Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (72 page)

C
HAPTER
19. I
NDISCRETION

Castlereagh compared to “a traveler who has lost his way,” Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 20, 1814,
TLC,
220. The words “impossibility of H.R.H. consenting to involve this country in hostilities at this time for any of the objects…,” Bathurst to Castlereagh, November 27, 1814
BD,
CXXXVIII, 248. Castlereagh’s new orders are also noted by Talleyrand in a letter to King Louis XVIII, December 7, 1814,
TLC,
191. Rosenkrantz view was removed, as he heard it from the king of Denmark, who in turn learned it from Emperor Francis, December 9, 1814,
Journal
(1953), 106. Views about the effects of Castlereagh’s new instructions, Rosenkrantz on December 9–12, 1814,
Journal,
106–108. Many had passed the information about Castlereagh back to London, including Hanover, Saxe-Coburg, Wellington, and Talleyrand. Instructions on Saxony, including the words “it would certainly be very desirable that a
noyau
of it at least should be preserved,” Liverpool to Castlereagh, November 18, 1814,
BD,
CXXX, 236.

Hardenberg’s poem, “Away discord,” sent over December 3, Strauss,
The Attitude of the Congress of Vienna Toward Nationalism in Germany, Italy and Poland
(1949), 31, and Kraehe (1963–1983), II, 261. Metternich’s letter of December 10 with population figures is in Angeberg (1864), II, 505–510, and Hardenberg calling it “unexpected” in his diary the same day,
Tagebücher und autobiographische Aufzeichnungen
(2000), 807. Hardenberg showed confidential letters, and words on the indiscretion, “an act of treachery,” Münster, December 17, 1814, George Herbert Münster,
Political Sketches of the State of Europe, 1814–1867: Containing Count Ernst Münster’s Despatches to the Prince Regent from the Congress of Vienna
(1868), 202. Hardenberg did not mention in his
Tagebücher,
though many others did like Stein,
Tagebuch,
V, 343–346, Archduke Johann, December 21, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 194–195, and Rosenkrantz,
Journal,
December 13, 1814, 109. Metternich had his own letters and some advised him to retaliate.

The challenge of a duel appears in many Alexander biographies, though many of these, if they offer a date, place it in October. If it took place, it was clearly December. Metternich always claimed that the tsar did make the challenge,
NP,
I, 326–327. More rain, cold, and melted snow that week, San Marzan,
Diario,
December 6, 7, 10–12, 1814, lxiv. Gentz visited Prince de Ligne on December 8, and noted he was very sick, December 8, 1814,
Tagebücher,
337, and a few days later, the prince was described as “dangerously sick,” Bertuch,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
67. The prince’s tendency to dress more for show rather than the weather, Franz Gräffer,
Kleine Wiener Memoiren und Wiener Dosenstucke
(1918), I, 186. Conversations Eynard had at that time with Prince de Ligne’s doctor, December 12, 1814 (1914–1924), I, 204. Prince de Ligne’s death, for example, Agent Freddi to Hager, December 14, 1814, no. 1049 and Agent ** to Hager, December 14, 1814, no. 1050; almost every memoir or diary of the time refers to this event, for example, Talleyrand to the Duchess of Courland, December 15, 1814,
TLI,
82; La Garde-Chambonas, 244–255, Bright, 44, Eynard,
Journal,
December 13, 1814, 206–207, and Lulu Thürheim’s
Mein Leben: Erinnerungen aus Österreichs Grosser Welt, 1788–1819
, II, 105, who incorrectly listed the time of his death. “I know” is in Spiel (1968), 136. Many quips cited in the sources, from the field marshal (Rzewuska, I, 238, and Thürheim, II, 104, for example) to those who denied that he said it, like La Garde-Chambonas. The cancellation of tableaux and comedy at court that night, San Marzan,
Diario,
December 13, 1814, lxiv, though other activities around town continued, like Arnstein’s salon, Bertuch’s
Tagebuch,
68. Prince de Ligne “finished off by the festivities,” Méneval,
Memoirs,
III, 323, and his death marking the passing of a whole epoch, Varnhagen von Ense,
Denkwürdigkeiten des Eignen Lebens
(1987), II, 604. The funeral procession is in Bright (1818), 45, Alville,
Anna Eynard-Lullin et l’époque des Congrès et des Révolutions
(1955), 190, and Stolberg-Wernigerode’s
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004), 118–119, as well as Bertuch, who watched it at the corner of the Kohlmarkt,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
70–71, and Countess Bernstorff, who watched from her window (1896) 168. The route of the procession is in Perth,
Wiener Kongresstagebuch, 1814–1815
(1981), 77–78. For more on the prince and the symbolism of the black knight, see Mansel’s
Prince of Europe: The Life of Charles-Joseph de Ligne, 1735–1814
(2003), 261–262. Rain that day, on December 15, “complete springtime,” Gentz,
Tagebücher,
December 15, 1814, 339–340.

