GENERAL HISTORY. 



[129 



advantageous light ; and when a 

 minister was sent to London to in- 

 vite England to share in a nego- 

 ciation for peace, the British mi- 

 nistry replied, " that they could 

 not believe that Austria still en- 

 tertained hopes of peace, when the 

 emperor Napoleon at the same 

 time expressed sentiments which 

 could only tend to the perpetuation 

 of war." It now became evident 

 , that either by negociation or by 

 force of arms a new state of things 

 must be effected. Austria made 

 preparations for war, which even 

 Napoleon acknowledged to be ne- 

 cessary. The actions wliich brought 

 on the retreat of the allies, and the 

 armistice, rendered it still more 

 impossible for the emperor of Aus- 

 tria to remain an inactive spectator. 

 The state of the Prussian monarchy, 

 in particular, attracted his atten- 

 tion, its restoration being the first 

 step towards that of the political 

 system of Europe. As early as the 

 naonth of April, Napoleon had 

 suggested to the Austrian cabinet, 

 that he regarded the dissolution of 

 that monarchy as a natural con- 

 sequence of its defection from 

 France, and that it now only de- 

 pended on Austria to add the most 

 flourishing of its provinces to her 

 own state, a sufficient indication 

 that no means were to be neglected 

 to save that power either by ne- 

 gociation or arms. The manifesto 

 then takes notice of the congress 

 of I*rague, which, when first pro- 

 posed by Napoleon, was perfectly 

 nnknown to the Austrian cabinet, 

 which became acquainted with it 

 •nly by the medium of the public 

 papers. It states the reasons for 

 the emperor's concurrence in this 

 project, and his acceptance of the 

 Vol. LV. 



office of mediator, with the pro- 

 traction of the armistice. Another 

 attempt for including the British 

 government in the negociation is 

 then mentioned, to which Napo- 

 leon at first gave his approbation, 

 but after various delays, finally re- 

 fused to grant passports to the per- 

 sons who were to proceed through 

 France to England for the pur- 

 pose. Othercircumstances are then 

 mentioned, to shew that France was 

 disinclined to take any serious step 

 to facilitate a treaty. At lengtii 

 " the Congress was at an end, and 

 the resolution which Austria had 

 to form was previous])' determined, 

 by the progress of the negociation, 

 by the actual conviction of the 

 impossibility of peace, by the no 

 longer doubtful point of view in 

 which his majesty examined the 

 great question in dispute, by the 

 principles and intentions of the 

 allies, wherein the emperor recog- 

 nised his own; and finally, by the 

 former positive declarations, which 

 left no room for misconception." 



Such was the general substance 

 of this state paper, in which, 

 though ably drawn up, may be dis- 

 cerned the difficulty of conciliating 

 the past measures of a temporising 

 policy, with the principles of jus- 

 tice, and regard to the public good, 

 which are represented as having 

 dictated so important a change. It 

 is manifest, however, that, as in 

 the case of Prussia, tlie new pros- 

 pects opened of freeing the Eu- 

 ropean continent from an over- 

 whelming power, wielded by in- 

 satiable ambition, were the real 

 motives which induced Austria to 

 desert her conrlection with France, 

 and join the allies ; and if an apo- 

 logy were necessary for this con- 



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