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diff --git a/old/54061-0.txt b/old/54061-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5e51f17..0000000 --- a/old/54061-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16003 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of -Vienna, by Auguste Louis Charles, compte de La Garde-Chambonas - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna - -Author: Auguste Louis Charles, compte de La Garde-Chambonas - -Translator: Albert Dresden Vandam - -Release Date: January 27, 2017 [EBook #54061] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS--CONGRESS OF VIENNA *** - - - - -Produced by Josep Cols Canals, Charlie Howard, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - ANECDOTAL RECOLLECTIONS - OF THE - CONGRESS OF VIENNA - - -[Illustration: FRANCIS I, EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA.] - - - - - ANECDOTAL RECOLLECTIONS - OF THE - CONGRESS OF 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 - - - LONDON - CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED - 1902 - - - - -Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE, (late) Printers to Her Majesty - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE 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 - - - CHAPTER II - - The Drawing-Rooms of 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 - - - CHAPTER V - - The Prater--The Carriages--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 - - - CHAPTER VIII - - Prince Eugène de 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 - - - CHAPTER XI - - The Last Love-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 King of - Würtemberg--The Queen of Westphalia--The Announcement of - a Sleighing-Party--A Ball at Lord Castlereagh’s, 256 - - - 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 - - - CHAPTER XVI - - Reception at Madame 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 King of Bavaria--Polish Poem 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, 364 - - - 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 - - CHAPTER XXI - - Ypsilanti--Promenade on the 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 - - - - -PORTRAITS - - - FRANCIS I., EMPEROR OF 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 - - - - -BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE 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 On Wednesday, the fifth day of March of - the year seventeen hundred and eighty-three, - SAINT-EUSTACHE, there was baptized Auguste-Louis-Charles, - born on the previous day but one, the son of - ANNO 1783. Messire le Comte Scipion-Auguste de La - Garde, chevalier, captain of Dragoons, and - (REGISTRY OF PARIS.) 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 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. - -On the 10th August 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 is claimed by his -‘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.’ - -From Vienna, the Comte 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. - -La Garde was the 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 -shows himself to be 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. - - - - -ANECDOTAL RECOLLECTIONS - - - - -INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER - - Introduction--A Glance at 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 correspondence. Acrimonious discussions and -‘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, was not yet -officially 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 generous as of old, -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 of field-marshal on -the battlefield itself, and moreover proved his talent as a remarkable -administrator by promoting in many ways the happiness of his subjects. - -The whole of this royal company met in the capital of Austria with a -hospitality worthy of it, and worthy also of that memorable gathering. -The Kings of Würtemberg and Denmark arrived before any of the others. -The Emperor Franz proceeded as far as Schönbrunn to welcome each of -them. The interview between those princes was exceedingly cordial, and -free from diplomatic reserve; but the ceremony which by its pomp and -splendour was evidently intended to crown the series of wonders of the -Congress was the solemn entry of Emperor Alexander and the King of -Prussia. - -Numerous detachments of guards of honour had been posted on the routes -these two monarchs were to traverse. The whole of the garrison was -under arms at the approaches to and within the capital. The emperor, -attended by his grand officers of state, both military and civil, the -archdukes, and other princes of the blood, proceeded for some distance -to meet his hosts. The meeting took place on the left bank of the -Danube, at the further extremity of the Tabor bridge. There was an -exchange of most affectionate and apparently most sincere greetings, -and the three rulers held each other’s hands for a long while. - -An immense crowd lined the banks of the stream, and rent the air with -cheers. Undoubtedly it was a sight as remarkable as it was unheard-of, -that gathering of sovereigns tried by severe misfortune for twenty -years, and who, having vanquished him who had been for such a long -time victorious, seemed astonished at a triumph so dearly bought, so -unexpectedly obtained. - -The three monarchs, in full-dress uniforms, meanwhile mounted their -horses and rode slowly on amidst the booming of the artillery. The -infinite number of generals, belonging to all the nations of Europe, -riding behind them, their brilliant costumes glittering in the sun, -the joyous cries of the crowds, the clanging of the bells of all the -steeples, the air resounding with the firing of the cannon, the sight -of that population frantically hailing the return of peace--in fact, -the whole scene, even the cordial demeanour of those sovereigns, -constituted the most imposing and eloquent spectacle. - -The welcome to the Empress of Russia on the following day was marked by -a ceremonial of a less grandiose but more graceful nature. The Empress -of Austria, surrounded by the whole of her Court, went to meet her a -long distance out of the capital. A short time after she started, the -two emperors proceeded in the same direction, and the two processions -joined hands, as it were, close to the church of Maria-Brunn. An open -calèche was in waiting to convey the empresses; their august husbands -took their seats with them. A detachment of the Hungarian Guards, -another of Uhlans, and a great number of pages made up the escort. The -carriage, on reaching the outer gates of the court, was met by young -girls dressed in white, offering baskets of flowers. A dense crowd -lined the avenues leading to the palace, and everybody admired the -spontaneous cordiality, the good-will altogether without etiquette, -lighting up the faces of all those grand personages, so little adapted -to manifestations of equality. - -From that moment Vienna assumed an aspect which was as bright as it was -animated. Numberless magnificent carriages traversed the city in all -directions, and, in consequence of the restricted size of the capital, -constantly reappeared. Most of them were preceded by those agile -forerunners, in their brilliant liveries, who are no longer to be seen -anywhere except in Vienna, and who, swinging their large silver-knobbed -canes, seemed to fly in front of the horses. The promenades and squares -teemed with soldiers of all grades, dressed in the varied uniforms -of all the European armies. Added to these were the swarms of the -servants of the aristocracy in their gorgeous liveries, and the people -crowding at all points of vantage to catch a momentary glimpse of the -military, sovereign, and diplomatic celebrities constantly shifting -within the permanent frame of the varying picture. Then, when night -came, the theatres, the cafés, the public resorts were filled with -animated crowds, apparently bent on pleasure only, while sumptuous -carriages rolled hither and thither, lighted up by torches borne by -footmen perched behind, or still preceded by runners, who had, however, -exchanged their canes for flambeaux. In almost every big thoroughfare -there was the sound of musical instruments discoursing joyous tunes. -Noise and bustle everywhere. - -Such, for over five months, was the picture represented by the city, a -picture of which only a poor idea can be conveyed by my feeble attempts -to reproduce some of its features. - -The immense number of strangers had soon invaded every available hotel -and private lodging. Many notabilities were obliged to take up their -quarters in the outskirts. Prices ruled exorbitantly high; in order to -judge of this I need only state that the rent of Lord Castlereagh’s -apartments was £500 per month--an unheard-of price in Vienna. It -was calculated that if the Congress lasted only four months, the -value of many houses would be paid to their proprietors in rent. I -should, perhaps, have been deprived of witnessing a scene which only -a chain of extraordinary circumstances could have brought about, and -which probably will not be renewed for many centuries to come; but -my intimate friend, Mr. Julius Griffiths, who had lived in Vienna -for several years, had anticipated my coming, and in his magnificent -residence on the Jaeger-Zeill, I found all the _comfort_ which he -had transported thither from his own country; both the word and the -condition of things it represented being little known throughout the -rest of Europe. - -Mr. Julius Griffiths, who ranks among the best educated of Englishmen, -has made himself widely known in the world of letters by works of -acknowledged merit. He has travelled all over the globe, and deserves -to be proclaimed the greatest traveller of his time. His social -qualities and his lofty sentiments have conferred the greatest honour -on the English character outside his native country. His friendship has -been for many years the source of my sweetest happiness. I am enabled -to confess with gratitude that he was instrumental in convincing me of -the mendacity of the precept, ‘not to try one’s friends if one wishes -to keep them.’ - -The thing I stood most in need of, after the first greetings of such -a sincere friend, was rest and quietude; hence, at the moment I did -not in the least resemble the ‘inquisitorial traveller’ mentioned by -Sterne, and I retired to enjoy that rest, most intensely conscious of -the delight of having reached port. In spite of this, sleep failed to -come. Too many thoughts came crowding in upon me; my mind was divided -between the pleasure of meeting once more with so dear a friend and -others scarcely less precious to me, and the hope of being a witness -of a scene which hitherto was without a precedent. Were I possessed of -the talent with which Dupaty has described his ‘Première nuit à Rome,’ -I should endeavour to paint the stirring emotions of this ‘first night’ -in Vienna. - -A volume of Shakespeare lay close at hand; I opened it at random and -read: ‘You who have not seen those feasts, you have lost the sight of -what is most brilliant of earthly glory. Those perfectly magnificent -scenes surpassed all that the imagination can invent. Each day outvied -the previous one, each morrow shamed the pomp of its eve. One day those -demi-gods on earth resplendent with precious stones and silken stuffs; -the next the same pomp more oriental than the orient itself. You should -have seen each world-ruler dazzling like a statue wrought of gold; -and the courtiers resplendent like their masters; and those dames so -delicate and so slight bend beneath the twofold burden of their pride -and their ornaments; those sovereigns, stars of like magnitude, mingle -their rays by their presence. No calumnious tongue dared wag, no eye -that was not dazzled by those sights. You should have witnessed also -the tournament and the heralds of arms, and the prowess of chivalry -displayed. The old history of our story-tellers has ceased to be -fabulous. Yes, henceforth I shall believe all that those story-tellers -have told us.’[14] - -Those lines from an immortal poet, I read again and again; and swayed -by those powerful impressions, I owed to them the conception of noting -down my recollections, convinced that in times to come, _i.e._ at a -period to which I looked forward courageously, I should be delighted to -refer to them as the sole food for my thoughts. - - - - -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 the 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. - - -Speaking of the Great Wall of China, the famous Dr. Johnson said -somewhere that the grandson of a man who had caught a mere glimpse of -it might still be proud of the opportunity vouchsafed to his grandsire. -The exaggeration, Oriental like its subject, might strike me as -excusable if the drift of it were applied, not to a monument capable -of standing the test of ages, but to one of those men who appear at -long intervals, or in connection with events that change the face of -the world. Personally, I may confess to remaining more or less proud of -my presence at the Congress of Vienna, and of having been privileged -to see the many celebrities that forgathered there. But the most -gratifying recollection, and also the one dearest to my heart, is that -of the goodwill incessantly shown to me by the Prince de Ligne. For -over two months I had the happiness of being admitted to his greatest -intimacy, seeing him every day and at all hours, gathering from his -lips the clever sentences and spontaneous sallies which he so lavishly -dispensed. To-day, after many years, the indelible impression of his -personality tends to reanimate my recollections, and lends life to the -scenes I am endeavouring to reproduce. - -The Prince de Ligne[15] was then in his eightieth year; in spite of -this there is no exaggeration in saying that he had remained young. He -had preserved the amiable character and the fascinating urbanity which -had lent so much charm to his society. Hence the title of ‘the last of -French knights’ was unanimously accorded to him. - -At that period all the strangers, whether most celebrated in virtue -of their rank or of their mental qualities, nay, the sovereigns -themselves, made it a point, as it were, to show their reverence -for him. He was still possessed of that freshness of imagination -and inexhaustible, exquisite gaiety which had always distinguished -him. His humour, kindly withal, though somewhat satirical, was -principally directed at the really strange aspect the Congress began -to assume, pleasure being seemingly the most important business. -Amidst this general intoxication, amidst this uninterrupted series of -entertainments, banquets, and balls, it was certainly not the least -curious and interesting contrast to behold the imposing figure of the -old marshal, occupying no official position, yet eagerly welcomed -everywhere, and often painting the situation by an epigram, by a clever -and pertinent remark, which went the round in no time. - -The French were above all most eager for his society, and, in their -turn, could reckon on the most cordial welcome. His journey to the -French Court a few years previous to the Revolution had left the most -heartfelt recollections; and his letters to the Marquise de Coigny[16] -at that period show in every line his regret at being compelled to live -away from a country and a people that had inspired him with such an -ardent sympathy. In a word, the Prince de Ligne belonged to France both -by the nature of his worth and by the quality of his mind. - -My family having the honour of being allied to that of the Prince, -he presented me on my first visit to Vienna in 1807 at the Court -and everywhere as his cousin. From that moment until his death, his -courtesy and goodwill never failed me at any succeeding visit. I was -never tired of listening to him, and especially when his thoughts -reverted to bygone times, which he had so long and so closely observed. -He took delight in improving my mind with the treasures of his own, -and in enlightening my youthful inexperience with the counsels and -fruits of his own observation. Hence, to speak of the Prince de Ligne -is simply, on my part, the acquittal of a debt. As a matter of course, -my first call was due to him, and on the morrow of my arrival I made my -way to his home. - -‘You are just in time to see great doings,’ he said. ‘The whole of -Europe is in Vienna. The tissue of politics is embroidered with fêtes, -and inasmuch as at your age one is fond of joyous gatherings, balls, -and pleasure, I can assure you beforehand of a series of them, because -the Congress does not march to its goal; it dances. It is a royal -mob. From all sides there are cries of peace, justice, equilibrium, -indemnity; the last word being the new contribution of the Prince de -Bénévent to the diplomatic vocabulary. Heaven alone knows who shall -reduce this chaos to some semblance of order, and provide dams for the -torrent of various pretensions. As for me, I am only a well-meaning -and friendly spectator of the show. I shall claim nothing, unless -it be a hat to replace the one I am wearing out in saluting the -sovereigns I meet at every street-corner. Nevertheless, in spite of -Robinson Crusoe,[17] a general and lasting peace will no doubt be -concluded, for a feeling of concord has at length united the nations -which were so long inimical towards each other. Their most illustrious -representatives are already setting the example of it. We shall witness -a thing hitherto unheard of: pleasure will bring in its wake peace, -instead of strife.’ - -After this, he started asking me, with all the impetuosity of youth, -a series of questions with reference to Paris, my travels, and my own -plans, until he was interrupted by his servant informing him that his -carriage was at the door. - -‘You’ll come and dine with me to-morrow,’ he said; ‘and then we’ll go -to the grand rout and ball. You’ll see the most practical common-sense -of Europe wearing the motley of folly. When there I’ll explain to you -in a few moments the curiosities of that grand piece of living tapestry -composed of the most notable personages.’ - -The prince had kept to his habit of dining early: it was four o’clock -when I reached his pretty house on the Bastion. It contained but one -room on each story, hence he called it jocularly his ‘perch.’ His -friends knew it by the name of ‘L’hôtel de Ligne.’ Shortly after my -arrival he sat down to dinner, surrounded by his charming family.[18] -Candidly speaking, the repast, like the well-known suppers of Madame -de Maintenon, when she was still Widow Scarron, stood in need of the -magic of his conversation to make up for its more than scanty fare. And -although he himself ate nearly all the little dishes that were served, -his guests were so thoroughly engrossed and delighted as to be rendered -oblivious of the unsubstantial nature of the entertainment--until the -end of it. - -In the drawing-room we found some visitors; they were strangers of -distinction, who, called to Vienna from every coign and nook of Europe, -had craved an introduction to this living marvel of the previous -century. Their number also contained several ‘lion-hunters,’ obtruding -their presence from sheer curiosity, and for the sake of being enabled -to say: ‘I have seen the Prince de Ligne,’ or else for the purpose of -‘rubbing minds with him,’ by carefully picking up his anecdotes and his -sallies, which they afterwards hawked about, considerably disfigured, -among their own sets. - -Having quickly paid his voluntary toll in the shape of some witty or -polite remark to each of those groups, he left them, as if his task had -been fulfilled, and came up to his grandson, the Comte de Clary, with -whom I happened to be chatting. ‘I remember,’ he said, ‘having begun -one of my letters to Jean-Jacques Rousseau with a--“As you do not care, -Monsieur, either for demonstrative people or for demonstrations....” -A few notes couched in similar terms would not be out of place among -some of the notable people here this evening; but they are so inflated -with their own merit as to be unable to decipher their own addresses. -And as, moreover, they are most obstinate and difficult to shake off, -let us go and have a look at others where there will be a little more -elbow-room. The ball is waiting for us. Come along, my lads, I’ll give -you a lesson in taking your leave in French fashion.’ And this man, -extraordinary in every relation of life, flitting away with the light -step of a mere youth, suited the action to the word and positively -ran to his carriage, laughing all the while at the boyish trick and -at the disappointment of all those insipid talkers who merely courted -his society to make him listen to their vapid utterances. It was nine -o’clock when we reached the imperial palace, better known as the -Hofburg. - -That ancient residence had been specially chosen for those ingenious -_momons_, character-masques in which the incognito of the domino often -lent itself to political combinations in themselves masterpieces -of intrigue and conception. The principal hall was magnificently -lighted up, and running around it, there was a circular gallery giving -access to huge rooms arranged for supper. On seats, disposed like an -amphitheatre, there were crowds of ladies, some of whom merely wore -dominos, while the majority represented this or that character. It -would be difficult to imagine a scene more dazzling than this gathering -of women, all young and beautiful, and each attired in a style most -becoming to her beauty. All the centuries of the past, all the regions -of the inhabited globe seemed to have appointed to meet in that -graceful circle. - -Several orchestras executed at regular intervals valses and polonaises: -in adjoining galleries or rooms minuets were danced with particularly -Teutonic gravity, which feature did not constitute the least comic -part of the picture. - -The prince had spoken the truth. Vienna at that time presented an -abridged panorama of Europe, and the rout was an abridged panorama of -Vienna. There could be no more curious spectacle than those masked -or non-masked people, among whom, absolutely lost in the crowd, and -practically defying identification, circulated all the sovereigns at -that moment participating in the Congress. - -The prince had a story or anecdote about each. ‘There goes Emperor -Alexander. The man on whose arm he is leaning is Prince Eugène -Beauharnais, for whom he has a sincere affection. When Eugène arrived -here with his father-in-law, the King of Bavaria, the Court hesitated -about the rank to be accorded to him. The emperor spoke so positively -on the subject as to secure for Eugène all the honours due to his -generous character. Alexander, as you are aware, is worthy of inspiring -and of extending the deepest friendship. - -‘Do you know the tall and noble-looking personage whom that beautiful -Neapolitan girl is holding round the waist? It is the King of Prussia, -whose gravity appears in no wise disturbed by the fact. For all that -the clever mask may be an empress, on the other hand it is quite on the -cards that she is merely a grisette who has been smuggled in. - -‘That colossus in the black domino, which neither disguises nor -decreases his stature, is the King of Würtemberg.[19] The man close -to him is his son, the Crown Prince. His love for the Duchesse -d’Oldenbourg, Emperor Alexander’s sister, is the cause of his stay at -the Congress, rather than a concern for the grave interests which one -day will be his. It is a romantic story, the _dénouement_ of which we -may witness before long. - -‘The two young fellows who just brushed past us are the Crown Prince -of Bavaria and his brother, Prince Charles.[20] The latter’s face -would dispute the palm with that of Antinous. The crowd of people of -different kind and garb who are disporting themselves, in every sense -of the word, are, some, reigning princes, others archdukes, others -again grand dignitaries of this or that empire. For, except a few -Englishmen, easily picked out by their careful dress, I do not think -there is a single personage here without a “handle” to his name. - -‘This room in particular only represents a picture of pleasure, my dear -boy....’ - -The moment the prince left me to myself I began to wander about, and -if I had made a series of appointments, I could not have met with more -acquaintances hailing from Naples to St. Petersburg, and from Stockholm -to Constantinople. The variety of costume and languages was truly -astonishing. It was like a bazaar of all the nations of the world. -Honestly, I felt that for the first time in my life I was experiencing -the intoxication of a masked ball. My brain seemed to reel under the -spell of the incessant music, the secrecy of disguise, the atmosphere -of mystery by which it was surrounded, the general state of incognito, -the uncurbed and boundless gaiety, the force of circumstances, and the -irresistible seductiveness of the picture before me. I feel certain -that older and stronger heads than mine would have proved equally weak. - -In a short time I had quite a group of friends around me. - -Taking advantage of a moment when the Prince de Ligne was less hemmed -in, I begged of him not to worry about me for that evening, and flung -myself headlong into the whirl of gaiety, freedom from care, and -happiness, which seemed the normal condition of this extraordinary -gathering. - -By and by I met with more friends, and between us we ‘improved the -shining hours’ preceding the supper, when we sat down, about a score -in all, to wind up the joyous evening. As a matter of course, during -the first part of the repast I was plied with questions about my -doings since we had met, and I was scarcely less eager to question the -questioners. This or that one from whom I parted as a sub-lieutenant -had become a general; another who was an attaché when last I saw -him was now himself ambassador, and the majority were covered with -orders, conferred for their courage or their talent. And amidst the -general animation produced by the champagne, they took to recounting, -‘harum-scarum’ fashion, the happy circumstances to which they owed -their rapid promotion. - -Among those rapid and brilliant careers there was, however, none -that caused me greater surprise than that of Zibin. In 1812, when, -yielding to a desire for travel, I quitted Moscow to visit the Crimea, -Ukraine, and Turkey,[21] Zibin had been my companion. In that long -course across the steppes of Russia, his constant gaiety and his clever -sallies did much to beguile the tedium of the journey, and to revive -my courage. Eighteen months had scarcely gone by since our return from -Tauris and our parting at Tulczim, he to follow Countess Potocka to -St. Petersburg, I to make my way to the Duc de Richelieu at Odessa, -and thence to Constantinople. At that period, Zibin had not joined the -army; in spite of this, he was now a lieutenant-colonel, aide-de-camp -to General Ojarowski, and on his breast glittered several orders. - -Zibin had not been in St. Petersburg many days without becoming -aware that an idle life in society would not be conducive either to -consideration or glory; hence, he changed his civilian clothes for the -uniform of a non-commissioned officer of hussars. At the beginning of -the campaign he was made an ensign; a short time afterwards he got his -company. One day, his general commanded him to make a reconnaissance -with fifty Cossacks in order to bring back some malingerers. At a -couple of miles distance from the encampment, Zibin notices a black -mass hidden among the reeds. They turn out to be guns left by the enemy -before retreating. There were sixteen of them. The troops dismount, -the horses are put to the gun-carriages, and a few hours later Captain -Zibin returns in possession of a small but complete artillery park, -practically fished out of the marshes. - -The Emperor was not far away, and Zibin himself was instructed to -convey the particulars of his capture. Alexander read the report, and, -giving the young hussar the credit of a success solely due to chance, -conferred upon him there and then the rank of major, at the same time -taking from his own breast the Cross of St. George and fastening it -into the buttonhole of the freshly promoted officer. The rest was -mainly the natural consequence of this first piece of luck: new orders -were added to that one, and as it never rains but it pours, Zibin, -during the many leisure hours in camp, had gambled, and won not less -than four hundred thousand roubles. The Prince de Ligne was not far -wrong in saying that glory was a courtesan who gets hold of you when -you least expect it. - -Towards the end of the evening another lucky chance made me run up -against my excellent friend, General Tettenborn. ‘We have got a good -deal to tell each other,’ he said. ‘It’s of no use starting here. Let -us go and dine to-morrow by ourselves at the Augarten; it is the only -means of not being interrupted.’ - -Naturally, I accepted, and Tettenborn was punctual to the minute. - -‘Though as a rule, the Viennese restaurateurs do not give you a good -dinner,’ he began, ‘I happen to have been in their good books here for -many years, and Yan has promised to do his best.’ And in fact, quantity -made up for quality. When we got to the dessert, and some Tokay was put -before us, my friend at once began his interesting story. - -‘Since I saw you last, the events of my life have followed each other -in as quick a succession as the circumstances that gave them birth. You -are aware of my having accompanied Prince Schwartzenberg on his mission -to Paris. I was still there when the King of Rome was born, and I was -selected to carry the news to our emperor.’ - -‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘and I read in all the newspapers that you made that -journey of three hundred and twenty leagues [about nine hundred and -sixty miles] in four days and a half.’ - -‘That’s easily explained. As far as Strasburg, I had the race-horses -of the prince, and from the Austrian frontier I had the horses of his -brother, Prince Joseph, from stage to stage, as far as Vienna. - -‘I’ll spare you the particulars of my stay in Paris. It was a -perfect whirl of excitement from beginning to end. Society was the -brilliant reflex of the astounding prosperity of France, of her -numerous victories, and her enthusiasm for everything pertaining to -art. Our Austrian legation met with a specially cordial welcome. It -was a succession of entertainments similar to those you are seeing -here, but with different capitals for their _locale_. After having -accompanied Prince Schwartzenberg a second time, but on that occasion -to St. Petersburg, I exchanged the delightful life of society and -drawing-rooms for that of the barracks of my regiment, then quartered -at Buda. The transition could not have been more startling if I had -retired into a Trappist monastery, when suddenly the whole of Europe -breathed fire and flame. - -‘I was thirty-four years old, and although the first days of my youth -were not idly spent, chance has done more for me during the latter -period than I had reason to expect. My mind was soon made up. I decided -to go to the spot where the fire raged most fiercely, to embark upon -a life so entirely at variance with my former habits. I was living -with Baron de ----, a friend of my childhood, who was a major in my -regiment, and who like myself was calculating the few chances of rapid -promotion in the Austrian service. - -‘“This,” I said to him one morning, “is a unique opportunity to provide -for the future. Let us go to the Russians and offer them our swords as -partisans. This bids fair to be an easy and lucrative campaign, likely -to lead to many things by its quickly succeeding phases. Besides, it -is sometimes sweet to embark in adventures, and to trust everything to -fate. As for me, I have made up my mind to go. Will you, too, come?”[22] - -‘The decision of a moment in one’s life often shapes the rest of it. My -friend hesitated and left me to go alone. Alas, his regrets proved too -much for him.’[23] - -‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘I know he regretted it. The regret was intensified -by the news of your success, which the papers published in all its -detail. He practically lost his head over it, for on no other theory -can one account for his suicide, which, curiously enough, happened -while I was at Pesth, on my return from Constantinople. He blew out his -brains in a room next to my own at the inn where I was staying, and I -was told that despair and tardy regret had led him to commit the deed.’ - -‘No one has regretted this more than I,’ said Tettenborn, ‘for he was a -devoted friend as well as a distinguished officer. I have not the least -doubt that circumstances would have served him as well as they did me, -but one must go with the tide in order that the tide may carry you. -When I reached the Russian headquarters, I received orders to raise -a regiment. That was soon done, and they gave me the command of it. -Three months after I left Buda, I was a general, and empowered to grant -commissions equal in grade to that which I held when I turned my back -upon my garrison. The papers, perhaps, informed you how I got hold of -the private chest of Napoleon. A part of that immense loot came to my -share. An attempt to take Berlin by surprise, though it failed, brought -my name to the front. At the head of four regiments of cavalry, of two -squadrons of hussars, and of an equal number of dragoons, with only two -pieces of artillery, I marched on Hamburg. After several engagements, -the city surrendered on the 18th March 1813. The inhabitants received -me with the greatest enthusiasm, and I was, as others had been before -me, the hero of the hour. When appointed military governor of the -place, I rescinded the severe orders Marshal Davoust had deemed fit to -impose. The grateful Hamburgers conferred upon me the freedom of their -city, and sent me the document to that effect in a magnificent golden -casket. - -‘Events have marched very rapidly, and by their side strode glory and -rewards. I have had most of the military orders bestowed upon me, and -now the allied sovereigns have still further shown their good-will by -presenting me with an estate consisting of two convents in Westphalia, -the rent-roll of which will certainly amount to no less than forty -thousand florins. Those various bits of success have had the happy -result of reducing my affairs to something like order; and, inasmuch -as there comes in every man’s life a period for settling down, I, my -friend, am going to get married. I simply worship my future wife. There -are no regrets about the past, there is no fear about the future, and -as far as I can foresee, I’ll let fate take care henceforth of my -existence. And albeit the _dénouement_ may appear somewhat abrupt to -you, you will admit, I feel certain, that the story promises to be none -the less happy.’ - -‘At which happiness, my dear general, all your friends will rejoice.’ - -The narrative, which I have abridged here, was, however, recounted at -much greater length, and in yielding to the fascination of this cordial -and confidential talk we had let the time slip by, and the clock struck -nine when we reached the Carlenthor theatre. The performance consisted -of Haydn’s celebrated oratorio ‘The Creation.’ The house, lighted up -by countless wax candles, and the private boxes sumptuously draped, -presented a magnificent sight. Several of these boxes had been set -apart for the sovereigns, others were filled with the members of the -Corps Diplomatique. As for the floor of the house (_le parterre_), it -was crowded to such an extent with people blazing with orders that -it might safely have been described as a parterre of knights, just -as the floor of the theatre at Erfurt had been called a parterre of -kings and princes. ‘In the presence of such a number of ribands,’ said -Tettenborn, ‘it would be hazardous to conclude that they are all due to -merit.’ - -‘Signal distinctions, my dear general,’ I replied, ‘are like the -Pyramids; only two species can attain them, reptiles and eagles.’ - -‘I’ll be with you to-morrow at ten,’ said General Tettenborn when we -parted, ‘and we’ll go together to the grand military fête in honour of -the peace. Before laying down their arms, the sovereigns wish to offer -their thanks to Providence for the great favours vouchsafed to them.’ - -Sharp to the minute, like an Austrian _Rittmeister_ (cavalry-captain), -Tettenborn was at my door. It was a bright and mild October morning, -and shortly afterwards we were galloping towards the gentle slope -between the New and the Burg Gates. On our way we fell in with some -acquaintances, attracted thither, like myself, by curiosity. Tettenborn -wore his general’s brilliant uniform; a profusion of military orders -on his breast certainly attested the kindness of Dame Fortune, but -also her discrimination in having favoured him. Immediately on our -reaching the ground, he was obliged to leave us in order to join the -suite of Emperor Alexander, but I remained surrounded by friends, and -advantageously placed to observe all the particulars of that beautiful -function. Although in an essentially military epoch similar solemnities -had often been seen, I doubt if that one was ever equalled with regard -to its _ensemble_ and its majestic pomp. The war, the terrible struggle -the relentlessness and duration of which had astounded the world, was -just at an end. The glory-compelling giant was, if not vanquished, at -any rate overcome by numbers; and the intoxication and the enthusiasm -consequent upon the success were sufficient to prove the strength of -the adversary and the unexpected joy of the triumph. - -Several battalions of infantry, many regiments of cavalry, among others -the Schwartzenberg Uhlans, and the cuirassiers of the Grand-Duke -Constantine, the brother of Alexander and the sometime Viceroy of -Poland, were massed on an immense field. All these troops wore most -brilliant uniforms. - -The sovereigns came on the ground on horseback, and the soldiery formed -a huge double square, in the centre of which stood a vast tent, or -rather a temple erected in honour of the general pacification. The -columns supporting the structure were decorated with panoplies of arms, -and with standards fluttering in the breeze. The lawn immediately -around was strewn with flowers and foliage. In the middle of the tent -there was an altar covered with rich cloths, and set out with all the -ornaments of the Roman Catholic ritual, magnificently chased, either in -gold or silver. Countless wax tapers shed their light, somewhat subdued -by the rays of the sun standing brilliantly in the sky. Red Damascus -carpets covered the steps of the altar. - -Shortly afterwards there was a long string of open court carriages, -each drawn by four horses, and containing the empresses, queens, and -archduchesses, who on alighting seated themselves in velvet-covered -chairs. When everybody had taken up the position assigned to them--the -crowd of military, courtiers, equerries and pages constituting -a matchless spectacle--the venerable Archbishop of Vienna, who, -notwithstanding his great age, had insisted upon officiating, performed -High Mass. Practically the whole of the Vienna population had repaired -to the spot to enjoy the spectacle. - -At the moment of blessing the Bread and the Wine, the guns thundered -forth a salute to the God of Hosts. Simultaneously, all those warriors, -princes, kings, soldiers, and generals fell on their knees, prostrating -themselves before Him in whose hands rests victory or defeat. The -feeling of reverence had evidently communicated itself to the huge mass -of spectators, who spontaneously bared their heads and also knelt in -the dust. The cannons became once more silent, and their thunder was -succeeded by a solemn hush, amidst which the high priest of the Lord -raised the sign of the Redemption, and turned towards the army to -confer the supreme benediction. The religious ceremony was at an end. -Amidst the clanking of swords and the rattling of muskets, the huge -gathering rose to its feet; and then a choir intoned in German the hymn -of peace, which was accompanied by an orchestra of wind instruments. -Without any pre-meditation the strains were taken up by the voices -of the numberless spectators. No human ear ever heard anything more -imposing than this spontaneous and harmonic praise of peace and the -glory of the Highest. That hymn of gratitude and adoration rising upon -the air amidst the smoking incense, the thunder of the artillery, -the ringing of the bells of all the churches; the princes surrounded -by their resplendent staffs, the multi-coloured uniforms, the arms, -glittering breastplates, and sombre bronze of the cannons lighted up -by the brilliant sun; the white-haired priest blessing from before -his altar the prostrate crowd; the mingling of the symbols of war and -peace--constituted a unique picture not likely to be seen again, and -which no painter’s brush, however powerful, could adequately reproduce. -It constituted a poetical and sublime sight, baffling description. - -After the religious ceremony, the sovereigns and all the princesses -took up a position on a knoll near the Burg Gate, the troops marched -past, the Grand-Duke Constantine and the other princes at the head of -their own regiments. The air rang; with unanimous cheers and wishes -for the consolidation of peace, that first and foremost necessity -of peoples. Such, sketched in brief, was the fête invested with -a particular character and fitting in so well with the series of -magnificent pageants and dazzling entertainments. The Austrian Court, -in fact, dispensed the hospitality of its capital to its guests with -truly fabulous pomp. Memory almost fails to recall, for the purpose of -recording, all the brilliant details. The imagination is virtually -powerless to reconstruct the dazzling splendour of the picture as a -whole. - -To beguile the leisure of those kings who, it would be thought, ought -to have been surfeited with the counterfeits of battles, twenty -thousand picked grenadiers had been quartered at Vienna. There was, -moreover, the announcement of a camp to be formed of sixty thousand -troops with a view of having grand manœuvres. The superb ‘nobiliary -guards’ had been considerably increased by the joining of young men -belonging to the most distinguished families of the monarchy. The whole -of the troops had been provided with new uniforms: there was an evident -desire to remove all traces of warfare, so as not to sadden those -participating in the feasts and entertainments exclusively designed to -celebrate peace and to promote pleasure. - -All the stud farms of Germany had been requested to send their most -magnificent horses. The grand dignitaries of the crown held ‘open -house’ each day for the eminent personages of the suites of the various -sovereigns. The Court had invited the Paris Opera dancers of both -sexes to come to Vienna; and the Austrian Imperial Company had also -been reinforced. The most celebrated actors of Germany had likewise -been ‘commanded,’ and they appeared in new pieces, appropriate to the -universal rejoicing, and calculated to prevent that joy from getting -fagged. - -Emperor Franz had thrown open his palace to his illustrious guests. At -a rough calculation, the imperial residence held, at that particular -moment, two emperors, a similar number of empresses, four kings, one -queen, two heirs to thrones (one royal, the other imperial), two -grand-duchesses, and three princes. The young family of the emperor had -to be relegated to Schönbrunn. Attracted by the novelty of all this, -an immense crowd surrounded the palace at all hours, eager to catch a -glimpse of the members of a gathering unique in the annals of history. - -The Viennese seemed justly proud of having had their city selected -for the holding of these grandiose states-general. In fact, the -forgathering in the self-same capital of the first powers of Europe -constituted one of the most extraordinary events of all the ages. -The Congresses of Münster, of Ryswick, and Utrecht had only been -plenipotentiary conferences. One had to go back for three centuries, as -far as 1515, to find a similar assembly of crowned heads, when in that -same city of Vienna Maximilian had entertained the Kings of Hungary, -Bohemia, and Poland. And it was remembered that the presence of these -monarchs had been attended with the most salutary results to the -grandeur of Germany. - -In order to convey an idea of the expenses of the Austrian Court, it -will suffice to say that the imperial table cost fifty thousand florins -per day. This was keeping ‘open table’ with a vengeance. Hence, it is -not surprising that the extraordinary expenses of the fêtes of the -Congress, during the five months of its duration, amounted to forty -millions of francs. It remains to be asked whether the purport of that -great gathering, and the gravity of the circumstances, justified such -joyous lavishness immediately after the termination of a war which had -lasted for a quarter of a century and which seemed to have dried up the -sources of wealth and of pleasure? - -If we add to the expenses of the Court those of more than seven hundred -envoys, we may get something like an accurate idea of the extraordinary -consumption of all things in Vienna, and of the immense quantity of -money put into circulation. In fact, the influx of strangers was such -as to increase the prices of all commodities, and especially of wood -for fuel, to an incredible degree. As a consequence, the Austrian -Government was obliged to grant supplementary salaries to all its -employés. - -In the long run, the imagination was at fault in projecting new -entertainments for each day: banquets, concerts, shooting parties, -masked balls and musical rides. Following the example of the head of -their noble family, the princes of the House of Austria had distributed -among themselves the various parts of hosts, in order to entertain -their company of illustrious guests with becoming pomp and dignity. -There was such a dread of an interruption of those pleasures as to -prevent the Court from going into mourning for Queen Maria-Caroline -of Naples.[24] It should be said, though, that this last daughter of -Maria-Theresa ended her life before the arrival of the sovereigns. -To save appearances, they avoided notifying her demise officially, -lest the sombre hues of mourning should cast a sad note on gatherings -devoted exclusively to joy and freedom from care. - -The intercourse of the sovereigns was marked by a condition of -unparalleled intimacy. They vied in showing reciprocal friendliness, -attentions, and in anticipating each other’s wishes. Not a day went -by without interviews conducted with a cordial frankness worthy of -the age of chivalry. Were they bent upon disproving all that had been -said about the want of mutual understanding, the ambitious views, the -motives of personal interest which generally distinguish a congress of -crowned heads? Or did they yield to the novelty and charm of a mode of -living and a feeling of brotherhood contrasting so forcibly with the -frigid etiquette of their Courts? - -In order to avoid the restraint of a rigorous ceremonial and of -questions of precedence, it had been arranged between them that age -alone should decide points of priority in everything, at their entering -and leaving apartments, at the promenades on horseback, and in their -carriage drives. The decision, it was said, was due to the initiative -of Emperor Alexander. The following are the ranks as they were settled -according to age:-- - - 1. The King of Würtemberg, born in 1754. - 2. The King of Bavaria, born in 1756. - 3. The King of Denmark, born in 1768. - 4. The Emperor of Austria, born in 1768. - 5. The King of Prussia, born in 1770. - 6. The Emperor of Russia, born in 1777. - -This precedence was, however, only observed in the pleasure parties. As -for the official deliberations of the Congress, the sovereigns did not -attend any. - -One of their first acts of courtesy was the reciprocal bestowal of the -badges and stars of their Orders. Those various decorations of all -shapes and denominations became a positive puzzle, for besides a long -list of the saints of the calendar, there were some of the strangest -names, like _the Elephant_, _the Phœnix_, _the Black, Red, and White -Eagles_, _the Sword_, _the Star_, _the Lion_, _the Fleece_, _the Bath_, -etc. This exchange was the prelude to others somewhat more important, -such as the presents of kingdoms, provinces, or a certain number -of inhabitants. One of the ceremonies of that kind most frequently -referred to was the investment by Lord Castlereagh, on behalf of his -sovereign, of the Emperor of Austria with the Order of the Garter. The -Prince de Ligne, who was one of the eyewitnesses, told me that this -solemnity was conducted with much pomp and circumstance. Sir Isaac -Heard, Garter Principal King of Arms, came expressly from London. -It was he who invested the Emperor with the dress of the Order, and -attached that much coveted insignia; after which Lord Castlereagh -presented the latest recipient with the statutes of the Order. As a fit -acknowledgment of the courtesy, the Emperor conferred on the Prince -Regent and the Duke of York, his brother, the rank of field-marshal. - -After having exhausted the series of their decorations, the sovereigns -began bestowing upon each other the colonelcies of the various -regiments of their armies. When the honour had been bestowed, the -recipient made it a point of appearing almost immediately in the -uniform of his regiment. Models were produced in hot haste, for it was -essential that not a button should be wanting. Tailors, escorted by -favourite aides-de-camp, immediately reconnoitred the ground, called -upon the possessors of those precious regimentals, and took note of -the minutest details in connection with them; after which the work -commenced--a pacific labour, notwithstanding its bellicose appearance, -to be terminated by the production of a complete dress from the spur of -the boot to the obligatory plume of feathers. - -In accordance with these prescriptions, the Emperor of Austria -conferred upon his ‘good brother’ the Emperor of Russia, the Hiller -Regiment, and upon the Crown Prince of Würtemberg that of the -Blankenstein Hussars. Alexander returned the compliment by the bestowal -of one of his regiments of the Russian Imperial Guards; and to show -the importance he attached to the gift he had received, he desired -personally to present his new soldiers with their standard. This -standard had been magnificently embroidered by the Empress of Austria. -It displayed the words: ‘Indissoluble Union between the Emperors -Alexander and Franz.’ The regiment was drawn up in battle order on one -of the lawns of the Prater; a great crowd had gathered to witness the -ceremony, and Alexander, after receiving the colour from the hands of -the Empress of Austria, advanced towards the troops and presented it. -‘Soldiers,’ he said, ‘remember that it is your duty to die in defence -of this and in defence of your Emperor and of your colonel, Alexander -of Russia.’ It will be easily understood that words like these from -the lips of the Czar, who at that period was as handsome as he was -chivalrous, were calculated to arouse the enthusiasm of the soldiers to -whom they were addressed and of the numerous spectators privileged to -listen to them. - -On the morning after this ceremony Alexander went on foot to -Field-Marshal Prince de Schwartzenberg’s, dressed in his new -regimentals, the only decoration on his breast being the metal cross of -the Military Order of the Austrian Army. To please General Hiller, his -new titular chief, he made him a present of ten thousand florins, and -in addition sent a thousand florins to each of his officers. - -The habits of the sovereigns were those of private individuals. It was -evident that they were only too pleased to shake off the burden of -etiquette. Very often the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia -were to be seen strolling about the streets arm-in-arm and dressed in -mufti. Emperor Alexander similarly often took walks with Prince Eugène. - -They paid each other visits and prepared surprises for one another -like cordial friends of old standing; in a word, royal good-fellowship -reigned throughout. On Emperor Franz’s fête-day[25] Emperor Alexander -and the King of Prussia bethought themselves of surprising him as he -left his bed, and made him a present, the one of a dressing-gown lined -with Russian sable, the other of a handsome silver basin and ewer -of exquisite workmanship and made in Berlin. The accounts of those -cordially intimate scenes found their way to the public and formed the -subject of general conversation. - -Foremost among those sovereigns shone the King of Bavaria, the King -of Denmark, and the Emperor of Russia: the first in virtue of his -kindness, the second in virtue of his brilliant and subtle repartees, -the third in virtue of his courtesy and affable manners. Of all the -foreign princes, Frederick[26] was the most assiduous visitor to the -monuments and public institutions of the capital; and wherever he went, -he left traces of his liberality. As for Alexander, he never missed an -opportunity of showing the delightful grace of manner which at that -time won all hearts. - -During a promenade on horseback in the Prater, the Emperor of Austria, -wishing to dismount for a moment, looked round in vain for some one of -his suite, from which he had got separated by the crowd. Alexander, -guessing his intention, nimbly jumped off his horse and held out his -hand to his fellow-sovereign, just as on a memorable occasion the -Great Frederick held the stirrup of Joseph II. As a matter of course, -the little scene drew unanimous cheers from all sides, showing the -appreciation of the crowd for the gracious impromptu. - -On another occasion, at a review, a number of people pressed around -Alexander, eager to catch a glimpse of his face. A countryman seemed -even more anxious than the rest, trying to elbow his way through the -serried mass. Alexander caught sight of him. ‘Friend,’ he said, ‘you -wished to see the Emperor of Russia; now you can say that you have -spoken to him.’ - -To the foreign visitors, an easy life like this, constantly enhanced -by entertainments, really constituted a delightful existence. In -order fitly to celebrate that memorable gathering, Vienna appeared -determined to increase the programme of recreations it generally -afforded. Situated in the centre of Southern Germany, the city -provided, as it were, an oasis of delightful calm and ‘happy-go-lucky’ -leisure amidst the grave, scientific, and philosophical occupations -of the neighbouring countries. Wholly given up to the pleasure of the -senses, its existence was composed of fêtes, banquets, dances, and -above all, music. It had pressed into its service as an auxiliary -that excellent wine of Hungary, calculated to give an extra zest to -rejoicings of all kinds. Thus provided, it glided smoothly on, allowing -itself to be governed with the gentle impassiveness bred of material -satisfaction. - -Strangers are generally well treated in Vienna. The inhabitants are -cordially hospitable; the authorities conciliatory and frank. In return -for this, strangers are only asked to abstain from speaking or acting -against the Government. On those conditions the welcome never fails; -but woe to the stranger who transgresses those laws of prudence. He -immediately gets a little note inviting him to present himself next -morning before the magistrate entrusted with the police supervision of -the capital. In the sweetest tones imaginable he receives a hint of his -passport ‘not being quite in order’ and that by this time the business -which brought him to the city must be terminated. In vain does he -remonstrate, and protest his loyalty to all constituted authorities. In -vain does he insist upon his simple wish to enjoy the sweet life of the -capital. It is all ineffectual, he is bound to depart. - -This, at normal periods, is the method of the Vienna police. It is, -however, easy to understand that at the time of the Congress, and amid -so many questions of intense interest, it would have been difficult -to prevent political speculation and conversation. Fortunately, the -Austrian Government found a powerful auxiliary in the general pursuit -of pleasure. In reality, little or no attention was paid to diplomatic -discussions. With the exception of some idlers or journalists who -had selected the Graben for their meeting-place and rostrum, society -was engrossed with the pleasures of the fête of the hour, or with -preparations for that of the next day. - -[Illustration: COUNT NESSELRODE.] - -The utmost secrecy was observed with regard to the deliberations taking -place at the official residence of the Chancellor of State. M. de -Metternich presided at these. His colleagues had wished to bestow that -honour upon him in recognition of the gracious hospitality accorded -to them. It had been agreed, however, that the chairmanship implied -no supremacy in favour of the Austrian crown. The plenipotentiaries -were: for Russia, the Comte de Nesselrode[27] and the Baron de Stein; -for France, the Prince de Talleyrand and the Duc de Dalberg; for -Prussia, the Prince d’Hardemberg; for Austria, M. de Metternich; for -Würtemberg, the Comte de Wintzingerode; for Bavaria, the Prince de -Wrède; for Spain, the Chevalier de Labrador; for Portugal, the Duc -de Palmella; for Sicily, the Commandeur Alvaro Ruffo; and for Naples, -the Duc de Campochiaro. What happened at those most secret sittings of -these famous diplomatists? It is not my province to speculate upon the -subject; it belongs to posterity to appreciate the grave results. - -Meanwhile the sovereigns generally spent their mornings in reviewing -the troops at parades, and at shooting-parties, either at the Prater -or at this or that royal demesne. On the other hand, they forgathered -every day for an hour before dinner, and were supposed to discuss the -subjects that had occupied the attention of their plenipotentiaries. -The carping outside world maintained, however, that politics were -the thing least talked of in that august Olympian assembly, and that -the announcement of a forthcoming pleasure party more often than not -monopolised the conversation. Business was ousted and the gods became -simple mortals. - -Of all the entertainments at the Austrian Court, the most brilliant -were unquestionably the grand routs at the Imperial Palace. Thanks to -the Prince de Ligne, I was privileged to see the smaller masked rout on -the occasion of the arrival of the Emperor of Russia and the King of -Prussia. At the latter kind of reception, the sovereigns either wore -masks or remained nominally incognito by other means. At the grand -routs, on the contrary, they appeared in all their brilliancy and -displaying all their orders, while the princesses blazed with diamonds. - -I was unable to witness the first of those grand routs, hence I became -most anxious not to miss the second. The excellent Prince de Ligne -once more undertook to introduce me and to be my guide; and together -we made our way to the Burg. The sovereigns had as yet not made their -appearance. I had therefore ample time to feast my eyes upon the -unique sight before me, which after many years I still consider the -most dazzling _ensemble_ I ever saw, in the matchless splendour of -its decorations, the richness and variety of the dresses, and the -illustrious conditions of the personages. To the grand hall had been -added two adjacent smaller ones, connected by a gallery. The hall -originally set apart for the smaller routs had also been thrown open. -Finally, the Imperial Riding-school, a masterpiece of architecture, had -been transformed into a ball-room. To enumerate all the particulars -of the interior decorations would be practically an impossible task. -The staircases and the galleries were positively covered with a -profusion of flowers and plants, the latter of the rarest description. -The principal drawing-room was reached by an avenue of orange-trees; -immense candelabra, holding wax tapers and placed between the boxes, -lustres, with thousands of crystal drops, shed a fantastic light -amidst the foliage of those splendid trees, throwing into relief their -branches and blossoms. The small hall was decorated with huge baskets -of flowers, the blending of whose colours invested the whole with the -appearance of a fairy garden. The hangings were of some silk material -of the purest white, set off by silver ornaments. The seats were -upholstered in velvet and gold. From seven to eight thousand wax tapers -shed a light more brilliant than that of day. Finally, the strains of -several bands heightened the effect of that marvellous spectacle. - -In the riding-school a platform had been prepared for the sovereigns. -It was decorated with panoplies and standards, and, as in the grand -hall, its hangings were of white silk fringed with silver. - -The diversity of uniforms, the profusion of orders and decorations -were, however, as nothing to the gathering of charming women. If it was -true that at the particular moment Europe was represented at Vienna -by her celebrities in every walk of life, it was equally certain that -female beauty had not been excluded in deference to fame. Never did a -city hold within its walls as many remarkable women as did the capital -of Austria during the six months of the Congress. - -Suddenly there was a blast of trumpets; the sovereigns made their -entrance conducting the empresses, queens, and archduchesses. After -having made the round of the hall amidst general acclamations, they -proceeded to the riding-school and took their seats on the platform. -In the first row there were the Empresses of Austria and Russia, the -Queen of Bavaria and the Grande-Duchesse d’Oldenbourg, the well-beloved -sister of Alexander, whose likeness to Alexander was so striking. Then -came the Archduchess Beatrice, Grand-Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. - -The seats on the right and left were occupied by the galaxy of women -who at that moment disputed the palm of beauty and elegance with each -other: the Princesse de la Tour et Taxis, the Comtesse de Bernsdorff, -the Princesse de Hesse-Philippstal, in all the splendour of her -imposing and statuesque loveliness; her two daughters, bidding fair -to rival their mother; the Comtesse d’Apponyi, tall and lithe, with -most expressive eyes; the Princesses Sapieha and Lichtenstein, whose -beauty was of a more regular and gentler cast; the Comtesse Cohari, -the Princesses Paul Esterhazy and Bagration; the daughters of Admiral -Sidney Smith;[28] the Comtesse Zamoyska, _née_ Czartoryska, tall, fair, -with a skin of dazzling whiteness, who in herself virtually represented -every kind of Polish female beauty. There were many more whose names -and portraits will often recur in these _Recollections_. - -Meanwhile, to the sound of inspiriting dance strains, there entered -a group of masked children in fancy dress, who performed a Venetian -pantomime, followed by an extensive ballet. The expressive attitudes, -the varied evolutions and steps of those youthful performers seemed to -afford great enjoyment to the illustrious spectators. - -After the departure of the sovereigns the bands struck up a series of -waltz tunes, and immediately an electric current seemed to run through -the immense gathering. Germany is the country that gave birth to the -waltz; it is there, and above all in Vienna, that, thanks to the -musical ear of the inhabitants, that dance has acquired all the charm -inherent in it. It is there that one ought to watch the apparently -whirl-like course, though in reality regulated by the beat of the -music, in which the man sustains and carries away his companion, while -she yields to the spell with a vague expression of happiness tending -to enhance her beauty. It is difficult to conceive elsewhere the -fascination of the waltz. As soon as its strains rise upon the air, the -features relax, the eyes become animated, and a thrill of delight runs -through the company. The graceful gyrations of the dancers, at first -somewhat confused, gradually assume accurately timed movements, while -the spectators whom age condemns to immobility beat time and rhythm, -mentally joining in the pleasure which is bodily denied to them. - -The pen fails to reproduce that enchanting scene of beauteous women -covered with flowers and diamonds, yielding to the irresistible strains -of the harmony, and being carried away in the strong arms of their -partners until sheer fatigue compelled them to pause. The pen fails to -reproduce the magnificent sight, to which daylight streaming through -the windows put an end. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - The Drawing-rooms of 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. - - -Among the most distinguished women of Austrian society was the Comtesse -Laure de Fuchs, of whom the numerous visitors to Vienna during the -Congress have preserved the most delightful recollection. Graceful -and witty, she conveyed the highest idea in her own person of the -courtesy of her country. Foreigners considered it a signal honour to be -admitted to her receptions. In 1808 and 1812, I, and the few Frenchmen -who were in Vienna at this period, met with the most cordial welcome -on her part. Among those who composed her most intimate circle, all -the members of which were friends, special mention ought to be made -of the Comtesse Pletemberg, her sister, the wife of the reigning -comte of that name; the Duchesses de Sagan and d’Exerenza, and Madame -Edmond de Périgord,[29] a niece, by marriage, of Prince de Talleyrand. -They were all three born Princesses de Courlande, and were called the -Three Graces. In addition to these, there were the Chanoinesse Kinski, -belonging to one of the most illustrious families of Hungary; the Duc -de Dalberg, one of the French plenipotentiaries; Marshal Walmoden, the -three Comtes de Pahlen,[30] the Prince Philip of Hesse-Homburg, the -Prince Paul Esterhazy, subsequently Austrian ambassador to the Court of -St. James; the Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, the Russian general Comte -de Witt,[31] M. de Gentz,[32] the secretary of the Congress, and the -intimate friend of M. de Metternich; General Nostiltz, the clever man -of letters; Varnhagen (von Ense), the poet Carpani, Doctor Koreff, the -Baron d’Ompteda, former minister of Westphalia at Vienna, whom the fall -of his sovereign had left without an embassy, and who attended this -great diplomatic Sanhedrim as a simple amateur. - -A sweet and gentle animation pervaded those gatherings, which were -never interrupted by irritating political discussions. With her -charming grace, the countess imposed on all her friends a law of mutual -intimacy; consequently, they unanimously bestowed on her the title of -their _queen_, a title she had accepted, and which she bore with a kind -of serious dignity. - -Her family as well as the number of her friends had increased during -my absence from Vienna. The former were growing into beautiful beings, -the latter, of whom she gave me some short biographical sketches, were -as devoted as ever. Fortune, thanks to the rapidly succeeding events -of the last few years, had forgotten none of them. All had become -generals, ambassadors, or ministers. - -The one to whom I felt most attracted was the Prince of Hesse-Homburg, -then occupying a rank far distant from his exalted position of to-day. -Parity of age, of tastes and of ideas drew me towards him. Like many -of the princes of German sovereign houses, his fame was solely due to -himself. - -Having joined the army at fifteen, he became a prisoner of the French -in one of the first wars of the Revolution, and was taken to Paris, -where he was confined in the Luxembourg. He had the luck to have his -life spared. Some time afterwards there was an exchange of prisoners, -and he resumed his military career. All his grades were conferred upon -him for distinguished services in the field, and at the period of which -I am treating he was numbered among the most meritorious generals of -the Austrian army. - -When, subsequently, he became a field-marshal, he was sent to the -Emperor of Russia, during the latter’s campaign against the Turks -in 1828. To-day (1820) as Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Prince Philip -is respected and worshipped by his subjects, whose happiness is his -foremost thought. - -Mme. de Fuchs asked me if I had seen anything more of George Sinclair, -the young Englishman whose adventure with the Emperor Napoleon had at -first drawn attention to him in Vienna, a few days before the battle of -Jena. Mr. George Sinclair, who was on his way to Austria, was arrested -by French scouts, and taken to headquarters on the suspicion of being a -spy. - -‘Whence came you, and whither are you going?’ asked the Emperor in a -tone which foreshadowed a death-sentence. Sinclair, who spoke French -with great facility, answered as briefly. ‘I have come from the -University of Jena, and am going to Vienna, where letters and orders -from my father, Sir John Sinclair, are awaiting me.’ - -‘Sir John Sinclair who has written frequently on agricultural -questions?‘[33] - -‘Yes, sire.’ - -The Emperor said a few words to Duroc, and continued his interrogatory -in a kindlier tone. Mr. Sinclair, who was barely eighteen, was -exceedingly well versed in geography and history. His conversation -fairly astonished Napoleon, who, after talking with him for a couple of -hours, ordered Duroc to give him an escort as far as the outposts, and -to let him resume his journey. It was altogether an unexpected favour, -and wholly due to his own worth. - -I had practically lost sight of him altogether, but I knew that after -a journey through Italy he had entered Parliament, where he had become -one of the followers of his friend Sir Francis Burdett, and had gained -a brilliant reputation as a speaker in the Opposition. - -Two events of a wholly different order occupied people’s minds at -that moment: the future destiny of the kingdom of Saxony, and the -announcement of a musical ride, a fête of knightly prowess which was -contemplated from the very first days of the Congress, and was to -take place in the Imperial Riding-school. Saxony came in for a scant -part of the conversation, but the preparations for the tournament -were discussed at great length. It was to be one of the most -magnificent entertainments hitherto projected, and there were frequent -consultations of the printed and engraved descriptions of the famous -_carrousels_ of Louis XIV., which were to be eclipsed in splendour. - -The Comtesse Edmond de Périgord, one of the twenty-four ladies who were -to preside at the fête, told us that the dresses which were being -prepared for it would surpass in richness everything that had been -handed down concerning the elegance and the splendour of the Court -ladies of the Grand Monarque. - -‘I really believe that we shall be able to display all the pearls and -diamonds of Hungary, Bohemia, and Austria combined,’ she said. ‘There -is not a relative or friend of these ladies whose jewel-case has not -been laid under contribution; and this or that heirloom in the way of -precious stones, which has not seen the light of day for a century, -will glitter on the dress of one of us.’ - -‘As for the knights,’ said the young Comte de Woyna, ‘in default of -gorgeous dresses, they’ll certainly have magnificent horses. You’ll -behold them go through evolutions and dance minuets with as much grace -as the most nimble gentlemen of the Court.’ - -After this there was some animated conversation about the colours of -the different quadrilles, and the supposed skill of the champions. -Mottoes were quoted, and the ladies tried to get at their hidden -meaning. The excellent King of Saxony and his states were absolutely -forgotten; their cause had to make way for the more important -discussion. - -On leaving Mme. de Fuchs’s, I caught sight on the Graben of General -Comte de Witt--a piece of luck, for the meeting reminded me of those -happy and delightful days I had spent in Ukraine, at the hospitable and -magnificent domain of Tulczim, the home of the Comtesse Potocka, the -comte’s mother. - -The only son of the first marriage of his handsome mother with General -Comte de Witt, the descendant of the Grand Referendary of Holland, -Comte de Witt’s military career was as rapid as it was brilliant. -A soldier from his childhood, he was a colonel at sixteen, and at -eighteen commanded one of the most splendid regiments in Europe, -namely, the cuirassiers of the Empress. The campaigns of the last -three years had given him excellent opportunities of distinguishing -himself. In six weeks he had raised and equipped at his own cost, and -on his mother’s property, four regiments of Cossacks, which he had -taken to the Emperor, who made him a lieutenant-general, and entrusted -him with the organisation of the military colonies. In 1828, in the war -against the Turks, he re-entered the service and commanded the army -of reserve. After the Peace of Varna, there was every prospect of his -happiness, when death removed him unexpectedly and at an early age. - -Comte de Witt had married the Princesse Josephine Lubomirska, one -of the most distinguished women of Europe. Charming and graceful, -her quick and well-read intellect only equalled by her inexhaustible -kindness--such was the portrait of the Comtesse de Witt traced by all -those who had the privilege of coming in contact with her. - -Mme. de Fuchs had kept up the habit of supping, a habit so dear to our -fathers, and the disappearance of which is so much regretted by those -who are fond of joyous, frank, and unrestrained conversation, inspired -by the gaiety of the moment. - -At one of those gatherings I had been placed close to the Comte de Witt. - -That same morning I had had a strange visit. I was just stepping out -of bed when told that a young Frenchman wished to speak to me. The -caller turns out to be a man of good appearance, who presents me with a -small parcel he is carrying. ‘This,’ he says, ‘is a letter M. Rey, the -advocate with whom you dined at M. de Bondy’s, the Prefect at Lyons, -has asked me to hand you.’ While I motion him to be seated I open the -epistle, in which M. Rey, after the usual greetings, asks me, supposing -I should be in Vienna, to interest myself for the bearer, M. Cast ... -in order to get him some employment. - -‘By the date of the letter, monsieur, you must have left Lyons some -time.’ - -‘Yes,’ replies the visitor, ‘having the whole of the world thrown open -to me to choose a _habitat_, I made my way to the present one on foot.’ - -‘You have no doubt other recommendations?’ - -‘None whatever.’ - -‘Allow me to compliment you on your courage. To do three hundred -leagues on foot simply on the strength of a letter from a person whom -I have only seen once, and without even the certainty of finding -me--assuredly you ought to succeed! In spite of this, I can give you -but little hope. If you came to the Congress to claim a kingdom, a -province, an indemnity, you would probably be listened to, but a post -for a Frenchman in the Austrian States--that, I am afraid, will be a -difficult thing to get. Nevertheless, I will do all I can for you. What -have you done up to the present?’ - -‘I have served in the Guards of Honour.’ - -‘What sort of post have you in view?’ - -‘I am not at all particular. I can be a secretary, or pretty well fill -any kind of post, whether it be civil or military.’ - -‘You are certainly determined to make the best of things,’ I could not -help saying, for that particular aptitude for making the foot fit the -boot in a cheerful and intelligent way is unquestionably French. I felt -decidedly interested in my young compatriot, and I asked him to give me -a few days to look round for him. Meanwhile I took his address, though -with considerable doubt about the final result of his bold journey. - -At supper the conversation happened to turn on the sudden resolutions -and the unhoped-for and unexpected bits of daring that often determine -a man’s whole existence. As a matter of course, instances were quoted, -and notably that of General Tettenborn, who, in something like four -months had worked his way from major to general-in-chief. - -‘I could mention a trait of courage and a reliance on luck which, -save for the favourable results to come, is worth all those we have -mentioned.’ - -On being questioned, I told them all about my visitor of that morning, -about his economical journey with nothing at the end of it but a simple -letter of introduction, and about the coincidence of his reaching -Vienna but a couple of days after my own arrival. The Comte de Witt had -listened very attentively. - -‘Your young man’s courage is worthy of consideration,’ he said, ‘and -inasmuch as he has been in the Guards of Honour, he is probably at home -on horseback. Send him to me to-morrow morning; I’ll find him something -to do.’ - -I thanked the comte; then, turning to the other guests: ‘This is my -countryman’s second step on the road of chance in one day,’ I said, -‘You’ll admit that if a letter of recommendation is often addressed at -random, it now and again happens to get into the hands of Dame Fortune.’ - -‘Yes,’ remarked the young Comte de Saint-Marsan, ‘a letter of -recommendation sometimes constitutes a whole fortune. Would you like to -have an instance of this?’ - -And without further ado he told us with his habitual grace and -sprightliness the following anecdote in connection with a period which -already seemed far removed from us in the past, although the actors had -scarcely left the stage. - -‘A young Parisian poet,’ began Marsan, ‘named Dubois, who was probably -as poor in wit as he was in money, had exhausted all his faculties -in singing the powers that were without getting the smallest favour. -As a forlorn hope, he addressed an ode to Princesse Pauline, the -favourite sister of Napoleon. In his poetical confusion, and without -reflecting upon the fate of Racine when the latter presented to Louis -XIV. his _Memoir on the Wretched Condition of Peoples_, Dubois mingled -with his praises of the princess counsels to Mars, embroidered on a -philanthropic dream of universal peace. The greatest effects are -often due to the most trivial causes. It so happened that one of the -princess’s waiting-maids was a distant relative of the poet, and she -seized a favourable opportunity of presenting the epistle to her -highness, who only read the rhymes of “Pauline” and “divine,” recurring -at almost every strophe, and promised her influence to the author of -such beautiful and kind sentiments. “But where is he?” asked Princesse -Pauline. “There,” said the relative, pointing to the ante-chamber. “In -that case let him come in,” remarked the princess, and in less time -than it takes to tell, the poet enters the perfumed boudoir of Pauline, -and finds himself _tête-à-tête_ with his future Providence. “Well, what -can I do for you?” asked the princess, after having listened to the -usual compliments. “If Madame by her influence could get me some small -post in this or that government office, I should for ever be grateful -to her.” “A letter of recommendation to Fouché may do the thing. Not -later than yesterday he said that I never asked for any favours. I’ll -put him to the test. Do you think that this would suit you?” Naturally -the poet replied that such a letter could not fail in its effect, -and that it would make him the happiest of mortals. Handsome Pauline -Borghese immediately opened her escritoire, and being in one of the -happy moods when sentences shape themselves on paper, in her petition -to his Grace of Otranto she spoke of M. Dubois as a man of superior -gifts, apt at many things, and in whom she took the greatest interest. - -‘An hour afterwards the protégé was at the door of the dispenser of -favours, but being unknown to the ushers, and not specially recommended -to them, it may easily be imagined that he got no further than the -ministerial ante-chamber, and that he was obliged to remit his letter -to the hands of those who did not care a jot. As a matter of course, -it was flung with many others into the basket set apart for such -epistles, which as often as not went straight from the receptacle into -the stove of the ante-chamber. Nevertheless, when Fouché returned that -evening from the Council of Ministers, and the basket was, as usual, -set in front of him, by the merest accident his eye fell on the paper -displaying the imperial arms. Naturally, he opened it at once, read it -from the first line to the last, and immediately ordered four gendarmes -to accompany his carriage at nine in the morning. Among his _entourage_ -it was taken for granted that he was proceeding to Saint-Cloud for some -communication of great importance; hence the surprise of his servants -was intense when they were ordered to take him to a mean street in the -neighbourhood of the Halles. It was there that our favourite of the -Muses had established his aerial quarters on the sixth floor. - -‘There was neither porter nor number to the entrance of that residence, -and inquiries had to be made of the baker of the quarter as to the -domicile of M. Dubois, a man of letters. - -‘“There is,” answered the baker’s wife, “a person of that name, very -poor, who inhabits an attic in the place. I do not know whether he is a -public scribe, but he owes me two quarters’ rent.” - -‘And issuing from her shop, she begins to bawl out the name at the top -of her voice. The poor poet puts his head out of the window of his -garret, and espying below a carriage escorted by gendarmes, comes there -and then to the conclusion that the boldness of his remarks with regard -to a universal peace has been badly received by Jupiter the Thunderer, -and that they have come to arrest him in order to make him expiate his -audacity at Bicêtre. - -‘Prompted by his fear only, Dubois considers it most prudent to hide -under his bed. Fouché, receiving no answer to the summons of the -baker’s wife, makes up his mind to mount the six flights. A courtier -does not stop at that when it becomes a question of proving his zeal -to those in power. It would want the facetious genius of Beaumarchais -or Lesage, or the comic talent of Potier, to paint the originality of -the scene, and of the Minister finally discovering the protégé under -the worm-eaten wooden structure that served him as a couch. Hence I -abridge the particulars. Fouché reassures Dubois, and induces him to -come forth from his improvised hiding-place. Regardless of the poet’s -very profound _négligé_, he places him by his side in the carriage, -which takes its way to the Ministry, where luncheon is soon served. - -‘“What would you like to be, M. Dubois?” asks his Excellency in the -interval between a dish of cutlets _à la Soubise_, made short work of -by the famished poet, and a _salmis de perdreaux_ equally appreciated, -at any rate ocularly. “Now tell me what can I do for you?” - -‘“I’ll be whatever your Excellency likes; and I shall be grateful for -any kind of post.” - -‘“Well, would you like to go to the island of Elba? I can give you the -appointment of commissary general of police.” - -‘“I’ll go to the end of the world in order to please your Excellency,” -replies the poet, not quite sure whether for the last hour or so he has -been awake or dreaming. - -‘“Very well then, I’ll go and make out your nomination, and you’ll -start to-morrow. On reaching Porto-Ferrajo you’ll find further -instructions. Meanwhile take this on account of your stipend.” Saying -which, Fouché presses a roll of napoleons into the poet’s hand. The -latter’s luggage was the reverse of voluminous; it would have filled a -big snuff-box, and did not take long to pack. Dubois engaged a place -in the diligence, and, in imitation of the awakened sleeper, departed, -like Sancho, for his island, which he reached without any further -adventures. - -‘It so happened that at that identical moment, two competitors were -endeavouring to get the concession of the iron-ore mines of the -island of Elba, the yield of which is very considerable. The new -commissary-general of police seemed to enjoy immense credit in Paris. -He was entrusted with an important charge in the administration of the -island, and each of the competitors tried to secure his goodwill. One -of these offered him an interest in his enterprise in return for his -influence. The new functionary, who perceived himself to be on the -high road to fortune, took particular care not to refuse the offer. -He promised everything, and wrote to Paris whatever the speculator -directed. Whether it was sheer accident or his recommendation that -finally procured the concession for his partner will, perhaps, -never be known, but the merit of it was attributed to the child of -the Muses. He was, however, sharp enough to be aware of his utter -ignorance with regard to the working of mines in no way connected with -those of Parnassus, and sold his interest in them for three hundred -thousand francs, which with equal good sense he invested in government -securities, thus making his newly acquired wealth safe against all -vicissitudes. - -‘Meanwhile the Princesse Borghese went to Bagnères to take the waters, -and it was some time before Fouché met with her at the Tuileries. - -‘“I trust your Highness is pleased with the manner in which I have been -able to provide for your protégé;” said the minister. “What protégé, -M. le Duc?” answered Pauline. “I am afraid I do not understand.” “But, -madame, I mean M. Dubois.” “M. Dubois? I don’t think I know any one -of that name.” “Does not your Highness recollect a letter sent to me -about three months ago, most pressingly recommending a M. Dubois, a man -of letters, in whom your Highness took the greatest interest?” “One -moment,” said the princess, and then a smile overspread her beautiful -features. “My protégé, M. le Duc, was a poor poet, a relative of one of -my maids, who sent me an ode. What have you done with him? Have you -given him a stool in one of your departments?” - -‘The minister, nettled at having been duped in that way, took -particular care to suppress the fact of his having made a grand -functionary of Dubois. Unfortunately, Fouché’s friends at Court got -wind of the thing, and there was an end of the secret. Napoleon himself -was vastly amused at it, and bantered his minister, whose habits, as -every one knows, were not of the bantering kind. - -‘Naturally, Dubois’s order of recall was despatched with the same -promptitude as that for his departure. Our poet fell from his -commissaryship-general as Sancho had fallen from the governorship of -his island, and become a nonentity as before. But the three hundred -thousand francs had been paid to him and properly invested, and on his -return to Paris, he was enabled to pursue in peace his cultivation of -the Muses, and we may be sure did not lack for parasites to applaud -his verses and share his dinners, which were amply defrayed by the -iron-mines of Elba.’ - -Thus far the narrative of the Comte de Marsan, to whom I leave the -responsibility for the story, although I have no doubt of its veracity, -for Fouché, the Terrorist of old, was an excellent courtier. - -M. Cast***‘s progress on the road to fortune was not as rapid as that, -yet sufficiently rapid for him to look back with satisfaction on his -pluck, as exemplified in his journey to Vienna. His interview with -Comte de Witt resulted in his appointment as his secretary. He came to -tell me of his wonderful piece of luck, and that same night went to -the Leopoldstadt theatre and was arrested by the police, who in Vienna -were very severe with foreigners. He showed fight, received several -blows, was bound hand and foot, and flung into a cell pending inquiry. -When brought before a magistrate next morning, he referred to his new -patron, the Comte de Witt, belonging to the suite of the Emperor of -Russia, and on the deposition of the general, was set at liberty. Not -being provided with a passport, he would, had this happened one day -earlier, have been taken as a vagrant to the Austrian frontier. - -Subsequently, I was told by the Abbé Chalenton, the tutor of the young -Polignacs, that M. Cast***, having accompanied the Comte de Witt to -Russia, married at Tulczim a Dutch girl of excellent birth, with an -income of two thousand Dutch ducats, and on that occasion the abbé, -at that time the tutor of Comtesse Potocka’s children, gave the bride -away. M. Cast*** returned afterwards to Lyons in a different condition -from that in which he had left it three years previously. - -The moral of all this is that, thanks to a plucky resolve, he also -had his share in the good things which were going at the Congress -of Vienna. Who after this shall deny the workings of chance on our -destinies and the usefulness of letters of introduction? - - - - -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. - - -Since my arrival in Vienna, I had given myself up so wholly to the -pleasure of meeting with old friends that I had only been able to pay -a ‘duty’ call at the French Legation. Although several friends, among -others MM. Boigne de Faye and Achille Rouen, formed part of it in -different capacities, I had not been able to have a confidential chat -with any. I had begun sincerely to regret having missed the opportunity -of going to M. de Talleyrand’s receptions, when he divined my wishes, -and with his well-known and exquisite courtesy sent me an invitation to -dinner. As may be imagined, I did not fail to respond to it, impatient -as I was to observe from near at hand a man whom I had not seen since -my early manhood, and who had been so largely mixed up with the chief -events of the time. It is a memorable thing in a man’s life to be able -to approach closely to an actor who has played a principal part on -the world’s stage. It makes an impression which only ceases with life -or with the loss of memory. I reached the embassy early, and from M. -Rouen’s private apartments made my way to the reception-rooms. There -was no one there but M. de Talleyrand, the Duc de Dalberg, and Madame -Edmond de Périgord, whom I had already met at Mme. de Fuchs’s. The -prince bade me welcome with the exquisite grace which had become a -second nature to him, and taking hold of my hand with the kindliness -reminiscent of a bygone period, he said: ‘I had to come to Vienna, -then, Monsieur, in order to have the pleasure of seeing you at my -home?’ I may have been mistaken, but at that moment he certainly belied -the axiom so long ascribed to him, namely: That words were given to -man to enable him to disguise his thought. Without awaiting my answer, -which, judging from my embarrassed look, he fancied would not be -quickly forthcoming, he presented me to the Duc de Dalberg with a few -flattering and gracious words. - -I had not seen M. de Talleyrand since 1806; but I was struck once -more with the intellectual subtlety of the look, the imperturbable -calm of the features, the demeanour of the pre-eminent man whom I, in -common with all those forgathered in Vienna, considered the foremost -diplomatist of his time. There were also the same grave and deep -tone of voice, the same easy and natural manners, the same ingrained -familiarity with the usages of the best society--a belated reflex, as -it were, of a state of things which existed no longer, and of which one -beheld in him one of the last representatives. In that room, and face -to face with such a man, one could not help yielding to an irresistible -feeling of timidity and awe. - -The panegyric of the French plenipotentiaries at the Congress is -practically contained in their names; nevertheless, M. de Talleyrand, -in particular, seemed to dominate that illustrious assembly by the -charm of his mind and the ascendency of his genius. Always the same, -he treated diplomacy as he treated it formerly in his drawing-room -in Paris and at Neuilly. Yet, France’s _rôle_ was rendered not less -difficult by the circumstances from without than by the confusion from -within. Hedged, as it were, by numberless obstacles, the inevitable -consequences of a new organisation, and of the little harmony such an -organisation is likely to command, France was virtually incapable of -showing any _virile disposition_. It was an open secret that such a -display was beyond the power and beyond the will of her government. -The great European states, the arbiters of the Congress, proceeded -with a common accord of which hitherto there had been no instance in -diplomatic annals. It seemed as if nothing could either break or detach -a single link of the chain. Hence, the representatives of France were -bound to make up, either by the resources of their genius or by talent -of the first order, for the obstacles opposed to them by a quadruple -alliance applying to the deliberations the whole weight of its actual -importance and of its unassailable union. - -The force he could not look for from his government, M. de Talleyrand -found in himself; for it is no exaggeration to say that the whole of -the French mission at the Congress seemed personified in him, whatever -may have been the merit of his colleagues and the consideration -attached to their personality. With the marvellous intuition which was -the particular dower of his intellect, and which seemed not only to -foresee events but to dominate them, he soon recovered the position -belonging to France. Admitted to the directing committee, composed -of the four great Powers, he completely changed its ideas and its -tendency. ‘I bring to you more than you possess, I bring to you the -idea of “right.”’ He divided those Powers, hitherto so united; he, -as it were, raised the spectre of a disproportionately aggrandised -Russian weight on the rest of Europe, and the necessity of edging -her back to the north. He caused Austria and England to share that -conviction. Hence, Emperor Alexander, who under the influence and -in the drawing-room of M. de Talleyrand had, six months previously, -decided upon the restoration of the House of Bourbon, saw, not without -annoyance, his projects stopped by the representative of a state which -owed its existence to him. ‘Talleyrand enacts the part here of Louis -XIV.’s minister,’ he said more than once with a show of bad humour. - -I have no intention of enumerating the labours of M. de Talleyrand at -the Congress of Vienna, or the important acts in which he took a part. -Still less do I intend to trace a portrait of that celebrated man. -Apart from the consideration that such a task would entail infinite -developments, M. de Talleyrand henceforth belongs to history; and -history alone, with inflexible truth, can describe and make known one -of the most historical personages of modern times. But, having been -an eyewitness at that trying period of his often successful efforts -at raising and reinstating the nation which he represented, I find -it difficult to resist the temptation to record the vivid impression -produced by his imperturbable calm, his attitude, and the whole of his -personality. - -It has been said often, and with considerable truth, that at no period -did Talleyrand appear more conspicuously great than at the moment of -France’s disasters in 1814. I had seen him eight years previously as -Minister of France, then all-powerful, and dictating his laws to the -whole of Continental Europe. At Vienna, as the plenipotentiary of a -vanquished people, he was the same man, and as absolutely confident of -himself. There was the same noble dignity, perhaps with an additional -shade of pride, the same confidence essential to the representative -of a nation which though vanquished was necessary to the maintenance -of the European equilibrium--of a nation which might gather strength -from the very consciousness of her defeat. His demeanour was, in one -word, the most eloquent expression of the grandeur of our country. In -watching the look which adverse fortune had been unable to disturb, the -impassiveness which nothing could disconcert, one could not but feel -that this man had still behind him a strong and powerful nation. - -Just as his high renown, and the authority attached to his name and -experience, made themselves felt in the deliberations of European -politics, so did his noble manners, the manners of the grand seigneur, -and his urbanity stamp his private receptions and his daily life with -a character of gravity wholly in harmony with his diplomatic rôle. -At no moment in Vienna did he deviate from the habits contracted in -Paris and in the century that lay behind. Every morning while he was -dressing, visitors were admitted, and often during the operation of -shaving and attending to his hair by his valet, discussions of the -utmost gravity, though in the guise of mere talk, were engaged in. -I have frequently seen him in his drawing-room seated on a couch by -the side of the beautiful Comtesse Edmond de Perigord, and surrounded -by bearers of the most eminent political names, the ministers of -the victorious Powers, who, standing, conversed with him, or rather -listened, as to the lessons of a teacher. In our century, M, de -Talleyrand is perhaps the only man who constantly obtained such a -triumph. - -M. le Duc de Dalberg was well worthy of figuring by the side of M. -de Talleyrand. Sprung from one of the oldest and noblest families of -Germany, he contributed powerfully on the 31st March to the resolution -which brought back the Bourbons to the throne; at the same time, he had -pronounced in favour of constitutional measures calculated to reassure -public opinion, and to make France rally to the restored régime. -Sharing the views and wishes of M. de Talleyrand at the time of the -Restoration, the same bond of union drew them together at the Congress. -The heartfelt aim of both was to restore to France the rank of which -her misfortunes had deprived her among the Powers.[34] - -M. de Talleyrand, before proceeding to Vienna, had drawn up his own -instructions. It was said on excellent authority that he strictly -adhered to them, and that the various phases of the negotiations had -been foreseen and indicated by him with marvellous sagacity. What is -not generally known is the existence of two different sets of private -correspondence addressed to Paris by the French plenipotentiaries; -one, partly from the pen of and edited by M. de la Besnadière, and -exclusively anecdotal, was sent to King Louis XVIII. M. de Talleyrand -positively besprinkled it with those witty and original sallies, -those subtle and profound remarks, characteristic of him. The other, -exclusively political and principally indited by the Duc de Dalberg, -went straight to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[35] - -On the day in question, there were few guests to dinner at M. de -Talleyrand’s. This afforded me the opportunity of observing more -attentively and of listening more carefully: each figure of such a -picture could be studied separately and with greater advantage. - -In addition to the members of the French Mission, there were only a few -strangers, namely, the Comte Razumowski, General Pozzo di Borgo, and -the Duc de Richelieu. When I parted from the last at Odessa in 1812, -he was in a position most trying to a governor-general.[36] The plague -was ravaging his provinces of the Chersonese and the Taurida, and it -required all his energy to get rid of such an importunate visitor. In -those cruel circumstances he displayed the most admirable courage. - -My questions followed each other most rapidly, as my pleasure at seeing -him again was great. I was seated between him and M. de la Besnadière, -and we went back with great interest to the days of our past dangers; -we chatted about the ravages of the plague as sailors preserved from -shipwreck would have spoken of the hidden rocks on which their craft -might have gone to pieces. - -All those who have known the Duc de Richelieu are aware of the sincere -friendship he was apt to inspire. Few men in their public capacity have -shown a nobler character, and in their eminent functions a stricter -disinterestedness. The esteem of all parties was his reward. - -It is to him Russia owes, in the founding of Odessa, one of her most -precious commercial centres. Up to that period, the duke was only -distinguished for his military exploits. Having been sent to the -shores of the Black Sea by Emperor Alexander, who understood all the -importance of the site, Richelieu displayed in his fresh sphere of -activity the greatest talent, from an administrative standpoint. In a -few years, a harbour without life, and a few houses without tenants, -were replaced by an accessible and spacious port and a rich and elegant -town. The loyalty of his character contributed to draw around him -merchants and colonisers. In spite of the plague and of the suspension -of all commercial operations, Odessa, under his firm and enlightened -administration, instead of declining, increased each day in prosperity. -At present it is one of the most important points of the East. - -Thereafter, M. de Richelieu passed from the government of the Taurida -to that of his own country. He hesitated for a long while before -assuming a burden he fancied to be beyond his strength, and only -yielded at the repeated instances of Emperor Alexander. Obliged, in -virtue of his office, to sign the disastrous treaties of 1815, he bore -with patriotic fortitude their odious consequences. Students of history -will remember his efforts at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), -and the happy results which crowned them. History may not, perhaps, -acquiesce in his sufficient knowledge of the men and places which he -had governed, but she will always refer with grateful remembrance to -his sterling virtues and his exalted patriotism. - -The conversation became general, and followed the direction given to -it by the personages, interesting in so many respects, taking part in -it. M. Pozzo di Borgo, whom I saw on that occasion for the first time, -seemed to me to unite the finesse, the liveliness of intellect, and the -imagination of his countrymen. An avowed enemy of Bonaparte since the -beginning of his career, he had never disguised his joy at the latter’s -fall. In a few words he summed up all the causes which were inevitably -to lead to the acceleration of that great catastrophe.