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Title: Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
Author: Comte de Auguste Louis Charles La Garde-
Chambonas
Editor: comte Maurice Fleury
Translator: Albert D. Vandam
Release date: January 27, 2017 [eBook #54061]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANECDOTAL
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA ***
ANECDOTAL RECOLLECTIONS
OF THE
CONGRESSOF VIENNA
BY THE
COMTE A. DE LA GARDE-CHAMBONAS
WITH
INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY THE
COMTE FLEURY
Translated
BY THE AUTHOR OF
‘AN ENGLISHMAN IN PARIS’
WITH PORTRAITS
L O N D O N
C H A P M A N & H A L L , L I M I T E D
1 9 0 2
CONTENTS
PAGE
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OFTHE COMTE
AUGUSTE DE LA GARDE-CHAMBONAS xiii
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
Introduction—A Glance at the Congress—Arrival
of the Sovereigns—The First Night in Vienna, 1
CHAPTER I
The Prince de Ligne—His Wit and his Urbanity—
Robinson Crusoe—The Masked Ball and Rout
—Sovereigns in Dominos—The Emperor of
Russia and Prince Eugène—Kings and
Princes—Zibin—General Tettenborn—A
Glance at his Military Career—Grand Military
Fête in Honour of Peace—The Footing of
Intimacy of the Sovereigns at the Congress
—The Imperial Palace—Death of Queen
Maria Carolina of Naples—Emperor
Alexander—Anecdotes—Sovereign Gifts—
Politics and Diplomacy—The Grand Rout—
The Waltz, 11
41.
CHAPTER II
The Drawing-Roomsof the Comtesse de Fuchs
—The Prince Philip of Hesse-Homburg—
George Sinclair—The Announcement of a
Military Tournament—The Comtesse Edmond
de Périgord General Comte de Witt—Letters
of Recommendation—The Princesse Pauline
—The Poet-Functionary and Fouché, 41
CHAPTER III
Reception at M. de Talleyrand’s—His Attitude at
the Congress—The Duc de Dalberg—The
Duc de Richelieu—Mme. Edmond de
Périgord—M. Pozzo di Borgo—Parallel
between the Prince de Ligne and M. de
Talleyrand—A Monster Concert, 55
CHAPTER IV
The Prince de Ligne’s Study—A Swimming
Exploit—Travelling by Post—A Reminiscence
of Madame de Staël—Schönbrunn—The Son
of Napoleon—His Portrait—Mme. de
Montesquiou—Anecdotes—Isabey—The
Manœuvring-Ground—The People’s Fête at
Augarten, 70
42.
CHAPTER V
The Prater—TheCarriages—The Crowd and the
Sovereigns—The Sovereigns’ Incognito—
Alexander Ypsilanti—The Vienna Drawing-
Rooms—Princesse Bagration—The
Narischkine Family—A Lottery, 87
CHAPTER VI
The Castle of Laxemburg—Heron-Hawking—The
Empress of Austria—A Royal Hunt—Fête at
the Ritterburg—A Recollection of Christina of
Sweden—Constance and Theodore, or the
Blind Husband—Poland—Scheme for her
Independence—The Comte Arthur Potocki—
The Prince de Ligne and Isabey—The Prince
de Ligne’s House on the Kalemberg—
Confidential Chats and Recollections—The
Empress Catherine II.—Queen Marie-
Antoinette—Mme. de Staël—Casanova, 105
CHAPTER VII
A Court Function—The Empress of Austria—The
Troubadours—Amateur Theatricals—The
Empress of Russia—The Prince Leopold of
Saxe-Cobourg—Tableaux-Vivants—Queen
Hortense’s Songs—The Moustaches of the
Comte de Wurbna—Songs in Action—The
Orphan of the Prisons—Diplomacy and
Dancing—A Ball and a Supper at Court, 137
43.
