Chapter M: Pasquier (3)

A new field soon opened before him. The events of 1814 had brought about the restoration of the Bourbons, and the influence of the Emperor Alexander reigned paramount over the proceedings of the senate which prepared the fall of Napoleon. Louis XVIII., who was a prince of a touchy disposition, and very ceremonious habits, had but very little inclination for the Duc de Richelieu, for he could not forgive his having preferred filling a high and important situation in Russia to the dignity of an attendant upon his exiled person; nevertheless, he restored the peerage to his family, as well as the situation of first _gentilhomme du roi_. The Duke was not in office during the first restoration, and he employed himself in studying the new spirit that had arisen in his country, after so many domestic troubles; for he was sufficiently aware of the state of affairs to comprehend that events exercise an irresistible power in the modification of the character, and that when a person is desirous of bringing a revolution to a close, it is necessary to make incessant concessions to men and circumstances, and submit to unavoidable acts of necessity: these, no doubt, are painful duties, but are we not all called to wear the crown of thorns?

Totally unconnected with the negotiations of 1814, which were entirely in the hands of Prince Talleyrand, the Duc de Richelieu may be said to have spent the first restoration in renewing his acquaintance with his country. He had quitted it a young man, and since then what marvellous events, what a new existence, had taken place! Property had been invaded, the homes of his forefathers pillaged! The domestic hearth no longer existed--even the tombs were violated and the bones of the dead were cast out; and this in the midst of a revolutionary society, which attached guilt even to the tears of the victims! The events of the 20th of March were caused by a fatal reaction in the minds of the soldiery, and a democratic hatred against the unfortunate nobility of France; and the Duc de Richelieu accompanied the ancient banner of his country into voluntary exile.

On his return for the second time, Louis XVIII. intrusted Talleyrand with the formation of a ministry based upon the English system; nevertheless, the chief of the cabinet was well aware that Russia must necessarily exercise very considerable influence over the negotiations relating to France, and he proposed M. de Richelieu as minister of the king's household, with the idea this choice would be agreeable to the Emperor Alexander: the appointment, however, was not accepted, for the Duke had an extreme repugnance to be seated beside the regicide Fouché; besides which, he was well aware that Alexander was displeased at the aspect of a ministry so entirely devoted to England, and which had been formed under the ascendancy of the Duke of Wellington. I have already mentioned the causes that broke up Talleyrand's ministry; after its dissolution, Louis XVIII. considered that the Russian influence would alone be capable of procuring for us some alleviation of the heavy burdens imposed by the invasion, for the Czar was the only party whose interest was not concerned in the affair; and it is necessary to read the diplomatic correspondence of Lord Castlereagh and the German diplomatists to judge how overwhelming were the conditions imposed by the Allies. Their crushing demands, their deplorable ultimatum, had been published; the negotiations did not advance, while, at the same time, the disastrous condition of the country was aggravated by the presence of a million of foreigners. It was in order to obtain the powerful support of the Emperor of Russia that the king appointed the Duc de Richelieu minister for foreign affairs, and president of the council; thus assigning him a double and most difficult office.

