Chapter M: Pasquier (7)

The principal object Lord Castlereagh had in view was to bring about a degree of persevering unity in the European coalition; it was the ruling idea of Mr. Pitt and the labour of his life: but the statesman had so often failed in his object. The weakness of Europe against Buonaparte resulted from its divisions, from its conflicting interests, and the separation of one cabinet from another; it was therefore necessary to unite them all in one common cause, and this was not the least difficult task he had to perform. If they might reckon upon the willingness of Russia to proceed to extremities against Napoleon, if the national spirit had been roused in Prussia to strive earnestly for the fall of the Emperor, were they likely to meet with the same concurrence, the same absolute devotion on the part of Austria, and of Sweden under Bernadotte? What obstacles and opposition Lord Castlereagh had to encounter in the course of the year 1813, at the time of the armistice of Plesswitz and the congress of Prague! Fresh discussions were incessantly started, and the coalition was repeatedly ready to fall to pieces, from the selfish tendencies of private interests. As for him he had but one object, one desire--the fall of Napoleon and the dissolution of the French Empire, and no words can express the power possessed by a man who has one idea constantly present to his mind, and follows it up with undeviating energy. The dissolution of the congress of Prague was occasioned by this absorbing passion in the mind of Lord Castlereagh, who induced Metternich to engage more decidedly in the coalition; he was like the intrepid hunter who sounds the halloo in pursuit of the stag at bay.

The vast plan he had conceived rested upon two points--exertion on the part of the various governments to promote the march of troops, and a general rising among the people to second the efforts of the cabinets. The material impulse was given by Russia, and he allowed it to proceed and develope itself, well knowing the example of that great power would be followed by Prussia and Austria, and that their efforts would be sufficient for the liberation of Germany. It then became necessary in the north to urge Sweden to take the field, and with her Denmark and Holland; all his efforts were therefore directed to this point, and gave rise to the mission of Sir Charles Stewart and General Graham. He considered there would be no difficulty in inducing a revolt among the oppressed Dutch and Belgian population, and a popular movement would bring about the restoration of the House of Orange; while in the south the armies of England overspread Spain and Portugal, and France was thus attacked at both extremities at the same time. This has always been the favourite political system of England; by acquiring influence in Spain and Portugal, and also in Belgium, she prevents France from affecting her either commercially or diplomatically; and as English statesmen, in what situation soever they may be placed, never lose sight of the hereditary diplomatic traditions, one plan is transmitted through many generations, in the same manner that it formerly descended in our monarchy, when under the dominion of kings, and of able and distinguished ministers. Nothing is done in that country from a sudden impulse; every plan is maturely weighed, and England in the nineteenth century is swayed by the same principles as in the sixteenth.

Lord Castlereagh's task, however, increased in difficulty as the allied armies drew near France, and their interests became more personal and more divided. It then became a question whether Austria would be willing to overturn France, and whether the Emperor Francis would sacrifice his son-in-law; there was also a doubt whether Russia would consent to the proposed augmentation of Austria and Prussia, which would add so considerably to their importance; and in addition to all the other questions, what compensation was likely to be awarded to England? Such were the difficulties that arose at every step after the Allies had reached the Rhine, until at last Pozzo di Borgo was despatched to England, with the firm determination to induce Lord Castlereagh, if possible, to visit the Continent; his presence now seemed really indispensable amidst the clashing of ideas and interests, which threatened to lead to the dissolution of the coalition. England alone was capable of reconciling all their wishes, and restoring to the various forces the unity which, like the bundle of sticks in the fable, rendered them invincible when united, though each separately would be easily overcome.

Lord Castlereagh arrived on the Continent to confer with Lord Aberdeen, Lord Cathcart, and his own brother Sir Charles Stewart; and from this time the influence of the British legation was complete and paramount. The intervention of the English minister was indispensable, as I have before observed, to fortify the bonds of cohesion between the various cabinets, and more especially for the purpose of enforcing the principle, that no treaty was possible with Napoleon. In the conferences that took place between Metternich and M. de St. Aignan at Frankfort, the English legation observed that the Allies appeared rather inclined to a pacific arrangement, which would leave the Rhine as the boundary of the French empire, and would consequently include Belgium; but never would England have consented to a proceeding which would abandon Antwerp to France: she had too long coveted her fleet and great arsenal, and many had been the expeditions she had undertaken with that object!

