1848
_Sagan, January 4, 1848._--I am quite overwhelmed by the death of
Madame Adélaïde.[122] It is a misfortune for the King, for the poor
and for my children. In her I lose a friend who regretted daily the
loss of M. de Talleyrand, whose death I have also every reason to
deplore. And thus the sad year of 1847 has come to an end with this
sudden blow, and I can quite understand that the King's private
friends begin the year 1848 under gloomy auspices. The political
horizon seems very dark. I do not maintain that the turn of the north
will never come, but at the present moment the south is in a very
feverish condition.
[122] Madame Adélaïde died rather suddenly on December 31, 1847.
_Sagan, January 6, 1848._--There is some truth in Madame de Lieven's
remarks concerning Humboldt: I do not assert that he is absolutely
radical, but his liberalism is of a very advanced type and at Berlin
he is thought to be urging the Princess of Prussia along the path
which she does not always follow with sufficient prudence. However,
Humboldt is too clever to compromise himself and though he may make
himself conspicuous to some extent, he is at bottom a remnant of the
few disappearing elements of the eighteenth century.
I know enough of King Louise Philippe to be convinced of his courage
and his presence of mind: when therefore I saw the submission of
Abd-el-Kader in the newspaper, I at once considered that the King
would regard this event as counterbalancing his grief in some
degree.[123] The ties of affection which united him to his sister were
so strong that he probably will not feel his loss most deeply at the
first moment, but as life resumes its usual course, when he finds that
she is not present to listen to him and to share his thoughts at the
time when he used to visit her and give her his confidence, his
isolation will be felt and sadness will begin. The Queen is
undoubtedly no less devoted and loyal to him, but she is to some
extent preoccupied by family cares and her mind does not run in the
same direction; she is not always in the King's room awaiting the
royal pleasure at every moment, while her religious tendencies are in
advance of those of the King. In short she may be much but she cannot
be everything. However, it is much better that the King should survive
his sister than that he should have died before her, for such a shock
would have killed Madame forthwith, I am perfectly certain.
[123] Notwithstanding the victory of General Bugeaud at Isly,
Abd-el-Kader, an energetic character, had contrived to continue
the struggle in Algeria. In a final engagement, however, his most
devoted adherents fell, and in 1847 he was obliged to surrender
to General Lamoricière. Abd-el-Kader was kept a prisoner in
France until the proclamation of the Empire. After Napoleon III.
had set him at liberty he lived in Syria as a faithful and
devoted friend of France.
_Sagan, January 10, 1848._--Though I am not free from care when I am
in good health, it must not be imagined that I have a terror of sudden
death, the occasion of which I cannot foresee, though of its certainty
I have no doubt. I have no wish to die, but I have no pleasure in
life. My life's work has certainly been done and all my tasks are
accomplished. What remains affects me but little. It is but a matter
of filling up the time and it is hardly worth the little daily efforts
which it costs. However, I refuse to be overcome by depression. I have
made up my accounts and settled my affairs, and have therefore no
reason for sadness, and as long as I am alive my energy will continue;
but I can never grow resigned to the idea of finding myself useless,
and I trust that God will be so gracious as to leave me the power of
sympathy with the wants of those about me until the last moment. If I
did not love the poor I should think myself more miserable than they.
Fortunately I feel more drawn towards them every day and they
compensate for many losses.
_Sagan, January 12, 1848._--I have been invited to the funeral
ceremonies of Madame Adélaïde at Dreux. The King is greatly depressed
and feels very lonely. I am very anxious as to what this year 1848 may
have in store for me.
It seems that the Duc de Montpensier has been commissioned to arrange
his aunt's private papers.
_Sagan, January 18, 1848._--I am carefully reading the debates in the
French Chambers and have been delighted by the noble answers of the
Chancellor[124] and the clever replies of M. de Barante to this M.
d'Alton Shée who carries his tactlessness too far.[125] The general
prospect seems dark and there is no point upon the horizon to which I
can look with satisfaction.
[124] The Duc Pasquier.
[125] In the session of January 10, at the Chamber of Peers, M.
de Barante, reporter to the committee, had read the proposed
Address in reply to the speech from the throne. The proposal was
vigorously attacked by the Comte d'Alton Shée who spoke for the
dynastic party and had suddenly joined the opposition from the
outset of the agitation for reform which preceded the revolution
of February 1848. The Comte d'Alton Shée did not hesitate to
express opinions entirely revolutionary, even while speaking in
the Chamber and in this session he fulminated with all his
eloquence against the foreign policy of M. Guizot, piling up
accusations haphazard with reference to Portuguese, Swiss, and
Italian affairs.
_Sagan, January 20, 1848._--I have been attentively reading the speech
upon the Address in the Chamber of Peers, and was charmed by the clear
and noble speech of the Duc de Broglie, while I was reduced to tears
by the brilliant oration of M. de Montalembert on the affairs of
Switzerland, as he spoke with such sincere emotion, with such
cleverness and resource, and exposed so entirely the intrigues of the
abominable Lord Palmerston.[126] I really do not know why every one
should be so ready to consider that intermediary who is the curse of
the age: it seems quite obvious to me that M. Guizot has been duped
by him in the matter of Switzerland; in his place I should have been
better inspired, and I cannot imagine how any one can cease to
distrust him after the many experiences of his bad faith.[127]
[126] In the session of January 14, the Chamber of Peers resumed
discussion of the seventh paragraph of the Address referring to
Switzerland, and M. de Montalembert obtained one of his finest
oratorical triumphs when he stigmatised in the loftiest terms the
iniquitous and barbarous abuses of the revolutionary tyranny of
which Switzerland was providing sad and grievous instances.
[127] The policy of Lord Palmerston who had returned to the
Foreign Office in 1846, had once more resumed a revolutionary
character; particularly in the affair of the Sonderbund he was
seen to be supporting Ochsenbein and Dufour against the Catholic
Powers. He tricked M. Guizot who was negotiating to secure armed
intervention with the help of Prussia and Austria and to oppose
the English policy at a time when the submission of the seven
cantons was already accomplished.
_Sagan, January 26, 1848._--So you are leaving Paris to-day to begin a
new phase of your existence.[128] I could wish that your latest news
from Turin might be satisfactory, but I doubt if this will be the
case. The most important point is that the health of the King of
Sardinia should be restored and fortified; he seems to be a clever and
enlightened Prince, quite aware of the necessities of the age, though
disinclined to make unnecessary concessions to them. I trust that he,
yourself, and Italy in general may have a long and glorious existence.
[128] Extract from a letter addressed to M. de Bacourt who had
just been appointed French Minister at Turin.
I have a long letter from my daughter Pauline full of regret at your
approaching departure, which she regards as another severe trial.
The news of the death of the King of Denmark has just reached us; this
will further complicate the state of affairs in the North, and
apparently Europe[129] will not escape any resulting difficulty. The
King of Denmark was a learned and enlightened monarch and enjoyed an
excellent reputation; I had the honour of seeing him and of knowing
the Queen fairly well, a most saintly person;[130] her mother and mine
were intimate friends, and among my mother's papers I have found
letters from the Duchess of Augustenburg.
[129] King Christian VIII. of Denmark was suddenly taken ill on
January 6, 1848, and died on the 20th of the same month.
Frederick VII., his son by his first marriage, succeeded him.
[130] By birth Princess of Schleswig-Holstein.
_Sagan, January 29, 1848._--Yesterday we saw a remarkable meteor: for
twenty minutes a column of fire seemed to connect heaven and earth;
the sun appeared to be about a third of the way up the sky, and from
the lower part of its disc depended this luminous column which seemed
to be supported by the horizon of the earth.[131] It was a beautiful
and imposing spectacle. Some centuries ago astrologers would
have drawn many horoscopes based upon this event. I draw my
prognostications from newspapers, and I dare not hope that this
phenomenon portends any good.
[131] The same meteor was seen in France a few days previously
above Doullens: a sheaf of luminous rays extended horizontally
from north to south, giving off light denotations comparable to
those produced by a rocket.
