XXX. 1833. tributed so much to their diffusion as the weakness of CHAP. government in the Ecclesiastical States, where the innovating doctrines of the French Revolutions have brought forth numerous complaints against not only real but imaginary abuses." 23. ary organi Germany, 1833. It was not without reason that this sagacious observer expressed himself thus on the political condition of the Revolutionlesser states of Germany. A committee had been in sation in existence in Paris ever since 1830, at the head of which 1832 and' was General Lafayette, the object of which was to spread affiliated societies and committees through the whole states of Western Germany. In the first months of 1832, it assumed a more definite form and organisation, under the name of the "Union for the Liberty of the Press." Societies under this name, corresponding with each other, and taking their directions from the central committee in Paris, were formed at Deux-Ponts, and all through Rhenish Bavaria, at Mayence, Frankfort, Cassel, Leipsic, Nuremberg, Munich, Würzburg, Stuttgart, Manheim, and Fribourg. Fêtes were periodically given in all these towns, the object of which was to excite and perpetuate this revolutionary spirit; and such was the effect they produced upon the ardent and universally educated youth of Germany, that had this proceeding been conducted with a little more moderation, the effects might have been incalculable. But the French agents pushed matters so far that they roused the old Teutonic jealousy of Gallic influence; and several of them, in particular Boerne and Theodore Heine, produced a great reaction against the unmeasured strides of French usurpation over the country which had emancipated itself from its military power. April 13, June 20, teur, June The attention of the Diet also was at length aroused to 1833. the danger of the existing conspiracy.1 A violent explo-Decree, sion took place at Frankfort on the 3d April 1833, 1833; Moniheaded by the students; in consequence of which the 28; Cap. vii. Germanic Diet adopted, on 13th April, a series of resolu- 212. tions, the object of which was to establish additional 205, 207, XXX. 1833. CHAP. restrictions on the license of the press; to bind each other to reciprocal aid in the event of tumult in their respective states; to prohibit meetings having a political tendency; to prevent the inhabitants of any State from resisting the payment of losses agreed to by its Diet; and to lend the whole strength of the Confederacy against any refractory State. 24. the propa Switzerland April 16, 1833. The efforts of the French propagandists and Polish Efforts of refugees were not less serious in Switzerland and the gandists in north of Italy. Great numbers of the latter had taken and Italy. refuge in the land of freedom after the fall of Warsaw in 1831. They had received a notification that they must leave France. They had even gone so far as to address a formal demand for hospitality and protection to the "rulers of the land of Tell and Winkelreid." They received permission accordingly, and six hundred of them immediately emigrated from France, and sought an asylum in the Helvetic territory. Their appearance there excited the jealousy of Austria and Prussia, and the ministers of these cabinets at Berne soon addressed energetic notes demanding their immediate expulsion from the Swiss territory. This requisition occasioned no small embarrassment to the Swiss government; for, on the one hand, they were in no condition to resist the demand of the German powers, and on the other, if they complied with it, they lost even the semblance of independence. In this dilemma they had recourse to the usual resource of the weak-procrastination-and referred the matter to the general diet of Helvetia. Before any determination, however, could * "Représentants de la libre Helvétie, ennemis de l'arbitraire, prêts à braver toutes les vicissitudes du sort en servant la cause des peuples, nous nous sommes vus forcés de quitter la France et de réclamer votre protection généreuse. Les services que notre nation a rendus à l'Europe, nos malheurs, parlent en notre faveur, et le caractère Polonais, l'honneur du soldat de la liberté, est la plus sûre guarantie de notre conduite dans votre patrie. Nous attendons votre réponse, et nous sommes convaincus qu' elle sera celle des dignes descendans de Tell et de Winkelreid, nous l'attendons persuadés que les victimes du despotisme ne peuvent être repoussées de ce pays qui a été de tout temps le foyer de la liberté, 10 Août. 1832.”