Snowing on Christmas Eve, San Marzan,
Diario,
December 24, 1814, lxv, and Stolberg-Wernigerode,
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004), 131. Christmas tree,
l’arbre de Noël,
Agent ** to Hager, December 26, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1160, as well as Stolberg-Wernigerode, who was also present, December 24, 1814,
Tagebuch,
131. First Christmas tree to Vienna is cited in Musulin,
Vienna in the Age of Metternich
(1975), 169–170, as well as Spiel,
Fanny von Arnstein: A Daughter of the Enlightenment, 1758–1818
, trans. Christine Shuttleworth (1991), 292. Christmas at French embassy, Pflaum (1984), 240–241, and Metternich and the duchess at this time, McGuigan (1975), 424–428, along with her wondering, too, if Metternich really attended the Zichy ball as La Garde-Chambonas claimed.

Beethoven’s work on the Polonaise in C Major (op. 89), his attempt to rededicate the violin sonatas (op. 30), and his last public concert as a pianist are in Ingrid Fuchs’s “The Glorious Moment—Beethoven and the Congress of Vienna” in Krog (2002), 184. Carl Bertuch attended Salieri’s mass at the palace chapel, December 25, 1814:
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress
(1916), 80. Castlereagh’s dinner at the British embassy was reported by Agent ** to Hager, December 26, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1160. Talk with the tsar’s physician increasing, for example, Agent P to Hager, December 4, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 978, and another anonymous one, December 7, 1814, no. 1002.

The king of Württemberg’s departure on the morning of December 26 is in Carl Bertuch,
Tagebuch
(1916), 81–82, Matthias Franz Perth’s
Wiener Kongresstagebuch, 1814–1815
(1981), same day, 79, and the following day in the
Wiener Zeitung.
The king’s personality was widely described, for example, in Nesselrode’s
Autobiographie
in
Lettres et papiers du chancelier comte de Nesselrode,
1760–1850, II, 27, and his rudeness noted, for instance, by Archduke Johann, September 22, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 170. The kings’ refusal to raise his hat comes from Schönholz (1914), II, 25, and also Agent Schmidt to Hager, October 5, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 274. Württemberg as a monster, Schmidt to Hager, October 7, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 301. Spies also had hints of his love affair, for example, September 27, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 172—more would soon follow. The king of Württemberg’s gifts are noted by Agent ** to Hager, December 25, 1814, no. 1147; Bertuch in his diary December 26, 1814 (1916), 82; Count Münster, December 29, 1814,
Political Sketches of the State of Europe 1814–1867: Containing Count Ernst Münster’s Despatches to the Prince Regent from the Congress of Vienna
(1868), 219–220; and
Wiener Zeitung,
December 31, 1814. Generosity had improved his image, and a list of gifts compiled by Goehausen to Hager, nos. 1172 and 1183.

Dalberg’s papers lying around, and spy notes Sidney Smith plan for clearing Mediterranean waters of pirates, report to Hager, October 25, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 511. Sidney Smith’s Wednesday evening soirees, for instance, Agent ** to Hager, December 22, 1814, no. 1119. His conversation, for example, Jean-Gabriel Eynard (1914–1924), October 17, 1814, 37–38, and his “wit and gaiety,” Radziwill, who had known him for a long time,
Forty-five Years of My Life (1770–1815
), trans. A.R. Allinson (1912), 92.