_Sagan, February 10, 1848._--On the 5th of the month I was very
agreeably surprised by the arrival of the Prince Bishop of
Breslau.[132] In spite of the unpleasant weather and his bad health he
was anxious to wish me many happy returns of the day and to say mass
here in person on St. Dorothea's Day. He was accompanied by several
ecclesiastics and the chief Catholic lords of the province. The Prince
Bishop proposed my health at dinner in a charming speech, dealing with
the signification of the name of Dorothea and with the arms of
Sagan,[133] which he was good enough to term a speaking coat of arms.
He trembled with emotion and spilled a few drops of wine from his
glass, whereupon he made an end, saying to me, "When the heart speaks,
the hand trembles."
[132] Cardinal Diepenbrock.
[133] The arms of Sagan were an angel upon a golden background.
The typhus fever which is devastating Upper Silesia threatens to
appear here, though we hope that it may be less deadly than it is upon
the other side of Breslau. The extremes of want and hunger have been
more successfully met here than in other parts of the province. In
Upper Silesia this disease has caused dreadful ravages. The doctors
have succumbed to it, and were it not for the Brothers of Charity sent
by the Prince Bishop, the people would be without relief. Four
thousand orphans are wandering about. Mgr. Diepenbrock, following the
example of Mgr. de Quélen after the ravages of the cholera in 1833,
proposes to open a place of refuge for them to which the Catholics of
the province are to devote their time and energy. The plan has been
elaborated here.
_Weimar, February 18, 1848._--We have had a succession of festivities
here in honour of the birthday of the reigning Grand Duchess. The day
before yesterday an excellent performance was given of an opera which
has made much stir in Germany, called _Martha_, by the composer
Flotow. The libretto and the music are very pretty, and the orchestra
was admirably conducted by Liszt. He is Capellmeister to the Weimar
Court, with definite leave of absence for nine months in the year. Of
this he recently took advantage to make a tour in Constantinople and
Odessa, in the course of which he made much money. This evening he is
to play to us privately at the house of the Grand Duchess, after
Prince Pückler-Muskau has read some extracts dealing with his stay
with Mehemet Ali. There is to be previously a little dinner at the
young Court of the Hereditary Prince. Attempts are made here to
cherish the sacred fire of art and literature, which for sixty years
or more has gained for Weimar the title of the Athens of Germany. The
Grand Duchess, in order to perpetuate the tradition, has devoted a
certain number of rooms in the castle to the memory of poets,
philosophers, and artists who have made the district famous. Fresco
paintings recall the various subjects of their works, and the rooms
are decorated with busts, portraits, views of the historical scenes
and curious sites, and pieces of furniture of different periods. The
Grand Duchess enjoys a considerable private fortune, which she expends
very nobly upon charitable foundations, and in the decoration of her
residences. For a hundred years the Court of Weimar has been very well
divided among various Princesses; the grandmother of the present Grand
Duke was the patroness of Schiller, of Goethe and Wieland, and under
her patronage the classical literature of Germany was able to
flourish; her daughter-in-law, the mother of the present Grand Duke,
was the only Princess of Germany who was able to overawe Napoleon. She
saved the kingdom for her husband, the Duke, by her courage and
firmness. M. de Talleyrand often took pleasure in describing the
scenes in which this Princess confronted the conqueror. The
daughter-in-law of the present Grand Duchess, the Princess of the Low
Countries, is also clever and well educated; she has a charming voice,
great tact, and a simple manner which increases the effect of her good
qualities; everything shows that she will be worthy to continue the
tradition of the remarkable Princesses who have reigned over the Court
of Weimar. Among them one might almost include the Duchess d'Orléans,
as her mother was a sister of the reigning Grand Duke.
_Berlin, February 28, 1848._--The day before yesterday I was far from
thinking that an interval of forty-eight hours would have brought such
vast changes of the situation. The telegraph has successively
announced a series of events, though without details, none of which,
however, prepared us for the startling news of the abdication of Louis
Philippe, and of the regency of the Duchesse d'Orléans.[134] We had no
knowledge of the causes or exigencies of the situation, nor can we say
what events can be ascribed to prudence or to weakness; but apart from
the historical value of these events, which we shall learn later, the
simple fact is sufficiently crushing to cause general consternation
here, which is equally widespread among all parties from the highest
to the lowest. The considerations which throng upon the mind are the
same in every case, and there is only one way of regarding the
question and its probable results. These results will affect not only
all Governments, but also all private rights. The Princess of Prussia,
who is united to her cousin by the keenest sympathy, is quite
overwhelmed; she thinks that my presence may help her to bear the
weight of anxiety, so that I have spent many hours with her in
conjectures upon all these dreadful events, and in lamentations
concerning the mystery which still veils the greater part of this
drama, or, rather, of this sad tragedy. These grievous events will be
re-echoed more quickly and more loudly in Italy than anywhere else;
the rest of Europe will then follow, for the respite momentarily
granted cannot be long. The fact is that it is impossible to find a
single part of Europe where undisturbed peace and quiet is certain.
Even America does not seem to me to be secure from disintegrating
elements; such is the general tendency of the age, and we must learn
to endure it in the positions in which Providence has naturally placed
us. I am thankful, however, that I had induced Pauline to leave Paris
on February 23 for Le Délivrande.[135] I had disapproved of this plan
in view of the coldness of the season, but I am now tempted to think
it quite providential. This poor child's nerves have already been so
shaken that they would have been overstrained by the sight and uproar
of the city in tumult.
[134] King Louis Philippe who had resolved too late upon
electoral reform and the dissolution of his ministry, was
surprised by the massacre of the Boulevard des Capucines on
February 23. On the 24th the whole of Paris was in a ferment, the
revolution was triumphant and the King resolved to abdicate. He
left the Tuileries and took refuge at first in the Castle of Eu
and was under the delusion that his grandson, the Comte de Paris,
might succeed him, but on the 25th he learnt that the Republic
had been proclaimed and was forced to take refuge in England.
[135] The Marquise de Castellane had gone with her children to La
Délivrande, a village near Caen, which owes its origin to a
famous pilgrimage of the Virgin. Mgr. de Quélen had there uttered
ardent prayers that M. de Talleyrand might die a Christian death.
Poor Madame Adélaïde died at the right time and God has rewarded her
affection for her brother by sparing her this bitter grief. This is
also true of M. de Talleyrand; I cannot say the same of the Duc
d'Orléans, who might have been able to turn these terrible events in
another direction if he had been alive.
Considerable excitement is beginning in Russia, but it is true to say
that the health of the Emperor Nicholas is very bad. He has an
eruption at the knee-joints which makes it difficult for him to walk,
and the want of exercise consequently increases the sluggishness of
the liver to which he is subject; in short, his health gives cause for
anxiety.
_Berlin, March 2, 1848._--Since February 28 the most frightful news
has arrived every hour with despairing rapidity. To-day a rumour is in
circulation which seems to indicate a tendency to a counter-revolution
at Paris; I admit that I put no faith in it. My last direct news is
dated the 24th, and was written during the quarter of an hour for
which the regency of the Duchesse d'Orléans lasted. Letters of the
same date have arrived at Berlin, and we have the _Moniteur_ of the
25th, but nothing more. These messages have not been delayed, and so
we must withhold our judgment upon events and upon the people who have
figured in this tragedy until we know the combination of events which
induced the King to yield, and has, so to speak, paralysed his action
and that of his family. These unfortunate people are already the
objects of disapproval and criticism; I think it would be better to
suspend any final judgment. Appearances, however, are very strange,
and incline one to think that M. Guizot and the Duchesse d'Orléans
have both shown courage and firmness in their several spheres of
action. The English post which arrived yesterday evening gave no news
of Louis Philippe or his family; they are said to be all at London,
but on this subject there is no official or certain news, and the
movements of individuals are marked by extreme uncertainty. The
Marquis de Dalmatie[136] is playing a strange part here; thirty-six
hours ago he sent away his servants, has been selling his furniture
and his diamonds, complaining of his poverty, and going from door to
door saying that he is a poor _émigré_, and cursing the Sovereign whom
he represented six days ago. He does not thereby improve his position.
It is thought that as long as the Duchesse d'Orléans and the Comte de
Paris are on French territory he ought to maintain his official
position and adopt the attitude which it requires; moreover, it is
known that his father is very rich, and it is improbable that
confiscation would take place except in cases of actual exile. I shall
therefore advise my children not to become _émigrés_, as I remember M.
de Talleyrand's constant advice against this course.
[136] He was then French Minister at Berlin.
