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”.