The Diplomatists of Europe

by M. Capefigue

An implacable hatred again burst forth, when news arrived at the congress of the landing of Napoleon: the young students had but just returned to the universities, the landwehr and landsturm, disbanded but yesterday, were called to resume their arms on the morrow; and the closest alliance was renewed in Europe, so as to march at once against Napoleon, who, like an adventurous soldier, threw himself almost immediately into Belgium and the Rhenish provinces. In this military movement, which threatened Prussia, Prince Hardenberg was compelled again to appeal to the national troops, who had shed their blood on the fields of Lutzen and Bautzen. The same spirit was still found in full strength and vigour; Blucher was at the head of the Prussian contingent at Waterloo; they fought with the utmost fury, and victory having decided in their favour on that plain, fatal to the last hopes of Napoleon, the northern provinces of France were soon inundated with enemies. In all the proclamations of Hardenberg, and all his acts calling Germany to arms, a deadly hatred, a rancorous degree of vengeance against France was manifested, in order to rouse the courage and the powerful energy of the old Prussian monarchy. This irritation was conspicuous at every step taken by the German troops on the French territory; they appeared desirous of at once taking vengeance for all the humiliations they had undergone during the last ten years. Waterloo was not sufficient to appease the anger excited by Jena; the recollection of the oppressive dominion of the French was fresh in every heart; and it must be confessed, the most rancorous and vindictive during the war were not the regular troops, the soldiers devoid of mind or imagination, but the young men from the universities, the landwehr and the landsturm: it was the fair-haired Germans, with the short frock and leathern belt, the admirers of Schiller and Goëthe, and, more than all, the noble worshippers of the Queen of Prussia, who came to claim the spoils of France; for the revered image of the heroic Louisa, oppressed and calumniated by Napoleon, was mingled in all their dreams.

The despatches of Hardenberg, while the negotiations of Paris were in progress, bore the impress of this bent in Germany, and in fact of the whole of his German existence. From the time he first took part in public affairs, he particularly interested himself in every thing concerning the confederation; his influence alone had induced Prussia to enter into the system of neutrality and centralisation, which became the national law of Germany from the time of the French revolution; and now these same interests were placed under his supreme direction. Germany, which had so long been endangered by French principles, was desirous of reacting against that power; and everywhere declared and averred, that Alsace and Lorraine had been taken from her, and that they ought to be restored to their elder sister; conquest alone had given them to France, and a reverse of fortune might deprive her of them. Prince Hardenberg set forth these ideas, and supported them at the conference in Paris; he asserted that the Rhine was not natural to France, but was, on the contrary, offensive to Germany; Strasburg is a threatening position, and so would be Mayence; the Vosges and the Moselle were the limits he was desirous of assigning as a disgrace to us, and this desire proceeded less from his own mind than from the detestation Germany had vowed against us: it was the reaction of liberalism against Napoleon, extending almost to the partition of France. I have already described how M. de Richelieu preserved us from this great misfortune, by appealing to the Emperor Alexander, more disinterested in the question of partition, and who interposed in favour of our vanquished country.

Notwithstanding this, the sacrifices imposed upon us by the treaty of Paris were sufficiently heavy. Hardenberg was one of those who signed it, and the influence he had exerted gave him very great claims upon the confidence of his sovereign. He became, in the Prussian cabinet, the representative of the Anglo-German alliance; renewing the union between the Tory party and the German aristocracy, whose fundamental principle was a hatred and hostility towards France, dating as far back as the battle of Fontenoy, where the troops of the Duke of Cumberland were humbled before the fortune of Louis XV.

Although peace was now established, the task of the minister was not completed, and a most difficult mission remained to be accomplished. The strong national impulse given to Germany by the necessity of getting rid of Napoleon, had roused an energetic feeling in favour of liberty in every breast; charters and constitutions had been promised, and a sort of mystic unity in Germany had been spoken of; and how were these promises to be redeemed? This political question, which I have already mentioned as so delicate, I may almost say so terrible, for Prince Metternich, was still more so for the head of the Prussian government. In Austria the popular mind was neither so advanced, nor so philosophically organised, as in Prussia; the enthusiasm of the people was at bottom only an extreme devotion to the Emperor and the august house of Hapsburg; and all they requested in return, was the repeal of a few of their taxes, some local liberties, and a little public happiness. But in Prussia the desires were not so moderate; all the secret societies had visions of a state of things so strangely liberal, that Germany would have been nothing more than a republic under a king, if a free course had been allowed to their expectations. In order to arrive at a regular plan of government, Hardenberg was obliged, even in the face of his former promises, to break with the patriot party, whose efforts he had so strenuously seconded during the crisis. Blucher and Gneisenau, the chiefs of these young men, were anxious for a national representative system, and for that purpose they wished the secret societies to remain in full force; but Hardenberg demonstrated to them that the object of these associations no longer existed, and that as to the constitution of the States, the part designated as the administration must be separated from the political legislation. Under this point of view Hardenberg's theory is particularly worthy of remark. According to him legislation belongs to the king alone; and it was certainly a right no one would have disputed with Frederic, the founder of the kingdom; the administration only belongs to the provincial states, as also the power of voting taxes. He established this theory by many successive acts, drawn up under his influence; and it reached such a pitch, that a royal edict even put a stop to the secret societies, as dangerous and fatal. The king's language is paternal, and explanatory of his motives; such being the usual course pursued in Prussia, where reason and explanation are had recourse to with a thinking people.