Still nobody was better fitted than the Duke to hasten the conclusion of the treaty; nobody had so much reason to hope he might succeed in abating its severity. The Czar felt the utmost confidence in the noble governor of Odessa, and he was not ignorant that France had but little to hope for in point of support from her neighbours, who had been too long irritated by the weight of her power. Russia alone had nothing to claim from her, and she was furthermore inclined to lend her assistance, as to a faithful ally in the south of Europe. The Duke was well convinced of all these circumstances, and he took care to represent to the Czar, that all the importance lost by France would be so much added to the strength and power of her rivals, and would increase the superiority of Austria and Prussia. Alexander's inclinations were favourable to our country, and by drawing out these kindly feelings the Duke was enabled to fulfil the immense task that had been imposed upon him. Let us take a retrospect of the afflicting state of our invaded land in the year 1815. 700,000 soldiers occupied the country, the people of Germany were in a state of extreme irritation, and the remains of the seditious and disorganised army on the other side of the Loire had been disbanded with great difficulty; add to which, the treasury was exhausted, and the course of the contributions interrupted by a long abuse of power. Surely it required a mind of no common energy to grapple with a situation so fraught with difficulty and disaster! In quiet times diplomacy is a work of skill and address, a polished interchange of political generalities, and some plans proposed for future accomplishment; but at this time, when we must recollect that Paris was in the hands of an imperious and vindictive enemy, what could we expect from the magnanimity of conquerors so long humbled and trampled upon by French domination? Under these fearful auspices the course of the negotiation was intrusted to the Duc de Richelieu, just at the decisive moment when, after a most stormy debate, the plenipotentiaries had come to an agreement concerning the sacrifices they were determined to exact from France. The most ruinous projects were maintained by England, Austria, and Prussia, their demands being comprehended between four points, viz. the cession of a territory, including the posts of Condé, Philippeville, Givet, Marienburg, Charlemont, Sarrelouis, and Landau, and the forts of Joux and Ecluse; the demolition of the fortifications of Hunningen; the payment of an indemnity of 800 millions; and the occupation of the frontiers by an army of 150,000 men, kept up at the expense of France for seven years. England insisted particularly that the chain of fortresses on the northern frontier should be so closely curbed, that Dunkirk should be the last in the possession of the French. The country was to be restored to the limits it occupied in the days of Henry IV., and a party, dating its birth from the national excitement which roused Germany against Napoleon, considered it undoubted that Alsace and Lorraine were to be reunited to the Germanic confederation. The map which represented France deprived of these fine provinces had already been designed by the German geographers, and it has since been preserved as a glorious trophy in the Richelieu family.

Deeply affected by these resolutions, the minister drew up a memorial addressed to the Emperor Alexander, and expressed with the conscientious energy of an honest man. "France," said he, "in regaining her sovereigns, ought also to recover the territory they governed, otherwise the restoration would be incomplete." The minister depicted, with the fervour inspired by deep conviction, the despair of a great people, and the prospective consequences to be feared from it; for, at the first opportunity, France would again fly to arms. This remonstrance made a great impression upon Alexander, and though it was not possible to induce the allied powers to agree to the general idea contained in it, at least the Duke succeeded in obtaining that the important posts of Condé, Givet, and Charlemont, and the forts of Joux and Ecluse, should not be included in the territorial cessions. The pecuniary indemnity also was diminished by 100 millions of francs, and it was determined the military occupation should not exceed five years, and might possibly terminate at the end of three. The French minister signed the memorable treaty on the 20th of November, 1815, and it bears honourable witness to the sadness that oppressed his heart.[44] He had succeeded in obtaining great and noble advantages for his country, but he bore the name of Richelieu, and was the great-nephew of the celebrated cardinal who had so greatly augmented the monarchy, and he could not, without pain and grief, see the smallest particle of its grandeur torn away. The speech he made five days afterwards bears the stamp of patriotic sorrow and dignified resignation, and it was impossible, while listening to it, not to feel that the minister had yielded solely because the conquerors were inexorable, rendering the measure of imperious necessity.

[44] _Vide_ art. Pozzo di Borgo.