For more on Smith and his diplomatic work on behalf of Sweden, see Johan Feuk,
Sverige på Kongressen i Wien
(1915) and Tom Pocock’s
Thirst for Glory: The Life of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith
(1966). Some letters he wrote at the time in the second volume of
The Memoirs of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith
(1839) by Edward Howard and John Barrows, ed.,
The Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith
(1848). Smith’s wearing of orders and one of his picnics in Countess Bernstorff’s
Ein Bild aus der Zeit von 1789 bis 1835: Aus ihren Aufzeichnungen
(1896), I, 156–158, Baronne du Montet,
Souvenirs,
136–137, as well as Saint-Marzan,
Diario,
December 29, 1814, lxvi. The words “three ducats,” “the bill collector,” and the laughter afterward are in La Garde-Chambonas’s
Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
(1902), 268–278. The event is also described by Dr. Richard Bright in Travels (1818), 20–21, Archduke Johann,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich, 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 197–198, Carl Bertuch,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
85, among many others. Agent ** also covers the picnic at the Augarten, Agent ** to Hager, December 29, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1186, and again on the thirty-first, no. 1217, though others such as Rzewuska, I, 253–254, described the event secondhand.

C
HAPTER
20. K
ING OF THE
S
UBURBS

Nickname for Count Razumovsky is in, for example, Baronne du Montet’s
Souvenirs, 1785–1866
(1904), 180. Talleyrand’s words at the opening of the chapter come from Alan Palmer,
Metternich
(1972), 139. Saxony “eclipsed” the other questions, Gentz to Karadja, December 13, 1814,
Dépêches inédites,
123, and its importance in unlocking other difficult questions, in a letter on the twentieth, 128. The Prussian plan for placing the king of Saxony on the Rhine reported, Münster, December 18, 1814, George Herbert Münster,
Political Sketches of the State of Europe, 1814–1867
:
Containing Count Ernst Münster’s Despatches to the Prince Regent from the Congress of Vienna
(1868), 207–208, and December 24, 1814, 214–215. Metternich sent over statistical tables to show that Prussia could have its 1805 population by gaining only 330,000 Saxons, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 15, 1814,
TLC,
205, and more on the disagreements over numbers, 209.

Historians of the congress usually follow Webster’s lead and credit Castlereagh with the creation of the Evaluations Committee, and there are some documents that suggest that. I have inclined to Metternich as an initiator behind Castlereagh’s proposal because of his relationship with the Prussians at this time, the importance of a statistical argument to his position, and his work prior to the existence of the committee trying to gather statistics, as noted in many places, including an attempt to seek assistance from Archduke Johann, December 5–7, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich, 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 187–188. The instructions to the new committee, given by Metternich, are in Angeberg (1864), vol. II, 561–562. Enno Kraehe is one scholar who believes that Metternich proposed the committee [
Metternich’s German Policy
(1963–1983), II, 285]. Talleyrand and Castlereagh’s discussion on the Evaluations Committee, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 28, 1814,
TLC,
228–230, as well as the King’s Ambassadors at the Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, no. 21A, December 27, 1814, 375. Stewart’s visit to Talleyrand and their conversation, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 28, 1814,
TLC
, 230–231, and Talleyrand’s threat to leave Vienna also appears here, and the words “calling for his horses,”
BD,
xxx. The first meeting on December 24, 1814, and the minutes recording Dalberg’s presence in
Le Congrès de Vienne et les traités de 1815
(1864), II, 562–565.

The meeting of December 30, the last of the year, is in Angeberg (1864), IV, 1869–1874. Some historians refer to a meeting on the thirty-first, apparently relying on Castlereagh’s description, in his letter of January 1, 1815, in
BD,
CLV, 277–278, which almost certainly was a mistake, as Kraehe rightly points out, in n. 76, 291 of II (1963–1983). Prussia’s insistence on “total incorporation” comes from a letter, Castlereagh to Liverpool, January 1, 1815,
BD,
CLIV, 276, and Hardenberg’s words “tantamount to a declaration of war,” and his own response on how “better to break up the Congress,” related by Castlereagh, in a letter to Liverpool, January 1, 1815,
BD,
CLV, 278. Politics at end of year “dismal” and “enormous weight suspended over our heads” appear in Gentz’s end-of-year reflections 1814,
Tagebücher,
344.