The opinion of Castlereagh was therefore inflexible; France, he declared, must be reduced within her ancient limits, and this resolution led to the conviction that with the ancient frontiers the ancient dynasty would be necessary. It was not that the English minister had entered into any engagements with the house of Bourbon; the Tories might consider the restoration of Louis XVIII. as a desirable circumstance after the general disorder that had existed in Europe, but it did not make one of the necessary conditions of a general peace, for the selfishly English interest was paramount over every other consideration. This state of affairs is evident in the correspondence between Lord Castlereagh and the French princes who had taken refuge in England; and though he might insinuate to the Comte d'Artois and the Duc d'Angoulême that they might appear on the Continent, he would not officially approve of their conduct, so as not to make the restoration a necessary condition for the re-establishment of peace. This caution affords an explanation of the Duke of Wellington's conduct after the battle of the Pyrenees; he made no objections to the Duke of Angoulême's presence in the south of France, but the white flag was not hoisted, because Lord Castlereagh was completely engaged in the negotiations at Châtillon.

In these conferences, so fatal to our interests, the predominance of the English minister was manifested in the highest degree. As England furnished the subsidies, she exercised very great influence over the movements of the Allies, and Lord Castlereagh's language often assumed an imperious tone. Upon the first hesitation manifested by Austria, he declared that England would no longer be security for the money borrowed by the cabinet of Vienna, if they should attempt to enter into a separate treaty; and he was supported in his design of a general unity against Napoleon by Pozzo di Borgo, who had not left his side since they had travelled together from London. In fact, he was convinced it was not possible to make a treaty with Buonaparte. What peace would there be for Europe as long as he continued to wear the French crown? Had they not for many years been engaged in a protracted and constantly recurring struggle? For this reason, upon firm conviction, he supported as a statesman the maxim adopted by the Tory party,--_The ancient territory and the ancient dynasty_.

Although Lord Castlereagh held no acknowledged diplomatic office at the congress of Châtillon, he nevertheless swayed all the resolutions formed there; he was the principal author of the treaty of Chaumont, which placed the military direction of the campaign under the influence of England. It was a singular example of the power that may be exercised by a commercial and monied government over military powers, for England had hardly any soldiers engaged in this war, but by means of her subsidies alone she set in motion a million of men, and made them subservient to her national and exclusive interests. Thus it was admitted as a general principle, that France was to be reduced within her ancient limits, and the object of England was gained by our being deprived of Antwerp; her vast arsenal was no longer dangerous, and her fleet was to be divided. It may be said that the treaty of Paris in 1814, which was the consequence of the treaty of Châtillon, formed in some measure a realisation of the leading ideas of Toryism; that is to say, the re-establishment of the House of Orange, with a territory extending to our frontier; Prussia increased in strength and importance, Austria assumed a predominant position in the south of Germany, while they both served as barriers to Russia; and above all, the maritime and commercial supremacy of Great Britain, to such a degree that, in the secret treaty of 1814, Lord Castlereagh imperatively insisted on the rupture of the family compact among the various branches of the House of Bourbon, for the purpose of rendering her influence as secure over Spain as over Holland.

One might have supposed that, after this long and painful struggle against Buonaparte, the English minister would have enjoyed some rest from his anxieties; but such was far from being the case, for the Colossus had scarcely been hurled from its base before intestine dissensions arose in the coalition which had so lately set the world in motion. Various interests were the subject of secret discussion at Vienna; and the questions concerning Saxony, Poland, and Italy occasioned him extreme uneasiness. Throughout the whole period of the French revolution, England had undoubtedly played the principal part, and her perseverance alone had saved the Continent from a general and overwhelming oppression; but in diplomatic matters, as in politics, ancient services are less considered than the new situation in which countries are placed: England had been too much engaged in continental affairs not to continue to feel great anxiety concerning them, and on the question of Poland, Lord Castlereagh was opposed to the plans of the Russian cabinet, and he did not restrain the expression of his dissatisfaction respecting the Polish _suzeraineté_, which the Emperor Alexander was desirous of reserving to himself. No one ever surpassed his lordship in the union of firmness of character with the most polished manners, the distinguishing mark of a true gentleman; there was a degree of steadiness, I may almost say of nobleness, in his private conferences with Alexander, in the midst of the splendid _salons_ of Vienna, that was quite admirable.