The cares incident to so important a negotiation had not led the Duke to neglect the internal administration of the country; and while the chambers sanctioned the extraordinary powers required by the government to repress the old and turbulent spirit of Liberalism, the ministry was occupied in taking just and solemn measures against those who, by favouring the return of Buonaparte, had led to the misfortunes of their country, and authorised these terrible reprisals. The fatal trial of Marshal Ney was the first that took place; and now that political ideas are clearer, and we are no longer carried away by declamation, the motives of the great debate that ensued are easily explained. The marshal was summoned before a council of war, by an _ordonnance_ signed under the ministry of Fouché and Talleyrand; and this council having declared itself incompetent, the marshal ought to have been tried by the House of Peers, this being the natural order of jurisdiction. The Duc de Richelieu, on the 11th of November, 1815, carried to the chamber the royal _ordonnance_, which constituted it a court of justice, and, with his heart still full of the sad sacrifices that had been exacted from his country, he expressed himself with warmth and firmness against the authors of the revolution of the Hundred Days; for was it not the actions of those people that had brought a million of foreigners into our land? After the condemnation of the marshal, the Duke, desirous of calming the unruly passions that raged in the country, presented a bill for a general amnesty to the two chambers, in which there were no exceptions, except the names contained in a list drawn up by Fouché. During seasons of agitation, parties always go beyond the plans proposed by governments, and upon this project the chamber of 1815 established its system of _categories_; and the regicides were banished the kingdom, contrary to the personal opinion of Louis XVIII. In the course of the discussion it was proposed to confiscate the property of condemned and banished persons, but Richelieu rejected the measure, saying that "confiscations rendered the evils of war irreparable." And how much generosity was exhibited in this conduct, when we consider that the Duke had himself been deprived, by the most implacable confiscations, of all the property of his family!

The finest portion of his life begins from this period. The great object he had proposed to himself was the deliverance of invaded France, overwhelmed by foreign powers; and, at the same time, the situation of the country gave cause for the most serious uneasiness. It was now necessary to levy an army to act as a weight in the European balance of power, and also to fulfil the hard conditions imposed by the treaty of 1815; while, to remove the fears entertained by the different cabinets, the Duke gave them to understand that the divisions arising in the chambers were merely the natural result of the representative system. One ought to remember the miserable years of 1816 and 1817; the dearness of grain, the scarcity, and the revolts in various provinces, the occupations of the strong posts in France by 150,000 bayonets, and a military contribution of 15 millions a month. In the midst of all these disasters the Duke suggested the diminution of the foreign army, thus commencing a negotiation which led to much greater results; and, on the 11th of February, 1817, he came to announce to the chambers that 30,000 men were about to repass the frontier, and that the expense of the army of occupation would be diminished by 30 millions of francs. This relief was owing to the reparative system he had pursued, and to the efforts of France, so fruitful in resources.

We, perhaps, hardly meet, in the whole course of history, with two years more difficult to get over than from 1815 to 1817. An armed invasion, famine, vehemence of parties, factions up in arms; and withal, extreme constraint in the administration, both as a whole and in detail, and a country whose ancient frontiers must be by all means preserved.

The army of occupation having been diminished, it became indispensable to have recourse to forced levies, to secure the safety and the dignity of the country; and a law for that purpose was proposed and accepted at the opening of the session of 1817, as a complete military system: the essentials of this law are still in force.

At this period commenced the intimacy between the Duc de Richelieu and MM. Mounier and De Rayneval, two men of great ability, and who remained faithful to his memory. And let me be permitted to offer a last tribute to both these distinguished persons, then in the flower of their age, and now consigned to the tomb; for men of strong feelings are soon worn out by public life. M. Gérard de Rayneval belonged to an ancient diplomatic family, whose employment in the foreign office dated from the ministry of M. de Vergennes, and the treaty with the Low Countries. M. Mounier was endowed with a lively and penetrating mind, and possessed immense erudition; he, like M. de Barante, had, in early youth, been thrown into the administration of the Empire, and had filled the situation of secretary to the cabinet; and the Duke conceived a friendship for both these men equal to the confidence he deservedly reposed in them. He had a great regard for honour and probity, and where could it be more fully met with than in people, whose characters remained pure and free from blemish, nay, who retained an honourable poverty, in the midst of the liquidation of foreign debts, amounting to 1700 millions of francs?

