ALLIANCE OF THE GRAND DUKE WITH NAPOLEON. 43

federation with Napoleon. He hesitated, till hesitation exposed himself and his territory to imminent danger, persuaded by the counsels of an excellent Minister to attempt every possible means of effecting a counter alliance with the great German Powers. This Minister, the Baron was sent to Berlin, to urge the co-operation of Prussia. Every one knows the designs of Prussia upon Hanover, in 1806, and the temporising game she played in pursuit of aggrandisement, and regardless of the interests of Germany. The Baron quitted Berlin, having arranged the basis of an alliance, guaranteed by the word of the King. A few days after, the views of Prussia changed-the King's promise was recalled-and the Grand Duke threatened by Buonaparte, and, without hope of a German alliance, was driven, like his neighbours, to attach himself to the Protector oi the Rhenish Confederation. The first injunction of his new ally and master was the banishment of his Minister, whose unceasing hostility Buonaparte had reason to apprehend. The Grand Duke, who was much attached to the Baron, refused; and

4.4

A MINISTER OF THE GRAND DUKE.

even remained firm on Napoleon's threatening him with the immediate pillage of his Capital: but the Minister, unwilling to endanger the country by his presence, retired, of his own accord, with his family, and never returned, but in disguise, till the retreat of Buonaparte after the battle of Leipsic. He was then received in triumph, with rejoicings, from all ranks. The Baron's conduct was in direct hostility to his interest, as during his undaunted opposition to Buonaparte the chief part of his possessions were situated in Luxembourg, then a French province, and he daily expected to hear of their pillage or confiscation: this, however, they escaped. His conduct at this period is not the only instance of his talents, and devotion to the public service. I regretted that this upright and able man, now Grand Master of the Court, and beloved by the whole country, was absent during my stay at Darmstadt. His pretty wife was our graceful hostess at the fête champetre I described in my last.

The Grand Duke, once compelled to join the Emperor, politicly performed his

THE PRINCE EMILIUS.

45

forced service with a good grace. His stipulated contingent, in the Act of the Rhenish Confederation, was 4000 men, but in the emergencies of the last campaign in Germany he brought 10,000 into the field. The Prince Emilius, his youngest son, a gay young man, of talent and spirit, commanded the troops. The Prince has something very striking in his small active fi-a keen eye, and a shrewd expression

gure

of face, little German in their character and quite in harmony with the wit and graceful vivacity which make him the life of society. On the retreat from Russia, where his army was almost annihilated, his judgment and humanity gained him the warm affection of the troops. In the campaign of 1813, his courage and generalship received high eulogiums from Napoleon, which appear, naturally enough, to have stimulated His Highness's military zeal. In the disasters of Leipsic he still faithfully adhered to the fortunes of his leader, and, unlike the Grand Duke of Baden, the King of Wurtemburg, and others, who deserted him, the Prince Emilius suffered himself and his troops to be taken prisoners by the

46

THE PRINCE EMILIUS.

Allies; alleging that, as the General of his father, he had no discretion to desert the cause for which he was fighting by his orders. In the confusion of the defeat His Highness was missing officers were dispatched in all directions in search of him, who found him with his shattered army in safe custody of the Allies at Berlin. On the slightest committal of the Grand Duke's policy he might have been set at liberty: but he insisted on being treated strictly as a prisoner of war, till he received further orders for his conduct.

This zealous adherence has, whether justly or not, drawn upon the Prince Emilius some suspicions of Buonapartism among the violent professors of a German patriotism. It is not impossible that he may have partaken that fervour of military admiration which appears common to all the troops who have served under Napoleon.

At

least there is more heroism in his conduct than in that of the Kings of Bavaria, and Wurtemburg, and others, who, more eager than the Grand Duke of Hesse to sell their services for crowns, and the plunder of their weak neighbours, deserted their bene

COURT OF THE HEREDITARY PRINCE.

4.7

factor in his extremity without scruple. In reward for his services the Grand Duke of Hesse might have received from Napoleon the title of King: but he wisely contented himself with that of Grand Duke. His territories received large additions in Westphalia, and the Electorate of Hesse Cassel, disjoined from his original state. The latter he still retains; the former have been exchanged in late territorial arrangements for the fine possessions on the left bank of the Rhine. He has now about 640,000 souls under his dominion, precisely double the population of his country before the Rhenish Confederation. The Grand Duchy is now, in all respects, one of the most considerable of the smaller states of Germany. Its freedom of the press, the improvement in its government and laws, and the liberal ideas of the reigning family, add greatly to its consequence; and though it ranks in precedency immediately after the Electorate of Hesse Cassel, as ninth Power of Germany, it has, in most respects, a virtual superiority.

The Court of the Hereditary Prince occu