The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Vol. 3 (of 4) — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Vol. 3 (of 4)
John Stuart Mill · en
Ostensibly this war was to be unlike any other so far waged. The
secret instructions given to the imperial Austrian envoy in London
clearly indicated that the Hapsburgs hoped by victory to restore their
influence both in Italy and Germany; for that was the meaning of
"restoration to rightful owners" and the "slight rectification of
their frontiers," or, in other words, the restoration of European
conditions to what they had been before Napoleon's advent. This was
the dynastic side; the national side was also to be used for the same
end. "The liberties of Europe have taken refuge under your banner,"
ran Charles's proclamation to the army; "your victories will break
their bonds, and your German brethren still in the enemy's ranks await
their redemption." To the German world he said, "Austria fights not
only for her own autonomy, but takes the sword for the independence
and national honor of Germany." Another manifesto, written by Gentz,
the ablest statesman in Vienna, declared that the war was to be waged
not against France, but against the persistent extension of her system
which had produced such universal disorder in Europe.
The tone and language of these papers have an audible Napoleonic echo
in them: if an upstart house, represented by a single life and without
direct descendants, could win success by appeals to the people, and
gain the support of their enthusiasm by identifying its interests with
theirs, why might not an ancient dynasty, with vigorous stock and
numerous shoots, do likewise? Moreover, Napoleon no longer respected
the limits of natural physical boundaries, or the restrictions of
birth, speech, religion, and custom, which inclosed a nation: his
empire was to disdain such influences, to found itself on the
universal brotherhood of man, and to secure the regeneration of
humanity by liberal ideas of universal validity. Austria would offset
this alluring summons by a trumpet-call to the brotherhood of Germans,
to the strong forces of national feeling, to the respect for tradition
and history which would animate her soldiers and justify her course.