Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (70 page)

C
HAPTER
16. T
HE
L
AST
J
OUST

“The Congress seemed” comes from Countess Bernstorff’s
Ein Bild aus der Zeit von 1789 bis 1835: Aus ihren Aufzeichnungen
I (1896), 178. Beethoven’s personality, walking habits, and rushing to piano come from G. R. Marek’s
Beethoven: Biography of a Genius
(1970), 160, and more on his personality in Lewis Lockwood,
Beethoven: The Music and the Life
(2003), 333–335. Frida Knight,
Beethoven and the Age of Revolution
(1973), and Groves, II, 354–394, esp. 389–392. Some valuable studies on Beethoven’s music at the congress are Ingrid Fuch’s “The Glorious Moment—Beethoven and the Congress of Vienna” in Villumsen Krog, ed.,
Danmark og Den Dansende Wienerkongres: Spillet om Danmark/
Denmark and the Dancing Congress of Vienna (Copenhagen, 2002), as well as Otto Biba’s article in the same collection, and Wilhelm Freiherrn von Weck-becker, “Die Musik zur Zeit des Wiener Congresses,” in Leisching (1898), 273–287. Beethoven’s “From the Emperor to the bootblack,” and the changing concept of genius is in Paul Johnson,
The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815–1830
(1991), 106, and 117–118. Visitors already having to shout can be seen, for example, when Wenzel Tomascheck visited Beethoven that fall, the account printed in Hamburger, ed.,
Beethoven: Letters, Journals and Conversations
(1960), 120. His notorious untidiness is illustrated by the fact that just a few months before, Beethoven was writing to ask to borrow a copy of the
Fidelio
because he wanted to revise it for a performance at the Court Theater in May. He could not locate his own copy. Letter to Count Moritz Lichnowksy, January or February 1814, in Emily Anderson, ed.,
The Letters of Beethoven,
I (1961), 444. Reference to congress breaking down is rampant. Agent ** predicted that the Vienna Congress would likely end in war, report to Hager, November 24, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 870.

Baronne du Montet’s words on the kings in Vienna come from her
Souvenirs 1785–1866
(1904), 114, and the popularity of hunts that autumn is clear from the diary of Matthias Franz Perth, a young official on the Forestry Commission,
Wiener Kongresstagebuch, 1814–1815
(1981). “Barbarity of a bullfight” comes from Richard Bright’s
Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary with some remarks on the state of Vienna during the congress in the year 1814
(1818), 19. The hunt and the dimensions of the “hunting arena” are in Freiherr von Bourgoing’s
Vom Wiener Kongress: Zeit-und Sittenbilder
(1943), 177. Henrich Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode elaborated on the animals at the hunt, though the numbers vary somewhat,
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004), November 10, 1814, 92.
Wiener Zeitung
noted the court outing on November 11, 1814, and Agent ** reported back to Hager, November 12, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 748. Jean-Gabriel Eynard’s description and assessment is from
Au Congrès de Vienne: journal de Jean-Gabriel Eynard
(1914–1924), I, 115–116.

Tolstoy on Genoa,
War and Peace,
trans. Rosemary Edmonds (1982), 3, and Hannah Alice Straus,
The Attitude of the Congress of Vienna Toward Nationalism in Germany, Italy and Poland
(1949), 89 and 92, and Guglielmo Ferrero,
The Reconstruction of Europe: Talleyrand and the Congress of Vienna, 1814–1815
(1941), 206–207. Bentnick’s claim against orders, John Rosselli,
Lord William Bentnick: The Making of a Liberal Imperialist, 1774–1839
(1974), 67, 176ff. The Protocol for the meeting on Genoa is in Angeberg (1864), II, 424–427, as well as Gentz,
Tagebücher,
November 13, 1814, 330, San Marzan,
Diario,
same day, lxi, or Labrador,
Mélanges sur la vie privée et publique
(1849), 46–47, and more background, La Harpe to Alexander, November 15, 1814, II, 602. Castlereagh’s views are in his letter to Liverpool, November 21, 1814,
BD,
CXXXI, 237–238. Frustration that the Republic of Genoa had “finally perished at the murderous thrusts of ambition and shocking injustices of the monarchs,” report to Hager, November 15,
DCV,
no. 774. The Marquis de Brignoles’s formal protest, December 10, is in Angeberg (1864), II, 510–511.

