When the peace of 1814 was signed, the governments had declared their reciprocal debts at an end; but while they renounced their own claims upon the treasury, they made a reservation in favour of those of private individuals, which had been so violently attacked by the wars of the Revolution and of the Empire. When Europe dictated the implacable treaty of November, 1815, claims poured in on every side; it was stipulated that payment should be effected by inscriptions in the great book of the public debt of France, and 9 millions a-year were at first set aside for that purpose; the time, however, for presenting claims was not to expire until the 28th of February, 1817; and—will it be believed?—the sum total amounted to 1600 millions![45]a sum of almost fabulous magnitude, which surpassed the value of the two budgets of France. It was enough to drive one to despair, especially as each person demanded payment in full. What was to be done under circumstances of so much difficulty? Russia was so situated as naturally to assume the character of a mediator, for she had but few claims; and the Emperor Alexander, convinced that, unless the negotiation were carried on by an arbiter common to all parties, it would fall to the ground before the diversity of views and opinions, proposed, as I have before stated, to intrust it to the Duke of Wellington, making, at the same time, a sort of appeal to his generosity.The mediator, under the guidance of M. Mounier, and after unheard-of retrenchments, fixed the sum destinedfor the payment of the debts of France to individuals at 16 millions and 40,000 francs. People are too apt to forget in the present times the extreme difficulties encountered by the public credit of the restoration, during the period of our misfortunes. The Duc de Richelieu very soon came to the conclusion, that a system of well-conducted loans offered the only possible means of fulfilling the obligations imposed by the treaty. During the sway of Napoleon, the credit of the government had been utterly null; confidence had been destroyed by too many violations of the public faith, and too many arbitrary actions, for the Revolution and the Empire were merely the abuse of power; and the events of 1814 and 1815 having compelled the government to increase the public debt to 126 millions, would it be possible to obtain an additional loan? No French house had presented itself possessed of sufficient capital to act upon so vast a scale; their fear of the risk was too great. But the Duke considered there would be an advantage in foreign loans, in raising a competition among all the capitals of Europe, and effecting our deliverance by a mere change of location. The necessary pecuniary resources were found in the opulent firm of Hope and Baring; and, to prepare the departure of the foreign troops, the minister succeeded in obtaining that the sovereigns who signed the treaty of 1815 should assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle, to determine whether the occupation should terminate at the end of three years, or whether it should be prolonged to five, according to the alternative left by the treaty.This proposal having been accepted, the congress assembled on the 20th of September 1818. All the obstacles had been already overcome by the pacific views of Russia, which had acted favourably upon the scruples entertained by Prussia and England; and on the 2d ofOctober the evacuation of the French provinces was decided upon, and the last traces of the invasion disappeared; besides which the Duc de Richelieu obtained a reduction of part of the indemnity still unpaid. Who does not recollect the proud and natural delight of the French minister on his return? France was no longer a country in the occupation of Europe, but a government admitted into the first rank among nations, with its greatness, its liberty, and its independence. Sufficient justice is seldom rendered to statesmen who restore to a country its dignity and consideration: vulgar history only extols those that destroy.Another crisis, however, was in preparation. The value of the public securities, owing to excessive speculations, had risen to an immoderate height, which was followed, in 1818, by an equally rapid fall, and the Allies might have destroyed the public credit by rejecting therentesthat had been assigned in payment of the subsidies; but the word of the Duc de Richelieu was sufficient to obtain a considerable extension of the time fixed for the payments to be made to the allied powers: and as great embarrassments still prevailed on the Exchange, he still farther obtained, that 100 millions which were to have been discharged by inscriptions ofrentes, and which were included in the payments stipulated by the Allies, should be withdrawn, and in their steadbonson the treasury should be substituted, to become due in eighteen months.Such was the end attained by the negotiations of the Duc de Richelieu with foreign powers; the great object of his life was fulfilled, for in what a state of misery was France when he assumed the reins of government! 700,000 foreigners, contributions of all kinds, the country placed at the ban of Europe! Now to that country he had restored liberty, he had reorganised her army, hadestablished her public credit, and reconciled France with the world. Before this great result was achieved, the Duke had repeatedly declared to his friends that, as soon as the personal credit he enjoyed with foreign powers was no longer necessary, he should quit the situation he had been compelled to accept, and retire into private life, and accordingly he sent in his resignation; but it was not accepted, for the old liberal spirit had arisen to struggle for victory. Many men possessed of no ability, except for public speaking, had striven to secure the elections, and the result of the proceedings of several of the electoral colleges had caused great anxiety to the friends of government. M. de Richelieu was therefore compelled to remain at the head of affairs; and he returned to Paris for the purpose of concerting the measures rendered necessary by the actual circumstances.The cabinet were agreed upon the necessity of opposing a barrier to democratic opinions and principles; nevertheless, serious dissensions arose when the electoral system came to be debated; and the Duke, much annoyed by the difference of opinion that existed in the council between himself, M. Decaze, and Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, returned to his former wish of retiring from office. His example was followed by the rest of the ministers, who gave in their resignation in a simultaneous manner that was very remarkable. It is a melancholy truth, that the statesman who had so powerfully contributed to deliver the territory from foreign occupation, was compelled to retire before the petty intrigues suggested by narrow policy and the Chamber of Deputies. The Duke's opinion of the electoral system was different from that entertained by the partizans of the old liberal school, and he resigned his portfolio to General Dessole.In spite of all the great affairs in which M. de Richelieu had been engaged, he was in a condition of honourable poverty, and the king conferred upon the retired minister the appointment of Grand Huntsman, in the same manner as he had conferred the title of Grand Chamberlain upon M. de Talleyrand, after his services in 1815. The chambers, however, were conscious that a recompense was due from the country to the able negotiator of Aix-la-Chapelle, and M. de Lally made a proposal that the king should be requested to confer a national reward upon the Duc de Richelieu. The same suggestion was made in the upper chamber, at the very moment when a letter from the Duke declared to the president of the deputies, that he should be proud of receiving a mark of the king's favour, given with the concurrence of the chambers; but that as it was proposed to award him anationalrecompense at the expense of the nation, he could not consent to see any thing added for his sake to the burdens under which the country was already groaning. Every body was well aware that the Duke possessed no fortune, and that his sole income was derived from his office of grand huntsman; a good deal of littleness, however, was exhibited in the Chamber of Deputies when it was proposed to assign amajoratof 50,000 francs to the heir of the name of Richelieu, as a recompense to the minister who had obtained the liberation of the territory. Are public bodies only capable of great actions when a profit arises from them to the passions by which they are actuated? The proposedmajoratwas afterwards changed into an annuity; and, out of respect to the king's wishes, the Duke did not refuse this acknowledgement of his services, but he devoted the entire income derived from it to the foundation of a religious charity in the city of Bourdeaux. Such was the personal generosity of thisgreat man, who was desirous of retiring entirely to private life.Alas! his political career was not yet concluded! The Decaze ministry, on every side inundated by old liberal opinions, was at its last gasp. Advantage was taken of the law of elections against the government, one concession led to another, and the Duke was summoned to the council extraordinary, presided over by the king in person, to advise upon the measures to be pursued in this emergency. The crime of Louvel had filled Paris with grief and horror, and M. Decaze, abandoned by thecôté gaucheof the chamber, who defended the law of February 5th, 1817, rejected by the royalists, who reproached him with not having agreed to the propositions of the Marquis Barthélemy, at last sent in his resignation; and at this difficult juncture, the king again placed the Duc de Richelieu at the head of affairs. The most urgent entreaties were required to induce him to accept the appointment, for the situation was melancholy, and the country full of anxiety, while the irritation of parties had reached its highest pitch. The preceding administration had proposed an electoral system, which was distasteful to all parties in the chamber; it had demanded laws arming the government with extraordinary powers; no majority was yet formed, and the ministry were doubtful whether these laws would be capable of overcoming the formidable opposition they would have to encounter; the fears of Europe also had been aroused, and it was necessary to appease them. At length, every thing, however, was provided for, and, at the end of a long and painful discussion, exceptional laws were voted.But then, who was able to calm the public mind? and what hand was sufficiently powerful to arrest the evil tendency of society? A bias had been given toeducation in France ever since the revolution of 1789; people were closely surrounded by mischievous opinions and frightful systems; parties considered themselves sufficiently powerful to conspire openly, and intimidate the government by tumultuous meetings. Seditious assemblies took place with a view to political catastrophes, and the slightest hesitation might have given rise to the most dreadful calamities. The command of Paris was now committed to Marshal Macdonald, by the ministers' council, formidable military preparations were made, and proofs were obtained of a conspiracy, involving some names since exalted by another revolution. During the ten days that this state of anxiety and trouble prevailed, they had only to regret the lives of two of the disturbers of the public peace; and now that the ideas concerning government are become more advanced, people will be surprised at the declamations of those who held liberal opinions, against measures which were indispensable for the safety of the country. Has not every government a right to defend itself, and is it not bound to do so?Europe now began to assume an alarming aspect. The revolt of the Spanish army at the island of Léon found an echo in a similar movement among the Neapolitan troops. Portugal quickly followed their example; and the seditious, imagining the French army well inclined to imitate the conduct of their neighbours, directed all their efforts towards this end. After having broken all the bonds of civil order, the revolution endeavoured to overturn the principle of duty and obedience among the soldiery. In most of the corps, however, the officers continued faithful to their engagements; a few only were unable to resist the torrent, and a conspiracy was formed in several of the regiments atParis, extending in its ramifications to various military stations, and it was determined that the rising should take place in the barracks on the 20th of August, 1820. On the proposal of M. Mounier, then director-general of the police, the ministers' council determined upon arresting the conspirators before they had unfurled a standard and actually proclaimed the insurrection. The heads of this military conspiracy are well known at present, and some of them have even been rewarded; but, as is always the case, the plot was denied by the parties engaged in it. The Chamber of Peers behaved with much indulgence, as able and experienced authorities usually do when severity is not indispensably necessary; and the government preferred pardoning many offences, and consigning much to oblivion, to being compelled to authorise the shedding of blood.The elections of 1820, which had taken place when a favourable impression had been raised by the birth of the Duc de Bourdeaux, gave a powerful and compactcôté droitto the chamber, and MM. de Villèle and Corbière, who had assumed the position of its chiefs, ought naturally to have supported the Duc de Richelieu; but, at the very commencement of the session, clouds appeared on the horizon. Thecôté droitof the chambers had hitherto fought by the side of the ministers, and triumphed with them, and consequently they claimed a direct participation in the administration. Negotiations were entered into with them; the Duke would not consent that any of the men who had hitherto governed with him, and preserved the kingdom in its hour of peril, should be excluded from the council; however, two only of the principal deputies on thecôté droit, MM. de Villèle and Corbière, were appointed members of the cabinet, with the title of ministerial secretaries ofstate.