102 



ALEXANDER I., PAULOWITSCH. 



Louisa, was the living tie of tliis union. Admiration 

 lor Uie (lawling qualities of Napoleon drew hiinover 

 lo his side. He believed, too, that he might, in 

 connexion with the emperor of France, decide the 

 fate of Europe. This was the purpose of his 

 famous meeting with Napoleon at Erfurt, in Sept., 

 1808. But when lie saw that the ambitious con- 

 queror wished to involve him in political contradic- 

 tions, and prescribe laws to him injurious to the 

 welfare of his empire, he resolutely maintained his 

 independence. He succeeded, at an interview with 

 the prince-royal of Sweden, at Abo, Aug., 1812, in 

 forming an alliance with that country, after having 

 induced the Forte, in May of the same year, to con- 

 clude the peace of Bucharest After 1812, a kind 

 of religious character appears in the policy of A., 

 and he gave himself up, more and more, to religious 

 influence. This cliaracter is remarkably manifest in 

 I lie proclamation which he addressed from Warsaw, 

 on the 10th (:>2d) Feb. 1813, to the nations of 

 Europe, and the proclamation of Kalitz, 25th March, 

 1813, directed to the Germans, in which he promised 

 a great improvement in their condition, by means of 

 a proper constitution, the object of which should be, 

 to promote their liberty, security, and prosperity. 

 The memorable manifesto of 27th Jan. 1816, con- 

 tained an exposition of the political principles of the 

 emperor. In the war of 1813 14, A. exposed him- 

 self to danger, in order to inflame the courage, of his 

 troops. He undoubtedly exercised a great influence 

 upon the course of the war in France. His open- 

 ness gained the confidence of the French, and it is 

 said that lie was secretly applied to from Paris. 

 He also principally directed the march of Schwart- 

 senberg, on the 29th March, 1814, to this capital, 

 which put a glorious termination to the war. The 

 magnanimity with which he treated Paris and all the 

 1 n nch, the strict discipline of his troops, and the 

 assurances which the allies, at his instance, tendered 

 to the nation, facilitated the settlement of peace ; 

 and it is asserted that he acted from the belief that 

 he was complying with the wishes of the French, 

 and not from adherence to the principles of legiti- 

 macy, in recalling the Bourbons. He did not treat 

 the conquered and dethroned emperor meanly, but 

 respected in him the former sovereign and distribu- 

 tor of crowns, regardless of his birth. He called 

 upon the empress Josephine, and dined with her at 

 Malmaison ; he interceded in favour of the prince 

 Eugene Beauhamois ; he visited Ney. The enthu- 

 siasm of the Parisians for him was unlimited. June 

 1, 1814, he went to England, where he was joyfully 

 received. Several things, however, seem to have 

 made an unfavourable impression upon him. He 

 was not at ease among free Britons. He rose from 

 his seat, however, at the banquet in Guildhall, in 

 honour of the national song, Rule Britannia. He 

 left England 28th June, and reached Petersburg 

 25th JiUy, where he declined the name of the 

 Blessed, offered to him by the senate. A later 

 ukase, of 27th Nov., 1817, forbade the praises which 

 the clergy were accustomed to bestow on him from 

 the pulpit. His presence in Vienna, during the 

 congress, liad a great influence upon the policy of 

 Europe, occasioned the admission of some liberal 

 views into the acts of the assembly, and added the 

 kingdom of Poland to the gigantic power of Russia. 

 The draft of the Polish constitution, prepared at the 

 instance of A., was the first symptom of a disposition 

 in the European rulers to perform the promises made 

 to their subjects during the wars with Napoleon. A. 

 cgain visited Paris, July, 1815, and from Uiat period 

 the great influence of Russia upon the French 

 cabinet, in opposition to the influence of England, 

 v-flg apparent especially when Richelieu, who had 



formerly been in the Russian sen-ice, was placed at 

 the head ot the ministry of Louis XVIII. In 

 Spain, also, the same influence manifested itself. 