No aristocracy in Europe is more magnificent than that of England. Lady Castlereagh's parties at Vienna exceeded in splendour those even of the Emperor of Austria, and were replete with every pleasure and amusement; while her ladyship, who was a woman of extraordinary abilities, afforded considerable assistance to the diplomatic proceedings of her husband. The bold and rather presumptuous manner of Sir Charles Stewart, Lord Castlereagh's brother, were tempered by the studied mildness of Lord Aberdeen and the military profusion of Lord Cathcart; and the _soirées_ of the English legation were cited as the most brilliant of the season, not excepting those of the sovereigns. The English minister, however, was not satisfied with the decidedly Russian tendency of the congress. He had carefully studied the character of Alexander, and was well aware that vast ideas and infinite ambition lay concealed under the religious mysticism he had adopted under the influence of Madame Krüdner; and looking at it under this point of view, he naturally came to the conclusion that, if the English policy had been the means of saving the Continent from the absorbing power of Napoleon, it would be necessary to guard against a new danger, and prevent the power of Russia from becoming too great and exercising too absolute a dominion over the destinies of the world. This feeling, common to them all, formed a tie between Castlereagh, Metternich, and Talleyrand, all of whom were equally convinced that the combination of the three sovereignties would not be too much to oppose the projects of Russia; and their dissatisfaction increased so much towards the termination of the congress, that the three plenipotentiaries signed the treaty of alliance concluded in February, 1815, to guard against any possibilities that might arise regarding Saxony and Poland. Thus the man who had been the keystone of the coalition, whose powerful hand had cemented and directed it, contributed at this moment to introduce divisions into its bosom, because the common danger had passed away.

This danger, however, appeared again when intelligence was received of the landing of Buonaparte and his march to Paris; and the English minister had no hesitation in placing himself at the head of the coalition, for Napoleon was considered as the general enemy of Europe. In 1814, Lord Castlereagh had opposed the sovereignty of the island of Elba being awarded to the ex-Emperor, and now, laying aside all other considerations, he looked at nothing but at the necessity of restoring unity to the confederation, and marching at once against the man who had been placed at the ban of Europe. Reports were in circulation that England had favoured the return from Elba, in order again to humble France and to impose heavier conditions upon her; and Lord Castlereagh, when asking for subsidies, was obliged in the House of Commons to enter into an explanation upon the subject. He had only to answer, that it was against his opinion a sovereignty had been granted to Buonaparte; but that, after he had once been acknowledged as an independent sovereign, no one had any right to watch his actions and proceedings. He and the Duke of Wellington now shared the arrangements between them, the one directing the debates in parliament while the other was employed in organising the army. Immense subsidies were again required to assist the coalition, and set a million of men in motion against the glorious adventurer who had made but one step from the Gulf of Juan to Paris.

Lord Castlereagh had vowed an implacable hatred to all the ridiculous dynasties who sheltered themselves under the mantle of Napoleon, and he revealed to the House of Commons the correspondence between Murat and the Emperor; thus paving the way for the downfall of that melodramatic king who was playing his part among the lazzaroni at the palace of Portici, or at the Villa Reale. In the stormy debates in the House of Commons he always exhibited the same tenacity of principles and resolution which had supported him in the imperial crisis, and even the present situation awakened in his mind the pride of a statesman who has realised some great thing for his country; for the supreme power henceforth belonged to England, and no one could dispute with her the empire of the sea: for a short time she had been at war with America, but peace had just been concluded, and all these circumstances had greatly augmented her power.

In the struggle now taking place, his lordship was possessed with one great object: in 1814 he had made some concessions to France, and he considered the affair terminated when her ancient limits, augmented by Savoy and the Comté Venaissin, were assigned to her, under the government of her ancient dynasty; but he now found all his work had fallen to the ground, and he concluded from thence that the power of France was still too great, and predominated too much on the Continent: for the sake, therefore, of obtaining the applause of Germany and the support of Prussia, he entered unhesitatingly into all the hatred vowed to us by them. Waterloo had placed France under the especial direction of England and Prussia, and deprived her of the Russian influence; therefore his lordship was at liberty to explain his ideas, and there was every facility for the execution of his system. His principles being in perfect agreement with those of the Duke of Wellington, he communicated to him his opinion about the future condition of France. In the first place, the ministerial system must be entirely English; and as a good understanding had existed between him and Talleyrand at Vienna, he chose him to fill the situation of prime minister. Then again, the Tories do not like revolutionists; but as these last assumed a suppliant attitude before the English, and that the patriots, under the shield of Fouché and of the representative chamber, were at the feet of the Duke of Wellington, even to obtain a foreign prince, they decided Fouché should be appointed to the ministry with Talleyrand.

