The Congress of Vienna

Preface

Cha?M.

4. 5. 6.

9. 10.

Preliminaries of the Congress

Reappearance of Diplomacy

Object of the Congress

Division of Europe into two Zones

New State of Nations

Of the Political Balahce of Europe in general . . . .

Of the Opportunities lost during the last Century of establishing the Political Balance of Europe ....

"What has been done in Europe for the last One Hundred Years towards establishing the Balance of Power

The Spirit presumed to actuate the Congress

Of the real Spirit which actuates the Congress ....

Of the Establishment of the Political System

Page ix

17 19

21 23 32 that existed

France

Great Britain

Prussia

Russia

Poland

Austria

The Empire

Italy.— The Pope . . ' .

viii Contents.

Page

Chap. 20. Saxony and Naples . . . 157

21. Free Cities. — Hanse Towns . . 171

22. Portugal.—Malta . . . 174

23. Spain .... 179 ^ 24. Cession and Incorporation of Nations 180 "™" 25. Permanent Policy of Europe . 184

' 26. Twofold State of Europe . . 192 -^ 27. Errors of the Congress.— Religion. — Colonies and Commerce . . 194 38. Unfortunate Condition of Europe. — Dangers arising from it . . 216

29. Of Political Writers, and their Relations

with the maintenance of general Peace 330

30. Last Treaty . , . . 235

PREFACE.

The Work on the Consress at Vienna, now offered to public notice, may be considered as a continuation oi those which I have written on the principal events of the past eighteen years.

At Radstadtj the Germannic empire supported the weight of negotiations, which proved as useless in their results as the forms which accompanied them were painful. At that time, appeared the ^^ Antidote to the Congress at Radstadt ,-'' sl Work, in which it was attempted to correct the mistakes of the Congress, either by an exposition of the nature of revolutions, and the consideration of which appeared to have escaped its notice ; or by pointing out a system more appropriate to circumstances than that which was adopted.

In 1799, Austria, Russia, and a part of the empire, marched against the reigning authority in France. It was very clear that all their eflbrts, without the co-operation of Prussia, would be of no avail, and that, with it, their success would have been certain. It was not less evident that Prussia, entangled in the web of a policy, of the nature of which she herself was neither aware, nor could foresee the result, by thus separating herself from Europe, advanced towards the catastrophe she experienced within the course of six years. The consideration of the dangers attached to this conduct

X Preface,

occasioned the publication of the work, entitled, ^^ Prussia and her JSTentrality. 1799."

Ten years since, the West India colonies were, some of them, subverted, and others threatened with the disorders, that, since the year 1790, have affected the colonial system. At that time, the great American continent, in some of its divisions, experienced the effects of revolutionary principles, proceeding either from the events of a protracted contest, or the influence of its neighbour, the United States. In a word, the fundamental principle of the colonial system was attacked, as well as its actual sitoation. An attempt was made to re-establish this principle, and to call the attention, of Europe to the state of the colonies, in a Work, entitled '^The Three ^.ges of Colonies. 1801.'^

The Congress at Yieana, destined to put an end to the agitation of Europe, and to determine its situation for a long succession of ages, offers a most extensive field for reflection, on a subject irjUuitely more important than the circumstances to which we have alluded. Europe should, for a length of time, have considered the Congress of Vienna as the commencement of a new era. From tliat period the spirit by which it was actuated should have been regarded with an high interest, as well as the results to be expected. Its object was no less than the arrangement of a political futurity for all Europe. If the edifice was solidly constructed, if its parts were well proportioned, it would remain, and Europe would, for a considerable time, have reposed under its tutelar protection. If, on the contrary, it erred from a want of the qualities essential to every species of construction, then the Congress will have proved itself to be a lesser benefit ; and its acts will not be found of such a character as we could have desired: It partakes more of the nature of a system of warfare than an establishment for the preservation of peace.) The f(jrraer is, in its very nature, transient. One campaign may repair the false calculations of another; but the object of peace being to correct the errors of war,

Preface. xi

it is more durable, and deserves a more serious consideration. If we seek for the causes of the wars that have crimsoned the plains of Europe for many ages, we sliall trace their origin to the very treaties which, under the appearance of putting au end to existing war, in fact did nothing else than lay the foundation of a new one. Since that which, in his energetic language, the illustrious Burke called W\q market of Bash,, how many treaties of peace have there been, that have not pro. duced new wars? Therefore, it would have been curious to ascertain whether the Congress of Vienna, the absolute master of the subject, an advantage not possessed in any other negotiations, would make use of this advantage with the latitude that circumstances required, and the power with which it had been invested. To ascertain wliether this was or was not effected, is the object of this Work. It is not a history of the negotiations of the Congress, but an investigation of the spirit by which it was actuated, and the probable consequences of the system it established. The determinations of the Congress are become public acts ; they concern the world, and should become the object of its scrutiny. We have proceeded in this investigation with the most perfect candour, and free from any party or local spirit. If we have expressed our opinion on every subject, it is because we have written for every person, and because truth is the interest of all. In uniting an accurate observation of this principle, to that regard which is due in its application to individuals, and more especially to the chiefs of nations, we believe that we have equally availed ourselves of what were our rights, and fulfilled the duties prescribed to us.