The excitement here with regard to the European consequences of the
days of February may easily be imagined. The Belgian Minister, M. de
Nathomb, told me yesterday that a strong anti-French movement was
becoming manifest in Belgium. Herr von Radowitz started for Vienna
last night, and Prince William, the King's uncle, has gone to
Mayence.[137]
[137] Herr von Radowitz was then sent to Vienna to try and
arrange some co-operation between the two courts in view of the
revolutionary storm which seemed to be threatening. Prince
William, who had been governor of Mayence from 1844, returned to
his post in view of the course of events.
The telegram which has just come in officially announces the arrival
of the Duchesse d'Orléans and her two children at Deutz, on the
outskirts of Cologne.[138] The district of Baden is being overcome by
excitement, and there is much anxiety as to the possible course of
events. People say that there have also been disturbances in
Cassel.[139] May God have pity upon this poor old world and those
members of it in particular who are dear to me!
[138] In the confusion which prevailed during the unhappy day of
February 24, at Paris, when every one fled as best he could, the
Duchesse d'Orléans and her two children, after escaping the
perils which they had run at the Chamber of Deputies, took refuge
with M. Jules de Lasteyrie at the Hôtel des Invalides, which they
left secretly during the night. From Paris to Aix la Chapelle,
the Princess travelled in a public conveyance accompanied by the
Marquis de Montesquiou and M. de Mornay. She then took the
railway to Cologne, and after spending the night at Deutz, she
went to Ems to ask refuge of the Grand Duke of Weimar who placed
the castle of Eisenach at her disposal. It was not until June
1849 that she went to England to visit the Royal Family at St.
Leonards, near Hastings, where the King and Queen had gone in
view of their health.
[139] The old district of Franconia, that is to say, part of
Baden, Wurtemberg and Hesse, was then the scene of a movement
akin to the Jacquerie: the peasants rose in a body and committed
deplorable excesses; castles were burnt and plundered, and
several landowners were killed or barbarously ill-treated. On the
10th of March serious disturbances broke out at Cassel under the
pretext that the newly nominated ministers were the objects of
popular disapproval. The arsenal was stormed and plundered of
weapons; resistance was offered to the troops; the Life Guards
retreated, but the populace held the barracks until the regiment
was disbanded and the officers put upon trial.
_Berlin, March 14, 1848._--The whole country between the Rhine and the
Elbe is in commotion. Even here the troops are confined to barracks
to-day and popular disturbances are expected. If the King had been
willing to convoke the Diet a few days ago difficulties would have
been greatly decreased. The best chance here is to follow
constitutional forms openly and promptly; delay, hesitation, or
intrigue will produce a crisis, the extent of which cannot be
foreseen. Hence the present week is likely to be very critical here;
the burgomasters of the great towns have arrived with terrifying
petitions; revolution is more or less avowed everywhere, and it is
impossible to say what will be or can be done. Meanwhile the poverty
and the typhus fever are increasing.
The Duchesse d'Orléans is at Ems with her two children, travelling as
the Marquise de Mornay: she is anxious to remain entirely incognito
and her confidants therefore deny the fact of her presence at Ems. She
is, however, certainly there, for I have seen people who have talked
to her.
_Sagan, March 24, 1848._--Serious events have taken place at Berlin;
precious time has been lost, and after hesitation half-measures have
been reluctantly begun. Further action has been extorted only by fear,
after two days, March 18 and 19, the horror of which I shall never
forget. Highly disturbing symptoms proceeding from Breslau have
affected Silesia; attacks have been made here upon the town hall and
the garrison; so far the castle has been spared. My servants thought
that my presence might calm the excitement and I hastened to the spot.
So far I have had no reason to regret my action, but as the
neighbourhood of the Russians is a source of extreme and increasing
bitterness, my brother-in-law thinks that I should not stay here and
is sending me back to Berlin, where, however, the atmosphere is by no
means calm. He proposes to stay at Sagan to make head against the
storm and to save what can be saved. Meanwhile the financial crisis is
at its height: there is no money in the country, no one can pay,
bankruptcies are declared on every side, while panic and agitation are
paramount. Pandora's box has been overturned upon Europe. I have just
heard that the Grand Duchy of Posen is in a ferment and as my estates
touch the frontier, I have a further cause for alarm, but I trust in
the mercy of God, am entirely calm, resigned and resolved to bow my
head without murmuring to the decrees of Providence. I only ask from
Heaven the life and health of those whom I love. The uproar at Vienna
has quite amazed me. We advance from peril to peril.[140]
[140] On March 13 a formidable insurrection broke out at Vienna:
the population rose in a body; the railways were torn up and the
air resounded with cries, "The constitution and the liberty of
the Press."
_Berlin, March 30, 1848._--I have now returned here, where the
agitation is far from appeased. Prince Adam Czartoryski arrived
yesterday from Paris, and I need not point out the nature of this new
complication.[141] Complications, however, follow one another with
appalling rapidity. The situation of individuals who have anything to
lose is hardly better than that of the kings whose thrones are
tottering to their fall. For the moment, at any rate, we are all
penniless and neither the war in the east nor the communism of the
west offer any better chances for us in the future, for we are crushed
between these two colossi.
[141] Prince Adam Czartoryski, who retained his delusions, was
inspired with fresh hopes by the disturbances which prevailed on
every side, and from which the Poles were trying to derive some
advantage for themselves. The Prince arrived at Berlin where
disorder was general and proclaimed with considerable effrontery
that Lord Palmerston and M. de Lamartine had promised to
support him by land and sea, if Prussia would declare the
re-establishment of Poland. The presence of Prince Czartoryski at
Berlin was regarded with such disfavour by the Emperor of Russia,
that he informed his Minister, Baron Meyendorff, that he would be
withdrawn from Poland, if the Prince prolonged his stay in that
capital.
It is said that the Prussian Diet will be open on April 2, that is in
two days, though this is not yet certain. In any case the meeting will
be short, as it will only deal with the electoral law.
_Berlin, April 1, 1848._--The Diet which is to open to-morrow will
form a new act in the drama.[142] It is impossible to estimate the
results, and I have lost all interest in forecasts and also in
proposals for a long time. Paul Medem, who is here still, is very
uncertain what his future will be. The news from Vienna does not seem
to me to be particularly reassuring. In general it is scarcely
possible to find a peaceful point on the whole of the globe and the
sole consolation is the remembrance of sure and tried affection which
can defy revolution and absence and everything that walks abroad
throughout this vale of tears.
[142] On April 2, 1848, at midday the second general Diet was
opened at Berlin in one Chamber without any distinction of rank
or representation. The commissary of this Diet, Herr von
Camphausen, the President of the Council, accompanied by all the
Ministers, opened the Diet in the King's name. He delivered a
speech, at the conclusion of which he brought forward proposals
for a law concerning elections for the purpose of bringing into
force upon a wide basis the constitution which the King had
granted to his people after the events of March 18.
_Berlin, April 8, 1848._--The effects of the revolution in Paris have
been felt here and the consequences have been violent, far-reaching
and irremediable. Everything is still in a ferment and the impetus,
far from being exhausted is still proceeding, though not in an upward
direction. The peasants' rising in the provinces is a most disastrous
element in the situation: I am obliged to remain in the town in
consequence, though here the continuance of popular excitement
disagreeably breaks the monotonous and profound melancholy of this
capital. The Metternich family are in Holland preparing for their
crossing to England.[143]
[143] After a collision between the troops and the people at
Vienna on March 13, 1848, and after the insurrection in Venice,
Prince Metternich, who was too prone to overrate his capacity for
resistance, was forced by an infuriated mob to resign and to flee
from Austria with his wife. At first they stayed in Dresden, but
the unpopularity of the Prince was so great that they were
obliged to proceed to Holland and thence to England. In 1849 they
settled at Brussels.