But this was only the commencement of the system. Lord Castlereagh had observed that the material power of France was too considerable for the balance of power in Europe, and also that Belgium was not sufficiently protected; he therefore considered it necessary another frontier should be adopted, to prevent any irruption on that side; and as England wanted to secure the good will of Germany, he agreed to support, if necessary, the proposal for the cession of Alsace and Lorraine to the Germanic confederation. These ideas gave birth to the hard conditions insisted upon by England, and rendered it necessary that France should have recourse to the Emperor Alexander to obtain better terms after her heavy afflictions.

With regard to Buonaparte, the minister's conduct was perfectly consistent. In 1814 he had strenuously opposed the idea of an independent sovereignty in the island of Elba, and the enemy of England was now again in his power. It has been written and currently reported, that Napoleon's resolution to throw himself for protection upon the generosity of England was a free and spontaneous action; but such was far from being the case: too well did he know the unpitying and irritated feelings entertained against him by that nation, but he went on board the English man-of-war because he could no longer escape the cruisers, and perhaps the sailors in those vessels might have done him some injury, in vengeance of the sufferings of Captain Wright, who died in so mysterious a manner in the Temple. His letter to the Prince Regent was only an attempt to escape his fate by assuming the position of a free agent, when a few hours later he would have been a prisoner of war. As soon as Buonaparte was on board the Bellerophon, Lord Castlereagh hastened to acquaint the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers, assembled at Paris, with the fact; and then he naturally returned to his original and favourite idea of placing him under the charge of the Allies, in some spot sufficiently remote from the Continent to secure Europe against the risk of any further bold attempt on his part. This proposal did not arise from any personal hatred or feeling of animosity, but was the result of a profound and well-considered conviction. As for the rest, every thing was done with proper attention and consideration; but no one ever shewed more sulkiness, ill-humour, and I may say more littleness, than did Napoleon in adversity. How had he treated the Duc d'Enghien? Had he not pursued and striven to ensnare Louis XVIII. in every part of Europe? Was it too much, immediately after his adventure of the hundred days, which had cost us so dear, to send him to a place of security, from whence he would no longer be able to torment Europe? Buonaparte took offence because the title of majesty was refused him, and because he was not permitted to live quietly like one of the citizen classes in England or the United States (a proposition he made with just the same degree of sincerity as his request to be appointed _juge de paix_ of his district before the 18 Brumaire). Imagine Buonaparte a citizen of Westminster or Charleston! After so long a drama on the theatre of the world, if a man has not been able to die he ought to know how to submit to obscurity; but he, at St. Helena, did not exhibit the greatness that ought to have arisen from his recollections and his glory, and I would willingly believe his flatterers garbled his conversations in the narratives published of his exile.

By the treaty concluded in the month of November, which was the completion of the transactions at Vienna, a magnificent position was allotted to England. In the south of Europe her influence over Portugal was secured, and the family compact was broken; in the north, a kingdom was constructed of Holland and Belgium, under her patronage, for the Prince of Orange, one of her generals; Prussia was closely attached to her system, and the Elbe opened to her the road to Germany; Hanover belonged to the British crown; she absorbed the factories and establishments of France in India, and acquired the Cape of Good Hope, the Isle of France, and Ceylon, besides Malta and the Seven Islands in the Mediterranean. She had reached the highest degree of power permitted to a state, and it was the firm and resolute conduct of Lord Castlereagh that had led to these great results; for had the weak and unconnected opinion of the Whigs carried the day, had peace been signed with Buonaparte, based on the terms approved by Fox and Grenville, never would England have attained to such a pitch of power and splendour. In mortal struggles like these one party must perish; and as it was, Napoleon sunk under the efforts of Britain. The captive of St. Helena was well aware of this, for he never accused any one of his fall but Lord Castlereagh and the English aristocracy, whom he devoted to the execration of future ages; no doubt for thus having succeeded in exalting the grandeur of England, as he had dreamed of doing with the magnificence of his nation and his race.

