Part 28

The situation of Europe at this time rendered it imperatively necessary that the conduct of England should be decided and full of energy. Though it can hardly be said that war was actually on the point of breaking out on the Continent, there were every where the elements of an universal conflagration: Spain had hoisted the signal of independence, and the English armies extended in the Peninsula, from Lisbon to Cadiz. Immediately after he had taken charge of the Foreign Office, Lord Castlereagh was called upon to explain himself concerning the question of peace or war with France. Buonaparte was then on the eve of undertaking the Russian campaign, and in order to give an undeniable proof of his pacific inclinations, and also as a lure to public opinion, he caused M. Maret to write to Lord Castlereagh, proposing peace upon what he termed easy and simple conditions, which reduced themselves to the following points. At Naples and at Madrid, the actual dynasty, and in Portugal and Sicily also the reigning dynasty (without any further explanation). The English minister, being closely connected with Russia, had little inclination to treat with Napoleon; and it was no doubt sarcastically that he proposed the following question to M. Maret,--"First of all, it is necessary to understand what dynasty you are speaking of; in Spain, is it Ferdinand VII. or Joseph Buonaparte? At Naples, is it the House of Bourbon or Murat, that is considered as the actual dynasty?" And when M. Maret replied that his majesty Don Joseph and his majesty Joachim were meant, Lord Castlereagh, with proper spirit, declared any further proceedings were out of the question, because he had nothing to do with these usurpers,--it was only with the legitimate sovereigns of Spain and Naples that England had any connexion. The accession of the leader of the active Tory party, therefore, caused the politics of England to assume a firmer attitude respecting all the affairs of Europe. When Buonaparte undertook his adventurous expedition against Russia, the English minister turned his closest and most careful attention upon Turkey and Sweden, both of which possessed powerful means of action. The negotiation feebly entered into by the agents of M. Maret, had been rendered abortive by the abrupt and imperative character of Buonaparte; and Lord Castlereagh, more fortunate and more adroit, went direct to his object with regard to Bernadotte and the Porte. He knew the Crown Prince was displeased with the haughtiness of Napoleon, and offered him subsidies if he would maintain a strict neutrality, reserving to himself the chance of future events. In his relations with Europe he was still more fortunate in bringing about the peace of Bucharest, which left the Czar master of all his forces. This plan of increasing the strength of the enemies of Buonaparte, and thus depriving him of the necessary alliances, was an admirable mode of attack. The peace of Bucharest enabled the Czar to advance with the army, which attacked Napoleon on the flank and encircled him in its vast coils; and the neutrality observed by Sweden permitted to Russia the disposition of her forces near Riga--a circumstance that did more towards causing the defection of Prussia than people are aware.

The active mind of Lord Castlereagh, and the determined energy which distinguished his character, were more especially manifested in the European movement which led to the fall of Napoleon. In 1813, the whole continent was full of English agents; they were everywhere--at Vienna, at Berlin, and at Stockholm, and even among the secret societies of Germany: for the Tories perceived that the time was come for them to act with vigour, and put an end to the power by which they had so long been threatened. Parliament never presented a more animated or truly national spectacle, or evinced a more unanimous devotion to the cause supported by the old English aristocracy; no sacrifice appeared too great, and subsidies were granted almost without limitation. The disasters of Moscow had inflamed all hearts, and with the assistance of one magic word, _Liberation_, the plans most hostile to Napoleon were realised. Treaties of alliance and subsidy were concluded by Lord Castlereagh with almost all the powers of Europe; and in order more completely to identify himself with his system, the minister appointed his brother, Sir Charles Stewart, to a special mission to the courts of Prussia and Sweden. This officer, now Marquis of Londonderry, was sent as commissioner with the English armies, and has himself published his despatches addressed to him whom he mentions as his illustrious brother. The English commissioners, who all received appointments both military and political, were at the same time soldiers, negotiating agents, and commandants of troops. We see in these despatches the painful efforts made by Sir Charles Stewart to produce some degree of unity in the coalesced camp. As England was paying armies to the right and left, with unheard-of liberality, she was desirous of retaining the political direction of events in her own hands, and as this supremacy encountered obstacles raised by the spirit of calculation and of self-love, it was necessary to be perpetually engaged in discussions with the generals-in-chief and the government. Sir Charles was at that time a young man, with a warm temper and some pride of birth; and Bernadotte, in spite of his doubtful position, preserved a certain degree of personal dignity: this led to perpetual differences of opinion, and even to quarrels, which required the skilful and moderate interference of the Russian commissioner, Count Pozzo di Borgo. Sir Charles having conceived a feeling of mistrust regarding Bernadotte, no doubt with reason, watched him closely, and his elevated position as brother to the Prime Minister of England invested him with an undoubted superiority in all negotiations. The attitude of England at that time was so proud! I am not acquainted with any period in the history of empires more magnificent, from the energy displayed, than that of England from the year 1792 to 1814; and this energy led to the general rising of Europe against Napoleon. Castlereagh was the soul of it, for the elements of which the English ministry were then composed were subject to his power; indeed when a character of great strength is anywhere met with, every thing gives way to his influence, for a superior mind never fails to be acknowledged. Lord Liverpool was no doubt a man of great consideration, and he held the first place officially in the cabinet; but when Europe began to rouse herself from her sleep, Castlereagh gave so powerful an impulse to the English diplomacy that it very soon ruled the world: let us now see what an immense task she had to perform.

