Part 26

Nevertheless, Nesselrode soon found it necessary to modify his opinions. Ideas had advanced since the death of Alexander, and it was impossible to restrain the Russian spirit, which had decided in the most energetic manner in favour of Greece; it therefore required military food, and a war was indispensable. The influence of Metternich over the cabinet of St. Petersburg daily lost ground from this moment, and Nesselrode began to draw off from Germany, and become more essentially Russian in his principles and ideas; he also began to take a decided turn in favour of the Greeks. Nor in this conduct ought he to be reproached with inconstancy, for the times and circumstances were no longer the same, the monarchical principle having triumphed every where, in Piémont as well as at Madrid and at Naples, while Poland appeared entirely subject to her viceroy Constantine. Under these circumstances it was less difficult to discern the holy and heroic principle of the Greek revolution, and to rekindle the ardent hope of an independence, acquired by means of so many pious sacrifices. From this new tendency of affairs, Nesselrode found himself the antagonist of Metternich, with whom he had hitherto been agreed; but the Russian interest now prevailed over the Austrian spirit.

The friendship between France and Russia dates from the year 1815, and was increased at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, under the influence of the Duc de Richelieu; but at that period, as we learn from the despatches of Count Nesselrode, France was too much overwhelmed by the fatal consequences of the two invasions to take an active part in affairs, or afford a support that would make her alliance worth seeking by the various cabinets of Europe: but from the year 1819 France exhibited such a developement of vital powers and military energy, that Russia hastened to include her in her diplomatic means. The inclinations of the French cabinet turned in this direction, under the Duc de Richelieu and M. Dessolles; and they continued thus until the more English administrations of Polignac, of Montmorency, and of Villèle. The ministry of M. de la Ferronays again was favourable to the Russian alliance; and the ties that now bound France to Russia were not merely those of gratitude for the services rendered at the restoration, but the well-grounded conviction that the Russian alliance could on no occasion injure our interests, but might, on the contrary, on many occasions augment our diplomatic influence and our territorial boundaries. The collection of the despatches of Nesselrode and Pozzo di Borgo during this interval, and all the diplomatic papers that exist in the Foreign Office, attest the good-will of the cabinet of St. Petersburg, and the offers made secretly by it to obtain the alliance and concurrence of France on the Eastern question.

Another cause which made this friendship so greatly desired, was the rivalry that had already become apparent between Russia and England. The system of the alliances in 1815 had overturned all the ancient diplomatic ideas, and all private jealousies had given way before the common object of Europe,--the destruction of Napoleon's power. But one great fault then committed by England was her inordinate augmentation of the power of Russia, thus, to a certain degree, creating her future omnipotence; for it was with the money and subsidies of England that the cabinet of St. Petersburg acquired the means of influencing for ever the southern interests. Nesselrode, who had been engaged in the greater part of the transactions of 1815, was obliged to detach himself from the traditions of the alliance of 1812, and great ability is required in order to make these transitions without abruptness; supple minds possess their influence as well as those of a more decided character, and ruin follows close upon the attempt to resist too much. Nesselrode is essentially the man of transitions; he has never assumed an inflexible attitude in a system or an idea, but has constituted himself the translator of times and interests: from which cause, as I have before observed, it sometimes occurred that his opinions as _chancelier d'état_ to the Emperor Nicholas were opposed to those he professed when he held the same situation under Alexander. The ideas of these two princes were not alike, neither were they placed in the same situations; yet Nesselrode served them both with the same fidelity and the same intelligence. It is a talent in public affairs to know how to make one's self the interpreter of another person; there are but a few of those very superior minds who, being deeply impressed with their own conceptions, obtain a dominion over times and characters, and even they frequently fall. But many very distinguished ministers never are able to attain that point of elevation, and, not daring to make themselves types, they are content with being impressions. They agree with all periods, all situations, and all difficulties.

