subject, and I say all this renders 
 indispensable some measure which will banish M. de Blacas 
 from the ranks of politicians.” 
 
 ++ 
 
 LETTER LXXXVI. 
 
 No. 50. 
 
 Vienna, 13th April, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Since Bonaparte is now master of Paris, 
 the Allied Powers have thought that it might be 
 advisable to renew, by a second Declaration, the 
 proclamation of the sentiments expressed in the 
 Declaration of the 13th of March. There is every 
 reason to believe that, with the exception of a few 
 individuals, all who in France belong to any party 
 or opinion desire the same thing—the fall of Bona¬ 
 parte. We wish to make use of this unanimous 
 
446 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 desire to effect his destruction. When once this 
 object is accomplished, the private opinions of each 
 individual party will find themselves without sup¬ 
 port, without power, without means of action, and 
 will no longer offer any obstacle.^) 
 
 The Declaration, therefore, was calculated to per¬ 
 suade every member of every party to compass the 
 fall of Bonaparte. Although of one mind as to the 
 substance, they could not agree as to the form, and 
 for the present its publication is adjourned. They 
 even think of substituting for a declaration of the 
 Congress an identical proclamation, to be issued by 
 all the generals commanding the Allied troops on 
 their entrance on French territory ; and I am not 
 indisposed to adopt this idea, which seems to me 
 to possess many recommendations. 
 
 All that I hear from France proves that Bona¬ 
 parte is in great difficulties. The emissaries he has 
 sent here also lead me to believe this.( 2 ) 
 
 One of them, M. de Montrond, has reached 
 Vienna, with the assistance of the Abbe Altieri, an 
 attachd of the Austrian Legation in Paris. He had 
 no despatches or ostensible mission, and he was more 
 probably sent by the party which favours Bonaparte 
 than by Bonaparte himself. This is what I am 
 inclined to think. He had messages for M. de 
 Nesselrode, Prince Metternich, and me. He was to 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 447 
 
 ascertain whether the foreign Powers were deter¬ 
 mined on not recognizing Bonaparte, and on making 
 war against him. He had also a letter for Prince 
 Eugene. What he was desired to ask me was if 
 I really could make up my mind to excite a war 
 against France. “ Read the Declaration,” I replied ; 
 “ it does not contain a single word with which I do 
 not agree. The question, too, is not of a war 
 against France, but of a war against the man of 
 Elba.” He asked Prince Metternich if the Austrian 
 Government had entirely lost sight of the views it 
 entertained in March, 1814. “The Regency? We 
 do not wish for it,” replied Prince Metternich. 
 Lastly, he tried to find out from Prince Nesselrode 
 what were the intentions of the Emperor Alexander. 
 “The destruction of Bonaparte and his followers,” 
 was the reply; and so the matter ended. 
 
 Pains were taken to acquaint M. de Montrond 
 with the strength of the forces which are to be 
 immediately employed, as well as with the treaty 
 of last March. He returned to Paris with this 
 information and these replies, which will probably 
 give considerable matter for reflection to those who 
 are now attached to Bonaparte’s fortunes. 
 
 His second emissary was Count Flahault. When 
 he reached Stuttgart, the King of Wtirtemberg had 
 him arrested and taken back to the frontier. He 
 
44-8 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 had despatches for the Emperor of Austria, the 
 Emperor Alexander, the Empress Marie Louise, and 
 for your Majesty’s Legation at Vienna (these were, 
 we supposed, the despatches being marked private, 
 letters for annulling the powers of your Majesty’s 
 Embassy at Vienna). The Allied Powers continue 
 very favourable. I can assure your Majesty that it 
 is an enterprise of extreme difficulty to drive so 
 many people to the same goal. I labour un¬ 
 ceasingly to keep them all from straying out of the 
 right path.( 3 ) 
 
 The territorial arrangements for Southern Ger¬ 
 many were settled yesterday. A few days more, 
 and I hope that the Congress will have finished all 
 its business. 
 
 I shall have the honour of sending you by the 
 next English courier, who will start on Saturday, 
 the 15th, the declaration of war on the part of 
 Austria against Murat.( 4 ) It is very badly ex¬ 
 pressed. This affair will, I hope, be soon termi¬ 
 nated, and to your satisfaction. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—M. Fauche-Borel is the bearer of this 
 letter. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 449 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXXVI. 
 
 (1) “ The measures taken ever since he reached Paris by the 
 Government of Bonaparte, the men he has chosen for ministers, 
 the direction in which every means is tried to force public 
 opinion, prove Bonaparte to be under the influence of all that 
 are left in France of the old Revolutionary parties, and that it is 
 from them alone that he derives all his power of action within the 
 country. It is nevertheless notorious that none of these parties, 
 or of the men of whom they are composed, really like Bonaparte, 
 because they are perfectly aware that if he succeeds in consoli¬ 
 dating his authority, he will deprive them (as he did when for the 
 first time he seized the reins of government), of the share of power 
 he is obliged to leave to them, now that he requires their support. 
 It is, therefore, evident that they have joined him only because 
 they could find no other means of escaping from a state of things 
 in which all participation in public business was withheld from 
 them and they even thought they had reason to fear for their own 
 safety. 
 
 “ But it does not seem to me doubtful that they would be the 
 first to overthrow Bonaparte if the Government which they ex¬ 
 pected to succeed him would offer guarantees on which they 
 could perfectly depend, which would not only deliver them 
 from all anxiety, but might also satisfy their ambition. The 
 Allied Powers agree in this opinion, and this is why they wish 
 that the King, in a proclamation to precede the meeting of 
 the electoral colleges which Bonaparte has summoned to Paris, 
 should endeavour to rally all parties to his standard by assuring 
 to every one without distinction all the advantages of the con¬ 
 stitutional system. The Allied Powers consider that a royal 
 declaration couched in these terms would be a powerful auxiliary 
 to the forces they are about to bring into the field. Several of 
 the Powers would also wish that the King, imputing the blunders 
 which may have been committed to his former ministers, should 
 
450 - UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 form a new ministry just as if he were in France, and that its 
 composition should offer the requisite guarantees to each party. 
 I am writing to the King on this subject by the Comte de 
 Noailles, who also takes this letter to you. As I know that the 
 ministers who are to be sent by the Allied Powers to his Majesty 
 will mention the subject to him, I should wish that his Majesty 
 might forestall their arguments by a resolution in accordance with 
 the views which I have had the honour of expounding to you ; 
 and I beg you to do everything in your power to persuade the 
 King to take this course.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 22nd April, 
 1815. • • 
 
 (2) Here is what Napoleon says of this mission in his 
 Memoirs : 
 
 “ Montrond’s mission had several objects: to gain over 
 Talleyrand; to carry letters to the Empress and bring back answers; 
 to furnish Talleyrand with an opportunity for writing to France, 
 and for seizing the threads of the plots which he had woven there. 
 
 “All these objects were accomplished.” 9th May, 1815. 
 
 “ Saint-Le'on reached Vienna yesterday, my dear Prince. He is 
 a friendly envoy sent by M. de Mollien, and has come partly on 
 business of my own. His instructions were to make me uneasy 
 about a great law-suit which is to be instituted against me in the 
 National Court of Justice. Montrond had failed with his measure 
 of sequestration ; something more was wanted. Here it is ! 
 
 “ In other respects Saint-Leon is a good and fine fellow, but 
 about as fit for politics as Dupont de Nemours, who also would 
 have certainly been sent to me, if he had not already started for 
 America. Always yours.”—Talleyrand to Metternich. 
 
 (3) “I am convinced that you are, and that you think yourself, 
 the real diplomatic Cabinet of France, and that the whole 
 diplomacy of Europe is assembled at Vienna.”—Ghent, Jaucourt 
 to Talleyrand, 4th April, 1815. 
 
 (4) Declaration of the Court of Vienna on the conduct of the 
 King of Naples, 12th April, 1815 (see D’Angeberg, p. 1065). 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 451 
 
 APPENDIX TO NO. 50 (LETTER LXXXVl). 
 
 Proposed Declaration laid before the Conference 
 of the Eight Powers assembled at Vienna by the 
 French Plenipotentiaries , on the nth of April, 
 1815, and annexed to the Despatch of the i$th of 
 April. 
 
 Declaration. 
 
 The European Powers had flattered themselves 
 that they had secured a lasting peace to the world 
 by the treaties of the 11 th of April and 30th of 
 May, 1814. 
 
 France was the first to profit by it; all her 
 direct interests had been consulted, while those of 
 the other nations remained liable to the future 
 decisions of the Congress. Her ancient limits, far 
 from being restricted, were extended. A monstrous 
 despotism had been replaced by liberal institu¬ 
 tions. Her colonies were restored to her, the seas 
 once more opened to her. There was no longer 
 any obstacle to the development of all the germs 
 of prosperity within her frontiers. The evils of 
 which she had been the instrument were no longer 
 laid to her charge; there was a full and complete 
 reconciliation between her and the rest of Europe, 
 
45 2 
 
 ‘ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 While she was enjoying at home all the blessings 
 of a paternal Government under her legitimate 
 monarch, she drew new strength from the confidence 
 she inspired abroad. Invited to the Congress, she 
 exercised in it a full share of the influence apper¬ 
 taining to one of the principal members of the great 
 European family. The man who to-day is loudly 
 proclaiming that for fifteen years he has been medi¬ 
 tating the subjection of the whole world, Q) and who, 
 in the execution of his impious design, was willing 
 to sacrifice the lives of two millions of Frenchmen, 
 carrying everywhere sword and flame, and working 
 incessantly for its attainments of violence and fraud ; 
 this man, unanimously rejected by the nation which 
 had entrusted her happiness to him, and whose life 
 even had had to be protected against the just 
 indignation of this nation ; ( 2 ) this man, whose cha¬ 
 racter and actions have been blasted by the unani¬ 
 mous testimony of the authorities he had himself 
 established,( 3 ) by the declarations of the generals, 
 and recently even by the proclamations of those ( 4 ) 
 whom he has succeeded in seducing;—this man, 
 who not only was deposed, but himself abdicated his 
 authority, and subsequently renounced it for himself 
 and his family, by a solemn treaty with the Powers 
 of Europe, who therefore alone could set him free, 
 has returned to seize once more that sceptre, in the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 453 
 
 hope of again satisfying his unparalleled passion for 
 tyranny at the expense of France and of Europe. 
 
 Europe neither can nor ought to suffer this; she 
 is arming, not against France, but as much for the 
 welfare of France as for her own security. She 
 acknowledges no other enemy than Napoleon Bona¬ 
 parte, and all who fight in his cause. 
 
 When, on the ist of April, 1814, the Powers 
 declared ( 5 ) that they would not treat for peace with 
 him, every nation, the French among the first, 
 applauded this resolution. 
 
 When first they heard of his appearance in the 
 south of France in the month of March last, they 
 declared that they would give him neither peace nor 
 rest. 
 
 Now that he has made himself master of Paris, 
 and has succeeded in once more seizing the reins 
 of power, they renew this declaration in the most 
 solemn manner. 
 
 No blow will be aimed at the independence of 
 the French nation. 
 
 The treaty of the 30th of May and the political 
 and territorial arrangements settled at the Congress 
 will continue to regulate the relations between 
 France and the rest of Europe. 
 
 If Europe should find herself driven into this 
 new and unexpected war, she is determined that 
 
454 • UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 neither Napoleon Bonaparte nor his family shall 
 profit by his criminal attempt; that this obstacle 
 to the peace of the world shall be removed ; and 
 that France shall guarantee security to the rest 
 of the world and to herself by her institutions. 
 When this end has been accomplished, then, and 
 not till then, will the Powers lay down their arms. 
 
 NOTES TO THE APPENDIX. 
 
 (1) Napoleon, it is true, said in his proclamation that he 
 had wished to rule over Europe; but he added, “We must (now) 
 forget that we have been chief among nations.” 
 
 (2) This allusion is to the threatening attitude of the South in 
 1814 towards the Emperor when on his way to the island of 
 Elba. 
 
 (3) The Senate, which proclaimed his deposition in a Becla- 
 lation much resembling the above. 
 
 (4) Of Ney, among others. 
 
 (5) Prior to the abdication at Fontainebleau, 6th April, 1814. 
 
 ■H- 
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. 
 
 _ • 
 
 No. 51. 
 
 Vienna, 15th April, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have delivered the three letters which 
 your Majesty desired M. de Jaucourt to send to me. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 455 
 
 I venture to mention that it seemed to me, from 
 some questions whose object was to discover 
 whether your Majesty was pleased with the Declara¬ 
 tion, that the Emperors had expected to find some 
 expressions of satisfaction in these letters.( l ) Never¬ 
 theless, I perceive, both in their words and in their 
 actions, nothing but proofs of the perfect concord 
 at present established among them, and which I 
 will do my utmost to keep up to the end. M. Pozzo 
 must have told your Majesty what trouble it was, 
 in circumstances which were much less complicated, 
 to reconcile interests which were determined to 
 think themselves incompatible. 
 
 The Russian troops reached Bohemia four days 
 sooner than they were expected. It would not be 
 surprising if, although they come from the Vistula, 
 they reached the Rhine before, or at least as soon 
 as, the Austrian troops. 
 
 There are such conflicting opinions here on the 
 strength and position of the army under the Duke 
 of Wellingtons orders, that I should be very glad if 
 your Majesty would have the kindness to desire 
 M. de Jaucourt to give me precise information on 
 this subject, and especially as to the period when it 
 may be expected to enter France. ( 2 ) 
 
 Marshal Wrede leaves us in two days. He will 
 stay at Munich four days, and thence repair to his 
 
45 ^ 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 command. The troops under his orders, as well 
 as the Prussian troops, are extremely eager.( 3 ) 
 
 The Austrians have received news from Italy, 
 dated the 7th of April, with which, on the whole, 
 they are satisfied. But they are very easily 
 satisfied. Their motive for satisfaction is that 
 Murat’s troops, after having tried without success to 
 carry the bridge of Occhiobello,( 4 ) were forced to 
 retire, and his whole army is between Modena, 
 Ferrara, and the coast. General Frimont hoped to 
 be in a position to give battle towards the 12th. 
 
 I have the honour of transmitting to your 
 Majesty the Declaration against Murat, which has 
 been officially communicated to me by Prince 
 Metternich. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER LXXXVII. 
 
 (1) Talleyrand wrote to Jaucourt on the same subject on the 
 19th of April, 1815, from Vienna: 
 
 “I have delivered the King’s letters which you enclosed; 
 they make me more and more sorry that M. Reinhardt is not with 
 the King. They did not give much satisfaction. The sovereigns 
 expected to find in them some gratitude for the Declaration they 
 have published, and they let me see their disappointment. How¬ 
 ever, what I tell you about this is a mere observation; it is 
 intended only to induce you to carry all matters connected with 
 our department with a high hand, for M. de Blacas seems to know 
 very little about them. We cannot understand here why so many 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 457 
 
 people have been sent away; it seems to me that it would have 
 been very useful to collect a nucleus of Frenchmen of all opinions, 
 and from all parts of the country, round the King.” 
 
 M. de Jaucourt answers from Ghent, 23rd April: 
 
 “ I not only wrote at once to Reinhardt, but I made use of the 
 people who were passing through Frankfort, where he is watched 
 by the police, to tell him to come hither. I think I may be 
 certain that among the motives which may postpone his return, 
 there is none personal to me. He has some friendship for me, 
 and he is aware of my great esteem for him. His presence would 
 be all the more useful to us because, without reference to his former 
 opinions, he would at the present time be most anxious to represent 
 the King as the preserver of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. 
 All who have not forgotten the state of France agree in this, but 
 here, unfortunately, they are not the majority.” 
 
 (2) “The Allies,although they are the King’s allies, are at the 
 best only generous enemies to France, and what is their gene¬ 
 rosity? You have seen the Russian proclamations—they are 
 furious. The Duke of Wellington has written about them to the 
 King of Prussia. You may be sure that Bonaparte will post them 
 up, and will treat us to some of his own performances to the same 
 tune.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 10th April, 1815. 
 
 (3) “ All that I hear of the behaviour of the Prussians disturbs 
 me, not only on account of the mischief and excesses of all kinds 
 of which they are guilty, but because there may be more analogy 
 than is convenient between the spirit which animates them and 
 that which inspires those who at present rule over France.”— 
 Ghent, Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 23rd April, 1815. 
 
 “ My policy reduces itself to points on which I am certain . . . 
 to give the King the most popular aspect which can be attributed 
 to a sovereign who follows in the wake of hostile armies. To his 
 person is attached the integrity of France; to his cause is attached 
 the generosity of the Allies; to him, finally, is attached the Treaty 
 of Vienna. All kinds of promises should be held out to the 
 
45^ * UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 soldiers who rnlly round the King, and these promises should be 
 kept. Paris must be spared—it will count on this beforehand; 
 the same language should be held which you and your friends 
 have always held, and wished others to hold. Do not forget, dear 
 friend, that the mortal enemies of Bonaparte are the friends of 
 liberty; that they are detested by him; and that, through our folly, 
 he has found an entrance among those who voted for his death. 
 You know that Bonaparte has granted the liberty of the Press. . . . 
 
 “ The devil himself could not persuade M. de Blacas to let me 
 have the newspapers, which are rigorously suppressed here.”— 
 Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 2nd April, 1815. 
 
 (4) The Moniteur of the 30th April said— 
 
 “ Vienna, 15th April. 
 
 “On the 8th King Joachim commanded in person several very 
 sharp attacks against the bridge of Occhiobello. He failed in 
 each attempt, and in the evening the enemy was forced to retreat, 
 after suffering considerable loss.” 
 
 4» —t 
 
 LXXXVIII 
 
 APPENDIX TO NO. 5 I (LETTER LXXXVIl), 
 
 Declaration against Murat . 
 
 The Minister of State and for Foreign Affairs 
 of the Emperor of Austria has submitted to his 
 Imperial Majesty the Declaration that the plenipo¬ 
 tentiaries of Naples did him the honour of forward¬ 
 ing to him on the 8th of this month. He is ordered 
 to make the following reply :— 
 
 The treaty of alliance between Austria and 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 459 
 
 the Court of Naples had hardly been concluded 
 when it was impossible to help remarking, from the 
 prolonged inaction of the Neapolitan army, as well 
 as from many undeniable proofs which fell into the 
 hands of the allied armies, that the King, far from 
 uniting with them in promoting the common objects 
 which the Powers were endeavouring to attain in 
 the war of 1813-14, had principally regulated his 
 behaviour according to the issue of the event. 
 
 The Emperor, nevertheless, remained faithful to 
 the treaty of alliance of the nth of January, 1814. 
 Unwilling to attach importance to the motives which 
 might have led to the negotiation, or to the circum¬ 
 stances connected with the King's accession, his 
 Imperial Majesty put aside all considerations save 
 those involved in the terms of the treaty. His 
 Imperial Majesty immediately endeavoured to es¬ 
 tablish friendly relations between his allies and the 
 Court of Naples. The reasons which prevented 
 the development of these relations into formal 
 alliances are so well known by the Neapolitan 
 Cabinet that the undersigned does not think it 
 necessary to repeat them. The more the King 
 has thought fit to choose a different course from 
 that pursued by Austria from the beginning of the 
 alliance, the less right has he to impute to the 
 Cabinet of Austria disasters to his own Government 
 which were the necessarv result of this divergence. 
 
 o 
 
46o 
 
 * UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The Emperor has never ceased to represent to 
 the King the consequences which would ensue from 
 his prolonged occupation of the Marches at a junc¬ 
 ture when a sound policy pointed out to the King 
 the duty of limiting his pretensions to the preserva¬ 
 tion of his kingdom, to the exclusion of all ideas 
 of conquest—a juncture in which the same policy 
 laid upon him the honourable duty of assisting the 
 Governments in Italy to secure the peace of the 
 peninsula, instead of keeping up a ferment in 
 the minds of the people by continually reinforcing 
 armies out of all proportion to the resources of his 
 territories, and still more by massing these armies 
 on points which, in consequence of the geographical 
 position of the Austrian possessions, were protected 
 against all attacks from the Powers which were 
 unfavourable to the Court of Naples, and therefore 
 could be considered only as offensive positions 
 against Austria and all the other sovereigns in 
 Italy. 
 
 Although the general affairs of the Empire at 
 this moment claimed his Imperial Majesty’s whole 
 attention, he omitted no effort to bring the King 
 back to a position more in accordance with the 
 King’s real interests. He left no proof of confidence 
 and no means of persuasion untried until the period 
 when, the Neapolitan armaments assuming an atti- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 461 
 
 tude of direct aggression, the Emperor was forced, 
 in February last, to take a step which was provoked 
 by the demands of the Neapolitan Cabinet—demands 
 which proved only too plainly the King’s objects, as 
 to which there can remain no uncertainty since his 
 late manifestation to the Papal Court, and the recent 
 development of his plans. 
 
 The undersigned received orders to hand, on the 
 25th of February, to the plenipotentiary of Naples 
 and to the plenipotentiary of France an explicit 
 Declaration that the Emperor would not, in any case, 
 allow foreign troops a passage through his territory. 
 The Declaration addressed to France was communi¬ 
 cated to the Neapolitan plenipotentiary. If these 
 simultaneous Declarations differ in terms, the reason 
 is easily given. It was Naples which had raised 
 this question; it was she who had placed herself in 
 an attitude of aggression. 
 
 The Emperor considers it due both to the safety 
 of his States and to his general relations with Europe 
 to make these declarations. It is due to his dignity 
 to maintain them. His Majesty would have re- 
 'ected any demand on the part of France to send 
 armies through Italy; he would have considered 
 any reiterated attempt of the kind, after the Declara¬ 
 tion of the 25th of February, as a declaration of war. 
 
 The Emperor is forced, in like manner, to con- 
 
462 
 
 •UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sider the irruption of Neapolitan troops on the 
 frontier, and their encampment in the Marches, as 
 a rupture of the alliance, and a measure directed 
 against Austria. His Majesty looks # upon the 
 entrance of the Neapolitan troops into the Legations, 
 and their hostilities against the Imperial troops, as 
 a positive declaration of war, whatever may be the 
 colour which the Cabinet of Naples may seek to 
 give to these transactions. 
 
 The undersigned has therefore orders to recall 
 the Imperial Legation at once from Naples, and at 
 the same time to give passports to the Neapolitan 
 ambassadors at Vienna. 
 
 (Signed) Prince Metternicii. 
 
 Vienna, 10th April, 1815. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIX. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 2 from Ghent. 
 
 Ghent, 21st April, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I have received your No. 49, including 
 No. 38. Very soon after you despatched it, you 
 must have received news of me, and I hope that 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 4^3 
 
 since that time you have continued to do so; but 
 the want of the means I had at my disposal in 
 Paris must necessarily make our correspondence 
 unpunctual. 
 
 I am anxious to receive the Declaration you 
 speak of, which was, your letter gives me reason for 
 hoping, in part your work. Chevalier Stuart has 
 just told me that it was signed on the iith. I, on 
 my side, am writing the proclamation which I shall 
 issue when I set foot in France.^) I will send it to 
 you as soon as it has been corrected and read, before 
 it is approved by the Duke of Wellington and Gene¬ 
 ral Pozzo di Borgo. If the allied sovereigns are 
 still at Vienna when it reaches you, I hope that you 
 will gain their suffrages in its favour. I do not 
 wish, however, that it may find them still there ; 
 celerity is the thing wanted above all others in our 
 operations. All the reports from the interior are 
 excellent, but we must not allow time to the enemy. 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER LXXXIX. 
 
 (i) u I have the honour of sending you several copies of a 
 newspaper which we are bringing out under the name of the 
 Journal Universel. You will recognize in it M. Lally’s pen. . . . 
 A manifesto drawn up by him will appear in two days ; it will 
 precede the King’s proclamation when he enters the French terri- 
 
464 -UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 tory. ... It was read yesterday at the royal Council. This 
 Council consists of the Due de Blacas, the Due de Feltre, myself, 
 Lally, and Chateaubriand. It was read to-day to General Pozzo, 
 who was much pleased with it, and will take it to-morrow to the 
 Duke of Wellington.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 23rd April, 
 1815. 
 
 LETTER XC. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 3 from Ghent. 
 
 22nd April, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I was just about to reply to your No. 49, 
 enclosing No. 38, when I received No. 50, enclosing 
 No. 44. You, no doubt, influenced the Declaration 
 of the sovereigns; I hope that if there is still time 
 you will influence that of the generals’, which will be 
 a very important document. If it is to produce all the 
 desired effect, it is necessary that, in conformity with 
 the Declaration of the 13th of March, and Article 3 
 of the treaty of the 20th, Europe should declare 
 herself the ally of the King and the French nation 
 against the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte ; ( 1 ) the 
 friend of all who declare themselves on the side of 
 the former, and the enemy of all who arm in favour 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 465 
 
 of the latter; which excludes at the same time all 
 ideas of conquest and all middle courses, of which 
 even the possibility must not be entertained. 
 
 On my side I am engaged in drawing up the 
 Declaration or Proclamation which I shall issue 
 when I return to France. I will send it to you as 
 soon as it is finished, but I hope sincerely that it 
 will not find you any longer at Vienna. Your 
 No. 46 announces the speedy termination of the 
 Congress. You must, of course, sign the final 
 treaty in my name, but I am most anxious to have 
 you with me,( 2 ) especially under the present cir¬ 
 cumstances. 
 
 You have heard of the unfortunate issue of my 
 
 • • 
 
 nephew’s courageous attempt; ( 3 ) you know that 
 my niece herself was not able to save Bordeaux. 
 The public mind is not, however, demoralized in 
 France; all reports are unanimous on this point; 
 the great thing is to act promptly, and this is 
 entirely the Duke of Wellington’s desire and 
 opinion. 
 
 I shall make only one observation on your letter 
 No. 38. It is that it is right to preserve the Due 
 de Campo-Chiaro’s letters, as a proof of the utter 
 perfidy of his master. ( 4 ) 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
466 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XC. 
 
 (1) “If you succeed in maintaining this salutary resolution to 
 make war against the individual only, and not against the nation, 
 to support the royal cause conjointly with that of liberty, against 
 usurpation, including in the term every species of oppression, 
 you will, my dear friend, have performed, conscientiously and 
 honourably, the finest exploit of which civilized nations are 
 capable.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 9th April, 1815. 
 
 (2) “ Every one tells me that the divine Blacas only enjoys a 
 vacant favour. This favour would be given to one who, like you, 
 would add personal authority to skilfulness. Of those here, some 
 are foolish, and others, like Marmont, are ill at ease ; others again 
 like myself, are men whose principles and habits are distasteful, 
 although their persons and even their characters are liked.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 10th April, 1815. 
 
 “You must come, I assure you. You may take any.place 
 you like at present. The ministry will be composed by your 
 advice. If this ministry be strong, the old habits, predilections, 
 and prejudices of Monsieur will give way to it; again, it must, 
 be so strong that its resignation shall be dreaded.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 28th April, 1815. 
 
 On the 28th of April Chateaubriand writes to Talleyrand : 
 
 “ Since the last letter which I had the honour of sending you 
 from Brussels by the Due de Richelieu, things have somewhat 
 changed for me: the King has called me to his Council, but 
 without a title; he has charged me with reporting to him the state 
 of our internal policy. But, Prince, one must have an internal 
 policy—we are waiting for you to give us one once more. Your 
 presence here is absolutely necessary. Come before we commit 
 any new blunders. You must put yourself at our head ; we must 
 form a ministry of which you will be the guide and support. 
 
 “You are aware, Prince, of my devotion to you. I should be 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 467 
 
 too happy if I could contribute a little with you to the restoration 
 of France, which for a second time needs your services. 
 
 “ I told you that we should be lost if we did not remove 
 Bonaparte from Elba. Well, Prince, we shall be lost if you do 
 not come to remove the King from Ghent. Come, come; nothing 
 on earth is more important/’ 
 
 (3) The Due d’Angouleme was taken prisoner and carried to 
 the Spanish frontier by the partisans of Napoleon. 
 
 (4) This is the letter enclosed by Prince Talleyrand :— 
 
 “ Monseigneur, 
 
 “ A courier despatched from Rome by the Chevalier 
 Cuvilli on the 4th, has brought the news of Bonaparte’s escape 
 from the island of Elba to Naples on the morning of the 5th; 
 it says that he left Elba on the 26th for Frejus, having been 
 invited to France by a party in his favour. 
 
 The King immediately assembled his Council, and called to 
 it. all the heads of administration and counsellors of State to 
 announce this event to them. Far from wishing to consult them, 
 he declared that, whatever might happen in the future, his reso¬ 
 lution was taken to remain faithful to his engagement with his 
 ally in the interests of peace and order in Europe; that he 
 saw no other security for his States than that which was based on 
 loyalty and honour. He repeated these sentiments himself to 
 the Austrian minister, and sent a courier to me at Vienna to 
 announce his intentions. This courier reached me on the 15th, 
 at 4 p.m. 
 
 “ As I think it right to show respect for the eminent talents 
 and high character of your Highness, who, while fulfilling 
 zealously the duties of your position, would certainly dislike to 
 fall into mistakes or disguise facts through false information, I 
 have the honour of making this confidential communication, rely¬ 
 ing upon your Highness’s unvarying kindness, irrespective of 
 our relative positions. 
 
 “ I venture to point out to your Highness that when the King 
 
468 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 found himself threatened by France, and did not know whether 
 this escape was an act of madness or the result of an agreement 
 with another party—a question which was unwisely mooted—the 
 part taken by the King was entirely that of the present Govern¬ 
 ment in France. May the justice which is not one of the least 
 remarkable attributes of the magnanimous sovereign now on the 
 throne, induce him to sacrifice the object of restoring tranquillity 
 to Europe (who, after all, is only reaping the fruit of her own acts) 
 to other considerations.”—The Due de Campo-Chiaro. 
 
 LETTER XCI. 
 
 No. 52. 
 
 Vienna, 23rd April, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Something has occurred here of such a 
 painful nature that I should like to be able to 
 conceal it from your Majesty, but it is of great 
 importance that it should be known in the present 
 state of affairs, with which it is intimately linked; 
 and, besides, it would be sure to come to the ears of 
 your Majesty by some other means, unaccompanied 
 by the considerations which will correct and balance 
 its effect. 
 
 For some time I have had occasion to observe 
 that the Emperor of Russia’s opposition to your 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 469 
 
 Majesty’s wishes was not always caused by any 
 design he entertained himself, but in some cases 
 because he thought himself slighted—i. That your 
 Majesty did not offer him the blue ribbon^ 1 ) which 
 was given to the Prince Regent, 2. Because of the 
 rejection of his pressing intervention in favour of 
 the Duke of Vicenza, in whom he takes a lively 
 interest,( 2 ) and who has been excluded from the 
 Chamber of Peers; ( 3 ) 3. On account of the firm¬ 
 ness with which your Majesty, in the question of the 
 marriage, refused to yield to his wishes on the 
 religious question ; 4. Because the constitutional 
 
 Charter differed in many respects from the views he 
 announced on the subject in Paris,( 4 ) and which his 
 liberal ideas caused him to consider as very useful 
 and important. 
 
 I knew that he had long been complaining of 
 these things in his intimate circle, but this seemed 
 to me of little importance. Now, however, I have 
 reason to think that these ideas influence his opinion 
 regarding the situation of France and that of your 
 Majesty. 
 
 From the news we receive from France, and 
 the information brought thence by individuals, it 
 seems that on your Majesty’s side is to be found the 
 whole body of the nation, and on the other side two 
 parties : the first, that of the army, which is entirely 
 
4/0 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 devoted to Bonaparte, those who are well disposed 
 being subjugated or drawn away by the majority ; 
 the second party, formed out of the remnants of the 
 old revolutionary faction. The second joined the 
 first only because the former had the start and 
 obliged the latter to follow. They agree only on 
 one point—the desire of change ; but they desire it 
 for different motives and to accomplish different 
 ends. The army, tired of quiet, wanted a chief who 
 would give it once more all those chances of 
 danger, fortune, and fame to which it had been 
 accustomed for twenty-two years. ( 5 ) Bonaparte was 
 eminently the man. The chiefs of the second party 
 know him and detest him. They are aware of his 
 insatiable love of domination ; they know that civil 
 liberty has no more cruel enemy. They know very 
 well that where a rebel army has unseated the 
 supreme government only a faint reflection of civil 
 power can subsist; that without a civil government 
 they can have 410 existence, and that passive obedi¬ 
 ence will be their lot as well as that of every one 
 else. They have no illusions as to Bonaparte’s 
 motive in conciliating them : they know that his 
 union with them is on his part a forced union ; that 
 the chains by means of which they will try to restrain 
 him, and which at this moment he is willing to bear, 
 will endure only so long as he is not strong enough 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 471 
 
 to break them, and that if he obtains a succession 
 of victories, he will acquire that power. They do 
 not conceal from themselves that what the army 
 has done once, it may do a second and a third 
 time, and that in such a state of things there will 
 be no safety either for the master or his slaves. 
 Disabused of their old chimeras, they no longer 
 dream of a republic. The titles and fortunes they 
 have acquired bind them to the monarchy. They 
 were not opposed to the legitimate dynasty, but 
 they could not endure a Government under which, 
 excluded from any share in active employment, 
 * they found themselves deprived of all political 
 existence and threatened with still greater losses 
 in the future. ( 6 ) Their aversion for this state of 
 things is so great, that they would have been 
 willing to escape from it at any price, and rather 
 than return to it they would throw themselves into 
 all the horrors and hazards of revolution. 
 
 Bonaparte’s first object is to nationalize the war 
 in which he will have to engage. The first object 
 of the Powers is to prevent him. He feels that he 
 cannot attain it by persuasion, and that to strike 
 fear is his only chance of success. But his army, 
 which he must draw to the frontiers, and which will 
 be engaged with foreign armies, is not a sufficient 
 instrument for him. He must have others, and he 
 
472 
 
 . UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 can find them only in the party to which he formerly 
 belonged, on the ruins of which he raised himself, 
 which he has long oppressed, and whose support he 
 is now seeking. The Powers think that if pains 
 were taken to calm the fears of this party, it might 
 be induced to abandon a man whom it does not 
 like; ( 7 ) that Bonaparte would thus lose his chief re¬ 
 source, and the one which would render his resist¬ 
 ance the most protracted and dangerous. A memo¬ 
 randum has been drawn up of a Declaration to this 
 effect. When it was proposed only to declare that 
 Europe was not arming against France, but for 
 France ; that Europe recognized no other enemy 
 but Bonaparte and his followers; that she would 
 grant neither peace nor truce to him ; and that she 
 would not lay down her arms until she had over¬ 
 thrown him, all opinions were unanimous. But 
 when there was a question of saying in the Declara¬ 
 tion that the ultimate aim of the war was to restore 
 the legitimate dynasty, opinions were divided. “If 
 you do not allude to this re-establishment,” said 
 some, “those who armed within the country and 
 were induced by the Declaration of the 13th to 
 take up arms in the King’s cause, will think them¬ 
 selves abandoned. You will deprive yourselves of a 
 certain support to obtain one which is uncertain; if 
 you only announce your intention to overthrow the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 473 
 
 usurper, and leave it to be supposed that when once 
 he has fallen France may do as she pleases, you will 
 deliver her over to Jacobinism, and to factions that 
 are even more dangerous to the welfare of Europe 
 than Bonaparte himself.” 
 
 Others say that “ the re-establishment of the 
 legitimate dynasty is an object with regard to 
 which there ought to be no doubt as to the inten¬ 
 tions of the Allied Powers. The Declaration of the 
 13th of March sufficiently asserts this. If you insist 
 upon it again too positively, you will miss your aim, 
 which is to detach Bonaparte from those who can 
 only be reconciled by concessions which the Powers 
 may hint at, but which the King alone can promise 
 or bestow.” 
 
 Affairs were in this stage when the Emperor 
 Alexander sent for Lord Clancarty, who, since the 
 departure of Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of 
 Wellington, is at the head of the British embassy. 
 
 Their conversation was in part reported to me 
 by Lord Clancarty, but in much greater detail by 
 Lord Stewart and Prince Metternich. The task 
 of reporting it to your Majesty is one of extreme 
 difficulty, all the more that in several instances I 
 find myself divided between my sense of respect 
 for the person and my devotion to the cause of your 
 Majesty; I fear that what I yield to the one may 
 
474 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 appear to be wanting to the other. But your 
 Majesty,( 8 ) whose interest it is to be aware of the 
 sentiments of the most powerful of his allies, would 
 acquire a very erroneous impression of them if I 
 left out the reasons he advanced, or even the re¬ 
 proaches by means of which he pretended to justify 
 them. The importance of this consideration alone 
 induces me to report them. 
 
 The Emperor asked Lord Clancarty, in the 
 first place, why he did not approve of the proposed 
 Declaration, and what objection he had to make. 
 “It is,” replied Lord Clancarty, “that the Declara¬ 
 tion does not, in my opinion, say all that it ought 
 to say. It is not enough to overthrow Bonaparte; 
 we must not open the door to the Jacobins, who 
 would suit us still less than Bonaparte himself.” 
 
 “The Jacobins,” retorted the Emperor, “are 
 formidable only when allied to Bonaparte,( 9 ) and 
 this is why we must try to separate them from him. 
 When once he has fallen, they will not be the party 
 to succeed to his inheritance. The first object is to 
 overthrow him, and in this we are all of one mind. 
 As for me, I shall devote all my strength to effect 
 this, and shall take no rest till it is done. For the 
 remainder, I am willing to postpone any declaration 
 or proclamation to the time when our troops shall 
 be nearer France. This, indeed, is what I should 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 475 
 
 prefer. But the overthrow of Bonaparte is not the 
 only point on which we must come to an under¬ 
 standing. In an enterprise of the magnitude of 
 that on which we are engaged, we must from the 
 very beginning keep our end in view. The over¬ 
 throw of Bonaparte is only half our work; there 
 will still be the security of Europe to provide for. 
 She can never be tranquil as long as France is not 
 quiet, and France will only be quiet under a Govern¬ 
 ment which is generally popular.” 
 
 “ France,” said Lord Clancarty, “ was happy 
 under the King; the hopes of the whole nation are 
 centred in him.” 
 
 “ Yes,” replied the Emperor, “ of that part of 
 the nation which has never been anything but 
 passive, which has for twenty-six years submitted to 
 every sort of revolution, which only murmurs, but 
 interferes with none. But the remainder, which 
 appears like the whole nation because it alone comes 
 forward, it alone acts, it alone governs—will this 
 party submit voluntarily and be faithful to a Govern- 
 •ment it has just betrayed ? Will you force such a 
 Government upon this party against its will ? For 
 the sake of so doing will you set on foot a war 
 of extermination to which there might be no end ? 
 And are you sure that you will succeed ?” “I feel,” 
 replied Lord Clancarty, “that duty ends where im- 
 
4/6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 possibility begins. But until impossibility is proved, 
 I hold that the duty of the Powers is to support the 
 legitimate sovereign, and not to allow it even to be 
 a question of abandoning him.( 10 ) 
 
 “Our first duties,” replied the Emperor, “are 
 towards Europe and towards ourselves. Even if it 
 were easy to re-establish the Kings Government— 
 as long as there was no certainty of its future sta¬ 
 bility, what would be the effect of re-establishing it 
 but to prepare fresh misfortunes for France and for 
 Europe ? If what has once happened should happen 
 again, should we be as united as we are to-day ? 
 should we have nearly a million men under arms ? 
 should we be ready when danger broke out ? and 
 what probability is there, should the same elements 
 of disorder subsist, that the King’s Government 
 would be more stable than it has been now ? P"or the 
 rest, whatever may be our opinion on this subject— 
 the re-establishment of the King, which we all, and 
 I more than any other, desire—may meet with 
 insurmountable obstacles; as this is not an impos- 
 sible case we are bound to provide for it, and to 
 settle beforehand what ought to be done. Last 
 year a regency ( n ) might have been established ; but 
 the Archduchess Marie Louise, to whom I have 
 spoken, will not at any price return to France. Her 
 son is to have an establishment in Austria, and this 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 477 
 
 is all that she wishes for him. I have ascertained 
 that Austria, on her side, no longer thinks of a 
 regency or wishes for it. Last year it seemed a 
 means likely to conciliate conflicting interests; but 
 the situation is no longer the same. It is a thing, 
 therefore, which we must not any longer take into 
 consideration. The only way to conciliate all parties 
 is to choose the Duke of Orleans. He is a French¬ 
 man ; he is a Bourbon; he is the husband of a 
 Bourbon ; he has sons; he has served in his youth 
 in the Constitutional cause; he has worn the tricolor 
 cockade, which I often said, when I was in Paris, 
 ought never to have been left off.( 12 ) He would unite 
 all parties. Do you not think so, my lord; and 
 what would be the opinion of England ? ” “ I do 
 
 not know,” replied Lord Clancarty, “ what would be 
 the opinion of my Government on a proposal which 
 would be as new to it as the idea is to me ; as for 
 my own private opinion, I do not hesitate to say 
 that it seems to me extremely dangerous to abandon 
 the principle of legitimacy in order to take up any 
 sort of usurpation. But your Majesty would cer¬ 
 tainly wish me to communicate to my Government 
 all that I have had the honour of hearing. ” 
 
 The Emperor told him to write, and after re¬ 
 peating how essential it was to make sure of the 
 aim one has in view from the beginning of such an 
 important enterprise, he retired. 
 