[46]M. Lainé, a man with whose honest and upright character the Duke had been particularly struck, was also a member of this administration.The political principle of this revised ministry was the agreement of the centre of thecôté droit, and thedroiteitself, in one common vote; but the session under this management was long and troublesome, and a tedious and stormy debate took place before the Duke was able to decide upon the execution of his idea of an extended system of canal navigation, like that at present in force. He drew up a plan, inviting men possessed of large capital to take a part in these great works; for at that time the principal part of the capital in the kingdom, was invested in the funds, and enterprises tending to the benefit of industry and the improvement of the country were not popular: many difficulties were encountered, but they were all overcome by means of firmness and determination.Order was now established in all the departments of government; the restraints formerly imposed upon the action of the municipal authorities, by a system of excessive centralisation, were removed; and in the financial department the most unlimited competition was invited, for the first time, in the sale of stock, and the value of public securities reached its highest pitch. In his foreign policy, the Duke never ceased for a moment to support the idea of the Russian alliance, less from former recollections, and his affection for the Emperor Alexander, than upon the principle constantly expressed in all his correspondence, that the Russian alliance was advantageous to France because it was perfectly disinterested. In fact, what can Russia demand of us? On what point can we clash? Commerce withher can never be otherwise than an equal exchange; the productions of industry in her country are not of equal value with ours; she requires our wines, our fashions, our manufactures, and we, in exchange, require her timber, her copper, and her iron. Her fleets cannot assume any dominion over us, her frontiers do not reach us in any direction, and we are benefited by her influence; whilst, on the other hand, the designs and interests of France are opposed by the English alliance in all questions of importance. M. de Richelieu's system was resumed by M. de la Ferronays in 1828.During the Duke's second ministry the great European powers met at 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 thecôté 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.Thedroiteand thegauchewere 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 acoup 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 thecôté droitinsisted 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 thecôté droit, and thegaucheof the Chamber of Deputies. The conduct of thegauchewas 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 endangeredthe country by their madness of thehundred 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 thecôté 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 possessedby 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.Itis 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 conqueringcities 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'sprofession. 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 orvehement, 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 onthat 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 situationsubordinate 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 overher 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, detachedhimself 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 longbefore, 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.Prussia was greatly displeased, and a decisive moment was at hand, for the Russian and Austrian armies were advancing against Napoleon. According to his usual custom, the impetuous military chieftain of France had ventured all risks, for he had boldness and fortune in addition to his genius; he entered Moravia, and, if Prussia had then declared herself, it would have beenall over with him, as with 150,000 men on his flank, his position would have been utterly lost; and to obtain this object the most pressing negotiations were going on at Berlin, England offering subsidies, Russia support, and Austria a larger share of territory, even in Poland. Hardenberg's opinion was to decide at once, but was his influence always predominant in the midst of so much corruption? Among those who sided with him was the noble-minded Queen, and the brave and generous Prince Louis of Prussia; but he had to contend with the personal opinion of Count Haugwitz and the Marquis Lucchesini, both strongly in favour of the French cabinet. The system of a supine neutrality, therefore, carried the day, and the utmost Hardenberg could obtain was permission to assure England that they would protect the independence of Hanover, so far as to allow a passage to the English troops, should they be attacked or pursued by Napoleon.On this subject the Prussian minister wrote a letter to Lord Harrowby, in which rather a remarkable view was taken of the neutrality; a certain inclination towards the opinions and sentiments of the coalition appeared to filter through it, with a considerable degree of irritation with regard to the French cabinet, which had already failed to respect the Prussian neutrality.Baron Hardenberg had been in hopes of obtaining a positive decision, which would have placed Prussia in the first rank among nations, for 150,000 men directed against the flank of Napoleon would have secured the victory to Europe, when intelligence was received of the wonders achieved at Austerlitz. Napoleon was a gambler on an immense scale! His eagle threw the dice of human destiny from his immense claws, and the chances had hitherto always been in his favour; but, besides this, did he not always quarrel with charactersinclined to temporise, and who delayed declaring themselves until victory had decided in favour of one of the parties? After the battle of Austerlitz was it a time to assume a threatening attitude, when Austria and Russia were going to treat with the Emperor of the French on a common footing?Under these circumstances, then, the position of Baron Hardenberg became difficult, nay, intolerable, for was he not considered as the representative of the warlike party and the opponent of Napoleon? How could the minister of the heroic Queen and Prince Louis of Prussia remain at the head of the cabinet, when Prussia, prostrate before Napoleon, seemed almost to solicit pardon for having assumed, however slightly, an attitude of independence? At that time, Napoleon, who was incapable of forgiveness, knew well how to ruin a man by dictating articles for theMoniteur, pronouncing thus a sentence against statesmen whom he wished to get rid of. Buonaparte was an excellent pamphleteer, and, when he got into a passion, he gave vent in this manner to his ill-humour, against a king, a minister, or a general. M. Maret used to write from his dictation in short-hand, and send it afterwards to the official newspaper, according to his original profession of a journalist; he, also, possessed a certain knack for composition.Upon this occasion Hardenberg was honoured by the capricious abuse of the Emperor, in consequence of a despatch full of impartiality which he had addressed to Lord Harrowby, concerning the neutrality of Hanover. A word from Buonaparte to the court of Berlin was sufficient to procure the dismissal of the minister, and, having retired from the cabinet, he the very same day repelled the attacks of the French emperor, who had accused him of not even being a Prussian. "I am proud," said he, "of the esteem and confidence of thesovereign and people of Prussia; I am proud of the opinion of estimable foreigners, and it is with great satisfaction that I number some Frenchmen among them. I am not a Prussian by birth, it is true, but I will yield in patriotism to no native of that country; and I have obtained a right to assert this fact, both by my services, and by having transferred my patrimony, and become a proprietor in this country. Though I am not a soldier, I feel that I should not have proved unworthy, had fate summoned me to bear arms in defence of my sovereign and his rights, or the dignity, safety, and honour of the state."There was a degree of asperity in these expressions as uttered by a man who had given up the direction of affairs, without the hope of resuming it. He resigned his portfolio to Count Haugwitz, under the influence of the Marquis Lucchesini and the secretary, M. Lombard, and then, encompassed by the attachment of the Prussian army, and the enthusiasm of the universities, he retired into the country, like a man to whom the present time is devoid of interest. Some very significant proceedings, however, were going on in Prussia; the government had adopted extremely moderate measures, and both the king and the cabinet were desirous of maintaining the conditions of the French alliance: but there was a movement among the people, an energetic expression of national feeling, which would not allow this condition of quiet and peace to be maintained in the state.This double situation affords an explanation of the events, and many of the faults, of this period; the tergiversations of the cabinet, which appeared constantly to have an inclination towards public opinion, and then again, especially after the battle of Austerlitz, returned to their former dread of the Emperor. At length the king, pressed by the people, roused himself, and manifesteda chivalrous disposition in accordance with the spirit of the nation, and more especially of the universities; and it reached such a pitch, that, after the retirement of Hardenberg, the people flew to arms in a hasty and adventurous manner, and without sufficiently calculating the course they were to pursue. And who was to conduct this war? Count Haugwitz, already devoted to France, and the secretary Lombard, both creatures of Napoleon! One would have said treachery was already determined upon.Nothing could surpass the campaign of Jena, no praise be too great for that admirable military movement directed by the Eagle of Austerlitz. But were these splendid victories due entirely to the brilliant and energetic courage of the imperial army? had not a series of faults been committed by their opponents? and were those who directed the cabinet of Berlin perfectly faithful and devoted to the interests of Prussia? After the disasters of Jena so many acts of secret treason came to light, that Hardenberg, under the influence of Queen Louisa and the Emperor Alexander, was again placed at the head of foreign affairs, for an inclination to resist the power of France had now sprung up. This new situation of the cabinets of Russia and Prussia requires some explanation, because it formed the basis of the intimate union, which at a later period led to the ruin of the French empire. The dissatisfaction before entertained by the cabinet of St. Petersburg against Prussia proceeded entirely from the position of indifferent neutrality assumed by the latter ever since the treaty of Basle; and all the endeavours made by England, Austria, and Russia to induce the cabinet of Berlin to break through this mischievous situation had met with a refusal, for neutrality appeared to be the fundamental principle of the Prussian