When the peace of 1814 was signed, the governments had declared their reciprocal debts at an end; but while they renounced their own claims upon the treasury, they made a reservation in favour of those of private individuals, which had been so violently attacked by the wars of the Revolution and of the Empire. When Europe dictated the implacable treaty of November, 1815, claims poured in on every side; it was stipulated that payment should be effected by inscriptions in the great book of the public debt of France, and 9 millions a-year were at first set aside for that purpose; the time, however, for presenting claims was not to expire until the 28th of February, 1817; and--will it be believed?--the sum total amounted to 1600 millions![45] a sum of almost fabulous magnitude, which surpassed the value of the two budgets of France. It was enough to drive one to despair, especially as each person demanded payment in full. What was to be done under circumstances of so much difficulty? Russia was so situated as naturally to assume the character of a mediator, for she had but few claims; and the Emperor Alexander, convinced that, unless the negotiation were carried on by an arbiter common to all parties, it would fall to the ground before the diversity of views and opinions, proposed, as I have before stated, to intrust it to the Duke of Wellington, making, at the same time, a sort of appeal to his generosity.

[45] 64 millions sterling.

The mediator, under the guidance of M. Mounier, and after unheard-of retrenchments, fixed the sum destined for the payment of the debts of France to individuals at 16 millions and 40,000 francs. People are too apt to forget in the present times the extreme difficulties encountered by the public credit of the restoration, during the period of our misfortunes. The Duc de Richelieu very soon came to the conclusion, that a system of well-conducted loans offered the only possible means of fulfilling the obligations imposed by the treaty. During the sway of Napoleon, the credit of the government had been utterly null; confidence had been destroyed by too many violations of the public faith, and too many arbitrary actions, for the Revolution and the Empire were merely the abuse of power; and the events of 1814 and 1815 having compelled the government to increase the public debt to 126 millions, would it be possible to obtain an additional loan? No French house had presented itself possessed of sufficient capital to act upon so vast a scale; their fear of the risk was too great. But the Duke considered there would be an advantage in foreign loans, in raising a competition among all the capitals of Europe, and effecting our deliverance by a mere change of location. The necessary pecuniary resources were found in the opulent firm of Hope and Baring; and, to prepare the departure of the foreign troops, the minister succeeded in obtaining that the sovereigns who signed the treaty of 1815 should assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle, to determine whether the occupation should terminate at the end of three years, or whether it should be prolonged to five, according to the alternative left by the treaty.

This proposal having been accepted, the congress assembled on the 20th of September 1818. All the obstacles had been already overcome by the pacific views of Russia, which had acted favourably upon the scruples entertained by Prussia and England; and on the 2d of October the evacuation of the French provinces was decided upon, and the last traces of the invasion disappeared; besides which the Duc de Richelieu obtained a reduction of part of the indemnity still unpaid. Who does not recollect the proud and natural delight of the French minister on his return? France was no longer a country in the occupation of Europe, but a government admitted into the first rank among nations, with its greatness, its liberty, and its independence. Sufficient justice is seldom rendered to statesmen who restore to a country its dignity and consideration: vulgar history only extols those that destroy.

Another crisis, however, was in preparation. The value of the public securities, owing to excessive speculations, had risen to an immoderate height, which was followed, in 1818, by an equally rapid fall, and the Allies might have destroyed the public credit by rejecting the _rentes_ that had been assigned in payment of the subsidies; but the word of the Duc de Richelieu was sufficient to obtain a considerable extension of the time fixed for the payments to be made to the allied powers: and as great embarrassments still prevailed on the Exchange, he still farther obtained, that 100 millions which were to have been discharged by inscriptions of _rentes_, and which were included in the payments stipulated by the Allies, should be withdrawn, and in their stead _bons_ on the treasury should be substituted, to become due in eighteen months.