47S UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lord Clancarty accordingly did write, but laid 
 great stress on the reasons which should attach 
 England to your Majesty’s cause. Prince Metter- 
 nich, to whom Lord Stewart and Lord Clancarty 
 repeated this conversation, thought that the question 
 raised by the Emperor was at least ill-timed; that 
 it would not do for the Powers to lose themselves 
 in hypotheses which might never occur, but that 
 they ought to wait until each question presented 
 itself, and treat each singly. He desired the 
 Austrian ambassador in London to speak in these 
 terms. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander, who does not take 
 in very clearly the principle of legitimacy, has, with¬ 
 out waiting for the opinion of the English Cabinet, 
 inserted in the Frankfort Gazette an article 
 which I have before me, and which says that the 
 Powers only want to overthrow Bonaparte, but 
 that they in no way pretend to interfere with the 
 interior administration of France, or even to impose 
 any Government upon the country, which will then 
 be free to choose the one she prefers. 
 
 But so far he is alone in his opinion. Even 
 Prussia, which is in the habit of agreeing with all 
 he wants, is well disposed towards your Majesty, 
 and has even expressed a wish that your Majesty 
 should issue a Proclamation, and 1 at this Proclama- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS X\viIJ aS t 
 
 _ 
 
 tion should precede the assembly of the electoral 
 colleges in Paris, which has been summoned by 
 Bonaparte. This desire is also that of the majority 
 of the Powers. It is thought of the utmost im¬ 
 portance that your Majesty should rally all parties 
 to yourself by assuring them, without distinction, all 
 the benefits of a constitutional Government. The 
 Powers would consider a Proclamation of this kind 
 issued by your Majesty as a powerful auxiliary to 
 the forces they are bringing into the field. Several 
 of them also wish that your Majesty, making your 
 ministers responsible for the faults which may have 
 been committed, would constitute a new ministry, 
 just as if you were in France, the members of 
 which would offer the requisite guarantees to all 
 parties. ( 13 ) I have been asked to write this to your 
 Majesty. I have even been told that this desire 
 will be expressed in the suggestions to be made by 
 the ambassadors whom the Powers are about to 
 send to your Majesty, and I should therefore like 
 them to be anticipated by your Majesty. 
 
 To all that the Emperor of Russia said to Lord 
 Clancarty I ought to add what has reached me of 
 his language by channels which I have every reason 
 to think trustworthy. 
 
 He has, on several occasions, repeated that when 
 he was in Paris a few months ago, all that he saw 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and heard made him fear that the Government would 
 not be able to maintain itself. It seemed to him to 
 be difficult for the sentiments and opinions of the 
 princes ( I4 ) to be sufficiently in harmony with the 
 opinions and habits of a generation which had been 
 born during their absence, and which on several 
 points had neither the opinions nor the habits of its 
 fathers. 
 
 The Emperor, who is fond of generalizing, fre¬ 
 quently says that it is impossible to govern in oppo¬ 
 sition to the ideas of the time. He says that his 
 fears increased when he saw that your Majesty was 
 calling into the ministry and into the royal councils 
 men who were, no doubt, very estimable, but who 
 almost all had spent the period of the Revolution 
 away from France or in retirement, and conse¬ 
 quently neither knew France nor were known by 
 her, and were totally wanting in that political expe¬ 
 rience which even genius cannot make up for. He 
 thinks that they have done great harm to the royal 
 cause, and although he thinks that similar evils will 
 be avoided in future by your Majesty’s choosing 
 other advisers, I must add that he remarks that the 
 one of your ministers who excites the most animad 
 version from all parties is, more than any other, in your 
 Majesty’s confidence.( 15 ) He even went so far as to 
 say that the greater part of the mischief proceeds 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 481 
 
 from the power which your Majesty has given to 
 the princes who surround your person, or has suf¬ 
 fered them to take; ( 1G ) that their unpopularity seems 
 to him to be an irremediable evil; that if your 
 Majesty had been personally unpopular the effect 
 would have been much less disastrous, because dis¬ 
 content against the reigning monarch is tempered 
 and softened by hope in his successor, while if it 
 falls upon the successor that hope cannot exist. 
 
 The Emperor often repeats in ordinary conver¬ 
 sation that he is quite willing to believe that your 
 Majesty would, if alone, be welcome to France, and 
 be loved and respected there, but that as it is im¬ 
 possible to separate your Majesty from your sur¬ 
 roundings^ 17 ) he fears that your throne will never be 
 
 1 
 
 firmly established. 
 
 I have the satisfaction of seeing that all the 
 Powers are sincerely interested in your Majesty; 
 even the Emperor of Russia’s language is due more 
 to ill humour and to his philosophical ideas, than to 
 any profound calculation. I wish I could add that 
 this interest extends to Monsieur, and to their Royal 
 Highnesses the Dukes of Angouleme and Berry, 
 but when once power is exclusively concentrated 
 in the hands of your Majesty and of responsible 
 ministers, who will enjoy at the same time your 
 Majesty’s confidence and that of the nation, the 
 
482 - UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 exaggerated impressions produced both within and 
 without the country by past errors and inadver¬ 
 tencies, will be gradually effaced. 
 
 The Baron de Talleyrand has arrived here with 
 the letter with which your Majesty has honoured 
 me, dated April ioth. 
 
 I am continually stimulating activity here, and 
 urging the importance of haste. But the Duke of 
 Wellington, in a letter subsequent to the one your 
 Majesty did me the honour to mention, writes that, 
 in consequence of the bad news from the south, he 
 feels the necessity of postponing operations until 
 the Powers are able to attack on all points and with 
 larger forces. Now, the distances are so enormous 
 that, with all the good-will in the world, it is im¬ 
 possible for the Austrians to assemble a hundred 
 thousand men on the Rhine until the end of May. 
 
 Your Majesty will be glad to hear that the 
 Austrian troops in Italy have obtained victories 
 which promise still more important ones. Prince 
 Leopold ( 18 ) will leave in a few days to join the 
 Austrian army. The Viennese newspapers have 
 at last left off writing “King Joachim;” they say 
 simply “ Murat.” 
 
 M. de Blombelles, formerly Portuguese Minister, 
 now a canon at Glogau, and father of the Blom¬ 
 belles who was in Paris, would like to re-enter 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 483 
 
 the diplomatic service in any capacity, from that 
 of ambassador to that of chargd d'affaires. He 
 thinks that he might be useful as chargd d'affaires 
 at Munich, and he thinks that he could live there 
 on a salary of eight thousand francs. 
 
 I am taking advantage of M. de Noailles’ kind¬ 
 ness to transmit this despatch, which he will have 
 the honour of delivering to your Majesty. 
 
 He has been very useful here in many ways, and 
 I think that there is no one who could give your 
 Majesty better information on the military and 
 political condition of all the Cabinets whose assist¬ 
 ance is now so urgently needed by us. I entreat 
 your Majesty to confide to him all the orders you 
 desire to transmit to me. He ought to return 
 * hither before the end of the Congress; and the 
 affairs of Germany and Italy, which must be ter¬ 
 minated, advance so slowly that he will arrive in 
 good time to affix his signature. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XCI. 
 
 (1) The Order of the Holy Ghost, instituted by Henry III. 
 The cross was suspended by a blue watered silk ribbon. 
 
 (2) “ On his arrival at St. Petersburg M. de Caulaincourt at 
 first was greatly embarrassed. The murder of the Due d’Enghien 
 had left a stain on his forehead. The Empress-Mother would not 
 receive him. . . . The Czar received him kindly, and gradually 
 
484 ‘ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 took a liking to him, which in the end grew into a real friend¬ 
 ship.”—Memoirs of Madame de Re'musat, tom. iii. p. 273. 
 
 (3) The Due de Vicenza gave in his adhesion to the acts of 
 the Senate and the Constitution of the 6th of April, on the 
 16th of April. 
 
 (4) On the 1 st of April, 1814, the Emperor Alexander declared, 
 in the name of the Allied Powers, that he would recognize and 
 guarantee the Constitution which France would adopt. Talley¬ 
 rand, who during all that time inspired Alexander, thought that 
 he was re-establishing a legitimate monarchy with the aid of the 
 nation, the King, and the laws. Being always in favour of a 
 constitutional monarchy, he demanded at this time a Constitution, 
 a Declaration of Rights, a Charter by which the King himself 
 should be bound—not a Charter wrung from the King, but one 
 that was to be drawn up and voted beforehand. And, in fact, 
 it was only on the 6th of April, after the vote of the Constitution, 
 that Louis Stanislas Xavier, brother of the late King (Louis XVII. 
 is obviously and purposely omitted), yielded to the wish of the 
 French nation : “ He shall be proclaimed King of the French 
 as soon as he has sworn fidelity to the new Constitution.” As 
 yet there was no mention of the “ kingdom of Navarre ” or the 
 “grace of God.” 
 
 Here is what M. Henri Martin says with great wisdom of this 
 Constitution : 
 
 “ The public neither liked nor esteemed the Senate, which 
 was natural enough after the behaviour of the latter under the 
 Empire: and saw nothing in this Constitution but the principles 
 of hereditary right and pensions to the senators. Political 
 interest, which had been stifled by the Empire, was not yet 
 thoroughly awake, and the people did not understand that to 
 turn the Senate into ridicule was to play into the hands of the 
 £migr6s ; it was not understood that the Senate, however un¬ 
 worthy, was at this time defending the principles and the rights 
 of the nation. It was not, however, the admirers of the Empire; 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 485 
 
 it was the old opposition, the men of the Revolution—such as 
 Lanjuinais, Lambrecht, Garat, Gregoire—who sustained the 
 leading part in the debate.”—Martin’s “ History of France,” 
 tom. iv. p. 96. 
 
 It was the arrival of the Comte d’Artois which destroyed the 
 work attempted by the constitutionalists, and drove the Restoration 
 into the road which led successively to Ghent and Goritz. 
 
 We shall see that after the Hundred Days, M. Durbach, in 
 the sitting of the Chamber of Deputies of the 29th of June, 1815, 
 accused Louis XVIII. of having despised the constitutional 
 throne offered to him by the nation. 
 
 (5) “ M. de Chateaubriand is astonished that there are no 
 records; Madame de Stael is always of the opinion of the mal¬ 
 contents ; Benjamin (Constant) scatters praises, but praise dies in 
 a grimace on his lips. This is what our Paris is like now. France 
 wants peace, but the army wants Belgium.”—Jaucourt to Talley¬ 
 rand, 20th January, 1815. 
 
 (6) “Your old diplomatic phalanx is much neglected; its mem¬ 
 bers all trust to you, and believe that the present system has set 
 them on one side. I assure you that an ancient name, when it is 
 borne by a man of your ability, will always preserve its value, but 
 the time for fools of quality is passed.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 1815. 
 
 (7) “ Patriotism decided Carnot upon accepting the post of 
 
 Minister of the Interior. The year before, he assisted Napoleon 
 
 in defending the country. He did still more in 1815 ; he abjured 
 
 all his past career by entering the Imperial Government. He 
 
 was convinced that every nerve must be strained in the defence of 
 
 % 
 
 France, and no other consideration could move him.”—H. Martin, 
 tom. iv. p. 137. 
 
 (8) “ We ought to have accurate information as to all that is 
 going on. This evening I put M. d’Andre', who is at Brussels, 
 at the King’s service; but the proper means are not taken to 
 obtain information, and we are reduced to reports which are 
 
486 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 falsified. . . . The devil himself could not persuade M. de Blacas 
 to give me the newspapers, which are rigorously excluded here ! ”— 
 Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 2nd April, 1815. 
 
 (9) “The measures taken by Bonaparte’s Government ever 
 since he reached Paris, the men who compose his ministry, the 
 manner in which every possible means is taken to force public 
 opinion, prove that Bonaparte is under the influence of all that 
 are left of the old revolutionary parties in France, and that it is 
 from them alone that he derives all his power of action in the 
 country. Nevertheless, it is notorious that not one of these 
 parties, or of the men of whom they are composed, really likes 
 Bonaparte, because they know perfectly well that if he succeeds 
 in consolidating his authority, he will soon tear from them, as he 
 did when he for the first time seized the reins of government, the 
 share of power which he is obliged to give them now that he 
 is in need of their support. It is, therefore, evident that they 
 joined him only because they saw no other way of escaping from 
 a system in which they were deprived of all share in politics, and 
 in which they thought they had ever reason to fear for their 
 personal security. But I do not doubt but that they would be 
 among the first to overthrow Bonaparte if the Government which 
 is to succeed him would offer them guarantees on which they 
 could perfectly rely, which would not only deliver them from 
 all anxiety but would hold out baits to their ambition. All the 
 Powers agree in thinking this, and they consequently wish that 
 the King should endeavour, by means of a proclamation to 
 precede the assembling of the electoral colleges whom Bonaparte 
 has summoned to Paris, to rally all parties round his standard by 
 promising to them all, without distinction, every advantage attached 
 to a constitutional Government. The Powers would consider a royal 
 proclamation in this sense as a powerful auxiliary to the forces 
 they are about to employ. Many of them also wish that the King, 
 making his ministers responsible for all the blunders which have 
 been committed, would appoint a new ministry, just as if he were 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 487 
 
 in France, composed of men whose nomination would afford 
 sufficient guarantees to every party. I am writing to the King by 
 the Count de Noailles, who will take this letter on the same 
 manner to you. As I know the ministers who will be sent to the 
 King by foreign Courts will also speak of it to him, I should wish 
 his Majesty to anticipate by a resolution in accordance with the 
 suggestion I have just had the honour of proposing to you, all that 
 they may say to him, and I beg of you to do all in your power to 
 persuade the King to adopt this resolution. . . . 
 
 “ I told you that Murat had failed in his attempts to cross the 
 Po; he has since been repulsed from its banks and pursued. In 
 the last place he was turned out of Bologna, and General Bianchi 
 obtained a decisive victory over him. The affairs in Italy are 
 going on well.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 22nd April, 1815. 
 
 (10) “The Chevalier Charles Stuart (ambassador from Great 
 Britain to the King Louis XVIII.) called on me yesterday 
 evening. . . . 
 
 “He insisted on the objections to acting entirely on foreign 
 ground and of assuming (this was his expression) an attitude of 
 emigration. . . , We declare that we are making war on Bonaparte; 
 we declare that we are not making it on the French nation; there¬ 
 fore, when once Bonaparte has fallen, we shall have no other 
 common cause for war. Bonaparte retorts to our declaration that 
 he is the choice of the nation ; that to make war on him is really 
 to make war on France, and above all to make war for the sake of 
 replacing Louis XVIII. on the throne and inflicting him for the 
 second time on the nation. In order to restrict himself to the 
 prescribed limits, Lord Castlereagh was obliged to speak as he did, 
 and his speech announces the only principles that we can publicly 
 avow. Nevertheless our wishes as well as our endeavours are in 
 favour of the King; we desire his success—we do not doubt it; 
 but we cannot escape from the conditions of the treaty and the 
 declaration of the Powers.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 25th April, 
 1815. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 488 
 
 In the sitting of the House of Commons of the 26th of April, 
 Lord Castlereagh communicated the Memorandum relating to the 
 treaty of the 25th of March, and positively denied all intention 
 of imposing a definitive Government in France. 
 
 Lord Liverpool made a similar announcement on the 27th, in 
 the House of Lords, and asserted that England had not promised 
 to re-establish the House of Bourbon. 
 
 (n) The allied sovereigns had thought of it Tor a short time 
 in 1814. It is well known that Napoleon, when he started on the 
 campaign in France, himself gave the regency to Marie Louise, 
 with King Joseph as lieutenant-general. 
 
 (12) “The Bourbons end with the King and make a new be¬ 
 ginning with the Duke of Orleans. This is true; but the King 
 is neither aware nor willing to believe in all that ought to be done 
 to justify his re-establishment—the apprehensions of the purchasers 
 of forfeited estates, the strain put upon the Concordat, etc. There 
 must be pamphlets, articles in the newspapers, and publicity. 
 The King has been received from the hands of foreigners. If he 
 is to be accepted as a condition of peace, he will never be re¬ 
 established. Do you think that Bonaparte was re-established by 
 the love of his soldiers? No, he was elected. The ‘grace of 
 God,’ ‘the 19th year of his reign’—all this shocks and disgusts. 
 If he is determined to owe nothing to us, he will get nothing. 
 Look at the tricks of Napoleon ! with his usual Machiavellism he 
 is going to give us an Assembly in May.”—Ostend, Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 27th May, 1815. 
 
 “ Lally and M. de Chateaubriand cry you mercy, and are 
 
 writing or rewriting to you ; for they have all written to you. The 
 
 Court party, which draws nearer and nearer to the King, whispers 
 
 that you must be Prime Minister; Monsieur’s followers say the 
 
 same thing, especially lately, when we hear the Duke of Orleans’ 
 
 name on all sides. M. de Chateaubriand, who was consulted on 
 
 this point, proposed to send for the duke and make him general- 
 
 * 
 
 issimo of our armies; this is rather romantic. It would be, no 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 489 
 
 doubt, perfectly safe, as regards the heart and the sense of duty 
 characteristic of this prince, to put ourselves to such an extent in 
 his hands; but he is so popular with the army that it would be 
 perhaps giving him a too easy and too dangerous power of dis¬ 
 tinguishing himself.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 6th May, 
 1815. 
 
 (13) “ All that you tell me, my dear Prince, on the necessity of 
 a Cabinet is very true, very right, very urgent, very impossible. 
 I do not know what your fortunate and honourable return, your 
 superiority, and your wish to establish a ministerial system similar 
 to that of England, might effect; but just now, what we must 
 try for is, instead of a patched-up union which gives only an 
 appearance of unanimity, to have a free opposition which will 
 give opportunities for a criticism which will oblige all parties 
 to be careful and to do their best. The responsibility of 
 Ministers will be effected by eager debate in the Chambers, 
 by petitions and denunciations, and not at all by a strict law 
 which no one will have the courage to propose in the Cabinet or 
 the wisdom to pass in the Chambers.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 25th February, 1815. 
 
 (14) Count d’Artois and the Dukes of Angouleme and Berry. 
 “ The travels of the young princes and princesses are unpopular. 
 Great expense, a great many complaints, many prejudices—this 
 is what they will spend and bring back. Louis (the Minister of 
 Finance) must take care.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 5th February, 
 1815. 
 
 (15) “ The King will write to you through the Due de Blacas, 
 for it is he who writes for the King, and when he came to visit 
 me he had already your letter to the King in his pocket. I was 
 alone with the King, as you may suppose, when I delivered the 
 letter. ... You may judge, therefore, of what the King said to 
 Blacas. Perhaps he thought that if he wrote a few lines to you 
 with his own hand you would answer them; and you know that 
 unless you put a separate sheet in your letter, the King would be 
 very much embarrassed to avoid giving it all to Blacas. 
 
490 ' UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 “ Every one who comes from France cries out on Blacas as if 
 he were a ravening wolf.”—Ghent, Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 2nd 
 May, 1815. 
 
 (16) “ In this circumstance, as in every other, we feel the fatal 
 effect of the influence of the princes, who are always patronizing, 
 always at work, always interfering, and often ordering.”—Jaucourt 
 to Talleyrand, 2nd May, 1815. 
 
 “The King received a list from the Due de Feltre; he 
 said that he would think it over at his leisure. Every time that 
 the King thinks at his leisure, Monsieur thinks with him. .1 know 
 that it has been said at Monsieur’s that it was necessary that 
 Monsieur should have at least one person devoted to him, who 
 would tell him all that passed in the Cabinet and in the King’s 
 Council when he was not present. My dear friend, if you do not 
 arrive, invulnerable and armed at all points, they will circumvent 
 you, and the King’s cause will be lost.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 nth May, 1815. 
 
 (17) “All irritation turns to the benefit of Jacobinism, but 
 while everything is done to irritate, it is all done unwittingly. 
 There are twenty people who worry, who are in the way, who are 
 ubiquitous, and who wish to be a body, a power in the State.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 28th February, 1815. 
 
 (18) Leopold Jean Joseph, Prince of Salerno. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 491 
 
 LETTER XCII. 
 
 No. 53. 
 
 Vienna, 1st May, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Baron de Vincent starts to-day to join 
 your Majesty, and he is kind enough to take charge 
 of the letters I have the honour of writing. 
 
 Murat, when he commenced hostilities, counted 
 on a rising of the Italian populations, but his expecta¬ 
 tions have been completely deceived; in this belief 
 he advanced to the banks of the Po, where the 
 first engagement took place. Since then he has 
 had nothing but defeats. He is retreating in all 
 haste towards the kingdom of Naples, in fear lest 
 he should be cut off by an Austrian force which 
 is in Tuscany. The last engagement of which wo 
 have received any official intelligence, occurred at 
 Cesena, where he recrossed the Ronco and suffered 
 considerable losses. His army, already much dimin¬ 
 ished by the prisoners that have been taken, to 
 the number of seven thousand, diminishes every day 
 through desertion. There is every reason to hope 
 that this war will soon be over. The advantage 
 of replacing King Ferdinand IV. on his throne will 
 not be the only one that we shall derive from the 
 fall of Murat. By setting free the troops employed 
 
492 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 against him, and by removing all uneasiness as to 
 the maintenance of peace in Italy, it will greatly 
 facilitate operations against Bonaparte. It will also 
 produce an immense effect in France, by showing 
 to everybody that no Power in Europe will endure 
 these new dynasties founded on violence and in¬ 
 justice, and that all Europe is determined to over¬ 
 throw them.Q These are the fruits of our efforts in 
 supporting the principle of legitimacy. 
 
 This principle is now explicitly recognized.( 2 ) A 
 treaty has just been signed by Prince Metternich 
 and the Commander Ruffo, King Ferdinand IV.’s 
 minister at Vienna. This treaty stipulates the sub¬ 
 vention to be furnished by Sicily in the war against 
 Murat. Instead of the twenty millions which your 
 Majesty intended to give for this war, King Fer¬ 
 dinand, I am told, promises twenty-five millions. 
 My next despatches will inform your Majesty as 
 to the stipulations of the treaty, which I have not 
 yet been able to see. 
 
 Prince Leopold of the Two Sicilies leaves on the 
 4th of this month for the Austrian head-quarters. 
 
 Although the affairs of Parma are not yet ter¬ 
 minated, the Emperor of Austria has published an 
 edict, in which he assumes in his daughter’s name 
 the definitive administration of the three duchies. ( 3 ) 
 \ our Majesty will perceive by this that the arrange- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 493 
 
 ments the Congress was to decide upon are executed 
 before they are discussed, which is very objectionable, 
 but which we are not powerful enough to prevent. 
 
 The Austrian and Russian troops are marching 
 forward. The head-quarters of Prince Schwarzen- 
 berg is at Heilbrunn, in Wtirtemberg, and the Prince 
 himself left yesterday for that place. He will pass 
 through Bohemia, where he will stay for only a few 
 days. 
 
 The arrangements with Bavaria, which I had 
 announced to your Majesty as finished, but which 
 were not signed, have, after having occasioned new 
 discussions, at last been agreed upon. Their settle¬ 
 ment, however, could be only eventual. They will 
 not be definitively arranged until after the war, 
 because they must be subordinate to the negotiations 
 with the Courts of Baden and Darmstadt, which are 
 to make cessions to Bavaria, for which they are to 
 be indemnified on the left bank of the Rhine; and 
 these Courts do not care to receive concessions of 
 which the chances of war, should they be unpro- 
 pitious, might deprive them. 
 
 The Danish minister, General Waltersdorf, is to 
 start on the day after to-morrow on his mission 
 to your Majesty. He, as well as Baron de Vincent, 
 is accredited as an envoy to the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
494 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XCII. 
 
 (1) “ The King sent for me before the Council; he rose and said, 
 ‘ I am sending the Count de Noailles off at once; it is absolutely 
 necessary that Princ# Talleyrand should come. I am writing 
 this to him ; I tell him that I want him very much, I wish to see 
 him. You know that he writes to me on a great many points 
 which he will discuss when he comes. , 
 
 “ At the Council was read a royal proclamation, proposed by 
 Pozzo, looked over by M. de Pradel, revised, altered, and 
 settled by the King. There is one very ingenious passage in it; 
 it is that the King sets forth, as an act of his own co-operation in 
 the treaty, the engagement taken by the Powers not to interfere 
 in the Government to be established in France after the fall of 
 Bonaparte.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 6th May, 1815. 
 
 (2) See D’Angeberg, p. 1156. 
 
 (3) Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla. 
 
 44 - 
 
 LETTER XCIII. 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 No. 4 from Ghent. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 5th May, 1815. 
 
 I received your No. 52 by M. de Noailles. 
 I add to this despatch the proclamation which I am 
 about to publish, and which, I flatter myself, will 
 be as much approved by the sovereigns as it has 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 493 
 
 been by the ministers who are with me here. But 
 this subject, however important, is not the most 
 important of all. There is another point in your 
 despatch which, ever since I received it, has been, 
 and continues to be, the subject of my most, serious 
 reflections; in order to come to a final decision, I 
 need wise counsels, and it is impossible to give them 
 by letter. I told you to join me as soon as you had 
 signed the final act of the Congress in my name ; 
 but I now feel more impatient to see you. There¬ 
 fore, unless this signature is likely to detain you for 
 only two or three days at the utmost, start without 
 waiting for it. It is of very little consequence which 
 of my plenipotentiaries signs the treaty, but it is of 
 great consequence that I sh6uld have you at my 
 side.( x ) 
 
 On which, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XCIII. 
 
 (1) " Come to us. When you come you will be able to do as 
 you like; but if once measures have been taken in contradiction 
 to your views and projects, it is you who will be obliged to make 
 concessions, arrangements, and take half measures. Your Cabinet 
 must be very strong, very national, thoroughly in accordance with 
 public opinion.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 30th April, 1815. 
 
 “You cannot judge from where you are of the need of 
 your presence here. The Court is acquiring a likeness to Coblenz, 
 which will drive away, first me, and then all who are loyal tc 
 France and the King, and who repudiate the idea of emigration. 
 
496 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Come with a Cabinet already settled, or even without a Cabinet, 
 but speak in the name of a Cabinet. . . . You are surrounded 
 at present with an aureole of glory from the Congress; you 
 possess the omnipotence of an extraordinary political career; 
 you will arrive in the name of all the sovereigns, with a caduceus 
 in your hand. But if you allow the Congress to terminate before 
 you come, after every one has discussed, examined, pulled to 
 pieces, and conjectured, and set on foot all the petty intrigues 
 that fools understand so well, you will not have half your in¬ 
 fluence. . . . 
 
 “ Chevalier Stuart is so convinced of the necessity for your 
 arrival that he said to me, 4 You may be certain that if he does not 
 come, it is because he prefers an agreeable and comfortable position 
 to any other.’”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 2nd May, 1815. 
 
 “Pozzo says that you can be useful, necessary, the savioui 
 of the King and his cause, only by coming here; that you have 
 terminated the affairs of the Congress with glory; that the de¬ 
 parture of the sovereigns from Vienna will not allow you to remain 
 there ; that their position is becoming warlike, and is no longer in 
 harmony with yours. 
 
 “ The Court party, which is becoming more and more iden¬ 
 tified with the King, whispers that you must be Prime Minister; 
 Monsieur’s people say the same thing, especially lately, when the 
 name of the Duke of Orleans has been heard on all sides; M. 
 de Blacas makes loud protestations of disinterestedness; and as 
 for the Chancellor Dambray, he does not know what to be at.”— 
 
 , Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 6th May, 1815. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 LETTER XCIV. 
 
 No. 54. 
 
 Vienna, 5th May, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 A former Chamberlain of Bonaparte’s, M. 
 de Stassart, who, having accompanied the Arch¬ 
 duchess Marie Louise hither, became a Chamberlain 
 of the Emperor Francis, and some time ago had 
 returned to Paris, has lately been sent thence, bearing 
 a letter from Bonaparte for the Emperor, and one 
 from M. de Caulaincourt for Prince Metternich. 
 Protected by his title of Chamberlain, he got as far 
 as Munich; but he was arrested there, and the 
 letters in his charge have been sent hither. Both 
 these letters urge, from different motives, the return 
 of the Archduchess and her son. The turn taken 
 by Bonaparte and his ministers is one of moderation 
 and affection. The letters remained sealed till the 
 moment of the conference; they were opened in the 
 presence of the ministers of the Allied Powers. It 
 was decided that they should remain unanswered. 
 Opinion was unanimous. Your Majesty may see, 
 therefore, that every attempt, of whatever kind, on 
 the part of Bonaparte to enter into relations with 
 foreign Powers, is repulsed and remains fruitless. 
 
49 & ‘ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The English ministers, to whom I applied for 
 obtaining the pecuniary supplies needed by your 
 Majesty’s mission to the Congress, and who had 
 acceded willingly to my request, have received 
 letters from their Government, authorizing them to 
 advance no more than a hundred thousand francs 
 at six months’ date.( x ) 
 
 Our credit on the Bank of France, which was 
 far from being exhausted, has been suspended from 
 the 21st of March. This arrangement debits us 
 with the expenses incurred, and which ought to have 
 been paid on the ist of April. The members of 
 the embassy have received no payments from Paris 
 since January. 
 
 The most reduced expenditure for the months 
 of April and May, without including arrears, will 
 consume a good part of the sum which was promised 
 to us by the English Government, and the rest will 
 only take us on to the beginning of August. Your 
 Majesty will consider what arrangements it will be 
 possible to make at that period. 
 
 I &m, etc, 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XCIV. 
 
 (i) “ M. de Blacas has only four million five hundred thousand 
 francs here; the eight millions which he hoped to pass in bills ol 
 exchange have been stopped at Perregaux’ and refused in 
 England.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 26th April, 1815. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 499 
 
 
 « 
 
 LETTER XCV. 
 
 No. 55. 
 
 Vienna, 14th May, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 The Count de Noailles has just arrived, 
 and has delivered to me the letter with which your 
 Majesty has honoured me, dated the 5th of May. 
 His arrival is followed so closely by the departure 
 of the courier of whom I have to take advantage, 
 that I can only have the honour of writing a very 
 short letter to your Majesty. 
 
 My anxiety to find myself at your Majesty’s 
 side would make me start to-morrow, if affairs were 
 sufficiently advanced to render only my signature 
 necessary, or if the termination of the Congress 
 were still in the distance. But the Italian questions 
 are not yet settled, although they soon will be. The 
 delay in settling these is detaining M. de Saint- 
 Marson and the Commander Ruffo here for a few 
 days longer, although the departure of the latter is 
 very urgent, and the former has been summoned 
 to Turin, where he occupies the post of Minister of 
 War. 
 
 Besides these reasons, the sovereigns will soon 
 leave Vienna, and as in a coalition every step is 
 liable to a thousand misinterpretations, I could not 
 
5 °° “ 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 leave before their departure without more incon¬ 
 venience than advantage accruing to your Majesty’s 
 affairs; and at any rate the difference, taking into 
 consideration the preparations I see are being made, 
 will be of only forty-eight hours, more or less. 
 Indeed, I do not think that it is possible, in our 
 position, to leave at a time when every one needs 
 urging forward.^) 
 
 I have had rather a long conversation with the 
 Emperor Alexander, which I shall have the honour 
 of reporting to your Majesty. I must only say now 
 that his language was very favourable—that he spoke 
 very earnestly and properly of our affairs. His 
 opinion is that, for the present, a passive attitude 
 is the one suitable to your Majesty, and to those 
 who are about you. He is particularly anxious to 
 make it clear that every step taken by any one 
 Power with a view to the common good, or entailing 
 a danger common to all, should be undertaken in 
 concert with all the others. This was the chief 
 object of the mission to the different armies ; and he 
 hopes that this rule will be adopted by your Majesty. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XCV. 
 
 (i) “I will join the King as soon as the Congress is over. 
 But it seems to me that, as it will last only a week or a fortnight 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 5OI 
 
 longer, it would be inconsistent in me, and extremely hurtful in 
 every respect to the interests of the King, if I were to withdraw. 
 Nothing, in my opinion, is more important to the King, under 
 present circumstances, than the conclusion of an act in which the 
 whole of Europe takes part; and it is of the greatest possible 
 interest to the whole of Europe, and nothing is more calculated 
 to make an impression on the mind of every nation, and on that 
 of his Majesty’s subjects, than seeing this act signed by his am¬ 
 bassador just as if the King were enjoying his full and legitimate 
 authority without any obstacle or opposition. Besides this, it 
 does not seem to me that there is any difficulty in the King’s 
 present position. His part is to be entirely passive, for he ought 
 not to appear to take any active share in the aggression which is 
 preparing against his kingdom while under the yoke of Bonaparte. 
 It will not become an active one until after the allied troops have 
 entered France, and his Majesty will have to interfere in order to 
 prevent with all his might the violence and vexations which are 
 unfortunately inseparable from war, and to diminish as much as 
 possible the evils by which it is always accompanied. But the 
 King must give no loophole for thinking that it is for his sake, 
 in defence of his interests, that this war is undertaken. It would 
 render him hateful. And, in fact, it is certain that the foreign 
 Powers are making this war much less for his sake, than because 
 they think their peace and safety compromised as long as the 
 power of France is in the hands of Bonaparte. It seems, then, 
 advisable that the royal princes should not join the army, and 
 that even the French troops who surround the King should not 
 be employed aggressively, but should be set only to occupy the 
 recovered provinces, to maintain order and to protect life and 
 property in them, and at most to repulse the attacks of Bonaparte’s 
 partisans. 
 
 “ As for the proposals from Paris, I think that for the present 
 we must content ourselves with listening to them and waiting.”— 
 Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 13th May, 1815. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER XCVI. 
 
 No. 56. 
 
 Vienna, 17th May, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 In place of the second Declaration which 
 was proposed, and which I had the honour of 
 mentioning several times to your Majesty, it has 
 been arranged to substitute a report which will 
 answer the same object. This report will be published 
 to-morrow in the Gazette de Vienne,( l ) and afterwards 
 in the different newspapers of Germany and other 
 countries; it has likewise been printed by the press 
 of the Austrian Chancellerie. I have the honour of 
 sending several copies to your Majesty. 
 
 Your Majesty will see that this report fully 
 confirms the disposition manifested by the Powers 
 in the Declaration of the 13th of March—that it 
 refutes the sophistries of Bonaparte and exposes his 
 impostures. But it will, above all, strike your Majesty 
 that Europe does not profess to be making war for 
 the sake of or by the demand of your Majesty. 
 Europe makes war for her own sake; her own 
 interests depend upon it ; her safety demands it. 
 Not only is this the only true aspect of the war, but, 
 furthermore, it is believed by everybody to be the 
 only one suitable to your Majesty. It is the only one 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 503 
 
 which will not place your Majesty in a false posi¬ 
 tion with your own subjects, for nothing could 
 contribute so much to their alienation as a wrong 
 opinion on the cause of the war. They must never 
 attribute the evils which war is about to bring on 
 them to your Majesty. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 P.S.—In obedience to your Majesty’s commands, 
 
 I have written to the Legations of the sovereigns* 
 and archdukes who are here to ask for my dismissal. 
 
 I send to M. de Jaucourt some letters from 
 M. de la Tour de Pin, which may interest your 
 Majesty. M. d’Osmond’s letter, in which they are 
 enclosed, gives some details on the late proceedings 
 in Italy. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XCVI. 
 
 (1) For this report of the 13th of May, see Martens, New 
 Series, vol. ii. No. 263. 
 
504 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER XCVII. 
 
 No. 57. 
 
 Vienna, 23rd May, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 In my farewell audience I received from 
 all the sovereigns proofs of the most friendly 
 sentiments towards your Majesty. These audiences 
 ♦ were not merely formal; they were much longer than 
 those which are usually granted in similar circum¬ 
 stances. I shall have the honour of reporting what 
 passed to your Majesty. Although all was not 
 finished, my anxiety to be with your Majesty had 
 determined me on starting to-morrow, but Prince 
 Metternich and M. de Nesselrode, as well as the 
 Chancellor Hardenberg, urged me to sign the pro¬ 
 tocols which contain the arrangements settled by 
 the Congress, together with all the principal members. 
 I thought I ought to accede to their wish, as my 
 departure will be postponed by it only for two days. 
 These protocols will contain the definitive text, with 
 the exception of some slight modifications which will 
 concern only the modes of expressing the articles 
 composing the instrument settled by the Congress. 
 A Commission, to consist of a plenipotentiary from 
 each Power, will be left here, to put the articles in 
 proper order and separate those that refer to par- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 505 
 
 ticular Interests from those that concern the general 
 interest. I shall leave M. de Dalberg here to repre¬ 
 sent France in this Commission. This work will not 
 take more than eight or ten days, if the delegates 
 will work a little faster than their chiefs have done. 
 
 I have the honour of enclosing to your Majesty 
 two letters from the Due d’Angouleme. I have 
 had the honour of writing one to him which is 
 probably lost. Some day we shall perhaps see it in 
 the French newspapers.^) 
 
 I have sent to Lord Castlereagh by to-day's 
 courier a letter from the Duchesse d’Angouleme. 
 In order that your Majesty may have a complete 
 collection of my voluminous correspondence, I have 
 the honour of enclosing copies of the letters which I 
 expect have not reached their destination. 
 
 If no unforeseen obstacle arise, I shall be at 
 Ghent, at your Majesty’s disposal, on Sunday, the 
 
 4 th. 0 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER XCVII. 
 
 (1) The Monitenr Universel had published the letters addressed 
 to the Due d’Angouleme which were found at the Tuileries on 
 the return of Napoleon. 
 
 (2) “Your Highness left us on Sunday, the nth of the month. 
 It was not until that day that the great act of the Congress, 
 enriched at the last moment by a dozen additional articles, was 
 definitely settled.”—Gentz to Talleyrand, 16th June, 1815. 
 
506 - UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 LETTER XCVIII. 
 
 No. 58. 
 
 Vienna, 27th May, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I can now tell your Majesty all the fears 
 I have experienced during the last week. The 
 question was raised whether the circumstances which 
 oblige us to leave some points unsettled ought not to 
 determine us to put off the signature of the act to 
 some future time.Q A rather powerful intrigue was 
 on foot for this purpose. The object was to call in 
 question points which were already decided, and 
 to come to no resolution on others which were still 
 undecided. There was nothing more essential to 
 your Majesty’s interests than for your name to be 
 placed in an act which was to proclaim the union of 
 all the Powers. I was therefore bound to strain 
 every nerve to attain this object. I was very well 
 seconded by the English and Austrian ministers. 
 The signature will take place to-morrow or the day 
 after. 
 
 I have the honour of sending your Majesty a 
 Declaration addressed by the Swiss Diet to the 
 ministers accredited to it, and a convention signed 
 between those ministers and the ministers of 
 Switzerland. Your Majesty will see that, although 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 507 
 
 Switzerland seems in this Declaration to wish to 
 preserve her neutrality, her intention, which is clearly 
 expressed in the convention, is nevertheless to do all 
 that can be expected of her in the cause of Europe. 
 Urgent necessity, of which the generals of the 
 coalition must judge, will authorize the passage of 
 the allied troops through the Swiss territories. In 
 all the letters received here yesterday by the 
 different foreign ministers, Baron Auguste de 
 Talleyrand’s endeavours for attaining this salutary 
 end have been highly praised. 
 
 Both from a moral and a military point of view, 
 the conduct of Switzerland is considered by the 
 Allied Powers to have been highly useful. 
 
 I shall not again have the honour of writing to 
 your Majesty from Vienna ; I am just starting, and 
 shall myself lay the assurances of my respect and 
 devotion at the feet of your Majesty. 
 
 I carry no documents with me. 
 
 I am, etc. 
 
 NOTE TO LETTER XCVIII. 
 
 (1) “I am alarmed by a proposal which is said, my dear 
 Prince, to be yours. It is reported that there is to be no signature. 
 Before taking an irrevocable decision, let me tell you that it is of 
 the highest importance for the cause of the King, for the opinion 
 that will be held in France as to her position in relation to the 
 Allied Powers, for the opinion which will be formed in France of the 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 union between the Powers, for the dignity of the Congress—that 
 something should be signed. When once articles have been 
 settled and signed, one may leave the final arrangement to the 
 plenipotentiaries of the different Courts. But if the protocols are 
 not signed, it will be thought that there are hesitations, and the 
 moral force of the coalition will be considerably diminished. 
 Adieu, dear Prince. Always yours, Talleyrand.”—To Prince 
 Metternich. 
 
 •H- 
 
 xcix.o 
 
 CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 
 
 May, 1815. 
 
 The Powers who had made common cause with 
 France in the war terminated by the treaty of the 
 30th of May, 1814, had agreed on such arrange¬ 
 ments for the negotiations of the Congress as would 
 have reduced France to playing an entirely passive 
 part. 
 
 The majority had pretensions to which they 
 were well aware that France must be opposed. 
 They wished to neutralize her opposition, and for 
 this reason they tried to attach suspicion to her 
 motives. She was supposed to have ambitious 
 projects ; she was accused of wanting to recover 
 the left bank of the Rhine and Belgium. It was 
 

 PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 509 
 
 reported that her ambassadors were furnished with 
 double instructions ; that they professed great dis¬ 
 interestedness ; that they talked of nothing but 
 justice and principle, but that their object was to 
 sow discord between the Allies . Austria, Russia, 
 England, and Prussia continued to call themselves 
 by this name. The spirits of the coalition had sur¬ 
 vived the peace, and seemed even to have acquired 
 new strength. 
 
 The French embassy, against which public 
 opinion had been raised by these means, found 
 itself completely isolated. It was almost a crime to 
 have anything to do with it. No one dared to visit 
 its members ; the ministers of some petty Courts 
 were reprimanded and threatened for having done 
 so. One of the sovereigns at Vienna asked a 
 member of the Portuguese embassy if he ever saw 
 Talleyrand. “ Sometimes,” was the reply. “ And 
 I also,” said the king, “ should like to see him, but 
 I dare not.” 
 
