Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1917 — Great Peace Congress That Assembled 100 Years Ago Like a Market of Mankind [ARTICLE]

Great Peace Congress That Assembled 100 Years Ago Like a Market of Mankind

The only peace congress comparable to the one that will follow this war, in the number of nations and great and conflicting interests involved, was’that which met in Vienna following the defeat of Napoleon and his banishment to Elba. It is interesting. In the light of what must come, to recall some of the features of that memorable gathering at the court of Francis in the Austrian capital. Present at the deliberations were the Austrian emperor, the czar of Russia, the kings of Prussia, Bavaria, Wurtteinberg and Denmark, and nearly all the statesmen of prominence in Europe. The duke of Wellington, Viscount Castlereagh. Lord Stewart, Count Clancarty and General Cathcart represented Great Britain. Prince Talleyrand de" Perigord, the duke of Dalberg and Count Alexis de Noallles spoke for France. The Russian czar and the Prussian king were accompanied by their ablest advisers. Sweden. Norway, Portugal and all the minor German and Italian states were represented. Only the United States and Turkey, among the nations of importance. were lacking at that meeting, says the New York World. For weeks the delegates did little but indulge in a succession of festivities. The Austrian people were ruined, yet the Austrian emperor spent vast sums in the entertainment of his guests. Ludwig von Beethoven presented several new compositions during this period, and assisted in the great mass which solemnized the anniversary of the execution of Louis XVI. Prince Metternich presided at the councils, but Talleyrand was the leading spirit of the congress called to remodel the map of Europe. “It resembled a market of mankind,” said Duruy. “The commission charged with dividing up the human herd among the kings was greatly troubled -by the exigencies of Prussia, which demanded 3,400,000 additional subjects as an Indemnity. The. congress even 'discussed the quality of the human merchandise and gravely recognized the fact that a former Frenchman of

Aix-la-Chapellp or Cologne was worth more than a Pole.” All the nations gained considerable acquisitions of territory save England,, which asked for nothing on the continent, but gained the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon and other colonies. •