If our earlier productions have been stamped with a sufficiently impartial character, not to be more attributed to an inhabitant of France, than to one of any other country, we may presume to hopevthat the same character will be no less distinguishable in the present. We might even say, that the more extensive the scene, it becomes the more difficult to abandon this impartial!- xii Preface.

ty. In fact, can personal feelins^s find a place in the midst of sucli important interests ? Thus it is by no means with a view to favour Prussia, that our opinions on the subject of that state have been so fully expressed in the present work. Truth has alone guided and supported us in the ideas, which we well know will not suit every taste. The same observation may be applied to an opinion on the subject of the union of Belgium and Holland, which will occasion a great loss to France, and be as contrary to our inclinations as our interests. But, in rejecting every personal idea, we have balanced the advantages and disadvantages of a political aqt, resulling from an established system, and the actual state of things, wherever may be found their origin.

In treating of the Congress of Vienna we wish to remark :

First; the extent of its labours, which embraced an immense mass of interests. At other periods, many years would have been scarcely sufficient to arrange this chaos; even when ability and sincerity in the agents, as well as good order, were supposed to exist.

Second ; The vigour and determination displayed in the pursuit of the enemy, who appeared in the month of March. The Congress did not show a moment's hesitation, or division of opinion. By this conduct, the first expression of Napoleon, when he landed on the French shores, *' The Congress is dissolved,^' was rendered vain. Business and war have gone hand in hand. More time was not lost in the cabinet than in the field. If, from the first appearance of the revolution, such promptitude of action had been exhibited, what misfortunes would not have been prevented !

Third ; The liberality of the sentiments professed and carried into execution by the Congress. Its object was not confined to individuals, whom they sought to unite in bonds of mutual friendship, but it also had the interests of nations^ in view ; vvitii regard to Switzerland particiilarly, it evinced an honourable solicitude. The sovereigns, the guardians of its interests^ have

Preface. xiii

shown a perseverance in powerful efforts, that cannot be too much applauded, in order to overcome all the principles of hatred and dissension that divided the interests of Switzerland, and the various parties existing in that country. We have seen them arm themselves one against the other. We have seen the allies interfere between men ready to quarrel, labour to dissipate their prejudices, to conciliate their pretensions, and at last succeed, by leading them into the bosom of the same family. To their care will Switzerland be indebted for the enjoyment of a durable repose under the laws of her ancient association, and remain as she ever has, the last asylum of innocence, the most happy residence in Europe.

Because we do not enter into all the views of the Congress, because we have dared to compare our own ideas with those it adopted, it does not follow that we call for their revision, still less for the destruction of its work.

Too cruel experience has taught us the danger of proceeding so violently. We have only wished to show the probable consequences of the system established by the Congress, and, at the same time, to indicate the correctives which maybe applied for public benefit. To time alone it belongs to produce the circumstances favourable to their application. Above all, it was of importance to render the condition of the various parties permanent; to distinguish the powerful and the weak; and thus to furnish the first elements of reflection to those men, who are every where charged with the maintenance of a system that, however imperfect may be its arrangements, has cost them dear.

Some may class part of this work with Utopian pro=. ductions ; an accusation very common with those who themselves possess neither foresight nor the means of action. This is granted. But let them also be careful in recollecting, that the Utopian ideas of '^ The Congress at Radstadt," of " Prussia and its Neutrality,''

xiv Preface.

" The Three Ages of Colonies," have been, in a great measure, and long since, realised.

The order of argument observed in this Work has I often led us to refer to the acts of Napoleon, of which I we shall for many ages experience the eflPect. He has covered Europe with wrecks aud monuments. Modern states are erected with the scattered fragments of his empire, as in former ages they were formed out of the wreclis of the Roman empire. This prince, who had visited Egypt, must have remarked, that the pyramids, for four thousand years, bad braved the ravages of time, because they rested on their base. He preferred placing his own on its point, and giving for its support piers, formed of a continually increasing number of bayonets. A storm proceeding from the North overturned the building, and buried the architect under its ruins. The error, evident in the construction of this edifice, was as much for the want of a foundation, as a supposition that its events would only be such as occnr in the ordinary course of nature ; and an expectation that, at least, it would have sunk in a less violent, though, in good truth, a manner no less certain.