CHAPTER VIII
Prince Eugènede Beauharnais—Recollections of
the Prince de Ligne—The Theatre of the
‘Ermitage’ and of Trianon—The Baron
Ompteda—Some Portraits—The Imperial
Carrousel—The Four-and-Twenty Paladins—
Reminiscences of Mediæval Tournaments—
The Prowess of the Champion—Fête and
Supper at the Imperial Palace—The Table of
the Sovereigns, 152
CHAPTER IX
Recollections of the Military Tournament of
Stockholm in 1800—The Comte de Fersen—
King Gustavus IV.—The Challenge of the
Unknown Knight—The Games on the Bridge
at Pisa, 174
CHAPTER X
The Prince de Ligne’s Song of the Congress—
Life on the Graben—The Chronicle of the
Congress—Echoes of the Congress—A
Companion Story to the Death of Vatel—
Brie, the King of Cheese—Fête at Arnstein
the Banker’s—The Prince Royal of
Würtemberg—Russian Dances—The Poet
Carpani and the Prince de Ligne, 193
44.
CHAPTER XI
The LastLove-Tryst of the Prince de Ligne—A
Glance at the Past—Z—— or the
Consequences of Gaming—Gambling in
Poland and in Russia—The Biter Bit—Masked
Ball—The Prince de Ligne and a Domino—
More Living Pictures—The Pasha of Surêne—
Two Masked Ladies—A Recollection of the
Prince de Talleyrand, 218
CHAPTER XII
Illness of the Prince de Ligne—The Comte de
Witt—Ambassador Golowkin—Doctor Malfati
—The Prince gets worse—Last Sallies of the
Moribund—General Grief—Portrait of the
Prince de Ligne—His Funeral, 244
CHAPTER XIII
The Fire at the Razumowski Palace—The
Prince’s Great Wealth—The Vicissitudes of
Court Favour in Russia—Prince Koslowski—A
Reminiscence of the Duc d’Orléans—A Re-
mark of Talleyrand—Fête at the Comtesse
Zichy’s—Emperor Alexander and his Ardent
Wishes for Peace—New Year’s Day, 1815—
Grand Ball and Rout—Sir Sidney Smith’s
Dinner-Party at the Augarten—His
Chequered Life, his Missions and his Projects
at the Congress—The King of Bavaria
without Money—Departure and Anger of the
256
45.
King of Würtemberg—TheQueen of
Westphalia—The Announcement of a
Sleighing-Party—A Ball at Lord Castlereagh’s,
CHAPTER XIV
Some Original Types at the Congress—M. Aïdé—
A Witticism of the Prince de Ligne—Mme.
Pratazoff—Mr. Foneron—The Old Jew—His
Noblesse and his Moral Code—Mr. Raily—His
Dinners and his Companions—The Two
Dukes—The End of a Gambler—The
Sovereigns’ Incognito—Mr. O’Bearn—Ball at
the Apollo—Zibin and the King of Prussia—
Charles de Rechberg and the King of Bavaria
—The Minuet—The King of Denmark—Story
of the Bombardment of Copenhagen—The
German Lesson, 282
CHAPTER XV
Religious Ceremony for the Anniversary of the
Death of Louis XVI.—Reception at
Talleyrand’s—Discussion on the Subject of
Saxony and Poland—The Order of the Day of
the Grand-Duke Constantine—A Factum of
Pozzo di Borgo—A Sleighing-Party—
Entertainment and Fête at Schönbrunn—
Prince Eugène—Recollections of Queen
Hortense—The Empress Marie-Louise at the
Valley of St. Helena—Second Sleighing-Party
—A Funeral, 309
46.
CHAPTER XVI
Reception atMadame de Fuchs’s—Prince
Philippe d’Hesse-Hombourg—The Journalists
and Newsmongers of Vienna—The French
Village in Germany—Prince Eugène—
Recollection of the Consulate—Tribulations of
M. Denville—Mme. Récamier—The Return of
the Émigré—Childhood’s Friend, or the Magic
of a Name—Ball at Lord Stewart’s—
Alexander proclaimed King of Poland—The
Prince Czartoryski—Confidence of the Poles
—Count Arthur Potocki—The Revolutions of
Poland—Slavery—Vandar—Ivan, or the Polish
Serf, 328
CHAPTER XVII
The Emperor Alexander, the King of Prussia,
and the Naval Officer—Surprise to the
Empress of Russia—More Fêtes—A Ball at M.
de Stackelberg’s—Paul Kisseleff—Brozin—
Fête offered by M. de Metternich—The Ball-
Room catches Fire—Fêtes and Banquet at
the Court—Ompteda—Chronicle of the
Congress—The Tell-tale Perfume—
Recollection of Empress Josephine and
Madame Tallien—A Romantic Court Story, 346
CHAPTER XVIII
The Comte de Rechberg’s Work on the
Governments of the Russian Empire—The
364
47.