—CAP. vii. 219, 220. XXX. 1833. be come to by that body on the subject, a vast conspiracy CHAP. of Liberals was discovered in Piedmont, the object of which was to overturn the government; and as a great number of French as well as Poles were implicated in it, the Cabinet of Louis Philippe interposed in favour of the accused persons. The government of Turin was now placed in the same embarrassment as that of Switzerland had been. Lying midway between the aristocratic and democratic powers, it knew not to which to incline, and May 12, could not yield to the one without incurring the enmity of the other. The Piedmontese government, however, Cap. vi succeeded in asserting its independence, and taking cog- Ann. Hist. nisance of its own criminals, who were tried, convicted, 484, 497. and executed.1 1 Moniteur, 1833, and May 14; 224, 235; xvi. 479, Muntz tween Rus and Austria. Although the affairs of Belgium had been all but settled 25. by the convention concluded in London between France Congress of and England on May 21st, and accepted by the Dutch Graetz beand Belgian governments, yet a definitive treaty had not sia, Prussia, yet been concluded. A considerable degree of jealousy Sept. 9, had sprung up in the northern powers in consequence of 1833. the open assumption by France and England of a right to dispose, at their own pleasure, of the conflicting interests of the independent states. Out of this jealousy sprung the Congress of MUNTZ - GRAETZ, in Bohemia, which for the first time gave open token of the schism between the eastern and western powers. The Emperor Nicholas was attended by Count Nesselrode, the Emperor of Austria by Prince Metternich, and the King of Prussia by M. d'Ancillon. It may readily be supposed that such great personages did not assemble from such distant quarters for light purposes, and that Nicholas had not come from St Petersburg into the heart of Germany merely for the sake of amusement or festivity. Great interests were at stake; and it was there for the first time that the old alliance which had overthrown Napoleon was dissolved, and the severance rendered irreparable which had arisen from the Revolution of 1830 in France, XXX. 1833. CHAP. and that of 1832 in Great Britain. Although this separation was inevitable, and might naturally have been expected from these decisive events, yet it was so open a departure from former usages that it excited no small disquietude in the courts of London and Paris; and the sovereigns of these realms could not avoid feeling a certain xvi. 384, chagrin at seeing a congress sitting avowedly for the setvii. 237,242. tlement of the affairs of Europe, from which their repre 1 Ann. Hist. 386; Cap. 26. of that Con gress. sentatives were excluded.1 In truth, however, the jealousy felt at the Congress of Real objects Muntz-Graetz, though natural on the part of the cabinets of France and England, had no solid foundation so far as their immediate interests were concerned. There was no thought there of restoring the ancient dynasty in France; it had proved too weak and incompetent when the crisis arrived to excite any sympathy in the Continental powers. Grave questions were at stake; material interests of the highest importance were to be secured. On the Eastern Question the apprehensions of Austria were allayed by the assurance of the Emperor Nicholas, that the treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi was merely a defensive act, that it was only intended to protect the weakness of Turkey, and that nothing would give him greater pleasure than to see Turkey, by the aid of the good offices of Austria, apply for its termination, when everything would return to the status quo. With regard to Holland and Belgium, it was agreed to accept the separation of the two kingdoms, to recognise the crown of Leopold, and to use their best endeavours to arrange the conflicting claims of the two kingdoms in matters relating to the frontiers or finance, and to give instructions to their respective ambassadors at London and Paris to do their utmost to bring about this object. It was stipulated that the casus belli should only be held to have arisen if the interests of the Germanic 240, 243; Confederation were seriously compromised, in particular if the grand-duchy of Luxembourg were refused to be included within its limits.2 To meet the possible * Cap. vii. Ann. Hist. xvi. 385. XXX. contingency of a war, a very curious and valuable table CHAP. was prepared by the sovereigns at the congress, of the military forces at their disposal; and in the event of a war, Russia agreed to support Germany with 120,000 men.* 1833. 27. of the Con garding the 18m. A more serious matter for discussion at this Congress, and which in reality brought the sovereigns together, was Resolution that connected with the system of propagandism, which gress rewas still, though underhand, making alarming progress propagandin Europe. The first question considered, and upon which, in truth, all the rest depended, was whether France was sincere in her endeavours and professed wish to repress the spirit of rebellion and disorder in France and Italy? Contrary to expectation, Prince Metternich decidedly supported the affirmative of both propositions. "We have proof of the disposition of the French Government to repress anarchy in its daily communications, * The military statistics of the Allied Powers furnished to the Congress of Muntz-Graetz were as follows: |