Laybach, to agree upon a vast repressive system to be pursued against
the insurrection rising in arms around. The Richelieu cabinet was
resolved upon a firm resistance against all the tumults and disorders
that were disturbing the peace of Europe. Agitation had also arisen
in the East, and the Greeks had raised the standard of the cross. But
Russia, which under Catherine had supported the Hellenic emancipation,
was now too fully occupied with her own affairs to be able to follow
up the system she had then commenced. France, therefore, determined
upon sending a naval force into the Grecian seas for the protection of
commerce, and, while observing a generous neutrality, assistance was
still afforded to all who implored it from the French flag. But now
the Richelieu cabinet, entirely occupied with its foreign relations,
was threatened with danger to itself. Its very feeble parliamentary
combination rested upon a false basis in the chamber. The ministry
only existed by the will of the _côté droit_; and that party with
its chiefs, MM. de Villèle and Corbière, would not fail, sooner or
later, to assume the direction of affairs, because they possessed the
majority. The _droite_ and the _gauche_ were both distinct from the
cabinet, and the former was evidently impatient to seize the reins of
government.
These two fractions of the chamber were desirous of concluding with a
_coup d'éclat_; and the reply to the speech from the throne in 1821
became the arena for the great political struggle. The commission
under the direction of the _côté droit_ insisted that in the plan of
the address presented to the chamber these words should be inserted:
"We congratulate you, sire, upon your friendly relations with foreign
powers, feeling a just confidence that so valuable a peace has not
been purchased by sacrifices incompatible with the honour of the
nation and the dignity of the crown." So offensive an expression was
an open rupture with the cabinet. M. de Richelieu declared such an
insinuation was an insult to the crown, and the ministers tendered
their resignation. The chamber persisted, and voted the address, which
was, in fact, a declaration that they did not wish the ministry to
stand: the cabinet, therefore, retired in a mass, and were succeeded by
MM. de Montmorency and de Villèle.
And here let us pause, and observe to what trials men are exposed who
devote themselves entirely to the defence of the interests of their
country, without intrigue or passion, simply from the feeling for all
that is right and noble! No character can bear a comparison with that
of the Duc de Richelieu; no services equal those he rendered to his
country; and, behold! he was overturned both by the _côté droit_, and
the _gauche_ of the Chamber of Deputies. The conduct of the _gauche_
was this: the Duke took charge of France at the time of the foreign
invasion; the Buonapartists and the remains of the Jacobin faction,
having a second time endangered the country by their madness of
the _hundred days_; the enemy was in Paris--it occupied France;
the influence of the Duke succeeded in preserving the country, and
diminishing the sacrifices exacted from it; the foreign troops were
withdrawn, and, as a recompense, the spirit of liberalism overturned
the Duke.
Would you also know the conduct of the ungrateful monarchical party? A
great crisis had occurred for the crown; the royalists were giving way,
and the power was about to be wrested from their hands by the _côté
gauche_. The restoration was completely compromised, when the Duke
again sacrificed himself: holding his popularity cheap, he augmented
and strengthened the royalist party, and this was the summary of the
instructions concerning the elections, directed by M. Mounier: "Before
every thing, the friends of royalty;" and then the ultras, masters
by this means of the majority, had nothing so much at heart as the
dismissal of the Duc de Richelieu, in order to give themselves up to
their mad projects.
This moment was the conclusion of the Duke's political life; his
feelings had been severely tried by the injustice of parties. It
soon became apparent that his health was rapidly declining, and in a
journey to the Château of Courteille, where the Duchess was living, he
was taken ill, suddenly became insensible, and died at Paris, on the
night of the 16th of May, 1822. He was only fifty-five years of age;
his carriage was erect, and his features simple and regular, as they
appear in the fine portrait of Lawrence of which I have spoken. All
parties concur in awarding the highest praise to the noble qualities of
the Duc de Richelieu. He was not a man of extraordinary genius, but of
a thoroughly honest and upright character; and there are times, when
no talent possessed by a statesman is of so much avail as honesty. I
admire the infinite superiority of a man capable of allowing virtue and
honour their full weight in the political balance, and I take especial
pleasure in rendering this tribute to the Duc de Richelieu, because I
have never known so fine a character combined with so noble a name.