King of Bavaria—PolishPoem of Sophiowka
—Madame Potocka, or the Handsome
Fanariote—Her Infancy—Particulars of Her
Life—A Glance at the Park of Sophiowka—
Subscription of the Sovereigns—Actual State
of Sophiowka,
CHAPTER XIX
A Luncheon at M. de Talleyrand’s on his
Birthday—M. de Talleyrand and the MS.—The
Princesse-Maréchale Lubomirska—New
Arrivals—Chaos of Claims—The Indemnities
of the King of Denmark—Rumours of the
Congress—Arrival of Wellington at Vienna—
The Carnival—Fête of the Emperor of Austria
—A Masked Rout—The Diadem, or Vanity
Punished—A Million—Gambling and Slavery:
a Russian Anecdote, 375
CHAPTER XX
Isabey’s Study—His Drawing of the
Plenipotentiaries at the Congress of Vienna
—The Imperial Sepulchre at the Capuchins—
Recollections of the Tombs of Cracow—
Preacher Werner—St. Stephen’s Cathedral—
Children’s Ball at Princesse Marie Esterhazy’s
—The Empress Elizabeth of Russia—The
Picture-Gallery of the Duc de Saxe-Teschen
—Emperor Alexander and Prince Eugène—
The Pictures of the Belvedere—The King of
Bavaria—Anecdotes, 394
48.
CHAPTER XXI
Ypsilanti—Promenade onthe Prater—First
Rumour of the Escape of Napoleon—Projects
for the Deliverance of Greece—Comte Capo
d’Istria—The Hétairites—Meeting with
Ypsilanti in 1820—His Projects and Reverses, 406
CONCLUSION
Napoleon has left Elba—Aspect of Vienna—
Theatricals at the Court—Mme. Edmond de
Périgord and the Rehearsal—Napoleon’s
Landing at Cannes—The Interrupted Dance
—Able Conduct of M. de Talleyrand—
Declaration of the 13th March—Fauche Borel
—The Congress is Dissolved, 410
Index, 421
49.
PORTRAITS
FRANCIS I., EMPEROROF AUSTRIA, Frontispiece.
at page
COUNT NESSELRODE, 36
MARIE-LOUISE, ARCHDUCHESS OF
AUSTRIA, 76
ALEXANDER I., 142
MARIE, DOWAGER-EMPRESS OF
RUSSIA, 211
ROBERT, VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH,
MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY, 281
PRINCE DE METTERNICH, 353
M. MAURICE DE TALLEYRAND, 376
50.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OFTHE
COMTE AUGUSTE DE LA GARDE-
CHAMBONAS
Auguste-Louis-Charles de La Garde,
1
a man of letters and a poet
of some repute in his time, was born in Paris in 1783. The following
is a copy of his certificate of baptism:—
The Old Parish of
Saint-Eustache,
Anno 1783.
(Registry of Paris.)
On Wednesday, the fifth day of
March of the year seventeen
hundred and eighty-three, there
was baptized Auguste-Louis-
Charles, born on the previous day
but one, the son of Messire le
Comte Scipion-Auguste de La
Garde, chevalier, captain of
Dragoons, and of Dame Catherine-
Françoise Voudu, his wife,
domiciled in the Rue de Richelieu.
Godfather—Messire Jean de la
Croix, captain of Dragoons;
Godmother—Dame Elisabeth
Vingtrinien, wife of M. Etienne-
Antoine Barryals, Bourgeois of
Paris.
2
The child’s mother died in giving it birth. The father only
survived the beloved young wife for a little while, and feeling his end
51.
to be near,confided the orphan to the head of his family, the
Marquis de Chambonas (Scipion-Charles-Victor Auguste de La
Garde), camp-marshal (equivalent to the present grade of general of
brigade), and subsequently a minister of Louis XVI.
3
M. de Chambonas took charge of the infant, looking upon it as a
second son, and treating it with the most constant affection.
