Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (63 page)

My account of Duchess of Sagan builds on several sources, most important being Dorothy Guis McGuigan’s outstanding study (1975), cited above, and the correspondence itself, in
MSB.
Metternich turning to the duchess in that time of crisis well illustrated by McGuigan (1975), 45–46. Sagan’s background here as well, including hospital (146–147), midwife (153–154). Metternich’s first love letter, Metternich to the Duchess of Sagan, July 12, 1813, though printed incorrectly as June 12 in
MSB
23, as McGuigan shows, n. 14, 525. Correspondence cited here between Metternich and Sagan draws on McGuigan’s translations, 102, and the following “I am writing,” 108. “I do not know how I love you,” Duchess of Sagan to Metternich, September 8, 1813,
MSB,
58, and McGuigan (1975), 136. “Transported” and “you have made” are also here. Descriptions of salon, Pflaum (1984), 165, and Duchess of Sagan’s claims about ruining herself with husbands, said to Comtesse Fuchs, Agent ** to Hager, November 19, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 818. Description of Princess Bagration comes from Comte Auguste de La Garde-Chambonas (1902), 95, with more background in Hastier’s “Les Bagration” in
Vieilles histoire,
é
tranges enigmes,
sixième série (1962). Princess Bagration as beautiful, competitive, and half Viennese given her stay in the city, Karl August Varnhagen von Ense’s
Denkwürdigkeiten des Eignen Lebens
(1987), II, 573. The queen bees comparison was made by Raoul Auernheimer in
Prince Metternich: Statesman and Lover
(1940), 141. Hager’s spies filled a dossier on this rivalry; see, for example, October 2, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 232, including annexe II, 809–811, and Sagan, annexe XIII, 811–812. “Cleopatra of Courland,” Agent Nota, October 2, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 232. Another nickname for Bagration was the “Russian Andromeda.”

C
HAPTER
4. D
OROTHÉE’S
C
HOICE

Castlereagh’s arrival in Vienna comes from Castlereagh to Liverpool, September 24, 1814,
BD,
CIX 193, confirmed by Gentz,
Tagebücher,
September 14, 1814, 305, Count Münster’s dispatch on the seventeenth in
Political Sketches of the State of Europe, 1814–1867: Containing Count Ernst Münster’s Despatches to the Prince Regent from the Congress of Vienna
(1868), 185, and the September 15 edition of the
Wiener Zeitung.
The reference to his clothes and demeanor comes from
The Private Letters of Princess Lieven to Prince Metternich, 1820–1826
, ed. Peter Quennell and Dilys Powell (1938), 12. Many sources in Vienna soon agreed, for example, Jean-Gabriel Eynard, October 8, 1814,
Au Congrès de Vienne: journal de Jean-Gabriel Eynard
(1914–1924), I, 9, Pictet de Rochemont,
Biographie, travaux et correspondance diplomatique
(Geneva, 1892), 168–169, and Countess Edling,
Mémoirs
(1898), 179.

Some accounts of the congress report that Castlereagh stayed in the street
Im Auge Gottes,
but this was actually the building, located on the current Milchgasse and now a bank. Mozart’s earlier residence there, and working on the pieces there, Volkmar Braunbehrens,
Mozart in Vienna, 1781–1791
, trans. Timothy Bell (1989), 48, 63–64. It is not certain that he finished the works there, and the case has been made that Mozart moved into an apartment belonging to Fanny von Arnstein, where he lived until his marriage, Hilde Spiel,
Fanny von Arnstein: A Daughter of the Enlightenment, 1758–1818
, trans. Christine Shuttleworth (1991), 77. The reference to the harmonium is from Harold Nicholson,
The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822
(1946), 127. Castlereagh’s house and move to Minoritenplatz, September 27, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 158. The address is in
GE,
5. The delegation was spread out, among other places, on the Gondelholf, Mölker Bastei, Juden Platz, and am Hof, as well as in hotels the Roman Emperor, the Austrian Empress, and the Hungarian Crown. Castlereagh, Cooke, Planta, and a few others were on the Minoritenplatz, the square that today houses the Haus-, Hof-und Staat Archiv, where many documents of the congress can be read.

Castlereagh’s objectives at this time are analyzed in C. K. Webster’s
The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh, 1812–1815: Britain and the Reconstruction of Europe
(1931), 328, and Edward Vose Gulick’s
Europe’s Classical Balance of Power: A Case History of the Theory and Practice of One of the Great Concepts of European Statecraft
(1955), 205–211. Castlereagh’s “just equilibrium” identified as his “first object,” Castlereagh to Liverpool, November 11, 1814,
BD,
CXXVIII, 232. Castlereagh’s instructions for his first visit to the continent, in early 1814, can be found in
BD,
LXX, 123–126, and the “Memorandum on the Maritime Peace,” 126–128.

