164 



MKTTERNICn 



METZ 



ordinarv Rhare of diplomatic ability, with the most 

 graceful anil winning manner*. At r.venty-eight 

 be was appointed Austrian minister at the court of 

 Dresden, and after the lapse of two yearn he was 

 sent a* ambassador to Itcrlin, where he took a 

 leading part in the well known coalition which was 

 dissolved I iy tin- Wttlu of Austerlitz. After the 

 peace of Presburg young Metternich win. selected 

 lor the moot imjiortant diplomatic appointment in 

 the gift of the emperor that of minister at the 

 court of Napoleon. When he presented himself 

 before the emperor, he was greeted with the 

 remark, ' Yon are very young to represent so 

 powerful a monarch v.' '"Your majesty was not 

 older at Austerlitz,' replied Metternich, with a 

 (light exaggeration which could not make the 

 compliment less acceptable ; anil, indeed, young as 

 he wax, he exhibited an address and a knowledge 

 before which Napoleon might bluster, but of which 

 he never could get the better. Without much 

 ardour, with very limited sympathies, witli no 

 deep convictions, he had a clear head and a firm 

 hand ; he could keep his own secret, and he could 

 worm out the secrete of others ; and, making him- 

 self the most agreeable man in the world, he 

 plotted with a miling countenance, manoeuvred in 

 a dance, and struck the hardest when he seemed to 

 yield the most. 



In 1807 he concluded the treaty of Fontaine- 

 Mean, very favourable to the interests of Austria ; 

 and on the outbreak of the war between France 

 and Austria in 1809 he was detained some time 

 before he could obtain his passport. In the course 

 of that year he succeeded Count Stmli.ni as 

 mini-ter of Foreign Affaire, and it was during his 

 tenure of office that he conceived the idea of a 

 marriage between Napoleon and an Austrian arch- 

 duchess as a means or purchasing a respite for the 

 empire. Metternich escorted Marie Louise to Paris. 

 Amidst the difficulties of 1812-13 Metternich 

 maintained at first a temporising policy, but the 

 obstinacy of Najmleon at length le.l him to resolve 

 upon the declaration of war with France made in 

 August 1*13. In the autumn of that Year the ^i.-md 

 alliance was signed at Teplitz, and Metternich, 

 in recognition of his great ability in connection 

 with the negotiations, was raised to the dignity 

 of a prince of the empire. In the sulnequent 

 conferences and treaties the newly -created prince 

 took a very prominent part, and he subsequently 

 signed on behalf of Austria the second treaty of 

 Paris on 20th Novemlier 1815. He afterwards paid 

 a visit to Kngland. and was made an I.I, I', by the 

 university of Oxford the only honour this man 

 of countless orders ever received from Britain. 

 After this he still continued to conduct the 

 diplomacy of Austria; in 1821 he was appointed 

 chancellor of tlie empire, and in 1826 succeeded 

 Count Xichy as president of ministerial conferences 

 on home affairs. Hi- efforts were now earnestly 

 directed to the maintenance of peace in Kuro|>e 

 and the preservation of the existing state of things 

 in tin- Austrian dominions by the strictest measures 

 of police and severe cles|iotism. In the mildest 

 expressions of individual opinion he saw symptoms 

 of dangerous agitation, and his supreme object 

 was t<> combine what he called the conservative 

 forces of society against anarchy. Then came the 

 French Bcrotatton of 1H48. ami .Metternich's hatred 

 of revolution was fanatical. The shock, which over- 

 turned fora time half the thrones of Km ope. was 

 felt at Vienna, and the government fell, in spite of 

 the resistance of Mi-tteinii h. who maintained his 

 policy of 'thorough' to the last Ix-aving Vienna 

 with an enctirt of cavalry, he tied to England, and 

 there he remained tii! 1861, in the autumn of liich 

 year he made a sort of nival progress to his castle 

 of Johacnisberg on the Koine. From this time, 



although the advice of the old statesman was occa- 

 sionally asked by the eni]>cror, he was never again 

 requested to assume office. He died at Vienna on 

 1 1 th June 1859. The A utotriogni/iliti of Mettei nich 

 (French, 1879-S2; German, 1880-84; Eng. trans. 