In the history of states, two periods usually occur. When there is a strong inclination to foreign wars, it very seldom occurs that there is much agitation among parties at home, because when society is hurried with violence into affairs of great importance, she has no time for considering her own troubles or inquiring closely into her domestic afflictions; but when the war is over she turns her attention upon herself, and internal dissensions take place. This was the case in England after the treaty of Paris in 1815, extreme irritation was displayed in her troubles; and this requires some explanation: that there was much suffering among the various classes of British subjects is an undoubted fact, and it proceeded from many different causes. The successive debts she had been obliged to contract had inordinately increased the taxes; a war, lasting for twenty years, had been suddenly succeeded by a peace which had injured the interests of many people, because war, by occasioning an unnatural excitement to industry of every kind, had given employment to thousands, for the commerce of the world was in the hands of England. Peace opened an immense competition; Great Britain, formerly alone in the market, now met with the French and Americans, and the ports were no longer exclusively open to her manufactures. Besides this, pauperism, that species of leprosy in a nation, had greatly increased, and it had now become an actual sore in the British government, a vermin on the velvet robes of her rulers.

A radical and deep-seated movement had also taken place in the public mind. Great excitement always leaves a degree of fermentation behind; the revolutionary doctrines had sheltered themselves behind the shield of parliamentary reform, and this very reform became a pretext gladly seized upon by agitators; thus England found herself covered, not with secret societies, for on her soil people breathe freely, but with clubs and inflammatory meetings, so that the country resounded with petitions. On this occasion it again became necessary to display a degree of firmness; the inflexible character of Lord Castlereagh was alone capable of opposing to doctrines which manifested themselves by riotous assemblies of 100,000 men in various cities.

Independent of these domestic troubles, there were also difficulties connected with foreign affairs that exhibited a no less serious aspect. Ever since the year 1792 but one great danger had occupied the mind of Europe, the absorbing and inordinate power of the republic and empire of Napoleon. England having always been at the head of the implacable movement which attacked the revolutionary power in France, had also naturally taken the lead in the political transactions; and Europe did not stop to examine whether the cabinet of London assumed too great an influence while protecting the general interest; for Buonaparte excited alarm, and the assistance of Great Britain was required to oppose him: but as soon as this powerful Colossus was overthrown, a continental system was formed under the influence of the Emperor of Russia, and led to all those congresses, annually repeated, in which England could not take an active or predominant part. The statesmen of Great Britain, both Whigs and Tories, rejected all the theories of absolute power; they had been educated in the principles of 1688, and neither would, nor could, adopt the maxim of the divine right of kings. Thus Lord Castlereagh could not unite in all the manifestoes and declarations of principles which the Emperor Alexander issued in his mystical ideas of the Holy Alliance. We must not lose sight of this circumstance in the last four years of the minister's life. The treaty of 1815 had hardly been signed before a formidable conspiracy of Radicalism in arms arose in England, not merely easily suppressed riots, but bodies of 100,000, who broke the power-looms and pillaged the houses, and the ancient aristocracy appeared threatened with the most imminent danger; yet such is the spirit of order in that country, and the reliance to be placed on the English population, that these tumults were not attended with danger. On this occasion the firm repressive spirit of Lord Castlereagh was fully manifested; without hesitation, he demanded from parliament the suspension of all liberty, even of the _habeas corpus_, that powerful security of the English citizen. The troops ordered to act vigorously against the rioters, shewed no compassion, because there appeared no limit to the disturbances. How many accusations were brought against Lord Castlereagh after the riots at Manchester and Birmingham! The pamphlets published on the occasion represented him as a butcher of human victims, and Lord Byron wrote some lines on the cold impassiveness of his countenance. Was England to be allowed to perish to please the poets? or were the designs of housebreakers and destroyers of machinery to be seconded? The minister only did his duty as a statesman--he saved society, and what do people want more? He did it even at the peril of his fame--a great sacrifice for those who devote themselves to the idea of order in the midst of disorder. Very vigorous bills were passed, on the demand of the minister, against foreigners, and against the instigators of the disturbances, and he undertook in parliament the painful task of obtaining repressive measures. In England there are resources, even in times of the greatest danger, because there exists a race of statesmen, the Tories, who never give way to public clamour; in the midst of the most formidable riot a degree of respect for the laws is still felt, and people submit to the summons of a constable.

