The Diplomatists of Europe

by M. Capefigue

Baron Hardenberg was descended from an ancient family, carried back by the old heraldic traditions as far as the eleventh century, at the time of the Emperors of the house of Suabia; he was himself the son of a marshal of the empire, and went to the military university of Brunswick with the intention of following his father's profession. The bent of his inclinations, however, appeared to be different, and while he applied his mind to the severest studies, he felt a strong vocation for a diplomatic life, and his curiosity led him always to endeavour to discover by what springs the cabinets recorded in history were actuated. He afterwards went to travel, gaining knowledge while visiting the different parts of Europe, and arrived in London at the time when Mr. Pitt was at the head of affairs, and a most violent and active opposition surrounded the ministry. As Hanover, as I have before mentioned, forms part of the patrimonial inheritance of the reigning family, Baron Hardenberg, though not an English subject, was naturally desirous of acquiring an extensive knowledge of the laws and customs which form a national law peculiar to England, and with which every British subject ought to be acquainted. But England was the scene of his greatest domestic infelicity; for having in early youth married the most beautiful woman in Germany, Mademoiselle de Randlaw, he introduced her into the brilliant society and dissipation of London, and she was received with an almost chivalric enthusiasm in the highest circles.

A Prince, from whom Richardson would have drawn his character of Lovelace, the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne of England, remarkable for his personal beauty, magnificent in his equipages, and accomplished in all manly exercises, fell desperately in love with Baroness Hardenberg; and so much publicity attached to his admiration, that a separation became inevitable; the Baron therefore quitted England and returned to Germany. He already gave evidence of three qualities denoting great ability; the subtlety of intellect necessary in all negotiations of any importance; a habit of conversation, alternately discreet and unguarded, cold or vehement, according to circumstances; and a most profound knowledge of European national law—talents which naturally fitted him for a high diplomatic situation: nevertheless, young Hardenberg gave himself up entirely to the details of the administration of the country—a circumstance in which he resembled William Pitt, who was at the same time a first-rate politician and attentive to the smallest minutiæ regarding war and finance. His perfect acquaintance with the laws of Germany was a great assistance to him, when he was summoned to the supreme direction of the affairs of Prussia.

Another quality possessed by Hardenberg, was his strong and decided taste for literature; and his intimate friendship with Goëthe, who exercised such absolute dominion over the intellects of his time, arose from this source. This was not one of the relations of protector and protégé; for in Germany, where matters of genius and study are viewed in a serious light, a man of literary celebrity is placed almost in a superior rank, and he is not only on a footing of equality with statesmen, but sometimes even in a position of master and scholar. What a brilliant sceptre was that extended by Goëthe over Germany! The poet who had shewn such incomparable skill in his delineation of the feudal ages, appeared to blend in his escutcheon of glory all the ancient colours of the German nobility. This threefold aptitude of Baron Hardenberg for literature, politics, and administration, produced great and uncommon results: first, an expansion of mind arising from the habit of treating important affairs; then, a close application to detail, arising from his employment in the executive administration; and, finally, a clear, exact, and benevolent mind, the consequence of the literary intercourse he had pursued with enthusiasm during his youth.

We must recollect what was at that time the spirit that prevailed in Prussia, and also the bent of its government. In addition to her never-failing desire of conquest, there is always in that country a certain inclination for serious study, and a wish for the advancement of ideas; and though no free debate be permitted on matters connected with the government, the discussion of philosophical and rational questions is entirely unshackled; religious opinions also are independent of any controlling theory, the Protestant spirit having introduced a sort of egotism into the schools, from which it results that every opinion, even though it be mischievous, is admitted and examined without regard to the chivalrous feelings that attach a people to a dynasty, or a generation to the articles of their faith.

It was in this school the statesmen of Germany were formed, more especially Baron Hardenberg. His devotion to the study of German law had given him a precise and accurate manner of examining facts, without being carried away by prejudice or enthusiasm; and when the French revolution burst forth, Prussia, which was foremost to join the coalition, saw a new class of statesmen arise to oppose the chivalrous spirit of the nobility, and place the check of cool reason upon the ardour of the old families. Baron Hardenberg did not completely concur in the opinions of M. Haugwitz, of the secretary M. Lombard, and the Countess Lichtenau, who were even well inclined towards the revolutionary powers that then reigned in France; he had less inclination than Count Goltz towards French ideas, but being completely a Prussian in his interests and opinions, he considered that the object of his cabinet could not possibly be to act as a knight-errant in defence of certain political opinions, but rather to endeavour to acquire a great influence in Germany, at the expense of Austria, and also a territorial addition in Poland; and as Prussia was not immediately threatened by the principles and ideas of the French revolution, he considered it very important to reap all possible advantage from the new situation of events.