 This state of things continued for two months 
 and a half. The ministers of the four Powers 
 negotiated with each other, exchanged Notes which 
 they concealed from F ranee, and held conferences at 
 which her representatives were not present. 
 
 Russia wanted to have the whole, or nearly the 
 whole, of the duchy of Warsaw; to give it special 
 
510 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 institutions, and to make it a sort of phantom of 
 Poland. This would be, said Russia, a sort of expia¬ 
 tion for the partition of that kingdom ; it would pave 
 the way for the civilization of all the old Polish 
 provinces and for their future independence. 
 
 Prussia supported these views of Russia, and 
 wanted nothing for herself in Poland, being well 
 aware that as, in agreement with the treaty of 
 alliance, her power was to be restored to what it 
 had been in 1805, it would become necessary to 
 compensate her for the Polish subjects she had lost 
 by giving her German subjects. 
 
 She asked, and Russia asked for her, the whole 
 of Saxony. Lord Castlereagh, in a Note of the 10th 
 of October, and Prince Metternich, in a Note of the 
 22nd, consented : the former, on condition that 
 Prussia, whom he wished to make extremely power¬ 
 ful, should stipulate for her ancient rights over the 
 duchy of Warsaw, and should take Saxony, not as a 
 compensation, but by way of an increase of power; 
 the latter, with the sole reservation of the arrange¬ 
 ments to be made as to the military frontiers of the 
 two States. 
 
 The fate of Saxony, therefore, seemed to have 
 been irrevocably fixed in the month of October, yet 
 the French ambassador was still ignorant of this 
 transaction in December. A plan had been con- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 511 
 
 ceived of uniting Austria, Prussia, and Holland, in¬ 
 cluding the Netherlands, the States of Germany, 
 and even the Swiss Confederation, in a close and 
 perpetual league. The chief object was to isolate 
 France in Europe—to surround her with States in 
 which it would be impossible for her to find one 
 ally. The way had already been prepared for the 
 execution of this plan, by obliging Spain to promise 
 that the ancient family compact should never be 
 renewed under any circumstances. 
 
 But as at the same time they wanted this league 
 to serve as a barrier against Russia, it was necessary 
 to detach Prussia from Russia, which they could not 
 effect, and to obtain from Russia the voluntary or 
 involuntary renunciation of her designs on the 
 duchy of Warsaw. Every means of persuasion 
 was employed without effect; and as for force, both 
 England and Austria were well aware that they 
 were not sufficiently strong to act against Russia 
 and Prussia combined. 
 
 In this state of affairs France ought naturally 
 to have encouraged the resistance of Russia, by 
 showing her perfect indifference to the solution of 
 a question discussed without her concurrence, and 
 by offering at the same time her assistance to the 
 other Powers. But as the Powers could not have 
 accepted this offer without renouncing their favourite 
 
512 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 idea of isolating France, it only raised their appre¬ 
 hensions, and caused assistance from such a quarter 
 to be regarded as a remedy worse than the disease. 
 They were alarmed at the idea of seeing a French 
 army reappear, even as an auxiliary or an ally, in 
 the countries which the French had so often over¬ 
 run as conquerors. These apprehensions were 
 increased and fed by many publications which 
 appeared in Paris. Nevertheless the French 
 embassy succeeded in allaying them by patience, 
 moderation, and good sense. 
 
 A treaty of alliance between France, Austria, and 
 England was concluded on the 3rd of January, to 
 which the Low Countries, Bavaria, and Hanover 
 acceded. The coalition was thenceforward entirely 
 dissolved, and France had no longer to fear being 
 imprisoned in the iron circle which the Powers were 
 preparing to draw round her. 
 
 This alone would have been much, even if 
 France had derived no further advantage from her 
 presence at the Congress. But this treaty caused 
 a complete change in the position of the French 
 embassy : on all sides advances were eagerly made 
 to us. Those who had formerly repelled us now 
 sought for our advice or support, and France found 
 herself in the possession of the part which either 
 Russia or England might have played, the former 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 513 
 
 if she had been disinterested, the latter if she had 
 cared, but which both these Powers allowed to 
 escape them. In fact, the English Parliament made 
 this a matter of reproach to Lord Castlereagh. 
 
 Had Austria been less timid, and Lord Castle¬ 
 reagh less anxious to preserve peace, the treaty 
 of the 3rd of January might have led to the re¬ 
 establishment of Poland and the preservation of 
 the whole of the kingdom of Saxony. As it is, 
 Russia has been obliged to relinquish the half of 
 her claims upon the duchy of Warsaw, and Saxony 
 has been as it were dragged from the grave, not, 
 it is true, unscathed, but nevertheless with a territory 
 equal to that of the kingdom of Hanover or Wur- 
 temberg, and this she certainly owes to France. 
 
 The French ambassador was instructed to use 
 his utmost endeavours— 
 
 1. That Prussia should not be placed in contact 
 with France. The frontiers of the two countries will 
 nowhere touch. 
 
 2. That Prussia should not acquire Luxemburg 
 and Mayence. She will have neither; both will be 
 federal fortresses. 
 
 3. That her influence in Germany should not 
 become exclusive, nor too predominant. This, 
 indeed, was the principal object intended to be 
 accomplished by the federal organization, which, 
 however, there was no time to carry into effect. 
 
5 X 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 4. That the organization of Switzerland should 
 remain as it was ; and it remains so. 
 
 5. That the independence of Switzerland should 
 be secured ; and it is secured. 
 
 6. That in all future European wars Switzerland 
 should enjoy permanent neutrality, which is as 
 essential to French as to Swiss interests. This 
 neutrality has been guaranteed. 
 
 There was reason to fear that when, as. is likely 
 soon to happen, the reigning branch of the House 
 of Savoy becomes extinct, Austria might take ad¬ 
 vantage of the marriage of one of the Archdukes 
 with the eldest daughter of the present king, and 
 claim the inheritance of the House of Savoy for the 
 Archduke. The French ambassador was instructed 
 to take care that the rights of the Carignan branch 
 were recognized and respected ; and they have been. 
 
 The foregoing were doubtless the most im¬ 
 portant points for France in the then situation of 
 Europe and of France herself. To obtain them all 
 her efforts were therefore directed, and at first she 
 had small hope of succeeding. Yet when the event 
 happened, which brought about the present war, 
 the French embassy had obtained them all. 
 
 As Austria, in the person of her sovereign, or of 
 the princes of his house, must always possess almost 
 the whole of Upper, and part of the centre of Italy, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 515 
 
 French interests indisputably require that Austrian 
 influence should not, either directly or indirectly, be 
 predominant over the whole of Italy. It was the 
 duty, therefore, of the French embassy, in the 
 interests of France, and without respect of persons, to 
 endeavour to re-establish in Italy an influence which, 
 in the state of affairs in Europe at that time, might 
 be backed by external support, and serve as a 
 balance to the influence of Austria. The conduct 
 of the King of Naples has contributed more towards 
 accomplishing this object than any wishes of the 
 House of Bourbon, for by his ill-timed aggression 
 he has destroyed his excellent chance of preserving 
 his throne. The approach of hostilities, which 
 obliges the sovereigns to leave Vienna, prevents 
 the construction of the political organization of 
 Germany; the foundations of it only will therefore 
 be laid, and the work will be subsequently finished 
 at a Diet. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 (1) This paper is entirely in conformity with No. 9 of tom. 
 cccviii., “ France and the States of Europe,” entitled, “ Memo¬ 
 randum on the Conduct of the French Embassy at the Congress 
 of Vienna,” drawn up by M. de la Besnardiere, attache of the 
 embassy. 
 
" UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 5 l6 
 
 LETTER C. 
 
 REPORT PRESENTED TO THE KING DURING HIS 
 JOURNEY FROM GPIENT TO PARIS. (*) 
 
 June, 1815. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 In April, 1814, France was occupied by 
 three hundred thousand foreign troops, to be followed, 
 if necessary, by five hundred thousand more. She 
 had only a handful of soldiers left in the country ; 
 they indeed had performed prodigies of valour, but 
 were thoroughly exhausted. She had large forces 
 abroad, but these, being dispersed and without com¬ 
 munications, could no longer be of any use to 
 France, nor even assist each other. A portion of 
 these forces was shut up in distant fortresses, which 
 they might hold for a longer or shorter time, but 
 which must necessarily yield to a blockade. Two 
 hundred thousand French soldiers were prisoners 
 of war. In this state of affairs it was absolutely 
 necessary to put an end to hostilities by an armis¬ 
 tice, which was declared on the 22nd of April. 
 
 This armistice was not only necessary ; it was 
 good policy. It was essential that the fear in¬ 
 spired by the strength of the Allies should be 
 followed by confidence ; but to effect this it was 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOU T S XVIII. 517 
 __ Js _ 
 
 necessary to give the Allies confidence in the 
 good intentions of France. This armistice deprived 
 France of no present or future advantage, nor 
 of anything that she could have the least hope 
 of keeping. Those who maintain that more 
 favourable conditions of peace might have been 
 obtained if the surrender of the fortresses had 
 been put off until after the conclusion of peace, 
 either do not know or forget that no armistice could 
 possibly have been obtained without the surrender 
 of the fortresses, and that any effort to prolong their 
 occupation would have excited the suspicion of the 
 Allies, and thereby have changed their favourable 
 disposition towards us. 
 
 As it was, the disposition of the Allies towards 
 France was all that could be wished ; in fact, much 
 better than we had any right to expect. They were 
 welcomed as liberators, and were constrained to 
 justify the praises lavished on their generosity 
 by showing themselves generous. It was all-im¬ 
 portant to take advantage of this enthusiasm when 
 it was at its height, without allowing it time to 
 calm down. It was not enough merely to have 
 caused a cessation of hostilities; it was necessary 
 that French territory should be evacuated and the 
 interests of France thoroughly settled, leaving no 
 uncertainty as to her future, in order that your 
 
5 18 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Y 
 
 Majesty mignt at once assume your proper position. 
 The signature of peace, therefore, had to be hastened, 
 in order to obtain it on the best terms and with all 
 the possible advantages to be derived from it. 
 
 By the treaty of the 30th of May France lost 
 only what she had conquered, and not even all that 
 she had conquered, during the struggle to which it 
 put an end. She was deprived of nothing that was 
 essential to her safety, and she lost only the power 
 of domineering, which had not conduced either to 
 her happiness or to her prosperity, and which was 
 incompatible with the advantages of a durable 
 peace. ( 2 ) 
 
 In order to come to a right judgment concerning 
 the peace of 1814, we must consider the impression 
 which it made upon the allied nations. At St. 
 Petersburg the Emperor Alexander, and at Berlin 
 the King of Prussia, were received, not merely with 
 coldness, but even with dissatisfaction and murmurs, 
 because the treaty of the 30th of May did not fulfil 
 the expectations of their respective subjects. France 
 having everywhere raised immense war contribu¬ 
 tions, it was now expected that she would in her 
 turn be treated in the same way; instead of which 
 no demand was made upon her. She retained 
 possession of all the objects of art which she had 
 acquired by conquest, all her monuments and public 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 519 
 
 buildings were respected, and it must be owned that 
 she was treated with a consideration of which history 
 presents no example under similar circumstances. ( 3 ) 
 
 While all the immediate interests of France were 
 settled, those of the other Powers were left subject 
 to the decisions of a future Congress. France was 
 invited to this Congress, but her plenipotentiaries 
 found on their arrival that the passions and prejudices 
 which should have been extinguished and destroyed 
 by the treaty of the 30th of May, had again been 
 roused after its conclusion, perhaps even in conse¬ 
 quence of the incomplete satisfaction given by its 
 provisions to the Powers. 
 
 They therefore continued to describe themselves 
 as “ allies,” just as if the war had still been going on. 
 Their plenipotentiaries having been the first to 
 arrive at Vienna, came to an understanding in writing 
 that the intervention of France in the business of 
 the Congress should be merely formal. The French 
 Legation suspected this from the very first, but 
 could not obtain absolute certainty of the existence 
 of these protocols till four months afterwards. 
 
 The substance of two of these protocols, dated 
 the 22nd of September, 1814,( 4 ) and which have been 
 laid before your Majesty, is as follows:— 
 
 “ That the Allied Powers should take the initia¬ 
 tive in all the subjects to be discussed ” (Austria, 
 
520 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Russia, England, and Prussia were alone meant by 
 the term ‘ Allied Powers ’), because these four 
 Powers were those most closely united with one 
 another, both by international treaties and by 
 common object. 
 
 “That they alone should come to terms with each 
 other as to the distribution of the provinces to be 
 disposed of; but that France and Spain should be 
 permitted to pronounce their opinions and advance 
 their objections, which should then be discussed in 
 common. 
 
 “That the plenipotentiaries of the four Powers 
 should not enter into deliberation with those of 
 the two others on any point relative to the territorial 
 distribution of the duchy of Warsaw, of Germany, 
 and of Italy, until after they had arrived at a 
 unanimous conclusion among themselves with regard 
 to each of these three questions.” 
 
 It was intended, therefore, that France should 
 play a purely passive part in the Congress; she was 
 to be simply a spectator of what was going on, and 
 to take no active part. She continued to be the object 
 of the mistrust and animosity engendered by the 
 remembrance of the repeated invasions and the still 
 recent calamities which she had inflicted upon Europe. 
 She was still feared, her strength was still formidable, 
 and it was thought that security could be obtained 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 521 
 
 only by setting the whole of Europe in array against 
 her ; in fact, it was the coalition over again. 
 
 Your Majesty will allow me to take pleasure in 
 the recollection that I always maintained, and 
 endeavoured to persuade the most eminent officers 
 in your Majesty’s service, that it was in the interest 
 of France and of their own reputations at the present 
 juncture voluntarily to renounce the idea of recover¬ 
 ing possession of Belgium and of the left bank of the 
 Rhine. I was of opinion that unless this patriotic 
 sacrifice was made, there could be no peace between 
 France and Europe. And we have seen that, even 
 after France had lost these provinces, so great was 
 her strength that the whole of Europe was kept in a 
 state of alarm and obliged to maintain a hostile atti¬ 
 tude.^) So great is your Majesty’s power, that even 
 now, when Europe has attained to the maximum of 
 strength and France is reduced to the minimum, 
 Eur. pe has still misgivings as to the success of the 
 contest in which she is embarked.( 6 ) 
 
 My opinion coincided with your Majesty’s feel¬ 
 ing on this subject; unhappily most of your 
 Majesty’s principal servants, many highly respected 
 writers, together with the army and the majority 
 of the nation, did not share in these moderate 
 views, without which any durable peace, or even 
 the semblance of peace, was impossible, and the 
 
5 22 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ambitious disposition, which was not without reason 
 regarded as inherent in the French character, in- 
 
 o 
 
 creased and justified the alarm inspired by our 
 strength. ( 7 ) 
 
 This is why the newspapers were full either of 
 insinuations or of open charges against France and 
 her plenipotentiaries. We were isolated, and 
 hardly a soul dared to associate with us; even 
 the few ministers who did not share in this universal 
 prejudice avoided us, in order not to be com¬ 
 promised in the eyes of others. Their intentions 
 were carefully concealed from us. Meetings were 
 held without our knowledge, and as soon as the 
 sittings of the Congress began, a committee was 
 formed to regulate the federal organization of 
 Germany, each member of which was bound by 
 a solemn promise not to communicate anything 
 that passed to us. 
 
 Although your Majesty’s Government was not 
 actuated by the motives attributed to them, although 
 they wanted nothing, and were determined to ask 
 for nothing, nevertheless the questions to be brought 
 before the Congress concerned them most materially. 
 Although French interests might differ from the 
 temporary interests of some of the Powers, they 
 were fortunately in accordance with the interests of 
 
 the majority, and even with the permanent interests 
 of all. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 Bonaparte destroyed so many reigning houses, 
 and incorporated in his empire so much territory, 
 and so many distinct populations, that when France 
 ceased to be the enemy of Europe, and retired 
 within the limits to which she would henceforward 
 have to keep in order to remain on terms of peace 
 and amity with other nations, vast countries without 
 any government were found throughout Europe. 
 The States whom he had despoiled without utterly 
 destroying them, could not recover all their lost 
 provinces, because portions of these had passed 
 under the dominion of sovereigns with whom they 
 had themselves entered into alliance. As it was 
 necessary to find a government for the territories 
 vacated by France, it was decided that they should 
 be distributed, by way of indemnity, among the States 
 which had suffered from Bonaparte’s depredations. ( 8 ) 
 
 These allotments of population and territory, 
 repugnant and degrading as they are to humanity, 
 were indispensable, in consequence of the violent 
 usurpations of a Government which employed its 
 strength only in destruction, and thereby necessi¬ 
 tated this work of reconstruction out of the fragments 
 which were left. ( 9 ) 
 
 Saxony was conquered, the kingdom of Naples 
 remained still in the possession of a usurper; the 
 fate of these two States had to be decided. 
 
5 2 4 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 It was laid down in the Treaty of Paris that 
 the distribution of territories should be such as to 
 establish in Europe a real and permanent balance 
 of power. ( 10 ) 
 
 Every one of the Powers allowed that it was 
 right to comply with this principle, but the private 
 views of some blinded them as to the means of 
 accomplishing this object. 
 
 On the other hand, the balance of power would 
 be established to no purpose if the Congress did not 
 adopt, as one of the foundations of the future tran¬ 
 quillity of Europe, those principles which alone can 
 secure internal tranquillity in individual States, and 
 at the same time protect them from being subject 
 in their mutual relations to the influence of force 
 only. 
 
 It was your Majesty’s wish, on your return to 
 France, to bring back with you the purest political 
 morality as the rule of your Government. Your 
 Majesty felt that it was necessary that a similar 
 desire should be shared by other Cabinets, and that 
 it should appear in the relations of States with each 
 other. Your Majesty commanded us to use all your 
 royal influence and to devote all our efforts towards 
 causing political morality to be held in honour by 
 assembled Europe. Your Majesty wished that the 
 Restoration should be general. ( u ) 
 
PRINCE TALI,EYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 525 
 
 To this, however, there were many obstacles. 
 The effects of the Revolution were not confined to 
 France. Military conquests extended them to other 
 countries by stirring up the passions of men and 
 producing a general disregard of authority. In 
 Holland and in many parts of Italy the people 
 were accustomed frequently to see revolutionary 
 government take the place of legitimate rule. 
 While Bonaparte reigned in France, a people might 
 be deprived of their independence, not by conquest 
 only, but kings were deposed, governments were 
 abolished, and whole nations effaced by a simple 
 decree. 
 
 Habit and fear might make this state of things 
 endurable, though doubtless, if it had lasted, the 
 ruin of all civilized society must have followed, and 
 some of the Powers, to whose interests the situation 
 seemed for the moment to be favourable, were not 
 ashamed to take Bonaparte for their model. 
 
 We exposed all the dangers of this misconcep¬ 
 tion. We proved that the very existence of all 
 Governments was most seriously imperilled by a 
 system which made their preservation depend upon 
 a party in the State or on the chances of war. 
 Lastly, we showed that the principle of legiti¬ 
 macy must be held sacred in the interest of the 
 people themselves, because legitimate Governments 
 
526 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 can alone be strong and durable, whereas illegiti¬ 
 mate Governments, relying upon force only, fall to 
 pieces the moment that support fails them, and then 
 the people are delivered over to a succession of 
 revolutions of which no one can foresee the end. 
 
 It took much time and trouble to get a hearing 
 for these principles : they were too strict for the 
 policy of some of the Courts ; they were contrary 
 to the system adopted by the English in India, and 
 probably inconvenient for Russia, who had certainly 
 ignored them in several important and recent trans¬ 
 actions ; ( 12 ) and before we succeeded in obtaining, 
 their recognition the Allied Powers had already 
 made arrangements directly at variance with them. 
 
 Prussia demanded the whole of Saxony, and 
 Russia supported her demand ; England, in the 
 official correspondence on the subject, not only gave 
 her unreserved consent, but even tried to prove that 
 the step was fair and expedient; Austria also gave 
 in her official adhesion, reserving only some slight 
 rectifications of frontier. Thus was Saxony com¬ 
 pletely sacrificed by the private arrangements made 
 between Austria, Russia, England, and Prussia, 
 from which France was excluded. 
 
 Before long, however, the French minister's 
 language, reasonable, thoughtful, and consistent, 
 and without the least trace of any ambitious designs, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 527 
 
 began to make an impression. He felt that trust in 
 him was renewed ; ( 13 ) it was perceived that he was 
 arguing not more in the interest of France than in 
 that of Europe in general, and of each individual 
 State ; and the dangers which he pointed out became 
 apparent. Austria was the first to wish to retrace 
 the steps which had been taken with respect to the 
 Saxon question ; she declared, in a Note delivered 
 to Prince Hardenberg on the ioth of December, 
 1814, that she would not permit that kingdom to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 This was the first advantage gained by following 
 in the line traced by your Majesty.( 14 ) 
 
 I reproach myself for having so often com¬ 
 plained, in the letters which I have had the honour 
 of writing to your Majesty, of the difficulties we 
 experienced and the slowness of our progress. 
 But I now bless this slowness; for if things had 
 proceeded more rapidly, before March the Con¬ 
 gress would have come to an end, the sovereigns 
 have returned to their capitals, and the armies 
 have marched home ; and then how many difficulties 
 we should have had to overcome !( 15 ) 
 
 Prince Metternich having officially communi¬ 
 cated to me his Note of the ioth of December, I 
 was able to explain the views taken by France, and 
 I addressed to him and to Lord Castlereagh a full 
 
528 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 profession of political faith. I declared that your 
 Majesty asked for nothing for France, and no more 
 than simple justice for any one ; that your Majesty 
 desired above all that revolutions should come to 
 an end, and that these doctrines should be banished 
 in future from the political relations of States, in 
 order that Governments might be enabled to prevent 
 outbreaks, or, when threatened or attacked by revo¬ 
 lutionary movements to put an effectual stop to them. 
 
 The mistrust previously felt for us was com¬ 
 pletely dispelled by these declarations, and quite the 
 opposite feeling soon took its place. Nothing now 
 was done without our co-operation ; we were not 
 only consulted, but our approbation was solicited. 
 An entire change came over public opinion ; and 
 those whose fears and suspicions had formerly led 
 them to avoid us now came forward in crowds. 
 
 It was more difficult for England than for Austria 
 to set aside the engagement taken to hand over the 
 whole of the kingdom of Saxony to Prussia. The 
 English instructions on this subject were more ex¬ 
 plicit than the Austrian. England had not, like 
 Austria, made the gift of Saxony depend upon the 
 possibility of finding other means for indemnifying 
 Prussia for the losses sustained since 1806 by the 
 
 1 
 
 cession ol other territories equally suitable. More¬ 
 over, the position of ministers in England is such 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 529 
 
 that they dare not, at the risk of losing what the 
 English call reputation,( I6 ) leave the road which they 
 have once taken, and in deciding upon what road to 
 take, their policy must always be guided by what is 
 likely to be the opinion of Parliament. Notwith¬ 
 standing this, the English Legation was induced to 
 break its promise to Prussia, to change its plan of 
 action, to desire the preservation of the kingdom of 
 Saxony, to support France, and at last even to join 
 France and Austria in a treaty of alliance. This 
 treaty was signed on the 3rd of January. ( 17 ) It was 
 remarkable as being the first indication of a recon¬ 
 ciliation between Powers who, by their many inte¬ 
 rests in common, were bound, sooner or later, to stand 
 by one another. Bavaria, Hanover, and the Low 
 Countries acceded to this treaty ; and then only was 
 the coalition, which in spite of the peace was still in 
 existence, really dissolved. 
 
 p'rom this time the majority of the Powers 
 adopted our principles, and it was clear that the 
 others would not long continue to oppose them ; it 
 remained, therefore, only to apply them. 
 
 Prussia, deprived of the support of Austria and 
 England, though still backed by Russia, found her¬ 
 self compelled to confine her claims to a portion 
 only of Saxony ; and thus that kingdom, which 
 seemed irrevocably doomed to destruction, and 
 
530 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 whose sentence had been pronounced, was saved 
 from ruin. 
 
 Bonaparte, after having seized the kingdom of 
 Naples by force of arms, treated the country as his 
 private property, and gave it, in violation of all 
 national independence, as he might have given a 
 landed estate, to one of his generals in recompense 
 for his services. Acquiescence in such a title to 
 a throne would have been no less gross a violation 
 of the principle of legitimacy than Bonaparte’s 
 original act. Preparations, the success of which was 
 certain, were therefore made for deposing Murat, 
 when he accomplished his fall by his own aggres¬ 
 sion. Seven weeks have hardly elapsed since his 
 rash attempt, and already the reign of the usurper 
 is over, and Ferdinand IV. has regained his throne. 
 In this important matter the English ministry 
 courageously and thoroughly supported the conduct 
 of France, in spite of the indiscreet and ill-timed 
 clamour of the opposition, and in spite of the ill- 
 advised intrigues of English travellers throughout 
 Italy. 
 
 France is also to be congratulated upon the 
 turn taken by almost all the other negotiations at 
 the Congress. 
 
 The King of Sardinia having no heir male of 
 the reigning branch of his family, there was reason 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 531 
 
 to fear that Austria might attempt to have one of 
 the Archdukes, who was married to one of the Kings 
 daughters, declared his successor ; this would have 
 placed all Upper Italy in the hands of Austria or 
 of Austrian princes. It was settled that the right 
 of the Carignan branch to succeed to the dominions 
 of the King of Sardinia should be recognized. 
 These dominions, augmented by the territory of 
 Genoa, have become the inheritance of a family 
 devoted to France. They will therefore form a 
 counterpoise to Austrian influence in Italy, and 
 serve to maintain a just balance of power in that 
 country. 
 
 The whole of the duchy of Warsaw could not 
 be kept out of the hands of Russia, but half of it 
 was restored to its former possessors. ( 18 ) 
 
 Prussia required neither Luxemburg nor May- 
 ence, and on no side did her frontiers touch those of 
 France ; along the whole line the kingdom of the 
 Netherlands was interposed, a kingdom whose 
 natural tendencies, especially since her accession 
 of territory, are favourable to France. 
 
 The blessing of perpetual neutrality was secured 
 to Switzerland, which is almost as advantageous to 
 France, whose frontier on that side is vulnerable, 
 as to Switzerland herself. In spite, however, of 
 this neutrality, the Swiss have joined Europe 
 
532 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 against Bonaparte. They will enjoy the neutrality 
 they desired, and which is now secured to them for 
 ever, in all future wars between other nations. But 
 the Swiss themselves felt that they had no right to 
 claim neutrality in a war which is directed against 
 a man, not against a nation—a war which has been 
 forced upon Europe for self-preservation, and which 
 concerns Switzerland as much as any other country; 
 they were therefore willing to aid the cause of 
 Europe as far as their position, organization, and 
 resources will permit them to do so.( 19 ) 
 
 By the Treaty of Paris France undertook, by a 
 given date, to abolish the slave-trade. This might 
 have been considered a sacrifice and a concession 
 on her part, if the other maritime Powers, who did 
 not share in the humane sentiments which dictated 
 this measure, had not also adopted it. 
 
 Spain and Portugal, the two other Powers who 
 were engaged in the slave-trade, undertook, like 
 France, to abolish it. They asked, it is true, for 
 rather longer delay, but their demand seems not un¬ 
 reasonable, looking to the requirements of their 
 colonies, and remembering that in these rather back¬ 
 ward countries public opinion had to be prepared for 
 the measure. 
 
 The navigation of the Rhine and the Scheldt 
 was placed under fixed rules equally applicable 
 to all nations. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 These rules were to prevent the riverain States 
 from placing any obstacles of their own contrivance 
 in the way of navigation, and from exacting any 
 dues beyond those to which their own subjects were 
 liable. These arrangements and the facilities which 
 they afford to commerce will restore to France 
 much of the benefit which she derived from the 
 possession of Belgium and the left bank of the 
 Rhine. ( 20 ) 
 
 All the most important points, then, were settled 
 satisfactorily for France, perhaps even more 
 satisfactorily than could have been expected. In 
 the minor details also her peculiar interests were 
 cared for as much as those of the other nations. 
 
 From the time that the Powers, putting prejudice 
 aside, recognized that, if things were to be established 
 on a firm basis, each State must see its way clearly 
 to securing all the advantages which it has a right 
 to claim, earnest efforts were made to satisfy every 
 one as far as that could be done without prejudice 
 to the interests of others. But it was a gigantic 
 undertaking. The ravages of twenty years of con¬ 
 fusion had to be repaired, opposing interests to be 
 reconciled by equitable arrangements, necessary 
 losses to be made up for by superior advantages in 
 another direction ; the idea even of perfect political 
 institutions, and of a perfect balance of power, had 
 
534 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to be made subservient to the establishment of a 
 lasting peace. ( 21 ) 
 
 The chief obstacles were overcome, the most 
 knotty points resolved, and every exertion was made 
 to leave nothing unsettled. Germany was to receive 
 a federal Constitution as the result of the delibera¬ 
 tions of the Congress; and this would have put a 
 stop to the evident tendency there was to form a 
 southern and a northern confederacy. The Powers 
 intended, by equitable and judicious arrangements, 
 to erect an effectual barrier in Italy against the 
 frequent recurrence of the revolutions which for 
 ages have been the scourge of that country. 
 Measures of general utility were taken in hand, by 
 which it was hoped that the mutual interests of the 
 various countries would be secured, their points of 
 contact and their industrial and commercial relations 
 multiplied, and all profitable means of communica¬ 
 tion brought to perfection, or facilitated according 
 to the principles of liberal policy. 
 
 We flattered ourselves that the Congress would 
 crown its work by establishing, in lieu of temporary 
 alliances, the results of the needs and calculations 
 of the moment, that permanent system of general 
 and reciprocal guarantee and international adjust¬ 
 ment which we had taught all the Powers to ap¬ 
 preciate. Lord Castlereagh drew up an excellent 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 535 
 
 article to this effect. The Ottoman Empire was 
 included in this grand scheme for mutual protection, 
 and it was probably owing to the information de¬ 
 rived from England and France that the Porte 
 decided upon rejecting all the overtures made to it 
 by Bonaparte. By these means order would have 
 been established in Europe, and placed under the 
 constant protection of all parties interested in its 
 preservation, who, by wisely concerted measures 
 and by loyally united efforts, would have stifled at its 
 birth any attempt at disturbance. 
 
 The progress of revolution would then have 
 been checked, and the Government might have 
 turned all their attention to home administration 
 and the substantial improvements much needed and 
 longed for by the people, and in carrying out the 
 many salutary schemes which have unfortunately 
 been suspended by the dangers and convulsions of 
 recent years. The restoration of your Majesty’s 
 Government, all whose interests, principles, and 
 wishes are directed to the preservation of peace, 
 alone made it possible to establish the tranquillity 
 and future prosperity of Europe upon a solid foun¬ 
 dation. To complete this great work it was neces¬ 
 sary that your Majesty should retain possession of 
 your throne. It has been interrupted by the terrible 
 catastrophe which has for some time separated your 
 
5 3 6 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Majesty from your people. All care for the pro¬ 
 sperity of nations has had to be abandoned in order 
 to save them from dangers which threatened their 
 very existence. Many intended measures have had 
 to be postponed to a more favourable opportunity, 
 and many others have been passed hurriedly, and 
 without the mature reflection of undivided attention. 
 
 The Congress was, therefore, obliged to leave 
 its task unfinished, and there was some talk of post¬ 
 poning its signature until the work could be com¬ 
 pleted. 
 
 Several of the Cabinets took this view, perhaps 
 with the secret intention of taking advantage of 
 coming events. I regarded the adjournment as a 
 great misfortune for your Majesty, not so much on 
 account of the uncertainty which it would cause as 
 to the intentions of the Powers, as because of the 
 effect which tlie treaty would have upon public 
 opinion in France; the treaty being a measure in 
 which the most important interests of Europe are 
 involved, and in which your Majesty, in spite of 
 actual circumstances, appears as one of the principal 
 parties. It was my duty, therefore, to do my utmost 
 to obtain its signature, and I esteem myself most 
 fortunate in having succeeded. 
 
 A great nation like the French could not be 
 satisfied unless the same respect and friendly feeling 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 537 
 
 which your Majesty’s Government has a right to 
 expect from foreign Courts, but which had for the 
 moment been extinguished by the terror inspired by 
 the French name, were extended to your Majesty’s 
 subjects.( 22 ) I have now the pleasure of informing 
 your Majesty that since the month of December, 
 1814, every Frenchman whom business of any sort 
 has brought to Vienna has been treated with special 
 consideration, and it is not too much to say that 
 on the 7th of March, 1815, the day on which the 
 arrival of Bonaparte in France became known, the 
 fact of being a Frenchman was regarded as a claim to 
 general good will. I well know what great import¬ 
 ance your Majesty attached to this reconciliation, 
 and I am glad to be able to inform you that your 
 Majesty’s wishes in this respect have been com¬ 
 pletely fulfilled. 
 
 I beg to make known to your Majesty how 
 greatly the ambassadors, my colleagues, the Due 
 de Dalberg, the Count de la Tour du Pin, and the 
 Count de Noailles, together with M. de la Besna- 
 diere, Counsellor of State, who accompanied me 
 to Vienna, have contributed to the success of the 
 negotiations. They have rendered great service, 
 not only by their work upon the different Commis¬ 
 sions to which they were appointed, but still more 
 by their conduct in society, by their language, and 
 
538 * UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 by the favourable opinion which they inspired, both 
 of themselves and of the Government which they 
 represent. Their enlightened co-operation alone 
 enabled me to overcome the many obstacles, to 
 extinguish the ill feeling, and to remove the bad 
 impressions with which I had to deal—enabled me, 
 in a word, to restore to your Majesty’s Government 
 the influence which is justly its due in the councils 
 of Europe. 
 
 It was by determining to uphold the principle 
 of legitimacy that we obtained this important result. 
 The presence of the sovereigns who were at Vienna, 
 and of all the members of the Congress, at the 
 expiatory ceremony of the 21st of January, was 
 a striking homage paid to this principle. 
 
 But at the very moment of its triumph at the 
 Congress, it was attacked in France. 
 
 The truth of that which I am about to tell your 
 Majesty is more distinctly perceived from afar than 
 on the spot, in Paris.( 23 ) Outside France, because 
 there are fewer objects to distract the attention, and 
 because a mass of intelligence arrives all at once free 
 from the accessories which are apt on the spot to 
 give a false colouring to facts, an observer from a dis¬ 
 tance is the best judge of all that is going on ; not¬ 
 withstanding this, however, I should hesitate to trust 
 to my own observation only. Having long occupied 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 539 
 
 a diplomatic post abroad, my duty to your Majesty 
 requires that I should follow the rule laid down by 
 the Foreign Office for all its agents employed in 
 foreign countries. It is their duty' to make a re¬ 
 port of the opinion held in the countries to which 
 they are accredited, of the various acts of the 
 French Government, and of the impression which 
 these acts produce upon enlightened and observant 
 men. 
 
 A man can accommodate himself to any settled 
 state of things, even to one opposed to his con¬ 
 victions, because under it there are no fears for the 
 future; but he cannot accustom himself to a state 
 of things varying from day to day, because each day- 
 gives birth to fresh fears, and we cannot tell what 
 the end will be. The partisans of the Revolution 
 had made up their minds to put up with the first 
 acts of your Majesty’s Government, but they were 
 alarmed by that which was done a fortnight, a month, 
 or six months afterwards. This is why they were 
 resigned to the expulsion of members from the 
 Senate,( 24 ) but would not endure the expulsions made 
 from the Institute, though these latter were of much 
 less importance.( 25 ) 
 
 The changes which your Majesty has seen fit 
 to make in the Court of Cassation ought to have 
 been made eight months earlier. ( 26 ) 
 
540 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The principle of legitimacy was also imperilled, 
 and most seriously imperilled, by the foolish conduct 
 of the defenders of legitimate power, who did not 
 distinguish between the source of power and its 
 exercise, and believed, or acted as if they believed, 
 that legitimate power must necessarily be absolute 
 and unquestioned. ( 27 ) 
 
 However legitimate a power may be, its exercise 
 nevertheless must vary according to the objects to 
 which it is applied, and according to time and place. 
 Now, the spirit of the present age in great civilized 
 States demands that supreme authority shall not 
 be exercised except with the concurrence of repre¬ 
 sentatives chosen by the people subject to it. 
 
 To fight against this doctrine was fighting 
 against public opinion, and many persons occupying 
 positions near the throne caused great injury to the 
 Government by ^giving utterance to sentiments op¬ 
 posed to this feeling.( 23 ) The virtues and good faith 
 with which your Majesty is credited constitute your 
 strength ; some recent acts have tended to diminish 
 this. Such are the forced interpretations and 
 subtleties by means of which some of the provisions 
 of the constitutional Charter appeared to be evaded, 
 and especially the decrees upsetting institutions duly 
 authorized by law. 
 
 Men began to doubt the good faith of the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 541 
 
 
 Government, and to suspect that it regarded the 
 Charter only as a temporary measure extorted by 
 the difficulties of the time, and one that it intended to 
 let fall in abeyance if the watchfulness of Parliament 
 allowed it to do so. Reaction was feared, and this 
 fear was increased by some of the appointments 
 made. The selection of M. de Bruges,( 29 ) for example, 
 to the post of Grand Chancellor of the Legion of 
 Honour, however great his personal merits may be, 
 has displeased every one in France, and has, if your 
 Majesty will allow me to say it, astonished all 
 Europe. 
 
 General anxiety rallied to the ranks of the parti- * 
 sans of revolution all those who, without sharing in 
 their errors, were attached to constitutional principles 
 and also those who had an interest in upholding, 
 
 I will not say the doctrines of the Revolution, but the 
 results of those doctrines. 
 
 To these causes, much more than to any real 
 attachment for his person, Bonaparte was indebted 
 for any partisans outside the army, and even for 
 many of those in the army, because, having risen by 
 the Revolution, he was bound by every conceivable 
 tie to the men who had been its leaders. ( 3o ) 
 
 It cannot be denied that, great as may be the 
 advantages of legitimacy, it may nevertheless lead to 
 abuses. This is felt strongly, because during the 
 
542 ’ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 
 twenty years immediately preceding the Revolution 
 the tendency of all political writing was to expose and 
 exaggerate these abuses. Few persons know how 
 to appreciate the advantages of legitimacy, because 
 they are all in the future ; but everybody is at once 
 struck by its abuses, because they may occur at any 
 moment and show themselves upon every occasion. 
 Has any one during the last twenty years reflected 
 enough to perceive that none but a legitimate Qo- 
 vernment can be stable ? A Government that offers 
 to every ambitious man the chance of upsetting it 
 and placing another in its stead, lives a threatened 
 * life, and bears within itself a fermenting spirit of 
 revolution, ready at any moment to break out. The 
 notion unhappily prevails that legitimacy affords 
 a sovereign too much facility for setting himself 
 above all laws, by securing him in the possession of 
 the throne, however ill he may govern. 
 
 With this turn of mind now manifesting itself 
 among all nations, and in these times, when every¬ 
 thing, and especially politics, is discussed, examined, 
 and analyzed, people are apt to ask what is legiti¬ 
 macy, whence it proceeds, and in what it consists. ( 31 ) 
 
 In the time when religious feelings were all- 
 powerful and deeply engraved in the hearts and 
 minds of men, it was possible to believe that the 
 sovereign power was an emanation from the Divinity. 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 543 
 
 It was possible to believe that those families who 
 were raised to the throne by Heaven’s favour, and 
 long kept there by its will, reigned over men by 
 divine right. But in these days, in which there 
 remains scarcely a trace of these feelings, and in 
 which the bond of religion, if not broken, at any rate 
 is much loosened, men will no longer allow the 
 claim of legitimacy to this origin. 
 
 In the present time the general opinion, one 
 that it would be vain to attempt to weaken, is that • 
 Governments exist only for the sake of the people ; a 
 necessary corollary to this opinion is that legitimate 
 power is the form of government best calculated to 
 secure the prosperity and tranquillity of the people. 
 From this it follows that authority, to be legitimate, 
 must have existed for a long succession of years; 
 and, accordingly, we see that legitimate power, from 
 the fact that it is fortified by memories of the past, by 
 the affection which men naturally feel for the family 
 of their chief, and having on its side possession, 
 which in itself confers a title in the case of private 
 ownership, is the form of government least likely to 
 expose the people to the perilous chances of revo¬ 
 lution, and is, therefore, the form to which they 
 are bound in their best interests to submit. On 
 the other hand, if the conviction obtains that the 
 abuses to which this power is liable constitute an 
 
544 • 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 evil overweighing the advantages which it offers, 
 legitimacy must be looked upon as a delusion and 
 a snare. 
 
 How then are we to inspire nations with con¬ 
 fidence in legitimate authority, which alone can 
 insure it respect and stability ? We have only, but 
 this is indispensable, so to constitute it as to remove 
 all fear lest its power should be abused. 
 
 It is just as much in the interest of the sove- 
 • reign as in that of his subjects that it should be 
 so constituted, for absolute power would be in 
 these times as heavy a burden upon him who 
 wields it, as upon those who have to submit to it. 
 
 Before the Revolution, authority in France was 
 restricted by ancient institutions ; it was tempered 
 by the action of the great bodies of the magistracy, 
 the clergy, and the nobility, who were necessary 
 elements in its composition and the instruments 
 of its power. Now that these institutions, these 
 instruments have been destroyed, others must be 
 found to supply their place; and these others must 
 be such as not merely are not repugnant to public 
 opinion—they must be the objects of its choice. 
 
