Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (71 page)

The delays are clear from the announcement of the concert, first for November 20, and the following postponements, until the twenty-second for “unforeseen circumstances,” then to the twenty-seventh, and finally again at “high request” for the twenty-ninth. Announcements and postponements are in
Wiener Zeitung,
November 18 and 27, 1814, as well as
New Beethoven Letters,
ed. Donald W. MacArdle and Ludwig Misch (1957), 129–130. The reason as falling on a Sunday comes from Agent ** to Hager, November 30, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 938. Beethoven also claimed that the postponement was due to faulty copying of the scores, as reported by Wenzel Tomascheck, in Hamburger, ed.,
Beethoven: Letters, Journals and Conversations
(1960), 123. Beethoven had requested the University Hall for his concerts at the congress, but received instead the larger Redoutensaal, letter to George Friedrich Treitschke, undated though probably early September 1814,
New Beethoven Letters,
ed. Donald W. MacArdle and Ludwig Misch (1957), 122–123.

The “wholly new cantata” and the “new symphony,” according to the Concert Announcement, November 16, 1814,
New Beethoven Letters,
ed. Donald W. MacArdle and Ludwig Misch (1957), 128–129. “The Battle Symphony” for the panharmonicon, Beethoven to Dr. Carl, Edler von Adlersburg, July 1814,
The Letters of Beethoven,
ed. Emily Anderson, vol. I (1961), 459–460. Mälzel’s contributions to Beethoven, Marek (1970), 457–458. Beethoven’s collaborator, the physician and poet Alois Weissenbach,
Kleine Wiener Memoiren und Wiener Dosenstucke
(1918), vol. I, 249–250. Weissenbach also wrote an account of his stay in Vienna, the rare
Meine Reise zum Congress,
published by Wallishauser in 1816. Descriptions of Beethoven’s performance are cited in Spiel (1968), 123–124, 242–243, and McGuigan (1975), 418, though this was not as they wrote, the premiere, which occurred the previous year.

For more on the symphony, see Lockwood (2003), 230–234, and a discussion of Beethoven at the congress, G. R. Marek,
Beethoven: Biography of a Genius
(1970), 475–487, and especially Ingrid Fuchs’s “The Glorious Moment—Beethoven and the Congress of Vienna” in Krog (2002). Spohr, the rehearsal and “badly out of tune” are in Fuchs, 194. Divisions noted at other parties about this time as well: Russia’s Stackelberg’s ball, Austrian emperor not there, and no English, November 25, 1814, 157. Division into factions supporting or opposing Beethoven, and the fact that the “overwhelming majority” no longer wanted to listen to his works, Agent ** to Hager, November 30, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 938. Beethoven’s music as too heavy, “like Hercules using his club to kill flies,” Mayek (1970), 443. Stolberg-Wernigerode was one who thought it was too heavy, November 29, 1814,
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004) 103, Rosenbaum was just bored. Beethoven complained of the tips here, Marek (1970), 480. That Beethoven was exhausted, or still exhausted from the concert, along with his complaint about the “fatiguing affairs” comes from a letter to Archduke Rudolph, November 30, 1814, Anderson (1961), 476.

References to congress breaking down are numerous, including, for example, Agent **’s prediction of a “recourse to arms,” November 24, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 870. Gentz’s words “language of Justice” are from a letter to Karadja, November 7, 1814 (1876) 120. Countess Széchenyi-Guilford’s response to Tsar Alexander comes from Agent ** to Hager, November 21, 1814, no. 834. Alexander was seen dancing with her a lot before, report to Hager October 16, 1814, no. 416, though the story was repeated by some members of the Russian delegation with the king of Prussia inserted instead, for example, Alexander Ivanovich Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, December 1, 1814 (Russian calendar), Alexander Sapojnikov in Ole Villumsen Krog (2002), 140. The German protest statement is in M. G. Pallain,
Correspondance inédite du prince de Talleyrand et du roi Louis XVIII pendant le Congrès de Vienne
(1881), n. 1, 176–177, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 7, 1814,
TLC,
193, Count Münster, December 17, 1814, 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), 205, Gentz to Karadja, December 20, 1814 (1876), 126. Bavaria and all of Germany supporting the defense of Saxony, Gentz to Karadja, December 20, 1814 (1876), 126, as well as Archduke Johann, December 20, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich, 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 192. The fate of that document, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 15, 1814,
TLC,
202–205. Talleyrand’s letter to Metternich, December 19, 1814, is printed in Angeberg (1864), II, 540–544, as well as
NP,
509–514, with Castlereagh’s reaction noted in Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 28, 1814,
TLC,
228. “That everywhere,” “every ambition,” and selected passages are in Ferrero (1941), 268–272. Louis XVIII was also pleased, Louis XVIII to Talleyrand, December 30, 1814,
TLC,
238 (same letter with the alternative date of December 28, appears in his
Memoirs,
II, 383–384).