_Berlin, April 12, 1848._--Life is very sad and all classes of society
in great agitation. The members of the Diet all left Berlin yesterday
to seek re-election by their constituents. The fate of the country
depends upon the manner in which this constitutional assembly is to be
composed; it is therefore the duty of all right-minded people to
attempt to secure a seat, and such is the general opinion; but many
things may happen between now and May 22. A net-work of clubs enfolds
the capital and the provinces ever more closely in its toils;
outbreaks are of constant occurrence in every direction; the temper of
the militia is doubtful; the audacity of the agitators, foreign
complications and the infectious examples which have been set in the
west and south and in certain disaffected quarters in the north and in
the east, are enough to make any one lose his head; while the
hesitating attitude of the Government and the absolute abandonment of
any repressive measures are not calculated to restore confidence. The
fifty little tyrants established at Frankfort will certainly do their
best to turn the balance of things; no one has given them any mandate
and yet every one obeys them.[144] The state of affairs, as we see
it, is utterly inexplicable; forecast is impossible. We must live from
hand to mouth and be satisfied when every twenty-four hours have
passed without some unusual shock. We see many bands of police passing
through the town on their way to Posen or Cracow. The Polish
landowners are giving their peasants full liberty, to avoid the danger
of massacre at their hands. The Polish nationality is in arms against
the German and no one can see which of the two will emerge triumphant,
if attempts at reconciliation should fail.[145]
[144] This assembly was spontaneously convoked at Frankfort to
provide the country with a centre of action in case the Princes
declined to support the movement for amalgamation which was then
in progress among the Germanic races. It was dissolved on April
2, after securing from the Princes at the Diet the promise that a
German parliament should meet. A commission, however, was
appointed by the army consisting of fifty members, to secure the
execution of this promise, and these members were ordered to
convoke a national parliament within one month, assuming that a
parliament had not been already elected by the different states.
[145] The news of the Paris Revolution had produced a great
sensation in the Grand Duchy of Posen. A revolt broke out at
Posen itself, where Mieroslawski, who was released from prison on
March 19, formed an army and prepared for war. At Cracow when the
news of the Vienna disturbances came in, seventy thousand Poles
went to Count Deyne, the civil commissary, and demanded the
liberty of four hundred of their compatriots.
_Sagan, April 20, 1848._--The state of public feeling remains
disquieting. If the rebels confined their objections merely to the
moneyed classes, the best of all possible courses would be to let them
take what they want. People have so little money in hand that they
would not get much: but in their frenzy they are ready to attack
archives, titles, contracts, and in short anything that determines and
settles landed tenure. They are also greatly inclined to ill-treat
individuals and to set fire to barns and buildings, whether they are
opposed or not. The position here has grown a little calmer although
emissaries from the Jacobin club at Breslau appeared two days ago and
are attempting to secure the adherence of the wretched little lawyers
who are known in Germany as _Die obskure Literatur_. We heard that
these agitators under pretext of holding a preliminary electoral
meeting were attempting to raise a mob from the lowest of the people
and to show them the quickest and easiest way of disarming the civil
guard. Fortunately precautions have been taken and I have no doubt
that if a demonstration should take place, it would be dispersed
without bloodshed.
The wirepullers of the Berlin clubs are agitating against the form of
election by two stages and are organising a great popular
demonstration to offer a petition in favour of direct election, to the
castle and the Ministry. I do not know whether they will be able to
get many workmen together on this political question: possibly they
might be successful, as the workmen are already greatly disturbed on
the question of pay; from what I hear they are continually parading
the streets. The other day there were serious disturbances directed
against the bakers who were selling bread by fraudulent weights and
who certainly deserved a lesson in consequence, though it was not the
business of the people to give it to them. Meanwhile the workmen are
contracting idle habits and learning to lounge in public: the
workshops where they desire to work are closed by the wirepullers, and
the tailors, for instance, are involuntarily on strike. I do not think
there is any imminent danger of violence, but the general tendency of
things is bad and may well lead to violence. The Poles have sent their
ultimatum to Berlin.[146] They declined to lay down their arms or
separate until their demands had been conceded. The authorities are
busy deliberating and find themselves in a difficult position between
these two peoples, for the Poles decline to consider the demands of
the Germans who insist upon remaining German, and demand that a line
of demarcation should be drawn, making Posen a German capital and
giving Gnesen to the Poles.
[146] There was no ultimatum properly so-called; this was only a
newspaper report. The Polish National Committee merely published
a manifesto proclaiming that until the independence of Poland was
re-established, the Poles would consider any arbitrary division
of their national districts as a new partition of Poland, and
threatened to protest against any such violation before Europe as
a whole. This protest was eventually made on April 26 by two
letters from Prince A. Czartoryski, addressed to M. de Lamartine,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Paris, and to Baron Arnim who
held the same position at Berlin.
Nobody knows what to believe of Italy, as the news from that quarter
is so contradictory. Letters from Vienna are sad and depressing:
England offers another spectacle, very different and very glorious for
herself, but I must say that I am furious to see Lord Palmerston, who
has so largely contributed to this European upheaval, boasting of the
comfort, of the glory and of the wealth of the English, which
naturally increases with continental distress.
_Sagan, April 24, 1848_.--The following is a letter from Vienna sent
to me by the Russian Minister, my cousin Medem: "Vienna is in a state
of complete depression: there are no social gatherings; the Prater is
deserted and the Opera is closed, as the public will not allow the
Italians to play. Wallmoden has come to us from Italy; he is said to
be here in the hopes of arranging a scheme with the Government, if not
for resuming the offensive in Italy upon a large scale,[147] at any
rate for regaining possession of Venice and the part of Frioul which
is in rebellion. Communications with the army under arms continue to
be confined to the Tyrolese passes. People are properly indignant at
the conduct of F. Zichy, of Count Palfy at Venice and Count Ludolf at
Treviso, who capitulated disgracefully without adequate reason.[148]
Dissatisfaction and uncertainty of the future is general: every day
the unpardonable sluggishness of the old administration, both civil
and military, becomes more obvious. Their incompetency is quite
incredible unless one has a knowledge of certain details. The peace of
Vienna has not been seriously disturbed of late, but unpleasant
demonstrations have taken place: these are provoked by unwise people,
generally from abroad, who harangue the people in public meetings, in
the Odeon or in similar places; publications and inflammatory notices
appear everywhere and foment uneasiness in the more sensible part of
the nation, especially among the upper classes. It is quite time that
this came to an end, and if it goes on the situation will become
complicated. For the moment, at any rate, the state of affairs is much
better here than in the capital or the Prussian monarchy, but what
guarantee is there for the future?"
[147] The noble and chivalrous Charles Albert, desiring to throw
off Austrian influence, had formed a highly organised army
and proclaimed a constitution. On him the hopes of Italian
independence were set. Taking advantage of the insurrection which
had broken out at Milan on March 18 and which had been followed
by the defeat of the Austrian army and the flight of the Archduke
Reynier, the King had declared war upon Austria on March 20. At
first he rapidly carried the positions of the enemy as far as the
Adige, but he was attacked by superior forces and afterwards (in
August) he lost the murderous battle of Custozza and was obliged
to evacuate Milan.
[148] After Milan, Venice revolted in turn. On March 20 the
Arsenal was captured by the insurgents. The civil governor, Count
Palfy, placed his authority in the hands of Count Zichy, the
military governor, who hesitated before the prospect of bloodshed
and finally surrendered to the municipality and made a
capitulation with the provisional government on March 22; Venice
was thus freed from the Austrians. On March 21 Treviso had also
been forced to capitulate and the Austrian garrison had left the
town.
_Sagan, April 30, 1848._--We have now reached the end of the second
month of this upheaval, the shocks of which are, I fear, far from
reaching their conclusion. At the present moment Europe is divided
between electoral passion and the flames of civil war. Human passion
is displayed in all its hideousness during the rivalry aroused by the
elections: citizens fight with citizens blindly and furiously, while
anarchy, disorder, restlessness, poverty, despondency and despair is
the picture to be seen everywhere, with a few slight differences.
Those people are only too happy who are but touched by a reaction
which has spent its power and contrive to pass the day without
personal risk, if not without anxiety. Here we shall see what the
elections, which begin to-morrow, will bring forth, and what the
attitude of the country will be during the voting and the counting.
Meanwhile the Press and the clubs are working furiously. Every little
town has its newspaper and every hamlet its orator. The audiences for
the most part do not understand what they hear, but they obey like the
sheep of Panurge. The working classes propose to lay down the law to
the factory directors, who can sell nothing and therefore cannot
increase or even maintain their output or improve the prospects of
their employees. As for the poor people who work upon the land and the
more prosperous class which finds employment on the railway, their
labours have come to an end, and one really does not know what to do
for them. People are dividing with them the last farthing and the corn
from the barns, as they are the objects both of pity and fear.
