Comte de Auguste Louis Charles La Garde-Chambonas

“ At the conclusion of the dinner, and the subscriptions having been settled, we passed into the ball-room. It was a real pell-mell, less animated than a rout, less solemn than a Court ball, but infinitely more curious to the ordinary observer. There were few ladies of high degree; they were already satiated with fêtes; on the other hand, there were a great many dames of the bourgeoisie who counted upon nothing less than a highness or an ambassador for a minuet or a waltz. Unfortunately, nearly all had spoilt their fresh and charming looks by ornaments the reverse of tasteful. ”

“ I’ll ask why a legitimate king comes to be deprived of his rights; I’ll ask to know the reason of the most relentless enemy of Bonaparte falling a victim to his intrigues; of the abandoning to misfortune of the man who was the first to attack the Colossus with all the ardour of a knight of olden times. Do not people know that Napoleon never forgave Gustavus for having reproached him with the murder of the Duc d’Enghien, and for having sent back to the King of Prussia the Order of the Black Eagle, which he, Gustavus, declined to wear in common with Bonaparte? ”

“ It is at the same time a palace and a triumphal arch. It is reached by a double staircase. The view from the principal drawing-room defies description: there are immense masses of green as far as the eye can reach, and at the horizon are the city of Vienna, the course of the Danube, and finally the high mountains whose outlines constitute the background of the magnificent landscape. It is difficult to imagine a more splendid panorama.
The greenhouses of Schönbrunn are perhaps the most beautiful in Europe. They contain precious samples of the vegetation of the universe. ”

“ The promenades, the public places, and the fortifications were positively swarming with people, and the theatres, balls and entertainments, somewhat neglected during the few previous weeks, had recovered all their former favour. It was a revival of pleasure, and as if the whole of Europe had made it a point to send representatives to this joyous pilgrimage at Vienna, there was no longer a mention of the termination of the Congress, so often foretold and so often denied.
It was really the realisation of the Prince de Ligne’s words: ‘The Congress does not march along; it dances along’ ”

“ Nevertheless, such as it is, the place enables me to escape from the bustle of fêtes, from the fatigue of pleasure, and from the crowd of majesties and highnesses. Here, and here alone, I am enabled to enjoy my own society. I come here to get the fresh air, and to recruit the strength I spend every evening on the incessant festivities of the Congress.’
At the end of the garden, he opened the door of a pavilion, positively suspended over the Danube, and from which the whole of Vienna could be taken in at a glance. ”

“ In his palace at Moscow I have looked at it—in fact, it was pointed out to me, suspended in the most conspicuous spot of the building, and protected from the tiniest speck of dust by a framework of glass, like a precious relic, and as a tangible proof of the strange vicissitudes of gaming.
During my stay in Russia, that same Prince Galitzin was the victim of probably the cleverest piece of fraud ever perpetrated, in which his luck forsook him. He was a great amateur of diamonds and precious stones, and also claimed to be a judge. ”

“ A big tree with golden branches was bending beneath all kinds of toys; amongst others those pretty boxes made out of Vienna paving-stones. A lottery was drawn. Before the little ones retired, they danced a waltz. The sovereigns and the whole of the Court seemed to share those childish joys, and to forget for the moment their own agitated existence at the sight of so much innocent happiness. Only the Empress Elizabeth of Russia preserved an appearance of melancholy. One could perceive that she envied the joys of maternity. ”

“ At the Vienna Congress, hearts hitherto closed, nay, wholly inaccessible, to the observation of the outer world, were often laid open. Amidst the confusion of all ranks, their most transient movements revealed themselves, and lent themselves to being watched, as if taken off their guard in the irresistible whirl of uninterrupted pleasures.
Doubtless, at no time of the world’s history had more grave and complex interests been discussed amidst so many fêtes. A kingdom was cut into bits or enlarged at a ball: an indemnity was granted in the course of a dinner ”

“ When on every side the principles of equity are loudly evoked, will they dare by the strangest contradiction to reject the most sacred, those of an inheritance founded on glory and hallowed by ages? In fine, if history is henceforth272 to be the sole judge of arbitrary acts, it is to history that Gustavus-Adolphus shall appeal. Posterity, more equitable than this Congress of kings, shall say of the prince that if certain brilliant peculiarities made him, perhaps, an object of envy and enmity, it is very rarely that vice does not avenge itself upon a brilliant destiny with calumny. ”

“ As to his excellency himself, he wore his uniform of colonel of hussars, the scarlet of which was covered with embroideries, and a great number of orders, civil and military, to such a degree as to have led one easily to mistake him for a living book of heraldry. Save for that singularity the ball was like any other: a great many sovereigns, princes, ‘grandes dames,’ political celebrities; a marvellous supper; a charming lottery of English trifles, which a lady dressed exactly like Queen Elizabeth distributed to the guests. ”

“ In spite of his eighty-four years, the venerable Archbishop of Vienna, Prince de Hohenwarth, had made it a point to officiate. A profound respect, an intense and reverent emotion, pervaded the immense assembly at the sight of the royal sarcophagus and of the white-haired priest praying for divine pity on the virtuous monarch. It would be difficult to guess the feelings of all those monarchs, reverently prostrated not far from the catafalque, recalling such a great misfortune and such a great event in the history of France. ”

