Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from British Statesmen of the Great War, 1793 1814: The Ford Lectures for 1911
For the last four years a pleasant duty has led me to traverse weekly - I might almost say daily-a gallery hung with portraits of the principal actors upon the great stage of Europe at the time of the Congress of Vienna. There is Francis, last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and first Emperor of Austria, white haired and benevolent, sitting (not perhaps without covert satire of the artist) in an uneasy attitude upon a throne too big for him. There is his far greater brother, the Archduke Charles, standing erect with the air of one who finds the world too hard. There is Schwarzenberg, huge and heavy, attempting to wear the aspect of a great commander; and there is Metter nich, alert and easy, ready to lie to the world, and inclined to laugh at it. Coming next to Prussia, there are King Frederick William the Third, a mere melan choly body in a tight uniform; Bl'ucher, fiery and impetuous but not intellectual; and Hardenberg, in his white wig, blandly smirking like the trusted physi cian of a respectable family. Over against Frederick William stands Alexander of Russia, bald, bashful, and plump, his body straining every seam of his military dress, and his countenance over?owing suspiciously with gentleness and peace. Near him sits N esselrode, to all outward seeming a prosperous and sentimental man of letters. There, too, is seated Pope Pius the Seventh, his slight frail form sunk deep into a chair.
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