Consequently in all his works, and in his Unpublished Notes, Auguste
de La Garde always refers by the name of ‘father’ to the relative who
had replaced his dead parents.
4
During his early childhood, he was often entrusted to his
godmother, Mme. de Villers.
5
She was the friend of Mme. Bernard,
the wife of the Lyons banker, whose daughter was to attain such
great celebrity under the name of Mme. Récamier. Brought up
together, as it were, these two children conceived for each other a
sincere affection, which neither time nor distance ever cooled.
When, on his return from foreign parts, Auguste de La Garde came
to Paris in 1801, he at once took up his abode at Mme. Récamier’s,
who, moreover, gave him the support so necessary to the youthful
wanderer who possessed no resources of his own. Hence, it will
cause no surprise to meet in the Recollections of the Congress of
Vienna with pages breathing a profound sense of gratitude to Mme.
Récamier.
Young La Garde began his studies under the guidance of the
Abbé B——, after which he was sent to the College of Sens. (His
‘father’ had been governor of the town in 1789, and its mayor in
1791.) M. de Chambonas, after having commanded the 17th division
of the army of Paris for a very short time, was called to the ministry
of Foreign Affairs, the 17th June 1792, to replace Dumouriez, who
had resigned. His stay there was also very short. Having been
denounced publicly in the Legislative Assembly for having withheld
information with regard to the movements of the Prussian troops,
and becoming more and more suspect every day, he quickly
abandoned the post.
52.
On the 10thAugust he was among those who endeavoured to
defend the Tuileries, and was even left for dead on the spot. It was
only towards the end of 1792 that M. de Chambonas made up his
mind to quit Paris. He did not cross the frontier, but managed to
reach Sens; where, in safe hiding, he succeeded in spending
unmolested the years of the Reign of Terror. He had taken with him
his son, who subsequently married Mlle. de la Vernade, at Sens (and
who was the grandfather of the present Marquis de Chambonas),
and also his adopted son.
How did the erewhile minister of Louis XVI. succeed in passing
unmolested through the Terror? It seems almost incredible. This was
one of the exceptions the particulars of which have been traced by
memoirs that have recently come to light.
6
During the Directory, in fact, M. de Chambonas floated
absolutely to the top, and at one time there was talk of sending him
to Spain as ambassador. The plan fell through, and after the coup
d’état on the 18th Fructidor (4th September 1797), M. de
Chambonas, considering himself no longer safe, hurriedly left Paris
to avoid arrest.
Behold our wanderers at Hamburg, and afterwards in Sweden
and Denmark. Auguste de La Garde in his somewhat florid style will
tell us many amusing anecdotes; on the other hand, the
bombardment of Copenhagen by the English fleet in 1801 affected
him sadly.
A few months later, the lad of eighteen is sent to France by M.
de Chambonas in order to obtain the removal of the sender’s name
from the list of émigrés—he had been considered as such while he
was in hiding at Sens—and to claim the estates the nation had
confiscated. Auguste de La Garde is hospitably received by Mme.
Récamier, who, while bestirring herself in behalf of the ‘father,’ takes
the son in hand with regard to his education. Through her influence,
La Harpe assists him with his counsels, and the best professors
direct his further studies. As for the property the restitution of which
53.
is claimed byhis ‘father,’ by that time established in England, all idea
of it had to be abandoned; and young La Garde himself, his mind
precociously ripened by his exile, was compelled to look to his own
independent future.
7
His personal charm, his natural gifts, and, in short, the useful
connections he rapidly made for himself, soon procured him
employment and a start in life. At the outset, he obtained through
the goodwill of Prince Eugène missions to Italy, to Marmont in
Dalmatia, to the Court of King Joseph at Naples, and finally to Rome,
where he was cordially received by Lucien Bonaparte and his family.
The pages, whether in his Recollections of the Congress of Vienna or
in his Unpublished Notes, referring to his primary benefactors, go far
to exonerate him from the charge of ingratitude, for he lavishes
upon those benefactors all the ornaments of his rhetoric; at any
rate, nearly all, for the greater part of the acknowledgment of his
indebtedness goes mainly to Field-Marshal Prince de Ligne, who was
his protector, his beneficent and ... very useful relative, a member of
the Chambonas family, having, as we already stated, married a
Princesse de Ligne.