 Formerly the secular power could derive support 
 from the authority of religion ; it can no longer do 
 this, because religious indifference has penetrated 
 all classes and become universal. A Government, 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 545 
 
 therefore, must now rely only upon public opinion 
 for support, and to obtain that it must march with 
 the times. 
 
 It will obtain it if people see that the Govern¬ 
 ment, while fully able to promote their prosperity, 
 is powerless for harm. But to insure this, they 
 must be certain that it cannot act arbitrarily. It 
 is not enough that they should believe in its wish 
 to do good, because they might be afraid that this 
 wish might change, or that the wrong means might 
 be employed to obtain a desirable end ; it is not 
 enough that confidence should be founded upon the 
 virtues and good qualities of the sovereign, which, 
 like him, are perishable; it must be founded on the 
 strength of national institutions, which are ever¬ 
 lasting. Moreover, even the institutions most cal¬ 
 culated to secure national prosperity would inspire 
 no confidence, unless they were established under 
 the form of government, which the spirit of the age 
 looks upon as the only form adapted to obtain that 
 object. 
 
 Guarantees are wanted ; they are wanted equally 
 for the sake of the sovereign and for that of the 
 subjects. These guarantees would not be believed 
 in— 
 
 Unless personal liberty be protected by law 
 aoainst all infringement; 
 
546 - UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Unless the liberty of the press be fully secured, 
 and law confine itself to punishing its offences; ( 32 ) 
 
 Unless the judges be irremovable in order to 
 secure their independence ; ( 33 ) 
 
 Unless the administration, or any public body 
 other than the courts of law, be debarred from 
 exercising jurisdiction in any case ; 
 
 Unless all the ministers, jointly and severally, be 
 responsible for the exercise of the power entrusted 
 to them ; ( 34 ) 
 
 Unless only responsible persons be admitted to 
 the councils of the sovereign ; ( 35 ) 
 
 And, finally, unless the law be the expression 
 of the united will of the three separate states of the 
 realm . 
 
 With old and populous countries, in which new 
 wants have developed intelligence, and intelligence 
 has added force to the passions, it is necessary that 
 the executive should be strong in proportion, and 
 experience shows that the strength of authority is 
 increased by dividing it. 
 
 These opinions are no longer peculiar to any¬ 
 one country; they are shared by almost all. Ac¬ 
 cordingly, we see that the cry for Constitutions is 
 universal; everywhere the establishment of a Con¬ 
 stitution adapted to the more or less advanced state 
 of society has become a necessity, and everywhere 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUTS XVIII. 
 
 547 
 
 preparations for this purpose are in progress. The 
 Congress, in giving Genoa to Sardinia,( 3G ) Lucca to 
 the Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain, on restoiing 
 Naples to Ferdinand IV. and the Legations to the 
 Pope, expressly stipulated, on behalf of these 
 countries, that the form of government which ap¬ 
 peared requisite or most suitable to their actual 
 state shoiilL be -introduced. Every sovereign and 
 every minister I have seen is lightened at the 
 consequences which the system of government 
 adopted by Ferdinand VII. must produce in Spain, 
 and bitterly regrets that Europe allowed him to 
 recover his throne except upon the condition of his 
 granting to his subjects institutions in harmony 
 with the spirit of the age.( 3 ’) I have even heard 
 sovereigns deplore as a personal misfortune that 
 their subjects were not sufficiently advanced to be 
 ripe for institutions implying a high degree of 
 civilization. 
 
 I have gathered these opinions from the de¬ 
 liberations of assembled Europe. I found all the 
 sovereigns with whom I conversed, together with 
 their ministers, imbued with them. They are ex¬ 
 pressed in all the letters written by the ambassadors 
 of Austria and Russia to London, and also in those 
 of Lord Castlereagh. I was therefore bound to 
 submit them to your Majesty in this report; and 
 
54& “ UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 • 
 
 I was the more bound because in the farewell 
 audiences granted me by the sovereigns, they all 
 commissioned me to inform your Majesty, that they 
 are firmly convinced that France will never be 
 tranquil, unless your Majesty unreservedly adopts 
 these opinions, and takes them for your sole guide 
 in government. They said that the whole past must 
 be forgotten in France,( 38 ) and that without restric¬ 
 tion ; the least exception would be dangerous; and 
 that-there would be no assurance of safety for the 
 sovereign, unless it were one in which all parties 
 could share, and that such assurance would not be 
 considered satisfactory, unless it were judged so to 
 be by all classes of society. They said that your 
 Majesty must arrive at a complete system, in which 
 every component part illustrates and makes mani¬ 
 fest the honesty of the whole, in order to enable the 
 public at once to see clearly the aims and objects of 
 the Government, and then every one will under¬ 
 stand and be free from anxiety as to his own 
 position. ( 39 ) 
 
 They added that although it may at first seem 
 that no one is interested so much as your Majesty 
 in the preservation of tranquillity in France, yet in 
 reality they are just as much interested in it them¬ 
 selves, inasmuch as the present critical situation 
 of France compromises the existence of all Europe, 
 
rRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 549 
 
 and because it would be difficult, after they had once 
 returned home, to renew the efforts which they have 
 made this year. 
 
 The sovereigns, after reading your Majesty’s 
 last proclamation to your subjects, told me that they 
 •remarked with regret one phrase in it, by which your 
 Majesty seems to imply, though with much caution, 
 that you submitted to accept their assistance, whence 
 it might be inferred that if your Majesty had 
 declined it, the peace might have been unbroken. 
 They are afraid lest this should injure your Majesty’s 
 cause in France by giving your Majesty the appear¬ 
 ance of having been imposed upon her by them. 
 They think that, in order to disabuse your subjects 
 of so unfortunate an idea, your Majesty and those 
 about you should remain quiet. This will be difficult, 
 for your Majesty will have to restrain and even sup¬ 
 press the zeal of your servants. In their opinion your 
 Majesty should appear to be grieved by what is going 
 on, rather than to take part in it; your Majesty, either 
 in your own person or in that of your adherents, 
 should intervene between the allied sovereigns and 
 your subjects, to diminish as much as possible the 
 evil effect of war, and to make the minds of the 
 Allies easy respecting the fidelity of the fortresses 
 which may be surrendered, and which, I presume, 
 will, according to the arrangements to be made 
 
55° ' 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 between your Majesty’s ministers and the Duke 
 of Wellington, be confided to persons selected by 
 you. Lastly, that in order that your Majesty may 
 clearly appear to be not only not making war, but 
 not even instigating it, they think it would be best 
 that neither your Majesty nor any of the royal 
 princes should accompany the allied armies. Never 
 were politics handled with so much delicacy. ( 40 ) 
 
 If any part of France should succeed, thanks to 
 the events which are about to happen, in shaking 
 off Bonaparte’s yoke, I think that your Majesty 
 could not do better than proceed to the spot im¬ 
 mediately, accompanied by your ministers, and then 
 and there summon the Chambers and resume the 
 government o. the kingdom, just as if the whole 
 country had returned to its allegiance. ( 41 ) The 
 projected advance upon Lyons, which I was very 
 anxious to have carried out on account of the 
 excellent effect which it would produce upon the 
 southern provinces, would have been very favour¬ 
 able to the execution of this plan. 
 
 The intelligence that so great a number of 
 commissioners have been appointed to the army has 
 produced a bad impression.( 42 ) I think that all your 
 Majesty’s measures should be taken in concert with 
 the Allies, and subject to their approbation. This 
 act of deference should go far towards placing clearly 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 551 
 
 before their eyes the object of the war, of which, 
 I am bound to say, the different Cabinets do not 
 take exactly the same view. England certainly 
 wishes earnestly for your Majesty’s restoration, 
 without any ulterior objects; ( 43 ) Austria also wishes 
 for it, though less eagerly; but I am not at all sure 
 that Russia is not inclined to enter into other 
 entanglements, or that Prussia would not make her 
 own aggrandizement her chief object. 
 
 Could not your Majesty, at the moment when 
 the foreign armies are about to enter France, issue 
 a second proclamation to your subjects, carefully 
 soothing the self-esteem of the nation, who, not 
 without reason, resist having even what they desire 
 imposed upon them by foreigners ? This proclama¬ 
 tion, after dealing first with the erroneous opinion 
 which Bonaparte is trying to spread concerning the 
 cause and the object of the present war, might go 
 on to say that the foreign Powers have not embarked 
 in this war for the sake of your Majesty’s interests, 
 knowing, as they do, that France needs only to be 
 delivered from oppression, but for the sake of their 
 own safety ; that the Powers would not have made war 
 unless they had been persuaded that Europe would 
 continue to be threatened with the greatest calamities, 
 while the man who for so long has loaded her with 
 misfortunes remained master of France; that the 
 
55 2 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 return of this man to France is the only cause of 
 the war, and is its chief and immediate aim to wrest 
 from him the power which he has seized; that, in 
 order as far as possible to soften the rigours of war, 
 to ward off its disasters, and stop its ravages, your 
 Majesty, surrounded by Frenchmen, takes the place 
 of intermediary between the foreign sovereigns and 
 your people, with the hope that the consideration 
 due to your Majesty may be extended to your 
 dominions; that this, and this only, will be the 
 position occupied by your Majesty during the war, 
 and that you have forbidden the princes of your 
 house to accompany the foreign armies or to take 
 any share in hostilities. Passing next to the 
 measures to be taken within France, your Majesty 
 should make known your readiness to enter into 
 any engagements, which may be deemed necessary. 
 And as the best pledge for the security of good 
 government lies in the selection of those who have 
 to administer it, your Majesty should announce that 
 your present ministry is provisional only, and that 
 you are prepared, on arriving in France, to make any 
 changes that may be desirable in order to secure 
 the services of a ministry, whose appointment shall 
 be a guarantee to all parties and all opinions, and 
 one that shall relieve all anxiety. 
 
 Lastly, it would be useful if in this same pro- 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 553 
 
 clamation your Majesty alluded to the national 
 domains ( 44 ), dealing with this question in a more 
 absolute, decided, and encouraging spirit than that 
 of the constitutional Charter, the provisions of which 
 have not succeeded in calming the minds of those 
 who have become possessed of these domains. It 
 is most essential just now to remove all cause, or 
 any pretext even, for anxiety on this head, because 
 the present feeling has already stopped the sale of 
 the forest lands, which we want as much as possible 
 to encourage, as the produce is more than ever 
 needed. 
 
 It is the general opinion, in which I share, that 
 it is desirable, I may say necessary, that your 
 Majesty’s address to your people should be framed 
 in the spirit of the foregoing suggestions, v 45 ) and, 
 above all, that it should contain the most entirely 
 satisfactory pledges in the matter of constitutional 
 government. If, as I venture to hope, your Majesty 
 • shares this opinion, you will probably see fit to 
 charge some of your confidential advisers with the 
 duty of preparing a draft of the proclamation for 
 submission to your Majesty. 
 
 I have given your Majesty a full and correct 
 report of the results of the negotiations of the 
 Congress, and of the impression produced in Vienna 
 by the state of affairs in France. There remain 
 only a few trifling matters of detail. 
 
554 ' UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 During my stay in Vienna a great mass of 
 papers accumulated on my hands. As most of these 
 do not contain matter of sufficient interest to be 
 wanted again for reference, and as your Majesty has 
 copies of all that are important, it was needless for 
 me to bring them all away. I have, therefore, 
 burnt the greater portion of these papers, and left 
 the remainder in Vienna in safe hands. 
 
 I have now completed my long task, one that from 
 the nature of the things which I had to submit to 
 your Majesty has sometimes been a very painful 
 task, and it affords me great pleasure to be able 
 to conclude it by bringing to your Majesty’s notice 
 the zeal and devotion above all praise unceasingly 
 shown during the sitting of the Congress by your 
 Majesty’s ambassadors and ministers at the various 
 Courts to which they were accredited. The same 
 causes which led me to encounter so much opposition 
 made their position difficult from the very beginning ; 
 these difficulties .were subsequently much increased 
 in consequence of the painful events which have 
 succeeded each other since the beginning of March. 
 They have regarded these difficulties, however, only 
 as an additional opportunity for proving their attach¬ 
 ment towards your Majesty. In addition to this, 
 several of them have for some time past found them¬ 
 selves in great pecuniary embarrassment. They did 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 555 
 
 their best to live in a manner becoming the dignity 
 of the several positions in which your Majesty’s 
 confidence had placed them. I trust that some pro¬ 
 vision has been made for improving their present 
 condition ; some of them are in really distressed 
 circumstances. 
 
 NOTES TO LETTER C. 
 
 (1) “ At Roye a consultation, was held. M. de Talleyrand 
 had two old worn-out horses harnessed to his carriage and pro¬ 
 ceeded to the King. His equipage occupied the whole space 
 from the inn in which the minister was staying to the King’s door. 
 He alighted from his carriage with a Memorandum, which he read 
 to us, and discussed the course to be taken on our arrival.”— 
 Chateaubriand, Memoires d’Outre Tombe, tom. vi. p. 388. 
 
 (2) In his celebrated Memorandum of the 25th of November, 
 1792, M. Talleyrand said, describing the foreign policy which the 
 Republic ought to follow— 
 
 “ We no longer need—as we were advised some years ago 
 by eminent statesmen—to adopt the policy of restoring France 
 to the rank assigned to her by her extraordinary extension, and 
 to the leadership in all respects due to her among the continental 
 Powers. 
 
 “ We know now what all these grand ideas of rank, leadership, 
 and preponderance are worth. We know what to think of the 
 political stage upon which the turbulence and incapacity of European 
 Cabinets have struggled so long and so ostentatiously, at the 
 expense ot their people’s interests. We have at last learnt that 
 the only real profitable and reasonable leadership—that which 
 alone becomes free and enlightened men—consists in being master 
 at home, and in never entertaining the ridiculous pretension of being 
 
556 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 other people’s master. We have at last learnt—rather late, perhaps— 
 that for States, as for individuals, the real way to get rich is, not 
 by conquering and invading foreign countries, but by improving 
 your own. We have learnt that all increase of territory, all the 
 gains of force or cunning, long associated by time-honoured pre¬ 
 judices with the idea of rank, leadership, national coherence, and 
 superiority among the nations of the world, are but the cruel 
 mockery of political folly and false estimates of strength, increasing 
 the expense and complications of government and diminishing 
 the well-being and safety of the governed, for the sake of the 
 transient advantage or vanity of those in power. 
 
 “The reign of illusions is, then,- over in France. In her 
 maturity she will not be seduced by the grand political con¬ 
 siderations which so long and so deplorably led astray and 
 prolonged her childhood. Circumstances, which no human 
 sagacity could foresee, have placed her in a position without 
 example in the history of nations. 
 
 “ By her courage, her perseverance, and her intelligence she 
 has marked out for herself a new career, and, having ascertained 
 the object to be aimed at, she will know how to obtain it.” 
 
 (3) It is well known that the events of 1815 were followed by 
 a second Treaty of Paris (in November), which made a great 
 change in the situation described by Talleyrand. Henri Martin, 
 speaking of M. de Talleyrand’s behaviour when the Louvre was 
 pillaged by the Allies under the second Restoration, says— 
 
 I “The Great Powers, who were less interested in the question, 
 might probably have been brought by negotiation to consent to 
 the retention by France of part, at least, of the art treasures. But 
 Talleyrand, knowing that he could not long remain Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, affected a prudery most unusual in him, and 
 refused to run the chance of incurring unpopularity by com¬ 
 promising the matter in any way. The King had the same 
 feeling on the subject. There was no attempt at negotiation, 
 and consequently the Allies, unchecked and acting on their own 
 authority, pillaged the Louvre.” 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 557 
 
 (4) See D’Angeberg, p. 249. 
 
 (5) See D’Angeberg. The Memorandums of M. de Gagern, 
 M. de Humboldt, M. de Capo d’lstria, the Prince of Hardenberg, 
 and Prince Metternich, presented in August, 1815. 
 
 M. de Gagern endeavours to prove in his minute, which is ex¬ 
 tremely violent, that, even after the cession of Alsace, France 
 would still be “ the strongest and in all respects the preponderating 
 Power.” 
 
 (6) “ Remember this : this same Europe which has been per¬ 
 suaded to make the Declaration which I have sent you, is full 
 of jealousy against France. . . . Whenever bad news arrives this 
 feeling becomes manifest.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 10th March, 
 
 1815. 
 
 (7) “ There is still a good deal of the war spirit abroad. But 
 no one except the Bourbon family takes the slightest interest in 
 the King of Saxony, and not a single soldier could be raised to 
 fight for him in all France. The frontier of the Rhine in Belgium, 
 or even the fortress of Luxemburg alone, would call out recruits 
 fast enough; but depend upon it, there is no inclination towards 
 the disinterested policy of taking up arms for the integrity of 
 Saxony and the balance of power in Europe as it was in 1792.”— 
 Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 9th May, 1814. 
 
 (8) According to the instructions given to the French pleni¬ 
 potentiaries at the Congress of Vienna, the vacant countries were 
 divided into two classes : 1st. Countries assigned by the treaty of 
 the 30th May : to the King of Sardinia, Savoy, the Department of 
 Nice, and part of the State of Genoa; to Austria, Illyria and Italy 
 from the Po to the Ticino; to Holland, Belgium and the frontier of 
 the Meuse ; to Prussia, the country comprised between the Meuse, 
 France, and the Rhine. 2nd. Countries not disposed of by the 
 said treaty, viz. the rest of the State of Genoa, part of Italy, 
 Lucca, Piombino, the Ionian Islands, the old grand-duchy of 
 
 Berg, East Friesland, Prussian Westphalia, Erfurt and Dantzic, 
 
 * m 
 
 and also the island of Elba, of which Napoleon I. was only the 
 temporary sovereign. 
 
55^ . UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (9) “On the evening of the 4th of April, 1S14, Napoleon had 
 a long conversation with Caulaincourt, upon whom it made an 
 indelible impression. . . . He strove to persuade the solitary- 
 hearer who was to report his words to the world at large, and he 
 strove perhaps to persuade himself that he had acted only in the 
 interests of France; he repeated the expression which had once 
 before escaped him, and repeated it with true and deep anguish : 
 
 ‘ Ah ! to leave France so small after having received her so great ! *” 
 
 ■—Henri Martin, “ Histoire de France,” tom. iv. p. 93. 
 
 (10) The following is the definition of the balance of power in 
 Europe given in one of the instructions relative to the Congress 
 of Vienna:— 
 
 “ It is a combination of the mutual rights and interests of 
 the Powers, by means of which Europe aims at securing the follow¬ 
 ing objects :—1st. That no single Power, nor any union of Powers, 
 shall have the mastery in Europe. 2nd. That no Power or union 
 of Powers shall be at liberty to infringe the actual possession 
 and recognized rights of any other Power. 3rd. That it shall 
 no longer be necessary, in order to maintain the established state 
 of affairs, to live in a state of imminent or actual war, and that 
 the proposed combination shall secure the peace and repose of 
 Europe against the efforts of a disturber, by diminishing his 
 chances of success.” 
 
 (11) See D’Angeberg, p. 540. 
 
 “ The part of the French ministers in the Congress of Vienna 
 was really the simplest and noblest of all. All that concerned 
 France having been settled by the Treaty of Paris, they had no 
 demands to make for themselves, and were therefore at liberty to 
 watch the conduct of others, to defend the weak against the 
 strong, to confine each Power within its just boundaries, and to 
 labour sincerely for the re-establishment of the political balance. 
 And I must do them the justice to say that they pursued this 
 course, and refrained from making any proposal or submitting any 
 plan tending, either directly or indirectly, to produce the slightest 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 559 
 
 change in the stipulations of the Treaty of Paris, to the smallest 
 extension of their frontiers, or towards any claim whatever incom¬ 
 patible with the rights of neighbouring nations or with general 
 tranquillity. In spite of all the lies that are going about the 
 world ; in spite of the plans, of the attempts, and of all the intrigues 
 which inveterate hatred of France has falsely and often ridicu¬ 
 lously ascribed to her ministers, veracious history will have to 
 bear witness to their honourable conduct; and I, who was a 
 spectator of all that happened, and who am, therefore, more com¬ 
 petent than any one else to write the history of these trans¬ 
 actions—I wish to be the first to do them justice.”—Metternich 
 to Talleyrand. 
 
 (12) In his letter to Metternich, M. de Talleyrand reminds the 
 prince that the partition of Poland was “the prelude, partly 
 perhaps the cause, and to some extent the excuse, for the com¬ 
 motions of which Europe has been the victim.” 
 
 Enough notice has not been taken of the fact that M. de 
 Talleyrand succeeded in having the partition of Poland con¬ 
 demned by the very Powers who consummated it. 
 
 “ It was certainly a grand moral lesson to see the Powers who 
 destroyed Poland join those who had allowed her destruction 
 in denouncing this great crime.”—Viel-Castel, “ Histoire de la 
 Restauration,” tom. ii. p. 222. 
 
 (13) “ The King alone, among all the sovereigns, appeared at 
 the Congress as the defender of principles. His policy, that of 
 putting aside all selfish aims, is beginning to be universally ap¬ 
 preciated, and has given a peculiarly noble aspect to the cause 
 which we are pleading; this, and the frankness we have exhibited 
 in all the discussions, make it impossible to doubt our generosity 
 and disinterestedness, and tend more and more every day to banish 
 the suspicions of ambition and treachery, which have been nourished 
 against France. Accordingly, we are now as much courted as 
 we were formerly shunned.”—Talleyrand to the Marquis de Bonnay, 
 18th November, 1814. 
 
UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (14) See D’Angeberg, “ Instructions for Prince Talleyrand at 
 the Congress of Vienna, September, 1814.” 
 
 (15) These words of Talleyrand remind one of what Madame 
 de Stael said of the Hundred Days: “ If Napoleon triumphs, 
 adieu to liberty; if he succumbs to Europe, adieu to national 
 independence.” 
 
 (16) In the original “ character.” 
 
 (17) “ M. de Talleyrand did one great thing at Vienna. By 
 the treaty of alliance, which he negotiated between France, 
 England, and Austria, of the 3rd of January, 1815, he put an end 
 to the coalition formed against us in 1813, and Europe was 
 divided into two parties, greatly to the advantage of France : but 
 the events of the 20th of March destroyed his work; the European 
 coalition was again formed, directed against Napoleon and against 
 France, who made herself, or allowed herself to be made, the tool 
 of Napoleon.”—“ Memoires de Guizot,” tom. i. p. ioo. • 
 
 Unfortunately, while the skilful negotiations of M. de Talley¬ 
 rand at Vienna were obtaining these results, the mismanagement 
 of affairs at home by the Restoration Government precipitated the 
 crisis which destroyed his work. M. de Jaucourt wrote to him, 
 under date of the 24th of November, 1814 : 
 
 “ If all that you dp not do was managed as well as all that you 
 do, it would be too great luck. I am devoured by zeal for the 
 house of the Sovereign, and I therefore entreat you to consider 
 carefully our administrative, financial, and constitutional position ; 
 above all, do give us a ministry. Bring your penetrating and 
 judicious mind to bear upon the future. Without you we should 
 be in a bad way.” 
 
 (18) “ One of M. de Talleyrand’s favourite ideas, and one that 
 always appeared to me sound and reasonable, was that it should 
 be the aim of French policy to deliver Poland from a foreign 
 yoke, and to make it a barrier to Russia as a counterpoise to 
 Austria. He was constantly urging this with all the influence in 
 his power. I have often heard him say that the peace of Europe 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 561 
 
 depended upon Poland.”—“ Memoires de Madame de Remusat,” 
 
 tom. iii. p. 53. 
 
 1 (19) In this passage the casuistry of the former Bishop of 
 Autun peeps out. A neutrality ceases to be real as soon as it is 
 violated; it must be owned that after getting out of the Congress 
 of Vienna, under the pretext of what he called high principle, all 
 
 I that could be advantageous to France and agreeable to Louis 
 XVIII., M. de Talleyrand was very much inclined to barter it 
 away whenever the cause he was upholding seemed to require it. 
 
 (20) All must allow the justice of M. de Talleyrand’s views on 
 freedom of carriage; many circumstances show that he foresaw 
 the extraordinary development which increased facility of com¬ 
 munication would bring to trade. It should likewise be 
 remembered that his first, as well as his last, act of diplomacy was 
 to endeavour to establish commercial relations with England. 
 
 (21) The Moniteur Universel of the 27th of July, 1815, 
 contains the following passage concerning the results of the 
 Congress of Vienna :— 
 
 “From what grievous calamities a loyal and strong confedera¬ 
 tion, such as we now see, would have saved Europe and France. 
 Those, however, who caused the evil have no right to accuse its 
 victims. . . . And so the ancient edifice so well described by 
 Voltaire as the European Republic crumbled away in the 
 presence of a new power—a power that lor the sake of its brand- 
 new theories, and for the sake of one man and his usurping 
 dynasty, insisted upon changing and modifying everything so that 
 everything might be moulded in its new and strange forms. The 
 European edifice had now to be reconstructed, and this was the 
 task set before the Congress. Let us adopt the enlightened 
 and just idea of the author of ‘The Age of Louis XIV./ 
 and, without sharing the respectable opinions of the great bully 
 and of the good Abbe de Saint-Pierre, let us consider Europe, in 
 its entirety and in the general system of its fundamental relations, 
 as a society, a family, a republic of princes and nations. From 
 
562 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 this point of view we perceive that there is, in the midst of so 
 many apparently conflicting and opposing interests, a fixed and 
 indisputable principle capable of solving more than one political 
 problem.” 
 
 (22) “The company of amateurs, which is to perform in a 
 private theatre before the sovereigns, plays only the works of 
 Racine and Moliere. This exclusive use of the French language 
 is naturally a scandal in the eyes of some of the Germans, who 
 wanted German to be the language of the Congress .”—Moniteur 
 Universel of 30th June, 1814, correspondence from Vienna. 
 
 (23) “ You are perfectly right, one can take an accurate view 
 only of that which is seen as a whole. It is as difficult to place 
 yourself at the right distance for observation when you are in the 
 midst of commotion and disturbance, as it is to bring them near 
 and judge them fairly when you are far away.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 4th February, 1815. 
 
 (24) Fifty-three senators were expelled from the Senate by 
 Louis XVIII. ; among them were Cambaceres, Chaptat, Cure'e, 
 Cardinal Fesch, Fouche, Francois de Neufchateau, Garat, Grdgoire, 
 Lambrecht, Roger Ducos, Roederer, Sieyes, etc. 
 
 (25) The following were expelled from the Institute:—Cam¬ 
 baceres, Carnot, Guyton de Morveau, Monge, Merlin de Douai, 
 Sieyes, Lakanal, Gregoire, David, Roederer, Garat, and Cardinal 
 Maury. Their places were taken by Monseigneur de Bausset, 
 Bishop of Alais; MM. de Bonald, de Lally-Tollendal, the Dues 
 de Richelieu and de Levis, the Count de Choiseul-Gouffier, 
 Ferrand, Letronne, Raoul Rochette, and Quatremere de Quincy. 
 
 On the 28th of February, 1815, Jaucourt wrote to Talleyrand : 
 
 “ The Chancellor also is devoted to the King, and his robe is 
 to him the emblem of monarchy restored. At the meeting of the 
 Council yesterday I had a word with him and M. Ferrand. Upon 
 the latter asking, ‘ Why this word Institute, a word of revolutionary 
 creation, and invented only twenty-five years ago?’ and Dambray 
 saying that if the ballot balls were brought back they would pounce 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 563 
 
 upon them and snatch them from each other, I said, t Well said; 
 yours is a grand saying—an admirable, useful, wise, conservative 
 saying 
 
 On the 4th of March he writes : 
 
 u The King expels the voters from the Institute, but preserves 
 the name of Institute; amalgamates the academies of painting, sup¬ 
 pressing the fourth class; restores the name of Academy to the 
 three classes, with their former rank, and fills up vacancies.” 
 
 (26) On the 21 st of November, 1814, the Abbe de Montesquieu 
 presented a Bill which aimed at assimilating the proceedings of 
 the Court of Cassation to those of the Conseil desparties of 1789, 
 making the Supreme Court a department of the King's Council, 
 with the Chancellor of France as president, not only of the Court 
 of Cassation, but of each of the separate Departments. The 
 Chamber of Requests was not to be required to assign any reasons 
 for its judgments. The King was to have power to make orders 
 in Council without consulting the Legislature. 
 
 The intention also was announced of calling for the resigna¬ 
 tion of those members of the Court whose services it was thought 
 for any reason desirable to dispense with. 
 
 The opinion of the public, which was strongly adverse to the 
 measures contemplated, found able expression in the speeches of 
 MM. de Flaugergues and Dumolard in the Chamber of Deputies. 
 The Bill, however, was carried, but in so modified a form that 
 the Government did not think it advisable to send it up to the 
 Chamber of Peers. The work of weeding out, however, was 
 carried on by the order of the 17th of February, 1815. The 
 illustrious Procureur-General Merlin de Douai, who voted for the 
 death of Louis XVI., was dismissed, and also the Chief President 
 Muraire. The place of the latter was taken by M. de Seze, who 
 defended Louis XVI. 
 
 (27) “Me'hee’s pamphlet (the acts and proceedings of his 
 Majesty’s ministers in violation of the Constitution denounced to 
 the King) has done harm enough, but its refutation in the Journal 
 
564 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 des Dcbats for yesterday, the 29th, will do still more. Do read 
 that number. You would hardly believe, till you have read it, 
 that people could take such pains to excite hatred. Those who 
 are always talking and preaching about forgetting the past, about 
 concord, peace, and the unity of Frenchmen, are daily lighting up 
 the torch of discord, provoking civil war, and doing their best 
 to divide France into two hostile camps.”—D’Hauterive to Talley¬ 
 rand, 30th September, 1814. 
 
 (28) In a letter to Talleyrand, dated the 23rd of October, 1814, 
 after praising Monsieur and the Due d’Angouleme, Beugnot goes 
 on to say— 
 
 “ The Due de Berry has lost popularity, both in society and in 
 the army. The prince has lately shown himself severe and some¬ 
 times hard. This must be an affectation on his part; for by 
 nature he is only surly, and, like all surly people, has an excellent 
 heart.” 
 
 “ It cannot be denied that M. de Blacas is believed to have 
 had a great deal to do with recent events. The Due de Richelieu 
 says that this report is perfectly true with respect to home matters, 
 and I can answer for its truth with respect to foreign affairs. Do 
 all you can to prevent its appearing that the King is acting under 
 his influence. Y'ou may be perfectly sure that the bare idea of his 
 being subject to this influence will be enough to produce a most 
 unfavourable impression. Of all those around the King you alone 
 have stuck to him with unswerving fidelity, consequently you 
 alone can be of any real service to him.”—Talleyrand to Jaucourt, 
 9th April, 1815. 
 
 “The outcry against M. de Blacas is so great that the King is 
 the only person whose ears it has not reached. The Due de 
 Gramont, and the whole house of Damas, and all the com¬ 
 manders of the army ; the Duke of Ragusa, who is about to retire ; 
 the Council, Lally, Chateaubriand, Beurnonville, ... all refuse 
 to transact business with him, and declare that the feeling of the 
 French nation towards him is similar to that of the Spaniards 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 565 
 
 towards the Prince of Peace. . . . Monsieur said to me, ‘YVe 
 must allow nothing which can in any way countenance the 
 ridiculous idea of the sovereignty of the peopled ”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 28th April, 1815. 
 
 (29) “ A mischievous decree has been passed affecting the Legion 
 of Honour, and one equally mischievous, which I mentioned to you 
 before, affecting the University—this is what they have done. 
 What they have not done is, to adopt a common aim, conscientious 
 sincerity, and a firm and consistent proceeding. To-morrow, 
 Sunday, the King will receive M. de Seze; he has refused to 
 receive the Chancellor of the Legion of Honour afterwards. It is 
 a pleasure to him to touch the blue ribbon with his royal hands; 
 this is very natural; but the hearts of thirty-seven thousand 
 members of the Legion would have been touched if with his French 
 hands he had thrown the grand ribbon of the Legion round the 
 neck of M. de Bruges, or still more if it had been round the neck 
 of some one else I could mention.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 
 18th February, 1815. 
 
 This is the same M. de Bruges concerning whom, when it 
 was proposed to appoint him Prefect of Police, Louis XVIII. 
 observed, “ Oh no ; he is not Parisian enough.” 
 
 (30) Napoleon, when he received Lanjuinais, President of the 
 Chamber of Representatives, asked him if he were Bonapartist or 
 Bourbonist. “lama patriot,” answered Lanjuinais. “ Your cause 
 is now the cause of the Revolution. Upon the condition that you 
 reign as a constitutional monarch, I will give you my loyal 
 support.”—See Henri Martin, tom. iv. p. 151. 
 
 (31) Here we see that there are two kinds of legitimacy: one 
 that of Louis XIV., which by a singular anachronism, and with a 
 fatal misappreciation of modern ideas, the advisers of Louis 
 XVIII. sought to revive; the other that of M. de Talleyrand and 
 of the constitutional royalists, whose political doctrines are to be 
 found in the new Bill for establishing a Constitution presented to 
 the Senate by the Prince de Benevento on the 6th of April, 1814. 
 
566 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 By this Bill the principal conquests made by the Revolution, the 
 liberty of the press, liberty of worship, etc., etc., were guaranteed ; 
 and by Clause 2 Louis Stanislas Xavier was freely called to the 
 throne under the title of King of the French. There was no talk 
 at that time of divine right or of a charter to be granted. 
 
 (32) Louis XVIII.' sometimes recognized the services of the 
 press. In a letter dated 21st January, 1815, Jaucourt writes to 
 Talleyrand : “ The King has said a good thing. He asked to 
 look at a paper called The Yellow Dwarf. The Due d’Angouleme 
 said, ‘ Does your Majesty, then, read The Yellow Dwarf l It 
 is said to be a very bad paper.’ ‘ I do,’ said the King. ‘ In the 
 first place, it amuses me; and in the next, it tells me what you 
 would not tell me.’ We expect you to do the same, and even 
 more, on your arrival, for they do not tell him much.” 
 
 ( 33 ) “ There has been some talk of reducing the salaries of the 
 judges and other officers of the courts of justice, with a view to 
 facilitate the granting of retiring pensions and to enlarge the field 
 of choice. The Abbe de Montesquieu suddenly woke up to find 
 this mean and unbecoming. Louis, to whom everything is a 
 matter of calculation, approved of it. The idea, however, has 
 been relinquished; it certainly would have been both stingy and 
 unbecoming.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, September, 1814. 
 
 “ The Chancellor, who indulges in such flowery phrases in the 
 preamble of his ordinance of the Court of Cassation, and compares 
 Justice to Zephyr and the rosy-fingered goddess. . . .”—Jaucourt 
 to Talleyrand, j 8th February, 1815. 
 
 “ In giving his assent to the principle of the irremovability of 
 the judges, the King reserved to himself the liberty of declining 
 to confirm the appointments of those already in office, and the 
 right, consequently, of revising the list of the whole bench. It 
 followed that the judges of all ranks were kept anxiously waiting 
 to have their fate decided, and so remained in a state of depend¬ 
 ence, which was likely to prove veiy injurious to the suitors, par¬ 
 ticularly to those among them, who had become the owners of 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 national property. The Chambers, before rising, demanded that 
 an end should be put to this state of uncertainty, and accord¬ 
 ingly the Government began the much-dreaded weeding-out 
 operation in the Court of Cassation in January, 1S15.”—Thiers, 
 “ Histoire du Consulat et de l’Empire,” tom. xix. p. 9. 
 
 (34) “The last sitting on Sunday was rather curious. The 
 Duke of Dalmatia’s touchiness on the subject of the royal prero¬ 
 gative reminds one of the short existence and long meditations of 
 Nicholas I. M. Ferrand, who has all the caution of an old 
 member, of a Jansenist, and of a saint into the bargain, gave us a 
 long discourse, the opening of which was not bad. He began by 
 justifying some rather thoughtless acts of ministers on the ground 
 of their good intentions and their unanimity; he admitted 
 Dupont’s weakness, but at the same time sang his praises in a way 
 that greatly disconcerted the Marshal. He then proceeded to 
 attack the Jesuits with all the enthusiasm of youth. Lastly, he 
 dealt unsparingly with the question of the sale of ecclesiastical 
 property. We ended by joining in a hearty laugh. He, poor 
 man, wrote only to discharge his conscience, and having done this, 
 added nothing to these fine opinions. After him the Chancellor 
 gave us some of his prose. All this is bad; it reminds me of a 
 consultation of physicians, with the respect always shown to the 
 opinion of the family doctor. But, after all, our ideas are ripening; 
 we are advancing towards the supply of a want hardly recognized 
 as yet—the want of system and of common action in Government, 
 the want of a ruling will to direct the efforts of each department 
 towards the attainment of one and the same end. However, if 
 we make haste to understand the position of a ministry under 
 constitutional government, we shall perhaps gain time enough to 
 give you time to arrive. But the truth is, we are in a bad way, 
 and if we do not soon get better we shall come altogether to grief. 
 Your Congress will give us strength. We look to you and the 
 King for support, though, at the same time, I am much inclined 
 to think, that it would be much better if the King let you on your 
 
568 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 return name a ministry, and made a thorough clearance of the 
 present Government. We love the King and we serve him 
 loyally, but he can only escape censure himself by making us take 
 the blame and incur the contempt. I do not know whether any 
 one else has ever spoken to you to the same effect, but on the 
 reassembling of Parliament I will remind you of the letter of the 
 25th of January. 
 
 “All that you say, my dear Prince, about the necessity of 
 selecting a Cabinet Council out of the members of the ministry, 
 is very true, very just, and very important, but quite impossible. 
 When you return, bringing with you success and honour, your 
 high position and your determination to establish among us a 
 ministry after the English fashion may perhaps effect something; 
 but, at the present moment, what we want in the place of this 
 veneer of union, with its mere outward semblance of concord, is 
 a candid opposition, which would have the merit of forcing by 
 its criticism every one to be careful and to do their best. Minis¬ 
 terial responsibility will be carried by agitation in Parliament, by 
 petitions, and by threats, and not by any carefully deliberated 
 measure; this the ministry would neither have the courage to 
 propose, nor Parliament the wisdom to pass.”—Jaucourt to Talley¬ 
 rand, 21 st February, 1815. 
 
 “The Chancellor has been at work upon the regulations for 
 the sittings of the committee and the composition of the Council. 
 Here are the results. They are to meet as often as there is 
 occasion. Any matters affecting the ministers or things in general 
 are to be brought before the committee. No measure which has 
 to pass the Council shall be introduced there without having 
 previously been discussed by the committee. The ministers are 
 to communicate freely with one another. The deliberations are 
 to be binding upon the ministers and to be secret.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, 1st February, 1815. 
 
 “ The Chancellor thinks his rules will settle all difficulties; 
 he is like Maitre Jacques, and succeeds about as well as he did 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 569 
 
 in promoting general harmony.”—Jgucourt to Talleyrand, 4th 
 February, 1815 
 
 (35) M. de Chateaubriand to Talleyrand :— 
 
 % 
 
 “Ghent, 6th March, 1815. 
 
 “ My Prince, 
 
 “ The Count de Noailles will tell you how much your 
 presence is wanted here; so much so, indeed, that before M. de 
 Noailles arrived I was on the point of despatching a courier to 
 you. I will enter into no details, for you will learn all our mis¬ 
 fortunes from the bearer. I will only say that I handed in yester¬ 
 day the Memorandum which I was asked to draw up. I propose 
 two things in this Memorandum : to appoint the Duke of Orleans 
 commander of the army, and to appoint you, Prince, the head of 
 a responsible ministry. I propose that this ministry should be 
 chosen by you, and composed of men of European reputation, 
 whose names alone would be a guarantee for the approval oi 
 all parties. The details of my plan are contained in a dozen 
 clauses. I know the objections there are to the appointment of a 
 paramount chief, or generalissimo of the army; but great diseases 
 require heroic remedies. The time for half-measures is past; we 
 have to save a crown, and. that is worth some risk. The second 
 proposal in my plan is too natural not to be adopted. But if you 
 do not arrive soon, to choose your men and give your orders, I am 
 afraid that much will be left undone. Come then quickly, Prince, 
 and believe that I am, 
 
 “ With the utmost devotion and respect, 
 
 “Your Highness’s most grateful and 
 
 “ Obedient humble servant, 
 (Signed) “ Le Vicomte de Chateaubriand. 
 
 a P.S.—I had the honour of writing to you previously, to inform 
 you that the King called me to his Council and commanded me 
 to make him a report of the state of home affairs. This should 
 give me some right to expect the post of Home Minister; but my 
 
5/0 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 
 claims are, of corse, subject to the interests of the King and the 
 country, as well as to your views and plans.” 
 
 The royal princes were in the habit of attending the ministerial 
 councils. In adetter dated the 4th of January, Jaucourt gives an 
 account of a council held to discuss the dismissal of M. de 
 Casaflores, and adds— 
 
 “ There was much discussion-. Monsieur was for moderate 
 measures; M. de Berry, as usual, like a runaway horse; the Due 
 d’Angouleme judicious.” 
 
 (36) “On delivering to the King the conditions for the restora¬ 
 tion of Genoa to Piedmont, I took the liberty of calling forth his 
 opinion of the Constitution thereby given by respectfully praising 
 our own. He read it with care and reflection, and then said, ‘ I 
 perceive a great fault in it: there is no provision for re-election ; this 
 interval of four years must lead to mischief.’ I reminded him of 
 the sad and terrible consequences of the resolution to this effect 
 passed by our first Assembly, and for a few moments we exchanged 
 observations together (if I may be allowed thus to associate myself 
 with the King) concerning national interests, the support given by 
 the Chambers to the royal authority; in short, concerning the 
 theory of national representation—observations which have con¬ 
 vinced me that the philosophical philanthropy of the ‘ hero of the 
 north ’ is far beneath the wisdom and elevation of mind of Louis 
 XVIII.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, 18th December, 1814. 
 
