We note with interest a telegram announcing that Prince Metternich's
memoirs and letters are about to be published by his son. If the present Prince is only a little indiscreet, these letters will prove of rare historical interest. The Prince was wonderfully well informed as to the affairs of all Courts, and though devoted to ideas of the old world, was an abler man than since the collapse of his policy he has received credit for being. He managed everybody, even Napoleon, and had a keen per- veption of the wants, aspirations, and tendencies of the different nationalities under the Hapsburg sceptre. His memorandum on the Italian character for the information of a new Governor- General of Venetia was most masterly, and could he have accepted progress instead of repression as a policy, he might have left a high reputation as an administrative genius. His theory, however, was that men, unless repressed, always went wrong ; that it was a triumph to have secured any organisation at all ; and that Con- servatism, consequently, was the only duty. The world rejects that theory now, but it has been held by very able men.
Previous page
