by L. Mühlbach
CHAPTER LIV.
THE EMPEROR FRANCIS AND METTERNICH.
The Emperor Francis was pacing his cabinet in evident uneasiness andexcitement. Count Clement Metternich, since Stadion's withdrawal fromthe cabinet, prime minister and confidential adviser, was standing atthe emperor's desk, and whenever Francis, in walking up and down, turnedhis back to him, a scornful smile overspread his handsome countenance;this manifestation of contempt disappeared, however, as soon as hismaster turned again toward him.
"It will stir up a great deal of ill-feeling throughout Germany," saidthe Emperor Francis, hastily. "No one will believe that I, who washitherto the most implacable enemy of Bonaparte, should have suddenlydone him so much honor."
"But at last every one will have to believe it, your majesty," saidMetternich, in his gentle, melodious voice. "The facts will refute thesurmises of the incredulous."
"But it is outrageous," cried the emperor, "and I can hardly think itpossible that I am to assist Bonaparte in making a decent match, andthat I am to stoop so low as to call the son of the Corsican lawyer myson-in-law! Let me tell you, it will never do; I should ever after beafraid of passing the church of the Capuchins; I should always imaginethat the tombs of my ancestors opened, and their ghosts arose and askedme, 'How could you permit the imperial blood of the Hapsburgs to minglewith that of the little Corsican lawyer's son, the insurgent andrevolutionary captain, who chances to be a successful warrior?' Yes, andI ask myself the question: How can I permit an archduchess, my daughter,to be married to a man seated on a throne which does not belong to him,and which the Bourbons, the legitimate rulers of France, will one daytake from him?? How can I permit it, I ask, and how am I to bear it, ifthis fellow without a pedigree should some day take the liberty to callme his dear father-in-law? How is it possible for me to expose myself tosuch risk?"
"Will your majesty permit me to answer these just questions of yourimperial conscience?" asked Metternich.
"Do so," exclaimed Francis. "Explain the whole matter to me as though Iwere not the emperor, but a common citizen offended at the idea that theEmperor of Austria should permit his daughter to be married to therevolutionary leader who has the impudence to assume the imperial title.What would you say? How would you excuse me?"
Metternich advanced a step toward the emperor, and replied: "I would saythe Emperor Francis has acted as a wise statesman and ruler, and as afather of his people. In order to preserve Austria from new wars, he hassacrificed his most precious treasure, his only child. It is a pledgesecuring peace to his exhausted people. Austria is not now able toresist Napoleon in case he should again attack her. Our frontiers aredefenceless; our finances are exhausted. Hitherto every war has causedus grievous losses in money, men, and territory; and so long as we standalone, so long as Russia persists in her absurd policy of being thecat's-paw of France, it would be senseless and criminal again toendanger the existence of the monarchy. We have suffered such immenselosses, that we must have peace to recover what we have lost. Hence wemust be reconciled with France, and this reconciliation strengthens usagainst Russia. The very fact that Napoleon desires to conclude analliance with Austria indicates a change in his political system, bywhich we should try to profit, and if (what is unavoidable) a rupturewith Russia ensues, Austria ought to derive as much benefit therefrom aspossible, and enlarge her territories. We ought to render our presentposition toward France as profitable as possible. The archduchess willbe a precious guaranty to Napoleon, for he will feel convinced that theemperor will be unwilling to sacrifice his child, and this convictionwill fill him with confidence and a feeling of security. Austria becomesclosely connected with the political interests of Napoleon, and sharesthe hatred which all Europe feels against the Emperor of the French. Butthis very hatred incurred by Austria will be regarded by Napoleon asanother surety for his fidelity. He will ally himself more closely withus, and become more hostile to Russia, the natural enemy of Austria;hence it is better for us to fight in company with France against Russiathan to allow Russia and France to fight against us. Moreover, ourfinances are in such a deplorable condition, that a bankruptcy of thestate would be the inevitable consequence of another war; not only thefuture of the emperor's dynasty, but the fortunes of his subjects wouldbe endangered. In consideration of this, the emperor, in his wisdom, haspreferred to secure peace, the source of prosperity, to his belovedsubjects, and, like the patriarch, he sacrifices his own child willinglyand joyously. The noble emperor ought to be blessed and praised forthis, and his wisdom, which despises prejudice, and only weighs andrespects the benefits to be secured by such a measure, should begratefully acknowledged. That, sire," said Metternich, concluding hisspeech, "is what I would reply to him who would dare in my presencecensure the marriage of the archduchess to the Emperor Napoleon."
"It sounds well enough," said the emperor, thoughtfully, "but it isstill an unpalatable dish for me, and my tongue will cling to the roofof my mouth when I am to say, 'My son-in-law the Emperor Napoleon!' Heis no real emperor, although he has placed three crowns on his head, andeven had the impudence of dividing my order of the Golden Fleece,contrary to law, into three classes; he can never become a real emperor;he must always remain the son of a Corsican lawyer."
"Whom the pope, however, has anointed and crowned emperor," saidMetternich, with a sneer.
"Yes, and, in return, this ungrateful fellow has deprived the holyfather of his throne, and imprisoned him! In short, I detest theusurper. It always deeply pained me to hear of Bonaparte and his newvictories; and since I saw him on that day after the battle ofAusterlitz, he is more hateful to me than ever. Oh, how superciliouslythis fellow then looked at me! He talked to me so haughtily that I feltquite miserable, and did not know what to say. I shall never forgive M.Bonaparte, and yet I am to allow him to become my son-in-law! I tellyou, Metternich, it will not do, for the end will be bad."
"But the commencement," said Metternich, smiling, "will be good forAustria, and that is the chief point. We shall take care that the endwill not be bad for us either, and that Austria will not be the loser byit."