[37] - -At that time a simple general of infantry in the Russian service, M. -Pozzo di Borgo never deviated from the line of conduct which led him -subsequently to exercise such a great influence on the destinies of -Europe. Born in Corsica, and deputy for the island in the Legislative -Assembly, he held the same ardent opinions which had made him -conspicuous in his own country. It was he who in July 1792 induced -the Assembly to declare war against the German Emperor. After the -revolution of August 10th, his name was found mentioned in the papers -of Louis XVI. A fellow-deputy for Corsica, one of the commissaries -entrusted with the examination of those papers, informed him, it -was said, of the danger he might be running, and prevailed upon him -to leave Paris. On his return to Corsica, he changed his colours. -Resolved to support the designs for rendering the island independent, -he joined the party of Paoli, and in 1793, the Convention summoned -him, as well as the general, to its bar, to account for his conduct. -Neither obeyed the summons: the English army occupied the island, and -M. Pozzo di Borgo was appointed president of the Council of State -under Eliot, who was raised to the dignity of viceroy. Nevertheless, -during his tenure of office there arose so many complaints against -him that Eliot advised him to retire, at the request of Paoli, who -had become afraid of the number of enemies his protégé had managed to -array against himself. M. Pozzo di Borgo then went to London, where he -was employed by the government in the secret diplomatic service. The -British Government itself subsequently admitted that, thanks to the -influence of Prince Czartoryski, Pozzo di Borgo had passed into the -secret political service of Russia. The same good fortune that attended -him in his political functions remained by his side on the battlefield: -he obtained rapid promotion, and at Leipzig he fought as major-general -under the orders of another Frenchman, to-day King of Sweden.[38] It -was Pozzo di Borgo who in 1814 settled the question of the Allied -Powers marching upon Paris, and who in their deliberations removed -all apprehension on the subject. Every one remembers the dignities -with which he was subsequently invested, and the various phases of -his political career. Already at the Congress he was credited with -a sentence which he never denied, and which laid bare his thoughts. -‘France,’ he said, ‘is a seething saucepan; whatever comes out of it -ought to be flung back into it.’ M. Pozzo di Borgo’s conversation did -not lack piquancy; nevertheless, it did not take long to find out that -the learning he somewhat ostentatiously displayed was neither solid -nor extensive, nor profound. He had a mania for quoting, but not the -talent of varying his quotations. For instance, at M. de Talleyrand’s, -he supported an argument by a passage from Dante, a phrase of Tacitus, -and shreds from English orators. M. de la Besnadière told me that every -one of those citations had already done duty two days previously at the -Prince de Hardenberg’s. - -When we went into the drawing-room, a good many distinguished -personages were already there. In fact, to see this forgathering of the -majority of the members of the Corps Diplomatique grouping themselves -around M. de Talleyrand, the supposition would have been pardonable -that his residence was the _locale_ of the Congress. - -Mme. la Comtesse de Périgord received her relative’s guests with -a charming grace. Her brilliant and playful intellect tempered -from time to time the gravity of the political matter gliding into -the conversation. There was, however, this difference: under M. de -Talleyrand’s roof the discussion was ever serious, and never deviated -from its aim; while in the other drawing-rooms of Vienna, politics -were treated as an accessory, and in an airy fashion, during the rare -intervals not devoted to pleasure. - -On the evening in question, Saxony was once more the subject of the -conversation. Louis XVIII. had declared himself strongly opposed to the -maintenance of Frederick-Augustus on its throne. He wished that prince -to be punished with the loss of his kingdom for his faithful support of -Napoleon. The utmost Louis would concede was the restricted sovereignty -of Frederick-Augustus over some small patch of territory on the left -bank of the Rhine. The execution of that plan would have involved -the incorporation of the whole of the Saxon States with Prussia. The -latter Power claimed them energetically as a compensation guaranteed to -it by the Treaty of Kalisch. Alexander, who at that time was nursing -the idea of a kingdom of Poland comprising the Polish provinces that -had formerly lapsed to Prussia, had pronounced in favour of that -incorporation. Austria, however, looked askance at this scheme of -aggrandisement, while the minor German princes were positively afraid -of such a spoliation, which seemed to them the precursor of their -destruction. M. de Talleyrand, on the other hand, sided with Saxony, -sustaining its rights on every possible opportunity with as much -dignity as healthy logic. - -There was a very lively discussion between Lord Castlereagh[39] and the -French envoys. England at that time, though having no direct interest -in the question, seemed inclined to favour Prussia’s pretensions. A -few months later, there was a reversal of her policy. But however -interesting King Frederick-Augustus’s cause might be to me personally, -it seemed to me that the atmosphere in which I had hitherto lived at -Vienna excluded all political affairs, and I had drawn aside with the -Duc de Richelieu. He gave me some particulars of the brilliant military -career of his nephew, the Comte de Rochechouart, with whom I had spent -so many happy moments at Odessa;[40] and then talked to me about the -handsome Mme. Davidoff,[41] and of her famous friend Mme. la Comtesse -Potocka. Surrounded by all that was most brilliant and accomplished in -European civilisation, our thoughts yet went back to the deserts of the -Yeddisen, and when we returned to the group of diplomatists, the prince -had vanquished the grand sophist, and equity had scored a triumph over -arbitrariness. - -Although M. de Talleyrand was both in bearing and in temperament -naturally cold and indifferent, his great reputation and his -uncontested merit caused him to be assiduously courted. That apparent -coldness, in fact, still further enhanced the special marks of his -interest or of his affection. The words falling from his lips, a -benevolent smile, a sign of approval--in short, everything emanating -from him was calculated to fascinate. His was the flexible intellect -which without effort and without pedantry can, on notable occasions, -show itself the master of the situation, and which, in more familiar -intercourse, knows how to lend itself with inimitable grace to the -lightest banter. Full justice has never been done to his goodness -of heart. He repaid hatred and slander by clever sallies; he never -emphasised or paraded the services he rendered; and in general his kind -actions were performed with such simplicity as to make him easily lose -the recollection of them.[42] - -At that period I often tried to establish a parallel between the -two men who, even in that gathering of so many illustrious people, -powerfully attracted and captivated everybody’s attention, namely, the -Prince de Ligne and M. de Talleyrand. Both, having lived in contact -with the celebrities of the eighteenth century, seemed to have been -bequeathed to the new generation as models and ornaments; both were -representatives, though in different styles, of that witty society--the -one of its lighter and more sparkling phase, the other of its easy, -graceful, and noble phase; both had the secret of pleasing by the charm -of intellect: the first was more brilliant, the second more profound. -M. de Talleyrand seemed born, as it were, to captivate his fellow-men -by the strength of an ever-direct and luminous reason; the Prince de -Ligne fascinated and dazzled them by the sparkle of an inexhaustible -imagination: the latter bringing to bear upon the different branches -of literature the subtlety, sparkle, and gracefulness of the _habitué_ -of Courts; the former dominating over the most important concerns with -the easy calm of a grand seigneur and the imperturbable moderation -of a superior intellect; the one and the other lavishly scattering -around them clever sentences, happy sallies, original and piquant -traits, graver and more individual in the case of the statesman, more -spontaneous and brilliant in the case of the soldier:--both, in fine, -animated with the sympathetic benevolence which is the appanage of the -well-born man, and which was more contained with the first and more -expansive with the second. ‘Happy ought the man to be who finds himself -placed near the Prince de Ligne in the morning, and in the evening near -M. de Talleyrand,’ I said to myself. ‘If the one be apt to enlighten -his mind by the lessons of a long experience and a succession of true -pictures, the other may purify his taste by the never-failing tact, the -judicious observation which takes in everything, and the magic charm -of a conversation which has the faculty of subjugating listeners even -where it fails in convincing them.’ - -The reception on the evening in question did not last as long as usual, -Mme. de Périgord, like the majority of us, being due at the Burg, to -attend a monster concert. Nothing, it was said, could convey a better -idea of the marvellous results of the practice of music in Vienna. We -left the prince engaged in his game of whist, in which he indulged -every night with a particular fondness and with superior skill, and -made our way to the Imperial Palace. - -In one of the vastest halls, that of the States, there were a hundred -pianos on which professors and amateurs performed a concert. Salieri, -the composer of the _Danaïdes_, was the conductor of that gigantic -orchestra. To tell the truth, however, save for the general scene, -which in all these fêtes was always dazzling, that matchless charivari, -in spite of the superior talent of the maestro directing it, was more -like a huge display of strength and skill than a concert of good taste. -This new surprise was, nevertheless, such as might have been expected -from a committee appointed by the Court. To justify the confidence -placed in it, it had ransacked its imagination for something unforeseen -and unprecedented, something altogether out of the ordinary. It had -succeeded to perfection. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - The Prince de Ligne’s Study--A Swimming Exploit--Travelling - by Post--A Reminiscence of Mme. de Staël--Schönbrunn-- - The Son of Napoleon--His Portrait--Mme. de Montesquiou-- - Anecdotes--Isabey--The Manœuvring-Ground--The People’s - Fête at Augarten. - - -When I went to pay my daily visit to the prince, he was still in -bed, and I made my way to his library, where they had placed his -couch. The room in which a famous man spends the greater part of his -time is always interesting. The signs of his particular tastes are -everywhere; the special character of his genius reveals itself in the -smallest details; and the objects surrounding him supply food for our -curiosity or attract our attention. With his books and manuscripts -scattered here, there, and everywhere, the Prince de Ligne gave one the -impression of a general in his tent among the trophies of his victories -and the weapons worn in everyday life. - -Abusing somewhat the licence accorded to poets, with whom ‘a beautiful -disorder’ is accounted an artistic effect, the prince lived amidst a -kind of litter which was not altogether devoid of gracefulness. Here, -Rousseau and Montesquieu lying open beside a batch of love-letters; -there, scraps of paper covered with verses close to a couple of -military volumes of Archduke Charles; further on, letters just begun, -and poems and works of strategy in a similarly initial condition. An -admirable amalgam of the grand seigneur, the soldier, and the man of -wit, the Prince de Ligne presented a type the like of which we shall -not see again; now captivating the most distinguished women by the -charms of a most brilliant conversation, then astounding the most -consummate generals by the justness of his conceptions; and again -delighting the greatest intellects by the subtlety and the truth of his -comments. - -He had a writing-desk before him when I came in. His intellect, -aglow with a wholly youthful imagination, just as his heart was -aglow with kindness, seemed to live against time; hence, no day ever -passed without his throwing on to paper some judicious or playful, -some brilliant or profound remarks, such as those with which his -conversation was studded. - -‘I’m going to Schönbrunn to-day,’ he said, ‘and I should like you to -accompany me. I am performing _ad honores_ the office of introducer to -the little duke who was born a king. I only want to finish this chapter -on the events of the moment, and then I am at your disposal. - -‘I’m throwing my thoughts on to paper anyhow lest they should escape my -memory,’ he added. ‘The grand picture we constantly have before us has -the faculty of inspiring me; I fancy that amidst all these delirious -joys a thought may now and again strike me which in days to come will -either give pleasure or be productive of some good. Though yielding to -this whirl of phantasms, I have not ceased to observe. Though an actor -in the piece which is being played, I consider the whole of what is -passing around me a simple kick in an ant-hill.’ - -Saying which he resumed writing. All of a sudden, being apparently in -want of a reference of some kind, he looked up. ‘Be kind enough to give -me that manuscript volume on the third shelf.’ I got up, but uncertain -which volume to take, I hesitated for a moment. Thereupon he jumped out -of bed and hauled himself up by the cornice of the bookcase, got hold -of the book, and was back again between the sheets in less time than it -takes to tell; I looking on in sheer surprise at the agility of a man -of his years. ‘The fact is,’ he said, ‘I have been most nimble all my -life, and my nimbleness has been exceedingly useful. During that kind -of fairy journey when I accompanied the great Catherine to the Taurida, -the imperial yacht was doubling the promontory of Parthenizza, where, -according to tradition, the Temple of Iphigenia formerly stood. We were -discussing the greater or lesser probability of that tradition, when -Catherine, stretching forth her arms towards the coast, said: “Prince -de Ligne, I’ll bestow upon you that contested territory.” No sooner -had the words dropped from her lips than I was in the water, in full -uniform, my hat on my head, and in a few moments I stood on _terra -firma_. “Majesty,” I cried, drawing my sword, “I am taking possession.” -Since then that Taurida rock is named after me, and I keep the land. - -‘This, my young friend, shows that bodily agility may be attended -with excellent results, and that there is nothing in life like prompt -resolution. A few years before the outbreak of the Revolution, I -happened to be in Paris. In the happiness of the hour, and with -the carelessness of youth, I had committed a few excesses; I had, -moreover, forgotten the state of my finances, and my purse was as -empty of coin as my heart was full of joy and my mind of illusion. -Nevertheless, I was expected in Brussels the next day to dine with the -archduchess-governess of the Southern Netherlands. A total stranger in -the vast city, I felt sorely embarrassed. I was on terms of intimate -friendship with Prince Max, the present King of Bavaria, at that time -a colonel in the French service.[43] You are aware of his generous -and devoted disposition. During the whole of his life he was willing -to share with his friends whatever he possessed. Naturally I went to -him, but our excellent Max was not at that period a king, and had no -minister of finances to direct and to take care of his savings. It just -happened that his purse was as light as mine. What was to be done? A -post-boy is the most inexorable of men, and at each stage he comes -pitilessly, though hat in hand, to claim his salary. I was told that my -cousin, the Duc d’Aremberg, much more sober in conduct, was starting -that same evening for Brussels. I immediately made up my mind what -to do. “I shall be there before him,” I said; and without a moment’s -delay I transformed myself into a forerunner, and, booted and spurred, -presented myself at the posting-office. I told them to give me a horse, -and set off at a gallop to the next stage to order relays. In that way -I performed the journey to Brussels, always a few minutes in advance -of him, and seeing to the providing of his horses all along the route. -My cousin, who had not despatched a forerunner, was unable to make out -the providential arrangement to which was due the promptitude that thus -shortened his journey. At his arrival I told him the ruse, at which we -both laughed heartily, and thanks to which I managed to dine with the -archduchess.’ - -While talking, he had dressed himself. When he had finished putting -on his uniform of colonel of trabans, and had hung half-a-dozen grand -crosses and ribands of various orders upon his breast, he suddenly -stopped. - -‘If illusion could provide me to-day with its mirror,’ he said, ‘how -gladly would I exchange all this splendour for the simple dress of an -ensign in my father’s regiment! I was only sixteen when I donned that -dress for the first time; I imagined then that at thirty one must be -very old. Time changes everything. To-day, at eighty, I think myself -still young, although some cavillers say that I am too young. It -does not matter, I am doing all I can to prove that I am still young -enough. After all, my career has been a happy one, and neither remorse -nor ambition, nor jealousy has troubled its course. I have steered my -barque pretty evenly, and until I enter that of Charon I shall continue -to fancy myself, in spite of those who insist upon considering me as -old.’ - -Even while bantering himself in that way, there was a charm about his -words of which it is difficult to convey an idea. I kept telling him -that age had glided off him without leaving a mark, and that time -honoured him by forgetting him. He believed my words, and his handsome -face was lighted up with happiness. - -On going downstairs we found some of the savants who constantly worried -him, and his features lost their happy expression, although he managed -to dismiss the intruders with a few polite remarks, and went on his -way. ‘How I detest those savants of verbosity, those gatherers of -clever sayings, those walking dictionaries, whose sole stock-in-trade -in the matter of genius is their memory! The best book to study is the -world itself, but that book will always be a closed one to them,’ he -said. - -In a few moments we were rumbling in the direction of Schönbrunn. -Unfortunately, the prince’s carriage did not deserve the compliment I -had just addressed to the prince himself. It was impossible to believe -that the vehicle had ever been young, and its springs piteously cried -out to be exchanged for a set more elastic and in keeping with the -requirements of our own time. I can still picture the cumbrous, grey -conveyance drawn by two bony white horses. The panels displayed the -prince’s scutcheon, surmounted by the motto of the House of Egmont, -whence the prince sprung: - - ‘_Quô res cumque cadunt, semper stat linea recta._’ - -Behind this ancient coach stood a kind of footman, an old Turk, six -feet high, a present from Prince Potemkin at the assault of Ismaël, -and who bore the name of the conquered town. The marshal, however, had -the art of abridging distances, just as he had the art of supplying -the scantiness of his dinner-entertainments, by his conversation. The -journey of nearly an hour seemed very short, and it was with some -surprise that I beheld the gates of the imperial country-seat. - -Schönbrunn, the building of which was begun by the princes of the House -of Austria, was the object of Maria-Theresa’s particular affection. It -was she who completed it, and, in order to accelerate the work, part -of it was done by torchlight. The castle is delightfully situated on -the right bank of the Wien. The majestic _ensemble_ of its architecture -proclaims it at once to be a royal residence. The gardens, nobly -and most gracefully planned, interspersed with sheets of limpid -water skilfully disposed, planted with trees of the most luxuriant -vegetation, and studded with most precious marble and bronze statuary, -harmonise most imposingly with the magnificence of the palace itself. -The park is alive with deer of all kinds, the peaceful tenants of those -beautiful spots, and they, as it were, seem to invite the approach of -the visitors. Every day and at all hours these glades and avenues are -open to the public. Numberless carriages and horsemen are constantly -there. The park is surrounded by pleasaunces, the inmates of which in -the milder season are the eye-witnesses of a succession of fêtes and -rejoicings. The sound of those rejoicings pierces the walls of the -imperial habitation, and adds by its animation to the charms of the -noble pile. - -The apartments of the palace are spacious and furnished with exquisite -taste. There are several rooms entirely draped with black: they have -remained in that condition since the death of Maria-Theresa’s husband. -A small study is decorated with drawings by the various archduchesses. -This is the room where Napoleon, during his sojourn at Schönbrunn, -retired to work. It is there he beheld for the first time the portrait -of Marie-Louise, and perhaps conceived the idea of a union which had -such an influence on his destiny.[44] - -A staircase leads from that room into the garden. On a wooded height -stands a charming pavilion built by Maria-Theresa, and called ‘La -Gloriette’; that elegant structure of fairy-like design, composed of -arcades, colonnades, and trophies, bounds the vista and constitutes -one of the most delightful pieces of decorative architecture. It is at -the same time a palace and a triumphal arch. It is reached by a double -staircase. The view from the principal drawing-room defies description: -there are immense masses of green as far as the eye can reach, and -at the horizon are the city of Vienna, the course of the Danube, and -finally the high mountains whose outlines constitute the background of -the magnificent landscape. It is difficult to imagine a more splendid -panorama. - -The greenhouses of Schönbrunn are perhaps the most beautiful in Europe. -They contain precious samples of the vegetation of the universe. It was -there that Emperor Francis, who had a particular liking for botanical -pursuits, himself attended to the rarest plants. - -[Illustration: MARIA LOUISA, ARCHDUCHESS OF AUSTRIA.] - -Not far from there is the zoological collection, disposed in a circle -around a pavilion forming the centre, as it were, of the various -sheltered enclosures for the animals. Each species has its _habitat_ -and its garden, with the plants and trees proper to the country of its -birth. There, though prisoners, the animals apparently enjoy their -liberty. - -Close to the castle there was a small railed-off plot, carefully -tended, which was the garden of the son of Napoleon. It was there that -the young prince cultivated the flowers which each morning he gathered -into bouquets for his mother[45] and his governess. - -While crossing the courts, which are very spacious, the prince pointed -out the spot where, while Napoleon was inspecting some troops, a young -fanatic attempted to kill him about the time of the battle of Wagram. -If a crime of that nature is calculated to inspire anything but a -feeling of indignation, that young fellow might have been pitied in -virtue of the courage and fortitude he showed at the moment of his -death. - -It was in those courts that, at the same period, Napoleon gave orders -to his ordnance-officer, the Prince de Salm, to put through its drill -a regiment of the Germanic Confederation, and to give the command in -German. The Viennese came down in shoals, this little amenity on the -part of the victor having made them forget that their capital was in -the hands of the enemy. - -In the hall a French servant, still wearing the Napoleonic livery, came -towards us. He knew the marshal, and immediately went to inform Mme. de -Montesquiou of his arrival. - -‘I trust we’ll not have to wait,’ said my companion, ‘for, as I -have told you, I am almost like the Comte de Ségur of Schönbrunn.’ -He alluded to the position of grand-master of the ceremonies that -nobleman, whom he had known at the Court of Catherine, had occupied -near the person of Napoleon. - -A few moments later Mme. de Montesquiou came to apologise for being -unable to introduce us immediately. ‘The little prince,’ she said, ‘is -sitting for his portrait to Isabey, which is intended for the Empress -Marie-Louise. As he is very fond of the marshal, the sight of him -would only make him restless. I’ll see that the sitting is as short as -possible.’ - -‘You know what happened at my first visit?’ remarked the prince, after -Mme. de Montesquiou had left us. ‘When they told the child that Marshal -Prince de Ligne had come to see him, he exclaimed: “Is it one of the -marshals who deserted papa? Don’t let him come in.” They had a good -deal of trouble in making him understand that France is not the only -country where they have marshals.’ - -A short while afterwards Mme. de Montesquiou took us to the apartments. -When young Napoleon caught sight of the Prince de Ligne he slid off -his chair, and flung himself into the arms of the old soldier. He -was indeed as handsome a child as one could wish to see, and the -likeness to his ancestress Maria-Theresa was positively striking. The -cherub-like shape of his face, the dazzling whiteness of the skin, the -eyes full of fire, and the pretty fair curls drooping on his shoulders, -made up one of the most graceful models ever offered to Isabey. He was -dressed in a richly embroidered uniform of hussars, and wore on his -dolman the star of the Legion of Honour, ‘_Bon jour, monsieur_,’ said -the little lad, ‘I like the French very much.’ - -Remembering the words of Rousseau to the effect that people do not like -to be questioned, and least of all children, I stooped down and kissed -him. - -The son of Napoleon is no more; pitiless Death cut short at twenty-two -a life begun on a throne; and at the moment when the brilliant -qualities of the prince bade fair to make that life illustrious, and -when his noble sentiments had begun to win all hearts. Everything -connected with this offspring of so much glory, a victim from his -cradle of a fatal and unprecedented destiny, only presents itself to -the memory with a deep respect mingled with a tender pity. - -His intellect was quick and precocious; all his words struck the -listener by their justness. Both his memory and his faculty for -acquiring knowledge were astounding; he learned German in a short time, -and after that spoke it with the same ease as French. His character was -firm, and his resolutions, only arrived at after serious reflection, -were unshakable; his slightest movements were stamped with grace; his -gestures, when he wished to emphasise his words, were already grave -and solemn. His liking for the science of warfare showed itself both -in his eyes and in his speech. ‘I want to be a soldier,’ he said, -‘I’ll lead the charge.’ They suggested that bayonets might oppose his -progress. ‘But surely,’ was the answer, ‘I’ll have a sword to put aside -the bayonets.’ His curiosity with regard to the history of his father -was extreme; the Emperor, his grandfather, convinced that truth must -constitute the basis of every education, and notably that of a prince, -determined not to leave him in ignorance upon any subject.[46] The -child listened eagerly to the story of a life which, in the space of -twenty years, seemed to have exceeded the measure of both belief and of -history. The exuberance of his joys, his impatience at being baulked of -his wishes and of all opposition to his will, were those of a child, -while his intense anxiety to learn, his habitual calm and reflection, -attested a more advanced age. Everything in him led to the belief in -the theory of hereditary genius. - -His instinct, as is well known, showed itself under memorable -circumstances. On the 29th March, 1814, when the Empress Marie-Louise -abandoned the Tuileries for Rambouillet, and when they wished to take -the child to his mother, who was waiting for him, he opposed a stout -resistance to being removed; shouted that they were betraying his papa, -and refused to stir. Mme. de Montesquiou’s moral influence over the lad -was brought to bear in vain; she only succeeded by force, and even then -she had to promise to bring him back soon. The poor lad guessed, as it -were, that he would never more behold the Tuileries. - -His quickness of intellect showed itself in everything connected with -his illustrious and ill-fated sire. On the day before our visit, the -English commodore, Sir Neil Campbell, who accompanied Napoleon to -Elba, was presented to his son. ‘Are you not pleased, prince, to see -this gentleman, who left your father only a few days ago?’ asked Mme, -de Montesquiou, presenting the officer. ‘Yes,’ was the answer, ‘I am -pleased.’ Then, putting his finger to his lips, he added, ‘But we must -not say so.’ - -The commodore took the child into his arms. ‘Your papa has told me to -kiss you for him,’ he said, suiting the action to the word, after which -he gently put him down. The child had a German top in his hands. He -flung it down with such force as to break it to pieces. ‘Poor papa!’ he -gasped, bursting into tears.[47] - -What were the thoughts that moved him, and how, at his tender age, -could he grasp the whole extent of the ambiguous and false position -of the son of Napoleon being a prisoner, as it were, in the Austrian -palace of Schönbrunn! - -With regard to the loss of the sovereignty bestowed upon him at his -birth, he expressed himself with a melancholy and touching resignation. -‘I see very well that I am no longer a king,’ he repeated during his -journey from Rambouillet to Vienna; ‘I have no longer any pages.’[48] -The Prince de Ligne having shown him some medals struck on the occasion -of his birth, he remarked, ‘I remember them; they were made when I was -king.’ - -This plucky resignation, which was the most conspicuous trait of his -character, abided with him up to his last moments. When, at the age -of twenty-two, undermined by a most painful malady, he was dying at -that same palace of Schönbrunn, and beheld Death advancing slowly but -surely, he, handsome, young, talented, and the offspring of a great -man, talked of his impending end with those surrounding him, taking, as -it were, a cruel pleasure in dispelling all the illusions of hope. - -We stepped up to Isabey, who had just put the finishing touches to -the portrait of the young prince. It was a striking likeness, and, in -common with all his works, pervaded by an exquisite grace. It was the -identical picture he presented to Napoleon on the latter’s return from -Elba in the following year. ‘What I like best in this portrait is its -wonderful resemblance to that of Joseph II. when he was a child, which -was given to me by Maria-Theresa. After all, this resemblance to a -great man is a happy augury for the future.’ - -Then the prince complimented the painter on the perfect finish of his -work, adding a few happily-chosen words on his European reputation. - -‘I came to Vienna, M. le Maréchal,’ replied Isabey, ‘with the hope of -being allowed to reproduce the features of all the celebrities that are -here, and without doubt I ought to have started with yours.’ - -‘Assuredly, seeing that, in virtue of my age, I am the dean.’ - -‘No,’ retorted Isabey, who was also known for his ready wit, ‘not in -virtue of your age, but as the model of all that is illustrious in this -century.’ - -Meanwhile, young Napoleon had gone to a corner of the room in search -of a regiment of wooden Uhlans which his grand-uncle Archduke Charles -had sent him a few days previously. Set in motion by a piece of simple -mechanism, the troopers, stuck on movable pins, imitated every military -evolution, breaking the ranks, deploying into line, forming into -columns, etc. - -‘Time to begin our manœuvres, prince!’ shouted the marshal in a tone of -command. Immediately the Uhlans were taken from their box and disposed -in battle order. ‘Attention,’ cried the marshal, drawing his sword and -assuming the attitude of a general on parade. - -Stolidly attentive and grave, like a Russian grenadier, the child took -up his position to the right of his troop, his hand on the spring. -No sooner has the word of command left the old soldier’s lips than -the movement is carried out with the utmost precision. A second order -meets with similarly prompt obedience; the chief and the subaltern are -equally grave. To watch the charming face of the child lighting up at -this mimic piece of drill, and, on the other hand, to watch the aged -and illustrious relic of the wars of the past becoming animated at the -child’s grave demeanour, was a sight never to be forgotten. It looked -as if the one had inherited the irresistible passion of his sire for -the science of warfare; as if the other, suddenly growing younger by -a couple of decades, was going to recommence his glorious campaigns. -It was a delicious contrast, fit to inspire the genius of our greatest -painters. - -The grand manœuvres were interrupted by the announcement of the -empress’s coming. She liked to be alone with her son, whose education -she superintended.[49] Hence we retired, leaving Isabey to show her -his work. - -No sooner were we seated in our carriage, still deeply moved by what -we had seen, than the Prince de Ligne said: ‘When Vienna surrendered -to Napoleon at Schönbrunn, when he planned his memorable campaign of -Wagram there, when in those spacious courts he reviewed his victorious -phalanxes in the presence of the astounded Viennese, little did he -foresee that in this same palace the son of the victor and the daughter -of the vanquished would be held as hostages by one whose fate was -then in his hands. In my long career I have seen many instances of -extraordinary glory, and nearly as many of crushing reverses, but -nothing to compare to the history of which we have just witnessed a -chapter.’ - -As we were crossing the glacis between the faubourgs and the city, we -espied an open carriage, very low on its wheels. There seemed scarcely -room enough in it to hold its one huge occupant. - -‘Let us stop and perform our salutations,’ said the prince. ‘There goes -another majesty by the grace of God and of Robinson Crusoe (Napoleon). -There goes the King of Würtemberg. - -‘Up to the present,’ he went on, ‘you have only seen royal fêtes. -To-morrow I mean to take you to an entertainment for the people. So -much has been accomplished through the people that they can well afford -to do something for it. I’ll see you to-morrow.’ - -The people’s fête is one of the most brilliant solemnities of Vienna. -It had been eagerly looked forward to for some time. - -Anxious to profit by the invitation of my illustrious guide, I was -at his place before midday. Shortly afterwards we set out for the -Augarten, where the fête was to take place. - -The Augarten is situated on the same island of the Danube as the -Prater, by which it is bound on the east. The park, with its -thickly-wooded retreats and clumps of trees, presented the most varied -and beautiful vegetation, interspersed in all directions by magnificent -avenues. The palace, due to Joseph II., is a specimen of simple and -elegant architecture. An inscription over the front entrance tells the -fact that this amiable prince-philosopher gave up the building for the -amusement of the nation. - -There was an immense crowd; the weather was splendid; the stands -erected for the sovereigns and the celebrities of the Congress were -filled with most elegantly dressed spectators of both sexes. The Prince -de Ligne preferred to mingle with the crowd, and I was glad of it. - -The Austrian veterans, to the number of four thousand, had been invited -to the fête. To the strains of military music they marched past the -stand of the sovereigns, and afterwards took possession of a number of -spacious tents, set apart for their special use. There were military -sports at frequent intervals throughout the day. - -They opened with foot races, after which came races with small Eastern -horses, after the manner of the Barbary horses that contest for speed -in the Corso in Rome. In an open-air circus, the trick-riders and -acrobats of Bach, who are the rivals of Franconi and Astley of London, -performed all kinds of exercises on foot and on horseback. Further -on, the Turnplatz was occupied by young men who, to the delight of -the spectators, went through a series of gymnastics. To the left of -the palace, on a magnificent greensward, there stood a pole a hundred -feet high, surmounted by a huge wooden bird with outspread wings. It -served as a target to a company of Tyrolese archers, experts with the -cross-bow. The prize was a beautiful silver-gilt vase. It was hotly -contested for, and finally fell to a son of the celebrated Tyrolese -Hofer. - -Finally, an enormous balloon rose in the air. The aeronaut’s name -was Kraskowitz, and he proved a worthy emulator of Garnerin and -Blanchard, for a short time after his ascent he soared majestically -above the crowd, waving a number of flags of the various nations whose -representatives had forgathered in Vienna. - -An hour later, the aeronaut, after a unique view of a splendid scene, -came gently down in the island of Lobau, the spot connected with one of -the remarkable military feats of modern history. - -Then there was an interruption of the games. Sixteen large tables -were spread on a vast lawn, the four thousand veterans sat down to a -profusely served repast, while from several bandstands, decorated with -standards and panoplies of war, there uprose the strains of military -symphonies. In another part of the park, four elegantly decorated tents -in which companies of Bohemians, Hungarians, Austrians, and Tyrolese -respectively, in the picturesque dresses of their countries, performed -national dances to the sound of their own particular instruments, -diversified by their patriotic songs. - -The sovereigns during the whole of the time wandered about, unescorted, -taking stock of everything, and chatting familiarly with the veterans, -many of whose faces were absolutely riddled with scars. There was -something patriarchal in their thus mingling with the crowd, which eyed -them curiously, respectfully following them everywhere. - -When night fell, a hundred thousand lamps converted the Augarten -into a blaze of light, and then there were magnificent fireworks in -front of the palace. The principal pieces represented the monuments -of Milan, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. There was an immense crowd in -the avenues of the Augarten, but at no moment was order disturbed in -the slightest. This popular rejoicing was marked by a serious and -thoughtful calm, for which the German character alone, perhaps, can -offer a model. - -At the termination of the fireworks, the sovereigns strolled through -the streets, and were everywhere hailed with unanimous cheers. Then the -entire Court repaired to the theatre of the Carinthian Gate to witness -the performance of the ballet _Flore et Zéphire_. All the palaces, -mansions, and private dwellings were most brilliantly illuminated; and -‘transparencies,’ bearing enthusiastic mottoes, had not been spared. -Dancing and music went on throughout the whole of the night; it was, -in fact, an uninterrupted scene of magnificence and happiness. Joy -prevailed everywhere, a joy due less perhaps to the fête that had been -offered to the people than to the hope of a durable peace, the price of -which had been paid by many years of constant sacrifices. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - The Prater--The Carriages--The Crowd and the Sovereigns--The - Sovereigns’ Incognito--Alexander Ypsilanti--The Vienna - Drawing-Rooms--Princesse Bagration--The Narischkine Family - --A Lottery. - - -I had promised to meet Alexander Ypsilanti in the grand avenue of the -Prater, and at the appointed time I was there. To me the beautiful spot -teemed with delightful recollections; each scene reminded me of a fête, -of a love-tryst, or of a meeting with friends, of dreams, of hopes, of -illusions, perhaps gone for ever. - -During a long pilgrimage in my younger days, I have seen all the -renowned public promenades of Europe, and everywhere the people -maintained that the one adorning their own capital was superior to -any other. I have always preferred the Vienna Prater to the Bois de -Boulogne, to Kensington Gardens, to the Wood at the Hague, to the -Cascines of Florence, and to all the other vaunted resorts whether at -Moscow, Petersburg, or Constantinople; for in the first-named spot are -united the beauties of nature that delight the eye, and the sight of a -happy condition, comforting and refreshing to the soul. - -The Prater abuts on the faubourgs of Vienna. It is situated on one of -the islands of the Danube, which virtually constitutes its boundary. -It is throughout planted with century-old trees, affording a majestic -shade, and preventing the huge greensward from being scorched by the -sun. It is crossed in every direction by imposing avenues. As at -Schönbrunn, and at the majority of like resorts in Germany, herds -of deer browse peacefully on the heights or disport themselves in -the flatter parts, thus imparting life and motion to the delicious -solitude. These are properly the aspects of a mild and virgin nature, -but at the same time they are embellished by all the resources of -cultivation and art. To the left of the Prater, on entering it from the -city, there is an immense lawn, set apart for the display of fireworks; -to the right there is a circus capable of accommodating several -thousands of spectators; facing one, a large avenue of chestnuts, -bordered on each side by elegant constructions, including a number -of shops, cafés, and casinos where the Viennese can indulge to their -hearts’ content in their well-known love for music. - -In the avenue of chestnuts, constantly filled with sumptuous carriages -and with riders managing their mounts of all breeds with that peculiar -Hungarian skill, the wealth and display of all the neighbour-states -of Austria seem to have forgathered. The emperor himself drives an -unpretending ‘turn-out’ with the simplicity of a well-to-do tradesman -bent upon an airing; while a hackney-cab, taken by the hour, and -fearing no competition, gets right into his imperial majesty’s road, -and is itself overtaken by the vehicle of a Bohemian magnate or by -a Hungarian palatine tooling a four-in-hand. In a lightly-built -_calèche_, drawn by horses with manes streaming in the breeze, are -seated women with complexions like lilies and roses, and presenting the -appearance of baskets of flowers. The constant variety of the scenes, -the animation of the pedestrians, the general bustle, increased by the -presence of numberless strangers, but tempered by the constitutional -gravity of the Germans themselves, constitute a most lovely and -stirring picture; it is a scene by Teniers, framed in a landscape by -Ruysdael. - -The life of the Viennese in the Prater is a pretty faithful image of -their own government, a despotic government, no doubt, but which, for -all that, has only one aim--the welfare and material prosperity of the -country. Differing from other states, and notably from France, whose -administration, constantly libelled and insulted, takes its revenge by -making the ‘governed’ its enemy, the public powers in Austria, subject -to no control, assiduously endeavour to be the protector and the guide -of the people. That protection is accepted with joy; and if despotism -is now and again constrained to show its teeth, its dictates are, as it -were, carried out in the family circle and with the lesser or greater -consent of the calm and thoughtful people itself. Consequently, the -alien, watching them under those magnificently umbrageous pleasure -resorts, and beholding the emperor, his family, and his ministers -mingling with the crowd, unprotected either by guards or escorts, is -tempted to envy them such a genuine and solid happiness. - -During the period of the Congress the Prater became more brilliant than -it had ever been before. Vienna was so full of strangers, coming from -all countries to be the eyewitnesses of an assembly supposed to be the -fitting termination to an epoch replete with prodigious events, that -the number of carriages had incredibly increased. There was an infinite -variety of dresses, Hungarian, Polish, and Oriental, an infinite number -of uniforms whose wearers hailed from every part of Europe, and who -dazzled the sight with their splendour. Masses of people, driving, -riding, and walking under the still warm rays of an autumn sun, -imparted to the beautiful spot even more than its ordinary animation. - -What struck me most, at the first sight, was the great number of -carriages of the same shape and colour, and all drawn by two or four -horses. It was simply the result of another exquisitely courteous -attention of the emperor, who made it a point that the sovereigns and -the members of their suites should be provided solely from the imperial -stables, and as such ordered three hundred conveyances of an identical -form to be built and to be held, day and night, at the disposal of his -guests. - -This living panorama enabled me to review, in the space of a few -minutes, all the sovereigns and celebrities contained within the walls -of Vienna. A prominent figure among these was Lord Stewart, the English -ambassador, himself driving a team of four horses which would have won -the approval of the _habitués_ of Hyde Park. Almost immediately behind -him, in an elegant chaise, came the Emperor Alexander, his charming -sister the Duchess of Oldenburg seated next to him; while on one side -of the conveyance Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, and on the other the -Crown Prince of Würtemberg, both on horseback, pay their court, though -for different motives, to the illustrious pair. Alexander had dispensed -with all his decorations, except one, that of ‘l’Épée’ of Sweden, -which, to speak the truth, shone with great elegance and brilliancy -on his dark green uniform. A little further on, in an open _calèche_, -I caught sight of Alexander’s second sister, the Grand-Duchess of -Saxe-Weimar, no less charming and graceful than her elder. Following -these comes Emperor Francis in an unpretending phaeton, accompanied -by his young and sweet consort, his third wife, Marie Louise of -Austria-Este, her comely features beaming with happiness. - -At that moment, the crowd of pedestrians instinctively stops with a -feeling of pride and respect to watch Prince Charles (of Bavaria) -himself driving his family in an unpretentious conveyance. - -Zibin, dressed in his brilliant uniform of hussars, is borne along -swiftly on a Ukrainian charger; his hat is surmounted by a plume -of feathers which might easily be mistaken for the tail of a -hirsute comet. The grand berline, with its panels decorated with -large--somewhat too large--scutcheons, contains Sir Sidney Smith, -conspicuous by the liberal display of his quarterings amidst this -very modest company. The King of Prussia gallops with a solitary -aide-de-camp, and close to him come the Prince of Hesse-Homburg and -Tettenborn, to both of whom I send a fraternal salute. - -Lord Castlereagh showed his long-drawn face, with _ennui_ stamped on -every line of it, from a _coupé_. It did not even light up when a -hackney-cab ran into the _calèche_ of the Pasha of Widin. After this -came the carriages of the archdukes, keeping religiously in line, and, -as far as their amusements went, claiming no privileges beyond those of -simple private individuals. ‘Only using their rights when discharging -the duties attached to them,’ as Mme. de Staël expressed it. - -At the turning of an avenue, I caught sight of Alexander Ypsilanti. -Five years had gone by since our parting at St. Petersburg, when he was -only an ensign in the regiment of the ‘Chevaliers Gardes,’ and now he -was a major-general, covered with well-earned orders, but minus an arm -lost at the battle of Bautzen. We strolled away from the crowd, the -better to enjoy the pleasure of our re-union. His good fortune had not -changed the qualities of his heart, ever open to noble feelings and -ever responsive to the words ‘friendship’ and ‘country.’ He was the son -of the Hospodar of Moldavia and Wallachia.[50] His father, overthrown -by one of those palace revolutions so frequent in Turkey, was obliged -to fly. Alexander, who was only sixteen, placed himself at the head of -a troop of Arnauts of eight hundred men, escorted his father across -the Carpathian mountains, and saved his life when escaping from the -eunuchs of the seraglio. He came to seek refuge in Russia. Educated -and brought up under the care and through the generosity of Emperor -Alexander, the young prince entered his service, and in a short time -opened a brilliant career for himself. His generous disposition, his -bold and enterprising mind, his open character strongly appealed to -me, and we became close friends. As a matter of course, we wished to -prolong the pleasure of this, practically our first meeting after many -years, so we went to dine at the tavern named the ‘Empress of Austria.’ -This was the usual resort of most of the strangers who were not on -the budget of the Court or who wished to avoid the etiquette almost -inseparable from its hospitality. This gathering, almost unnoticed -at first, became soon afterwards a kind of debating centre, and had, -if not a voice in the deliberations of the Congress, at any rate, a -certain importance. - -We took our seats at a table, already occupied by at least a score of -diners belonging to various nations. In spite of the difference of -interest and of position in a country distant from their own, strangers -were most eager to associate with each other: generals, diplomatists, -and simple travellers were mingled together at this impromptu banquet. -Some were ordnance officers of the sovereigns that had come to shear; -others, advocates of those who were being shorn. The first part of -the repast was, as usual, rather serious; people were taking stock of -each other, and the music of an excellent band made up for the lack of -conversation. They all seemed bent upon a diplomatic reserve. - -I was seated near young Luchesini, who had arrived a few days -previously, and who was sent to Vienna by the Grand-Duchess of Tuscany -to concert measures with M. Aldini on the subject of Mme. Bacciochi’s -claims on the grand-duchy and of the principality of Lucca.[51] I had -seen M. Luchesini when he was very young at his mother’s in Paris; -but for the moment I did not recognise him. The notable changes, both -in his fortunes and in his person, were sufficient to justify my -lapse of memory. His father, the Marquis de Luchesini, for many years -the Prussian ambassador at the Court of Napoleon, had enjoyed great -consideration in Paris,[52] a consideration well deserved in virtue of -his conspicuous diplomatic talent and his intellectual attainments as a -private individual. He had paid great attention to the education of his -son, who, endowed with all the advantages calculated to ensure success, -started in life under the most auspicious circumstances. Presented -by his family at the new Court of Tuscany, and attracting the notice -of the sovereign of the hour, he was appointed grand equerry. It was -said that love, which abridges social distances, had made the young -favourite the happiest of mortals. I soon discovered that his delicate -position somewhat tied his tongue in his conversation with me. He -informed me that his family was living on their beautiful estate near -Lucca, and after a few general observations, we exchanged addresses, -promising to meet again. - -To the hundred thousand strangers in Vienna, the Congress was rather -an immense pleasure-gathering than a political assembly. Truly, each -sovereign had his ambassadors and ministers, but each country had -also sent representatives of its best society. Upon the first-named -devolved the discussions of international interest and the settlement -of international problems; upon the second the more pleasant duty -of giving fêtes, entertainments, and holding receptions. Among the -plenipotentiaries of this drawing-room diplomacy stood foremost the -Comtesse Edmond de Périgord for France; for Prussia, the Princesse de -la Tour et Taxis (Thurn und Taxis); for England, Lady Castlereagh; for -Denmark, Comtesse de Bernstorff. - -The upper stratum of German society was divided into several factions -or circles, and each had its particular shade and physiognomy. At the -Princesses Marie Esterhazy’s, de Colloredo’s, de Lichtenstein’s, and -at the Comtesse de Zichy’s, great courtesy and grace were added to the -minutest and numberless details of an ever-watchful hospitality. At -Mme. de Fuchs’s, the whole was on a less ceremonious footing; while, -on the contrary, the acme of ceremoniousness was attained at the -Princesse de Fürstenberg’s. Distinguished both for her learning and -for her energy, the princess’s habitual guests were princes many of -whom had become subjects. The handsome Duchesse de Sagan’s receptions -were eagerly attended. She was a most intellectual woman, and could -have exercised great influence on all serious affairs, inasmuch as her -judgment was considered in the light of an authority, but she rarely -made use of her advantages. The diplomatic celebrities forgathered -at M. de Humboldt’s or at M. de Metternich’s, the latter of whom, -undoubtedly, ought to have been named first. In fact, though his -residence was the central point of affairs, he still found it possible -to welcome strangers with the most indefatigable politeness. - -The Russian drawing-room _par excellence_ was that of the Princesse -Bagration, the wife of the field-marshal of that name. She, as it -were, enacted, though informally, the part of principal hostess to -her countrymen who happened to be in Vienna. She was one of the most -brilliant stars in that number of constellations the Congress had -attracted. She seemed to have been singled out by the charm and the -distinction of her manners to transfer thither the polished form -and the aristocratic ease which at that time made the drawing-rooms -of St. Petersburg the foremost of Europe. In that respect no -minister-plenipotentiary would have used his opportunities to better -purpose. - -The Princesse Bagration, who since then has been much admired in Paris, -was at that period in the zenith of her beauty. A young face, white -like alabaster and slightly tinted with pink, small features, a sweet, -though very feeling expression, to which her short-sightedness gave an -air of timidity and uncertainty; of average height though exquisitely -proportioned, and the whole of her personality pervaded by a kind of -Oriental languor joined to an Andalusian grace--such was, without -exaggeration, the charming hostess entrusted that evening with the -amusement of those illustrious personages often as much bored as the -‘unamusable’ lover of Mme. de Maintenon. - -When Prince Koslowski and I entered the drawing-rooms, the Emperor -Alexander, the Kings of Prussia and of Bavaria, several other princes -and sovereigns, and a considerable number of strangers of distinction -had already arrived. The whole of the Russian aristocracy and the -Russian celebrities at that moment forgathered in Vienna seemed to have -appointed to meet there. MM. de Nesselrode, Pozzo di Borgo, the Comte -Razumowski, Russian ambassador to the Austrian Court, and the Prince -Volkonski were simply a trifle more conspicuous than the rest; but -among this crowd of familiar faces I might well have fancied myself -transferred to one of the hospitable palaces of St. Petersburg four -years previously. - -Among this crowd of notabilities, special mention should be made, in -virtue of their high position and their intellectual charm, of the -various members of the Narischkine family. - -The Narischkines are closely related to the Imperial House of Russia. -The mother of Peter the Great was a Narischkine; hence they consider -themselves of an origin too noble to have any need of titles. In fact, -that of ‘prince’ is so common in Russia as scarcely to constitute -a distinction. The elder of the two brothers enjoyed the reputation -of being the wittiest man at the Court of Emperor Alexander. His -conversation was as varied as it was amusing, and a collection of his -witticisms and epigrams would make a bulky volume, though they were -neither as subtle nor as brilliant as those of the Prince de Ligne, -not to mention those of Talleyrand; but when by chance, during the -Congress, these three men were together, then, unquestionably, there -was a real display of intellectual fireworks. - -His daughter, the Princesse Hélène, had, in addition to great physical -beauty, a naturally brilliant intellect and a noble, sympathetic heart. -She married the son of the famous General Souvaroff, but her husband -was drowned during a journey in Wallachia. In spite of the warning of -his post-boy, he insisted upon crossing the little river Rimnik when -it was swollen by the rains and had become a downright torrent. He was -carried away by the current, without the slightest possibility of any -one coming to his aid. At the time of Paul I.‘s death, the princess’s -father occupied an apartment exactly under that of the emperor; she -herself was a mere babe. Awakened by the noise and tumult that followed -the assassination of Catherine the Great’s son, her nurse took her -into her arms, and in her fear hid her in an isolated and disused -sentry-box, where she was only found next morning. - -The grand-chamberlain had been a favourite with Paul and managed to -preserve the favour of his son Alexander. The footing on which he -lived baffles description: he literally kept open house, the stir and -bustle of which never ceased; one could have called it a caravanserai -of princes. The plants, the flowers, the constant song of birds, -conveyed the impression, even in mid-winter, of a spring day in Italy. -He was as generous as he was lavish, and his prodigality often reduced -him to sore straits. The following is one instance among many. -Emperor Alexander had given him the star of the Order of St. Andrew, -magnificently set in diamonds. Being pressed for money, he had raised a -considerable sum upon it; and when the empress’s fête-day came round, -he felt in a terrible predicament, for he was unable to redeem his -pledge and he could not appear without it in full dress at the palace. -The only ‘plaque’ like it was that of the emperor himself. At an utter -loss to get out of the difficulty, he got hold of the emperor’s valet, -and by dint of promises, cajoling and the like, prevailed upon the -servant to lend him his master’s decoration. The man got frightened, -however, at the possible consequences of what he had done and informed -the sovereign. - -Alexander did not breathe a single word, but as a punishment did -not take his eyes off the ‘plaque’ during the whole of the evening, -examining it minutely through his glasses whenever his chamberlain drew -near. - -M. Narischkine accompanied Empress Elisabeth on her journey from St. -Petersburg to Vienna. When Alexander entrusted him with the mission, -fifty thousand roubles in paper were handed to his chamberlain, -together with directions for the route to be followed. A few days -later, the emperor took Narischkine aside. ‘You had the parcel I sent -you, cousin mine?’ asked the emperor. - -‘Yes, sire, I received and read the first volume of the Itinerary.’ - -‘Already? And you are waiting for the second?’ - -‘A second edition, sire, rather than a second volume.’ - -‘I see what you mean. A second edition, revised and augmented.’ - -The second edition was handed to him a couple of hours afterwards. - -His brother, the ‘grand veneur’ (say, ‘Master of the Buck Hounds’), -was the husband of that magnificent Marie Antonia, _née_ Princesse -Czerwertinska, one of the loveliest women in Europe, who for such a -long period held captive the heart of the handsome autocrat. Though -not endowed with as much wit as his elder, the younger Narischkine was -by no means devoid of it. He proved it by the philosophic manner with -which he bore his conjugal misfortunes. Often, in his replies to the -emperor, he put them in a naïve and diverting light. It was not the -grovelling acquiescence of a man who glories in his dishonour, but the -resignation to an evil which he could neither prevent nor mend. - -One day Alexander was asking him for news of his children. ‘Of mine, -sire, or of those of the Crown?’ was the counter-query. - -On another occasion, there was a similar inquiry about his family and -about his two daughters. The emperor, meeting him, made some kindly -reference to them. ‘But, sire, the second is yours,’ replied the ‘grand -veneur.’ Alexander’s sole retort was a smile. - -Of course, the satire of the elder, which spared nobody, was not -particularly lenient with regard to the younger. The latter took -great pains with his hair, which was always dressed and curled with -the utmost care. Some one having made a remark to that effect in the -hearing of the grand-chamberlain, got his answer pat. ‘It is not -surprising; my brother’s head is arranged by the hands of a master.’[53] - -During this long liaison, and notwithstanding the sway handsome Mme. -Narischkine exercised over her illustrious lover, the latter was -ever careful to save appearances. Amidst those quickly succeeding -entertainments and receptions at the period of the Congress, during -that daily and hourly existence of often relaxed etiquette. Empress -Elisabeth would have been necessarily and frequently brought face to -face with her rival, and would naturally have felt the slight. Mme. -Narischkine did not appear at the Congress. - -Close by the Emperor of Russia sat the Princesse de la Tour et Taxis, -_née_ Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and sister-in-law to the King of Prussia. -That sovereign had practically transferred to her all the affection he -bore to his lost wife: the princess had a remarkable influence over -him, and she never requested a favour in vain. Gifted with a superior -intellect, and a beauty that had become proverbial, though it did not -equal that of her dead sister, the princess, by her charming manners, -even more than her stately bearing, compelled instantaneous admiration -and genuine respect. Among the many distinguished personages assembled -in Vienna, she shone with unusual brilliancy in virtue of her combining -every good quality. - -I was placed close to Prince Koslowski and the Baron Ompteda, and felt -confident that among so numerous a company ample material would be -afforded to them for their faculties of clever observation. - -‘Just cast your eye behind the chair of Emperor Alexander,’ -remarked the Baron to me; ‘and look at his brother, the Grand-duke -Constantine. He is the third personage of the empire, and probably -the heir-presumptive to the throne. Nevertheless, observe his servile -attitude, and the affectation with which, as it were, he proclaims -himself the Czar’s first subject. One would think him permeated -with the sentiment of submission as others are with the feeling of -liberty. Personally, I fail to understand this voluptuous enjoyment -of obedience. And now,’ he went on, ‘glance at that other personage -close to him; that is the young Prince de Reuss, the twenty-ninth of -the name. In his case, it’s a horse of a different colour. He has -tumbled or drifted into the dreamland of I do not know what kind of -German sect or school, and has become imbued with a sort of affected -sentimentalism calculated to spoil the most sterling and happiest gifts -of nature. This vague sentimentality, which he professes in and out of -season, inspires him with the strangest ideas. A few days ago, he wrote -to a lady, seated not far away from us: “Hope constantly renewed and -equally constantly destroyed only keeps one alive to languish suspended -like Mahomet’s coffin between heaven and earth. It is for you to decide -... it is a question of your love or my death.” He has not had the -one given to him, and he has taken good care not to inflict the other -upon himself. And thus, from sheer lightness of heart, people adopt -ridiculous fads, far often less pardoned by the world at large than -real faults. His uncle, Henri XV. or Henri XVI., the actual civil and -military governor of Vienna, is somewhat more positive. Frederick the -Great one day asked him if the princes of his house were numbered like -hackney-carriages. “No, sire, not like hackney-carriages, but like -kings,” was the answer. Frederick must have been somewhat embarrassed -at the reply; nevertheless it pleased him, as everything witty and -spontaneous did, and from that moment Prince Henri always enjoyed his -favour and goodwill.’ - -Shortly afterwards Prince Koslowski drew my attention to a lady placed -near Empress Elisabeth. It was the Comtesse Tolstoy, _née_ Princesse -Baratynski, the wife of the grand-marshal. Her mother belonged to the -Holstein family, and was a cousin once removed of Catherine II. - -‘You are probably aware,’ he said, ‘that the marshal is in disgrace?’ - -‘Yes, prince,’ I answered; ‘but I do not know the cause.’ - -‘The cause is this. Tolstoy, emboldened by the emperor’s indulgent -manner towards him, thought fit now and again to adopt a tone of -remonstrance which few sovereigns would have tolerated. He opposed -him in almost everything. Alexander often laughed at his fretful -remarks; at rare intervals he got angry, and retaliated in his own way. -When both happened to be travelling in an open sledge and Tolstoy’s -cavilling put the czar out of patience, he simply gave him a push which -sent him sprawling in the snow, and left him to run for a few minutes -after the light conveyance. When he considered that the punishment had -lasted long enough, he pulled up his horses, and the marshal, grumbling -all the while, resumed his seat by the side of his master, and the -matter was at an end. Convinced that things would go on for ever in -that way, Tolstoy raised an opposition to Alexander’s appearance at -the Congress. According to him, the emperor’s rôle there would not be -consistent with his dignity. Weary at last, the emperor this time took -the matter seriously and parted with his grand-marshal, who, it is -said, will not be comforted in his disgrace. The moral of all this is: -“Put not your trust in the friendship of princes.”’ - -In fact, a little while afterwards, the Comte Tolstoy, unable to -survive the loss of his sovereign’s favour, died at Dresden, whither he -had retired. - -All at once a great silence fell upon the room. A young French -actress, Mme. L----, a pupil of Talma, and a protégée of the Princesse -Bagration, was going to recite. She had only recently arrived from -Paris. Though French tragic poetry stands essentially in need of the -illusion of the stage and the advantage of costume, that kind of -entertainment was not indulged in so lavishly as it is to-day; hence, -the handsome actress commanded great attention. She recited with much -feeling some strophes from _Zaïre_, and did great credit to her tutor -in the beautiful scene of the ‘_Songe d’Athalie_.’ She was cordially -applauded and complimented, and never had a _débutante_ such an -audience to judge her. - -After this, the guests crowded round a table set out with rich -and elegant objects. There was to be a lottery, a kind of elegant -diversion revived from the Court of Louis XIV., whose love for Mlle. -de la Vallière had first suggested it to him. Then, as now, it was -a favourite recreation with women. Each sovereign contributed to -these lotteries one or more presents, which, falling to the lot of -the lucky ones, afforded these an opportunity of presenting them to -the ladies of their thought. That kind of amusement was frequently -repeated during the Congress. The most remarkable lotteries were those -drawn at the Princesse Marie Esterhazy’s and at Mme. Bruce’s, _née_ -Moushkin-Poushkine. The mania for them spread from the drawing-rooms -to less distinguished places, and subsequently became the cause of an -adventure which aroused much excitement. - -Some of the prizes were magnificent, the Grand-duke Constantine won two -magnificent vases contributed by the King of Prussia from the royal -porcelain works at Berlin. He offered them to our charming hostess. -The King of Bavaria won a handsome box in mosaic, which he begged -Princesse Marie Esterhazy to accept; and the Comte Capo d’Istria -drew a casket beautifully worked in steel, which he presented to the -Princesse Volkonski. Two small bronze candlesticks fell to the share -of Emperor Alexander. He gave them to Mlle. L----, to whom, it was -said, he had become very attentive. ‘His majesty’s love affairs are not -likely to entail any considerable draft on the imperial treasury,’ some -one whispered close to me. ‘He had just made Mlle. L---- a present, -by means of the candlesticks, of a few louis. This must be accounted -as a piece of tremendous generosity, for as a rule he receives more -than he gives. All the linen he wears is from the deft needle of Mme. -Narischkine; he not only accepts the workmanship, but he always forgets -to refund to her the cost of the material. The charming favourite makes -no secret of it. Louis XIV. frequently crops up in conversation in -connection with his fêtes at Versailles. Our sovereigns would do well -to imitate them. However artistically chased those candlesticks may -be, Mlle. L---- will not be prepared to think them as valuable as the -diamond bracelets the Grand Monarque won at Madame’s lottery and which -he offered in such an exquisite manner to La Vallière.’[54] - -‘All this,’ said Prince Koslowski to me, ‘is certainly in excellent -taste, but these fêtes are absolutely nothing in comparison with those -given by Potemkin to Catherine in the Taurida and after the taking of -Oczakoff. Our mothers are never tired of talking of them. There was -also a kind of lottery, but skill instead of chance presided at it. In -the ball-room there was a long row of marble columns, positively hung -with garlands composed of jewels and trinkets. The dances were arranged -so that every gentleman passing near these columns could detach from -them some precious ornament which he offered to his partner. As you -may imagine, that courtly fashion of offering presents was intensely -relished by the fair sex, and Catherine herself discharged their debt -of gratitude by heaping still greater riches on her favourite. That’s -what I should call amusements fit for sovereigns. After all, we are -becoming very mean.’ - -A great many prizes of minor importance were subsequently drawn for, -and there was a kind of mild ‘give and take’ in connection with them. -The room was so crowded that I only caught sight of Ypsilanti when he -came forward to receive a sable cape which he offered to the Princesse -Souvaroff. Taking advantage of a momentary thinning of the crowd, I -drew up to them to say a few words to Princesse Hélène, whom I was -sincerely pleased to meet again. ‘I dare say we have a lot to tell each -other,’ she said. ‘Come with Ypsilanti to luncheon to-morrow. We’ll be -more at our ease than here, and by ourselves. We’ll have a talk about -bygone days.’ I accepted gladly, confident that her conversation would -remind me of my stay in Russia, which constituted one of the best -periods of my life. - -When the sovereigns had retired, there were some music and dancing, -followed by an elegant supper, without restraint and during which one -could gossip to one’s heart’s content. It was, in short, one of those -series of fleeting hours which at Vienna seemed to be woven of gold and -silk by fairies in the loom of pleasure. - - - - -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. - - -‘These sovereigns on their holidays,’ as the Prince de Ligne called -them, had to be constantly amused, or at any rate prevented at all cost -from being bored. The committee appointed by the emperor, and composed -of the most eminent personages of the Austrian Court, cudgelled their -brains to devise a new diversion for each day. They were, above all, -very busy with the preparations for the great imperial tournament -which, it was intended, should constitute a never-to-be-forgotten -feature of the brilliant functions of the Congress. The cut, the -shape, and the colour of the dresses were matters of incessant study; -the horses were drilled every day; the champions spent many hours -rehearsing the various movements and passes which were to remind all of -us of the ancient days of chivalry; the ladies tried on the magnificent -gowns and ornaments, the historical accuracy of which was to carry the -suffrages of everybody by pleasing the eye. But pending the termination -of those busy preparations, a big hunt had been organised in the woods -and park of the imperial residence, Laxemburg, and numerous invitations -issued. - -Laxemburg is about six miles from Schönbrunn. The park is laid out -on English models. There are densely-wooded plantations at irregular -intervals, further on vast lawns leading to thick and sombre forests; -swelling tracts of ground ingeniously arranged, and masses of rocks; -everywhere the most varied and unexpected vistas. In one word, art has -combined in a restricted space the different beauties of nature. The -most conspicuous feature, though, is a magnificent piece of water, one -might call it a lake, the aspect of which reminds one of the landscapes -of Switzerland. On its limpid surface there lay at that period a -miniature frigate with its cannon, masts and rigging, and other small -craft, the brilliant bunting of which imparted life and colour to the -rippling, dancing wavelets. - -Schönbrunn had been the object of Maria-Theresa’s predilection, -consequently Laxemburg had suffered as a residence at the cost of its -neighbour. Emperor Francis made up for the undeserved neglect. On a -slope some short distance from the lake, he erected the ‘Ritterburg,’ -which has become one of the principal sights of Austria. It is an -exact imitation of one of the sombre castles or forbidding manors of -mediæval feudalism. The massive walls, flanked by crenellated towers, -are surrounded by a deep moat filled with water. The inner court, with -its pavilions, its barriers, the whole arranged for single combats and -tournaments, forms the lists. The halls are in keeping with the court; -they are filled with stands of arms, coats of mail, breastplates, -lances, etc. From its Gothic pillars hang panoplies; from its ogival -arches are suspended banners, their staffs adjusted amidst turbans, -richly embroidered, Oriental vestments, the spoil wrested from the -infidels; in short, the relics of the victories that saved Christianity. - -In another hall are preserved weapons, dresses, and other venerable -remains of the heroes whose prowess founded the German Empire, of -Rudolph of Hapsburg, of Maximilian I., and of Charles V. - -Still further on, there is a hall hung with the cloaks of the first -Knights of the Golden Fleece. In a hall leading out of that one stand -the white marble effigies of the emperors sprung from the House of -Austria. These are succeeded by a series of vast reception rooms, -several of which are most admirable in virtue of their decoration. -There is no longer an attempt at imitating the Gothic style; they are -filled with the marvels of art of the period itself--that is, the -masterpieces spared by the hand of time, most exquisite specimens -of sculpture, delicately-worked panels, whole ceilings. All these -precious relics were collected from the convents suppressed at the -period of the building of the ‘Ritterburg.’ Everything calculated to -heighten the illusion was conveyed to the ‘Ritterburg.’ In one spot -there is a narrow winding stair, leading to a dungeon, or rather a -torture-chamber, with its massive doors, its irons and chains, and even -its instruments of torture. Crouching against the further wall, there -is the figure of an ill-fated prisoner, dressed as a Knight Templar and -bending beneath the weight of his fetters. By some ingenious mechanism, -he slowly and painfully drags himself with an effort from his sitting -posture to hold out his arms to the spectator. The gruesome imitation -is so perfect as to produce a shudder in the beholder. - -The topmost story of that tower is a spacious room called the Hall of -Judgment. Narrow ogival windows admit only a sparse light. Twelve stone -seats are ranged in a circle along the walls. In the centre there is -a round table with a circular hole in it, big enough to admit a human -head and no more. On the day of his trial the accused man was bound to -a chair; by means of a contrivance consisting of ropes and pulleys, he -was quickly raised to the summit of the tower, and suddenly his head -emerged from the hole in the board. Before the interrogatory, he was -asked the whole truth; he replied, knowing that at the slightest sign -from his judges the rope attached to his chair could be cut and he -himself be flung from a height of two hundred feet on to the stones of -his dungeon. Nothing could give a more striking idea of the terrible -‘proceedings’ of feudal justice in the Middle Ages than this mechanism. - -The committee entrusted with the programme of the fêtes had, it was -said, entertained the idea of giving a representation of a judiciary -ascension as described; the scene had even been cast. The Empress of -Austria was, however, of opinion that such a picture of anguish and -torture would only mar the brightness of the fête she was preparing for -her guests. - -The chapel of the ‘Ritterburg’ is not the least of its curiosities. It -is the same which was constructed by St. Leopold in the twelfth century -at Kloster-Neuburg. The materials were transferred piecemeal to its -present site, and the monument is in perfect keeping with all those -relics of past days. - -Among the many works of art in the Castle of Laxemburg itself, there -are several paintings by Canaletto; amongst others views of Schönbrunn, -of the Graben, and the Church of the Capuchins. - -Maria-Theresa came now and again to Laxemburg to exchange the cares of -state for the relaxations of hawking. The ‘Ritterburg’ had not been -built then. - -When, amidst the difficulties of finding new recreations, the fêtes -committee conceived the project of bringing the guests of the Congress -to Laxemburg and entertaining them there, the idea of ‘flying’ the -hawk naturally presented itself. In the vicinity of that Gothic castle -nothing could be more in harmony with the style of its construction -than an amusement borrowed from the traditions and manners of the -feudal ages. - -The place of meeting was on the banks of the lake, not far from a -marshy spot tenanted by numerous flocks of water-birds. Foremost among -the company was the lovely Empress of Austria, famed for her love of -sport and her marvellous skill, the graceful Elizabeth, Empress of -Russia, Queen Caroline of Bavaria, her sister, and a number of ladies, -several of whom wore the elegant costume of the sixteenth century. -At the head of the sovereigns on horseback was Emperor Francis, -unflaggingly hospitable. Amidst them, in a low-wheeled _calèche_, is -the enormous King of Würtemberg, famed for his former hunts and hunting -exploits, and anxious to witness tranquil amusement, altogether unlike -the fatigues and perils he was wont to court. - -The huntsmen in their handsome uniforms, holding their dogs in leash, -come first; then come the falconers with their hooded birds on their -wrists, and behind these the eager mass of spectators. - -At a spot where the reeds and rushes impede the view of the lake, there -is a halt, and the dogs’ leashes are slipped to start the birds. The -air rings with barking, and all eyes are strained upward in expectation -of the struggle, somewhat novel to the majority. All of a sudden, a -grey-plumaged heron takes its flight, at first slowly, heavily, and -with listless movement; then spreading its wings it rises rapidly. At -the sight of the bird, promising not an easy victory but a protracted -struggle, the falconers get ready, encouraging _their_ birds with their -cries, awaiting a signal from the empress to give the first pursuer -flight. - -The signal is given, and in the twinkling of an eye the hood is removed -from one of the hawks and it is set free. The falconer points to the -fleeing heron, the impatient hawk shakes its pinions, utters a cry, and -quick as lightning soars aloft. The affrighted heron tries in vain to -rise higher than his pursuer, but the latter directs its flight in such -a manner as to be constantly hovering above its quarry. Each attempt of -the heron meets with a counter-move on the part of the hawk, compelling -its victim to descend. If the heron shows signs of returning to the -starting-point where the hunters are, the hawk, swift as a flash, bars -its progress in that direction and forces it to take the opposite one; -it keeps worrying the other bird, tiring it and practically dazzling it -by the repeated beating of its pinions, until it finally brings it back -to the point within an easy view of the spectators of the struggle. -The heron at length determines upon resistance. Steadily pursuing its -course, and apparently motionless, it presents its long bill, sharp -like a sword, to its foe. The hawk, on its part, decides upon attack. -Rapidly wheeling round and round the heron, it lowers its flight, then -re-ascends and all at once grips the flanks of its victim. Then begins -a veritable struggle at close quarters, with all its fury and all its -rapidly changing incidents. - -The heron has the first advantage; it aims a terrible stroke at its -adversary, piercing it between the neck and one of its pinions as -if with a dagger. The hawk, nevertheless, clings to the heron and -rends the latter’s flesh with its beak. The heron quickly follows up -its strokes; compelled to fight and at the same time to carry the -weight of its foe, it multiplies its attack without getting rid of -its assailant, and the blood of both stains their plumage crimson. In -spite of this, the hawk looks like getting the worse of it. There is a -longer interval between its attacks, which are neither as fierce nor -as sure as heretofore, and the victory bids fair to remain with the -heron, when the falconer despatches a second hawk from among those -which, though hooded up to now, seem aware of the struggle going on, -to judge by the flapping of their wings and the sudden stiffening of -their feathers. The freshly-despatched combatant is a hen-bird, easily -recognised by its beautiful brown plumage, for it is noteworthy that -among this species the females are bigger, stronger, and bolder than -the males. No sooner is the hood removed than the female rises into the -air and, disdaining all preliminary evolutions, fastens its beak into -the neck of the heron. The air is rent by the cries of the hunters, -the barking of the dogs, and the braying of the horns. The heron’s -resistance is, from that moment, useless. The new assailant virtually -smothers it, and, moreover, digs its claws into the heron’s back, while -the male, its strength revived by the timely aid of the female, renews -its attacks. It becomes merely a question of seconds with the ill-fated -heron. After a few spasmodic movements, rendered uncertain by the loss -of blood, it finally closes its eyes and drops to the earth. The two -hawks utter screeches of victory, tear their victim’s eyes out, and -without letting go of it for a moment, drag it to the falconer’s feet. - -According to the ancient usages of the chase, a huntsman stepped -forward at that moment, and, plucking from the heron’s neck its fine -and elegant plumage, constituting as it were a natural aigrette, he -handed it to Emperor Alexander, who, in his turn, immediately offered -it to the lovely Empress of Austria. The horns sounded ‘the death,’ -while the birds devoured their quarry, and the illustrious guests -crowded round the falconers to compliment them. - -This, after all, was only the prelude to a more important sporting item -of the programme. Every care had been taken to ensure its success. The -signal for a new start was given, and we moved towards another part of -the park, where on an immense lawn surrounded by trees a vast arena -had been arranged for the guns. At one side there was a circular stand -for the guests of the Court. The sovereigns and the high personages in -whose honour the entertainment was given took up their positions, each -one provided with four pages charged with loading the guns, in order to -spare the principals the slightest fatigue. - -The general beating-up had taken place on the previous night. At the -word of command from the empress the circle of beaters drew in, and -at the same moment from all the outlets of the wood, there emerged a -numberless quantity of wild-boars, deer, hares, and game of all kind, -which in a few moments were killed by the privileged marksmen, amidst -the general applause of the lookers-on. - -My friends and I had taken up our positions a little distance away -from the Empress of Austria, who was using only a musket, loaded with -ball, and who aimed exclusively at hares or small game, which she never -missed. - -This file-firing, or rather this kind of slaughter, only ceased when -the number of animals killed amounted to several thousands. Once -more the forest rang with the barking of the dogs, the cries of the -spectators, mingled with the sound of hunting-horns. The ground -literally disappeared under the heaped-up game, its blood still -trickling. Truly, after the noble struggle we had just witnessed, it -became difficult not to admit that the amusements of our fathers were -superior to ours. - -Ypsilanti seemed surprised at the remarkable skill of the Empress -of Austria, and at the steadiness of her aim. Without for a moment -wishing to detract from either, I told him what I had seen in the -arsenal at Stockholm, namely, a long carabine which was loaded with a -single pellet of the smallest shot, and with which, it is said, Queen -Christina amused herself by bringing down the flies on the walls of her -rooms without ever missing one. - -Soon after the termination of the sport, night set in rapidly. -Suddenly, as if at the touch of a magic wand, the lawn and the avenues -of the park were lighted up by enormous ‘pitch-pots,’ known in Turkey -as _machala_, the blaze of which carries very far. At the same -moment, the inside of the ‘Ritterburg’ was illuminated from roof to -basement for the reception of the illustrious guests who were going -to assemble there. When Emperor Francis constructed the castle as an -exact illustration of the ideas prevailing during the feudal era, he -certainly did not foresee the forgathering under its roof in one day -of such a number of illustrious personages, from emperors to knights. -Though only those provided with invitations had been admitted to -Laxemburg, their number was so great as to make perambulation in the -various halls and reception rooms exceedingly difficult. The animated -crowd, and the profusion of light constituted the strangest and most -striking contrast to the sombre arches, the panoplies, the dresses and -the ornaments of mediæval times. - -The lovely imperial hostess did the honours of the feudal manor with -her usual grace. A magnificent collation was served, to which succeeded -a concert of a peculiar kind. In a corner of the principal hall -there was an enormous organ; its construction, sound, and ornaments -faithfully recalling the machines with brass pipes and bellows with -which the piety of our forefathers provided the cathedrals of the -Middle Ages. The deep tones of the organ were accompanied by a band -of wind instruments, played by musicians expressly brought from -Bohemia, where instrumental music appears to have reached perfection. -To complete the illusion, they had selected some of the old national -melodies, the traditions of which have been preserved for centuries. -In the intervals, huntsmen, placed on a tower overlooking the castle, -played hunting tunes that sounded like an echo coming from the skies. - -On several occasions during previous concerts, I had noticed a young -man whose eyes were covered with a black bandage, and who was guided -through the crowd by a young lady with an elegant figure, but whose -face was hidden by a thick veil. This time they were close to the -organ, and they evidently enjoyed the music greatly. I asked the Comte -François de Palfi who were these young people, imparting an air of -sadness to a fête rather than partaking of its joys. - -‘That young man,’ he answered, ‘is the Comte Hadick, the young woman is -his wife, and their story is most interesting. - -‘Bound by a very close friendship, additionally cemented by long and -important services to each other, the Comtes Hadick and Amady made up -their minds to tighten these bonds still further by uniting in marriage -their children, who were about the same age. Théodore Hadick, the -only offspring of the illustrious family, was in consequence brought -up with young Constance, who from her infancy bade fair to be as kind -in disposition as she was beautiful in face and figure. At fifteen -the feelings of these two young people were already what they would -continue to be all their lives. The castles of the two magnates were -practically adjacent to each other. Constance, by being present at -the lessons of her young friend, easily learned all those exercises -calculated to impart both bodily and mental gracefulness without being -hurtful to beauty. What united them still more was their passionate -fondness for music, which passion appears innate with the Hungarians. -They were held up everywhere as models of perfection and virtue, and -their fathers were already discussing the time of their wedding, when -the war broke out. - -‘As you are aware, the laws of Hungary compel every noble personally -to fight for his country; and in the periods of great danger, when -the whole of the nation rushes to arms, the magnates march with their -banners at the head of their vassals. The Comte Hadick, jealous for -the honour of his house, was very anxious for his son to share the -forthcoming campaign. Constance, hiding her grief, and solely occupied -with the future and the glory of her betrothed, watched with great -courage the preparations for a parting which the chances of war might -prolong and render eternal. - -‘Theodore, impatient to devote himself to his country, hurried the -moment that was to afford him the chance of showing himself still -more worthy of the girl whom he loved, and the day of his departure -was finally fixed upon. The previous evening, though, the betrothal -took place at the castle, and it was with the certainty of Constance’s -hand that the young count at the head of his vassals went to join the -Hungarian army at Pesth. You know the result of the campaign. The -Hungarians kept up their reputation for brilliant valour. Théodore, in -virtue of several signal actions, deserved the cross conferred upon him -by the chapter of the Order of Maria-Theresa, a distinction considered -one of the foremost in the annals of chivalry. - -‘But while the young man supped full with glory, Constance had been -carried to the brink of the grave by a cruel illness. Stricken down -by an attack of most virulent smallpox, she hovered for a long time -between life and death. The doctors, while saving her, could not -prevent the face which had been one of the most beautiful from becoming -almost hideous. She was only allowed to look at herself when she was on -the high road to recovery. - -‘The sight, as you may imagine, filled her with despair, and, convinced -that Théodore could no longer love her under such conditions, she -ardently prayed for death. - -‘In vain her father and the Comte Hadick tried to reassure her. Haunted -by the horrible dread of being no longer worthy of her betrothed, -she refused to be comforted, and the young girl was simply dying of -despair, there being not the faintest hope left. - -‘Nevertheless, one morning, when she was nestling in the arms of -her father, who bade her live at least for him, the servant who had -accompanied Théodore to the war suddenly rushed into the apartment, -announcing the immediate coming of his master, whose voice, a moment -afterwards, was heard outside. - -‘“Constance, Constance, where art thou?” - -‘At that voice so dear to her, the young girl, lacking the courage to -fly, covered her face with her handkerchief and her hands. - -‘“Do not come near me, Théodore, I have lost my beauty. I have no -longer anything to offer thee but my heart.” - -‘“What do I hear? But look at me, Constance!” - -‘“No, no, thou wouldst only recoil at seeing me.” - -‘“What does it matter, if thy love is the same, Constance. Constance, I -can no longer see thee.” - -‘She raises her eyes and looks. Théodore was blind. The charge of a -musket had deprived him of his sight. - -‘“God be praised!” exclaimed Constance, falling on her knees. -“Théodore, we shall be united, for thou canst still love me. I shall be -thy guide; yes, I shall be to thee as I was in the first moments of our -love, and thou shalt be able to love me still.” - -‘Shortly after that they were married. Never was there a couple so -deserving of happiness more really happy than they. The comtesse takes -her husband everywhere, never leaving his side for a moment. He is -the object of her most delicate attentions; her love for him seems -increased by his terrible affliction. She does not wear that veil to -hide her scarred features, but because she is afraid that the remarks -of the crowd on her vanished beauty may sadden the heart of the husband -whom she worships. - -‘The young comte’s passion for music appears to have increased since he -lost his sight. He regularly attends every concert; and his faithful -companion, who appears only to live for him, is always at his side.’ - -The concert came to an end just as the comte finished his touching -story. Then the windows were opened and magnificent fireworks let -off on the lake. The sheaves of fire crossing each other and being -reflected in the water; the numerous craft, illuminated and streaming -with bunting; the masses of light standing in relief against the sombre -background of the forest; the sound of the horns mingling with the -shells and fusees--all this combined produced a truly magical effect. - -Finally, after this well-spent day we began to think of getting back -to Vienna, probably to recommence next morning the pursuit of the -apparently inexhaustible round of pleasure. - -The next day, however, I had promised to spend with the Prince de Ligne -at his house on the Kalemberg. When I got there, I found the prince in -company with M. Nowosilitzoff, a Russian statesman of great ability -and a trusty adviser of Emperor Alexander, who, it was said at the -time, was deeply interested in the future of Poland. The constitution -of that country, its organisation and its institutions, which were -to reinstate her in her former rank among the European nations--in -short, her destiny--was one of the gravest questions submitted to -the deliberations of the Congress. A most confidential councillor of -the czar and a member of the provisional government of Warsaw, M. -Nowosilitzoff was at that period engaged in drawing up the constitution -intended by the czar for his new kingdom. - -The Prince de Ligne professed an ardent sympathy for Poland. He admired -her chivalrous and hospitable customs, and above all that frankness -which forms the chief trait of the Polish character. Added to this -admiration was his gratitude to a nation which had formerly admitted -him among the ranks of its nobility. Consequently, he sat listening -attentively to the projects of Alexander, projects which just then -inspired a certain belief. As for me, the subject appealed to me like -everything connected with the country in which I spent some of the best -years of my youth. - -‘After so many unprecedented efforts, after so many disappointed hopes -and useless sacrifices, Poland bids fair to breathe at last,’ said -M. Nowosilitzoff. ‘Deceived for many years by the man who had the -misfortune to consider his will as a ruling principle, his power as -a proof of his statesmanship, and his success as a reason for it, the -Poles were not altogether unjustified in believing in promises tending -to reinstate them as a nation.’ - -‘There is no nation on the face of the earth who would not have made -the same sacrifices for so noble an illusion,’ remarked the prince. - -‘No doubt, but constantly letting their thoughts run back, as they do, -to the brilliant periods of their history, they would fain see their -country assume the proud and independent attitude it adopted under the -Bathoris, the Sigismunds, and the Sobieskis; and in this beautiful -dream of the past, and, moreover, deceived by the actual state of -politics in Europe, they will not stop their ambition at the point -imposed by their geographical position. They will only find a country -in the strictest sense through us and with us,’ the councillor went -on. ‘Poland, completely independent and organised on the very risky -basis of its erewhile constitutions, would only secure an ephemeral -existence; she would carry her own germ of destruction. Is she to form -a permanent camp in the centre of pacified Europe, or shall she arm all -her nomadic sons like the Sarmatians of old, in order to make up by -living ramparts for the natural frontiers and fortresses she lacks? She -must have a support in order to insure her independence. Truth, I know, -can only triumph slowly over the power of prejudice; but what is there -to oppose the fact which henceforth is only too palpable? The hope -of a better future, a hope which can only be indulged by unthinking -creatures whom the disasters of their country have failed to restore to -reason and coolness of mind.’ - -‘Burke has said somewhere,’ replied the prince, ‘that the division of -Poland would cost its authors very dear; he might have said the same of -the defenders of the nation, for it is probable that the active share -of Napoleon in the affairs of Poland has contributed in no small degree -to his downfall. May the projects of Alexander remain exempt from a -similar fatality! Everything will depend upon the guarantees given -for the maintenance of the Polish nationality! A people may resign -itself to having been vanquished; it will never resign itself to being -humiliated.’ - -‘The solicitude of the emperor for his new subjects admits of no -discussion,’ observed M. Nowosilitzoff. ‘To be convinced of this, -you have only to glance at this manuscript. It is the draught of the -Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, and it is corrected by the -hands of Alexander himself. If it be true that great thoughts proceed -direct from the heart, there is ample evidence here of the nobleness of -Alexander’s. The laws and the constitution of the kingdom will be the -keystone of the peace of Europe.’ - -In fact, the few pages he read to us from the manuscript redounded as -much to the honour of the statesman as to that of the philanthropist. -Poland would indeed have been a happy country, if an erroneous policy -had not struck all those dreams of a moment with utter barrenness.[55] - -The commentary of M. Nowosilitzoff, which followed upon the reading -of the document, was interrupted by the arrival of the Comte Arthur -Potocki, the youthful friend of the Prince de Ligne. Though a Pole, -and animated by the most generous feelings towards his country, his -presence vexed the privy councillor to such an extent as to cause him -instantly to roll up his manuscript without adding another word, and to -leave us shortly afterwards. - -The Comte Arthur Potocki, son of the Comte Jean of the illustrious -family of that name, and one of the best educated men in Europe, had a -noble face, an elegant figure, and a cultivated mind. At an age when -most men spend their time in pleasure and frivolous pursuits, he was -conspicuous for a sterling judgment, a wide knowledge, and the most -exquisite politeness. It is not surprising then that he was one of -the most notable men in Vienna society, and eminently fit to occupy -a similar position everywhere. The Prince de Ligne was very fond of -Arthur, whom he called his Alcibiades, and who in his turn worshipped -the bright and witty octogenarian, so indulgent to young men. - -‘Everything has been finally arranged for the imperial _carrousel_ -(musical ride), which is irrevocably fixed for next week,’ said -the young comte, ‘and I have brought you the tickets which the -Grand-Marshal Trauttmansdorff has told me to remit to you. It will be -one of the most brilliant spectacles ever witnessed. To-morrow night -everybody in Vienna laying claim to be somebody is going to the Court -to see the “living pictures” arranged by Isabey. They will be followed -by romances sung and enacted by the handsomest women of the Court, the -lovely Duchesse de Sagan, the Princesse Paul Esterhazy, the Comtesse -Zichy, and several of our most elegant fair ones. Do not fail to -come, gentlemen; you had better take advantage of the joyous hours. -It is rumoured that the Congress will terminate on the 15th December. -Good-bye, until to-morrow. Let the thought of the closing of the -Congress be with you every moment, as it is with me.’ Saying which, he -took his departure. - -The prince reminded me that I had promised to spend a few hours with -him on that day at his house on the Kalemberg. Before going thither he -wished to go to Isabey’s to sit for his portrait, and he asked me to -accompany him. - -‘During that hour of torture to me,’ he laughed, ‘you will have an -opportunity of looking at a series of portraits from his brush. Isabey -is the recorder of the Congress in pigments. And inasmuch as he is -almost as clever with his tongue as with his brush, you’ll not waste -your time.’ - -In a short time we reached the artist’s quarters in the Leopoldstadt. -The front of the house was provided with a barrier to prevent the -deadlock of the visitors’ carriages. Isabey’s arrival at Vienna had -been preceded by his deserved reputation.