“ During the period of the Congress the Prater became more brilliant than it had ever been before. Vienna was so full of strangers, coming from all countries to be the eyewitnesses of an assembly supposed to be the fitting termination to an epoch replete with prodigious events, that the number of carriages had incredibly increased. There was an infinite variety of dresses, Hungarian, Polish, and Oriental, an infinite number of uniforms whose wearers hailed from every part of Europe, and who dazzled the sight with their splendour. ”

“ M. de Talleyrand was swayed by too much moderation to risk this; he had too correct a notion of the enfeebled condition of France to fling her once more into violent and desperate adventures. He himself beheld Europe ready to rise as one man; he directed the rise against an individual instead of against a people. And in this he acted rightly. His conduct was appreciated and admired in Vienna as the triumph of reason and of an enlightened patriotism. More than once he returned from the Congress to his residence utterly discouraged. ”

“ Though the cold was excessive, the number of guests was immense, and, as usual, comprised all the illustrious personages of Europe and the handsomest women of the moment. The prince and princess discharged their social duties with a certain coquettish grace—a grace which tends to disappear now that people believe they have done everything by throwing open their drawing-rooms. Truly, watching this illustrious host, and the pains he took to please his guests, one could but remember how, at the beginning of his career in Paris, he had shone by the brilliancy of his manners. ”

“ The guests had formed themselves into a large circle, and at the last words of the imperial reply, there were slight feminine cheers from all parts; a kind of ovation which did not seem to displease Alexander. For to some of the great qualities of the Grand Louis, he made it his constant study to add nobleness of manner and ever-watchful courtesy to the fair sex. The interlude being over, the orchestra took up the interrupted strain, and the polonaise was concluded amidst joyous murmurs and mild applause. ”

“ The Comte Félix Potocki, at the commencement of the troubles in Poland, had, by the influence of his rank and his immense fortune, gathered around him a great party. Momentarily absent from his Court, he was on his way back from Italy when, at Hamburg, he fell in with Comte and Comtesse de Witt. He became ardently enamoured of Sophie, and without entering into the details of a story which, though short enough, was full of incidents, I pass to the dénouement, which he accelerated in a novel fashion. Nothing is easier in Poland than a divorce. ”

“ In short, we feasted our eyes on delightful faces, lighted up every now and again by rapid smiles, or positively basking in the full light of careless joy and happiness—faces that soothed the mind and captivated all glances.
Emperor Alexander had opened the ball with the Empress of Austria with a ‘polonaise,’ a kind of dancing march, the regular preamble to every Court ball. In an adjoining room some members of the corps diplomatique were gravely engaged at whist, a recreation which also seemed an indispensable part of the European transactions in progress. ”

“ They practically kept open house to strangers. The splendour of their hospitality was only equalled by its cordiality. The mansion of the Comte de Fries, on the Joseph-Platz, was one of the most beautiful in Vienna, and in no way inferior to the most magnificent palaces. Its owner himself was as famed for his personal elegance and his charming manners as for his immense wealth. The fêtes that were given in those mansions were remarkable even among those of the Congress; and on the evening in question, the scene at Baron Arnstein’s was positively fairy-like. ”

“ Mme. Grant, who had joined us, was equally pressing. I promised, and I ought to have kept my promise, for it was one of those lucky opportunities which often decide the whole of a man’s life and which the great Frederick called “His Majesty, Accident.”
‘But, my dear Achille, happiness is a ball after which we constantly run and then push with our feet when we have come up with it. I did not keep my appointment with M. de Talleyrand. That unfortunate shyness which too often paralyses youth had once more got the upper hand. ”

“ One morning, a few days after the last-described event, I called upon Prince Eugène de Beauharnais. Our acquaintance dated from my youth, and whenever circumstances brought us together either in Paris, Milan, or Vienna, I, like all his other friends, had ever found him kind, helpful and sympathetic. The bonds of sympathy so quickly contracted in youth had never been severed by the difference in rank. It had not been his fault that his rule in Italy had been fruitless to me as far as a brilliant administrative career went. ”

“ We’ll be more at our ease than here, and by ourselves. We’ll have a talk about bygone days.’ I accepted gladly,104 confident that her conversation would remind me of my stay in Russia, which constituted one of the best periods of my life.
When the sovereigns had retired, there were some music and dancing, followed by an elegant supper, without restraint and during which one could gossip to one’s heart’s content. It was, in short, one of those series of fleeting hours which at Vienna seemed to be woven of gold and silk by fairies in the loom of pleasure. ”

“ M. de Talleyrand, in addition to this, performed wonders of skill and patience in the retying of the loosened ‘Congress bundle’ and in directing the various wills of which it was composed towards one common aim. If, on the one hand, the masses beheld with terror the horizon becoming once more dark with threatening clouds, the men devoured with ambition rejoiced at the probable revival of a time of glory. For, disguise it as one will, the intrigues which were already set on foot to overthrow or to support Napoleon offered a prospect of a prompt result in the way of grandeur and riches. ”

“ They will only find a country in the strictest sense through us and with us,’ the councillor went on. ‘Poland, completely independent and organised on the very risky basis of its erewhile constitutions, would only secure an ephemeral existence; she would carry her own germ of destruction. Is she to form a permanent camp in the centre of pacified Europe, or shall she arm all her nomadic sons like the Sarmatians of old, in order to make up by living ramparts for the natural frontiers and fortresses she lacks? She must have a support in order to insure her independence. ”