We have taken great care to distinguish the divisions of Europe into two confederations ; the one continental, the other maritime. These for the future form the pivot of her policy. Correctly speaking, Europe in its present state has only three great interests :

First ; To disarm and destroy tfie military spirit, / Second ; To confirm good order in France.

Third ; To terminate the troubles of Spanish America, by the emancipation of that country.

The two first objects will form the safety of Europe; the latter its wealth. To become quiet, it is necessary she should repossess herself of her wealth, and repair the losses occasioned by the disorders of the past twenty-five years. Men contented with their lot, gradually advancing towards a happier futurity, will be more easily governed than those interdicted from alleviating the

Preface. xv

feelings of past losses, by the hope of there being a period to their privations and their siiiferings.

It is satisfactory to think, that, with the exception of these events, which surpass all belief because they surpass all sort of calculation, nothing appears to prevent our announcing to Europe that this is the commencement of a prolonged scene of repose. We may say that the contentious matter is exhausted. Every thing is regulated. On the other hand, Europe is protected from every attempt at extensive conquest. In three hundred years it has suffered under three enterprises of this nature. One by Spain under Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second. By France, under Louis the Fourteenth and Napoleon. All have had equal success, and have terminated by plunging the two countries into an abyss, which they will for a long time bear in mind. Hence, Europe may be disarmed ; may return to her civil state, and relieve her inhabitants from the burden of immense armies ; the estahlisiiraent of which exhausts the wealth of its people, and the spirit of which is only calculated to extinguish that of liberty.

We may also remark, as a circumstance favourable to the maintenance of peace, that there prevails such an uniformity of age among the sovereigns who have concurred in its conclusion, as to enable us to hope that the same hands which have contributed to establish, will for a long time continue to preserve it. This correspondence of age will prevent those sudden transitions from one system to another, that too often distinguish the changes in a reign ; for, to succeed to the same situation is not to succeed to the same ideas and the same inclinations. We may also congratulate ourselves on being able to think, that these princes are equally induced by their own virtues, as the interests of their states, to consolidate this sreat work.

THE

CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

CHAPTER I. Preliminaries of the Congress

The thirty.first day of March 1814 ! A day that will he memorable to eternity ! No longer did Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, behold their former masters flying, and their conquerors planting their ensigns on their battered and degraded walls. The thunder has returned to peal over those places whence, for the past twenty years, it has never ceased to issue. In its turn, Paris has received its conquerors. They entered into the city that had conveyed terror, with its decrees, into every empire. He who for a long time had burst froni the capital with the rapidity of the eagle and the strength of the lion, in order to seize, either as an easy prey, or as a trembling victim, every people in Europe, tamely submitted to the triumphant entry of the enemies he had produced, and whom he was less able to deceive thaii to conquer. He approached near enough to hear the cries that distinguished the overthrow of his thronesilent and pale, he separated himself from the city he knew not how to defend, and which, for the happiaesg of Fiance, he ought never to have revisited.

Similar to the condition of a man relieved of a most oppressive load, Europe gave a long sigh, and began to breathe. Henceforward, all the revolutionary policyj,

G which had been established with such difficulty, disappeared, like the decorations of a theatre. In an instant, from Hamburgh to Rome, the marks of the new government are effaced ; the former ones are brought forward; the ill-assorted ties uniting twenty various nations, formed by violence, burst of their own accord. Then sovereigns re-entered the palaces where acclamations, of which they were no longer objects, had but recently resounded. Never had there been witnessed such a scene — one day changing the face of the whole world, and destroying the work of twenty ages ; for in the revolutionary scale, it is not by years, but by ages, that we are to reckon. France, that has occasioned all this subversion, must be first quieted. This great body must be fixed, in order that Europe shall not vacillate: so much, even in its fall, does it preserve its influence. A treaty recalled this country to its ancient possessions, and there it remained. But all that the war had affected, and what has it not affected ? was to be regulated. The one sought for spoils ; the other found itself too weak for its more powerful neighbour. Here the situation was vacant : there many disputed it. One implored an indemnity for the past ; another showed the dangers of the future. On all sides were heard cries of justice, indemnity, peace, and the balance of power. Who was to organise this chaos, and oppose a barrier to this torrent of pretension? Arms had produced their effect. It remained for policy to avail itself of their operations and complete the work ; or, in the words of the Homan ora- -. tor, Cedant arma togce. Vienna is to become the noble \ tlieatre of the most expanded and generous patriotism / that ever existed ; for it embraced Europe — through it, / the universe. Already has the scene commenced ; and this august assemblage will take place, after the short space of time of which the sovereigns had made use to revisit those places whence the cares of war had so long withdrawn their attention. For in our days, as in those of the Crusades, war has brought sovereigns into the field. At last the hour arrived, and pleasures, interpreted as sincere pledges of mutually benevolent dispositions, gaily introduced tliese arbiters of tbe destinies of Europe into the sanctuary where they were to be decided. The Congress was opened.