This agitated situation lasted nearly five years; the counties were in a blaze; and at last the Queen's trial became the pretext for fresh disorders. No one could take any interest in a queen who, in the decline of life, had carried on her intrigues in Syria, in Greece, and in Italy, with true English disregard of public opinion, which is in itself an eccentricity. Every one was aware of the irregularities of the Princess of Wales, now queen by the death of George III., and retaining in her service the witness and partaker of her excesses, her chamberlain, Bergami. But the Radical party did not look so closely at the affair; all they wanted was a pretext to excite the public mind, and they had recourse to the queen's trial as a means of occasioning riot and disorder. The Tories, deeply sensible of the embarrassed state of the country, and desirous, if possible, of avoiding a scandalous trial, proposed a middle course to the princess. Her name was not to be mentioned in the Liturgy, but she would still be queen, only she would be required to remain abroad, constantly travelling about, and a large pecuniary allowance would be made to her; but upon the Radical party being consulted, the old queen refused all the offers, and a long and disgraceful trial was obliged to take place. Lord Castlereagh determined upon the measure with firm and respectful energy; the more unwilling he had been to resort to this mode of proceeding, the more vigorously he was resolved to carry it through. When we contemplate the angelic figure of Anne Boleyn, beside the gross and sensual Henry VIII., every one feels a strong and lively interest in the unfortunate victim; but who could have the slightest feeling for a queen grown old with the most degrading passions?

The minister here again was opposed by his old adversary Canning, who was then aiming at extreme popularity. He had constituted himself the Queen's champion, not because he esteemed her, but because this course furnished him with the means of the most violent opposition to the ministry over which Castlereagh presided. The trial began, and was followed by debates, and the disgraceful and disgusting revelations are too well known. The oratorical fame of Brougham and Canning was greatly augmented by these proceedings; their popularity became immense, and their opponents were visited with a degree of reprobation to which men of distinguished capacity must accustom themselves in the course of their painful and wearisome task.

All these domestic events occurred at a period when Europe, still full of agitation, was constantly holding congresses, in order to declare her principles, or to decide upon general arrangements. Since the declaration of Alexander, bearing the title of the Holy Alliance, England had taken up a separate position; her statesmen, more especially Lord Castlereagh, had declared the principles of that convention to be too vague to allow the English ministers to admit them, under their legal responsibility. From this first separation of interests from the rest of Europe, two political systems resulted: the one Russian, whose ascendency over the congress was almost absolute; the other English, which opposed any general deliberation upon interests now divided.

Lord Castlereagh assumed this position when he attended the congresses of Troppau and Laybach; he signed the protocols without adopting the ideas of the Holy Alliance, but simply as the consequence of the treaties of 1815 and the articles of the congress of Vienna. In his conversations with Metternich he advanced this principle, that, although Europe might enter into an agreement to repress disturbances affecting the security of crowned heads, she neither could, nor ought to interfere with any modifications which a people might freely and spontaneously choose to make in their respective governments. This declaration referred to several very important questions that had lately arisen: first, the separation of the Spanish colonies from the mother-country; secondly, the disturbances in Greece; and, thirdly, the revolution in Spain. The emancipation of the Spanish colonies of an ancient date originated in the commercial interests of England, which constantly require to be satisfied; the markets opened by peace must replace those of war, and a new world was requisite for the overflow of her manufactures; under this point of view, therefore, the emancipation of the Spanish colonies secured a market to England, she henceforth became favourable to their independence, and her consuls resided with their _exequatur_ in these colonies. Lord Castlereagh's position at this juncture was rather delicate; for with one hand he favoured the sedition of the colonies, and with the other he severely repressed the riots in the English counties.

