THE CO-REGENT DEPOSED.
Scarcely a quarter of an hour had elapsed since the empress's orders had
been issued, when a page announced Prince Kaunitz.
Maria Theresa went forward to receive him. Her whole being seemed filled
with a feverish excitement which contrasted singularly with the
unaltered demeanor of her prime minister, who, cold and tranquil as
ever, advanced to meet his sovereign, and bowed with his usual phlegm.
"Well," said Maria Theresa, after a pause, "every thing has not changed
in the four weeks of my retirement from court. You at least are the same
in appearance. Let me hope that you are the same in spirit and in mind."
"Please your majesty," replied Kaunitz, "four weeks have not yet gone by
since I had the honor of an interview with you."
"What do you mean by that?" asked the empress, impatiently. "Do you wish
to remind me that I had resolved to wait four weeks before I decided
upon a permanent course of action?"
"Yes, your majesty," said Kaunitz. "I am somewhat vain, as everybody
knows, and I have already seen my triumph in your majesty's face. I read
there that my noble empress has proved me a true prophet. She has not
yet been away from her subjects four weeks, and already her head has
silenced the weakness of her heart. Three weeks have sufficed to bring
Maria Theresa once more to her sense of duty."
"Ah!" said the empress, "are you then so sure that my novitiate will not
end in a cloister?"
"I am convinced of it. For never shall I forget the day on which your
majesty swore to be a faithful ruler over Austria as long as you lived.
I am convinced of it, too, because I know that, although my empress has
the heart of a woman, she has the head of a man, and in all well-ordered
unions the head rules the household."
The empress smiled faintly, but said nothing. Her arms were crossed over
her breast, her head was bent in thought, and she went slowly back and
forth from one end of her study to the other. Kaunitz followed her with
his large, tranquil eyes, which seemed to penetrate to the remotest
regions of her throbbing heart.
Suddenly she stood before him, and for a moment gazed earnestly in his
face.
"Kaunitz," said she, "I have not only considered you for many years as a
wise and great statesman, but, what is better yet, I have esteemed you
as a man of honor. I exact of you that you act honorably and openly
toward me in this hour. Do you promise?"
"An honorable man, your majesty, need not promise to do that which honor
requires of him."
"True, true. But you might pay unconscious deference to my rank or to my
sex. Courtesy might mislead you. This is precisely what I warn you to
avoid. I wish you to speak candidly without thought or consideration for
empress or woman. Remember how you pledged your life to Austria's
good--and, forgetting all else, answer me truthfully and without fear.
Will you, Kaunitz?"
"I will, your majesty. Ask, and you shall be truthfully answered--so
help me God."
"Then, tell me, which of us is better calculated to reign in
Austria--Joseph or myself? Which of us will best promote the welfare of
the Austrian people? Do not answer me at once. Take time to reflect upon
the subject, for a, weighty question lies in the balance of this hour. I
cannot trust myself in this decision, for I have wept so many tears that
I have not the strength to see wherein my duty lies. I cannot even trust
my own misgivings, for pride or vanity may have blinded my eyes to
truth. I am not sure that I view things in their proper light. It is
useless, therefore, for me to speak. I desire to hear no one but
yourself. I swear to you by the memory of Charles V., that, whatever you
say shall be sacred; for I have exacted of you candor--and say what you
will, your candor shall not offend. Who, then, is best fitted to reign,
Joseph or I?"
"Your majesty, I have had full time to reflect upon this weighty
question; for since first you announced your intention to resign the
throne, I have thought of nothing else. In politics we know neither
predilection nor prejudice. Necessity and interest decide all things.
Your majesty has so often called me a good politician, that I have ended
by believing myself to be one. It follows thence that, in deliberating
upon this great question, I have laid aside all personal inclination and
sympathy, and have had in view the welfare of Austria alone. But for
this, the matter would have required no thought, for the Emperor Joseph
and I have nothing in common. He fears me, and I do not love him.
[Footnote: Kaunitz's own words. Wrazall, vol. ii., p. 490.] We never
could be made to understand one another; for the language of the heart
is not to be forced by edicts, as is the language of the court. The
emperor has forbidden all tongues in Germany, save one. If he persist in
this, he will alienate his subjects, and Austria will soon lose her
greatness. When a titan intends to force his people to forget their
mother-tongue, he must do it by degrees; and if he succeeds, he will be
a skilful teacher. The best reforms are to be introduced through the
byways of life. If we trust them on the highway, they shock and terrify
the people. The young emperor, regardless of these considerations, has
violently suppressed whatever seemed injudicious to him in your
majesty's administration. Perhaps you had done too much; your son,
certainly, does too little. I hear everywhere of interdicts, but nowhere
of concessions. Old things destroyed, but nothing created to replace
them. What will be the result of this? Austria must soon be reduced to a
mass of ruins, and your son will go down to posterity with a fame like
that of Attila. Save Austria! save him from the curse that threatens
both. We have not yet completed the noble edifice of which eleven years
ago we laid the foundations. We must finish the structure, and so solid
must be its walls that our thoughtless young reformer shall not have
strength to batter them down. Your majesty must remain the reigning
Empress of Austria. You cannot resign your empire to your son. Duty and
the welfare of your subjects forbid it."