La Garde first met with the Prince de Ligne in the Eternal City.
He soon became a familiar visitor to the octogenarian prince, who,
like the generous Mæcenas that he was, gave him a pressing
invitation to come and settle near him in Vienna. The young fellow
was too sensible to make light of an offer insuring material welfare
and a regular existence after years of uncertainty. He, therefore,
settled in Vienna near to his benefactor, yielding for the matter of
that to the spell exercised over every one by that very superior
specimen of manhood, and requiting his kindness with an
affectionate veneration increasing as time went on. The whole of the
first part of the Recollections attests a boundless gratitude; and if on
the one hand that work constitutes the brightest ornament of our
author’s literary crown, it constitutes on the other the most complete
panegyric of the prince who had become ‘his idol.’
54.
From Vienna, theComte de La Garde passed into Russia, where
he met with a cordial welcome from the elegant society of St.
Petersburg. In 1810 he published there a volume of poems, which
obtained a most signal success. Subsequently invited to Poland by
the Comte Félix Potocki, and treated with the most generous
hospitality, he was enabled to devote himself to numerous literary
works; and as a mark of gratitude to his hosts, he translated into
French Trembecki’s poem dedicated to the cherished wife of Comte
Félix, the celebrated Sophie Potocka.
The Recollections of the Congress of Vienna contains frequent
references to the ‘superb Sophie,’ who was born in the Fanariote
quarter in Constantinople, and whose singular career was solely
owing to her beauty. She married in the first place the Comte de
Witt (of the family of the Dutch Great State-Councillor, whose
descendants had entered the service of Russia). The Comte de Witt
enticed her away from a secretary of the French Embassy in
Constantinople; Comte Félix Potocki, in his turn, eloped with her
while she was Comtesse de Witt, and married her, thanks to an
amicable arrangement nullifying the first marriage. Comtesse Sophie,
celebrated throughout Europe—her loveliness had even compelled
admiration from the Court circle at Versailles—lived on a regal
footing on her estate of Tulczim, and dispensed her hospitality to the
French émigrés in a manner calculated to dazzle many of them. The
Mémoires of General Comte de Rochechouart and the present
Recollections are specially interesting on the subject. The success of
the poem, ‘Sophiowka,’ was such as to gain for its adapter the
honorary membership respectively of the Academies of Warsaw,
Cracow, Munich, London, and Naples.
The Comte de La Garde was to receive another flattering
testimonial in Poland, many years later, on the occasion of the
appearance of his poem on the ‘Funérailles de Kosciusko’ (Treuttel &
Wurtz: Paris, 1830). Its several editions by no means exhausted its
success; the senate of the republic of Cracow conferred upon him
the Polish citizenship, while the kings of Bavaria, Prussia, and Saxony
complimented him by autograph letters.
55.
La Garde wasthe author of a great number of songs; and the
most renowned composers of the period competed for the honour of
setting them to music. Many of these romances were dedicated to
Queen Hortense, whose acquaintance he made at Augsburg in 1819.
This led to his collaboration in ‘Loi d’Exil,’ and ‘Partant pour la
Syrie’—the latter of which became the national hymn during the
Second Empire. In 1853, there appeared L’Album artistique de la
Reine Hortense, a much prized collection of the then unpublished
songs of the Comte de La Garde, with their music by the queen, and
charming reproductions of tiny paintings, which were also her work.
8
This was the last time the name of the Comte de La Garde
appeared in print. A short time afterwards his wandering life came to
an end in Paris, which during the latter years of his life he inhabited
alternately with Angers. He had adopted as his motto: ‘My life is a
battle’; he could have added, ‘and a never-ending journey’; for his
constitutional restlessness prevented him from settling permanently,
no matter where. He never married. The few documents he left
behind, including some momentoes, represented the whole of his
property, and went to his cousin, M. de La Garde, Marquis de
Chambonas.