_Sagan, May 5, 1848._--The Grand Duchy of Posen is at present the
scene of the greatest atrocities; civil war is in progress with
unheard of refinements of cruelty. The French newspapers do not know
these facts or decline to state them, but the details which I have
from first hand evidence are enough to make one's hair stand on end.
On May 1 the Prussians were utterly defeated by the insurgents who,
armed with scythes, disembowelled the horses.[149] Several Polish
lords have been massacred by their peasants, and they can only secure
their personal safety by instigating the peasants against the Prussian
army.
[149] The Prussian troops commanded by General Blum, had marched
upon Miloslaw which they captured after a desperate combat; but
an advance guard which was pursuing the Poles when approaching a
wood, was received by so sustained a fire, that the Prussians
fled, rushed upon their own infantry which was following them,
broke their ranks and swept the whole force away in rout. The
Poles pursued the Prussians in turn, drove them out of Miloslaw
and captured two of their guns.
_Sagan, May 8, 1848._--To-day the electors chosen a week ago are to
appoint the Prussian representatives. I think that undue hopes are
being set upon constitutional assemblies, and I fear the result may
show a general state of delusion. At Vienna the resignation of Count
Ficquelmont was one of the most unpleasant incidents in the whole
drama:[150] some students entered his house, declaring that they would
no longer have him as Minister; he obeyed and would have run great
risks as he walked to his son-in-law's house if Prince Clary and two
students had not acted as his protectors.
[150] On May 4 Count Ficquelmont, Minister of Foreign Affairs at
Vienna, was forced to resign by a tumultuous demonstration of the
students who regarded him as a pupil of Metternich.
_Sagan, May 21, 1848._--The scenes at Paris on the 15th were
frightful.[151] May Heaven grant that the Moderate Party will use its
triumph energetically, and that it may not be too often called upon to
celebrate such victories.
[151] For several days manifestations in favour of Poland had
been proceeding at Paris. On May 15 a band of insurgents attacked
and invaded the National Assembly, but order was quickly
restored.
To-morrow the constitutional assembly at Berlin is to open. It is so
strangely composed that any beneficial result will be truly
miraculous.
_Sagan, May 25, 1848._--My mind is full of Rome and of the Pope;[152]
I can think of nothing else. I think that if I had been the Holy
Father I should have set sail for America with a few faithful
cardinals, the poor persecuted monks and nuns and all the money and
holy vessels that could be collected: I should have founded a
settlement upon the model of that in Paraguay and could thence have
governed European catholicism in full independence, just as the
American Catholics have been governed for so long. I think the Romans
would speedily have cried out for the recall of the Pope; in any case
he would be at least sheltered from actual indignity and would not be
obliged to sacrifice innocent people and the property of the church.
Possibly my idea is absurd, but at all events there would be something
magnificent about it; whereas the present scenes display nothing but
humiliation and degradation.
[152] On May 1 a revolutionary movement broke out at Rome, caused
by the Pope's refusal to declare war against Austria. The
Ministry resigned: the Pope was threatened with a provisional
government, and declared in a manifesto that as chief Pontiff he
could not declare war but that he left the power of declaring war
as a temporal prince to his Ministry. On May 5 Pius IX. was
forced to accept a Ministry composed wholly of laymen which was
constantly in opposition to him.
I have read with interest and horror the stories of events in Paris on
May 15 and my opinion is that the work of the deliberative assemblies
will produce no good effect. I greatly fear that this will be the
consequence at Berlin, while at Frankfort the assembly is a perfect
babel. The Prussian newspapers already contain Jacobin outcries
against the constitution and I doubt whether the King will be able to
carry through the two-Chamber system, especially with the small
fragment of hereditary right he is anxious to maintain. Breslau is a
horrible centre of communism.
I hear from England that at Claremont domestic quarrels increase the
painful nature of the situation. The sons, disgusted with their forced
inactivity, reproach their father with the loss of his party; he is
wondering what posterity will think of him; and this is all very
unpleasant for poor Queen Amélie whose pride and joy have so long been
the touching unanimity of her whole family. She is also in a very poor
state of health. Their financial position approaches poverty.[153]
[153] The little exiled court lived very quietly at the seat of
Claremont in England which belonged to King Leopold who had
kindly placed it at their disposal.
_Sagan, May 28, 1848._--The Duchesse d'Orléans has settled at the
court of Eisenach: she lives very quietly with her stepmother and the
tutor[154] of her children, but no other attendants. Her pecuniary
resources are very strained. The castle of Eisenach belongs to the
Duke of Saxe Weimar, the uncle of the Duchesse d'Orléans, who has
placed it at the disposal of his niece.
[154] M. Boismilon.
I hear from Vienna that all the Hungarians are breaking up their
establishments and withdrawing either to the country or to Buda or to
Pressburg; the Bohemians are going to Prague. In short, the pretty
town of Vienna, once so cheerful and lively and so aristocratic, is
becoming a desert and is as depressing as one vast village. Princess
Sapieha and Madame de Colleredo have been deeply compromised in the
recent disturbances; they have been forced to go into hiding. The
Archduke Francis Charles has written from Innsbrück to Lord Ponsonby,
asking him in the Emperor's name to join the court in Tyrol with all
his colleagues.
Mr. Bulwer has come back from Spain; he had fomented a revolt at
Seville against the Montpensiers who have been obliged to flee to
Cadiz; the proverb, "Like master, like man" is certainly applicable to
Palmerston and Bulwer.
Great excitement continues to prevail in the streets of Berlin, and
the return of the Prince of Prussia who is expected daily at Potsdam,
will probably produce an explosion.[155] Meanwhile Berlin is
practically surrounded by a force of sixteen thousand men who can be
used if necessary.
[155] It was thought that the Liberalism of Herr von Camphausen
had sufficiently calmed the popular excitement to allow the
Prince of Prussia to return to Berlin. At the outbreak of the
disturbance he had been forced to take refuge in England.
However, no sooner had the Prince arrived than the Camphausen
Ministry was overthrown on June 20, after the capture and plunder
of the Arsenal and the Ministry of Auerswald came into power.
I hear from Paris that Madame Dosne is dying with rage to think that
the revolution could have taken place without being aimed at her
son-in-law. This information may be taken as literally true, as she
was having her third attack of low fever. I also hear that M. Molé and
M. Thiers are both coming forward as deputies and that M. de
Lamartine seems greatly apprehensive that the latter may be
successful.
The atrocious scenes at Naples[156] have produced a bad effect at
Berlin and street excitement is said to have become menacing once
more. The citizens have seized the arsenal.
[156] An insurrection had been broken out at Naples. After six
hours' desperate fighting the royal troops retained possession of
the town, though they lost three or four hundred men. The Chamber
and the National Guard were dissolved and a new Ministry was
formed under the Presidency of Signor Cariati.
_Sagan, June 7, 1848._--Mental equanimity depends upon a thousand
petty circumstances in every case. Only those who are very young and
know nothing of mental trouble, are able to avoid the thousand and one
influences of times, places, things, and even of details apparently
most trivial. I think that Saint Evremond says that the less people
are amenable to pleasure the more they are afflicted by trouble.
Paris seems to be peaceful but at what a price has this result been
obtained? Terrible refinements of cruelty have been committed.
_Sagan, June 12, 1848._--The state of Berlin and Breslau grows
steadily worse. The provinces are correspondingly affected and I
expect to see civil war break out any day. The country populations are
ready to join the revolutionary movement against their overlords and
their priests, but they detest the towns. The peasants do not like the
citizens and are royalists and supporters of the military, though they
are against the nobles and the priests. The result is a strange
confusion which heaven alone can disentangle. The assembly which has
met at Berlin has been hitherto marked by no character except
ignorance and disturbance.
_Sagan, June 18, 1848._--The newspapers and my letters tell me that
Germany is resuming its republican tendencies. Hecker has been elected
for Frankfort. Confusion is thus inconceivable, especially in view of
the increasing dislike which France shows for the deplorable
government under which she placed herself four months ago. She must be
reduced to extremities indeed to turn to the Bonapartist flag, so
miserably represented by Louis Napoleon who is known to be a very poor
figurehead. And what can be said of the frightful scenes at Prague,
and the assassination of poor Princess Windisch-Graetz.[157] I have
also been very anxious on account of Berlin, where the pillage of the
arsenal and the opposition to the Ministry in the Chamber have
diminished the prospect of a peaceful solution; three Ministers,
Arnim, Schwerin and Kanitz, have resigned.