 (37) The following extract of a letter from Jaucourt to Talley¬ 
 rand, dated the 7th December, 1814, gives an idea of the state of 
 Spain at that time :—“ General Alava has been set at liberty ; he 
 owes this to the fear of a rising. Numerous arrests follow one 
 after another; whole families are led off to the Inquisition; the 
 persecution of the liberals continues. The greatest merit is no 
 protection.” 
 
 (38) “ Speaking of the Journal de /’Europe reminds me of what 
 I want to say to you about the Journal de Gand. It is generally 
 disapproved of. It is often abusive, which is always useless and 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 571 
 
 frequently injurious. You ought to tell the editor that he must 
 have self-control enough never to appear reactionary, and this 
 requires more self-control than many people are aware of.”— 
 Talleyrand to Jaucourt, dated Vienna, 17th May, 1815. 
 
 (39) ‘‘The abbe only said in the course of the evening, before 
 he went to bed, ‘ They forced me to dismiss an excellent prefect 
 from Rennes. The one whom I shall put in his place will not be 
 so good. Good gracious ! do they suppose that I am not going to 
 take any steps to stop the agitation in Brittany? However, I had 
 to give way.’ It is a fact that the abbe has adopted quite a 
 *new system. He now regrets having dismissed the prefects, and 
 declares that the new prefects are not equal to the old ones; he 
 . actually defends the men now in office, and that to such an extent 
 as quite to offend the princes; and, instead of falling in with this 
 pretended system of restoration alias change, he is now all for the 
 Constitution, stability, and even goes so far as to think that the 
 status quo of the middle class, the new nobility, and of men 
 accustomed to work should be permanently maintained in the 
 disposal of appointments, and, in a word, generally throughout 
 France.”—Jaucourt to Talleyrand, January, 1815. 
 
 “My dear Count, 
 
 “ I have received Nos. 3 and 4 of your Journal 
 Universel (printed at Ghent). I beg you to remark to its editors 
 that all the articles require to be written with much more pains 
 and reflection, both in matter and style. I am now applying this 
 observation particularly to the word ‘ nationaliser/ which is used 
 in an unfavourable sense only. The Emperor of Russia, whom 
 you ought to wish to please, continually makes use of this word 
 both in talking and writing, and only yesterday his attendants 
 showed great annoyance at the attempt to attach a bad meaning 
 to an expression which he is constantly using. A paper written 
 under the shadow of the throne needs to be written with much 
 more care than the best papers published in Paris. Impress upon 
 the editor that in the present state of affairs tact is talent For 
 
572 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OP' 
 
 example, all France will have noticed the following passage in 
 No. 2 :—‘ Nature, policy, and justice suggested, nay, commanded 
 severity/ This phrase will cause anxiety in Paris, whereas you 
 ought to do your utmost to reassure every one; you cannot take 
 too much pains to inspire confidence, because bad consciences, of 
 which there are so many in France, require to be reassured. Good 
 consciences need no management. Tell Lally to expend all his indig¬ 
 nation in indulgence. Indignation gives more opportunity for 
 eloquence, but indulgence is more favourable to wit, and as he is 
 possessed of both, a hint will be sufficient for him. 
 
 “ M. de Blacas is quite wrong in thinking that it is any excuse • 
 for letters that have given offence to say that they were written in 
 the same spirit as those written from Hartwell. He is evidently 
 quite ignorant that everything which recalls the recollection of the 
 exile should be avoided. Its memories may be pleasing to 
 a few useless people, but they do positive harm with all who are 
 worth anything either in or out of France.”—Talleyrand to 
 Jaucourt, 6th May, 1815. 
 
 (40) Metternieh wrote as follows to Talleyrand, dated 24th 
 June, 1815:—“Remain steadfast to your idea. Make the King 
 enter France ; it does not matter whether he goes east, west, north, 
 or south, provided he is at home, surrounded by Frenchmen, and 
 far from foreign bayonets and foreign aid. By keeping your eye 
 upon Bonaparte’s plans you will clearly perceive that the emigra¬ 
 tion is the chief weapon which he intends to make use of. The 
 moment the King is at home and in the midst of his subjects he 
 ceases to be an emigre. The King must govern, and the royal 
 army must operate at a distance from the allied armies. As soon 
 as the King has formed a rallying-point in France, we will send 
 him all the French deserters who come to us.”—“ Memoires de 
 Metternieh,” tom. ii. p. 520. 
 
 (41) “The King had a superb part if he had stayed in Paris. 
 
 . . . The King announced that he was resolved to stay, but 
 most unfortunately changed his mind twice. I will never believe 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 5 *7 n 
 
 / v) 
 
 that the city of Paris would have let him perish by the hand 
 of that man (Bonaparte), nor that the troops would have fired 
 upon us. Anyhow it is done. We must now do all we can 
 to form a rallying-point, to gain over the commander of one of 
 the fortresses, and get a footing upon the sacred soil. For if the 
 King arrives in the wake of foreign soldiers, he will be playing 
 the game of the Jacobins and Bonaparte, who are making com¬ 
 mon cause together. It seems to us here that, for the moment, 
 writings and proclamations would have little or no effect; we 
 ought to be in France, and to have obtained a victory over a 
 corps cParm'ee of Bonaparte. Then, as the armies advance, the 
 French commanders attached to each army corps should order 
 the Conseils Generaux of the Department to assemble; these latter 
 should designate one or more members of their body to undertake 
 the duties of commander or controller of requisitions and of the 
 commissariat, and to issue proclamations. We have D’Andre and 
 D’Angles already here, and to wield the pen we have MM. 
 de Lally, Chateaubriand, who demands the title of minister of the 
 King as payment for his first article, Lacretelle the younger, and 
 Bertin de Vaux. You see we shall have quite a galaxy of literary 
 talent.”—Jaucourtto Talleyrand, dated Ghent, 4th April, 1815. 
 
 (42) “ M. de Vincent, or, failing him, M. Pozzo, has been 
 instructed to protest against the appointment of royal commis¬ 
 sioners to our armies.”—Metternich to Talleyrand, 24th June, 1815. 
 
 (43) On the 25th of April, 1815, his Britannic Majesty’s am¬ 
 bassador handed the annexed despatch to M. de Jaucourt:— 
 
 “The undersigned, upon occasion of the exchange about to 
 be made in the name of his Court of the ratifications ot the treaty 
 concluded on the 25th of March last, is charged to declare by the 
 present Note that the eighth article of the said treaty, by which 
 his Most Christian Majesty is invited to accede to it under certain 
 conditions, is to be considered as demanding from the high con¬ 
 tracting parties, according to a principle of mutual security, a 
 united effort against the power of Napoleon Bonaparte, con- 
 
574 
 
 UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 formably with Article 3 of the treaty, but is not to be regarded as 
 laying his Britannic Majesty under any obligation to continue the 
 war with a view to imposing any particular form of government 
 upon France. The Prince Regent holds himself bound to make 
 this declaration, in spite of his great desire to see his Most 
 -Christian Majesty re-established upon his throne. The Am¬ 
 bassador Extraordinary of his Britannic Majesty has been in¬ 
 structed by his Court to make this confidential communication 
 to the ministers of his Most Christian Majesty. 
 
 “ The undersigned gives his most earnest assurance that this 
 proceeding is not taken in consequence of any unfavourable feeling 
 towards a cause upon which the peace of Europe must depend, 
 but is the result of the firm conviction of his sovereign that, after 
 the British nation has spontaneously used its utmost endeavours 
 to promote his Most Christian Majesty’s interests, any positive 
 engagement to that effect would give rise to injurious disputes, 
 calculated to embarrass the proceedings of the Government for 
 the advancement of this object. 
 
 (Signed) “Charles Stuart.” 
 
 / 
 
 (44) It should be remembered that it was at the suggestion 
 of M. de Talleyrand, then Bishop of Autun, that the ecclesiastical 
 domains were declared national property. These domains were 
 then sold, and it was upon them that the assignats were secured. 
 
 “ What is still more serious is that two priests have refused 
 the last sacraments to two dying men who were owners of pro¬ 
 perty belonging to Emigres: one of them persisted in his refusal 
 till the man died, and we know where he will go to; the other 
 consented at last, but so near the last moment that, after the priest 
 had called the bystanders to witness the restitution, the patient 
 died before the viaticum could be administered, and his soul had 
 to start on its journey without due preparation.”—Jaucourt to 
 Talleyrand, nth February, 1815. 
 
 “ The Marshal (Soult), Beugnot, and I sat up together til 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 575 
 
 one o’clock, after dinner was over. I attacked the Marshal in 
 these terms. I said, ‘ Seeing that chance has brought together 
 four ministers, who would all be disgraced if the King ruled with¬ 
 out observing the Charter, it seems a good occasion to discuss 
 the state of public opinion.’ The Marshal was obliged to answer, 
 but he was so disconcerted that he foolishly told us how he had 
 declared to a certain General Travaut, a brave man and a good 
 
 officer, that he would not employ him until he had restored all 
 
 / 
 
 the property belonging to Emigres acquired by him. Poor 
 General Travaut has two hundred and fifty thousand francs’ worth 
 of this property, which constitute all his fortune. . . . Come as 
 soon as you can; believe me, you are much wanted. I promise 
 you that you shall have the Marshal for your spaniel. You will 
 easily master him. He is a man who thinks himself superior to his 
 patron* who does not know how to get out of the family clique by 
 whose means he has risen; he fears and hates the Abbe, and is 
 a man of desponding views, with no decided opinions—one who 
 yields to obstacles and stumbles over difficulties ; a military club 
 orator, vain, coarse, shrewd, and supple, and, in the words of the 
 old adage, ‘Animal capax rapax omnium beneficiorum ’ (one who 
 gets all he can and keeps all he gets).”—Extract from same letter. 
 
 The following is an extract from a letter from Paris, addressed 
 to M. de Talleyrand, and dated the 18th of October, 1S14 :— 
 
 “ One question that greatly disturbs men’s minds is that of 
 the national domains. The law on this subject seems clear and 
 decided, but public opinion is not. Thence arise the exaggerated 
 expectations of some and the chimerical fears of others. Six days 
 ago, three houses belonging to E?nigres in the Rue Nivienne 
 were put up to auction. I was present. There was not a single 
 offer, though they are the three best houses in the whole street. 
 A report was spread in the room during the bidding that the 
 former proprietor wanted eighty thousand francs as the price of his 
 patrimonial interest in them. The fact is true; I have verified it.” 
 
 (45) See in the Moniteur Universel of the 7th of July, 1815, the 
 
576 . UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 proclamation of Louis XVIII., dated at Cambrai and counter¬ 
 signed by M. de Talleyrand, who had the chief hand in its com¬ 
 position. There are whole passages in it word for word with this 
 Memorandum. 
 
 <*- 
 
 THE KING TO PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 Ostend, 26th March, 1815. 
 
 My Cousin, 
 
 I take advantage of an English messenger, 
 who will probably reach Vienna before the letters 
 of the Comte de Blacas and the Comte de Jaucourt. 
 The desertion of the whole army left me no choice 
 as to the steps I should take. As my life is 
 supposed to be necessary to France, it was my 
 duty to provide for my safety, which might have 
 been endangered if I had stayed some hours longer 
 at Lille. Bonaparte has the army on his side; I 
 have the hearts of all the people on mine. I saw 
 unequivocal proof of this all along my route. The 
 Powers, therefore, cannot be uncertain what is the 
 wish of France now. This is the text of what 
 I want said; I trust to you to enlarge upon it. I 
 cannot sufficiently praise the conduct of Marshals 
 M icdonald and Mortier. The former has behaved 
 everywhere as well as he did at Lyons; and the 
 
PRINCE TALLEYRAND AND LOUIS XVIII. 577 
 
 latter, who had received by telegraph orders to 
 arrest me, saw me safe out of Lille, and on my 
 way as far as Menin. 
 
 Upon which, my cousin, I pray God to have you 
 in His safe and holy keeping. 
 
 (Signed) Louis. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Letter III. Note io. 
 
 EXTRACT from M. d’Hauterive’s letter to M. de Talleyrand, 
 
 18th October, 1814:— 
 
 “ It is difficult to form an idea of the disorder and 
 irregularity that pervade the administration. Each day 
 brings us fresh proofs of them. If uniformity of principle 
 and action existed, we should not find the deputies 
 creating a distinction in the mind of the nation between the 
 King and his ministers. It is most unfortunate! The 
 malcontents are coming forward, talking, acting with more 
 audacity than ever. Even the most sensible people are 
 led by this to apprehend disturbance. I have already 
 written to you that trade is troubled ; manufactures are 
 paralyzed ; landowners are overburthened with taxes which 
 are exacted with barbarous rigour even in those districts 
 where the Allies have left nothing but poverty. The excise 
 duties and the tobacco monopoly are carried out as they 
 were under Bonaparte, and with even greater severity. 
 With all these grounds of displeasure against them, the 
 administration lacks nerve and personal qualities. To all 
 this has just been added what I call the fever of 
 humiliation, with which people are bent on innoculating 
 
580 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 France. They are sure of touching a responsive chord 
 when they tell us everywhere that we ought to avenge 
 our injuries and wash out our disgrace in the blood of 
 our enemies; that the English are everything, and can 
 do everything in France ; that England is hemming us in 
 on the north with considerable forces, so that they may 
 afterwards dictate laws to us ; that Wellington governs at 
 Paris ; that we must shake off this ignominious yoke, etc. 
 
 “ I beg you to pay serious attention to this observation, 
 which perhaps escapes many people. Believe me that in 
 this respect the evil is great. It is not that the Government 
 does not possess the means of contesting this point of 
 honour, which is at all events false under the present circum¬ 
 stances ; it has all the journals and all the pamphleteers 
 at its disposal. To get us out of the very unpleasant 
 position in which we are, we need a man at the head 
 of the administration who should enjoy the confidence and 
 friendship of the King, and to whom he would reveal his 
 mind unreservedly. But it would be necessary that this 
 man should know France, should be of one party only, 
 that of the French of 1814, and should be thoroughly 
 convinced that the way to advance is not to go backward. 
 
 “ Unfortunately this man exists only in two persons 
 [M. de Blacas and M. de Talleyrand] ; you know them. 
 Since your departure you have grown prodigiously in public 
 estimation. The numerous blunders that are made here 
 contribute to that aggrandizement. I have been well 
 pleased to hear important persons say frankly that there 
 was no means of safety except in holding by you, because 
 that meant holding by the King and the Constitution. 
 A rumour, true or false, which has circulated here among 
 all classes, has been very favourable to you. It is generally 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ^81 
 
 said (and I assure you that I seriously believe it) that it is 
 only to you personally that France owes her admission 
 to the Congress ; that Austria made some difficulties, 
 but that you handed in a Note equally remarkable for 
 the ability and the bold character which it displays.’’ 
 
 Letter IV. Note 9. 
 
 “ You already know the principles which the King has 
 laid down as the rule of his ambassadors’ conduct at the 
 Congress. It was natural to think that all the Powers, 
 animated by the same feelings, would have co-operated in 
 the maintenance of those principles, since they had taken 
 up arms to defend them. There is therefore cause for 
 astonishment at finding them now disposed to follow the 
 principles against which they had contended. Some are 
 induced to do this from motives of ambition ; others are 
 influenced respectively by jealousy and distrust of the 
 power of France, and from a desire to increase the strength 
 of those whose position may bring their interests into op¬ 
 position with those of France ; and, lastly, some through 
 timidity or indecision. The King, at the same time that 
 he is resolved not to recognize the fact that conquest 
 alone gives sovereignty, and not to participate in the 
 violation of the principles of public law, is desirous to give 
 facility to everything which does not attack those prin¬ 
 ciples. This is what you have to say on all occasions, but 
 always speaking with moderation of the opposition 
 directed against principles.”—Circular to the political and 
 consular agents, 29th October, 1814. 
 
582 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Letter V. Note 2. 
 
 The King of Saxony wrote to Louis XVIII. on the 
 19th of September, 1814: 
 
 “ Friedrichsfeld, 19th September, 1814. 
 
 “My Brother, 
 
 “ The approach of the opening of the Congress 
 of Vienna induces me to address your Majesty anew, in 
 order to commend my interests to you, and to ask your 
 support for my prompt reinstatement in my rights. I 
 cannot imagine that I can have to fear being deprived 
 of the possession of them, or that the Allied Powers or any 
 Court of Europe could approve of a measure which would 
 closely resemble the system that they have just struck down. 
 Nevertheless the reports that I shall be threatened with 
 that dispossession gain such ground, and are so public, 
 that I feel it due to myself and to the contracting Powers 
 of the last treaty of peace to declare beforehand and 
 against all attempts, that if such an idea could exist, I 
 never will consent to surrender the States which I have 
 inherited from my ancestors, nor to accept any compensa¬ 
 tion whatsoever, no equivalent being capable of indemnifying 
 me for their loss, and for separation from a people whom I 
 love, and who have given me multiplied proofs of attach¬ 
 ment and fidelity. But I repeat, the noble and lofty way of 
 thinking of the Powers assembled at the Congress, and that 
 of your Majesty in particular, reassure me in this respect, 
 and is a pledge to me of the fulfilment of my desires. 
 
 “ I beg you, my brother, to receive the renewed ex¬ 
 pression of the sincere friendship and high consideration 
 with which I am, 
 
 “ My brother, 
 
 “ Your Majesty’s good brother, 
 (Signed) “ FREDERICK AUGUSTUS.’ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 583 
 
 Letter VI. Note 3. 
 
 The Mont de Milan. 
 
 “The Emperor Napoleon I., when he instituted heredi¬ 
 tary rights, reserved to himself the resources of an ex¬ 
 traordinary fund, destined, by a Senatus-Consultus of 
 1810, to remunerate great civil and military services. 
 This department possessed scrip of the Mont de Milan , 
 on which were charged the endowments that were to be 
 the recompense of services rendered in the campaigns of 
 Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland. The rights of the 
 persons entitled to these endowments had been guaranteed 
 by a clause of the Treaty of Fontainebleau ; but Austria, 
 after having paid in 1818 the arrears due in 1814, refused 
 to continue the payment. The Government of the Resto¬ 
 ration, having failed in every attempt to induce Austria 
 to pay, was desirous of doing what they could for the en¬ 
 dowed persons with the amount of the extraordinary fund 
 that remained. The law of the 26th of July, 1821, sub¬ 
 stituted for the reversible endowments from male to male 
 in order of primogeniture, reversible pensions for the widow 
 and children of the first titulary only, in equal portions, 
 with reversion in favour of the last survivor, being either 
 the widow or child. These pensions are divided into six 
 classes, and the figure was fixed : for the four first, at one 
 thousand francs ; for the fifth, at five hundred francs ; and 
 for the sixth, at two hundred and fifty francs. 
 
 “In 1861, after the War of Italy, Austria and Sardinia, 
 upon the demand of France, placed at her disposal a sum 
 of 12,500,000 francs, of which 6,250,000 francs was assigned 
 to the former holders of endowments on the Mont de Milati. 
 This sum was employed in the creation of rentes, which 
 
5^4 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 have been distributed proportionably to the titularies of 
 the Mont de Milan , or those holding their rights, according 
 to the rule of transmission fixed by the deed of endowment 
 or by the decrees; the figure of the new registry never 
 being below two hundred francs. The rente registered in 
 their name, independently of the pension fixed in virtue 
 of the law of 1821, returns to the Treasury in the case 
 provided for by the constitutive deed.”—Summary of the 
 Report of the Commission nominated by the decree of 
 the 22nd of May,. 1851. 
 
 0 
 
 Letter X VIII. Note 2. 
 
 The following letter, from Talleyrand to Metternich, 
 dated 6th March, 1811, indicates the nature of the former 
 personal relations between the two statesmen :— 
 
 “ I should have much liked to answer your letter sooner, 
 my dear Count, but I have passed nearly three weeks in my 
 room, ill enough. I began by being rather too ill. The 
 terrible words ‘ malignant fever ’ were pronounced over me, 
 but all that has calmed down. When one has been seriously 
 ill, one comes back to life in a state of purity which leaves 
 one very ignorant of the affairs of this world. I really do 
 not know what is going on. My common sense tells me 
 that the sovereigns who have you for their adviser are 
 fortunate. But you cannot be everywhere, or at Paris, 
 where you would surely have tried to console the Due de 
 Bassano for the report of the Swedish Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, which I have just read, and Madame Junot for her 
 husband’s departure. Each has his or her troubles, and 
 you have remedies for all. 
 
 “ When you turn your eyes towards France, and you 
 think of those who care for you and your glory, I am 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 585 
 
 inclined to believe that you will recall the friend of Marie 
 [de Metternich]. He will always be as you have known, 
 and liked him a little : and he would welcome renewed 
 opportunities of telling you this, and proving that he 
 regards you with friendship, esteem, and consideration.” 
 
 Letter XX. Note 3. 
 
 The Minister of War writes to Talleyrand, 9th Novem¬ 
 ber, 1814:— 
 
 “ Our regiments are, in fact, very well organized, and 
 our only difficulty has been to select the best among 
 various officers. We have granted a great many furloughs, 
 and we are below our formation on the peace footing; but 
 I beg you to believe that I should be in a position to show 
 you at this moment very fine corps d'armee on all our fron¬ 
 tiers. Fifty thousand men upon the Rhine, fifty thousand 
 on the north, twenty thousand on the Alps—such are our 
 available forces at present. It is a matter of course that 
 fortresses and the interior should be suitably guarded 
 besides, and that we are very little inclined to adopt the 
 foolish tactics of stripping the inside of the country to 
 make a great effect outside. On the first day of January, 
 the available forces will be augmented by sixty thousand 
 men, and if it were necessary they could be increased by 
 one hundred thousand more in March. I judge by the 
 statements sent to me by the Prefects that there are more 
 than two hundred thousand men in the interior belonging to 
 the colours, and intended to raise the active army to a high 
 degree of force all at once, or to augment it successively 
 and in detail during several years of peace. It is this 
 reserve, so precious because it is composed of men already 
 drilled, which renders a law for recruiting unnecessary just 
 
586 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 now. I do not speak of the artillery, for to do so would be 
 vanity on my part. That arm is finer than ever. We have 
 some new inventions ... a new musket, new powder, very 
 superior to the old, a more serviceable cuirass ; these are 
 three discoveries which do honour to our artillery, and 
 which have excited the curiosity of our neighbours.” 
 
 Letter XXII. Note 2. 
 
 Fouchd wrote to Talleyrand on the 25th of September, 
 1814, from the Chateau de Ferrieres, as follows :— 
 
 “ A person who is going to Vienna as chargi d'affaires 
 for the Marshals of France offers me his services in the 
 matter of my dotations. 
 
 “Your Highness has given me assurances in this respect, 
 on which I rely ; I place my interests entirely in your 
 hands. 
 
 “I presented myself twice at your Highness’s house 
 before your departure, but I had not the good fortune to 
 find you and make my adieux. I should have wished to 
 speak to you of the interior of France and of Paris, and 
 especially of the Frenchmen who were in the first instance 
 excluded from places, and will soon be forced to quit 
 France. Garat has already passed through Bayonne, some 
 days ago, but there are men who are not so timid, and 
 who will remain in their country to defend themselves. 
 Carnot is printing the memoir with which you are no 
 doubt acquainted, as more than one copy is in circulation. 
 
 “Your Highness may rely on my information of the 
 position of affairs and the real state of feeling : the King 
 will find no peace or safety except in his moderation. 
 Those who advised him to have the MIcontents and the 
 Quotidienne [newspapers] published, journals filled w r ith 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 587 
 
 the grossest invectives, have consulted their own blind 
 passions rather than the true interests of the King. 
 
 “ If I were not kept in France by my property, I should 
 be in London with my children; there will shortly be no 
 tranquillity here for anybody. The Government is easy 
 because everything seems to be making progress, but an 
 unforeseen event may change all. I hope the continuity 
 of your eminent services procures you at least repose. 
 
 “ I will not speak to your Highness of the affairs of 
 Naples ; I know the interest which you take in them. I am 
 writing upon them to Prince Metternich, to whom I have 
 to write about a conversation he has had with M. Baudus 
 on the subject of myself, and entering with him into some 
 details respecting France and Europe. 
 
 “ The Belgians who are in Paris are giving vent to their 
 displeasure at the handing over of their country to the 
 rule of Holland without consulting them. It seems to 
 me that, since everything is being undone, it would be more 
 fitting to restore Belgium to Austria, under which country 
 Belgium was so prosperous. Besides, that would be to do 
 homage to a century of possession, with only twenty years 
 of interruption. 
 
 “I beg your Highness sometimes to remember a man 
 who is and always will be attached to you.” 
 
 At the same time D’Hauterive wrote to Talleyrand: “All 
 parties seem to combine in the chorus, ‘ This cannot last.’ ” 
 
 Jaucourt wrote to Talleyrand on the 18th of October, 
 1814: 
 
 “ The alarm has been great among those around the 
 King ; restless Marshal Marmont gives himself infinite 
 trouble to find out causes for apprehension. 
 
 “The petty police denounces the great, and the great 
 has courage and boldness enough to arrest the petty. 
 
5 88 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 “ The King meets everything with his wisdom, his dis¬ 
 cretion, and his calmness: it is a crime to put all these 
 royal qualities to the proof.” 
 
 Jaucourt wrote on the 29th of November, 1814 : 
 
 “Marshal Marmont, through restlessness, over-zeal, or 
 I know not what motive, took fright at the idea of the King’s 
 going to the play at the Odeon, and imparted to the King 
 the warnings he had received. He requested the King to 
 send for General Maison and General Dessoles, which was 
 done; but the King said to them very quietly, ‘ Gentlemen, 
 your business is to guard me; mine is to go and amuse 
 myself at the play.’ ” 
 
 Letter XXII. Note 5. 
 
 The following description of a Ridotto is given by the 
 Moniteur Universel in its Vienna correspondence :— 
 
 “ The grand Ridotto of the 2nd of December afforded 
 a unique spectacle of magnificence and rich attire. It took 
 place in three large halls connected by galleries and stair¬ 
 cases, and forming so spacious an enclosure that from 
 ten to twelve thousand persons could move about without 
 inconvenience. The decorations were of the most elegant 
 description. The passage which led from the apartments of 
 the palace to the hall of the Ridotto was magnificently 
 lighted and adorned with flowers and shrubs, as was the 
 small hall, which looked like a garden in fairyland. We 
 passed through an avenue of orange trees into the great 
 hall, from whence, beyond the great staircase, we could see 
 the immense space which forms the riding school of the 
 Court. This building, which is a masterpiece of architecture, 
 had been converted into a dancing-room ; the pure white 
 hangings were relieved with white and silver most tastefully 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 589 
 
 mingled, and from five to six thousand wax candles shed 
 a marvellous brilliancy over the scene. 
 
 “The movement of so many personages in full dress, and 
 the strains of an orchestra of one hundred musicians, lent 
 this splendid fete animation which it is impossible to de¬ 
 scribe. At ten o’clock their Majesties and the other august 
 personages entered the hall to the sound of trumpets and 
 cymbals. Their Majesties the Emperor of Russia and 
 the Empress of Austria headed the procession. Then came 
 their Majesties the Emperor of Austria and the Empress of 
 Russia ; his Majesty the King of Denmark, with her Impe¬ 
 rial Highness the Archduchess Beatrix ; their Majesties the 
 King of Prussia and the Queen of Bavaria; his Majesty 
 the King of Bavaria, with her Imperial Highnessthe Grand- 
 Duchess of Oldenburg, etc. After having walked several 
 times through the three halls, the sovereigns took their 
 places on a dai's in the riding school, and witnessed the 
 performance of a ballet by children wearing masks. After 
 the ballet their Majesties walked about separately in the 
 hall until after midnight. The fete lasted until morning.” 
 
 The Moniteur of the 7th of December publishes the fol¬ 
 lowing from a Vienna correspondent:—“At the Carrousel 
 yesterday, the quadrille was led off by the Countess de 
 Perigord, niece of Prince Talleyrand, dancing with Count 
 Trautmannsdorf. The quadrilles were composed of the 
 greatest personages of the Court and of Germany.” 
 
 Letter XXV. Note 3. 
 
 On the 10th of November, 1814, Jaucourt wrote to 
 Talleyrand : 
 
 “ I am assured that Monsieur has a great deal to 
 do with the selection that has been made. Perhaps one 
 
59° 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 day he who now congratulates himself on the influence 
 which his presence exercises will regret to see him there. As 
 for me, I believe in his capacity, and in his perfect in¬ 
 difference to what form a Government may take provided 
 it gives him the exercise of a great authority; with all 
 this he has, it is evident, the means of exerting influence.” 
 
 On the ioth of December, 1814, D’Hauterive wrote : 
 
 “ As we have no navy, and probably shall not have one 
 for a long time, the selection of Beugnot has done neither 
 good nor harm. People laughed, and that has been all 
 about it. The sailors complain a little, but there are so 
 few of them S w 
 
I 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Agout, Count Hector d\ — This 
 doubtless refers to the personage 
 of that name who was at the time 
 first secretary to the embassy at 
 Madrid. The king’s embassador 
 at that date was the Prince de 
 Laval-Montmorency. 216. 
 
 Alexander I , Emperor of Russia, 
 1777-1:825.—Was a helpless spec¬ 
 tator at the bloody catastrophe 
 which made him the successor of 
 his father, Paul I., March, 1801. 
 From the beginning of his reign he 
 showed a decided inclination to 
 liberal ideas. After struggling 
 with Napoleon at Austerlitz, at 
 Eylau, and Friedland, he con¬ 
 ceived a strong friendship for him 
 after Tilsit, which was sincere for 
 a while, but which could not endure 
 the strain of their ambitious rival¬ 
 ries. 
 
 After the Russian campaign, 
 Alexander was the real chief of the 
 coalition which caused the over¬ 
 throw of Napoleon. He showed 
 himself generous to France and 
 favorable to liberal ideas. He was 
 the guest of Talleyrand in 1814, 
 and looked at first with little favor 
 on the return of the Bourbons. In 
 1815 he became inimical to Talley¬ 
 rand, and contributed to his dis¬ 
 placement by the Duke of Rich¬ 
 elieu. Always inclined to Utopian 
 notions, after great enthusiasm for 
 the liberty and the re-establish¬ 
 ment of the kingdom of Poland, 
 he lost himself in the mystical ideas 
 of Madam Kriidener, and endeav¬ 
 ored to establish the Holy Alliance, 
 and finished by being as conserv¬ 
 ative as he had been liberal. He 1 
 
 died at Taganrog in 1825. 127, 
 
 129, 137, 138, 146 et seq., 168, 
 182, 178, 179, 192, 194, 204, 208. 
 
 Alfieri, Marquis. — He was that 
 Marquis Alfieri of Sostegno, 1764- 
 1844, whose mother was a Saint- 
 Mersan. He took part in the wars 
 against France for the defense of 
 Savoy and Piedmont, he was sent, 
 1799, a he stage to France. In 
 1808, Napoleon made him grand 
 master of ceremonies to Prince 
 Camille Borghese, his brother-in- 
 law, governor general of Pied¬ 
 mont. Under the Restoration he 
 was ambassador to France, 1814— 
 1828. He was afterward grand 
 chamberlain of the King of Sar¬ 
 dinia and counselor of state. 373. 
 
 Andr£, Baron. — Arthur Balthazar 
 Joseph, Baron Andre, 1759-1827. 
 Was born at Aix, was counselor to 
 the parliament of that city, and 
 deputy of the nobles of Provence 
 to the States-General in 1789 ; pre¬ 
 sided over the Constituant Assem¬ 
 bly several times, notably when 
 the lamentable resolution was 
 adopted, that the members of the 
 first assembly should not be eligible 
 to the second. He relates that he 
 used every effort to give the floor to 
 his friends who opposed it, butuna- 
 vailingly. “ The decree was passed 
 after a great struggle, and they 
 were most delighted with their suc¬ 
 cess who had thus prepared their 
 own downfall.” Pie fled to Lon¬ 
 don in 1792 ; after his return, in 
 1814, became chief of police. At 
 the second restoration he was made 
 intendant of the domains of the 
 Crown. 181, 183. 
 
 591 
 
592 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Andreossi, Antoine Francis. — 
 Count Andreossi, 1761-1828. Born 
 at Castelnaudary, accompanied Bo¬ 
 naparte to Egypt, was member of 
 the Institute of Cairo, and pub¬ 
 lished “Memoirs on the Nile.” 
 General and ambassador to Lon¬ 
 don in 1802, and afterward at 
 Vienna. He was governor of that 
 city in 1809. After Wagram he 
 was accredited to Constantinople, 
 he was peer of France during the 
 Hundred Days, member of the 
 Academy of Sciences—1826, and 
 deputy from the Aude in 1827. 
 
 Andre'ossi published “A Voyage 
 to the Entrance to the Black Sea,” 
 and a “ Memoir on the Depressions 
 of the Surface of the Globe,” in 
 1819. He was a descendant of the 
 engineer Andreossi, whom Riquet, 
 the ancestor of the Caramans, had 
 employed in constructing the Canal 
 du Midi, and who was the historian 
 of that, enterprise. 272, 273. 
 
 Angouleme, The Duchess of, Madam 
 Royal.—She was the daughter of 
 Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, 
 1778-1851. Married in 1799 
 Duke of Angouleme, son of the 
 Count of Artois, afterward Charles 
 X. Long a prisoner in the Temple. 
 She was released in December, 
 1795, and remained in Vienna till 
 I 799* a 7* 
 
 Angouleme, Duke of.—1775-1844. 
 Was the eldest son of the Count of 
 Artois and Marie Therese of Savoy. 
 He married the only daughter 
 of Louis XVI. at Mittau, 1799. He 
 entered Bordeaux, March 12, 1814. 
 
 At the return of Napoleon he re¬ 
 ceived the title of lieut.-general of 
 the kingdom. He was made pris¬ 
 oner the 16th of April, 1815. He 
 was released by the emperor who 
 caused him to embark for Spain at 
 Cette. He commanded (1823) the 
 expedition which re-established Fer¬ 
 dinand VII. On the accession of 
 Charles X. he took the title of Dau¬ 
 phin. On the 2d of August, 1830, 
 he signed a renunciation in favor 
 
 of the Count of Chambord, and died 
 at Goritz. 467, 505. 
 
 Anna Paulowna, The Grand Duch¬ 
 ess.—Was born Jan. 18, 1795. After 
 being affianced to Napoleon and to 
 the Duke of Berry, she married Feb. 
 21, 1816, William II. then Prince 
 of Orange. She became a widow 
 17th March, 1849, died Jan. 18, 
 1865. The reigning king of the 
 Netherlands, William III., is her 
 son. She was also the mother of 
 Prince Henry, lieutenant of the 
 king for the grand duchy of Luxem¬ 
 bourg. He died 1879. 49, 53, 283. 
 
 Anstetten. — Jean Protadius Anstett 
 or Anstetten,was born at Strasburg, 
 1760-1835. He was in Russia in 
 1789, was sent to Prussia in 1794, 
 was charge d’affaires at Vienna, 
 chancellor of the diplomatic corps 
 of the Prince Kulusoff in 1814. He 
 accompanied the Emperor Alexan¬ 
 der in 1813 and ’14, and negotiated 
 the Convention of Kalisch, assisted 
 at the congresses of Prague and of 
 Vienna, and finished his career as 
 Frankfort as ambassador of Russia 
 to the German Confederation. 129. 
 
 Antibes. — Formerly in the depart¬ 
 ment of Var, now in that of the 
 Alpes-Maritimes. Chief town of the 
 canton in the arrondissement of 
 Grasse; is about 15 miles east- 
 southeast of that town and 21 miles 
 west of Nice. 382. 
 
 Antonio, Don. — The Infante An¬ 
 tonio was brother of Charles IV., 
 uncle of Ferdinand VII., was born 
 in 1755, died 1817. He took an in¬ 
 effectual part as President of the 
 Supreme Junta on the Dos de Mayo, 
 2d May, 1808. He quitted Spain 
 after declaring that he would meet 
 his faithful Spaniards in the “ Val¬ 
 ley of Jehoshaphat.” He returned 
 in 1814, after a long residence at 
 Valen9ay, which was the property 
 of Talleyrand. 
 
 Artois, Count of.—(Charles X). 1757 
 -1836. He took the title of Mon¬ 
 sieur after Louis XVIII. had taken 
 that of King, 1795. He was lieut.- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 593 
 
 general of the kingdom in April, 
 1814. 217. 
 
 Austria, Empress of.—Marie Louise 
 Beatrix of Austria, was born 1787. 
 She was the third wife of the Em¬ 
 peror Francis II. She died 7th of 
 April, 1816. She was the daughter 
 of the Archduke Ferdinand, brother 
 of the Emperor Leopold II., and of 
 Marie Beatrix, daughter of Hercu- 
 les-Renaud d’Este. She was mar¬ 
 ried in 1808. 11. 
 
 Auersberg, Princess of.— This young 
 princess was born Baroness of 
 Lenthe. She married Prince Wil¬ 
 liam, 1810. Pie died 1827. 366. 
 
 Azores (Islands).—They are nine in 
 number, are in the Atlantic, eight 
 hundred miles west of Portugal. 
 The best known is Terceira. The 
 capital is Angra. The population 
 is about 250,000. They are nearly 
 in the latitude of Lisbon. Their 
 manners and customs were exceed- 
 ingly primitive at the beginning of 
 the century. 82. 
 
 Baden, Grand Duke of. —Charles 
 Louis Frederic, was born 1786. 
 Succeeded his grandfather 10th of 
 June, 1811. He married, in 1806, 
 Stephanie de Beauharnais, who was 
 adopted by Napoleon I. He died 
 in 1818. 178. 
 
 Barclay De Tolly, Prince.— Mi¬ 
 chel Barclay de Tolly, 1755-1818, 
 was the son of a Livonian pastor, 
 originally from Scotland. He was 
 wounded at Eylau, and aided in 
 the conquest of Finland, 1808. In 
 1810 he was minister of war. De¬ 
 prived of the supreme command by 
 the Emperor Alexander, he served 
 under Kutusoff, and fought at Mos¬ 
 cow, 1812. In the campaigns of 
 France and Germany he had the 
 control of the Russian army and 
 was made field-marshal. 420. 
 
 Bathurst, Henry, Lord. — 1762- 
 1834. He was Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies, 1809. The Eng¬ 
 lish named two colonial settlements 
 after him—one in Senegambia, 
 
 and one in Australia. He was the 
 bitter enemy of Napoleon, whom 
 he exiled to St. Helena. 298. 
 
 Beauharnais, Prince Eugene de—• 
 1781-1824. Son of the General 
 Alexander de Beauharnais, and the 
 future Empress Josephine. He fol¬ 
 lowed the emperor to Egypt, was 
 made viceroy of Italy, 1805. He 
 married, 1806, Augusta Amelia, 
 daughter of the King of Bavaria. 
 In 1814 he became Prince of Eich- 
 stadt and Duke of Leuchtenberg. 
 One of his sons married Donna Ma¬ 
 ria, Queen of Portugal. Another, 
 the Grand Duchess Marie, daughter 
 of the Emperor Nicholas. His 
 daughter, Amelia, married Dom 
 Pedro, Emperor of Brazil ; another 
 married Oscar I., King of Sweden. 
 His sister was Queen Hortense, 
 wife of Louis Bonaparte, mother of 
 Napoleon III. 447. 
 
 Bentinck, William Charles Caven¬ 
 dish Bentinck—1774-1839. Was 
 a descendant of the celebrated Duke 
 of Portland, friend of William III. 
 At twenty, he was governor of Ma¬ 
 dras. He commanded the English 
 troops in Sicily under the Empire ; 
 he inspired the liberal constitution 
 of the Bourbons, 1812 ; promised 
 the independence of Genoa at his 
 entrance into Italy in conformity 
 with treaty stipulations, which guar¬ 
 anteed that “ a general peace should 
 be signed, and the rights and liberty 
 of every nation should be estab¬ 
 lished.” His promise to the Geno¬ 
 ese was repudiated by Wellington. 
 Pie was afterward governor-general 
 of India. 133. 
 
 Bernadotte, 1764-1844.—Was the 
 son of a zealous republican lawyer, 
 bom at Pau. Was ambassador to 
 Vienna, 1798 ; minister of war 
 under the Republic, 1799. Married 
 Mademoiselle Clary, sister of the 
 wife of Joseph Bonaparte. Through 
 this marriage he was named Mar¬ 
 shal of the Empire, 1804, then adopt¬ 
 ed by Charles XIII., King of Swe¬ 
 den, 1810, he made war upon France 
 
594 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 in 1813 and 1814, and reigned over 
 Sweden after 1*818. He was the 
 grandfather of Oscar II., the reign¬ 
 ing King of Sweden. 44. 
 
 Berry, Duke of.—Second son of the 
 Count of Artois, bom 1778. Emi¬ 
 grated and served in the army of 
 Conde. The Duke and Duchess of 
 
 ’ Angouleme having no children, his 
 heirs were the next heirs to the 
 throne. In 1816 he married the 
 Princess Caroline of Naples, by 
 whom he had a daughter who died 
 Duchess of Parma, and a son the 
 Duke of Bordeaux, born 1820, after 
 the death of his father who was as¬ 
 sassinated by Louvel. 197,217, 290. 
 