political system. It was, therefore, satisfactoryto see Prussia willing to engage in hostilities, though atthe eleventh hour, for her position by that means became clear and decided; and it was of little consequence if they had been unsuccessful in the campaign of Jena, provided the spirit of their government was in favour of war; if, in short, there was a degree of unity and vigour capable of supporting the coalesced cabinets.Baron Hardenberg thus became the representative of the alliance between Russia and Prussia. Frederic William having been obliged to evacuate Berlin, had fallen back with the ruins of his army upon the Russian troops, and then commenced the campaign in the midst of wintry snows, the fiercely-contested and sanguinary battle of Prussisch-Eylau, where first paled the star of Napoleon! Friedland, however, saved the audacious eagle, as Austerlitz had preserved it two years before, and treaties were again had recourse to. Who can express the humiliating conditions dictated by the victor to Prussia? Who describe the cold sarcastic conduct of the fortunate soldier towards the heroic queen, the idol of the universities?Baron Hardenberg, being again compelled to retire, resigned his portfolio to the new cabinet formed by Napoleon, from which every mind possessed of any degree of independence or elevation was excluded. Prussia became almost a department of France, traversed in every direction by military roads; the whole population of some districts was carried away by the generals of Buonaparte, with blows and violence; the universities were closed, and the provinces reduced to the last extremity; while such heavy military contributions were imposed, that they wrung from the peasant his last hard-earned crown, and even his plough and his oxen. People must not treat a country thus, when they are desirous of governing it; they should recollect that the superiorityof a power does not result from violence, but from the moral ascendancy produced by protection and support.But at the side of the public government of Prussia, bowed down before the wrath and violence of Napoleon, a number of secret associations had been brought into existence, by the oppression of the conquerors; and taking the Fatherland for their watchword, they only awaited a crisis for vengeance. After the death of their noble-hearted queen these associations greatly increased, and the most eminent among the patriots, as well as the statesmen out of favour, participated in them, for the salvation of the country was at stake. It is incontestable that Hardenberg was themindof this national conspiracy, as Blucher and Gneisenau were itssword; this secret and magnificent undertaking, this moral resistance, advanced with indescribable and undeviating energy, during the period which elapsed between 1808 and 1811, and then, by a capricious will of the Emperor Napoleon, Hardenberg was again destined to receive a mark of confidence from his sovereign, and the government of Prussia was once more placed in his hands. I consider this to have been the most critical period for Northern Germany; the provinces, constantly traversed by French troops, were completely in the power of their generals, and that fine country was now nothing but a magazine of forage, provisions, and money for the French troops. In the midst of these disastrous circumstances, the minister applied himself particularly to reinstating some little degree of order in the complicated administration of Prussia; he relieved the people as far as it was possible, and above all, he endeavoured to reorganise the army, firmly, but not openly, for this Napoleon would not have permitted, but by a military system which constantly summoned the young soldiers to their duties, and then shortly afterwards restored them to their familiesand their homes; a plan which permitted him to have a fine army in preparation for future events, at a very moderate expense. The system of military reserves is essentially Prussian, because it realizes the double idea of a considerable army in time of war, and a limited contingent during peace; by this means every Prussian is a soldier.If at this time the Emperor treated Prussia with some little degree of respect, if he even called for the concurrence of Baron Hardenberg, it was because, being then almost on the eve of undertaking a campaign against Russia, he was desirous of engaging Prussia in it as an auxiliary; and as the cabinet was already devoted to him, Buonaparte sought to enlist popular opinion in his favour, by means of their favourite minister. And here a question may be asked, of great importance to history. How came Hardenberg to affix his signature to the secret treaty which placed the Prussian army under the orders of Napoleon? Had he really and in good faith entered into the alliance? or had he only signed it with the determination of breaking through its conditions at the first check experienced by the French arms? It is necessary we should recollect, that with Napoleon there were no discussions, no considering the various clauses of a treaty; and the correspondence of M. de Saint-Marsan with M. Maret, with the notes and explanations of the Prussian minister with the French ambassador, are sufficient to carry conviction that nothing was free or spontaneous on this occasion: every thing was submitted to from the most imperious necessity; there was no choice given of acceptance or refusal, but Prussia placed her army and her treasury at the disposal of the conqueror, because he had said,It is my will.Now in these necessities, imposed by misfortune, did no gleam of hope remain? In politics, no alliances aredurable but those resting upon a perfect agreement of views and interests. When two people unite because they are free and happy, because they feel a mutual esteem and regard for each other, because they reciprocally afford and receive important services, then, depend upon it, these alliances are durable, these treaties will be carefully carried out. But suppose, on the contrary, a people vanquished and humbled—a king of Prussia, the descendant of Frederic the Great, to whom M. Maret insolently writes, "that he must sign a military and diplomatic convention, under pain of captivity;" does such a treaty as that form an alliance? is the convention which delivers up Berlin to the French army, a treaty between friends and allies? or could the plan which parcelled out the Prussian army, into divisions under French marshals or generals, be a free, upright, or durable proceeding? Surely not: this reconciliation could only be momentary; it was imposed by main force, and with the decline of power it must come to an end.In addition to this, the Prussian government could no longer control the people of Germany, indignant at the humiliations they were called upon to submit to. That Hardenberg was acquainted with the proceedings of the secret societies, does not admit of a doubt, neither is it less certain that he permitted their developement, in order afterwards to avail himself of them, as a powerful instrument against the oppression of France; but a circumstance one cannot comprehend is, that it should not have occurred even to the inferior mind of M. de Saint-Marsan, and the very moderate capacity of M. Maret, that at the first reverse experienced by the grand army, all these alliances would be got rid of, as something troublesome and offensive—in fact, as a yoke to be cast off. To what a degree of humiliation was the House of Frederic now reduced! Prussia, in a suppliant attitude, had solicitedan alliance with the Buonaparte family, and Hardenberg, the principal negotiator, had received a cold refusal! Was it possible all this should be forgotten? On one side was the recollection of their young and heroic queen, who had died broken-hearted, insulted in the public papers, and calumniated in pamphlets; and on the other, was a people ground down by oppression, but undertaking its own preparations for the day of independence; while to the insolence of the chief we must add all the harshness of his generals, and of the people employed in levying contributions. I do not wish here to mention proper names, but if any men are still living who were then employed in the local administration of Prussia, let them speak, and say, whether the system to which Prussia was subjected, was one possible for her to maintain, in spite of all the hopes of liberty inspired by the general rising in Europe? and whether it was not natural the conflagration of Moscow should be succeeded by other flames?The most important events in Prussia commenced from this period. The fatal campaign of Moscow being concluded, the French army, a miserable swarm of fugitives, fell back upon the frontiers of Prussia, so lately traversed under different auspices! The corps of Marshal Macdonald was compelled to retreat from the siege of Riga, and the brave and faithful chief brought back with him the Prussians, especially the division of York, long under the influence of the principles inculcated by Schill. News suddenly arrived that the Prussians refused to fight, and General York addressed a respectful letter to the Marshal, declaring his intention of maintaining a perfect neutrality with the Russian armies. This defection extended to all the Prussian troops, and excited surprise, though it had long been in preparation; in fact, both officers and soldiers were all strongly imbued withthe doctrines of Schill, Stein, and the secret societies; and Prussia, ripe for independence, obtained it at last: a bright dawn had begun to appear, and wherefore should she not avail herself of it?Such being the state of popular opinion in Prussia, let us now inquire what was the spirit of the cabinet conducted by Baron Hardenberg. He had evidently been well acquainted with the existence of the secret societies, and the edicts of Breslau, issued on the 3d and 9th of February, which gave a military organisation to theTugendbund, were drawn up and signed by him; and admirable indeed were these patriotic papers, calling upon all the sons of Germany to take up arms in defence of the Fatherland! It is necessary to read them, fully to understand the pitch excitement had now reached in Germany; all the young men between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four, were to take up arms, and form volunteer corps, clothed in the dress that had been worn by Schill and Stein, that is, the short frock girded with a leathern belt, and the little cap usually worn by students. No youth could be married unless he had performed this service, nor could he fill any public situation unless he had discharged his duty to his country; without this there was no hope for him, either in the path of ambition or of love. The patriotic edicts were signed by Hardenberg, who was desirous of placing himself at the head of popular feeling in Prussia. They were thus worded:—"The dangers with which the state is threatened demand an immediate augmentation of our military force, at the same time that the state of our finances forbids any increase of our expenditure. The subjects of Prussia have always been distinguished for their attachment to their king and country, and they require nothing to direct them to a determined object but a favourable occasion, which may enable our braveyouth to display the courage which leads them to join the ranks of the ancient defenders of their native land, and acquit themselves at their side, of their first and noblest duties. It is with this object, that his majesty has been pleased to command the formation of detachments of yagers, intended to be annexed to the battalions of infantry and the regiments of cavalry of which the army is composed, so as to summon to military service those classes of the inhabitants of the country who are not compelled to it by the laws, and yet whose means permit them, to clothe and equip themselves at their own expense, and to serve the state in a manner compatible with their situation regarding the civil government. It will also afford an opportunity to young men of education to distinguish themselves, and become some day clever officers, or non-commissioned officers."The spirit of Prussia was now thoroughly roused and up in arms. At the same time Baron Hardenberg was engaged in a negotiation with M. Maret, who did not perceive that the Prussian cabinet was merely following the stream—that it was, in fact, no longer the king who governed, but the people, and that the people were boiling with indignation. Generally speaking, the functionaries of the empire did not attach sufficient importance to public opinion; the greater part of them, forsooth, were too great people, men of too illustrious birth, as every one is aware, and they looked down upon the mass of the nation! These men, born of the people, raised by them—some being