[157] After a bombardment and some street fighting which lasted
from the 12th to the 17th of June, Prince Windisch-Graetz was
able to overcome the insurrection at Prague. During these
struggles his wife was treacherously shot near the window of her
drawing-room, while standing between her sisters, from the other
side of the street.
_Potsdam, June 23, 1848._--I reached here yesterday after staying for
half a day at Berlin. Medem writes from Vienna to his colleague Herr
von Meyendorff and speaks very mournfully of the vacillation and
uncertainty that have prevailed at Innsbrück since the Baron von
Wessenberg has been in power. I am not surprised; Wessenberg is a
kind, clever and good-hearted man, but even from London days I thought
him muddle-headed and this is a terrible hindrance to the conduct of
affairs.
I have news of Prince Metternich: he is sending his sons to a Catholic
college in England as he finds no one who will join his fate and act
as tutor; he is also troubled by pecuniary embarrassments.
The reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenberg-Schwerin has increased the
settlements upon his stepmother, in order that the Duchesse d'Orléans
and her children may gain indirectly a means of greater comfort in
life; a noble and tactful action.
The ministerial crisis here is still in progress and the street uproar
has been thus succeeded by a political disturbance which is no less
dangerous, when a Chamber is composed of ill-assorted elements as that
of Berlin. There was a rumour yesterday evening that a telegram from
Frankfort stated that the assembly in that town had elected a
dictator for Germany in the person of the Archduke John.[158] Here
there was a wish for a triumvirate. Rumour consequently arose that
Prussia had replied to this news by a protest.
[158] In the National Assembly at Frankfort the Committee of the
Fifty had been tempted several times to form a triumvirate as a
centre of power. Eventually a commission of eleven deputies was
elected in June. This commission appointed Archduke John for
Austria, the old Prince William for Prussia, and Prince Charles
for Bavaria. The combination was ironically known as the
directory of the three uncles, these princes being the uncles of
the kings of their respective countries. The proposal was
vigorously opposed, and the Session of June 23 eventually elected
the Archduke John as sole director. A deputation offered the
dignity to the Archduke who accepted it, and appeared in the
National Assembly on the following 12th of July.
_Sagan, June 28, 1848._--I have returned to my domestic hearth. Though
I have hitherto had no great reason to complain of my own corner of
the world, I none the less feel that the earth is mined and is
trembling beneath my feet. The district that I have just left seems to
me to be terribly unsafe. At Paris blood is flowing.[159] For some
days our knowledge of events there has been confined to telegraphic
news from Brussels and is very uncertain. I merely know that my
children are not in the town.
[159] When seven thousand workmen had been dismissed from the
national workshops, a further outbreak caused much bloodshed in
Paris for four days. On that occasion the Archbishop, Mgr. Affre,
was killed upon one of the barricades where he was attempting to
pacify the people.
_Sagan, July 6, 1848._--The struggle in Paris has kept me in a state
of great alarm; fortunately none of my intimate connections have
suffered anything beyond terror and panic. At present the country
districts are becoming dangerous, and so my daughter Pauline has
returned to the city with her son.
Here we are very little better off than in France, and when I consider
the many centres of communistic doctrine in this part of Europe, I
cannot close my eyes to the dangers that threaten us; the less so, as
I am far from thinking that they can be crushed in the manner employed
by Prince Windisch-Graetz at Prague and General Cavaignac at Paris. I
propose to betake myself to Teplitz in a few days and am only awaiting
an assurance that that part of Bohemia has been pacified.
_Teplitz, July 18, 1848._--My journey here from Sagan passed off
without incident, but poverty and restlessness are everywhere
prevalent. The little kingdom of Saxony is, however, less disturbed
than Prussia or than the Saxon Duchies of Thuringen, where the feeling
is pre-eminently republican. At Dresden the Ministry is so Radical
that revolutionaries could hardly wish for anything more. There is
also an idea that the Saxon duchies would be united under the single
and by no means monarchical sceptre of the good King of Saxony, who
retains hardly a shadow of his royal power. Hitherto he has been saved
by the fact that his Minister of the Interior wears no hat or
gloves.[160] He is simply a rustic but is said to be honourable enough
not to betray his master. Teplitz is almost empty and no one thinks of
travelling. Apart from the Clarys and the Ficquelmonts, there is no
one here except a few obscure paralytics. Herr von Ficquelmont regards
the prospects of the Austrian empire in a very gloomy light and seems
to disbelieve any possibility that the Archduke John may save it or
that he may improve the future of Germany. His dealings with the
Vienna students are either hypocritical or are prompted by unworthy or
speculative ambition. At Frankfort he will soon have to struggle
against the separatist tendencies, which are continually becoming more
obvious in Prussia, not merely in high places where they might well
come to nothing, but to an even greater extent among the masses, who
have been wounded in their interests and their pride.
[160] Herr von Pfördten.
_Teplitz, July 22, 1844._--We hear that there is still some
disturbance at Prague, though it is sternly repressed by the iron hand
of Prince Windisch-Graetz. Vienna remains in a complete state of
anarchy. Herr von Ficquelmont told me yesterday that the population of
Berlin was more tumultuous and more vicious than that of Vienna and
that the governmental and administrative machinery was in far better
order at Berlin than at Vienna. On the whole, they are two centres of
disaffection.
_Eisenach, August 8, 1848._--The Duchesse d'Orléans whom I have come
to see is much changed and complains that she grows steadily weaker.
However, she remains calm and reasonable and is not so disinclined as
she was at first to open connections with the older branch of the
family. However, the possibility of forming any such project seems
remote. There is a feeling that dignity must be maintained, while at
the same time no stone should be left unturned to improve the chances
of the future. She is entirely without prejudice; her insight is clear
and her judgment seems to be more direct and to have been fortified by
the great lessons of recent events. She was quite open and kind
towards me; remembrances of the Duc d'Orléans give us a real interest
in one another, and she expressed this fact very graciously by telling
me that for her I stood outside all family questions. She called her
sons and said to them, "Kiss your father's most faithful friend."
_Berlin, August 13, 1848._--Every evening there is some small
excitement in the streets which is fomented by the deplorable
proceedings of the assembly; moreover, the financial Minister, Herr
Hanseman, is proposing laws destined to conclude our ruin. Claims are
being laid by the former provinces which may degenerate into revolts
and lead to civil war. The Pan-Germanic party and the Prussian
separatists, between whom the country is divided, are already
confronting one another in a hostile temper which makes the conflict
imminent. No one can tell what the future may bring forth.
_Sagan, September 9, 1848._--The ministerial crisis at Berlin seems to
make a catastrophe imminent.[161] Civil war or foreign war may be
expected and also a breach between the two constitutional assemblies
of Frankfort and Berlin. In short, numberless eventualities present
themselves and meanwhile private life becomes more and more
impossible.
[161] The discussions concerning the proposal of a deputy, Herr
Stein, with reference to the army and to the control which the
Ministry should exert upon the political opinions of officers,
were concluded in the Chamber against the desires of the Cabinet.
The Auerswald Ministry therefore resigned on September 11; on the
22nd of the same month the King appointed a new Cabinet of which
General Pfuel was President.
_Sagan, September 16, 1848._--There are no Ministers at Frankfort[162]
and none at Berlin. There is a total want of energy at Sans Souci and
unfortunately the troops are showing symptoms of disaffection. Use was
not made of them at the proper time, and agitators have been allowed
to seize the opportunity for shaking their fidelity. The absence of
all legal authority has again aroused the arbitrary greed of the rural
populations, while the Chambers have failed to satisfy their anxiety
for a definite settlement with the overlords: thus burning and pillage
have been begun once more in Upper Silesia. Rothschild of Vienna who
had a fine estate there has just seen it utterly ruined. The fact is
that another bad outbreak is in progress and I am more anxious now
than I have ever been, seeing that the loyalty of the troops has
become doubtful.