It had long been reported that the French army had been in a state of agitation requiring the greatest care, Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, June 1/13, 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
(1890), 7. Soldiers’ attachment to Napoleon, Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, July 13/25, 1814, 39, popularity of Napoleon with the soldiers met everywhere in Pasquier’s journey through Champagne, Picardy, Flanders, and Normandy to inspect bridges and roads, Pasquier, III, 43. The soldiers drinking, D’Hauterive to Talleyrand, dated November 14, 1814,
TLC,
n. 3, 190. Minister of war was heavily critiqued, and army “in a state difficult to describe,” Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, September 14/26, 1814, 71. “Nothing but conspiracies, secret discontent, and murmuring,” the “storm about to burst,” and the frustration in counteracting rumors, Talleyrand’s words to Louis XVIII, November 25, 1814,
TLC,
160–161.

C
HAPTER
18. T
HE
C
OOK, THE
P
AINTER, THE
B
ALLERINA, AND THE
D
IPLOMAT

Epigraph is in Metternich’s
NP,
I, 12. Designing and sewing the Elban flag, Sir Neil Campbell’s “Journal,” published in
Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba; Being a Journal of Occurrences in 1814–1815
(1869), 216, and Thomas Ussher, “Napoleon’s Deportation to Elba,” published in
Napoleon’s Last Voyages, being the Diaries of Admiral Sir Thomas Ussher, R.N., K.C.B. (on board the “Undaunted”) and John R. Glover, Secretary to Rear Admiral Kockburn (on board the “Northumberland”)
(1895), 50–51. Napoleon’s impatience to move into
Il Mulini,
and the environment, Christophe,
Napoleon on Elba,
trans. Len Ortzen (1964), 55, and Gruyer,
Napoleon King of Elba
(1906), 63. Description of Napoleon’s couch is found in Peyrusse, appendix 51. Suites prepared for Marie Louise and King of Rome, seizing furniture from ´

Elisa, and his hires, Norman Mackenzie,
The Escape from Elba: The Fall and Flight of Napoleon, 1814–1815
(1982), 86–88. The staff in the kitchens and the grounds, Mackenzie (1982), 90, and Gruyer (1906), 72. Napoleon’s hairdresser, Christophe (1964), 70, and the description of Napoleon’s hair comes from an English visitor that autumn, J. B. Scott, cited in Mackenzie (1982), 139. Campbell’s background, the difficulty of finding someone, and knowledge from newspapers, Mackenzie (1982), 40–41, and Campbell (1869), 153, 161. He never saw treaty until late, right before escorting Napoleon to Elba, and this partly because Britain had not signed the treaty. The uncertainty of his mission, and the British government’s expectations, 58. His functions, Gruyer (1906), 99, though not exactly jailer, as he claimed.

Castlereagh’s offer is in Campbell’s “Journal” (1869), 153, and references from instructions from here, printed, 154–155. Another letter from Castlereagh, though no clearer, asked Campbell to continue to “pursue the same line of conduct and communication with this department” and work “without assuming any further official character than that in which you are already received,” July 15, 1814 (1869), 273. Campbell’s wounds in battle at end of war, on eve of the march to Paris, Campbell (1869), 153, and Captain Ussher (1895), 25. Bandages and sling, Campbell, 158. Conversations about Scotland, the poet Ossian, and, of course, especially military,
Journal of Sir Neil Campbell
(1869), 158–159, Ussher (1895), 85. Napoleon pronunciation of name, 222.

Gruyer believes that the congress’s attempts to remove him to another island were only “empty rumours” and “highly improbable” (147), but this was not the case. Many were in fact working on this plan. Talleyrand’s proposal for the Azores, Talleyrand to King Louis XVIII, October 13, 1814,
TLC,
48. Bourbon supporters wanting this accomplished, Wellington reported to Earl of Liverpool, August 28, 1814,
WD,
541. Intrigues against Napoleon on Elba at Vienna, Méneval, III, 334. Nota to Hager, November 22, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 853, and the rumor that Napoleon would be “carried off elsewhere,” Nota to Hager, December 1, 1814 no. 945. Napoleon’s removal, rumored to have been decided by November 8, 1814, Eynard (1914–1924), I, 97. News of stirrings on Elba, Mariotti to Talleyrand, November 15, 1814, and forwarded to Louis XVIII with his December
7
letter,
TLC,
198–199. San Marzan and Metternich had heard similar news,
Diario,
195–196. Plots acknowledged too by Alan Schom,
Napoleon Bonaparte
(1997), 707, Mackenzie (1982), 146, with Mariotti and “oil merchant” Mackenzie (1982), 149–152, 163. For one likely theory linking this “oil merchant” to Alessandro Forli, see Christophe (1964), 153. Olive Oil Merchant arrived the thirtieth of November. Mackenzie identifies other plotters including the Comte d’Artois, the Comte Chavigny de Blot, and the military governor on Corsica, Louis Guerin de Bruslart.