old newspaper-writers, others scriveners, or retired attorneys—considered themselves, by the grace of God, such great lords and princes, that they paid no attention to the vast power which gives laws to kings and states. When Hardenberg wrote that he was desirous of forming the plan of an alliance,even after the campaign of Moscow, M. Maret's mind was quite at ease on the subject of Prussia; and the diplomatic despatches give sufficient evidence of the perfect ignorance that existed at Paris as to the approaching movement at Berlin: they did not observe that fresh ideas were becoming developed, and that the cabinet was no longer master of the country. "What is going to happen?" wrote M. de Saint-Marsan to the Prussian minister; and, as his sole answer, the latter despatched General Krusemarck and Prince Hatzfeld to Paris, bearing soothing words. "Prussia is desirous of maintaining peace, and the French alliance is pleasing to her, but she requires fresh conditions." Read this note from Hardenberg to M. de Saint-Marsan, which describes perfectly the situation of Prussia, a situation M. Maret had not understood:—"It has occurred to the king, that nothing would more advance the great work than a truce, according to which the French and Russian armies would retire to a certain distance, and establish lines of demarcation, leaving an intervening country. Would his imperial majesty be willing to enter into such an arrangement? Would he consent to resign the charge of the fortresses of the Oder, of Pilau, and of Dantzic (with regard to the latter, conjointly with the Saxon troops, as agreed by the treaty of Tilsit), to the troops of the king, and withdraw his army beyond the Elbe, provided the Emperor Alexander should withdraw his beyond the Vistula? The king has commanded General Krusemarck and Prince Hatzfeld to inquire into the intentions of his imperial majesty on this head; and he has made similar proposals to the Emperor Alexander, as concerning an idea emanating entirely from himself, and which can in no way compromise the resolution which your sovereign, his imperialmajesty, may come to on this point. According to what is decided upon at present, the king will regulate his ulterior proceedings."Although Hardenberg's language was somewhat timid, matters were, nevertheless, in a state of progression. In her first position, the situation of Prussia was that of an ally; in the second, that of a neutral power: would she stop there? The arrival of the Emperor Alexander at Breslau decided the king upon following the popular movement, and the court of Berlin pronounced in favour of the coalition; information being conveyed to M. Maret, in a paper drawn up by Hardenberg, that Prussia had declared war. This remarkable exposition of their causes of complaint against Napoleon contains, more especially, a summary of pecuniary grievances, unheard-of violations of the various clauses of the treaty, and recollections of the harsh rule of the French generals. One circumstance, however, is omitted, although it occupied the first place in the mind of the Prussian minister, viz. that the country was weary of foreign dominion. TheTugendbundhad arisen, like an ancient German warrior, armed at all points.Hardenberg quickly followed up this first despatch by a second, addressed to General Krusemarck at Paris, who transmitted it to M. Maret. "The Emperor of Russia offers a noble and faithful friendship to Prussia, while Napoleon has thrust away his ally, not even having condescended to enter into any explanation with her. Prussia has endured all the insolence unsparingly heaped upon her by the conqueror; all her fortified places have been seized by the French troops; Berlin has been occupied, and 94 millions levied upon the country. These circumstances render further hesitation impossible; honour commands us to draw thesword, and never will we sheath it until an honourable and advantageous peace has been obtained."Baron Hardenberg was now completely in his element; his original inclinations bound him to Russia and the Emperor Alexander, and he rejoiced in seeing the idea of Queen Louisa accomplished, and the two monarchs pressing each other's hands. From this time forward, all the efforts of the minister were directed to the developement, and organisation of the secret societies. His object was to give a heroic impulse to Germany, and, laying aside for the moment all the divisions between the Catholic and Protestant parties, he resolved to see nothing but the Fatherland thirsting for deliverance from the tyranny of Napoleon; he encouraged the young men to carol patriotic songs, and excited them to march boldly to battle, without any distinction being made between the civilian and the soldier.Then were seen universities risingen masse, and the professors themselves leading their pupils to the battle of the giants. The engagements of Lutzen and Bautzen have never been considered in a point of view which would invest them with a melancholy interest. The flower of both countries was there opposed to each other; the conscripts of the empire, from the age of eighteen to twenty-one years, and the students of the universities bearing the funereal banner of Queen Louisa, the oldest of whom did not exceed the age of twenty-two years. In the midst of these noble squadrons were heard the thunders of 1500 pieces of artillery, tearing their youthful and tender bodies, carrying off heads, mutilating limbs; yet none of these youths faltered, for they were fighting for their country, their common mother.During this tremendous conflict, the minister did notneglect liberal concessions, capable of increasing the enthusiasm of the people. Germany, so heavily oppressed, thirsted after liberty, and when the people were giving such pledges to the government, it was but just the government, in return, should do something for the people. In Prussia there is a spirit essentially of organisation, a constant want of improvement and progress. All the acts of Hardenberg at this period were impressed with a character of liberty; he augmented the municipal administrations, all the pecuniary privileges of the nobility and clergy were annulled, and, following the ideas of the economic school, wardenships and the freedom of cities were abolished. By some acts of the cabinet a political constitution was promised to Prussia, although it is hardly possible to believe they could ever have thought seriously of such a thing for a country whose interests and opinions were so disjointed as those of Germany. But at that time Napoleon was regarded by the whole world as a great despot; the power raised to oppose him must of necessity be the spirit of liberty; and every national feeling rose in arms, because the season of oppression must be brought to a close. Under these peculiar circumstances, engagements naturally were entered into and promises made. To a people capable of such noble daring, great concessions might be promised, and in this, Hardenberg only followed the impulse that had been given; he pressed the hand of Stein, Blucher, and Gneisenau, because their names, like that of Suwarow in Russia, were the symbol of the country in arms.See what name is given in Germany to our disastrous defeat at Leipsic—the Victory of the Nations! Yes! it was indeed there, the nations overcame the terrible oppressor who had crushed them to the dust! It was from the battle of Leipsic, that dated the sudden,but prolonged reaction, which finally delivered the people and the governments from that giant hand. Accustomed as we are to place the character of Napoleon in the highest rank, we will not understand that he was the tyrant of Europe, and that even now we are undergoing the reaction of two fatal ideas—the recollection of our conquests and of our disorganising principles.After Leipsic, the Rhine was crossed, and Hardenberg did not for a moment quit the head-quarters of the Allies: he also represented Prussia at the congress of Châtillon. From this moment, in all the diplomatic proceedings, as well as in the military operations, Prussia always manifested the strongest animosity against the French Emperor; she hoped for great reprisals, and would undoubtedly have obtained them, had not the general inclination in Europe for peace, and the exclusive and generous influence of the Emperor Alexander, swayed the negotiations concerning the treaty of Paris, and the restoration of the Bourbons. All the political transactions were signed by Hardenberg, from his having been the powerful hand which for two years had steadily directed public affairs; the King of Prussia conferred upon him the title of Prince; and he was invested with that high dignity when he accompanied the sovereigns to England.The sight of the palace of St. James's must have awakened melancholy feelings in his mind; in his youth he had there experienced domestic sorrow, and been agitated by contending passions; for he had been the lover and husband of the Countess Randlaw, the most beautiful woman in Germany: she had been lost to him through the means of the Prince of Wales, and her seducer was now the Regent of the British islands. But they had both grown much older; and when twenty-five years have been passed in political agitations andtempests, the heart has been worn out by emotion, and but little room is left for recollections of enmity and vengeance. Prince Hardenberg was therefore presented to the Prince Regent, who received him with marked attention; and the past only recurred to their minds, like one of those views which scarcely leave a trace in the memory.From London, Prince Hardenberg repaired to Vienna, to be present at the meeting of the great congress, and he had the honour of seeing the immense aggrandisement of Prussia sanctioned by successive treaties. She now became the kingdom most immediately in an offensive position, and was placed in the situation of an advanced post in the coalition against France. Those who have investigated the spirit of Europe in the remodelling which took place in 1815, can easily perceive that the whole system of politics was directed against our country, whose influence had caused the most dreadful agitations in all the world during the last thirty years. Prussia, which during the revolutionary war had almost invariably maintained a neutral position, now received such a territorial organisation, as to render it necessary she should henceforth be the first to engage in war. This long strip of land, which has one extremity on the Niemen, and the other on the Meuse, must necessarily strive to extend itself by means of conquest, and in this manner the neutrality was avoided, which had occasioned a degree of torpor in Europe during the revolution.An implacable hatred again burst forth, when news arrived at the congress of the landing of Napoleon: the young students had but just returned to the universities, thelandwehrandlandsturm, disbanded but yesterday, were called to resume their arms on the morrow; and the closest alliance was renewed in Europe, so as tomarch at once against Napoleon, who, like an adventurous soldier, threw himself almost immediately into Belgium and the Rhenish provinces. In this military movement, which threatened Prussia, Prince Hardenberg was compelled again to appeal to the national troops, who had shed their blood on the fields of Lutzen and Bautzen. The same spirit was still found in full strength and vigour; Blucher was at the head of the Prussian contingent at Waterloo; they fought with the utmost fury, and victory having decided in their favour on that plain, fatal to the last hopes of Napoleon, the northern provinces of France were soon inundated with enemies. In all the proclamations of Hardenberg, and all his acts calling Germany to arms, a deadly hatred, a rancorous degree of vengeance against France was manifested, in order to rouse the courage and the powerful energy of the old Prussian monarchy. This irritation was conspicuous at every step taken by the German troops on the French territory; they appeared desirous of at once taking vengeance for all the humiliations they had undergone during the last ten years. Waterloo was not sufficient to appease the anger excited by Jena; the recollection of the oppressive dominion of the French was fresh in every heart; and it must be confessed, the most rancorous and vindictive during the war were not the regular troops, the soldiers devoid of mind or imagination, but the young men from the universities, thelandwehrand thelandsturm: it was the fair-haired Germans, with the short frock and leathern belt, the admirers of Schiller and Goëthe, and, more than all, the noble worshippers of the Queen of Prussia, who came to claim the spoils of France; for the revered image of the heroic Louisa, oppressed and calumniated by Napoleon, was mingled in all their dreams.
