As There
Is No Road On The Left Bank Of The River To Meissen, You Must Cross The
River Twice To Arrive At It, Viz., Once At Neustadt And Once At Meissen,
The Road Being On The Right Bank.
I put up at the Hirsch (Stag), a very
comfortable inn.
I went to Meissen with a view of seeing the Russian
contingent pass the Elbe on their return from France, which has been
evacuated in consequence of the arrangement at Aix-la-Chapelle. They
appeared a fine body of men, clothed a la francaise and seemed in high
spirits. They seem to have imbibed liberal ideas during their residence in
France, for some of the officers who dined at the inn at Meissen spoke very
freely on passing events.
The return of the Saxon contingent is expected in Dresden in a day or two,
and there will no doubt be a great deal of rejoicing among the military and
their relations to meet their old comrades and friends; and potent
libations of Doppel Bier will no doubt be made. Meissen is said to be
famous for the beauty of its women and the few that I saw in the streets
did not contradict this reputation.
DRESDEN, Jany. 5th, 1819.
We have had several balls here. Waltzing is the only sort of dance in
fashion at Dresden, excepting now and then a Polonaise.
I have witnessed an interesting spectacle in the Grosser Garten. The pond
or basin is completely frozen over, and a Russian Prince, Gallitzin, who is
here, has fitted up a sort of Montagnes Russes as they are called. Blocks
of ice are placed on an inclined plane to the top of which you mount by
means of a staircase; and then, seating yourself in a sort of sledge, you
slide down the inclined plane with immense velocity. The Prince often
persuades a lady to sit on this sleigh on his lap and descend together; and
this no doubt serves to break the ice of many an amorous intrigue. This
construction of the Prince Gallitzin has contributed to fill the Grosser
Garten with the beau monde, every day from twelve to two o'clock; so
that you see we are in no want of amusements at Dresden.
The King frequently attends the theatre; he is a tall, fine looking man,
and is usually dressed in the uniform of his Foot-Guards, which is scarlet
faced with yellow. The poor King has taken much to heart the injustice with
which he has been treated by the coalition, and no doubt will not easily
forget the ill-bred and insolent letter of Castlereagh to the Congress,
wherein he said that the King of Saxony deserved to lose his dominions for
adhering to Napoleon. But how the King of Saxony could act otherwise I am
at a loss to find: so little could he possibly deserve this treatment for
adhering to Napoleon, that had his advice been taken in the year 1805, the
French would never have been able to extend their conquests so far, nor to
dictate laws to Germany. But Lord Castlereagh seems to have either never
known or wilfully forgotten the anterior political conduct of Saxony. Had
he been more versed in German affairs, or had studied with more accuracy
the events passing before his eyes, it would have been a check upon his
arrogance; but here was a genuine disciple of the Pitt school (that school
of ignorance and insolence), who sets himself up as the moral regenerator
of nations and as a distributor of provinces, while he is grossly ignorant
of the political system of the country on whose destinies he pretends to
decide so peremptorily. Had Castlereagh paid attention to what was going
forward in Germany in 1805, he would have seen too that of all powers
Prussia was the very last who with any shadow of justice could pretend
to an indemnification at the expense of Saxony. In the year 1805, the King,
then Elector of Saxony, strongly advised the Prussian Cabinet to forget its
ancient rivalry and jealousy of Austria and to coalesce with the latter
power, in resisting the encroachments of Napoleon, in order to prevent the
latter from attempting the overthrow of the whole fabric of the
constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, with the intricacy and fragility of
which no prince in Germany was better acquainted than the Elector of
Saxony. Prussia however was still reluctant to engage in the contest and
gave no support whatever to Austria. Napoleon defeats the Austrians at
Austerlitz and dictates peace. Six months after the Prussian Cabinet,
excited by a patriotic but rash and ill-calculating party, has recourse to
arms, not from any generous policy, but because she sees herself outwitted
by Napoleon, who refuses to cede to her Hanover in perpetuity. Prussia
begins the war and calls on Saxony, who always moved in her orbit, to join
her. To the Elector of Saxony this war (in 1806) appeared then ill-timed
and too late; but with that good faith, nevertheless, which invariably
characterized him, he remained faithful to his engagement and furnished his
quota of troops to Prussia. The Saxon troops fought nobly at the battle of
Jena. This battle annihilates all the power of Prussia, and lays Saxony
entirely at the mercy of the Conqueror; but Napoleon not only treats Saxony
with moderation, but with rare generosity; he does not take from her a
single village, but aggrandizes her and gives to her the Duchy of Warsaw
and to her Sovereign the title of King. Saxony becomes in consequence a
member of the confederation of the Rhine and is bound to support the
Protector in all his wars offensive and defensive. The Russian war in 1812
begins: every German state, Austria and Prussia in the number, furnishes
its contingent of troops. The campaign is unsuccessful, the climate of
Russia having annihilated the French Army, and Napoleon returns to Paris.
Saxony is now exposed to invasion and harassed by the incursions of the
Cossacks.
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