In addition to the afore-mentioned works and the present one,
Recollections of the Congress of Vienna, which originally appeared in
Paris in 1820 (?), M. de la Garde was the author of the following:
Une traduction de Dmitry Donskoy (Moscow, 1811); Coup d’œil sur
le Royaume de Pologne (Varsovie, 1818); Coup d’œil sur Alexander-
Bad (Bavière, 1819); Laure Bourg: roman dédié au Roi de Bavière
(Munich, 1820); Les Monuments grecs de la Sicile (Munich, 1820);
Traduction des Mélodies de Thomas Moore (Londres, 1826); Voyage
dans quelques parties de l’Europe (Londres, 1828); Brighton, Voyage
en Angleterre, (1830); Tableau de Bruxelles (prose et vers), dédié à
la Reine; Projet pour la formation d’une Colonie belge à la Nouvelle
Zélande, etc.
In all those works, and notably in the most important, namely:
Brighton, and Souvenirs du Congrès de Vienne, M. de La Garde
56.
shows himself tobe endowed with the faculty of observation and
with tact. Unfortunately his matchless kindliness prevents his
criticisms from departing from the laudatory gamut.
We must not look in these Recollections for important revelations
concerning the diplomatic conferences which engaged the attention
of the whole of Europe in 1815; we shall only meet with delightful
anecdotes and portraits of grandes dames and illustrious
personages. There will be many silhouettes of figures that have been
forgotten since, but which, while they belonged to this world, were
worthy of notice. To appreciate them we should bring to the perusal
of this volume the quality which presided at its composition: namely,
the kindliness of an observant man of the world.
Since their appearance in 1820, these Recollections had been
absolutely forgotten. It seemed to us and to M. le Marquis de
Chambonas La Garde, to whom we owe the principal facts of this
notice, that the chapters were worthy of being resuscitated. Though
we have omitted from these Recollections some dissertations more
or less obsolete, which would be of no interest to-day, we have
throughout respected the style and the ideas of the author; only
adding to his narrative the necessary notes on the principal
personages of the action.
FLEURY.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
Introduction—A Glanceat the Congress—Arrival of the
Sovereigns—The First Night in Vienna.
The Congress of Vienna, considered as a political gathering, has
not lacked historians, but they were so intent upon recording its
phases of high diplomacy as to have bestowed no thought upon its
piquant and lighter social features.
No doubt they feared that triviality of detail might impair the
general effect of so imposing a picture, and they were satisfied with
reproducing and judging results, without caring to retrace the
diverse and animated scenes where these results were obtained.
Nevertheless, it would have been curious to go more or less deeply
into the personal lives of the actors called upon to settle the future
interests of Europe. At the Vienna Congress, hearts hitherto closed,
nay, wholly inaccessible, to the observation of the outer world, were
often laid open. Amidst the confusion of all ranks, their most
transient movements revealed themselves, and lent themselves to
being watched, as if taken off their guard in the irresistible whirl of
uninterrupted pleasures.
Doubtless, at no time of the world’s history had more grave and
complex interests been discussed amidst so many fêtes. A kingdom
was cut into bits or enlarged at a ball: an indemnity was granted in
the course of a dinner; a constitution was planned during a hunt;
now and again a cleverly-placed word or a happy and pertinent
remark cemented a treaty the conclusion of which, under different
circumstances, would probably have been achieved only with
difficulty, and by dint of many conferences and much
59.
correspondence. Acrimonious discussionsand ‘dry-as-dust’
statements were replaced for the time being, as if by magic, by the
most polite forms in any and every transaction; and also by the
promptitude which is a still more important form of politeness,
unfortunately too neglected.
The Congress had assumed the character of a grand fête in
honour of the general pacification. Ostensibly it was a feast of rest
after the storm, but, curiously enough, it offered a programme
providing for life in its most varied movements. Doubtless, the
forgathering of those sovereigns, ministers, and generals who for
nearly a quarter of a century had been the actors in a grand drama
supposed to have run its course, besides the pomp and circumstance
of the unique scene itself, showed plainly enough that they were
there to decide the destinies of nations. The mind, dominated by the
gravity of the questions at issue, could not altogether escape from
the serious thoughts now and again obtruding themselves: but
immediately afterwards the sounds of universal rejoicing brought a
welcome diversion. Everyone was engrossed with pleasure. The
love-passion also hovered over this assembly of kings, and had the
effect of prolonging a state of abandonment and a neglect of affairs,
both really inconceivable when taken in conjunction with upheavals
the shock of which was still felt, and immediately before a
thunderbolt which was soon to produce a singular awakening. The
people themselves, apparently forgetting that when their rulers are
at play, the subjects are doomed to pay in a short time the bills of
such royal follies, seemed to be grateful for foibles that drew their
masters down to their level.