When the peace of 1814 was signed, the governments had declared their reciprocal debts at an end; but while they renounced their own claims upon the treasury, they made a reservation in favour of those of private individuals, which had been so violently attacked by the wars of the Revolution and of the Empire. When Europe dictated the implacable treaty of November, 1815, claims poured in on every side; it was stipulated that payment should be effected by inscriptions in the great book of the public debt of France, and 9 millions a-year were at first set aside for that purpose; the time, however, for presenting claims was not to expire until the 28th of February, 1817; and—will it be believed?—the sum total amounted to 1600 millions![45]a sum of almost fabulous magnitude, which surpassed the value of the two budgets of France. It was enough to drive one to despair, especially as each person demanded payment in full. What was to be done under circumstances of so much difficulty? Russia was so situated as naturally to assume the character of a mediator, for she had but few claims; and the Emperor Alexander, convinced that, unless the negotiation were carried on by an arbiter common to all parties, it would fall to the ground before the diversity of views and opinions, proposed, as I have before stated, to intrust it to the Duke of Wellington, making, at the same time, a sort of appeal to his generosity.
The mediator, under the guidance of M. Mounier, and after unheard-of retrenchments, fixed the sum destinedfor the payment of the debts of France to individuals at 16 millions and 40,000 francs. People are too apt to forget in the present times the extreme difficulties encountered by the public credit of the restoration, during the period of our misfortunes. The Duc de Richelieu very soon came to the conclusion, that a system of well-conducted loans offered the only possible means of fulfilling the obligations imposed by the treaty. During the sway of Napoleon, the credit of the government had been utterly null; confidence had been destroyed by too many violations of the public faith, and too many arbitrary actions, for the Revolution and the Empire were merely the abuse of power; and the events of 1814 and 1815 having compelled the government to increase the public debt to 126 millions, would it be possible to obtain an additional loan? No French house had presented itself possessed of sufficient capital to act upon so vast a scale; their fear of the risk was too great. But the Duke considered there would be an advantage in foreign loans, in raising a competition among all the capitals of Europe, and effecting our deliverance by a mere change of location. The necessary pecuniary resources were found in the opulent firm of Hope and Baring; and, to prepare the departure of the foreign troops, the minister succeeded in obtaining that the sovereigns who signed the treaty of 1815 should assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle, to determine whether the occupation should terminate at the end of three years, or whether it should be prolonged to five, according to the alternative left by the treaty.
This proposal having been accepted, the congress assembled on the 20th of September 1818. All the obstacles had been already overcome by the pacific views of Russia, which had acted favourably upon the scruples entertained by Prussia and England; and on the 2d ofOctober the evacuation of the French provinces was decided upon, and the last traces of the invasion disappeared; besides which the Duc de Richelieu obtained a reduction of part of the indemnity still unpaid. Who does not recollect the proud and natural delight of the French minister on his return? France was no longer a country in the occupation of Europe, but a government admitted into the first rank among nations, with its greatness, its liberty, and its independence. Sufficient justice is seldom rendered to statesmen who restore to a country its dignity and consideration: vulgar history only extols those that destroy.
Another crisis, however, was in preparation. The value of the public securities, owing to excessive speculations, had risen to an immoderate height, which was followed, in 1818, by an equally rapid fall, and the Allies might have destroyed the public credit by rejecting therentesthat had been assigned in payment of the subsidies; but the word of the Duc de Richelieu was sufficient to obtain a considerable extension of the time fixed for the payments to be made to the allied powers: and as great embarrassments still prevailed on the Exchange, he still farther obtained, that 100 millions which were to have been discharged by inscriptions ofrentes, and which were included in the payments stipulated by the Allies, should be withdrawn, and in their steadbonson the treasury should be substituted, to become due in eighteen months.
Such was the end attained by the negotiations of the Duc de Richelieu with foreign powers; the great object of his life was fulfilled, for in what a state of misery was France when he assumed the reins of government! 700,000 foreigners, contributions of all kinds, the country placed at the ban of Europe! Now to that country he had restored liberty, he had reorganised her army, hadestablished her public credit, and reconciled France with the world. Before this great result was achieved, the Duke had repeatedly declared to his friends that, as soon as the personal credit he enjoyed with foreign powers was no longer necessary, he should quit the situation he had been compelled to accept, and retire into private life, and accordingly he sent in his resignation; but it was not accepted, for the old liberal spirit had arisen to struggle for victory. Many men possessed of no ability, except for public speaking, had striven to secure the elections, and the result of the proceedings of several of the electoral colleges had caused great anxiety to the friends of government. M. de Richelieu was therefore compelled to remain at the head of affairs; and he returned to Paris for the purpose of concerting the measures rendered necessary by the actual circumstances.
The cabinet were agreed upon the necessity of opposing a barrier to democratic opinions and principles; nevertheless, serious dissensions arose when the electoral system came to be debated; and the Duke, much annoyed by the difference of opinion that existed in the council between himself, M. Decaze, and Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, returned to his former wish of retiring from office. His example was followed by the rest of the ministers, who gave in their resignation in a simultaneous manner that was very remarkable. It is a melancholy truth, that the statesman who had so powerfully contributed to deliver the territory from foreign occupation, was compelled to retire before the petty intrigues suggested by narrow policy and the Chamber of Deputies. The Duke's opinion of the electoral system was different from that entertained by the partizans of the old liberal school, and he resigned his portfolio to General Dessole.
In spite of all the great affairs in which M. de Richelieu had been engaged, he was in a condition of honourable poverty, and the king conferred upon the retired minister the appointment of Grand Huntsman, in the same manner as he had conferred the title of Grand Chamberlain upon M. de Talleyrand, after his services in 1815. The chambers, however, were conscious that a recompense was due from the country to the able negotiator of Aix-la-Chapelle, and M. de Lally made a proposal that the king should be requested to confer a national reward upon the Duc de Richelieu. The same suggestion was made in the upper chamber, at the very moment when a letter from the Duke declared to the president of the deputies, that he should be proud of receiving a mark of the king's favour, given with the concurrence of the chambers; but that as it was proposed to award him anationalrecompense at the expense of the nation, he could not consent to see any thing added for his sake to the burdens under which the country was already groaning. Every body was well aware that the Duke possessed no fortune, and that his sole income was derived from his office of grand huntsman; a good deal of littleness, however, was exhibited in the Chamber of Deputies when it was proposed to assign amajoratof 50,000 francs to the heir of the name of Richelieu, as a recompense to the minister who had obtained the liberation of the territory. Are public bodies only capable of great actions when a profit arises from them to the passions by which they are actuated? The proposedmajoratwas afterwards changed into an annuity; and, out of respect to the king's wishes, the Duke did not refuse this acknowledgement of his services, but he devoted the entire income derived from it to the foundation of a religious charity in the city of Bourdeaux. Such was the personal generosity of thisgreat man, who was desirous of retiring entirely to private life.
Alas! his political career was not yet concluded! The Decaze ministry, on every side inundated by old liberal opinions, was at its last gasp. Advantage was taken of the law of elections against the government, one concession led to another, and the Duke was summoned to the council extraordinary, presided over by the king in person, to advise upon the measures to be pursued in this emergency. The crime of Louvel had filled Paris with grief and horror, and M. Decaze, abandoned by thecôté gaucheof the chamber, who defended the law of February 5th, 1817, rejected by the royalists, who reproached him with not having agreed to the propositions of the Marquis Barthélemy, at last sent in his resignation; and at this difficult juncture, the king again placed the Duc de Richelieu at the head of affairs. The most urgent entreaties were required to induce him to accept the appointment, for the situation was melancholy, and the country full of anxiety, while the irritation of parties had reached its highest pitch. The preceding administration had proposed an electoral system, which was distasteful to all parties in the chamber; it had demanded laws arming the government with extraordinary powers; no majority was yet formed, and the ministry were doubtful whether these laws would be capable of overcoming the formidable opposition they would have to encounter; the fears of Europe also had been aroused, and it was necessary to appease them. At length, every thing, however, was provided for, and, at the end of a long and painful discussion, exceptional laws were voted.
But then, who was able to calm the public mind? and what hand was sufficiently powerful to arrest the evil tendency of society? A bias had been given toeducation in France ever since the revolution of 1789; people were closely surrounded by mischievous opinions and frightful systems; parties considered themselves sufficiently powerful to conspire openly, and intimidate the government by tumultuous meetings. Seditious assemblies took place with a view to political catastrophes, and the slightest hesitation might have given rise to the most dreadful calamities. The command of Paris was now committed to Marshal Macdonald, by the ministers' council, formidable military preparations were made, and proofs were obtained of a conspiracy, involving some names since exalted by another revolution. During the ten days that this state of anxiety and trouble prevailed, they had only to regret the lives of two of the disturbers of the public peace; and now that the ideas concerning government are become more advanced, people will be surprised at the declamations of those who held liberal opinions, against measures which were indispensable for the safety of the country. Has not every government a right to defend itself, and is it not bound to do so?
Europe now began to assume an alarming aspect. The revolt of the Spanish army at the island of Léon found an echo in a similar movement among the Neapolitan troops. Portugal quickly followed their example; and the seditious, imagining the French army well inclined to imitate the conduct of their neighbours, directed all their efforts towards this end. After having broken all the bonds of civil order, the revolution endeavoured to overturn the principle of duty and obedience among the soldiery. In most of the corps, however, the officers continued faithful to their engagements; a few only were unable to resist the torrent, and a conspiracy was formed in several of the regiments atParis, extending in its ramifications to various military stations, and it was determined that the rising should take place in the barracks on the 20th of August, 1820. On the proposal of M. Mounier, then director-general of the police, the ministers' council determined upon arresting the conspirators before they had unfurled a standard and actually proclaimed the insurrection. The heads of this military conspiracy are well known at present, and some of them have even been rewarded; but, as is always the case, the plot was denied by the parties engaged in it. The Chamber of Peers behaved with much indulgence, as able and experienced authorities usually do when severity is not indispensably necessary; and the government preferred pardoning many offences, and consigning much to oblivion, to being compelled to authorise the shedding of blood.