[56] - -Presented by the Duc de Sérent to Marie-Antoinette, Isabey, at the age -of twenty, painted the portrait of the lovely and ill-fated queen, -who treated him with the utmost kindness, and always called him her -little Lorrain. Subsequently, having become the painter-in-ordinary of -Napoleon, he reproduced the features of all the celebrated men and all -the handsome women of the Empire. It was he who superintended the fêtes -of that brilliant and short-lived era. - -At Vienna, all the European celebrities solicited the distinction -of reproduction by his brush, and he could scarcely comply with all -their requests. The number of portraits he painted at that period -is positively surprising, and supplies a proof of his talent having -been as fertile as it is graceful. Whenever there was a question of -organising this or that entertainment for which the Congress was the -pretext, the artist who had drawn the designs for Napoleon’s coronation -was, as may be imagined, considered in the light of a ‘God-send.’ -Nothing was done without consulting him. - -According to Isabey himself, it was M. de Talleyrand who had prompted -the idea of his going to Vienna; and art is indebted to that journey -for his remarkable and historical drawing of a ‘Sitting of the -Plenipotentiaries at the Congress.’ - -The fall of Napoleon deprived Isabey of nearly all his functions. -One day, in the study of the statesman who at that time was supposed -to have mainly contributed to that catastrophe, the artist spoke -regretfully of a restoration which, as far as he was concerned, spelt -ruin. On one of the walls of the room hung an engraving of the ‘Peace -of Munster,’ after Terburg. Pointing to it, Talleyrand said, ‘A -Congress is to be held at Vienna. Why not go there?’ The few words were -as a ray of light in the darkness to Isabey, and from that moment his -mind was made up. Talleyrand did more than give a hint. He gave him a -most cordial welcome, and proved a kindly and appreciative patron. - -On Prince Eugène’s arrival in Vienna, one of his first calls was -upon Isabey. In his equivocal position, he felt only too glad to see -somebody reminding him of his younger days. The painter by his bright -recollections often dispelled the sadness of the prince. It was Eugène -who shortly afterwards took Isabey to Emperor Alexander. Isabey’s -conversation was always interesting, but it became positively sparkling -and historically valuable when recounting the marvellous details of the -coronation, which, as has been said, were arranged by him. Isabey was -not less delightful when recalling the familiar and every-day life at -Malmaison. - -Already in 1812, during a tour through Germany, Isabey, being in -Prague, had made a sketch of the Prince de Ligne, which sketch he -carefully preserved and which hangs to this day (1830) in his studio. -Notwithstanding the seventy-and-eight years of the model, the sketch -shows the noble and delicately cut features which to the end were the -object of everybody’s admiration. At that period the Prince de Ligne -only knew Isabey by reputation. One morning he called upon the artist, -who happened to be out. But his album lay open near his easel. Instead -of leaving his card, the prince took up a pen and wrote a dozen -tripping and sparkling lines, describing Isabey’s talent, finishing up -with: - - ‘He constitutes as great an honour to art as to his country; - And in virtue of this impromptu, I also am a painter.’ - -This tribute to Isabey’s talent on the part of the Prince de Ligne is -only one of the valuable testimonies contained in Isabey’s album. Every -important personage in Europe, ministers, generals, artists, ladies of -high degree, have equally considered it a pleasure to testify to their -admiration and their esteem. - -Isabey had been quartered magnificently, like Benvenuto Cellini in -days of yore, at the Louvre. His studio, hung from floor to ceiling -with sketches, drawings, and portraits in a more or less advanced -stage of completion, impressed one with the idea of a magic lantern, -representing in turns all the notable personages who at that moment had -forgathered in Vienna. - -The hour taken up with the prince’s sitting seemed short to me. Every -now and again the work was interrupted by this or that subtle remark -or lively reminiscence. The conversation ran principally on a little -adventure in connection with the game of ‘leap-frog,’ which caused -such a stir in Paris at the period of the Consulate, and which was -obstinately believed in, in spite of Isabey’s denials. Here it is in -its original version. - -Bonaparte, as is well known, was in the habit of walking with his arms -crossed upon his chest, and his head slightly bent forward. Isabey was -at Malmaison, and he and some of the First Consul’s aides-de-camp were -having a game of leap-frog on the lawn. Isabey had already jumped over -the heads of most of them, when, at the turning of a path, he espied -the last player who, in the requisite position, seemed to be waiting -for the ordeal. Isabey pursued his course without looking, but took his -flight so badly as only to reach the other’s shoulders, and both rolled -over and over in the sand, and to Isabey’s consternation, his supposed -fellow-player turned out to be Bonaparte. At that period, Bonaparte -had probably not pondered the possibility of a ‘fall’; hence, it was -said, refractory at this first lesson, he got up, foaming at the mouth -with anger, and drawing his sword, pounced upon the unfortunate leaper. -Isabey, luckily for himself better at running than at leaping, took to -his heels, and jumping the ditches dividing the property from the high -road, got over the wall and never stopped until, breathless, he reached -the gates of the Tuileries. Isabey, it was added, went immediately -to Mme. Bonaparte’s apartments, and she, after having laughed at the -mishap, advised him to lie low for a little while. It was still further -reported that it wanted all Josephine’s angelic goodness of heart and -cleverness, besides her usual influence over Bonaparte, to appease -the latter’s anger and to obtain the painter’s pardon. Bonaparte at -that moment was only ‘Consul for Life,’ but people already foresaw the -Empire, and the section of Paris society which was not too well pleased -at the prospect of a possible return to former ideas naturally made the -most of the anecdote of Malmaison. The denials of Isabey, who took good -care to make short work of all the detailed rumours, found little or no -belief; the adventure was considered extremely diverting, and Isabey’s -contradiction of it had no effect. - -In the course of our conversation with Isabey, the Prince de Ligne -pressed him very closely on the subject, as if the _definitive_ fall of -Napoleon sufficed to restore to Isabey all his freedom of speech and -all his frankness on the matter. Isabey, on the other hand, kept on -defending himself with no less energy. - -‘That adventure of Malmaison,’ he said, ‘is an invention from -beginning to end. It is ridiculous, and one of those semi-historical -exaggerations which have grieved me more than I can tell. Napoleon -was made to play a part utterly at variance with his character. When -that story was bruited in Paris, I had not set eyes upon him for more -than six weeks. The moment I heard of it, and of the particulars with -which it was embellished, I went to St. Cloud. As soon as he saw me, -he came up to me, and I had no difficulty in convincing him that I had -no share in the matter; it really seemed to aim at ruining me for ever -in his estimation. He was exceedingly kind, and reminded me of the -well-known rejoinder of Turenne, when his valet struck him by mistake, -and apologised by saying he fancied it was a fellow-servant (called -George). “And supposing it had been George, there was no need to strike -so hard,” said Turenne. But,’ observed Isabey, ‘refuted or not, the -stories that pander to people’s spitefulness are repeated, and finally -remain as quasi-truths.’ - -‘Had I been in your place,’ said the prince, ‘I should not have taken -the trouble to refute the fable. If it had been attributed to me, I -should have accepted the part. It would have been rather interesting to -jump like that on the shoulders of him who so unceremoniously jumped so -well on the shoulders of others.’ - -Afterwards the conversation drifted to young Napoleon, whose portrait -we had admired a few days previously at Schönbrunn. - -‘That child,’ said Isabey, ‘has only one thought occupying his mind, -the recollection of his father. One morning as he was sitting to me, -there was the sound of bugles; the Hungarian Guards were passing down -one of the courts. He immediately glides off his chair, runs to the -window, comes back, and taking my hand, says, “Here are papa’s lancers -going by.”’ - -The portrait of the Prince de Ligne was already sufficiently advanced -to enable one to judge of the likeness, and I complimented Isabey upon -it. All those who knew the admirable old man were struck with the -marvellously faithful reproduction of him as a whole. - -In a few moments we gaily resumed the course of our little pilgrimage. -The Kalemberg is a hill overlooking Vienna, and offering a most -picturesque birdseye view of the city. The prince had established -his summer quarters there some years ago, dividing his time in the -delicious retreat between art, pleasure, and the delightful society his -fame constantly attracted thither. - -On our way we chatted about the pastimes and diversions of Vienna, and -he gave me a rapid picture of them, for it could be said absolutely of -him what he said of Casanova: ‘Each word is a sketch, and each thought -is a book.’ - -‘Fitly to describe the fairy scenes succeeding each other here without -interruption would want an Ariosto, that magician of poesy,’ he said. -‘In fact, I shall not be surprised at the festal committee shortly -issuing a proclamation, to the sound of trumpets and through all the -towns and villages of the monarchy, promising a prize to the fortunate -man devising a new pleasure for the assembled sovereigns.’ - -‘Thoroughly to enjoy oneself in Vienna, prince, one ought to know -German somewhat better than foreigners as a rule know it,’ I answered. -‘Their want of familiarity with the language prevents them from -catching the subtle shades of the joys and manners of a class of the -population which, though not the foremost, is unquestionably not the -least interesting to study and to observe. In connection with this, I -may be permitted to quote the reply of Bacon to a young man, who, not -knowing any foreign language, consulted him on his plan of travels. “Go -to school, young friend, and don’t go travelling,” remarked Bacon.’ - -‘What would he have said to Metastasio, who, after living for twenty -years in Vienna, had not mastered as many words of German, which -quantity he considered sufficient to save his life in case of need?’ -laughed the prince. ‘Besides, you find your own tongue the only one -adopted here, not only in society and at all the festive gatherings, -but also at all the conferences of the Congress. That much, indeed, -was due to its precision and its universal use. It was necessary to -establish a general means of communication between so many strangers; -without this the Congress would have become a Babel.’ - -‘And also, prince, because no language lends itself more easily to the -biting epigrams and sparkling repartees which are, as it were, like a -bottle of champagne that’s being “uncorked,”’ I replied. ‘The proof -of it is in your recent answer to the Baron de ----, when he told you -that the emperor had made him a general. “He has appointed you to be a -general, he could not make you one,” is a fair sample of the pliability -of French.’ - -Chatting like this about many trifles, which on his lips became -interesting subjects, the prince rapidly reviewed the foremost figures -of society, generals, statesmen, elegant women, etc. - -‘This Congress, with its intrigues of all kinds hidden by fêtes, is -decidedly like Beaumarchais’ _La Folle Journée_. It is an imbroglio -with ever so many Almavivas and Figaros. As for the Basilios, one runs -against them at every turning. I sincerely trust people may not be -compelled to exclaim by and by with the joyous barber: “Whom, after -all, are they leading by the nose?”’ - -We soon got to the courtyard of his modest residence. The house was -small, but comfortable, and the prince might have easily realised the -wish of Socrates by filling it with true friends. It had been built on -the site of a monastery founded in 1628: Leopold rebuilt it after the -siege of Vienna; Joseph I. enlarged it; Joseph II. suppressed it. Since -then, the prince had bought it. On the front door was engraved his -favourite sentence:--_Quò res cumque cadunt, semper stat linea recta_. - -‘I so thoroughly feel the barrenness of everything,’ he often said, -‘that there is no merit in my being neither envious nor spiteful, nor -vainglorious.’ - -He began by taking me into his garden. ‘I should fail in all the -traditions of ownership if I did not start by making you acquainted -with all the details of my principality. Inasmuch as my house with its -enclosure is scarcely more spacious than the domain allotted by the -people to the president of the loftily perched republic of San-Martino, -we’ll go the round of it in less time than an act of mental contrition -would take. Nevertheless, such as it is, the place enables me to escape -from the bustle of fêtes, from the fatigue of pleasure, and from the -crowd of majesties and highnesses. Here, and here alone, I am enabled -to enjoy my own society. I come here to get the fresh air, and to -recruit the strength I spend every evening on the incessant festivities -of the Congress.’ - -At the end of the garden, he opened the door of a pavilion, positively -suspended over the Danube, and from which the whole of Vienna could be -taken in at a glance. - -‘This,’ he said, ‘is the spot whence John Sobieski started at the -head of his brave Poles, and with less than thirty thousand men saved -the empire by routing all the Ottoman forces of the Grand-Vizir -Kara-Mustapha. Sobieski’s faculty of instantly perceiving a situation -was so sure and so thorough that at the sight of the enemy’s -dispositions, he coolly said to the generals surrounding him that those -dispositions were defective, and that infallibly he would beat his -foes. It was impossible to say of him what is commonly said of kings, -namely, that they have won a battle personally, when they have only -looked at it from afar. They may have won the battle personally, but -not by their presence. Sobieski won his battles in person, and by his -presence. - -‘I like the letter he wrote to the queen, his wife, on the day after -the victory, which was dated from the tent of the grand-vizir himself. -There is genuine greatness without the slightest admixture of false -modesty in the following words: “Let Christendom rejoice and give -thanks to the Lord; the infidels can no longer insult us by saying: -‘Where is now your God?’” - -‘Sobieski had one of the greatest gifts ever vouchsafed to a -commander--the faculty of inspiring confidence in his troops. The -Polish cavalry which came to the rescue of Vienna had no doubt a most -martial look; they were mounted on the handsomest horses, and their -arms were magnificent. This was by no means the case with the infantry; -one regiment in particular was in such a sorry plight that Prince -Lubomirski advised their crossing the Danube at night, for the sake -of the nation’s honour. Sobieski simply smiled. “As you see them,” he -said, “they are invincible: they have sworn not to change their clothes -except for those taken from the enemy. In the last war they only wore -the Turkish uniform.” Sobieski’s remark did not, perhaps, provide his -soldiers with clothes; it did better than that: it ran from mouth to -mouth, and the regiment performed deeds of unsurpassed valour. You are -aware that after that brilliant feat of arms which was the signal for -the relief of Vienna, they applied to the Polish hero the words of Pius -V. with regard to Don Juan of Austria, after the battle of Lepanto: -“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” What an admirable -quotation!’ wound up the prince. - -‘Austria had no doubt forgotten the application of that sentence of -gratitude when, later on, she effaced from the rank of European nations -the country of her deliverers!’ I remarked. - -‘Go and remind her of it, and see what you’ll get for your pains. -Furthermore, you must expect her to answer in the way of a set-off to -the advocates of Poland: “You take care to remind us of your saving -Vienna in 1683. We are certainly very grateful to you, but each time -you mention it, we are bound to tell you that Austria delivered you -out of the hand of Sweden, which had conquered you in the reign of -Charles-Gustavus; hence, we are quits.”’ - -‘To this, prince, Poland could reply both in virtue of priority of age -and of the number of her services, that the aid she lent to Austria, -notably to her founder, Rudolph of Hapsburg, largely contributed to -place Austria among the most powerful monarchies of Europe. Be that as -it may, in this iniquitous proceeding, Austria plays the part of the -dog in La Fontaine’s fable, who carries his master’s dinner round his -neck: she interfered in order to take her share of the spoil; it would -have been more noble to prevent the spoliation.’ - -By that time it was three o’clock, and we partook, in a small room -adjoining the library, of the provisions which we had brought with us -in the prince’s carriage. It was one of the most delightful collations -I remember. The prince was fond of telling stories; his way of -narrating them was so delightful and admirable that I was only too -pleased to listen. This added to his own enjoyment, and his well-stored -memory poured out tale after tale without the slightest effort. - -‘One of my sweetest recollections,’ he said, ‘was my first journey -to France as the bearer of the happy news of the battle of Maxen. -My entrance upon the scene was entirely to my taste. I was received -everywhere, in Paris, Versailles, and at the Trianon, by the Baron de -Bezenval, the Comte de Vaudreuil, the Comte d’Adhémar, the Princesse de -Lamballe, the fascinating Mme. Jules de Polignac; then at the beginning -I was presented to La Harpe at Mme. du Barry’s, to D’Alembert at Mme. -Geoffrin’s, to Voltaire at Mme. du Deffand’s. Mme. du Deffand was -probably gifted with more natural grace and power of fascination than -any woman of her time.’ - -After this he gave me some brilliant sketches of many of the -celebrities who, during his long career, had honoured him with their -friendship. Empress Catherine, whom he called ‘his living glory’; -Emperor Joseph II., ‘his visible providence’; Frederick the Great, ‘his -claim to immortality,’ and finally Marie-Antoinette, of whom he related -many charming traits, always ‘harking back’ with the greatest delight -to the Court of France, where he had met with such a distinguished -welcome. - -‘The love of pleasure and the attractions of society took me to -Versailles,’ he said; ‘gratitude brought me back to it. My lad, judge -for yourself how far I was justified in yielding to illusion, that -ruler of the world. Presented to the Comte d’Artois, I naturally -began by treating him like the king’s brother, and we finished up -by his treating me as if I were his brother. Later on, I happened -to be present at the meeting of Joseph II. and Frederick II. The -latter notices my liking for great men, and he invites me to Berlin. -My son Charles marries a Polish girl;[57] knowing that I am in the -good books of Catherine, they imagine, perhaps, that I might make a -King of Poland, and they confer the honour of Polish citizenship upon -me. I arrive in Russia, and the grandeur and simplicity of Catherine -win my heart. She selects me to accompany her to the Taurida, during -that journey which seems to belong to fable rather than to history. -In consequence of my taste for the “Iphigenias” of literature, she -gives me the site of the temple where Agamemnon’s daughter officiated -as priestess. Finally there is the paternal kindness of Emperor -Francis I.; the maternal kindness of that grand Maria-Theresa, and -the sometimes fraternal kindness of immortal Joseph II. There are -the confidence and friendship of Landon and of Lasey; the familiar -intercourse with Marie-Antoinette; the cordial intimacy of Catherine -the Great; the goodwill of the great Frederick; my conversations with -Jean-Jacques Rousseau; my stay at Ferney with Voltaire, and, fitly and -gaily to wind up, after the great events of the last twenty years, the -marvels and diversions of the Congress. Such in brief is my life. My -memoirs would be most interesting. During the whole of that time I have -seen calumny, ingratitude, and injustice assail everything I loved and -admired.’ - -He seemed buried in thought for a few moments. ‘No,’ he said at -last, ‘men’s idiocy and ill-nature respect nothing. In Catherine’s -case these two have endeavoured to sully the grandeur one admires; -in Marie-Antoinette the grace and beauty one worships. France has -a few pages in her annals which one day she will wish to tear up. -After having most grossly slandered the most beautiful and the most -sympathetic of queens, whose goodness of heart, which was that of an -angel, no one could appreciate better than I, and whose soul without -reproach was as pure and as white as her face, the cannibals immolated -her as an offering to their bloodthirsty liberty.’ - -At these words his voice grew low, and his eyes filled with tears. The -tears of such a friend, of an old man and a wise one, were the most -eloquent tribute to Marie-Antoinette’s memory. - -‘This is my study,’ he said, opening another door, ‘and here I am free -from the intrusion of all those parrots who besiege me in my little -house on the wall. Here I let my pen wander as my imagination and whim -prompt me.’ He showed me a great many works completed, and a number of -unfinished manuscripts. - -‘All this has been written for myself, to satisfy the cravings of my -own heart. They are what actors would call “my asides.”’ - -I asked him if the world at large was not to benefit by his lessons of -experience. - -‘No, no,’ he replied, ‘I have too often had proof that here below a -man’s reputation depends upon those who have none. And what, when all -is said and done, is this glory before which one bows down, and which -one pursues with all one’s might? The same day witnesses its birth -and its death, so short, after all, is life. Ypsilanti, about whom we -have chatted so often, has gloriously lost his arm. When at present he -makes his appearance in a drawing-room, he is surrounded, he is pointed -out to public curiosity, and people tell of the battle in which he -distinguished himself. To-day he is a young hero; before many springs -pass over our heads, and they pass very quickly, people will call him -the old cripple. - -‘Never had a woman a more glorious welcome than that accorded to Mme. -de Staël in Vienna six years ago. Her arrival and her stay constituted, -as it were, a date, for people still say--“When Mme. de Staël was -here.” Well, the enthusiasm was soon succeeded by a spirit of criticism -the reverse of good-natured. Nevertheless, if there be anything in this -world which is _not_ all vanity, assuredly it is the admiration one -inspires; but how long does that admiration last? At the outset Mme. de -Staël carried all hearts, and conquered all minds.’ - -‘Not in virtue of her personal attractions, for even in her portraits -she did not seem to me sufficiently good-looking to please.’ - -‘That’s true, she could never have possessed a pleasing face; her mouth -and nose were ugly. But her magnificent eyes marvellously expressed -everything that went on successively in that brain so rich in lofty or -virile thoughts; her hands were beautifully shaped, hence the care she -took to direct attention to them by her habit of constantly fingering -a branch of poplar provided with a few leaves, the shaking of which, -according to herself, was the necessary accompaniment to her words. Her -conversation was simply dazzling; she discussed every subject with a -marvellous facility; she expressed herself in an animated, brilliant -and poetical manner. The larger her audience, the loftier did her -genius soar. She was only at her ease with men capable of judging her, -but on such occasions she was truly great. - -‘Well, all those titles to admiration were soon made light of. The -human mind, by an inevitable reaction, passes from enthusiasm to -carping. In a short time people laid stress on Mme. de Staël’s defects; -her brilliant qualities were no longer taken into account. In general -conversation, it was said, she showed herself more anxious to dazzle -than to please; her monologues reduced her interlocutors to the roles -of complacent listeners; when she addressed a question to some one, she -rarely waited for the answer. She was fond of society in which she was -calculated to shine, but she did not care for the society of women, -which, as a rule, affords fewer resources to an intellect like hers -than that of men. And the women have not forgiven her, however much her -genius may have conferred honour on her own sex. - -‘Hence, she gradually saw a diminution of her celebrity, a celebrity -which had become necessary to her, and which, nevertheless, was not -to her the road to happiness. She constantly regretted France, from -which she was irrevocably exiled, in consequence of her opposition -to the government; she had designated Bonaparte as Robespierre on -horseback. It may therefore be said that she served her own cause when -endeavouring to overtopple the obstacle to her return to Paris; and -on the task she set herself, she brought to bear all the energy of a -genius, stimulated by the hatred of a woman. - -‘I have much admired Mme. de Staël; I still admire her, and I strongly -suspect that the author of the _Dialogue sur l’enthousiasme_ wanted -to paint me in the character of Cleon.’ The prince, when uttering -those last words, glanced at me smiling. ‘She felt much vexed at some -one daring to question merit which at that time everybody agreed in -pronouncing incontestable. That little bit of criticism was the first. -The author particularly censures her novel _Corinne_. In that respect -he was wrong. Wishing to attack her, he had no business to attack her -writings. That, assuredly, was not her vulnerable side. But he would -have been justified in blaming the pretension to refer everything to -herself, the inconstancy of opinion which was so dangerous to her -friends who took her at her word, the pedagogic and biting tone, -the histrionic elation, in the manner of Corinne, her neologism in -intellectual matters, which was so utterly antipathetic to me, and the -craving to appear on the boards, where she displayed not the slightest -talent, inasmuch as her true vocation lay in acting in real life. On -all those points he would have been justified in venting his spite -either in prose or in verse. You are aware that we were within an ace -of falling out for ever in consequence of a spiteful remark which was -told to her as coming from me. After the performance of her tragedy, -_Agar dans le Désert_, in which, to be frank, she seemed more ugly -than usual, some one, who was not the Prince de Ligne, is reported to -have said that the proper title of the piece ought to have been _La -Justification d’Abraham_. She sulked for a long time, and I had much -difficulty in convincing her of my innocence.’ - -After that the prince showed me a small manuscript, which has been -published since, and which he had then just finished. Its subject -was the Venetian Casanova. When that famous adventurer was tired -of hawking about Europe his projects, his magic secrets, and his -striking personality; when, in fact, he felt old age creeping over -him and poverty staring him in the face, he applied to the Prince de -Ligne. Almost as a matter of course, the latter made him welcome, -bestirred himself on his behalf, and got him the post of librarian to -his nephew, the Prince de Wallstein. Casanova’s curiously chequered -career appealed to the imagination of the old marshal. He also had -had many adventures during his existence. He liked the ready and -biting wit of the Venetian, his profound and varied learning, and his -philosophically-turned and ever fresh comments. - -‘Yes,’ said the prince, ‘Casanova was the most diverting individual -I have ever met with. It was he who said that a woman is never older -than her lover fancies her to be. His inexhaustible recollections, -his imagination, which was as vivid as it had been at twenty, his -enthusiasm with regard to myself, won my heart. He often read his -memoirs to me. They partake of the nature of those of a knight-errant -and of the “Wandering Jew”; unfortunately they’ll never see the -light.’[58] - -His writing-table was littered with verses, the greater part unfinished. - -‘You are looking at those sketches,’ he said. ‘It is because I am -unable to work like the majority of poets. There are two dictionaries -at their disposal, the dictionary of the heart and the rhyming -dictionary. When there is no longer anything in the first, or when they -can no longer read it, they open the second. When my heart no longer -dictates, I leave off writing.’ - -We spent a little more time in examining several charming portraits of -women with whom he had been in love, and a rich collection of letters -written by the sovereigns and the most illustrious personages of Europe -during half a century. - -The hour for returning struck, and we left the delightful retreat -which, one day, will become historical. But amidst those brilliant -reminiscences of the Vienna Congress, my grateful memory could not omit -that day wholly passed in familiar conversation with the Prince de -Ligne. - - - - -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. - - -The fêtes succeeded each other uninterruptedly; the time not given -to pleasure was looked upon as wasted. Every week there was a grand -reception and ball at the Court. Taking their cue from highest -quarters, the foremost members of Austrian society also had their -appointed days for welcoming in their drawing-rooms the numberless -strangers whom business or pleasure had brought to Vienna. On Mondays -the Princesse de Metternich threw open her house; on Thursdays the -Master of the Horse, the Prince de Trauttmansdorff, did the same, and -on Saturdays, the beautiful Comtesse Zichy followed suit. As a return -for this gracious hospitality, the ambassadors and representatives of -the great Powers on their side gave most brilliant entertainments. In -virtue of this constant exchange of magnificent functions, the days -went by without counting, and everybody appeared to have adopted the -maxim--the first necessity of mankind is to be happy. - -The Empress of Austria was practically the soul of that succession of -balls, banquets, receptions and masques. Born in Italy, and sprung from -that illustrious House of Este, sung by Ariosto and by Tasso, she had, -as it were, inherited from her ancestors the taste and the instinctive -feeling for everything pertaining to art. Her goodness of heart was -beyond compare, her youthful and fresh imagination took a delight in -the arrangement of all those joyous details. She was admirably seconded -by two French artists, M. Isabey and M. Moreau--the latter a most -talented architect--who were her usual auxiliaries. She invented and -ordained; their task consisted in faithfully reproducing and carrying -out her bright ideas. - -One of her favourite pleasures was the giving of theatrical -performances in her apartments. Defying the difficulties attached -to the rôle of _impresario_, she had succeeded in recruiting and -composing a company of amateur actors. Some among these would have -done credit to any stage, no matter where. In this company figured the -most aristocratic names: the Comtes Ojarowski, Stanislas Potocki, de -Wallstein, Woyna, Mmes. Edmond de Périgord and Flora Wurbna, shone in -comedy; opera had its interpreters in the Prince Antoine Radziwill, the -Marquis de Salvox, the Comtes Petersen de Bombelles,[59] the Comtesses -d’Apponyi, Charles Zichy, de Woyna, and the Princesse Yblonowska; -while German tragedy fell to the lot of the Comtesse Julie Zichy, the -Comtesse Esterhazy and the Comte Zichy. Our theatrical literature, -so rich in all genius, was especially laid under contribution; often -there was a mixed performance of German and French pieces. At one of -those performances, Schiller’s _Wallenstein_ and the charming comedy of -_Rivaux d’eux-mêmes_ were played with really remarkable casts. - -Some young men, as a relief from the arid labours of diplomacy, -which at that period, it was said, constituted by no means a lively -pursuit, had organised among themselves an artistic gathering, which -was called the ‘company of Troubadours.’ Foremost among these were -the Prince Radziwill, the Comtes Batthyani, Zichy, and the Prince -Leopold de Saxe-Cobourg. It was a graceful revival of the chivalrous -and poetic customs of the Middle Ages. There was, furthermore, the -‘Festal Committee,’ appointed by the emperor, and composed of the -foremost personages of the Court. It really did appear as if the whole -of society was wrapped round by a vast association, the bright network -of which spread everywhere, and which had but one aim--the pursuit of -pleasure. - -The entertainment offered by the Court on that particular evening was -of an entirely novel kind as far as the majority of the spectators -were concerned. It consisted of the representation of pictures and of -songs put into action by living personages. The Prince de Ligne and -I went early to the Imperial Palace. Though the performance had not -commenced, the rooms were full. Thanks to the Comte Arthur Potocki, -we were enabled to get to the seats he had reserved for us between -the Princesse Marie Esterhazy and the Prince Leopold de Saxe-Cobourg. -It was the first time I met this young man in society; he was known -to the Prince de Ligne, who soon made us acquainted with each other. -At that time, he seemed to me as timid as he was handsome. Never did -noble birth and blood show themselves more conspicuously than in the -distinguished air and easy bearing of this scion of an illustrious -house. At that period he was doubtlessly far from foreseeing the -fortunate position destiny had in store for him, by uniting him at -first to a great princess, by placing him afterwards on the throne -of regenerated Belgium, and finally by giving him as consort an -accomplished princess from the blood royal of France. To-day the future -happiness of two families, of perhaps two peoples, is centred in -him.[60] - -After having exchanged a few courteous words, Prince Leopold left us -to prepare for his part in one of the tableaux; we remained with the -Princesse Esterhazy. - -The illustrious and princely House of Esterhazy has so often been -described as to render the task of adding anything fresh to those -descriptions a difficult one. Everybody knows that its noble origin -is virtually lost in the mist of ages, and that its power equals that -of kings. Its magnificence, its wealth, and the splendour of its -establishment are such as to convey but a faint idea to those who have -not seen them, and those who have are tempted to consider them as so -many parts of a fairy dream induced by the reading of some fabulous -story. Its territorial possessions comprise more than a hundred -villages and burghs, something like forty townships and over thirty -castles and fortresses.[61] The country seats which constitute, as -it were, the capitals of those veritable states comprise an enormous -number of apartments, picture-galleries and theatres. The Hungarian -hussar’s dress, entirely embroidered with pearls, which is transmitted -in the family from father to son, is estimated at four millions of -florins, and costs twelve thousand florins to repair each time it is -worn. On those vast domains the Esterhazys exercise the power of life -and death; they have troops and guards in their own pay. Moreover, an -imperial decree, dating from 1687, conferred upon them the right to -mint their own money and to grant patents of nobility. Many sovereigns -would be tempted to exchange their crowns for the lot of such subjects. - -The Princesse Marie Esterhazy, _née_ Princesse de Lichtenstein, though -at that period no longer in the flush of youth, was still possessed of -a charming grace. She was above all endowed with that winning kindness -which imparts a charm to women who physically are least attractive. Her -equable temperament and her fascinating kindness induced me to seek -her society on all possible occasions. Some years before I had met her -husband, the Prince Nicolas,[62] in Paris, at Mme. Récamier’s, that -friend of my childhood, the most beautiful of women and the most worthy -of admiration and respect. An enthusiastic and enlightened amateur of -every branch of art, and above all of music, the prince was the Mæcenas -of literary men and artists. He treated them as a connoisseur and -rewarded them like a king. - -I was very fond of the society of Prince Paul, their son, whose senior -I was by a few years. Our tastes and habits were pretty well the same. -I often met him at the house of Mme. de Fuchs, who was the friend of -both. Since then called in virtue of his name and his solid attainments -to most important diplomatic positions. Prince Paul[63] has shown a -constant moderation and a rectitude of thought and judgment which only -belong to a noble disposition and a superior intellect. He is one of -the men who during the recent negotiations have contributed most to the -preservation of peace in Europe. - -Our conversation with the Princesse Marie turned on the kind of -amusement the Court of Austria was providing for us that evening. She -told us that she had often organised similar tableaux at Eisenstadt -in a rotunda constructed for the purpose in the midst of a lake, -and that during the performances Haydn, the director of her private -band, improvised on the organ some pieces in keeping with the optical -effects, and which added marvellously to the illusion. - -The sovereigns gradually made their appearance and took the seats -reserved for them, the Emperor of Russia being as usual by the side -of the Empress of Austria. By a curious freak of nature, both were -somewhat hard of hearing, the emperor on one side, the empress on -the opposite side. Etiquette required their being seated side by side -in such a manner as not to be able to hear each other; consequently, -they always seemed to be playing at ‘cross purposes.’ Alexander at -that period was remarkable for the beauty of his face and the elegance -of his figure; and he was by no means indifferent to the flattering -remarks addressed to him on the subject. On the other hand, it would -have argued an inexperience of Courts to betray either by word or sign -the knowledge of his auricular infirmity. - -By the Emperor of Austria’s side sat the Empress Elizabeth of Russia. -That angel on earth had everything calculated to insure her husband’s -happiness and hers.[64] She was endowed with a charming face, her eyes -reflecting the purity of her soul. She had magnificent auburn hair, -which, as a rule, was allowed to fall loose on her shoulders. Her -figure was elegant, lithe, and supple, and even when she wore a mask, -her walk revealed her identity in a moment. No woman realised more -thoroughly the line of Virgil: - - ‘Incessu patuit Dea....’ - -To a most delightful disposition there were added a cultivated and -quick intellect, a passionate love of art, and a boundless liberality -in money matters. The graceful elegance of her person, her noble -bearing, and her inexhaustible kindness won her all hearts. Neglected -almost from the first hour of her union by a husband whom she -worshipped, her solitude and grief had bred a kind of melancholy. -Stamped on every feature, that feeling lent to the accents of her voice -and to her slightest movements an irresistible charm. - -[Illustration: ALEXANDER I.] - -A symphony for horns and harps preceded the rise of the curtain. -The candles in the house were extinguished in order to give greater -brilliancy to the light thrown on to the stage. The first picture -was the reproduction of a subject painted by a young Viennese -artist, ‘Louis XIV. kneeling at Mme. de la Vallière’s feet.’ The -actors of that scene were the young Comte de Trauttmansdorff, son of -the grand-marshal, and the charming Comtesse de Zichy. Both were so -eminently attractive, there was such an ardent expression of love on -the face of the young noble, and so much modesty, fear, and innocence -on the delicious face of the comtesse, as to make the illusion complete. - -The second picture was a reproduction of Guérin’s beautiful -composition, ‘Hippolytus refuting Phedra’s accusation before Theseus.’ -The Princesse Yblonowska represented the daughter of Minos, and the -young Comte Woyna, Hippolytus. The eyes and features of the one -were stamped with ardent passion struggling against remorse, while -the other, by his calm and classical attitude, by the signs of his -respectful grief, only seemed to invoke for his defence the purity -of his heart. Though shorn of the charm of its magnificent poetry, -Racine’s conception had never more eloquent interpreters than these two. - -The subjects of these pictures, reproduced by the most distinguished -personages of the Court, the brilliant and accurate dresses, the -perfectly arranged light, the whole of the _ensemble_ so artistically -arranged, produced the most lively admiration on the part of the -spectators. - -After this, the stage was got ready for the songs to be enacted; an -orchestra, composed of the most celebrated instrumentalists of Germany, -played symphonies by Haydn and Mozart. - -The first song was the ‘Partant pour la Syrie,’ the charming music -of which, by Queen Hortense, has become popular throughout Europe. -Mlle. Goubault, a young Belgian, who to an agreeable face added a -charming and expressive voice, sang the words, while the Princesse -de Hesse-Philipstadt and the young Comte de Schönfeldt represented -the characters. At the verse of the marriage, a chorus of the most -beautiful personages of the Court grouped themselves around the -principal actors. This profusion of delicious faces, the perfect -unison of the voices, and the expressive pantomimic action of the two -lovers--in short, the whole tableau, was enthusiastically applauded. - -I was too far away from Emperor Alexander to hear what he said -to Prince Eugène, who was seated close to him by the side of his -father-in-law, the King of Bavaria. I could, however, easily perceive -by the face of Eugène, beaming with pleasure and gratitude, that -the praise bestowed by the emperor on the musical composition was -accompanied by flattering and kindly expressions concerning his sister. - -The second song was that of Coupigny, a ‘Young Troubadour singing and -making war.’ It was represented by the Comte de Schönborn and the -Comtesse Marassi. The third song was again one of Queen Hortense’s, -‘Do what you ought, let come what may.’ It was as well sung as ably -mimed by the handsome Comtesse Zamoyska, a daughter of Marshal -Czartoryski, and by the young Prince Radziwill. Like the first, it was -enthusiastically listened to and greatly praised. The author’s name -was on the lips of every one, and vociferous applause frequently broke -forth. - -‘This is a sceptre which will not be broken in the hands of Mlle. -de Beauharnais,’ said the Prince de Ligne. ‘She is still a queen in -virtue of her talent and her charm when she has ceased to be one by the -grace of God. I confess to a liking for women who are fond of music, -and above all for those who compose music, as she does. Music is a -universal language, harmoniously recounting to all of us the sensations -of our lives. Only the malicious and spiteful could have said evil of -the sometime Queen of Holland, and only imbeciles could have attached -any belief to what they said. As for me, I am always glad to applaud -and to give homage to fallen greatness, especially if the fallen ones -have done honour to the rank in which fate placed them.’ - -‘I cordially agree with you, prince,’ I said. ‘I often had the -opportunity of seeing Queen Hortense at the beginning of her grandeur. -During the rapid advances of her fortunes she did not change, and -amidst all the imperial pomp and splendour she remained natural and -unaffected. She seems to have been born with an instinctive feeling -for art and with the germs of talent; she sings and plays on several -instruments the charming music of her own composition. She draws with -rare perfection. More precious than all this, though, is her sprightly -kindness, which her mother appears to have transmitted to her. Both, -while attaining the highest positions it is given to mortals to reach, -lost none of the qualities which compel affection in the most obscure -conditions.’ - -‘I am pleased to hear you speak like that. I am of opinion that the -most admirable quality of mankind is the faculty for admiring. I detest -people who are always looking for the interest underlying a good -action. Bear this in mind: only grovelling natures seek to disparage -talent; and fools only applaud the envious.’ - -The curtain had been lowered to set the final picture which was to -conclude the whole of the spectacle in a most brilliant manner. It was -to represent Olympus with all the mythological divinities. Nothing had -been neglected to make the execution worthy of the grandeur of the -subject. There had, nevertheless, been a temporary apprehension with -regard to the smooth progress of its course. There had been for two -whole days negotiations far more difficult and delicate in their nature -than those usually pending between diplomatic celebrities; and it -wanted nothing less than an intervention from high quarters to settle a -question which the sapient assembly would probably have failed to bring -to a satisfactory conclusion. - -The facts were as follows: All the rôles of the tenants on Olympus had -been distributed. Prince Leopold de Saxe-Cobourg, in consequence of his -remarkably handsome presence, had been cast for the part of Jupiter. -Comte Zichy was to represent Mars. - -The company was, however, short of Apollo; and among the troubadours -the young Comte de Wurbna was the only one who could efficiently -fill the part. It had been offered to him and accepted. But the -Comte, who combined in every respect the requisite qualities for the -brilliant impersonation allotted to him, had unfortunately something -not contemplated in the programme. His upper lip was ornamented by a -delightful pair of moustachios, and he valued them as one values things -that do not detract from one’s appearance. It was very certain, though, -that whether taken in connection with his luminous chariot or in the -simple guise of a shepherd, no one could conceive the god of day with -this hirsute ornament of a captain of hussars. - -The stage manager entrusted with the carrying out of the tableau -bore the name of Omer, which lent itself marvellously to all kind of -witticisms. Omer, then, was deputed to enter into negotiations with the -young Comte and to induce him to part with the inconvenient ornament. -In spite of his poetical name (irrespective of its orthography), Omer -found but an indifferent listener in the young man. In vain did he -cajole, argue, and supplicate. In vain did he point out to the young -man the impossibility of representing the tableau. His words did not -produce the slightest effect. Inexorable, like Achilles sulking in his -tent, young Wurbna seemed to have taken an oath not to part with his -moustachios while alive. - -The rumour of this curious obstinacy spread with the rapidity of bad -tidings; there is great agitation and anxiety, people are inquiring of -each other the latest particulars of the affair, every other pleasure -is forgotten; the Congress, too, would have been forgotten if any one -had thought it worth while to remember that there was a Congress. -Those moustachios have become the subject of every conversation and of -universal concern. - -Finally, in view of the gravity of the circumstances, recourse is -being had to a supreme appeal: the empress is informed of the affair. -Entering frankly into the plot, the charming princess, on the very -evening, so effectively cajoled the young recalcitrant Comte that, -vanquished, or rather won over, he absented himself for a moment, to -reappear with a clean and smooth upper lip like that of a young girl. -Thus fell, at a single word from Louis XIV., the woods interrupting the -view from the seat of Petit-Bourg. Truly, sovereigns, and especially -female sovereigns, have for the purpose of upraising or cutting down -magic and powerful words, denied to other mortals. - -The sacrifice was consummated, and we knew that, thanks to the happy -conclusion of that negotiation, Omer had been enabled to carry out to -the best of purposes his Olympian production. At last the curtain rose, -and the assembly of the gods met the eager gaze of the spectators. The -queen of the gods was represented by the daughter of Admiral Sir Sidney -Smith, Venus by Mme. de Wilhem, a lady of honour to the Princesse de la -Tour et Taxis, and Minerva by the lovely Comtesse Rosalie Rzewuska. The -eyes of the spectators, delighted at first by the matchless beauty of -the picture, finally contemplate nobody but Apollo, standing forth in -all his glory, and well rewarded for his obedience by sweet and august -smiles. - -During the representation of that tableau, a young Frenchman, the Baron -Thierry, attached to the Portuguese Legation, played a solo on the -harp. The young fellow, who was brought up in England, whither he had -accompanied his parents at the time of the emigration, had assiduously -practised that instrument, and attained a degree of perfection on -it which at that period was very rare. He was well built, with an -interesting face, and one of the most admired of strangers in Viennese -society. His solo, played with all the perfection his instrument would -permit, produced the greatest effect, and was cordially applauded, -the signal for the applause coming from the royalties themselves. Even -Olympus itself appeared to be moved by it. Finally the curtain fell -amidst unanimous signs of approval; the sovereigns rose, and we passed -into an adjoining hall sumptuously arranged for the ball. - -‘You probably do not know the story of the beautiful Comtesse Rzewuska, -whom you have just admired in the character of Minerva. She is the -daughter of the Princesse Rosalie Lubomirska, who was guillotined -during the Terror. The child, after the death of her mother, on the -12th Messidor of the Year II. (30th June 1794), was taken home and -brought up by a laundress, and by the merest accident discovered by her -uncle, the Comte Chodkïewicz, who had been in search of her for many -years, and finally taken back to Poland. It is the most startling drama -in real life.’[65] - -Meanwhile dancing had commenced, and I went to offer my arm to the -Princesse Esterhazy, whom I had the honour to escort during part of -the evening. She conversed about art with the greatest facility, her -remarks being emphasised by eminently just quotations altogether exempt -from the slightest pedantry. Her comments on society were marked by a -similar justness of observation, none the less just for being tempered -by great forbearance. Her beautiful features bore the unmistakable -signs of her being an irreproachable wife, a most affectionate -mother, and a most devoted and sincere friend. As a consequence, -her conversation seemed to me infinitely preferable to the somewhat -boisterous amusements of that evening. - -All those who had taken part in the tableaux and in the illustrations -of the songs had retained their costumes. There was a considerable -number of them. They organised quadrilles which lent a new attraction -to that fête, namely, that of variety. It seemed as if grace, that -divine part of beauty, had been equally divided, though under different -forms, among the dwellers in every climate. Never was this fact more -pertinently felt than at those fêtes of the Congress, at which the most -remarkable women of the various countries of Europe shone with equal, -though distinct, splendour. - -We, the Prince de Ligne and I, wandered through those drawing-rooms, -ablaze with light, passing in review those delicious faces, -representing all kinds of beauty as they successively went by. The -Princesse Marie de Metternich and the Comtesse Batthyani, with wistful -and somewhat melancholy features, tall, slight, and flexible like -reeds; the two charming sisters Eléonore and Pauline de Schwartzenberg, -beaming with youth and freshness; the Princesse Yblonowska, the -Comtesses Sophie de Woyna and Louise de Durkeim, both distinguished by -their slightly dreamy looks; the Comtesse Julie Zichy, captivatingly -graceful; the Comtesses de Marassi, d’Urgate, de Schönborn, and the -Princesse Hélène Souvaroff, whose portrait I have already sketched; -and the Comtesse de Paar. In short, we feasted our eyes on delightful -faces, lighted up every now and again by rapid smiles, or positively -basking in the full light of careless joy and happiness--faces that -soothed the mind and captivated all glances. - -Emperor Alexander had opened the ball with the Empress of Austria -with a ‘polonaise,’ a kind of dancing march, the regular preamble -to every Court ball. In an adjoining room some members of the corps -diplomatique were gravely engaged at whist, a recreation which also -seemed an indispensable part of the European transactions in progress. -The ‘polonaise,’ though, soon interfered with the silence necessary -to the game. The band had given the signal and, too cramped in the -principal room, the long file of dancers marched along under the -guidance of the czar, invaded the whole of the palace, and twined round -and round the serious quartets of the players, and by an enormously -round-about way returned to its starting-point in perfect order, never -ceasing the course of its graceful evolutions. Towards the end of the -evening, the guests formed themselves here and there into groups. Some -young men arranged pleasure parties for the next morning, while the -representatives of Europe gravely discussed the burning questions of -the moment. - -In one part of the room, M. de Talleyrand, ensconced in an armchair, -is talking to the Prince Leopold of Naples, while M. de Labrador, -the Chevalier de Los Rios and the Cardinal Gonzalvi, the Marquis de -Marialva, the young Comte de Luchesini and Charles de Rechberg, in a -circle, are standing around. The conversation runs on King Murat. With -his habitual phlegm, M. de Talleyrand drops some of those grave and -prophetic sentences which, rightly interpreted, might be considered the -forerunner of that improvised sovereign’s fall.[66] - -M. de la Tour du Pin, the ambassador of France, was the centre of -another group, composed of his colleague, M. Alexis de Noailles, MM. de -Wintzingerode, Pozzo di Borgo, the Marquis de Saint Marsan, the Comte -de Rossi, etc. - -Lord Castlereagh, erect and leaning against a mantelpiece, seems to -listen with a glacial air to the King of ----. The crowd has retired to -a respectful distance. His majesty, on the other hand, appears to speak -with a certain warmth, although his attitude is that of a petitioner, -or rather a pleader, intent upon convincing his judge. One can catch -the words, ‘Poland--indemnity--Treaty of Kalitsch.’ His lordship -vouchsafes only few words in reply to his august interlocutor. Looking -at them, one is reminded that if the Coalition has had the victory, it -was England who paid the soldiers. - -Lord Stewart wanders listlessly from one room to another. He is simply -anxious to be seen, and they have bestowed on him the sobriquet of ‘the -golden peacock.’ - -At midnight a magnificent supper was served. Of course, the sovereigns -occupied the table set apart for them, but the other guests seated -themselves wherever they liked, without the slightest ceremony or -considerations of etiquette. The gaiety of that collation, absolutely -free from restraint, afforded greater facilities for confidential -and familiar talk. All those banquets were alike. Always the same -display of apparently inexhaustible wealth and the same magnificence; -consequently, although the Congress was but a few days old, people had -ceased to estimate the expenses of the Court. - -To make up for that, they freely spoke of the number of strangers who, -either on business or pleasure, were located in Vienna. We know the -means by which Colbert filled the empty coffers of his master. But -what, after all, were the _carrousels_ of Louis XIV. compared to this -magnificent series of fêtes? - -The hour for retiring struck at last, and people went home to recruit -their strength for the next day by much-needed sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - Prince Eugène de 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. - - -One morning, a few days after the last-described event, I called upon -Prince Eugène de Beauharnais. Our acquaintance dated from my youth, -and whenever circumstances brought us together either in Paris, Milan, -or Vienna, I, like all his other friends, had ever found him kind, -helpful and sympathetic. The bonds of sympathy so quickly contracted in -youth had never been severed by the difference in rank. It had not been -his fault that his rule in Italy had been fruitless to me as far as a -brilliant administrative career went. And these proofs of his affection -had made me deeply grateful to him. - -On the occasion of my visit he was slightly ill, and it did not take me -long to discover that the cause of his indisposition was mental rather -than physical. It was not surprising, considering the misfortunes that -had accumulated around him. There were the disasters of France, the -fall of Napoleon, the loss of a brilliant position, and, to fill his -cup of grief, the death of his mother, whom he worshipped. - -His position at Vienna was constrained and more or less false. His -reception there had been the subject of diplomatic discussions; but -for the persistence of his father-in-law, the King of Bavaria, and the -affection of Emperor Alexander, he would probably have been excluded. -In spite of this, the fact of his being the adopted son of Napoleon -could not be forgotten. It was, moreover, well known that his noble -character would never belie itself, and that he would bring all his -influence to bear in favour of the man who had been his benefactor. -Between the Powers celebrating France’s reverses with fêtes and the -representatives of the government of the Bourbons, he seemed isolated -amidst that crowd and in that whirlpool of pleasure. - -He welcomed me in his cordial and amicable way. Glad to find somebody -with whom he could talk about his recollections, he referred to his -past, which was so brilliant and glorious. His attitude and the -expression of his face were stamped with a melancholy that could -not fail to win one’s heart. We went over the various phases of his -military career, when all at once he became most animated. Yielding -to a strong emotion, he carried me with him to Egypt, and began -to describe the loss of his first friend, killed by his side by a -cannon ball at the battle of the Pyramids. At the last words of that -mournful story I noticed his eyes filling with tears, which he vainly -endeavoured to repress. In order to divert his thoughts to brighter -subjects, I spoke to him of our first meeting at a luncheon given -by Mme. Récamier during the short-lived Peace of Amiens, a luncheon -graced by the presence of all the celebrities of France and England. -As a matter of course, our conversation drifted to all the gay doings -of Vienna during the last few weeks, and also of those to come. I -soon noticed, though, that all those functions, so intoxicating to -the majority of both actors and spectators, constantly reminded him -of the sad cause nearest to his heart. I was not sorry, then, when we -were interrupted by the servant announcing the Emperor of Russia, who, -according to his custom, came to take him, without any ceremony, for -a walk in the Prater. I took my leave of him, after he had made me -promise to come and see him often. I need not say that I gladly acceded -to his request, and that the duty really became a pleasure. - -On leaving him, I went to pay my daily visit to the Prince de Ligne. -I delighted in giving him an account of my previous day’s doings. -Although at that happy period my occupations mainly consisted of a life -spent away from my own quarters and in consorting with my young friends -in the pursuit of pleasure, it was like a lullaby to me to go to him to -gather from his lips some of his witty and subtle sallies, and to study -in a familiar way a small section of that living panorama. - -The little house was as full as it could hold, and the amiable -host was, as usual, dispensing large doses of wit and wisdom to -his visitors. His never-failing spirits and the brightness of his -recollections reminded his listeners that though the body might be -tottering, he prevented it from collapsing. No one conveyed a more -accurate idea of the sparkle and the almost indefinable grace of the -French intellectual qualities of former days. Hearing the Prince de -Ligne talk, I always fancied I was going back a century in the history -of French society. - -The prince’s visitors were repeating to him some of the rumours with -which the amateur politicians of the Graben kept public curiosity -alive. After having distributed crowns and allotted states, the -quidnuncs and newsmongers had taken it into their heads to try their -hand at match-making. According to them, the King of Prussia was -reported one day to be betrothed to the Grand-Duchess of Oldenburg, the -next to one of the Austrian arch-duchesses. - -‘Those gentlemen strangely put our credulity to the test,’ remarked -the Comte de Witt. ‘Nothing less will satisfy them than the divorce of -Marie-Louise, so that she may be joined in matrimony to his Majesty of -Prussia.’ - -‘Mirabeau was in the habit of saying that there is no piece of idiocy, -however crude, that may not find acceptance on the part of a clever -man, provided one gets his valet to repeat it to him every day for a -month,’ laughed the prince. ‘I am afraid, though, that the Viennese -journalists credit us with a somewhat too robust faith. I am not at all -certain how “Robinson” on his island of Elba would appreciate the joke?’ - -The conversation drifted to the theatrical performances the Empress of -Austria was offering at the Imperial Palace. - -‘No stage can dispute the palm with yours,’ said the prince, turning -to me. ‘I have seen your pieces played everywhere. In Prussia before -the great Frederick they only performed the masterpieces of the French -stage; in Russia at the “Ermitage” theatre [the palace and museum of -the Hermitage at St. Petersburg] I have seen _Le Philosophe Marié_ and -_Annette et Lubin_ performed before Empress Catherine, whom nature -had eminently fitted to appreciate grace and subtlety as well as -grandeur and brilliancy. I well remember the select company of that -most brilliant Court when Ségur’s _Crispin Duègne_ was produced, and -Cobentzel gave his admirable interpretation. Then there was my own -play, _L’Amant Ridicule_, whose author, I am afraid, was, perhaps, more -ridiculous than the lover. The most amusing part of the entertainment, -however, was enacted in the house itself with its throng of cranks, -faddists, and eccentric characters, each of whom had supplied me with -a kind of model, and who, as everywhere, applauded like mad without -recognising themselves. Most vivid to my mind is the theatre at Ferney, -where Voltaire himself played before us the most comic scenes from -Molière, and was convulsed with laughter, which rather spoilt the -effect he aimed at. Then came Trianon, “Trianon with an angelic queen -playing royally badly before a crowd of courtiers intoxicated with her -beauty.”’ - -After that, with his essentially eighteenth century grace, he recounted -to us some of the conversations of Versailles, redolent of wit and -cleverness. - -‘These are admirable recollections, prince,’ said the Comte de Witt. - -‘Yes,’ was the reply, ‘I have opened my eyes and ears a great deal, and -I have an excellent memory. My stories are only reproductions.’ - -That day was spent delightfully among friends. In the evening I went -to admire the expressive pantomime of Bigottini in _Nina_, and I wound -up by going to the Comtesse de Fuchs’s. Her drawing-room was crowded -as usual; fortunately I managed to find a seat near the Baron Ompteda. -With the serious face of an ancient augur, Ompteda was one of the most -originally clever men I have ever met. No one could sketch a portrait -in a few words better than he. People dreaded his tongue as much as his -sketches. But a staunch friend withal, whose epigrams were due to a -twist of the intellect rather than to a deficiency of heart. - -While the crowd was buzzing around us on every side, Ompteda took to -reviewing some of our acquaintances that were there and also those who -entered subsequently. - -‘Since you were last in Vienna,’ he said, ‘the capital has suffered a -siege and a foreign occupation; nevertheless, you’ll find few changes. -Matters lending themselves to ridicule are as plentiful as ever; they -are practically the image of the immobility of the Austrian government. -Only, they are becoming more apparent, in consequence of the century’s -progress. - -‘The drawing-rooms of society are just as you left them. The one in -which we are seated has not ceased to be the special resort of the -friends of our charming _queen_. Never was a title more deserved, and -her subjects have never revolted against her yoke. I have seen few -women who have as many friends as she; but, what is more rare, she -has the talent of binding them so closely together that in spite of -events and absence they never become strangers to each other. A common -affection for her seems to be the basis of her government; our union is -its strength, and our happiness a guarantee of its duration. Honestly, -I do not think there is a more easy despotism than hers, or a code more -gentle to observe. In her empire, you’ll find, as always, politeness -without sham, frankness without abruptness, mutual regard without -flattery, and willingness to oblige without constraint. - -‘There is, on the foremost plane, dear Major Fuchs, the happy and -peaceful possessor of this treasure. We all envy him. He continues, as -of old, the enthusiastic champion of the organisation of the Vienna -Militia, to which he owes his grade, and on which, he maintains, depend -the glory and the salvation of the Austrian monarchy. - -‘Next comes the Comtesse Laure, his wife, ever the same, kind and good, -and wholly unaffected. Her girlish face seems to be the mirror of her -excellent heart. There are women whose features are more regularly -beautiful, but hers are stamped with a sweet and animated expression -which the mere art of pleasing would vainly endeavour to imitate. And -the real secret of keeping her friends attached to her for all time -lies probably in her conciliatory disposition, which, however, is not -marked by any weakness where firmness is required. - -‘Here is the Chanoinesse Kinsky, whose expression of unaffected -kindness imparts a charm to her face to such a degree as to hide the -ravages of gradually advancing years. - -‘Here are the Princesses de Courland. In the first place, the beautiful -Duchesse de Sagan, with her ardent admiration for everything that -is grand and heroic. Her exceeding loveliness is only the least of -her qualifications. Her sister, the Comtesse Edmond de Périgord, -presents an indefinable but charming whole by reason of her gait, -movements, bearing, and voice. Both her face and her figure possess the -irresistible charm without which the most perfect beauty is practically -powerless. It is a flower seemingly ignorant of the perfume it emits. -Finally, there is the third of the Courland Graces, the delightful -Duchesse d’Exerenza, in whose person are united all the admirable -attributes of the other two. - -‘On the second plane stands Walmoden, who in spite of his being a -field-marshal to-day, has remained the simple and good-natured creature -of former times. The same may be said of the Prince de Hesse-Hombourg. -Military glory has not induced pride; his noble and stately manners -are altogether tempered by a sweet and affectionate disposition. -Prince Philippe is one of those men whom neither spite nor sarcasm can -touch. In his familiar intercourse with his fellow-mortals, he is as -distinguished for the noble impulses of his heart as he is famed on the -battle-field for his brilliant valour and his promptness of perception. - -‘Reuss is always in the clouds; I do not pretend to follow him thither. -Not having travelled, he has had little opportunity of seeing things; -consequently, he mistakes the effects of his imagination for the -results of learning, his desire to know for the elements of science, -vagueness for tact. In short, he is the living proof that with much -cleverness and the germ of talent, a man may make himself unbearable in -society by the constant display of small defects calculated to irritate -those around him. - -‘Just cast your eye in the direction of the Courland princesses, -to the Prince de Lichtenstein seated near them, who is as much at -home in the drawing-room as on the battle-field. They call him the -“monster-prince,” but I can assure you he is an Azor who has captivated -many Zémires.[67] He counts as many successes with the fair sex as -mentions in the “orders of the day.” - -‘The Duc d’Exerenza, the happy husband of a charming woman, is one of -the mortals who, as Figaro has it, “gave themselves the trouble to be -born.” All things considered, he is not a “bad sort.” - -‘De Gentz is the custodian of all the secrets of Europe, just as in a -short time he’ll possess all the orders of it. One of the many voices -of that silent being constitutes the Austrian government; what with his -manifestoes, his newspapers, and his proclamations, he has, perhaps, -been as formidable an opponent to Napoleon as the snow-bound steppes of -Russia. The honours and the ribands are, however, not exclusively the -things he wants. The sovereigns are also aware of his love of money, -and they simply gorge him with it. Overwhelmed with work and business, -satiated with pleasure, he has, nevertheless, flung himself into the -maëlstrom of society in the hope of finding some excitement which will -take him “out of himself.” It is most doubtful whether his road to -happiness lies in that direction. - -‘Ferdinand de Palfi is as sprightly as a fairy figure: his cousin is a -living Pactolus. The first gambles, wins much money, and with his gains -has built himself a magnificent mansion, which people call “a house -of cards.” He welcomes his friends there with the happy face he wears -to-night, and his friends are legion. François is handsome among the -handsome, very lavish with women, who simply worship him. Both, it is -no exaggeration to say, are under a lucky star. - -‘Prince Paul Esterhazy is kind and affectionate, but somewhat distant -in manner. He also has only to let life glide by without taking -trouble. Assuredly, he has a unique future before him. I asked Malfati -yesterday how Paul’s father, Prince Nicolas, who is no longer young, -can keep up with all these gay doings without impairing his health. “It -is his happiness that keeps him up,” replied the physician. Happiness -considered in that light is, unfortunately, not as yet a medical -prescription.’ - -Just as the baron had finished his portraits, supper was served. - -The principal topic of conversation was the imperial _carrousel_ which -was to take place the next day. The young Comte de Woyna, who was to -be one of the twenty-four knights, gave us all the particulars of -the preparations, and was eagerly listened to, for the interest and -curiosity of the moment centred there. Even business and pleasure paled -before that memorable fête, which in itself was to condense all the -splendour of the Congress. - -The day so much longed for broke at last. The preparations had -occupied so many weeks as to leave no doubt about the intentions of -the Court to display all the marvels of its pomp and the resources of -its wealth. The fête was to conjure up all the brilliant and poetical -traditions of the past. The last traces of the recreations of ancient -chivalry were effaced before the last vestiges of feudalism. Our age, -wholly practical in war as in love, no longer lends itself to those -ingenious and delightful theories of mediævalism. The enthusiasm of -the heart, the elevation of thought, and the abnegation of passion -have disappeared from our manners and customs, and been replaced by a -serious and polished selfishness. One is no longer the chosen knight -of this or that fair one. One no longer maintains, lance in hand, the -superiority of her charms against all comers; one no longer risks one’s -life for a scarf embroidered by her fingers. Love nowadays avoids -attracting attention; it is only an accessory of life, and its first -care is to wrap itself round as if with some mysterious veil. - -The manners and customs of ancient chivalry are, nevertheless, -deserving of regret. Love, thus understood and openly professed, was -not only the life of the heart but the source of great thoughts and -noble passions. It must have been grand to proclaim one’s disinterested -courage, one’s contempt of danger, when the sole recompense hoped for -was a word or a smile from the woman beloved. - -The fair sex especially must regret those changes in our social habits. -Ever since the levelling tendency of general civilisation lowered the -standard of our feelings, women have lost that ideal empire in which -they reigned as sovereigns; they have descended from a throne to be -confounded with the crowd. It is not difficult, then, to imagine their -interest in the preparations for a fête the object of which was to -bring back to the mind, and to revive, as it were, the forms and spirit -of the age of chivalry. - -The Prince de Ligne had presented me with one of the tickets sent to -him by the great Marshal Trauttmansdorff. At seven we were on our way -together to the Burg. - -‘Do not imagine,’ said the prince while we were trundling along, ‘that -you are going to witness a combat to the death. It will be neither a -_pas d’armes_ [the disputing of a passage by one or several knights], -nor, least of all, an appeal to “the judgment of God,” in which the -vanquished could only redeem his life by entering a monastery. Those -serious contests have been replaced by more graceful and less violent -exercises. Our modern redressers of wrongs in their tournaments uphold -the incomparable beauty of their lady by the power of their lances in -as peaceable a manner as the champions of old defended a thesis at the -“Courts of Love.” Hence, we need apprehend no fatal accident like that -which put an end to the life of Henri II., and caused the abolition of -the lists of the Middle Ages.’ - -Several officers, under the orders of the grand-master of the -ceremonies, the Comte de Wurmbrandt, were ready at the doors to conduct -the guests to their seats. General curiosity had reached so high as -to lead, it was said, to the forging of tickets, which were sold at -an enormous price. In consequence of this the police of Vienna had -been compelled to institute the most minute researches. The imperial -riding-school, constructed by Charles V., and ever since called the -‘Hall of the Carrousel,’ had been set apart for the function. The -structure, the vast interior of which is as spacious as an ordinary -church, has the form of a long parallelogram. All around it there runs -a circular gallery communicating with the apartments of the palace. -Seats for twelve hundred spectators rose in a magnificent sweep of -tiers. The gallery was divided into four-and-twenty sections by as -many Corinthian columns, against which were hung the scutcheons of the -knights with their arms and mottoes. - -At each end of the vast arena two stands, occupying the whole length -of the building, had been erected. They were draped with the most -gorgeous textile stuffs; the one set apart for the sovereigns, -empresses, queens, and reigning princes; the other, exactly facing it, -intended for the ladies of the twenty-four paladins about to prove -that they were the fairest among the fair. Above these stands were the -orchestras, in which forgathered all that Vienna could boast in the way -of distinguished musicians. - -One of the lateral galleries was reserved for the ambassadors, the -ministers, and the plenipotentiaries of Europe, for the military -celebrities, and for the illustrious foreign families. The Austrian, -Hungarian, and Polish nobles occupied the other gallery. Immediately -under the imperial stand was the row of rings to be carried away by -the competitors at full tilt. Ranged round the arena on pillars -were Turkish and Moorish heads with the traditional turban, equally -intended to serve as targets for the combatants. No doubt the hatred -of the Teuton warriors for their invaders and implacable foes was -kept up in days of yore by similar devices. Finally, in order to -prevent accidents, the floor of the riding-school was hidden beneath -a layer of fine sand, half-a-foot deep. At the door of the hall there -was a barrier, marking the entrance to the lists. Behind that door -were posted the heralds-of-arms with their trumpets and in gorgeous -costumes. Numberless lustres and candelabra holding wax candles shed -through this huge interior a light scarcely inferior to that of day. - -We were seated between Field-marshal Walmoden and the Prince Philippe -de Hesse-Hombourg. Near us was the Prince Nicolas Esterhazy in his -uniform of the Hungarian hussars, the magnificent embroidery of -which was in itself sufficient to excite the greatest curiosity. The -first row of our gallery was occupied by the handsomest and most -eminent women of Viennese society: the Princesses Marie Esterhazy, -de Wallstein, Jean de Lichtenstein, de Stahremberg, de Colloredo, de -Metternich, de Schwartzenberg, the Comtesses Batthyani, de Durkeim, -etc. The opposite gallery held the foreign ladies. In the back rows, -the ‘highnesses,’ the diplomatic ‘excellencies’ of every country, -of every degree of importance, constituted an almost unbroken line -of glittering gold and diamonds in their Court dresses and uniforms -disappearing beneath their orders and embroideries. A relief was -afforded by the red of Cardinal Gonzalvi’s dress; and a little further -on by the turban of the Pasha of Widdin, the caftan of Mauroyeny[68] -and the colpack of Prince Manug, Bey of Murza. These seemed to supply a -kind of variant to this incomparable splendour. - -‘Just look at Lady Castlereagh, close to the stand of the sovereigns,’ -said the Prince de Ligne. ‘She is wearing her husband’s Garter in -diamonds as a kind of tiara. That is a little bit of facetious vanity, -not contemplated by courteous Edward III. when he picked up the blue -ribbon that fastened the stocking of the handsome Alice of Salisbury. -Pride, when it wishes to make itself conspicuous, often plays us some -scurvy tricks.’ - -At eight to the minute a blast of trumpets by the heralds announced the -arrival of the twenty-four ladies, escorted by their valiant champions. -They took their seats in the first row of their stand. - -All, in virtue of their grace and beauty, deserved the name of ‘belles -d’amour’ that had been given to them. They were the Princesses Paul -Esterhazy, Marie de Metternich, the Comtesses de Périgord, Rzewuska, -Marassi, Sophie Zichy, etc. It is impossible to imagine a more gorgeous -and at the same time graceful spectacle. These ladies were divided into -four quadrilles, each distinguished by the colour of their dresses, -namely, emerald green, crimson, blue, and black. All their dresses were -made of velvet, trimmed with priceless lace and sparkling with precious -stones. - -The whole of their costumes had been copied in the minutest details -from those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The quadrille -that had adopted emerald green wore the Hungarian national dress. -It consisted of a long open tunic over a petticoat of white satin, -fastened from the bust to the knees with diamond pins. Placed at -regular intervals, the openings between these pins disclosed the satin, -the dazzling white and glimmer of which presented a most delicious -contrast to the rich green of the velvet. Other diamond hooks likewise -marked openings from the waist to the shoulder. The bodice itself, -flat-busted, was covered with valuable gems. A principal wide and -floating sleeve of velvet, opening from the shoulder, fell along the -arm; beneath was another ample sleeve of white satin, embroidered -like the bodice, but in gold and coloured jewels. On their heads they -wore velvet toques, entirely covered with precious stones. Finally, a -long gossamer veil, picked out with gold, fastened to the head-dress, -and descending as far as the feet, enwrapped the wearer in a kind of -beautiful haze. - -The other quadrilles had chosen respectively the Polish, Austrian, and -French costumes of the Louis XIII. period. A glance at them easily -induced the belief that all the trinket-caskets of the Austrian -monarchy had been ransacked. The ornaments worn on that evening by -these two dozen fair ones were estimated at thirty millions of francs. -Those of the Princesse Esterhazy, _née_ Tour et Taxis, figured in that -estimate for about six millions. - -As soon as the ‘love beauties’ had taken their seats, presenting, as -it were, a line of angelic faces, all eyes were turned towards them. -Motionless, and enveloped in their long, transparent veils, they seemed -to await with the utmost calm the moment of their triumph. A second -blast of trumpets announced the arrival of the sovereigns. At their -entrance everybody rose, the four-and-twenty ladies flung back their -veils, and stood forth revealed in all their beauty, and were greeted -with unanimous applause, mingled with the acclamations due to the -presence of the monarchs. - -The Emperor of Austria took his seat in the centre of the stand, with -the two empresses by his side; the other sovereigns and reigning -princes being placed according to their precedence. The seats, -upholstered in velvet, were resplendent with gold and embroidery. The -Emperor of Russia, confined to his apartments through indisposition, -was not present at this fête, but another was given in his honour a -few days later, at which the details of the first were reproduced with -mathematical precision. - -The illustrious guests of the Austrian Court in their most brilliant -uniforms, or with their most magnificent ornaments, constituted -an imposing sight. In the front row of the imperial stand, to the -right and to the left of the empresses, were the Queen of Bavaria, -the Duchesse Béatrice d’Este, the Grande-Duchesse d’Oldenbourg, and -her sister, Marie de Weimar; behind them sat the Kings of Prussia, -Würtemberg, and Denmark; the Princes of Prussia, Würtemberg, and -Bavaria, the Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, and finally the Arch-Dukes -Charles, Albert, Ferdinand, Maximilien d’Este, Jean, and Regnier. - -There had been whispers to the effect that Marie-Louise and her young -son would be present at these fêtes, but they neither came to this -one nor to the other. Marie-Louise, in fact, was in such a false -position as to have considered it simply consistent with her dignity in -misfortune to live in retirement.[69] Consequently she rarely left the -Palace of Schönbrunn. The Prince de Ligne told me, however, that in the -company of her father and of her young sisters she had been present at -several of the rehearsals. - -The sovereigns and the spectators being seated, the building -immediately rang with stirring military music, and the twenty-four -champions appeared at the barrier. They were the pick of the nobility -of Europe. The majority had gained their spurs elsewhere during the -recent wars. If all shone in virtue of their personal glory and their -illustrious birth, they were not less distinguished by their physical -advantages. It was said that there had been rivalry in earnest in -pursuit of the honour of filling a rôle in the scenes imitated from -ancient times. Finally the choice, which was tantamount to a patent of -elegance and grace, was fixed on the youngest and handsomest. Foremost -among them were the Princes Vincent Esterhazy, Antoine Kadziwill, -Leopold de Saxe-Cobourg, the Comtes Felix Woyna, Petersen, the Vicomte -de Wargemont, the Prince Charles de Lichtenstein, Louis de Schenye, -Louis de Schönfeldt, and young Trauttmansdorff, the son of the Master -of the Horse. - -The dresses of these knights had been exactly modelled on those of the -reign of François I., _i.e._ of the period when ‘chivalry,’ after a -last short blaze, was extinguished for ever. Like their fair dames, the -knights were divided into four quadrilles, each being marked by the -colour adopted by the corresponding feminine quadrille. The dress was -composed of a velvet doublet, tight at the waist, with puffed sleeves, -and lappets lined with satin. The front of the doublet was fastened -with buttons and laces of gold; below this came the close-fitting hose -and trunks, with yellow boots reaching to the calves, and provided -with gilt spurs. The hands were cased in gloves of a similar colour, -embroidered with gold, and ending in gauntlets; while on their heads -they wore large hats turned up in front, with the plume of feathers -drooping from the side and fastened with a diamond buckle. The swords -were suspended from baldricks encrusted with precious stones. Each fair -one had presented her knight with an ample band of stuff embroidered -in silk and gold. The scarf was tied in a bow at the side of the -sword-hand. The knights bestrode Hungarian horses of the rarest beauty, -and remarkable for their quickness of movement and their perfect -training. Their sleek coats, black as ebony, were almost entirely -hidden beneath their rich caparisons. Each knight carried a long lance -‘in rest’ on his knee. Four-and-twenty pages with banners displayed -preceded them, while in their wake came an equal number of squires, -dressed Spanish fashion, their bucklers inscribed with emblems and -mottoes. - -The pages and squires drew up in line on each side of the arena. The -four-and-twenty knights, two abreast, rode up first to the stand of -the sovereigns, and lowered their lances in sign of salutation and -obedience before the queens and empresses; the latter graciously -responded with a wave of their hands. Retracing their steps, the -knights direct their horses to the other stand, and offer similar -homage to their ladies, who, however, rise in response, and thus give -the spectators an opportunity of judging the beauty of their features, -the elegance of their figures, and the richness of their dresses. After -riding twice round the arena, all the paladins retire, awaiting a new -signal. - -The heralds soon sound a joyous blast, which is answered by the -musicians in the orchestras. The lists are open, and the different -games intended to show the skill and strength of the competitors begin. -Six knights, followed by their pages and squires, appear. They begin -with the _pas de lance_ (tilting at the ring); the horses are put to -the gallop, and each knight, rapidly borne along, removes at the point -of his lance one of the rings suspended before the imperial stand. Each -quadrille repeats the same movement three times, until the rings have -mostly disappeared, and the dexterity of the competitors has been put -to a severe test. At the end of this first exercise the lances with -the rings carried by each upon them are handed to the squires, and the -second game begins. Each champion, armed with a short dart, flings it -with consummate skill at the Saracens’ heads, and without slackening -his pace picks from the ground, by means of a second curved javelin, -the dart he has just flung. After that, drawing their swords, and -bent on the necks of their cattle, the knights gallop towards their -motionless adversaries, and strike them, endeavouring, however, to cut -them down altogether. - -Half-a-dozen different games followed, and the whole was wound up by a -cleverly simulated combat between the knights--so cleverly simulated -that the Prince de Lichtenstein bit the dust, and was carried away -unconscious. It was an accident which, but for the cries from the -ladies’ stand, would have passed unnoticed, for though the knights -endeavoured, as in the jousts of old, to dismount their rivals, certain -regulations strictly limiting the bounds of attack and defence had -been fixed, and the moment there was the faintest sign of their being -exceeded by this or that combatant, the heralds-of-arms interfered, -suspended the offender, and a new knight took his place. - -The shrieks of the _belles d’amour_ were altogether spontaneous, for -they did not imitate their ancestresses, who in the tourneys of old -encouraged their champions by their cries to do battle for their renown -to the last; the modern dames and damsels confined themselves to the -bestowal of expressive looks and sweet smiles. Perhaps these contained -as much encouragement as the more noisy demonstrations of approval, -although the Prince de Ligne, to judge from his remarks, would have -fain seen the fair ones revert to the ancient customs, ‘What delights -me above all in these revivals of chivalric practices is the image -of valour and skill inspired by love,’ he said. ‘Unquestionably, -our ancestors understood the love-passion better than we do. They -introduced it into everything--into their games and into their combats. -The love-passion in those days must have been a grand and noble -feeling; it was the twin-sister of glory. With us, love is only a -matter of pleasure. Instead of making it, as of old, an incentive to -the dangers of war or to the splendid perils of the lists, our poets -and novelists have relegated it to a cottage. But “love in a cottage,” -as has been aptly said, “soon becomes a cottage without love.” The -modern taste for tournaments,’ he went on, ‘is no new thing. I did -not see the jousts organised by the great Catherine at St. Petersburg -in the first years of her reign, but I have often been told the -particulars. Their most remarkable feature was the active participation -of women. They competed as well as the men. The celebrated Marshal -Münnich[70] was principal umpire. The favourite, Gregory Orloff, and -his brother Alexis were at the heads of the quadrilles. The first prize -for skill and grace was won by the handsome Comtesse Bouturlin, the -daughter of the great Chancellor Woronzoff. When handing it to her, -the old marshal decided that she should distribute the rest of the -wreaths to the dames and knights. It really seemed as if Catherine had -exhausted all kinds of pleasure and splendour, but there is, after all, -something left.’ - -While the prince was talking the four-and-twenty knights, this time -actively assisted by their pages and squires, executed several -difficult evolutions, attesting their skill and perfect horsemanship, -and the whole was wound up by a kind of equine set-dance, in which the -quadrupeds disputed the palm with their riders. Then the knights made -the round of the arena, saluted the sovereigns and their own dames, and -disappeared in the same order as they had come. - -The sovereigns themselves intimated by rising that the entertainment -was at an end, while the knights made their appearance in the stand -allotted to their dames, escorting them to the huge rooms of the -palace set apart for the ball and the supper. These rooms were filled -with flowers, and decorated with exquisite taste; a flood of light as -brilliant as the orb of day showed the women in all their resplendent -beauty; they and their champions became the centre of general -admiration, the sovereigns having resumed the incognito, some of them, -by the aid of dominos, disappearing altogether in the crowd. - -In the principal room there was a chief table with its service entirely -of gold. It stood on a kind of platform a few feet from the ground, and -was reserved exclusively for the royal guests of the Congress. To its -left there was another table almost equally magnificent, set apart -for the princes, the archdukes, the chiefs of reigning houses, and the -ministers of the great Powers. To the right there was a third table of -forty-eight covers for the actors of the tournament. Around the room -and in the adjoining ones smaller tables were spread, at which the -guests took their seats without distinction of rank. The perfume of the -baskets of flowers, the glitter of the ornaments worn, the brilliancy -of the diamonds, mingling with the colours of the floral decorations, -and constituting, as it were, ever so many shifting rainbows, the -sheen of the golden fruit-baskets--in short, the whole presented the -most magnificent sight hitherto witnessed anywhere. The magic of that -picture transported the spectator to one of the fairy scenes created -by a poetic imagination. During the collation minstrels sang, to the -accompaniment of their harps, lays to the beauty of the dames and to -the valour of their knights. - -At the royal board the Empress of Austria was seated between the Kings -of Prussia and Denmark. Emperor Francis had by his side respectively -the Empress Elizabeth and the Grande-Duchesse d’Oldenbourg. A little -further on was the charming Marie, Duchesse de Weimar, and by her -side the Prince Guillaume de Prusse [the future Wilhelm I. King of -Prussia and German Emperor]. The ‘immense’ King of Würtemberg looks, -as usual, pre-occupied. The table, in front of him, has been cut -away to accommodate his portly person. A glance at him causes one to -speculate upon the potentiality of nature in stretching the human -skin. King Frederick of Denmark supplies an instance to the contrary; -but his intellect, his never-failing animation, his tact and the rest -of his admirable qualities, which would have transformed an ordinary -individual into a remarkable man, have made of this monarch a being -worshipped by everybody. Excellent Maximilian of Bavaria shows on his -open face the genuine expression of satisfaction and kindness. - -At the table occupied by the paladins, Mme. Edmond de Périgord is -seated by the young Comte de Trauttmansdorff, her knight. As remarkable -for her beauty as for her tasteful dress, she captivates everybody -by the charm of her remarks, both animated and clever. The other -feminine glories of the tournament vie with each other in keeping the -conversational ball rolling. After the banquet a move was made to the -ball-room. More than three thousand invitations had been issued. All -that Vienna contained in the shape of illustrious personages, whether -in virtue of their birth, rank, or functions were there forgathered. -No memory could recall so many names celebrated in this or that -respect. No pen could adequately describe all those statesmen to whom -Europe had confided the interests of her destiny. Here, the Comte de -Loevenhielm, M. de Bernstorff, and the Prince d’Hardemberg[71] calmly -discussing the claim submitted to the Congress by the deposed King -Gustavus-Adolphus--a claim supported by Admiral Sir Sidney Smith with -more perseverance than success. There, M. de Humboldt, the Duc de -Dalberg, the Baron de Wessemberg, familiarly debating the problems -connected with Saxony and Poland. Further on, the Commandeur Alvaro -Ruffo and M. de Palmella speculating upon the fate reserved for Italy. -Still further on, M. de Metternich and M. de Nesselrode in lively -conversation with Lord Castlereagh, and, to judge from the seriousness -of their faces, not commenting on the joke just perpetrated by the -Englishman [Irishman?] in connection with the temporary transformation -of the Garter into a tiara. While the fate of Naples, Sweden, and -Poland is apparently hanging in the balance, waltzing and dancing are -going on, without the least concern about all these questions. The -quadrilles had been arranged beforehand. In the centre of the principal -ball-room, the quadrilles of the ‘forty-eight’ notable figures formed -the chief attraction. The sun had appeared on the horizon before the -last guests left the Burg. - - - - -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. - - -During the next four days the whole of Vienna seemed engrossed with -the accounts of the magnificence of the _carrousel_. Every particular -was eagerly caught up, the names of the knights and their dames were -on everybody’s lips. There were frequent allusions to the accident to -Prince Lichtenstein, whose life had for some time been in danger. In -short, the _carrousel_ was the inevitable subject of every conversation. - -At a reception at the Princesse Jean de Lichtenstein’s, the whole of -the programme was minutely reviewed; some praised and others criticised -the knights and their dames, the feats accomplished, the horses, the -evolutions, etc. Nevertheless, the upshot of all the remarks was that, -in respect of splendour, nothing like it had ever been seen in Europe, -and that no fête of that kind had ever been attended by an equal number -of spectators.[72] - -‘It is perfectly natural that Germany, which is the birthplace of -tournaments, should endeavour to revive their glory on such a solemn -occasion,’ said Prince Philippe de Hesse-Hombourg. ‘I do not think that -anything of the kind has ever been attempted since Louis XIV.‘s time,’ -said the hostess. ‘If Colbert had seen our knights and their fair ones, -he would probably have admitted being beaten.’ - -I reminded them that the first years of the nineteenth century had -been marked by several of those tournaments; and that I myself had -witnessed one in Stockholm given by Gustavus-Adolphus IV. At the -commencement of his reign that prince endeavoured to preserve in -Sweden the brilliant valour and the elegant and courtly manners of -which the Court of Gustavus III. had afforded such perfect models. He -was passionately fond of those warlike exercises, and they generally -took place at his summer residence of Drotningholm. ‘Assuredly,’ I -remarked, ‘the Vienna _carrousel_ has been admirable throughout from -a spectacular point of view. But that which I saw in 1800 could vie -with it, not in respect of its pomp and splendour, or by reason of the -eminent rank of its spectators, but through its faithful adherence to, -and accurate reproduction of, ancient traditions. It was, moreover, -marked by an incident which recalled the chivalric and often bloody -encounters of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.’ As a matter of -course, I was pressed to give further particulars, and this, as far as -my memory serves me, is what I told them. - - * * * * * - -The tournament was given in honour of the queen’s birthday, and for -several months beforehand the northern Courts had been apprised of it. -The young king was to figure among the champions, and the queen, one of -the handsomest women of her time, was to crown the victor and present -to him in the presence of the whole Court the reward of his skill, -which consisted of a scarf wholly embroidered by her own hands. Nothing -had been left undone to invest this fête with all the prestige that -formerly marked those of Louis XIV., the accounts of which had fairly -astonished the whole of Europe. - -The Comte de Fersen,[73] whose physical advantages and lucky star had -placed him in such high favour at the Court of France, came to fetch -us, ‘my father’ [the Marquis de Chambonas, who had adopted the author] -and me, to escort us to Drotningholm. Before proceeding thither, he -had to take on his way the Comte de Paar, his fellow-umpire at the -tournament, who, in virtue of being a ‘Gentleman of the Chamber,’ had -been present at the rehearsal of a ballet to be given on that very -evening for the first time at the opera. No sooner had we reached the -doors of the magnificent structure, due to Gustavus III.‘s love of -art, than we were conducted to a room preceding the royal box, where a -collation was awaiting us. It was there that Gustavus-Adolphus supped -when he came to the theatre, and that, divesting himself of all his -royal prerogatives, he became the equal of his friends. In tragic -contrast with the rest of the magnificent and sumptuous furniture, -with all those gold, silken, and alabaster decorations, one could not -help noticing a crimson velvet couch with stains all over it. It was -on this couch that Gustavus-Adolphus III. had been laid during the -night of the 16th March 1792, after the exploit of Ankarstroem. The -blood from his wound had practically soaked the material. Though it -would have been extremely simple to remove the piece of furniture, thus -effacing the trace of a crime committed in a place devoted to pleasure, -the king, from motives it was not easy to guess, had insisted upon -the couch remaining there, perhaps as an object lesson or merely as a -remembrance.[74] - -The Comte de Paar soon joined us, and shortly afterwards we were on our -way to the Queen’s demesne, about four leagues from Stockholm. Numerous -carriages were performing the same journey, and they rendered the -picturesque Swedish country road more animated than usual. - -A dense crowd had gathered since early morning around the castle, -blocking up every approach to it. They were on foot, on horseback, -and in every kind of conveyance; nevertheless, most admirable order -prevailed throughout. Two Uhlans of the Guards and an equerry were -waiting for the Comte de Fersen, who, in virtue of his functions as an -umpire, was to preside at the fête. - -At a little distance from the castle, in a pretty valley overlooked -by wooded heights, a circus had been erected, with galleries capable -of holding about four thousand spectators. Its floor had disappeared -beneath a thick layer of the finest sand, and high and strong palisades -surrounded it on every side. The women, in their richest apparel, -were almost without exception remarkable for the beauty peculiar to -their sisters of northern climes. The men were in uniform or in Court -dress. A cloak of black silk lined with crimson satin was considered -tantamount to gala vesture. The grandees of the kingdom had all -donned the dresses connected with their functions. Stands, draped -with satin, and displaying the three crowns of Sweden, were set apart -for the ambassadors. The ring was hung with Swedish standards. At one -end of the building was the pavilion for the queen and her ladies of -honour, particularly noticeable for the coquettish mingling of its -decorations, consisting of flowers, weapons, and flags, intertwined -with simple and genuine elegance. Dupré, the French architect, one of -the most celebrated decorators of Europe, had superintended all the -arrangements. - -At regular distances there were columns, from some of which were -suspended the rings for the games, while others supported the Turks’ -heads to be slashed at by the competitors. The banners of the knights -selected to dispute the prize were first borne in procession around the -arena, then fixed against the different barriers of the ring. - -Before leaving us Comte de Fersen had introduced us to his friend, M. -de Rozen, a young man who had taken part in the previous _carrousel_, -and who was, therefore, in a position to give us full particulars of -the present one. The various emblems and mottoes of the banners and -scutcheons were as ingenious as they were instructive in the true -spirit of chivalry. Among many I cite the following:-- - - A sword on a field azure. - - Motto--‘Je pars, je brille, je frappe.’ - (I go, I shine, I strike.) - - A lion on a field starred. - - ‘La valeur soumet les astres.’ - (Valour subjugates the stars.) - - A fire burning on an altar. - - ‘Ce qui est pur est éternel.’ - (The pure lasts for ever.) - - An ermine climbing a steep height. - - ‘Tâche sans tache.’ - (Try but keep stainless.) - -Finally, another shield, checkered red and yellow, was that of Tonin, -the jester of the late king. His motto, though, would have given no -clue to that effect. - -It ran: - - ‘Tout par raison, - Raison par tout, - Partout raison.’ - (Every thing through reason, - Reason in every thing, - Everywhere reason.) - -Tonin only jousted with witticisms, biting remarks and wholesome -truths, brought home to his hearers with a laugh; on all these points -he could make sure of the victory, for he varied them like his motto. -Among all these banners, resplendent with colour and embroidery, there -hung a black one without a squire to guard it. We asked M. de Rozen to -whom this mournful standard belonged. - -‘Do you not know?’ he replied. ‘Have you not read in the papers that -a knight who wishes to remain unknown has challenged to single combat -the champion sufficiently bold to dispute with him the prize of the -tournament? The prize, as you are aware, is a scarf embroidered by the -queen. At the time fixed for calling the roll of the knights they found -his glove lying in the middle of the ring, and his black banner planted -where it is now; attached to it was his buckler, with the following -words on a star-spangled blue ground: - - ‘Tra tanti una.’ - (Only one among all.) - -‘To add to the strangeness of the challenge is his choice of the -battle-axe, which went out of use long ago. The most curious stories -are going the round in connection with the challenge of that mysterious -Amadis. Among the different versions the most implicitly believed in is -the following: - -‘A young noble, sprung from one of the most illustrious families of -Great Britain, saw the Queen at Baden when she was only Princess -Dorothée-Wilhelmine. He fell deeply in love with her. Considering his -rank and his immense fortune, he might possibly have aspired to her -hand with success. But the two sisters of our queen having married -respectively the Emperor of Russia and Maximilien de Bavière, reasons -of state and the fitness of things carried her to the throne of Sweden. -The young lord, unable to conquer a feeling which from that moment was -shorn of all hope, was mad enough to gain admission surreptitiously to -our Court, and always under a fresh disguise. He was recognised by the -ladies-in-waiting of our queen, and narrowly escaped the punishment -due to his foolhardiness. The rumour went that he had gone to America. -Informed, no doubt, with the rest of Europe of the preparations for -this tournament, he wished to make an attempt to conquer or to die -under the very eyes of the woman he loves. It is even said that, -knowing the chivalric spirit of Gustavus-Adolphus, he conceived the -flattering hope of having a royal adversary to contend with, with the -possible chance of succeeding him who, as he probably thought, robbed -him at first. - -‘The Comte de Torstenson, son of the field-marshal, has offered to take -up the challenge. He has practised for some time with the battle-axe, -and acquired marvellous skill with it.’ - -At that moment the harmonious strains of a hundred instruments -announced the arrival of the queen, and every eye was turned towards -her. - -Her perfect beauty and the stateliness of her person would have -revealed the sovereign under the humblest dress. Surrounded by her -Court ladies, she took her seat under the canopy prepared for her. -Immediately the king at the head of his nobles entered the ring and -rode round it, saluting with his lance all the ladies, who had risen at -his coming. - -Gustavus-Adolphus IV. was at that time in his twenty-second year. -He was well built, had a martial bearing, and a noble and frank -countenance. He was anxious to copy Charles XII., and, to enhance -the likeness, he wore, as a rule, a blue coat, buttoned to the chin, -and had his hair brushed up from the roots. But with the sword that -performed such wonders at Bender, he lacked the strong arm that had so -often made the sword victorious, and the genius that had directed it. - -When he passed before the queen, in his magnificent costume, with head -erect and proud mien, and holding his lance with a firm grip, his -horse reared. Gustavus tried to quiet it, but an accidental touch of -the spurs made matters worse, and he was within an ace of being thrown. -It was the same animal he had ridden on the day of his coronation at -Upsala, and which had nearly killed him--an accident that, as a matter -of course, had furnished the superstitious among his subjects with a -thousand conjectures regarding the future of his reign. The cause of -the mishap was, however, sufficiently simple. The groom or equerry -entrusted with the training of the animal for the ceremony stopped -every day before the shop of a shoemaker, whose wife, a young Finnish -woman, amused herself by giving it a piece of bread and salt. The -handsome charger got thoroughly used to stopping at the hospitable -door, and when Gustavus, the crown on his head and sceptre in hand, -proceeded to the cathedral, it refused to pass the shop without its -usual ration. The king, thinking it was a mere whim on the animal’s -part, put the rowels into its flesh; the horse reared, crown and -sceptre rolled into the dust, and without the prompt assistance of -a page walking by the monarch’s side, who by clutching at his boot -restored his equilibrium, Gustavus would have gone the way of the royal -insignia. At the news of the accident, the fortune-teller, Arvidson, -exclaimed, it was said, with tears coursing down her cheeks: ‘The race -of Wasa has ceased to reign in Sweden.’[75] At the slightest uncommon -event of that reign, the prediction of the fortune-teller was ‘trotted -out’; as a matter of course the spectators at the tournament at once -added this omen to the rest. - -Meanwhile, the barrier was thrown open to the knights in their -magnificent dresses. Divided into quadrilles, they rode around the -lists, and in passing before the queen they saluted by lowering their -lances. All wore the colours of their dames in the form of a scarf, a -veil, a knot of ribbons, or a buckle. After that, they put their horses -through the boldest and most graceful evolutions. When that warlike -procession was concluded, to the sound of blasts from the combined -bands of the regiments of the Guards and the cheering of the crowd, -they retired to await the signal for the jousts. - -A herald-of-arms, taking his stand in the centre of the arena, -announced the opening of the tournament, and added in a loud voice: -‘In the name of the king, and according to the laws of the kingdom, it -is forbidden to any subject or alien to give or to accept a challenge -to single combat under no matter what pretext. It would be senseless -to imagine that an enclosure intended for the display of games of -skill could with impunity serve for the shedding of blood in the very -presence of the queen.’ - -The proclamation was received with signs of general approval. The -black banner of the unknown champion was torn down, and contemptuously -flung over the barrier. After which, Gustavus rode up to the Comte -de Torstenson, who had taken up his position at the entrance to the -lists, and who wore a brilliant suit of armour, with a magnificent -breastplate, inlaid with gold, over a coat of double mail, and whose -hand grasped a heavy battle-axe, which was lowered as his king drew -near. - -‘Comte de Torstenson,’ said Gustavus, holding out his hand, ‘we -appreciate your courage, and we thank you for it, but we reserve it for -a more noble opportunity.’ - -The lists were declared open. The king said in a loud voice, ‘Let every -one do his duty.’ Comte Fersen in his capacity of judge replied: ‘Go.’ -Then the different games commenced and were kept up for four hours. As -at the Vienna _carrousel_, the knights vied with each other in showing -their skill, their valour, and agility. The weather was magnificent; -its beauty seemed to enhance the general enthusiasm. Scarfs fluttered -in the air, joyous applause and murmurs of praise broke forth at every -moment from lips as red as the rose, while flowers were flung by hands -trembling with emotion and fell at the competitors’ feet. - -The contest was a long one; the champions vying with each other in -skill. Finally, Comte Piper was adjudged the victor. The judge and the -heralds proclaimed his name and conducted him to the feet of the queen, -who, while complimenting him, vested him with the scarf, the reward -of his skill, and held out the hand that embroidered the ornament for -him to kiss. The trumpets sounded a joyous blast, while cheers broke -forth greeting the victorious young champion, who was moreover pelted -with flowers. His banner was hung upon a car drawn by two milk-white -reindeer richly caparisoned: Comte Fersen had sent for them to his -estate in Lapland to offer them to the king. The car was escorted by -the whole of the Court across the park to the banqueting hall at the -castle. Several tables had been spread; the king presided over that -occupied by his family and the victorious knight; the chancellor and -the grand officers of the crown presided over the others. Refreshments -were served to the people in the garden, and when night set in, the -gaiety that prevailed on the immense lawn and in the bosky dells -glittering with lights invested the fête with the air of a family -gathering. - -After the banquet we went to the beautiful opera-house to hear the -lyrical drama of _Gustave Wasa_, the music of which was by Piccini, -and the libretto by the late king. Finally, a general illumination of -the gardens, a torchlight procession, and enormous fireworks fitly -wound up the day, which doubtless was among the small number of happy -ones reserved by fate for Gustavus-Adolphus IV. - - * * * * * - -The guests of the Princesse Jean de Lichtenstein had listened -attentively to the particulars of a fête which apparently did not -belong to our own times. The listeners, and especially the fair sex, -had probably expected a sequel to the challenge of the knight of -the black banner, which sequel, of course, was to take the form of -a ‘combat to the death.’ The pacific termination of the tournament -seemed to cause more or less of a disappointment. I ventured to remark -that neither the tournament at Stockholm nor the _carrousel_ in Vienna -could compare with the games enacted on the bridge of Pisa, which, -from the standpoint of danger and tenacity of purpose, presented the -most perfect image of the old wars in Italy of the Middle Ages. No one -present but myself had ever witnessed these games, and I was asked to -convey an idea of them. - - * * * * * - -The last of those games, at which I happened to be present, took place -during the short-lived existence of the kingdom of Etruria.[76] They -had been abolished long ago on account of the accidents to which they -gave rise. The queen’s consent to their revival was obtained with -great difficulty. The origin of this struggle cannot be fixed with -any degree of certainty, for though it was called ‘a game’ it was in -reality a battle. It is more than probable that they dated from the -long distant past; according to some, they were Greek and almost as -old as the Olympic Games. The Pisans maintain that in the ancient -chronicles of their town there is a mention of the names of some -champions of Sainte-Marie who formed part of the contingent despatched -by their republic to the Crusades. In our days Alfieri has given us a -poetical picture of those chivalric contests, with all their perils and -the passions they aroused. - -Pisa is traversed by the Arno; and a handsome marble bridge connects -the two quarters of the town. One quarter has its patroness in the -Virgin Mary, the other is placed under the protection of St. Anthony. -When they celebrated those games in days of old, each side chose three -hundred champions to proclaim and maintain the pre-eminence of their -patron’s banner against all comers. Those improvised defenders were -always selected from among the strongest, the bravest, and most agile -young fellows of their quarter. - -They were clad in armour similar to that worn by their ancestors in -the palmy days of the republic. Trained and drilled long beforehand by -experienced leaders, they stoutly prepared themselves both for attack -and defence. A massive breastplate, a helmet, armlets, and cuish of -steel constituted their means of defence; their weapon of offence -consisted of a kind of club of hard wood, three feet long; one blow -dealt with force and precision was sufficient to disable an adversary. - -A lowered barrier in the centre of the bridge separated the combatants. -At the stroke of three from the cathedral towers, a cannon shot gave -the signal, and immediately the barrier was raised. Amidst a furious -blast of trumpets, the struggle began, and the blows from the heavy -clubs rang on the steel of the breastplates and helmets. That game, -almost as barbarous as the times that gave it birth, lasted for -three-quarters of an hour. At the discharge of a second shot, the -barrier was lowered, and the party which had driven back the other from -its position, if but the length of a foot, was proclaimed the victor. -Cries of joy rang on the bank that had gained the victory, while a -mournful silence attested the defeat and the disgrace of the opposite -bank. - -In 1805 I happened to be in Pisa, and thanks to some friends and the -kindness of M. Aubusson de la Feuillade, the French ambassador, I was -enabled to witness that extraordinary fête. It had been announced -throughout the length and breadth of Italy some weeks before its -celebration. At the news of the forthcoming contest offered to strength -and dexterity, there was a rush from all parts of combatants who had -acquired a reputation for bravery or herculean strength. There was, -according to report, one from Calabria, others from Ancona and Geneva; -Rome had sent a couple of Transteverinos, and, wonderful to relate, the -learned University of Padua added to the contingent with a professor -reputed to be the strongest man of Italy. Personages belonging to the -highest classes of Italian society had inscribed themselves under the -name of some of their retainers: assured of preserving their incognito, -thanks to the visors of their helmets, they intended taking part in -the struggle, the pugilistic fever having become general. Constant -practice had familiarised the athletes with the use of their clubs to -such a degree as to enable them to handle these as their forefathers -handled the double-edged sword in the Middle Ages. The professor from -Padua talked of challenging four men armed with sabres and swords, and -of vanquishing them with the sole aid of his club. The enthusiasm had -turned all heads. No doubt it is a very extraordinary thing that, -in an enlightened age like ours, such an amusement, with all its -inevitable and perhaps fatal consequences, should have been allowed. -It is, moreover, most probable that the danger involved in the whole -affair added to people’s curiosity. Certain is it, however, that Pisa -was invaded by more than a hundred thousand strangers--an enormous -number for a town the population of which did not exceed twelve -thousand inhabitants. - -The week preceding the struggle was spent in warlike exercises, and -the eve of the day itself in pious practices and meditation. All the -combatants scrupulously kept their vigil in prayers like the knights of -old, went to confession, and took the Sacrament. The bishop publicly -blessed the standards, richly embroidered by the ladies of the foremost -families of the land. In short, everything calculated to sustain the -combatants’ courage was resorted to in honour of either the patron -or patroness whose banner they defended. Those who had laid wagers -on the event--and their number and the amount of their bets were -considerable--spared neither promises nor encouragement. During that -week, each combatant was fed like a podesta; but the use of strong -liquors was strictly forbidden: like Richelieu at the siege of Mahon, -the chiefs intimated in the ‘orders for the day’ that any champion -guilty of inebriety should not have the honour of competing. - -From six in the morning, all the windows overlooking the Arno at that -point were occupied by elegantly dressed women; these windows had -been let at enormous prices. There were, moreover, stands on both -banks of the river intended for spectators. The quays were absolutely -black with people from the rural districts. The excursion, in their -minds, was invested with the solemnity of a pilgrimage. Their varied -and picturesque dresses offered a unique sight. A large stand, -richly draped, had been erected for the queen, the court, the corps -diplomatique, and foreigners of distinction who had come from all the -Italian Courts. - -Craft of all dimensions, displaying bunting from prow to stern, -and provided with elegant tents, crowded the river. They had bands -on board, and a glance showed the preparations for cold collations -everywhere. This flotilla alone was a delightful sight. On both sides -of the bridge there were other craft: they, as it were, constituted -the riparian police, and were charged with keeping both boats and -spectators at a distance. Their second mission consisted in affording -aid to the combatants who from some cause or other might tumble into -the stream. Such accidents, to judge from a picture at the town hall, -painted more than two centuries before, were by no means improbable. -The canvas represented, among other phases of the struggle, two knights -clinging tightly to each other, and continuing the contest, while -dropping into the river. - -The living picture that day was scarcely less curious, with the noise, -bustle, and stir of the spectators, the constant movement on both banks -of the stream, the diversity of Italian dialects, and the innumerable -incidents of that outdoor life which in this sunny clime seems the most -natural. - -At twelve o’clock the combatants donned their armour; their trainers -and chiefs crowd around them and renew their counsels and instructions. -To watch the excitement of their wives and their womankind one might -have taken them for so many Spartan matrons handing their bucklers to -their sons and saying: ‘With it or on it.’ - -Thus armed, the combatants repair to their respective encampments; -refreshments are served out to them under tents, and this time the -solids are washed down with wine from the best cellars of the town. -At the bugle-call they emerge from their encampments and form in line -of battle; then, preceded by their military bands and with banners -unfurled, they slowly gain the side of the bridge they have sworn -to defend. The banners were attached outside the parapets. On each -side plans of attack and defence had been prepared, and so carefully -elaborated as to elicit the admiration of a most competent judge in -military matters, namely, the General of Division Duchesne. He had -made the campaigns of Italy, Holland, and Egypt, and considered them -(the plans) samples of strategical skill, from the manner in which the -forces were disposed for an engagement in which everything depended on -physical strength. - -Meanwhile the two parties had been pressing against the barrier for -some minutes. Three struck from the cathedral clock; at the same time -the air rings with the firing of the cannon, the signal so impatiently -waited for. The obstacle dividing the two contingents is lifted, and -the attack commences with a tenacity of which none but an eyewitness -can conceive an approximate idea. All kinds of cries fall upon the -ear. To the majority of the spectators the interest of the whole is -heightened by the promptings of greed, of pride, and even of love. Each -sign of success is greeted with deafening applause. The bravery of the -combatants rises into frenzy, and the hand-to-hand struggle becomes a -real battle with its fury and its alternating incidents. - -While the two troops assail each other with equal fury, each side -flings long ropes with iron crooks attached to them into their -adversaries’ ranks. The crook catches a leg, a man is down, and he -is dragged away captive. It is simply a modification of the lasso -practised by the Tartars on the Yedissen steppes: the running knot is -thrown around the necks of the wild horses and they are checked in -their stampede. - -The half-hour after three had struck, and the two contingents, pressed -tightly against each other, seemed so many athletes who, unable to make -their opponents budge, spend their strength in protracted efforts. Not -an inch of ground had been gained; another ten minutes, and Victory -herself, in her indecisive mood, would have claimed, as in days of old, -her share of the glory. - -The two masses were so tightly wedged against each other as to make -fighting impossible. They were simply like the waves of two meeting -streams. In order to give further weight to the men, each leader -ordered his band of musicians to advance, which movement again only -equalised the power of resistance. On the two banks a mournful silence -followed the joyous acclamations of the previous half-hour; the -general deadlock left little or no hope of a decisive result. At last -two champions of the hindmost ranks of Sainte-Marie hit upon a most -audacious movement. In spite of the weight of their armour, they climb -on to the shoulders of their comrades, and for a few moments remain -erect on the flooring of brass and steel; in other words, the large -helmets so closely serried as to leave little or no space between them. -Advancing carefully from helmet to helmet, they reach the first rows -of their own contingent. From the height of that living fortress, as -from the height of a war-chariot, they shower tremendous blows with -their clubs on the heads of their adversaries. The latter, though -protected by the metal covering their skulls, finally reel and fall -down. The breach is made, a thousand cries of victory from the side of -Sainte-Marie are heard, and its mass advances. In a short time it has -over-stepped its own line of demarcation, and the banner of St. Anthony -is carried away by the two aerial champions. - -The leader of the opposite forces in vain attempts a defence similar -to the attack. Some St. Anthony champions also climb on to their -fellows’ shoulders. There is positively a second combat on the heads -of the combatants, without, however, detracting in the slightest from -the fury of the onslaught of those who are on _terra firma_. It was -indeed something marvellous to see those two stages of warriors dealing -each other blows and using all the combined resources of strength. The -struggle was both violent and intense; at one moment it seemed that the -banner of St. Anthony was going to be recovered. One of the champions -of Sainte-Marie, the nearest to the parapet, took his club in both -hands, and with a swing brought it down on the head of the adversary -facing him. The latter reels, loses his balance, and drops into the -Arno. Frenzied clamour from both sides rends the air. The army of the -Holy Virgin redoubles its efforts and stands like a rock on the ground -it has gained. Joshua was not there to stop the sun in its course. The -third quarter of the hour has struck, the cannon gives the signal and -the barrier is lowered. The army of the Holy Virgin remains the victor; -the honour of the day belongs incontestably to it. - -Immediately the victorious quarter rang with joy and inspiriting -blasts of trumpets, while a mournful silence and a feeling of disgrace -fell upon that of the vanquished. It is a true saying that men derive -the energy of their feelings from the sky under which they were -born. Hence, while the champions of the Holy Virgin were loaded with -caresses, praise, and gifts, carried in triumph and enthusiastically -welcomed by their families, those of St. Anthony silently regained -their domiciles, where sarcasm and reproaches awaited them, and where -they perhaps deemed themselves fortunate if, for balm to their wounds, -they did not get additional blows from their own flesh and blood. - -At night the victorious quarter was agog with balls, concerts, music, -the tooting of horns, the whole of it only ceasing with morn. On the -bank opposite everything remained pitch dark. The quarter conveyed the -impression of being inhabited by ghosts. - -Nothing, I fancy, can be compared to that scene. For more than -a century, Europe had not witnessed a similar spectacle, where -everything, arms as well as wounds, was altogether serious. And he -who had not seen a real battle might have well believed that he was -witnessing one by going back in his imagination to an epoch when cannon -was not as yet the last argument of kings. - - - - -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 Fête at Prince - Razumowski’s--The Prince Royal of Würtemberg--Russian - Dances--Retrospection. - - -The smaller ball-room usually reserved for the masked routs was filled -to overflowing. That gathering, like all those that had preceded it, -was the living image of a society devoted to pleasure, to flirting, and -seductive pastimes of every description. - -‘We have got a new guest, and, moreover, one who’ll be by no means -welcome at the Congress,’ remarked the Prince de Ligne. - -‘Some deposed sovereign, prince?’ I asked. - -‘No; a guest who means to have his share of all these rejoicings; -not to mince words, the plague. At this moment it is raging in -Servia, and threatens to make its entrance here in proper person and -without plenipotentiaries. You may, however, make your mind easy; -all precautions are taken, and we shall want neither conferences nor -treaties against the unwelcome visitor. - -‘Since yesterday,’ he went on, ‘this important assembly of the greatest -monarchs and their august deliberations have inspired me to write, -not a philosophical treatise or a serious work of any kind, either -political or otherwise, but a song. At any rate, it will be a song to -some, though it may be a lesson to others. It’s a popular ditty without -the least pretension; I wrote it in a quarter of an hour. We may add -that it was written with one of the pens of the great Frederick, the -only thing I brought away with me from Sans-Souci. The quill possesses -the further merit of having traced some plans of battle, and some -verses which were no better than mine.’ - -I complimented him, laughing. - -‘Don’t laugh,’ he rejoined. ‘The history of the Congress is not unlike -the history of France, which, as Ménage averred, might be written with -a collection of light comedies interspersed with song, to guide the -author.’ - -Then, after a few moments of silence, ‘I’ll not admit the paternity of -this trifle, except to my friends. I have not forgotten the Duchesse de -Boufflers’ reward of the cocksure vanity of the Comte de Tressan.[77] I -have nothing to oppose to the thousands of bayonets of the occupants of -thrones but so many words marshalled in line. The struggle would not be -equal.’ - -‘But to whom, prince, if not to you, should belong the privilege of -telling the truth?’ - -‘You mean in virtue of my age?’ - -I quickly changed the subject. This excellent prince always came back -to his regrets at being more or less put into the shade by men who -had only recently made good their names, and his comments on current -events, though devoid of all bitterness, were stamped with a kind of -sadness. I began talking to him about his military writings, which he -liked best of all, and to which he attached the greatest importance. -Posterity has judged differently. It has allotted the foremost place -to his clever witticisms, to his remarks on the society, the manners -and customs, and the artistic questions of his time, in the writing of -which his imagination found full play. The soldier is almost entirely -forgotten, but the sprightly and pungent literary man, the impartial -and quick observer, is admired as much as ever. - -‘I have left my works to my company of Trabans. They are the -reflections of an old soldier whose experience has been deemed -superfluous. At any rate, people will profit by it after my death.’ - -It was evident that the prince was in one of the fretful moods that -now and again assailed him as a set-off to his youthful gaiety. His -features became clouded, he took my arm; we had a short stroll round -the rooms, then went out and walked silently to his little house on the -rampart. - -Next morning when I called I found him, contrary to his custom, out of -bed and seated in his library, which was at the same time his bed- and -reception-room, and which, smiling, he had named the last bar of his -perch. - -‘You have come for the song. Just listen to it.’ And in a by no means -feeble voice he began to sing the trifle which was soon taken up by all -classes of society, including the sovereigns themselves.[78] - -‘Take this copy with you,’ said the prince; ‘my heirs will be none -the worse for this liberality on my part. It is different with regard -to these two manuscripts which I am just touching up. One deals with -considerations on the disastrous Austrian campaigns during the first -years of the French Revolution; the other treats of the campaigns in -Italy up to Marengo. Both are not without interest. But,’ interrupting -himself, ‘while I am making songs on the Congress, what becomes of it? -Have you got any news?’ - -‘None, prince, not a syllable of what transpires leaks out. To tell -the truth, people do not appear to concern themselves much with regard -to it. There is, however, a great deal of talk about a ball Emperor -Alexander proposes to give to the sovereigns at Prince Razumowski’s -mansion on St. Catherine’s night, the fête-day of the Grand-Duchess of -Oldenburg.’ - -‘That’s right, those poor kings ought to have a holiday. I am not -certain, though, that at the end of all these entertainments any of the -monarchs will be able to say to himself what my dear Joseph II. said. -When he had worked the whole of the day at the reforms which, while -immortalising his name, contributed to the happiness of the empire, -he said, lightly tapping his cheek, “And now, go to bed, Joseph, I am -pleased with your day’s work.” - -‘Amidst this cross-fire of different pretensions, have you heard -anything of a claim of another kind? Trifling though it may be, it -is calculated to provide some occupation for the archons of the -Congress. It is a note presented by Louis Buon-Compagni, Prince of -Lucca and Piombino, claiming sovereign rights over the island of -Elba. He considers the investment of Napoleon with that sovereignty -out of order and out of place. His claim is supported by a document, -in which Emperor Ferdinand acknowledges to have received from one of -his ancestors, Nicolas Ludovisi, Duc de Venosa, more than a million -of florins for the investiture of Elba and Piombino, granted to him -and his descendants. Here’s a pretty business--the man who ruled -the world threatened with ejectment by another Robinson Crusoe! If -Louis [Ludovico] Buon-Compagni would come down to the rôle of Friday, -matters might be arranged. But he wants his island, and wants it all to -himself. Trifling as the incident may appear, it would lend itself to -a very curious chapter. It would be the height of absurdity to see the -man who distributed crowns without a stone on which to put his heroic -head in an unknown island.’ - -Coming back to his favourite topic, the prince referred once more -to warlike matters, and in a manner as enthusiastic as if he were -twenty. At such moments his tall and beautiful figure drew itself up -to its full height, his features became animated, his eyes positively -brilliant. ‘Don’t imagine, my dear boy, that during two days I have -done nothing but concoct rhymes or epigrams on the Congress. You see -these two volumes; well, I have spent the night in reading them.’ - -He pointed to a military work entitled _Principes de Stratégie -appliqués aux Campagnes de 1796 en Allemagne_. Its author, Arch-Duke -Charles, had sent them to him. - -‘In this book, full of curious details and profound views,’ he -said, ‘there is only one mistake as far as I can judge. The author -is too severe upon himself. There is not the faintest doubt about -the transcendent military worth of Prince Charles, but it is marked -by so much modesty and such simplicity of manner as to seem scarcely -reconcilable with his reputation. He is not only the greatest captain -of Austria, but more than once he has proved himself a counter-balance -to the genius of your Napoleon. In his valour, in his faculty of -inspiring both respect and obedience in his soldiers, he is like -Frederick; in his virtues, his strict integrity, and his unalterable -love of duty, he is the living image of the Prince Charles of Lorraine. -The frankness of his soul is reflected in his face. Some time ago I -attempted to draw his portrait in verse. I sent it to him anonymously, -knowing as I did that direct praise was apt to displease him. In some -way, I do not know how, he guessed the authorship. No doubt my feelings -got the better of my style, and I presume that the books he sent me are -intended as a reply. I have just finished reading them. I feel certain -of their becoming classical, for admiration instinctively follows a -public man admitted, as he is, to be possessed of a grand and noble -character.’ - -Then he drifted to the famous captains of his time and to their -notable exploits; and gradually I felt his enthusiasm gaining upon -me. His own genius was discernible in his looks, and electrified -me. The conversation of such men as he is more apt to enlighten one -and to speak louder than their books. Inasmuch as I had made up my -mind religiously to garner every literary scrap from the pen of this -encyclopedic man, I asked him to give me his verses on Prince Charles, -and I added them to my precious collection. - -‘We’ll meet at Razumowski’s,’ he said, ‘seeing that, guided by pleasure -only, we are evidently advancing towards the great result of this -sapient assembly amidst balls, fêtes, _carrousels_, and games. No -doubt the day will come when we shall be allowed to know the fate of -Europe. Manifestly, though, experience does not appear to convey any -valuable lesson either to men’s passions or to their ambition; and our -era seems to have quickly forgotten a very recent past. - -‘I must leave you, to preside at a chapter of the Order of -Maria-Theresa;[79] the Commandeur-Général, Ouwaroff, is to be invested -to-day. From there I am going to dine with your great diplomatist.’ - -Since the cold weather had set in, making the Prater somewhat too -chilly for idlers and loungers on foot, the latter foregathered on -the Graben. The newspaper writers thronged the public resort, and, -in default of genuine particulars of the Congress, retailed their -so-called political information and Court stories, as devoid of -probability, not to say of truth, as the rest. Outdoor life had assumed -such proportions that one might have safely said to one’s friends -in the evening, ‘I looked for you on the Graben to-day. I failed -to find you, so I left my card.’ The Graben was to the majority of -strangers what the Square of St. Mark is to the Venetians. They spent -the greater part of their time there. It was a kind of open-air club; -everybody received and returned calls there; the life of the capital -was practically regulated on that spot; folk appointed to meet there -to discuss their future movements, and to organise pleasure parties -for the evening. Hence, it would be no exaggeration to say that people -lived in common on the Graben, amidst an immense group of ‘loafers,’ -idlers, ‘spouters,’ and disputants. - -There was another kind of store-house for news, epigrams, witty -sallies, and satirical observation; a kind of ‘lion’s mouth’ _à la -Vénitienne_, less the secret denunciations. Or rather, the place was -like the Marforio in Rome, I mean the statue at the foot of which there -was a constant flow of criticism both on the governors and on the -governed. The second spot was the big room of the ‘Empress of Austria’ -tavern, which I have already mentioned. Every day, at the dinner-hour, -the place was thronged with illustrious and important personages, -anxious to escape from the magnificent but somewhat solemn banquets of -the Austrian Court. At a ‘round table’ the occupants vied with each -other in challenges--not like those of the ancient knights of King -Arthur, but in wit-combats, sarcastic lunges, and epigrams, all of them -tempered by the perfect tone of Courts and of the best society. - -The constant variety of its patrons invested this improvised club with -the greatest interest. Among the _habitués_ were the Chevalier de Los -Rios, Ypsilanti, Tettenborn, MM. Achille Rouen, Koreff, Danilewski, -the Prince Koslowski, Gentz, the secretary of the Congress, the Comte -de Witt, Carpani, the poet, ever so many generals, ambassadors, and -very often some royal highnesses. Narischkine, the great-chamberlain, -came now and again, treating the company to his biting and dreaded -sallies. In short, there was a never-failing muster of all that Vienna -held within its walls in the way of political, artistic, and social -celebrities. - -The stories told there could have rightly been called the ‘Chronicle of -the Congress,’ and even the ‘Chronicles of Europe’; everybody of note, -or of erewhile renown, being apparently responsible for his doings and -sayings to the jurisdiction of the caustic Areopagus of that tavern. - -Although the fare was in keeping with the company and the conversation, -prices were comparatively modest. In spite of the number of strangers -in Vienna at that moment, in spite of their rank and their wealth, -the cost of most things, except of lodgings, was moderate. The Dutch -ducat was worth twelve florins in paper, which fact, doubling its -value in money, increased the resources of a stranger in that ratio. -The whole may be judged from the fact that meals, profusely served and -supplemented with several kinds of wine, were supplied at the rate of -five florins per head. - -Griffiths and I took our seats at one of the tables. They were talking -about the preparations for the fête next day at Razumowski’s, and of -the honour the emperor had bestowed upon him by creating him a prince. - -‘He deserved the distinction,’ said Koslowski. ‘The new prince, since -he has been our ambassador at Vienna, has made many valuable friends. -In the recent discussions on Poland, he was instrumental in restoring -harmony, and in putting an end to the little pecking which threatened -to become serious.’ - -‘Added to this,’ remarked the representative of a German princelet, -‘there is a prerogative attached to his new title. Henceforth, when -going out at night he can have torch-bearers running in front of him.’ - -The new prince having become the momentary target for the remarks of -everybody, there were, of course, many references to his enormous -fortune, which, when all was said and done, was only a fraction of the -wealth of his father, the marshal, who, greatly favoured by Empress -Elizabeth, became the wealthiest private individual of Europe.[80] He -and Frederick had a curious little scene one day. When the marshal was -in Berlin the king held in his honour a review of the troops who had -gone through a score of campaigns. In Russia all the dignities and -functions are assimilated to corresponding military grades, from the -lowest to the topmost rung of the ladder; nevertheless, the marshal -had never seen a battlefield. - -‘I trust you are pleased, marshal,’ said the King of Prussia at the -termination of the manœuvres. - -‘Much pleased indeed, sire, although the whole of it is altogether -beyond my competence; I am only a civil marshal.’ - -‘You are indeed very civil, marshal; unfortunately we have no such -grades in our army,’ replied Frederick. - -Political gossip formed the main item of our conversation that evening. -‘The intervention of Razumowski,’ remarked one of a group, ‘and his -conciliatory efforts throughout have by no means been rewarded too -highly. The quarrel was getting envenomed, I have been told. One of -the most eminent of European plenipotentiaries expressed himself in -the course of the discussion with great firmness upon Alexander’s -pretensions to the throne of Poland. The Grand-Duke Constantine got -angry, and showed his anger by a somewhat too energetic gesture, after -which he left in hot haste. According to well-informed people, the -diplomatist is meditating a piece of revenge. Considering that he is a -man of wit, we may expect something odd.’ - -‘No,’ replied another, ‘that’s not the cause of the grand-duke’s abrupt -departure. The minister in question wrote to Prince Hardenberg some -sentences calculated to displease the Russian monarch. By a strange -fatality the document fell into the hands of Alexander, and this led to -very lively explanations. Lord Castlereagh sided with Austria. Matters -reached such a point that one of the monarchs, forgetting his usual -reserve, flung his glove on the table. - -‘“Would your majesty wish for war?” asked the English plenipotentiary. - -‘“Perhaps, monsieur.” - -‘“I was not aware,” Castlereagh replied, “that any war was to be -undertaken without English guineas.” And appeasement,’ added the -speaker, ‘has not progressed an inch, in spite of the kindly efforts of -our new prince.’[81] - -‘Will the King of Saxony be reinstated in his kingdom in spite of -Prussia, which covets it? King Friedrich-Wilhelm is very angry with -M. de Talleyrand,’ said a third interlocutor. ‘The king lately -remonstrated with M. de Talleyrand for too warmly espousing the cause -of the Saxon monarch, that sole traitor, as he put it, to the cause of -Europe. - -‘“Traitor!” echoed Talleyrand. “And from what date, sire?” Honestly, -Frederick-Augustus ought to be forgiven everything, if there be -anything to forgive, if for no other reason than the justice of the -repartee.’ - -‘That excellent prince has done much better than that,’ replied an -interlocutor. ‘Lest some untoward event should happen, he has taken -care to make a little purse for himself, from which he has detached a -few millions for the benefit of two personages disposing of a great -deal of influence in Vienna. This golden key will open the doors of his -kingdom much more quickly than all the protocols of the Congress.’ - -All at once, and without the least transition, the talk turned on -Lord Stewart and on some mishaps due to his overweening conceit. ‘For -the last four days,’ said some one, ‘his lordship has not been seen -on foot or in his magnificent carriage. According to rumour, his face -has been more or less damaged. He had a quarrel on the Danube bridge -with a couple of hackney drivers, and immediately jumping off his -seat, his excellency, waving his arms like the sails of a windmill, -challenged his adversaries to an English boxing match. The Vienna -coachman, however, knows nothing, either theoretically or practically -of “fisticuffs,” and consequently our two Automédons’ [the French -equivalent for our ‘Jehu,’ and an allusion to Achilles’ charioteer] -‘bravely grasped their whips, and first with the thongs and afterwards -with the handles, belaboured his lordship with blows, without the least -respect for his “pretty” face. They left him lying on the ground, -bruised all over, and disappeared as quickly as their horses would take -them. - -‘Milord has bad luck, but his conceit seems incorrigible. Lately, on -leaving the theatre, he happened to be behind the daughter of the -Comtesse Co---- on the grand staircase. There was a great crush, and, -taking advantage of it, his lordship was guilty of an act of impudent -familiarity, which he might have found to his cost could only be washed -out with blood. Without being in the least disconcerted, the young, -handsome, and innocent girl quietly turned round and gave him a sound -box on the ears, as a warning to leave innocence and beauty alone. -Naturally, his lordship has been the laughing-stock of everybody, as he -often is, for nothing waits so surely upon conceit and fatuous vanity -as derision.’ - -‘Have the Genoese envoys obtained an audience at last?’ asked some one, -‘Or have they been driven away from all the diplomatic doors at which -they knocked for a hearing.’ - -‘They ought to be well pleased,’ was the answer. ‘Weaned with their -applications, M. de Metternich has given them the desired interview -and overwhelmed them with his politeness. They wish to constitute -themselves into an independent State. The minister listened to every -word they said, and when they left off speaking, told them that Genoa -would be incorporated with Piedmont. Our Genoese objected violently. -M. de Metternich told them that the affair was settled, irrevocably -settled, and bowed them out even more politely than he “bowed them in.” -He might have saved them their breath.’ - -‘The Duchesse de ----, not to be behindhand with the Princesse de ----, -who has made her lover an ambassador, has made hers a general, though -he has never seen a battle. It’s of no consequence, seeing that the -Congress, in virtue of its wisdom, is to put an end to all war both in -the immediate and distant future.’ - -‘Love turns other heads besides these,’ chimed in the first speaker. ‘A -great personage happened to see a Viennese work-girl somewhere on the -ramparts, and has fallen a victim to her rosy face and elegant figure. -There’s no doubt about it; he is thoroughly in love; he lavishes -presents on his very easy conquest, and altogether forgetting his rôle -of sovereign, he has thrown all reserve to the winds, and given her his -portrait set with diamonds. In days gone by the Court ladies would have -objected to such a _mésalliance_.’ - -Some one threw in a word about the balls given by Lady Castlereagh, -and this led to remarks on his lordship’s pronounced love for dancing. -‘The taste is easily explained, it belongs to all times and all ages,’ -was the comment. ‘Aspasia taught Socrates to dance; and when he was -fifty-six years old Cato the Censor danced even more often than -his lordship. It is doubtful whether either of these made himself -as ridiculous as that lank body of his lordship dancing a jig, and -lifting his long spindle-shanks, keeping time to the music. It is -indeed a diverting spectacle. What a windfall this would be to those -clever English caricaturists, if one could only get them to come to -Vienna! At any rate, the dancing master of his lordship, in case of -his becoming prime minister, will have no occasion to repeat what the -dancing master of the [Earl?] of Oxford said on learning that Elizabeth -had made his pupil her great-chancellor: “Truly, I fail to see what -merit the queen could find in this Barclay? I had him in hand for two -years, and was unable to make anything of him.”’ - -‘In spite of the express declaration of the sovereigns, who have -settled among themselves the questions of rank and precedence in -accordance with their age, disagreements on the subject crop up every -day,’ said somebody who had hitherto been silent. ‘The bickering -between the minister of Würtemberg and the Hanoverian minister is -without importance; nothing has come of it save the retirement of the -Würtemberger and the appointment of the Comte de Wintzingerode in his -stead. But the quarrel between the Princesse de Lichtenstein and the -Princesse Esterhazy is not so trivial. The one claims precedence over -the other in virtue of her husband being the most ancient prince of the -empire.’ - -‘It would be easy enough to settle that matter,’ was the reply from -the other side of the table. ‘Let them apply to those ladies the rule -adopted by the sovereigns; in other words, let age rule precedence, and -you may be sure that neither of them will want to go first.’ - -‘Here is a strange pendant to the adventure of the too conscientious -Vatel, whose disappointment and death have been immortalised by Mme. de -Sévigné. The _chef_ at Chantilly killed himself because the fish for -the dinner failed him; the Baron de ---- killed himself through having -eaten too much fish.’ - -‘What’s the good of joking about such a sad event?’ - -‘I am not joking, I am telling you the unvarnished truth. The poor -deceased was a slave to etiquette, and having partaken too freely of -some delicious fish, he felt thoroughly uncomfortable in consequence. -He was invited to make a fourth at a rubber of whist with the -Grand-Duke of Baden, a Princesse de C----, and his Majesty of Bavaria; -and in spite of his bodily and moral agony, he dared not refuse. But -the ordeal proved too much, and when concealment of the situation -was no longer possible he rushed away, went home, and shot himself. -Everybody regrets his death, because he was a general favorite.’[82] - -‘Your great diplomatist, this time in thorough agreement with the -majority of the plenipotentiaries, made another king yesterday,’ said -an opposite neighbour, addressing me directly. - -‘Is it Prince Eugène?’ I exclaimed spontaneously. - -‘Not exactly; it’s the cheese called “Brie.”’ - -‘You are trying to mystify me.’ - -‘I should not presume to do so on so slight an acquaintance, but I can -assure you that it is a fact. M. de Talleyrand gave a dinner party, -and at the dessert, all the political questions were pretty well -exhausted. When the cheese was on the table, the conversation drifted -in the direction of that dainty. Lord Castlereagh was loud in praise -of Stilton; Aldini was equally loud in praise of the Strachino of -Milan; Zeltner naturally gave battle for his native Gruyère, and Baron -de Falck, the Dutch minister, could not say enough for the product -of Limburg, of which Peter the Great was so fond as to dole himself -a certain quantity measured with his compasses, lest he should take -too much. Talleyrand’s guests were as undecided as they are on the -question of the throne of Naples, which, according to some, will be -taken from Murat, while, according to others, he’ll be allowed to keep -it. At that moment a servant entered the room to inform the ambassador -of the arrival of a courier from France. “What has he brought?” asked -Talleyrand. “Despatches from the Court, your excellency, and Brie -cheeses.” “Send the despatches to the chancellerie, and bring in the -cheeses at once.” - -‘The cheese was brought in. “Gentlemen,” said M. de Talleyrand, “I -abstained just now from breaking a lance in favour of a product of the -French soil, but I leave you to judge for yourselves.” The cheese is -handed round, tasted, and the question of its superiority is put to the -vote, with the result I have told you: Brie is proclaimed to be the -king of cheeses.’ - -The clever little story was the last, and the company dispersed. -Griffiths and I were due at the Baron Arnstein’s, who gave a fête in -his magnificent mansion on the Melgrub. - -At that period, the principal Austrian bankers would not be behindhand -with the Court in their hospitality to the illustrious strangers at -the Congress. Of course, the enormous influx of these brought into -the bankers’ hands large sums of money, a considerable percentage of -which remained with them. Among those princely houses of finance there -were, besides Baron Arnstein, the Gey-Mullers, the Eskeleses, and the -Comte de Fries. They practically kept open house to strangers. The -splendour of their hospitality was only equalled by its cordiality. The -mansion of the Comte de Fries, on the Joseph-Platz, was one of the most -beautiful in Vienna, and in no way inferior to the most magnificent -palaces. Its owner himself was as famed for his personal elegance -and his charming manners as for his immense wealth. The fêtes that -were given in those mansions were remarkable even among those of the -Congress; and on the evening in question, the scene at Baron Arnstein’s -was positively fairy-like. The rarest flowers from every clime hung in -profusion about the staircases and the rooms, including the ball-room, -and spread their exquisite perfumes, while their tints mingled -harmoniously with the thousands of wax candles in crystal sconces, -and the silk and gold of the hangings. The music of a band such as at -that time only Vienna could produce fell gratefully upon the ear. In -short, the whole presented one of those incomparable results only to be -obtained by great wealth seconded by taste. - -The best society of Vienna had forgathered there: all the influential -personages of the Congress, all the strangers of distinction, all the -heads of the princely houses made a point of being present; only the -sovereigns themselves were absent. As a matter of course, all the -charming women of which Vienna boasted at that period had responded -to the invitation, and among these aristocratic beauties the hostess -herself, the Baronne Fanny d’Arnstein, and Mme. Gey-Muller, whom people -had named ‘la fille de l’air,’ on account of her ethereal face and -tall, slight figure, carried off the palm for attractiveness. - -The entertainment began with a concert by the foremost artists of -Vienna; the concert was followed by a ball, and the ball by a supper, -in the providing for which the host seemed to have made it a point -to defy both distance and season. He had positively brought together -the products of every country and of every climate. The supper rooms -were decorated with trees bearing ripe fruit, and it was really a -curious experience, in the middle of the winter, to watch people pluck -cherries, peaches, and apricots as in an orchard in Provence. It was -the first attempt of the kind that had ever been made, and we went -home, less astonished perhaps at the ingenuity displayed than at the -constant craving for the entirely unprecedented in the way of enjoyment. - -The palace of Prince Razumowski was blazing with light; every room was -crowded with guests. Emperor Alexander had borrowed his ambassador’s -residence for a fête offered to the sovereigns in honour of his -sister’s birthday. The utmost interest was always evinced in the -charming Catherine of Oldenburg, and perhaps the more because the -Prince Royal of Würtemberg was constantly by her side. At every -gathering, these two young people, rarely far apart, reminded one of -the couple figuring so conspicuously in the opening pages of Mme. de -Genlis’s novel _Mademoiselle de Clermont_. - -[Illustration: MARIE DOWAGER EMPRESS OF RUSSIA.] - -Love unquestionably owed a good turn to this sweet, pretty, and -graceful young woman, to indemnify her for the very unpleasant -episodes of her first marriage. In 1809, there had been a question -of an alliance between France and Russia, an alliance which would -have consolidated peace in Europe. The young sister of the Czar was -to be the pledge of that alliance. Napoleon, who at that period was -justified in looking upon Alexander as a friend, caused diplomatic -overtures to be made. The Russian monarch freely gave his consent,[83] -but all at once a hitherto unthought-of obstacle arose, in the shape -of the invincible repugnance of the dowager-empress to Napoleon, a -repugnance that ought to have been removed by Napoleon’s magnanimous -conduct to her son. When Alexander wished to sound his mother on that -marriage by evincing a kind of partiality for it, she replied that it -was henceforth out of the question, that two days previously she had -given her word to the Grand-Duke of Oldenburg, to whom Catherine’s hand -was promised. Alexander was a most respectful and submissive son. He -offered no objections; negotiations were broken off; the marriage of -Napoleon with an Austrian arch-duchess was concluded, and there was a -prospective sovereign for the island of Elba. - -Sacrificed to a feeling of political repugnance, Catherine became -Grand-Duchess of Oldenburg and established her Court at Tiver, a pretty -town between Moscow and St. Petersburg--a small Court, recalling -those of Ferrara and Florence during the most brilliant days of -their artistic glory. Art, however, does not invariably contribute -to a woman’s happiness. United to a man whom she could not love, the -grand-duchess fretted under her lot. At first people sympathised with -her, finally they took no heed of, or became used to, her grief. Then, -as if to realise sweeter dreams, came on the one hand the death of her -husband, and on the other the love of a prince, young, handsome, brave, -and amiable--a prince placed on the steps of a throne. - -By a strange coincidence, the Prince Royal of Würtemberg had been -similarly compelled to contract a marriage against his inclination. -Napoleon’s will, all-powerful at that time over the king’s mind, united -the son, in spite of himself, to a Bavarian princess, a political -alliance intended to make an end of all dissensions between the two -states. From the first day of their union an unconquerable estrangement -and a constant coolness had sprung up between the young couple, and -consequently, at the fall of Napoleon, they were divorced. The Princess -Charlotte of Bavaria returned to her father’s Court. Unappreciated by a -husband whose affection she had been unable to gain, she never uttered -a word of reproach; her angelic temper and her unalterable kindness -never failed her. Later on, the imperial crown of Austria was offered -to her,[84] and eventually she shared one of the most powerful thrones -of Europe. When her first husband learnt the news of the unexpected -elevation of the woman he had neglected, but whose noble heart he had -never misjudged, he exclaimed, ‘I’ll have, at any rate, one more friend -at the Court of Vienna.’ - -Catherine of Russia and Wilhelm of Würtemberg both became free. From -that moment a mutual and strong affection took possession of their -hearts, which, constrained so long by the will of others, had learnt to -appreciate the delights of natural attraction. How often in the shady -glades of the Prater, or on the banks of the majestic stream flowing -at its foot, have I seen them, emancipated for a little while from the -etiquette of Courts, and yielding like ordinary mortals to the feeling -that animated them. Far from the pomp and splendour of their ordinary -surroundings, they perhaps confidentially made plans for the future, -in the hope of a union which bade fair to be happy--the prince, young, -manly, with a noble disposition and reputed for his brilliant courage; -the grand-duchess conspicuous for her intellectual and physical grace. -Now and again a third came to interrupt this ‘dual solitude’; but his -presence evidently made no difference; for the third comer was not only -a brother, but a friend--no less a personage than Alexander himself, -who appeared to be supping full with glory and happiness. - -The fête given by the czar in honour of his charming sister was worthy -in every respect of his brotherly affection and of its object. All the -sovereigns, all the illustrious guests of the Congress, had repaired to -it, and with him had come all the Russians of distinction: Nesselrode, -Gagarine, Dolgorouki, Galitzin, Capo d’Istria, Narischkine, Souvaroff, -Troubetzkoy, the two Volkonskis, Princesses Souvaroff, Bagration, -Gagarine, and many others equally remarkable for their birth, wealth, -beauty, and their distinguished manners. Practically, I found myself -among all those magnificent Muscovite beings who had compelled my -admiration at Moscow, St. Petersburg, and at Tulczim, at the Comtesse -Potocka’s, where the year seemed to be made up of three hundred and -sixty-five fêtes. - -The rooms at Prince Razumowski’s were lighted with a profusion that -reminded one of the resplendent rays of the sun. A vast riding-school -had been converted into a ball-room; and to impart variety to the -entertainment, the _corps de ballet_ of the Imperial Theatre had -organised a Muscovite _divertissement_, the minutest details of which -were carried out with scrupulous exactness. Towards the middle of the -ball, they made their appearance dressed as gipsies, and performed -dances with which those supposed descendants of the Pharaohs enhance -the fêtes of the rich and sensuous boyards. These dances, in virtue of -their graceful movements and the picturesqueness of the postures, are, -according to that great traveller Griffiths, much superior to those of -the bayadères of India. - -The ball was opened by the inevitable and methodical polonaise. The -fête was, however, marked in particular by a Russian dance, by one of -the Court ladies of Empress Elizabeth and General Comte Orloff, one -of the aides-de-camp of Emperor Alexander.[85] Both wore the Russian -dress, the comte that of a young Muscovite, namely, a close-fitting -caftan, tied round the waist by a cashmere scarf, a broad-brimmed hat, -and gloves like those of the ancient knights; his partner was dressed -like the women of Southern Russia, whose costumes vie in richness with -those of all other nations. On her head, the hair arranged in flat -bands in front and falling in long plaits behind, she wore a tiara of -pearls and precious stones. The ornament harmonised perfectly with the -rest of the costume, composed, as usual, of exceedingly bright-coloured -material. - -This Russian dance is absolutely delightful, representing as it does -the pantomimic action of a somewhat impassioned courtship. It is like -the Galatea of Virgil. The performers acquitted themselves in the most -delightful manner, and were amply rewarded by the enthusiastic applause -of the spectators. - -The Russian dance was followed by mazurkas, a kind of quadrille, -originally hailing from Massow. Among ball-room dances none demand -greater agility and none lend themselves to more statuesque movements. -In order that nothing might be wanting to the magnificence of this -fête, there was, in accordance with the latest fashion in Vienna, a -lottery. The prizes were many and handsome to a degree. An apparently -trivial circumstance lent an unexpected interest to the proceedings. -Custom had decreed that each cavalier, if favoured by luck, should -offer his prize to a lady. A rich sable cape fell to the lot of the -Prince of Würtemberg: he immediately offered it to her in whose honour -the entertainment was given. Verily, he had his reward. Handsome -Grand-Duchess Catherine wore in her bosom a posy of flowers, fastened -by a ribbon. She unfastened it, and presented it to the donor of the -cape. The whole scene, which practically emphasised in public the -existence of a quasi-secret attachment, elicited murmurs of approval -and wishes for the young people’s happiness. ‘Hail to the future Queen -of Würtemberg,’ remarked Prince Koslowski to me; ‘queen when it shall -please the crowned Nimrod to vacate the place. In reality, no crown -will have ever graced a more beautiful brow.’ The episode, and the -conjectures to which it gave rise, added another charm to this fête -marked by so many. - -The dancing had ceased, and the prince and I strolled through the -vast rooms of the palace, which might easily have been mistaken for -a temple erected to art, so numerous were the masterpieces collected -there by its owner. Here pictures by the greatest painters of every -school: Raphaels by the side of Rubenses, Van Dycks in juxtaposition to -Correggios; there, a library filled to overflowing with most precious -books and rare manuscripts; in a third spot a cabinet containing most -exquisite specimens of ancient art and modern carving. The majority -of the guests, however, seemed to prefer a gallery set apart for the -marvels of the sculptor’s chisel, among which was some of the best -handiwork of Canova. The gallery was lighted by alabaster lamps, the -soft glow of which seemed to throw into relief the perfection of those -statues apparently endowed with life. - -About two in the morning they threw open the huge supper-room, lighted -by thousands of wax candles. It contained fifty tables, and by that -alone the number of guests might be estimated. Amidst banks of flowers -was displayed all that Italy, Germany, France, and Russia had to offer -in the way of rare fruit and other edibles: such as sturgeon from -the Volga, oysters from Ostend and Cancale, truffles from Périgord, -oranges from Sicily. Worthy of note was a pyramid of pine-apples, -such as had never before been served on any board, and which had come -direct from the imperial hothouses at Moscow for the czar’s guests. -There were strawberries all the way from England, grapes from France, -looking as if they had just been cut from the trailing vine. Still -more remarkable, on each of the fifty tables there stood a dish of -cherries, despatched from St. Petersburg, notwithstanding the December -cold, but at the cost of a silver rouble apiece. Regarding these events -many years after their occurrence, I am often tempted to mistrust to a -certain extent my recollections of all this lavish display. - -This fête, which really deserved precedence among all the daily -pomp and splendour of the Congress, was prolonged till dawn, when a -breakfast was served and dancing was resumed. Only the need of rest -made us regretfully bend our steps homeward and leave that magnificent -palace where so many fair women and brave men had forgathered in the -pursuit of pleasure. - -Many years have gone by since that memorable night. The charming woman -in whose honour the fête was given became the Queen of Würtemberg. -Death claimed her prematurely as his victim. The Prince Koslowski, who -had been, like myself, an eye-witness of that charming love-episode -at Vienna, and who was subsequently despatched as ambassador to her -Court, saw her die of the same disease that carried away her brother, -the emperor. And only a short time ago the son of Marie-Louise and the -Comte de Neipperg[86] married the daughter of this Catherine of Russia -who had been asked in marriage by Napoleon. How very truly Shakespeare -exclaims: ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are -dreamt of in your philosophy.’ - -As for me, when my thoughts go back to that period of happiness and -freedom from care called the Congress of Vienna, I always picture to -myself sweet Catherine, not amidst all those fêtes, but strolling in -the dusky glades of the Prater, where I so often saw her, proud of her -love for the Prince Royal of Würtemberg and of her tender affection for -her brother. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - The Last Love-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--Recollections of the Prince de - Talleyrand. - - -I had spent the evening at the theatre of the Carinthian Gate, and -was returning home by way of the ramparts, confident of meeting no -one whom I knew; for on that night, in spite of the many strangers in -Vienna and the multitude of fêtes, everything was unusually quiet long -before midnight. It was magnificent weather for the time of the year. -In the recess of a bastion jutting over the dry moat, I noticed a lank -figure wrapped in a white cloak, which might easily have passed for -that of Hamlet. Impelled by curiosity, I drew nearer, and to my utter -astonishment recognised the Prince de Ligne. - -‘What in Heaven’s name are you doing here, prince, at this hour of the -night and in the biting cold?’ - -‘In love affairs the beginning only is delightful; consequently, I -always find great delight in recommencing. At your age, though, it was -I who kept them waiting; at mine they keep me waiting; and, what’s -worse, they don’t come. - -‘I am keeping an appointment, but as you can see for yourself, I am -keeping it alone. Well, people forgive hunchbacks the exuberance of -their dorsal excrescence; why, at my age, should not people forgive my -exuberance?’ - -‘If it be true that woman’s happiness consists in the reflection of a -man’s glory, where is the woman who would not be proud to owe hers to -you?’ - -The prince shook his head, and declaimed mock-tragically: - - ‘“No, no; all things flee as age approaches, - All things go, illusion too: - Nature would have done much better - To keep that until the last.”’ - -‘I’ll leave you to your appointment, prince,’ I said. - -‘No, I’ll wait no longer; lend me your arm and take me home.’ - -We slowly went in the direction of his house, and on the way his -conversation betrayed the feeling of slighted pride; his words were -marked by a tinge of melancholy which was new to me. - -‘I am inclined to believe that in life reflection comes as a last -misfortune,’ he said. ‘Up to the present I have not been among those -who think that growing old is in itself a merit. At the dawn of life -love’s dream balances its illusions on the spring within us. One -carries the cup of pleasure to one’s lips; one imagines it’s going to -last for ever, but years come, time flies and delivers its Parthian -darts; from that moment disenchantment attends everything, the colours -fade out of one’s existence. Ah me, I must get used to the idea.’ - -‘But, prince, you attach too much importance to a trifling -disappointment. You must put it down to the exactions of society, which -those who are in it cannot always disregard.’ - -‘No, no, there’s an end of my illusions; everything warns me of the -years accumulating behind me. I am no longer considered good for -anything. In days gone by, at Versailles, I was consulted on this, -that, and the other, on balls, fêtes, theatres, and so forth. At -present my advice is dispensed with. My time is past, _my world_ is -dead. You’ll tell me that no man is a prophet in his own country. A -company of comedians has invaded the stage to drive me from it, or to -hiss should I persist in remaining. My prophecies miss fire on account -of the prophet’s age. Tell me honestly, what is the worth of young men -nowadays to justify the world in lavishing its favours on them? Envy -has never entered my heart until this moment.’ Then he harked back to -his past, impelled by the kind of melancholy pleasure we all experience -in retracing our road through life, even if it is beset with thorns. - -‘I had an intense admiration and passionate love for the science of -warfare,’ he added, ‘and I may safely say that from the day I joined -the regiment of dragoons from Ligne, I have won all my grades at the -point of my sword. That science has been the occupation of my life; my -labours have gained me many sterling friends. As a soldier and as a -general I have done my duty.’ - -‘History will forget neither the taking of Belgrade nor the battle -of Maxen, and your glorious share in both. It will also remember the -brilliant welcome you received at Versailles when Maria-Theresa sent -you thither bearing the news.’ - -‘Yes, these are memories of which no one will be able to deprive me, -and henceforth I’ll exclusively wrap myself up in them. When the body -threatens ruin, memory alone supports the structure, but merely as a -hint of our being still alive. To my last moments, as a compensation -for the vicissitudes of my own existence I shall be proud of having -been on terms of intimate friendship with men upon whom the eyes of -the universe were fixed. I may confess to having always been fond of -glory; indifference to it is a mere pretence. Well, every succeeding -day I become more and more convinced of the emptiness of what people -conventionally call celebrity.’ Then he drifted to the happy moments of -his life. - -‘I have also passed through that delicious period of life when youth -gets intoxicated with all kinds of flattering promises, which a riper -age rarely keeps, and which old age altogether disperses. At that -period, days fly like moments, and the moments are worth centuries. -Happy he who knows how to profit by them! Life is a limpid cup which -becomes troubled while one drinks from it; the first drops are like -ambrosia; but the lees are at the bottom; the more agitated one’s life -is, the more bitter does the draught become at last. The loss, when all -is said and done, is perhaps not so great. Man gets to his grave as the -absent-minded get to their house. Here’s the door of mine. Good-night, -my dear lad. You, who are beginning your career, take care to employ -every minute to the greatest advantage, and don’t forget that the -saddest days of our lives are counted in the tale of our years just as -much as the happiest. Delille was right when he said, “Our best days go -first.”’ - -And I took my leave of this excellent prince, of this extraordinary -man, whose only weakness consisted in not making his pleasures fit in -with his age, and in persisting in keeping up a struggle with time, -that invincible athlete whom, as yet, no one has conquered. Alas, he -believed in the fable of Anacreon, whose love-affairs still provided -wreaths of roses for his hoary locks at eighty. - -This love-tryst of the Prince de Ligne was to be his last. When he -talked thus of man’s arriving at the brink of the grave without -thinking of it, he was far from perceiving that he himself already had -one foot therein. Since then I have often reflected on the melancholy -sadness of all his words, but the Prince de Ligne never seriously -considered the idea of death. Not that he was afraid of it. At no time -of his life did fear approach within an arm’s length of him. If now and -again he spoke of old age with a kind of melancholy, it was because he -dreaded the idea of not being in unison with the new generations around -him, as he had been in unison with the friends of his youth. Thinking -of all this, I continued my nocturnal stroll by myself, repeating the -verses the prince had improvised on the subject, and I reached the -hotel, the ‘Roman Emperor,’ just as the Comte Z---- was going in. To -dispel the sad thoughts induced by the prince’s remarks, I accepted -Count Z----‘s offer of a glass of punch and accompanied him to his -apartments. - -Z----,[87] the son of a favourite minister of Catherine II., had -recently lost his father, who left him a considerable fortune, -estimated at more than thirty thousand serfs. I had seen a great deal -of him while I was in St. Petersburg, where his birth, his gentle -disposition, and his extensive attainments, much beyond his years, had -made him a favourite in the highest circles. Having been appointed -only a short time before a ‘gentleman of the chambers,’ he proposed -to improve his education by travel, and he began at Vienna. It was -starting with a most interesting preface the book of life, which, as he -said, he wished to read from the first page to the last. - -‘I have spent the evening at Prince Razumowski’s, who, as you know, is -a relative. His palace is still littered with furniture, draperies, -and flowers, the remains of the brilliant fête. Truly, the ruins of a -ball are as interesting to contemplate as the ruins of monuments and -empires.’ - -I, in my turn, told him of my meeting, and, the punch gradually -dissipating my fit of melancholy, we began, like the selfish and -unthinking young men we were, to joke about old men who, with the -snows of many winters upon them, pretend to melt them in the sunny -rays of love. I told him the adventure of the Comte de Maurepas which -had so highly diverted the Court of Versailles at the period of his -last ministry. Like the Prince de Ligne, M. de Maurepas, at eighty, -had preserved the habits of extreme attentiveness to the fair sex -which ought only to be indulged in by young men. The witty and handsome -Marquise de ---- was the object of those octogenarian attentions. -Worried by Maurepas’ assiduities, to which there could be no possible -sequel, she determined to put an end to them. The superannuated -Lovelace was seated one day near her in her boudoir, and was commenting -upon his unhappiness, caused by the want of feeling of the woman -he adored. The marquise appeared touched by the recital; the lover -became more pressing, the marquise apparently more yielding. At last -she murmured a faint consent, adding, however, ‘First go and bolt the -door.’ Maurepas went to bolt it, not on the inside, but on the outside, -and stole away on tiptoe without saying good-bye to the malicious fair -one. The _dénouement_ met with our full approval. - -I was expecting next morning two Hungarian horses, which I had been -assured were the best trotters in Vienna. Being anxious to try them at -once, I asked Z---- if he would come with me to the Prater to do so. He -promised. While talking about trotters, none of which in Europe come -up, to my thinking, to those harnessed to the sledges at Moscow for the -runs on the frozen Moskowa, the comte got into bed, being tired by the -mazurkas in which he had the night before been compelled to initiate -some German ladies, who experienced great difficulties in their -transition from the stiff German minuet to the graceful elasticity of -the Polish dance. - -‘Good-night, comte, I’ll leave you to your well-earned rest. I’ll put -the lights out, and give one candle to your servant, I hope you’ll -have a good sleep, so that you may be ready to-morrow at twelve.’ With -this I left him. Next morning at twelve the horses were put to the -cabriolet, and I went upstairs to fetch Z----; but when I got to his -door, his servant told me he was asleep. ‘What! asleep at twelve, when -he went to bed before midnight. I think I’ll wake him,’ I said, and -made my way into the room, where the curtains were drawn to exclude the -daylight. - -‘Up, up!’ I shouted, ‘the horses are waiting for us. Or are you ill?’ - -He woke up, sat upright in bed, and began to rub his eyes, as if to -suppress his tears. ‘My dear father; why have I lost my father?’ he -exclaimed. - -‘Have you had a nightmare, dear comte? What has the memory of your -father to do with the horses we are going to try?’ - -‘Alas, my friend, it’s not a dream, but a horrible reality. I lost two -millions of roubles last night.’ - -‘Are you mad or joking? You are in bed as I left you when I put out the -lights. Do you walk in your sleep, or are you not awake?’ - -‘No, friend, but I’m awaking from a sleep which I wish had been my last -one. S---- and the Comte B---- entered the room immediately after you -left it. They relighted the candles which you extinguished: we played -all night, and I have lost two millions of roubles, for which I gave -them my bills. Here, look for yourself.’ - -I stepped to the window and drew the curtains aside: the floor was -littered with cards, which they must have got in the hotel, and the -ruin of the young fellow had been accomplished before daylight. - -‘This can only be a joke on their part, dear comte; make your mind -easy. They could not possibly harbour the thought of despoiling a -friend in that manner. They are also my friends, although I should -certainly cease to consider them as such if they hesitated for a moment -to destroy every trace of such a disgraceful night.’ Having said this, -I immediately left him, to go to S----, to whom I submitted the same -argument in order to persuade him to waive his claim. I said much more; -I pointed out the consequences to himself if such a story came to the -ears of the Emperor Alexander. Referring to the sovereign’s well-known -dislike of any kind of gaming, I did not disguise from him the -possibility of the emperor taking up the matter personally, with a view -of preventing such deplorable transactions in the future, and that he, -S----, might be selected, not without some justification, as an example -for the sake of enforcing the lesson. All my efforts to bring him to -reason and to arouse a feeling of equity were in vain. He positively -derided what he was pleased to call my sentimental pathos, and ended -up by proposing a game for my cabriolet and horses, so that I might be -enabled to preach from experience. I felt disgusted, and left him. - -From the military man I proceeded to the diplomatist, who proved to -be much more frigid than the other. With many fine phrases he tried -to convince me that it was not disloyal or dishonourable to wake up -a young man of twenty-one at midnight in order to despoil him of his -fortune in a couple of hours. - -‘Is it worth while to make so much ado about the loss of a few -_boumashkis-boumashkis?_‘--being the name of Russian paper money--he -said. ‘We have only to look around us to find the same thing going on -every day in another shape. You have merely to count the claimants to -thrones they lost because the game went against them. Do you think -people pay any heed to them? You may have noticed a gentleman who left -when you came in. That’s the Marquis de Brignoli. He came to Vienna to -claim the independence of Genoa. The ambassador of a republic which -is at its last gasp, he has treated the Congress to a most energetic -protest, which you may read if you like, for I have it here. In spite -of his logic, M. de Metternich politely bowed him out, and Genoa is to -be given to Piedmont, which has won it, and means to keep it. Venice -disappears in spite of its ancient wisdom. Is it being swallowed up -by the Adriatic? Not at all. It’s Austria that has won it, and means -to keep it. Malta only claims from the Congress its rock and arms to -defend itself against all comers: England, it is told, has won it, and -means to keep it. Prussia gains Saxony; Sweden gains Norway; Russia -gains Poland. Europe in Vienna sits round a table covered with a green -cloth; she is gambling for states, and a cast of the diplomatic dice -involves the loss or the gain of a hundred thousand, nay, of a million, -of heads.[88] Why should not I win a few bits of paper when luck -favours me?’ - -‘But from your friend, Monsieur le Comte?’ - -‘They are very scrupulous about relatives here, not to say about -friends, when it comes to the appropriation of thrones, aren’t they. -No, no, all this is so much nonsense. Figaro resolved the problem long -ago: “What’s worth taking, is worth keeping.”’ - -What answer could I make to such maxims, except to treat them with -contempt? I left him and went back to Z---- to inform him of the -failure of my efforts. - -‘I felt certain it would be so,’ he said. ‘The sting of a serpent is -less cruel than the ingratitude of a friend. There is but one way with -people like this, and I’ll employ it.’ - -He was quite himself now; he dressed and went out to call upon the -grand-chamberlain, Narischkine, who was his superior in virtue of -his Court charge. He intended to inform him of the disaster that had -befallen him, and the means he meant to use for redress. He would not -allow me to go with him; and I tried my horses by myself. I could have -wished them, in their rapid course, to carry me right away from the -painful impressions of the last few hours. - -Such episodes were by no means rare in Russia and in Poland. The fatal -passion of gambling was carried to excess. It had become a frenzy, a -positive madness. Russian and Polish society teemed with victims, the -whole of whose fortunes had been lost at the gaming table in a dozen -hours. - -I remember that after Potocki’s death at Tulczim, the children of his -first marriage came into possession of his immense fortune. Two of -these, educated at Leipzig, received during the life of their father -only a few ducats per week for pocket-money. The moment they were the -masters of their inheritance, they went headlong into all the excesses -of gaming, and the elder of the two lost thirty millions of florins in -three years by playing at faro with his own land-stewards. A short time -after that his friend, M. de Fontenay, who had clung to him through -good and evil fortune, had to borrow a hundred louis to have him buried -at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he died. - -Sometimes the incidents of those terrible gaming parties presented the -most wonderful reversals of luck. Here is an instance. Prince Galitzin, -one of the richest of Russian nobles, was playing on one occasion with -the most persistent bad luck. Estates, serfs, revenues, town-houses, -furniture, jewels, everything had been swallowed up. He had nothing -left but his carriage. That was waiting for him outside; he staked it, -and lost that in a few throws of the dice. A few minutes afterwards the -horses were also gone. ‘I did not stake the harness,’ he said; ‘it is -all in silver, and has just come from St. Petersburg.’ - -His adversary nodded, and a game was begun for the harness. At -that moment, though, the luck turned as completely in the Prince’s -favour as a few moments previously it had been against him. In a few -hours he not only won back the horses, the carriage, and the family -jewels, but everything else he had lost so rapidly, and that, thanks -to the harness, which literally seemed to be attached to the wheel -of fortune. It is absolutely astounding to find that men are not -positively shattered by those shocks of fortune. Galitzin was not -ungrateful in his worship of the harness. In his palace at Moscow I -have looked at it--in fact, it was pointed out to me, suspended in the -most conspicuous spot of the building, and protected from the tiniest -speck of dust by a framework of glass, like a precious relic, and as a -tangible proof of the strange vicissitudes of gaming. - -During my stay in Russia, that same Prince Galitzin was the victim -of probably the cleverest piece of fraud ever perpetrated, in which -his luck forsook him. He was a great amateur of diamonds and precious -stones, and also claimed to be a judge. One day, in the card-room of -the English club at Moscow, he noticed an Italian wearing a ring with a -diamond of the first water, and of extraordinary size. The prince went -up to the wearer of this magnificent jewel, and asked to be allowed to -look at it. ‘And you also, prince, are taken in by it,’ replied the -Italian. ‘What looks to you like a diamond is only a bit of paste, very -beautiful paste, but after all, paste.’ - -The prince shook his head. ‘No paste ever sparkled like that. Will you -mind confiding it to me for a few hours?’ he asked. ‘I wish to show it -to the emperor’s jeweller, in order to prove to him the rare degree of -perfection imitation can attain.’ - -The Italian made not the least difficulty in granting the request. The -prince ran to the jeweller to ask him the value of the magnificent -single stone. The dealer examined, weighed, and tested the thing, -admitting that he had rarely seen so perfect a specimen of petrified -carbon. ‘But it’s a bit of paste,’ exclaimed the prince with glee. The -dealer examined and weighed again, subjected the stone to more tests, -and finally pronounced the gem to be a diamond, a diamond of the first -water, which in the trade would fetch at the lowest estimate a hundred -thousand roubles, and for which he, if it was to be disposed of, would -be willing to give eighty thousand. Galitzin makes the dealer repeat -his words again and again, and finally returns to the card-room, where -the Italian is engaged in a quiet game of piquet. The prince gives him -his ring, asking him to sell it; to which the Italian replies that he -is not in want of money, and that in any case the ring has not the -slightest value. Galitzin will not take no for an answer, but cannot -get the Italian to budge. He sets great store by the bauble, not -because of its worth, because it has none, but for the associations -attached to it, inasmuch as his mother gave it to him, exacting his -promise never to part with it. Seduced by the prospect of an enormous -bargain, Galitzin would take no refusal, offered ten thousand roubles, -increased his offer to thirty thousand, and finally proposed fifty -thousand.’ - -‘Very well, prince,’ said the Italian, as if weary of the struggle, -‘fifty thousand be it then; and you, gentlemen--’ this, turning to the -lookers-on--‘you can bear witness that the prince compels me to sell -him for fifty thousand roubles a mere bit of paste.’ - -‘Never mind, give me the ring,’ exclaimed Galitzin impatiently; ‘I know -what I am doing.’ Thereupon the Italian took the ring off his finger -and handed it to the prince, who, delighted with his purchase, gave -him there and then a voucher for fifty thousand roubles, to be paid at -sight by his business-manager. An hour afterwards the money was in the -Italian’s pocket, and the next morning Galitzin repaired once more to -the jeweller’s, telling him of his success in obtaining the diamond, -and holding it up for his inspection. - -‘But this is only a bit of paste,’ exclaims the dealer; ‘a splendid bit -of paste, but after all, paste. It’s wonderful, though, how closely it -resembles the single stone you showed me yesterday. It’s the same size, -the same cut, the same shape. It’s calculated to deceive better judges -than your excellency.’ - -His consternation notwithstanding, Galitzin soon perceived that he had -been duped by an adroit scoundrel, who at the moment of handing him the -ring had cleverly substituted a paste imitation of it, but an imitation -calculated to impose upon all but the most expert. A hue-and-cry was -raised after the Italian in Moscow, but immediately after securing the -amount of his voucher, he had left. As for the prince, in addition to -the loss of his money, he had the mortification of being pitied by no -one; he was simply looked upon as ‘the biter bit.’ - -The affair of Z---- made a great noise in Vienna. The enormous amount -of his loss, the circumstances under which it was sustained, the -place itself of the gambling transaction, everything pointed to a -diabolically conceived combination, scarcely to be reconciled with the -age of the gamblers, the oldest of whom was only three-and-twenty. -The sequel fully confirmed my prediction to S----. Alexander had the -deepest aversion to gamblers and gambling. From that moment he withdrew -his favour from S----, and eight months afterwards in Paris, in the -private room of the Emperor at the Elysée Bourbon, S---- was forced -to admit that he would willingly part with half of his fortune if the -affair had never occurred, or if he had taken my advice about hushing -it up. - -Z---- and the Comte B---- fought a duel with swords, in which the -latter was worsted, and the sum paid in settlement of his winnings was -comparatively a modest one. The Emperor Alexander would neither forgive -nor forget the affair. A few years later the young comte, knowing -that in Russia it is not sufficient to be somebody, but that it is -necessary to be also something, wrote to the emperor to be attached to -the legation at Florence; but Alexander sent a refusal in the following -terms: - -‘In consideration of the services rendered to our august mother by the -Comte B----, your father, I excuse the glaring presumption of your -request.’ - -Under the painful impression of that scene in the morning, I spent a -sad day, full of depressing thoughts. The rapid ruin of Z----, the -callousness of his two adversaries, the inevitable consequences of such -a startling affair, did not make me feel disposed to enjoy any of the -daily gaieties of the Congress. The arrival of Ypsilanti put an end to -my serious mood. He came to take me to the masked ball given by the -Court in the small hall set apart for routs, which was to be preceded -by ‘living pictures.’ I at first refused, but was finally persuaded to -accompany him. - -The entertainment differed but little from similar ones that had gone -before; at that period there was one almost every week. After a few -turns through the magnificent rooms, which, as usual, afforded the most -complete and animated example of everything that wealth could procure -and the constant craving for pleasure could relish, we went into -the room arranged for ‘the living pictures.’ In the front rows, the -emperors, the sovereigns, and queens, had already taken their seats; -behind them were the political celebrities of the Congress. In a few -minutes the curtain rose. - -The first picture was ‘la Conversation Espagnole,’ and the second -‘la Famille de Darius aux pieds d’Alexandre,’ after the handsome -painting of Lebrun. The Comte de Schönfeldt represented Alexander, -and the charming Sophie Zichy impersonated Statira. The features -of the male character were stamped with the gentle pride of the -victor, still further tempered by the kindness and modesty of the -hero; the comtesse, even more beautiful than the figure of Lebrun’s -painting, expressed both admiration and grief. The youngest and most -charming women of the Court represented the daughters of Darius and -the attendants of Statira. The heroic and touching expression of the -principal personages, the numerous delightful figures, the fidelity -of the attitudes, the arrangement of the light--in short, everything -gave to the picture a completeness both elevated and sensuous, and it -was not surprising to hear it unanimously applauded. It was followed -by a performance of the sparkling comedy _Le Pacha de Surêne_, by M. -Etienne. The principal parts were played by the Comtesses Zichy and -Marassi, the Princesses Marie de Metternich and Thérèse Esterhazy, -the Comte de Wallstein, the Prince Antoine Radziwill, and a few other -distinguished personages. This pretty piece, interpreted with the -ability of experienced actors, was greatly applauded. - -After that we went to the ball-room. One of the first persons that -caught my eye on entering was the Prince de Ligne. He was beaming with -happiness, and his step was as elastic and graceful as that of any -young man. It was not the same man who had confided his griefs to me -on the previous night. On his arm hung a woman in a blue domino. Her -figure, her voice, and the whole of her bearing fully explained the -disappointment and regret of the prince at finding himself alone at the -love-tryst. I brushed gently past him, and whispered in his ear: ‘It -appears that you were lacking in patience last night.’ ‘You are right,’ -was the answer. ‘The great art of life is the exercise of patience.’ - -I went away, but I fancied I recognised the prince’s companion. It -was, unless I made a mistake, Mme. A---- P----, the young and charming -Greek, who was attracting so much attention in Vienna. An unhappy -love affair, of which the Prince de C---- was the hero, had aroused -the interest of the fair and most impressionable half of the Austrian -aristocracy; her great beauty had easily obtained for her many friends -among the other half of the European celebrities. Her romantic story, -which was told in whispers, was simple and touching. Having fallen a -victim to the Prince de C----‘s blandishments when she was still very -young, she almost immediately became a mother. Both her existence -and her heart were broken by desertion. There was no lack of would-be -consolers; but doubtless her experience had taught her that a first -lapse is only condoned on condition of its not being repeated. Unable -to dispense with a protector, she judiciously chose the Prince de -Ligne, whose great age, she probably thought, would silence all adverse -comment. The liaison, it was said, remained strictly within the limits -of a platonic correspondence; the young Greek contributing her share -by epistles such as all women of all countries and conditions know how -to write; the illustrious old man replying with effusions of which he -alone had preserved the secret. The latter contained the expression of -a sentiment more intense, perhaps, than that of mere friendship, but -tempered by the gentle logic of a wholly paternal affection. - -Contrary to the invariable etiquette prevailing at state balls, where -only the polonaise was danced, quadrilles were speedily organised. A -few moments later I caught sight once more of the Prince de Ligne, but -this time he was alone. As a matter of course, I went up to him. ‘Just -watch that pretty bayadère figuring in the quadrille close to us,’ he -said. ‘Would you not take her for one of the most tantalizing girls -at the ball? Well, before she had spoken three words I guessed her -identity. It’s young Alfred, the Comte de Woyna’s brother.’ - -‘A young man, prince?’ - -‘A young man dressed as a girl. There’s nothing surprising in that. -Your celebrated dancer Duport came all the way from Paris to Vienna in -woman’s clothes. He alighted from his post-chaise at the Princesse Jean -de Lichtenstein’s, where he danced the whole of the evening, still in -woman’s clothes, and to the admiration of that circle of admirers, all -of whom went to applaud him next evening at the theatre at the Court, -where, still in female attire, he danced in the ballet of _Achille à -Scyros_. Look you here, my boy: there are disguises elsewhere than at -routs, and inasmuch as you have taken to collect the trifles I wrote -during the spring of my life, as well as in its fall, I’ll read you -to-morrow one of the transgressions of my youth, entitled, _Le Roman -d’une Nuit_. Only my extreme youth can be the excuse for that.’ - -He referred once more to society; to the society he had bitterly -stigmatised as ungrateful. ‘I shall always consider myself fortunate -in having been a witness of that unique spectacle, the Congress. In -that varied crowd I look upon each individual as a separate page of the -great book of society. Believe me, man is not as bad as he is painted. -Woe to the misanthropic moralists who care to look only at the sombre -side of him. They are the painters who only study nature at night.’ - -Amidst this boisterous, bustling throng, where people looked for their -friends without finding them, though they might be elbowing each other, -two female dominos came up to me and drew me away from the prince. One -took my hand. ‘Why were you in such a hurry to leave us?’ she asked. -The voice, which sounded altogether natural, was entirely unfamiliar -to me. ‘When a man addresses verses to a woman,’ she went on, ‘he -assuredly does not expect her to travel three hundred leagues for the -sake of thanking the author.’ - -‘Gentle mask, Vienna is three hundred leagues from Paris, an equal -distance from Naples, and as much from St. Petersburg, and in all -these places I have unfortunately addressed verses to ladies. I must -therefore ask you to be more explicit, for unless you are, I shall be -travelling a long while in search of my unknown heroine.’ - -‘Very well, let us say it was at St. Petersburg, and that Lafont set -them to music.’ - -‘In that case I should not be sufficiently conceited to aspire to -thanks from the object of my poetry.’ - -‘Why not, if the verses bestowed caused pleasure?’ - -‘Or,’ added her companion, who had hitherto been silent, ‘if the proof -of the pleasure is the thanks offered.’ - -It has been said with truth that the whole destiny of a life is decided -in an instant. I immediately recognised the voice, which I had only -heard once before. The strange and brilliant dream of a night was about -to be reproduced a second time with all its former illusions. I did not -know what to say; the liberty of speech, tacitly admitted under cover -of a mask, only added to my confusion. ‘Have you nothing to say?’ asked -the same voice. ‘Sweet mask,’ I replied, ‘the timid bird may sing at -sunrise, only the eagle dare fixedly look at the sun in its zenith.’ - -Thereupon I endeavoured to get my two interlocutors out of the crowd, -in order to be more free in the interview, which I felt was to decide -the whole of my life, but Grand-Chamberlain Narischkine came up to -us, recognised the ladies, took their arms and led them away. I had -no longer any doubt. I had met once more the angel of a dream the -realisation of which would not occur on earth. - -I remained rooted to the spot, then rushed after the dominos like a -madman. I saw nothing, I heard nothing except the magic words that had -gone to the core of my heart. My pursuit was in vain, the crowd had -parted us for evermore. - -In one of the quadrangular rooms I came upon the Prince Cariati talking -very animatedly to a lady disguised as a gipsy, who immediately -revealed her _incognita_. It was the Comtesse Zamoyska, our neighbour -on the Jaeger Zeill. - -‘I wish you to join our plot,’ she said; ‘it ‘s a complicated piece of -mystification, the sequel to an intrigue begun at one of these balls, -which has lasted now for several weeks. The personage I wish to mystify -is worthy of my attempt.’ Without knowing or caring much what I did, I -fell in with the wish of the comtesse, who left us, laughing. - -I was getting weary of it all, when I noticed my friend M. Achille -Rouen occupying a rout seat all by himself, and apparently as bored as -I was. I asked him if he had seen the dominos of whom I was in search. -‘If you mean the two who were with Narischkine,’ he replied, giving me -an exact description of them, ‘they left the ball a quarter of an hour -ago.’ - -From that moment the charm of the evening seemed to have vanished, as -far as I was concerned. We began chatting about the Congress and the -current news, and as a matter of course the name of M. de Talleyrand -cropped up. No other name was so often mentioned in people’s comments -on the difficult and critical questions of the moment. Achille Rouen, -who never missed a day without seeing him, was sincerely attached to -him. - -‘It’s impossible to know M. de Talleyrand thoroughly without liking -him,’ he said. ‘All those who have come in close contact with him judge -him as I do. He is an inexplicable, I might say indefinable, amalgam -of simplicity and lofty thoughts, of grace and logic, of critical -faculty and courteous tolerance. In one’s intercourse with him, one -learns almost unconsciously the history and politics of all times, and -thousands of stories in connection with every Court; his company is -practically a guide through an enormous gallery, where events are as -instructively depicted as personages.’ - -‘And in spite of this, my dear Achille, how people have rent him to -pieces! Is mediocrity always to exact such a heavy toll from talent for -the latter’s success? For, if such be the case, the only happy people -are those whose obscurity does not breed envy in others.’ - -‘History will reward M. de Talleyrand for the evil his contemporaries -have said of him. When, in the course of a long and difficult career, a -statesman has preserved a great number of faithful friends, and counts -but few enemies, one feels bound to credit him with having been wise -and moderate, honourable and thoroughly able. In the prince’s case, the -heart is even better than the ability. Not long ago, M. de R---- came -to borrow twenty thousand francs of him. M. de Talleyrand lent them. A -month later the news came that in consequence of business reverses, M. -de R---- had blown his brains out. “I am glad I did not refuse him the -money,” exclaimed M. de Talleyrand, and one sentence like this suffices -to paint the man. - -‘But,’ Rouen went on, ‘what is the circumstance to which he lately -referred during a conversation, and which he said might have -considerably influenced your life?’ - -‘That circumstance, my dear Achille, never presents itself to my mind -without reviving my regret at having allowed to escape one of the rare -opportunities which offered themselves in one’s young days. Everything -in the way of creating for oneself a career, of making a friend, even -a female friend, depends upon a moment. The goddess of chance must be -caught by the forelock as she rushes past; our regrets have no effect -upon her when we have neglected her momentary proximity to us, I shall -tell you how it happened. I had been living for something like two -months at Raincy, where M. Ouvrard,[89] then at the height of his -fortune, had offered me a couple of rooms in the building belonging -to the fire engine. I was only seventeen; you are acquainted with -the circumstances which at that period brought me into contact at -such a youthful age with the whole of the society of what I must call -“rejuvenated France.” I had received an invitation to a dinner given -by M. Davencourt, the newly appointed “Captain-General of the Hunt,” -in honour of his new functions. It took place in a kind of Russian hut -built in the park, and at the end of a hunt. The other guests were MM. -de Talleyrand, de Montrond,[90] Ouvrard; Admiral Bruix; Generals Lannes -and Berthier. The only woman present was Mme. Grant, who subsequently -married the Prince de Talleyrand. In spite of the many elements of -interest and the clever guests, the conversation slackened; to give it -a fillip, Ouvrard asked me how I had managed on the previous day to get -back to Paris, my horse having got hurt while out hunting, and there -being by a strange coincidence no other animal left in the stable. - - * * * * * - -‘In a very simple way,’ I replied. ‘As you said just now, there was -not a horse to be had for love or money, and I had to be in Paris at -three to meet Mme. Récamier, whom I would not have missed for anything, -inasmuch as she was about to leave the capital immediately. When -there is no chance of a horse or a carriage, the simplest means is to -walk, so I made up my mind to foot it. It was very hot, but at twelve -o’clock I got into the plain about midway between Bondy and Pantin. I -felt thoroughly knocked up, and, moreover, literally as hungry as a -hunter; I stopped at a mill near the high road, and asked them to get -me some breakfast. While it was being prepared, I began to think of -my second want, and asked the miller if there was no means of getting -a horse. “There is mine,” he replied, “and for a crown of six francs -it’s at your service. It will take you very comfortably, and to-morrow, -when I get to Paris, I’ll come and fetch it from your house.” The -courser was brought to the door; it was about as high as an ass, and -in fact performed the duties of one; it had no other equipment than a -pack-saddle. - -‘“How am I to get on to that?” I said to the miller. “Haven’t you got a -riding-saddle? But there is one hanging on the wall.” - -‘“Oh, that’s my own saddle, my brand-new English saddle, and I don’t -let it out for hire, monsieur.” - -‘In vain did I insist, and beg, and persuade. The miller was obstinate, -and I might have saved my breath. I beheld myself riding through the -streets of Paris perched on that lamentable pack-saddle, which had -never carried anything but flour or manure. Assuredly the horse was of -no use to me without the saddle. “Now, gentlemen,” I said, interrupting -my story and addressing my fellow-guests, “what would you have done in -view of the miller’s obstinacy?” Then I appealed to each in particular. -“You, Monsieur Ouvrard, who, in virtue of your administrative -capacities, admired by everybody, sustain our military glory by looking -to the inner comforts of our soldiers? You, Davencourt, who, in spite -of all the ruses of the fox, put on its scent a dozen packs after they -have lost it? You, Monsieur l’Amiral, who brave both the storm and the -guns of the enemy? You, Generals Berthier and Lannes, who in Italy and -in Egypt proved yourselves the Parmenios of the new Alexander? And -finally you, Monsieur de Talleyrand, who as our Minister of Foreign -Affairs have shown and continue to show your profound observation of -men and things:--what would you have done to get hold of the saddle -the miller refused to lend at any price?” There was no answer, they -only laughed. “May I remind you,” I said, “that laughter scarcely -contributes a reply. I have, however, already discovered the master of -all of you,” I went on, turning to Mme. Grant. “Her smile shows me that -she has guessed my last resource. Yes, madame, you guessed rightly; I -appealed to the miller’s wife, and with a few carefully chosen words, -managed to enlist her sympathy. The new saddle, the horse, and the mill -if I had been in need of it, were finally at my disposal. Such, in the -cottage as in the palace, is the power of feminine influence.” - - * * * * * - -‘No sooner had I finished my break-neck story than loud applause broke -forth, followed by the drinking of my health and to the result of my -negotiation. Encouraged by everybody’s approval, I began to talk, like -the boy I was, right and left, and my remarks were evidently relished -by Mme. Grant. M. de Talleyrand, who at that period was very much in -love with her, because, as he said, she had everything that completed -the charm of a woman, namely, a soft skin, a sweet breath, and a sweet -temper--M. de Talleyrand seemed equally pleased with me. The rest -of the guests followed his lead, considering it easier to adopt the -opinion of a clever man than to go to the trouble of making one for -themselves. - -‘When we left the table, M. de Talleyrand beckoned me to a corner of -the room and talked to me for a considerable time. He seemed to enjoy -the account of my travels in Sweden and in Denmark. The description of -the shelling of Copenhagen, at which I was present, interested him. My -remarks on all those countries, on the _émigrés_ in Hamburg, and on -Hamburg itself, he qualified as exceedingly just. “Come and see me in -Paris to-morrow,” he said. “I’ll expect you. But you are very young, -and perhaps you’ll forget. Promise me that you’ll not fail to come.” -Saying which he grasped my hands very affectionately. Mme. Grant, who -had joined us, was equally pressing. I promised, and I ought to have -kept my promise, for it was one of those lucky opportunities which -often decide the whole of a man’s life and which the great Frederick -called “His Majesty, Accident.” - -‘But, my dear Achille, happiness is a ball after which we constantly -run and then push with our feet when we have come up with it. I did -not keep my appointment with M. de Talleyrand. That unfortunate -shyness which too often paralyses youth had once more got the upper -hand. I’ll not go as far as to say that I was practically frightened -at the possible consequences of this good-will towards me. But I did -ask myself what people could offer me in exchange for that constant -succession of happiness, of maddening joys which at that moment made up -my existence? I dreaded the end of a dream which my thoughtlessness, -my ignorance of all serious things, sought to prolong. The contact -with, the goodwill of, such a man, his influence, would have given a -different direction to my ideas and to my career; in short, would have -finally created for me a different life. Yes, friend, the goddess of -chance absolutely stood in my path, and I was foolish enough not to -catch hold of her. I learnt too late that her favour has wings, as -desire is said to have.’ - -‘I am not surprised at the prince’s recollection of the incident. His -memory is excellent.’ - -‘Since then I have often thought the matter over, and always regretted -my neglect to let M. de Talleyrand know the causes of my apparent lack -of gratitude.’ - -‘Your story reminds me of one I heard recently in Rome in connection -with the banker Torlonia, whose enormous fortune is, again, a -consequence of one of those inspirations that decide the fate of a man. - -‘Torlonia, who sprang from very humble people, began by a small -traffic of jewellery between Paris and Rome. A short time afterwards -he established himself as a banker, and then an unhoped-for and -altogether unexpected circumstance brought him in contact in a very -strange manner with Cardinal Chiaramonti. At the death of Pius VI. the -conclave for the election of a new Pope was obliged to assemble at -Venice. Chiaramonti positively had not the money to pay his travelling -expenses, and Torlonia advanced him three or four hundred crowns -without much thought as to the small risk involved, and certainly -without foreseeing the consequences. Chiaramonti proceeded to Venice, -where, in the church of St. George’s (?), he was elected to the papacy. -As a proof of his gratitude, the new Sovereign Pontiff appointed -him Court Banker, then made him a marquis and finally a duke. -To-day, thanks to that small loan, Torlonia is one of the wealthiest -capitalists of Europe.’ - -These last words had just been spoken when Ypsilanti, Tettenborn, and -some other friends came to tell us that supper was being served. We -followed them to the supper-room, where the conversation turned once -more on the subject of M. de Talleyrand and his remarkable influence -on the deliberations of the Congress. Everybody was agreed that -this preponderance was not due either to mere chance or to the just -appreciation of his political knowledge, but to his character, which -had laid it down as a principle that the first and foremost essential -of all diplomatic negotiations was an impenetrable discretion; and -to the fact of his having imbued all those whom he employed with the -same reserve. In connection with this, some one cited the recent reply -of M. D---- in a gathering of friends where M. de Talleyrand and the -particulars of his life were being discussed. - -M. D----, who had been with M. de Talleyrand for twenty years, -accompanied him to the Congress. People naturally concluded that this -long intimacy had made M. D---- familiar with a number of particulars -of the minister’s life, and bearing also upon the events with which he -had been mixed up. Worried with questions, M. D---- invariably replied -that he knew nothing; but the questioners would not be satisfied, and -returned to the charge. ‘Very well,’ finally said M. D----, ‘I’ll -tell you a peculiar and altogether unknown fact in connection with -M. de Talleyrand. Since Louis XV. he’s the only man who can open a -soft-boiled egg with one backward stroke of his knife without spilling -a drop of the contents of the shell. That’s the only peculiarity I know -in connection with him.’ Discretion had scored a decisive victory. From -that moment the questions ceased. - -The topic of M. de Talleyrand seemed really inexhaustible. More stories -about him were told, and then the Prince de Reuss came up to our -table, said a few words to M. Rouen, and once more left us. - -‘It was his father, the reigning prince,’ said one of our friends, -‘who at the time of the Directory began an official despatch in the -following terms: “The Prince de Reuss begs to acknowledge the existence -of the French Republic.” M. de Talleyrand, who in his capacity of -Minister of Foreign Affairs had to reply to the missive, began his -document with: “The French Republic feels most flattered at making the -acquaintance of the Prince de Reuss.”’ - -On leaving my friends, I could not help reflecting with regret upon -my adventure at Raincy, the recollection of which had so unexpectedly -cropped up a few hours previously. I kept thinking of the chance -offered to me by M. de Talleyrand, which my lack of foresight had -caused me to disdain. - - - - -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. - - -One of the most painful events of my life, namely, the death of the -Prince de Ligne, also damped the gaieties of the Congress. The event -affected me so deeply, and it was so unexpected by me, that, after many -years, I still vividly remember the particulars. I was on my way to pay -my quasi-daily visit when, not far from the prince’s residence, I met -the Comte de Witt, who wished to accompany me. The prince was in bed -and ailing. He had caught a chill at that ill-fated appointment on the -rampart; and on the previous evening at the ball, where he appeared so -thoroughly consoled, he had been rash enough to go out without a cloak -in the bitter cold in order to take some ladies to their carriage. As -yet there were no grave symptoms; he was only feverish, and had passed -a very restless night. - -Nevertheless, he welcomed us with the cordial grace that never failed -him, and we chatted about the crowd of strangers in Vienna and the -latest rumours of the Congress; and finally we got to military matters, -the favourite subject of the octogenarian marshal and of the young -Russian general. To judge by his spirited remarks, there seemed no -cause for anxiety, and the Comte de Witt as a parting sentence said how -sorry Vienna would feel at the news of its brightest ornament being -ill. He answered with a particularly atrocious pun, attributed to the -Marquis de Bièvre, which seemed to afford him great amusement, and -expressed the intention of getting well again in a short time if only -to spite the gossip-mongers of the capital. - -When the Comte de Witt was gone, the prince referred to the comte’s -mother, to ‘his exquisitely beautiful mother,’ as he expressed it, -‘whose image rises before me the moment I catch a glimpse of her son -and reminds me of the best years of my life. That type of beauty is -lost,’ he went on. ‘It was a combination of Eastern loveliness and -Western grace. You ought to have seen her, that Comtesse de Witt, when -for the first time she appeared at the Court of France. No words of -mine can convey an idea of the effect she produced, of the universal -enthusiasm she aroused. I remember that, hearing her beautiful -eyes--which were, in fact, the most beautiful conceivable--constantly -mentioned, she imagined that the adjective and the substantive were -inseparable. One day Marie-Antoinette said to her; “What’s the matter, -comtesse, you do not appear to be well?” “Madame,” was the answer, -“I have got a pain in my beautiful eyes.” As you may imagine, this -ingenuous, delightfully naïve reply went the round, and justly applied -to the lovely creature.’ - -I noticed that talking seemed to tire him, and I left, not without a -vague feeling of sadness and anxiety. I felt depressed all day, and in -order to verify my apprehensions of the morning I went back at night. -Doctor Malfati[91] and the Comte Golowkin, known in connection with -his unsuccessful mission to China, were with him, and the former was -warning him against his want of care, which might be attended with -serious consequences. Since the morning violent erysipelas had set -in; the patient seemed much weaker. Golowkin, who had no more faith -than Molière in doctors and the art of healing, was trying to dispel -his uneasiness. ‘With all due deference to the faculty,’ replied the -charming old man, ‘I have always belonged to the sect of unbelievers -where medicine was concerned. You know the remedies I employed during -the famous journey with the great Catherine in Taurida. She was very -anxious that I should submit to some of the dictates of Hippocrates. “I -have got a peculiar way of treating myself,” I replied. “When I am ill, -I send for my two friends, Ségur and Cobentzel: I purge the one and -bleed the other; and that as a rule cures me.”’ - -‘Times are changed, prince,’ said the doctor, somewhat nettled; ‘and -if my memory does not mislead me, six lustres have gone by since -then. Just let us count the years a bit. They make, as far as I can -reckon----’ - -‘Stay, stay, doctor,’ exclaimed the patient in a lively tone, ‘don’t -let’s count anything; I have never counted my enemies. And you, a -clever man, you are telling me “times are changed.” Who in the world -could persuade himself that age changes one’s face. Is it not the same -in the morning when we get up as it was the previous evening when we -went to bed? People here imagine, perhaps, that having exhausted all -kinds of pleasure, I am going to relieve their monotony by giving them -the spectacle of a field-marshal’s funeral. No, I am not a sufficiently -good courtier to be the complacent actor in such an entertainment. I -have no wish to divert the royal pit of the Congress Theatre in that -way.’ - -These well-known words of the Prince de Ligne have always been -strangely misquoted. Historians have lent to them a kind of philosophy, -desirable, no doubt, but altogether unintended by the speaker. -All have made him say: ‘I keep for these kings the spectacle of a -field-marshal’s funeral.’ - -Not one of those historians heard him as I did; not one of them knew -or even suspected the real character of that illustrious old man. - -The prince went on. ‘I do not intend using the epitaph of my friend the -Marquis de Bonnay for a long time to come. I’ll defer the business of -cutting his clever lines into marble for a while.’[92] - -Malfati, though strongly recommending great care, made it a point to -reassure him, and to dismiss all idea of death. - -‘It will have to come to that after all, I know. I was seriously -thinking of it all night. Death suits many people. I once had the fancy -of proving this in several articles I wrote hurriedly. I’ll touch them -up and complete them later on. As for you,’ turning to us, ‘listen and -look, in order to find out if you happen to belong to these categories; -don’t worry about me. As for the doctor, it will serve him as a text -when he wishes to preach resignation to his patients.’ Saying which, he -took from under his pillow a book and began to read to us. Some of his -reflections, apart from their original and piquant style, had also the -merit of a comforting and gentle philosophic teaching. - -After that short moral lecture, Malfati left us. Golowkin, in order to -amuse the invalid, told him some of the incidents of his mission to -China; the variety of the pictures seemed to brighten him. Gradually -dismissing the possibility of any danger, he began to refer cheerfully -to some of the circumstances of his young days. - -‘When I was a child,’ he said, ‘the dragoons of the Ligne regiment -carried me in turns in their arms. My fondness for soldiers dates from -that period. It’s a kind of affection which, contrary to the other, -has often been repaid to me in coin of sterling devotion.’ - -In spite of his cheerfulness, six or eight hours had sufficed to make -him look gaunt and wan. He could no longer smile without an effort; -there seemed to be a short but terrible struggle going on between him -and bodily pain. Finally his courage and energy got the upper hand; -pain was for the moment vanquished. - -His daughter, the Comtesse Palfi, came in to administer the potions -prescribed by Malfati; we left them. When Golowkin and I were outside -on the ramparts, we did not pretend to disguise our uneasiness from -each other. Golowkin was sincerely attached to the prince. - -At eight the next morning I was at the prince’s with Griffiths, who, -having all his life made the science of healing a particular study, -felt only too pleased to assist one he liked so well. The prince was -very depressed; the presentiment of his end made him sad. ‘I know,’ he -said, ‘nature will not be balked. We must vacate the space we occupy -in this world for some other people. We must make up our minds to it. -Nevertheless, I feel this: the greatest sting of death is the fact of -leaving those whom we love.’ I felt the tears getting into my eyes. -‘Come, come,’ he said, ‘don’t be afraid, the “camarde” will be mistaken -once more.[93] To-morrow my pain will be gone like the dream of a -night.’ - -Then he was silent for a few moments, as if pondering. ‘What a sad -thing is the past,’ he remarked at last. ‘The recollection of it is -horrid; if it has been a happy past, it’s hard to say to oneself, -“I have been happy.” When one falls to thinking of one’s moments of -glory and of happiness, of one’s first attempts, even of the games of -childhood, the thoughts are sufficient to kill one there and then with -regret. Nevertheless, if I could have my time over again, or could -return on earth after my death, I should do almost everything I have -already done. My poetry and my love-affairs are the greatest sins I -have committed, and Heaven has never withheld its forgiveness for such -errors. The only thing I should endeavour to do would be not to give -the same persons a chance of being ungrateful to me. After all, I would -only give others a chance....’ - -Throughout the day the greatest personages of Vienna, all the political -and military celebrities and the sovereigns, sent at frequent intervals -for news. The report of his illness had spread among all classes; the -anxiety was general, and a large crowd gathered before his house, so -intense was the interest in the remarkable man about to disappear. -During the night, between the second and third day, his condition -became rapidly and alarmingly worse. His family, bowed down with grief -and dumb with despair, stood around his bed when Malfati came in. ‘I -did not think,’ said the patient, ‘that I should make so much fuss at -going. Truly, the uncertainty and briefness of our days are not worth -the trouble of waiting.’ Then he began to talk with the greatest gaiety -about the bequests he had made. ‘The inheritance will not be difficult -to divide; yet, it was necessary to proceed in orderly fashion. In -accordance with an ancient custom, I must leave something to my company -of trabans. Well, I have left them my posthumous works; the gift is -worth a hundred thousand florins.’ - -They tried to change the conversation in order to divert his thoughts -from the subject of death, but he constantly returned to it. ‘I have -always liked the end of Petronius,’ he said. ‘Bent upon dying as he -had lived, in the lap of luxury, he made them play some charming music -and recite some beautiful verses. I’ll do better than that: surrounded -by those whom I love, I’ll breathe my last in the arms of friendship. -Don’t be sad,’ he said a few moments later, ‘perhaps we’ll not part -yet. One illness sometimes prevents a more serious one. Take heart; -doubt is a most precious gift from nature. Besides, I am by no means -convinced that the prophecy of Etrella is to be realised so soon.’ - -‘What prophecy, prince?’ asked Malfati. - -‘It dates from my last journeys to Paris. The Duc d’Orléans, to whom I -was much attached, for he could be a staunch friend, took me one day -on leaving the Palais-Royal to a sorcerer, a fortune-teller, whom they -called the “Great Etrella.” This Parisian gipsy was perched in a fifth -floor in the Rue de Froid-manteau. He foretold to the Duc d’Orléans -some surprising things to which my want of faith prevented me from -paying much attention. As for me, he told me that I should die seven -days after having heard a great noise. Since then I have heard the -noise of two sieges, I have heard two powder-magazines blown up; and I -did not die of the noise. I fancy that during the present week there -has been no great noise, except about small things--rumours, balls, -fêtes, and intrigues. Many people live by them and through them. I have -not heard it stated that anybody died of them.’ He tried to smile. -Suddenly, there was an access of great weakness, which frightened us. -In a short time, though, he rallied once more. ‘I feel it,’ he said, -‘the soul has worn out its dress. The strength to live is gone; the -strength to love you all remains.’ - -At these words, all his children flung themselves on the bed, kissing -his hands and bedewing them with tears. ‘What are you doing?’ he said, -drawing his hands away. ‘I am not a saint yet, children; or are you -mistaking me for a relic?’ - -The joke produced a more painful sensation than the most agonising cry -could have done. The doctor prevailed upon him to take a draught, which -gave him some hours of peaceful sleep. When he awoke he had recovered -his cheerfulness; the idea of death had vanished. He began even to jest -about the terrible prognostics which, in spite of his weakness, he had -overheard in the morning. ‘Malfati, the “camarde’s” messenger has given -you to understand that she might pay me a visit this evening,’[94] he -said. ‘A truce to that kind of gallant diversion. I have never broken -my appointments, but I mean to break this one. Yes, I have adjourned -the writing of the verses which, like Hadrian, I intend to address to -my soul about to leave my body.’ - -There was a lighted candle on a piece of furniture near the window. -‘Blow that candle out,’ he said to his servant: ‘people can see it from -the rampart; they’ll mistake it for a wax taper, and they’ll think I am -dead. - -‘Did not I tell you,’ he said, addressing himself to us, ‘that the -verdicts of the faculty are not invariably without appeal. Decidedly, -the newsmongers and idlers of the Graben will have to postpone their -comments on my demise, at any rate this time. I hear that to keep their -tongues and pens going they are spreading the rumour of the Empress of -Russia’s pregnancy.’ - -He went on in the same tone, interrupting himself to discuss the plans -of his journeys for the coming spring, and the travels he wished to -complete. We, alas, were far from sharing his opinion, the ravages -of the disease were too plainly discernible; practically there was -no hope. Malfati when leaving had pronounced the situation to be -exceedingly grave. - -Towards the middle of the night the doctor’s apprehensions were -fast being realised. The improvement of a few hours was all at once -succeeded by a thorough prostration. Suddenly his strength seemed to -revive; he sat up in bed and assumed a fighting attitude; his eyes -were wide open, and shone with unusual brilliancy, he gesticulated -violently and shouted: ‘Shut the door, put her outside, “la camarde,” -the hideous hag.’ He was manifestly struggling with all his might -against the ‘hideous hag’s’ grip, and gasping forth incoherent words, -while we, standing by terror-stricken and paralysed with grief, could -only answer him with sobs. This last effort exhausted him completely; -he fell back unconscious. An hour later, God received his soul. It was -the 13th December 1814. - -His daughter, the Princesse de Clary, bent over him and closed his -eyes.[95] His face no longer wore the expression of terror and anger -that had contracted it a moment before his death. His features had -recovered their ordinary and placid expression, and the look of youth -which had been theirs so long in virtue of his peace of mind and -soul. A smile hovered on his lips, and the man, so extraordinary in -everything, even after his death was perhaps handsomer than he had ever -been at any period of his life. His noble face might have served as a -model to the brush of Lesueur for his sublime heads of Heaven’s elect. -In default of the halo which is the pictorial symbol of everlasting -happiness, there were the beams of genius and goodness. His immortality -had commenced. - -At the foot of the bed an old soldier was convulsed with sobs. It was -the Major Docteur whom I had often met at the house. His affection for -the illustrious old man partook of the nature of fanatical worship. It -was said that there were ties of close blood relationship, but whether -the tears coursing down that noble, scarred face were due to gratitude -or admiration, or kinship, they plainly showed the extent of his loss -and the bitterness of his grief. - -The princess cut a few locks of her father’s white hair and distributed -them among us. We received them silently, bedewing them with our tears. -I doubt whether they were ever parted with by any of the recipients. - -The Prince de Ligne was in his eightieth year. With him disappeared one -of the most brilliant lights of his century.[96] - -He was the veteran of European elegance, and at eighty had preserved -the vigour of a man in his prime added to the grace of youth. He -also had the tastes of the young without ever becoming ridiculous in -the slightest degree in consequence. Animated as he was by the most -cordial good-will towards them, young men, whom he treated as ‘chums,’ -worshipped him and were never so happy as in his company. - -His was a genuine and unostentatious philosophy. The revolution in -Belgium deprived him of a great part of his wealth. He bore his losses -with the utmost fortitude. Lavish like most men endowed with great -imagination, he had left portions of his remaining fortune in every -capital of Europe, and, in spite of his extravagance, had scattered -even more wit than money. - -The idea of death had perhaps never presented itself to him: the extent -of his knowledge, the fantasy displayed in his taste, his fondness for -the worldly life led by a society of which he might rightly claim to be -an ornament--all this had provided him with a freshness of imagination, -a vivacity of affection, and a kind of unfailing youth, the source -of which resided in his mind and in his heart. He in every respect -justified the saying of Maupertuis: ‘The body is a green fruit; it only -becomes ripe at the moment of death.’ - -The Prince de Ligne was a field-marshal, the proprietor of a regiment -of infantry (raised and subsequently maintained at his own expense), -captain of the trabans and the guards of the Imperial Palace, a member -of most of the European Orders, and a Knight of the Golden Fleece. He -took a legitimate pride in reminding people that one of his ancestors, -Jean de Ligne, Marshal of Hainault, had received that knighthood at the -same time as Philip, the father of Charles V. - -No official mourning was ordered for the illustrious deceased, -nevertheless mourning was general, inasmuch as it was in everybody’s -heart. For a great number of years, the Viennese had come to look upon -the Prince de Ligne as an object of respect and admiration, a feeling -which was, perhaps, still further increased by the reverence shown him -by foreigners. The Viennese no doubt also remembered the friendship -that had bound him to their Emperor Joseph, and the ‘fraternity of -glory’ that had subsisted between the prince and their most famous -warriors; they could not forget the familiar footing on which he had -lived with them and with all the celebrities of the previous century. -To part with the man who spoke so admirably of all these, and reminded -them so vividly of their heroes, was like losing them a second time. - -The funeral of the Prince de Ligne took place with all the honours -due to his rank, and with a pomp hitherto unknown at the burial of a -private individual. The procession left his house at midday. It was -composed of eight thousand infantry, several squadrons of cavalry, -and four batteries of artillery. His company of trabans surrounded -the funeral car; its officers carried the insignia of mourning. A -herald-of-arms, on horseback, in black armour, wearing a black crape -scarf, baldrick-fashion, and holding a drawn sword lowered, followed -immediately afterwards; and then came the prince’s own battle-charger, -caparisoned in black spangled with silver stars. Behind the charger, -and by the side of the family, came a great number of marshals, -admirals, generals, belonging to nearly all the armies and navies of -Europe. Among them, the Prince Eugène, Generals Tettenborn, Philippe de -Hesse-Hombourg, Walmoden, Ouwaroff, de Witt, Ypsilanti, the Prince de -Lorraine, the Duc de Richelieu, and all the notable personages who at -that moment had forgathered in Vienna. Some of those captains, who had -come expressly to pay their last tribute to the man who had been their -model, were on horseback and carried their swords bare. - -The procession traversed part of the city on its way to the parish -church, called the ‘Scottish Church.’ After the religious ceremony, -the funeral continued its route to the Kalemberg, where the prince had -requested to be buried. - -The funeral procession of the field-marshal passed before the -sovereigns, some of whom, like the Emperor of Russia and the King of -Prussia, had taken up their position on the site of the ramparts razed -by the French. There was unaffected grief on their faces. Alexander, -for instance, could not help remembering the admiration of his -grandmother for the illustrious dead. - -When the coffin was lowered into the vault, the sun shone out at full -strength, and ‘it seemed,’ as Gentz said, ‘as though he would salute -for the last time the favourite of God and men.’ - - - - -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 Remark 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 King of Würtemberg--The Queen of - Westphalia--The Announcement of a Sleighing-Party--A Ball - at Lord Castlereagh’s. - - -It seemed as if every species of amusement had been exhausted for the -gratification of the illustrious gathering at Vienna. Balls, hunts, -banquets, _carrousels_ were only a few of the forms pleasure had -adopted in its pursuit. The new year was drawing near, and in order -to inaugurate it under similar auspices of gaiety and happy freedom -from care, the Austrian Court had announced sixteen grand fêtes or -new assemblies for the forthcoming month of January. Suddenly, on a -moonless night, the palace of Prince Razumowski caught fire, and in -consequence of a rather stiff breeze the mischief spread rapidly, and -in a short time looked like Vesuvius in full blast. The excitement -spread in due proportion, and everybody wished to catch a glimpse of -the spectacle, worthy of the brush of a great artist. In a short time -the roads leading to the structure were simply black with people. - -At daybreak I also repaired to the spot. The Emperor of Austria had -gone thither at the first news of the disaster. Several battalions -of infantry, animated by his presence, preserved order, and did all -they could to check the progress of the flames, without much apparent -success. From amidst the snow-covered roofs arose dense clouds of -smoke, which in turns hid and lighted up the burning building itself. -Every now and again an explosion more violent than the rest literally -caused burning beams to drop from on high. A shower of smaller flames -threatened the various parts of the pile with total destruction. The -yawning walls suddenly disclosed vast rooms, superb galleries crammed -with precious furniture and art-treasures, which almost immediately -became a prey to the fast-advancing monster. The pictures and the -statues were flung headlong into the gardens and into the courts. If -they escaped destruction by fire, they were shattered to pieces on the -flagstones or saturated with the jets of water and the molten snow, -which had converted the ground into a kind of quagmire. One magnificent -gallery, decorated with a number of statues by Canova, could not -be saved. Its floor had given way; and at that moment a feeling of -profound consternation seemed to have taken possession of the enormous -crowd. It was not surprising, for the Razumowski Palace constituted one -of the sights of Vienna. It had taken twenty years to build it. Several -times since the opening of the Congress, Emperor Alexander had borrowed -it of his ambassador. It was in these vast apartments that he had given -some of the fêtes rivalling in pomp and splendour those of the Austrian -Court; it was at the Razumowski Palace that he had gathered around a -table of seven hundred covers all the political celebrities of Europe; -it was at the Razumowski Palace that, but three weeks previously, he -had so fitly celebrated the birthday of his sister, the Grand-Duchess -of Oldenburg. Such, in short, were the splendour and charm of this -magnificent palace that Empress Elizabeth had, it was said, seriously -thought of renting it during the spring as her private residence. - -For many, many years Razumowski had made a point of embellishing -the place with every art-treasure that wealth could buy. The rooms -themselves were decorated with as much taste as sumptuousness. Side by -side with galleries containing masterpieces of pictorial and statuary -art, there was a library, perhaps matchless anywhere, inasmuch as -the rarest manuscripts and books were collected there. In short, the -building was a unique specimen of Asiatic magnificence, carefully toned -down by European taste. - -In the costly ornamentation of that palace, Razumowski had spent a -considerable part of his fortune: it was even said that his fortune had -been impaired by it. That wealth, which was enormous, came to him from -his father, Cyril Razumowski, the field-marshal, and the brother of -that famous Alexis who was the favourite and subsequently the husband -of Empress Elizabeth, who secretly married him at Perowo, near Moscow. -The vagaries of luck, which has played so important a part in the -history of Russia, were for Cyril what they were for the brother of -Catherine I. When the erewhile chorister-lad of the imperial chapel, -Alexis Razumowski, had sprouted into the lover and minister of Empress -Elizabeth, it all at once recurred to him that he had a brother. Alexis -decided upon having him sent for, in order to give him a share of some -of the good things that had come to himself. The brother herded flocks -somewhere in Little Russia, and had no presentiment of the marvellous -destiny in store for him. On the contrary, he was inclined to look -upon the imperial emissaries who had come in search of him as so many -recruiting-sergeants bent on converting him into a soldier. In his -opinion, the wallet in which he carried his bread while tending his -flock was a thousand times preferable to the grenadier’s knapsack; -hence, at the approach of the men in quest of him, he escaped, and -hid himself in the woods. As a matter of course, they were on his -track in a few days, and after a most obstinate resistance, he was -bound and laden with fetters, and in that condition he made his first -appearance at the Imperial Palace, whence he issued very soon, laden -with wealth and favours, a field-marshal, and invested with the -restored commandership of the Cossacks, a rank abolished by Peter -the Great in consequence of the Mazeppa conspiracy. In addition to -the most extensive powers, the latter office conferred upon him the -right of levying tithes upon all the revenues of the provinces of his -government; and this naturally became the source of one of the most -enormous fortunes of Europe. - -Exceedingly tactful and devoid of prejudice, Cyril Razumowski -succeeded in maintaining himself in his great position during the -reign of Catherine II., to whose elevation he was supposed to have -contributed in no mean degree. The pomp and splendour with which he -surrounded himself, as well as his personal kindness of heart, seemed -to have rendered him fully worthy of such unprecedented favours. -Many traits are recorded of him proving his generosity as well as -his nobleness of character. He had a steward, who for many years had -managed his affairs, and who had acquired great influence over him. A -poor gentleman of Little Russia, a neighbour of the marshal, was at -loggerheads with the business man about some land, which, though of -little or no importance to the wealthy Court dignitary, practically -constituted the whole of the other’s patrimony. The steward insisted -upon the surrender of the property. The gentleman was thoroughly -aware of Razumowski’s inherent sense of right and justice, and, -instead of trusting his all to the chances of a lawsuit--always -uncertain in Russia, and notably where one’s opponent happens to be -very powerful--he made up his mind to go and find the marshal at St. -Petersburg, and to plead his cause with him. The steward, having got -wind of the affair, is beforehand, and on his arrival in the capital -stigmatises the claim of the gentleman as an utterly unfounded -pretension, and extracts from his master a promise to yield neither to -solicitations nor prayers, but to remain firm. A short time afterwards -the poor gentleman arrives upon the scene and explains his case, and -succeeds in convincing the marshal so completely of the justice of his -claim as thoroughly to move him. The picture of the other’s total ruin -is by no means to his taste; the promise to his steward is forgotten, -and without saying a syllable he leaves the room for a small one -adjoining it, and there in a few lines he draws up a document granting -the contested land to his adversary. At the sight of the paper, the -latter drops on his knees, where the steward, entering at the same -moment by another door, finds him. ‘You see,’ said Razumowski smiling, -‘where I have brought him to.’ The scene is worthy to figure by the -side of that of Sully and Henri IV. at Fontainebleau, when the king -said to his friend the minister, ‘Rise, Rosny, these people might -imagine that I was granting you a pardon for something.’ - -André Razumowski, his son, who had only received his princely title -some short time before from Alexander as a reward for important -services, had inherited several of those qualities which seem such -dignified accompaniments to great wealth. He also had a remarkable and -enlightened taste for art. The genuine type of the grand seigneur, he -was at the same time wholly familiar with the less redundant graces -of diplomatic courtesy. Most expensive in his taste and grandiose in -his projects, he noticed one day that he might shorten the distance -separating him from the Prater, and had a bridge thrown over an arm of -the Danube. As the ambassador to the Austrian Court, he was on the most -confidential footing with Prince de Metternich, the presiding spirit; -and more than once, Razumowski, by his cleverness, had dissipated the -clouds gathering over the discussions of the Congress. - -The fire had meanwhile been got under, but that part of the palace -looking out upon the gardens was irrevocably gone. Among the crowd of -lookers-on, I noticed the Prince Koslowski. After the death of the -Prince de Ligne, an instinctive feeling of friendship, and perhaps -sympathy also, seemed to draw me nearer to that other friend. If, in -the case of the old marshal, I had admired the treasures of experience -and reason and that subtle and delicate appreciation of society, in -the case of the Russian prince I found a loftiness of views, an entire -independence of judgment and expression about men and political events, -too rare, perhaps, among diplomatists. His sprightly conversation bound -many people to him, while at the same time his frankness commanded -affection. - -‘This,’ he said, when I got up to him, ‘is a chapter to add to the -vicissitudes of courtly favour and disgrace in Russia. Razumowski -may consider himself fortunate to be quits at the cost of a palace -half burnt down. He also has known the ups and downs of favour and -disgrace; he also has known the sweets of power and the bitterness -of exile. The history of my country could indeed be made into a -most philosophical novel; it would, above all, provide a series of -excellent moral lectures on the danger of vainglory and the frequency -of revolutions. The last century has offered any number of examples. -There is Menschikoff, a pastry cook’s lad, who becomes a prince and a -general, and is suddenly exiled, dying a couple of years after, without -individually recovering his position. Biren, a servant, is raised to -sovereign rank, and is practically master of the empire for nine years, -until the day that Münnich, his rival, claps the fetters on him in -the presence of his own guards, petrified with fear. Biren, however, -regains favour, while Münnich himself expiates his sudden rise with -twenty years’ banishment to Siberia. Surgeon Lestocq, after having -overthrown the Regent Anne, practically puts the crown on Elizabeth’s -head, and remains one of her principal advisers during her reign. He -is, nevertheless, flung into prison, then set free, and finally almost -entirely forgotten. The Princesse Daschkoff, the supposed soul of the -plot that dragged Peter III. from his throne to place his wife there, -is soon misjudged by her whose plans she imprudently boasted to have -inspired, and to whose grandeur she professed to have contributed. -Finally, the plotters who took Paul I.‘s life and crown are treated -with the utmost harshness by him who owes his present power to them. - -‘Well,’ he went on, after we had left the scene of the fire, ‘the -elevations are often as strange in their causes as the catastrophes are -terrible in their effects. Judge for yourself. In consequence of my -relationship to Prince Kourakine, I began my career in the secretarial -department of the great chancellor Romanzoff. One day the latter was -dictating an important despatch to me. I do not know how I managed it, -but in my hurry, instead of emptying the pounce over the document, I -emptied the inkstand over the beautiful white kerseymeres of the chief. -That inkpot, so indiscriminately emptied, decided my fate. Romanzoff, -as you may imagine, did not care to keep near him a secretary with such -a distinct tendency to spoil his clothes, so he gave him a position -as a state-councillor, where there was a good deal to control, but -little to write. But for this trifling circumstance, I’d probably be -vegetating now among the subalterns.’ - -Few men combined like the Prince Koslowski the liking for work, and -the intelligent appreciation of it, joined to a remarkable and fiery -eloquence. His learning was very varied and extensive, his memory most -admirable. History had no secrets for him; he had mastered all the -diplomatic transactions which for many centuries had regulated the -fate of Europe. His manner of judging men was that of a philosophic -statesman. All the political questions so often twisted out of their -natural shape by private interest he regarded in the light of a friend -of humanity. A staunch partisan of all progress, he was fond of telling -how he, like another illustrious personage already mentioned, had -received equally deserved chastisement at the hands of an Austrian -postillion. While travelling, when very young, on the frontiers of -Prussia, he had struck the driver, whose horses did not keep pace with -the traveller’s impatience. The driver vigorously applied his whip to -the back of the ’prentice diplomatist. ‘Well, it was that Austrian who -gave me my first lesson in liberalism,’ said the prince, laughing, a -decade later. - -Koslowski quickly climbed the first rungs of the diplomatic ladder. -Minister-plenipotentiary to the King of Sardinia, he had the good -fortune to save the lives of several shipwrecked Frenchmen who had been -made prisoners. Napoleon immediately sent the Legion of Honour to the -representative of a sovereign with whom at that very moment he happened -to be at war. The reward redounded as much to the honour of the Russian -ambassador as to that of the French Emperor. It was at Cagliari, about -the same period, that the Prince Koslowski became acquainted with the -Duc d’Orléans, afterwards the King of the French. A similar love of -knowledge, a similar desire for fathoming most things, drew these two -together. Both had spent their earlier years in serious and assiduous -studies. The chequered and adventurous life of the French prince had -strengthened the studies with the experience derived from misfortune. -These two took long walks by the sea-shore, and passed in review the -gigantic events of which practically they were the eye-witnesses. -Sometimes they read Shakespeare, whose language and whose beauties were -equally familiar to them; and those readings were rarely interrupted -except by the cries of admiration of the Russian diplomatist or the -subtle and learned comments of the French exile. - -Very often during the Congress I heard Koslowski refer to the -particulars of that familiar intercourse, of which, despite the -difference in their years--for that difference consisted of a -decade--he cherished a lively recollection. ‘The learning of the Duc -d’Orléans surprises and confounds me; on no matter what subject, -whether it be a scientific, an historical, or a politico-economical -one, he not only holds his own with me, but beats me. What, however, -I admire most in him is his courage in misfortune, and his profound -knowledge of men. He sees them as they are; nevertheless, he judges -them without the slightest bitterness. Proscribed from his country, he -constantly has his eyes turned towards it, and has steadfastly refused -to join those who would reconquer it by force of arms. The saying: -“They have learnt nothing; they have forgotten nothing,” does not apply -to him. Both as a man and as a prince, he belongs to his time.’ - -The Comtesse Zichy gave a grand ball, which was to be honoured by the -presence of the sovereigns. The sole topic of conversation in the -capital was the fire of the previous night, which had robbed the city -of one of its handsomest ornaments. The damage, estimated at several -millions, was absolutely irreparable from the point of view of art. -But oblivion came quickly in those days, and by evening the excitement -had largely subsided, and the courtiers’ greatest interest seemed to -be the study of the sovereigns’ faces, inasmuch as the rumour ran -that the most important questions had been settled, that the sweetest -accord reigned between those rulers of the world, and that the opening -of the new year would be signalised by the proclamation of some great -decisions and the declaration of a general peace. - -Among the crowd of notabilities grouped around the celebrities, such -as M. de Metternich and the Field-Marshal Prince de Schwartzenberg, -was the young Prince C---- de F----, the son of a king, the brother of -a king to-be, yet who, nevertheless, was as simple and unaffected as -he was handsome and clever. A circumstance most trifling in appearance -had made him for the last few days the subject of all comments and the -object of all observation. In the shape of a floral decoration, he wore -simply a daisy in his buttonhole and nothing else. Of course, renewed -each day, the modest village flower was a proof of careful search at -a season when the snow-covered fields had none to offer to the rustic -swain. No doubt some tender recollection, some thought proceeding -direct from the heart, was hidden under this humble emblem. It was -one of the many love-stories enacted while the Congress was supposed -to be unravelling the tangled skein of Europe’s diplomacy. The air of -Vienna seemed positively teeming with them, and their secrets were -not difficult to read. The latest was no exception to the others. It -was soon known that the modest flower of the field reminded the young -prince of a cherished name, that of the Comtesse de ----. One day these -two were strolling through the imperial hot-houses, and, love being -superstitious, they hit upon the idea of consulting the future with -regard to the duration and the depth of a feeling constituting their -happiness. The comtesse plucked a daisy, interrogated it according -to usage, and the last petal brings the ardently wished-for word -‘passionately.’ Naturally the word is welcomed by a mutual smile, there -is an exchange of significant glances--of those glances that say as -plainly as words, ‘You’re understood.’ The prince plucks another flower -and fastens it into his buttonhole. The matter, however, did not end -there; the oracle had been believed; heaven had received the pledges, -while the head-gardener at Schönbrunn had received something more -substantial in the shape of a hundred florins for the fortunate pot of -daisies. A flower placed each morning near his heart reminded the lover -of a pledge which, as a rule, is kept more faithfully in cottages than -in Courts. - -The band had struck up the usual polonaise, and Alexander, as was his -habit, marched at the head of the line of dancers. His partner was -the Comtesse de Paar, as distinguished by the graces of her person as -by the accomplishments of her mind. Midnight struck and the new year -had commenced. In Austria, as is well known, the delightful custom of -our fathers of celebrating the first hour of January amidst mutual -good wishes had been piously preserved. At the sound of the clock, -the comtesse stopped, and, turning towards the emperor, said, ‘I am -very happy, sire, to be the first to offer such a great sovereign the -good wishes for the new year. Allow me also to be with your majesty -the spokeswoman of all Europe for the maintenance of the peace and the -union of peoples.’ - -Such wishes, expressed by such lips, could not fail to meet with an -enthusiastic welcome. Alexander, then, accepted with much grace both -the compliment and the request. He replied that all his hopes, and all -his wishes tended in the direction of that much desired aim, and that -no sacrifice would be considered too great by him to consolidate a -peace which was the first need of humanity. - -The guests had formed themselves into a large circle, and at the last -words of the imperial reply, there were slight feminine cheers from all -parts; a kind of ovation which did not seem to displease Alexander. -For to some of the great qualities of the Grand Louis, he made it his -constant study to add nobleness of manner and ever-watchful courtesy -to the fair sex. The interlude being over, the orchestra took up the -interrupted strain, and the polonaise was concluded amidst joyous -murmurs and mild applause. - -It was thus that commenced under the most happy auspices that year 1815 -which a few months later was to witness a struggle more relentless -than ever, terminating in the catastrophe of Waterloo. From early -morn, and in spite of the biting cold, a considerable crowd had -gathered on the Graben and on other public places. Every one seemed -to be waiting for the announcement of that general peace, of that -general reconciliation, which, according to certain newsmongers, was -to mark the advent of the new year. People kept interrogating each -other with an anxiety mixed with a constantly growing incredulity. All -that could be gathered was the decision of the Austrian Court, which -had suppressed the customary official receptions in order to save its -guests the worry of new year’s compliments and the embarrassment of -mendacious gratulations. As for the decisions of the Congress, they -continued to be enveloped in as much secrecy as ever, and people -remained free to pursue the daily comment on the dissensions of the -Powers and the lukewarmness they were likely to impart to the fêtes -announced for the month of January. - -A great number of carriages traversed the city in all directions, -and that of Lord Stewart, the English ambassador, eclipsed all the -others in virtue of its elegance and its appointments. At an early -hour Empress Marie-Louise had come from Schönbrunn to offer her good -wishes to her august father. Standing aloof from everything that -happened at Vienna, she never attended any entertainment, Court fête, -or public ceremony. Nevertheless, the greatest deference was shown her -everywhere. During the first months after her arrival at Schönbrunn, -she had kept the imperial arms of France on the panels of her carriage, -on the scutcheons of her harness, and on the buttons of her liveries. -On the occasion of a famous visit to her father, some people in the -street had loudly expressed themselves on what they chose to regard as -a blunder in the matter of etiquette. Marie-Louise had heard the words, -and from that day she had been careful to efface the last traces of -her presence on the throne of France; and when we caught a glimpse of -the conveyance we noticed a new monogram instead of the Napoleonic one, -and a livery not only brand-new, but altogether different in colour -from the old. - -Nevertheless, in spite of the unfavourable predictions current on the -Graben with regard to the turn of the discussions of the Congress, the -Imperial Palace from nine that evening was scarcely able to hold the -enormous crowd seeking admittance. The sovereigns, the political and -diplomatic notabilities, had forgathered in what was called the Hall of -the Ceremonies, where the Austrian Court was giving a state ball. Not -far from there the big hall usually set apart for the large routs was -filled with masks and dominos. Griffiths and I had repaired thither. It -presented, as always, the most animated picture of all, and only one -purpose seemed paramount, the pursuit of pleasure. After a few turns -Griffiths and I left, surprised at such a total absence of care so -rapidly succeeding and ousting most important preoccupations. - -One of the most curious gatherings of the Congress and of Vienna was -no doubt the ‘pic-nic dinner’ to which Admiral Sidney Smith invited -the sovereigns and the political and other celebrities then within the -walls of the capital. The idea of bringing together so many eminent -personages, and of making each pay his share of the entertainment, -could not fail to please them by its very sincerity amidst the constant -gaiety which was gratuitously offered to them. Consequently, a great -many had responded to the appeal. - -Sir Sidney Smith had not been attracted to the Congress from simple -motives of curiosity. His aim was political as well as philanthropic. -And though not invested with any official mission, he had created for -himself as many occupations as had the representative of the most -influential Power. His projects in no way belied his adventurous life, -the episodes of which savoured as much of a novel as of history. - -A sailor from his boyhood, and without occupation after the American -War, he passed into the service of Sweden, In consequence of the -glorious naval engagement of 1791, he got the Grand Cross of the -Order of the Sword, and shortly afterwards he offered his services to -Turkey. Recalled after a few months by a proclamation of the King of -England, he found himself, together with Lord Hood, at the siege of -Toulon. In the course of 1796, while lying before Havre, he boarded a -French corsair, which only a dead calm prevented him from taking in -his wake. A sailor having secretly cut the cable of the craft, manned -by English sailors in replacement of the French, the rising tide drove -it into the Seine, where it was attacked by superior forces and was -obliged to surrender. Taken to Paris, Smith was at first confined in -the prison of l’Abbaye, then in that of the Temple. It was from the -latter that his friends, by means of a forged order of the minister of -the police, managed to effect his escape, a circumstance apparently -very simple in itself, but which later on, under the walls of St. Jean -d’Acre, contributed to frustrate most gigantic projects, and perhaps -effectually prevented the revolution of the East. After that it becomes -rather difficult to assign great causes to great events. - -On his return to England, Sidney Smith got the command of the _Tiger_, -four-and-twenty guns, and was instructed to watch the coast of Egypt. -After having bombarded Alexandria, he set sail for Syria, where his -presence and his advice induced the pasha to defend St. Jean d’Acre. -It was owing to his aid and obstinate resistance that the siege had to -be raised. It was on that occasion that he was presented by the sultan -with an aigrette of great price, and received from Napoleon the not -less flattering remark: ‘This devil of a Sidney Smith has made me miss -my fortune.’ - -On his return to London he received the freedom of the City, in -addition to a magnificent sword of honour. Elected to the Commons, -he kept his seat up to the Peace of Amiens, when he obtained a new -command, and in 1805 took Capri after a siege of a few hours. When, in -1807, Napoleon had deposed the House of Braganza, he took the Prince -Regent of Portugal and his family to the Brazils. Since then he had -remained inactive, though, as may be easily imagined, inactivity -did not suit his temperament. The Congress of Vienna offered him a -magnificent opportunity for displaying his mental energy, and, as a -consequence, he was one of the first to arrive. He represented himself -as being vested with full powers by the former King of Sweden, Gustavus -IV., who, under the title of the Duc de Holstein, had entrusted him -with a claim relative to the throne he had lost. That very honourable -mission had been bestowed upon him in virtue of his being a former -Swedish naval officer and a knight of the ‘Order of the Sword.’ - -At the very opening of the conferences, Sir Sidney Smith had submitted -to the supreme tribunal of Europe the declaration of his august client. -The moment seemed well chosen. Justice, reparation, legitimacy, -were religiously invoked watchwords in Vienna. In appealing to the -conscience of sovereigns, the deposed monarch brought their own -arguments to bear upon them. In his note, Gustavus-Adolphus reminded -them that he had been deposed only by the influence of Napoleon, with -whom he had declined all relationship, especially since the death of -the Duc d’Enghien. He furthermore pointed out that the Swedish nation, -in excluding him from the throne, had only yielded to a political -necessity and to the threats of the great Powers; that at the moment of -his abdication he was a prisoner; that since then he had always refused -to renounce the rights of his son; that he felt confident of this -prince, when he arrived at his majority, proving himself worthy of his -birth, of the Swedish nation, and of his illustrious forefathers; and -that, finally, he did not claim the throne on his own account. - -In politics, however, the most logical arguments are not always the -most valid ones. The days and months went by without there being the -slightest question of restoring his sceptre to the deposed monarch. -Practically sent away without having produced the least impression as -far as his embassy was concerned, Sidney Smith was, however, not at all -discouraged. ‘If, contrary to all possibility, I fail with this august -tribunal,’ he said, ‘I’ll bring it without the slightest fear before -the tribunal of my own country. As long as we have a Parliament in -England, there will be a court of justice for the whole of Europe. I’ll -ask why a legitimate king comes to be deprived of his rights; I’ll ask -to know the reason of the most relentless enemy of Bonaparte falling a -victim to his intrigues; of the abandoning to misfortune of the man who -was the first to attack the Colossus with all the ardour of a knight of -olden times. Do not people know that Napoleon never forgave Gustavus -for having reproached him with the murder of the Duc d’Enghien, and for -having sent back to the King of Prussia the Order of the Black Eagle, -which he, Gustavus, declined to wear in common with Bonaparte? - -‘If it be objected that Gustavus signed his abdication, I’ll answer -that he was not a free man, that a father cannot sign away the rights -of his son, that a sovereign cannot depose his dynasty. Ought not this -descendant of the great Gustavus, of Charles XII., to inspire in this -spot the interest inseparable from such magnificent memories? When -on every side the principles of equity are loudly evoked, will they -dare by the strangest contradiction to reject the most sacred, those -of an inheritance founded on glory and hallowed by ages? In fine, if -history is henceforth to be the sole judge of arbitrary acts, it -is to history that Gustavus-Adolphus shall appeal. Posterity, more -equitable than this Congress of kings, shall say of the prince that if -certain brilliant peculiarities made him, perhaps, an object of envy -and enmity, it is very rarely that vice does not avenge itself upon -a brilliant destiny with calumny. As for myself,’ added the admiral, -‘a constant courtier to fallen grandeur, I shall remain true to my -affections and to my principles, and defend until the end the rights of -legitimacy and evil fortune.’ - -In vain they told him that the interest of the nations themselves, the -pledges given, and the need for peace, had also to be considered; that -Europe could not annul solemn acts, and perhaps least of all those -secret treaties that assured to Bernadotte and his dynasty the peaceful -possession of the throne of Sweden; that Europe would never reward the -eminent services he had rendered to the common cause by a spoliation; -that Europe would not expel him from the prominent place of honour to -which the general wish of the Swedes had lifted him in order to impose -upon them the monarch they had rejected; that the sad position of -Gustavus-Adolphus rendered it imperative in him to bear his misfortunes -with dignity; and that, finally, when a monarch is deposed, he could -only arouse compassion by avoiding to draw attention to his case. In -spite of the indifference of the Congress and of the public, Sidney -Smith, nevertheless, did not leave a stone unturned in favour of a -cause henceforth lost. - -The negotiations with regard to his pic-nic dinner had met with fewer -obstacles. In Vienna, it was easier to organise a pleasure-party -than to obtain the restitution of a throne in an assembly which had -seemingly taken it as a principle to despoil the feeble in favour of -the strong. The aim of this general convocation was a subscription, at -the head of which the admiral had placed his name. The proceeds, it -was said, were to be devoted to the purchase of an immense silver lamp -for the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. But it was also soon known that -the sums Sidney Smith hoped to collect would be used for the repurchase -of the Christians kept prisoners in Barbary. He had already proposed -to the Congress a naval expedition for the purpose of annihilating -those Barbary powers, of putting an end to their brigandage, and of -destroying the disgraceful white-slave traffic in Africa for ever. -Naturally, he was to take the command of this anti-piratic army. -The Congress had, however, other things to think about than the -organisation of a crusade, and this new Peter the Hermit had fain to -be content with the simpler means of redeeming the slaves with the -gold taken from the purses of the votaries of pleasure. Transplanting -English usages into Austria, a dinner seemed to him the suitable bond -for this humanitarian work. - -A great number of tickets were sold and the day was fixed. The -Augarten, eminently suited for such a function, had been chosen. Yan, -the _restaurateur par excellence_, had undertaken all the culinary -details of that philanthropic gala fête. The price of the tickets had -been fixed at three Dutch ducats, that for the ball to follow at ten -florins. The dinner was to be on the table at five o’clock in the -beautiful hall so often used by Maria-Theresa and Joseph II. The -table itself was in the shape of an elongated horse-shoe; the walls -of the apartments had practically disappeared under the standards of -all nations. An orchestra had been erected at each end. The sovereigns -had not only approved, but approved with great alacrity. The grand -personages of the Congress, ministers, generals, and ambassadors, had -been equally eager to contribute their ducats. Among the hundred and -fifty guests there were as many highnesses as semi-sovereigns, great -captains, and illustrious statesmen. Trumpeters on horseback, posted -at intervals, announced the monarchs’ arrival by loud blasts. Those -‘glorious entrances’ as they are practised on the English stage proved -that the admiral had not forgotten the theatre of Shakespeare. - -Yan had done his best, and though that best was good, and Bohemia, -Hungary, and the Hereditary States had provided their most delicate -edibles, a dinner at the Court would no doubt have been more perfect in -every respect. It was, however, a tavern repast, where every one paid -his own share; and that novelty had seemed so strange to the crowned -heads, or to the heads fated to wear a crown, that no one was absent. -It was, indeed, a strange and curious spectacle. - -Every one remembers the banquet where Voltaire made Candide dine with -seven deposed kings at Venice. Since then, no one had ever seen so -many forgathered in a tavern or restaurant. If the number of those who -sat down at the Augarten was not absolutely the same, at least they -were not deposed, but crowned in real earnest, and very resplendent. -The inverse comparison, in fact, presented itself to everybody’s mind. -Involuntarily also, the mind reverted to some of those functions where -the kings pressed around Napoleon the victorious; a few spoke about it, -but in nothing louder than a whisper. - -During the first part of the repast, the music played the national -airs of the different countries. At the second course, the admiral, -like the good Englishman he was, and faithful to the traditions of -his country, got on his legs, and spared neither the toasts nor the -speeches. The subject of his own was, naturally, in connection with the -object of the gathering; and though it dragged, no member of the ‘Order -of Mercy’ could have preached with greater unction the redemption of -the slaves. The result of his eloquence was calculated to flatter him, -for it amounted to several thousands of ducats. The emperors had each -subscribed a thousand, and the others according to their fortunes or -their philanthropy. - -Sidney Smith had concluded his speech, the dishes had run their course, -the wines of Hungary, the Rhine, and Italy had been tasted, sipped, and -lauded, according to their merit, and we were about to rise from the -table, when suddenly there appeared the manager of Yan, who, between -two symphonies of Haydn, claims of each of the guests the sum of three -golden ducats, the price fixed for the banquet, the music, and the -lights, the total amounting to about five thousand four hundred francs. - -Some months later, I happened to be in London at the dinner offered to -the sovereigns by the City. The number of guests, truth to tell, was -somewhat more considerable; the ball may also have been somewhat more -numerously attended. The expense, though the fête was in nearly every -respect similar, came to twenty thousand pounds. A different spot, a -different total. - -A trivial circumstance which lent some gaiety to the banquet in the -Augarten was entirely lacking in London. It was an episode which, in -itself, was worth a whole book, and recalls that so facetiously told by -Voltaire. Not that it deals with a king tracked by bailiffs like the -poor, ill-fated Theodore of Corsica, but with that most charming and -most delightful of reigning kings, Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria. - -Yan’s manager had begun his collection, and had put the money of -the Emperor Alexander and the King of Denmark in the silver dish -he was carrying. When he got to his Bavarian majesty, Boniface’s -representative boldly presented the dish, already ornamented with the -six ducats in question. The excellent Maximilian carried his hand to -one waistcoat pocket, then to the other, then to the pocket of his -coat. The search is absolutely fruitless--pockets, fobs, receptacles -are as completely empty of money as in the days when joyous Prince -Max failed to find any money-lender in Paris to line those pockets -with gold. It is more than probable that this king, this very model -king, had emptied the contents of his purse into some hand stretched -out to him, as invariably happened at Munich, where some unhappy -wretches always posted themselves on his route. At any rate, a second -examination of the pockets brought the unalterable conviction that his -majesty of Bavaria had not a red cent upon him. - -Rather embarrassed by the situation, the king began to scan the whole -length of the board, and caught sight of his chamberlain, the Comte -Charles de Rechberg, at the very end of it. He felt sure that his -embarrassment was at an end. Rechberg, who was there on his own account -and for his own money, had not the remotest intention of attending upon -his royal master in this kind of ‘Liberty Hall,’ and was, moreover, -deeply engaged in conversation with M. de Humboldt. Rechberg had -just published an important book upon Russia, which publication, -he fain hoped, would give him a foremost rank among distinguished -_littérateurs_, and, naturally, he was talking enthusiastically about -it to the great savant. Consequently, he did not see the signals of -distress from his sovereign, and equally, as a matter of course, failed -to answer them. The head-waiter, meanwhile, did not budge, holding out -the silver dish for the money due to him. The king kept one eye on the -collector, the other on Rechberg, and his confusion gradually became -such as to attract the notice of those around him. In a little while -a kind of titter was running round the table like an electric spark. -To give the scene a somewhat complete likeness to the royal banquet at -Venice, it only wanted a few bailiff’s officers at the door, watching -King Theodore. How King Maximilian would have got out of his quandary -without the help of his neighbours, it would be difficult to say, for -the stolid head-waiter refused to budge. A far better money-collector -than courtier, he kept jingling his money against the dish, till Prince -Eugène, who had been the last to get an inkling of the situation, was -about to satisfy his claim. He was, however, forestalled by Alexander, -who, recalling the inexorable creditor, about to move at a sign from -the prince, emptied his purse into the dish, shaking, meanwhile, -with uncontrollable laughter, in which the others joined. Good King -Maximilian continued to look confused for a few moments, but, finally, -was as amused as the others at an episode which perhaps reminded him of -his youth. - -At the conclusion of the dinner, and the subscriptions having been -settled, we passed into the ball-room. It was a real pell-mell, less -animated than a rout, less solemn than a Court ball, but infinitely -more curious to the ordinary observer. There were few ladies of high -degree; they were already satiated with fêtes; on the other hand, -there were a great many dames of the bourgeoisie who counted upon -nothing less than a highness or an ambassador for a minuet or a waltz. -Unfortunately, nearly all had spoilt their fresh and charming looks by -ornaments the reverse of tasteful. Though, unquestionably, bought at -a high price, these ornaments suited their charming figures far less -than the classic golden cap of Phrygian shape. The sovereigns retired -almost immediately after the ball opened, and the most illustrious -guests followed their example very shortly. As a consequence, the young -bourgeoises waited in vain for the hoped-for aristocratic partners, -and they had to be content with the new arrivals in that capacity. -They did not seem to mind it, for they had the full value of their -ticket: daylight was streaming in before they made up their minds to -leave. The whole expense of the dinner and ball combined was reported -not to have exceeded fifteen thousand florins. Eight months later, -the fête given by the London merchants to the sovereigns, to which I -have already referred, cost twenty thousand pounds. And yet people -complained about the excessive dearness of everything in Vienna! What -would it have been if the Congress had been held in London? This was -the fête which enabled Sidney Smith to make a long speech and to add -to his titles, already more or less showy, that of President of the -Noble Knights. In reality, it was a pity to see a man with real claims -to distinction constantly seeking opportunities of no value as far as -he was concerned and often altogether insignificant.[97] It was said -that, as an auxiliary to the pursuit of his humanitarian object, he had -solicited and obtained a brief from the Pope authorising him to found -a society for the purpose of abolishing slavery for evermore. What was -something more practical was the aid of the Powers and their money. -All the sovereigns had promptly proclaimed their adhesion to these -philanthropic projects by their subscriptions and their presence at his -picnic; all but two, the Emperor Francis and the King of Würtemberg. -The first, confined to his room by a somewhat serious indisposition, -had sent a donation of a thousand ducats; the second had, two days -previously, left Vienna, and his abrupt departure formed the subject of -every conversation. - -Naturally imperious and irascible, the very corpulent King Frederick -chafed and fretted against the slowness of the diplomatic discussions. -In the state-gatherings, he always seemed to be grumbling or devoured -with care. He was not the only one, for it was generally felt that the -ordinary passions were pursuing their course under all those floral -ornaments and decorations. There came an opportunity, however, for -his impetuous character to show itself in all its violence. Among the -many conflicting claims submitted to the Congress, the landed nobility -of Germany herself had deemed it advisable to join the petitioners, -and it had sent its deputies entrusted with the claim for recovering -its ancient position and rights. During a conference attended by his -majesty of Würtemberg, that claim was discussed, and there was also a -good deal of desultory talk about the restoration of the Holy Roman -Empire. The king was scarcely able to contain himself, and when it -became a question of measures that might restrict the prerogatives of -sovereigns, he rose in great anger. Before him there was a table which, -unlike the boards at the imperial banquets, had not been scooped out to -accommodate his majesty’s enormous corpulence. In his sudden movement -the abdominal prominence of the king lifted the table off its legs and -it fell with a crash. The mishap naturally aggravated the temper of -the king, who quickly regained his own apartments, and in the evening -left the capital of Austria, after having strenuously recommended his -plenipotentiaries systematically to reject every demand on the part of -the nobles. As for his son Wilhelm, he remained much more concerned -with the handsome eyes of the Grande-Duchesse d’Oldenbourg than with -the questions of the Congress. - -This overbearing character the King of Würtemberg showed just as much -in his relations with his family as in the exercise of his royal power. -There was an instance of it when he forced his son into a marriage -against his will. He acted in a similar manner with regard to his -daughter when he made her marry Jérôme, King of Westphalia, the brother -of Napoleon. No sooner had the latter fallen than Frederick wished -the marriage to be dissolved. Attached by a sincere affection to her -husband, and at any rate to her child, the Queen of Westphalia opposed -a stubborn refusal to her father’s demands. ‘United by bonds due to -politics,’ she wrote to him, ‘I am not going to recount the happiness -of seven years; but if he had been the worst of husbands, you, my -dear father, by consulting the real principles of honour, could only -command me not to leave him now that misfortune has overtaken him, and -considering that this misfortune is not of his own making. My first -idea, my first impulse, was to go and fling myself into your arms, -but accompanied by him, the father of my child. Where, in fact, would -be my tranquillity if I did not share it now with him to whom are -due more than ever all my powers of consolation?’ In another letter, -she expressed herself as follows: ‘Though I married for political -reasons, it seemed ordained that I should become the happiest woman in -existence. I bear my husband three feelings combined, love, tenderness, -and esteem. A time will come, I trust, when you will be convinced of -having judged him wrongly; and when that time arrives you shall find in -him and in me the most respectful and affectionate children.’ Such a -noble resistance ended by disarming the father, whose children had both -been forced by him into unions which were in the end to prove happy in -the case of his daughter, the reverse in the case of his son. - -This departure of the King of Würtemberg put an end to all the hopes -of the German noblesse. A few days afterwards, the deputies, tired of -being deluded with promises that had no prospect of realisation, did -not wait until they were positively bowed out, but left the Austrian -capital of their own accord. As a matter of course, the epigrams which -generally accompany failure were not spared to them; their going was -attributed to their exhausted finances, and the next morning they were -forgotten. - -People were merely talking about a new entertainment, namely, a -sleighing party. The snow, which lay thick, and the sharp frost, which -seemed to have set in for good during the last few days, favoured that -kind of amusement, borrowed from the stern climate of St. Petersburg -and Moscow. The Austrian Court made immense preparations, and the -magnificence to be displayed was to rival that of the imperial -_carrousel_. - -[Illustration: ROBERT LORD VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH, MARQUESS OF -LONDONDERRY.] - -Pending those preparations, the fêtes and amusements announced for -the month of January suffered no interruption. The fêtes which, on -account of the serious turns of the discussions, were to languish, -seemed, on the contrary, to be more brilliant than ever. At that -period Lord Castlereagh gave a great gala-ball. At Vienna, all the -entertainments bore their particular stamp. Generally the private balls -given by the illustrious diplomatic personages, though apparently -modelled on the same pattern, were dissimilar in their general -physiognomy or in their minute details. One might have called Lord -Castlereagh’s a ‘vanity ball,’ for if on the one hand it was very -sumptuous, on the other it was serious, like pride itself, and cold, -like overweening pretension. Yes, one really felt inclined to say that -the pride and the pretension which Lady Castlereagh had displayed in -attaching to her brow the Garter of her husband had followed her into -the gilded and brilliant halls of her residence, redolent with the -scent of many flowers. The sumptuousness of the supper failed to thaw -the iciness of the affair. As for the host, according to his habit -amidst all those animated fêtes where everything was given over to -pleasure, he seemed pre-occupied and smitten with care. Even when his -lordship danced, he seemed to be bent upon giving his serious thoughts -the slip by the accelerated movement of his legs, disporting himself in -an Irish jig or a Scotch reel. Did Lord Castlereagh really endeavour -to get away from the disappointments of an insidious and miscarried -policy? Did he already ponder the last scene of the political drama of -his life, when the stoicism of Cato, added to the sombre results of -his spleen, made him escape by suicide from tardy and by then useless -regrets? History has as yet not given the key to that enigma. - - - - -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. - - -This unique scene of the Congress seemed a composition of thousands of -pictures forming a general view. Each separate actor was a complete -novel, and the lives of most of them would have offered material for -long poems. As may be easily imagined, extraordinary personalities were -not wanting in this motley gathering; their presence did not constitute -the least conspicuous singularity. - -Among the types not easily forgotten by the visitors to Vienna -in 1814-15 stood first and foremost M. Aïdé. He was one of those -cosmopolitans who make up for the lack of genuine credentials and -ascertained pedigree by an overweening amount of assurance. His career -was a problem and his fortune an enigma. Born at Smyrna, he came to -Vienna years before the Congress and while very young. His Eastern -costume and the title of Prince du Liban, which he flourished somewhat -ostentatiously about then, attracted some notice. At the time of the -Congress he had become more modest; he had discarded both the Mussulman -dress and the princely title. He was to be met with everywhere; no -drawing-room or reception seemed complete without him. Very amiable and -obliging, he apparently belonged to no camp or party, though perfectly -at home in every one. It was, nevertheless, noticed that he was a -guest at Lord Castlereagh’s more frequently than elsewhere, and it was -tacitly admitted that his lordship favoured him for the sake of his -private secretary, between whom and M. Aïdé there had formerly existed -some commercial relations at Smyrna. - -The particular mania of M. Aïdé was to obtain presentations to any and -every one. The moment a new drawing-room was opened, M. Aïdé’s fixed -idea was to find an introducer to facilitate his admission to it. He -often addressed himself to that effect to people with whom he could -scarcely claim acquaintance; and it was exceedingly difficult to shake -him off. The Prince de Ligne, whose kindness he had often laid under -contribution in this way, finally got tired of the thing, and one -day, when badgered as usual, he introduced the obstinate Greek in the -following words: ‘I present to you a man very much presented and very -little presentable.’ - -The excellent prince often said that he was sorry for what he had done, -for the sentence was repeated, and drew still greater attraction to M. -Aïdé without curing him of his mania. Some years afterwards, while he -was travelling in England, the elegant manners he had acquired in his -constant intercourse with good society captivated, during his stay at -Cheltenham, a young and exceedingly rich girl, whom he married. The -uncertainty of his existence seemed, as it were, at an end, when he got -involved in a quarrel with the young Marquis of B---- at a ball at Mr. -Hope’s. The cause, it was said, was most trifling--an introduction. A -duel was the result, and M. Aïdé was killed on the spot. - -A not less curious individuality, notably for the memories she -recalled, was the old Comtesse Pratazoff, the favourite of Catherine -II., near whom she had occupied a most intimate if not most important -position. In Vienna she was accounted a celebrity. I was indebted -for a glimpse of that relic of the past to the Prince de Ligne. ‘Our -acquaintance dates from very long ago,’ he said, while taking me to -her temporary residence one day. ‘She also belonged to the company -during that famous Crimean journey, not because she had any particular -functions, but because the empress had got so used to talk to her, -especially in the morning and in the evening, as to be unable to -dispense with her. Royal favour often springs from nothing more than a -mere habit on the part of the sovereign of seeing a certain person near -him. In the Comtesse Pratazoff’s case it was, however, something more -than that.’ - -Catherine the Great’s intimate friend had taken up her quarters at the -inn. On entering the room I saw, seated on a couch, a voluminous mass -filling the whole of its space. To judge from the quantity of jewels -she wore, she might have passed muster as an Indian idol. From the top -of her head to her waist, she was literally covered with necklets, -diadems, bracelets, pendants, brooches, earrings, etc. This jeweller’s -shop seemed to me about seventy. - -On our entering the apartment, she made an attempt to rise, but fell -back into her original position, trying, not, however, without great -difficulty, to find room for the prince on the sofa beside her. Having -become aware of my presence, she welcomed me with some of those -ultra-polished, not to say finical, phrases the whole vocabulary of -which was a very open book to the educated Russians of her time. Then -the conversation drifted on to the halcyon days of the fêtes of the -Hermitage. The past was dignified and the present vilified. The most -curious feature of this hour’s visit was the prince’s seeming oblivion -of the thirty years that had passed since that journey to the Crimea, -and his persistent effort to treat this enormous dowager as a young and -skittish thing, calling her ‘my dear’ and ‘my little girl’; and her -absolutely serious acceptance of this kind of flirting by mincing and -mouthing in a most ridiculous, though to her evidently natural, manner. - -When we left her, I promptly repaired home to inscribe on my notes the -portrait of that puppet who had come to show Europe in Vienna the sight -of her decrepit old person, her ancient jewels, and her superannuated -pretensions. - -Another ‘character’ was an Englishman named Foneron. He had been for a -long time a banker at Leghorn, and had amassed a great fortune there, -after which he migrated to Austria. As humpbacked as Æsop, as careful -as the Phrygian, and nevertheless endowed with a sensitive heart, he -had strenuously calculated the discomforts of a union with a fair one -of any thing like Circassian stature. With admirable foresight, he had -looked for and found a young girl with a most charming face, but more -deformed than he. He offered his hand, which was accepted, for the girl -was poor. The marriage took place secretly, but there were still too -many witnesses, for never assuredly was there a more strangely assorted -marriage. A host with an excellent wine-cellar and an almost matchless -cook is sure to meet with indulgence from every one. Mr. Foneron had -both, and in spite of the far from good-natured remarks about himself -and his wife, made a point during the Congress of giving the most -exquisite dinners. Few strangers admitted to his sumptuous board have -forgotten the Friday’s fare, and the classic beefsteaks forming part -of it. They might have called Mr. Foneron the cook of the Congress. -Amidst that crowd of pretenders and petitioners, he asked for nothing, -claimed neither indemnity nor titles, nor orders. His titles and orders -were his dinners. His sole ambition might have been to preside at the -Beefsteak Club of London. - -At one of those receptions I met M. Ank----, a Jew by birth, who did -not belie the instinct of his race for gold. He had a great quantity -of it, he was literally bursting with it; but his reputation for -avarice at least equalled his reputation for wealth. He took it into -his head to invite me to breakfast. Curious to verify the proverb to -the effect that there is nothing more lavish than a miser, I accepted -the invitation. Both the size and the tidiness of the whole of his -apartment produced as it were a cold shiver. There was scarcely any -fire, few carpets, and some hard-worn furniture. As a kind of penance, -no doubt, for the many glorious banquets I had partaken of during the -preceding months, he offered me a little dubious black liquid which he -called chocolate. When I had courageously swallowed the Lacedemonian -broth, he took to showing me his artistic treasures. M. Ank---- was a -numismatist; he had one of the richest and most complete collections -of medals in Vienna, rivalling that most celebrated one of the Comte -Vitzay. After this he showed me some rather good pictures and then -a heap of bric-à-brac, collected less for the love of art than from -the wish for gain, for he put a madly exaggerated price on all that -old rubbish. I had accepted the chocolate, I had drunk it, and I -swallowed the rest of the bitter cup. When he had shown me everything, -he drew from an iron chest a portfolio full of drafts to order, bills -of exchange, and bills at sight. They represented an immense amount -of money. ‘These are no family parchments,’ he said, ‘or emblazoned -scutcheons, but patents of nobility calculated to blanch the cheeks of -the world’s aristocracies, and patents of nobility which shall never -derogate. There are neither misalliances nor hereditary stains of gold -in that book. Gold, from the day it was first purified by fire, is the -only pure genealogy, the only one retaining its pride, the only one -whose brightness cannot be dimmed. Find me an aristocracy capable of -vying in multiplicity of quarterings and services rendered with that -one, and I’ll kneel down and worship.’ - -And he stroked the bills of exchange, and waved the flimsy bits of -paper in the air, to prove to me the enormous total of those patents of -nobility of his imagination. ‘With all this,’ he went on, ‘the world -is an immense Garden of Eden, where no fruit is forbidden. Whatever -the moralists of the school of Seneca may pretend, here you behold -the motive of all virtue, and also the motive of all pleasure. I hold -the whole of it in this hand without trouble, without confusion, -without remorse--the whole of it, from the most sumptuous palace, the -most exquisitely appointed carriages, the most exquisitely prepared -banquets, to the most divinely beautiful woman.’ Saying which, he -strained his ‘bill case’ to his heart with more fervour than the old -man hugs his purse in the ‘Scène du Déluge’ of Girodet. - -‘I think I have heard enough, M. Ank----,’ I said; ‘you not only make -an end of all virtue, but you would justify crime. Why should not a -brigand adopt your plea after killing you, by saying that he also -wishes to judge whether the reality your gold would procure could not -weigh up against all your illusions?’ - -As may be imagined, I had had enough, and more than enough, of the man, -of his breakfast, of his code of morals, and of his bill-book, and I -bade him good-bye with the firm intention of never seeing him again. - -Another Englishman who at that time contended with Mr. Foneron for -the honour of entertaining both strangers and his countrymen was Mr. -Raily. Thanks to his enormous expenditure, he was, according to some, -soon enabled to beat the exquisite comfort of the family dinners of -his rival. Not feeling particularly anxious to swell the number of -Mr. Raily’s guests, I had persistently neglected every opportunity of -procuring for myself invitations, of which Mr. Raily was not sparing. - -‘I wish you to make his acquaintance,’ Griffiths said to me one day: -‘an observer must see everything and study everything. Mr. Raily, as -well as several other “characters,” will figure very well in your -recollections; at any rate, there will be the merit of variety.’ - -I let Griffiths have his way, only asking him a few questions on the -personage we were going to visit. - -‘Mr. Raily,’ answered Griffiths, ‘seems to me one of those mysterious -and strange individuals, like the Comte de Saint Germain[98] and -Cagliostro, who appear to me to live upon everything except their -incomes. When you have seen him, I’ll give you a more detailed -biography. In all my journeys I have invariably met him living upon a -footing either implying the possession of great wealth or the clever -means of getting it. The first time I met him was at Lord Cornwallis’s -in India; since then I have seen him in Hamburg, in Sweden, in Moscow, -in Paris at the period of the Peace of Amiens, when he told me he -had just arrived from Spain. And now, he is here in Vienna, where -he outshines the most opulent. One is almost tempted to say that he -seeks to forget or to hide the origin of his wealth. His dinners are -much run after; his guests are of the highest rank, for he seems to -set particular store upon their quality and titles. A duke seated at -his board fills him with joy, an excellency produces merely a glowing -sensation of comfort; but a royal highness produces a kind of feeling -no mortal pen can describe. If etiquette permitted their majesties to -visit him, Mr. Raily would in a few days be bereft of his reason. You -shall judge of it for yourself, for I dare say he’ll invite us, if only -from sheer ostentation.’ - -Mr. Raily had taken up his temporary quarters in the magnificent -mansion of the Comte de Rosenberg. He welcomed us with the exaggerated -courtesy common to all those who are not affable either by instinct or -constant habit. He was very important about his house, the furniture, -his horses and carriages and the servants, which provided, as it were, -the conversational transition to the dinners, and became a bore to -the guests. He enumerated the highnesses and the celebrities that had -partaken of his hospitality, or were about to do so, and, as Griffiths -had foreseen, wound up by saying: - -‘If you do not mind an invitation at such a short notice, gentlemen, I -shall be delighted if you’ll dine with me to-day with the hereditary -princes of Bavaria and Würtemberg, the Grand-Duke of Baden, Admiral Sir -Sidney Smith, several ambassadors and _chargés_ and other personages of -distinction whom you doubtless know.’ - -Feeling that the gathering would present a piquant picture, Griffiths -promptly accepted; and we left the happy master of the house -superintending the preparations for his _serenissimo_ banquet. At six -o’clock we were once more in the magnificent apartments, and dinner was -served shortly after. The table had been laid in a long gallery, at the -end of which there was a kind of English sideboard, _i.e._ a buffet in -tiers. The plate, both gold and silver, and the crystal on it attested -wealth rather than taste. The host, positively beaming, had the Prince -Royal of Bavaria on his right, and the Prince Royal of Würtemberg on -his left; the rest, highnesses, generals, ministers, etc., took their -seats according to their own sweet pleasure. A lucky chance placed me -next to Admiral Sidney Smith, and his interesting conversation, ranging -over a period of ever so many years, opportunely broke the monotony of -the banquet. For though it is difficult to imagine a more sumptuous -banquet than that, the hours went wearily, and, in spite of the -abundance and the delicacy of the dishes, the aroma of the wines, and -the profusion of everything, the guests seemed anxious to come to the -end of it all. No one tried to enliven the conversation, or to make -it general. The majority of the eminent personages whom curiosity or -the importunity of their host had gathered round the table seemed, as -it were, more or less embarrassed by their position. As for Mr. Raily -himself, he felt convinced that a repast graced almost exclusively by -princes, diplomatists, and grand seigneurs must necessarily be one of -the finest things the world had to offer. The coffee and ices were -served in one of the great drawing-rooms, and, according to a Russian -custom, which Mr. Raily had no doubt brought back with him from Moscow, -several tables were covered with jewels, precious objects, and trifles -from the many lands Mr. Raily had visited. As it happened, the display -caused the impression of a bazaar rather than that of a drawing-room -of good society. Nor did the music of a well-selected and numerous -band succeed in checking the _ennui_ and removing the constraint which -had manifestly fallen upon everybody. It was nine o’clock when we rose -from the table; at ten all these noble guests had left Mr. Raily’s. -In an adjoining drawing-room, the host had put up some whist tables, -which kept in countenance those most bored. A small group had gathered -round a tall, upright old man, with a pair of bright eyes and a skin -as dry as a chip. It was Mr. O’Bearn, who bore the reputation of being -the oldest, and was probably still the foremost, gambler in Europe. -He had made gaming the occupation of his life, his sole study; he had -lived by it, and was still living by it. He was fond of recounting -some of his gambling stories, and even his hopeless Irish accent could -not rob them of their charm. ‘For many years,’ he said, ‘the Duke of -H---- was anxious to pit himself against me. Personally, I was willing -enough to give him that little gratification. He chose piquet; we -began our game at nine in the evening, and the next morning when the -sun streamed through the windows I had gained more gold off his grace -than his father had ever gathered during his Governor-Generalship of -India. After the last hand, which was for an enormous stake, and which, -like the rest, he lost, the duke got up and said: “Mr. O’Bearn, I am -afraid the whole of my fortune will not be sufficient to pay you. I’ll -send you my steward, he’ll settle with you and hand you the titles to -my estates.” “Very well, sir,” I answered, “these are the words of an -honourable man. But do not for a moment imagine that I am going to -let you ruin yourself in that way. It shall not be said of me that I -reduced the bearer of one of our most historic names in the House of -Lords to beggary. On the other hand, as I do not wish to have wasted my -night, a thing I am not in the habit of doing, I’ll ask you to send for -a priest and for a solicitor. Before the priest you shall take an oath -never to touch another card in your life; the solicitor shall draw up -a settlement giving me a thousand pounds sterling annually for life.” -I need scarcely tell you,’ added the old gambler, ‘that my conditions -were accepted and strictly carried out. The Duke of H---- has never -touched a card since, and for nearly half a century I have been -enjoying my income.’ - -Then the veteran gamester told us another story, not less -characteristic. ‘Shortly before the Revolution, I came to Paris, and -as usual took up my quarters at the Hôtel d’Angleterre. The play was -very high there in those days. On the evening of my arrival, I went -to the drawing-room. The tables were set out, and I sat down to one -of them. Two gentlemen were playing piquet. The Duc de Gramont, who -was then the king of fashion, the type of everything that was elegant -and extravagant, took a seat opposite me. He looked very fixedly at -me, and then, intentionally or not, he said: “We hear a great deal of -Englishmen who risk enormous sums either at cards or betting. Here we -never catch sight of them.” I did not answer, and a few moments later -the game took an unexpected turn. “I’d bet on monsieur’s hands,” said -the duc, pointing to one of the players. “Very well,” I replied, “I’ll -take the other side for eight thousand pounds sterling.” “How much, -monsieur, did you say?” asked the duc. I repeated the sum in French -money, and the duc felt that he could not draw back. “I take the bet,” -he said. In another moment I was the winner: the duc rose and came -towards me, saying, “Milord----” “My name is Mr. O’Bearn,” I said; “I -have no title. What is your pleasure?” “I may not be able to discharge -this considerable sum at a moment’s notice.” “Pray do not mention -it, your grace, take your own time. But please to remember that when -I play, I always have the money handy in my valise.” A little while -afterwards, he paid me,’ Mr. O’Bearn went on, ‘and from that moment -he was perhaps a little less hasty in giving his opinions about the -English. As for me, it has always been a delightful recollection, this -deserved lesson to the Duc de Gramont.’ - -While Mr. O’Bearn was telling us his stories, the tables had gradually -become deserted, and now the small group of his listeners took their -leave on this or that pretext. We went away endeavouring to attract -no notice, asking ourselves how people could take so much trouble and -lavish so much money to arrive at a result absolutely _nil_. Each -member of this gathering had appeared to ask himself during and after -the dinner: ‘How and why am I here?’ - -‘Well, have you got the key to the puzzle?’ said Griffiths, as we were -leaving the house. ‘This man, whose opulence causes surprise even here, -where everything is pomp and splendour and extravagance--this man is -simply a gambler. We have still got in England some samples of those -characters of the bygone century. After Charles II. left to his people -the terrible gambling mania, to be a gamester became, as it were, an -avowable profession. You know all that has been said of the youth of -the Prince of Wales, of his passion for gambling, which for him had -such terrible consequences. The most deplorable effect of this passion -was to gather around his royal highness a set of people whose bow it -would have taken some courage to acknowledge outside the precincts of -Carlton House. It was sufficient to be a gambler, and what they called -a magnificent gambler, to have the doors of the royal residence thrown -open to you. These gentlemen, after the journeys they made annually -through England, much as the magistrates went on circuit each session, -as a rule took their flight thence for their European tours. They -brought back immense harvests. Mr. Raily and his guest, Mr. O’Bearn, -belong to the number. - -‘Mr. Raily was born at Bath, that city enjoying the foremost reputation -among our celebrities of fashion. Having started life with small -means, he modelled himself upon a certain Mr. Nash, his predecessor in -that career. That personage, who was called Beau Nash, was for forty -years the arbiter of all that was elegant at Bath. His authority in -that respect was boundless, and his verdicts without appeal. They -finally gave him the sobriquet of ‘the King of Bath.’ In imitation -of his master, Mr. Raily posed as the prince of the drawing-rooms -and boudoirs. He, however, soon grew weary of more or less romantic -love-adventures, and began to cast about for something more profitable. -From his native city, he went to the capitals of the United Kingdom -and then to those of Europe. He exploited them very cleverly and very -luckily. At present, he has just returned from St. Petersburg. He -has brought back from it all the gold plate you saw, the profusion -of pearls and diamonds which convey the impression of his being a -jeweller, and in addition to all this, it is said, a credit of a -million of florins at the banker Arnstein’s. All this seems, indeed, -most fabulous. Let us trust that there will not be a verification -of the old proverb: “He who wants to make a fortune in a month is -generally hanged during the first week.”’ - -Mr. Raily had a somewhat longer shrift than that, because it was fully -three years before I met with him again, and then it was in Paris. But -all his wealth was gone, and all the brilliant illusions, if ever he -fostered any, were replaced by the most sombre reality. When he called -upon me, there was no longer the confidence resulting from well-filled -pockets, but the saddening humility of an empty stomach. I had scarcely -time to question him; he forestalled my queries by telling me that -everything was gone. - -‘Furniture, plate, diamonds, your infernal “Salon des Étrangers” -has swallowed every bit of them,’ he said, and then he gave me a -description of the quickly following phases of the life of a gambler. -‘I have exhausted everything,’ he wound up; ‘look at that bracelet, -it is made of the hair of my wife; it would have gone the road of the -rest, if your pawnbrokers would have condescended to lend me a crown on -it.’ - -‘But, Mr. Raily, why did you not apply to all those celebrities you -entertained so right royally at Vienna?’ - -‘I have written to all; I have not had an answer from any.’ - -I offered him some pecuniary assistance, and a few years later I learnt -that this man whose lavishness had astonished Vienna itself at the -period of the Congress, and at whose board royalty had sat, had died of -starvation. - - * * * * * - -Since his gambling adventure I had often seen Z----ki. The disaster -and my attempts to minimise the consequences had undoubtedly drawn -us closer together. After a dinner at the ‘Empress of Austria,’ he -proposed to take me to a ball which had recently been established in a -newly-erected, magnificent building, called the Apollo Hall. In a few -moments we were on our way thither. - -Everything projected at that period in Vienna bore the grand stamp -worthy of the time and of the guests intended to be honoured. In spite -of this, to convey anything like an accurate idea of the beauty of the -new establishment would require a writer capable of reproducing some of -the chapters of the _Arabian Nights_, which delighted our youth. The -Apollo Hall, the work of M. Moreau, the French architect, is, no doubt -one of the most curious constructions of the capital of Austria. The -interior, occupying an enormous space, contained sumptuous galleries -and halls like those of a palace, and was practically in keeping with -the noble and tasteful proportions of the outside. Emerging from these -galleries, one came gently upon the rustic arbours of a garden, and -from these upon a Turkish kiosk, and further on still upon a Lapland -hut. Gravelled walks, bordered by magnificent greensward planted with -roses and fragrant plants, lent throughout a most charming variety. In -the centre of the huge supper-room, there was an immense rock, whence, -from among flowers, there sprang a fall of natural water into basins -teeming with various kinds of fish. Every style of architecture had its -ordained part in this huge space, and everything calculated to please -the eye had been brought to bear upon the enhancing of these styles; -such as, for instance, the glint of innumerable candles on thousands -of different-coloured crystal sconces. Farther on, the whole became -chastened by alabaster lamps shedding their gentle light, and inviting -the more reposeful guests. And while without the snow covered the -earth, within spring seemed to have come once more, bringing the most -delightful scent of its earliest harbingers. - -There was already a considerable crowd when we entered; it was said -there were between nine and ten thousand persons. I am bound to admit -that at no festive gathering during the Congress had I seen a more -brilliant, and at the same time a stranger throng; it was a truly -unique spectacle, a world in miniature. Gradually, every one seemed to -settle down in his wished-for place, and circulation grew more or less -easy. The first person whom I caught sight of was Zibin, promenading -with the King of Prussia. Zibin was treated in that familiar fashion by -his Majesty in virtue of his height. As he happened to be very short, -and his Majesty very tall, Zibin’s head came exactly under the king’s -arm. In spite of the discomfort of the position, my young courtier -seemed to be so thoroughly delighted with it as to have preferred it -to one on the most luxurious Eastern divan. Z----ki had left me for -some friends he had met immediately after he came in, and who were -evidently expecting him. I was looking out for some one to replace him, -when I ran up against General Tettenborn and the Prince Philippe de -Hesse-Hombourg. I always felt much at home with them. We went the round -of the whole place, and afterwards sat down at the entrance of the big -ball-room to watch at our ease the new arrivals, comprising nearly -all the sovereigns. The latter relished the liberty attached to their -_incognito_, and immeasurably preferred it to the ceremonious etiquette -of the Court entertainments of that description. In fact, in all those -public gatherings the monarchs dropped their reserve, and seemed -practically grateful to those who within certain limits would follow -their example. - -The King of Bavaria was one of the last arrivals. He was accompanied by -his two sons, and his chamberlain, the Comte Charles de Rechberg, was -in attendance. The last caught a glimpse of us, and leaving his Majesty -for a moment, came towards us. But as his duties did not allow him to -keep away for long, he pressed us to sup with him when the king should -have retired. Naturally, he used every argument he could think of, and -finally gave us a peroration which was, however, cut short by some one -pinching his ear. ‘Come along, gadabout,’ said Maximilian Joseph, and -as a matter of course, on perceiving him, we rose. ‘Don’t, gentlemen,’ -he said in his kindest voice; ‘but wherever I go I have to look after -him, while, unless I am mistaken, it’s his duty to look after me.’ - -Rechberg pleaded our unexpected meeting, and from the tone in which -the plea was allowed, it was not difficult to guess the affection -subsisting between these two men. Immediately after he had gone, Comte -de Witt appeared on the scene. ‘You can be our guide,’ he exclaimed on -seeing me. ‘You know all about the place, for you have been here at -least an hour.’ We wandered about, talking of his mother’s place in the -Ukraine, and finally landed into a kind of Chinese pagoda, where there -was a billiard table occupied by the King of Denmark and a chamberlain. -Ypsilanti hailed me as we came in, and the king on hearing my name -turned round and recognised me at once, although I had not seen him -since his accession to the throne. ‘Have you learned German since your -departure from Copenhagen?’ he asked me with a smile. - -‘No, sire, but I have not forgotten the brief lesson you were good -enough to give me.’ The king then inquired with the greatest interest -after my family, questioning me as to their whereabouts, and showing by -each of his questions that the cultivation of a good memory is one of -the foremost requisites of an amiable ruler. - -Frederick VI. was a pattern of amiability and frankness combined. He -was hail-fellow-well-met with the humblest without ever losing his -dignity, and his learning was manifold and solid. He took greater -trouble to please people than the most obtrusive courtier. Advancing -age had produced no change outwardly. He was then, as he always had -been, very slight, with a pale face, a very long nose, and hair -almost bordering on white, though in reality fair, which militated -against his appearance. It was, in fact, the same figure which some -years previously had aroused both my mirth and my fear. But while his -features reminded me of a painful circumstance of my life, they also -recalled a memorable episode, and an act of generosity and indulgence -on his part, both of which will sketch him better than a volume of -praise could do. - -‘What did you mean by talking to the king about your first German -lesson?’ asked the Comte de Witt, when his Majesty had gone. ‘I am not -surprised at his recognising you as if he had left you a week ago; as -a rule, sovereigns have excellent memories, but what about that German -lesson?’ - -‘The king has just reminded me of a circumstance the story of which -would be somewhat long. Allow me to postpone the telling of it until -to-morrow.’ - -After this we went into the great ball-room, where, mingling with -the crowd, there were kings, generals, ordinary individuals of the -middle class, and statesmen, rubbing shoulders with working men, -flirting with little shop-girls, but all seemingly very happy, notably -the illustrious personages playing at Almavivas, and evidently more -flattered by the preference of some ingenuous Rosinas than by the -studied glances of admiration from the most expert Court beauties. - -Zibin, who had succeeded in getting his head out of the royal hug of -his Majesty of Prussia, soon joined us, and I complimented him upon -the particular attention of which he had been the object. In order to -swell his pride, and give him the opportunity of having the delicate -juxtaposition renewed, I cited some of the recommendations of the -Prince de Ligne, our common master. ‘Be moderate in your praise. Kings -are no longer caught with words. The only thing to which they are not -absolutely proof is a peculiar kind of look of admiration. But that’s -all. The sort of praise so lavishly used by Lauzun would not seduce our -modern Louis XIV.’ - -In company with several ‘majesties’ we stood watching some of the -worthy knights of Vienna going through the traditional minuet. ‘Who -would believe,’ said Zibin, ‘that this dance saw the light in a -village? To watch its ponderous monotony no one would imagine that -in principle it was exceedingly bright and gay. Introduced to the -Court, its sprightliness has been changed into gravity, and now it is -sufficiently doleful to make people ill with melancholy.’ - -‘If that incomparable Prince de Ligne had not been taken away from us, -he would recall for us the minuets he danced at the Grand Trianon with -the charming Marquise de Coigny,’ said the Comte de Witt. - -‘The Prince de Ligne himself voted the minuet a bit of _stupid_ -gracefulness,’ replied Zibin. - -‘His qualification dated from the period previous to his having danced -it himself,’ I remarked. ‘I am inclined to think, with you, that they -acquitted themselves somewhat better at it at the Court of France than -they do to-day in Vienna. But be assured that the old traditions of -stately dances are not lost beyond redemption.’ - -‘But where is one to look for the traditions?’ was the general cry -around me. - -‘Well, if it will afford you any pleasure, I shall enable you to -judge’; saying which, I took a few steps to the young Princesse de -Hesse-Philippstadt, of whom I had just caught sight, accompanied by her -mother. ‘Princess,’ I said, walking up to her and holding out my hand, -‘will you do me the honour to convince these gentlemen that the Court -minuet is not altogether a lost art?’ - -The princess accepting, Zibin lent me his hat, and, mindful of the -lessons of Abraham, who had been her teacher as well as mine, we -went through the figures of that character-dance with a good deal of -precision. As for my charming partner, the suppleness and grace of her -steps might have tempted another Juan of Austria to come _incognito_ -all the way from Brussels to see her perform them, as the original one -came all the way to the Louvre for Marguerite de Bourgogne. Our critics -were not sparing in their praise, and were obliged to acknowledge that -the much-abused minuet was not as yet dethroned. - -Meanwhile, the Comte de Rechberg, who was trying to find his -supper-guests, had no idea of my upholding in the centre of the -principal ball-room the prestige of classic dancing. When I had taken -the young princess back to her mother, he, so to speak, dragged us to -the supper-room. At the table next to us were the Prince Koslowski, -Alfred and Stanislas Potocki, some Russians from Emperor Alexander’s -suite, and a little further on, Nostiltz, Borel, Palfi, and the Prince -Esterhazy. There were many toasts and many clever sallies, wit sparkled -on the lips as champagne sparkled in the glasses. - -The two princes of Bavaria supped with us. Chance had placed me near -the younger, Prince Charles, who, as a youth, had the most charming -face imaginable, although he evidently set little store on this -physiognomical advantage, and seemed rather inclined to place his trust -in the mental powers with which he was liberally endowed. Thanks to my -former stay at Munich, I was enabled to converse with him about men -and things interesting to both of us. I reminded him of that terrible -disaster of the Isar bridge being carried away by the stream, and in -which he himself under my very eyes had played so glorious a part. -Then we began talking about Vienna, its pleasures, and the charming -women gracing it at that moment, although I knew that there was a girl -of sixteen at Munich whose image could not be ousted from the young -prince’s heart. - -The Prince Royal of Bavaria, the present king, was seated next to his -father’s chamberlain. Though he was less handsome and less brilliant -than his brother, his knowledge was very profound and varied, and he -also cultivated the Muses.[99] - -With such auxiliaries, Rechberg found no difficulty in making his -supper-party very lively. Before breaking up, our company was -reinforced by the two tables next to us, and the fresh supply of liquor -being decidedly in proportion to the number of the recruits, the -retreat was not sounded until three in the morning. - -Z----ki and I got separated from each other in the crowd. As I was -crossing the by no means deserted ball-room, I caught a glimpse of -him and of a companion, a tall, slight, and elegant woman. Their -conversation seemed most animated. I waved my hand to him from the -distance, wishing him all the compensations love is supposed to reserve -for unlucky gamblers. - -In the morning, the Comte de Witt was true to his appointment. ‘You -promised to explain to me,’ he said, ‘the meaning of his Majesty -of Denmark’s words about your progress in the German language.’ -‘You know,’ I replied, ‘that often a word, a movement, or a simple -inflection of a voice suddenly recalls scenes of our life which had -practically vanished from our memory. The past starts up vividly with -all its colours; the impressions that had gone to sleep awaken there -and then, and their power is such as to give a kind of voluptuous or -sensuous delight in retracing the most painful episodes and the most -cruel losses. Nay, the very tears caused by these seem sweet. That’s -what I felt yesterday. - -‘During the course of the French Revolution, my father, or the one who -stood me in stead, had constantly refused to emigrate. Proscribed for -being guilty of (the wrong) patriotism and devotion, he only managed -to save his head from the guillotine by hiding in a friend’s house. -When the delirium of blood was over, he considered himself justified -in claiming his nationality, which he had never forsaken by abandoning -his country. But placed once more on the fatal lists of _émigrés_, -pursued by blind and relentless hatred, once more proscribed after 18th -Fructidor, he was obliged to fly in order to escape an equally horrible -death. We managed to get as far as Hamburg, where we experienced -all the privations attached to that kind of voluntary and hurriedly -projected exile. Invited by the Comte de Fersen to come to Sweden, we -left the Hanseatic city, and made our way on foot across the flats of -Holstein to Copenhagen. Our exceedingly restricted resources did not -admit of any other mode of travelling. - -‘My “father,” at the period of his tenure of the portfolio of Foreign -Affairs, had been most intimate with the Comte de Lowendahl in -Paris, and he welcomed us with every mark of goodwill. In his former -diplomatic relations with Denmark my “father” had been enabled to make -himself particularly agreeable to that Court, and on the strength -of this he ventured to request from the prince royal some pecuniary -assistance, urgently needed in consequence of our precarious position. -The comte offered to present me to his royal highness and to second -our petition as far as lay in his power. On the day previous to the -promised audience, I was strolling by myself in the park of the royal -residence, Fredericksborg. At the bend of a path, I suddenly caught -sight of a young man dressed in light grey, skipping about rather than -walking, carrying an umbrella under one arm, the other being held by a -very pretty young woman. The face of the young man seemed so peculiar -to me that, my French levity and my schoolboy gaiety getting the better -of me, I stopped to contemplate him at my case, and immediately a -fit of uncontrollable laughter ringing out loud informed him of the -result of my examination. His angry look ought to have told me of his -resentment of this impertinent scrutiny on my part, but the angrier he -got the more ridiculous his face became to me, and my insolent laughter -did not cease until the couple were fairly out of sight. - -‘Next morning, on the recommendation of the Comte de Lowendahl, I was -to have my audience at the palace. The guards let me pass, and in a -little while, crossing a series of resplendent galleries, I reached a -velvet curtain giving access to a drawing-room. A page-in-waiting led -me into the throne-room, adjoining the private audience-chamber of the -prince, and then, my petition in my hand, I waited to be admitted to -his royal highness’s presence. In a few moments the doors were thrown -open, and a chamberlain called out my name and beckoned me across the -threshold. All at once, at the end of the apartment, I beheld, standing -upright, the young man I had so grossly insulted the previous day. -There could be no mistake about it. It was the same face, the same -grey Court dress, but the embroidered star on his breast and his wide -blue sash left no doubt about his being the Prince Royal of Denmark. -I need not try to depict my feelings to you. Struck with terror, as -if I had stepped on a serpent, I recalled both my unseemly laughter -and the anger it had aroused. Standing stock-still, and undecided -whether I ought to advance or retreat, I was almost expecting immediate -punishment for my ill-timed levity of the previous day. I cannot say -how long I should have remained in this position, notwithstanding the -repeated signals of the chamberlain to draw closer to his highness. -Luckily, the young girl to whom the prince had given his arm the -previous day, and who was none other than his charming sister, the -Princesse d’Augustembourg, just then crossed the room on her way to the -inner apartments of her brother. More or less reassured by her angelic -face. I practically followed in her footsteps, trusting to make her, as -it were, a shield against a stern reprisal, which, in our condition, -would have absolutely filled the cup of our misfortunes. - -‘Crimson with confusion and with drooping eyes, I tremblingly held out -the petition given to me by my “father.” The prince looked fixedly -at me and undoubtedly recognised me, but not a muscle of his face -testified as much. On the contrary, he attentively read the document, -then handing it to his sister he said, “One more victim of that French -Revolution.” - -‘After that he asked for some particulars about our situation, and -equally kindly inquired about our resources and plans. Emboldened by -his kind tone, I told him all we had suffered since our departure from -France, our painful pilgrimage across Germany, our intention to get to -Sweden, and our hope of securing the goodwill of the Comte de Fersen in -my “father’s” behalf. - -‘The princess had listened with the utmost attention to the recital -of our misfortunes. When I came to the description of the journey on -foot and to the enumeration of all our privations, the prince asked me, -“But, no doubt, you know German?” “Alas, no,” I was obliged to answer, -“and that’s what made our travels so terrible.” “Poor child,” said the -princess, “you are somewhat too young to have suffered so much, and -those dreary roads across our sandy plains must have seemed wellnigh -endless to you.” - -‘There were tears in her voice as she asked me other questions about -my family, my education, and recollections of my country. The prince -himself had meanwhile written some words on my petition. “I’ll reply -to-morrow to your father,” he said, returning the document to me. “If -you will go from here to my ‘privy purse office,’ they’ll give you a -hundred golden Fredericks, which will enable you to proceed a little -more comfortably.” “And I, monsieur,” added the princess, “I wish you -every happiness; but should you fail to find some of it in Sweden, -return to Denmark for an asylum, and you will, at any rate, find rest.” - -‘The prince called his chamberlain to intimate that the interview was -at an end, and told him to take me to his treasury. You may imagine -that this lesson of a prince thus avenging himself for the impertinence -of a stranger was not lost upon me. Young though I was, I promised -myself never to give way again to such exhibitions of offensive -hilarity, and I have kept my word.’ - -‘I can see the lesson in politeness,’ said the Comte de Witt, ‘but I -fail to see the lesson in German.’ - -‘I am coming to it. A few days later, my “father” booked our passage -for Stockholm, but contrary winds delayed our departure. In the night -of the 2nd April 1802, we were suddenly awakened by the noise of a -well-sustained bombardment. Naturally, we all got out of bed and -went on deck to make inquiries. The slowly-coming dawn confirmed our -uncertainty. The whole of the English fleet, under the command of -Admirals Parker and Nelson, and favoured by the wind and tide, had -defied the batteries of Kronenburg and forced the passage of the Sound, -an enterprise hitherto deemed impossible. The formidable squadron, -perfectly visible from the city which it could shatter to pieces, came -to summon Denmark to give up her fleet or to dissolve there and then -her treaty with Sweden and Russia. - -‘Consternation became general among us; it only wanted a sign from the -English admiral to capture or to sink us. Nelson scorned such a cheap -victory, and during the _pourparlers_ sloops were sent to tug in the -merchant craft. A few moments later we were in port, and immediately -afterwards the naval engagement began. If the attack was headlong and -well-directed, the defence was not less heroic. Every inhabitant rushed -to arms to repulse the odious aggression; all ranks commingled; there -seemed no difference between noble and artisan, merchant and ordinary -burgher. They were full of zeal; their hats displayed the motto: “All -for one; one for all.” The royal prince showed the greatest courage -during this bloody struggle, a struggle so little expected by him. A -descendant in a direct line from the English sovereign, his capital and -fleet were suddenly threatened by the orders of his uncle without there -having been anything hostile to lead up to this catastrophe. As far as -the peace of states is concerned, there does not seem much to be gained -by family alliances and ties of blood. - -‘It would have been dangerous not to take part in this enthusiastic -resistance, and the moment we had regained our inn I asked my “father” -to let me have my share of the fighting, to which proposal he offered -not the slightest objection. Armed with a sword which might well have -dated from the period of King Knut, which had been lent to me by our -hostess, I repaired to the jetty. It was from that point I beheld a -naval battle in port, the most horrible spectacle, I should say, the -imagination could conceive. - -‘Never had Denmark been engaged in such a murderous struggle; never, -perhaps, had the Danes an occasion to display their national courage -more nobly. Ardent and indefatigable, to judge by the enthusiasm that -animated them, they might easily have been mistaken for a population of -heroes. As for me, standing stock-still at the far end of the jetty, -my long sword, which might well have served as a lance, balanced on -my shoulder, I felt that I was doing outpost duty. No one seemed -surprised. Younger lads than I contended for the honour of being -entrusted with such perilous positions. - -‘The city was in flames; it rained shells everywhere. The Danish -war-sloops answered bravely to the fire of the English vessels. -Suddenly a shell struck the Danish craft _Indfoedstretten_, and blew it -up. A horrid, lurid light illuminated the sky, and immediately both the -sea and the shore were covered with human and different wreckage, the -blood of the former tinging the green waves. Had the explosion occurred -a few moments earlier we also should have been victims of it, for while -they were towing our Dutch vessel into port, we had been compelled to -go on board the _Indfoedstretten_ to have our passports examined. - -‘Meanwhile, the fighting became more terrible and relentless, and -I, scarcely more than a lad, stood looking on, rooted to the spot -and spell-bound, when suddenly some one tapped me on the shoulder, -addressing me in German at the same time. I looked round and beheld the -prince royal, who, in the confusion of the moment, had got separated -from his suite. He still had his grey dress on. When he recognised me, -he addressed me in French. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I -am trying to acquit part of my debt, monseigneur,” I answered. “Very -well,” he retorted; “try to get this paper to Captain Albert Turach. -Look, follow my finger. He is standing there on the shore, ready to -take the command of a floating battery. Run as fast as you can, and -remember the word _Augenblicklich_.” - -‘“How did you say it, prince?”’ - -‘“_Augenblicklich._ It signifies instanter. You’ll simply tell him the -word, and hand him my order.”’ - -‘I was already on the run. Turach received the order, and flung himself -into a skiff whose men were only waiting for a leader to push off. -When I came back to my former vantage-point, the prince royal was -gone. I noticed him on a floating battery, whence he contemplated the -action and animated by his presence and example the proud and generous -populace ready to give their lives under his eyes. To me personally, -the sight of this young and valiant prince was practically a second -expiation of my mocking laughter in the park of Fredericksborg. - -‘I need not remind you of the results of that action; the Danes covered -themselves with glory, but the slaughter was terrible. More than six -thousand men perished in it. The city was burning in ever so many -places. Burghers, soldiers, students harnessed themselves to the pumps, -carried barrels of water, and unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the -flames. Finally, Nelson, to stop the bloodshed, and to prevent the -wholesale destruction of Copenhagen, sent a _parlementaire_ to the -prince royal. - -‘The prince promptly sent his reply, and at once the sanguinary drama, -which had the port and the city as its _locale_, ceased. Nelson came on -shore, and repaired to the palace between two lines of an exasperated -populace. Calm and proud, he walked along as if he were still on his -own battleship. Following in his footsteps, I managed to elbow my -way through the crowd, and succeeded in getting inside the private -apartments. The prince royal took Nelson to his father, whose mental -state, however, prevented him from knowing and from appreciating the -disasters of the capital. - -‘There was no alternative but to accept the conditions imposed by -England. The offensive and defensive treaty between Denmark, Sweden, -and Russia was rescinded. The prince royal showed himself as noble and -dignified during the conferences as he had shown himself courageous and -resourceful during the battle. - -‘Since then Frederick has ascended the throne, and though, by the side -of the vast kingdoms that have sprung up, Denmark can scarcely claim to -be more than a magnificent, lordly domain, enhanced by a royal crown, -all these various events have not impaired the excellent prince’s -memory. You noticed for yourself how he remembered an apparently -frivolous circumstance, but one which remains indelible in my mind.’ - - - - -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. - - -An important ceremony put a stop to all these entertainments. -Twenty-two years had gone by since the ill-fated Louis XVI. lost his -head on the scaffold, and his memory had not as yet received the -expiation of a solemn and public mourning. At the moment when all those -kings were working in unison for the pacification of Europe, they could -scarcely refrain from protesting by a ceremonious manifestation against -a fact which, causing all their thrones to shake on their bases, -seems to have been virtually the signal of all these disastrous wars. -Consequently, when Talleyrand, as the head of the French Legation, -invited the consent of the Austrian government to a memorial service -on the anniversary of the fatal twenty-first of January, his request -was granted with a kind of melancholy zeal. Nay, more, Emperor Francis -made a point of having the service celebrated in the Cathedral of St. -Stephen, so that it might be marked by extraordinary pomp, and that its -expenses should devolve upon the imperial treasury. - -MM. Isabey and Moreau were entrusted with the plans and preparations -for the ceremony. In accordance with the emperor’s wish, the former -displayed the greatest magnificence, and that funereal pomp inseparable -from the obsequies of kings. In the centre of the old Basilica there -stood a baldachin sixty feet high, and ornamented with all the insignia -of royalty. Four colossal statues, placed at the four corners of a -cenotaph, represented respectively France, dissolved in tears; Europe, -contributing its meed of regret; Hope, guiding the soul of the virtuous -monarch to the abode of everlasting bliss; and Religion, holding in -her hand that last will, the sublime model of charity and pardon. The -nave of the cathedral was entirely covered with one immense hanging of -black, richly embroidered with silver. From each pillar was suspended -the scutcheon of the House of France. Numberless wax candles and tapers -shed a dazzling light across those sombre walls, closed to the orb of -day. - -A stand, entirely draped with black velvet, embellished with silver -fringe, had been prepared for the sovereigns. The nave and the choir -were reserved for the specially invited guests, and the lateral parts -of the sacred building for the public. - -Long before the hour fixed for the ceremony an immense crowd blocked -up the approaches to the Gothic fane. Every Frenchman in Vienna, no -matter what his rank, had received an invitation, and not one failed. -The Knights of the Golden Fleece and the ambassadors in full Court -dress occupied the foremost rows of the choir. Behind them were all the -notabilities, all the princely guests, and the authorities of the city -of Vienna. A detachment of the regiments of the Guards and another of -the Hungarian Nobiliary Guard were on duty round the catafalque, as -at the funeral of emperors. Emperor Francis himself intended this as -the highest expression of his personal sentiments. In the nave stood a -considerable number of ladies attired in mourning and wrapped in long -crape veils. - -At eleven o’clock a blast of trumpets heralded the arrival of the -Emperor Francis, the Emperor of Russia, the Kings of Prussia, Bavaria -and Denmark; of the Queen and of the Empress of Russia. The Empress -of Austria, confined to the palace by ill-health, was the only one -absent from the ceremony. The Prince Léopold de Sicile, as the only -member of the House of Bourbon, and M. de la Tour du Pin stood at the -portals of the cathedral and conducted the sovereigns to the imperial -stand. Immediately afterwards, the celebration began. In spite of -his eighty-four years, the venerable Archbishop of Vienna, Prince de -Hohenwarth, had made it a point to officiate. A profound respect, an -intense and reverent emotion, pervaded the immense assembly at the -sight of the royal sarcophagus and of the white-haired priest praying -for divine pity on the virtuous monarch. It would be difficult to guess -the feelings of all those monarchs, reverently prostrated not far from -the catafalque, recalling such a great misfortune and such a great -event in the history of France. All were more or less related to the -illustrious house of France, the most ancient of Europe. - -M. Zaiguelius, vicar of Sainte-Anne in Vienna, and of French origin, -delivered an address in French, noticeable for its many beauties, and -some people pretended that M. Talleyrand was not altogether a stranger -to its composition. The text was, ‘Let the earth know the fear of -the name of the Lord.’ In this very remarkable address, the speaker -was particularly anxious to show the hand of God, which raises up -and overthrows thrones. Then, after the prayers for Louis XVI. and -Marie-Antoinette, he concluded by reciting the principal passages -of the will, which has rightly been called the most heroic code of -charity. This was, in fact, the most beautiful funeral oration of Louis -XVI., and when M. Zaiguelius descended from the pulpit there was not a -dry eye in the place. After this, two hundred and fifty voices sang, -without accompaniment, the ‘Requiem,’ composed by Neukomm, a pupil of -Haydn. The musicians had been reinforced by amateurs; they constituted -two separate choirs, of which one was conducted by Salieri, the -Director of the Imperial Music. Its effect was admirable. Listened to -with the most reverential silence, the hymn of sorrow seemed less a -prayer addressed to Heaven for a virtuous victim than a sequel to the -sublime words of pardon to which we had just listened. The cost of this -funereal solemnity amounted to nearly a hundred thousand florins, and -was entirely defrayed by the Austrian Court. - -An express order of the emperor had suspended for that day all the -ordinary entertainments. During the evening there was positively a -crowd in M. de Talleyrand’s drawing-rooms. Everything was most sedate, -as usual, for political discussions were the order of the day there -rather than those connected with fêtes and gaiety. The Polish question -was more than ever to the fore, and apparently as far as ever from -being settled. The incorporation of Poland with his empire had been -the ardent aspiration of Alexander from the very beginning of the -Congress of Vienna. Supported in that claim by the King of Prussia, -to whom, as a set-off, he sacrificed and abandoned Saxony, he had not -reckoned upon any particular resistance; but it became manifest at the -very outset of the discussions that there would be a lively opposition -to this dual spoliation and the kind of bargain it involved. In the -matter of Saxony, both Metternich and Talleyrand strenuously opposed -the overthrow of a prince sincerely beloved by his subjects, and who -during forty years had honoured the throne by his uprightness and by -a combination of many virtues. These two statesmen fostered the hope -that by denying Saxony to Prussia they would contribute to a rupture -between the czar and King Frederick William; and that in consequence of -this the Congress would be enabled to cut an independent Polish kingdom -out of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. England, which in principle seemed -favourable to the pretensions of Russia and Prussia, had, however, been -persuaded by the arguments of the Austrian Minister and his French -colleague, and had taken sides with them. The discussion became very -envenomed, in spite of the kindly efforts of Prince Razumowski. It was -during one of those stormy conferences that the Grand-Duke Constantine -became very angry with M. de ----. Finally, during another sitting, -Alexander, addressing Lord Castlereagh, had not scrupled to affirm that -at his voice eight millions of Poles would not hesitate to arise in -order to sustain the independence of their country.[100] - -Behind this question of Poland there loomed, however, another question -much more important and far-reaching for European equilibrium. Napoleon -had as yet not uttered the famous words, that before fifty years Europe -would be French or Cossack. But already many far-seeing minds had -become alarmed, and not without reason, at seeing Russia assuming the -mastership on the Vistula. With the object of ‘forcing her back towards -her inhospitable climate,’ and of plucking Poland from her domination, -Austria, France, and England made a secret treaty on the 10th of -January 1815. Talleyrand’s influence had determined that compact, for -he already inclined towards an English alliance, to the realisation -of which he looked so hard fifteen years later. That self-same treaty -which the ministers of Louis XVIII. left behind them at the time of -their flight on the 26th March 1815, and which Napoleon promptly -sent to Alexander, was the cause of Alexander’s resentment against -Talleyrand, which was never overcome. It was one of the causes which, -after the second Restoration, kept the French diplomatist away from the -ministry and from public affairs. - -Nevertheless, it was supposed that the Grand-Duke Constantine, who had -left Vienna in deference to his brother and master’s will, was only -occupied with reviews and manœuvres, the supposedly exclusive objects -of his passion. Nobody thought of war, and everybody ardently desired -peace. Suddenly there came to Vienna a proclamation addressed by the -Grand-duke to the Polish nation, which was tantamount to an appeal to -arms. This strange manifesto was composed as follows:-- - - ‘To the Polish Army.--His Majesty the Emperor Alexander, your - powerful protector, appeals to you by this. Gather round your - standards, take up arms to defend your country and to maintain - your political existence. While this august monarch prepares the - happy future of your country, show the world that you are ready - to sustain his whole efforts with the price of your blood. The - same chiefs who during the last twenty years have led you on the - road to glory will know how to lead you thither once more. The - emperor is fully cognisant of your valour; amidst many disasters - of a most fatal war he has seen your honour survive events which - in no wise depended upon you. Signal feats of arms conferred - distinction upon you in a struggle the motive of which was foreign - to you; at present, when your efforts are directly devoted to - your country, you will be invincible. Soldiers and warriors of - all arms, be ye the first to give the example of all the virtues - which should inspire your countrymen. A boundless devotion to the - emperor, who has no other aim than the welfare of your country, - an unalterable love for his august person; obedience, discipline, - and courage--these are the means to ensure the prosperity of your - country, which is under the ægis of the emperor. It is only by - those means that you can attain the happy situation which others - may promise you, but which he alone can bestow. His power and his - virtues will be the guarantee of it to you.’ - -Two points in this document, more than any other, aroused profound -astonishment. The Grand-duke, in inciting the Poles to rally around -his brother the emperor, in soliciting their devotion to his person, -forestalled, as it were, the supreme decision of the Congress. The -question was practically pending before the sovereign tribunal, no -decision whatsoever had been taken, nevertheless Constantine virtually -proclaimed his brother the Protector of Poland. Secondly, what -construction was to be placed on those threats of war, on that appeal -to arms, when the whole of Europe was ostentatiously looking at the -consolidation of a general appeasement? Against whom, then, were the -Poles, guided by the Russians, to take up arms? Against the other -Powers, who refused them their independence? Did Constantine in reality -flatter himself that he was imposing upon the Poles and hoodwinking -them by garbling the truth? Could she (Poland) be blinded by those -protestations in favour of her nationality? - -Since the proclamation, denied for a moment, had acquired the stamp -of authenticity, the discussion provoked by it stifled all others. In -Talleyrand’s drawing-room it was the subject of all conversations. He -was known to be a partisan of Saxony and Poland. It was also known -that, together with Metternich, he was the soul of that far-seeing and -imperturbable resistance to Russian projects. - -‘Have you read a statement drawn up by M. Pozzo di Borgo in connection -with Poland?’ said M. L---- to a group surrounding him. ‘The political -world is very much concerned about it. The author aims to show that, -for many reasons, this country must not be granted its independence, -but must be entirely incorporated with Russia.’ - -‘It is but natural,’ was the answer, ‘that M. Pozzo di Borgo should -have posed as the enemy of both the principles and the person of -Napoleon. This is easily conceivable and easily explicable by allowing -for the poison of the Corsican vendetta, which becomes an heirloom -from generation to generation. In his country hatred is a family -inheritance: God alone knows how far it goes back and where it will -end. But what has that ill-fated nation done to M. Pozzo that he should -oppose the good-will shown towards her here?’ - -‘M. Pozzo defends the cause of the country which adopted him. Employed -by Russia, he has become a Russian.’ - -‘But is not this carrying devotion to ingratitude? Is it possible, -then, that the recollection of past benefits is denied to the political -writer to such a degree as to make M. Pozzo forget that Prince Adam -Czartoryski virtually “picked him up” on his arrival in Russia; that -he took him and, as it were, guided him to that temple the first -steps of which he aspired to ascend? When M. Pozzo came back from -Constantinople, where his efforts to ingratiate himself with Admiral -Siniavin had been paralysed either by the intrigues or by the real -merit of M. le Comte Capo d’Istria, he was bound to make up at St. -Petersburg for the check he had received at the Bosphorus by a fresh -attempt. Prince Adam was, for the travelling diplomatic apprentice, -a veritable godsend. To write a diatribe against the country of the -prince is tantamount to attacking his own star. From a political point -of view it is, perhaps, very clever. I scarcely care to ask what it is -from an ethical point.’ - -‘You know that M. Pozzo claims the priority of the idea of having -directed the march of the allied armies on Paris?’ - -‘Yes; but it is also said that after the event the claim was preferred -by the other prophets. If it had failed, there would doubtless be fewer -oracles to-day.’ - -‘Well, it is probable that M. Pozzo will go very far before we have -finished with him. To succeed in politics, one must forget family and -country, tread underfoot gratitude, stifle the dearest affections, deny -the principles of one’s life, and at that price only glory and success -come within one’s grasp.’ - -An untoward fate seemed to dog the sleighing-party projected by the -Austrian Court. It had been postponed several times in consequence -of a change of temperature. One day the cold seemed to promise for -the next the hard and polished surface necessary to those northern -chariots, then a thaw would set in and soften the layer of ice spread -on the earth. Finally, a downright frost began, preceded by an abundant -snowfall, and the imperial promenade was once more fixed. From early -morning an immense crowd gathered on the Josef Platz, where the -sleighs were to meet. Nearly all had been refurbished; those intended -for the emperors and sovereigns were in the form of a _calèche_, and -were decorated with a taste and lavishness productive of the happiest -results. They sparkled with the brightest colours, enhanced with -gold. The cushions, of emerald-coloured velvet, were trimmed with -fringe of the same metal. The harness, displaying the scutcheon of the -imperial house, was hung with silver bells. The sleighs of the high -personages of the Congress and of the Austrian nobility vied both in -richness and elegance with those of the sovereigns: silk, velvet, and -gilding everywhere, while every sleigh was drawn by horses of price, -caparisoned with tiger skins and rich furs, their flowing manes plaited -with knots and ribbons. They were with difficulty kept in hand, the -tinkling of the bells rendering them more spirited than usual, and -anxious to get away with the light loads behind them. - -While awaiting the signal to start, the privileged promenaders had -forgathered within the Imperial Palace. At two o’clock the order was -given, and the illustrious company came down, taking their seats, -the sovereigns in accordance with the rule of precedence prevailing -in their case, the others according to the rank determined by mere -chance. To each cavalier a lady is assigned by lot as his companion on -the road. A blast of trumpets is heard, and the procession begins its -march. - -A detachment of cavalry comes forward, preceding the sergeants and -sergeants’ caterers of the Court, mounted on richly caparisoned -cattle. They are followed by an immense sleigh drawn by six horses and -containing an orchestra of kettledrums and trumpets. The grand equerry, -Trauttmansdorff, on horseback, and followed by his men-at-arms, comes -afterwards, then immediately after that, the sleighs of the sovereigns. -The first sleigh is that of the Emperor of Austria, piloting the -charming Elizabeth of Russia. In the second was Emperor Alexander with -the Princesse d’Auersberg; then came the King of Prussia with the -Comtesse Julie Zichy, the King of Denmark with the Grande-Duchesse de -Saxe-Weimar, and the Grand-Duke of Baden with the grand-mistress of the -Court, the Comtesse Lazanski. Twenty-four young pages, richly dressed -in mediæval costumes, and a squadron of the Hungarian Nobiliary Guards -provided the escort for the sovereigns’ sledges. - -The Empress of Russia was wrapped in a large coat of green velvet -lined with ermine; on her head she wore a toque of the same colour -with an aigrette of diamonds similar to that usually worn by the great -Catherine. The other ladies were equally provided against the cold with -velvet coats of the richest colours; the Grande-Duchesse de Weimar’s -being pink, also trimmed with ermine, a fur which in Austria is -exclusively reserved for personages of royal blood. The other colours -such as purple and amaranth were all relieved by the rarest and most -elegant furs. - -Then came the other sledges, to the number of thirty, holding the -principal Court personages and the princely guests for whom this -entertainment had been projected. The procession crossed the city -at only a walking pace, thus enabling the crowd to recognise and to -salute those who in a little while will be carried away at a gallop. -The Archeduc Palatine has by his side the Grande-Duchesse d’Oldenbourg -wrapped in a blue velvet mantle, the shade of which blends most -happily with her charming face. Behind these the Prince Royal of -Würtemberg has for his companion the Princesse de Lichtenstein. -Handsome though his companion is, he does not take his eyes off the -sleigh containing the woman he worships, and he looks as if inclined -to quarrel with fate for having served him so niggardly. Our charming -‘queen,’ as we call the Comtesse Fuchs, has fallen to the lot of the -Prince Guillaume de Prusse. The Prince Léopold de Sicile is with the -Princesse Lubomirska, the Prince Eugène with Mme. Apponyi, the Prince -Royal de Bavière with the Comtesse Sophie Zichy, the Archeduc Charles -with the Comtesse Esterhazy, the Prince Auguste de Prusse with the -Comtesse Batthyany, the Comte François Zichy with Lady Castlereagh, the -Comte de Wurbna with the Comtesse Walluzen, the Duc de Saxe-Cobourg -with the handsome Rosalie Rzewuska. The dresses of all those ladies -were elegant beyond description; the men wore Polish coats trimmed with -the most beautiful fur. - -After that followed a squadron of grooms wearing the imperial livery; -then the procession was closed by several reserve sleighs and another -huge six-horsed sledge carrying a band dressed in Turkish uniforms and -playing warlike tunes. After having slowly traversed the principal -streets of Vienna, the procession ranges itself in two lines, and at a -signal the horses start at a gallop on the road to Schönbrunn. - -In a few moments, the magnificent line of sleighs reaches its first -stage. As, however, there had been some slight contretemps with -those frail ‘turn-outs,’ there was a half-way halt near the monument -erected to King John Sobieski for his deliverance of Austria. It is a -triangular pyramid constructed on the very spot where the Grand Vizier -Kara-Mustapha had erected his tent during the siege. When the brilliant -string of sleighs had vanished from our eyes, there was a unanimous -cry of admiration from the numerous spectators at the unique beauty of -the sight. The fact of so many illustrious personages being brought -to the spot was considered as worthy of admiration as the magnificence -and pomp displayed by the Austrian Court and noblesse. Of course it -required a solemn function like the Congress to rally so many crowned -heads, celebrities of all kinds, and remarkable women. It was, indeed, -a picture which for many centuries will not be repeated. - -The Empress of Austria, the King and Queen of Bavaria, besides several -other personages in far from robust health, who feared the cold, had -gone to Schönbrunn in closed carriages. A magnificent fête had been -prepared and many invitations issued. The return was to take place -at night and by torchlight. After the banquet to which all those who -made up the sleighing party were invited, the principal Viennese -actors presented one of the prettiest pieces of the French stage, the -_Cendrillon_ of M. Étienne, which had been translated into German. A -grand ball was to wind up the entertainment. The Prince Koslowski, the -Comte de Witt, and I repaired betimes to Schönbrunn. - -The sleighs on their arrival formed into a circle around the frozen -lake of Schönbrunn, which was like a polished mirror, and was covered -by skaters in the most elegant costumes of the various countries of -Northern Europe. The scene was very animated, with the various sledges -in the shape of swans, gondolas, etc., and reminded one of a Dutch -kermesse, especially in respect to the itinerant vendors of fortifying -drinks patronised by the energetic performers. The picture was in -reality unique in virtue of the various servants in livery, both on -foot and on horseback, and the sleighs of the Court itself, not to -mention the enormous crowds of spectators who had come all the way from -Vienna. - -A young man attached to the English embassy, Sir Edward W----, a member -of the London skating-club, and accustomed to astonish the promenaders -in Hyde Park on the Serpentine, executed some wonderful feats in the -way of figures, pirouettes, and single and double curling. Like the -Chevalier de St. George, who on the pond at Versailles traced the name -of Marie-Antoinette, Sir Edward traced the monograms of the queens, -the empresses, and other female celebrities, who left their sleighs -to admire his skill. Others, less perfect than he, no doubt, but very -skilful nevertheless, performed Chinese and European dances, including -a waltz. The latter was danced by two Dutch ladies in the picturesque -dresses of Saardam milkmaids, to the applause and admiration of -everybody. - -I may dispense with a description of the theatre: it was dazzling as -usual, but the aspect of the adjacent rooms was truly delightful. The -rarest plants of the imperial green-houses--myrtles, orange-trees in -full bloom--hid the walls of the staircases, the vestibules, and the -ball-rooms; it was a decoration all the more appreciated in virtue -of the temperature outside. After the performance of _Cendrillon_, -to which some gracefully designed ballets had been added, the crowd -repaired to those drawing-rooms, where the perfume and the variety of -the flowers reminded us of the most clement season of the year. They -only went through a few polonaises. - -‘I am bound to admit,’ said Comte de Witt, ‘that this sleighing party -has been a beautiful, marvellous, and elegant affair, even to us -Russians, who are accustomed to that kind of magnificence. I also admit -that this fête, recalling as it does the spring, is equally worthy of -the rest. In truth, at the pace we are proceeding with our amusements, -it will not be surprising if surfeit breed disgust. Nevertheless, in -order to add something new to all that has been offered to us, and -to complete this winter fête, they ought to have constructed on the -Schönbrunn lake a palace of ice to receive and entertain our royal -company.’ - -‘Entirely of ice, general?’ - -‘Yes, like that which Empress Anne constructed on the Neva. But you, -who have lived in St. Petersburg, did you never hear of that fête?’ - -‘No.’ - -‘There was at Anne’s Court a Prince de G----, who had practically -become its jester. The empress wished to get him married, and they -chose him a wife more or less likely to fall in with his eccentric -habits. In order fitly to celebrate the nuptials, they constructed, as -I told you, a palace of ice on the Neva. The columns, the walls, the -wainscoting, the furniture in the interior, such as the tables, the -lustres, and even the bed of the newly-married couple, was absolutely -of frozen water, shaped by cunning artificers. In order to give -more variety to this extraordinary construction, blocks of coloured -chiselled ice had been employed in the ornamentation of the structure. -When sumptuous carpets had been spread in the apartments, and thousands -of wax tapers had been lighted, the Court repaired in sleighs to -this fantastic place, and the fête commenced. Cossack dances to the -strangest music were performed, then there was a supper, partaken of by -ever so many guests. In the midst of the banquet four Cossacks brought -in with great pomp a whole ox with gilded horns, which had been roasted -on the ice in the court of the palace. After having made the round of -the table, this monstrous roast was given to the servants. Then came -the moment for putting the newly-married couple to bed; the signal was -given with a salvo of artillery from ordnance made of ice. - -‘Up to that moment everything had gone well with poor G---- and his -wife. But when they had been undressed and put to bed, and the ice -began to melt around them, their gestures and countenances were not in -the least expressive of the tender passion, whether hallowed or not. -And as, according to ancient usage, all this was taking place in the -presence of the Court, they did not dare to leave their couch, and -were by no means pleased with this bit of imperial recreation. Save -the wedding-ceremony, however, the tradition of this extraordinary and -magnificent palace has been kept up to the present day, and I am sorry -the members of the fêtes-committee did not revive the spectacle of an -immense castle built of ice.’ - -While Comte de Witt was telling me all this, I had caught sight -of Prince Eugène by himself, and I went up to him. With his usual -kindness, he reminded me of my not having been to see him for a long -while, although we had frequently met at our friend Comtesse Laura’s. -Wherever Prince Eugène was compelled to appear, his calm dignity -never forsook him; and in spite of his equivocal situation at Vienna, -he made many, many friends. I have already touched upon Emperor -Alexander’s sincere affection for him, a friendship redounding to the -honour of the deposed prince and the powerful emperor. This friendship -and interest of the czar extended to Queen Hortense. Knowing her -impulsive disposition, and how much she stood in need now and again of -disinterested advice, Alexander had despatched to Paris a diplomatic -agent, named Boutiakine, with the mission to take care of her, and to -guide her in all things. - -Eugène had just received some letters from this cherished sister, who -appeared to have inherited all the feminine graces of her mother. -Hortense fully unbosomed her griefs, which at that moment were very -poignant. The family dissensions, the death of her mother, the threat -of being deprived of her children, everything seemed to aggravate the -loss of her brilliant position. The prince, in mentioning all these, -could scarcely restrain his emotion; and from that moment I promised -myself to make those confidences a passport to the friendship of the -woman to whom the loss of a crown seemed the least of sorrows. My wish -was realised later on, not in Paris, as I had hoped, but in the spot -which at the time served her as an asylum. It was in 1819, when she was -in exile. I had just returned from Poland, where I had spent several -years, and was preparing to go back to France. Being at Augsburg, I was -informed that she, who no longer bore any other title than that of the -Duchesse de Saint-Leu, was living there. In days gone by she had set -some of my romances to music. The latter circumstance, together with -the good-will shown to me by her brother during the Congress of Vienna, -emboldened me to request the honour of being presented to her; her -immediate answer virtually enhanced the favour accorded. - -At that time I only knew Queen Hortense by repute, and from the -frequent allusions to her made by her brother; but from the very first -it seemed to me that I was meeting with an old friend after a long -absence, and that I was indebted for her cordial welcome to the bonds -of an old friendship. Everything in her harmonised perfectly--the sweet -expression of her features, her conversation, the gentleness of her -voice and of her character. Every kind and affectionate word that fell -from her lips was all the more precious, inasmuch as it was dictated -solely by her heart; she imparted such animation to her pictures as to -imbue the spectator with the idea of being an actor in, or at least -a looker-on at, the real scene. She had a kind of personal magic in -communicating information and in fascinating those with whom she came -in contact, and that artless power of seduction took deep root in -people’s hearts. - -It was during the short moments of a confidential conversation that -I was enabled to judge of her absolutely genuine qualities. She was -deeply moved at all the memories of the past, but one idea--the -insatiable craving for another glimpse of France, seemed uppermost. - -During the evening tea was served. ‘It’s a custom I brought back with -me from Holland,’ she said, ‘but do not suppose that it is in order to -remind me of that brilliant and, alas, so far distant period.’ - -Several visitors came from the immediate neighbourhood, others from -Munich. They were cordially welcomed, and she felt, no doubt, flattered -by the consideration with which she was treated, inasmuch as that -consideration could be due to esteem only, and not to intrigues or -adulation, of which she felt so weary both at Saint Cloud and at the -Hague. During the evening she showed me some good pictures by painters -of the various schools, and a collection of art objects which had -been considerably increased by that left by her mother. The majority -of those brilliant trifles were connected with certain periods and -celebrated people, and they might well have been called a summary of -modern history. After that we had some music. The duchesse sang to -her own accompaniment, and she put as much soul into her singing as -into the compositions themselves. She had just finished a series of -drawings for her ballads, and the next morning she sent me the pretty -collection, which time will render all the more precious. - -At midnight I took my leave, without much hope of seeing her again. -But that particular day will for ever be stamped on my memory. It is a -pleasure to pay one’s homage of respect to fallen grandeur, when, as in -Hortense’s case, natural and amiable genius is added to the fascination -of a kindly nature. - -Meanwhile the sleighing-fête was over, and a blast of trumpets gave the -signal for the return to Vienna. Wrapt in their cloaks, the illustrious -guests proceeded towards the court of the palace. Ranged in two lines, -their sleighs were waiting for them. Everybody resumed the position of -the morning. A martial strain gave the signal for the start, and the -vehicles disappeared at a gallop, leaving on the horizon a trail of -light across the snow and the hoar frost of the trees. - -While the palace of Schönbrunn was the scene of these intoxicating -pleasures, how were those occupied to whom it represented only a -prison? Avoiding all contact with the joyous guests of the Congress, -Marie-Louise and her son preferred to get away from a pleasure party -which could only awaken sad recollections. Early in the morning, -they departed in sleighs to the smiling valley of St. Helena, near -Schönbrunn, where they passed the day--the empress offering dinner -to her small Court--and returned to Schönbrunn in the evening. A -strange coincidence of names between the valley of St. Helena where -Marie-Louise went to hide her grief, and that famous island, also -called St. Helena, where her husband, a few months later, buried both -his glory and his disasters. - -The next morning the Emperor of Austria made a present to Alexander -of the gilded sleigh in which the latter had ridden. To show his -appreciation of the gift, the czar had it carefully packed and sent -to St. Petersburg. The expenses of that sleighing-party and the fête -following it were estimated at three hundred thousand florins. Many -years have passed since that joyous period of the Congress of Vienna. -Many of those whom I saw so gaily carried away by the tinkling-belled -coursers have been pitilessly carried away since then by relentless -death. How many perished before their time! Emperor Alexander, whose -courtesy and youthful spirit were the life of all those parties; the -Emperor of Austria; the Kings of Prussia and Bavaria; Prince Eugène, -so kind and cordial--all are lying in their graves. The Empress -of Austria, so graceful, and such a beneficent friend to art; the -charming Elizabeth of Russia; her sister-in-law, the Grande Duchesse -d’Oldenbourg; the Comtesse Julie Zichy; Madame de Fuchs--all were -taken away as prematurely as unexpectedly. How many other women in the -zenith of their beauty, whose grace enhanced those gatherings, followed -them when their life was scarcely more than half run! And among -the political or military notabilities, de Wrède, Schwartzenberg, -Talleyrand, Castlereagh, Dalberg, Capo d’Istria, besides the friends so -dear to my affection, such as Koslowski, Ypsilanti, de Witt! In truth, -the almost imperceptible track of the sleigh gliding on the polished -snow was the image of our rapid passage, or rather of our short-lived -apparition, on this earth. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - Reception at Madame 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. - - -At one of the _soirées_ at the Comtesse de Fuchs’s, the whole of the -coterie had gathered round her--for she also had her coterie. In -default of diplomatic treaties, her grace and friendship constituted -its bond. The conversation had turned on some news which, it was said, -had leaked out from the high deliberations of the Congress. - -They were asking Prince Philippe d’Hesse-Hombourg if the fate of his -family’s Landgravate had been fixed, either by the decisions on the -Graben or by those of the more serious Congress. - -‘Nothing as yet has transpired,’ he answered, ‘but it is generally -expected that the Principality will receive a slight increase.’ - -Thereupon he gave us some particulars as to the origin of his house, -one of the most illustrious in Germany, both in virtue of its age and -of its alliances; though he himself had probably no idea of being one -day called upon to play the part of its ruler. - -‘The Principality of Hesse-Hombourg,’ he said, ‘presents one of the -most curious freaks of modern times. It is a small colony of French -Huguenots, which settled there at the time of the Revocation of the -Edict of Nantes. The Landgraf Frederick cordially welcomed those -unhappy victims of their king’s intolerance. He gave them land to till, -and sold his silver to come to their aid. They founded a village to -which they gave the name Friedrichsdorf. The most curious thing is -that for more than a hundred years they have preserved, without the -slightest alteration, the language, the manners, the costume, in fact -everything connected with their country and their century. It is a kind -of republic, governed by their minister. Isolated in their valley in -the centre of Germany, these men, though practically at the door of -their country, appear to have had no part or parcel in the great events -that have just been accomplished. They have simply ignored the French -Revolution, or if not that, have heard little or nothing of it. Though -French at heart by habits, traditions, and origin, they no longer think -of the country which in days gone by expelled their fathers.’ - -‘In my travels,’ I said, ‘I likewise found a similar colony, but one -that pushed further on than the other. It carried its household gods as -far as Macarief in Russia, It, also, preserved the language and customs -of its time, without even omitting the voluminous wig which everybody -knows.’ - -I had drawn close to Prince Eugène. Most cruelly upset by the events in -course of completion, he, as it were, instinctively turned to the past. -His memory striding, so to speak, across the decade of Empire, went -back with a sort of melancholy regret to the period of the Consulate, -which to him was a period of happiness, for it had been that of hope. -In truth, those four years constituted a remarkable period; everything -seemed eager for a new birth, to emerge altered, if not purified, from -the confusion into which the saturnalia of the Directorate had plunged -it. At that moment nothing had acquired any stability, but those who -had eyes to see perceived well enough that they were advancing with -giant steps towards a social regeneration. There was a general, an -irresistible, yielding to pleasure. It was not the licence which had -preceded it; it was like the distant and expiring sound of that licence -assuming a regular cadence day after day. Lavishness was extreme; gold -seemed, as it were, to flow; military and administrative fortunes had -been made so rapidly as to leave people virtually in doubt as to the -real price which had been paid for them. Numberless _émigrés_ setting -foot once more in their country, and finding their property practically -unimpaired, made up by constant enjoyment for the cruel privations -they had experienced in an alien land; others, happy to have escaped -either that or proscription, followed suit, and freely scattered -their fortunes, which they had been within an ace of losing for ever. -Finally, as if everything conspired to the glorifying of that period, -consider this further: that it counted, perhaps, the largest number of -celebrated beauties. Not that chance had absolutely provided a most -remarkable type of woman, but gold flung about by handfuls brought to -the fore women who, if they had remained in an obscure position, would -have probably passed unperceived; placed on pedestals, they borrowed -from the world by which they were surrounded part of the brilliancy -which dazzled the beholder. We reviewed all the joys of that remarkable -period, and we naturally came to the recollection of the woman who was -_the queen then_--Mme. Récamier. It was at her house that forgathered -the best society of the time, and all that Paris held in the way of -illustrious strangers. In her seemed incarnated the elegance and -pomp of the moment. Prince Eugène had often been a guest at those -receptions, which Europe has not yet forgotten. - -‘That period,’ I said to the prince, ‘will always remain stamped on -my memory, not only in virtue of the brilliance of its fêtes or the -glamour of our military glory, but in virtue of a circumstance which -formed an epoch in my existence. You know, prince, there are moments -when fortune, weary as it were of taking you for its play-ball, -suddenly lifts you from the depths of despair to the heaven of glory. -At that time I had a very curious experience.’ - -‘Which is the circumstance?’ promptly exclaimed the Comtesse Laura. -‘You must tell us.’ - -‘It is a very long episode; nevertheless, if you will grant me your -attention for a while, I will obey. - - * * * * * - -The most unforeseen resolutions are often due to the most trifling -causes: it was perhaps one word, a single word, which decided my -future. Everybody knows the awkwardness of those pet names that one -gives to children, which continue up to a time when what was once -pretty and graceful becomes intensely ridiculous. It was formerly -the fashion in France, as it was here, and for the matter of that -everywhere, to confer upon the very young that second baptism of -friendship. Of course it seems the most natural thing in the world -to do to-day what we did yesterday. Consequently, in Paris as in -Vienna, they called tall, grown-up men, Fanfan, Dédé, Lolo, and other -sobriquets, very sweet, but utterly unsuited to the men themselves. -I ought to be a good special pleader of that cause, for I also have -been called by one of those pet names, and I made a fine thing of it -by remembering it on one of the most eventful days of my life. Yes, -that rather ridiculous name was for me a talisman worth all the charms -of the fairies. Napoleon had overthrown the contemned government of -the Directorate. Sufficiently strong to be merciful, he allowed all -those who had abandoned their country in order to save their heads to -come back again. I had just left my ‘father’ in Amsterdam, he having -resolved to send me to Paris in order to see his business man, and to -find resources which were absolutely lacking in the alien land. He -confided me to one of our countrymen, M. Clément, whose acquaintance -we had made in Holland, and who was going back to France. We started -together for Paris. We took up our quarters at the Hôtel de Paris in -the Rue Coquillière. M. Clément found letters from his family, who -had a few days previously left for Dijon, bidding him to follow them -instantly. On leaving me, he entrusted me to the care of the manager, -M. Chandeau, a pastry-cook by trade, who was willing to keep me there, -though my appearance by no means promised a profitable customer, or -even one able to settle a little bill. Nevertheless, I had a modest -room on the fifth floor at a rental of twelve francs per month, and -as for my meals, I arranged them very much in accordance with the -slenderness of my purse. I prefer not to dwell upon this more than -precarious existence. - -Nevertheless, at the first going off, I thoroughly felt the -intoxication of being once more in my native land. I had saluted Paris -with the enthusiasm that causes the sailor to shout ‘Land, land!’ after -a long absence. I was very young, but I had lived a good deal in a few -years. Storms and hurricanes, privation and struggle, even hair-breadth -escapes from death--I had known them all. And yet it seemed to me that -as recently as the night before I had wandered under the chestnut-trees -of the Tuileries, and in the galleries of the Palais-Royal, where I -now found myself after a three years’ exile. I was very excited while -traversing the Passages, the Places, the bridges, and I ran along them -quickly as if in deadly fear of their escaping me once more. I looked -at the Seine as if she were an old friend, and still everything was new -to me, everything touched a chord of tenderness--even the discordant -cries of the itinerant vendors with whom the streets of Paris swarmed. -I felt as if I were taking possession of it once more. At sixteen there -seems to be such a very long future before one. All that is probable -seems possible. One feels unconsciously that by the right of one’s -youth the command of the world must devolve upon one. The awakening -from this dream was indeed very sombre. - -I began by calling upon the business people whose addresses my ‘father’ -had given me. Some were absent, others pretended to have lost all -recollection of us. I took care not to call upon my school-fellows in -order to arouse their pity, for I remembered the words Colville had -constantly repeated to me at Hamburg: ‘Try to dispense with everything -rather than ask a service of the man whom you consider your best -friend.’ Consequently, as a rule, I ascended to my perch dead with -fatigue, and not at all disposed to say with Pope ‘Whatever is, is -right.’ It is true that I got some sympathy from our poor servant, -Marie, to dispel the dejection plainly visible on my face. The -excellent creature always chose stories calculated to make my blood -curdle. ‘A few months ago,’ she said to me, ‘a young and handsome -boy, named Denville, lived in this very room. From morn to night he -wrote--he was a savant--and then, in order to get a little recreation, -he sang, accompanying himself on the guitar. Besides being a savant he -was an artist. All this was very well, but though he spent very little, -the poor boy never settled his bill, and during the seven months he -lodged at the hotel no one had ever seen the colour of his money. He -promised well enough, but he wrote in vain to his family, who lived in -Rheims. There is none so deaf as those who won’t hear, and not a cent -came from Champagne. There are some very hard-hearted parents--very -hard-hearted indeed. And that’s why the young fellow so often repeated -that no parent comes up to a louis d’or, and that the staunchest friend -is the pawnshop. - -‘M. Chandeau, furious at getting nothing but promises, lost patience, -and only waited a favourable opportunity to cease being made a dupe -of, as he said. One evening, when M. Denville had gone downstairs -in dressing-gown and slippers to buy some trifling thing at the -stationer’s opposite, M. Chandeau promptly mounted the stairs, put a -padlock on the door, and practically sequestrated in that way the -whole of his lodger’s luggage. When the latter came back, purchase in -hand, he found on the landing his pitiless creditor, telling him to -seek shelter elsewhere. - -‘It’s inhuman, isn’t it, monsieur, to send one’s debtor away like -that, practically naked? Prayers, promises, threats were not of the -slightest use. The young fellow was obliged to make the best of it, to -go down into the street, to promenade up and down like a ghost, with -the additional chance of perishing with cold, for it was the middle -of November. It struck ten o’clock, and the shops began to close. The -poor young man did not know where to look for a shelter, the only hope -of such presenting itself to him being the arch of a bridge, or the -guard-room of a military post. When he got as far as the Point St. -Eustache he was accosted by a poor woman--a working woman--who, touched -by the story of his deplorable situation, took him to her room, gave -him some supper, and kept him like this for a month, sharing everything -with him. But the most surprising part of the story is the end. The -lover of this poor girl was the servant of a general. The general was -looking out for a secretary. The servant was sufficiently interested in -this protégé of Providence to share his clothes with him, just as the -poor girl had shared her crust of bread, after which he presented M. -Denville to his master. The general took a fancy to M. Denville’s face, -and engaged him, and took him to the army in Italy, in which he was to -command a division. - -‘You must know, monsieur, that everybody who goes to Italy and doesn’t -happen to be killed, comes back rich. That’s what happened to M. -Denville. On his return, he was absolutely bursting with gold. He paid -everything he owed to M. Chandeau. Better still, he bought, exactly -opposite the hotel, a little mercer’s shop to make a present to the -young girl who had so charitably picked him up.’ - -As may easily be imagined, that kind of picture did not give a -particularly agreeable tinge to my dreams. This great man, expelled -from the room that I was living in, and promenading down below in the -street in white, grasping his roll of paper, appeared to me like the -statue of the Commander to Don Juan. In my anxiety I now and again -substituted the face and figure of my landlord, holding in one hand -his little bill, and the padlock in the other. I no longer slept, and -I scarcely ate. The mind was killing the body, and I was certainly -getting the worst of this terrible struggle, of which I failed to see -the end. - -I had been to the Hôtel Choiseul, which had been inhabited by my -family, and had been transformed into an auction-mart. I wandered -through its rooms, every one of which was crowded with furniture and -goods offered to the highest bidder. (Subsequently, part of the Opéra -was built on the site.) Alas, throughout my wandering I did not find a -stick that belonged to us; even the porter had changed, and, however -improbable and romantic it may seem, my only friend of old was Castor, -the poor watch-dog, who still occupied his kennel. Pricking up his ears -and wagging his tail, Castor licked my hands when I began to stroke him. - -Perhaps Castor’s friendliness directed my thoughts to the old friends -of my family. Among them I had heard M. Récamier cited as the richest -banker of his time, and his wife as the foremost woman of fashion. -I knew Mme. Récamier before her marriage, and when she first came -to Paris. When we both were children our parents lived in the same -house. Our games and our studies were often interrupted by the scenes -of the Revolution. I remembered the incidents of those first years -most vividly; but would she remember them? I had lost sight of her -completely during those six years so crowded with events. A kind of -false shame kept me back. I could not make up my mind to go and see -her, amidst all her opulence, in a condition bordering so closely -upon a state of poverty as mine. The days went by meanwhile, and I had -practically exhausted my last resources. In vain had I tried to borrow -money on the portrait of Louis XVI., the last gift of the ill-fated -prince to my ‘father,’ his faithful and devoted minister. What interest -had those money-changers in a prince who was only great by his virtues, -and who already belonged to history? - -I informed my ‘father’ of my position; told him of my various -unsuccessful attempts, and asked him for fresh instructions. I received -in reply a letter dated from Holland. He told me to remain for a little -longer in Paris, but if I did not succeed, to come back to Amsterdam, -where M. Vandenberg, the landlord of our inn, would procure me the -means to join him, my ‘father,’ in England, whither important affairs -compelled him to proceed immediately. - -I shall never forget the night I spent after that letter. There are -situations too painful for description, griefs that may be conceived, -but cannot be expressed. I already beheld myself without the slightest -resources in Paris; without a mother, without relations or friends, and -like those who seek but do not find, who cry and who are made sport of, -who would fain attach themselves to some one, and are despised. I was -told to start for Amsterdam. How could I? I could imagine what it must -have cost my ‘father’ to write that letter. Perhaps he believed that -experience had already given me the wisdom which, as a rule, only comes -with years, and that the journey of a thousand leagues which I had made -with him had taught me to vanquish obstacles. On that occasion, though, -I was not alone: his courage sustained mine. In the present instance, -his absence left me no other support than the future and God. - -My sleep was disturbed and agitated; it was not rest, it was simply the -temporary forgetfulness of my trouble. I was looking forward to the -cruel struggle with the world; I beheld myself flung amidst the crowd -to dispute for a crust of bread with the rest of mankind. The days went -by like centuries, for if it be true, as the Prince de Ligne said, -that happiness has wings, misfortune has legs of lead. Poor misguided -creatures that we are! at fifteen we fancy that we have exhausted fate; -at the slightest storm we bend our heads and say, ‘There’s no longer -any hope.’ And at sixty we still go on hoping. - -One resolution came from all those conflicting ideas. It was high time; -for I no longer saw the faintest chance of staving off the crisis, or -of temporising with M. Chandeau, whose face became more sour every day. -I resolved to go to Mme. Récamier, whom I knew to be at her country -house at Clichy-la-Garenne. I made up my mind to go and implore her -help, as one implores that of an angel from heaven when everything on -earth has failed. - -One fine May morning, I started from the Rue Coquillière for Clichy. On -my way, I tried to screw my courage to the sticking-point by recalling -the happy times of my early youth, and in the conjuring up of those -pictures, the image of Mme. Récamier, who had been the companion of my -liveliest joys and of my short-lived griefs, re-appeared continually. -Recalling, one by one, the proofs of her genuine affection, always -so lavishly bestowed, I dismissed all fear that her immense fortune, -her high social position, would cause her to deny the friend of her -childhood, coming to her homeless, proscribed, and unhappy. - -When I had reached the barrier which majestically dominates Paris, -I continued my route between some sparse and poverty-stricken sheds -across the fields. I little dreamt that in a comparatively few years -there would arise on the spot a pretty town of fifteen thousand -inhabitants, with its cafés, its baths, and its theatre, that would -dispute with Passy the advantages of being the Tibur of the literary -men and artists of Paris, frightened at the hubbub of the city. At the -other side of the hill which I had slowly mounted, the soft and gently -sloping greensward landed me in the Avenue de Clichy. I felt as light -of heart under those century-old trees as if I were returning to the -paternal manor after a morning’s sport, but at the sight of the gate of -the mansion, my assurance forsook me. - -Will she receive me? Will she recognise me? My blood, overheated by my -rapid march, froze in my veins at the question. I should probably have -turned back, but for the knowledge that to advance was the only chance -of finding an asylum. - -When I got to the porter’s lodge I pulled the chain, producing but a -faint tinkling of the bell. It had, nevertheless, been heard, for a -voice from inside told Laurette to open the gate. ‘Laurette,’ I said -to myself; ‘that name, no doubt, belongs to a young girl, and the -sympathy between our ages will probably get me a favourable reception.’ -The illusion vanished almost immediately, and I should have been the -first to laugh at my blunder if at that moment my poor heart had -been at all susceptible to any kind of joy. Instead of the little -Laurette I expected--namely, a kind of _opéra-comique_ shepherdess, -with a beflowered and beribboned crook--I beheld an old peasant woman, -wrinkled and bent down with years. Laurette was dressed in a black and -white striped kirtle, and her crook was represented by the ponderous -key of the gate. In answer to my inquiries, she pointed to the door -of the hall; but her second reply convinced me that she was deaf, for -she kept gently shaking her head and softly slapping her ears with her -fore-finger. - -Trembling and uncertain, I stood rooted to the spot, dreading to -advance; for it is a cruel thing to come to a friend’s door in the -guise of a suppliant. But the massive gate had turned on its hinges and -closed once more while Laurette re-entered her pavilion, and I was thus -compelled to advance. - -Hence, I took my courage in both hands and slowly crossed the court, -still further slackening my pace in ascending the steps of the ancient -residence of the Ducs de Lévis, both fearing and dreading to reach -the top. I rang the bell, and in answer a servant appeared. Doffing -my tri-cornered hat, considerably too big for me, with that air of -humility which renders the man down on his luck so awkward, I asked -him, in a voice which I tried in vain to steady, if I might see Mme. -Récamier. From the way in which he began to ‘take stock’ of me, I -imagined that he was in the habit of seeing many needy creatures steer -for this haven, and that, naturally, he classed me among the crowd of -the wretched which each day solicited the inexhaustible charity of his -mistress. ‘I’ll see if madame is at home,’ he said; ‘but what name -shall I say?’ I gave him mine, and, apparently satisfied on that point, -he bade me take a seat. A few moments passed, and Joseph--that was the -name of the domestic--did not return. Devoured with anxiety, I rose -from the seat, which offered no rest, and strode up and down the large -hall, paved with marble and hung with sombre portraits, paintings of -another age, worn out like the past, forgotten like the past, and on -the faces of which I tried in vain to catch a favourable smile. - -Every one knows with what minute attention a man coming to ask a favour -scans the spot where he awaits his fate. At last Joseph came back; -but it was no longer the semi-benevolent face that welcomed me on my -entrance. - -‘Madame is very sorry not to be able to see you to-day, monsieur. Not -having the honour of your acquaintance, she would ask you to write to -her about the motive of your visit.’ - -‘Not know me!’ my lips painfully murmured, stupefied. I felt like -one suddenly blinded. Everything in this world seemed to fail me at -once--the present, the future, friendship, and my courage withal. -Tears, but badly hidden by the brim of my hat, coursed down my cheeks. -At sixteen one does still shed tears. One has not acquired the courage -which is only learned in the school of adversity. - -Though distressed beyond measure at my own weakness, I could not -make up my mind to leave the place. In fact, by that same wonderful -process of the imagination which in a few moments of sleep shows -you a long series of diverse objects, my imagination pictured to me -spontaneously the steep and winding staircase leading to the attics -of the Hôtel de Calais, and my relentless landlord waiting there, my -bill in his hand, in order to bar further progress, as he had barred -it to my expelled predecessor. There was more than this, however. Some -horrid words had in reality fallen upon my ear. Juliet, the friend and -companion of my infancy, no longer remembered even my name. During -this mental colloquy, Joseph, rigid, motionless, constantly watching -a curtain in the hall, showed but too plainly his impatience to close -the door upon me for ever. In spite of his looks, I did not budge. I -felt it impossible to abandon my last hope. All at once, by one of -the spontaneous inspirations often due to desperate positions, it -flashed upon me that during my infancy I bore only a pet name, and that -Mme. Récamier never called me by any other. That was enough. Tightly -grasping Joseph’s arm, I exclaimed: - -‘Please, monsieur, go back to Mme. Récamier, and tell her that it’s -Lolo who has come back from Sweden, who begs of her to see him for one -moment.’ - -To judge by Joseph’s face at this new request, I felt certain that -he considered me bereft of my senses. The man was, no doubt, asking -himself what possible connection there could possibly be between Lolo, -Sweden, and his mistress. Consequently, he did not seem disposed to -attempt this new message, but I begged so hard that finally he decided -in my favour, just as one grants to a patient whose physician has -given him up the last whim from which he expects his cure. - -Behold me alone once more, striding up and down the huge hall, not -even trying to restrain my fears now that there is no stranger to -witness them, and recommending myself to that Providence which hovered -over our vessel in the storm-tossed Baltic, which had protected me at -Copenhagen, and from Whom at that moment I seemed to request a miracle -not less decisive than any of the former to which I owed my life. - -‘It often takes no more than a minute to settle a man’s destiny,’ says -an Arab poet, just as it suffices for one ray of light from heaven to -disperse a cloud. At the most exciting part of my mental soliloquy I -heard in the distance a concert of feminine voices shouting in all -keys. One, however, dominated the rest; and such a voice! That of -the heavenly spirits painted by Milton never made a more charming -impression. I recognised it at once. Then, immediately afterwards, the -door was flung open, and Mme. Récamier, surrounded by three young girls -as beautiful as herself, rushed towards me, crying, ‘My friend, my poor -Lolo, so it’s you!’ and her eyes, fixed on mine, grew moist, while -the most grateful and refreshing tears I ever shed in my life coursed -freely down my cheeks. ‘Yes, it is I,’ I said. - -This, ladies, is one of the chapters in my chequered life. You wished -to hear it, and fashion alone must be the excuse for telling it. - -This little story wound up the evening. - - * * * * * - -Next day the majority of us met once more at a fête the dazzling -pomp of which did not come up to the more intimate happiness of -the small circle at the Comtesse de Fuchs’s. Lord Stewart, the -English ambassador, gave a grand ball at the magnificent Stahremberg -mansion, his residence, to celebrate the birthday of his sovereign. -Nothing had been neglected to make the entertainment worthy of the -memorable circumstances, and of the power represented by his lordship. -Lord Stewart displayed a magnificence--or, to speak correctly, a -profusion--of which few fêtes offered an example. His excellency, -however, who loved to be eccentric in everything, and whose -eccentricities were not always successful, had hit upon the idea to -add to his invitation a courteous injunction to come to his ball in -the costume of the time of Elizabeth. His countrymen understood him -easily enough, and they were numerous in Vienna. The remainder of the -guests had not complied with the request, but those who had adopted -the costume were sufficiently numerous to produce a very remarkable -effect. As to his excellency himself, he wore his uniform of colonel -of hussars, the scarlet of which was covered with embroideries, and a -great number of orders, civil and military, to such a degree as to have -led one easily to mistake him for a living book of heraldry. Save for -that singularity the ball was like any other: a great many sovereigns, -princes, ‘grandes dames,’ political celebrities; a marvellous supper; a -charming lottery of English trifles, which a lady dressed exactly like -Queen Elizabeth distributed to the guests. After which we danced until -daylight, a proceeding becoming rarer and rarer every day in Vienna, -where the Court balls were seldom prolonged beyond midnight. - -While all this was going on, the uncertainties of the Polish question -had ceased. The result of the conferences of the Congress, which both -Europe and Vienna awaited with equal impatience, was at last known. -Alexander had been proclaimed King of Poland. During four months this -had been the exclusive aim of his thoughts. His efforts, the ability -of his ministers, the profound correctness of their views, had been -crowned with success. The Duchy of Warsaw and the handsomest part of -the Polish territory were definitely incorporated with his empire. -The gate of the West was open to him. Among the various phases of -that negotiation, two things could not fail to strike the mind--the -clever diplomacy of the Russian Government, and the confidence of the -Poles. When the fall of Napoleon dispelled the last hopes of the Poles, -they instinctively turned their regard towards Alexander. Persuaded -that he would restore to them their ancient position, that he would -reconstitute in Poland an independent kingdom, they transferred to -him their affection and their hopes. Neither the recollections of the -past nor the lessons of history, nor the warnings of some sagacious -minds had succeeded in opening their eyes. Alexander and his ministry, -it should be said, had carefully exploited that disposition. A great -parade was made of moderation. The most seductive promises were -lavished on the Polish nation. Their dreams of independence, their -ideas of a free constitution, were constantly flattered. The Russian -officers in Poland received orders to show the utmost deference -to the civil and military authorities. Finally, in the month of -September 1814, even before Alexander crossed Poland to appear at the -Congress, when General Krazinski entered Warsaw with his division, the -Field-Marshal Barclay de Tolly at the head of his staff had been the -first to congratulate him. The most cordial union apparently existed -between the generals of the two nations. - -But from the first conferences of the plenipotentiaries, and in spite -of the protestations of the czar in favour of the Polish nation, -Alexander’s system of aggrandisement was soon discovered. - -In vain did the King of Prussia, in close agreement with him, support -all his demands. The Congress resisted a long while before giving its -assent. France, Austria, and England opposed an absolute refusal. -We have already seen how Alexander declared one day that he would -maintain, arms in hand, his pretensions regarding the freedom of -Poland. Finally, thoroughly tired out, the Congress gave way, and the -country of the Jagellons and the Sobieskis was united to Russia. The -decision had scarcely been made public when Alexander announced it to -the government of Warsaw. In an autograph letter to Comte Ostrowski, -President of the Senate, the czar expressed himself as follows: - -‘In assuming the title of King of Poland, I desire to satisfy the wish -of the nation. The Kingdom of Poland will be united to the empire -by the bonds of its own constitution. If the supreme interest of a -general peace has made it impossible for all the Poles to be united -under one sceptre, I have made it a point to soften the rigours of that -separation, and to secure for them everywhere a peaceful enjoyment of -their nationality.’ - -Faithful to his system, Alexander shouted very loudly from the -house-tops the word ‘nationality’ at the very moment when was -accomplished and consecrated the division which was to make havoc -of the word itself. Among the Polish notabilities in Vienna who had -defended the cause with most intelligence and courage, one must -mention in the first rank the Prince Adam Czartoryski. The passionate -defender of the independence of his country, he for one moment fostered -the illusion of having found the regenerator in Alexander. When the -emperor, during his voyage from Russia to Vienna, stopped at Pulawi, -the residence of this ancient family, the princess-dowager, her two -sons, Adam and Constantine; her two daughters, the Princesse de -Würtemberg and the Comtesse Zamoyska, had prepared the most brilliant -reception. In their eyes it was Alexander whose hand was to raise -their country from its ruin. Alexander, on his side, professed a great -esteem for the character of Prince Adam. Even at the Congress the -rumour ran for a moment that he was going to appoint him his Minister -of Foreign Affairs, instead of M. de Nesselrode, and that he reserved -the vice-royalty of Poland for him later on. It was never known how -far those rumours could be substantiated. Was it a tribute to the -loyalty and talent of Prince Adam? Was it a means of leading people -astray? Afterwards Europe learned how that prince became the martyr of -the cause to which he had devoted the whole of his life. What, in the -future, was to be the upshot of that decision of the Congress? Placed -under the sceptre of the Russian autocrat, would Poland once more find -her level among the rank of nations, or, like the streams which lose -both their name and their substance, was Poland to be swallowed up in -the immense boundaries? Such were the questions discussed one day in -the most lively manner at Princesse Sapieha’s. Around her were the -Comte Arthur Potocki, the Comte Komar, the Prince Radziwill, the Prince -Paul Sapieha, the Princesse Lubomirska, the Comtesse Lanskarouska, and -several other ladies. Illusion is nowhere so thoroughly permitted as -when it becomes a question of country; in that gathering, all hearts -were generally open to the hopes of a political restoration, all minds -believed in the realisation of Alexander’s promises. - - - - -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 de Tallien--A Romantic Court Story. - - -One morning the Comte de Witt burst into my rooms holding his sides -with laughter. He scarcely waited for me to ask him the reason. - -‘It’s a story just told to me by Ouwaroff. It’s very funny, but though -he got it direct from Emperor Alexander, it is scarcely credible. A -protégé of the Comte de Nesselrode, a young sailor, who, curiously -enough, had never been to St. Petersburg and did not know the emperor, -had been sent with important despatches to Vienna. Alexander, here as -well as in his capital, loves to wander about the streets. This morning -his Majesty, dressed in a simple military great-coat, on leaving the -palace caught sight of a young naval officer, booted and spurred, -apparently trying to find his way, and examining the entrance of the -imperial residence, totally at a loss how to set his helm. “You seem to -be looking for something,” said the emperor. “That’s true,” answered -the sailor. “I have got a despatch to remit personally to the Emperor -of Russia. They told me to go to the Burg, and here I am; but as I -am a stranger in Vienna, I haven’t got a soul either to guide or to -introduce me.” Alexander was delighted with the frank and open face of -the young fellow, and just for the fun of the thing thought he would -keep up his _incognito_ a little longer. “You’ll not find the emperor -now,” he said. “He’s not at the palace, but at two o’clock he is sure -to receive you.” The conversation went on in the same amicable and -familiar tone for several minutes, the czar interrogating the officer -on his family, his career, and his prospects. The young fellow tells -him that, having entered the service when he was very young, he has -never been to Court and has never seen his sovereign. Finally, after -half an hour’s walking about in conversation, Alexander, turning to the -young salt, says in an affectionate tone, “You can give me your letter, -sir, I am Alexander.” “That’s a clever joke,” replies the other, -laughing, “but you don’t expect me to believe it.” “You may believe -it or not, but I am the Emperor of Russia.” “I dare say--just as I am -the Emperor of China.” “Why shouldn’t you be the Emperor of China?” -Alexander, getting thoroughly amused with an adventure which promises -to become very comic, makes up his mind to continue it a little longer. -In a short time they reach the fortifications, and Alexander espies the -King of Prussia coming towards him. “Do you know German?” he asks of -his companion. “Not a word,” replies the other. Immediately Alexander -takes a few steps in front of him, and says a couple of words in German -to Frederick-William, then he comes back to the young sailor, and takes -him by the hand. “Here’s an excellent opportunity of presenting you -to the King of Prussia,” he remarks. “Sire, an officer of my fleet, -whom I have the honour to present to your Majesty.” “We are getting -on rapidly,” says the young fellow. “This gentleman is the King of -Prussia, you are the Emperor of Russia, and I am the Emperor of China. -Three sovereigns. After all, why not, seeing that my captain says that -after God he is king on board his ship? Oh, by the by, how are things -in Prussia? Everybody all right in Berlin? In truth that _was_ a hero, -and no mistake, your predecessor, the great Frederick. Just like your -ancestor, Peter the First, of glorious memory,” he said, bowing to -Alexander. “But great though they may have been, I doubt whether they -would have imitated my grandfather, who at the battle of Tchesmè blew -up his vessel and himself rather than surrender to the Turks.” - -‘Although the talk savoured somewhat of insolence, it was delivered by -the sailor with that frankness and gaiety which seem almost inseparable -from his profession. Not only were the two sovereigns unoffended, but -their laughter showed that they were highly amused at it. - -‘Meanwhile, they had arrived at a little drinking-shop. The officer -most politely invited his companions to sit down and to continue the -conversation glass in hand. Yielding to the fascination of the moment, -the two sovereigns accepted. Refreshments were served. They sat down, -and clinked glasses familiarly, continuing their conversation without -the slightest restraint, and absolutely with the _abandon_ of a royal -freak, in such a place. “To your health, brother,” says Wilhelm of -Prussia to Alexander of Russia. “‘Pon my word,” is the latter’s answer, -“it only wants the usual salute from the batteries of our capitals -to complete the ceremony of that toast.” “So be it, then,” says the -sailor, taking hold of his pistol, and preparing to load it. He was -going to fire, and thus draw a crowd, which would have transformed a -comic adventure into a scandal. They had a great deal of trouble to -prevent the danger of such a noisy demonstration. Finally, they leave -the place, but the sailor obstinately insists on paying the expenses, -and they are bound to give in. At last they get outside the tavern. - -‘Scarcely have they advanced a few steps on the ramparts, when the -crowd begins to surround the two monarchs, with their accustomed marks -of deference. M. de Richelieu advances hat in hand, and addresses -Alexander as “your Majesty.” The young officer, who had served under -the Duke of Odessa, recognises him at once. He goes very pale and -confused, for he begins clearly to perceive that he has been the victim -of a royal mystification. He is, however, soon reassured by the kindly -look of Alexander, and he promptly remits his despatches to him. The -emperor takes them with a gracious and significant smile, and with the -most kindly gesture dismisses the young sailor, after having given him -an invitation to dine for that day. One thing is very certain--this bit -of royal pastime will push the other a great deal further than twenty -years of service, or the most signal action on board his ship. He will -have no need to go and seek his recompense in heaven by the aid of a -barrel of gunpowder. - -‘But while our kings amuse themselves,’ the general went on, ‘the -empresses and queens refuse to remain behind. You know that to-day -is the birthday of the Empress of Russia? Now, it has been written -that all the birthdays and all the holidays of the calendar should be -converted into opportunities for pleasure; and pleasure seems to take -good care that none shall be overlooked. Yesterday morning the Empress -of Austria, the Grandes-Duchesses d’Oldenbourg and Saxe-Weimar, dressed -out in the strangest manner, requested an audience, under assumed -names, of the Empress Elizabeth. After a little hesitation, there was a -mutual recognition, a great deal of laughter, a great many magnificent -presents were offered, and, like the surprise, were accepted with the -utmost grace.’ - -‘The Prince de Ligne, my dear general, in talking of all those -sovereigns, who appeared to be so thoroughly intoxicated with -pleasure, called them “kings on their holidays.” In truth, seeing them -play pranks like children, we might call them “schoolboys on their -holidays.”’ - -The comte was anxious that I should accompany him that evening to a -grand ball at M. de Stackelberg’s, the Russian Ambassador, in honour -of his sovereign’s birthday. I promised to do so, as it was said that -this was to be the last Russian fête; for according to rumour the -whole of the business of the Congress would be finished before the -carnival. Several sovereigns were already thinking of leaving Vienna, -and Lord Castlereagh was called to London by the opening of the English -Parliament. - -Although similar rumours had run almost from the very outset of the -Congress, this time they were invested with a kind of probability. -Four months had gone by since pleasure had thrown open to the -representatives of Europe the doors of the sanctuary in which her fate -was going to be decided. Peace, and a durable equilibrium, would most -likely be the result of this long gestation. There remains nothing to -be said of M. de Stackelberg’s ball which has not been said of any of -the others. It really seemed as if the representatives of the great -Powers were determined upon a contest in good taste and magnificence. - -One of the first persons I noticed in this dazzling crowd was General -Ouwaroff, standing stock-still and rigid according to his habit. He -wore on his finger that mysterious ring, which never quitted him, and -on which a death’s head was engraved. Was it a reminder of the death -of the Princesse S----, who had poisoned herself for love of him? I -have never been able to discover. Close to him were Colonel Brozin and -the Comte Paul Kisseleff, both aides-de-camp of Emperor Alexander. The -first, a handsome and brave soldier, had later on the dangerous honour -of succeeding his master in the heart of La Belle Narischkine, for it -was only given to Louis XIV. to be beloved by a La Vallière, by a woman -who gave herself to God when she ceased to belong to her king. The -second, a soldier of the highest distinction, has since then won for -himself a well-deserved reputation as an administrator of Wallachia -and Moldavia. He at once evoked one’s sympathy for his intrepid and -brilliant character. Enthusiastic for everything which was grand and -noble, he had really a god-like reverence for Alexander, whom he loved -as a benefactor, and whom he cherished in consequence of the natural -attraction which attaches two souls apt to understand each other. -General Paul Kisseleff has married since the eldest daughter of the -celebrated Sophie Potocka. He is entrusted to-day with one of the most -important portfolios of the Russian empire. - -Here was the Prince Dolgorouki, the son of that handsome Princesse -Dolgorouki, to please whom Potemkin had the fortress of Oczakoff -shelled for a whole night. He was surrounded by a numerous circle, -among whom one might easily distinguish the Princes Gagarin and -Troubastköy; the aide-de-camp Pankratieff, etc. - -A little further on, Talleyrand is calmly conversing with MM. de -Wintzingerode and d’Hardemberg. Amidst the noise and the animation of -all this pleasure his impassive features preserve the same calm visible -thereon in the Congress-room. - -Many waltzes and polonaises had been danced when they asked the -Princesse B---- to dance the tarantella, that pretty Neapolitan dance -which, in her infancy, her young companions of the Parthenope danced -with her under the beauteous sky where she was born. Acquiescing in a -general wish, she placed herself in the middle of the ball-room, made -one or two graceful bows, then seizing a tambourine, gave the signal -for the music to begin; and then performed those voluptuous, light, and -animated movements so thoroughly in harmony with the air of Naples. - -Very often, when my recollections brought me back to those fêtes in -which I have seen the Russian nobility at St. Petersburg, Moscow, and -Vienna display so much wealth and elegance, I have been reminded of -what my friend Count Tolstoy told me about the difficulties of Peter -the First to make his Boyards amuse themselves in a European fashion. -The opposition was so violent that he could only get the better of it -by publishing a long regulation, and whosoever deviated from it exposed -himself to the most severe punishments. Although his inflexible will -had decided that those fêtes should have a European character, they -were too near to barbaric times not to be tainted with their spirit. -It was to the sound of the drum that the Court balls were announced in -the city. The ladies repaired to them at five o’clock in the evening. -They had to be dressed in the fashion prevailing in the Courts of -Europe. Only the empress, who was a Narischkine, was exempt from the -general law, and permitted to keep to the dress of the Russian ladies. -Peter, who never tried to avoid the orders he imposed on others, -stood sentry at the door of the palace, a partisan in his hand. Thus -did Louis XIV. stand guard at the door of the St. Cyr Theatre on the -occasion of the performances of _Esther_. The grandes-duchesses offered -refreshments to the guests: French wines, hydromel, and strong beer. At -the entrance door, facing the emperor, stood a chamberlain, holding two -urns containing a great many numbered tickets. Each cavalier and each -lady, on entering the ball-room, drew one, and willy-nilly found him- -or herself associated with the corresponding number, as in days gone -by the athletes of the pugilistic exercises in the Olympic Games. The -masked balls were still more extraordinary. Disguise was resorted to by -way of the most curious costumes, and the rejoicing and the dances were -in harmony with the costumes. - -Only a very few years went by, and the tactics of the illustrious -reformer began to bear ample fruit. Under Catherine I. and under -Elizabeth, pleasure followed the same direction as Russian influence -and power. The latter princess was especially fond of masked balls. -She gave a magnificent one on each New Year’s Day. The ladies were -bound to appear as men, and the men as women. The Empress, who looked -very well in male attire, was particularly fond of that disguise. Then -came the reign of Catherine II. which seemed fated to exhaust all kind -of glories and pleasures. Apart from her magnificent carousals, one is -reminded of her receptions and balls at Tzarskoë-Selo, and of the fêtes -of Potemkin in the Palace of the Taurus. Beyond these, imagination -cannot go. Finally, during the first years of this century, and at the -period of the Congress of Vienna, there was no nation which understood -pleasure better than the Russians, and stamped that pleasure with such -extreme politeness and grandeur. - -[Illustration: PRINCE METTERNICH.] - -Consequently, each day saw a new fête succeed to that of yesterday, -without this continuation appearing to bring satiety. While M. de -Stackelberg celebrated the birthday of his sovereign, Emperor Francis -invited for the same purpose the crowned heads, the princes, and -the other political or military notabilities in one of the great -halls of the imperial residence. A splendid dinner had preceded the -concert. Two days before, the Prince de Metternich had also given a -great ball at which the majority of the guests of the Austrian Court -had been present. It has just struck me that I am nearing the end -of my course, and that as yet I have not spoken of one of the most -conspicuous personages of our epoch. Almost everybody has tried to -portray M. de Metternich. Like M. de Talleyrand, he has had all the -honours of history bestowed upon him during his lifetime, but although -his portrait has been traced more than once by more skilful hands -than mine, I cannot resist the desire to show him as I was enabled to -judge him--behind the glamour of power and political reserve in which -he has lived since his youth. At that period M. de Metternich might -still pass muster as a young man. His features were perfectly regular -and handsome, his smile was full of graciousness, his face expressed -both benevolence and the most delicate intelligence. He was of average -height, and of elegant proportions. Both his gait and demeanour were -marked by much nobleness. It is, above all, from the handsome design of -Isabey, representing the plenipotentiaries at the Congress, that one -may gain a more or less exact idea of all those outward advantages of -which he himself was by no means insensible. At the first glance, one -felt delighted at seeing one of those men to whom nature had vouchsafed -her most seductive gifts, and whom nature, as a rule, seems to take -a delight in calling only to the frivolous successes of a society -life. It was when attentively scanning his physiognomy, at once supple -and firm, and carefully scrutinising Metternich’s looks, that the -superiority of his political genius at once became manifest to even the -superficial observer. ‘The society man’ disappeared, and there remained -nothing but the statesman, accustomed to rule men and to decide -important affairs. Mixed up for twenty-five years with the gigantic -commotions that disturbed Europe, M. de Metternich showed the lofty -aptitude of his mind, and that rare penetration and sagacity which can -foresee and direct events. His decision, the result of long meditation, -was immovable. His words were incisive, as they ought to be from the -lips of a statesman sure of the drift of everything he says. I may add -to this that M. de Metternich is one of the most charming story-tellers -of our epoch. In politics he has been reproached with his subserviency -to the Law of Immobility; certainly a lofty mind like his understood -well enough that it is impossible for man to remain stationary, -and that, in our age, to remain stationary would be tantamount to -retrogression. But he also knew that sudden shocks do not constitute -progress, and that, in the government of man one ought to take count -of their habits and of their real wants. If it be true that the moment -has not yet come to judge M. de Metternich definitely, contemporary -history will be bound to admit the calm and cloudless happiness which -his immobile and silent government has succeeded in imparting to the -hereditary states of Austria. That happiness, which seems to suffice -them, is already a title of glory one cannot easily deny. - -The fêtes of M. de Metternich during the Congress bore a peculiar -stamp, altogether in harmony with his personality, if one may express -it in that way. To the most thoroughly experienced lavishness, to an -extreme minuteness of detail, there was added a grandeur absolutely -without embarrassment. It was towards the end of January that this fête -took place. The _locale_ chosen was M. de Metternich’s country estate, -a short distance from Vienna. Though the cold was excessive, the number -of guests was immense, and, as usual, comprised all the illustrious -personages of Europe and the handsomest women of the moment. The prince -and princess discharged their social duties with a certain coquettish -grace--a grace which tends to disappear now that people believe they -have done everything by throwing open their drawing-rooms. Truly, -watching this illustrious host, and the pains he took to please his -guests, one could but remember how, at the beginning of his career in -Paris, he had shone by the brilliancy of his manners. And, though his -position had become immeasurably greater since then, it had made no -difference to a courtesy which must always be a powerful auxiliary in -the hands of such a man. A magnificent ball-room had been constructed -for that fête in the garden itself, and had been decorated with all -the pomp and lavishness that had really become a matter of course. The -stands were tenanted by women dazzling in youth and elegance, who vied -with the masses of colour supplied by the uniforms, decorations, and -embroideries occupying the middle of the floor. - -Next morning an alarming rumour spread that this elegant ball-room had -been partially ruined during the night by a fire. Vienna is quite as -prolific in superstitious people as other places, and the untoward -event served as a text for several prophecies. They recalled the -accidents that had marked the marriage of Louis XVI.; they recalled -the fire at the mansion of the Prince de Schwartzenberg at Paris at -the moment of the union of Napoleon with the daughter of the Cæsars--a -sad analogy with the fates occasioned by his fall in the capital of -his father-in-law, and not far distant from the place of exile of his -wife and his son. The high position of M. de Metternich in the debates -of Europe; the presidency which his colleagues had spontaneously and -simultaneously conferred upon him--all this was calculated to give -still greater consistency to all those lugubrious conjectures. - -A few days later, without taking the slightest notice of any of the -predictions of the Viennese Nostradamuses, the Austrian Court joyfully -celebrated the birthday of the King of Denmark, of the Queen of -Bavaria, of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and of the Grand-Duke of Baden, -all happening on the same day. A grand state-fête, to which the public -were admitted as spectators, united all the crowned heads. I followed -the crowd, anxious to witness a sight which was not likely to renew -itself within my days. It was in reality something very important, that -banquet, both by the number and rank of its guests. - -‘Sire,’ ‘your majesty,’ might be heard at each corner of every table; -royal highnesses, imperial highnesses, grand dukes, dukes, etc., were -practically speaking, so many small-fry. If one added to all this the -rank of the officers in attendance, equerries, cup-bearers, pantlers, -most of these holding high rank; if one still further adds thousands -of wax candles, causing the crystals to glint and to sparkle, and -reflecting their light in the massive gold plate; if we still add -the perfume of flowers mingling with the harmony of the instruments, -the sweet familiarity, the intimacy of those masters of the world -tempering the majesty of their gathering--if we consider all this, it -will be admitted that the spectacle was likely to remain a unique one. - -It was during these gala-fêtes that they served those famous Tokay -wines, the exorbitant price of which is estimated at between a -hundred and twenty and a hundred and fifty florins a bottle. The -emperor had some in his cellars which was more than a century old; -the precious nectar was only brought forth on solemn occasions, when -it was necessary to drink the health of this or that sovereign, or to -celebrate this or that grand anniversary. Chance had placed me not far -away from the Baron Ompteda. We left together to go to the theatre of -the Carinthian Gate. The main attraction was _Flore et Zéphire_, a -ballet performed by the dancers of the Paris Opéra. The house was full, -as usual. Indifferent to the entrechats and the pirouettes, I strolled -about with Ompteda, pretty well certain that, if he were in the mood, -I should soon be posted in all the particulars of the Congress, no one -being more capable than he of attractively dishing up both the news of -the Graben and of the drawing-rooms. - -‘What is the news?’ I asked of my sprightly companion. - -‘Everything is over or nearly over. All the clouds are dispersed. -Europe owes the happy issue of the negotiations to the departure of -Lord Castlereagh.’ - -‘Was Milord, then, the only obstacle to peace?’ - -‘No, you are wrong. It is not that. For the last four months they -have been debating without coming to an agreement. All at once Lord -Castlereagh is called to England for the opening of Parliament. You -may easily conceive that he couldn’t return empty-handed; consequently -he put some life into the deliberations, and hurried the conclusion of -affairs, in order to show some results. What a pity it is the other -nations haven’t some parliaments to be opened! - -‘The Austrian Court is right enough,’ the Baron went on. ‘The European -Areopagus has decided upon the fate of Naples and its imprisoned King -Joachim. Its throne is going to be restored to the Bourbon branch. -You are aware that the Imperial Chancellery decided not to notify -officially the death of Queen Caroline, not knowing what title to give -her. That bit of awkwardness has disappeared too.’ - -‘Yes, I remember that they took hold of a very honest pretext. The -Court, it was said, would not cast a damper on the fêtes of the -Congress by shedding official tears for the daughter of Maria-Theresa. -In reality, the Court did not dare, or did not want, to decide the -question of etiquette reserved for diplomacy, and now they are going -to assume mourning for the poor queen at the moment when it would be -more sensible to sing a _Te Deum_ for the return of her husband to the -throne of his fathers.’ - -‘One of your influential diplomatists here has a sweet trick of his -own to get news from Paris to Vienna for the purpose of dishing it up -in a peculiar fashion. He sends to his wife, Madame la Duchesse, the -draught of a despatch. The docile secretary transcribes it, and a week -after the carrier brings it back. Then they show, under the seal of the -greatest confidence, notes from the Court of the Tuileries which have -neither been dictated nor put in cypher there. In reality, they might -save them the jolting of the journey. - -‘Oh, by the by, have you heard of the duel which has just been fought -between the Prince de ----, and the Comte ----?’ - -‘Yes, I have heard that the two champions were both wounded, but were -so little hurt that their friends are not in the least uneasy.’ - -‘The Vienna public,’ remarked Ompteda, ‘would indeed be surprised if -it knew the cause of the quarrel. The wife of one of these gentlemen -has an unfortunate mania for scents, or rather for one scent of which -she claims to be the inventor. It’s a mixture of rose-water and musk, -sufficiently strong to set all the Italian women troubled with vapours -running. Inasmuch as the lady, who is still very good-looking, though -by no means in the first flush of youth, goes out a great deal, that -undesirable perfume is so well known that she couldn’t enter a room -without her presence being betrayed by it. It so happened that one -fine morning her husband, the Prince ---- walks into the rooms of his -friend the Comte ----. In less than a second his nostrils are assailed -by a scent which he knows but too well, and he exclaims, “My wife has -been here.” “Your wife,” replies the comte. “Not at all.” “You deny -it! Well, then, she is still here, and if I begin to look for her, the -scent will do the rest for me very shortly.” In consequence of this -violent explanation, in which the one denies and the other affirms, the -two friends draw their swords in the room itself, and while each wounds -the other, the lady escapes by a back staircase. The mishap ought to -have cured her. She continues, nevertheless, to drench herself with -that damnable perfume, which might well be called the Tell-tale Scent.’ - -‘People are very sorry about the accident which cost the young Duc -Louis d’Aremberg his life. You know that he was thrown from his horse -on the flagstones of the Josef Platz, and when they lifted him up he -was dead. It appears that birth is no guarantee against the thunders -of the gods. The father of the young duke lost his life out hunting. -His mother was guillotined in France. His brother was exiled in -consequence of a duel in which he killed his adversary; his sister -perished in the historic ball given by Prince Schwartzenberg in Paris. -Was it worth while to call oneself d’Aremberg to be a prey to all these -misfortunes?’ - -‘You were not at the last ball of Gey-Müller, the banker?’ - -‘No, but I was at the similar fête at Arnstein’s, and it was really a -curious sight to me to see the financial world rivalling the Austrian -Court in display, and perhaps surpassing it.’ - -‘The most particular feature of the Gey-Müller ball was not so much its -profusion, its elegance, its exquisite supper, as a fall--not the fall -of an empire, to which people are pretty well used by now--but the fall -of the handsome Madame Pereyra, the daughter of Baron Arnstein. She -was waltzing with Prince Dietrichstein. Carried away by the rapidity -of that Russian waltz, which is like a whirlwind, and getting caught -in the folds of her dress, she fell with her partner, and both rolled -amidst the crowd. You may imagine their confusion. Truly, princes with -the name of Maurice seem to be pursued by a kind of fatality. At the -imperial _carrousel_ you saw Maurice Lichtenstein flung into the middle -of the arena with his horse, and now there is this other Maurice who -gyrates on his back instead of turning round on his legs. However, -there is no accounting for taste.’ - -‘Don’t joke about it, dear baron, for you are unwittingly stoning -me. A similar adventure happened to me in the Salon des Étrangers at -Paris. Fortunately, my pretty partner was masked, which saved her the -trouble of blushing. I, moreover, owed to this fall the overhearing of -a conversation which, at that period, had all the interest of a scene -from a drama. - -‘It was during the first years of the Consulate. The best society of -Europe flocked to Paris. France, probably anxious to get as much joy -out of life as she could after the bloody scenes of the Revolution, -seemed to do everything to forget. The rooms at Frascati were the -resort, or rather the temple, of pleasure. In one part of the building -people of every rank and of both sexes came to risk, under the -disguise of a domino, the fruits of twenty years’ work, or the product -of more ingenious speculations. In another spot, screened by a slight -surface of cardboard and a silk wrap, the most piquant, political, or -amorous intrigues went on. Further on, quadrilles, in which figured -Vestris, Bigottini, and Millière, displayed all their grace and -suppleness. I was waltzing with Madame R----. The crowd surrounding -us was immense. Getting caught in the folds of her domino, my partner -stumbles, falls, and bears me down with her. We were immediately on our -legs again, but, somewhat excited by the accident, Madame R---- asked -me to take her outside the room. Fortunately for us, we ran against the -Marquis de l’Ivry, who had us taken to his own apartments higher up. -The purer air and some stimulant soon got the better of the discomfort -of Madame R----. We were just getting ready to go down to the ball-room -again when we heard a lively conversation in the adjacent apartment. -Beaumarchais has said that in order to hear, you must make up your -mind to listen. Persuaded that it was nothing but a ball intrigue, -we got nearer to the partition, and through its very thin substance -we distinguished two female voices. We were about to draw back -disappointed, when the name of Bonaparte struck our ear. That name, -the talisman of the period, having attracted our attention once more, -we heard one of the ladies say--“I give you my word, my dear Teresina, -that I have done everything friendship could expect of me, but that -it’s all in vain. This morning I made a new attempt, but he will not -listen to anything. In fact, I have been asking myself what could -have prejudiced him so strongly against you. You are the only woman -whose name he has struck off the list of those admitted to my familiar -intercourse. Being afraid of his affronting you personally--a thing for -which I would never console myself--I ventured to come here alone with -my son. At the Château they think I am in bed, but I wanted to see you -to quiet your own mind, and to justify myself.” - -‘“I have never doubted either your heart or your affection, Josephine,” -replied the other lady. “Their loss would be a thousand times more -painful to me than Bonaparte’s prejudices. My conduct has been -sufficiently dignified to make my visits appreciated, and certainly I -shall pay you none without his knowledge. But does he not remember that -the first step of Tallien after the 10th Thermidor was to open for us -the cell where we were both awaiting our death sentence? Can he forget -that the man whose name I bear provided for your children throughout -your captivity? Those children--his own now--were, without doubt, not -consulted before he forbade you my company. He was not Consul when I -shared with you--but pardon me, Josephine, O, forgive me!” - -‘Here there was a burst of sobs, preventing me hearing every word. - -‘“Calm yourself, my dear Teresina. Let us allow the first storm to go -by, and everything will turn out for the best. But above all, don’t let -us irritate him still further. He is very incensed with Ouvrard, and -people say he is at your house, or expected.” - -‘“Oh!” replied Teresina, indignant, “is that it? Does he pretend to -tyrannise over our hearths because he happens to govern France? Must -one sacrifice even one’s dearest and closest affections?” - -‘As she spoke these words there was a knock at the door. It was Eugène -de Beauharnais, who came to fetch one of these ladies. - -‘“Let us go,” he said. “You have been here more than an hour. The -Council is perhaps finished, and what would the First Consul say if he -failed to find you at home?” - -‘We stole away on tiptoe, Madame R---- and I. - -‘“Let’s leave the ball,” I said, going down. “Whatever we may see -there is not worth what we have just heard.” - -‘One of these ladies was Josephine, she who in a short time was to -be Empress. The other was Madame Tallien, as famous for her striking -beauty as for her energetic character; to whom France owed the -overthrow of Robespierre.’ - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - The Comte de Rechberg’s Work on the Governments of the Russian - Empire--The King of Bavaria--Polish Poem 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. - - -The Comte Charles de Rechberg had written an interesting work on the -fifty-two governments of the Russian Empire. The book, both historical -and picturesque, deals with the ethnology of the peoples from the -Great Wall to the Baltic, and from the Crimea to the Pole. It contains -an exact description of the various provinces considered in their -political and commercial aspects, and researches on the archæological -curiosities still to be found there, which study is calculated to -elucidate some migrations of the primitive peoples. The greatest -lavishness had been displayed in this publication, which was enhanced -by magnificent coloured engravings. The price, which varied from 1800 -to 2500 francs, might have been an obstacle to the success of the work; -fortunately Rechberg found one of the most powerful auxiliaries in his -sovereign, the King of Bavaria. From having been the patron of the -Altar, that excellent prince wanted to become the patron of the Book. -He recommended it everywhere, with that particularly happy-go-lucky -and paternal unaffectedness which made him positively worshipped by -every one. He solicited subscriptions, and thanks to this benevolent -intervention, the comte disposed of a great number of copies. Such a -success, obtained in a gathering of so many diverse personages, gave -me the idea of likewise printing a work, inspired by the Muse of -Poetry. In 1811 I had spent at Tulczim, the seat of Comtesse Sophie -Potocka, a twelvemonth which was practically tantamount to a whole -lifetime if counted by the happiness vouchsafed to me then. Very often -I accompanied the countess to Sophiowka, a garden situated close to -Humeng, and one of the most charming creations the mind could conceive. -The Comte Félix Potocki, in order to immortalise the woman whom he -worshipped, had given proof of a magnificence in taste which surpassed -everything Europe had to show of that kind. Trembecki, the most -celebrated poet of Poland, had at the age of seventy recovered all the -fire of his youth, and composed on that garden a poem which practically -passes for a masterpiece. There are, in fact, few educated Poles who do -not know some fragments of that poem by heart. - -This double claim to immortality was worthy of the woman whose beauty -was proverbial, and whom fortune had been pleased to guide from an -obscure position to the summit of the most opulent and conspicuous -nobility of Europe. Her history would constitute a remarkable episode -of her own time if there were nothing in her life but the extraordinary -fact of having been sold twice--in the first place by her mother, in -the second by her husband. But when one has seen, as I have, the pomp -of her fêtes, the unprecedented value of her precious ornaments, the -grandeur of her palaces, and the extent of her power, then one becomes -confounded at those elevations of fortune due to love--to nothing -but love, that magician without a rival. Madame Potocka was born at -Constantinople. It is well known that the great Greek families residing -in that city have experienced all the vicissitudes of fortune as a -consequence of revolutions. It is not surprising, therefore, to see in -the Fanariote quarter the members of those ancient and princely races -pass, at one fell stroke, from extreme opulence to extreme poverty, -and often be obliged to engage in this or that profession, if not -in a downright trade. In a small street, not far from the palace -of Sweden, there lived a poor artisan, though he was an undoubted -descendant of the Commenius family. He had several children, and among -these a girl whose nascent beauty was the admiration of the whole of -the neighbourhood, and the envy of all her companions. M. de B----, a -French gentleman, secretary to the embassy, was one day slowly riding -through the streets of Pera, accompanied by a janissary of the Palais -de France. Near the tomb of the Comte de Bonneval, who became a Turkish -subject, the rider perceived a group of children, and among them a -young girl, between thirteen and fourteen, such as only the beautiful -race of Greece can produce. Struck by her beauty, he gives her a sign -to come up to him, and, a diplomatic functionary being a kind of power -at Pera, the child obeys. The marquis gets off his horse, asks the -child’s name, and begins to inquire about her family. ‘My name is -Sophie,’ replies the child. ‘We are Greeks by origin, and from what my -mother says, well born, but a series of misfortunes has reduced us to -work for our living. My father is a baker.’ The marquis is absolutely -dazzled by the child’s beauty, he is touched by the sound of her voice, -he admires her mind, at once innocent and precocious. After a few other -questions, he leaves Sophie, telling her, however, that he will expect -her mother at the French Embassy. Next morning the poor woman is true -to the appointment. Interrogated about her position, she confesses, -amid bitter tears, that they are very poor, and that their labour is -insufficient to keep the relentless creditors from the door. Thereupon -the marquis proposes to take care of her daughter, to take her to -France, and winds up by offering the mother fifteen hundred piastres to -provide for her most pressing needs. The mother at first refuses. There -is, however, to begin with, the money which would put an end to their -difficulties; and, moreover, the brilliant future for her well-beloved -daughter. Finally, after many tears, hesitations, and heart-burnings, -she gives her consent to the great sacrifice. The document surrendering -her daughter duly signed and sealed, she receives in exchange the -fifteen hundred piastres--a very feeble compensation for the treasure -she was handing over: a monstrous transaction from our point of view no -doubt, but less surprising in a country where one is accustomed to see -a woman become an article of barter. Invested with paternal rights, M. -de B---- scrupulously discharged them. He improved Sophie’s education, -which, as may be easily imagined, had been more than neglected. -He lavished all his care upon her, gave her professors, and, art -seconding nature, Sophie at sixteen had grown into a model of beauty -and perfection in every _genre_. At that time he was recalled by his -Court, and, to spare his pupil the dangers of a sea-voyage, he intended -to come back by way of Poland and Germany. After traversing European -Turkey, he reached Kaminiek Podolski, the first fortress of the Russian -frontier. - -The Comte Jean de Witt, the descendant of the great Dutch Pensionary, -was its governor. He welcomed the noble traveller with the utmost -courtesy and attention, and induced him to stay for some little -time at Kaminiek; but the desire for the marquis’s company and the -consideration due to his rank were not the only causes of the comte’s -pressing invitation. The general had not been proof against Sophie’s -charms, and had become passionately enamoured of her. Informed by -her of her real position, knowing that she was neither servant nor -mistress, but simply a kind of chattel for fifteen hundred piastres, -he did not scruple to follow up his love-declaration by an offer of -marriage. The comte, a very handsome man, and barely thirty, was -already lieutenant-general, and in great favour with Catherine the -Second. The far-seeing Greek girl was sensible enough not to refuse -this first chance, and without a moment’s hesitation she accepted the -hand offered to her. - -Nevertheless, it was perfectly plain to both that the diplomatist would -not willingly part with a possession on which he set so much store. The -general-governor therefore bided his time until his excellency took a -solitary ride outside the fortress. To guard against surprise, he had -the drawbridges raised, then repaired to the church with Sophie, and -a priest gave the young couple his blessing. While the ceremony was -drawing to an end, to the ringing of all the steeples of Kaminiek, his -excellency presented himself before the moat of the place, asking to be -let in. He was informed of what had happened, and to corroborate the -story they showed him the marriage-certificate duly signed and sealed, -and in accordance with the _dénouement_ of every well-constructed -comedy. - -And in order to spare the handsome delinquent the severe reproaches -which in reality her ingratitude and her hurried desertion would -have fully justified, the general sent word to the members of his -excellency’s suite to pack up their traps and to join their chief -without the walls. They were also to take back all the gifts Sophie -had received from the marquis, not even excepting the fifteen hundred -piastres of the primary contract; and the young bride added a letter -full of excuses for having disposed of her hand and heart without the -permission of her second father. M. de B---- could only give vent to -his anger, not unjustified, by imprecations on and reproaches to those -who were not to blame. Perfectly convinced, though, that he could -not remain all his life contemplating the walls of the fortress, and -that there was no probability of the two Courts suspending amicable -relations to revenge an affront without a remedy, and to enforce -restitution of another Helen to another Menelaus, the marquis pursued -his journey, determined not to be caught a second time trafficking -with a merchandise no doubt precious in its way, but only precious when -it is given and not sold. - -After a honeymoon which lasted several years, and during which a -son was born to him, the Comte de Witt obtained leave of absence, -and journeyed to all the Courts of Europe with his beautiful Greek. -Practically, theirs was a triumphal procession. The wondrous beauty -of the girl, enhanced by all the sensuous and piquant charms of the -East, transformed the tour into a kind of series of fairy tales. It -was at that period that the Prince de Ligne, who at first gave me all -those particulars, afterwards confirmed by Sophie herself, saw her at -the Court of France. He subsequently saw her at the siege of Ismaël, -where she was particularly distinguished by Prince Potemkin. Kings, -statesmen, warriors, philosophers--all gave one the idea, in their -intercourse with the beauteous Sophie, of Socrates, Pericles, and -Alcibiades crowding around Aspasia to purify their taste and to sharpen -the edge of their oratory. - -The second period of her life was practically a marvellously fit -completion of the first. The Comte Félix Potocki, at the commencement -of the troubles in Poland, had, by the influence of his rank and his -immense fortune, gathered around him a great party. Momentarily absent -from his Court, he was on his way back from Italy when, at Hamburg, he -fell in with Comte and Comtesse de Witt. He became ardently enamoured -of Sophie, and without entering into the details of a story which, -though short enough, was full of incidents, I pass to the _dénouement_, -which he accelerated in a novel fashion. Nothing is easier in Poland -than a divorce. The abuse of the law is carried to such an extent that -I have known a M. Wortzel who had no fewer than four living wives -bearing his name. The Comte Potocki took advantage of this state of -things. Having taken all the necessary measures beforehand, he went to -see the Comte de Witt one morning. - -‘I can no longer live without your wife,’ he said. ‘I am certain that -I am not indifferent to her. I prefer to owe my happiness to you, and -to preserve an eternal gratitude. Here are two documents. The one is an -act of divorce, and only wanting your signature; your wife’s is already -there. The other is a voucher for two millions of florins to be paid -by my banker this morning. Let us terminate this affair in an amicable -way, or in another way if you like, but let’s terminate it.’ - -The husband, no doubt, remembered the drawbridges of Kaminiek. He made -the best of a bad business, like the French embassy-secretary, and -signed; and handsome Sophie, from Comtesse de Witt as she was, became -that same day Comtesse Potocka, this time adding to the prestige of her -beauty the advantage of a wealth which had not its equal in Europe. At -one moment there seemed even a higher destiny in store for her, when in -1791 the majority of the grandees of Poland had agreed to sacrifice a -part of their privileges to procure the appeasement of their country. -Catherine, to give more importance to this confederation, decided that -Potocki should be its chief. To induce him to accept the position, -she even dangled the crown before his eyes. One day, at the end of a -solemnity, she took her diadem from her brow and placed it on the head -of Potocki, saying, ‘This would suit you admirably well, comte.’ - -Everybody knows the sequel of this comedy, and how the pledges were -kept. When that dream was over, Potocki simply studied to make the -woman he idolised thoroughly happy. The art, the talent, the pomp -and splendour of various parts of the world were all called into -requisition to add to her happiness. To satisfy her desires and her -slightest fancies, he absolutely realised all that the imagination may -conceive in the way of fairy tales. One day she expressed a wish for a -set of pearl ornaments. The count asked for a twelvemonth to offer one -worthy of her. He sent to every capital of Europe and Asia the drawing -of a pearl, and informed the jewellers that he would pay a thousand -louis for each one that equalled the model in size and brilliancy. They -gathered a hundred, and at the next St. Sophia’s day he clasped round -the charming neck of his wife a necklace worth a hundred thousand louis. - -At the death of Comte Potocki, Sophie practically found herself at the -head of his colossal fortune, either in virtue of direct personal gift -or as the trustee of the children born of her second marriage. It was -shortly after this that I made her acquaintance at St. Petersburg, -and accompanied her to her estate at Tulczim. Even at that period the -celebrated Sophie was a most ravishing creature. Her beauty was really -marvellous, and reminded me of nothing so much as the models the Greek -statuaries of old must have employed to create their divinities. - -It would require volumes to convey an idea of the life led at Tulczim. -Sophie saw life from so high a point that she no longer seemed to -belong to the world surrounding her, which her beauty kept incessantly -at her feet. It was not that she was vain or imperious, but she was -beautiful, and she knew it. This never-ceasing worship had made an -idol of her, and from the altar on which they had placed her, she -paid the incense with a look and the praise with a smile. Queen in -virtue of her beauty, she seemed to say, ‘The world--I am the world!’ -Her palace was the temple of hospitality. The stranger who came to -ask an asylum was royally put up for a fortnight: horses, carriages, -and servants were placed at his disposal, without his being obliged -to show himself to his hostess, but on the sixteenth day he was to -present himself, if only in order to take his leave. And that sort of -thing, be it remembered, was practised, not under the tent of the Arab -of the desert, nor in the hut of a Laplander, but in an enchanted -palace of which Sophie was the Fairy Queen. No wonder that she often -said, ‘People have paid me visits at Tulczim which have lasted for -three years.’ I remember, among others, a fête she gave to Madame -Narischkine, Alexander the First’s friend. It lasted for three days. -About the same period I accompanied her on a journey to the Crimea, to -take possession of some territory which had been granted to her by an -imperial favour, and on the site of which she wished to found a town -named Sophiopolis. - -At the eastern point of the Crimea there uprises a double promontory. -On that spot stood the temple whose priestess was Iphigenia. Between -those two promontories lies the delightful valley where reigns eternal -spring. The olive- and orange-trees grow wild. The Greeks, fitly to -render homage to the beauty of the spot, called it Kaloslimen. It was -there that Sophiopolis was to be erected. We got to the summit of Cape -Laspi. The countess built a pavilion there whence she could inspect -the works. It was on the same spot that Catherine II. was struck with -admiration at the sight of the picture unfolded before her, regretting -that the Euxine, which rose to the horizon, hid Constantinople from her. - -Wishing to perpetuate the memory of the woman whom he had so deeply -loved, Comte Potocki decided that the gardens should bear the name -of Sophie, and should surpass in magnificence, as well as in taste, -all that antiquity and modern times had that was most remarkable. To -realise this project he chose a vast space, where savage nature could -lend itself to the embellishments of art. He employed two thousand -peasants as navvies for ten years, and spent twenty millions. Enormous -masses of rock were transported and rivers turned out of their courses. -Finally, near a spot which is only known by the exile of Ovid, he -realised among the steppes of Yedissen what the imagination of Tasso -could lend to the gardens of Armida. - -During my stay at Tulczim, I often visited that beautiful garden, and -I always remained in ecstasies before that unique creation. I did -not wonder that it had revived the septuagenarian muse of Trembecki. -Seduced by the hope of acquitting towards that noble family of Potocki -a debt of gratitude, I attempted, during my stay at Tulczim, to -translate into French verse the beautiful inspirations of the Polish -bard. When my task was finished, I desired to enhance the work, by -investing it with a splendour that might complement its literary merit. -The Comte Jean Potocki came to my aid with his profound knowledge, and -Mr. William Allan, an English landscape-painter, to-day the President -of the Royal Academy of Painting in Edinburgh, lent me the magic of -his brush. I intended to publish the work in France, when the desire -to witness in Vienna the unique scenes being enacted there brought me -to the capital of Austria. Having witnessed the success obtained by -the Comte de Rechberg, thanks to the assistance of King Maximilian, -surrounded by all the masters of art grouping themselves around this -gathering of sovereigns, I bethought myself of placing my verses -under the patronage of the European celebrities whom the Congress -had brought together. I began to take steps, and to solicit, with -the hope of inscribing them at the head of my translation, names of -celebrity which should serve it as an ægis. The familiar footing on -which everybody was living with every one else in Vienna obviated much -of the difficulty which my efforts would have cost elsewhere. With -nearly all the sovereigns it was sufficient to present oneself to be -received, without asking for a special interview. In a few days my -subscription list was full. The Emperor and Empress of Russia were the -first to put their names down for several copies. The Kings of Prussia, -Denmark, Bavaria, and, in short, every illustrious personage in Vienna, -followed suit. I had Polish type cast. The printing was confided to -the presses of the celebrated Strauss. Krudner did the engravings. -Nothing was spared to invest the publication with all the beauty to -which it could lend itself. The first copies had just been ‘pulled’ -when the news reached us of the landing of Napoleon at Cannes. From -that moment people troubled very little about literature and poetry, -but there were a great many diplomatic conferences, declarations, and -preparations for war. Nearly all the subscribers left Vienna without -taking their copies. I myself left the city a little while afterwards -to go to Paris; and of the whole of my attempt there only remained the -recollection of the gracious reception of the sovereigns, and one of -the most curious collections of autographs in the hands of any author. -Men in Vienna--Russians and Poles--without distinction subscribed -for the publication of the songs of Trembecki. People little dreamt -that, fifty years later, that beautiful garden would be taken away -from the family of its founder, confiscated in consequence of the last -revolution of Poland. Sophieowka has been added to the domains of the -Emperor of Russia. They have even taken away its name, which it owed to -love. To-day it is called Czaritzine-Gad (the garden of the Czarina). -There is, however, something more powerful than arms, than conquests, -than the decrees of kings. It is the empire of memory and of poesy. The -beautiful verses of Trembecki will endure, and in ages to come people -will always pronounce the name, and the only name of Sophieowka. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - - A Luncheon at M. de Talleyrand’s on his Birthday--M. de - Talleyrand and the MS.--The Princesse-Maréchale Lubomirska - --The 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. - - -Among the memories of the Congress which I recall with the utmost -gratitude is that of a very familiar--I might almost say a family-fête -at M. de Talleyrand’s. It was a luncheon, partaken of solely by his -ambassadorial staff, a few of his intimate friends, and a still -smaller number of notable Frenchmen, then in Vienna. This matutinal -entertainment was given in honour of his birthday; the prince was -entering on his sixty-first year. Those who are fond of collecting -the smallest particulars about a celebrated man have not forgotten -to note the minute details of the Prince de Talleyrand’s toilet, -and the ‘coquettishness’ of his rising. In fact, it partook of the -peculiarities both of Mazarin’s and of Madame de Pompadour’s. Somewhat -anxious to study its details, I followed to the great man’s bedroom MM. -Boyne de Faye and Rouen, who were going to present their good wishes to -their illustrious patron. - -At that moment the model diplomatist pushed his head between the heavy -curtains of his bed. A small number of the most privileged were already -assembled. Wrapped in a plaited and goffered muslin _peignoir_, the -prince proceeded to attend to his luxuriant hair, which he surrendered, -not like the man in La Fontaine’s fable, to two women, but to two -hairdressers, who, after a great deal of brandishing of arms and combs, -ended by producing the _ensemble_ of wavy hair with which everybody is -familiar. Then came the barber’s turn, dispensing at the end a cloud of -powder; the head and the hands being finished, they proceeded to the -toilet of the feet, a somewhat less recreative detail, considering the -by no means pleasant smell of the Barège Water employed to strengthen -his lame leg. When all this was accomplished with the greatest care, -we, though not valets, were enabled to judge the hero of diplomacy -in his dressing-gown. To me personally, he looked better than in his -ministerial court-dress. He looked the natural man: the model of that -noble and courteous manner is no longer anything but a memory. When all -those ablutions of water and perfume were terminated, his head servant, -whose only function consisted in superintending the whole, came forward -to tie his stock into a very smart knot. Then came the other parts of -the adjustment. I am bound to say that all these transformations were -carried out with the ease of a grand seigneur, and a nonchalance never -over-stepping the good form which only permitted us to see the man, -without having to trouble about his metamorphosis. At table, M. de -Talleyrand not only showed his customary grace and urbanity, but he was -in reality more amiable than in his reception-rooms, where, in spite -of his free and easy demeanour, one always felt conscious that he kept -a check upon himself. It was no longer that habitual silence which, as -has been said, he had transformed into the art of eloquence, just as he -had transformed his experience into a kind of divination. Though less -profound, his talk was perhaps all the more charming. It came straight -from the heart, and flowed without restraint. - -[Illustration: Ch. Maurice de Talleyrand] - -Although Madame de Périgord was present, the duties of the table -entirely devolved upon the prince. He served all the dishes, -suggested all the wines, addressing each guest in a few sprightly -and kindly words. If, perchance, some one attempted to turn the -conversation into the channel of politics, which in Vienna is a very -habitual weakness, at that very moment he began to talk of this or that -thing so utterly foreign to the question just broached as to cause one -to think that diplomacy was altogether antipathetic to him. He told -us that he was so fond of receiving birthday wishes that, as a rule, -he kept up two days, the Saint Charles and the Saint Maurice, without -forgetting his real birthday. - -‘Those two saints,’ he added, ‘would always prove the best landmarks in -my recollections, if ever the fancy took me to write my own life. With -their aid I could co-ordinate all my years, happy or sad, and I should -be able to say where I was on the days of their appearance in the -calendar.’ - -Madame de Périgord told us that she had received that very morning a -Latin manuscript on the history of Courland. It was dedicated by the -author to Prince Louis, the husband of her mother. - -‘A manuscript!’ interrupted the prince, somewhat excitedly. ‘That -reminds me of one of the most curious circumstances of my life. When, -after my return from America, I was in Hamburg, I made the acquaintance -of a gentleman who, like myself, lodged at the inn of the Römische -Kaiser. We had met at the _table d’hôte_, and he had asked me to read -the manuscript of a work of his--I no longer remember the subject. I -accepted the ordeal, and went to my room. It so happened that on that -same day I had been to MM. de Chapeau-Rouge, my bankers, and taken from -the remains of a very small credit about fifteen louis. When I got to -my room, I opened the manuscript to read it, and between its leaves I -deposited my small treasure, wrapped in a sheet of paper. At six in the -morning there was a violent knocking at my door, and my author rushed -in to inform me that he was going to take ship at that very moment for -London, and that he would be pleased to have his manuscript. Half awake -and half asleep, I made him a sign to take his manuscript, which was -lying on his table, and half sarcastically called to him, “A pleasant -journey.” Then I turned round in my bed and fell asleep again. Alas, -the wretch took my money with him, and chance did for him what no -publisher would have done for his manuscript. I never saw him again, -or my fifteen louis, and was obliged to return to my bankers in a sad -frame of mind to withdraw the rest left to me, promising myself that -they would not catch me examining manuscripts again.’ - -We went into a small drawing-room, where on a table were all the -presents that had been sent from Paris. There were some from the -Duchesse de Luynes, from the Princesse de Vaudémont, from Mme. -Jyskewicz, and from many other ladies, who, knowing his fondness for -those delicate attentions, never failed to send them at the three -periods to which he had referred during luncheon. On a couch were laid -out all his orders, and there were enough and to spare. Odd to relate, -the most brilliant ones in the way of precious stones had been given by -the minor princes. - -M. de Talleyrand went on chatting to us for a little while, his most -casual sentences being marked by a graceful unaffectedness, so strongly -contrasting with his diplomatic reputation. His expressions were, -however, always simple; they, as it were, derived their value from the -attitude and the courtesy of the grand seigneur, which were not at -fault. - -When he finally left us to go to M. de Metternich’s, I was not at -all in agreement with what was said about him. People pretended that -M. de Talleyrand in his dressing-gown was, as far as intellectual -conversation went, a different man from M. de Talleyrand in Court -dress; in a word, that the latter was practically indispensable to him. -Personally, I have seen him in the political drawing-rooms of Paris, -London, and Vienna, and only once was I received amidst his nearest -and dearest. Well, among my recollections of that celebrated man, the -last-mentioned is unquestionably the most constantly present to my -mind, and also the most vivid. - -Among the drawing-rooms capable of vying with that of M. de Talleyrand -in the matter of ‘exquisite form,’ elegance, and delicate observance of -society’s unwritten code, one was bound to name, first of all, that of -the Princesse-Maréchale Lubomirska.[101] Having taken up her residence -in Vienna, she appears to have accepted the task of keeping open house -for all the strangers who wished to be presented to her. No one could -convey a more exact idea of the fabulous existence of all those Polish -grandees in their most splendid days. She, as it were, combined within -herself all that was known about the grandeur of the Potockis and the -Czartoryskis, the magnificence of the Radziwills, the noble splendour -of the Lubomirskis, and of all the others, the recollection of whom -has become imperishable. Her palace situated near the fortifications, -her servants, the footing of her establishment, in fact everything, -represented a partly European, partly Asiatic whole. Being particularly -intimate with her grandson Frederick, I had been welcomed as an old -acquaintance. - -The month of February, which had brought us back a few rays of -sunshine, had also brought back to the Graben the swarm of idlers and -newsmongers who had been dislodged by the cold and the snow. Added -to this, there was a considerable influx of newcomers, more numerous -perhaps than in the first days of the Congress. These had been -attracted to Vienna by the carnival. The promenades, the public places, -and the fortifications were positively swarming with people, and the -theatres, balls and entertainments, somewhat neglected during the few -previous weeks, had recovered all their former favour. It was a revival -of pleasure, and as if the whole of Europe had made it a point to send -representatives to this joyous pilgrimage at Vienna, there was no -longer a mention of the termination of the Congress, so often foretold -and so often denied. - -It was really the realisation of the Prince de Ligne’s words: ‘The -Congress does not march along; it dances along’; and they might easily -have written up the words they painted in large characters on the site -of the dismantled Bastille, ‘Dancing going on here.’ - -Prince Koslowski kept me posted in all the particulars of the endless -sittings. ‘Are the other arbiters agreed?’ he said, in answer to my -question. ‘Not in the least. The Polish question has been settled; -but all the others are as far as ever from being settled. The fate of -Saxony and of its king is by no means decided. Prussia asks for the -ancient Belgian provinces, the territory of Treves and Cologne. France, -who is not at all anxious for that neighbour, does not want Prussia on -the left bank of the Rhine. On the other hand, she insists upon the -throne of Naples being restored to the Bourbon branch. Take it all in -all, it is nothing but a tangled skein. And to crown it all, the King -of Denmark is joining the throng, and is asking for what each sovereign -is pleased to call his indemnities.’ - -‘That is certainly an imprudent request. Frederick ought to think -himself very lucky to have passed unperceived amidst this chaos of -pretensions.’ - -In fact, among all those sovereigns who were to leave Vienna with the -spoils of some of their neighbours, the King of Denmark alone was fated -to remain strictly within his old territorial limits. Consequently -everybody repeated his reply to Alexander when they parted. ‘Sire,’ -said the czar, ‘you carry all hearts away with you.’ ‘All hearts -possibly, but not a single soul,’ answered the king, with a significant -smile. To understand the witty allusion of the word, I must again -remind the reader that the word ‘soul’ means ‘subject,’ and that all -the decisions of the Congress were based upon the number of inhabitants -of the countries that changed rulers. From that point of view, the King -of Denmark had been the least well treated. - -‘And now the Duke of Wellington has come to Vienna. He arrived -yesterday, and the diplomatists depend much upon his co-operation. They -hope that the esteem in which the sovereigns hold him will remove many -difficulties retarding the progress of the deliberations, and that he -will be able to obtain sacrifices which seem beyond the power of Lord -Castlereagh. - -‘Milord, it is said, takes his departure loaded, not with diplomatic -trophies, but with presents. To the orders which he still lacked, and -which the sovereigns, large and small, have now promptly sent him, the -Empress of Austria has added two magnificent vases from the porcelain -works. My lady will be very pleased with this imperial gift. - -‘Are you going to the rout to-night?’ asked the prince, leaving me. -‘Wellington is going, and of course all Vienna will be there.’ - -Odd to relate, in a town at that moment sheltering all the illustrious -men of Europe, the arrival of Wellington had set both the Court and the -diplomatic centres agog--the Court, because it supplied something new, -for which they were really at a loss; diplomacy, because it was assured -that he came to replace Castlereagh, whose policy was generally -blamed, and because it was no small thing to have to treat with a new -colleague. Mr. Wellesley-Pole, a member of the House of Commons and a -relative of the duke, arrived at the same time. He was one of the most -brilliant Englishmen in Vienna, the owner of an immense rent-roll, -and endowed with a varied and deep knowledge. He was an honour to the -nation he represented. Curiosity, therefore, was excited to the highest -degree. Everybody wished to know a man to whom the fortunes of war had -been so constantly favourable, who, by his doggedness and perseverance, -had been able to hold in check the genius of Napoleon. The sovereigns -called upon him, and he was literally loaded with honours. In the -evening, when the rumour ran that he was going to the rout, between -seven and eight thousand spectators rushed into the place. When he -made his appearance, accompanied by Lord Castlereagh, a masked lady, -supposed to be Lady Castlereagh, hanging on his arm, the whole of -the crowd rushed towards them. They were probably accustomed to that -kind of reception, and must have felt flattered at such a proof of -popularity. Finally, not the least curious result of his arrival was -the fluctuation in the public securities, which caused a loss and gain -of several millions in a few days; for in Vienna as elsewhere, stock -gambling seized the slightest occasion to bring about those rapid -fluctuations. - - * * * * * - -The birthday fête of the Emperor of Austria, which happened to -come amidst all these rejoicings, was spent in the privacy of his -family. His health did not permit it to be celebrated with all the -pomp generally displayed. The reception, in spite of its being less -numerous, nevertheless presented a most rare spectacle. Nearly all its -members called each other ‘brother’ or ‘cousin,’ and those brothers -were the most powerful sovereigns of Europe. In the morning, Emperor -Alexander had preceded them all, wearing the uniform of an Austrian -general, and giving his arm to his charming wife. He tendered his -wishes and offered his bouquet with that cordial simplicity that adds -so delightfully to the expressions of friendship. For some time those -monarchs had each adopted a particular society in which they lived on a -most familiar footing. Nevertheless, when they assembled together their -affectionate familiarity was very genuine. - -The masked routs were more numerously attended than ever. Griffiths and -I went one evening to one of those gatherings, which might fitly be -termed the magic-lanterns of the Congress, in virtue of the number and -variety of the personages present. The crowd was so considerable that, -after having opened all the rooms, they were obliged to shut the outer -doors and to refuse admission to a great number. Nothing could convey -an idea of the happy-go-lucky animation presiding at this gathering -of so many diverse elements. In the crowd I ran up against Prince -Koslowski. - -‘To watch on all sides this exchange of sweet smiles and sweet looks, -and hand-pressures sweeter still, one might call the Vienna rout an -exchange for the traffic of amorous assets.’ - -‘Beaumarchais said that before you about the Opéra of Paris, but you -could add, as an appendix, that all such kinds of assets are marketable -on all the dancing exchanges of Europe. - -‘Just watch that young woman, so simply disguised as a Calabrian -peasant,’ the prince went on. ‘She seems to remember how dearly her -mother once paid for an impulse of vanity. That mother, who was -distantly related to my family, found out that an imperial diadem may -often cruelly hurt the head, even if politics are altogether foreign to -the attempt to wear it.’ - -The lady was pretty, the anecdote promised to be interesting. I asked -my bright interlocutor to tell it to me. He complied with my wish. - -‘One day Empress Catherine made up her mind to clean the enormous mass -of jewels of all kinds buried in the coffers that, since the reign of -Peter the Great, had swallowed up enormous treasures of which there -seem to be scarcely any knowledge in the palace. Dreading some theft -during that general overhaul, the emperor appointed two captains of the -guards to superintend the work. The father of our pretty mask was one -of them. The view of all this wealth produced such a fascination in the -eyes and the minds of the two inspectors that they also conceived the -fatal idea of robbery. They agreed to abstract part of those treasures, -hoping that the theft would pass unperceived. The spoil was divided -between them. The one to whom came a lot of pearls lost no time in -sending them to Amsterdam by a man in his trust. There, sold secretly, -the money he received was employed by him in the repurchase of some -family estates, which, however, he had the prudence to settle on his -son. The other, whose share consisted of diamonds, waited for spring -to proceed to England, promising himself to dispose of them to greater -advantage than through the intermediary of an agent. - -‘Among the number of stolen objects there was a diadem whose value -exceeded a hundred thousand roubles. All these objects had been -carefully hidden in the remotest corner of his apartments. Fatality, -however, always dogs crime, and his wife discovered the hiding-place. -In vain did her husband swear to her that the diadem did not belong to -him, and that it was entrusted to his honour to keep for awhile. She -begged of him, not to give it to her, but to let her wear it, if only -for a moment, at one of the Court balls. He resisted, but she worried, -begged, and wept to that extent that the captain, madly in love with -his wife, unhappily gave in, trusting that the jewel, which had not -seen daylight for perhaps a hundred years, would escape recognition by -a person of the new generation. The young woman, who did not perceive -that this diadem was metaphorically searing her forehead, got as far -as the ball-room of the Hermitage. I need scarcely tell you of the -looks of admiration and envy that marked her appearance. Up till then -everything had gone well, but just amidst her greatest triumph old Mme. -Pratazoff, standing behind the chair of the empress, hears Catherine go -into raptures about the brilliancy of those stones. - -‘“Madame,” says her confidante, bending over her, “there is no occasion -for your majesty to be astonished. That diadem belonged to your -majesty’s aunt, the empress. I have seen her wear it a score of times.” - -‘The words supplied, as it were, a flash of light to Catherine, who got -up, drew near to the young woman, who, delighted with her triumph, had, -like Cinderella, forgotten her promise only to wear the jewel for a -moment. - -‘“May I ask you, madame,” said the empress, “who is the jeweller who -mounted these stones?” - -‘The young woman, in her confusion, names the first jeweller she can -think of. The empress, after a few insignificant remarks, leaves her, -and meanwhile the young woman continues to dance with the ill-fated -diadem fastened to her head, more threatening than the sword of -Damocles, The empress at once sends an aide-de-camp to inquire of the -jeweller in question since when, and for whom, he had mounted that -diadem. The jeweller of course denies all knowledge of the affair. The -reply comes back immediately. Once more the empress interrogates the -young woman. - -‘“You have played the fool with me. Your jeweller denies having sold -you this diadem. I am determined to know whence it came to you.” - -‘The severe tone put an end to the young woman’s faint show of -confidence. She stammered and stuttered, and Catherine’s suspicions -were soon changed into certainties. The order was immediately given to -arrest the two unworthy inspectors. Both, judged and proved guilty, -were sent to Siberia; but by a strange freak, he who had sold the -pearls in Holland, and transmitted their proceeds to his son, was left -in possession, while the diamonds found in the house of the other were -carefully brought back to the treasury. When, after some years of -expiation the empress pardoned the two culprits, the first might well -lay the flattering unction to his soul that justice was, after all, -only a fable. The other would for ever curse his want of firmness, -which had cost him his reputation and his future career. As for the -young woman, she dearly paid for the short-lived satisfaction of her -vanity, and the momentary gratification of outvying her rivals.’ - -After having made the round of the rooms once or twice, Griffiths and I -left the Burg early. It was a beautiful evening, and we walked back to -the Jaeger-Zeil. Passing before the mansion of the Comte de Rosenberg, -we noticed that it was ablaze with light. Servants in resplendent -livery crossed the courts carrying salvers with ices and fruits, while -from the inside arose the strains of a harmonious band and the sound of -many joyous voices. - -‘It seems to me,’ I said to my companion, ‘that your countryman, Mr. -Raily, treats his royal guest more sumptuously than usual to-day. If he -goes on in that way his credit of a million at Arnstein’s won’t go far.’ - -‘When that’s gone there will be more,’ replied Griffiths. ‘The career -of professional gamesters is so thoroughly made up of unforeseen events -and strange episodes, fortune comes so often to their aid, that the -words “ruin,” “chance,” “audacity,” “opulence” are practically present -in every line of their biography. Sometimes among all this there is -also a flash of generosity, of devotion, and of downright magnanimity -on their part. If the common observer had the clue to the enigma of -these existences, then assuredly would vanish the fantastic prestige he -fancies he sees in the fate of those Bohemians of Courts, of gambling -hells, and palaces. - -‘The origin of that credit of a million of florins is connected with -a fact which Mr. Rally has told me since our last visit to him,--a -fact which marvellously characterises the infinite possibilities -of gambling. One morning, an elegant carriage, with four superbly -caparisoned horses, their manes flowing in the wind, stopped at the -door of Mr. Rally’s temporary residence in Moscow. A man of about -thirty, with a frank and open countenance, alighted from it. He sends -in his name, and presents himself, with those easy manners which are -always a passport for a man who has no other recommendation. “Pray -excuse my visit,” he said to Mr. Rally in very pure French, “but I -have had the advantage of meeting you now and again in public, and -I have presumed upon the circumstance to call upon you. I hope you -will excuse the liberty.” When he had seated himself he went on. “The -matter I wish to speak to you about is of the highest importance to -me, but allow me to ask you for a promise that, whether you consent -or refuse to render me the service I have come to ask, you will keep -the secret.” Mr. Rally promised at once, and the young man went on. -“My name is Soueskof-Feodorowich. I am a merchant of the first class. -You are no doubt aware of the rank we occupy among the bourgeoisie. -I live in your neighbourhood, but my business house and my habitual -home are at Toula. You are, I have been told, an English gentleman who -has taken up his quarters for a few months in Moscow, and, like most -of your distinguished countrymen, you play heavily and in the noblest -manner. That is what is done in Russia, and, for the matter of that, -everywhere. But I have been told moreover, monsieur, that you play -carefully, and allow me to congratulate you on the fact, for this -gives you a great guarantee against being duped. You’ll excuse me if -I add that this reputation induced me to present myself to you.” Mr. -Rally was somewhat surprised at this preamble, but before he could -translate his surprise into words his visitor resumed, “I, monsieur, -never gamble. I do not even know a game, but I come in furtherance -of an attempt, the success of which will depend upon you, in which -gambling will play a part. I have heard you praised for your noble -character; I have perfect faith in it, and I have come to place in -your hands a possession prized highly by every Englishman--namely, -liberty. That word, from my lips, may seem strange to you. The first -gift of God after life is liberty. Well, sir, that liberty, without -which life is nothing, I am for ever deprived of. I speak of it as the -blind hankers after the light. I am a serf, and perhaps it is reserved -for you to efface from my forehead that ignominious stigma, that mark -of opprobrium which the law compels us to engrave on our doors, that -scutcheon of infamy which we inherit from generation to generation, -like the sign that God’s finger set on the brow of Cain. My request -to you is this. In this vortex which one calls grand society you no -doubt meet now and again the Comte K----, an ensign in the regiment -of Chevalier Guards. He is one of the young men most in renown at the -English Club. He astonishes by his audacity, his display, and his -arrogance the most adventurous gamblers!” - -‘“It is true,” said Raily, “ours is a very intimate acquaintance.” - -‘“Oh, it is, after all, without importance, I dare say, for the real -basis of it--esteem--is wanting. You cannot possibly esteem the comte, -and in this you are only following common opinion. His vanity, which he -mistakes for pride, his impertinence, which he mistakes for courage, -his cackle, which he mistakes for learning, are all he possesses. -Beyond that he has absolutely nothing: neither heart nor soul, nor -bowels. Such creatures may become acquaintances, they can never be our -friends.” “Your portrait is the reverse of flattering,” said Raily; -“but what does it all amount to?” “It amounts to this, monsieur; I am -bound to tell you with shame on my face and hell in my heart that I am -that man’s slave, that he is my master.” His excitement got the better -of him for a moment, then he went on. “The comte’s father lived on one -of his estates near Orel. My father, who while very young had become -attached to him personally, served him most faithfully--so faithfully, -in fact, that the old man at his death left him a considerable sum -of money, without, however, giving him his liberty. Like many other -serfs, my father employed the money in trafficking in furs and skins -with Eastern Russia. Having been very successful in trade, his fortune -increased rapidly; and as a matter of course, his establishment assumed -a proportionate footing. While I was still a mere lad, my father gave -shelter to a victim of the French Revolution, many of whom exile had -brought to our country. M. de B----, a man of great parts, looked to -my education. He was like a second father to me, and whatever I am, I -practically owe to him. Being aware of our position, he often suggested -to me to put an end to it, by accompanying him to some foreign land. I -should, however, have had to leave my own country; my father would have -been responsible for my doings; and the least punishment that he would -have suffered would have been to leave his magnificent home in order to -resume his labour as a serf. Another cause, based upon something more -powerful than reason, bound me to this ignominious vassalage--love. -I loved, monsieur, and was beloved; and though I recoiled from the -thought of associating with my fate a young and well-born woman, who -in uniting herself to me would have ceased to be free, I cherished -the flattering hope that time would abolish those iniquitous laws, -that sooner or later Emperor Alexander, the moral regenerator of -his country--as his illustrious ancestor Peter the Great was the -regenerator of his people--that Alexander would break our iron yoke, -that he would treat us like the peasants living on the shores of the -Baltic, or like the serfs on some of his own imperial domains; that, -in fact, ere long the country would be indebted to him for the moral -emancipation of forty millions of thinking beings, whose intelligence -is crushed in the vice of an arbitrary power. Our masters, however, -would sooner forgive him the greatest excesses of that arbitrary power -than the exercise of that same power in favour of the humbler class of -his subjects. In short, I hoped that, free at last, I should be able -to lead Eudoxia to the altar, not sullied with the woollen band of the -slave, but beaming beneath the white and pure wreath attached to the -head of the free wife. Up to this day, I have hoped in vain. My father -died; I not only continued his commerce, but extended it to the East; -and in a few years doubled the very considerable fortune he left me.” - -‘“Why not propose to the comte to buy your freedom?” remarked Mr. Raily. - -‘“He would refuse. He is not one of the owners who would support a -rational system of emancipation,” was the answer, followed by a most -sombre picture of the condition of the serfs; and he finally added, -“Well, monsieur, the end of all this wretchedness, the possession of -the woman I worship, who’ll die of grief if we cannot be united--in -short, liberty, all this I may possibly owe to you; and in that case -you will have been to me more than a man, more than a friend, you -will have been nothing less than a god.” “What am I to do?” asked Mr. -Raily. “I am disposed to help you, but you must explain?” “You are fond -of gaming, monsieur. What’s merely a pastime with you, is a frantic -passion with the Comte K----. He sacrifices everything to it; and it -will infallibly lead to his ruin. Nothing, therefore, will be easier -than to get him to play with you. Get him to stake a small estate he -has on the banks of the Volga; it’s a village counting no more than -fifty households, and the industry of which consists in making nails. -That estate he’ll not sell at any price; but for that, it would have -been mine long ago. But in the feverish excitement of the game, he -may be brought to stake it, he may lose it, and all my hope is there. -If that village, where my father and I were born, where the rest of -my relations are living--if that estate becomes mine, we shall all be -free. And now, monsieur, you have my secret, and you are the arbiter of -my fate. If you consent to come to my aid, your word will be sufficient -for me, and you may raise your stakes to any amount, double them, -increase them fourfold, as long as you get your final triumph. You have -got an unlimited credit on my bank, and I wish you to make use of it -unreservedly. Whatever may be your luck, if it remained persistently -contrary--even if it ruined me--I should still be eternally grateful to -you for having understood me, for having listened to my prayer, and for -having attempted to make me happy and free.” - -‘Raily promised everything, and the two men parted, and that will -explain to you how he and the Comte K---- soon confronted each other -at the gaming table. Manœuvring very cleverly, the Englishman at -the outset suffered defeat upon defeat. His adversary, intoxicated -by his success, literally clung to him like his shadow. He followed -him everywhere--at the hunt, at the ball, at the promenade: he never -left him. No courtier of Versailles or St. James’s was more exact at -the rising and retiring of a sovereign. The game of faro, then very -fashionable at Moscow, was, as a matter of course, that selected by -the two antagonists. The comte held the bank. The sum lost by Raily -already amounted to fifty thousand roubles. The Russian had tasted -blood and liked it, but at last it came to the other one to deal the -cards, and from that moment the luck turned. One day after dinner the -game went so much in Mr. Raily’s favour that he won everything the -Comte K---- possessed in roubles, in paper-money, in objects of art, -even to the holy images, richly chased in gold and precious stones, on -which Russians set such store. Raily won everything; and when daylight -appeared the heap of riches lay around the table which had served for -their game. Nevertheless, the comte proposed to continue the game, but -only in ‘white money’; that is, figures serving as stakes drawn in -chalk on the cloth, and in reality meaning credit. Mr. Raily pretended -to have had enough of the game, and to ring for his servants to take -to his carriage all that was portable of his rich and extensive loot. -Seeing which, the comte renewed his insistences to persuade him to -stay. He prayed so humbly, then so passionately, for his revenge, that -Raily judged the occasion favourable and the moment decisive to carry -out the promise he had given to his young protégé. Gold, jewels, and -bank notes, everything was placed on the table. Then Raily turned to -his adversary. “You see, comte,” he said, “that I play the game in no -niggardly spirit, and I will give you a new proof of it. I have taken -a fancy to be a Russian landowner, if only for the strangeness of the -fact. You have got a small estate on the banks of the Volga. If you -like, I will stake all that’s there against it.” If at that moment -Lucifer had offered the comte to stake his soul against a ducat, he -would not have hesitated to accept. Without replying, the comte rushes -to his writing-table, takes from it the title-deeds of his property, -and flings them with a kind of feverish joy on the gold covering -the table. The chances still remained in favour of Mr. Raily. The -game had not been resumed ten minutes ere he was the master of that -Promised Land, and the much desired aim had been attained. Taking up -the contract which entitled him to the property and the fifty thousand -roubles he had lost previously, he said, “Now, comte, I’ll play you -double or quits for the rest.” The comte named the colour, and was -right this time. “Take back all this,” said the Englishmen; “my night -has been sufficiently well paid.” Then they parted the best friends in -the world, the Russian enchanted with his prompt and generous revenge, -Raily delighted at the prospect of the happiness he was to confer -on his new friend. That very day the lucky gambler wrote to Féodor, -sending him back his fifty thousand roubles, and informing him that he -held at his disposal the title-deeds of the estate on the Volga. A few -hours later Féodor stood in his presence, holding by the hand a young -girl, beautiful, fresh, fair, like all the girls of the north, whom he -presented to him. It was Eudoxia, she who loved him, she whom he had -loved so much. Both fell at Mr. Raily’s feet. “You are our master, our -father,” they said. “Give us your blessing, and finish your sublime -work of regeneration.” Raily extends his hands, takes them in his arms, -he himself surprised at the tears coursing freely down his cheeks. -“Let him owe his happiness to you alone,” he said, addressing Eudoxia, -and handing her the title-deeds of the property. “An iniquitous law, -a law iniquitous even in its foresight, forbids an emancipated slave -to possess property. But you are free, madame, and noble, and the same -law nevertheless permits that the serf of your lands, raised to the -rank of your husband, becomes also freed from this unjust exclusion. -You are now a landowner in virtue of these title-deeds--take Féodor to -the altar; henceforth he will bear no chains but yours.” “Monsieur,” -said the young merchant, “she and I will never be strong enough to -remain under the burden of such a gratitude all our lives. You must, -therefore, accept some feeble tribute of our feelings towards you, for -it is only on that condition that you can really make us happy.” Mr. -Raily a few days before leaving Moscow received a pocket-book, which -contained a million roubles, with the following words inscribed upon -it: “To the free man who has made me a free man.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - - Isabey’s Study--His Picture 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. - - -One of the memorabilia of the Congress of Vienna which had the -advantage of uniting all suffrages, a privilege not generally granted -to all the transactions of that august Areopagus, is the historical -and beautiful drawing of Isabey representing a sitting of the -plenipotentiaries. The artist was then putting the last touches to -it. One morning, Griffiths and I went to his house. His gallery of -portraits, which contained all the celebrated personages of Europe, -was already very considerable, but our attention was attracted at once -by the drawing which, under the title of ‘The Congress of Vienna,’ -will connect his name with the illustrious men he has portrayed there. -Everybody knows that composition, representing the room of the Congress -at the moment Prince de Metternich introduced Wellington. - -Theoretically, Lord Wellington had no right to figure in that -production, inasmuch as he only arrived in Vienna in February 1815, and -then it was to replace Lord Castlereagh. His arrival necessitated an -important change in the picture--the introduction of a new personage. -That was the motive which made Isabey choose that particular moment, -inasmuch as it enabled him to leave all the other figures in their -original places. Isabey explained to us very charmingly the discontent -of the new arrival at finding himself relegated to a corner of the -composition, where he can only be seen sideways. The clever artist had -ingeniously explained the situation to the English general, apparently -with great satisfaction to both. Another particular incident had -marked the preliminaries. Among the number of European celebrities -Baron Humboldt was necessarily a figure. They had told Isabey that -he would meet with great resistance on the part of this statesman, -who had a thorough aversion to having his portrait taken. He had even -refused that favour to Princesse Louisa Radziwill, the sister of Prince -Ferdinand of Prussia. Warned of this singularity, and even somewhat -intimidated by it, Isabey presented himself at the diplomatist’s. His -real or simulated embarrassment increased the partial good humour of -the baron, who, fixing his large, blue-goggled eyes on him, replied, -‘Have a good look at me, and then you’ll be bound to admit that -nature has given me too ugly a face ever to spend a penny on it for -its reproduction. Nature would in reality have the laugh of me if she -could convict me of such foolish vanity. She ought to be aware that -I fully recognise the trick she has played me.’ Struck by the reply, -the painter looked with stupefaction at the extraordinary face of the -minister, but immediately resuming his gaiety and quickness of wit, -he retorted, ‘But I am not going to ask your excellency the slightest -recompense for the pleasant trouble I am going to take. I am only going -to ask the favour of a few sittings.’ - -‘Oh, is that all? You can have as many sittings as you like. You need -not stint yourself in that respect, but I cannot abandon my principle -of not spending a penny on my ugly face.’ - -In fact, the witty diplomatist sat as many times to the painter as he -wished. When the engraving appeared, his was found the most striking -likeness of all, and he often said, ‘I have not paid a penny for my -portrait by Isabey. No doubt he wanted to avenge himself, and he has -made an excellent likeness of me.’ - -Leaving the painter’s study, we went citywards, and on the bridge -over the Danube we fell in with Princesse Hélène Souvaroff, General -Tettenborn, and Alexander Ypsilanti. They were going in the same -direction, and told us that they were making for the church of the -Capuchins to see the tombs of the imperial family. They proposed that -we should accompany them, and we accepted. - -When we got to the chapel, a monk, after having lighted a large torch, -preceded us to the crypts. There were nine tombs of emperors, thirteen -of empresses, and in all about eighty of the members of the imperial -race. ‘It was in this subterranean chapel,’ said our guide, ‘that every -day during thirty years Maria-Theresa heard Mass before the sepulchre -she had erected for herself by the side of that of her husband.’ - -‘This trait of Maria-Theresa,’ said Tettenborn, ‘reminds me of one -of the clever answers of Joseph II. When he had granted the public -admission to the Augarten, a lady complained that she could no longer -stroll about there among her equals. “If everybody were restricted to -the society of his equals,” replied the emperor, “I should be reduced -for a bit of air to the crypt of the Capuchins, inasmuch as it is only -there that I should find mine.”’ - -After contemplating for a few moments those magnificent monuments of -marble and brass, we slowly ascended the steps of the crypt, when the -light of several torches told us of the arrival of a numerous company; -and it would appear that these excursions had all been postponed to the -end of February on account of the weather, for soon Messrs. Nesselrode -and Pozzo di Borgo, the Duc de Richelieu, and M. Amstedt passed us on -their way. Then we went to the ramparts. The conversation had taken -a serious turn, in accordance with the objects we had just left. The -Princesse Hélène compared these crypts with those of the monastery of -Petchersky at Kion, where most of the saints of the convent are placed -in open coffins. Those precious relics draw to the ancient capital of -Moscow a number of pilgrims, who proceed on foot from Casan and other -towns close to Italy. - -‘There is no greater proof of the strength of religious feeling than -that,’ said Princesse Hélène. ‘It is at the bottom of all those distant -pilgrimages, which, without it, would seem impossible. But,’ she added, -‘the hope of future recompense assuages present evils.’ - -‘When I was at Cracow,’ I said, ‘I also paid a visit to the -subterranean vaults of the cathedral, where the Kings of Poland rest. -The coffins are similarly open, and the bodies are embalmed. Time -seems to have respected their forms, and they are still vested with -all the attributes of royalty. The ermine cloak, the sceptre, the -diadem sparkling with precious stones, all those baubles of a vanished -power present a striking contrast to the relentless aspect of death. -Nevertheless, such images of the past are less terrible when brass -or marble disguises, as it does here, the visible effects of death, -or when the monuments are inscribed with a line recalling a glorious -reminiscence, like that of the Narischkine family in the Church of the -Annunciation at St. Petersburg.’ - -It was a holiday, and the streets were filled with a great crowd, -mainly of artisans, apparently very happy and prosperous. - -‘Truly,’ said Griffiths, as I pointed this out, ‘one rarely meets with -a beggar in Vienna. The charitable institutions are administered with -much order and much liberality. Public benevolence in particular seems -to be directed with a great sense of justice. The people, having in -general more industrial aptitude and commercial intelligence than the -other populations of Germany, seem to conduct their own affairs very -well, and it may safely be said there is no capital in Europe which -can be compared with Vienna for its sights, and the happy-go-lucky -existence of its inhabitants.’ - -The spire of the cathedral was standing against the cloudless sky. - -‘Don’t you feel tempted,’ said I to Princesse Souvaroff, ‘to be present -at one of the spectacles which just now seem to cause, rightly or -wrongly, a great excitement--I mean a sermon by the Rev. M. Werner?’ - -The princess had heard the name, and she fell in with my view, anxious, -like ourselves, to know this simple priest, who, amid so many great -interests and varied amusements, had still found a means of arousing -the enthusiasm of the crowd. - -Before he had followed in the footsteps of Massillon and Bossuet, M. -Werner had been a Lutheran and a dramatic poet. He was the author of -several successful tragedies, which he had treated in the most romantic -way. Importing into his theatrical compositions all the energy of his -religious convictions, he had made it a point to paint the commencement -of Lutheranism in the most seductive colours. A circumstance both -poetical and romantic marked the history of his conversion to -Catholicism. One evening he was strolling in the Cathedral Square in -Vienna, a prey to one of those sombre reveries so peculiar to German -poets. In his emotion, he stood contemplating that imposing mass and -the Gothic towers, the summits of which are lost in the clouds. All -at once the door opened, and a venerable priest, dressed in white, -and escorted by two young children, appeared on its threshold, and -started for the couch of a moribund to administer the supreme rites of -his faith. A torch left a trembling but luminous trace behind. Struck -by the spectacle, the Lutheran poet stops and wistfully looks after -the vanishing procession. His imagination has been fired, the inmost -recesses of his heart are moved; the grandeur and sublimity of the -Catholic religion are revealed to him by the very simple fact of an -old priest carrying the last sacrament to a man on his deathbed. From -that moment, M. Werner practically became a Catholic. He left Vienna, -went to Rome, and abjured his errors in the Basilica of St. Peter. Then -after having lived for some two years in a monastery at the foot of -Vesuvius, he came back to Germany, and, discarding the theatre for the -pulpit, began to preach. The peculiar nature of his conversion, his -talent as a preacher, apart from his diction, which still showed the -lofty thoughts and the alternately brilliant and sombre colours of his -former poesy--everything, in fact, combined to bring him into relief. -Whenever he was announced to preach, the church could scarcely hold -the crowd of both pious and merely curious. The theatrical directors, -seeing the success of the preacher, conceived the idea of reviving -the tragedies of the poet, and made an excellent thing out of them. -In the morning the public hurried to listen to the words of the new -St. Paul, and in the evening, with minds still full of quotations from -Holy Writ and the Fathers, the same audiences went to applaud _Attila_, -_Luther_, and other works of the converted heretic. Sorely grieved at -this applause, M. Werner felt compelled to denounce from the pulpit his -former errors, which he would fain have destroyed altogether. But the -more he fulminated, the more piquant seemed the contrast, and his dual -success as an author and as a preacher hourly increased. - -The crowd in the cathedral was so dense as to make it difficult for us -to find room. There were princes, generals, ‘grandes dames,’ and, what -was not less strange, people belonging to every Christian community. -After a while the apostle appeared, and delivered a long sermon in -German, of which I did not understand a word, though I was probably -not singular in that respect among that particular audience that -morning. In spite of this, the effect seemed no less satisfactory. -The hollow voice of the speaker, his tall, lean, and wan figure, his -deep-set eyes, all seemed to accord with the fane, whose interior -he caused to resound with his voice. The cathedral of St. Stephen, -in fact, artistically sculptured outside, is dark within, and that -obscurity, itself so favourable to meditation, seemed to add something -sepulchral to the utterances of the preacher. - -‘Well,’ said the Princesse Hélène to me when we were coming out, ‘what -do you think of the preacher?’ - -‘I have only been able to judge partly of his eloquence, and I should -think there would be little fault to find with the moral drift of -his discourse, inasmuch as his dogma is no doubt irreproachable. -Nevertheless, his violent tone and gestures do not inspire me with a -desire to see his theatrical works. If you’ll follow my advice, we’ll -go to the theatre of the Court to see _Cinna_ or _Le Misanthrope_.’ - -At parting, we said a few words about soon meeting again at the -Princesse Marie Esterhazy’s, who was about to give a children’s ball, -which after the many splendid receptions of grown-up people could not -fail to excite great curiosity. Expectation was thoroughly realised, -for the princess’s rooms presented the most animated and graceful -picture. All the young offshoots of the aristocracy had been invited to -take part in the entertainments projected for their edification. The -crowned guests at Vienna (reduced this time to the rôle of spectators), -all the illustrious political and military personages, followed suit -and gathered round the young ones, endeavouring, perhaps, to snatch -an imaginary glimpse of their own youth in the contemplation of the -unaffected gaiety and games. The apartments of the palace had been -so cunningly arranged as to lead the young guests from surprise to -surprise. Jugglers’ _fantoccini_, magic-lanterns succeeded each other. -And when all those joyous pastimes were exhausted, they finally came -upon the big ball-room, where the dancing immediately commenced, not -with strict adherence, perhaps, to the programme, but with all the more -gracefulness and absence from constraint. The costumes, which, as may -easily be imagined, were all magnificent--Turks, knights, Albanians, -mediæval, Louis XIV., Russian, Polish--were worn with comic importance -by those Liliputian highnesses. Amidst all these little angels it was -easy to perceive that the demon of Pride had exercised his dangerous -seductions. One of those female highnesses got into a great rage with a -companion of inferior rank. The quarrel became so embittered, neither -of them being willing to give in, that it occasioned some trouble at -the ball. It reminded me of the anecdote told me by Lord Stair, which -a few years before had vastly amused all England. It was during the -infancy of the Princess of Wales(?). They had given her as a companion -the daughter of a musician who had acquired a great reputation by -playing the organ at St. Paul’s. The children quarrelled about a toy, -of which each wanted to get possession. The small wranglers claimed -privilege in identical terms. ‘How dare you resist me?’ said the -princess. ‘Don’t you know that I am the daughter of the Prince of -Wales?’ ‘What’s that to me? Don’t you know, yourself, that I am the -daughter of the organist of St. Paul’s?’ - -Dancing was interrupted by the arrival of the Tyrolese singers, who -were then causing a great sensation in Vienna. They were seven fine men -and ten women, and wore the picturesque costume of their mountains. A -few years before, they had come from the Tyrol as simple journeymen -watchmakers, and in the evening they met together to sing their -national songs. The effect was such as to cause immense crowds to -follow them through the streets. The police were obliged to give them -an escort to prevent disorder. The directors of the Wieden Theatre -engaged them to sing on their stage. The enthusiasm was such as to -make them repeat the same airs half-a-dozen times: the highest society -engaged them for their evening parties, and everywhere they were -equally applauded. During the Congress they had returned to the scene -of their first glory. - -After that the children went into a room which till then had been -closed to them. A big tree with golden branches was bending beneath all -kinds of toys; amongst others those pretty boxes made out of Vienna -paving-stones. A lottery was drawn. Before the little ones retired, -they danced a waltz. The sovereigns and the whole of the Court seemed -to share those childish joys, and to forget for the moment their own -agitated existence at the sight of so much innocent happiness. Only the -Empress Elizabeth of Russia preserved an appearance of melancholy. One -could perceive that she envied the joys of maternity. Her affection for -the emperor was such that, when she met with the daughter he had had by -Madame Narischkine, she smothered the child with caresses, trying to -cheat her own aspirations as wife and mother. - -To whatever political opinion one may belong, one is always glad to -be able to speak of those who have occupied the world’s stage. Thanks -to the Congress of Vienna, it has been vouchsafed to me to approach -some of the men who have left their names on the pages of contemporary -history; hence the anecdotes which follow. - -One bright February day, Zibin, Luchesini, and I were wandering through -the residence of the Duc de Saxe-Teschen. Among the mass of precious -objects there is a collection of about twelve thousand original -drawings, and a hundred and thirty thousand engravings after artists -of various countries. We were courteously received by M. Lefèvre, the -custodian of these treasures, of which, he told us, he was going to -publish a description in chronological order, according to the schools. -At the end of a gallery arranged to hold these rarities, we caught -sight of the Archduke Albert, who was doing the honours to Emperor -Alexander, accompanied by General Ouwaroff and Prince Eugène. We drew -near as they were examining a collection of military maps, the most -complete in Europe. - -‘Cities have been destroyed,’ said Archduke Albert. ‘Empires have -toppled over. Tactics have changed, but military positions remain the -same.’ He added: ‘Several comparisons prove that the same chances have -often produced the same results.’ Nevertheless, it was on the scene -of the last war that the attention of his guests seemed particularly -riveted. Nothing equals in interest the remarks of Emperor Alexander on -inspecting those plans of battles. - -‘There,’ he said, placing his finger on a certain spot, ‘this or that -corps made this or that mistake. This or that battery took up a wrong -position--this or that charge decided the action. Here, at Austerlitz, -we might have retrieved the game, but Kutusoff stopped too far away -from Mortier, and those frozen lakes of Augezd and of Monitz, in giving -way under twenty thousand men and fifty pieces of artillery, completed -our disaster.’ - -‘Nevertheless,’ said Prince Eugène, ‘we should perhaps have lost the -battle if the emperor had attacked a few hours earlier. The chances of -war are determined by very small incidents.’ - -‘There, at Friedland,’ Alexander went on, everything was lost by a -false cavalry manœuvre, of which they took advantage, and by the -retreat of Korsakoff on Friedland. Consequently, the whole of his -_corps d’armée_ was surrounded, and in endeavouring to find an issue -across the waters of the Alle, it found its death. Take it all in all, -we fought well, but we had to deal with cleverer players than we were.’ - -He passed from the campaigns of Italy to those of Germany, tactfully -avoiding speaking of the disastrous Russian war. - -The emperor and Prince Eugène vied with each other in courtesy; the -archduke put an end to the subject by showing them a descriptive -catalogue compiled by himself, which, despite his great age, he -continually revised. To enumerate the treasures contained in this -gallery, one ought to have copied that catalogue from beginning to end. -Some of the drawings dated from the year 1420: there were more than -a hundred and fifty, many of them by Albert Dürer, and the majority -drawn with the pen, the figures richly coloured, especially some birds -of an admirable finish. A still more particular interest attached -to the engravings of this illustrious master, inasmuch as they once -constituted his own collection. The duke pointed out to us several -drawings by Raphael, and fifty sketches by Claude Lorrain. - -The emperor came up to us, and spoke very kindly to Zibin, and -presented him to Prince Eugène as the youngest Knight of the Order of -St. George. Having overheard the name of Luchesini, he asked him if it -was his father who had been plenipotentiary at the celebrated Congress -of Sistow under Frederick II. - -‘Yes, sire.’ - -‘And where is he now?’ - -‘On his estates at Lucca.’ - -‘If he writes his recollections,’ remarked Alexander, ‘they will be -very interesting, for he has seen and observed much.’ - -We afterwards paid a visit to the sumptuously decorated apartments. -In one of these a pan-harmonium, composed of a hundred and fifty -wind-instruments, played symphonies and marches, accompanied with -admirable precision by an automatic trumpet. We left the archduke with -his illustrious visitors and went to the Belvedere in order to see a -collection of pictures which had been largely increased by Joseph II. -at the suppression of some convents. The palace of Belvedere requires -no description. Its curator, M. Fugger, was kind enough to serve as -guide, and specially pointed out to us the Titians, Rubenses, and -Vandykes. In the evening we went as usual to the Comtesse Fuchs’s. -There I met Prince Eugène, and the conversation turned on the treasures -collected at Malmaison, which were thoroughly appreciated by Prince -Gargarine and Colonel Brozin, who had become acquainted with them -during Alexander’s several visits to Josephine. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - - Ypsilanti--Promenade on the 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. - - -I had missed Ypsilanti from his usual haunts for a considerable time, -and on the rare occasions that I caught a glimpse of him, melancholy -seemed to have taken him for its prey. I attributed this to a more -than usually serious love affair, but I had no idea that his projects -for the deliverance of Greece were the cause of his constant absence. -At the moment when the Congress laboured at the consolidation of a -general peace, the realisation of his generous plan seemed to recede -further into the distance. It was improbable that Europe, even in the -interests of Miltiades and Themistocles, would allow the equilibrium -to be disturbed and risk once more the world’s repose. One morning I -was riding through the Prater, after a stormy night which had burst -over Vienna and occasioned much damage. The sky was bright, and the sun -glinted through the trees. I saw Ypsilanti close to a path where I had -seen him just five months previously, dawdling along, the reins on his -horse’s neck, and, as usual, his face overcast with care. Thinking the -moment opportune to ask him the cause of an estrangement I regretted, I -rode up to him. - -‘My mind,’ he said, ‘is occupied entirely by something which, as yet, -is a secret that does not belong to me alone. I know your affection -for me, and I will not hesitate to tell you my thoughts the moment I -can do so without damage to a sacred cause, or without breaking my -pledge.’ - -His solemn tone surprised me, and I asked him to speak plainly, but -he opposed a determined silence. His head hung on his breast; his -thoughts were engrossed by something he could not shake off. Suddenly, -he beckoned to his attendant, jumped off his horse, and invited me to -do the same. We strolled down a solitary avenue, and after a few steps -stopped short. He fixed his piercing eyes on me, violently clutching my -arm. - -‘Napoleon has left Elba,’ he said. - -‘Dear prince!’ I exclaimed. ‘Are you sure?’ - -‘Absolutely!’ was the answer. ‘A courier despatched from Florence to -the English Embassy brought the news this morning. Emperor Alexander -and M. de Nesselrode were informed immediately. There were no further -particulars.’ - -‘But this means Europe on fire once more, and a struggle more terrible -than ever.’ - -‘Yes. We are about to quit opera for tragedy. The moment has come in -which I feel bound to act. I have spoken to you of my plan to free -Greece. Henceforth, favoured by this tremendous event, it will be my -business to break her fetters, and to replace her in her former rank -among the nations.’ - -‘A noble project. One might call it sublime. But have you calculated -the means necessary to ensure success?’ - -‘I have no doubt about them. That dream of my very youth, that dream -of my early years, will soon be a reality. War will set Europe again -in a blaze; faithful friends as well as myself are only awaiting that -signal.’ - -‘Dear Alexander! Your enthusiasm is nothing new to me, nor your -military talents, nor your patriotic devotion, but I feel bound to -point out to you the dangers of your project, and the impossibility of -its success.’ - -I spoke to him for fully half an hour, without shaking his decision in -the least, when suddenly at the winding of the path, we perceived two -men on horseback. I fancied one of these was the Comte Capo d’Istria. - -‘Oh!’ he exclaimed, ‘they have kept their word!’ and without another -syllable he ran to his horse, flung himself on it, and disappeared. -Returning to Vienna, I went to Prince Koslowski, naturally impatient to -know the particulars of the news which was soon to engross the world’s -attention--the departure of Napoleon from the island of Elba. Amidst -the grave interests which were then paramount, the Greek question -passed unperceived. But when it assumed the grand proportions it did -assume, and aroused the sympathies of the whole of the civilised -world, history carefully collected every particular connected with -this glorious emancipation. History has revealed the secrets which -Ypsilanti could not entrust to one of his dearest friends, and later -on I knew the men on whom he counted to second his efforts. ‘We shall -meet again,’ Ypsilanti had shouted as he disappeared. Alas! we were -only to meet once more, five years later. It was in 1820, on my return -from Carlsbad, when I was on my way to Louiseburg, near Alexanderbad, -in Bavaria. I had been wandering at random for several hours about the -somewhat melancholy spot, and had reached the summit of Louiseburg with -its famous cross, when at the foot of the monument I perceived, seated, -a fellow-wayfarer, wrapt in an ample cloak. He was writing in a book, -which he closed as I drew near. He had, no doubt, been warned by the -sound of my footsteps, for he turned round, and I recognised Ypsilanti. -The five years that had gone by since that memorable morning towards -the end of the Congress had left profound traces on his features. He -was no longer the young and brilliant soldier, the life and soul of -every drawing-room. But although the face was deeply lined, and the -eyes were hollow set, there was still the lofty animation pervading -the handsome physiognomy. He explained to me that his wounds had -necessitated a journey to Carlsbad, and that while waiting for some -friends, he had pushed as far as Louiseburg, at the recommendation of -the King of Prussia. In a few moments, the subject ever present to his -thoughts was on his lips. This time, for delivering his country from -the foreign yoke, he counted on the sympathy of Alexander. I asked him -if he had considered what would happen in the event of a reverse, and -endeavoured to point out to him the improbability of Russia’s allowing -an independent state to be carved out of some of the most beautiful -provinces of the Turkish Empire. Nothing that I could say would induce -him--not to abandon his enterprise, I had no sanguine expectations to -that effect, but to postpone it until a more favourable moment. All he -would do was to confide to me a manuscript setting forth the principal -events of his life, but the narration of which does not come within the -scope of this work. - - - - -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. - - -My task is nearly at an end. Five-and-twenty years have gone by since -the occurrence of the magic scenes part of which I have endeavoured to -reproduce. There only remains to sketch the last one. - -Prince Koslowski, to whom I went after Ypsilanti bade me such a hurried -farewell in the Prater by jumping on his horse, confirmed the news told -me by the latter. Napoleon had indeed left Elba. ‘The master and the -prisoner of Europe in one,’ as he had been energetically called, had -left his prison armed with nothing but his own glory, and, like Cæsar, -had entrusted himself and his fortunes to a frail barque. - -‘The news,’ said Koslowski, ‘was brought here by a courier despatched -by the English ambassador in Florence to Lord Stewart. The English -consul at Leghorn had in the first instance transmitted it. Lord -Stewart, who naturally was the first to open the despatch, informed M. -de Metternich and the sovereigns. The ministers of the great Powers -were told immediately afterwards. It is not known which road Napoleon -has taken. Is he coming to France, or does he wish, as has been stated, -to get to the United States? For the moment there is nothing but -conjecture. But who shall preserve him from the storm rumbling and -gathering over his head? Will fortune be able to place on his brow -the lightning-conductor to avert the course of that storm? The high -and mighty arbiters of the Congress desire that the news shall not be -spread before they are able to take measures dictated by the gravity of -the circumstances.’ - -Whether the secret had been carefully kept, or whether the intoxication -consequent upon the many months of festivities had not altogether worn -off, it is impossible to say; but the capital preserved its usual -aspect. The ramparts and the Leopoldstadt faubourg leading to the -Prater were teeming with strollers, evidently anxious to profit by the -first rays of the spring sun. There was no sign of the thunderbolt -having produced its echo: joy and careless gaiety everywhere. - -In the evening the company of amateur comedians was to give a -performance in the palace of the _Barbier de Seville_ and of a -vaudeville very popular at that time, entitled _La Danse Interrompue_. -The Prince Koslowski had offered to accompany me to the imperial -residence. Anxious to study the general physiognomy of the illustrious -gathering, and also hoping to gather some fresh news in connection with -the great event, I had accepted. The gathering was as brilliant and as -numerous as usual. There was, however, no longer the careless calm of -the morning. Slight clouds, but clouds for all that, darkened their -brows. The company stood chatting in groups, and here and there the -probable consequences of Napoleon’s departure were discussed with more -than ordinary warmth. ‘He cannot elude the English cruisers,’ said one. -‘M. Pozzo di Borgo maintains,’ replied another, ‘that if he sets foot -in France, he’ll be hanged on the nearest tree.’[102] - -Everybody, it seemed, wished to shirk the reality of the awakening. -‘We ought to think ourselves very lucky,’ said some partisans of the -Bourbons of Sicily. ‘Truly Bonaparte is playing our game admirably. He -may set his helm for Naples; and if so, the Congress will be obliged to -take measures for the expulsion of that usurper and intruder, Murat.’ - -Suddenly the conversations ceased. The Empress of Austria had entered -the room and taken her seat, and at a signal from her the curtain -rose. ‘We’ll just see,’ I said to Prince Koslowski, ‘if this event, -apparently so unforeseen, has not bred confusion in the illustrious -company of players.’ - -‘You may spare yourself such a mistake,’ was the answer. ‘It would -need the enemy at the gates of Vienna and the thunder of the cannon to -rouse them from their obstinate sleep. When the news came this morning -to M. de Talleyrand, he was still in bed. Mme. Edmond de Périgord was -seated by his pillow and brightly conversing with him when a letter -was brought in from M. de Metternich. “This is to tell me the hour -fixed for the Congress to-day,” said the prince, leaving the handsome -comtesse to open the epistle, which, as a matter of course, she does -mechanically. In a moment or so, though, she opens her eyes very wide -and reads the big tidings. She also had to go during the day to M. de -Metternich’s, but it was merely to rehearse a farce--_Le Sourd, ou -l’Auberge pleine_. “Bonaparte has left Elba,” she exclaims. “Oh, uncle, -and my rehearsal!” “Your rehearsal, madame,” is the quiet reply, “will -take place all the same.” And the prince was right; the rehearsal -took place just the same. Europe is, perhaps, on the verge of a -general conflagration, but the confidence of our comedians will not be -disturbed by so small a matter as that.’ - -Everybody was studying the faces of the political notabilities, as a -rule so very impassive; people scanned their looks and tried to read -their thoughts. They all affected a confidence probably far removed -from the reality. The absence of M. de Talleyrand was noticed, and the -preoccupation of Emperor Alexander. - -What had caused this supreme resolution on the part of Napoleon, the -consequences of which were so fatal to France? Did he expect, in spite -of the enfeebled condition of France, to hold his own once more against -coalesced Europe? Was he so blind as to entertain the possibility of -henceforth living in peace with all those sovereigns to whom he had -formerly dictated, and whom he had taught the road to Paris? Or was not -his flight from Elba an act of despair in order to escape a captivity -which, six years later, was to make an end of him on the rock of St. -Helena? - -Certain was it that the presence of the Emperor of the French in the -midst of the Mediterranean, and the independence, nay, the shadow of -power which was left to him, had aroused the alarm of the Congress. -It was well known that there existed in Paris a centre of intrigues -and correspondence having for its aim the restoration of the imperial -_régime_. Queen Hortense was the soul of that conspiracy, which was -known to everybody except the blind Bourbons. During the stay of Queen -Hortense there, in August 1814, Madame de Krüdener, so celebrated -subsequently in consequence of her mystic connection with Emperor -Alexander, had foretold to her the return of Napoleon. Hence, from the -beginning of the conferences, the question of choosing another place of -exile, or rather of transportation, was broached, though the strictest -secrecy was kept about the matter. Nevertheless, it was only towards -the end of January that St. Helena was mentioned by M. Pozzo di Borgo, -who professed to have received letters informing him of the arrest at -Genoa, at Florence, and on the whole of the coast, of the emissaries of -Napoleon. ‘Europe,’ Pozzo had said, ‘would not be at rest until she had -put the ocean between herself and that man.’ - -It was asserted that Prince Eugène owed the revelation of that -important secret to his intimacy with Emperor Alexander, and that he -lost no time in informing Napoleon. The latter no longer hesitated, -and made up his mind to return to France. From that moment, Alexander -became most cool and distant towards Eugène. - -Vienna remained without further news for nearly five days, during which -the receptions and entertainments went on as if nothing had happened, -the general concern apparently becoming less and less. Finally, though, -there was no possibility of denying the truth; the thunderclap came: -Napoleon was in France. The adventurer, as Pozzo di Borgo dared to call -him, was welcomed everywhere by frantically enthusiastic populations. -The soldiers rushed to meet their general; there was no obstacle to -his triumphal march. The fall of the Colossus, which had appeared -incomprehensible, was less surprising than the resurrection of his -power. - -The news of Napoleon’s landing at Cannes came while the ball at M. -de Metternich’s was at its height. The tidings had the effect of -the stroke of the wand or the whistle of the stage-carpenter, which -transforms the gardens of Armida into a wilderness. In fact, the -thousands of candles seemed to have gone out simultaneously. The news -spread with the rapidity of an electric current. In vain did the -orchestra continue the strains of a waltz just begun; the dancers -stopped of their own accord, looking at and interrogating each other; -the four words, ‘He is in France,’ were like the shield of Ubaldo -which, presented to the gaze of Rinaldo, suddenly destroyed all the -charms of Armida. - -Emperor Alexander took a few steps towards the Prince de Talleyrand. ‘I -told you that it would not last,’ he said. The French plenipotentiary -did not move a muscle of his face, and simply bowed without replying. -The King of Prussia gave a sign to the Duke of Wellington, and both -left the ball-room together, followed almost immediately by Emperors -Alexander and Francis and M. de Metternich. The majority of the guests -seemed bent upon disappearing unnoticed, so that finally the place -became deserted save for a few apparently terror-stricken talkers. - -The Prince Koslowski, whom I saw during the evening, was unable to add -anything to the news already current among the public. ‘This is an -excellent opportunity for the players to give us a second performance -of that charming vaudeville _La Danse Interrompue_. Comte Palfi, who -played the part of Wasner so brightly, might well sing: - - ‘“Enfin voilà la danse interrompue; - Comment tenir à cet incident-là?” - -The chorus, I am afraid, will probably be accompanied in a short time -by the thunder of a hundred thousand firearms. This news,’ he went -on, ‘will no doubt remind you of the tidings of the taking of Amiens -by the Spaniards, told to Henri IV. in the midst of a ballet in which -both he and Sully were dancing, though it is difficult to imagine Sully -disporting himself in that way: he was certainly not famed for that -kind of thing. “Mistress mine,” said the king to “la belle Gabrielle” -(d’Estrées), taking her hand, “we are bound to give up our dancing and -our games; we must to horse, and recommence another war. There’s a -truce to the joys of love.” It would be well, perhaps, to translate the -phrase into several languages for the benefit of some of the would-be -Henri Quatres assembled here.’ - -It would be impossible to depict the aspect of the Austrian capital -from that moment. Vienna was like an individual who, lulled to sleep by -dreams of love and ambition, suddenly found himself violently awakened -by the rattle of the watchman or the clanging of the belfry warning him -that his house was on fire. The various guests from all parts of Europe -could not recall without dread the phases of the period that had just -gone by. The constantly renewed disasters of a quarter of a century of -war; the invaded capitals; the battlefields bestrewn with the dead; -commerce and industry paralysed; whole families, nay, whole nations, in -mourning--all this presented itself simultaneously to their minds; and -the recollection of the lurid flames of Moscow lent additional terror -to the picture. No doubt there had been recent reprisals on their part; -and the presence of the Allied Armies in Paris proved to a certain -extent that the terms ‘unvanquished’ and ‘invincible’ were by no means -synonymous. This, however, rendered their anxiety all the greater. -To fell the Colossus to the ground, it had required a conjunction -of circumstances, and, moreover, an accord of sentiments and ideas, -which had increased the strength of each individual nation tenfold. At -present those nations had assumed an observant attitude towards each -other; the stern reality only showed the certainty of evils which had -been considered as dispelled for ever. - -Under those grave circumstances, M. de Talleyrand gave proof of an -ability and a strength of will that had the effect of carrying all -before it. Never was there a more difficult rôle than his. He was, as -it were, the buffer betwixt the government he represented and France, -whose interest he wished to save, and the inimical Powers, which -confounded in the self-same ban Napoleon and the country which once -more had welcomed him. I was not in Paris at the time of the first -Restoration; Talleyrand’s conduct, therefore, only came to me through -contemporary accounts, not always to be depended on for their veracity. -But having been an eye-witness of what he did in March 1815 for his -country and for the Bourbons, I have no hesitation in saying that the -latter were indebted to him a second time for their crown; and that -France, perhaps, owed to him her existence as a nation. He understood, -with marvellous intuition, that these two facts were narrowly bound up -with and emanated from each other. Hence his attitude, and his efforts -to obtain the declaration of the 13th March. - -That famous act, so differently appreciated, claims its mention here. -The irritation in Vienna was at its height, and kept up by the prospect -of a relentless war. The enthusiasm aroused by Napoleon’s presence, the -welcome given to him by the various populations, the rallying around -him of the army--all these things combined caused the French nation to -be looked upon as an accomplice to the breaking of the much desired -peace. There was, moreover, the dread of a revival of the Revolutionary -ideas, the delirium of which had struck terror throughout Europe. The -Emperor of Austria, addressing the czar, had said ‘Behold, sire, the -result of your holding your hand over your Paris Jacobins.’ ‘That’s -true, sire,’ was the answer, ‘but to repair the wrong, I hold myself -and my armies at your Majesty’s disposal.’ - -The quarrel on the point of breaking out was, therefore, between -France on the one side, and the whole of Europe on the other; a duel -to the bitter end, which could only cease with the death of one of -the combatants. I also heard the word ‘partition’ mentioned, and the -example of Poland was there to prove that a nation may be struck off -the European family register. - -M. de Talleyrand, on the contrary, laid down the principle that in -1815, as in the previous year, Europe could be at war with Napoleon -only and not with France. He manœuvred with so much skill or so much -luck as to overcome all obstacles and entirely to change the intentions -hostile to France, and finally to obtain the acceptance of his -principle. A score of times the Congress was about to separate without -having made up its mind to anything save a blind and relentless war; -a score of times he rallied around him opinions fundamentally opposed -to each other. I am aware of the repugnance of certain dogmatic minds -to these compromises inspired by prudence. Over and again it has been -said that it would have been better for France to accept a declaration -of war--a threat of extermination addressed to herself. In her hour of -despair, the country would have found a supernatural force; she would -have perished in the struggle or obtained a glorious triumph. - -M. de Talleyrand was swayed by too much moderation to risk this; he -had too correct a notion of the enfeebled condition of France to fling -her once more into violent and desperate adventures. He himself beheld -Europe ready to rise as one man; he directed the rise against an -individual instead of against a people. And in this he acted rightly. -His conduct was appreciated and admired in Vienna as the triumph of -reason and of an enlightened patriotism. More than once he returned -from the Congress to his residence utterly discouraged. On the morning -of the 13th March, the day appointed for the signing of this important -act, he was by no means sure of his success. Meanwhile, everything -depended on it. When he was ready to go to M. de Metternich, his -_entourage_ could not refrain from showing a natural anxiety. ‘Wait for -me here,’ he said, ‘and in order not to try your patience by as much as -a minute, watch for my return at the windows. If I have succeeded, I’ll -show you from the carriage the treaty on which shall depend the fate of -Europe and of France.’ - -A few hours later, when coming back, he waved the roll containing the -signatures of the arbiters of peace who had become the arbiters of war. -For a moment, though, the accord obtained with so much labour was on -the point of being broken. It was when the Congress heard of the flight -of Louis XVIII. from the Tuileries without an attempt at striking -a blow, and of Napoleon’s taking possession of the palace. Emperor -Alexander, in particular, failed to understand the tame submission of -the Bourbon family and the absence of a single defender. - -One morning I ran up against General Ouwaroff. ‘The czar,’ he said, -‘has not recovered from his surprise. He is tired of war, and just now -he repeated to me at least a dozen times, “Never shall I draw the sword -for them.”’ - -M. de Talleyrand, in addition to this, performed wonders of skill -and patience in the retying of the loosened ‘Congress bundle’ and in -directing the various wills of which it was composed towards one common -aim. If, on the one hand, the masses beheld with terror the horizon -becoming once more dark with threatening clouds, the men devoured with -ambition rejoiced at the probable revival of a time of glory. For, -disguise it as one will, the intrigues which were already set on foot -to overthrow or to support Napoleon offered a prospect of a prompt -result in the way of grandeur and riches. Among the many ambitious -ones of various ranks who rushed in crowds to Vienna, the ubiquitous -Fauche-Borel, the secret agent of the Bourbon princes during the -emigration, was foremost. He came once more to offer his fortune, his -devotion, and even the blood of his family for a cause in which he had -sacrificed everything. No one had a greater right than he to call kings -‘the illustriously ungrateful.’ His adventurous life, his expensive -tastes, had promptly swallowed all the sums he received from the house -of Bourbon and from the British Government. His was indeed a strange -destiny. The crowning of his efforts turned out to be a disaster to his -personal fortune. For twenty years his numberless creditors had awaited -patiently the day of his success. Scarcely were the Bourbons seated -on the throne, the access to which had been facilitated by him, than -everybody imagined the ill-fated bookseller of Neufchâtel to be loaded -with gold and honours. Pressed on all sides and but meanly remunerated, -his position was a thousand times harder than it had been before. -Hence, he was going to resume his life of intriguing and hopes. If a -warning were needed for the ambitious against their all-engrossing -craving to be somebody or to appear to be somebody, no more striking -example could be advanced than that of Fauche-Borel putting an end to -his disappointed ambition by committing suicide, and by that death -setting the seal on everything that has been said about the ingratitude -of princes. - -‘The Congress is dissolved,’ Napoleon had said, on setting his foot on -French soil at Cannes. Meanwhile, on the 11th March, in the midst of -the general consternation, a company of amateurs still played in the -Redotto hall _Le Calife de Bagdad_ and _Les Rivaux d’eux-mêmes_, and, -strange though it may appear, there was a larger audience than might -have been expected. It was, however, the final flicker of the expiring -lamp; the last feeble sound of the broken instrument. Pleasure took -flight. ‘The Congress is dissolved.’ - - -THE END - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] Throughout this translation I have left many of the nobiliary -titles and names of the Continental aristocracy in their French garb; -those of the English personages mentioned I have reduced to their -original expression. - -[2] Bourgeois was then, as now, the appellation commonly bestowed upon -the members of the middle classes.--Transl. - -[3] The marquisate was created in 1663, and was registered in the -Parliament of Languedoc. It was bestowed upon Louis-François de La -Garde, chevalier seigneur de Chambonas, son of Antoine de La Garde, -married to Charlotte de la Beaume de Suze. The title passed to his -nephew, Scipion-Louis-Joseph, who was brigadier in the king’s armies in -1744, and who died 27th February 1765. He married: First, Claire-Marie, -Princesse de Ligne; second, Louise-Victoire-Marie de Grimoard de -Beauvoir du Roure, daughter of the Comte du Roure, lieutenant-general -in the king’s armies, and of Marie-Antoinette-Victoire de Gontaut -Biron. The issue of the second marriage was two boys, one of whom -was Scipion-Charles-Victor-Auguste, Marquis de Chambonas, Baron de -Saint-Félix and d’Auberque, Comte de Saint-Julien, who married on -the 2nd April 1774, Mlle. de Lespinasse de Langeac. (_Administrative -Archives of the Dépôt_ (Ministry of War and La Chesnaye des Bois), 3rd -edition, Article ‘La Garde.’) - -[4] In the few passages of the _Recollections of the Congress of -Vienna_, where the author refers to his childhood and his family, he -deliberately throws a veil over both subjects. Without the _Unpublished -Notes_, the pages of which bearing upon the present publication were -kindly communicated to us by the present head of the family, M. le -Marquis de Chambonas, we should have failed to pierce the darkness in -which certain parts of our writer’s life are wrapped. - -[5] I can only follow the original. This is not the name of the -godmother mentioned in the certificate of baptism; but Mme. Barryals -had probably contracted a second marriage.--Transl. - -[6] I am preparing for publication the _Mémoires du Général le Marquis -d’ Hautpoul_, who, as a child, spent the whole of the Terror in the -neighbourhood of Versailles with his relatives, including his father, -a former colonel. It should be said, though, that a member of the -Convention had made them adopt the disguise of gardeners. - -[7] From that moment, M. de La Garde’s information about the Marquis -de Chambonas becomes very scant. In his _Unpublished Notes_ there are -a couple of grateful references to his ‘father,’ but that is all. We -are left in ignorance about the disparities of character which appear -to have parted them for ever. All that is known about M. de Chambonas -is due to the documents (_dossier_) relating to him, preserved in the -Archives of the Ministry of War. He seems to have settled definitely in -England. Wrecked in health, and even paralysed, it is from there that -he petitions in 1816. Finally, he obtained a modest pension with the -superior grade of lieutenant-general. He died in Paris, not in 1807, as -is stated by one biographer, but in February 1830. - -[8] The _Album_ contains, moreover, a short biography of the queen, -some of her letters to M. de La Garde, and a facsimile of his -handwriting; the whole on vellum-made paper, with gilt ornamental -borders. The book is very rare. M. le Marquis de Chambonas has a copy -of it belonging to his uncle. I have the good fortune to possess -another. - -[9] It is well known that the first words of Napoleon on setting foot -on French soil in 1815, were: ‘The Congress is dissolved.’ - -[10] Not to be confounded with Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, the author -of _Paul et Virginie_. The Abbé de Saint-Pierre’s literary fame mainly -rests on a book entitled _Projet de Paix Perpétuelle_. M. Bloch, the -Russian Utopist of to-day, has invented nothing.--Transl. - -[11] Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt, eminent diplomatist and statesman, -celebrated philologist, born at Potsdam in 1767, died in 1835. He took -part in the Conferences of Prague, Châtillon, Paris, and Vienna. He -left valued works on the primitive dwellers in Spain, on the Chinese -language (letters written in French to M. A. de Rémusat), and a -collection of studies on æsthetics, etc. 6 Volumes. Berlin 1841-48. - -[12] She was the sister of George III., and became involved in a -love-affair with Struensee, her husband’s prime minister. Struensee was -beheaded, and she was sentenced to divorce and exile. - -[13] The sentence may be interpreted in two ways. The absolutely modern -version would be ‘the most honest man’; the Molièresque sense, ‘the -most accomplished man of the world.’--Transl. - -[14] I have re-translated the passage as closely as possible, although -perfectly aware of its being neither a faithful French rendering nor -even a passably brilliant paraphrase of the original in _Henry VIII._, -Act I. I had no choice in the matter. It does not transpire whether -M. de La Garde was responsible for it, or whether he copied it from a -French version of the play.--Transl. - -[15] Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne, whom the Comte de la Garde -mentions so frequently, and always in terms of the deepest veneration, -was indeed a grandiose figure. Born in Brussels in 1735, he entered -the service of Austria, and distinguished himself in the Seven Years’ -War. He was made a major-general in 1766, a lieutenant-general in -1771, and the campaign of 1778 only increased his military reputation. -Subsequently he travelled in Italy, in Switzerland, and in France; -at Versailles he was thoroughly appreciated as a very able, amiable, -and witty grand seigneur. In Russia, whither he was sent in 1782 on -a mission, he became _persona gratissima_ with Catherine the Great, -who bestowed upon him an estate in the Crimea. He was present, as a -general, at the siege of Oklakoff, directed by Potemkin, and at some -of the actions of Laudon. In consequence of the part borne by his son -in the insurrection of the Netherlands (the provinces now constituting -the kingdom of Belgium), against Austria, he was removed from public -life, and, though a field-marshal in 1808, he had no longer a command. -The Prince de Ligne was an able and profound tactician. He left a -great number of writings both in German and in French. They are -replete with witty and pungent remarks, but the style is incorrect -and diffuse. Under the title of _Mélanges militaires, littéraires et -sentimentaires_, there are thirty volumes (1798-1809). His _Journal des -Guerres_ and _l’Essai sur les Jardins_ are worth keeping. In addition -to these he published in 1809 a _Vie du Prince Eugène de Savoie_. -Madame de Staël, Malte-Brun, and Lacroix, have published either -_Lettres_ or _Fragments_, which were well worthy of being preserved, -and which have practically become classics. His _Lettres de Russie à -la Marquise de Coigny_ have been published by Lescure, Librairie des -Bibliophiles, and M. Lucien Percy has just published his _Lettres à -Catherine II._ - -[16] _Née_ de Conflans d’Armentières, perhaps the only woman who -succeeded in being _platonically_ beloved by Lauzun. Paul Lacroix -published these letters in a strictly limited edition of a hundred -copies. The Marquise’s daughter married the well-known General -Sebastiani, and died in giving birth to the future Duchesse de Praslin, -who met with such a tragic end. - -[17] The Prince de Ligne had bestowed the sobriquet on Napoleon, in -allusion to his departure for Elba, and not from scorn, for nobody -professed a greater admiration and more genuine sympathy than he for -the most illustrious and most ill-fated figure of modern times.--Note -of the Comte de la Garde. - -[18] The Prince de Ligne had three daughters--the Princess Clary, the -Comtesse Palfi, and the Baronne Spiegel; and two sons, Charles and -Louis, of whom the former married the exquisitely sweet and pretty -Hélène Massalska, and the latter, whence sprung the present Princes de -Ligne, died prematurely. - -[19] Frederick I., Duke, afterwards King, of Würtemberg, became in -1805 the ally of Napoleon, who created his royal title and gained his -admission into the Confederation of the Rhine. In 1813 he joined the -Allied Powers against France. After a somewhat despotic reign, he -granted his subjects a constitution in 1815. One of his daughters, -Catherine, married Jérôme Bonaparte, some time King of Westphalia, and -proved herself a woman of exemplary moral worth and courage under most -trying circumstances. - -[20] See _infra_, the biographical notes on these princes. - -[21] M. de la Garde published an account of that journey. - -[22] Tettenborn was to the last very outspoken. At the time of his stay -in Paris, court dress was _de rigueur_ at the Tuileries for civilians -and military, even if the latter belonged to foreign armies. Tettenborn -was a superior officer of hussars; nevertheless he complied with the -regulations, but he did not shave his moustache. Napoleon remarked -upon this in a bantering tone. ‘You’ll admit,’ he said, ‘that a pair -of moustachios goes badly with this costume.’ ‘Pardon me, sire, it’s -the dress which looks ridiculous with a pair of moustachios,’ was the -prompt answer. - -[23] The Comte de Las-Cases, in his _Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène_, -reports another case of the freaks of fate. ‘Serrurier and the younger -Hédouville,’ said Napoleon, ‘were marching in company with the -intention of making their way into Spain, when they met with a patrol. -Hédouville, younger and more nimble than his companion, managed to -cross the frontier, and considering himself lucky, vegetated for a long -time in Spain. Serrurier, compelled to turn back, became a marshal of -France.’--_Author’s Note._ - -[24] She was, nevertheless, an aunt (by blood) of Emperor Franz, and -one of his mothers-in-law. Students of history know the adventures of -the sister of Marie-Antoinette, of her compromising relations with -Nelson, and her strange affection for Lady Hamilton. King Ferdinand had -just been restored to his throne when the queen died (7th September -1814). - -[25] In Roman Catholic countries the day of the saint after whom the -person is named, rather than the birthday, is kept.--Transl. - -[26] Frederick VI., King of Denmark, born in 1768, died in 1839. His -father, Christian VII., became impaired in intellect, and the Queen -Dowager took the reins of government. Frederick deprived her of the -Regency in 1784 and ascended the throne in 1808. In the following year, -he imposed upon the Swedes, who wished to dispossess him of Norway, the -Treaty of Jongkopping. He contracted a durable alliance with France, -which was made a pretext by the European Coalition for punishing -him by giving Norway to Sweden (Treaty of Kiel). But he received in -compensation Rügen and Swedish Pomerania, which in 1816 he exchanged -for the Duchy of Lauenburg. - -[27] Charles Robert, Comte de Nesselrode, born in 1780, died in 1862; -a most able Russian diplomatist. After having filled several posts in -Germany and at the Hague, he was Councillor of Embassy in Paris in -1807. As early as 1810 he was enabled to warn his sovereign with regard -to the secret armaments of Napoleon in view of a rupture with Russia, -and from that moment his credit with Alexander I. grew immensely. -Nesselrode was called to the Chancellorship of State, and subsequently -shared with Capo d’Istria the direction of Foreign Affairs. It was -he who inspired the Coalition against France in 1813, and signed the -Convention of Breslau, the Treaty of Subsidies with England, and the -League of Toeplitz. In 1814, he accompanied the Czar to France, signed -the Treaty of Chaumont, and negotiated the capitulation with Marmont. -He played an important part at the Congress of Vienna. Subsequently -at Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), at Laybach (1821), and at Vienna (1822) he -exercised a preponderant influence. Under Nicholas I., who maintained -him in his functions, Nesselrode practically established Russia’s -influence on ‘young’ Greece, and was the author of two treaties -humiliating to Turkey, viz., that of Adrianople (1829) and that of -Unkiar-Skelessi (1833). In 1840 his diplomatic skill kept France -excluded from the European Concert. He succeeded in preventing the -European Powers from intervening in the affairs of Poland (1830-31), -and in 1848, after for some time merely preserving a watchful attitude -in Hungarian affairs, he finally flung Russia’s power in the balance in -Austria’s favour, and increased his master’s influence in the East. He -was a partisan of a peaceful settlement of the difficulties cropping -up in 1854, and endeavoured to avoid a conflict between France and -Russia. His last political act was the conclusion of peace and the -Treaty of Paris, after which he retired, though preserving the titular -Chancellorship of the Empire. His despatches are models of conciseness. - -[28] The defender of Saint Jean d’Acre against Bonaparte, and one of -the signatories of the Convention of El-Arish; Kleber being the other. -He assisted the King of Portugal in his departure for Brazil in 1807, -and accompanied him thither. He retired from the service in 1810, and -spent his time mainly in philanthropic work. Admiral in 1821, died in -Paris, 1840. - -[29] Subsequently known as the Duchesse de Dino, and afterwards -de Talleyrand. She was supposed to be the Egeria of the Prince de -Talleyrand, and kept house for him, either at Valençay, Paris, or -London, during his embassy in the latter capital in 1830. She was a -pre-eminent and exceedingly cultivated woman. - -[30] The name of Pahlen recalls the conspiracy of March 1801, which put -an end to the days of Emperor Paul I. - -[31] The son of Comtesse Sophie Potocka by her first husband. - -[32] Frédéric de Gentz (1764-1832) author and diplomatist, the -principal projector of the Coalition of the Holy Alliance. He was the -defender from conviction of all the absolute monarchies; pensioned by -Pitt during the Revolution; Aulic Councillor in 1805 at Vienna, and in -the interval staunchly devoted to the interests of Prussia. It was he -who was entrusted with the drawing-up of the manifesto of the Powers in -1813. From that moment he exercised great influence on the diplomacy -of Europe, and was present, in one or the other capacity, at all the -Congresses. He published several political works, one of which was -written in French, viz., _Journal de ce qui est arrivé dans le Voyage -que j’ai fait au Quartier Général de S. M. le Roi de Prusse_, Oct. -1806. Mention should also be made of a series of brochures on _The -Rights of Man_, _The European Equilibrium_, a _Life of Marie Stuart_, -etc. Comte Prokesch-Osten (the son of the friend and confidant of -the Duc de Reichstadt), published with Plon in 1870 _The Unpublished -Despatches of the Chevalier de Gentz to the Hospodars of Wallachia_. - -[33] Sir John Sinclair was the president of the Agricultural Society of -Edinburgh. The story of young Sinclair is in all the _Memoirs_ of the -First Empire. See, above all, an account of the whole affair written by -young Sinclair himself in the _Edinburgh Review_ of 1826. - -[34] Emeric Joseph, Duc de Dalberg, was the nephew of the Bishop of -Constance, who was Elector of Mainz and Prince-Primate and Grand -Duke of Frankfurt-on-the-Main, and in his various dignities gave -such startling proofs of his honesty in private life and his high -intellectual culture. The nephew, at first Baron de Dalberg, after -having represented the Margraviate of Baden in Paris, became a great -friend of Talleyrand, married the Marquise de Brignole, lady of honour -to the Empress Josephine, took out letters of naturalisation and -obtained the title of duc with a counsellorship of State. He was one of -the negotiators of the marriage of Napoleon with Marie-Louise, but in -1814 promptly deserted the fortunes of Napoleon. He was one of the five -members of the Provisional Government, and took part in the Congress -of Vienna as a plenipotentiary. Subsequently he was created a peer -of France and appointed to the ambassadorship at Turin. Born in 1773 -at Mainz, he died at Hernsheim in 1833. His ducal title went to his -nephew, the Comte de Tascher de la Pagerie. - -[35] This correspondence has been annotated and published by M. -Pallain, (Plon, 1888). The correspondence of M. de Talleyrand with -Louis XVIII. forms part of the third volume of the Talleyrand _Memoirs_. - -[36] Known at first as the Comte de Chinon, and subsequently, up to the -death of his father in 1791, as the Duc de Fronsac, Armand Emmanuel -Sophie Septimanie, Duc de Richelieu, and grandson of the famous -marshal, was born in 1776, and died in 1822. He was the First Gentleman -of the Chamber of Louis XVI. at the moment the Revolution broke out. He -emigrated and entered the service of Catherine II., and distinguished -himself under Suvaroff at the siege of Ismaël, and subsequently -commanded an army corps under Condé before Valenciennes in 1793. Having -returned to Russia, where they gave him a cavalry regiment, he fell -into disgrace during the reign of Paul I., and went back to France -in 1801. He declined, however, to renounce foreign military service, -and was compelled to leave; when he placed himself at the disposal of -Alexander I., who appointed him Governor of Odessa. His services to New -Russia in general, and to Odessa in particular, are well known; but -on the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, he re-entered France with -them and had a peerage conferred upon him, while at the same time he -was appointed First Gentleman of the Chamber. During the Hundred Days -he followed Louis XVIII. to Ghent, then at the second Restoration was -given the Presidency of the Council (Premiership) with the portfolio -of Foreign Affairs. He rendered eminent services, in using his credit -with Alexander I., by reducing the War Indemnity, and the occupation of -France by foreign troops from seven years to five. When he resigned the -Ministry in 1818, the Chambers voted him an income of fifty thousand -francs as a national reward; he employed those sums for the foundation -of an asylum for the aged at Bordeaux. In 1820, after the assassination -of the Duc de Berry and the disgrace of Decazes, he once more accepted -the Presidency of the Council, but his difficulties with the Chambers -made him resign in 1821. He died in the following year, universally -esteemed and regretted. He had been a member of the Académie Française -since 1816. Several memoirs of recent works have contributed much -to bring his figure into relief: the _Mémoires of General Comte de -Rochechouart; Le Duc de Richelieu_, by M. R. de Cisternes; _Louis -XVIII. et le Duc Decazes_, by M. Ernest Daudet, etc. - -[37] Charles André, Comte Pozzo di Borgo, born in Corsica in 1764, -died in Paris in 1842. He began his career as an advocate at Pisa, -and was secretary to Paoli, member of the Corsican Directory in 1790, -deputy in 1791 of the Legislative Assembly. At his return, he openly -declared himself the enemy of the Bonaparte family, and seconded -Paoli, who wished to deliver Corsica to the English. Having become the -creature of Lord Eliot, the viceroy, he was the cause of the recall of -Paoli to London. He himself was bound to fly before the hatred of his -countrymen. As a secret diplomatic agent, he served in turns Prussia, -England, Austria, and Russia. Expelled from Russia in 1807 at the -demand of Napoleon, he was obliged to retire to Constantinople. In 1813 -he was recalled to Russia, and in the following year was sent to Louis -XVIII. as ambassador. He took part in all the Congresses of the Holy -Alliance, and in 1823 was entrusted with the surveillance of the French -army in Spain. In 1835 he was the Russian ambassador in London, and -retired from public life in 1839. - -[38] Written about 1830. Charles XIV. (Bernadotte), who died in 1844. - -[39] Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, afterwards Marquis of -Londonderry, English statesman, born in 1769, died in 1822. In the -Commons he supported the policy of Pitt; sent to Ireland in 1797, his -administration was marked by extreme violence. He joined one of the -Cabinets of Fox as Minister of War and of the Colonies, resigned his -portfolio in 1806, resumed office in the following year, and became the -directing power of England’s policy. He was the relentless enemy of the -Revolution and of Napoleon, and granted subsidies to all the powers -arrayed against him. At the Congress of Vienna, where he sacrificed -Poland, Saxony and Belgium, he incurred great hatred, and his acts were -strenuously opposed in Parliament itself. His anti-liberal government -rendered him unpopular, and besides his weakness for the Holy Alliance, -his malignant persecution of Caroline of Brunswick, the Consort of -George IV., and his brutality towards the poorer classes made him -generally disliked. He killed himself in a fit of insanity. Castlereagh -had a great reputation as a political orator, but though more fluent -than Canning (with whom he fought a duel in 1806), his speeches lacked -the charm of the latter’s. His son, the Marquis of Londonderry, -ambassador and political writer, distinguished himself in the House of -Lords by a violent Toryism and his hatred of France. - -[40] See the _Mémoires du Général Comte de Rochechouart_ (Plon, 1895). - -[41] Mme. Davidoff was a daughter of the Duc de Gramont and of the -Duchesse, _née_ de Polignac. - -[42] It is difficult to take this panegyric at its own estimate. -M. de La Garde had been well treated by M. de Talleyrand, and his -rare gratitude does him infinite credit; but to lay stress on M. de -Talleyrand’s heart is a dubious piece of flattery. - -[43] Maximilian-Joseph, Elector, and subsequently King, of Bavaria, -under the title of Maximilian I., son of Frederick, Prince des -Deux-Ponts Berkenfeld. He was born in 1756, and died in 1825. He at -first served in the French army, became colonel of the regiment of -Alsace, and remained at Strasburg from 1782 to 1789. He succeeded his -brother, Charles II., in the dukedom of Deux-Ponts, and his uncle, -Charles Theodore, as Elector of Bavaria, and as Duke of Berg and -Juliers in 1799. In 1805 he threw in his lot with the Confederation of -the Rhine, and at the Peace of Presburg received the title of king. -In 1806 he married one of his daughters to Eugène de Beauharnais, -and the other to the Emperor Francis of Austria. In 1813 he joined -the coalition against France. In 1818 he gave a Constitution to his -subjects; he made some salutary reforms in the administration, and -greatly encouraged art and science. - -[44] At nine o’clock on the evening of the 10th May 1809, shells are -thrown into the city of Vienna. At that moment the young Archduchess -Marie-Louise was lying stricken down with illness in the paternal -palace. The circumstance having been brought to Napoleon’s knowledge, -the direction of the projectiles was immediately changed and the -palace respected. Oh, the happy day! Who would have told Marie-Louise -then that in a few months’ time those same hands that caused Vienna -to shake would be weaving crowns for her brow, that at the palace of -the Tuileries she would reign over those Frenchmen who inspired such -fear.--Las Cases, _Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène_. - -[45] A couple of years often went by without his mother seeing him and -scarcely concerning herself about him. The Comte de La Garde Chambonas -sometimes out-Herods Herod as a courtier.--Transl. - -[46] Those are not exactly the bases of M. Rostand’s _Aiglon_. He -supports the contrary thesis. It would be well to strike an average -with the chapters of Prokesch-Osten on the Duc de Reichstadt and with -the book of Montbel on the same subject. The latter work is in turns -inspired by Metternich and Prokesch. - -[47] Sir Neil was one of the eye-witnesses of the heart-stirring scene -at Fontainebleau when Napoleon, straining the imperial eagles to his -breast, yielded to his own emotion and waved his hat, crying like the -rest, ‘Long live the Emperor!’ The _Revue Britannique_ published in -1894 Sir Neil Campbell’s narrative. - -[48] The words are historical. See _Recollections of Méneval_, vol. iii. - -[49] This is another statement of the author in direct contradiction -to absolutely authenticated facts. The scene described must have taken -place at the beginning of October. Napoleon abdicated at the latter end -of April, and during that interval she made a journey of more than two -months, visiting Aix, the Righi, Berne, in the latter of which places -she fell in with George IV.‘s wife. The greater part of that time was -spent in the society of Neipperg.--Transl. - -[50] Constantine Ypsilanti was a Greek, of a family originally hailing -from Trebizond, whose members performed the functions of dragoman at -the court of the Sultans. Alexander entered the Russian service. He -subsequently took part in the Greek insurrection and was compelled to -take refuge in Transylvania (1783-1828). His son (younger brother?), -Demetrius, was for a short time generalissimo of the insurgents of -Morea. - -[51] Two separate works have lately appeared within a short time of -each other on Elisa Bacciochi, Princess of Lucca and Grand-Duchess of -Tuscany. One is by M. Paul Marmottan (Champion) and the other by M. -Rodocanachi (Flammarion). - -[52] M. de Luchesini by his charming conversation enhanced that of the -King of Prussia. He knew the subjects on which the king liked to be -drawn out, and he also possessed the art of listening, an art never -possessed by a fool. M. de Pinto advised the king to make an ambassador -of M. de Luchesini, ‘because,’ as he expressed it, ‘Luchesini was a man -of wit.’ ‘That’s why I keep him with me,’ was the answer.--Author’s -Note. - -[53] The sentence in French runs: ‘Mon frère est coiffé de main de -maitre. It is impossible to give an English equivalent for this, except -at the risk of making it coarse and spoiling it into the bargain. The -deceived husband is said to be ‘coiffé’ by his wife’s lover.--Transl. - -[54] It was, in fact, the fashion at Versailles and at Saint-Cloud. -The most brilliant of all the lotteries was that offered by Monsieur -(the king’s brother), on the 9th August 1689, on the occasion of the -reception of the Venetian ambassador. The Court ladies had some most -magnificent presents. - -[55] In a memoir, written twenty-six years previously, _i.e._, in 1788, -the Prince de Ligne had weighed with great sagacity the questions -which were from that moment inseparable from the fate of Poland. The -preamble describes in delightful and rare terms the Polish character, -and conveys a lofty idea of the author’s charm of expression in -dealing with his brilliant pictures. ‘Who,’ he exclaims, ‘can fail -to love Poland, the Poles, and, above all, Polish women, the mental -qualities and courage of the men, the grace and beauty of their fair -companions?‘--Author’s note. - -[56] M. Edmond Taigny, Isabey’s nephew, published in the _Revue -Européenne_ in 1858 some interesting particulars of the early life -of the great artist, from the latter’s manuscript notes. The period -dealing with Isabey’s sojourn at Vienna during the Congress contains -several references to the present work. - -[57] Hélène Massalska, whose interesting correspondence was published -by M. Lucien Perey under the title of _Histoire d’une Grande Dame au -XVIII^e Siècle_ (Lévy, 2 vols.). - -[58] _Les Mémoires de Casanova de Seingalt_, edited by Henri Beyle, -were published at Leipsig in 1826, and in Paris in 1843 (5 vols.). Some -years ago, Flammarion brought out a new edition. - -[59] Son of the Marquise de Bombelles, _née_ Mackau, the friend of -Madame Élisabeth and of the marquis who was ambassador at Venice at the -outbreak of the Revolution. He had his children educated in Austria, -and took holy orders after the death of his wife. He became Bishop of -Amiens. The Bombelles have remained Austrian. The brother of the Comte -de Bombelles in question was the third husband of Marie-Louise. - -[60] Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent, died a -twelve-month after her marriage, 1817. Princesse Louise d’Orléans, died -in 1850. Leopold I., King of the Belgians, died 1865. - -[61] The forty townships are an exaggeration, but the head of the -Esterhazy had twenty manorial lordships, sixty burghs with market -places and four hundred and fourteen villages. - -[62] The Prince Nicolas Esterhazy (1765-1833) was an enlightened -patron of art, and founded the picture-gallery of the Garten-Palace at -Vienna. It was he who offered Haydn the hospitality of his estate at -Eisenstadt. In 1809, he refused the crown of Hungary, offered to him by -Napoleon. - -[63] Prince Paul-Antoine Esterhazy (1786-1866) was ambassador in -Dresden and in London. - -[64] She was the daughter of the Margrave of Baden. - -[65] It would be, but for the fact that, as the French editor, Comte -Fleury, remarks, there is scarcely a word of truth in it except the -beheading of the mother. Comte Fleury gets very angry with the author, -dead though he is, for foisting such a fantastic tale on the Prince de -Ligne. The child was handed over, six or seven weeks after her mother’s -execution, _i.e._, on the 2nd Fructidor, Year II. (corresponding to the -19th August 1794), to a relative, Isabel Leczinska, who took her with -her to Poland, where subsequently she married her cousin, the Comte -Rzewuski. Long before the publication of the books whence M. Fleury -obtained his information, the truth was known to most students of -history.--Transl. - -[66] At the Congress, M. de Talleyrand perseveringly supported the -claims of the King of Naples against the partisans of Murat. The -grateful monarch, in 1817, offered him the dukedom of Dino. M. de -Talleyrand requested its transference to his nephew, the Comte Edmond -de Périgord, who since then has borne the title.--Author. - -[67] Two characters of Grétry’s opera _Zémire et Azor_. It is doubtful, -however, whether the sobriquet is applied in that sense here. The -French frequently bestow the name on dogs; and, in that case, the -meaning is plain enough.--Transl. - -[68] The son or the grandson of Nicholas Mauroyeny, Hospodar of -Wallachia, who was executed in 1790 at Constantinople.--Transl. - -[69] Her liaison with Neipperg had already begun, and she had ceased -to write to Elba. See Ernesto Masi, _Li Due Moglie di Napoleone I._ -Bologna, 1889.--Transl. - -[70] Burchard-Christopher, Comte de Münnich, 1683-1767, officer of -engineers under Peter I., marshal under Anne, fell into disgrace under -Joan VI., recovered favour under Catherine II. - -[71] Hardemberg (Prince d’), 1750-1822, Prussian statesman and -diplomatist. He held the premier’s portfolio several times, but in 1804 -he was replaced for a short time by the Comte de Haugwitz. When he -returned to power he greatly contributed to sustain Friedrich-Wilhelm -III.‘s courage. He fell into disgrace in consequence of Napoleon’s -objections to him after Tilsitt, but he returned to power in 1810 for -good. He was very relentless with regard to France, and at the Congress -of Vienna demanded her dismemberment. He was also present at the -Congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle, Verona, and Laybach. He left important -papers, a portion of which were published in thirteen volumes in 1838 -under the title of _Mémoires Tirés des Papiers d’un Homme d’Etat_. - -[72] This latter statement is only true with regard to indoor -_carrousels_ up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. There are -records of three open-air _carrousels_ in Paris during the seventeenth -century, at which the spectators numbered thousands.--Transl. - -[73] The Comte Jean Axel de Fersen, the commander in France of his own -regiment, the ‘Royal Suédois,’ distinguished himself by his devotion -to the royal family, which he served as a guide during the fatal -journey to Varennes. Having escaped from the storm-tossed events of the -Revolution, he perished a victim to the agitation which prevailed in -Stockholm in 1800. The people, irritated against him, assailed him with -stones during the funeral procession of Prince Charles of Augustenburg, -and finally killed him amidst the most horrible tortures--Author’s Note. - -The political and private correspondence of Fersen was published by -Colonel Klinkowström in Paris under the title of _Le Comte de Fersen et -la Cour de France_ (2 vols.)--Firmin Didot. It is also interesting to -consult M. Paul Gavlot’s _Un Ami de la Reine_--Ollendorf. On the death -of the grand-marshal, read the introduction to the first-named work. - -[74] Gustavus III., most friendly disposed towards monarchical France, -had declared himself violently opposed to the Revolution. He was about -to despatch troops to the French frontier when he was assassinated -during a masked ball at Stockholm on the evening of the 16th March -1792, as a result of a conspiracy among the nobles of his Court. See -Geffroy, _Gustave III. et la Cour de France_ and the _Memoirs_ of the -Duc Cesdars, who at the time of the death of King Gustavus was the -envoy of the princes at Stockholm. - -[75] The prediction was realised. Gustavus IV., son of Gustavus -III., at first reigned under the guardianship of his uncle, the Duc -de Sudermanie (Sudermanland). During his reign Sweden was despoiled -of Finland by Russia, and threatened with war by Denmark. The -dissatisfaction of his subjects led to a conspiracy against the king, -which succeeded. Gustavus was imprisoned, and then exiled for ever -in 1809; the Duc de Sudermanie was proclaimed king with the title of -Charles XIII. Being without issue, he at first adopted the Prince -Christian Augustus of Holstein-Augustenburg. After the sudden death -of that young prince, Charles XIII. hit upon the strange idea to -appoint the French Marshal Bernadotte. Under the title of Charles Jean, -Bernadotte reigned from 1818 to 1844; the present king, Oscar II., is -his grandson. There are no more male Wasas; Queen Caroline of Saxony is -the granddaughter of Gustavus IV. - -[76] In consequence of the Treaty of Luneville in 1801, the Grand-Duchy -of Tuscany was taken away from Ferdinand III., and, under the title -of the kingdom of Etruria, bestowed on the Spanish branch of Parma, -whose states were united to the French domains in Piedmont. King Louis -having died in 1803, his widow, Marie-Louise of Spain, took up the -reins of government for her son Louis II. In December 1807, Etruria -was given up in exchange for the newly-created kingdom of Lusitania -(Portugal); a few months later it constituted three French departments, -under the government of Elisa Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become -Grand-Duchess of Tuscany. See the excellent work of M. Marmottan, _Le -Royaume d’Etrurie_, Ollendorf, 1896; _Elisa Napoléon en Italie_, by -M. E. Rodocanachi, Flammarion, 1900; and the _Carnet Historique et -Littéraire_, 1900. - -[77] Some one had written a song about the Duchesse de Boufflers, -subsequently the wife of Marshal de Luxembourg. Suspecting the Comte de -Tressan to be the author, she said to him: ‘Do you know this song? It -is so well written that not only would I forgive the author, but I’d -even embrace him.’ ‘Well,’ said Tressan, tempted like the crow in the -fable, ‘I wrote it, madame,’ Thereupon she slapped his face. - -[78] Here is the song, composed by the old man a fortnight before his -death:-- - - 1ST VERSE. - - Après une longue guerre - L’enfant ailé de Cythère - Voulut, en donnant la paix, - Tenir à Vienne un Congrès. - Il convoque en diligence - Les dieux qu’on put retenir, - Et par une contredanse - On vit le Congrès s’ouvrir. - -_Translation of 1st Verse._--After a long war, the winged child of -Cytherea wished, in bestowing peace, to hold a Congress at Vienna. He -summoned in hot haste every god that could be had, and, with a Roger de -Coverley, the world beheld the Congress opened. - - 2ND VERSE. - - Au bureau de Terpsichore, - Dès le soir, jusqu’à l’aurore, - On agitait des débats - Sur l’importance d’un pas. - Minerve dit en colère: - ‘Cessez, au moins un instant, - Si vous ne voulez pas faire - A Vienne un Congrès dansant.’ - -_Translation._--At Terpsichore’s quarters, from night until dawn, -debates were regulated on the importance of a step. Minerva got angry -and cried, ‘At any rate, stop for a moment, unless you wish to hold a -dancing Congress at Vienna.’ - - 3RD VERSE. - - Vénus et la Jouissance, - Qui savaient bien que la danse - Ajoutait a leurs appas, - Voulaient qu’on ne cessât pas. - ‘La Sagesse doit se taire,’ - Dit en riant le Plaisir, - ‘A Vienne l’unique affaire - Est de traiter le plaisir.’ - -_Translation._--Venus and the Goddess of Indulgence, who knew very well -that dancing enhanced their charms, made up their minds that there -should be no cessation. ‘Wisdom must hold its tongue,’ said Pleasure, -laughing. ‘The sole business at Vienna is to devise about enjoyment.’ - - 4TH VERSE. - - A ces mots on recommence, - Les masques entrent en danse; - Mars, Hercule, et Jupiter - Valsent un nouveau landler. - Soudain Minerve en furie, - Dit dans son courroux: ‘Je crois - Qu’à ce Congrès la Folie - Présiderait mieux que moi.’ - -_Translation._--The words were the signal for recommencing. The masks -resume the dance; Mars, Hercules, and Jupiter whirl round in a new -landler. Suddenly Minerva got furious, and in her anger cried, ‘I -believe that at this Congress Folly would better preside than I.’ - - 5TH VERSE. - - ‘Taisez-vous, Mademoiselle,’ - Lui dit l’enfant infidèle; - ‘Laissez ces propos oiseux, - Et livrez vous à nos jeux: - Assez longtemps sur la terre - Votre sœur nous fit gémir, - Laissez-nous après la guerre - Respirer pour le plaisir.’ - -_Translation._--‘Hold your tongue. Mademoiselle,’ said the recalcitrant -child; ‘stop your useless chatter, and join us in our games. Your -sister has left us long enough to moan on this earth. And now after the -war, let us get back our breath for enjoyment.’ - - 6TH VERSE. - - A l’instant à la barrière, - Pour entrer dans la carrière, - S’offrent trente chevaliers - Le front couvert de lauriers. - On lisait sur leurs bannières. - Ces mots: _Loyal et fidel_. - Ce sont les chargés d’affaires - Du Congrès au Carrousel. - -_Translation._--In a moment at the barrier, thirty knights present -themselves, their brows encircled by wreaths, and eager to enter upon -the career. (This is imitated from a strophe of the ‘Marseillaise.’) -Their banners displayed the words: ‘Loyal and staunch.’ They are the -chargés d’affaires of the Congress at the _carrousel_. - - 7TH VERSE. - - Enfin de tout on se lasse: - Les bals, les jeux et la chasse - Avaient été discutés - Et résumés en traités. - ‘Que ferons-nous d’avantage?’ - Dit l’Amour. ‘Donnons la paix, - Et cessons ce badinage - En terminant le Congrès.’ - -_Translation._--People get tired of everything. The balls, the games, -and the chase had been discussed and embodied in treaties. ‘What else -remains to be done?’ said Cupid. ‘Let us proclaim peace and cease this -trifling by winding up the Congress.’ - -The reader will kindly excuse this bald translation. I have simply -aimed at giving a literal one. - -[79] To obtain the Order of Maria-Theresa, one of the first among the -military orders of Europe, the recipient must, by his own initiative, -have gained a battle or carried to a successful issue some state affair -without previous instruction from his superiors. After that, his claim -is submitted to the chapter of the order, which discusses it, grants -the claim after discussion, or dismisses it.--Author. - -[80] His fortune yielded an income of 17,000,000 francs. See _infra_ -the particulars of Razumowski, the favourite of Elizabeth, and the -father of the ambassador. - -[81] The official despatch of the ambassadors of the French King at the -Congress of Vienna reports the incident as follows:-- - -_The Emperor of Russia._--‘I have pledged my word and I shall keep it. -I promised Saxony to the King of Prussia the moment we joined each -other.’ - -_Talleyrand._--‘Your Majesty has promised to the King of Prussia -between nine and ten millions of souls. Your Majesty can give them -without destroying Saxony.’ - -_The Emperor._--‘The King of Saxony is a traitor.’ - -_Talleyrand._--‘Sire, the qualification of traitor can never be applied -to a king; and it is important that there shall never be any necessity -for applying it.’ - -After a few moments of silence the czar resumed: - -‘The King of Prussia shall be King of Prussia and of Saxony, just as I -am Emperor of Russia and King of Poland.’--_Mémoires de Talleyrand_, -vol. ii. - -Finally, the interests of Saxony and Prussia were settled, ‘not to the -satisfaction of the one and the other, but by agreement between them,’ -_i.e._ Prussia acquired the two Lusatias, part of Thuringia, and Torgau -and Wittemberg (Treaty of 18th May 1815). - -[82] I have suppressed the particulars of the story, which I considered -unfit for publication.--Transl. - -[83] La Garde exaggerates. Napoleon merely expressed a desire, -and overtures were eventually made at Erfurth. The veto of the -dowager-empress nipped the affair in the bud. Later on, there was an -attempt to reopen the question, but the Emperor of Austria had almost -immediately replied to Talleyrand’s _pourparlers_, and arrangements -were concluded at the moment when Russia seemed inclined to yield. -See on those long hesitations the first volume of M. Albert Vandal’s -_Napoléon et Alexandre_, vol. I. ch. xii.--French Editor. - -M. Vandal is as misleading as La Garde, and for the truth of that -episode no French author of any kind should be consulted, and least of -all those who have written on Russia during the last twenty years. The -German works are much more trustworthy, for the refusal of Napoleon’s -hand was inspired by Germany.--Transl. - -[84] She became, in fact, the fourth wife of Emperor Francis. - -[85] Alexis Orloff, born in 1786, grand-nephew of the famous favourite -of Catherine II., had a magnificent military record. He had specially -distinguished himself during the campaign in Russia, having been -wounded in seven different places at Borodino, and during the campaign -in France. After that he performed many remarkable feats of courage in -the Turkish war, fulfilled several missions, and, in 1830, negotiated -the marriage of Alexander II. with a princess of the House of Hesse. He -died in 1861. - -[86] Transformed into a Prince de Monte-Nuovo. - -[87] This must be the son of Zawadouski, who was the favourite in 1776 -and 1777. - -[88] The word ‘heads’ was invariably used in all the stipulation of -exchanges, divisions of territory, and dismemberment of states. - -[89] The famous speculator. - -[90] The Comte de Montrond, the inseparable companion of Talleyrand. - -[91] The same Malfati who left some notes on the death and post-mortem -examination of the Duc de Reichstadt, which were published in _Le -Carnet Historique_ during 1900. - -[92] Here is the epitaph in question, which it is practically -impossible to translate into English that would sound like sense:-- - - ‘Ci-gît le Prince de Ligne, - Il est tout de son long couché, - Jadis il a beaucoup péché, - Mais ce n’était pas a la ligne.’ - -‘Pêcher à la ligne’ means angling with a rod or with a line. The -prince’s name, literally translated, means ‘the prince of line’; a -change of accent on the verb would make it mean ‘transgressing.’ - -[93] ‘Camarde,’ death. The word has passed into thieves’ slang now, -but in former centuries it was used by poets: Scarron used it. It -derives its origin from _camus_, flat, to denote the flat nose of a -skeleton.--Transl. - -[94] The words are historical. ‘Camarde’ is feminine.--Transl. - -[95] The Prince de Ligne left three daughters, the Princesse de -Clary, the Comtesse Palfi, and the Baronne Spiegel, all of whom -founded families in Austria. His eldest son, Charles, who married -the beautiful Hélène Massalska, whose _Mémoires_ have been published -by M. Lucien Percy, was killed by a cannon-ball at the passage of -la Croix-aux-Bois in the Argonne in September 1792. A daughter, -Sidonie, was born of that marriage. His second son, Louis, who also -preceded his father to the grave, had by his wife, Louise de Duros, -Eugène-François-Lamoral-Charles, Prince de Ligne, d’Amblise, d’Epinay, -who was Belgian ambassador-in-extraordinary in England and in France. -By his first wife, the daughter of the Marquis de Conflans, the Prince -de Ligne had a son, whence sprang the actual Prince de Ligne and the -Prince Ernest de Ligne. By his second wife, the daughter of the Marquis -de Trazegnies, he had a daughter, who became Duchesse de Beaufort. By -his third wife, a Princesse Lubomirska, he had the Princes Charles and -Édouard de Ligne and the Duchesse de Doudeauville. - -[96] ‘With him went the last flower of the age of chivalry,’ wrote -Franz Gaeffer in his _Memoirs_--Kleinen Wiener. - -[97] Sidney Smith’s conversation did not exactly shine by its -conciseness. As may be imagined, the defence of Acre was one of its -ever-recurring topics. The Prince de Ligne, who had been compelled -to listen to Smith’s prolix recital more than once, called him ‘Long -Acre,’ which the author defines as one of the longest streets of London. - -[98] The Comte de Saint Germain pretended to be two thousand years old, -and many people believed him. - -[99] Louis I. (1825-1848), when he abdicated in favour of his son -Maximilian II. King Louis, who was an enlightened patron of art, -frequently came to Paris. He died in 1868. - -[100] Finally, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw became the Kingdom of Poland, -under the protection of Emperor Alexander, with the Grand-Duke -Constantine as its Viceroy. - -[101] The memoirs of the time often mention this Princess Lubomirska, -whose title was Princesse-Maréchale. Elizabeth Czartoryska, Princesse -Lubomirska, was a cousin of King Stanislas-Augustus, who often mentions -her in his correspondence, and constantly deplores her restlessness. -From recent publications, it would appear that, though endowed with -many superior qualities, she was also profoundly disagreeable. She -loved neither her children nor her country, and from sheer _ennui_ she -was always ‘on the move.’ She disliked everything save the traditions -of the French Court during Louis XIV.‘s reign, which traditions she -knew better even than the events which had so profoundly disturbed her -country. She detested every new idea, and her hatred of Napoleon was -intense. To the _émigrés_ she was most charitable. - -[102] When the Duc de Dalberg heard what Pozzo di Borgo had said, he -shook his head. ‘M. Pozzo is not a prophet. In a short time Napoleon -will be in Paris,’ he remarked.--Author. - - - - -INDEX - -_Throughout this translation I have left many of the nobiliary titles -and names of the Continental aristocracy in their French garb; those -of the English personages mentioned I have reduced to their original -expression._ - - - ADHÉMAR, COMTE D’, 130. - - Albert of Austria, Archduke, 166, 403, 404. - - Alembert, D’, 130. - - Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, 4, 6, 17-20, 25, 31-37, - 43, 54, 57, 61-65, 90, 92, 95, 96-101, 111, 117, 119, 122, - 141, 142, 144, 149, 153, 165, 197, 203, 204, 210-217, 225, - 230, 255, 257, 266, 275, 277, 310, 313, 314, 323, 326, 342, - 344, 346-349, 372, 374, 381, 382, 389, 402-407, 414, 417, 418. - - ---- II., Emperor of Russia, 214. - - Alfieri, Comte, 185. - - Ankarstroem, 176. - - Anne Ivanowna, Empress of Russia, 170, 261, 322. - - Apponyi, Comtesse Thérèse d’, 39, 138, 319. - - Aremberg, Duc Louis d’, 73, 359. - - ---- Prince d’, 359. - - Ariosto, 126, 137. - - Arnstein, Baron d’, 209, 293, 360, 386. - - ---- Baronne Fanny d’, 210. - - Aubusson de la Feuillade, d’, ambassador, 186. - - Auesberg, Princesse d’, 318. - - Auguste of Prussia, Prince, 4, 319. - - Augustembourg, Princesse d’, 303, 304. - - - Bacon, Francis, 126. - - Bagration, Prince de, Field-Marshal, 94. - - ---- Princesse de, 39, 94, 101, 213. - - Barclay, John, 207. - - Barclay de Tolly, Field-Marshal, 343. - - Barry, Comtesse du, 130. - - Batthyany, Comte, 139. - - Batthyany, Comtesse, 149, 163, 319. - - Béatrix d’Este, Arch-duchess, 39, 166. - - Beaufort, Duchesse de, 252. - - Beauharnais, Prince Eugène de, 17, 33, 42, 73, 90, 122, 144, 152, - 166, 208, 255, 276, 319, 323, 326, 329, 330, 362, 403, - 404, 413. - - Beaumarchais, Baron de, 51, 361, 383. - - Bernsdorff, Comte de, 172. - - ---- Comtesse de, 39, 94. - - Berry, Duc de, 61. - - Berthier, Marshal, 238, 239. - - Besnadiére, de la, 60, 61, 64. - - Beyle, Henri, 136. - - Bezenval, Baron de, 130. - - Bièvre, Marquis de, 245. - - Bigottini, 156, 361. - - Blanchard, aeronaut, 85. - - Boigne de Faye, 55, 375. - - Bombelles, Comte de, 138. - - ---- Marquis and Marquise de, 138. - - Bonaparte, Princesse, Baciocchi, Elisa, 92, 184. - - ---- Princesse Borghèse, Pauline, 48, 49, 52. - - ---- King of Westphalia, Jérôme, 17, 278. - - Bondy de, prefect, 46. - - Bonnay, Marquis de, 247. - - Bonneval, Comte de, 366. - - Bossuet, 398. - - Boufflers, Duchesse de, 194. - - Bouturlin, Comtesse, 170. - - Brignole, Marquis de, 225. - - Brozin, Colonel, 350, 405. - - Bruce, Mme., 102. - - Bruix, Admiral, 238, 239. - - Bühren, Duc le Courlande, 261. - - Burdett, Sir Francis, 44. - - Burke, Edmund, 118. - - - Cagliostro, Comte de, 288. - - Campochiaro, Duc de, 37. - - Canning, George, 66. - - Canova, 216, 257. - - Capo d’Istria, Comte, 4, 36, 102, 213, 316, 327, 408. - - Cariati, Prince, 235. - - Caroline of Bavaria, Queen, 109, 166, 179, 208, 310, 356. - - ---- of Brunswick, Queen of England, 66. - - ---- of Saxony, Queen, 181. - - ---- Mathilde, Queen of Denmark, 4, 7. - - Carpani, poet, 42, 201. - - Casanova, 126, 135. - - Castlereagh, Lady, 94, 164, 206, 281, 319, 381, 382. - - ---- Lord, 5, 8, 31, 65, 91, 150, 164, 172, 203, 208, 281, 283, 313, - 327, 350, 357, 381, 382, 394. - - Catherine I., Empress of Russia, 258, 352. - - ---- II., Empress of Russia, 3, 12, 60, 72, 78, 100, 103, - 131, 132, 155, 169, 214, 217, 222, 246, 255, 259, 283, 284, - 318, 353, 367, 370, 372, 383, 385, 386. - - ---- d’Oldenbourg, Queen of Würtemberg, 17, 39, 90, 154, 166, 171, - 197, 211-217, 279, 318, 326, 349. - - ---- of Würtemberg, Queen of Westphalia, 17, 279. - - Cellini, Benvenuto, 123. - - Cesdars, Duc, 176. - - Chalanton, the Abbé, 54. - - Chambonas, Marquis de, 302-306. - - Charles, Archduke, 70, 82, 90, 166, 198, 319. - - Charles II., Duc des Deux-Ponts, 72, 292. - - ---- XII., King of Sweden, 180, 271. - - ---- XIII., King of Sweden, 181. - - ---- XIV., Bernadotte, King of Sweden, 64, 181, 272. - - ---- d’Augustenbourg, Prince, 176. - - ---- of Bavaria, Prince, 18, 296, 300. - - ---- of Lorraine, Prince, 199, 255. - - Charles-Gustavus, King of Sweden, 130. - - ---- Louis-Frédéric, Grand-Duke of Baden, 289, 318, 356. - - Charles V., 106, 162, 254. - - Charles-Théodore, Elector of Bavaria, 72. - - Charlotte of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, 212. - - ---- of Saxe-Cobourg, Princess, 139. - - Chodkïewïcz, Comte, 148. - - Christian VII., King of Denmark, 34. - - ---- d’Augustenbourg, Prince, 181. - - Christiana of Sweden, Queen, 112. - - Cisternes, R. de, 61. - - Clancarty, Lord, 5. - - Clary, Comte de, 15. - - ---- Princesse, 14, 252, 253. - - Cobentzel, Comte de, 155, 246. - - Cohari, Comtesse de, 39. - - Coigny, Marquise de, 12, 13, 299. - - Colbert, 151, 174. - - Colloredo, Princesse de, 94, 163. - - Conflans, Marquis de, 252. - - Constantin-Paulowitz, Grand-Duke, 4, 25, 27, 99, 102, 203, 313, 314. - - Cornwallis, General, 288. - - Corregio, 215. - - Coupigny, 144. - - Czartoryski, Prince, 64, 144. - - ---- Prince Adam, 316, 344, 345, 379. - - Czerwertinska, Mme. Narischkine, Princesse, 97, 98, 102, 350, 372, - 402. - - - Dalberg, Duc de, 5, 36, 41, 55, 56, 59, 60, 172, 327, 411. - - ---- Duchesse de, 59. - - Danilewski, 201. - - Dante, 64. - - Daschkoff, Princesse, 262. - - Daudet, Ernest, 61. - - Davencourt, 237, 239. - - Davidoff, Mme., 66. - - Davoust, Marshal, 23. - - Decazes, Duc, 61. - - Deffand, Mme. du, 130. - - Delille, 221. - - Dietrichstein, Prince Maurice, 360. - - Dolgorouki, Prince, 213, 351. - - ---- Princesse, 351. - - Dorothée Wilhelmine of Baden, Queen of Sweden, 175-183, 184, 187. - - Doudeauville, Duchesse de, 252. - - Dubois (poet), 48-53. - - Duchesne, General, 189. - - Dupaty, J. B., 9. - - Duport, dancer, 233. - - Dupré, architect, 177. - - Dürer, Albert, 404. - - Durkeim, Comtesse Louise de, 149, 163. - - Duroc, General, 44. - - - Edward III., King of England, 164. - - Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, 4, 7, 97, 98, 100, 109, 142, 171, - 179, 202, 214, 251, 257, 310, 318, 326, 349, 353, 373, - 383, 402. - - ---- Madame, 138. - - ---- Queen of England, 207, 342. - - Elliot, Lord, 63. - - Enghien, Duc d’, 270, 271. - - Exerenza, Duchesse d’, 41, 158, 159. - - Eskeles, banker, 209. - - Esterhazy, Prince Nicolas, 141, 160, 163. - - ---- Prince Paul, 42, 141, 159. - - ---- Prince Vincent, 166. - - ---- Princesse Marie, 94, 102, 139, 140, 141, 148, 163, 400. - - ---- Princesse Paul, 39, 120, 164, 165, 207. - - ---- Princesse Thérèse, 232. - - Estrées, Gabrielle d’, 415. - - Etienne, Charles-Guillaume, 232, 320. - - Eugène de Savoie, Prince, 12. - - - Falk, Baron de, 208. - - Fauche-Borel, 300, 420. - - Ferdinand I., King of the Two Sicilies, 30, 150. - - ---- II., Emperor of Germany, 198. - - ---- III., Grand-Duke of Tuscany, 166, 184. - - ---- of Prussia, Prince, 395. - - Fersen, Comte Jean-Axel de, 175, 177, 178, 183, 302, 304. - - Foneron, banker, 285, 287. - - Fontenay, de, 227. - - Fouché, Duc d’Otrante, 49-53. - - Fox, Charles, 65. - - Francis I., 167. - - ---- I., Emperor of Austria, 6, 28-34, 73, 76, 79, 88, 89, - 90, 105, 106, 109, 112, 131, 139, 142, 165, 171, 202, 211, - 212, 256, 267, 278, 309-312, 318, 326, 353, 356, 381, 382, - 415, 417. - - Frederic I., King of Würtemberg, 5, 17, 31, 83, 109, 166, - 171, 212, 278, 279, 280. - - ---- II., King of Prussia, 33, 100, 131, 132, 155, 194, 199, - 240, 347, 404. - - ---- III., Emperor of Germany, 348. - - ---- VI., King of Denmark, 31, 33, 34, 166, 171, 275, 297, - 298, 308, 310, 318, 373, 380, 381. - - Frederic-Augustus I., King of Saxony, 5, 45, 65, 66, 204. - - Frederic-William III., King of Prussia, 4, 6, 17, 33, 37, - 42, 91, 93, 95, 99, 102, 155, 166, 171, 172, 202, 204, 254, - 271, 296, 298, 310, 312, 318, 326, 343, 347, 348, 373, 409, - 414. - - ---- ---- IV., King of Prussia, 4, 319. - - Frïes, Comte de, 209. - - Fuchs, Comte de, 157. - - ---- Comtesse Laure de, 41, 42, 43, 46, 55, 94, 141, 156, 157, 319, - 323, 326, 328, 331, 341, 405. - - Fürstenberg, Princesse de, 94. - - - Gagarin, Prince, 213, 351, 405. - - ---- Princesse, 213. - - Galitzin, Prince, 213, 227, 228-230. - - Garnerin, aeronaut, 85. - - Gaulot, Paul, 176. - - Geffroy, 176. - - Genlis, Comtesse de, 211. - - Gentz, Frederic de, 42, 158, 201, 255. - - Geoffrin, Mme., 130. - - George II., King of England, 306. - - ---- III., King of England, 4, 306. - - ---- IV., King of England, 31, 66, 292. - - Gey-Muller, banker, 209, 360. - - Golowkin, Comte, 245-248. - - Gonzalvi, Cardinal, 150, 163. - - Goubault, Mlle., 143. - - Gramont, Duc de, 291. - - Graeffer, Frantz, 253. - - Griffiths, Julius, 8, 9, 202, 209, 214, 248, 268, 287, 288, 292, - 383, 386, 394, 397. - - Guérin, Pierre. 143. - - Gustavus III., King of Sweden, 175, 176, 181. - - Gustavus-Adolphus II., King of Sweden, 271. - - ---- IV., King of Sweden, 172-184, 270-272. - - - Hadick, Comte, 113-116. - - ---- Comtesse Constance, 113-116. - - Hamilton, Lady, 30. - - Hardenberg, Prince de, 4, 36, 64, 172, 203, 351. - - Haugwitz, Comte de, 172. - - Haydn, 24, 141, 143, 275, 311. - - Hédouville, 22. - - Henri II., 162. - - ---- IV., 260, 415. - - Hesse-Philipstadt, Princess of, 143, 299, 300. - - Hiller, General, 33. - - Hohenwarth, Archbishop Prince de, 311. - - Hood, Admiral, 269. - - Hortense, Queen, 143, 144, 323-325, 413. - - Humboldt, Baron Wilhelm von, 4, 94, 172, 276, 395. - - - Isabey, 78-83, 120-125, 138, 309, 354, 394-396. - - Ivan VI., Emperor of Russia, 170. - - - Jean VI., King of Portugal, 39. - - ---- of Austria, Archduke, 166. - - Johnson, Samuel, 11. - - Joseph I., Emperor of Germany, 127. - - ---- II., Emperor of Germany, 34, 81, 84, 127, 131, 197, - 254, 273, 396, 404. - - Josephine, Empress, 59, 124, 361, 363, 405. - - Juan of Austria, Don, 129, 300. - - - Kara-Mustapha, Grand Vizir, 128, 319. - - Kinsky, Chanoinesse, 41, 157. - - Kisseleff, Comte Paul, 350, 351. - - Kleber, General, 39. - - Klinkowström, Colonel, 176. - - Komar, Comte, 345. - - Koreff, Doctor, 42, 201. - - Korsakoff, General, 403. - - Koslowski, Prince, 4, 95, 99, 100, 103, 201, 215, 217, 261, 262-264, - 300, 320, 327, 380, 381, 383, 408, 410, 411, 412, 415. - - Kourakin, Prince, 262. - - Kraskowitz, aeronaut, 85. - - Krazinski, General, 343. - - Krüdner, 347. - - ---- Baronne de, 412. - - Kutusoff, Field-Marshal, 403. - - - Labrador, Chevalier de, 37, 150. - - Lacroix, Paul, 12, 13. - - Lafont, de, 234. - - La Fontaine, Jean de, 130, 375. - - La Garde, Comte de, 10, 14, 19, 67, 77, 211. - - La Harpe, 130. - - Lamballe, Princesse de, 130. - - Lannes, Marshal, 238, 239. - - Lanskarowska, Comtesse, 345. - - Las-Cases, Comte de, 22, 76. - - Lascy, Marshal Comte de, 131. - - La Tour-du-Pin, de, 5, 150, 311. - - Laudon, General Baron de, 131. - - Lauzun, Armand de Biron, Duc de, 13. - - La Vallière, Duchesse de, 101, 103, 143, 350. - - Lazanski, Comtesse, 318. - - Lebrun, Charles, 231. - - Leopold I., Emperor of Germany, 127. - - ---- I., King of the Belgians, 139, 145, 166. - - ---- of Naples, Prince, 150, 311, 319. - - Le Sage, 51. - - Lestocq, Comte de, 261. - - Lesueur, Eustache, 252. - - Lezenska, Isabel, 148. - - Lichtenstein, Prince Charles de, 167. - - ---- Prince Jean de, 163, 185. - - ---- Prince Maurice de, 168, 174, 360. - - ---- Princesse Jean de, 39, 94, 163, 174, 207, 233, 319. - - Ligne, Hélène Massalska, Princesse de, 15, 131, 252. - - ---- Louise de Duras, Princesse de, 252. - - ---- Marshal Jean de, 254. - - ---- Marshal Prince Charles-Joseph de, 5, 11-19, 31, 37, 67-84, 96, - 105, 117-136, 139, 144, 149, 154-156, 161, 164, 166, 169, - 190-200, 218-221, 232, 233, 244-255, 261, 283, 284, 298, - 299, 337, 349, 369, 380. - - Ligne, Prince Charles de, 15, 131, 252. - - ---- Prince Édouard de, 252. - - ---- Prince Ernest de, 252. - - ---- Prince Eugene-François Lamoral-Charles de, 252. - - ---- Prince Louis de, 15, 252. - - Livry, Marquis de, 361. - - Loevenhielm, Comte de, 172. - - Londonderry, Marquis of, 65. - - Lorrain, Claude de, 404. - - Louis I., King of Bavaria, 18, 289, 300, 319. - - ---- I., King of Etruria, 184. - - ---- II., King of Etruria, 184. - - ---- X., Grand-Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, 5. - - ---- XIII., 165. - - ---- XIV., 44, 48, 57, 101, 102, 143, 147, 151, 174, 175, - 266, 298, 350, 352, 379. - - ---- XV., 42. - - ---- XVI., 60, 63, 309, 311, 336, 356. - - ---- XVIII., 60, 61, 63, 65, 313, 418. - - Louis-Philippe I., 250, 263, 264. - - Louise of Prussia, Queen, 4, 99. - - Lowendahl, Comte de, 302. - - Lubomirska, Princesse Rosalie, 148, 164, 319, 345. - - Lubomirski, Prince, 129. - - Luchesini, Comte de, 150, 402, 404. - - ---- Marquis de, 93, 404. - - Luynes, Duchesse de, 378. - - - Maintenon, Marquise de, 15, 95. - - Malfati, Doctor, 160, 245-251. - - Malte-Brun, 12. - - Manug, Prince, 163. - - Marassi, Comtesse, 144, 149, 164, 232. - - Marguerite de Bourgogne, 300. - - Marialva, Marquis de, 150. - - Maria-Theresa, Empress of Austria, 30, 76, 78, 81, 106, 108, 115, - 131, 200, 220, 273, 358, 396. - - Marie-Antoinette, Queen. 30, 121, 131, 132, 156, 245, 311, 321. - - Marie-Caroline, Queen of Naples, 30, 358. - - Marie Louise, Empress, 59, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 138, 154, 166, 217, - 267, 326, 356. - - ---- ---- Queen of Etruria, 184. - - Marie-Louise d’Este, Empress of Austria, 7, 32, 39, 90, 108, 109, - 111, 112, 113, 136, 141, 142, 147, 149, 155, 171, 311, 320, - 326, 349, 412. - - Marie Stuart, Queen, 42. - - Marmont, Marshal, 36. - - Marmottan, Paul, 92, 184. - - Massillon, 398. - - Maupertuis, 254. - - Maurepas, Comte de, 222, 223. - - Maximilian I., Emperor of Germany, 29, 106. - - ---- II., King of Bavaria, 301. - - ---- d’Este, Archduke, 166. - - Maximilian-Joseph I., King of Bavaria, 5, 17, 31, 33, 72, - 95, 102, 144, 152, 166, 171, 179, 212, 275, 276, 296, 297, - 310, 320, 326, 364, 373. - - Mazarin, Cardinal de, 374. - - Mazeppa, 259. - - Ménage, Gilles, 194. - - Méneval, Baron de, 81. - - Menzikoff, General Prince, 261. - - Metastasio, 126. - - Metternich, Prince de, 36, 42, 79, 94, 172, 205, 225, 260, 265, 312, - 313, 353-356, 378, 394, 410, 412, 414, 418. - - Metternich, Princesse de, 137, 149, 163, 232, 355, 412. - - Milton, 341. - - Mirabeau, Marquis de, 155. - - Molière, 155, 246. - - Montbel, Comte de, 79. - - Monte-Nuovo, Prince de, 217. - - Montesquiou, 70. - - Montesquiou, Mme de, 77, 78, 80. - - Montrond, Comte de, 238. - - Moreau, architect, 138, 295, 309. - - Mortier, Marshal, 403. - - Mozart, 143. - - Münnich, Marshal Comte de, 170, 261. - - Murat, King, 150, 208, 358, 412. - - - Napoleon I., 3, 4, 14, 17, 22, 23, 36, 39, 43, 44, 48, 53, - 59, 62, 65, 66, 76-83, 93, 118-125, 134, 141, 152, 159, 172, - 198, 199, 211, 212, 217, 263, 267-271, 274, 279, 313, 315, - 326, 331, 343, 356, 361, 362, 374, 379, 383, 403, 407, 408, - 410, 420. - - Narischkine, Alexander, 95, 97, 201, 213, 226, 235, 236. - - Neil Campbell, Sir, 80. - - Neipperg, Comte de, 83, 166, 217. - - Nelson, Admiral, 30, 305, 308. - - Nesselrode, Comte de, 4, 36, 95, 172, 213, 345, 346, 396, 407. - - Neukomm, 311. - - Ney, Marshal, 403. - - Nicolas I., Emperor of Russia, 36, 43. - - Noailles, Comte Alexis de, 5, 150. - - Nostiltz, General, 42, 300. - - Nowosilitzoff, 117, 119. - - - O’Béarn, 290-293. - - Ojarowski, General Comte, 19, 138. - - Oldenbourg, Grand duc d’, 211. - - Ompteda, Baron d’, 42, 99, 156, 357, 358. - - Orléans, Princesse Louise d’, Queen of the Belgians, 139. - - Orloff, Alexis, 170, 214. - - ---- General Compte, 214. - - ---- Gregory, 170. - - Oscar II., King of Sweden, 181. - - Ostrowski, Comte, 344. - - Ouvrard, Julien, 238, 239, 362. - - Ouwaroff, General, 200, 255, 346, 350, 403, 419. - - Oxford, Earl of, 207. - - - Pahlen, Comte de, 42, 262. - - Palfi, Comte François, 113, 159, 300. - - ---- Comtesse, 15, 248, 252. - - ---- Ferdinand de, 159. - - Pallain, G., 60. - - Palmella, Duc de, 37, 172. - - Pankratieff, General, 351. - - Paoli, General Pascal, 62, 63. - - Parker, Admiral, 305. - - Paar, Comte de, 176, 177. - - ---- Comtesse de, 149, 266. - - Paul I., Emperor of Russia, 42, 61, 96, 262. - - Percy, Lucien, 12, 131, 252. - - Pereyra, Mme., 360. - - Périgord, Comte Edmond de, 150. - - ---- Comtesse Edmond de, 41, 44, 55, 59, 64, 68, 93, 138, 158, 164, - 172, 376, 377, 412. - - Peter I., Emperor of Russia, 95, 170, 208, 259, 348, 352, - 384, 389. - - ---- III., Emperor of Russia, 262. - - Petersen, Comte, 138, 166. - - Petronius, 249. - - Philip I., King of Spain, 254. - - Philip of Hesse-Hombourg, Prince, 5, 42, 43, 91, 158, 163, 174, 255, - 296, 329. - - Piccini, Nicolo, 183. - - Pinto, de, 93. - - Piper, Comte, 183. - - Pitt, William, 42, 65. - - Pius V., Pope, 129. - - ---- VI., Pope, 241. - - ---- VII., 241. - - Pletemberg, Comte, 41. - - ---- Comtesse, 41. - - Polignac, Duchesse Jules de, 130. - - Pompadour, Marquise de, 375. - - Potemkin, Prince, 12, 75, 103, 351, 353, 369. - - Potier, Ch., 51. - - Potocka, Comtesse Sophie, 19, 42, 45, 54, 66, 213, 245, 351, 365-374. - - Potocki, Comte Alfred, 300. - - ---- Comte Arthur, 119, 139, 345. - - ---- Comte Felix, 227, 365, 369-370, 371, 372. - - ---- Comte Jean, 119, 373. - - ---- Comte Stanislas, 138, 300. - - Pozzo di Borgo, General Comte, 4, 60, 62, 63, 64, 95, 150, 315, 316, - 396, 411, 413, 414. - - Praslin, Duchesse de, 13. - - Pratazoff, Comtesse, 283, 284, 385. - - Prokesch Osten, Comte de, 42, 79. - - - Racine, Jean, 48, 143. - - Radzivill, Prince Antoine, 138, 144, 166, 232, 345. - - ---- Princesse Louise, 395. - - Raily, 287-290, 292-294, 386-388, 393. - - Raphael, Sanzio, 215, 404. - - Razumowski, Comte Alexia, 258. - - ---- Field-Marshal Cyril, 202, 258-260. - - ---- Alexis, Minister, 258. - - ---- Prince André, 60, 95, 199, 202, 203, 210, 213, 222, 256-261, 313. - - Récamier, banker, 335. - - ---- Mme., 141, 153, 238, 330, 335-341. - - Rechberg, Comte Charles de, 150, 276, 296, 297, 300, 301, 364, 373. - - Régnier, Archduke of Austria, 166. - - Reichstadt, Duc de, 21, 42, 71, 77-83, 125, 166, 245, 326, 356. - - Rémusat, A. de, 4. - - Reuss, Prince de, 99, 100, 158, 243. - - Richelieu, Duc de, 19, 60, 61, 66, 255, 348, 396. - - ---- Marshal de, 60, 187. - - Rios, Chevalier de Los, 150, 201. - - Robespierre, Maximilien, 363. - - Rochechouart, General Comte de, 61, 66. - - Rodocanachi, Emmanuel, 92, 184. - - Rodolphe of Hapsbourg, Emperor of Germany, 106, 130. - - Rohan, Prince Louis de, 377. - - Romanzoff, Grand Chancellor, 262. - - Rosemberg, Prince, 288, 386. - - Rossi, Comte de, 150. - - Rostand, Edmond, 79. - - Rouen, Achille, 54, 201, 236, 237, 240, 241, 243, 375. - - Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 15, 70, 78, 132. - - Rozen, Comte de, 178, 179. - - Rubens, 205, 405. - - Ruffo, Commander Alvaro, 37, 172. - - Ruysdael, 88. - - Rzewuska, Comtesse Rosalie, 147, 148, 164, 319. - - Rzewuski, Comte, 148. - - - Sagan, Duchesse de, 40, 94, 120, 157. - - Saint-Germain, Comte de, 288. - - Saint-Marsan, Comte de, 48, 53, 150. - - Salieri, 68, 311. - - Salisbury, Alice of, 104. - - Salm, Prince de, 77. - - Salvox, Marquis de, 133. - - Sapieha, Prince Paul, 345. - - ---- Princesse Paul, 39, 345. - - Saxe-Teschen, Duc de, 402. - - Saxe-Weimar, Grand-Duchess Marie of, 90, 166, 171, 318, 349. - - Schenye, Louis de, 167. - - Schiller, 138. - - Schönborn, Comte de, 144. - - ---- Comtesse de, 149. - - Schönfeldt, Comte de, 143, 107, 231. - - Schwartzenberg, Eléonore de, 149. - - ---- Marshal Prince de, 21, 25, 33, 265, 327, 356, 359. - - ---- Pauline de, 149. - - ---- Prince Joseph de, 21. - - ---- Princesse de, 163. - - Sebastiani, Marshal, 13. - - ---- Maréchale, 13. - - Ségur, Marshal de, 231, 246. - - Serent, Duc de, 121. - - Serrurier, Marshal, 22. - - Sévigné, Marquise de, 207. - - Shakespeare, William, 9, 263, 274. - - Sidney Smith, Admiral, 39, 91, 147, 172, 268-275, 278, 289. - - Sigismond, Emperor of Germany, 118. - - Sinclair, George, 43, 44. - - ---- Sir John, 44. - - Siniavin, Admiral, 316. - - Sobieski, John, 118, 128, 129, 319. - - Souvaroff, General, 60, 96, 213. - - ---- Princesse Hélène, 96, 103, 149, 213, 396-400. - - Spiegel, Baronne, 15, 252. - - Stackelberg, Comte de, 4, 350, 353. - - Staël, Baronne de, 12, 91, 133, 134, 135. - - Stahrenberg, Princesse de, 163. - - Stair, Lord, 401. - - Stanislas-Augustus, King of Poland, 379. - - Stein, Baron de, 36. - - Sterne, Lawrence, 9. - - Struenzée, J.-F., 4. - - Stewart, Lord. English Ambassador, 90, 151, 205, 267, 341, 410. - - Sully, Duc de, 260, 415. - - - Taigny, Edmond, 121. - - Talleyrand, Mme. Grant, Princesse de, 238, 239, 240. - - ---- Prince de Bénévent, 5, 14, 36, 40, 55-60, 64-65, 96, 121, 150, - 204, 208, 211, 236-243, 309, 311, 312, 313, 315, 327, 351, - 353, 375-379, 412, 414, 416-419. - - Tallien, 362. - - ---- Mme., 362, 363. - - Talma, 101. - - Tascher de la Pagerie, Comte de, 60. - - Tasso, 137, 372. - - Teniers, David, 88. - - Tettenborn, General, 4, 20-25, 47, 91, 201, 242, 255, 290, 396. - - Theodore I., King of Corsica, 275, 276. - - Thierry, Baron, 147. - - Titians, 405. - - Tolstoy, Comtesse, 100. - - ---- Marshal Comte, 100, 101, 351. - - Torlonia, Duc de, 241, 242. - - Torstenson, Comte de, 180, 182. - - ---- Field-Marshal, 180. - - Tour-et-Taxis, Princesse de la, 39, 94, 99, 147. - - Trauttmansdorff, Comte de, 143, 167, 172. - - ---- Marshal Prince de, 120, 137, 143, 161, 318. - - Trazegnies, Marquis de, 252. - - Trembecki, poet, 373, 374. - - Tressan, Comte de, 194. - - Troubetzkoi, Prince, 213, 351. - - Turach, Captain Albert, 307. - - Turenne, Marshal de, 125. - - Tyskewiez, Mme., 378. - - - Urgate, Comtesse d’, 149. - - - Vandal, Albert, 211. - - Van Dyck, 215, 405. - - Varnhagen, 42. - - Vatel, 207. - - Vaudémont, Princess de, 378. - - Vaudreuil, Comte de, 130. - - Vestris, 381. - - Vitzay, Comte, 286. - - Volkonski, Prince, 95, 213. - - ---- Princesse, 102. - - Voltaire, 130, 132, 155, 274, 275. - - - Walluzen, Comtesse, 319. - - Walmoden, Field-Marshal, 42, 158, 163, 255. - - Wallstein, Comte de, 138, 232. - - ---- Prince de, 135. - - ---- Princesse de, 163. - - Wargemont, Viscomte de, 167. - - Wellesley Pole, 382. - - Wellington, General Duke of, 381, 394, 414. - - Werner, Zacharie, 398, 399. - - Wessemberg, Baron de, 172. - - Wilhem, Mlle. de, 147. - - William, Duke of Hesse-Cassel, 5. - - ---- I., King of Würtemberg, 5, 17, 32, 98, 211, 212, 213, - 215-279, 289, 319. - - Wintzingerode, Comte de, 36, 150, 207, 351. - - Witt, Comte Jean de, 45, 367-370. - - ---- General Comte de, 4, 42, 45, 46, 48, 53, 54, 154, 156, 201, - 244, 245, 255, 297, 298, 301, 305, 320, 321, 327, 346, 369. - - ---- Princesse Lubomirska, Comtesse de, 45. - - Woronzoff, Chancellor, 170. - - Wortzel, 369. - - Woyna, Comte Alfred de, 233. - - ---- Comte Félix de, 45, 138, 143, 160, 166, 233. - - ---- Comtesse Sophie de, 138, 149. - - Wrède, Marshal Prince de, 36, 326. - - Wurbna, Comte de, 146, 147. - - ---- Comtesse Flore de, 138. - - Wurmbrandt, Comte de, 162. - - - Yblonowska, Princesse, 138, 143, 149. - - York, Duke of, 32. - - Ypsilanti, Alexandre, 4, 87, 91, 92, 103, 112, 133, 201, 231, 242, - 255, 297, 327, 396, 406-409. - - ---- Constantin, 91. - - ---- Demetrius, 91. - - - Zaiguelius, the Abbé, 311. - - Zamoyska, Comtesse, 39, 144, 235, 344. - - Zawadowski, 222, 294, 296, 301. - - Zohny, Comte, 138. - - Zibin, Colonel, 19, 20, 90, 285, 296, 298, 402, 404. - - Zichy, Comte Charles, 138, 145. - - ---- ---- François, 319. - - ---- Comtesse Julie, 94, 120, 137, 138, 143, 149, 264, 318, 326. - - ---- ---- Sophie, 164, 231, 319. - - - Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, (late) Printers to Her Majesty - at the Edinburgh University Press - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not -changed. Accent marks in non-English words were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -single and double quotation marks retained unless the correction was -unambiguous. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -Index not systematically checked for proper alphabetization or correct -page references; many entries in the Index are spelled or accented -differently than on the pages they reference. - -Page 118: “oppose the fact” was printed as “oppose to fact”; changed -here. - -Footnote 57: “^e” indicates a superscripted “e”. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Anecdotal Recollections of the -Congress of Vienna, by Auguste Louis Charles, compte de La Garde-Chambonas - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS--CONGRESS OF VIENNA *** - -***** This file should be named 54061-0.txt or 54061-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/0/6/54061/ - -Produced by Josep Cols Canals, Charlie Howard, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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