But all these divers interests were confounded by the astounding news of Napoleon's landing in the Gulf of Juan. The Emperor Alexander, whose mind was more than ever impressed with the mystic and liberal ideas of the German school, did not hesitate a moment in lending his powerful aid to the coalition. Madame Krüdner had persuaded him that the white angel, Peace, was to overcome the black angel, which presided over battles, and that the part of mediator and preserver of the human race was intended for him. The immense armies of Russia, therefore, marched against the black angel (Buonaparte). I will not enter into the military details of the Waterloo campaign; suffice it to remind the reader that the Russians, who had afforded such decisive support during the invasion of 1813 and 1814, upon this occasion only arrived with the third division after the struggle was over, which explains the reason why the influence of England and Prussia was paramount in France during the transactions of 1815.
I have elsewhere given an account of these negotiations;[48] the Emperor Alexander constituted himself the protector of the French interests, being led to do so as much by the natural generosity of his disposition as by a certain degree of national rivalry, which already began to appear between Russia and England. Nesselrode's influence over the mind of the Emperor was quite as powerful as that of Pozzo di Borgo, and we must acknowledge that they rendered us the most essential service, by preserving us from a partition of our territory, and a pecuniary indemnity beyond the power of France to discharge. Still the treaty of Paris stands in evidence, that we were obliged to submit to very painful sacrifices and heavy humiliations.
Just at this time the influence of Nesselrode was endangered by a rival in Alexander's favour; I allude to Count Capo d'Istria.
Capo d'Istria was born in the Ionian islands, in the midst of the Greek population, which have so often been encouraged by Russia to strive for their liberty, ever since the time of Catherine II. He was the friend of Ipsilanti and of all the ardent generation who fought for the independence of their country. At a very early age he had been employed in secret and mysterious negotiations. However the cabinet of St. Petersburg might be situated with regard to the Porte—let the relations of the two countries be what they might, Russia, for the last century, had never ceased to favour secretly the efforts of Greece to shake off the Ottoman yoke. Alas! had she not had frequent cause for self-reproach on this subject? More than once she had instigated the Greeks to revolt, and then, when all their efforts had proved ineffectual, she had not dared to defend them openly in the face of Europe; for she was closely watched by England and Austria, who denounced to the Divan the slightest action of the unfortunate Hellenists—even the groans of an oppressed people were not allowed to pass in silence. When, therefore, Capo d'Istria was admitted to the confidence of the Emperor, the cause of the Greeks enjoyed the advantage of a constant advocate, and a warm, faithful representative. His credit dated from the negotiations in Switzerland in 1815, whose result was a new act of mediation under the threefold influence of Austria, Russia, and Prussia. Capo d'Istria was afterwards appointed to divide with Nesselrode the ministry for foreign affairs.
It was, as I have before observed, a complete rivalry, for Count Nesselrode had entirely adopted the ideas of the European school. Since the year 1812, he had followed the political system opposed to the military principle of the French revolution, now pursued in concert by all the cabinets of Europe, whose ruling desire, from the year 1816, had been the repression of the liberal movement engendered by the resistance of the people to the conquests of Napoleon. Nesselrode perfectly agreed with Metternich on this point, and the Emperor Alexander's partiality for the liberal and Hellenic school of Capo d'Istria was a source of sorrow and vexation to them both. The difficulties they had to encounter were of a complicated nature, for religious feelings were mingled with political ideas—there was strong sympathy between the two churches of Moscow and Athens, and the patriarchs were in constant communion with each other. It was impossible openly to attack Alexander on this point; all that Nesselrode could do in opposition to Capo d'Istria, was to spread the alarm in every direction concerning the fearful progress made by the spirit of insurrection.
As early as the close of 1815, the Emperor Alexander had conceived the project of the Holy Alliance—an idea resulting from the mystic and religious fancies of Madame Krüdner, but involving at bottom very positive resistance to the spirit of revolt; for the Holy Alliance was nothing more than a contract of mutual support, a sort of bond entered into by all the crowned heads against the revolutionary movement in Europe. Metternich and Nesselrode were certainly not the men for ideal transactions—there had been too much reality and matter of fact in their lives; still they saw the cabinets adopt these measures with satisfaction, as they both entertained hopes of bringing over the Emperor to their way of thinking; and, indeed, the general course of events at that time appeared to favour the common idea of Metternich and Nesselrode, for the secret societies in Germany had been greatly developed, and kept Prussia and Austria in a state of perpetual anxiety. They sent repeated despatches to St. Petersburg, and Nesselrode secretly supported the ideas of the alarmed cabinets. Thus the liberal plans advocated by Capo d'Istria met with secret opposition, and more than once the Emperor Alexander remained undecided among the various tendencies which disputed among themselves his mind, his power, and his affections.
Events, however, were progressing in a manner likely to weaken the credit of Capo d'Istria, and augment that of Nesselrode. The Polish senate had been the especial creation of Alexander, it was the work of his own hands; and this senate, by an ill-advised resistance, had just deeply offended the will of the sovereign—a circumstance which might have been considered as a legal act, in a long-established government, was construed into an armed and criminal revolt; and the Czar suddenly issued harsh and firm resolutions regarding Poland. The strong repressive measures advocated by Nesselrode and Metternich thus regained their place among the ideas of the European system; from the same cause the influence of Capo d'Istria visibly lost ground with the Emperor, and with his influence declined the idea of a Christian insurrection in Greece.
Capo d'Istria, as I before observed, was favourably disposed towards his countrymen the Greeks, who, by a spontaneous movement, had shaken off the yoke of the Porte; and he urged Alexander immediately to interfere, by causing a Russian army to appear on the Pruth and an imperial fleet in the Mediterranean. The revolt of the Greeks was observed with great anxiety by Metternich; the house of Austria, being considered as the protectress of the Divan, made every possible effort to avoid a conflict calculated to injure the Ottoman influence, which was necessary to the balance of power in Europe: consequently, it was the object of Austria to persuade Alexander that the real spirit evinced by Greece was that of revolution, where Capo d'Istria saw nothing but a religious question; and in this opinion Nesselrode perfectly concurred. He considered that the actual state of Europe would not admit of the emancipation of a people, for rebellion was every where forming against the crowned heads, and Greece was merely employed as a pretext.
The moment was well chosen to infuse these alarms into the mind of the Emperor, the bent of the German universities having just manifested itself by the assassination of Kotzebue; Piémont had taken up arms, Naples was in a state of insurrection, and Spain had proclaimed the Cortes. Metternich, in concert with Nesselrode, then returned to the idea of congresses, those great fusions of the sovereignties, according to the course that had been settled by the Holy Alliance.
The diplomatic school had rather a predilection for this assembling of Europe—those meetings in which all the statesmen of the various countries met on friendly terms to discuss the affairs of the Continent. The same passion for congresses was to be observed in Talleyrand, Metternich, Hardenberg, and Nesselrode; it was a habit they had formed, a desire of appearing and playing an important part on the diplomatic stage. The Emperor Alexander was also fond of these great réunions because he was consulted as an arbiter, the princes of Europe trusting both to his experience and to his magnanimity.