From the accession of the Emperor Nicholas to the revolution of 1830, the Russian policy was in some measure absorbed by the war with the Porte. All the ancient theory of the Holy Alliance was abandoned for less undecided interests, and less fear was entertained concerning revolutions at the time the most complete revolution took place. Whatever judgment may be formed of the event of 1830, it must suddenly have awakened a new train of emotions in the Russian _chancellerie_; for the popular principle which had caused this violent irruption had demonstrated as much energy, as did formerly the military power of Napoleon, against whom all Europe had risen in arms. The old education of Nesselrode was here destined again to be of service to him; for the first consequence of the revolt was, though not exactly to _revive_ the treaties of the Holy Alliance, an old parchment which had fallen to pieces, at least to pave the way for a treaty of mutual guarantee. All private dissensions were naturally compelled to give way, that people might hasten to provide against the most pressing danger; Metternich appeared entirely to resume his former ideas, as if he were returning to the projects of 1815, and the diplomatic school abandoned many serious plans for the chances of a crusade against democratic principles. We are inclined to think Nesselrode did not dislike this reminiscence of the principles of political repression, being those which he most perfectly understood, and which he had particularly dwelt upon during his early years of study and labour: but age had now supervened; in 1830 Nesselrode was no longer young, and it is not at the second period of existence people are able to encounter the great perturbations which shake the world to its centre. In recapitulating the causes of the maintenance of peace, people have not sufficiently considered the dread of change that possessed those wearied existences. Truly, it was not without reason that the Greeks placed in the hands of the aged the decision concerning peace or war. Let us suppose Metternich with the impetuosity of youth, and Nesselrode fifteen years younger, who can tell what might have occurred? Perhaps a violent war might have broken out, and with it all the chances of disorder.

The insurrection in Poland, however, gave plenty of occupation to Russia, and the ideas of the Emperor Nicholas on the subject of repression harmonised perfectly with those of his minister. What the Russian people desired was the union of Poland to Russia; and the amalgamation, which had so long been the constant subject of Nesselrode's thoughts, was, at last, on the point of being finally accomplished. He never fully entered into the prejudices of the old Muscovites on this point, but he, nevertheless, was of opinion that this divided nation, this double and simultaneous government, injured the political and administrative unity of Russia.

The divers administrations which constitute the vast Russian empire, and which all tend to one common centre, under the hand of the Emperor, are, as a whole, very remarkable. Ever since the constituent assembly established an unity of administration in France, our system of government has no longer cause to dread that, in a homogeneous whole, one province or one district will be opposed to another; their strength has been blended in a manner very convenient to those in power. But it is far otherwise in Russia: the cabinet of St. Petersburg has to command thousands of different races--Tartars, Mahometans, Poles, and Cossacks; each of these people has its laws, its customs, its power, and its recollections, and it is necessary to maintain this individuality without detracting from the unity of the system. There is neither one general rule observed in the mode of levying the taxes, nor even, in a great measure, is there any undeviating rule for the military conscription. Some pay tribute, others are subject to contributions of arms and horses; in some places the recruits are furnished by the nobles, in others they are obtained by means of _levées en masse_; some people are still subject to feudal government under the Czar, and others, again, depend on the regular and immediate authority of the princes. In France the administrative clockwork is so simple that nothing but a will and a hand for business are required to set it in motion; nothing can be easier than the situation of a prefect, or even of a minister for the home department; interests, rights, and customs, are all sacrificed to the strength of the government.

All these circumstances lead to the necessity in Russia of a more careful and more finished education for a statesman; for a young man who is preparing for a diplomatic situation at St. Petersburg, must not only be acquainted with French and German, but must also understand modern Greek and some of the Oriental languages. Nesselrode, in spite of his long experience, has been obliged to submit to the general rule; and a considerable portion of his life has been devoted to the study of living languages. His mind has become a repertory of treaties, he is a living catalogue of all the transactions of his time. The offices over which he presides are the most extensive, the most multiplied, and the most minute that can be imagined; there is a division for the relations with Persia, another for those with China, and with the little Mahometan princes, independent of those for the secret correspondence with the chiefs of the various tribes lately conquered by Russia. Nesselrode presides over all these affairs of the _chancellerie_ with an activity nothing can slacken: his extreme facility in the despatch of business, and his laborious existence in the midst of the European relations, have naturally confirmed his credit with the Czar; who is also accustomed to act very much for himself, and only requires a minister as a sort of memorandum-book he can consult when he pleases, and as a faithful arm to execute his will. During the last five years the system of diplomatic aides-de-camp has been revived in full force, for the Emperor likes those semi-military appointments, which give a constantly armed attitude to Russia; in fact, it is one of the active sources of his moral influence.

Nesselrode, it is true, is only the enlightened hand which writes the will of the Emperor; he is valued as a man of good counsel, which means, that he listens a great deal, and that he can discover the secret thoughts of the person that consults him, without himself having any of those determined plans which clash with the will of the sovereign.