[162] It will be remembered that the populations of Schleswig and
Holstein, who wished to be united with Germany, had revolted
against Denmark, and that the Prussians had come to their help.
After several bloody conflicts an armistice was concluded between
Denmark and Prussia at Malmæ on August 26, but the National
Assembly at Frankfort refused to assent to this armistice on the
ground that Prussia did not ask its authorisation. The council of
Ministers and all the Ministers of the Empire had thereupon
resigned.
_Sagan, October 1, 1848._--Things here are going from bad to worse.
The other night some evil-minded persons exploded bombs near the
castle. Our precautions have been taken; my army of defence has been
organised and if we are to perish it will not be without a struggle. I
shall not run away, for I have no personal fear, as I am totally
indifferent on my own account; and then people are always overawed by
courage and determination.
_Sagan, October 5, 1848._--The château of Prince Hatzfeldt has been
attacked by peasants;[163] four of his farms have been burnt, and he
has been obliged to flee. Here everything is comparatively quiet so
far, but the morrow belongs to no one.
[163] The Château of Trachenberg, not far from Breslau.
_Sagan, October 9, 1848._--The post and the Vienna newspapers have
failed to reach us since the day before yesterday. Current rumour
ascribes this absence of direct news to sanguinary causes which are
only too probable at the present time. Every day brings some fresh
horrors.[164] Last week we heard of the massacre of Count Lamberg at
Buda;[165] the hanging of poor Eugène Zichy[166] who was so happy and
so great a favourite at Paris ten years ago; he was hung by these
barbarians in the island where robbers are executed. Yesterday we
heard of the murder of the Comte de la Tour, Minister of War at
Vienna, and of General Brédy.[167] The Black and Yellow party is
fighting in the streets against the Hungarian party. If the Anarchist
party triumphs at Vienna[168] it will be all up with Berlin and
Breslau where people are living upon a powder-mine.
[164] In the morning of October 6 a number of the population of
Vienna opposed the departure of the troops which were marching
upon Hungary to reinforce Baron Jellachich, and a bloodthirsty
struggle broke out. The residence of the Minister of War was
captured by assault, and the Minister, the Comte de la Tour, was
stabbed, hung to a lamp-post, and riddled with bullets. The
troops retired, were driven back at every point and forced to
evacuate the town. The Emperor and the Imperial Family, who had
returned to Vienna in the month of August, were obliged to retire
once more and went towards Olmütz. There the emperor abdicated on
December 2 in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph I.
[165] General Count Lamberg had been appointed Commander-in-Chief
of the Hungarian troops on September 25: the National Assembly at
Pesth refused to recognise this nomination and declared all
guilty of high treason who should obey him, and on his arrival at
Pesth put him to death on the bridge which unites Buda and Pesth.
[166] When Hungary was in a state of insurrection, the insurgents
seized Count Eugène Zichy, accused him of communicating with the
Austrian Army and of distributing copies of the emperor's
proclamation. He was tried before a court presided over by
Georgei and was condemned to death and shot in the island of
Czepel and not hung, as the first rumour related.
[167] General Brédy was killed at Vienna on October 6, 1848,
during the struggle between the people and the National Guard in
the suburb of Leopoldstadt, a few hours before the insurgents
seized the residence of the Minister of War.
[168] By the Black and Yellow party is meant the Imperial party,
the members of which wore these colours.
_Sagan, October 25, 1848._--Everything here is in suspense and
everything is being settled at Vienna. Hitherto it seems that the
loyal army will dictate laws, but we dare not trust to these gleams of
hope. In Austria, at any rate, an honourable struggle is in progress,
and if failure should come honour will not be lost. As much cannot,
unfortunately, be said of Berlin, and even if the side of right should
triumph at Vienna will the victory be final? I doubt it and I fear we
shall be living for a long time on a volcano.
_Sagan, November 4, 1848._--A revolutionary outburst has just taken
place at Liegnitz, comparatively close to me. It was necessary to use
military force to quell it. At Berlin there is a riot almost every
day; audacity and weakness daily increase. Yesterday the Ministry was
at last changed: this might indicate a desire to revive energy; I fear
that it is too late. The Assembly has been besieged, the Deputies and
the Diplomatic Body imprisoned and threatened with hanging; the
National Guard has been betrayed by its leader, while Sans Souci has
been completely paralysed in the face of these events; and yet people
ask if there is still any room for hope.[169] The successful measures
at Vienna have not succeeded in inspiring Potsdam with any energy, and
have greatly exasperated the anarchists who wish to deliver some
striking blow to recover their power and to form a centre at Berlin
for spreading their influence throughout Germany. The part played by
M. Arago, the Minister of the French Republic, during recent days at
Berlin, has been extremely ambiguous,[170] and any self-respecting
Government would have sent him his passports, and lodged an official
complaint at Paris. My wishes for Vienna have at length been realised.
Windisch-Graetz has shown infinite patience and kindness, and only
when the capitulation of the 30th was treacherously violated did he
rage as he was bound to do, and as the infamy of the native
authorities in Vienna deserved. We are still without details, but the
main facts are official and we must regard them as providential. God
grant that this may be the starting-point of a new era. Meanwhile
anarchy, disorder, the want of repressive measures, and poverty are
ruining the provinces. Orators are preaching murder and pillage
unpunished to their popular meetings, and the results of these
incendiary harangues may soon be expected. Really the state of things
is frightful.
[169] On October 16 a further and bloodthirsty outbreak took
place at Berlin, ending in a collision between the National Guard
and the workmen. The result was to revive the agitation which had
prevailed in this town with short intermissions since the month
of March.
[170] M. Arago, the French Minister, showed himself to the crowd
which was cheering him before his residence. He uttered a few
words in French and held out his hand to the people who were
nearest to him.
_Sagan, November 19, 1848._--I think it would be advisable for Austria
to add to such determined warriors as Jellachich, Radetzky, and
Windisch-Graetz a younger and stronger politician than Wessenberg. It
is said that such a man would be found in Prince Felix of
Schwarzenberg; he has good friends, and has often been the object of
great admiration. I saw him pretty frequently at Naples two years ago,
and he showed me much kindness. He was a man of distinguished manner,
clever, dignified, and cool, and his opinions and his speech were well
weighed; but I do not know him well enough to say whether he will be
equal to the heavy task which seems likely to fall upon him. Stadion,
who is to share it with him, has been a friend of his youth, and their
unanimity may produce fortunate results. I see nothing of the kind in
prospect for Prussia, where warriors and writers, men of eloquence and
action, appear to be utterly wanting in the present crisis. Every
attempt now made is marked by a certain tactlessness which is far from
inspiring me with confidence.[171] They are sheltering themselves
behind Frankfort, and looking there for refuge, support, and
protection. It is undignified, and makes no impression upon the enemy,
while I think that this bulwark will prove to be futile. We must hope
that the army is loyal, but we cannot help recognising that it is
without enthusiasm, while its ardour is allowed to cool and disappear.
The soldiers who are bivouacking in the streets of Berlin are
suffering from the bad weather and are greatly depressed, so persons
say who write to me and who are busy distributing soup and beer to
support their strength and encourage their loyalty.
[171] A new Ministry, of which Count Brandenburg was President
and Herr von Manteuffel was Minister of the Interior, had been
appointed at Berlin on November 8. Its very first administrative
act ended in a defeat: an ordinance of the King countersigned by
the Count of Brandenburg transferred the National Assembly to the
town of Brandenburg; the Assembly decided against this
transference by a vast majority, and as the Government could not
continue amid this increasing anarchy, it resolved upon vigorous
action. On November 10 a considerable number of troops were
drafted into the capital and occupied the entrance to the
Assembly room. The Assembly protested against this violence, and
an ordinance of the King then declared the civil guard disbanded;
another ordinance issued on the 12th proclaimed Berlin to be in a
state of siege. General Wrangel commanded the military forces and
every measure was taken to avoid a collision.
_Sagan, November 26, 1848._--The last week has been a very difficult
time; since Berlin was proclaimed to be in a state of siege all
disaffected elements have fallen back upon Silesia; my workmen have
been fired upon, and the red flag has been carried about. In fact, the
situation looked menacing; but now that thirty thousand troops are
sweeping the province we can breathe again, and if I can believe my
last letters from Berlin, we are to enter upon a new era. On this
subject I admit my incredulity, and I fear that it will not be
dispelled for a long time; but the fact remains that disturbances have
ceased for the moment, and for so much we ought to be grateful, for
the feverish state of tension was becoming unbearable.
