NEW AUSTRIA.
The empress received the count with a most gracious smile. "You are
late," she said, reaching out her hand for him to kiss.
"I came very near not reaching your majesty's presence at all, for those
two wiseacres in the anteroom refused me entrance, because I had neither
red stockings nor a dagger."
The empress then perceived the omission, and she frowned. "Why did you
present yourself here, without them?" asked she.
"Because, your majesty, I detest red stockings; and I really cannot see
why I should be compelled to wear any thing that is so distasteful to
me."
Maria Theresa was so surprised, that she scarcely knew what reply to
make to the argument; so Kaunitz continued:
"And as for the dagger, that is no emblem of my craft. I am not a
soldier, but a statesman; my implement is the crowquill."
"And the tongue," replied the empress, "for you certainly know how to
use it. Let us dismiss the dagger and red stockings, then, and speak of
your pen and your tongue, for I need them both. I have well weighed the
matters under consideration, and have taken counsel of Heaven and of my
own conscience. I hope that my decision will be for the best."
Count Kaunitz, courtier though he was, could not repress a slight
shiver, nor could he master the paleness that overspread his anxious
face.
The empress went on: "I have irrevocably decided. I abide by what I said
in council. A new day shall dawn upon Austria--God grant that it prove a
happy one! Away, then, with the old alliance! we offer our hand to
France, and you shall conduct the negotiations. I appoint you lord high
chancellor in the place of Count Uhlefeld. And you owe me some thanks,
for I assure you that, to carry out my opposition to my ministers, I
have striven with countless difficulties."
"I thank your majesty for resolving upon an alliance with France," said
Kaunitz, earnestly; "for I do believe that it will conduce to Austria's
welfare."
"And do you not thank me for making you prime minister, or is the
appointment unwelcome?"
"I shall be the happiest of mortals if I can accept; but that question
is for your majesty to decide."
The empress colored, and looked displeased, while Kaunitz, "himself
again," stood composed and collected before her.
"Ah," said she, quickly, "you wish me to beg you to accept the highest
office in Austria! Do you think it a favor you do me to become my prime
minister, Kaunitz?"
"Your majesty," replied Kaunitz in his soft, calm tones, "I think not of
myself, but of Austria that I love, and of you, my honored empress, whom
I would die to serve. But I must know whether it will be allowed me to
serve my empress and my fatherland as I can and will serve them both."
"What do you mean? Explain yourself."
"If I am to labor in your behalf, my empress, I must have free hands,
without colleagues by my side, to discuss my plans and plot against
them."
"Ah!" said the empress, smiling, "I understand. You mean Bartenstein and
Counts Harrach and Colloredo. True, they are your rivals."
"Oh, your majesty, not my rivals, I hope."
"Well, then, your enemies, if you like that better," said the empress.
"I shall not chain you together, then. I will find other places
wherewith to compensate them for their past services, and you may find
other colleagues."
"I desire no colleagues, your majesty," replied Kaunitz, "I wish to be
prime and only minister. Then together we will weld Austria's many
dependencies into one great empire, and unite its governments under one
head."
"Yours, count?" asked Maria Theresa, in a slight tone of irony.
"Yours, my sovereign. Whatever you may think, up to this moment you have
not reigned supreme in Austria. By your side have Bartenstein and
Uhlefeld reigned like lesser emperors. Is not Lombardy governed by its
own princes, and does not the Viceroy of Hungary make laws and edicts,
which are brought to you for signature?"
"Yes, I am truly hemmed in on every side. But I see no remedy for the
evil--I cannot govern everywhere. Hungary and Lombardy have their own
constitutions, and must have their own separate governments."
"So long as that state of things lasts, neither Hungary nor Lombardy
will be portions of the Austrian empire," said Kaunitz.
"There is no remedy, Kaunitz," returned Maria Theresa; "I have thought
these difficulties over and over. My arm is too short to reach to the
farthest ends of my realms, and I must be content to delegate some of my
power. One hand cannot navigate the ship of state."
"But one head can steer it, your majesty, and one head can direct the
hands that work it."
"And will the count be one of my hands?"
"Yes, indeed, your majesty. But the fingers must be subject to this
hand, and the hand will then carry out, in all security, the plans of
its august head, the empress."
"You mean to say that you wish to be alone as my minister?"
"If I am truly to serve your majesty, it must be so. Let not the
sovereignty of Austria be frittered away in multitudinous rivulets;
gather it all in one full, fertilizing stream. One head and one hand
over Austria's destiny, and then will she grow independent and
all-powerful."
"But, man," cried the empress, "you cannot sustain the burden you
covet!"
