Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1815

by H. Morse Stephens

The Slave Trade.

The Navigation of Rivers.

One reason for Castlereagh’s moderation at Vienna is to be found in the pressure that was exerted upon him in England to secure the abolition of the slave trade. It is a curious fact that while the English plenipotentiary was taking such an important share in the resettlement of Europe, the English people were mainly interested in the question of the slave trade. The great changes which were leading to new combinations in Europe, the aggrandisement of Prussia, the reconstitution of Germany, the extension of Austria, all passed without notice, but meetings, in Lord Castlereagh’s own words, were held in nearly every village to insist upon his exerting his authority to abolish the trade in negro slaves. Castlereagh therefore lent his best efforts, in obedience to his constituents, to this end. The other ambassadors could not understand why he troubled so much about what seemed to them a trivial matter. They suspected a deep design, and thought that the reason of England’s humanity was that her West Indian colonies were well stocked with negroes, whereas the islands she was restoring were empty of them. The plenipotentiaries of other powers possessing colonies in the tropics therefore refused to comply with Castlereagh’s request and it was eventually settled that the slave trade should be abolished by France after five, and by Spain after eight years. Castlereagh had to be content with this concession, but to satisfy his English constituents he got a declaration condemning the slave trade assented to by all the powers at the Congress. Another point of great importance which was settled at the Congress of Vienna was with regard to the navigation of rivers which flow through more than one state. It had been the custom for all the petty sovereigns to impose such heavy tolls on river traffic that such rivers as the Rhine were made practically useless for commerce. This question was discussed by a committee at the Congress, and a code for the international regulation of rivers was drawn up and generally agreed to.

Close of the Congress of Vienna. June 1815.

These matters took long to discuss, and might have taken longer had not the news arrived at the beginning of March 1815 that Napoleon had left Elba and become once more undisputed ruler of France. In the month of February the Duke of Wellington had succeeded Lord Castlereagh as English representative at Vienna, for the latter nobleman had to return to London to take his place in Parliament. At the news of the striking event of Napoleon’s being once more at the head of a French army all jealousies at Vienna ceased for the time. The Duke of Wellington was taken into consultation by the allied monarchs, and it was resolved to carry into effect the provisions of the Treaty of Chaumont. The great armies which had been prepared for a struggle amongst themselves were now turned by the allies against France. A treaty of alliance was signed at Vienna between Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England, on the 25th of March 1815, by which those powers promised to furnish 180,000 men each for the prosecution of war, and stipulated that none of them should lay down arms until the power of Napoleon was completely destroyed. It was arranged that three armies should invade France, the first of 250,000 Austrians, Russians, and Bavarians under Schwartzenberg across the Upper Rhine, the second of 150,000 Prussians under Blücher across the Lower Rhine, and the third of 150,000 English, Hanoverians and Dutch from the Netherlands. Subsidies to the extent of £11,000,000 were promised by England to the allies. These arrangements made, the allied monarchs and their ministers left Vienna. But the final general Act of the Congress was not drawn up and signed until the 8th of June 1815, ten days before the battle of Waterloo.

The First Reign of Louis XVIII.

It has been said that the allied armies after the abdication of Napoleon at Fontainebleau had retired and left France to the rule of Louis XVIII. That King on returning to France had made most liberal promises in the declaration known as the Declaration of Saint Ouen. These principles were embodied in a Charter, which was granted on the 4th of June 1814. By this Charter representative institutions and entire individual liberty were promised, and also the maintenance of the administrative creations of the Empire. Under the new Constitution there were to be two chambers, the one of hereditary peers, the other of elected representatives. The promises of the Charter were very fair, and had they been duly carried out, France might have been entirely contented, but unfortunately for himself Louis XVIII. had not learned experience in his exile. In spite of the Charter he regarded himself as a ruler by right divine. Emigrés, even émigrés who had borne arms against France and consistently abused their fatherland, were promoted to the highest offices in the State. The King surrounded himself with reactionary courtiers, and what was worse with reactionary ministers. The favour shown to returned émigrés, the haughty attitude of the Princes of the blood, and the violent proclamations of the returned bishops and clergy made the people of France fear that the promises made in the Charter were but a sham, and that the next step would be that the estates of the Church and of the Crown which had been sold during the Revolution would be resumed. The feeling of distrust was universal. The rule of Louis XVIII. had been accepted only as a guarantee of peace. It was never popular, and the former subordinates of Napoleon began to regret the Imperial régime. If this was the feeling among the civil population, it was still more keenly felt in the army. Prisoners of war, and the blockaded garrisons, who had returned to France, felt sure that Napoleon’s defeat in 1814 had been but accidental and wished to try conclusions once more with Europe. In all ranks a desire was expressed to wipe out the disgrace of the occupation of Paris by the allies.

Napoleon’s return from Elba. March, 1815.

On the 1st of March 1815, Napoleon, who had been informed of the universal feeling in France, landed in the Gulf of San Juan, and began the short reign which is known as the Hundred Days. He was accompanied by the 800 men of the Guard whom he had been allowed to have at Elba, and was received with the utmost enthusiasm by all classes. His journey through France was a triumphal procession. The King’s brother, the Comte d’Artois, vainly attempted to organise resistance at Lyons. Marshal Ney, who had promised to arrest his patron, joined him with the army under his command on the 17th of March, and on the 20th Napoleon re-entered Paris and took up his quarters at the Tuileries. Louis XVIII. had fled on the news of Ney’s defection, and escaping from France took shelter at Ghent. Napoleon had learnt bitter lessons from his misfortunes. He declared that he would grant full and complete individual liberty, and also the freedom of the press, and on the 23d of April he promulgated what he called the Additional Act consecrating these principles. He felt his error in depending too entirely upon his bureaucracy, and he appealed on the ground of patriotism to the men of the Revolution whom he had in the days of his power carefully kept from office. These men rallied round him, and he appointed their most noteworthy representative, Carnot, his Minister of the Interior. He declared his acceptance of the two chambers ordained by the Charter, and most of the peers created by Louis XVIII. took the oath of allegiance once again to Napoleon.

Campaign of Waterloo. June 1815.