This second portion of the life of Hardenberg presents exactly the reverse of the medal; and such, we may observe, is generally the case. The existence of political characters is almost invariably divided into two parts: the one, all action and advance; the other, devoted to the repression of the ideas they may have favoured in the days of their youth and strength. The secret societies occasioned alarm, and, perhaps, with some reason, at a time when the strangest theories had begun to appear in Germany, and the press was doing mischief. There had been a time when it was desirable to rouse Germany, and then every thing might be said in favour of Liberty, as it was by her means that every thing was to be done; but, after the crisis was over, the government would be exposed to sudden and unexpected accusations. In the Prussian universities it is permitted to discuss all questions, to examine into the most important points of theology and morals; but when they come to the application, when the principles of the government are actually attacked, there is liberty no longer. All discussion is formally forbidden which leads to the examination of the rights of the crown or the obedience of the subject, because the head of the state is essentially military, and his power is the work of the soldier.

Hardenberg, as minister of the king, took a part in all the acts which prepared the Germanic constitution; for Frederic William abandoned himself to his long experience, and he was prime minister in the fullest sense of the word. To mark how perfectly he was satisfied with his services, the king not only wrote to him with his own hand on his birthday, but he also, as an agreeable surprise, caused his portrait to be placed in the principal apartment of his hôtel.

By the act of the Germanic Confederation a close alliance took place between Prussia and Austria, in order that they might share the power equally between them; the one in the north, the other in the south; Prussia as the representative of the Protestant, and Austria of the Catholic system. The German unity was remodelled on that plan, and there was no longer any thing but a moral struggle between the two nations. Prussia was more advanced in her philosophical ideas, and Austria more paternal and provident in her domestic regulations.

The well-established distinction between the administration and the political system is particularly owing to the exertions of Hardenberg. The administration is careful, economical, and often dishonest; the political branch watchful and military, carefully restricting the developement of liberty within the most exact limits. After the termination of the great transactions of 1816, Hardenberg occupied himself only in applying his system of repression to the press, to the convocation and to the limited constitution of the States. At Troppau and Laybach he supported Prince Metternich's designs, and all the measures against the schools were taken in concert with Austria. The system of the German universities embraced two main points,—studious and intellectual ideas, and political influence. Hardenberg, a highly educated man, the friend of Humboldt, Gentz, and Kotzebue, and himself distinguished for his literary tastes, was willing to leave to philosophy the vast domain where intellect displays, and often loses itself; therefore the studies were not restricted in their developement, the universities were still left mistress of their doctrine, but they were obliged to resign their mysterious influence on secret societies, and they no longer formed acting and deliberating corps. Science, thought, and philosophy, remained as a grand and noble trinity in the domain of the learned, like the school divinity of the middle ages.

Political action being restrained, it was easier to bring the administration to perfection. The system of Prussian presidencies was only a collection of vast prefectures or local administrations, and every thing was regulated with so much economy, that the taxes are collected with a third less expense than in France.

In this long struggle of every-day labour, the life of Prince Hardenberg was worn out; and at Aix-la-Chapelle and Troppau it was evident that his strength was beginning to give way. Old age had come upon him, and one is astonished a war with parties should have been carried on so vigorously by a man who had reached the advanced age of threescore and ten. One can imagine the peaceful government of an aged man over a peaceful state; but the last four years of Hardenberg's life had been the most laborious, because he not only had to contend with external powers, but with his own opinions and ideas, hardly five years old. He had organised the secret societies, and he was now compelled to destroy them. It was not his feelings that had changed, but the necessities of Europe, with whom deliverance had passed into repression.