"I will have ample help, your majesty. I will seek ready hands and
willing hearts that believe in me, and will do my behests. These must
not be my coadjutors, but my subalterns, who think through me, and work
for me. If your majesty will grant me this privilege, then I can serve
Austria. I know that I am asking for high prerogatives; but for
Austria's sake, Maria Theresa will dare every thing; and together we
will accomplish the consolidation of her disjecta membra into one great
empire. The policy which conducts our financial affairs must emanate
from yourself, and our foreign policy must be bold and frank, that
friends and foes may both know what we mean. We must coffin and bury old
Austria with the dead that sleep on the battle-grounds of lost Silesia;
and from her ashes we must build a new empire, of which Hungary and
Lombardy shall be integral parts. Hand in hand with France, we will be
the lawgivers of all Europe; and when, thanks to our thrift and the rich
tribute of our provinces, we pay our national debt, then we may laugh at
English subsidies and Dutch commerce. And lastly, we will cast our eyes
once more upon Silesia, and methinks if France and Austria together
should demand restitution of King Frederick, he will scarcely be so rash
as to say nay. The ministers of Louis XV., who were adverse to our
alliance, are about to retire, and the Duke de Choiseul, our firm friend
and the favorite of Mme. de Pompadour, will replace Richelieu. Choiseul
seeks our friendship, and the day of our triumph is dawning. Such, your
majesty, are my dreams for Austria; it rests with you to make them
realities!"
The empress had listened with increasing interest to every word that
Kaunitz had spoken. She had risen from her seat and was pacing the room
in a state of high excitement. As he ceased she stopped in front of him,
and her large, sparkling orbs of blue glowed with an expression of
happiness and hope.
"I believe that you are the man for Austria," said she. "I believe that
together we can carry out our plans and projects. God grant that they be
righteous and just in His sight! You have read my heart, and you know
that I can never reconcile myself to the loss of Silesia. You know that
between me and Frederick no harmony can ever exist; no treaty can ever
be signed to which he is a party. [Footnote: Maria Theresa's own words.]
I will take the hand of France, not so much for love of herself as for
her enmity to Prussia. Will you work with me to make war on Frederick if
I appoint you sole minister, Kaunitz? For I tell you that I burn to
renew my strife with the King of Prussia, and I would rather give him
battle to-day than to-morrow." [Footnote: Maria Theresa's own words.
Coxe.]
"I comprehend your majesty's feelings, and fully share them. As soon as
France and ourselves understand one another, we will make a league
against Frederick, and may easily make him strike the first blow; for
even now he is longing to appropriate another Silesia."
"And I am longing to cross swords with him for the one he has stolen. I
cannot bear to think of going to my fathers with a diminished
inheritance; I cannot brook the thought that my woman's hands have not
been strong enough to preserve my rights; for I feel that if I have the
heart of a woman, I have the head of a man. To see Austria great and
powerful, to see her men noble and her women virtuous--that is my dream,
my hope, my aim in life. You are the one to perfect what I have
conceived, Kaunitz; will you give me your hand to this great work?"
"I will, your majesty, so help me God!"
"Will you have Austria's good alone in view, in all that you counsel as
my minister?"
"I will, so help me God!"
"Will you take counsel with me how we may justly and righteously govern
Austria, without prejudice, without self-love, without thought of
worldly fame, not from love or fear of man, but for the sake of God from
whose hands we hold our empire?"
"I will, so help me God!"
"Then," said Maria Theresa, after a pause, "you are my sole minister,
and I empower you to preside over the affairs of state, in the manner
you may judge fittest for the welfare of the Austrian people."
Kaunitz was as self-possessed a worldling as ever sought to hide his
emotions; but he could not suppress an exclamation of rapture, nor an
expression of triumph, which lit up his face as nothing had ever
illumined it before.
"Your majesty," said he, when he found words, "I accept the trust, and
as there is a God above to judge me, I will hold it faithfully. My days
and nights, my youth and age, with their thoughts, their will, their
every faculty, shall be laid upon the shrine of Austria's greatness; and
if for one moment I ever sacrifice your majesty to any interest of mine,
may I die a death of torture and disgrace!"
"I believe you; your countenance reflects your heart, and Almighty God
has heard your words. One thing remember--that Maria Theresa suffers no
minister to dictate to her. She is the reigning sovereign of her people,
and will not suffer a finger to be laid upon her imperial rights. Were
he a thousand times prime minister, the man that presumed too far with
me I would hurl from his eminence to the lowest depths of disgrace. And
now that we understand one another, we will clasp hands like men, who
are pledged before God to do their duty."
She extended her hand to Kaunitz, who grasped it in his own. "I swear,"
said he, solemnly, "to do my duty; and never can I forget this hour. I
swear to my SOVEREIGN, Maria Theresa, loyalty unto death; and before my
EMPRESS I bow my knee, and so do homage to the greatest woman of her
age."
The empress smiled, while Kaunitz knelt and kissed her fair, jewelled
hand. "May God grant that you speak truth, Kaunitz, and may my posterity
not have to blush for me! 'Every thing for Austria,' shall be your motto
and mine; and this flaming device shall light us on our way through
life. Now go, lord high chancellor, and see that the world finds a
phoenix in the ashes of the old regime which to-day we have consigned to
the dust!" [Footnote: From this time, Kaunitz was the sole minister of
the empress; and he kept his promise to Binder, who became state
referendarius, in the place of the once-powerful Bartenstein.]
ISABELLA