Europe, with all her desire of acting vigorously against Buonaparte, possessed neither money nor credit, and this to such a degree, that Prussia, for instance, had not a million of florins at her disposal; England not only provided subsidies, but also the means of negotiating loans: she became security for Prussia, Austria, and Russia; thus taking upon herself the credit of the world. The whole of the subsidies were not paid in money--arms, clothing, and provisions were also sent; and this extraordinary effort gave employment to her machinery, work to the labouring classes, and immense occupation to her mercantile navy. Her inexhaustible liberality demanded in return the abatement of the tariffs and free entry for her manufactures; by which means she regained a great portion of the advantages she afforded. In order to be convinced of this, it is only necessary to consult the rate of exchange for that period, which was almost always in favour of London; that is to say, that while she appeared to be furnishing money, it was merely changing the location of her funds. Hamburg, Frankfort, Vienna, and Berlin, were in debt to London, and the loans thus compensated themselves; shewing the prodigious strength of the commercial principle, and the magnificent power of an aristocratic state, directed by a superior mind.

The principal object Lord Castlereagh had in view was to bring about a degree of persevering unity in the European coalition; it was the ruling idea of Mr. Pitt and the labour of his life: but the statesman had so often failed in his object. The weakness of Europe against Buonaparte resulted from its divisions, from its conflicting interests, and the separation of one cabinet from another; it was therefore necessary to unite them all in one common cause, and this was not the least difficult task he had to perform. If they might reckon upon the willingness of Russia to proceed to extremities against Napoleon, if the national spirit had been roused in Prussia to strive earnestly for the fall of the Emperor, were they likely to meet with the same concurrence, the same absolute devotion on the part of Austria, and of Sweden under Bernadotte? What obstacles and opposition Lord Castlereagh had to encounter in the course of the year 1813, at the time of the armistice of Plesswitz and the congress of Prague! Fresh discussions were incessantly started, and the coalition was repeatedly ready to fall to pieces, from the selfish tendencies of private interests. As for him he had but one object, one desire--the fall of Napoleon and the dissolution of the French Empire, and no words can express the power possessed by a man who has one idea constantly present to his mind, and follows it up with undeviating energy. The dissolution of the congress of Prague was occasioned by this absorbing passion in the mind of Lord Castlereagh, who induced Metternich to engage more decidedly in the coalition; he was like the intrepid hunter who sounds the halloo in pursuit of the stag at bay.

The vast plan he had conceived rested upon two points--exertion on the part of the various governments to promote the march of troops, and a general rising among the people to second the efforts of the cabinets. The material impulse was given by Russia, and he allowed it to proceed and develope itself, well knowing the example of that great power would be followed by Prussia and Austria, and that their efforts would be sufficient for the liberation of Germany. It then became necessary in the north to urge Sweden to take the field, and with her Denmark and Holland; all his efforts were therefore directed to this point, and gave rise to the mission of Sir Charles Stewart and General Graham. He considered there would be no difficulty in inducing a revolt among the oppressed Dutch and Belgian population, and a popular movement would bring about the restoration of the House of Orange; while in the south the armies of England overspread Spain and Portugal, and France was thus attacked at both extremities at the same time. This has always been the favourite political system of England; by acquiring influence in Spain and Portugal, and also in Belgium, she prevents France from affecting her either commercially or diplomatically; and as English statesmen, in what situation soever they may be placed, never lose sight of the hereditary diplomatic traditions, one plan is transmitted through many generations, in the same manner that it formerly descended in our monarchy, when under the dominion of kings, and of able and distinguished ministers. Nothing is done in that country from a sudden impulse; every plan is maturely weighed, and England in the nineteenth century is swayed by the same principles as in the sixteenth.