The death of Madame de Montjoye has filled the cup of misfortune for
poor Queen Marie Amélie, whose only and most intimate confidential
friend she was. As a result of drinking poisoned water at
Claremont,[172] I hear that the King's teeth have become black.
Relations between the King and his children are not invariably
satisfactory, nor are the children agreed among themselves. Providence
is subjecting these _émigrés_ to every kind of hardship; possibly it
is an expiation for the vote of the father and the usurpation of the
son.
[172] In November 1848 the whole of the Royal Family had suffered
from poisoning in consequence of the leaden pipes through which
the water was carried.
_Sagan, December 1, 1848._--To-day the newspapers announce the
programme of the new Austrian Cabinet,[173] which was very well
received at Kremsier and has produced a rise in Austrian stocks. May
God give us a strong and clever Cabinet, at any rate in that quarter.
The Cabinet which ought to govern in Prussia, and which appeared ready
to assume the iron glove, seems to me to show nothing but weakness,
while the glove is distinctly rusty. All good Catholics will be
greatly moved by the fate of Pius IX. Notwithstanding the fact that
with greater zeal than prudence he ran to liberal extremes, he remains
the head of our church, the priest of God and a kind man, and his
danger should stir our hearts to pity and to fear.[174] I hear from
Berlin that Herr von Gagern has failed in his proposed object, and
that the King was stronger than was thought, for he has thrust aside
the show of Imperialism which Gagern had offered him on the condition
that for this occasion only he would submit to the laws of the
Frankfort Government.[175]
[173] The Austrian Diet had been sitting since November 15 at
Kremsier in Moravia, in the beautiful castle of the Archbishops
of Olmütz. The new Ministry was composed as follows: Prince Felix
of Schwarzenberg, President of the Council and Minister of
Foreign Affairs; Stadion, Minister of the Interior; Krauss,
Financial Minister; Bach, Legal Minister; Gordon, Minister of
War; Bruck, Minister of Commerce; Thinnfeld, Minister of
Agriculture; Kulmer, unattached.
[174] The Pope had given his subjects a constitution on March 14,
and after changing his Ministry several times he had at length
decided on December 15 to appoint as his Prime Minister,
Pellegrino Rossi, formerly French Ambassador to His Holiness and
a personal friend of M. Guizot. Rossi undertook to establish a
regular parliamentary government in the Papal States, relying
upon the middle classes and intervening between the parties in
opposition. He was not given the time to carry out his proposals:
on November 15, as he was going to a Cabinet Council, he was
stabbed in the throat by a militiaman and fell dead. This deed
was a signal for a republican rising. The Pope confined himself
to appointing a new Minister who was out of sympathy with the
people, upon which the mob and the troops made their way to the
Quirinal and ordered the Pope to change his Ministers. Pius IX.,
who was supported by the diplomatic body, declined to accede, and
popular exasperation then reached its height. A desperate
struggle broke out between the people and the guards, and the
bullets even reached the interior of the palace. Eventually the
Pope yielded under protest and consented to accept as his
Ministers Sterbini, Galletti, Mamiani, and the Abbé Rosmini. But
on November 25, dressed as an ordinary Abbé, he left Rome and
sought the protection of the King of Naples at Gaeta, from which
town he sent a protest to the Romans against recent events.
[175] Herr von Gagern, who had undertaken to draw up a
constitution for the Empire at Frankfort and to settle the
central power upon a permanent basis, had come to Berlin to
examine the situation and to learn whether the King of Prussia
would be inclined to place himself at the head of the German
Empire in the event of a rupture between Austria and Germany. The
King absolutely declined this proposal, which was afterwards
brought before him once more with more official authority in
March 1849.
_Sagan, December 6, 1848._--Rumour here very generally asserts that
the worst of the storm has passed. I am by no means sure of the fact;
electoral excitement will soon begin when the attempt is made to work
the constitution that has been granted, and the results seem very
uncertain. Anything, in truth, is better than this state of decay and
confusion in which we are here perishing, but though the danger may
assume new forms, it will not pass so quickly. The country is
certainly becoming somewhat enlightened and growing weary of the state
of things which reduces every one to utter misery; some better
instincts are asserting themselves. On the twenty-fifth anniversary
of the King's marriage there was a favourable display of feeling, but
too many elements of disaffection are still powerful and the
Government cannot make itself respected. In Southern Germany,
especially in Bavaria, people still seem to be in love with the
proposal for sharing the power among three, particularly since Austria
has concentrated her members to form one great monarchy. The old
Prince William of Prussia who was nominated as a possible member of
the triumvirate, has fallen into a state of mental weakness which
would make him incapable of undertaking this task. Moreover, his son,
Prince Waldemar, is dying at Münster of a spinal disease; it is a sad
business, for he is a distinguished Prince and his death will be a
final blow to his poor father. I doubt if the central power will last
very long, as the King of Prussia mercifully persists in his refusal
to accept the burden. It is said that the Princess of Prussia would
have liked to see Herr von Gagern at the head of a new Prussian
Cabinet. I do not think that this haughty character would have been
willing to take so uncertain a position or to confront a Chamber so
little amenable to parliamentary eloquence. In any case the King has
rejected all insinuations, direct or indirect. It would indeed have
been both foolish and utterly ungrateful on his part to dismiss the
only Ministry which has had the courage and the capacity to raise the
prestige of the Crown in some small degree and to turn events in the
direction of conservatism.
Italy is in a pitiable condition. M. de Broglie will doubtless be
deeply grieved at the death of M. Rossi, as it was he who brought M.
Rossi to France, introduced him to politics, raised him to the
peerage, and finally advanced him to the Embassy at Rome. I saw a
great deal of him in the salon of Madame de Broglie, and afterwards at
Rome; he seemed to me to be an astute and unpretentious character,
less noble but cleverer than Capo d'Istria.[176] Their assassination
was due to the same cause; both attempted to play the part of
Richelieu without due preparation.
[176] Like Pellegrino Rossi, Capo d'Istria suffered a violent
death. He was accused by the Greeks of acting merely as the tool
of Russia, and of using arbitrary methods to secure governmental
power. He was assassinated in 1831 by the brothers George and
Constantine Mavromichali, who wished to take vengeance upon him
for the unjust imprisonment of their father and brother.
_Sagan, December 30, 1848._--The calm amid which Napoleon has assumed
the chief power in France would tend to show that a desire for order
and peace is rising in the country. Rumours are abroad of the
abdication of the King of Sardinia and of a new and warlike Sardinian
Ministry.[177] I hope that Radetzky will bring the rest of Italy to
reason as he has done in Lombardy. Windisch-Graetz is before Raab, and
it is hoped that he will have no great difficulty in entering the
town. Great cold delays his march, and he is also hampered by the
necessity of reorganising the civil government in the districts which
he occupies.[178] Jellachich has been carried away by his impetuosity
and captured temporarily by the Hungarians.[179] He was rescued by his
soldiers. Windisch-Graetz has bitterly reproached him for his blind
rashness which might have compromised the fate of the army, and the
vital question of the Government. The Archduchess Sophie gave her son,
the young Emperor, as a Christmas present a frame containing the
portraits of Radetzky, Windisch-Graetz, and Jellachich. It is well to
remind Sovereigns by outward signs of the duty of gratitude, which, as
a rule, they find somewhat burdensome. And so the disastrous year of
1848 comes to an end! Heaven grant that 1849 may bring some
improvement in our lives!
[177] King Charles Albert did not abdicate until after the battle
of Novara on March 23, 1849.
[178] About December 15 Prince Windisch-Graetz at the head of the
Austrian troops drove the Hungarians out of one position after
another, until they retired behind the bastions of Raab, under
the command of Georgei. As the great cold prevented their
reinforcements from coming up, the Hungarians were obliged to
abandon this position, which the Austrians captured without
striking a blow, on December 27.
[179] On September 29, 1848, near Veneleze, twelve miles away
from Ofen, Jellachich was utterly defeated by General Moga. His
army took flight and Jellachich was taken prisoner. He succeeded
in escaping, however, and made his way through the forests to
Mor, Risber, and at length to Raab.