Such was the end attained by the negotiations of the Duc de Richelieu with foreign powers; the great object of his life was fulfilled, for in what a state of misery was France when he assumed the reins of government! 700,000 foreigners, contributions of all kinds, the country placed at the ban of Europe! Now to that country he had restored liberty, he had reorganised her army, had established her public credit, and reconciled France with the world. Before this great result was achieved, the Duke had repeatedly declared to his friends that, as soon as the personal credit he enjoyed with foreign powers was no longer necessary, he should quit the situation he had been compelled to accept, and retire into private life, and accordingly he sent in his resignation; but it was not accepted, for the old liberal spirit had arisen to struggle for victory. Many men possessed of no ability, except for public speaking, had striven to secure the elections, and the result of the proceedings of several of the electoral colleges had caused great anxiety to the friends of government. M. de Richelieu was therefore compelled to remain at the head of affairs; and he returned to Paris for the purpose of concerting the measures rendered necessary by the actual circumstances.

The cabinet were agreed upon the necessity of opposing a barrier to democratic opinions and principles; nevertheless, serious dissensions arose when the electoral system came to be debated; and the Duke, much annoyed by the difference of opinion that existed in the council between himself, M. Decaze, and Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, returned to his former wish of retiring from office. His example was followed by the rest of the ministers, who gave in their resignation in a simultaneous manner that was very remarkable. It is a melancholy truth, that the statesman who had so powerfully contributed to deliver the territory from foreign occupation, was compelled to retire before the petty intrigues suggested by narrow policy and the Chamber of Deputies. The Duke's opinion of the electoral system was different from that entertained by the partizans of the old liberal school, and he resigned his portfolio to General Dessole.

In spite of all the great affairs in which M. de Richelieu had been engaged, he was in a condition of honourable poverty, and the king conferred upon the retired minister the appointment of Grand Huntsman, in the same manner as he had conferred the title of Grand Chamberlain upon M. de Talleyrand, after his services in 1815. The chambers, however, were conscious that a recompense was due from the country to the able negotiator of Aix-la-Chapelle, and M. de Lally made a proposal that the king should be requested to confer a national reward upon the Duc de Richelieu. The same suggestion was made in the upper chamber, at the very moment when a letter from the Duke declared to the president of the deputies, that he should be proud of receiving a mark of the king's favour, given with the concurrence of the chambers; but that as it was proposed to award him a _national_ recompense at the expense of the nation, he could not consent to see any thing added for his sake to the burdens under which the country was already groaning. Every body was well aware that the Duke possessed no fortune, and that his sole income was derived from his office of grand huntsman; a good deal of littleness, however, was exhibited in the Chamber of Deputies when it was proposed to assign a _majorat_ of 50,000 francs to the heir of the name of Richelieu, as a recompense to the minister who had obtained the liberation of the territory. Are public bodies only capable of great actions when a profit arises from them to the passions by which they are actuated? The proposed _majorat_ was afterwards changed into an annuity; and, out of respect to the king's wishes, the Duke did not refuse this acknowledgement of his services, but he devoted the entire income derived from it to the foundation of a religious charity in the city of Bourdeaux. Such was the personal generosity of this great man, who was desirous of retiring entirely to private life.

Alas! his political career was not yet concluded! The Decaze ministry, on every side inundated by old liberal opinions, was at its last gasp. Advantage was taken of the law of elections against the government, one concession led to another, and the Duke was summoned to the council extraordinary, presided over by the king in person, to advise upon the measures to be pursued in this emergency. The crime of Louvel had filled Paris with grief and horror, and M. Decaze, abandoned by the _côté gauche_ of the chamber, who defended the law of February 5th, 1817, rejected by the royalists, who reproached him with not having agreed to the propositions of the Marquis Barthélemy, at last sent in his resignation; and at this difficult juncture, the king again placed the Duc de Richelieu at the head of affairs. The most urgent entreaties were required to induce him to accept the appointment, for the situation was melancholy, and the country full of anxiety, while the irritation of parties had reached its highest pitch. The preceding administration had proposed an electoral system, which was distasteful to all parties in the chamber; it had demanded laws arming the government with extraordinary powers; no majority was yet formed, and the ministry were doubtful whether these laws would be capable of overcoming the formidable opposition they would have to encounter; the fears of Europe also had been aroused, and it was necessary to appease them. At length, every thing, however, was provided for, and, at the end of a long and painful discussion, exceptional laws were voted.

