the Prince beforehand something about the personages whom I had to introduce to him.

'Lord Derby,' I said, 'will dine here this evening. He has only been Prime Minister a short time, and will probably not remain so much longer. The influence which he exercises is independent, however, of his official position. He is the bearer of an ancient historical name-the fourteenth Earl of Derby-if not the best, at least the most finished debater in Parliament, and one of the ablest English scholars, as is shown by his masterly translations from the German and Greek. His estates secure him a princely income. A Whig in his youth, he was compelled to leave his party, who had gone over too much to the Left, and to form out of the old Tory party, shattered by the secession of Sir Robert Peel, a new one, which is still wanting in a trained general staff. Nevertheless, he has always a strong majority in the House of Lords at his back, whether in office or in opposition, and in the House of Commons he can reckon on a formidable minority of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred votes. Though a martyr to gout, the national infirmity of English statesmen, this talented man is most charming in society, and enjoys the most unequivocal popularity among all classes. His friends accuse him of a want of ambition, and certainly he seems to prefer the more comfortable position of a leader of the Opposition to the irksome duties of Prime Minister. 'We are grown too rich,' he once said to me. Our private business takes up too much of our time. We cannot any longer, as our forefathers did, take long journeys abroad and study the affairs of the Continent, and then, like them, devote ourselves entirely to the State.' His remark contained much truth, and mainly explained the progress of democracy in England. But however that may be, it is still the large land

VOL. I.

R

owners who have the power. The soil of the United Kingdom belongs altogether to about ten thousand persons. If any one of these, at the head of a powerful party, not only has a well settled fortune, but surpasses most of his contemporaries in intellect, wit, and cultivation, he acquires at once in this free, but essentially aristocratic kingdom, a personal influence more important in truth than that enjoyed by the absolute monarch of a great and bureaucratically governed country. For the personal influence of an individual has naturally the narrower scope and limits, the larger the country over which he rules. If anyone, therefore, were to ask Lord Derby whether he would change his position for that of the Emperor of Russia or the Emperor of Austria, he would say decidedly not, and, from his own point of view, would be quite right in so saying.' At the dinner table I sat next the Queen. She was pleased to say to me, I have avoided hitherto mentioning anything to Prince George about his visit to Lisbon.'

That is very kind of your Majesty. You would have embarrassed the Prince, for neither his father nor he himself will listen to a diplomatically arranged marriage. There is, therefore, no preconcerted agreement whatever. The Prince's visit has no object beyond that of giving him an opportunity of seeing the Infanta, of whom I have spoken to him. The King leaves him entire freedom of choice.'

That is right,' said the Queen; and I am glad to hear it. We like the Prince extremely, and his noble bearing will certainly not fail to create an equally good impression in Lisbon.'

On April 9 we embarked at Southampton. The Bay of Biscay, so dreaded by seafarers, was favourable to us, and on the fourth morning we cast anchor in Lisbon harbour. Every preparation had been made in the Palace of Necesidades for

CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

243

our reception, and the Prince soon found himself quite at home. The betrothal followed in a few days, on the 17th. We travelled back through Spain and France. I accompanied the Prince to Dresden. It was there settled that I should go again to Lisbon in December, in order to conclude the treaty of marriage and make all the necessary preparations for the nuptials.

I was in London again at the end of the Session. Lord Derby's Ministry had made themselves tolerably secure after having thrown overboard Lord Ellenborough, the white elephant,' and freed themselves from the compromising extravagances of that talented and energetic, but too passionate Minister. Lord Malmesbury had returned satisfied from Babelsberg, whither he had accompanied the Queen and the Prince Consort on a visit to their newly married daughter. He had succeeded in re-establishing somewhat better relations with his old patron, Napoleon. However, the Queen's visit to Cherbourg gave rise to fresh excitement and the fear that, in the event of a rupture with France, the maritime power, and especially the coast defences, of England would not afford adequate protection. Prince Albert also had found the Emperor of the French very reserved and taciturn at Cherbourg. The report of his secret interview with Count Cavour at Plombières was not exactly calculated to put a rose-coloured aspect on the future.

Parliament was prorogued on August 2. I had, therefore, full time to elaborate in Dresden the instructions I had imposed upon myself for conducting the negotiations in Lisbon, and which were approved without more ado. It seemed to me not superfluous to seek the support of Prince Albert for the successful execution of my mission. I returned, therefore, to London in the beginning of December, and waited on

the Prince. He invited me to spend a night at Windsor, where there was time and opportunity to talk over the necessary steps.

On December 9, I embarked at Southampton together with Herr von Zobel, the Councillor of Legation who had been attached to me, and arrived three days afterwards in Lisbon. The negotiations themselves presented no difficulty, and were only delayed by the critical position in which the Portuguese Government was then situated.

CHAPTER XII.

PRINCE METTERNICH.'

Prince Metternich in Dresden-My Interviews with the Chancellor-His Visit to the Marcolini Palace-His Account of his long and decisive Audience of Napoleon I. in 1813—Autobiographical Reminiscences-His Judgment on Napoleon III. and on English Statesmen-The British Constitution a Game of Whist à Trois-The Game as played by the Crown-Disraeli-A Letter for Him-Prince Metternich's Memoirs-His Policy-Reasons of his Fall in 1848.

IN October 1858, a few months before his death, Prince Metternich, the Austrian Chancellor, paid a visit of several days at Dresden to his son, Prince Richard, then accredited at the Saxon Court.

I happened just at that time to be in Saxony, on leave of absence from my diplomatic duties in London. I had been introduced eleven years before to Prince Metternich in Vienna, shortly before his retirement, but in my subordinate position as Secretary to the Legation I had not then made his closer acquaintance. The old gentleman remembered most kindly our former meeting, on my greeting him now in the drawingroom of his daughter-in-law in Dresden.

The following chapter had been taken out from the original manuscript of these Memoirs, and published as an introduction to a previous book by the same author: Berlin und Wien in den Jahren 1845-52; Politische Privatbriefe des damaligen K. Sächs. Legations-Secretärs C. F. Vitzthum von Eckstädt. Second edition. Stuttgart, 1886. It is reinserted here in its right place in chronological order. A Prussian critic, very hostile to Austria, says: This is a picture of perfect truth . . . and one of the finest pieces of modern historical literature.' See Preussische Jahrbücher, November 1886, p. 489.-Ed.

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