PRINCE HARDENBERG.
It is natural that States which feel an incessant desire of increasing,
should not retain the inflexible principles of upright and generous
policy in their diplomatic system. Every time they feel stifled, they
strive for more space and the means of more extended respiration;
and such has constantly been the condition of the Prussian monarchy,
from the time of its foundation, which may be said to have taken
place unexpectedly, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. At
this period the Duchy became a Kingdom, and no sooner was the kingdom
established than it wanted to become great; for more room is required
to unfold the sweeping train of a King, than to wear the robes merely
of a Duke or a Margrave.
This necessity for augmentation created a national law peculiar to
Prussia; and looking at nothing but the necessities of her position,
she seized every thing she could lay her hands upon. Frederic II.
carried on this system of conquest, for his wars were regulated by
no principle of the law of nations, and he appeared to have but one
object in view, which was, to attack at one time Poland, and at another
Silesia, for the purpose of conquering cities and provinces. On this
account he availed himself of all means of distinction, striving for
the celebrity of a writer and the pretension of a poet; even making the
most of the puerile vanity of the philosophical party of the eighteenth
century. When we examine into the actual constitution of Prussia, as
well as into that she formerly possessed, we shall observe that her
organisation has always been such as to render conquest imperatively
necessary; even at present is not the kingdom like a lean giant, armed
at all points, whose head is at Königsberg and his feet dipped in the
Rhine, but whose middle is wanting? and the country that is required to
complete the picture, is it not Saxony?
It is, then, as the personification of the Prussian political system,
that I am about to write the life of Baron, afterwards Prince
Hardenberg, the most remarkable statesman that has been at the head
of affairs in the monarchy of Frederic. Charles-Augustus, baron
Hardenberg, was born in October 1750, at Hanover, that principality
wedged into the midst of Germany, which recalls to the recollection
the origin of the kings of England. Hanover preserves its German
character under a separate administration, although it belongs to the
patrimonial inheritance of the princes called to wear the English
crown; and this separation was imperatively demanded by the English, a
people so tenacious of their liberty, in order to avoid the chance of
fatal continental wars, to defend the patrimony of their sovereign--a
contingency their constitution will not permit.
Baron Hardenberg was descended from an ancient family, carried back
by the old heraldic traditions as far as the eleventh century, at the
time of the Emperors of the house of Suabia; he was himself the son
of a marshal of the empire, and went to the military university of
Brunswick with the intention of following his father's profession.
The bent of his inclinations, however, appeared to be different, and
while he applied his mind to the severest studies, he felt a strong
vocation for a diplomatic life, and his curiosity led him always to
endeavour to discover by what springs the cabinets recorded in history
were actuated. He afterwards went to travel, gaining knowledge while
visiting the different parts of Europe, and arrived in London at the
time when Mr. Pitt was at the head of affairs, and a most violent and
active opposition surrounded the ministry. As Hanover, as I have before
mentioned, forms part of the patrimonial inheritance of the reigning
family, Baron Hardenberg, though not an English subject, was naturally
desirous of acquiring an extensive knowledge of the laws and customs
which form a national law peculiar to England, and with which every
British subject ought to be acquainted. But England was the scene of
his greatest domestic infelicity; for having in early youth married the
most beautiful woman in Germany, Mademoiselle de Randlaw, he introduced
her into the brilliant society and dissipation of London, and she was
received with an almost chivalric enthusiasm in the highest circles.