Meanwhile, the man of Titanic catastrophes is not far distant.
Napoleon steps forth to spread fire and flame once more; to make
an end of all those dreams, and to invest with a wholly different
aspect those voluptuous scenes, the diversity of which could not
even save their participants from the weariness of satiety.
9
I arrived in Vienna towards the end of September 1814, when
the Congress, though it had been announced for several months,
60.
was not yetofficially opened. The fêtes had, however, already
commenced. In the abstract of the proceedings, it had been said
that the conferences would be of very short duration. Business
according to some, pleasure according to others, and probably both
these causes combined, decided things otherwise. Several weeks,
several months, went by without the question of dissolution being
broached. Negotiating as from brother to brother, in a manner that
would have rejoiced the heart of Catherine the Great, the sovereigns
amicably and without the least hurry arranged ‘their little affairs’;
they gave one the impression of wishing to realise the philosophic
dream of the Abbé de Saint-Pierre.
10
The number of strangers attracted to Vienna by the Congress
was estimated at close upon a hundred thousand. It ought to be
said that for this memorable gathering no other city would have
answered so well. Vienna is in reality the centre of Europe; at that
time it was its capital. A Viennese who had happened to leave the
city a few months before would have had some difficulty in
identifying himself and his familiar surroundings amidst that new,
gilded, and titled population which crowded the place at the time of
the Congress. All the sovereigns of the North had come thither; the
West and the East had sent their most notable representatives. The
Emperor Alexander, still young and brilliant; the Empress Elizabeth,
with her winning though somewhat melancholy grace, and the
Grand-Duke Constantine represented Russia. Behind these were
grouped a mass of ministers, princes, and generals, especially
conspicuous among them the Comtes de Nesselrode, Capo d’Istria,
Pozzo di Borgo, and Stackelberg, all of whom were marked out from
that hour to play important parts in the political debates of Europe.
These statesmen must be passed over in silence. I must not be
equally silent with regard to the friends whom I met once more, and
who during my wanderings in Germany, Poland, and Russia, had
entertained me with such cordial affection. There was Tettenborn, as
devoted and warm-hearted after many years of separation as if we
had never parted; the Comte de Witt, the Prince Koslowski, both of
whom were to die prematurely; and Alexander Ypsilanti, fervent and
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generous as ofold, and fated to meet with such a cruel end in the
prisons of Montgatz and of Theresienstadt.
The King of Prussia was accompanied by the Princes Guillaume
and Auguste. Baron de Humboldt
11
and the Prince d’Hardemberg
presided at his councils. The beautiful queen who in the negotiations
of 1807 employed in vain all her seductive grace and resources of
mind against the will of Napoleon, was no more.
The King of Denmark, Frédéric VI., the son of the ill-fated
Caroline Mathilde,
12
also repaired to the Congress, which, luckily for
him, he was enabled to leave without his modest possessions having
aroused the cupidity of this or that ambitious neighbour.
The Kings of Bavaria and Würtemberg, the Dukes of Saxe-
Coburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Hesse-Cassel—in short, all the heads
and princes of the reigning houses of Germany—were there. They
also wished to take part in the political festival, and were anxious to
know how the supreme tribunal would trim and shape the borders of
their small States.
The King of Saxony, so ardently worshipped by his subjects, had
at that time retired into Prussia, while the Allied Armies occupied his
kingdom. That excellent prince, whom Napoleon called ‘le plus
honnête homme qui ait occupé le trône,’
13
was only represented at
the Congress by his plenipotentiaries.
The representatives of France were the Duc de Dalberg, the
Comte Alexis de Noailles, M. de la Tour-du-Pin, and the Prince de
Talleyrand. The last-named maintained his high reputation with great
dignity under difficult circumstances, and perhaps conspicuous
justice has never been done to him. The English plenipotentiaries
were Lords Clancarty and Stewart, and Viscount Castlereagh.
Among these notable men it would be ingratitude on my part not
to name the Prince de Ligne, of whom frequent mention will be
made in these Recollections; and the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-
Homburg [1814]. A brave soldier, the latter prince earned his grade