The elections of 1820, which had taken place when a favourable impression had been raised by the birth of the Duc de Bourdeaux, gave a powerful and compactcôté droitto the chamber, and MM. de Villèle and Corbière, who had assumed the position of its chiefs, ought naturally to have supported the Duc de Richelieu; but, at the very commencement of the session, clouds appeared on the horizon. Thecôté droitof the chambers had hitherto fought by the side of the ministers, and triumphed with them, and consequently they claimed a direct participation in the administration. Negotiations were entered into with them; the Duke would not consent that any of the men who had hitherto governed with him, and preserved the kingdom in its hour of peril, should be excluded from the council; however, two only of the principal deputies on thecôté droit, MM. de Villèle and Corbière, were appointed members of the cabinet, with the title of ministerial secretaries ofstate.[46]M. Lainé, a man with whose honest and upright character the Duke had been particularly struck, was also a member of this administration.
The political principle of this revised ministry was the agreement of the centre of thecôté droit, and thedroiteitself, in one common vote; but the session under this management was long and troublesome, and a tedious and stormy debate took place before the Duke was able to decide upon the execution of his idea of an extended system of canal navigation, like that at present in force. He drew up a plan, inviting men possessed of large capital to take a part in these great works; for at that time the principal part of the capital in the kingdom, was invested in the funds, and enterprises tending to the benefit of industry and the improvement of the country were not popular: many difficulties were encountered, but they were all overcome by means of firmness and determination.
Order was now established in all the departments of government; the restraints formerly imposed upon the action of the municipal authorities, by a system of excessive centralisation, were removed; and in the financial department the most unlimited competition was invited, for the first time, in the sale of stock, and the value of public securities reached its highest pitch. In his foreign policy, the Duke never ceased for a moment to support the idea of the Russian alliance, less from former recollections, and his affection for the Emperor Alexander, than upon the principle constantly expressed in all his correspondence, that the Russian alliance was advantageous to France because it was perfectly disinterested. In fact, what can Russia demand of us? On what point can we clash? Commerce withher can never be otherwise than an equal exchange; the productions of industry in her country are not of equal value with ours; she requires our wines, our fashions, our manufactures, and we, in exchange, require her timber, her copper, and her iron. Her fleets cannot assume any dominion over us, her frontiers do not reach us in any direction, and we are benefited by her influence; whilst, on the other hand, the designs and interests of France are opposed by the English alliance in all questions of importance. M. de Richelieu's system was resumed by M. de la Ferronays in 1828.
During the Duke's second ministry the great European powers met at 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 thecôté 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.Thedroiteand thegauchewere 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 acoup 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 thecôté droitinsisted 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 thecôté droit, and thegaucheof the Chamber of Deputies. The conduct of thegauchewas 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 endangeredthe country by their madness of thehundred 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 thecôté 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 possessedby 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.
Itis 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 conqueringcities 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'sprofession. 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 orvehement, 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 onthat 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 situationsubordinate 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 overher 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, detachedhimself 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 longbefore, 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.
Prussia was greatly displeased, and a decisive moment was at hand, for the Russian and Austrian armies were advancing against Napoleon. According to his usual custom, the impetuous military chieftain of France had ventured all risks, for he had boldness and fortune in addition to his genius; he entered Moravia, and, if Prussia had then declared herself, it would have beenall over with him, as with 150,000 men on his flank, his position would have been utterly lost; and to obtain this object the most pressing negotiations were going on at Berlin, England offering subsidies, Russia support, and Austria a larger share of territory, even in Poland. Hardenberg's opinion was to decide at once, but was his influence always predominant in the midst of so much corruption? Among those who sided with him was the noble-minded Queen, and the brave and generous Prince Louis of Prussia; but he had to contend with the personal opinion of Count Haugwitz and the Marquis Lucchesini, both strongly in favour of the French cabinet. The system of a supine neutrality, therefore, carried the day, and the utmost Hardenberg could obtain was permission to assure England that they would protect the independence of Hanover, so far as to allow a passage to the English troops, should they be attacked or pursued by Napoleon.
On this subject the Prussian minister wrote a letter to Lord Harrowby, in which rather a remarkable view was taken of the neutrality; a certain inclination towards the opinions and sentiments of the coalition appeared to filter through it, with a considerable degree of irritation with regard to the French cabinet, which had already failed to respect the Prussian neutrality.
Baron Hardenberg had been in hopes of obtaining a positive decision, which would have placed Prussia in the first rank among nations, for 150,000 men directed against the flank of Napoleon would have secured the victory to Europe, when intelligence was received of the wonders achieved at Austerlitz. Napoleon was a gambler on an immense scale! His eagle threw the dice of human destiny from his immense claws, and the chances had hitherto always been in his favour; but, besides this, did he not always quarrel with charactersinclined to temporise, and who delayed declaring themselves until victory had decided in favour of one of the parties? After the battle of Austerlitz was it a time to assume a threatening attitude, when Austria and Russia were going to treat with the Emperor of the French on a common footing?
Under these circumstances, then, the position of Baron Hardenberg became difficult, nay, intolerable, for was he not considered as the representative of the warlike party and the opponent of Napoleon? How could the minister of the heroic Queen and Prince Louis of Prussia remain at the head of the cabinet, when Prussia, prostrate before Napoleon, seemed almost to solicit pardon for having assumed, however slightly, an attitude of independence? At that time, Napoleon, who was incapable of forgiveness, knew well how to ruin a man by dictating articles for theMoniteur, pronouncing thus a sentence against statesmen whom he wished to get rid of. Buonaparte was an excellent pamphleteer, and, when he got into a passion, he gave vent in this manner to his ill-humour, against a king, a minister, or a general. M. Maret used to write from his dictation in short-hand, and send it afterwards to the official newspaper, according to his original profession of a journalist; he, also, possessed a certain knack for composition.
Upon this occasion Hardenberg was honoured by the capricious abuse of the Emperor, in consequence of a despatch full of impartiality which he had addressed to Lord Harrowby, concerning the neutrality of Hanover. A word from Buonaparte to the court of Berlin was sufficient to procure the dismissal of the minister, and, having retired from the cabinet, he the very same day repelled the attacks of the French emperor, who had accused him of not even being a Prussian. "I am proud," said he, "of the esteem and confidence of thesovereign and people of Prussia; I am proud of the opinion of estimable foreigners, and it is with great satisfaction that I number some Frenchmen among them. I am not a Prussian by birth, it is true, but I will yield in patriotism to no native of that country; and I have obtained a right to assert this fact, both by my services, and by having transferred my patrimony, and become a proprietor in this country. Though I am not a soldier, I feel that I should not have proved unworthy, had fate summoned me to bear arms in defence of my sovereign and his rights, or the dignity, safety, and honour of the state."
There was a degree of asperity in these expressions as uttered by a man who had given up the direction of affairs, without the hope of resuming it. He resigned his portfolio to Count Haugwitz, under the influence of the Marquis Lucchesini and the secretary, M. Lombard, and then, encompassed by the attachment of the Prussian army, and the enthusiasm of the universities, he retired into the country, like a man to whom the present time is devoid of interest. Some very significant proceedings, however, were going on in Prussia; the government had adopted extremely moderate measures, and both the king and the cabinet were desirous of maintaining the conditions of the French alliance: but there was a movement among the people, an energetic expression of national feeling, which would not allow this condition of quiet and peace to be maintained in the state.
This double situation affords an explanation of the events, and many of the faults, of this period; the tergiversations of the cabinet, which appeared constantly to have an inclination towards public opinion, and then again, especially after the battle of Austerlitz, returned to their former dread of the Emperor. At length the king, pressed by the people, roused himself, and manifesteda chivalrous disposition in accordance with the spirit of the nation, and more especially of the universities; and it reached such a pitch, that, after the retirement of Hardenberg, the people flew to arms in a hasty and adventurous manner, and without sufficiently calculating the course they were to pursue. And who was to conduct this war? Count Haugwitz, already devoted to France, and the secretary Lombard, both creatures of Napoleon! One would have said treachery was already determined upon.
Nothing could surpass the campaign of Jena, no praise be too great for that admirable military movement directed by the Eagle of Austerlitz. But were these splendid victories due entirely to the brilliant and energetic courage of the imperial army? had not a series of faults been committed by their opponents? and were those who directed the cabinet of Berlin perfectly faithful and devoted to the interests of Prussia? After the disasters of Jena so many acts of secret treason came to light, that Hardenberg, under the influence of Queen Louisa and the Emperor Alexander, was again placed at the head of foreign affairs, for an inclination to resist the power of France had now sprung up. This new situation of the cabinets of Russia and Prussia requires some explanation, because it formed the basis of the intimate union, which at a later period led to the ruin of the French empire. The dissatisfaction before entertained by the cabinet of St. Petersburg against Prussia proceeded entirely from the position of indifferent neutrality assumed by the latter ever since the treaty of Basle; and all the endeavours made by England, Austria, and Russia to induce the cabinet of Berlin to break through this mischievous situation had met with a refusal, for neutrality appeared to be the fundamental principle of the Prussian political system. It was, therefore, satisfactoryto see Prussia willing to engage in hostilities, though atthe eleventh hour, for her position by that means became clear and decided; and it was of little consequence if they had been unsuccessful in the campaign of Jena, provided the spirit of their government was in favour of war; if, in short, there was a degree of unity and vigour capable of supporting the coalesced cabinets.