 Beugnot, Count.—Jacques Claude 
 Count Beugnot, 1761-1835,was born 
 at Bar-sur-Aube. Lieut.-general of 
 the castle of that city before the 
 Revolution, procurer - general - syn¬ 
 dic of the department of Aube in 
 1790, member of the legislative 
 assembly, 1791. He belonged to 
 the constitutional or religious party, 
 and was imprisoned during the 
 Reign of Terror because of this. 
 He was released on the 9th Thermi- 
 dor, and became privy counselor to 
 Lucien Bonaparte, minister of the 
 interior, prefect of Seine Inferieure, 
 1806, counselor of state, minister 
 of the finances of the kingdom of 
 Westphalia, 1807, and administrator 
 of the grand duchy of Berg, 1808, 
 and, lastly, prefect du Nord, 1813. 
 He was minister of the interior 
 under the Provisional Government, 
 perfect of police and minister of 
 marine under the first Restoration ; 
 he accompanied Louis XVIII. to 
 Gand. He afterward was director 
 general of posts. He resigned his 
 position as deputy in 1824. Count 
 Beugnot is the author of most of the 
 witty sayings attributed to the Count 
 of Artois — Charles X. His son 
 Arthur Beugnot, was Peer of France 
 under Louis Philippe. He wrote a 
 “ History of the Destruction of 
 Paganism in the Occident,” 1832, 
 and was elected member of the 
 
 Academy of Inscriptions. Count 
 Beugnot left very interesting mem¬ 
 oirs. 1S3, 187. 
 
 Bialystock. Town in the ancient 
 kingdom of Poland. Now in Rus¬ 
 sia, about 433 miles south-south¬ 
 west of St. Petersburg. The circle 
 of Bialystock was taken from Prussia 
 and given to Russia by the treaty of 
 Tilsit, 1807. 
 
 Bianchi, Frederic, Baron—Duke of 
 Casalanza, 1768-1855. He was bom 
 at Vienna—the son of a professor of 
 physics. He took part in most of 
 the campaigns from 1788 to 1815. 
 In 1812 he was made lieut. field- 
 marshal. His title of duke was con¬ 
 ferred upon him by Ferdinand I. 
 after his victory over Murat at To- 
 lentino, 1815, which brought about 
 the restoration of the Bourbons to 
 Naples. 366. 
 
 Blacas, M. de — Count, and after¬ 
 ward Duke of Blacas d’Aulps.— 
 Pierre Louis JeanCasimir,i 770-1839. 
 He emigrated, and accompanied 
 Louis XVIII., his future king, in all 
 his wanderings; in 1814he was min¬ 
 ister of the household of the king 
 and created the Egyptian Museum 
 in the Louvre. He accompanied 
 the king to Gand, was named peer 
 in 1815, went to Naples in 1816 to 
 negotiate the marriage of the Duke 
 de Berry with the Princess Caroline 
 of the Two Sicilies, and to Rome in 
 T818 to conclude a concordat which, 
 it is well known, was never executed, 
 121,122. Letter to TaPeyrand, 184. 
 
 Blucher, Gebhardt Leberecht von.— 
 Was born at Rostock, Mecklenburg. 
 He served first in the seven years’ 
 war under Sweden and then entered 
 the Prussian army. Out of service in 
 1772 he enlisted under Frederic II. 
 and distinguished himself in the 
 first and fourth coalition. In 1813 
 he was commander-in-chief of the 
 Prussian armv, and was victorious 
 at Katzbach, Leipsic, atLaRothiere 
 and Montmartre. He entered 
 Paris, March 31. He was already 
 field-marshal and w r as then made 
 
INDEX. 
 
 595 
 
 Prince of Wahlstadt. In 1815 he 
 lost the battle of Ligny, but his un¬ 
 expected arrival at Waterloo (June 
 18) decided the fate of Napoleon. 
 He entered Paris a second time and 
 wished to destroy the Pont de Jena. 
 His soldiers gave him the soubri¬ 
 quet of “ General Forwards.” 420. 
 
 Bombelles, Louis Philippe, Count of, 
 1780-1843.—Son of the Marquis of 
 Bombelles, a diplomat in the Aus¬ 
 trian service. He undertook, in 
 1813, to detach Denmark from the 
 French alliance, and received after¬ 
 ward the embassies of Dresden, 
 Naples, Florence, Lisbon, Turin, 
 and Switzerland. One of his broth¬ 
 ers—1789-1850—was the governor 
 of the Emperor Francis Joseph; 
 another was chamberlain and mas¬ 
 ter of the household at the court 
 of Marie Louise, of Parma. It is 
 possible that this last is the one re¬ 
 ferred to. 482. 
 
 Bonaparte, Caroline.—Third sister 
 of Napoleon. She married, in 1800, 
 General Murat, and, through him, 
 became Grand Duchess of Berg and 
 Queen of Naples. Beautiful and 
 amiable, she often led her husband 
 into mistakes which caused him to 
 play a sad role in the latter part of 
 his life ; but she was gifted with 
 great talent, and fostered the arts. 
 She lived in retirement at Haim- 
 burg, near Vienna, during the Res¬ 
 toration, and, after 1830, in Italy. 
 Born in 1782. Died Countess of 
 Lipona, 1839. 172. 
 
 Bonaparte, Jerome, 1784-1860.— 
 The youngest of the brothers of 
 Napoleon. He entered the French 
 navy ; married at Baltimore a Miss 
 Patterson. This marriage was re¬ 
 pudiated by the emperor. In 1807 
 he was married to the Princess 
 Catherine, daughter of the King of 
 Wurtemberg, and was himself cre¬ 
 ated King of Westphalia. He lost 
 his throne after the battle of Leip- 
 sic. He had a command on the 
 field of Waterloo, where he distin¬ 
 guished himself. He lived, for a 
 
 long time, at Trieste and Florence. 
 He returned to France in 1847; 
 was made marshal of France by 
 his nephew, Louis Napoleon, in 
 1850. For some years he was heir 
 presumptive to the imperial crown. 
 By his first marriage he had issue 
 Jerome-Bonaparte Patterson ; by 
 his second the Prince Napoleon and 
 the Princess Mathilde. 388. 
 
 Bonaparte, Joseph, 1768-1844.— 
 He was the eldest brother of Na¬ 
 poleon. Fie assisted in the con¬ 
 clusion of the Concordat, and in 
 making the treaties of Luneville 
 and Amiens. Was made Grand 
 Elector in 1804 ; King of Naples, 
 1806 ; King of Spain, 1808. 335. 
 
 Bonaparte, Pauline, 1781-1825.—• 
 Sister of Napoleon, renowned for 
 her beauty. She married, 1797, 
 General Le Clerc, and went with 
 him to St. Domingo, where he died. 
 In 1803 she was again married to 
 the Prince Camille Borgliese, from 
 whom she soon separated. She was 
 proclaimed Duchess of Guastalla, 
 in 1806. Her features are repro¬ 
 duced in the Venus of Canova. 388. 
 
 Bormio. —A city of the ancient Lom- 
 bardo-Venetian kingdom, in the Val- 
 teline, near the Adda, about thirty- 
 two miles northeast of Sondrio. 
 Inhabitants number about 2,500. 
 415- 
 
 Bouillon. —At present in Belgium. 
 It is twenty miles from Neufchatel, 
 on the Semoy. Was the principal 
 town of an ancient duchy. God¬ 
 frey of Bouillon sold it to the 
 bishops of Liege. The Seigneurs 
 of La Mark possessed themselves of 
 . it in 1484, and transmitted it to the 
 house of La Tour d’Auvergne. 302. 
 
 Boutiakine, M.—Russian charge 
 d’affaires at Paris during the absence 
 of the ambassador, M. PozzodiBor- 
 go ; detained at Vienna till March 
 1815. 239. 
 
 Breslau. —The capital of Prussian 
 Silesia, on the Oder, 220 miles 
 southeast of Berlin. 
 
 Brignole, M. de.—Belonged to an il- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 lustrious family of Genoa which has 
 produced several Doges. There is 
 a Palace Brignole at Genoa. 11S, 
 130. 133- 
 
 Bruges, Henri Alphonse Viscount of, 
 1764-1820.—Was born in the Com- 
 tat Venaissin. He entered the navy 
 and was lieutenant of his vessel at 
 the Revolution. Pie served in the 
 army of Conde and with Eng¬ 
 lish troops in the Antilles. Louis 
 XVIII. made him marshal of the 
 camp in 1815, and chancellor of 
 the Legion of Honor. He followed 
 the Duke of Angouleme to Spain. 
 After the battle of Waterloo, he 
 was intrusted with the command of 
 the eighth military division. After 
 the dissolution of the chamber his 
 old renown waned. 563. 
 
 Brunn. —The capital of Moravia—at 
 the confluence of the Zwittava and 
 the Schwartzava, about 70 miles 
 northeast of Vienna, 361. 
 
 Bubna. and Littitz, Ferdinand 
 Count, 1768-1825.—Pie was born in 
 Bohemia. He distinguished himself 
 in the wars against the Turks in 
 1789 and 1790, and against France 
 in 1792-97, and became the aide- 
 de-camp of the Archduke Charles. 
 We find him at Austerlitz, at Ess- 
 ling, and at Wagram. He entered 
 France from Switzerland. Angerau 
 defended Lyons against him. In 
 1815 he received a check from 
 Suchet in Savoy. He was govern¬ 
 or of Lombardy in 1821, and died at 
 Milan in 1825. 426. 
 
 Bulow, Louis Frederic Victor Hans 
 von,1774-1825.—Born at Essenroda. 
 near Brunswick, studied at the uni¬ 
 versity of Gottingen and advanced 
 in his administrative career with 
 great rapidity. Minister of finan¬ 
 ces to Jerome Bonaparte, King of 
 Westphalia ; he retired in 1811 and 
 became minister of finance of the 
 kingdom of Prussia, 1813. This 
 he resigned in 1817 to take the 
 portfolio of the minister of com¬ 
 merce. He died governor of Sile¬ 
 sia. 129. 
 
 Burghest, John Paul, Lord.—Born 
 in 1784. He was the son of the 
 Duke of Westmoreland. Lord lieu¬ 
 tenant of Ireland and keeper of the 
 Privy Seal. Afterward himself the 
 eleventh duke of the name, 1841. 
 He served in Spain and also in 
 Portugal under Lord Wellington, 
 whose niece he married. In 1814 we 
 find him at the headquarters of 
 Schwarzenberg. He is the author of 
 several musical compositions, and 
 was also distinguished as a military 
 writer. He published “ The 
 Operations of the Allies in Portu¬ 
 gal ” and “The Opeiations of the 
 Allied Armies in 1814.” On his re¬ 
 turn to England he was named 
 member of the Privy Council, and 
 lieutenant-general in 1838. Un¬ 
 der the Aberdeen ministry he was 
 appointed ambassador to Prussia 
 in 1841. In 1848 he negotiated the 
 serious Schleswig Holstein question. 
 In 1851 he represented England at 
 Vienna,and there he again displayed 
 his sagacity at the conferences of 
 1853 and 1855, on the Eastern 
 question. From that time he with¬ 
 drew from active service. He died 
 in 1859. 373. 
 
 Cambo-Chiaro, Duke of.—He first 
 served as captain in the guard of 
 King Ferdinand IV. of Bourbon, 
 then he attached himself to Joseph 
 Bonaparte, King of Naples. He 
 was minister of police under Joach¬ 
 im Murat, successor of Joseph, and 
 his ambassador to Napoleon, and at 
 the Congress of Vienna. He was 
 for a very short time minister of 
 foreign affairs during the Revolu¬ 
 tion of 1820. 43, 468. 
 
 Capo d’Istria, Jean Antoine, Count. 
 —Born at Corfu in 1776, entered the 
 Russian service, and was intrusted 
 with the organization of the govern¬ 
 ment of the Ionian islands. A re¬ 
 public was formed, of which he was 
 the minister. He executed missions 
 to Turkey, Germany, and Switzer¬ 
 land ; was one of the ministers plen- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 597 
 
 
 ipotentiary of Alexander I. at the 
 Congress of Vienna, and his minis¬ 
 ter for foreign affairs from 1816 to 
 1822. He became chief of the Hel¬ 
 lenic Republic, and was assassinat¬ 
 ed Oct. 9, 1831. 180, 234. 
 
 Caraman, Duke of.—Victor Charles 
 Louis de Riquet, Duke of Caraman, 
 1762-1839. Lieut.-general, peer of 
 France, was ambassador to Berlin 
 1814, to Vienna in 1815 ; was a 
 member of the Congress of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, of Troppau, of Laybach, 
 and of Verona, and took part in the 
 first expedition of Constantine in 
 1836. He descended from the Ri¬ 
 quet who built the Canal du Midi. 
 129. 
 
 Carinthia. —A province of Austria. 
 Its capital is Klagenfurt. The cir¬ 
 cle of Villach, which is one of its 
 departments, belonged to France 
 from 1809 to 1814. 366. 
 
 Carlos, Don—Brother of Ferdinand 
 VII., 1788-1855. Was chief of the 
 Carlists in Spain. 290. 
 
 Caroline, The Princess.—Caroline 
 Amelie Elizabeth of Brunswick, 
 1768-1821. She married the Prince 
 of Wales, eldest son of George III. 
 He was regent from 1810 until the 
 death of his father, 1820, when he 
 was crowned king. She was a 
 daughter of the sister of George 
 III. and, consequently, cousin-ger¬ 
 man to her husband. The Prince 
 of Wales, forced to abandon Madam 
 Fitzherbert in order to marry the 
 princess, never forgave her. After 
 the birth of a daughter, the Princess 
 Charlotte, first wife of Leopold, af¬ 
 terward King of the Belgians, they 
 lived apart. In spite of what was 
 termed a “Delicate Investigation,” 
 conducted by the House of Lords, 
 and brought about by the Prince of 
 Wales as a prelude to a suit for di¬ 
 vorce on the ground of adultery, not 
 a shadow of proof could be discov¬ 
 ered. In 1814, in order to escape 
 from her intolerable situation, the 
 princess went to the continent, 
 where she remained till 1820, when 
 
 her husband came to the throne. 
 She then returned to England and 
 asserted her right as queen. She 
 landed at Dover, and went up to 
 London in triumph. In spite of her 
 popularity the king introduced a bill 
 for divorce in the House of Lords. 
 He was compelled to withdraw it. 
 The Commons voted Caroline an 
 annuity of fifty thousand pounds 
 sterling. But her name was not re¬ 
 stored in the public prayers, and she 
 was brutally driven from Westmin¬ 
 ster Abbey when she presented her¬ 
 self there at the coronation of the 
 king. She died Aug. 7, 1821, aged 
 fifty-three. I. 
 
 Casaflores, Don Juan Antonio Flo¬ 
 rez, Count of.—Born in Mexico in 
 1760, he entered the military ser¬ 
 vice and was at the siege of Sara¬ 
 gossa with the rank of major-gen¬ 
 eral of cavalry. He was a French 
 prisoner until 1814. He was then 
 made lieut-general and charged with 
 the duty of returning the Spanish 
 prisoners to their own country. 
 Then he was appointed charge 
 d’affaires for Spain at the court of 
 Louis XVIII., while waiting the 
 coming of the Count of Peralada, 
 the titular ambassador, who was 
 minister plenipotentiary to the 
 King of Portugal. A refugee in 
 Brazil from 1816 to 1822. For a 
 short period he was ambassador to 
 Vienna. Then he was sent to Por¬ 
 tugal with the same powers. He 
 retired from the service in 1827,. and 
 died at Madrid 1833. 97, 257. 
 
 Castlereagh, Viscount. — Robert 
 Stewart, Marquis of Londonderry 
 and Viscount Castlereagh, was born 
 in 1769, county Down, Ireland. 
 He was a celebrated English states¬ 
 man, a member of the Irish Privy 
 Council, and rendered himself 
 odious to his countrymen. He be¬ 
 came minister 1811, and controlled 
 the policy of England for a long 
 period. He committed suicide Aug. 
 22, 1822. 8, 11, I2etseq., 29,30, 
 
 33 et seq., 47, 48, 56, 58 et seq., 
 
598 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 72, 77, 89 et seq., 103 et seq., ill, 
 112, 114, 118, 121, 126, 128, 130, 
 133 , 150, 152 , 154 , 160 et seq., 165 
 et seq., 173, * 79 , l8o > i 8 4 , X 9 X et 
 seq., 220, 241, 228, 323, 331. 
 
 Catherine, Queen. — The Grand 
 Duchess Catherine Paulowna, sister 
 of Alexander I., born 1788. She 
 married first Pierre Frederic George, 
 Prince of Holstein-Oldenburg, head 
 of the younger branch. Second, 
 William I., King of Wurtemberg. 
 She died in 1819. 288. 
 
 Caulaincourt, Armand Augustin 
 Louis, Marquis of.—Was born in 
 Paris and followed the profession of 
 arms. He was sent to St. Peters¬ 
 burg when Alexander I. was 
 crowned. On his return he was 
 made aide-de-camp to Napoleon 
 the First ; consul and grand ecuy- 
 er to the emperor, 1804 ; general 
 of division and duke of Vicenza, 
 1805. Appointed ambassador a 
 second time to St. Petersburg, 1807. 
 He was greatly esteemed by the Em¬ 
 peror of Russia, and accompanied 
 him to the interview at Erfurt, 
 1808. He was recalled ini8ii, made 
 the Russian campaign, returned 
 with Napoleon to Paris, and became 
 senator and minister of foreign af¬ 
 fairs. He represented France at 
 the conferences of Prague, Frank¬ 
 fort and Chatillon. He was re-ap¬ 
 pointed minister of foreign affairs 
 during the Hundred Days. His 
 younger brother, a general of div¬ 
 ision, was killed at the battle of 
 Moscow. 323, 417. 
 
 Cesena. —An ancient city of the 
 States of the Church, about 12 
 miles southeast of Forli, a bishop¬ 
 ric, the birthplace of Popes Pius 
 VI. and VII. 114. 
 
 Cevallos, M. de—1784-1838. Pe¬ 
 dro Cevallos espoused the niece of 
 Godoy, Prince of La Paix. Made 
 minister of foreign affairs by 
 Charles IV.,he took part in the con¬ 
 ferences of Bayonne. He retired to 
 London on the approach of the 
 French in 1808, and published his 
 
 famous Memoir on the Affairs of 
 Spain. He was disgraced for wish¬ 
 ing to prevent the marriage of Fer¬ 
 dinand VII. with Isabella of Portu¬ 
 gal. Was sent as ambassador to 
 Naples and then to Vienna. 216, 
 257 - 
 
 Chatillon-sur-Seine. —A little city 
 in the department of the Cote d’Or, 
 about 53 miles northwest of Dijon; 
 has about 4,600 inhabitants ; the 
 native place of Marmont. The Con¬ 
 gress of Chatillon was held from the 
 4th of Feb. to the 19th of March, 
 1814. France was represented by 
 Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza ; 
 Austria by Count Stadion ; Russia 
 by Count Razoumowski ; Great 
 Britain by Lords Aberdeen and 
 Cathcart and Sir Charles Stewart ; 
 Prussia by Baron von Humboldt. 
 161. 
 
 Chaumont. —The capital of Haute- 
 Marne, 170 miles southwest of Paris. 
 The treaty of Chaumont was signed 
 March I, 1814. 26, 341, 344. 
 
 Chiavenna. —An ancient Lombardo- 
 Venetian city on the Maira, at the 
 foot of the Splitgen, 20 miles north¬ 
 west of Sondrio. It has 4,000 in¬ 
 habitants. 415. 
 
 Clancarty, Lord. —Richard Power 
 Trench, Earl of Clancarty, born 
 1767 ; succeeded his father the first 
 earl in 1805. He died 1837. 22 r, 
 232, 473 et seq. 
 
 Colloredo-Mansfeld, Jerome de— 
 i 775~ i 8 22. He cut off Vandamme 
 near Kulm, in 1813. vVas governor 
 of Bohemia. 366. 
 
 Constantine, The Grand Duke.— 
 Second son of Paul I., brother of 
 Alexander I., was born 1779. Re- 
 nounced his right to the succession 
 on his marriage with a Polish 
 woman ; was viceroy of Poland ; 
 died of cholera in 1831. He made 
 the campaign of Italy under Su- 
 warrow, and that of Austerlitz un¬ 
 der Benningsen. 119, 128. 
 
 Cooke, Edward. —Was instrumen¬ 
 tal in uniting the parliaments of 
 England and Ireland, 1800; was 
 
INDEX. 
 
 599 
 
 secretary of state of the interior, 
 and of foreign affairs. He accom¬ 
 panied Lord Castlereagh to Vien¬ 
 na. Retired from public life 1817. 
 Died 1820. 219. 
 
 Czartorisky, Prince Adam Casi- 
 mir, 1770-1861.—Son of Adam Ca- 
 simir, who, at the death of August 
 
 111., King of Poland, was a candi¬ 
 date for the vacant throne, but, 
 through the influence of Catherine 
 
 11., he was set aside in favor of 
 Stanislaus Poniatowsky. Was sent 
 as hostage to St. Petersburg, after 
 the partition of Poland. Was 
 greatly esteemed by Alexander I., 
 who made him his minister for 
 foreign affairs, 1801-1805. Ac¬ 
 companied him to Austerlitz and 
 Tilsit. In 1815 he was made, like 
 his father, senator-palatine of Po¬ 
 land, and curator of the university 
 of Wilna. He retired from public 
 life 1821. The Polish Revolution 
 made him president of the Pro¬ 
 visional Government of the 30th 
 Jan. to the 15th of Aug., 1831. 
 Then he retired to Paris. He 
 married the Princess Anne Sapieha, 
 in 1817 ; died 1864, leaving two 
 sons :—Witold, died 1865; and Lad- 
 islas, who married, first, in 1855, a 
 daughter of Queen Christina of 
 Spain and the Duke of Rianzaris ; 
 second, the Princess Marguerite, of 
 Orleans, daughter of the Duke of 
 Nemours. 9, 11, 25, 127, 180, 194, 
 201, 206, 233. 
 
 Dalberg, Duke of,—Son of a bro¬ 
 ther of the Primate and Arch-Chan¬ 
 cellor of the same name. The 
 Duke of Dalberg, 1773-1833, was 
 member of the Provisional Govern¬ 
 ment after the downfall of Napo¬ 
 leon, and plenipotentiary to the 
 Congress of Vienna. He was re¬ 
 lated to M. de Stadion. 64, 105, 
 114, 169, 232. 
 
 Dambray, Chancellor Charles Hen¬ 
 ry, Viscount Dambray, 1760-1829. 
 —Born at Rouen. Was cousin to 
 Hue de Miromesnil, advocate-gen¬ 
 
 eral of the Court of Aides and of 
 the Parliament of Paris, 1788. 
 Dambray did not emigrate. As sim¬ 
 ple justice of the peace and mem¬ 
 ber of the council-general of his 
 department, his correspondence 
 with the Bourbons was never inter¬ 
 rupted. He became chancellor of 
 France in 1814, president of the 
 Chamber of Peers, and minister of 
 justice. He accompanied Louis 
 XVIII. to Gand, and presided at 
 the trial of Marshal Ney. He was 
 the son-in-law to Barentin, keeper 
 of the seals in 1789, who died in 
 1819, and who was made honorary 
 chancellor by Louis XVIII. 496. 
 
 Damour. An employe of the Cipher 
 Office previous to 1804. Promoted 
 to the service of the minister whom 
 he accompanied to Milan, to Ger¬ 
 many, to Venice, 1807-8, with the 
 title of deputy-chief of the Cipher 
 Office at the Congress of Vienna ; 
 editing clerk of the Division du 
 Nord, in 1815 ; chief of the Cipher 
 Office in 1825. 275. 
 
 Deux Ponts (Zweibrticken), Count of 
 the Empire.—This title belongs to 
 the house of Wittelsbach. The kings 
 of Sweden, Charles X., Charles XI. 
 and Charles XII., were Counts of 
 Deux Ponts. It passed, in the succes¬ 
 sion, to the Birkenfeld branch. Un¬ 
 der the Republic and the Empire it 
 formed a part of the department of 
 Mont Tonnere. In 1814, Bavaria 
 seized the larger part of this ancient 
 principality. Saxe-Coburg and 
 Hesse-Homburg had some parcels, 
 and Oldenburg had Birkenfeld. 
 228. 
 
 Dijeon, Alexandre Elizabeth Michel, 
 1771-1826.—Was born 26th June at 
 Paris. He was a volunteer in the 
 National Guard of Paris, 13th July, 
 1789, and second lieutenant in 1792; 
 charged with a mission by the re¬ 
 presentatives of the people to the 
 ports and cities of Brest and Lorient 
 in December, 1793 ; general of 
 brigade in 1807 ; general of di- 
 1 vision in 1813 ; inspector-general 
 
6 oo 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 of cavalry, 1814-1815 ; honorary 
 aide-de-camp to Monseiur ; Peer of 
 France 5th March, 1819 ; minister 
 of state and member of the Privy 
 Council, 1823. He commanded 
 the Army of Occupation in Spain 
 in 1824; aide-de-camp of the king 
 in November, 1824; he was baron 
 of the empire from the 17th March, 
 1808 ; viscount from the restora¬ 
 tion of the 2d May, 1816. The 
 name of General Dijeon is inscribed 
 on the south side of the Arc de 
 Triomphe de l’Etoile. 
 
 Dresden, the capital of Saxony ; 
 on the Elbe, about 105 miles south¬ 
 east of Berlin. 277. 
 
 Duka, Pierre, Baron.—Chevalier of 
 the Order of Maria Theresa ; born 
 at Eszek in 1756 ; died at Vienna, 
 1822. He entered the army a cadet, 
 from the School of Engineers, in 
 1776 ; was appointed chief master 
 of the household ; colonel in 1791 ; 
 general-commandant of the Ban- 
 nat in 1805 ; member of the Coun¬ 
 cil of State, 1815. A bitter adver¬ 
 sary of all reform. 113. 
 
 Dupont, General, Count, 1765-1840. 
 —Rendered himself illustrious at 
 Austerlitz ; but he had signed the 
 capitulation of Baylen, in Spain, 
 July, 1808, and had been con¬ 
 demned to prison by a council of 
 war. He re-established the Order 
 of St. Louis, 16th May, 1814 ; and 
 the titles, which had fallen into dis¬ 
 use at the time of the Revolution, 
 of Marshal of the Camp and Lieut. - 
 General. He had the flags blessed 
 when on the march. He was super¬ 
 seded by Marshal Soult, 3d Decem¬ 
 ber, 1814. 184, 186, 290. 
 
 Einsiedel, Count von Dettler. — 
 Was of a very ancient and noble 
 Saxon family, 1773-1861 ; was born 
 at Wolkenburg. After having com¬ 
 manded the Circle of Meissen he 
 was raised to the post of Secretary 
 of State for the Interior. In October, 
 1813, he accompanied the King of 
 Saxony to Leipsic, and then to Ber¬ 
 
 lin and Presburg. He had charge 
 of the negotiations during the Con¬ 
 gress of Vienna. His fame in¬ 
 creased still more under Antoine I., 
 the successor of Frederic Augustus 
 III. His opposition to all reform 
 made him very unpopular, and the 
 troubles of September, 1830, com¬ 
 pelled his retirement. 381. 
 
 Elba, The Island of.—Has about 
 500 square miles. It is opposite 
 Piombino, of which it was a de¬ 
 pendency under Napoleon. It has 
 18,000 inhabitants. The towns are 
 Porto-Ferrajo and Porto-Longone ; 
 its mines are famous. Napoleon 
 executed several public works dur¬ 
 ing his short rule there. 48. 
 
 Erfurt. —This city was ceded by 
 Mayence to Prussia ; was governed 
 by French law after the battle of 
 Jena. The celebrated interview 
 between Napoleon and Alexander 
 I. took place at Erfurt, 1808. 
 Prussia re-took it in 1813, and re¬ 
 tains it. 277. 
 
 Esterhazy, The Princess Marie 
 Josephine Hermenegilde Esterhazy 
 de Galantha.—Daughter of Prince 
 Lichtenstein ; was born 1768 ; mar¬ 
 ried Nicholas Esterhazy, general, 
 field-marshal of Austrian artillery. 
 See Lichtenstein. 
 
 Etruria, The Queen of—Marie 
 Louise, 1782-1824. Daughter of 
 Charles IV. of Spain, Duchess of 
 Parma, and afterward Queen of 
 Etruria. Widowed 27th May, 1803. 
 Finally Duchess of Lucca in 1815. 
 She had a powerful friend at Vien¬ 
 na named Goupil. 118. 
 
 Etruria, The King of—Louis II., 
 son of Louis I., and Marie Louise 
 of Bourbon d’Espagne, King of 
 Etruria. He succeeded his fathei 
 the 27th May, 1803, and reigned till 
 the 10th December, 1807. He was 
 afterward Duke of Lucca, 1824, and 
 at the death of Marie Louise of 
 Austria became Duke of Parma— 
 he abdicated, 1849. 177. 
 
 Farnese, Elizabeth.—Niece of the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 601 
 
 last two Dukes of Parma. She 
 married, 1714, Philip V., King of 
 Spain. His first wife was a Princ¬ 
 ess of Savoy. She disgraced Madame 
 des Ursins and placed the direction 
 of the affairs of Spain in the hands 
 of Cardinal Alberoni. At the death 
 of Duke Antoine of Parma, 173T, 
 the State of Parma was by the treaty 
 of Vienna given to her eldest son, 
 Don Carlos, afterward Charles III. 
 Parma belonged to Austria from 
 1 735 to 1748, but was given by the 
 treaty of Aix la Chapelle, 1748, to 
 Don Philip, second son of Elizabeth 
 Farnese and ancestor of the Bour¬ 
 bons of Parma. 358. 
 
 Fauche-Borel, Louis.—Born 1762, 
 died 1829, belonged to a French 
 Protestant family which emigrated 
 after the revocation of the edict of 
 Nantes. But he was none the less 
 an ardent loyalist, was persecuted 
 for having been the first to publish 
 the testament of Louis XVI., was 
 intrusted with several missions by 
 the Comte de Provence; he conspir¬ 
 ed with Pichegru and was arrested 
 at Strasburg, released and estab¬ 
 lished himself at Berlin. At the 
 first Restoration he became the ob¬ 
 ject of the jealousy and distrust of 
 the Comte de Blacas, who caused 
 him to be arrested by the police at 
 Gand. At the second Restoration, 
 in which he took part, he published 
 his memoirs. Ennobled and made 
 counselor of the embassy by Fred¬ 
 erick William III., he received only 
 a very small pension from the 
 Bourbons. He committed suicide. 
 448. 
 
 Ferdinand VII., 1784-1833.—Son 
 of Charles IV. Proclaimed King 
 of Spain at Aranjuez the 19 March, 
 1809. Resided at Valencay, an es¬ 
 tate of M. de Talleyrand, 1808- 
 1813. King from 1814 to 1833. 
 On his return to power he instituted 
 a special decoration called “ Fidel¬ 
 ity to Valencay.” 547. 
 
 Ferdinand I. or IV, King of the 
 Two Sicilies.—Was born 1751, died 
 
 1825. Succeeded his father, Char¬ 
 les VII., 1759, who had become 
 King of Spain ; was twice driven 
 from Naples, first by the French 
 Republic, 1798, and then by Napo¬ 
 leon in 1806. He fled to Sicily 
 where he remained till 1815, till the 
 overthrow of Joachim Murat, King 
 of Naples, ill, 547. 
 
 Filangieri, General Charles.—Son 
 of the celebrated Italian publicist 
 of the eighteenth century ; born at 
 Naples, 1785. He was wounded at 
 the passage of the Po in 1815. He 
 became the favorite of the Neapoli¬ 
 tan Bourbons ; bombarded and 
 ruined Messina in the revolt of 1848. 
 He reduced all Sicily and received 
 the title of Duke of Taormina, 1849. 
 154- 
 
 Flahaut de la Billarderie, 
 Auguste Charles, Count.—Was born 
 17S5 ; was the son of a general 
 officer ; was aide-de-camp to Mur¬ 
 at, to Berthier, and to Napoleon. 
 He fought in Portugal, Germany, 
 and Russia. Was general of divi¬ 
 sion, 1814. Through the influence 
 of Talleyrand he was stricken from 
 the list of emigrants. He was peer 
 of France under the regime of July. 
 Ambassador to Vienna and chan¬ 
 cellor of the order of the Legion of 
 Honor, 1864. 447. 
 
 Formont, De.—Clerk of the Cipher 
 Office and of the Chancellerie, 1809; 
 chief adjoint of the Cipher Office, 
 September, 1815 ; vice-consul to 
 Bucharest, December, 1815; consul 
 to Cagliari, 10th December, 1817 ; 
 consul to Leghorn, 25th September, 
 1830; consul-general to Leghorn, 
 5th May, 1836 ; was retired 14th 
 August, 1840. 275. 
 
 Francis, Emperor.—Francis II., of 
 Germany, Francis I., of Austria, 
 1768-1835. Succeeded his father, 
 Emperor Leopold IT., March, 1792. 
 He was the father-in-law of Na¬ 
 poleon I. 4, 93, 100, 101, 233. 
 
 Frederic August III., 1750-1827.— 
 Elector of Saxony, 1763 ; King in 
 1806 ; Grand Duke of Warsaw 
 
6 o 2 
 
 index: 
 
 1807. Faithful to France and Na¬ 
 poleon I. ; he was treated as a pris¬ 
 oner of war in 1813, and feared the 
 loss of all his territories ; he found 
 a zealous defender in Louis XVIII., 
 who was born of a Saxon princess, 
 and was his first cousin. 3, 5, 38, 
 
 48, 141, 157. 
 
 Frederic William III., 1770-1840. 
 —Succeeded his brother Frederic 
 William II. in 1797 ; was the 
 father of Frederic William IV. 
 1840-1861, and of the present 
 William I., King of Prussia, Em¬ 
 peror of Germany. 4. 
 
 Frimont, Jean, Baron, 1750-1831. 
 —Was a native of Lorraine ; emi¬ 
 grated in 1791, and entered the Aus¬ 
 trian service. From 1813 to 1814 
 he commanded the cavalry of the 
 Allies. In 1814* he planned the 
 campaign against Murat. Crushed 
 the insurrection in the Kingdom 
 of Naples, 1821, and received the 
 governorship-general of Lombardy. 
 366. 
 
 Fulda, Principality of.—The an¬ 
 cient principality and abbey of 
 Fulda was secularized and erected 
 into a Duchy in 1803, and its titu¬ 
 lar chiefs were the Prince of Or¬ 
 ange - Nassau, and the Grand 
 Duke of Frankfort, 1806. Prussia 
 acquired it by the treaty of 1815, 
 and ceded it to the elector of Hesse, 
 excepting the bailiwick of Saal 
 Munster which was apportioned to 
 Bavaria. 300. 
 
 Gabel. (Iablona).— A fortified Bo¬ 
 hemian city on the Jungferbach, 
 26 miles from Jung-Bunzlau. 210. 
 
 Gentz, Frederic von.—A celebrated 
 pyiblicist, born at Breslau in Silesia ; 
 died 1832. He was a great enemy 
 to the French Revolution, and wrote 
 the manifestos of the coalitions 
 against France in 1806, 1809, 1813, 
 and was the secretary of the con¬ 
 ferences of Vienna in 1814 and 
 1815 ; he prepared also, in part at 
 least, the text of the Holy Alliance. 
 He is the author of the “ European 
 
 Equilibrium System,” Riga, 1806. 
 13, 24, 34, 35, 41 et seq., 46, 114. 
 
 George III., 1738-1820.—King of 
 England 1760 ; Elector and then 
 King of Hanover, reigning in 
 spite of frequent mental distur¬ 
 bances until 1810, when he sunk 
 into imbecility. His son, the cel¬ 
 ebrated Prince Regent, afterward 
 George IV., governed in his name 
 after that date. In spite of his 
 weakness of mind and the loss of 
 the American colonies, his reign 
 was one of the most brilliant epochs 
 in English history. 226, 250. 
 
 Glatz.—A village in Prussian Silesia, 
 50 miles southwest of Breslau; 
 9,000 inhabitants. 167. 
 
 Glogau. (Gross-Glogau).—A Prussian 
 village, about 37 miles north of 
 Liegnitz. 15,500 inhabitants. 482. 
 
 Gouey, Jean Baptiste de, Comte de 
 La Besnardiere.—Born in 1765, 
 near Coutances; died 1843. He 
 belonged to the congregation of 
 Oratorians. After the dispersion 
 of his order, he became a clerk in 
 the department of foreign affairs, 
 1796, then deputy chief of the con¬ 
 sular bureau, 1797, and director of 
 the First Political Division, 1807. 
 He went to Russia, took part in the 
 congress of Chatillon, and in that 
 of Vienna, to which he accom¬ 
 panied Talleyrand. He was cre¬ 
 ated count in 1815 ; he was 
 counselor of state extraordinary, 
 and had charge of the direction of 
 public works and of foreign affairs 
 until 1830. 515. 
 
 Gowin, Joseph Auguste, Baron Stas- 
 sart, 1780-1854.—Born at Malines ; 
 studied law at Paris, was made 
 auditor to the council of state 
 1804; was intendant of the Tyrol 
 1805, and exercised similar func¬ 
 tions in Eastern Prussia, and at 
 Berlin, replacing Bignon 1808. 
 Returning to France he was ap¬ 
 pointed sub-prefet of Orange, 
 prefet of Vaucluse 1809, and of 
 Bouches de la Meuse 1811. This 
 department having fallen into the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 603 
 
 hands of the Allies, he came to 
 Paris, and was made officer of ord¬ 
 nance to King Joseph. After¬ 
 ward he betook himself to Aus¬ 
 tria, and became the chamber- 
 lain of the Emperor Francis. He 
 returned to Belgium in February, 
 1815. When Napoleon was at 
 Elba he hastened to offer his ser¬ 
 vices to him. Napoleon dispatched 
 him to the Emperor of Austria in 
 April, with full powers to nego¬ 
 tiate a peace, but he was not able 
 to get beyond Lintz. Returning to 
 Paris, he was made master of pe¬ 
 titions to the council of state. 497. 
 
 Gratz. —A town in Styria on the 
 Muhr, 120 miles southwest of Vi¬ 
 enna. 119, 385. 
 
 Grisons les (Graubunden), former¬ 
 ly part of a Confederation called the 
 Gray Leaguers—was admitted to 
 the Helvetic Confederation in 1798. 
 The canton has 90,000 inhabitants ; 
 its chief town is Chur. 334. 
 
 Guastalla. —An Italian city on the 
 Po, 18 miles northeast of Parma; 
 inhabitants, 6,000. The duchy of 
 Guastalla was given to Pauline Bor- 
 ghese. It was set off to Marie 
 Louise in 1815, together with Par¬ 
 ma, and at her death was ceded to 
 the Duke of Modena, 1847. 41. 
 
 Gustafson, Colonel—formerly King 
 of Sweden, 1778-1837. Under the 
 title of Gustave IV. he reigned from 
 1792 to 1809, when he was replaced 
 by his uncle Charles XIII. While 
 in exile he was known as Col. Gus¬ 
 tafson. 81. 
 
 Hardenberg, Prince Charles Au¬ 
 guste—born at Essenroda, in Han¬ 
 over, in 1750, died 1822. In the 
 service of Prussia he negotiated the 
 treaty of Basle (1795), and replaced 
 Llaugw^tz as minister of foreign 
 affairs, 1804. Was recalled after 
 the Treaty of Tilsit, 1807. In 1810, 
 was created chancellor of state, and 
 brought about a new administrative 
 organization for Prussia. The title 
 of Prince was conferred upon him 
 
 in 1814. 13, 26, 40, 116, 127, 153, 
 168, 178, 209, 218, 234. 
 
 Hawkesbury, Robert Banko Jen- 
 kinson, Baron—Earl of Liverpool, 
 1770-1828, son of the minister of 
 the same name. He held the of¬ 
 fice of first lord of the treasury in 
 1812, in the cabinet of which Cas- 
 tlereagh and Bathurst were mem¬ 
 bers. 488. 
 
 Heilbronn. —City in Wiirtemberg 
 on the Neckar, 32 miles north of 
 Stuttgart. 498. 
 
 Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duke of, 
 —Louis I, 1755-1830, Landgrave 
 of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1790 ; grand 
 duke, 1806 ; was a zealous patron 
 of the arts. 314. 
 
 Humboldt, William von—brother 
 of Alex. Humboldt ; born at Pots¬ 
 dam, 1767, died 1835. Was coun¬ 
 cilor of state ; organized the Berlin 
 University, 1810; was minister 
 plenipotentiary to Vienna ; eminent 
 philologist; author of a study of 
 the Basque language. 13, 28, 41. 
 
 Isabey, Jean Baptiste — Painter, 
 1767-1855, born at Nancy. Mira- 
 beau induced him to devote him¬ 
 self to miniature. He became an 
 inmate of the home of the first con¬ 
 sul, and painted for him his cele¬ 
 brated picture, “ General Bonaparte 
 at Malmaison.” Lie was drawing- 
 master to Marie Louise. Talleyrand 
 suggested to him the idea of paint¬ 
 ing the portraits of the members of 
 the Congress of Vienna. 275. 
 