But then, who was able to calm the public mind? and what hand was sufficiently powerful to arrest the evil tendency of society? A bias had been given to education in France ever since the revolution of 1789; people were closely surrounded by mischievous opinions and frightful systems; parties considered themselves sufficiently powerful to conspire openly, and intimidate the government by tumultuous meetings. Seditious assemblies took place with a view to political catastrophes, and the slightest hesitation might have given rise to the most dreadful calamities. The command of Paris was now committed to Marshal Macdonald, by the ministers' council, formidable military preparations were made, and proofs were obtained of a conspiracy, involving some names since exalted by another revolution. During the ten days that this state of anxiety and trouble prevailed, they had only to regret the lives of two of the disturbers of the public peace; and now that the ideas concerning government are become more advanced, people will be surprised at the declamations of those who held liberal opinions, against measures which were indispensable for the safety of the country. Has not every government a right to defend itself, and is it not bound to do so?

Europe now began to assume an alarming aspect. The revolt of the Spanish army at the island of Léon found an echo in a similar movement among the Neapolitan troops. Portugal quickly followed their example; and the seditious, imagining the French army well inclined to imitate the conduct of their neighbours, directed all their efforts towards this end. After having broken all the bonds of civil order, the revolution endeavoured to overturn the principle of duty and obedience among the soldiery. In most of the corps, however, the officers continued faithful to their engagements; a few only were unable to resist the torrent, and a conspiracy was formed in several of the regiments at Paris, extending in its ramifications to various military stations, and it was determined that the rising should take place in the barracks on the 20th of August, 1820. On the proposal of M. Mounier, then director-general of the police, the ministers' council determined upon arresting the conspirators before they had unfurled a standard and actually proclaimed the insurrection. The heads of this military conspiracy are well known at present, and some of them have even been rewarded; but, as is always the case, the plot was denied by the parties engaged in it. The Chamber of Peers behaved with much indulgence, as able and experienced authorities usually do when severity is not indispensably necessary; and the government preferred pardoning many offences, and consigning much to oblivion, to being compelled to authorise the shedding of blood.

The elections of 1820, which had taken place when a favourable impression had been raised by the birth of the Duc de Bourdeaux, gave a powerful and compact _côté droit_ to the chamber, and MM. de Villèle and Corbière, who had assumed the position of its chiefs, ought naturally to have supported the Duc de Richelieu; but, at the very commencement of the session, clouds appeared on the horizon. The _côté droit_ of the chambers had hitherto fought by the side of the ministers, and triumphed with them, and consequently they claimed a direct participation in the administration. Negotiations were entered into with them; the Duke would not consent that any of the men who had hitherto governed with him, and preserved the kingdom in its hour of peril, should be excluded from the council; however, two only of the principal deputies on the _côté droit_, MM. de Villèle and Corbière, were appointed members of the cabinet, with the title of ministerial secretaries of state.[46] M. Lainé, a man with whose honest and upright character the Duke had been particularly struck, was also a member of this administration.

[46] Ministres secrétaires d'état.

The political principle of this revised ministry was the agreement of the centre of the _côté droit_, and the _droite_ itself, in one common vote; but the session under this management was long and troublesome, and a tedious and stormy debate took place before the Duke was able to decide upon the execution of his idea of an extended system of canal navigation, like that at present in force. He drew up a plan, inviting men possessed of large capital to take a part in these great works; for at that time the principal part of the capital in the kingdom, was invested in the funds, and enterprises tending to the benefit of industry and the improvement of the country were not popular: many difficulties were encountered, but they were all overcome by means of firmness and determination.