Being a partisan of the emancipation of the colonies, he naturally felt no repugnance towards the government of the Cortes at Madrid. What is considered of importance in England, is not the form of government adopted by a power, but its tendency with regard to herself and her interests. She seldom breaks a lance for a mere chivalrous idea. Both Whigs and Tories are equally actuated by the same spirit of national selfishness, which is, in fact, patriotism; and, while holding this doctrine, that England is not to meddle with the internal form of government, the path remains open, so that they can decide according as interest advises. With regard to the emancipation of the Greeks, Lord Castlereagh viewed it in its true light, without weakness, and without sentimental feelings, allowing the question to rest on the ground of Russia and Turkey: thus, to emancipate the Greeks would be to aggrandise Russia, open to her the gates of the Bosphorus, and drive the Turks into Asia, and this policy would be unfaithful and puerile as far as the interests of England were concerned; it was, on the contrary, most advantageous to her to protect the Ottoman empire by the British flag, to develope her strength, and create in that country a commercial alliance for herself. Thus at the same time to give a new world to industry, by the emancipation of the Spanish colonies, to take no heed of the revolutions at Naples and in Spain, but watch Russia and restrain any ambitious projects she might have formed, by supporting the Porte: such were the politics of Lord Castlereagh in the first five years that succeeded his vigorous contest with Napoleon.

The disturbances in England had begun to subside, when the ancient civil war was again renewed in Ireland between the Orangemen and the Catholics; it was a constantly recurring quarrel, as between two races who entertained the greatest detestation for each other. All the people who thought seriously on the subject felt that something must be done for the Catholics; the reason for the former oppression having ceased to exist, Ireland could not always remain in a state of slavery. Lord Castlereagh was well acquainted with this country, where his youth had been passed, and, whenever business left him leisure, was accustomed to visit the ancient towers of Londonderry, the beautiful lakes, and the old fishermen, whom his munificence assisted in rebuilding their villages and their boats, portioning their daughters, or increasing their own comforts. The bill for the admission of the Catholic lords into parliament was then in debate; it was opposed by the Orange party in Ireland, and, after passing the House of Commons, was thrown out by the Lords; and this was the cause of the sanguinary troubles which again threw Ireland into the most fearful state of disorder. The ministry shewed no indulgence, for the country was deluged with blood; and Lord Wellesley, then lord-lieutenant, declared at last that, if they were desirous of saving that country, more agitated than the ocean, it must be placed under a most vigorous system of legislative exception.[52] The old laws of the conquest were put in force against the parties of Whiteboys who ravaged the country, but by degrees these demonstrations gave way before the severe measures used to repress them.

[52] Parliament decided upon the re-enactment of the Insurrection Act, and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, in Ireland.--_Editor._

As soon as order was restored, it was necessary the ministry should take measures to relieve the sufferings of the three kingdoms, and they devoted themselves with the greatest attention to their difficult task. It is a historical truth worthy of the remembrance of agitators, that they occasion the slavery of all for the sake of the vain pleasure they derive from some ovations to themselves. Despotism is the successor of disorder, and there is more influence in reason and resignation than in the noisy acclamations of the public streets. O'Connell appears to me, to be just the man destined to bring about the complete subjection of Ireland; he will be the destroyer of his country for the sake of a little personal vanity, for the applause of 100,000 men, collected round the hustings. The Tories did every thing that was possible for Ireland when it was quiet: the emancipation of the Catholics was promoted by the Wellesleys, nor did they stop there.

Lord Castlereagh, deeply sensible that there was real suffering among all classes of the people, now unfolded his vast plan of economy, with all the logic of Pitt in his admirable budget of 1798. Taking his ground on the existence of much distress in the agricultural districts, and in the principles of credit, he proceeded at once to retrenchments. The expenses of the army and navy were reduced by two millions sterling a-year; the interest of the public debt was reduced from 5 to 4 per cent; and the sinking fund was considerably increased.[53] These measures permitted the decrease of imposts, the suppression of all additional taxes, and a system of loans to agriculture by means of the bank, the grand instrument he always had recourse to, in order to make advances to parishes, and more especially to the producers of corn, so as always to keep down the price. It was an earnest undertaking, and the last he had to carry on during this session. In the meanwhile he could not fail to observe that the renown of his old adversary, Canning, was marvellously increasing; he was becoming a popular character, he was the favourite of the mob, while the firm and persevering minister who had aroused the world, and saved England, was branded with reprobation by the populace, who broke the panels of his carriage. Ought he to allow himself--he, so proud and haughty, to be drawn into the wake of Canning, on the boundless waste of revolutionary ideas? Partially reconciled to his adversary on the Catholic question, his lordship took only a secondary part in the debate; and he was stung by the conviction, that, while in foreign relations his influence was overpowered by the Holy Alliance, at home Canning was the person considered most necessary to the administration, because he was better suited to the new liberal situation in which they were becoming entangled; and he repeatedly expressed his grief and vexation at this circumstance. In England, where public questions are adopted like a mission, and the feelings of statesmen on the subject are deep and interwoven in their whole being, the destruction of a system involves that of the man. Mr. Pitt was killed by the battle of Austerlitz, and Lord Castlereagh belonged to that noble school. He whose life had commenced in so poetical a manner, who had feared neither single combat, nor the dangers of the raging waves in his shipwreck on the Isle of Man, could not be afraid of death; but as his hour drew near, his disposition became extremely irritable, and he expressed himself in parliament with a degree of bitterness and sullen haughtiness: I should almost say he looked with pity and contempt upon the opposition of the Whigs, who were advancing towards fresh storms and disturbances. There are times when people wish to have done with a situation which oppresses them, and with adversaries of whom they are weary; they utter their last words to their face, and after that they die without regret.