The junior diplomatic school of Russia regard Nesselrode as a living archive, something in the way M. d'Hauterive was considered in France; and it is of great importance that a person who is called to direct the affairs of his country in the present times should be well acquainted with its former history--it also adds greatly to the elevation of his position. The temperate system, adopted by men weary of agitation, is a great benefit when opposed to the fiery spirits who wish to proceed with impetuosity in public affairs. The proud and generous disposition of the Emperor renders it necessary he should have at his side a man who will not execute his orders till the following day, because time is thus afforded for reflection, and an order issued to-day might very possibly be revoked after the lapse of a night; on these occasions there is a great advantage in a man of a temperate mind.

Nesselrode has, in every respect, the most agreeable _salon_ in St. Petersburg, and the one where the most conversation goes on. He takes pleasure in collecting people who hold the most various opinions, in such a manner as to form a neutral ground, on which every body may meet; and when a man has reached a venerable age, full of years and of honours, what more can be desired? our tent must be pitched somewhere. When for forty years, people have been engaged in the most gigantic events, like the aged men in Homer, they offer hospitality to the young, when they recount to them all they have seen, and the judgment they have formed; they contemplate the present generation with the feelings experienced by a traveller who, from an elevated tower, looks down on the cities far below him, and the people incessantly busy, and thronging to perform the part assigned to them in the weary task of humanity.

LORD CASTLEREAGH.

I am about to write the life of a statesman whose character has been more violently attacked in the annals of England--I might almost say of Europe--than any other with whom I am acquainted. No one ever had to endure more outrages and insults, and no one ever displayed more inflexible firmness, in the course of a most chequered and agitated life. I shall offend many little prejudices, and hurt many vulgar opinions; but things of this sort have never prevented me from proceeding straight to the truths of history, respecting men who have accomplished a great political career.

On the picturesque Lake Foyle[50] in Ireland, whose shores are studded with ancient mansions, and whose waters are diversified with fertile islands, inhabited by little colonies of aged fishermen, a young man of eccentric manners, but whose appearance denoted a being of a superior class to those around him, had for two years fixed his residence. His only habitation was his boat: fishing, hunting, and violent exercises, filled up his time; and in the evening, surrounded by the fishermen, he made them relate to him all the old legendary tales of the country, and, in his turn, instructing the inhabitants of the district, he drew up laws respecting fishing, and hunting, as if he were the sovereign of this watery republic. No one could exhibit more intrepidity than did this singular being. Upon one occasion he set sail in his frail bark, in the strait that separates Ireland from England; and his shipwreck on the Isle of Man, where he had alone managed his yacht in a stormy sea, like one of the Ossianic heroes, was long recorded by the peasantry. His dreams were of the legends of the lake; and being deeply enamoured of the daughter of one of the fishermen named Nelly, he sacrificed every thing to this ardent and romantic passion, wearing simply the dress of the children of the lake, for he loved and was desirous of being beloved again. Enthusiastic and passionate in his feelings, he would endure no contradiction; and an attempt having one day been made to deprive him of his mistress, he defied his rival to a duel after the Scandinavian fashion--that is to say with battle-axes--and conducted himself with a degree of intrepidity that was celebrated all over Great Britain.

[50] Quære, Coyne?--_Editor._

This young man, whose eccentricity took so poetical a form, for his youth was like a ballad, was Robert Stewart, afterwards Viscount Castlereagh and Marquess of Londonderry. His family was not originally Irish, but came from Scotland. James I., as every one is aware, created some great fiefs in Ireland, and bestowed them upon some of his most faithful subjects, in the hope of more closely uniting Ireland to the British empire. Eight of these fiefs, with a kind of _suzeraineté_, fell to the share of the Duke of Lennox; and the Stewarts, that noble name in Scotland, no doubt allied to the royal line, held some of the lands subject to the Lennox family. It has always been the fate of Ireland to be under the dominion of strangers to her soil; the yoke of conquest becomes more heavy after each impatient tumult. Her oppression arises from her disturbed condition; each unsuccessful revolt produces additional servitude, and much of her suffering is owing to the crime of the popular agitators, who are instigated by nothing but their own insatiable vanity to endeavour to destroy all old and respectable national feeling.

The Stewarts, however, decided in favour of William III., and of what is termed in England the glorious Revolution. As possessors of military fiefs they were naturally inclined to second the accession of a new dynasty, by whom their usurpation of the conquered country was likely to be sanctioned. When great alterations have taken place in the rights and tenure of property, a change of power is required, and, indeed, is almost indispensable to restore peace and quiet to the country. The Orangemen, therefore, formed a closely-united party in Ireland, and exercised military dominion over the people. In vain did the unfortunate James, in his rapid passage through Ireland, cause the parliament of Dublin to pronounce a sentence of confiscation, on account of felony, against the estates of Colonel Stewart, serving under William of Orange. This confiscation continued in force but a short time; and William, having gained the victory, lavished his rewards upon the officer who had so powerfully supported his cause. William Stewart, thus loaded with wealth by the king of 1688, was one of the most determined oppressors of Ireland--one of those who ruled with a rod of iron the country reconquered after the battle of the Boyne.