 Jacobi-Kloest, Constant Philippi 
 Wilhelm.—Born 1745. Was first 
 private secretary to Baron Rohe. 
 Secretary to the Prussian em¬ 
 bassy at Vienna ; then secretary of 
 legation, resident at Vienna. In 
 1788 he was created baron, and 
 made ambassador to Vienna, 1790. 
 In 1792 he was sent to London, 
 where he remained till 1816. Dur¬ 
 ing that period he was minister 
 plenipotentiary at Rastadt, and was 
 often called to Prussia by the course 
 
604 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 of events. Died at Dresden ioth 
 July, 1816. 46, 51. 
 
 Jaucourt, Arnail Fran5ois, Mar¬ 
 quis of.—Born at Paris, 1757 ; died 
 1852. Was deputy in the legisla¬ 
 tive assembly, 1791. President of 
 the tribunal, 1802 ; senator, 1803. 
 Member of the provisional govern¬ 
 ment at the fall of Napoleon I., 
 1814. Director of the department 
 of foreign affairs during the sojourn 
 of Talleyrand at Vienna. Accom¬ 
 panied Louis XVIII. to Gand, and 
 was for a short period minister of 
 the marine, after the Hundred Days. 
 The Marquis of Jaucourt was a de¬ 
 voted Protestant. II, 27, 48, 52, 
 97, 197, 217, 225, 238. 
 
 Jean (John), the Archduke, 1782- 
 1859. —Son of Leopold II. At 
 eighteen he was at the head of the 
 Austrian army in the campaign of 
 Hohenlinden. He served in 1805, 
 and fought Prince Eugene, but suf¬ 
 fered severe checks toward the end 
 of this campaign. In 1814 he was 
 in disgrace, and did not return to 
 active service until 1848. 49. 
 
 Jermanowski. — This colonel, or 
 rather major, signed after Cam- 
 bronne, together with captains Basi- 
 lewsky and Seale, the appeal to the 
 French soldiers, dated from the Gulf 
 of Jouan, 1st March, 1815, which 
 began thus: “We have preserved 
 your Emperor for you.” See the 
 “ Moniteur Universelle, ” 21st 
 March, 1815. 398. 
 
 Jouan, Gulf of.—Is separated on 
 the east by a peninsula from the 
 harbor of Antibes ; and from the 
 Gulf of Napoule on the west, by 
 Cape Croisette. Napoleon landed 
 here on the 1st March, 1815. 371, 
 
 382. 
 
 Kalisch. —The chief city of the 
 Woivodie of that name, situated on 
 the Prosna, 150 miles west-south¬ 
 west of Warsaw. The Emperor of 
 Russia and the King of Prussia 
 signed a treaty of alliance against 
 Napoleon there, 1813. 344. 
 
 Kaunitz, Wenceslas Antoine, Prince 
 von, 1711-1794.—Minister of Ma¬ 
 ria Theresa, of Joseph II., and 
 Leopold II. of Austria. He is fa¬ 
 mous for having obtained from 
 Louis XV., through Madame Pom¬ 
 padour, the shameful treaty made 
 public in 1756. He drove the Jesu¬ 
 its from Austria, andw r asan enthu¬ 
 siastic admirer of Voltaire and Rous¬ 
 seau. His great influence over 
 foreign powers obtained for him 
 the appellation of the “ Driver of 
 Europe.” 271, 367. 
 
 Knesebeck, Frederic, Baron von, 
 1768-1848.—Born at Carwe, near 
 New-Ruppin, Brandenburg, he be¬ 
 gan his military career under Fer¬ 
 dinand of Brunswick. Vanquished 
 at Valmy and at Auerstaedt, he 
 joined Scharnhorst. He had a large 
 share in the reorganization of the 
 Prussian army, and especially dis¬ 
 tinguished himself at Bautzen. At 
 that time he was first aide-de-camp 
 to the king. He formed the plan 
 of the campaigns of 1813 and 1814. 
 He was made general field marshal. 
 In 1831 he commanded the army of 
 observation during the insurrection 
 of Poland against Russia. A poet, 
 he is author of a popular song en¬ 
 titled “ Praise of War,” 1S05. 412. 
 
 Koenigstein. City and fortress in 
 the kingdom of Saxony, on the left 
 bank of the Elbe, on the summit of 
 a steep rock. 342, 344. 
 
 Krasinski, Count Vincent, 1782- 
 1858.—Commander of cavalry in 
 the Polish Guard under Napoleon. 
 After the death of Poniatowski, he 
 brought the remnant of this legion 
 back to Poland. He was member 
 of the council of state at Warsaw. 
 His son, Napoleon Sigismund, 
 made himself known as a Polish 
 poet. 328. m 
 
 Krudener, Herr von.—Son of the 
 celebrated baroness of that name, 
 was born in 1784. He was minis¬ 
 ter of Russia to the Swiss Confed¬ 
 eration. He is celebrated for his 
 duel with the young Mursiana at 
 
INDEX. 
 
 605 
 
 Berlin, whom he had the misfortune 
 to kill. 384. 
 
 Krukowiecki, General, 1770-1850.— 
 Was destined to play a distinguished 
 part in the Polish insurrection of 
 1831. When General Schyzynecki 
 was removed, and the insurrection¬ 
 al government overthrown, on the 
 night of the 15th of August, Gen¬ 
 eral Krukowiecki received the title 
 of President, and responsible minis¬ 
 ters were appointed to assist him. 
 Field-marshal Paskiewitch would 
 treat only with him at the surrender 
 of Warsaw, after a frightful bom¬ 
 bardment, 8th September. He was 
 exiled, but was very soon permitted 
 to return to Warsaw, where he died. 
 399- 
 
 Labrador, Marquis de. — Pedro 
 Gomez Havela, Marquis of Labra¬ 
 dor, was born at Valencia d’Alcan- 
 tara, Estramadura, and died at Paris 
 1850. Former minister of the King 
 of Spain, Charles IV., at Florence ; 
 he accompanied Ferdinand VII. to 
 Bayonne, and remained in France 
 till 1814 ; was the ambassador of 
 Spain to the Congress of Vienna, 
 then at Naples and, lastly, at Rome. 
 He adhered to Don Carlos, and 
 ended his career in France. He 
 negotiated the marriage of the king 
 with Marie Christine of the Two 
 Sicilies, mother of ex-Queen Isa¬ 
 bella. M. de Labrador published 
 “ Melanges sur sa Vie publique et 
 Prive'e,” Paris, 1849. 12, 31, 68, 
 
 216, 257. 
 
 La Harpe. Frederic Ce’sar.—Born 
 at Rolle, Canton Vaud, 1754, went 
 to St. Petersburg 1782 ; became the 
 preceptor of the future Emperor, 
 Alexander I. ; returned to Switzer¬ 
 land 1795 ; was a director of the 
 Helvetian Republic, 1798; expatri¬ 
 ated himself anew in 1800. In 
 1814, thanks to the favor of his old 
 pupil, he succeeded in making the 
 Canton Vaud independent of the 
 Canton of Berne. He died 1838. 3, 
 9> 2 5- 
 
 Laon. —Chief city of the Department 
 of l’Aisne, about 85 miles northeast 
 of Paris ; it has 8,114 inhabitants. 
 Napoleon struggled in vain here 
 against, Bliicher on the 9th and 10th 
 of March, 1814, unable to execute 
 his plans through the failure of his 
 lieutenants. 26. 
 
 Lausitz. —In ancient times there were 
 two independent markgraviates— 
 Upper and Lower Lausitz. In 1815 
 Prussia received Lower Lausitz, and 
 it is now a part of Brandenburg ; 
 one of the principal towns is Kott¬ 
 bus. A part of Upper Lausitz was 
 incorporated with Silesia, Goerlitz, 
 etc. ; the remainder belongs to Sax¬ 
 ony. 142. 
 
 Lefebeure, Joseph von Reichen- 
 berg.—Came to Paris in 1802 as a 
 clerk to the eirroassy; was appointed 
 secretary to the embassy and suc¬ 
 cessively Aulic secretary, specially 
 detached to the chancellorship of 
 state at Vienna, and counselor to the 
 court. 439. 
 
 Legations, The.—Part of the Roman 
 States governed by legates. This, 
 in 1815, was understood to mean 
 Bologna and Ferrara. 547. 
 
 Leipsic. —Lies 66 miles northwest of 
 Dresden, is the principal commer¬ 
 cial city of the kingdom of Saxony. 
 Numerous battles have been fought 
 under its walls and in the vicinity. 
 The most celebrated is that which 
 was fought on the I7~i9th October, 
 1813, when Napoleon lost the con¬ 
 trol of Germany, and the conse¬ 
 quences of which caused the disor¬ 
 ganization of nearly his entire army. 
 There are three fairs yearly at Leip¬ 
 sic. On the 1st of November, at 
 Easter, and on St. Michael’s day, 
 29th of September. More than 
 20,000 European, Asiatic, and Am¬ 
 erican merchants resort to these 
 fairs. The business' amounts to 
 nearly 300,000,000 francs. The 
 Easter fair is devoted to books. 104. 
 
 Leyen. —Principal town of Ahrenfels 
 on the Rhine, one of the smallest 
 principalities of Germany. It was 
 
6 o6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 . ✓ 
 
 incorporated with the Grand Duchy 
 of Baden in 1815. 27. 
 
 Lichtenstein, Principality of.—Sit¬ 
 uated between the Tyrol and Switz¬ 
 erland. Its chief town, Vaduz, has 
 only about 8,000 inhabitants. 29. 
 
 Liege. —Ancient sovereign bishopric, 
 was united to France by the Treaty 
 of Luneville, and belonged to her 
 till 1814, when it was transferred to 
 the Netherlands ; at present it be¬ 
 longs to Belgium. The city has 
 85,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Limburg. — Is divided into Dutch 
 Limburg and Belgian Limburg. 
 Maestricht is the capital of the first, 
 Hasselt of the second. When Bel¬ 
 gium was made a separate kingdom 
 it was divided between her and 
 Holland. 317. 
 
 Linz. —Is the capfel of Upper Aus¬ 
 tria on the Danube, about 104 miles 
 west of Vienna; inhabitants, 30,- 
 000. 424. 
 
 Louis XVIII. Louis Stanislas Xa¬ 
 vier.—Born at Versailles, 17th No¬ 
 vember, 1755 ; died at Paris, 16th 
 September, 1824. He at first bore 
 the title of Count of Provence; 
 married 14th May, 1771, Louise 
 Marie Josephine of Savoy, daugh¬ 
 ter of Victor Amedee III., King of 
 Sardinia. At the accession of Louis 
 XVI. he took the title of Monsieur. 
 He presided over the first bureau 
 of the Assembly of Notables, 1787. 
 Compromised in the conspiracy of 
 Favras, 1790, he left Paris at the 
 same time as the king, 20th June, 
 1791, and succeeded in reaching the 
 frontier by way of Maubeuge. At 
 the death of Louis XVI. he took 
 the title of Regent, 21st January, 
 1793 ; and at the death of the 
 Dauphin, Louis XVII., 8th June, 
 1795, he took that of King. He 
 lived successively at Verona, Mi- 
 tau, Warsaw and Hartwell. At 
 Hartwell he lost his wife, the Prin¬ 
 cess Josephine of Savoy, 10th No¬ 
 vember, 1810. His reign began 6th 
 April, 1814, when the Senate called 
 him to the throne ; but reckoning 
 
 from the death of Louis XVII., he 
 signed his first acts in the 19th year 
 of his reign. 44, 54, 80, 95, 98, . 
 121, 123, 134, 157, 172, 181. 
 
 Lowenhielm, Gustave Charles Fred¬ 
 eric.—Born at Stockholm, 1771. He 
 was the grandson of the chief of the 
 Bonnet party by a lady named Fer- 
 sen. He was beside Gustave III. 
 when he was assassinated, 1792 ; 
 was made prisoner in the war of 
 Finland, 1808. Aide-de-camp of 
 Bernadotte, he aided in annexing 
 Norway to Sweden, and was Swedish 
 ambassador to Paris till just pre¬ 
 vious to his death 1856. 39 et seq. 
 
 Lucca, an Italian Republic.—Was 
 subjugated by Pisa in 1342, but re¬ 
 gained its freedom. Napoleon gave 
 it to his sister Elisa (Duchy of Lucca 
 and Piombino). In 1815 it was 
 bestowed upon the former Queen of 
 Etruria. The son of the Queen 
 inherited it from his mother, and 
 ceded it to Tuscany, 1847. 557. 
 
 Luxembourg. —Is the capital city of 
 the Duchy of Luxembourg ; it was 
 a federal fortress. Prussia garri¬ 
 soned it from 1815 to 1867. 38, 
 
 134, 514- 
 
 McDonald, Etienne Jacques Joseph 
 Alexandre, 1765-1840.—Belonged 
 to a noble family, originally from 
 Ireland ; was born at Sancerre. 
 His passage of the Wahal on the 
 ice, 1795, was rewarded with pro¬ 
 motion to the rank of general of 
 division. He was beaten by Su- 
 waroff at Trebia, 1799. He sup¬ 
 ported Bonaparte on the 18th 
 Brumaire, but fell into disgrace on 
 account of his friendship for Moreau. 
 His conduct at Wagram was re¬ 
 warded with the staff of a field- 
 marshal and the title of Duke of 
 Tarente. He again appears in the 
 campaigns of France and Germany. 
 He was created Peer of France by 
 Louis XVIII., and after the Hun¬ 
 dred Days he was entrusted with 
 the disbanding of the Army of the 
 Loire. At this time he was made 
 
INDEX. 
 
 607 
 
 Grand Chancellor of the Legion of 
 Honor. 339, 395. 
 
 Mantua. —Belonged to Austria when 
 Napoleon took it, 1797. Austria 
 regained it in 1814. The city of 
 Mantua contains 30,000 inhabit¬ 
 ants. 320. 
 
 Marchand, Jean Gabriel, Count— 
 1765-1851. Was born near St. 
 Marcellin (Isere) ; was an advo¬ 
 cate and the friend of Barnave, 
 whose cousin-german he married. 
 He was in the campaigns of Italy 
 and of the Rhine, and was made 
 general of division in 1805 ; went 
 to Spain in 1812 ; he was at the 
 battle of Moscow, and in 1814 he 
 drove the Austrians out of Cham- 
 berry. Commanding the 7th mili¬ 
 tary division, he endeavored to op¬ 
 pose the progress of Napoleon, but 
 La Badoyer deserted him, leaving 
 him almost entirely alone. This 
 did not prevent his appearance be¬ 
 fore the council of war at Besan9on 
 the 25th June, 1816. Hewasexon- 
 erated from blame, but was retired. 
 In 1837 Louis Philippe made him 
 Peer of France. 288. 
 
 Marie Caroline, Queen — 1752- 
 1814. The Queen of Naples was 
 the daughter of Francis I., Emperor 
 of Germany and Maria Theresa, 
 and sister of Marie Antoinette, 
 Queen of France. She married in 
 1768, Ferdinandl., Kingof Naples. 
 The celebrated minister, Acton, was 
 her favorite. She died at Vienna. 
 Marie Amelie, wife of Louis 
 Philippe was her daughter. 3. 
 
 Marie Louise. The Archduchess 
 Marie Louise, 1791-1847, daughter 
 of the Emperor Francis I. and his 
 first wife, Marie The'rese of Naples, 
 was Empress of the French from 
 1810 to 1814, when she retired to 
 Schonbrunn with the King of Rome, 
 her son. She was Duchess of Parma 
 in 1815. 7, 47, 177, 221. 
 
 Mariotti, Chevalier.—After having 
 served in the provincial regiment of 
 Corsica from 1778 to 1790, he emi¬ 
 grated and entered the Genoese 
 
 service ; in 1800 he again resumed 
 the service of France as chief of 
 brigade and adjutant general ; was 
 appointed consul to Leghorn, 9th 
 July, 1814, and died there 3d Jan¬ 
 uary, 1827. 195. 
 
 Massena, Andre—1758-1817. Was 
 bom near Nice ; the son of a wine 
 merchant. He served long under 
 the old regime without promotion, 
 but promptly became general of di¬ 
 vision under the Republic, 1793. 
 Bonaparte, who was indebted to him 
 for the victory of Rivoli, gave him 
 the surname of “ The Favorite Son 
 of Victory.” He immortalized 
 himself by his splendid tactics 
 near Zurich (Sept. 25, 1799), and 
 saved France from an imminent 
 invasion. He defended Genoa in 
 1800. Marshal of the Empire 
 in 1804; victorious at Caldiero, 
 1805 ; conquered the kingdom 
 of Naples, 1806, and was made 
 Duke of Rivoli. He saved the 
 French army at Essling, 1809, and 
 received the title of Prince. Fail¬ 
 ing in Portugal before TorresVedras 
 which was defended by Wellington, 
 he fell into disfavor, i8ir. In 
 1813 he was in command of the 8th 
 military division, through the favor 
 of Louis XVIII. He took no part 
 in the Hundred Days. 428. 
 
 Maximilian-Joseph I., 1756-1825. 
 —Was of the line of Zweibriicken- 
 Birkenfeld. Elector of Bavaria in 
 1799. King in 1805. One of his 
 daughters married the Emperor 
 Francis II. ; another, Prince Eu¬ 
 gene de Beauharnais. 1, 67, 74, 102, 
 157- 
 
 Mayence. —On the left bank of the 
 Rhine, nearly opposite the mouth of 
 the Main—has 36,000 inhabitants. 
 Seat of the Primate of Germany, 
 made illustrious by Saint Boniface ; 
 residence of the archbishops elec¬ 
 tors of Mayence. The League of 
 the Rhine was founded here in 
 1247 ; it was here that Gutenberg 
 invented printing about 1440; taken 
 and lost by France, 1792 and 1793; 
 
6 o8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ceded to her by the treaty of Campo 
 Formio ; became the capital of the 
 department of Mont Tonnerre ; in 
 1814 it was given to the grand 
 duchy of Hesse Darmstadt; became 
 a federal fortress in 1815. 38. 
 
 Main, The.—A river of Germany, 
 rises in Bavaria. Waters Bayreuth, 
 Wurzburg, and Frankfort, and falls 
 into the Rhine at Mayence. 420. 
 
 Metternich, Prince. Clement Wen- 
 ceslas Nepomucene Lothaire, 
 Count, afterward Prince, 1773- 
 1850.—Born at Coblentz. His 
 father was minister of state. He 
 studied at Strasburg, where he had 
 Benjamin Constant for a fellow- 
 student, and afterward at Mayence. 
 He was appointed minister to the 
 Hague by the emperor, but the 
 victories of the French prevented 
 him from occupying that post. In 
 1795 (27th September) he married 
 the grand-daughter of Prince 
 Kaunitz ; accompanied his father to 
 Rastadt, 1798; appointed minister to 
 Dresden, 1800; to Berlin, 1803; and 
 to Paris after the battle of Auster- 
 litz, 1806. He was recalled in 
 April, 1809, at the beginning of the 
 fourth coalition. After the conclu¬ 
 sion of the treaty of Vienna he be¬ 
 came chancellor of state and min¬ 
 ister of foreign affairs, 8th Octo¬ 
 ber, 1809. He counseled the Em¬ 
 peror Francis I. to give his daughter 
 Marie Louise to Napoleon. Sub¬ 
 mitted to the French alliance, of¬ 
 fensive and defensive, 1812 ; freed 
 himself from it, in May, 1813 ; after 
 his celebrated interview with Na¬ 
 poleon at Dresden, broke up the 
 Congress of Prague and united with 
 Russia and Prussia against France, 
 August, 1813. He was at Frank¬ 
 fort, at Chatillon, and at Vienna, at 
 the several congresses which w’ere 
 held under the Restoration. He re¬ 
 tained his power as ruling minister 
 until 1848, when he was compelled 
 to take refuge in London. He died 
 the day after the battle of Magenta. 
 Eleanor de Ivaunitz dying, he mar¬ 
 
 ried in 1827 the Countess of Leik- 
 ham, and in 1831 the Countess 
 Zichy-Ferraris. By his second wife 
 he had Richard, Prince Metternich, 
 ambassador of Austria to Paris 
 under Napoleon III. The latter 
 has just published the memoirs of 
 his father. 7, 9, 12, 13 et seq., 
 30, 31, 36 et seq., 41, 58, 64, 67, 73, 
 93, 99, 101, 108, no, 111,113, 115 . 
 117, 121, 126, 128, 129, 130, 133, 
 
 135, 141, 147, 150, 154, 157, 164, 
 
 177, 191, 193, 195, 205, 208, 231, 
 
 234, 253 to 256, 319 et seq., 355, 
 
 365 to 367. 
 
 Montbazon, Prince Charles.— 
 Alexis Gabriel, Duke of, and of 
 Bouillon; Peer of France, born 1764, 
 emigrated 1791 ; became an Aus¬ 
 trian lieut.-field-marshal ; fought 
 against France at Wagram ; re¬ 
 sumed his rank of Duke and Peer 
 of France in 1814. 422. 
 
 Montesquiou-Fezensac, Madame 
 de.—Grand-daughter of the Mar¬ 
 quis Le Tellier de Courtanveaux, 
 descendant of Louvois. She mar¬ 
 ried the Count Elisabeth Pierre de 
 Montesquiou-Fezensac, 1764-1835, 
 who after having been in the suite 
 of the Comte de Provence, after¬ 
 ward Louis XVIII., as master of 
 the horse, became President of the 
 Corps Legislatif under the Empire, 
 and grand chamberlain in place of 
 Talleyrand, who had become vice- 
 grand elector, and finally Peer of 
 France. In 1810, Madame was ap¬ 
 pointed governess of the /oyal chil¬ 
 dren. She accompanied the King 
 of Rome to Vienna in 1814. 421. 
 
 Montgelas, Count of.—Bom at 
 Munich, 1759 ; died in 1838. He 
 came of a family from Savoy ; he 
 was the prime minister of Maximil- 
 ian-Joseph I., and was called the 
 Bavarian Pombal. 2. 
 
 Montrond, Countess of.—Died in 
 1S27, at the age of eighty-two ; an 
 authoress. She had two sons. 
 Count Edward, sub-prefect under 
 the Empire, he died 1842 ; and Ca- 
 simir, who was very intimate with 
 
INDEX. 
 
 609 
 
 Talleyrand. The latter had been 
 sent to Vienna by Bonaparte. Jau- 
 court, writing from Gand to Talley¬ 
 rand, tells him that Montrond had 
 been promised two hundred thou¬ 
 sand crowns, if he could succeed in 
 shaking the fidelity of the Prince de 
 Benevento. Jaucourt adds : “I am 
 more inclined to believe him a 
 Jacobin than a Bonapartist.” He 
 was ordered to leave Paris in 1812 ; 
 he went to bid adieu to Talleyrand, 
 who said to him in speaking of the 
 emperor who had ordered his ex¬ 
 pulsion : “If that man manages 
 affairs in this manner he will bring 
 back the Bourbons before two years 
 are over, without inflicting the King 
 of Rome upon us.” Montrond lost no 
 time in repeating Talleyrand’s pre¬ 
 diction to the Comte de Provence. 
 446. 
 
 Moreau, Architect.—De Lagarde in 
 his “Fetes et Souvenirs du Con- 
 gres de Vienne,” vol. 1, p. 755, 
 speaks of him as full of talent. 275. 
 
 Mulrinen, Nicholas Frederic.—Was 
 the son of a chief magistrate of the 
 canton of Berne, and was born in 
 that city 1st March, 1760 ; he was 
 member of the grand council before 
 the Revolution. In 1801 he was 
 chosen president of the commission 
 of administration for the district of 
 the Oberland, and in the year follow¬ 
 ing, he was one of the leaders who 
 revolted against the government. 
 Solicited by Bonaparte as ambassa¬ 
 dor, he was after the act of media¬ 
 tion elected member of the lesser 
 and of the grand council, and then 
 chief magistrate. Illness prevented 
 him from accepting the mission to 
 the Congress of Vienna which 
 was confided to him. He was 
 chief magistrate for a long period, 
 and twice president of the confed¬ 
 eration ; he died 15th January, 
 1833- 377 - 
 
 Munster. Ernest Frederic Herbert, 
 Graf von.—Bom at Osnabriick in 
 1766, died 1839 ; he contributed 
 greatly as the envoy of the Elector 
 
 26* 
 
 of Hanover, King of England, to 
 the formation of several coalitions 
 against France. In the peace of 
 1814 he was the real regent of 
 Hanover, under the title of Lord 
 Marshal. He was also tutor of 
 Charles, the young Duke of Bruns¬ 
 wick, who quarreled with him on 
 attaining his majority ; the Han¬ 
 overians tired of him, and after 1830 
 he was superseded by the Duke of 
 Cambridge. Wilhelmine Charlotte, 
 sister of the Duke of Schaumburg, 
 Countess of Lippe, born 1783, was 
 married to the Count of Munster, 
 November 7, 1814. 61, 77, ill, 
 
 191, 196, 205. 
 
 Murat, Joachim.—Was born 1771 
 at La Bastide-Fortunieres. Pie en¬ 
 tered the army of the Revolution, was 
 aide-de-camp to Napoleon and dis¬ 
 played extraordinary valor in Italy 
 and Egypt. He took part in the 
 18th Brumaire, and was command¬ 
 ant of the consular guard.— Married 
 Caroline, sister of the first consul— 
 he gained great glory at Marengo, 
 and was made marshal in 1804, 
 grand duke of Cleves and Berg in 
 1806. After the battles of Auster- 
 litz, Jena and Friedland he was or¬ 
 dered to invade Spain. He suc¬ 
 ceeded Joseph Bonaparte as King 
 of Naples in 1808. After the Rus¬ 
 sian campaign he returned as 
 speedily as possible to his kingdom. 
 He took part in the battle of Leip- 
 sic ; then broke off his alliance with 
 Napoleon, January 1814. After the 
 events related by Talleyrand, Murat 
 was defeated at Tolentino, May 2, 
 1815 ; obliged to flee, he reached 
 Corsica; remained until 28thSeptem¬ 
 ber; he landed at Pizzo in Calabria, 
 was taken, and after a summary 
 trial was shot 13th October, 1815. 
 5, 18, 39, 118, 164, 177, 195 , I9 6 , 
 197, 199, 201, 211. 214. 
 
 Napoleon,* Son of Charles Bona¬ 
 parte and Letitia Ramolino.—Born 
 at Ajaccio, 15th August, 1769 ; died 
 at St. Helena, 5th May, 1S21; second 
 
6 io 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 lieutenant, 1785 ; general of brigade 
 1793; general-in-chief of the army 
 of Italy, 1796 ; first consul, 1799; 
 emperor in 1804. He espoused, 
 1796, Josephine Beauharnais, whom 
 he divorced; he married 1810 Marie 
 Louise, Archduchess of Austria. 
 
 He remained on the island of 
 Elbafromthe4th May, 1814, till26th 
 February, 1815. 339, 340, 344, 389, 
 409, 412, 421, 426, 481, 482. 
 
 Neisse. A city of Prussian Silesia.— 
 On the Neisse, about 32 miles south¬ 
 west of Oppeln ; 12,000 inhabitants. 
 167. 
 
 Nesselrode, Count.—Born at Lisbon 
 1780; died 1862. Count Nessel¬ 
 rode sprang from a noble family of 
 Westphalia, which settled in Livo¬ 
 nia. After being attached to differ¬ 
 ent embassies, especially that of 
 Paris, Alexander I. appointed him 
 chancellor of the diplomatic corps ; 
 he played an important role at the 
 congress of Prague ; one still more 
 important at the congress of Vienna. 
 Chancellor of the Russian empire, 
 he was replaced in 1856, after the 
 treaty of Paris in which he had par¬ 
 ticipated, by Prince Alexander Gort- 
 schakoff as minister of foreign af¬ 
 fairs. The “ Moniteur Universelle,” 
 November 21, 1814, says of him, 
 “This minister, M. de Nesselrode, 
 enjoys the entire confidence of his 
 sovereign. He is so much occupied 
 with the duties of his office that he 
 takes very little part' in the pleasures 
 of the court.” 8, 21, 28, 31, 32, 86, 
 115, 130, 133 . T 54 » 180. 
 
 Neukomm, Sigismund.—A German 
 composer, 177S-1858; born at Salz¬ 
 burg ; died at Paris ; came to Paris 
 at the epoch of the marriage of 
 Napoleon with Marie Louise. Pie 
 composed a Te Deum, executed at 
 Notre Dame at the entree of Louis 
 XVIII. He accompanied Talley¬ 
 rand to Vienna, and composed the 
 requiem referred to in letter XLIV. 
 for the anniversary of the death of 
 Louis XVI. 275. 
 
 Ney, Michel, Prince of Moscow.— 
 
 Born at Sarre-Louis, 1769-1815 ; 
 Duke of Elchingen, Prince of Mos¬ 
 cow, marshal of the empire, 1804, 
 displayed great heroism in the Rus¬ 
 sian campaign ; w r as sent, 1814, to 
 Franche-Comte. March, 1815, he 
 joined Napoleon, fought at Water¬ 
 loo ; condemned to be shot under 
 the Second Restoration, 7th De¬ 
 cember, 1815. Wellington, in his 
 “ Memoirs,” which are in possession 
 of his son, relates that he attempted 
 to save the life of Marshal Ney by 
 appealing to Louis XVIII., but that 
 the king “turned his back upon 
 him.” 22. 
 
 Nicholas, The Grand Duke, after¬ 
 ward Nicholas I., Emperor of Rus¬ 
 sia, 1796-1855.—Third son of Paul 
 I.,was excluded from all share in the 
 government during the reign of 
 Alexander I.; succeeded him, in 
 1825, by renunciation of his brother 
 Constantine. His reign w r as marked 
 by the great severity of his ideas 
 and by his absolutism. He died 
 during the Crimean war. Was the 
 father of Alexander II., 1855-1881, 
 and the grandfather of Alexander 
 HI. 53 - 
 
 Noailles, Alexis de, 1783-1835.—Son 
 of the general of that name, who 
 died in the Antilles in 1804. His 
 mother perished on the scaffold du¬ 
 ring the Revolution. He was very 
 active, in 1809, in spreading the 
 bull of excommunication against 
 Napoleon I.; was arrested, but 
 set at liberty through the interces¬ 
 sion of his brother, who was in the 
 army. He joined Louis XVIII. at 
 Hartwell; w r as aide-de-camp to the 
 Duke of Artois, ambassador of 
 France at Vienna during the con¬ 
 gress, minister of state, .deputy, etc. 
 At the congress he w r as the reporter 
 of the commission on Italian affairs. 
 His brother was killed at the pas¬ 
 sage of Beresina. 57,111, 168. 
 
 Occhio-Bello. —In Venetia, a prov¬ 
 ince of Rovigo, on the Po ; inhabit¬ 
 ants, 3,500. 456. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 6l I 
 
 Orleans, Duke of, 1773-1850.— 
 Afterward King Louis Philippe. 
 First title, Duke of Chartres. Was 
 aide-de-camp to Dumouriez at the 
 battles of Valmy, Jemmapes, and 
 Nervinden. Fled to England some 
 months before the execution of his 
 father, Philippe Egalite. He mar¬ 
 ried, 1809, Marie Amelie, 1782-1866, 
 of the Two .Sicilies, daughter of Fer¬ 
 dinand I. Of her two sons, the 
 Duke of Chartres, afterward Duke 
 of Orleans and Prince Royal, was 
 born 1810, died 1842. The Duke 
 of Nemours was born at Paris, 
 25th October, 1814. 447. 
 
 Ostend. —A seaport on the German 
 Ocean, 14 miles west of Bruges, 
 West Flanders. 488. 
 
 Oudinot, Duke of Reggio.—Born at 
 Bar-le-Duc, 1767-1847, Duke of 
 Reggio, marshal of the empire after 
 Wagram, 1809. Sent to Lorraine by 
 Louis XVIII. 22. 
 
 Oxford, Lord.—Descendant of the 
 famous Robert Harley, Earl of Ox¬ 
 ford, minister of Queen Anne, 
 founder of the Harleian Library, 
 1661-1724. The sixth and last Earl 
 of Oxford died 19th January, 1853. 
 The title is extinct. 197. 
 
 Palmella, Duke of.—De Souza-Hol- 
 stein, Duke of Palmella, born at 
 Turin, 1786, died 1850, regent of 
 Portugal, 1830. Vindicated the 
 
 claim of -Dona Maria against that 
 of Dom Miguel. 14 et seq. 
 
 Patkul. A native of Livonia, was 
 born in 1660. Broken on the^ 
 
 wheel, and drawn and quartered at 
 Kazimiercz, Poland, by the order 
 of Charles XII., 1707. 96. 
 
 Pius VII, Chiaramonti.—Born at 
 Cesene, 1742. Bishop of Imola; car¬ 
 dinal, 1785. Was elected to the 
 papal chair at the conclave of Ven¬ 
 ice, 1800. Signed the concordat 
 with France, 1801. Came to Paris 
 to consecrate Napoleon. In 1S06, 
 Benevento was taken from him, and 
 bestowed upon Talleyrand, and 
 Pontecorvo upon Bernadotte. Rome | 
 
 was occupied 2d February, 1808, 
 and the Pope was taken from his 
 capital 5th July, 1809, carried to Sa¬ 
 vona and thence to Fontainebleau, 
 June, 1812. He crossed France on 
 his return to his own dominions in 
 great pomp. One of his first acts 
 was to restore the Jesuits, April, 
 1814. He was driven from Rome by 
 Murat, 1815, but he returned almost 
 immediately, and gave an asylum to 
 the Bonaparte family. He died 
 1823, two years after Napoleon. 214. 
 
 PlOMBlNO. —Capital of the principal¬ 
 ity given by Napoleon to his sister 
 Elisa. It was afterward restored 
 to Tuscany. The island of Elba 
 was a dependency of it. The city 
 has 1,900 inhabitants. 551. 
 
 Plaisance. —From 1342 to 1541 Plai- 
 sance formed part of the duchy of 
 Milan. It was then given to the 
 duchy of Parma, erected for the 
 Prince Farnese ; it formed a portion 
 of the department of Taro, 1802. 
 It was restored to Parma in 1815. 
 The Austrians had the right to gar¬ 
 rison the citadel. Under the em¬ 
 pire the lord-treasurer Lebrun was 
 Duke of Plaisance. 9. 
 
 Polignac, Armando Jules Marie 
 Heraclius, Count, and then Duke, 
 1771-1847.—Emigrated in the suite 
 of the Count of Artois. Was in¬ 
 volved in the conspiracy of Cadou- 
 dal, condemned to death, reprieved 
 at the request of the Empress Jose¬ 
 phine, and sent to an asylum. He 
 rejoined Monsieur at Vesoul in 
 1830. He was excluded from the 
 chamber of Peers for refusing to 
 take the oath. His younger brother, 
 Prince de Polignac, 1780-1847, was 
 the prime minister of Charles X. at 
 the breaking out of the revolution 
 of July. 292, 293. 
 
 Poniatowski, Stanislas.—King of 
 Poland from 1764 to 1795 - Died at 
 St. Petersburg in 1798. 94. 
 
 PORENTRUY. —Acquired by the bish¬ 
 ops of Basle in 1271. Occupied by 
 the French, 1793. It was for a 
 short time the chief town of the de- 
 
6l2 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 partment of Mont Terrible. Then 
 it was constituted an arrondisse- 
 ment. In 1815 it was given to the 
 Canton of Berne. 174. 
 
 Pozzo Di Borgo, Charles Andre, 
 Count.—Born at Ajaccio 1764 ; died 
 in Paris, 1842. The secretary of 
 Paoli. Declared against the Bona- 
 partes. Served under different 
 powers, last under Russia. The 
 Emperor Alexander I. made him his 
 ambassador at the Congress of Vi¬ 
 enna, and also to Paris. 54, 77, 194. 
 
 Presburg. —City in Hungary. Lies 
 on the Danube, 46 miles east of Vi¬ 
 enna. Inhabitants 50,000. 361. 
 
 Presides, The.— Part of Tuscany. 
 Once belonged to the Republic of 
 Sienna, incorporated with Tuscany, 
 and reserved for himself by Philip 
 II. of Spain in the treaty of Cateau- 
 Cambresis, 1559. It was called 
 “ Statto delli Presidii,” because the 
 Spaniards kept a garrison there. It 
 was the entrance to Umbria on the 
 Roman frontier. Orbitello, Porto 
 d’Ercolo, Monte Filippo, Monte Ar- 
 gentaro, Porto San Stefanoand Tela- 
 mona were administrative depend¬ 
 encies of the kingdom of Naples, 
 with the principality of Piombino, 
 and the island of Elba formed part 
 of it also. The Duke of Tuscany 
 had the right to keep a garrison on 
 the island of Elba. From 1801 to 
 1814, the Presides belonged to the 
 King of Etruria, afterward to 
 France. 359. 
 
 Pulavy. —A Polish town on the Vis¬ 
 tula, 28 miles northwest of Lublin. 
 A rich and celebrated seat of the 
 Czartoriskys. 11. 
 
 Radetzky, Jean Joseph Wenceslas 
 Antoine Francis Charles, Count von. 
 —Born atTzrebnitz in Bohemia. He 
 made his first military essays 
 against the Turks. Took part in 
 the battle of Marengo. Was chief 
 of staff to Prince Schwarzenberg 
 during the French campaign. Em¬ 
 peror Ferdinand made him field- 
 marshal. He abandoned Milan 
 
 when it revolted, but re-entered 
 after the victories over Charles Al¬ 
 bert, who, completely vanquished, 
 abdicated in favor of his son Victor 
 Emanuel II., 23d of March, 1849. 
 Governor-general of the Lombardo- 
 Venetian kingdom. Retired in 1857, 
 and died at Milan. The Austrians 
 lost Lombardy the year after his 
 death. 366. 
 
 Radzivil, Antoine-Henri, Prince of 
 Olyka, of Niesvesz and Mir.—He 
 married the daughter of Prince 
 Ferdinand of Prussia ; was lieu¬ 
 tenant of the King of Prussia in 
 the duchy of Posen in 1815. He 
 distinguished himself as a mathe¬ 
 matician and musician. 328. 
 
 Razoumoweky, Andre, 1752-1836.— 
 Was of a cossack family from the 
 Ukraine. Was the son of Count Cy¬ 
 ril, hetman of Little Russia, and 
 field-marshal at twenty-. He was 
 privy councillor, ambassador to the 
 Congress of Vienna, and prince, 
 1815. His brother, Alexis, was min¬ 
 ister of public instruction. It was to 
 the latter that the “ Lettres du 
 Comte de Maistre sur l’educa- 
 tion ” were addressed. 130. 
 
 Redorte, David - Maurice - Joseph- 
 Mathieu, Count of, 1768-1833.— 
 Born at St. Affrique, he served first 
 in the East Indies, made the cam¬ 
 paigns of the Rhine, and was at¬ 
 tached to Macdonald’s division in 
 Holland, and to the Army of the 
 Sambre et Meuse. The capture of 
 Terracino, in Italy, was his work ; 
 he was made general of division 
 in 1799. He fought in Austria, 
 under the Empire, in Prussia, and 
 in Poland and Spain. Was cre¬ 
 ated peer in 1823 ; he married 
 Mademoiselle Clary, sister-in-law 
 of King Joseph and Bernadotte. 
 
 Reiciienbach. — City of Prussian- 
 Silesia on the Peila, 48 miles south¬ 
 west of Breslau. 341. 
 
 Repnine, Prince.—The famous ne¬ 
 gotiator of the treaty of Kai- 
 nardji, 1773, died 24th May, 1801. 
 The Emperor Alexander then con- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 613 
 
 ferred on his grandson, Prince 
 Nicholas Wolkonski, the title of 
 Prince Repnine. This Prince 
 Repnine chose a military career, 
 was made prisoner at Austerlitz ; 
 regained his liberty by the treaty of 
 Tilsit commanded the cavalry of 
 the army of Wittgenstein in the 
 Russian campaign ; was made 
 lieut.-general in 1S13. After the 
 battle of Leipsic he was gov¬ 
 ernor-general of the kingdom of 
 Saxony. He was afterward gov¬ 
 ernor of Little Russia, and coun¬ 
 cillor of the empire. 149. 
 
 Reuss, House of.—Has three bran¬ 
 ches : 1. Reuss-Schleitz and Reuss- 
 Schleitz-Koestritz. 2. Reuss-Loben- 
 stein, and 3. Reuss-Ebersdorf. 306. 
 
 Ricard, General Stephen Peter Syl- 
 vestre, 1772-1843.-—Born at Castres, 
 entered the army at the revolution ; 
 was aide-de-camp of Soult, gen¬ 
 eral of brigade in 1806 ; distin¬ 
 guished himself atWagram, at Mos¬ 
 cow, at Lutzen and Montmirail. 
 Pie attached himself to the Bour¬ 
 bons. Was at the Congress of 
 Vienna, counseled the arrest of 
 Napoleon, and the formation of a 
 camp of observation, the soldiers 
 of which were the very first to sup¬ 
 port the cause of Bonaparte. He 
 joined Louis XVIII. at Gand. Peer 
 of France. His delicate health 
 caused him to retire after 1821. 
 245 , 279. 
 
 Richelieu, Duke of.—Armand Em¬ 
 manuel Sophie Septimanie Plessis, 
 1766-J822. Grandson of the Mar¬ 
 shal of Richelieu. Was with Louis 
 XVI. when the palace of Versailles 
 was invaded, 5th October, 1789. 
 He emigrated, took service in the 
 Russian army, was present when 
 Ismail was taken, 1790. The Em¬ 
 peror Alexander made him governor 
 of Odessa, which he made into a 
 flourishing port. Returning to 
 France in 1814, he followed Louis 
 XVIII. to Gand ; he succeeded M. 
 Talleyrand as minister of foreign 
 affairs in September, 1815, and pre¬ 
 
 sided over the council. By virtue 
 of his office he signed the treaty of 
 20th November, 1815 ; he quitted 
 the ministry 29th December, 1818. 
 A national recompense was voted 
 him by the chambers, which he 
 bestowed upon the hospitals of Bor¬ 
 deaux. After the murder of the 
 Duke of Berry, he replaced M. 
 Decazes as prime minister, but he 
 retired in December, 1821. 194. 
 