A Prince, from whom Richardson would have drawn his character of
Lovelace, the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne of England,
remarkable for his personal beauty, magnificent in his equipages, and
accomplished in all manly exercises, fell desperately in love with
Baroness Hardenberg; and so much publicity attached to his admiration,
that a separation became inevitable; the Baron therefore quitted
England and returned to Germany. He already gave evidence of three
qualities denoting great ability; the subtlety of intellect necessary
in all negotiations of any importance; a habit of conversation,
alternately discreet and unguarded, cold or vehement, according to
circumstances; and a most profound knowledge of European national
law--talents which naturally fitted him for a high diplomatic
situation: nevertheless, young Hardenberg gave himself up entirely to
the details of the administration of the country--a circumstance in
which he resembled William Pitt, who was at the same time a first-rate
politician and attentive to the smallest minutiæ regarding war and
finance. His perfect acquaintance with the laws of Germany was a great
assistance to him, when he was summoned to the supreme direction of the
affairs of Prussia.
Another quality possessed by Hardenberg, was his strong and decided
taste for literature; and his intimate friendship with Goëthe, who
exercised such absolute dominion over the intellects of his time, arose
from this source. This was not one of the relations of protector and
protégé; for in Germany, where matters of genius and study are viewed
in a serious light, a man of literary celebrity is placed almost in
a superior rank, and he is not only on a footing of equality with
statesmen, but sometimes even in a position of master and scholar.
What a brilliant sceptre was that extended by Goëthe over Germany!
The poet who had shewn such incomparable skill in his delineation of
the feudal ages, appeared to blend in his escutcheon of glory all the
ancient colours of the German nobility. This threefold aptitude of
Baron Hardenberg for literature, politics, and administration, produced
great and uncommon results: first, an expansion of mind arising from
the habit of treating important affairs; then, a close application to
detail, arising from his employment in the executive administration;
and, finally, a clear, exact, and benevolent mind, the consequence of
the literary intercourse he had pursued with enthusiasm during his
youth.
We must recollect what was at that time the spirit that prevailed
in Prussia, and also the bent of its government. In addition to her
never-failing desire of conquest, there is always in that country a
certain inclination for serious study, and a wish for the advancement
of ideas; and though no free debate be permitted on matters connected
with the government, the discussion of philosophical and rational
questions is entirely unshackled; religious opinions also are
independent of any controlling theory, the Protestant spirit having
introduced a sort of egotism into the schools, from which it results
that every opinion, even though it be mischievous, is admitted and
examined without regard to the chivalrous feelings that attach a people
to a dynasty, or a generation to the articles of their faith.
It was in this school the statesmen of Germany were formed, more
especially Baron Hardenberg. His devotion to the study of German
law had given him a precise and accurate manner of examining facts,
without being carried away by prejudice or enthusiasm; and when
the French revolution burst forth, Prussia, which was foremost to
join the coalition, saw a new class of statesmen arise to oppose
the chivalrous spirit of the nobility, and place the check of cool
reason upon the ardour of the old families. Baron Hardenberg did not
completely concur in the opinions of M. Haugwitz, of the secretary
M. Lombard, and the Countess Lichtenau, who were even well inclined
towards the revolutionary powers that then reigned in France; he had
less inclination than Count Goltz towards French ideas, but being
completely a Prussian in his interests and opinions, he considered
that the object of his cabinet could not possibly be to act as a
knight-errant in defence of certain political opinions, but rather to
endeavour to acquire a great influence in Germany, at the expense of
Austria, and also a territorial addition in Poland; and as Prussia
was not immediately threatened by the principles and ideas of the
French revolution, he considered it very important to reap all possible
advantage from the new situation of events.
This rendered him the most active partisan of the treaty of Basle,
though he was not at first engaged in it by name; for that very
difficult negotiation was originally undertaken by Count Goltz with M.
Barthélemy; but after the death of the plenipotentiary it was concluded
by Baron Hardenberg; and this was the first commencement of his being
really actively employed in public affairs. His manners were singularly
pleasing to the men of the revolution, especially to Merlin de Douai,
who thought them like those of a marquis of the old school, with
intelligence, ease, and a method of action free from prepossession or
prejudice, even with regard to democratic opinions. The committee of
public safety treated him almost in royal style, by sending him a fine
service of Sèvres china, as at the conclusion of treaties under the old
monarchy, when an interchange of diplomatic presents used to take place
among plenipotentiaries.