"It is all right," said Francis, nodding, "but the mischief is, thatwhen the unhappy time comes, M. Bonaparte will be my son-in-law, andthat it may be necessary for me to support him and his cause."
"Your majesty," said Metternich, in a low voice, and glancing cautiouslyover the room, "if you do not now hesitate to sacrifice your own childfor the welfare of your country, at a later time you will not shrinkfrom sacrificing your son-in-law. There are no relatives in politics;Austria has no sisters and brothers, no daughters and sons-in-law; thatis what the august uncle of your majesty, the Emperor Joseph, oftensaid, and he was right."
"Yes, indeed, my great uncle Joseph was right," exclaimed the emperor,laughing; "there are no sons-in-law in politics! Oh, it would do myheart good if I could revenge myself one day on M. Bonaparte for all thehumiliations that I have to bear now."
"Your majesty," said Metternich, in a lower voice than before, "there isan excellent Italian proverb, 'Revenge must be eaten cold.' Your majestyknows it?"
"Of course I do," whispered the emperor. "I know it, and shall surelyremember it. 'Revenge must be eaten cold;' he who wants to eat it hot,will burn his tongue. Let us wait, therefore."
"Yes, let us wait," whispered Metternich. He then added in a loud voice:"Your majesty, then, will graciously accept the proposals of the EmperorNapoleon as to his union with the archduchess, order the marriagecontracts to be made out, and permit the Prince de Neufchatel, MarshalBerthier, to apply to your majesty and the archduchess for the hand ofthe imperial princess?"
"Yes, I will," said Francis, hesitatingly, "but let me tell you, I amafraid of what the empress, my consort, will say about the matter, andalso of Maria Louisa herself. The empress never liked Bonaparte, and Ido not know how I shall break the news to her, that the man for whosesake, but a few months since, so much Austrian blood was shed, and towhom I had to sacrifice the brave Tyrolese, Andrew Hofer, is to becomemy son
-in-law. And Maria Louisa will be greatly surprised; I am afraidshe will weep a good deal on hearing the news."
"I believe the archduchess will cheerfully submit to her fate," saidMetternich. "I heard her imperial highness speak in terms of intenseadmiration of the heroism and marvellous deeds of the Emperor Napoleon."
"Yes, she did," replied Francis, "but I commanded her not to giveexpression to such sentiments. I explained to her how much misery andignominy Bonaparte had brought upon Austria and our house, and what acruel, tyrannical, and bloodthirsty man he is; and my words made so deepan impression on the mind of my dutiful daughter, that she has detestedBonaparte ever since, and is afraid of him, as though he were amonster."
"Perhaps, if your majesty were to tell the archduchess that the EmperorNapoleon is not so bad after all," said Metternich, smiling--"if youwere to assure her imperial highness that he is a very great andadmirable man, and that his laurels are as good as a long line ofancestors, the words of your majesty would not fail to impressthemselves on her mind, and her hatred would disappear, particularly ifyou should show her a correct likeness of the emperor, for care has beenhitherto taken to exhibit to the imperial princes and princesses onlythose representations of Napoleon in which he is horribly caricatured. Iknow that the mistress of ceremonies of the archduchess, CountessColloredo, in her passionate hatred against him, and against Francegenerally, tried this remedy to cure the imperial princess of heradmiration for the conqueror, and the archduchess sees, hears, and readsnothing but what has been previously examined by the countess. I repeat,that if your majesty could have a really correct likeness of Napoleonbrought to the young lady's notice, her ideas of him would be somewhatchanged."
"But I have no good likeness of Bonaparte," said the emperor, somewhatembarrassed.
"Marshal Berthier brought one, which he is to present to the archduchesson solemnly applying for her hand. It is very costly and correct. Theframe consists of twenty very large diamonds, for which one might buy awhole principality. I requested the marshal to let me have it an hour,when he permitted me to see it during the visit I paid to him. I toldhim frankly I wished to take it to the emperor, who would show it to thearchduchess, that she might have some notion of the real emperor, andreceive his suit. The marshal granted my request, and intrusted theminiature to me."
"Did you bring it with you?"
"I did, your majesty. Here it is." Metternich drew a morocco case fromhis bosom and handed it to the emperor.
Francis opened it hastily, and contemplated the precious locket a goodwhile. "These are splendid diamonds, indeed," he said, "and I amconvinced Bonaparte did not inherit them of his father. Not theslightest blemish, not a single imperfection in them; I believe I haveno more beautiful diamonds in my crown!"
"And the resemblance?" asked Metternich. "Does not your majesty thinkthat it is excellent?"
"Yes, yes," exclaimed Francis, laughing. "I had almost forgotten that,in admiring the precious stones. Yes, it is a good likeness; he looksprecisely like that, but you must admit it is a revolting face, lookingas though there were but one man in the world, and he were that man."
"But the expression of so much haughtiness impresses the ladies veryfavorably," said Metternich. "They like the man who loves to considerhimself a god, and he is one in their eyes. I really believe it would bea good idea for your majesty to show this to the archduchess, and tellher afterward that it is the likeness of her future husband. If yourmajesty has no objection, I will, in the mean time, request an audienceof the Empress Ludovica, and try to convince her majesty of thenecessity of this marriage."
"Do so," exclaimed the emperor, joyously, "it will be very agreeable tome, and as soon as possible. In the mean time I will go to thearchduchess, show her the miniature, and tell her plainly that it isthat of her future husband. It is better to tell her so withoutcircumlocution. The princess will not dare to oppose my wishes; sheknows that it is the duty of an obedient daughter to accept the husbandher father has selected for her. Go to the empress, Metternich; I shallgo to the Archduchess Maria Louisa."