GERMANY. 



183 



When the ancient and gothic edifice of the German confederation was 

 overturned by Napoleon, he, on organising the confederation of the 

 Rhine, mediatised eighty of the petty independent princes who had 

 formed component parts of the ancient German constitution. On the 

 re-organisation of the confederation in 1815, this arrangement was con- 

 firmed by the congress of Vienna; and happy would it have been for 

 Germany had that body extended still farther the mediatising ban. But 

 at this congress, the cradle of the Holy Alliance, the family interest of a 

 few sovereigns were deemed by the negotiators paramount to the sacred 

 rights and happiness of millions. The ancient edifice of the German 

 confederation was therefore reformed upon a basis of which the following 

 table will convey a pretty accurate idea. 



TABLE OF THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION. 