Lord Castlereagh's task, however, increased in difficulty as the allied armies drew near France, and their interests became more personal and more divided. It then became a question whether Austria would be willing to overturn France, and whether the Emperor Francis would sacrifice his son-in-law; there was also a doubt whether Russia would consent to the proposed augmentation of Austria and Prussia, which would add so considerably to their importance; and in addition to all the other questions, what compensation was likely to be awarded to England? Such were the difficulties that arose at every step after the Allies had reached the Rhine, until at last Pozzo di Borgo was despatched to England, with the firm determination to induce Lord Castlereagh, if possible, to visit the Continent; his presence now seemed really indispensable amidst the clashing of ideas and interests, which threatened to lead to the dissolution of the coalition. England alone was capable of reconciling all their wishes, and restoring to the various forces the unity which, like the bundle of sticks in the fable, rendered them invincible when united, though each separately would be easily overcome.

Lord Castlereagh arrived on the Continent to confer with Lord Aberdeen, Lord Cathcart, and his own brother Sir Charles Stewart; and from this time the influence of the British legation was complete and paramount. The intervention of the English minister was indispensable, as I have before observed, to fortify the bonds of cohesion between the various cabinets, and more especially for the purpose of enforcing the principle, that no treaty was possible with Napoleon. In the conferences that took place between Metternich and M. de St. Aignan at Frankfort, the English legation observed that the Allies appeared rather inclined to a pacific arrangement, which would leave the Rhine as the boundary of the French empire, and would consequently include Belgium; but never would England have consented to a proceeding which would abandon Antwerp to France: she had too long coveted her fleet and great arsenal, and many had been the expeditions she had undertaken with that object!

The opinion of Castlereagh was therefore inflexible; France, he declared, must be reduced within her ancient limits, and this resolution led to the conviction that with the ancient frontiers the ancient dynasty would be necessary. It was not that the English minister had entered into any engagements with the house of Bourbon; the Tories might consider the restoration of Louis XVIII. as a desirable circumstance after the general disorder that had existed in Europe, but it did not make one of the necessary conditions of a general peace, for the selfishly English interest was paramount over every other consideration. This state of affairs is evident in the correspondence between Lord Castlereagh and the French princes who had taken refuge in England; and though he might insinuate to the Comte d'Artois and the Duc d'Angoulême that they might appear on the Continent, he would not officially approve of their conduct, so as not to make the restoration a necessary condition for the re-establishment of peace. This caution affords an explanation of the Duke of Wellington's conduct after the battle of the Pyrenees; he made no objections to the Duke of Angoulême's presence in the south of France, but the white flag was not hoisted, because Lord Castlereagh was completely engaged in the negotiations at Châtillon.

In these conferences, so fatal to our interests, the predominance of the English minister was manifested in the highest degree. As England furnished the subsidies, she exercised very great influence over the movements of the Allies, and Lord Castlereagh's language often assumed an imperious tone. Upon the first hesitation manifested by Austria, he declared that England would no longer be security for the money borrowed by the cabinet of Vienna, if they should attempt to enter into a separate treaty; and he was supported in his design of a general unity against Napoleon by Pozzo di Borgo, who had not left his side since they had travelled together from London. In fact, he was convinced it was not possible to make a treaty with Buonaparte. What peace would there be for Europe as long as he continued to wear the French crown? Had they not for many years been engaged in a protracted and constantly recurring struggle? For this reason, upon firm conviction, he supported as a statesman the maxim adopted by the Tory party,--_The ancient territory and the ancient dynasty_.

Although Lord Castlereagh held no acknowledged diplomatic office at the congress of Châtillon, he nevertheless swayed all the resolutions formed there; he was the principal author of the treaty of Chaumont, which placed the military direction of the campaign under the influence of England. It was a singular example of the power that may be exercised by a commercial and monied government over military powers, for England had hardly any soldiers engaged in this war, but by means of her subsidies alone she set in motion a million of men, and made them subservient to her national and exclusive interests. Thus it was admitted as a general principle, that France was to be reduced within her ancient limits, and the object of England was gained by our being deprived of Antwerp; her vast arsenal was no longer dangerous, and her fleet was to be divided. It may be said that the treaty of Paris in 1814, which was the consequence of the treaty of Châtillon, formed in some measure a realisation of the leading ideas of Toryism; that is to say, the re-establishment of the House of Orange, with a territory extending to our frontier; Prussia increased in strength and importance, Austria assumed a predominant position in the south of Germany, while they both served as barriers to Russia; and above all, the maritime and commercial supremacy of Great Britain, to such a degree that, in the secret treaty of 1814, Lord Castlereagh imperatively insisted on the rupture of the family compact among the various branches of the House of Bourbon, for the purpose of rendering her influence as secure over Spain as over Holland.