CHAPTER II. Me-appearance of Diplomacy

Here Europe discovered that which it had for a long time lost — diplomacy re-appeared.

It had for ages afforded to those distinguished in its services the exalted honours reserved in all countries for the most eminent personages. The names of celebrated negotiators are united, in history and the archives of nations, with those who have rendered them the most illustrious. Men who have defended the interests of the state by the extent, the force, the suppleness of their talents, may place themselves, without fear, in the same rank with those who have exerted their valour in the field ; and their wise combinations have not obtained less honour, or had a less right to the admiration of mankind, because they have not possessed an eclat so brilliant as the successful efforts of the warrior. Often, nay, almost always, the latter has been but the instrument of diplomacy, the agent of the statesman.

Since the peace made between the Convention (of France) and the powers of Europe in 1795, and which was signed by Count Carletti, in the name of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, there have been no real negotiations in Europe. We have seen stipulations, acts signed, truces clothed with the name and deceitful appearance so Congress of Vienna.

of peace s but there have been none of those negotiations to which Europe had been so long accustomed. Strength was too much on one side — weakness too marked on the other. Dangers too imminent, too grave, to constitute that species of discussion, to be termed diplomacy. It exists only among equals. Hence, what equality can be found with those who have the power of taking every thing, and those who can retain nothing ; between those who have lost all, or almost all, and those who have obtained everything; between those who painfully defend a mere wreck, and those who command in the capital of the sovereign with whom they treat, who occupy his states, and make use of their resources to supply their wants, with as little discretion as fear? Thus have all the negotiations been characterised for the past twenty years — negotiations in which the Gauls have always put tiieir swords into one of the scales. In short, all these treaties have been traced by the sword.

After a lapse of eighteen hundred years, we have seen Europe return to that state of things established in Rome, in which the conquered, at the feet of the conqueror, received what was convenient for him to let remain, and what he was neither able to take nor distribute. A little more, and even this limit would have been over-stepped. The Congress of yienna will stop these invasions of force ; it will banish these Roman prai-tices ; it will re-establish those humane habits that have governed Europe ; and, in the silence of arms, reason will he heard.

Surely, after so many years of distress and violence, of attacks without motives, of battles without end, of convulsions without result, of transactions without unity or solidity, without a guarantee for their duration, it is an imposing spectacle to see the senate of Europe assembled under its most powerful and august chiefs, formed by all the names whom policy recommends to the public confidence; of all those wlio, having known how to cut the Oordian knot of the power of Napoleon, will not find it difficult to unravel the thread of the labyrinth in which

Congress of Vienna. SI

his policy lias bewildered them. Many other difficulculties have been overcome ; and surely it is nearer from Paris to Vienna, than from Moscow to Paris.

CHAPTER III. Object of the Congress

But on what subject, I could almost say on what ma- 7 terials, will this Congress begin to work? Oa,,a new j worJLd. Twenty-five years have changed every thing. ^ Seek no longer in Europe for the men who once were | there, who agitated it, and who shone in more recent ^ epochas. All is passed. From the pole, to that delicious climate inhabited by the children of great Greece, discover, if you are able, what existed in those daysj, of which the twilight is scarcely extinct. What is become of thou, son of Vasa? What is this new crown, which, taken from tlie forehead of Margaret of Waldemar, is united with yours, on that of a successor, that in your time 3'ou would not have acknowledged? Why is on© part of Scandinavia detached from the sceptre of Christian, which it cherished, and separated from him by new laws, as it is by its shores ? What are the cries and tears that resound and flow around this king, whose possessions would for ever have remained inviolablcj, if virtue would have been sufficient to defend men? Whom have ye offended, countries of Jagellon and So> bieski? Into what hands will your wrecks fall, uncertain of a place of repose ? And thou, throne of the C{e= sars, consecrated by immortal recollections, prolonged by the respect of ages, a veneration for whom has survived their power, how has it happened that you are not occupied by your former possessor? What are the new majesties, the recent sovereignties that have replaced so-