Baron Hardenberg thus became the representative of the alliance between Russia and Prussia. Frederic William having been obliged to evacuate Berlin, had fallen back with the ruins of his army upon the Russian troops, and then commenced the campaign in the midst of wintry snows, the fiercely-contested and sanguinary battle of Prussisch-Eylau, where first paled the star of Napoleon! Friedland, however, saved the audacious eagle, as Austerlitz had preserved it two years before, and treaties were again had recourse to. Who can express the humiliating conditions dictated by the victor to Prussia? Who describe the cold sarcastic conduct of the fortunate soldier towards the heroic queen, the idol of the universities?
Baron Hardenberg, being again compelled to retire, resigned his portfolio to the new cabinet formed by Napoleon, from which every mind possessed of any degree of independence or elevation was excluded. Prussia became almost a department of France, traversed in every direction by military roads; the whole population of some districts was carried away by the generals of Buonaparte, with blows and violence; the universities were closed, and the provinces reduced to the last extremity; while such heavy military contributions were imposed, that they wrung from the peasant his last hard-earned crown, and even his plough and his oxen. People must not treat a country thus, when they are desirous of governing it; they should recollect that the superiorityof a power does not result from violence, but from the moral ascendancy produced by protection and support.
But at the side of the public government of Prussia, bowed down before the wrath and violence of Napoleon, a number of secret associations had been brought into existence, by the oppression of the conquerors; and taking the Fatherland for their watchword, they only awaited a crisis for vengeance. After the death of their noble-hearted queen these associations greatly increased, and the most eminent among the patriots, as well as the statesmen out of favour, participated in them, for the salvation of the country was at stake. It is incontestable that Hardenberg was themindof this national conspiracy, as Blucher and Gneisenau were itssword; this secret and magnificent undertaking, this moral resistance, advanced with indescribable and undeviating energy, during the period which elapsed between 1808 and 1811, and then, by a capricious will of the Emperor Napoleon, Hardenberg was again destined to receive a mark of confidence from his sovereign, and the government of Prussia was once more placed in his hands. I consider this to have been the most critical period for Northern Germany; the provinces, constantly traversed by French troops, were completely in the power of their generals, and that fine country was now nothing but a magazine of forage, provisions, and money for the French troops. In the midst of these disastrous circumstances, the minister applied himself particularly to reinstating some little degree of order in the complicated administration of Prussia; he relieved the people as far as it was possible, and above all, he endeavoured to reorganise the army, firmly, but not openly, for this Napoleon would not have permitted, but by a military system which constantly summoned the young soldiers to their duties, and then shortly afterwards restored them to their familiesand their homes; a plan which permitted him to have a fine army in preparation for future events, at a very moderate expense. The system of military reserves is essentially Prussian, because it realizes the double idea of a considerable army in time of war, and a limited contingent during peace; by this means every Prussian is a soldier.
If at this time the Emperor treated Prussia with some little degree of respect, if he even called for the concurrence of Baron Hardenberg, it was because, being then almost on the eve of undertaking a campaign against Russia, he was desirous of engaging Prussia in it as an auxiliary; and as the cabinet was already devoted to him, Buonaparte sought to enlist popular opinion in his favour, by means of their favourite minister. And here a question may be asked, of great importance to history. How came Hardenberg to affix his signature to the secret treaty which placed the Prussian army under the orders of Napoleon? Had he really and in good faith entered into the alliance? or had he only signed it with the determination of breaking through its conditions at the first check experienced by the French arms? It is necessary we should recollect, that with Napoleon there were no discussions, no considering the various clauses of a treaty; and the correspondence of M. de Saint-Marsan with M. Maret, with the notes and explanations of the Prussian minister with the French ambassador, are sufficient to carry conviction that nothing was free or spontaneous on this occasion: every thing was submitted to from the most imperious necessity; there was no choice given of acceptance or refusal, but Prussia placed her army and her treasury at the disposal of the conqueror, because he had said,It is my will.
Now in these necessities, imposed by misfortune, did no gleam of hope remain? In politics, no alliances aredurable but those resting upon a perfect agreement of views and interests. When two people unite because they are free and happy, because they feel a mutual esteem and regard for each other, because they reciprocally afford and receive important services, then, depend upon it, these alliances are durable, these treaties will be carefully carried out. But suppose, on the contrary, a people vanquished and humbled—a king of Prussia, the descendant of Frederic the Great, to whom M. Maret insolently writes, "that he must sign a military and diplomatic convention, under pain of captivity;" does such a treaty as that form an alliance? is the convention which delivers up Berlin to the French army, a treaty between friends and allies? or could the plan which parcelled out the Prussian army, into divisions under French marshals or generals, be a free, upright, or durable proceeding? Surely not: this reconciliation could only be momentary; it was imposed by main force, and with the decline of power it must come to an end.
In addition to this, the Prussian government could no longer control the people of Germany, indignant at the humiliations they were called upon to submit to. That Hardenberg was acquainted with the proceedings of the secret societies, does not admit of a doubt, neither is it less certain that he permitted their developement, in order afterwards to avail himself of them, as a powerful instrument against the oppression of France; but a circumstance one cannot comprehend is, that it should not have occurred even to the inferior mind of M. de Saint-Marsan, and the very moderate capacity of M. Maret, that at the first reverse experienced by the grand army, all these alliances would be got rid of, as something troublesome and offensive—in fact, as a yoke to be cast off. To what a degree of humiliation was the House of Frederic now reduced! Prussia, in a suppliant attitude, had solicitedan alliance with the Buonaparte family, and Hardenberg, the principal negotiator, had received a cold refusal! Was it possible all this should be forgotten? On one side was the recollection of their young and heroic queen, who had died broken-hearted, insulted in the public papers, and calumniated in pamphlets; and on the other, was a people ground down by oppression, but undertaking its own preparations for the day of independence; while to the insolence of the chief we must add all the harshness of his generals, and of the people employed in levying contributions. I do not wish here to mention proper names, but if any men are still living who were then employed in the local administration of Prussia, let them speak, and say, whether the system to which Prussia was subjected, was one possible for her to maintain, in spite of all the hopes of liberty inspired by the general rising in Europe? and whether it was not natural the conflagration of Moscow should be succeeded by other flames?
The most important events in Prussia commenced from this period. The fatal campaign of Moscow being concluded, the French army, a miserable swarm of fugitives, fell back upon the frontiers of Prussia, so lately traversed under different auspices! The corps of Marshal Macdonald was compelled to retreat from the siege of Riga, and the brave and faithful chief brought back with him the Prussians, especially the division of York, long under the influence of the principles inculcated by Schill. News suddenly arrived that the Prussians refused to fight, and General York addressed a respectful letter to the Marshal, declaring his intention of maintaining a perfect neutrality with the Russian armies. This defection extended to all the Prussian troops, and excited surprise, though it had long been in preparation; in fact, both officers and soldiers were all strongly imbued withthe doctrines of Schill, Stein, and the secret societies; and Prussia, ripe for independence, obtained it at last: a bright dawn had begun to appear, and wherefore should she not avail herself of it?
Such being the state of popular opinion in Prussia, let us now inquire what was the spirit of the cabinet conducted by Baron Hardenberg. He had evidently been well acquainted with the existence of the secret societies, and the edicts of Breslau, issued on the 3d and 9th of February, which gave a military organisation to theTugendbund, were drawn up and signed by him; and admirable indeed were these patriotic papers, calling upon all the sons of Germany to take up arms in defence of the Fatherland! It is necessary to read them, fully to understand the pitch excitement had now reached in Germany; all the young men between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four, were to take up arms, and form volunteer corps, clothed in the dress that had been worn by Schill and Stein, that is, the short frock girded with a leathern belt, and the little cap usually worn by students. No youth could be married unless he had performed this service, nor could he fill any public situation unless he had discharged his duty to his country; without this there was no hope for him, either in the path of ambition or of love. The patriotic edicts were signed by Hardenberg, who was desirous of placing himself at the head of popular feeling in Prussia. They were thus worded:—"The dangers with which the state is threatened demand an immediate augmentation of our military force, at the same time that the state of our finances forbids any increase of our expenditure. The subjects of Prussia have always been distinguished for their attachment to their king and country, and they require nothing to direct them to a determined object but a favourable occasion, which may enable our braveyouth to display the courage which leads them to join the ranks of the ancient defenders of their native land, and acquit themselves at their side, of their first and noblest duties. It is with this object, that his majesty has been pleased to command the formation of detachments of yagers, intended to be annexed to the battalions of infantry and the regiments of cavalry of which the army is composed, so as to summon to military service those classes of the inhabitants of the country who are not compelled to it by the laws, and yet whose means permit them, to clothe and equip themselves at their own expense, and to serve the state in a manner compatible with their situation regarding the civil government. It will also afford an opportunity to young men of education to distinguish themselves, and become some day clever officers, or non-commissioned officers."