The empress inclined her head approvingly. "I believe that you are
right, Kaunitz," replied she. "It is not in the pride, but in the deep
humility of my heart, that I reassume the crown which God himself placed
upon my head. I have no right to say that the load is too heavy since He
wills me to bear it. Indeed I feel that He will give me strength to
accomplish His will in me, and I am now ready to say, 'Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to His word.' I will
never again lift my treasonable hand against that crown which I pray
Heaven I may wear for the good of my people. But you, prince, you must
be at my side; together we have planned for Austria, together we must
complete the noble structure of her greatness."
"I remain, your majesty, and will never cease to labor until the banner
of the Hapsburg floats proudly from its battlements. But we must
decorate as well as strengthen. We have beautiful young princesses whose
alliances will bring wealth and splendor to our imperial edifice.
Within, we shall have solid walls that will insure the durability of our
structure; without, we shall have brilliant alliances that will perfect
its beauty."
"You have a marriage to propose?" said the empress, smiling.
"I have, your majesty, a marriage with the young King of Naples."
"For which of my daughters?" asked Maria Theresa uneasily.
"For the one your majesty shall select."
"Then it shall be Johanna. She is very beautiful, and has a proud and
ambitious heart which craves less for love than for rank and splendor.
But if I give one of my daughters to diplomacy, you must leave me
another for domestic happiness. Christina has undertaken to think that
she must marry for love, and I think we ought to make her happy in her
own modest way. We owe amends to Albert of Saxony for having declined an
alliance with his sister; we also owe him something for his fidelity and
good faith as an ally. Let the young lovers be united, then; we have
gold and daughters enough to tolerate one marriage of inclination in our
imperial house."
"But your majesty will give up the youngest, Marie Antoinette, to
diplomacy, will you not?"
"You destine her to the throne of France, prince--is it not so?"
"Yes, your majesty. The son of the dauphin is a noble youth, and
although his father was unfriendly to Austria, Choiseuil and La
Pompadour are for us. Marie Antoinette, therefore, is to be Queen of
France. This, however, must be a profound secret between ourselves.
While her little highness is being fashioned for her future dignity, we
must marry her elder sisters, if not so brilliantly, at least as
advantageously as we can. First, then, upon the list is the Archduchess
Christina. We must find some suitable rank for herself and her husband,
and your majesty will of course bestow a dowry worthy of your daughter's
birth and station."
"I will present them the duchy of Teschen as a wedding-gift, and it must
be your care, prince, to find an appointment for the Elector of Saxony
that will be worthy of my son-in-law."
"Let us name him Captain-General and Stadtholder of Hungary. That will
be an effectual means of converting the Hungarians into Austrians, and
the appointment is in every way suitable to the elector's rank." The
empress nodded, smiling acquiescence. "Your head," said she, "is always
in the right place; and sometimes I cannot help thinking that your heart
is better than the world believes it to be, else how could you so
readily divine the hearts of others? How quickly have you devised the
best of schemes to promote my daughter's happiness, without compromising
her imperial station! Christina shall be Stadthalterin of Hungary; and
in her name and my own I thank you for the suggestion. One thing,
however, lies heavy on my heart. It is the thought of the blow I am
about to inflict upon my poor Joseph. How will he bear to be deprived of
his sovereignty?"
"I think your majesty named him co-regent only," said Kaunitz.
"I did," replied the empress, "and in very truth I withdraw nothing but
a temporary privilege. As empress I know my right to resume the reins of
power; but it grieves my maternal heart to exercise it. I think I see
him now, poor boy, with his great blue eyes fixed in despair upon me. I
never shall have the courage to announce my return to him."
"There will be no need to restrict him in his co-regency. He can be
removed to the war department, where he may reign unfettered."
"He shall have unlimited power there," exclaimed the empress, joyfully.
"It is the proper province of a man, and Joseph will fill the station
far better than I have ever done. I promise not to interfere with him in
the field. For other state affairs, I shall attend to them myself, and I
do not think that I will ever delegate my power a second time. You had
best inform Joseph of my resumption of the throne, and let the Frau
Josepha also be advised that she is no longer reigning empress of
Austria. For me, I must always remain at heart a sorrowing widow. My
sorrows I can never overcome; my widow's weeds I shall never lay aside.
[Footnote: She kept her word. Every month, on the day of her husband's
death, she spent the day in solitary prayer and on every yearly
anniversary of her widowhood, she knelt for hours by the side of the
emperor's tomb, praying for the repose of his soul. Her private
apartments were ever after hung with gray, and her coaches and liveries
were of the same sad hue.--Caroline Pichler, "Memoirs."] But above the
weeds I will wear the mantle of royalty; and since you have so
determined for me, Austria shall once more own the sway of Maria
Theresa. "