 Riviere, Marquis of.—Charles Fran¬ 
 cois de Rifferdeau, 1765-1828. Born 
 at Ferte-sur-Cher. Followed the 
 Count of Artois in the emigration, 
 fulfilled an important mission to the 
 Vendee, was taken prisoner, but es¬ 
 caped ; was implicated in the con¬ 
 spiracy of Cadoudal, 1804; was 
 condemned to death ; owed his sal¬ 
 vation to the Empress Josephine ; 
 was interned at the fort of Joux. 
 Lieut.-general, he pursued Murat 
 to Corsica, 1815 ; appointed am¬ 
 bassador to Constantinople, he 
 signed a customs-treaty prejudicial 
 to French commerce, which caused 
 his recall. Captain of the guard of 
 Monsieur, and also of that of 
 Charles X. Governor of the Duke 
 of Chambord. 253. 
 
 Rohan, Victor, Prince of, younger 
 brother of Guemenee, Prince of Ro¬ 
 han, 1764-1835. Was grand cham¬ 
 berlain of France when the revolu¬ 
 tion broke out. He emigrated in 
 1791. Entered the service of the 
 emperor of Germany, who made 
 him major-general and gave him 
 the eldest of the princesses of Cour- 
 land to wife, who married him after 
 being twice divorced—from Prince 
 Troubetzkoi, and from Count von 
 Schulenberg. He was wounded at 
 Ulm, 1805 ; was involved in the dis¬ 
 grace of Mack, but was restored to 
 the army with the rank of lieut. 
 field-marshal. In 1814 he resumed 
 his functions as chamberlain, and 
 his titles. He retired to Austria in 
 1830. 367, 444. 
 
 Rome, King of, son of Napoleon I. 
 and Marie Louise, 1811-1832.—T his 
 
614 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 prince was born at Paris, carried to 
 Vienna in 1814. He received the 
 title of Due de Reichstadt from the 
 Emperor Francis, his grandfather. 
 He died at Vienna 1832, colonel of 
 the Plungarian Giulay regiment of 
 infantry. 48. 
 
 Ronco, River.—Waters Forli, and 
 falls into the Adriatic, leaving Ra¬ 
 venna to the left. 
 
 Rosari, Giovanni, 1766 1837.—Bom 
 at Parma; was a celebrated physi¬ 
 cian, graduated in 1785, pursued 
 his studies in other cities ; lived at 
 Florence, 1787; at Paris, 1791; 
 went to England, 1793 ; to Milan 
 1795, where he saw the French en¬ 
 ter the city under Bonaparte. Ar¬ 
 dent, patriotic, and, therefore, an 
 enemy of Austria, he published the 
 “Journal of the Friends of Lib¬ 
 erty.” He was, successively, rector 
 of the University of Pavia, secretary 
 general of the minister of the inte¬ 
 rior of Milan, and inspector general 
 of the public health. He was, at 
 the same time, chief of two great 
 clinics. His theory of counter-irri¬ 
 tants wrought a veritable revolu¬ 
 tion in therapeutics. On the 4th 
 December, 1814, he was implicated 
 in a conspiracy against Austria, and 
 shut up in the citadel of Mantua. 
 During his imprisonment he trans¬ 
 lated Goethe, Schiller, and Wieland, 
 and wrote his “ Observations on the 
 Nature of Intermittent Fevers.” 
 Among his numerous works maybe 
 named “ Compendio della Doctrina 
 di Ge. Brown,” 1792; “ 11 Preteso 
 Genio d’ Ippocrate,” 1798 : “ Sto- 
 ria dell Epidemica di Genova,” 1800. 
 In 1810 he founded an estimable 
 journal, “ Anali di Scienze e Let- 
 tere,” with the assistance of Ugo 
 Foscolo and Michael Leoni. 235. 
 
 Rouen, Attache of the French le¬ 
 gation at Weimar, clerk of the 
 secretary’s division, 1813 ; editor of 
 the division du Nord, 1815 ; second 
 secretary at Turin, 16th July, 
 1816 ; first secretary at Turin, 21st 
 October, 1819 ; resident consul- 
 
 general in Greece, 31st December, 
 1S28; resident at Nauplia, 15th May, 
 1833 ; minister plenipotentiary at 
 Rio Janeiro, 2d November, 1836 ; 
 retired from service, 27th October, 
 1841. 215. 
 
 Roussel d’Hurbal, Nicholas Fran¬ 
 cis, 1763-1849. — Born at Neuf- 
 chatel-Vosges; cadet in the in¬ 
 fantry regiment of Kaunitz, in the 
 service of Austria ; first lieutenant 
 in 1789 ; colonel major-general in 
 1809 ; entered the French service 
 as general of brigade, 1811 ; gen¬ 
 eral of division, 1812 ; inspector- 
 general of cavalry in 1815 ; gov¬ 
 ernor of the 17th military division, 
 1823 ; retired in 1832. Baron of 
 the empire, Sept. 28, 1813; viscount 
 under the Restoration, Aug. 17, 
 1822. The name of the general- 
 viscomte Roussel d’Hurbal, and 
 not d’Arbal, as written by Talley¬ 
 rand, is inscribed on the east side 
 of the Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile. 
 388 . 
 
 Ruffo (Count).—Prince Alvar, min¬ 
 ister of the King of Naples at 
 Paris, 1197-98. He was unable to 
 prevent the war between the French 
 Republic and the two Sicilies. He 
 succeeded in escaping to Rome. 
 He went to Portugal under the 
 empire, and to the congress of 
 Vienna, and was accredited to the 
 Austrian government. In 1821 he 
 joined his sovereign, who had been 
 obliged to leave Naples, at Lay- 
 bach ; he died at Vienna, 1825. 492. 
 
 Russia, Empress of. — Elizabeth 
 Alexievna, 1779-1826. Daughter of 
 the Margrave of Baden-Dourlach. 
 Was married, 1793, to the Grand 
 Duke Alexander, afterward Empe¬ 
 ror of Russia. 7. 
 
 St. Stephen. —First Christian and 
 Catholic king of Hungary. Apostle 
 of Hungary, 997-103S. Pope Syl¬ 
 vester sent him a crown, which is 
 still used at the coronation of the 
 kings of Hungary—emperors of 
 Austria. The order of St. Stephen 
 
INDEX. 
 
 615 
 
 was instituted by Maria Theresa. 
 It is represented by a Hungarian 
 cross, suspended by a red ribbon 
 edged with green. 48, 52. 
 
 Saint Mars. —Translator to the min¬ 
 ister of foreign affairs, 1804 to 1808. 
 Attache at Madrid, 1812. Deputy 
 chief of the southern division, 1814; 
 ■secretary to the embassy to Brazil ; 
 secretary to Munich, 1816 ; secre¬ 
 tary at large to the congress, 1814- 
 15 ; first secretary to Vienna, 1818 ; 
 commissioner of the navigation of 
 the Rhine at Mayence, 6th August, 
 1824. 275. 
 
 Saint Marsan, Antoine Marie 
 Philippe Asinari, Marquis of, 1761- 
 1828.—Born at Turin ; was brought 
 to the notice of Napoleon after 
 the negotiation of the Treaty of 
 Cherasco, 28th April, 1796. In 
 1809 the emperor sent him as 
 minister plenipotentiary to Berlin, 
 and made him senator 1813. Re¬ 
 turning to the service of Savoy, he 
 accomplished the incorporation of 
 Genoa with the kingdom of Sardinia; 
 minister of foreign affairs in 1815 ; 
 of war in 1817 ; president of the 
 council, 1818. He resigned power 
 at the insurrection of 1820, and 
 died at his estate near Asti, 1828. 
 118, 130, 133, 195. 
 
 Salerno, Prince of, Leopold Jean Jo¬ 
 seph.—Son of Ferdinand I., King of 
 Naples ; born 2d July, 1790 ; died 
 10th March, 1851. He was master 
 of ceremonies at the commemora¬ 
 tion of the death of Louis XVI., 
 2ist January, 1815. He married 
 the Archduchess Marie Clementine, 
 sister of the Empress Marie Louise, 
 and mother-in-law of the Duke of 
 Aumale, who is still living. 490. 
 
 Salieri, Antoine.—Composer, 1750- 
 1825 ; bom at Legnano ; succeeded 
 Gassmann as chapel master at the 
 imperial chapel in Vienna; co¬ 
 laborer of Gluck ; came to Paris to 
 superintend the rendering of several 
 of his operas. 275. 
 
 Salzburg. —Capital of an archbishop¬ 
 ric. A sovereign state of Germany ; 
 
 formed a part of the circle of Bava¬ 
 ria. Bavaria acquired it 1809, but 
 was obliged to cede it to Austria, 
 1815. The city has 18,000 inhabit¬ 
 ants. 324. 
 
 Saxony, Queen of.—Marie Amelie 
 Augusta, daughter of Frederic, 
 Prince Palatine of Deux-Ponts, and 
 sister to the King of Bavaria ; born, 
 loth May, 1752 ; married in 1769 ; 
 died, 1838. 288. 
 
 Saxe-Coburg, Duke of.— Ernest, 
 born, 22d January, 1782 ; began to 
 reign 9th December, 1806 ; died, 
 24th January, 1844. The younger 
 brother, spoken of by Talleyrand, 
 was Ferdinand George Auguste, 
 1785-1854. His son Ferdinand is 
 the father of the King of Portugal. 
 His youngest brother was Leopold 
 I., King of the Belgians. His sis¬ 
 ter, Julia Henrietta Ulrica (Anne 
 Federovna), married the Grand 
 Duke Constantine, brother of Alex¬ 
 ander I. and Nicholas I.; born, 1781; 
 married, 1796; repudiated in 1810, 
 when her husband wished to marry 
 the beautiful Polish girl, Jeanne 
 Czetwertynska. Alexander only 
 consented to this divorce on the con¬ 
 dition that Constantine should beg 
 him to transfer his right to the 
 Grand Duke Nicholas. 82. 
 
 Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Prince of. 
 —George Christian Frederic Leo¬ 
 pold, 1790-1865. Entered the 
 Russian army with the rank of gen¬ 
 eral, which favor he owed to his 
 sister who had married the Grand 
 Duke Constantine. He was with 
 the Emperor Alexander at the in¬ 
 terview at Erfurt, at Paris, in 
 England, and at the Congress of 
 Vienna. We find him again in 
 Paris in 1815, after the battle of 
 Waterloo. When in Berlin he was 
 invited to England where he mar¬ 
 ried, 2d May, 1816, the Princess 
 Augusta Charlotte, daughter of the 
 Regent. He was naturalized in 
 England under the name of the 
 Duke of Kendal; 5th November, 
 1817, he lost his wife. Became 
 
6 i6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 King of Belgium with the name 
 of Leopold I. Leopold II., the 
 reigning king, is his son, issue of his 
 second marriage with Louise of 
 Orleans, daughter of Louis Philippe. 
 79 - 
 
 Saxony, Duchy of. — The ducal 
 houses of Saxony were in 1815 : 1st, 
 Saxe-Gotha ; 2d, Saxe-Meiningen ; 
 3d, Saxe - Hildburghausen ; 4th, 
 Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; 5 th, Saxe- 
 Weimar-Eisenach. 306. 
 
 Saxe-Teschen, Albert von, 1738- 
 1822.—Was the son of August III. 
 Elector of Saxony, and King of 
 Poland. He married a daughter of 
 the Emperor Francis I. and Maria 
 Theresa, the Archduchess Chris¬ 
 tine ; was Governor of the Nether¬ 
 lands ; built the chateau of Laeken 
 near Brussels ; witnessed the in¬ 
 surrection of 1789; was repulsed 
 under the walls of Lille, 1792. He 
 retired to Vienna and devoted him¬ 
 self to the fine arts. 361. 
 
 Saxe-Weimar. Duke of. Charles 
 August, 1757-1828.— From 1758 
 was the friend and patron of Goethe 
 and Schiller, beside whom he is 
 buried at Weimar. Madame de 
 Stael speaks of him with great 
 praise in her work on Germany ; 
 he received the title of Grand Duke 
 1815. 203. 
 
 Schaumburg, Principality of.— 
 George William von Lippe-Schaum- 
 burg, 1784-1860, reigned from 
 1807. Buckeburg, 7 miles from 
 Minden, is the capital. 
 
 Schraut, M. De.—Was made secre¬ 
 tary of the legation in Holland, 1786; 
 tecalled in December of the same 
 rear ; was sent on a special mission 
 to Munich with Count Lehrbach ; 
 appointed envoy extraordinary to 
 Switzerland, 1806 ; recalled, 1815, 
 at the instance of Prince Talley¬ 
 rand. 427. 
 
 Schulenburg, Count von, Frederic 
 Albert.—Born at Dresden, 1772 ; 
 died, 1853 '» assisted at the congress 
 of Rastadt ; was Saxon ambassador 
 to Vienna, 1816-1830. 3, 45. 
 
 Schwarzburg, House of.— Two 
 branches : 1. Schwarzburg-Sonder- 
 hausen, and 2. Schwarzburg-Ru- 
 dolstadt. 306. 
 
 Schwarzenburg, Prince.—Born at 
 Vienna, 1771-1820. Charles Phil¬ 
 ippe distinguished himself in the 
 Austrian ranks at Hohenlinden, 
 Austerlitz, and at Wagram. As 
 ambassador to France he negotiated 
 the marriage of the Archduchess 
 Marie Louise with Napoleon I. 
 His wife lost her life in a confla¬ 
 gration, which broke out at a fete 
 given by him at Paris, in honor of 
 this alliance. He commanded the 
 auxiliary corps during the Russian 
 campaign, and was made field-mar¬ 
 shal. In 1813 he was commander 
 of all the armies allied against 
 France ; he vanquished Napoleon 
 at Leipsic. Often defeated in the 
 campaign against France, he en¬ 
 tered Paris at last, after a bloody 
 struggle and a well-known conven¬ 
 tion. 113, 146, 167. 
 
 Semele, Jean Baptiste Pierre.— 
 1778-1839. Born at Metz. A vol¬ 
 unteer in 1791; colonel at the camp 
 of Boulogne, general of brigade in 
 Spain, and baron, 1808 ; fought the 
 Spanish general Ballesteros and 
 shared the campaign of Saxony, 
 1813 ; governor of Strasburg at the 
 return of Napoleon, he placed him¬ 
 self under his flag. Elected deputy 
 from the Moselle, 1822. The in¬ 
 spectorship which was given him 
 by General Gerard, and Iris affilia¬ 
 tion with the National Association 
 of Metz were the cause of bitter re¬ 
 proaches, 1830. 388. 
 
 Sers. —Was the fourth son of the sen¬ 
 ator, Count of Sers, attache to the 
 embassy to the Congress of Vienna, 
 and prefect of the Bas-Rhin, 1837- 
 1848. 275. 
 
 Sickingen, Count von.—Belonged to 
 the family of the celebrated Franz 
 von Sickingen, 1481-1523. Ranked 
 among the Counts of the Empire in 
 1791. It became extinct, 1837. 100, 
 101, 148. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 617 
 
 Songeon, Jean Marie, Chevalier,— 
 1771-1834. Born at Annecy, Savoy, 
 Soldier in the Fifth Battalion of 
 National Volunteers of Mont Blanc, 
 1st of March, 1793 ; intrusted by 
 General Bonaparte with the details 
 of accounts, police, and discipline 
 of the 4th demi-brigade of the 
 line, 21st of April, 1796. General 
 of brigade in 1813, as a recompense 
 for his good conduct during the 
 siege of St. Sebastian, where he was 
 twice wounded. Retired from ac¬ 
 tive service 1st of March, 1815, and 
 from the army in 1S16. Had been 
 made Chevalier of the Empire, 15th 
 of August, 1809, and Chevalier of 
 Saint Louis, 14th of August, 1814. 
 426. 
 
 Soult, Duke of Dalmatia ; 1761— 
 
 1851.—Born at St. Amand (Tarn). 
 Duke of Dalmatia and Marshal of 
 the Empire, 1804; major-general in 
 Spain, 1809, and at Waterloo, 1815; 
 president of the council of ministers, 
 marshal-general under Louis Phil¬ 
 ippe. He was sent, not into the 
 Vendee as stated by the “Corre¬ 
 spondence,” but into Brittany. 22, 
 183. 
 
 Stadion, Count Philip.—Was born 
 at Mayence, 1763 ; died 1824. He 
 negotiated the third coalition against 
 France ; minister of foreign affairs 
 for Austria, 1806; he retired after 
 Wagram, 1809. Fie was minister 
 plenipotentiary to the conferences 
 of Toplitz,Frankfort, Chatillon, and 
 at the Congress of Vienna,1813-15; 
 was minister of finance at his death. 
 7 , 113 , 114. 
 
 Stein, Baron. — Henry Frederic- 
 Charles ; 1757-1841. The cele¬ 
 brated reformer of Prussia; was 
 born at Nassau. He took an ac¬ 
 tive part in the formation of the 
 Fiirstenbund, 1785 ; administered 
 the government of Westphalia, and 
 became prime minister of Prussia 
 after Jena. Napoleon I. demanded 
 his removal. Retiring to Russia he 
 influenced the Czar against France, 
 and for some time was his adviser. 
 
 See Pertz, “ Das Leben des Frei- 
 herrn F. von Stein.” 180. 
 
 Stewart, Lord Charles William.— 
 Half-brother of Lord Castlereagh ; 
 born at Dublin, 1778 ; died in 1854; 
 served in Spain against the French 
 with the title of general in 1815 ; 
 was ambassador to Austria and 
 plenipotentiary to the congress of 
 Vienna with Lord Castlereagh, the 
 Duke of Wellington, Lords Cath- 
 cart and Clancarty. He was created 
 lord 1816, and in 1822 Earl Vane. 
 49, 71, 114, 230. 
 
 Stuart of Rothesay, Charles, 
 Lord, 1779-1849.—Son of a gen¬ 
 eral ; accompanied William Ben- 
 tinck to Spain ; represented the 
 English government at the pro¬ 
 visional government of Portugal ; 
 received the title of marquis from 
 King John IV. He was sent to 
 Gand to Louis XVIII., and re¬ 
 turned with him to Paris. Later 
 he went to the Hague, and to 
 Rio Janeiro, where the govern¬ 
 ment of Brazil was forming ; and 
 then returned to Paris in disfavor, 
 1830 ; in 1841 he was ambassador 
 to Russia. 49, 463, 574. 
 
 Styria. Austrian Province.—Capi¬ 
 tal Gratz. 368. 
 
 Talleyrand, Auguste Louis Count 
 of, 1770-1832.—Son of Baron Tal¬ 
 leyrand, marshal of the camp. 
 Cousin of Prince Benevento ; ac¬ 
 companied his father, who was am¬ 
 bassador to Naples, 1788 ; did not 
 return to France till 1799 > was 
 made chamberlain to Napoleon by 
 the favor of his father, then minis¬ 
 ter plenipotentiary to the grand duke 
 of Baden, and afterward to Switz¬ 
 erland. He w 7 as accredited to the 
 same position by Louis XVIII., and 
 remained in it till 1823 ; was made 
 peer of France, 17th August, 1825. 
 In 1830 he refused to swear alle¬ 
 giance to Louis Philippe. 567. 
 
 Talleyrand-Perigord, Alexander 
 Angelique, 1736-1821.—Coadjutor 
 and also archbishop of Rheims; was 
 
6 i8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 the uncle of Prince Talleyrand. 
 He was deputy to the states-gener- 
 al, and showed little sympathy with 
 the new ideas. He emigrated and 
 attached himself to Louis XVIII. 
 His nephew wrote him a letter 
 about 1813, which made a great 
 sensation, and made use of him per¬ 
 haps as an intermediary to open the 
 way to the favor of the Bourbons. 
 He became archbishop of Paris un¬ 
 der the Restoration, and cardinal. 
 384, 386. 
 
 Talleyrand - Perigord, Charles 
 Maurice.—Born at Paris 1754; died 
 in 1838. Being crippled, he was 
 destined to the church, although he 
 was eldest of his family. At first 
 he was known as the Abbe de Peri¬ 
 gord. The celebrated correspond¬ 
 ence with Mirabeau, dated at Berlin, 
 was over this name. In 1780 he 
 became general agent of the clergy 
 in France ; and bishop of Autun, 
 1788. As a member of the states 
 general, he caused the possessions of 
 the church to be declared national 
 property. He officiated at the altar 
 of La Patrie on the Champ du Mars 
 on the day of the fete of the Feder¬ 
 ation, 14th July, 1790, and drew up 
 a vast plan for public education. 
 Sent on a mission to London in 
 1792, he soon found himself com¬ 
 pelled to flee to America. On his 
 return the directory appointed him 
 minister of foreign affairs, 1797. 
 Six months after he had resigned 
 his portfolio in this service,the coup 
 d’etat of the 18th Brumaire took 
 place, when he resumed his duties. 
 For eight years he directed the for¬ 
 eign policy of France under Napo¬ 
 leon. Becoming grand chamberlain 
 and prince of Benevento, 1806, he 
 resigned in favor of M. de Cham- 
 pagny, duke of Cadore, 1807, and 
 was made vice-grand elector. It was 
 by virtue of the power conferred by 
 this office that he was able to con¬ 
 voke the senate and proclaim the 
 overthrow of Napoleon I., April, 
 1814 ; preside over the provisional 
 
 government which recalled the 
 Bourbons ; resume the ministry of 
 foreign affairs ; and represent Louis 
 XVIII. at the Congress of Vienna. 
 At the beginning of the second res¬ 
 toration he was prime minister. In 
 1815 he was replaced by the Duke 
 de Richelieu. In 1830 Louis Phil- 
 lippe made him his ambassador to 
 London. His last political act was 
 the conclusion of the quadruple al¬ 
 liance reuniting France, England, 
 Spain and Portugal. He quitted 
 the embassy at London, 1834, 
 proudly declaring that he had “ con¬ 
 quered political rights for the revo¬ 
 lution of July throughout Europe.” 
 Shortly before his death he deliv¬ 
 ered a eulogy on Reinhard before 
 the Academy of Moral and Polit¬ 
 ical Science. A learned notice of 
 him has been published by M. Mig- 
 net. 1, joo , 200, 217, 240. 
 
 Talma. —Celebrated tragedian, born 
 at Paris, 1766-1826. 1. 
 
 Tarnopol. —City of Galicia, on the 
 Serette, 85 miles southeast of 
 Lemberg. It was given to Russia 
 in 1809 ; restored to Austria, 1814. 
 278. 
 
 Terracina, Seaport.—The last of 
 the cities of the ancient Roman 
 States, on the route to Naples. 
 
 Thorn. —City on the right bank of the 
 Vistula, 56 miles south of Marien- 
 werder, an ancient free Hanseatic 
 city. In the fifteenth century it 
 fell into the power of the Order of 
 Teutonic Knights. Native place of 
 Copernicus. 306. 
 
 Toplitz. —Bohemian city, 14 miles 
 northwest of Leitmeritz, where 
 Austria united with Russia and 
 Prussia against France, September, 
 1813. 341, 344. 
 
 Tolinski, General.—Chief of staff of 
 the Grand Duke Constantine, at 
 Warsaw. One of his ‘‘orders for 
 the day,” is published in the Moni- 
 teur Universelle , 14th Jan., 1815. 
 
 . 399 * 
 
 Torgau. —In Saxon Prussia, on the 
 left bank of the Elbe, 9,000 inhabit- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ants. The tomb of Catherine Bo¬ 
 ren, wife of Martin Luther, is in 
 this city. The Lutherans formed 
 a celebrated league here, 1525. 
 Frederic the Great fought the Aus¬ 
 trians here, in 1760. 113. 
 
 Tour du Pin, M. Frederic Seraphin. 
 —The Marquis of La Tour du Pin 
 Gouvernet, 1758-1837, was the son 
 of CoTmt Jean Frederic, deputy to 
 the States-General, minister of war, 
 1789, who was executed April, 1794. 
 Colonel at the Revolution; minister 
 plenipotentiary to the Hague ; re¬ 
 called in 1792 ; fled to the United 
 States. Under the Empire he was 
 prefect of Amiens and Brussels. 
 Counselor to the embassy at the 
 Congress of Vienna; minister pleni¬ 
 potentiary to the court of the Nether¬ 
 lands, and afterward to Sardinia. 
 Offered his resignation, 1830. Re¬ 
 tired to Lausanne, 1832. 221. 
 
 Trautmansdorf, Prince von.—Born 
 at Vienna in 1749, descended from 
 the famous German diplomat who 
 signed the treaties of Westphalia. 
 Under the Emperor Joseph II. he 
 defended the authority of Austria 
 in the insurgent Netherlands. He 
 was councilor of state, and grand 
 chamberlain. He died, 1817. 25. 
 
 Trieste. —Fortified city and free port 
 of Austria, 366 miles southwest of 
 Vienna. 119, 388. 
 
 Tchernicheff (Czernicheff), Prince 
 Alexander ; 1779-1857.—Of the an¬ 
 cient Polish family of Tchernetzky, 
 established in Russia since 1493. 
 He discharged successfully the du¬ 
 ties imposed by a mission to France 
 in 1811, and discovered and re¬ 
 vealed to his government the plan 
 of future French operations against 
 Russia. He tormented us during 
 our retreat, and rescued General 
 Winzingerode. Napoleon always 
 mentioned him in his dispatches as 
 a formidable chief of partisans. He 
 drove Marshal Augerau out of Ber¬ 
 lin, March, 1813, seized Cassel and 
 Soissons, 1814, was made lieut.- 
 general, accompanied Alexander to 
 
 the congresses of Vienna, Aix-la- 
 Chapelle and Verona, and was in¬ 
 trusted with many diplomatic mis¬ 
 sions. He put down the insurrec¬ 
 tion of 1825 with an energy which 
 raised him high in the esteem of 
 the Emperor Nicholas. At his cor¬ 
 onation he made him count and min¬ 
 ister of war, appointing him chief 
 of the Russian staff. Through his 
 exertions the army was entirely re¬ 
 organized, its strength nearly 
 doubled, and numerous abuses cor¬ 
 rected. In 1841 he was created 
 prince. In 1848 he was made pres¬ 
 ident of the council of the empire 
 and of the council of ministers. In 
 this office he was superseded by 
 Prince Orloff. He died in 1857 at 
 Castellamare, near Naples. 49. 
 
 Victor Emanuel I., King of Sar¬ 
 dinia, 1802-1821.—Second son of 
 Victor Amedee III. His minister 
 and correspondent at St. Peters¬ 
 burg was the celebrated Joseph de 
 Maistre. He abdicated at the in¬ 
 surrection in 1820, in favor of his 
 son, Charles Felix. 120. 
 
 Vienna, Archbishop of.— Count 
 
 Sigismund Antoine von Hohenwart, 
 born 2d May, 1730. Preceptor of 
 the sons of the Grand Duke Leo¬ 
 pold of Tuscany ; bishop of Trieste, 
 1792, of St. Polten, 1797 ; after 
 1814, archbishop of Vienna, where 
 he died, 30th June, 1820. 267. 
 
 Vienna. —Capital of the Austrian em¬ 
 pire, on the right bank of the Dan¬ 
 ube, 830 miles from Paris, and 1,250 
 from . St. Petersburg. Napoleon 
 made the celebrated treaty here, 
 after the battle of Wagram, 1809. 2. 
 
 Vincent, Nicholas Charles, Baron.— 
 Born at Florence, 1757* Chamber- 
 lain, privy counselor of the Emperor 
 of Austria, lieutenant-general of his 
 armies, colonel proprietor of a reg¬ 
 iment of light cavalry, envoy extra¬ 
 ordinary and minister plenipoten¬ 
 tiary to his Most Christian Majesty. - 
 He accomplished several important 
 missions at Napoleon’s headquarters 
 
620 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 at Warsaw and Dresden, 1817, at 
 the headquarters of the Prince Roy¬ 
 al of Sweden, 1813, and at Welling¬ 
 ton’s headquarters in 1815. In the 
 Moniteur , 24th April, 1815, is the 
 following: “Some persons believe 
 that general the Baron Vincent, who 
 was Austrian minister to the last 
 French government, and who did 
 not leave Paris until after the arriv¬ 
 al of Napoleon, received from the 
 emperor some overtures relative to 
 the maintenance of peace, and that 
 he imparted them to our august 
 sovereign. The minister has just 
 received orders to repair to Bel¬ 
 gium.” 160 et seq. 
 
 Woltersdorff, Ernest Frederic von. 
 —Born 1755, died 1820. Lieut.- 
 general, chamberlain, grand cross 
 of Daneborg, envoy extraordinary 
 and minister plenipotentiary of the 
 King of Denmark to Paris, from 
 the 14th of September, 1810, to the 
 13th October, 1820. He was first 
 accredited to Napoleon in 1810. 
 New credentials retained him at the 
 court of Louis XVIII. in July, 
 1814. 373, 418. 
 
 Watteville, Nicholas Rodolph.— 
 Born at Berne, 3d January, 1760. 
 Member of the grand council 1795 ; 
 he was in the Swiss embassy to Paris 
 1802; appointed first chief magis¬ 
 trate after the act of mediation; and 
 commander in 1804 and 1810. Op¬ 
 posed to the restoration of the for¬ 
 mer government, in 1814, he nev¬ 
 ertheless became chief magistrate 
 after it was effected; he died in re¬ 
 tirement in 1832. 377. 
 
 Wellesley, Richard Colley, Earl of 
 Mornington, Marquis of, 1760-1842. 
 —Elder brother of the Duke of 
 Wellington ; governor-general of 
 the English possessions in India, 
 1797 ; took Seringapatam by as¬ 
 sault where the Sultan of Mysore, 
 Tippoo Sahib, reigned ; fought the 
 Mahrattas ; subjugated the Scinde. 
 Recalled 1805 ; he received the 
 mission to Spain, 1809 ; became 
 
 minister of foreign affair-s, 1810; 
 Lord lieut. of Ireland, 1822, and 
 Viceroy in 1833. 388. 
 
 Wellington, Duke of.—Arthur Col¬ 
 ley Wellesley, 1769-1852. The fu¬ 
 ture victor at Waterloo was the third 
 son of Viscount Wellesley. He stud¬ 
 ied at Angers, and, after serving in 
 India and before Copenhagen, di¬ 
 rected the operations of the'English 
 army in Spain ; compelled Massena 
 to fall back, and fought the battles of 
 Vittoria and Toulouse. He always 
 played an important part in English 
 politics ; was prime minister from 
 1828 to 1830. He died, 14th Sep¬ 
 tember, 1852. 120, 122 et seq., 153, 
 160, 173, 184, 239, 304. 
 
 Wessenberg, Baron von. Jean Philip, 
 baron Wessenberg - Ampfingen, 
 1773-1:858.—Was * the protege of 
 Charles Dalberg ; primate of Ger¬ 
 many, arch-chancellor, archbishop 
 of Mayence and after of Ratisbon, 
 grand duke of Frankfort. He rep¬ 
 resented Austria in the grave affairs 
 of secularization, 1802 ; was am¬ 
 bassador to Berlin, 1S11 ; to Mu¬ 
 nich and London; and he figured in 
 the Congress of Vienna. He had 
 little respect for the system of Met- 
 ternich. He was sent to the Hague, 
 1830, and took part in the conflict 
 between Holland and Belgium. 1848 
 he held the portfolio of foreign af¬ 
 fairs in the so-called constitutional 
 ministry, and was superseded by 
 prince Schwarzenberg. His brother, 
 Ignace Henri Charles von Wessem- 
 berg, was elected bishop of Con¬ 
 stance, but was not confirmed by 
 the Ploly See. 234. 
 
 Windischgraetz, Prince von.—Bom 
 at Brussels 1787 ; died 1862 ; be¬ 
 longed to an illustrious family from 
 Styria. He distinguished himself 
 at Leipsic, and during the whole 
 French campaign. Governor of 
 Prague, 1826, he took the city by 
 assault after the memorable rebell¬ 
 ion of 1848. 34. 
 
 W ittemberg. —At present a Prussian 
 fortress on the Elbe, 50 miles north- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 621 
 
 east of Merseburg. It has 10,000 
 inhabitants. 34. 
 
 Wolkonski, Prince Pierre, 1776- 
 1852.—Russian field-marshal; aide- 
 de-camp to the Grand Duke, after¬ 
 ward Emperor Alexander, 1797 ; 
 fought in the battle of Austerlitz ; 
 was present at the interview at Til¬ 
 sit, 1807. He lived in France, 
 1808 and 1809, studying with the 
 greatest attention the organization 
 of our army. He may perhaps be 
 considered the creator of the Rus¬ 
 sian staff. He took an important 
 part in the campaigns of Russia, 
 Germany and France, and he ac¬ 
 companied Alexander I. to all the 
 congresses. Nicholas I. made him 
 minister of the imperial marine, 
 1826. 137. 
 
 Wrede, Prince von.—Born at Hei¬ 
 delberg, 1761-1838 ; beaten by the 
 French at Hanau, 1813 ; he took 
 part in the campaign of France, 
 and was made field-marshal by the 
 king of Bavaria, 64, ior, 147, 153, 
 167, 192, 193. 
 
 Wurtemberg, King of.—Frederic of 
 Wurtemberg, 1754-1816 ; Duke 
 of Wurtemberg, 1797 ; Elector, 
 1803 ; made king by Napoleon I.; 
 member of the confederation of 
 the Rhine, 1806 ; turned against 
 France, 1813 ; he married his 
 daughter Catharine to Jerome Bo¬ 
 naparte, king of Westphalia. She 
 became the mother of the princess 
 Mathilde and the Prince Napoleon. 
 A prince of Hohenlohe accom¬ 
 panied, as adjutant of the King of 
 Wurte.mburg, Prince Napoleon to 
 Vienna. 194. 
 
 Wurtemberg, Prince Royal of.— 
 William I., born in 1784, afterward 
 king, 1816-1864; fought for France 
 1812 ; against her in 1813-14. At 
 Paris he met the Grand Duchess 
 Catherine Paulowna, Princess-Dow¬ 
 ager of Holstein-Oldenburg, whom 
 he married. She died in 1819. He 
 then married Pauline Theresa Lou¬ 
 ise, of Wurtemberg. Charles I., 
 present king of Wurtemberg, is the 
 issue of this marriage. His queen 
 
 is Olga Nicolaievna, sister of the 
 Emperor Alexander II. lie re¬ 
 ceived, in 1867, the visit of Napo¬ 
 leon III. and Alexander II., who 
 had come together for an interview, 
 at Stuttgart. 204. 
 
 Wurtemberg, Duchess of.—Alexan¬ 
 dra Antoine Ernestine Amelie, Prin¬ 
 cess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, born 
 19th August, 1779 ; married, 1798, 
 Charles Alexander Frederic, 1771- 
 1 833, general of cavalry in the ser¬ 
 vice of Russia ; governor of Livo¬ 
 nia, of Esthonia, and Courland. 
 He died 1833. She died 14th 
 March, 1824. 339. 
 
 Zerleder, Louis.—Born at Berne, 
 5th December, 1772. His father 
 was member of the sovereign coun¬ 
 cil ; his mother was a daughter of 
 the great Haller. He lived two 
 years in Paris, and traveled till 
 1795 ; appointed commandant of 
 the district of Oberland, and mem¬ 
 ber of the commission of organiza¬ 
 tion of the canton of Berne ; he 
 was chosen member of the grand 
 and the lesser council. After the 
 establishment and maintenance of 
 the constitution of mediation, in 
 1814, he was sent to the court of 
 the Czar, and thence to the Con¬ 
 gress of Vienna. Badly received 
 on his return to Berne, he retired 
 to private life; he died 18 th July, 
 1840. 377. 
 
 Zeugwitz. —The person here referred 
 to, may possibly be Colonel Zesc- 
 wit, spoken of in the “ Moniteur 
 Universel ” of 10th October, as the 
 author of an address in favor of the 
 king of Saxony. 91. 
 
 Zichy Count. — The Count Zichy 
 of Vasonykio, of a noble Hun¬ 
 garian family, dating back to 
 the thirteenth century, dividing in 
 the seventeenth century into two 
 branches, that of Palota, and that 
 of Karlburg. Was born at Pres- 
 burg, 1753. He was president of 
 the Aulic court of Hungary—judex 
 curiae—1788 ; minister of war, 1803. 
 Died at Vienna, 1826. 93, 113, 138. 
 
“The world has waited for this publication, and now that it has appeared, it 
 
 will be diligently read by all men.” 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 PRINCE METTERNICH. 
 
 Edited by his Son, Prince Metternich. Translated by Robina Napier. 
 
 With a minute index prepared especially for this edition. 
 
 4 vols., 8vo. With Portrait and Fac-similes, each, - $2.50. 
 
 For twenty years—since it became known at his death that the great diplomatist 
 of the Napoleonic period had left his memoirs—the publication of this book has been 
 looked for with such interest as perhaps no other personal revelations could have 
 aroused. Prince Metternich’s own directions kept it back during this time; and this 
 fact, with the complete secresy preserved as to the contents of the manuscript, rightly 
 Jed to the belief that he had treated the events and persons of his day with an un¬ 
 sparing candor. 
 
 The simultaneous publication of the memoirs in Germany, France, England and 
 America is therefore something more than a literary event. Metternich alone held the 
 keys of the most secret history of the most important epoch in modern times, and in 
 this book he gives them up—an impossibility during his life. Even to especial students, 
 who know what problems these disclosures have been expected to solve, the value of 
 what they open will be as surprising as the extraordinary care with which they have 
 been guarded. 
 
 The announcement alone isof sufficient interest, that we are at last in possession 
 of the autobiography of the statesman who from the French Revolution to Waterloo, 
 took part in the making of nearly every great treaty, and was himself the negotiator 
 of the greatest ; and who from 1806 to 1815, was the guiding mind of the vast combin¬ 
 ations which defeated Napoleon and decided the form of modern Europe. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS OF THE METTERNICH 
 
 MEMOIRS., 
 
 “The great chancellor writes with an exceedingly inter- 
 
 esting to follow his narration, so clear that one never loses tfie threacTo? his story, and 
 so graphic that we get a glimpse of the scenes as with our own ey es—Xhe work is 
 intensely interesting to read, and of the greatest value to the~historical student.”— 
 N. Y. Independent. 
 
 “ Of the great value of the work we have already spoken. It not only enables 
 the world for the first time to understand clearly the objects for which Prince Metter¬ 
 nich contended throughout his long public life, but casts fresh light on some of the 
 most obscure historical incidents of his day.”— The Athenceum. 
 
 “ The Memoirs of Metternich are to be heartily welcomed Dy all who are inter¬ 
 ested either in the serious facts or the lighter gossip of history. There is no period, 
 indeed, in recent history, more important or attractive than that covered by the first 
 volume of these memoirs.”— Boston Literary World. 
 
 *** For sale by all booksellers , or will be sent , prepaid , upon 
 receipt of price, by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, Publishers, 
 
 743 and 745 Broadway, New York. 
 
(By Arran^erneiit 'with. the Author.] 
 
 The Best Biography of the Greatest of the Romans. 
 
 SIR: A Sketch. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, M.A. 
 
 Library Edition, 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Top, $2.50. 
 POPULAR EDITION (from same plates'), 12mo, 75 Cents. 
 
 Uniform wi'h P >vular Edition of Fronde's History 
 of England, and Short Studies. 
 
 There is no historical writer of our time who can rival Mr. Fronde in vivid 
 delineation of character, grace and clearness of style and elegant and solid 
 scholarship. In his Xi/e of Caesar, all these qualities appear in their fullest 
 perfection, resulting in a fascinating narrative which will be read with keen 
 delight by a multitude of readers, and will enhance, if possible, Mr. Froude’s 
 brilliant reputation. 
 
 CRITICAL NOTICES. 
 
 “ The book is charmingly written, and, on the whole, wisely written. There are many 
 admirable, really noble, passages ; there are hundreds of pages which few living men 
 could match. * * * The political life of Caesar is explained with singular lucidity, 
 
 and with what seems to us remarkable fairness. The horrible condition of Roman 
 society under the rule of the magnates is painted with startling power and brilliance of 
 coloring.— Atlatitic Monthly. 
 
 “Mr. Froude’s latest work, “Caesar,” is affluent of his most distinctive traits. 
 Nothing that he has written is more brilliant, more incisive, more interesting. * * * 
 
 He combines into a compact and nervous narrative all that is known of the personal, 
 social, political, and military life of Caesar ; and with his sketch of Caesar, includes other 
 brilliant sketches of the great men, his friends or rivals, who contemporaneously with 
 him formed the principal figures in the Roman world.”— Harper's Monthly. 
 
 “ I his book is a most fascinating biography, and is by far the best account of Julius 
 Caesar to be found in the English language.”— Lotidon Standard. 
 
 “ It is the best biography of the greatest of the Romans we have, and it is in some 
 respects Mr. Froude’s best piece of historical writing.”— Hartford Courant. 
 
 Mr. I roude has given the public the best of all recent books on the life, character 
 and career of Julius Caesar.”— Phila. Eve. Bulletin. 
 
 *** For sale by all booksellers , or will be sent, prepaid, zip'* 
 receipt of price , by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 
 
 743 and 745 Broadway, New York 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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