IX.

But Austria naturally wished, from the prominent part CHAP. she had taken, and the important position she occupied, to be the arbiter of universal peace, and have the glory 1813. of her own work, and she was therefore desirous that an Austrian should have the military command. A certain degree of jealousy of Russia on political points operated against her yielding to the Emperor's wishes, and, above all, the arrival of Moreau at the Allied headquarters created discontent among the Austrians, and was one of the principal reasons why the command-in-chief was not offered to the Emperor of Russia." Impressed with the responsibility of his situation, and actuated by a noble feeling of public duty, the Emperor Alexander consented to forego the greatest object of his ambition, and the command was bestowed on the Austrian Prince Schwar- 1 Lond. 101. tzenberg.1

view.

63.

Napoleon, on his side, before hostilities were renewed, had a grand review of his troops around headquarters. French re It was originally designed for his fête-day, the 15th August, on which, according to the custom of Catholic countries, his birthday was held. But as it grew near the time, it became evident to all that, at that time, they would be on the verge of hostilities, and accordingly it took place on the 10th August. Great pains were taken to give the pageant even more than the splendour usual on such occasions; and the number and appearance of the troops certainly seemed to justify the confidence which the Emperor still had in his good fortune. The King of Saxony, with his brother and nephew, assisted at the ceremony; and Napoleon, surrounded by his marshals, and followed by a brilliant staff, passed the line at the gallop, which was drawn up in the plain of Ostra Gehege, near Dresden. By his side was seen the white plume of Murat, whom the soldiers had so often followed to victory, and who at the Emperor's desire had come up from Naples Fain, ii. to share in the triumphs which were approaching. Young and Old Guard, 48,000 strong, of whom

2

91; Thiers,

The xvi. 230.

5000

CHAP.

IX.

1813.

64.

on these conferences.

were magnificent cavaliers, struck every one by the brilliancy of their uniforms and the precision of their move

ments.

When both parties were thus rapidly drifting into a Reflections decisive contest, and their secret views are now so fully known from their private correspondence, it is almost superfluous to refer to the state papers which were published on either side to vindicate their conduct, which too often justify the well-known words of Talleyrand, that the prin1 See Hist. cipal object of language is "to conceal the thought."" of Europe, In the concluding manifestoes of this great debate, there

xii. 62-64.

were, as is usual on such occasions, some truths brought forward on both sides, and much suppressed. The Austrians were right when they asserted that the French Emperor had betrayed his determination to prosecute the war by the critical and unfounded objections in point of form which he had brought forward to postpone, till it was too late, the opening of the negotiations; and he was equally right when he answered, that they had been since February in secret communication with the Allied Powers, and that the Cabinet of Vienna was determined on war unless the terms of accommodation which they proposed were acceded to by the French Emperor. This was all true; but this was a part only of the case, and did not touch its real merits. The manifestoes kept out of view entirely the terms of peace which had been contended for on either side, and the disagreement concerning which had caused the conferences to be broken off. They did not disclose that Austria had demanded only the restoration of Prussia, the abandonment of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, the reconstruction of Prussia, the renunciation of the Protectorate of the Confederation of the Rhine, and the cession of the Illyrian provinces; and that the negotiation broke off because Napoleon refused to give up the Hanse towns or renounce that Protectorate. They did not reveal that the terms offered by Austria, after France had undergone a reverse unexampled in history,

IX.

1813.

left to Napoleon Belgium, Holland, and Italy, besides CHAP. old France; that is, an empire more powerful than it had entered into the imagination of Louis XIV. to conceive. This was the real point at issue between the parties. The war was renewed because Napoleon could not bring himself to abandon the Hanse towns and the title of Protector of the Rhenish Confederacy. Three words, which he himself used, as expressing his determination, revealed his whole policy from first to last"TOUT OU RIEN."

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.