The young man dwelling among the fishermen on the shores of the lake, therefore, came of a noble lineage; and his mother was a Seymour, named Sarah-Frances, like the Puritan dames who have been re-animated by the genius of Walter Scott. Robert Stewart, like the rest of the youth of Great Britain, had pursued his studies at the University of Cambridge; and, on leaving college, he had precipitated himself into this romantic sort of life, some said from his love for the fisherman's daughter, while others, on the contrary, declared such a passage was merely incidental to his eccentric life, like a wreath of wild flowers on the brow of a Scandinavian warrior. He, however, led a generous life, for money appeared to be of no value to him; and he spent largely in constructing little ports for the fishermen, and distributing among them boats of a superior construction, like a beneficent deity. Such is the great source of the power enjoyed by the English aristocracy. While their public life is passed in the midst of cities, their private life is in the country. All that was benevolent in the old feudal system is still to be found in their castles: from their turrets flow the alms still, as in ancient times, conferred upon the people; the donjon is converted into a dispensary, where medicines and assistance are afforded to the sick. And thus the aristocracy reign over the peasantry, in virtue of the powerful aid they are ready to afford to all who require it in their neighbourhood.

Nevertheless, the wish to distinguish himself in public life began to animate the heart of young Stewart. Parliament appears necessary to the youth of Great Britain, and it is there they prepare themselves for political life, taking their place among the Whigs or Tories according to a certain order of political principles. It was necessary the Stewarts should have seats in the Irish parliament, for they had a great stake in the country; but, owing to the family being Protestants, the election was violently contested, and cost the successful candidate thirty thousand pounds. These corruptions are a general rule in England, and they even add to the strength of the country; for there is no danger a bad choice should result from them, every thing being fixed according to settled rules; every thing is so well foreseen and organised by the mechanical arrangements made, that the elections that take place are always of men of safe principles. Pecuniary corruption in the existence of states often acts as a corrective of another, and far more injurious, corruption for a people--I mean ideas tending to revolutionary principles.

The Irish parliament, then still existing, was a great cause of disorder in the unity of the British government, until the illustrious Pitt placed every thing under the common law of the triple crown. There is something strange and perfectly inconsistent in the pretensions of Ireland. The people profess to respect the Union without ever wishing to depart from it; and then they claim a parliament for themselves, and desire something resembling a republic independent of England. Let them exult in their Catholic emancipation; they have a right to do so, and cannot value it too highly. But do they wish still to make part of the British empire?--do they wish the harp of Erin still to hold her place on the escutcheon of England? Alone, Ireland cannot subsist. Her commerce is supported by the vast trade of England: she only exists by means of the colonies, and the day she ceases to be English she will be ruined. What, then, is the meaning of all those revolts, those protests on all occasions, which serve no purpose except that of conferring a certain sort of renown upon street orators and demagogues?

The election of Robert Stewart, however, though anti-Catholic, was not ministerial; for he promised on the hustings to support parliamentary reform, and on taking his seat in the House of Commons he placed himself on the opposition benches. This was a sort of sacrifice to popularity necessary from all statesmen at the beginning of their career, and the most powerful have not been exempt from paying this tribute to rhetoric. However, even at that time, young Stewart appeared to keep within certain limits of order and principles; and, avoiding declamation, he spoke seriously, and restrained himself while speaking. He was not an orator with a sonorous, reverberating voice, who, by means of biting epigrams, drew peals of laughter from his auditors. His speeches bore the impress of the Toryism of his family, and all his inclinations were those of an eminently Conservative mind.

England and Ireland were at this time agitated more especially by two questions; the first was parliamentary reform, and the other the free commerce of Ireland with the colonies. On the first of these points, the Castlereagh family, like the Wellesleys, considered it absurd to impose upon the Catholics a conscientious oath, which would exclude them from participating in the benefit of the elections; but, at the same time, was it not very unwise to prepare an indefinite reform, which would overturn the whole of the social condition of Great Britain? It was with a view to the admission of the Catholics into parliament that the Irish Tories became friends with the opposition; they shewed themselves favourably inclined to the emancipation of those who differed with them in belief, and at the same time opposed to radical reform: and this last subject was the cause of Castlereagh's withdrawal from the Irish agitators, who now began to aim murderous blows at the Union.