In this treaty, as in the negotiation of Rahstadt, Baron Hardenberg
was less actuated by French principles than by the firm conviction
that the treaty of Basle tended to realizing the two most constant and
deeply-rooted feelings of his mind: viz. the Prussian influence over
Germany, and the aggrandisement of his cabinet. He promoted the system
of German neutrality, which influenced the interests of the country,
and to a certain degree excited Germany against Austria; and for this
purpose he made use of France, considering it of little consequence
whether it was a monarchy or a republic: he had a particular object
in view; but he was guilty of a mistake on that point. There were
two questions to be particularly considered in the French revolution:
if it had confined itself to measures that merely regarded its own
internal condition, and had disseminated nothing, neither ideas nor
interests, the selfish policy of Prussia might have been successful;
but neither the committee of the convention nor the directory had
any respect for fixed principles. Baron Hardenberg had established
neutrality in part of Germany; how was it observed when the republican
army required again to pass the Rhine? Did it trouble itself concerning
the principles laid down by the Prussian minister, and the territorial
line of the neutrality? When entering into a treaty with a government,
the first necessary inquiry is, whether it will respect the general
principles of the law of nations. Prussia, however, had assumed too
egotistical a position; indeed she carried her system to such a pitch,
that the minister interfered with the levy of contingents, lest they
should augment the Austrian influence. Many years elapsed before the
ideas of this school were effaced; but Hardenberg's mind afterwards
expanded, and he saw there were other circumstances to be attended
to, besides the antiquated system of politics, which would keep up a
rivalry between Prussia and Austria, at the time when a general social
revolution had taken place.
After a long stay at Basle, during which time he was in habits of the
greatest intimacy with the ministers of the French republic, Baron
Hardenberg returned to Berlin, where the king conferred upon him the
order of the Black Eagle of the first class, as a mark of his perfect
concurrence in the politics of the treaty just concluded. The direction
of foreign affairs was still, however, in the hands of Count Haugwitz,
a friend of Countess Lichtenau, and the secretary Lombard, and Baron
Hardenberg being a person of too much importance to occupy a situation
subordinate to Count Haugwitz, the administration of the principalities
of Bayreuth and Anspach was again conferred upon him. This was a
recreation to the diplomatist, who was glad to seek repose from
political theories in the executive government of a principality, which
he may be said to have added to Prussia. In Germany statesmen like to
be men of business, and even in retirement their life is one of labour
and study.
Baron Hardenberg took no part in active business during the life of
Frederic William II.; his private opinions had been a little modified,
and he was not quite so decided in his approval of the convention of
Basle, since he had had occasion to see the mischievous and arbitrary
application made by the republicans of its principles in Germany.
Nothing had been awarded to Prussia by the treaty of Rahstadt, in spite
of the promises of real indemnities, as well as of absolute liberty,
which had been made to her at Basle; he, therefore, had no connexion
with the negotiations carried on by M. Caillard, when an endeavour
was made to place Prussia in a new attitude, and produce a great
degree of intimacy between the republic and Frederic William II. Baron
Hardenberg does not appear to have exercised any influence until the
accession of the young prince Frederic William, when, being attached
to the young queen, Louisa of Prussia, by the most respectful and
chivalrous devotion, he adopted her ideas and opinions, as indeed did
all those who were within the circle of her almost magical influence.