 1880-83), edited by his son, throws valuable light 

 on the stirring times in which he lived. In these 

 volumes also appears the diary of his third wife, 

 Countess Melanie Zichy-Ferraris, whom he married 

 in 1831, when he was aimut fifty-eight yeais of age. 

 She was a clever and beautiful woman, and gave 

 her husband much effective aid. From many 

 entries in her diary it is evident that, if her 

 husband was stern and harsh in political strife, he 

 was not without warm and genial affections. To 

 her Prince Metternich was as good and great a 

 man as ever lived, and she c\pre-scs more than 

 once her opinion that he alone 'could save the 

 world.' 



There are works on Metternich by Binder (1836), 

 Gross-Hoffingcr (1846), Schmidt- WeissenfeU (1861), 

 Beer (1877); and see MMtrnich, by Colonel MaUeson 

 ('Statesmen 'aeries, 1888). 



Mettray t a village of France, 5 miles N. of 

 Tours by rail, noted for its great agricultural and 

 industrial Reformatory (q.v.), the parent of all 

 such institutions. It dates from 183!), and in 1886 

 hod 537 inmates. 



Met trie. See LAMETTRIE. 



Metz. the strongest fortress of German Lorraine 

 (before 1871 the principal bulwark of the north- 

 eastern frontier of France, and capital of the 

 department of Moselle), stands on the river 

 Moselle at the influx of the Seille, 216 miles E. of 

 1'ari". The strength of the place consists in its 

 exterior defences, of which the principal are a 

 cordon of forts, some greatly strengthened and 

 improved since the German annexation, and some 

 entirely new. The cathedral, a Gothic edifice 

 (14th to 16th century), is remarkable for its vast 

 size and its architectural lightness, and has a 

 beautiful spire of open work, 303 feet in height. 

 Of other seven ( 'atlmlic churches, the most interest- 

 ing is St Vincent's. There are two Protmtant 

 churches and a synagogue. The city has a library, 

 a museum, a military academy, a music school, 

 art and numismatic collections, \-c. A|>art from 

 tanning and the making of saddles and shoes, there 

 are few industries, though there are several iron- 

 works in the vicinity. The trade is chielly in 

 wine, brandy, preserved fruits, leather, &c. Pop., 

 which in 1869 was 48,325, had in 1*75, by reason of 

 emigration into France, decreased to 37,025, or 

 with garrison, 4.Vs:>fi : (1890) 59,723, including a 

 large garrison. The Protestant- are less than half 

 as numerous as the Catholics. Met/, known to the 

 llotnans as Dinxlurmn, was afterwards called 

 M'-ttis (corrupted from Mediomatrici, the name of 

 the people), hence the present form, t'nder the 

 Franks it was the capital of Austrasia, and in 870 

 passed to the empire ; it was afterwards made a free 

 city of the empire. In 15.52 it was treacherously 

 taken possession of by the French ; and, although 

 Charles V. besieged the place from October 1552 to 

 January 1553, they kept it till it was formally 



led to them in 1648. The fortifications, already 



strong, were completely reconstructed by Vauban 

 in ll>74 : they were added to at various dates, and 

 after 1830 thoroughly restored. In August 1870 

 Bazaine was compelled to retire with Ins army 

 into Metz. which after a long siege was taken by 

 the Germans (see FKANCK, Vol. IV. p. 782); by 

 t he treaty of Frankfort it was annexed to Germany. 



SM hiftorin of the town by Coster ( 1871 ) and Wcnt- 

 phal (3 roll. 1H75-77); and the account of the warlike 

 operation! of 1870 by the German staff (1872). Com- 

 pare also BAZAINK. 