This rendered him the most active partisan of the treaty of Basle, though he was not at first engaged in it by name; for that very difficult negotiation was originally undertaken by Count Goltz with M. Barthélemy; but after the death of the plenipotentiary it was concluded by Baron Hardenberg; and this was the first commencement of his being really actively employed in public affairs. His manners were singularly pleasing to the men of the revolution, especially to Merlin de Douai, who thought them like those of a marquis of the old school, with intelligence, ease, and a method of action free from prepossession or prejudice, even with regard to democratic opinions. The committee of public safety treated him almost in royal style, by sending him a fine service of Sèvres china, as at the conclusion of treaties under the old monarchy, when an interchange of diplomatic presents used to take place among plenipotentiaries.

In this treaty, as in the negotiation of Rahstadt, Baron Hardenberg was less actuated by French principles than by the firm conviction that the treaty of Basle tended to realizing the two most constant and deeply-rooted feelings of his mind: viz. the Prussian influence over Germany, and the aggrandisement of his cabinet. He promoted the system of German neutrality, which influenced the interests of the country, and to a certain degree excited Germany against Austria; and for this purpose he made use of France, considering it of little consequence whether it was a monarchy or a republic: he had a particular object in view; but he was guilty of a mistake on that point. There were two questions to be particularly considered in the French revolution: if it had confined itself to measures that merely regarded its own internal condition, and had disseminated nothing, neither ideas nor interests, the selfish policy of Prussia might have been successful; but neither the committee of the convention nor the directory had any respect for fixed principles. Baron Hardenberg had established neutrality in part of Germany; how was it observed when the republican army required again to pass the Rhine? Did it trouble itself concerning the principles laid down by the Prussian minister, and the territorial line of the neutrality? When entering into a treaty with a government, the first necessary inquiry is, whether it will respect the general principles of the law of nations. Prussia, however, had assumed too egotistical a position; indeed she carried her system to such a pitch, that the minister interfered with the levy of contingents, lest they should augment the Austrian influence. Many years elapsed before the ideas of this school were effaced; but Hardenberg's mind afterwards expanded, and he saw there were other circumstances to be attended to, besides the antiquated system of politics, which would keep up a rivalry between Prussia and Austria, at the time when a general social revolution had taken place.

After a long stay at Basle, during which time he was in habits of the greatest intimacy with the ministers of the French republic, Baron Hardenberg returned to Berlin, where the king conferred upon him the order of the Black Eagle of the first class, as a mark of his perfect concurrence in the politics of the treaty just concluded. The direction of foreign affairs was still, however, in the hands of Count Haugwitz, a friend of Countess Lichtenau, and the secretary Lombard, and Baron Hardenberg being a person of too much importance to occupy a situation subordinate to Count Haugwitz, the administration of the principalities of Bayreuth and Anspach was again conferred upon him. This was a recreation to the diplomatist, who was glad to seek repose from political theories in the executive government of a principality, which he may be said to have added to Prussia. In Germany statesmen like to be men of business, and even in retirement their life is one of labour and study.

Baron Hardenberg took no part in active business during the life of Frederic William II.; his private opinions had been a little modified, and he was not quite so decided in his approval of the convention of Basle, since he had had occasion to see the mischievous and arbitrary application made by the republicans of its principles in Germany. Nothing had been awarded to Prussia by the treaty of Rahstadt, in spite of the promises of real indemnities, as well as of absolute liberty, which had been made to her at Basle; he, therefore, had no connexion with the negotiations carried on by M. Caillard, when an endeavour was made to place Prussia in a new attitude, and produce a great degree of intimacy between the republic and Frederic William II. Baron Hardenberg does not appear to have exercised any influence until the accession of the young prince Frederic William, when, being attached to the young queen, Louisa of Prussia, by the most respectful and chivalrous devotion, he adopted her ideas and opinions, as indeed did all those who were within the circle of her almost magical influence. What a grand though melancholy existence was that of Louisa Wilhelmina, queen of Prussia, daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz and of Caroline of Hesse Darmstadt! Filled with the enthusiastic and visionary feelings natural to her country, she exercised, at the age of scarcely twenty years, the most holy, as well as the most absolute influence over her husband, while the hopes of Germany appeared to centre upon her. She introduced a more noble and elevated feeling into the selfish system of politics hitherto adopted by Prussia; and being as it were queen of the students and of the universities, she was the origin and the hope of the secret societies, which gave so poetical a tinge to Germany during the latter years of Napoleon. Under her influence, Baron Hardenberg took charge of the ministry for foreign affairs, shortly after the commencement of the consulate. In the midst of the various coalitions of the period, Prussia had hitherto preserved a strict neutrality; after the 18th Brumaire, however, she shewed herself perfectly willing to agree to all required by the First Consul, and the insinuations made by Buonaparte to Louis XVIII., proposing to him to abdicate, were despatched from Berlin; nor was even the proper degree of dignity exhibited on this occasion, though it ought to increase, rather than diminish, where illustrious sufferers are concerned.