S;3 Cong^^ess of Vienna.

vereiSjiities, still more recent in the bosom of Germany ? The Rhine no longer flows under its ancient laws. The division that religion created between the Belgians and the Bataviaiis, approaches its term. Amsterdam and Brussels reassume the ties of their ancient fraternity under the same sceptre. Venice, notwithstanding its ancient wisdom, has disappeared. Austria, not the Adriatic, has swallowed it. Italy had scarcely tasted the cup of independence, and already has the Austrian eagle pounced upon her. Genoa will not see its doges at Versailles ; still more astonished to behold themselves there than of all the wonders of their pompous residence. For the future she will receive her laws from Turin; her groans will not be understood; her complaints will not be heard. Naples was a long time astonished by its new master. For many years Sicily remained separate from Italy, as in the days of Syracuse and Hiero. Ask not the Isle of Elba for that which it possessed, nor why Europe has demanded, in the solitudes of the ocean, a more secure depositary. Lisbon asks Brazil to terminate her widowhood. The new has began to draw kings from the old world : soon will it furnish them itself from among its own children. There thrones are not wanting. The feeble bonds that unite the vast America with its rigorous and distant metropolis, are bursting. Throughout this new soil the cry of liberty is heard. Mexico communicates with Peru. It resounds in this immense continent, that the ocean encloses in its at once tumultuous and tranquil waves. All is agitation and bustle : they cast off the leading strings of their political childhood. Nature acts agreeably to its eternal laws, and America, become adolescent, escapes from a decrepid and desolated mother, like robust youth from the tutelage of their infantine days.

The errors of the revolution have spared nothing, and ' it is on the ruins heaped up by inexorable fate that the Congress should begin its work.

But it would require little trouble to depict the polL tical changes produced in this age of convulsions ; or, to use the expression, that it has sown on the face of the globe. It exists still more in the dispositions of the mind. The moral infinitely surpasses the political revolution. Above all, it has surpassed it in extent and duration. For, in fact, whatever may be the latitude of the changes that aifect the latter, there are certain limits and bounds in its mode of application ; whereas tha changes that affect the moral faculties naturally augment and know no other limits than those of the human mind. To these none can be affixed.

CHAPTER IV. Division of Europe into tiao Zones

At the period of the restoration, Europe, if the ex= pression may be permitted, appeared to be divided into two zones : each mingled in the contest. The people, of the north and of the south all partook of the strife, and endeavoured to bring it to a conclusion. But, ifc may be said that the sovereigns of these two divisions were differently inspired, and had different objects ia view.

On one side we beheld the sovereigns of the north and of Germany, themselves conducting their legions towards Paris, which they at last gained, as the period and price of a sanguinary contest, in which all might have been lost, had calculations been made upon seasons, dangers, fatigues, and, I may say, sacrifices.

On the other hand, the possesses of those thrones that the fall of that of Napoleon had restored, and even brought forth by an action of the feame spring, beheld themselves reinvested witliout anv other trouble tlian going; from the seat of their exile to that of their power. One half of Europe was transferred to the other on the throne, without any effort on the part of the latter. It is here that we see the difference of disposition hetween those who give and those who receive.

Hence, sovereigns tvho we may believe to have been exasperated by the greatness of the losses they have sustained, the grossness of the outrages they have experienced, by the length and impetuosity of the contest, speak only of liberty for the |ieople, of clemency for individuals, of the forgetfulness of the injuries they have suffered ; but of wishes for the approximation of minds. They have only conquered for the triumph of clemency; and behold princes, that the chance of events have replaced on their thrones, as if they had never been removed, who have taken a part neither in the dangers nor the labour of the scenes of which they have reaped the advantage. Scarcely in possession of power, than here have they attributed it to force alone ; there they seem to consider it but an emanation of it, and declare themselves its source ; elsewhere, they pretend that a breath from their lips will occasion every thing to dis^ appear that has been ardently cherished during the course of a revolution that has occupied the quarter of a century, and which has been as various in its appearances, as it has been rapid in its progress.

If ever a country deserved good treatment, and that its king should wholly devote himself to its happiness, surely it was Spain. What devotion ! What patience! What blood ! And what the reward — the Inquisition, and all the terror it inspires — the return of all the monastic instituiions, from which the spirit of the times has taken the force that the barbaric ages could alone have coramunicated them, and that nothing will be again able to give to them. Exile, corfiscation by the hands of avarice, the separation and the tears of families, and, thatwhieh cannot fail to follow, the dilapidation of the public stock, which, in scenes of violence and gloom, uniformly disappear.