[53] This is a mistake.--_Editor._

Lord Castlereagh announced his intention of visiting the Continent, with the intention, if not of being present at the congress of Verona, at least of meeting the assembled sovereigns there; and Canning was in hopes that, when his colleague had once left England, he would send in his resignation, and consequently leave him at the head of affairs. But matters were more rapidly drawing to a close: Lord Castlereagh had been unwell for several days, and there was every appearance of extreme nervous irritability about him; some expressions that fell from his lips shewed that he had some sinister ideas in his head, and when he went to take leave of the king, the state of his mind did not escape the monarch, who had a great esteem for him. From that time he constantly complained of a feeling of oppression in his head, and his physician, Dr. Bankhead, reported that when he visited him he was calm, though there were symptoms of impatience and caprice in his manner, and a few short and hurried words were all that he could draw from him; he let fall some observations on the troubles of life which raised apprehensions of suicide, and he was watched: but on Monday, the 12th of August, 1822, just as his physician entered his dressing-room, Lord Castlereagh uttered these few words: "Doctor, let me fall on your arm; it is all over!" and fell with the heaviness of a corpse. The blood was flowing in torrents, from a deep wound which he had inflicted in the carotid artery, with a small penknife he had concealed in a letter-case. Such was the end of the man, who had conducted the affairs of England with so much firmness and consistency for the last ten years!

Since then people have endeavoured to prove that he was raving mad, and the opposite party have even asserted, that the energy of his government shewed a tendency to mental alienation: would they not have considered any man mad, who wanted to contend vigorously against them? No, Lord Castlereagh was _not_ mad; he only felt the deep sorrow of a statesman who, after having fulfilled a great duty, finds himself forgotten and abandoned at the end of his career. Mr. Pitt had died at his post while his work was progressing towards its accomplishment, and Lord Castlereagh saw it completed by the fall of Buonaparte. But he, in his turn, had to contend with the revolutionary opinions that were again invading the world; Canning was like his evil genius, and as in a long political career they were both constantly before the public, we may inquire what services they rendered to England. Castlereagh gave his country the pre-eminence she every where exercises; he signed the treaties of 1815, he secured to her vast stations, colonies, and new worlds, and he was forced to escape, by suicide from the reprobation of the people; while Canning the declaimer, the renegade from the opinions of Pitt, and who, though threatening all the cabinets, did not dare to oppose the expedition to Spain in 1823, died peaceably in his bed, and was crowned with universal applause. Alas! it is because men who devote themselves to the serious affairs of their country, are in general persecuted and misunderstood; for with the populace, noise and clamour are thought more of, than good measures. Let it, however, be said to the credit of England, that she is returning to the men she formerly blamed. The noble hierarchy of statesmen which begins with Pitt and Castlereagh, and extends to Peel, Lord Aberdeen, and the Duke of Wellington, is now hailed as the school most fitted to afford protection to Great Britain; and Fox, Sheridan, and Canning, are only mentioned as eloquent speakers, who passed away long nights in the House of Commons.

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There is not the slightest doubt that the unfortunate termination of Lord Castlereagh's existence was owing to delirium.--_Editor._

Printed by George Barclay, Castle Street, Leicester Square.

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Transcriber's note:

Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.