 Even the court of Rio Janeiro showed n derre ct' 

 allying itself with Russia; and the kingdom of the 

 Netherlands, as well as J'nissia. \ViriemlxTg, and 

 other states, entered into a doser union \\ith the Rus- 

 sian court. A., together with the powers that had 

 concluded the treaty of Cliammuit, took an active 

 part in the general concerns of Europe ; for instance, 

 the revolt ot the Spanish colonies, and the dispute ot 

 Spain with Portugal, on account of Monte Video. 

 He took measures against the piracy of the African 

 states. Very soon, nothing occurred, of importance 

 to the political a flairs of the European continent, in 

 which this ambitious monarch did not appear as 

 leader, mediator, or partaker. From the formation 

 of the holy alliance (q. v.), in Paris, 26th Sept., 

 1815, to his death, A. was actively engaged in poli- 

 tics, and kept his emissaries all over Europe, who 

 reported to him every important occurrence. Among 

 these was Kotzebue, the German author, who was 

 assassinated by the student Sand. The memoir, di- 

 rected to all the Russian ambassadors, concerning 

 the affairs of Spain, the answer of the Russian ca- 

 binet to the Spanish minister, the chevalier Xca 

 Bermndez, and the declaration of the congress ot 

 Aix-la-Chapelle, 15th Nov., 1818, are interesting 

 documents in the history of A. He took part, in 

 1820, in the congresses held at Troppau and I^ay- 

 bach, to settle the affairs of Italy, and ordered his 

 army to advance towards this country, to suppress 

 the revolt of the Carbonari. As its presence was 

 found to be unnecessary, it returned to Russia, when 

 the affairs of Greece (q. v.) occupied the attention of 

 the Russian cabinet, in 1821. A. publicly express- 

 ed his disapprobation of the enterprise of prince Al- 

 exander Ypsilanti (q. v.), but interceded, however, 

 with the Porte, for the cause of humanity and 

 Christianity. (See Stroganoff".) It is possible, that, 

 from a sincere love of peace, he suffered the best 

 opportunity to escape of liberating Greece, nnd in- 

 creasing his empire. His letter to the viceroy of 

 Poland, prince Zajonczeck [Aix-la-Chapelle, 7 (19) 

 Oct., 1818], is a proof that he was not a stranger to 

 liberal sentiments. He spoke in the same, spirit, 

 March 5, 1819, to a deputation of the Livonian no- 

 bility, requesting his ratification of the new constitu- 

 tion, which had oeen made for the benefit of tke Li- 

 vonian peasantry, when he used the memorable 

 words," You have acted in the spirit of our age, in 

 which liberal ideas afford the true basis of the happi- 

 ness of nations." His remark to madame de Stael, 

 several years before, was characteristic : " You will 

 be offended with the sight of servitude in this hind. 

 It is not my fault ; I have set the example of eman- 

 cipation, but I cannot employ force ; I must respect 

 the rights of others as much as if they were protected 

 by a constitution, which, unhappily, does not exist.' 1 

 Madame de Stael answered " Sire, votrc caractive 

 est une constitution" (Sire, your character is a con- 

 stitution). He liad, at the beginning of his reign, 

 abolished the secret police of state and the censor 

 ship of books, (the latter of which, however, lie intro- 

 duced again at a later period), and declared, April 1, 

 1801, " 1 acknowledge no power to be lawful which 

 does not emanate from the laws." In the same spi- 

 rit he banished the Jesuits, 1st Jan., 1816, fron 

 Petersburg and Moscow, and at last, 25th March, 

 1820, from the empire, because they dared to inter- 

 fere with the affairs of the government, and disturb 

 the peace of families. He had prohibited prosely- 

 tism, and promoted the instruction of the Jews. A. 

 developed, in the same spirit, the internal resource.? 

 and the external power of his immense empire. Tli< 