The spirit of Prussia was now thoroughly roused and up in arms. At the same time Baron Hardenberg was engaged in a negotiation with M. Maret, who did not perceive that the Prussian cabinet was merely following the stream—that it was, in fact, no longer the king who governed, but the people, and that the people were boiling with indignation. Generally speaking, the functionaries of the empire did not attach sufficient importance to public opinion; the greater part of them, forsooth, were too great people, men of too illustrious birth, as every one is aware, and they looked down upon the mass of the nation! These men, born of the people, raised by them—some being old newspaper-writers, others scriveners, or retired attorneys—considered themselves, by the grace of God, such great lords and princes, that they paid no attention to the vast power which gives laws to kings and states. When Hardenberg wrote that he was desirous of forming the plan of an alliance,even after the campaign of Moscow, M. Maret's mind was quite at ease on the subject of Prussia; and the diplomatic despatches give sufficient evidence of the perfect ignorance that existed at Paris as to the approaching movement at Berlin: they did not observe that fresh ideas were becoming developed, and that the cabinet was no longer master of the country. "What is going to happen?" wrote M. de Saint-Marsan to the Prussian minister; and, as his sole answer, the latter despatched General Krusemarck and Prince Hatzfeld to Paris, bearing soothing words. "Prussia is desirous of maintaining peace, and the French alliance is pleasing to her, but she requires fresh conditions." Read this note from Hardenberg to M. de Saint-Marsan, which describes perfectly the situation of Prussia, a situation M. Maret had not understood:—"It has occurred to the king, that nothing would more advance the great work than a truce, according to which the French and Russian armies would retire to a certain distance, and establish lines of demarcation, leaving an intervening country. Would his imperial majesty be willing to enter into such an arrangement? Would he consent to resign the charge of the fortresses of the Oder, of Pilau, and of Dantzic (with regard to the latter, conjointly with the Saxon troops, as agreed by the treaty of Tilsit), to the troops of the king, and withdraw his army beyond the Elbe, provided the Emperor Alexander should withdraw his beyond the Vistula? The king has commanded General Krusemarck and Prince Hatzfeld to inquire into the intentions of his imperial majesty on this head; and he has made similar proposals to the Emperor Alexander, as concerning an idea emanating entirely from himself, and which can in no way compromise the resolution which your sovereign, his imperialmajesty, may come to on this point. According to what is decided upon at present, the king will regulate his ulterior proceedings."
Although Hardenberg's language was somewhat timid, matters were, nevertheless, in a state of progression. In her first position, the situation of Prussia was that of an ally; in the second, that of a neutral power: would she stop there? The arrival of the Emperor Alexander at Breslau decided the king upon following the popular movement, and the court of Berlin pronounced in favour of the coalition; information being conveyed to M. Maret, in a paper drawn up by Hardenberg, that Prussia had declared war. This remarkable exposition of their causes of complaint against Napoleon contains, more especially, a summary of pecuniary grievances, unheard-of violations of the various clauses of the treaty, and recollections of the harsh rule of the French generals. One circumstance, however, is omitted, although it occupied the first place in the mind of the Prussian minister, viz. that the country was weary of foreign dominion. TheTugendbundhad arisen, like an ancient German warrior, armed at all points.
Hardenberg quickly followed up this first despatch by a second, addressed to General Krusemarck at Paris, who transmitted it to M. Maret. "The Emperor of Russia offers a noble and faithful friendship to Prussia, while Napoleon has thrust away his ally, not even having condescended to enter into any explanation with her. Prussia has endured all the insolence unsparingly heaped upon her by the conqueror; all her fortified places have been seized by the French troops; Berlin has been occupied, and 94 millions levied upon the country. These circumstances render further hesitation impossible; honour commands us to draw thesword, and never will we sheath it until an honourable and advantageous peace has been obtained."
Baron Hardenberg was now completely in his element; his original inclinations bound him to Russia and the Emperor Alexander, and he rejoiced in seeing the idea of Queen Louisa accomplished, and the two monarchs pressing each other's hands. From this time forward, all the efforts of the minister were directed to the developement, and organisation of the secret societies. His object was to give a heroic impulse to Germany, and, laying aside for the moment all the divisions between the Catholic and Protestant parties, he resolved to see nothing but the Fatherland thirsting for deliverance from the tyranny of Napoleon; he encouraged the young men to carol patriotic songs, and excited them to march boldly to battle, without any distinction being made between the civilian and the soldier.
Then were seen universities risingen masse, and the professors themselves leading their pupils to the battle of the giants. The engagements of Lutzen and Bautzen have never been considered in a point of view which would invest them with a melancholy interest. The flower of both countries was there opposed to each other; the conscripts of the empire, from the age of eighteen to twenty-one years, and the students of the universities bearing the funereal banner of Queen Louisa, the oldest of whom did not exceed the age of twenty-two years. In the midst of these noble squadrons were heard the thunders of 1500 pieces of artillery, tearing their youthful and tender bodies, carrying off heads, mutilating limbs; yet none of these youths faltered, for they were fighting for their country, their common mother.
During this tremendous conflict, the minister did notneglect liberal concessions, capable of increasing the enthusiasm of the people. Germany, so heavily oppressed, thirsted after liberty, and when the people were giving such pledges to the government, it was but just the government, in return, should do something for the people. In Prussia there is a spirit essentially of organisation, a constant want of improvement and progress. All the acts of Hardenberg at this period were impressed with a character of liberty; he augmented the municipal administrations, all the pecuniary privileges of the nobility and clergy were annulled, and, following the ideas of the economic school, wardenships and the freedom of cities were abolished. By some acts of the cabinet a political constitution was promised to Prussia, although it is hardly possible to believe they could ever have thought seriously of such a thing for a country whose interests and opinions were so disjointed as those of Germany. But at that time Napoleon was regarded by the whole world as a great despot; the power raised to oppose him must of necessity be the spirit of liberty; and every national feeling rose in arms, because the season of oppression must be brought to a close. Under these peculiar circumstances, engagements naturally were entered into and promises made. To a people capable of such noble daring, great concessions might be promised, and in this, Hardenberg only followed the impulse that had been given; he pressed the hand of Stein, Blucher, and Gneisenau, because their names, like that of Suwarow in Russia, were the symbol of the country in arms.
See what name is given in Germany to our disastrous defeat at Leipsic—the Victory of the Nations! Yes! it was indeed there, the nations overcame the terrible oppressor who had crushed them to the dust! It was from the battle of Leipsic, that dated the sudden,but prolonged reaction, which finally delivered the people and the governments from that giant hand. Accustomed as we are to place the character of Napoleon in the highest rank, we will not understand that he was the tyrant of Europe, and that even now we are undergoing the reaction of two fatal ideas—the recollection of our conquests and of our disorganising principles.
After Leipsic, the Rhine was crossed, and Hardenberg did not for a moment quit the head-quarters of the Allies: he also represented Prussia at the congress of Châtillon. From this moment, in all the diplomatic proceedings, as well as in the military operations, Prussia always manifested the strongest animosity against the French Emperor; she hoped for great reprisals, and would undoubtedly have obtained them, had not the general inclination in Europe for peace, and the exclusive and generous influence of the Emperor Alexander, swayed the negotiations concerning the treaty of Paris, and the restoration of the Bourbons. All the political transactions were signed by Hardenberg, from his having been the powerful hand which for two years had steadily directed public affairs; the King of Prussia conferred upon him the title of Prince; and he was invested with that high dignity when he accompanied the sovereigns to England.
The sight of the palace of St. James's must have awakened melancholy feelings in his mind; in his youth he had there experienced domestic sorrow, and been agitated by contending passions; for he had been the lover and husband of the Countess Randlaw, the most beautiful woman in Germany: she had been lost to him through the means of the Prince of Wales, and her seducer was now the Regent of the British islands. But they had both grown much older; and when twenty-five years have been passed in political agitations andtempests, the heart has been worn out by emotion, and but little room is left for recollections of enmity and vengeance. Prince Hardenberg was therefore presented to the Prince Regent, who received him with marked attention; and the past only recurred to their minds, like one of those views which scarcely leave a trace in the memory.
From London, Prince Hardenberg repaired to Vienna, to be present at the meeting of the great congress, and he had the honour of seeing the immense aggrandisement of Prussia sanctioned by successive treaties. She now became the kingdom most immediately in an offensive position, and was placed in the situation of an advanced post in the coalition against France. Those who have investigated the spirit of Europe in the remodelling which took place in 1815, can easily perceive that the whole system of politics was directed against our country, whose influence had caused the most dreadful agitations in all the world during the last thirty years. Prussia, which during the revolutionary war had almost invariably maintained a neutral position, now received such a territorial organisation, as to render it necessary she should henceforth be the first to engage in war. This long strip of land, which has one extremity on the Niemen, and the other on the Meuse, must necessarily strive to extend itself by means of conquest, and in this manner the neutrality was avoided, which had occasioned a degree of torpor in Europe during the revolution.
An implacable hatred again burst forth, when news arrived at the congress of the landing of Napoleon: the young students had but just returned to the universities, thelandwehrandlandsturm, disbanded but yesterday, were called to resume their arms on the morrow; and the closest alliance was renewed in Europe, so as tomarch at once against Napoleon, who, like an adventurous soldier, threw himself almost immediately into Belgium and the Rhenish provinces. In this military movement, which threatened Prussia, Prince Hardenberg was compelled again to appeal to the national troops, who had shed their blood on the fields of Lutzen and Bautzen. The same spirit was still found in full strength and vigour; Blucher was at the head of the Prussian contingent at Waterloo; they fought with the utmost fury, and victory having decided in their favour on that plain, fatal to the last hopes of Napoleon, the northern provinces of France were soon inundated with enemies. In all the proclamations of Hardenberg, and all his acts calling Germany to arms, a deadly hatred, a rancorous degree of vengeance against France was manifested, in order to rouse the courage and the powerful energy of the old Prussian monarchy. This irritation was conspicuous at every step taken by the German troops on the French territory; they appeared desirous of at once taking vengeance for all the humiliations they had undergone during the last ten years. Waterloo was not sufficient to appease the anger excited by Jena; the recollection of the oppressive dominion of the French was fresh in every heart; and it must be confessed, the most rancorous and vindictive during the war were not the regular troops, the soldiers devoid of mind or imagination, but the young men from the universities, thelandwehrand thelandsturm: it was the fair-haired Germans, with the short frock and leathern belt, the admirers of Schiller and Goëthe, and, more than all, the noble worshippers of the Queen of Prussia, who came to claim the spoils of France; for the revered image of the heroic Louisa, oppressed and calumniated by Napoleon, was mingled in all their dreams.