One might have supposed that, after this long and painful struggle against Buonaparte, the English minister would have enjoyed some rest from his anxieties; but such was far from being the case, for the Colossus had scarcely been hurled from its base before intestine dissensions arose in the coalition which had so lately set the world in motion. Various interests were the subject of secret discussion at Vienna; and the questions concerning Saxony, Poland, and Italy occasioned him extreme uneasiness. Throughout the whole period of the French revolution, England had undoubtedly played the principal part, and her perseverance alone had saved the Continent from a general and overwhelming oppression; but in diplomatic matters, as in politics, ancient services are less considered than the new situation in which countries are placed: England had been too much engaged in continental affairs not to continue to feel great anxiety concerning them, and on the question of Poland, Lord Castlereagh was opposed to the plans of the Russian cabinet, and he did not restrain the expression of his dissatisfaction respecting the Polish _suzeraineté_, which the Emperor Alexander was desirous of reserving to himself. No one ever surpassed his lordship in the union of firmness of character with the most polished manners, the distinguishing mark of a true gentleman; there was a degree of steadiness, I may almost say of nobleness, in his private conferences with Alexander, in the midst of the splendid _salons_ of Vienna, that was quite admirable.

No aristocracy in Europe is more magnificent than that of England. Lady Castlereagh's parties at Vienna exceeded in splendour those even of the Emperor of Austria, and were replete with every pleasure and amusement; while her ladyship, who was a woman of extraordinary abilities, afforded considerable assistance to the diplomatic proceedings of her husband. The bold and rather presumptuous manner of Sir Charles Stewart, Lord Castlereagh's brother, were tempered by the studied mildness of Lord Aberdeen and the military profusion of Lord Cathcart; and the _soirées_ of the English legation were cited as the most brilliant of the season, not excepting those of the sovereigns. The English minister, however, was not satisfied with the decidedly Russian tendency of the congress. He had carefully studied the character of Alexander, and was well aware that vast ideas and infinite ambition lay concealed under the religious mysticism he had adopted under the influence of Madame Krüdner; and looking at it under this point of view, he naturally came to the conclusion that, if the English policy had been the means of saving the Continent from the absorbing power of Napoleon, it would be necessary to guard against a new danger, and prevent the power of Russia from becoming too great and exercising too absolute a dominion over the destinies of the world. This feeling, common to them all, formed a tie between Castlereagh, Metternich, and Talleyrand, all of whom were equally convinced that the combination of the three sovereignties would not be too much to oppose the projects of Russia; and their dissatisfaction increased so much towards the termination of the congress, that the three plenipotentiaries signed the treaty of alliance concluded in February, 1815, to guard against any possibilities that might arise regarding Saxony and Poland. Thus the man who had been the keystone of the coalition, whose powerful hand had cemented and directed it, contributed at this moment to introduce divisions into its bosom, because the common danger had passed away.

This danger, however, appeared again when intelligence was received of the landing of Buonaparte and his march to Paris; and the English minister had no hesitation in placing himself at the head of the coalition, for Napoleon was considered as the general enemy of Europe. In 1814, Lord Castlereagh had opposed the sovereignty of the island of Elba being awarded to the ex-Emperor, and now, laying aside all other considerations, he looked at nothing but at the necessity of restoring unity to the confederation, and marching at once against the man who had been placed at the ban of Europe. Reports were in circulation that England had favoured the return from Elba, in order again to humble France and to impose heavier conditions upon her; and Lord Castlereagh, when asking for subsidies, was obliged in the House of Commons to enter into an explanation upon the subject. He had only to answer, that it was against his opinion a sovereignty had been granted to Buonaparte; but that, after he had once been acknowledged as an independent sovereign, no one had any right to watch his actions and proceedings. He and the Duke of Wellington now shared the arrangements between them, the one directing the debates in parliament while the other was employed in organising the army. Immense subsidies were again required to assist the coalition, and set a million of men in motion against the glorious adventurer who had made but one step from the Gulf of Juan to Paris.

Lord Castlereagh had vowed an implacable hatred to all the ridiculous dynasties who sheltered themselves under the mantle of Napoleon, and he revealed to the House of Commons the correspondence between Murat and the Emperor; thus paving the way for the downfall of that melodramatic king who was playing his part among the lazzaroni at the palace of Portici, or at the Villa Reale. In the stormy debates in the House of Commons he always exhibited the same tenacity of principles and resolution which had supported him in the imperial crisis, and even the present situation awakened in his mind the pride of a statesman who has realised some great thing for his country; for the supreme power henceforth belonged to England, and no one could dispute with her the empire of the sea: for a short time she had been at war with America, but peace had just been concluded, and all these circumstances had greatly augmented her power.