One might have supposed that, after this long and painful struggle against Buonaparte, the English minister would have enjoyed some rest from his anxieties; but such was far from being the case, for the Colossus had scarcely been hurled from its base before intestine dissensions arose in the coalition which had so lately set the world in motion. Various interests were the subject of secret discussion at Vienna; and the questions concerning Saxony, Poland, and Italy occasioned him extreme uneasiness. Throughout the whole period of the French revolution, England had undoubtedly played the principal part, and her perseverance alone had saved the Continent from a general and overwhelming oppression; but in diplomatic matters, as in politics, ancient services are less considered than the new situation in which countries are placed: England had been too much engaged in continental affairs not to continue to feel great anxiety concerning them, and on the question of Poland, Lord Castlereagh was opposed to the plans of the Russian cabinet, and he did not restrain the expression of his dissatisfaction respecting the Polish _suzeraineté_, which the Emperor Alexander was desirous of reserving to himself. No one ever surpassed his lordship in the union of firmness of character with the most polished manners, the distinguishing mark of a true gentleman; there was a degree of steadiness, I may almost say of nobleness, in his private conferences with Alexander, in the midst of the splendid _salons_ of Vienna, that was quite admirable.