What a grand though melancholy existence was that of Louisa Wilhelmina,
queen of Prussia, daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz and of
Caroline of Hesse Darmstadt! Filled with the enthusiastic and visionary
feelings natural to her country, she exercised, at the age of scarcely
twenty years, the most holy, as well as the most absolute influence
over her husband, while the hopes of Germany appeared to centre upon
her. She introduced a more noble and elevated feeling into the selfish
system of politics hitherto adopted by Prussia; and being as it were
queen of the students and of the universities, she was the origin
and the hope of the secret societies, which gave so poetical a tinge
to Germany during the latter years of Napoleon. Under her influence,
Baron Hardenberg took charge of the ministry for foreign affairs,
shortly after the commencement of the consulate. In the midst of the
various coalitions of the period, Prussia had hitherto preserved a
strict neutrality; after the 18th Brumaire, however, she shewed herself
perfectly willing to agree to all required by the First Consul, and the
insinuations made by Buonaparte to Louis XVIII., proposing to him to
abdicate, were despatched from Berlin; nor was even the proper degree
of dignity exhibited on this occasion, though it ought to increase,
rather than diminish, where illustrious sufferers are concerned.
The Consul became Emperor; and with a view of still farther
strengthening the bonds of union with Prussia, Napoleon appointed
Marshal Duroc, his confidential friend, to represent him at Berlin.
It was rather a difficult moment, as war was about again to resound
in Europe, and the combined armies of Russia and Austria to take the
field, rendering it a matter of very great importance to create a
suitable post for Prussia; Baron Hardenberg was, therefore, summoned
to the head of affairs, as the representative of a middle system then
beginning to arise and develope itself under the influence of the Queen
of Prussia. He was attached at the same time to English principles,
and to the politics of France and Germany, and was under the necessity
of instituting a close comparison among the various interests and
influences presented to his view; he, however, detached himself from
the debased political system pursued by Count Haugwitz. His great fault
on this occasion was his not perceiving that Buonaparte's deceit was
equal to his genius, and that he only kept terms with Prussia now, to
ensure him a greater facility in punishing her at a future period.
The first dissatisfaction entertained by the cabinet of Berlin
against Buonaparte appeared in a despatch of Hardenberg's, on the
violation of the Prussian territory, an extraordinary dereliction
of the law of nations, which had given extreme offence to the court
and to the people. "His majesty," said the Prussian minister, "does
not know with which he has most cause to be astonished, the violence
the French armies have chosen to commit in his territories, or the
incomprehensible arguments by which it is pretended to justify them.
His majesty, properly tenacious of the consideration due as much to his
power as to his character, has read, with feelings he would in vain
endeavour to conceal, the justificatory despatches that have been sent
by the French legation to his cabinet. They rest upon the example of
the former war and the parity of circumstances, as if the proceedings
then permitted had not been founded upon exactly defined treaties,
which ceased with the peace! as if the Emperor Napoleon had borne these
treaties in mind when he took possession of Hanover, of a country
which by these same treaties had been for many long years under the
protection of Prussia! Ignorance of our intentions is made a pretext,
as if our intentions were not, in this instance, proved by the actual
fact; and as if the nature of the affair could be altered without any
previous stipulation! His majesty had not given sufficient publicity
with the Elector of Bavaria to circumstances it was unnecessary he
should mention! And as if I had not myself, with the map in my hand,
declared long before, in my conferences with M. le Maréchal Duroc,
and M. de Laforest, the impossibility of permitting any troops to
march through the margraviate! The king considers himself, from this
time forth, set free from all the engagements he has formed, and feels
under the necessity of commanding his armies to assume the position
necessary for the defence of the state." The Emperor Napoleon was
greatly offended by this despatch, and the firm language in which it
was couched; but he was then desirous of keeping on good terms with the
cabinet of Berlin to prevent their joining the coalition.
By assuming a system of perfect neutrality, Prussia was likely to
derive the advantage of being on friendly terms, even with the parties
opposed to Napoleon; and there were English, Austrian, and Russian
ministers at Berlin, with whom Baron Hardenberg was naturally in
communication.
According to the principles and the precedents of the court of
Berlin, Hanover, though a hereditary fief of the British crown, was,
nevertheless, under the protection of the German neutrality; such,
however, was not the theory of Napoleon, who was deeply irritated
against England; and more than one violation of territory had already
shewn that the powerful Emperor would not consider the respect due to
the rights of neutral powers, if it were likely to prove any obstacle
to his success.