Britain’s priority of the Netherlands can be seen in many reports of the time, for example, Wellington’s assessment of the location in a letter to Bathurst, September 22, 1814, 563, and his “Memorandum on the defense of the frontier of the Netherlands,” same day, 564–567. See G. J. Renier’s
Great Britain and the Establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: A Study in British Foreign Policy
(1930), 273–276. Castlereagh described the importance of keeping Antwerp out of French hands, Castlereagh to Aberdeen, November 13, 1813,
BD,
LXIII 112, CC, IX, 73. See also a decoded though undated spy report,
DCV,
I, no. 524. The reference to the “loaded pistol” is from Lockhart,
The Peacemakers, 1814–1815
(1934), 254. The agreement had been worked out at Paris and confirmed at London, August 13, 1814, in Angeberg (1864), I, 209–213. Belgian resentment at Dutch rule was already detected, Fouché to Talleyrand, September 25, 1814, appendix, 587.

Castlereagh as a “stubborn mule,” Princess Therese to Amalie von Sachsen, January 26, 1815,
GPWK,
371. Castlereagh’s role in appointing the diplomatic service comes from Webster (1931), 44–48; and the British staff in Vienna, Webster (1931), 329–330, as well as Harold Nicholson,
The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822
(1946), 129–130. Lord Stewart arrived later, as noted by the
Wiener Zeitung,
October 8, 1814, and his influence on Castlereagh noted in many sources, for example, John Wilson Croker,
The Croker Papers: The Correspondence and Diaries of the Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker
(1884), I, 347. “Out to kick” is found in Hilde Spiel,
The Congress of Vienna: An Eyewitness Account,
trans. Richard H. Weber (1968), 221. The words are from Karl von Nostitz, who elaborates on Stewart’s aggression, January 15, 1815,
Leben und Briefwechsel
(1848), 148. The nickname “Lord Pumpernickel” was noted, for example, in a report by Agent **, December 18, 1814,
GPWK,
305, and this in light of a popular comedy,
Rochus Pumpernickel,
that played that autumn and sporadically through early June at the Theater an der Wien.

Talleyrand’s visits,
Memoirs,
II (1891), 199, the phrase “would weary,” September 25, 1814,
TLI,
35, and continuation of the visits, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, September 29, 1814,
TLC,
6. His new title from the king of France, Lacour-Gayet,
Talleyrand, 1754–1838
, II (1930), 429. For more on the challenges of the French embassy, see notes to chapter 2. Talleyrand’s instructions are in
Le Congrès de Vienne et les traités de 1815
(1864) I, 215–238, as well as
Memoirs
(1891), II, 157–184. Instructions celebrated, by Lacour-Gayet (1930), II, 425, as well as diplomatic historian Duff Cooper in
Talleyrand: A Biography
(1932), 240–241. Talleyrand’s selection of staff including assistants Challeye, Perrey, and M de Formond, in his
Memoirs,
II, 152–154, as well as Lacour-Gayet (1930), II, 427–428, and other members of staff such as La Martinière, Rouen, and Jean-Baptiste Bresson, Emmanuel de Waresquiel,
Talleyrand: le prince immobile
(2003), 476–478, 708. La Tour du Pin’s selection, Le comte de la Tour du Pin, Pozzo di Borgo to Count Nesselrode, June 24–July 6, 1814,
Correspondance Diplomatique du comte Pozzo di Borgo, ambassadeur de Russie en France et du comte du Nesselrode depuis la restauration des Bourbons jusqu’au Congrès d’ Aix-la-Chapelle, 1814–1818
, Comte Charles Pozzo di Borgo (1890), 22, and, of course, his wife’s memoirs, Marquise de La Tour du Pin,
Journal d’une femme de cinquante ans
(1989). Dalberg’s character is also in Méneval,
Baron Claude-François de Méneval’s Memoirs Illustrating the History of Napoleon I from 1802
to 1815, ed. Baron Napoleon Joseph de Méneval (1894), III, 182, and Nesselrode to Pozzo di Borgo, September 24, 1814 (1890), 77. Dalberg as a talented man with a breadth of knowledge, though frivolous, report to Hager, September 27, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 187, and “the premier spy,” report to Hager, September 27, 1814,
DCV
, I, no. 188. That he was an excellent worker was noted by many, including Varnhagen von Ense,
Denkwürdigkeiten des Eignen Lebens
(1987), II, 626. His role in writing Talleyrand’s letters already suspected, Méneval (1894), III, 378. Alexis de Noailles, well known for his beliefs, and praised, no surprise, by Baronne du Montet,
Souvenirs 1785–1866
(1904), 138. Noailles “still too young to be a minister,” Eynard,
Journal
(1914–1924), I, 95, November 7, 1814. None of Talleyrand’s appointments would “be in his way,” or hinder his actions, Pasquier thought, III, 76.

