A Peace Congress of Intrigue (Vienna, 1815)

Seitenzahl:

190

Gewicht:

286 g

Erschienen bei:

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Kurzbeschreibung

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II A FAMOUS WIT AT THE CONGRESS FROM THE REMINISCENCES OF THE COUNT DE LA GARDE To the statesmen and generals at the Congress of Vienna Charles-Joseph, Prince de Ligne, was a link with the past. When the Congress met, he was already in his eightieth year, and yet his mind was as active as when he entered the Austrian Army over sixty years before. He had friends in every court in Europe, and was sought out by such men as Rousseau, Voltaire, Schlegel, Goethe, and Frederick the Great. He was born in Brussels of Belgian parentage, and passed most of his military life with the Austrian Army. His title of field marshal came from Catharine II of Russia, to whom he refers in his talk with Count de la Garde. The latter was a gallant of the time of the Congress. He was born in 1783 of French parentage, and through the death of his parents entered the house of his kinsman, the Marquis de Chambonas, who was related by marriage to the Prince de Ligne. De la Garde escaped the Terror with his patron, and then entered upon a career of light-hearted vagabondage, tasting the gay social life at the European courts, a friend of Mme.Recamier and Queen Hortense, the latter writing music for some of his poems. A FAMOUS WIT AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA On the day after my arrival I made haste to pay my respects to the Prince de Ligne. "You have come at the proper time to behold great events," he said to me. "Europe is in Vienna. The web of politics is shot through with festivities." Thereupon with youthful vivacity he asked me a number of questions?about Paris, my family, my travels, and my plans, until we were interrupted by the announcement that his carriage was ready. "I shall expect you at dinner to-morrow," he said, "and thence we will attend the masked ball. In a few momen...

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Mehr von:  Friedrich Freksa, Cambridge Scholars Publishing