Order was now established in all the departments of government; the restraints formerly imposed upon the action of the municipal authorities, by a system of excessive centralisation, were removed; and in the financial department the most unlimited competition was invited, for the first time, in the sale of stock, and the value of public securities reached its highest pitch. In his foreign policy, the Duke never ceased for a moment to support the idea of the Russian alliance, less from former recollections, and his affection for the Emperor Alexander, than upon the principle constantly expressed in all his correspondence, that the Russian alliance was advantageous to France because it was perfectly disinterested. In fact, what can Russia demand of us? On what point can we clash? Commerce with her can never be otherwise than an equal exchange; the productions of industry in her country are not of equal value with ours; she requires our wines, our fashions, our manufactures, and we, in exchange, require her timber, her copper, and her iron. Her fleets cannot assume any dominion over us, her frontiers do not reach us in any direction, and we are benefited by her influence; whilst, on the other hand, the designs and interests of France are opposed by the English alliance in all questions of importance. M. de Richelieu's system was resumed by M. de la Ferronays in 1828.

During the Duke's second ministry the great European powers met at Laybach, to agree upon a vast repressive system to be pursued against the insurrection rising in arms around. The Richelieu cabinet was resolved upon a firm resistance against all the tumults and disorders that were disturbing the peace of Europe. Agitation had also arisen in the East, and the Greeks had raised the standard of the cross. But Russia, which under Catherine had supported the Hellenic emancipation, was now too fully occupied with her own affairs to be able to follow up the system she had then commenced. France, therefore, determined upon sending a naval force into the Grecian seas for the protection of commerce, and, while observing a generous neutrality, assistance was still afforded to all who implored it from the French flag. But now the Richelieu cabinet, entirely occupied with its foreign relations, was threatened with danger to itself. Its very feeble parliamentary combination rested upon a false basis in the chamber. The ministry only existed by the will of the _côté droit_; and that party with its chiefs, MM. de Villèle and Corbière, would not fail, sooner or later, to assume the direction of affairs, because they possessed the majority. The _droite_ and the _gauche_ were both distinct from the cabinet, and the former was evidently impatient to seize the reins of government.

These two fractions of the chamber were desirous of concluding with a _coup d'éclat_; and the reply to the speech from the throne in 1821 became the arena for the great political struggle. The commission under the direction of the _côté droit_ insisted that in the plan of the address presented to the chamber these words should be inserted: "We congratulate you, sire, upon your friendly relations with foreign powers, feeling a just confidence that so valuable a peace has not been purchased by sacrifices incompatible with the honour of the nation and the dignity of the crown." So offensive an expression was an open rupture with the cabinet. M. de Richelieu declared such an insinuation was an insult to the crown, and the ministers tendered their resignation. The chamber persisted, and voted the address, which was, in fact, a declaration that they did not wish the ministry to stand: the cabinet, therefore, retired in a mass, and were succeeded by MM. de Montmorency and de Villèle.

And here let us pause, and observe to what trials men are exposed who devote themselves entirely to the defence of the interests of their country, without intrigue or passion, simply from the feeling for all that is right and noble! No character can bear a comparison with that of the Duc de Richelieu; no services equal those he rendered to his country; and, behold! he was overturned both by the _côté droit_, and the _gauche_ of the Chamber of Deputies. The conduct of the _gauche_ was this: the Duke took charge of France at the time of the foreign invasion; the Buonapartists and the remains of the Jacobin faction, having a second time endangered the country by their madness of the _hundred days_; the enemy was in Paris--it occupied France; the influence of the Duke succeeded in preserving the country, and diminishing the sacrifices exacted from it; the foreign troops were withdrawn, and, as a recompense, the spirit of liberalism overturned the Duke.

Would you also know the conduct of the ungrateful monarchical party? A great crisis had occurred for the crown; the royalists were giving way, and the power was about to be wrested from their hands by the _côté gauche_. The restoration was completely compromised, when the Duke again sacrificed himself: holding his popularity cheap, he augmented and strengthened the royalist party, and this was the summary of the instructions concerning the elections, directed by M. Mounier: "Before every thing, the friends of royalty;" and then the ultras, masters by this means of the majority, had nothing so much at heart as the dismissal of the Duc de Richelieu, in order to give themselves up to their mad projects.