The first meeting of the Swiss Committee, November 14, 1814, is in Angeberg (1864), II, 430, and the breakup of the German Committee two days later, II, 438–339. Humboldt’s words on the chaos, letter to his wife Caroline, November 9, 1814,
Wilhelm und Caroline von Humboldt in ihren Briefen,
ed. Anna von Sydow (1910), IV, 412–413. Importance of Saxony at time of Carousel is seen in Comte Auguste de La Garde-Chambonas,
Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
(1902), 44, as well as Count Münster, who at that point regarded Saxon affairs as having “more importance to the peace of Europe than those of Poland,” November 27, 1814, Count George Herbert Münster, ed.,
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), 191.

Carl Bertuch’s comments on the tournament are in his diary entry, November 23, 1814,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress
(1916), 58–59, and the anticipation is reported, for example, by Agent ** to Hager, November 14, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 768. Decorations also in Countess Edling,
Mémoires
(1888), 183–184, and Alexander Ivanovich Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky called it the most beautiful riding hall on the continent, Alexander Sapojnikov’s “The Congress of Vienna in the Memoirs of a Russian Officer” in Ole Villumsen Krog (2002), 142. The Carousel tickets are in Comte Auguste de La Garde-Chambonas,
Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
(1902), 120; and Matthias Franz Perth’s diary entry for November 22, 1814,
Wiener Kongresstagebuch, 1814–1815
(1981), 69. Talleyrand’s conversation with Humboldt on the way to the Carousel is in Talleyrand to the Duchess of Courland, 24 November 1814,
TLI,
74. Bright estimated audience at not over one thousand,
Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary with Some Remarks on the State of Vienna During the Congress in the Year 1814
(1818), 14, but it should be remembered that he was describing one of the repeat performances in early December.

Descriptions of dresses, champions, the events, and audience, including papal and Turkish delegates, are also in La Garde-Chambonas,
Anecdotal Recollections
(1904), 162–173. Lady Castlereagh was often seen wearing the order of the garter, for example, in Baronne du Montet,
Souvenirs 1785–1866
(1904), 137; Rosalie Rzewuska,
Mémoires de la comtesse Rosalie Rzewuska (1788–1865
), I, 253; and Edling,
Mémoires
(1888), 179. The list of ladies at the tournament is in the
Wiener Zeitung,
November 25, 1814. Dorothée’s success that night was noted by Talleyrand to the Duchess of Courland, November 24, 1814,
TLI,
74. Prussian words on the campaign come from an unnamed agent to Hager, November 24, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 869. The Florentine banker estimate is also here, and comments on the mixture of the diamonds after the Carousel, Jean-Gabriel Eynard,
Au Congrès de Vienne: journal de Jean-Gabriel Eynard
(1914–1924), November 28, 1814, I, 161. “Storm of applause” is in Thürheim’s
Mein Leben: Erinnerungen aus Österreichs Grosser Welt 1788–1819
(1913), II, 113.

The tsar was not there because he was in his suite, Agent L to Hager, November 27, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 914. Alexander’s sickness is in Agent Nota to Hager, November 20, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 826; as well as Carl Bertuch’s
Tagebuch
(1916), 54; and Pictet de Rochemont, November 19, 1814,
Biographie, travaux et correspondance diplomatique
(1892), 176. A poisoning rumor was noted already, too, by Niels Rosenkrantz,
Journal du Congrès de Vienne 1814–1815
(1953), November 10, 1814, 72. Eynard reported what he heard about the tsar’s illness, dancing, and fatigue at a Castlereagh soiree, November 16, 1814 (1914–1924), I, 130, and according to Field Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg, Alexander had looked pale that night at the Palffy Ball, and some feared that he might pass out: letter to his wife, November 17, 1814, Johann Friedrich Novák, ed.,
Briefe des Feldmarschalls Fürsten Schwarzenberg an seine Frau, 1799–1816
(1913), 411. The tsar was consumed by a “dance mania,” Agent ** reported to Hager, November 14, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 768.