Advent at the Congress, Metternich to Duchess of Sagan, November 27, 1814,
MSB,
273. Dinner with Bollmann at Gentz’s flat,
Tagebüch
er, December 12, 1814, 339, and references to Gentz looking crushed
(zerschmettert),
and as if a murder attempted in his presence, Varnhagen von Ense,
Denkwürdigkeiten des Eignen Lebens
(1987), II, 644–645. Bollmann’s arrival recently from America, Gentz noted,
Tagebücher,
November 29, 1814, 335. Bollmann’s plans for a new currency and national bank, letter to La Fayette, January 3, 1815,
DCV,
I, no. 1232, and for more on his background, see Paul Sweet’s “Erich Bollmann at Vienna in 1815,”
AHR,
1941, 580–587. Gentz’s cramped apartment was described by Countess Bernstorff,
Ein Bild aus der Zeit von 1789 bis 1835: Aus ihren Aufzeichnungen
(1896), I, 164, and more fully in Franz Gräffer’s
Kleine Wiener Memoiren und Wiener Dosenstucke
(1918), II, 1–4. The ghost story is in Dorothy Guis McGuigan,
Metternich and the Duchess
(1975), 419, and others were told, for example, at Julie Zichy’s salon, Alville,
Anna Eynard-Lullin et l’époque des Congrès et des Révolutions
(1955), 176. Baronne du Montet’s description of the whimsical chess is in her
Souvenirs 1785–1866
(1904), 115, and more on the entertainment during Advent can be found in Karl von Nostitz’s
Leben und Briefwechsel: Auch ein Lebensbild aus den Befreiungskriegen
(1848), 131. Count Clam-Martinitz already confiding about his interest in Dorothée, “his new passion” Gentz
Tagebücher
ed. Varnhagen’s von Ense, November 6, 1814, (1873), I, 327. Hager’s spies did not miss her other interests, for example, Agent ** to Hager, November 28, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 918. French desserts and Dorothée’s growing attachment to Clam-Martinitz, are in Pflaum (1984), 236–8. Many historians place chef Antonin Carême in Vienna during the congress, and while this is not impossible, it is open to question. Carême’s latest biographer, Ian Kelley, doubted his presence altogether:
Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême the first celebrity chef
(2004). Philippe Alexandre and Béatrix de l’Aulnoit,
Le roi Carême
(2003), did not make him attend either. Carême’s memoirs [published in
Classiques de table
(1843)] do not convince me that he was present during the congress. Whether Carême was in Vienna or not, there was certainly a highly talented chef at the French embassy who knew many of his dishes. Even Metternich had sent his chef to study under Carême earlier in 1814 to prepare for the congress.

The painter Isabey’s arrival in Vienna, Report to Hager, October 1, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 224, and for more on his residence, see Basily-Callimaki,
J.B. Isabey: Sa Vie—Son temps, 1767–1855
(1909), 160ff, as well as Marion W. Osmond’s
Jean Baptiste Isabey: The Fortunate Painter 1767–1855
(1947), 134–139. Painting the sovereigns, Méneval,
Memoirs,
III, 327. Isabey’s work during December on the congress painting, Freddi to Hager, December 30, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1203. Portraits and designs in his studio, and his flattery from Baronne du Montet, who visited there in December 1814 (1904), 133. Isabey’s words on his salon are in Basily-Callimaki (1909), 164, and the Monday salons noted by many, for example, Bertuch’s
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
December 19, 1814, 75. Bigottini success, Talleyrand to the Duchess of Courland, November 17, 1814,
TLI,
71, La Comtesse Charles de Nesselrode to la Comtesse Hélène Gourief, October 30, 1814,
Nesselrode Lettres et papiers,
V, 196, and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense,
Denkwürdigkeiten des Eignen Lebens
(1987), II, 599. A great change since their arrival, by early December, out in society, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, December 7, 1814,
TLC,
197. Talleyrand’s feat in breaking the isolation, admired by colleague La Tour du Pin, in an intercepted letter to Marquis de Bonnay, December 8, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1010. Tableaux at court, San Marzan, December 9, 1814,
Diario,
lxiv, Bright’s
Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary with Some Remarks on the State of Vienna During the Congress in the Year 1814
(1818), 28–29, and on the Olympus scene, Méneval,
Memoirs,
III, 345–346, Comte Auguste de La Garde-Chambonas,
Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
(1902), 139–149, and Ludwig Hevesi, “
Wien Stadtbild, Festlichkeiten, Volksleben,
” in Eduard Leisching, ed.,
Der Wiener Congress: Culturgeschichte die Bildenden Künste und das Kunstgewerbe Theater—Musik in der Zeit von 1800
bis
1825
(1898), 87. “Mount Olympus” was repeated several times during the congress. The late evening, along with the meeting with Prince de Ligne and Count Z, comes from La Garde-Chambonas (1902), 218–226, and the possible identification also noted by the editor Fleury (1902), n. 1, 222.