This moment was the conclusion of the Duke's political life; his feelings had been severely tried by the injustice of parties. It soon became apparent that his health was rapidly declining, and in a journey to the Château of Courteille, where the Duchess was living, he was taken ill, suddenly became insensible, and died at Paris, on the night of the 16th of May, 1822. He was only fifty-five years of age; his carriage was erect, and his features simple and regular, as they appear in the fine portrait of Lawrence of which I have spoken. All parties concur in awarding the highest praise to the noble qualities of the Duc de Richelieu. He was not a man of extraordinary genius, but of a thoroughly honest and upright character; and there are times, when no talent possessed by a statesman is of so much avail as honesty. I admire the infinite superiority of a man capable of allowing virtue and honour their full weight in the political balance, and I take especial pleasure in rendering this tribute to the Duc de Richelieu, because I have never known so fine a character combined with so noble a name.

PRINCE HARDENBERG.

It is natural that States which feel an incessant desire of increasing, should not retain the inflexible principles of upright and generous policy in their diplomatic system. Every time they feel stifled, they strive for more space and the means of more extended respiration; and such has constantly been the condition of the Prussian monarchy, from the time of its foundation, which may be said to have taken place unexpectedly, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. At this period the Duchy became a Kingdom, and no sooner was the kingdom established than it wanted to become great; for more room is required to unfold the sweeping train of a King, than to wear the robes merely of a Duke or a Margrave.

This necessity for augmentation created a national law peculiar to Prussia; and looking at nothing but the necessities of her position, she seized every thing she could lay her hands upon. Frederic II. carried on this system of conquest, for his wars were regulated by no principle of the law of nations, and he appeared to have but one object in view, which was, to attack at one time Poland, and at another Silesia, for the purpose of conquering cities and provinces. On this account he availed himself of all means of distinction, striving for the celebrity of a writer and the pretension of a poet; even making the most of the puerile vanity of the philosophical party of the eighteenth century. When we examine into the actual constitution of Prussia, as well as into that she formerly possessed, we shall observe that her organisation has always been such as to render conquest imperatively necessary; even at present is not the kingdom like a lean giant, armed at all points, whose head is at Königsberg and his feet dipped in the Rhine, but whose middle is wanting? and the country that is required to complete the picture, is it not Saxony?

It is, then, as the personification of the Prussian political system, that I am about to write the life of Baron, afterwards Prince Hardenberg, the most remarkable statesman that has been at the head of affairs in the monarchy of Frederic. Charles-Augustus, baron Hardenberg, was born in October 1750, at Hanover, that principality wedged into the midst of Germany, which recalls to the recollection the origin of the kings of England. Hanover preserves its German character under a separate administration, although it belongs to the patrimonial inheritance of the princes called to wear the English crown; and this separation was imperatively demanded by the English, a people so tenacious of their liberty, in order to avoid the chance of fatal continental wars, to defend the patrimony of their sovereign--a contingency their constitution will not permit.

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.

The Consul became Emperor; and with a view of still farther strengthening the bonds of union with Prussia, Napoleon appointed Marshal Duroc, his confidential friend, to represent him at Berlin. It was rather a difficult moment, as war was about again to resound in Europe, and the combined armies of Russia and Austria to take the field, rendering it a matter of very great importance to create a suitable post for Prussia; Baron Hardenberg was, therefore, summoned to the head of affairs, as the representative of a middle system then beginning to arise and develope itself under the influence of the Queen of Prussia. He was attached at the same time to English principles, and to the politics of France and Germany, and was under the necessity of instituting a close comparison among the various interests and influences presented to his view; he, however, detached himself from the debased political system pursued by Count Haugwitz. His great fault on this occasion was his not perceiving that Buonaparte's deceit was equal to his genius, and that he only kept terms with Prussia now, to ensure him a greater facility in punishing her at a future period.