Dorothée’s background, including upbringing, relationship with sister, and education, comes from her
Souvenirs de la duchesse de Dino
(1900), 127–140, and the study by Philip Ziegler,
The Duchess of Dino: Chatelaine of Europe
(1962), 22 and 31. Batowski as her father, Gaston Palewski noted in his introduction to
TLI,
12–13, and Ziegler also thought probable (1962), 14. The Czartoryski episode, including the deceit: Pflaum (1984), 79–101 and Ziegler (1962), 49–67, though Czartoryski’s memoirs, no surprise, neglected the episode. Dorothée tells the story herself (1900), 159–165, 201–203, and 224–253. “Small, skinny, yellow” is in Ziegler (1962), 23. Edmond as a husband, Ziegler (1962), 51; Bernard (1973), 296–298; and Orieux (1974), 367–377. The death of Dorothée’s daughter and the appointment to Vienna, Ziegler (1962), 102–104 and Bernardy (1966), 104–107; Talleyrand’s concern for her health surfaces in several letters, for example, a letter to the Duchess of Courland, May 10, 1814,
Talleyrand intime, d’après sa Correspondance Inédite avec la duchesse de Courlande
(1891), 247–248. Talleyrand’s view of Dorothée is in
Memoirs
(1891), II, 208.

C
HAPTER
5. T
HE
B
IG
F
OUR

The monkey, the owl, and the shark come from Carl Bertuch’s
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress
(1916), x, the optical theater exhibitions, Matthias Franz Perth, September 5, 1814,
Wiener Kongresstagebuch, 1814–1815
(1981) 33, and other exhibits in Stolberg-Wernigerode, October 9, 1814,
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004), 54. The reference to the “green carpet” comes from Cadet de Gassicourt, in Gaston Palewski, ed.,
TLI,
164. Shops in Richard Bright,
Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary with Some Remarks on the State of Vienna During the Congress in the Year 1814
(1818), 5, and Castlereagh’s wife’s comments are in McGuigan,
Metternich and the Duchess
(1975), 325.

Everyone complained of the rents, for example, Piedmont’s San Marzan, October 10, 1814,
Diario,
lviii, and Eynard thought the prices were worse than Paris,
Journal,
October 5, 1814, I, 3. Humboldt’s words on “no hole in the wall” come from a letter to his wife, August 10, 1814, in Sydow, ed.,
Wilhelm und Caroline von Humboldt in ihren Briefen,
IV, 373. Housing crunch was notoriously bad in Vienna, indeed already a problem at the time of its first census, John P. Spielman,
The City and the Crown: Vienna and the Imperial Court, 1600–1740
(1993), 31–32. The rising prices for necessities were noted by many, for example, Perth, September 1, 1814,
Wiener Kongresstagebuch, 1814–1815
, 32. “Cartage, sawing and splitting,” the congress roll, and “the congress is going to have” are in Hilde Spiel’s
The Congress of Vienna: An Eyewitness Account,
trans. Richard H. Weber (1968), 85–87. Members of the House of Reuss are in several memoirs, for example, by the nephew of Henry LII, Henrich Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode’s
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004), and the tradition of naming sons in the Reuss family is in Jerome Blum,
In the Beginning: The Advent of the Modern Age: Europe in the 1840
s (1994), 273–274. “Whenever a scaffold” and “don servants’ garb” come from Friedrich Anton von Schönholz memoirs
Traditionen zur Charakteristik Österreichs, seines Staats-und Volkslebens unter Franz I
(1914), II, 68, and the translation from Hilde Spiel (1968), 79–80. Jakob Grimm’s attempts to visit the library whenever possible, along with other varied literary pursuits at this time, letter to Wilhelm Grimm, October 21, 1814,
Briefwechsel zwischen Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm aus der Jugendzeit
(1963), 360. Prince de Ligne’s words on not missing the congress, Philip Mansel
Prince of Europe: The Life of Charles-Joseph de Ligne, 1735–1814
(2003), 250.