The list of knights is in
Wiener Zeitung,
November 25, 1814. “Tantamount to a diploma” is in Hilde Spiel’s
The Congress of Vienna: An Eyewitness Account,
trans. Richard H. Weber (1968), 105. The plume is in La Garde-Chambonas (1902), 167. The games are also in Rosalynd Pflaum’s
By Influence and Desire: The True Story of Three Extraordinary Women—The Grand Duchess of Courland and Her Daughters
(1984), 232–235, and Dorothy Guis McGuigan’s
Metternich and the Duchess
(1975), 407–409. Other maneuvers, such as dipping the lances, are in Thürheim,
Mein Leben: Erinnerungen aus Österreichs Grosser Welt 1788–1819
(1913), II, 113. King of Württemberg as “five feet of height and six of girth” is in Eynard’s journal entry for October 19, 1814 (1914–1924), I, 46 and his table, for example, Thürheim (1913), II, 114. The number of guests at the masked ball afterward was also estimated at twenty-five hundred,
Wiener Zeitung,
November 25, 1814. The Festivals Committee gave repeat performances of the Carousel for the tsar on first of December, and again on the fifth.

C
HAPTER
17. “T
HE
G
LORIOUS
M
OMENT
”

Resentment at congress and phrase “eat your enemy” come from unnamed agent to Hager, December 27, 1814,
DCV
I no. 1172. Disputes over precedence are in countless sources, for example, Gaëtan de Raxis de Flassan’s
Histoire du Congrès de Vienne
(1829), I, 295ff. The Spanish and French carriage incident is in Harold Nicolson’s
The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822
(1946), 216–217, as well as his
Diplomacy
(1955), 179–180. Questions of the Precedents Committee are in Angeberg (1864), III, 934–935 and 939–940 and discussion, too, from the chair of the commission, Labrador,
Mélanges sur la vie privée et publique
(1849), 50–51.

“To meet three or four kings” comes from Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, November 6, 1814,
TLC,
119, and others agreed, like San Marzan, January 28, 1815,
Diario,
lxx, and Edling,
Mémoires
(1888), 166–167. The reference to almost confusing the king of Prussia is in Eynard,
Journal,
January 10, 1815, I, 251. The meetings at the Empress of Austria are in Comte Auguste de La Garde-Chambonas,
Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
(1902), 92, and Hager to Emperor, December 10, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1013, with more on the members in a report by Agent B…to Hager, December 9, 1814, no. 1015.

Werner’s popularity at this time can be seen in many sources, for example, Caroline Pichler,
Denkwürdigkeiten aus meinem Leben
(1914), III, 65, and Carl Bertuch, who called him a sensation, December 8, 1814,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
65. He was also described by Agent Schmidt, February 21, 1815,
GPWK,
400, the poet as a “great preacher,” Méneval,
Memoirs
III, 331, his long thick shoulder-length hair, and thin, even haggard
(hâve)
appearance, Baronne du Montet,
Souvenirs,
117–118. The audience was inclined to weep or laugh during his emotional, sometimes boisterous sermons, Rzewuska (1939), I, 267, and his coarse language, Karl von Nostitz,
Leben und Briefwechsel
(1848), 176. Bertuch noted his amusing style, often with “thundering eloquence,” October 9, 1814,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
29. Werner dined at Metternich’s, Gentz
Tagebücher,
November 16, 1814, 331, and Gentz encountered Werner over at Metternich’s again, reading an act from one of his tragedies, December 15, 1814, 340. “Ladies and gentlemen” and “shall” are in Rosalynd Pflaum,
By Influence and Desire: The True Story of Three Extraordinary Women—The Grand Duchess of Courland and Her Daughters
(1984), 252. The sermon and audience reactions are in Friedrich Anton von Schönholz’s
Traditionen zur Charakteristik Österreichs, seines Staats-und Volkslebens unter Franz I
(1914) II, 127, and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense’s
Denkwürdigkeiten des Eignen Lebens
(1987), II, 659.

Emperor Francis’ sickness is in Agent L to Hager, November 17, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 812, Pictet de Rochemont, November 19, 1814,
Biographie, travaux et correspondance diplomatique
(1892), 176. Metternich now bedridden, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, November 30, 1814,
TLC,
180, same day to Minister of Foreign Affairs, no. 16A, 344, and Gentz on his visit on the twenty-ninth,
Tagebücher
(1873), 335. Hardenberg also feeling sick, Talleyrand reported, King’s Ambassadors at the Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, no. 16A, November 30, 1814, 344. Dorothée ill, Talleyrand to the Duchess of Courland, November 30, 1814,
TLI,
76, Bagration sick in November, report to Hager, November 16, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 786. Many others, too, fell ill at this time from Prince Eugène to the little Prince of Parma.