As the _Morning Chronicle_ (November 7, 1822) was pleased to put it,
"the Royal vultures have been deprived of their anticipated meal.
"the Royal vultures have been deprived of their anticipated meal.
Byron
At the moment the
Liberals were in the ascendant, and, as Chateaubriand puts it, had
driven King Ferdinand into captivity, at Urgel, in Catalonia, to the
tune of the Spanish Marseillaise, "_Tragala, Tragala_" "swallow it,
swallow it," that is, "accept the Constitution. " On July 7, 1822, a
government was established under the name of the "Supreme Regency of
Spain during the Captivity of the King," and, hence, the consternation
of the partners of the Holy Alliance, especially France, who conceived,
or feigned to conceive, that revolution next door was a source of danger
to constitutional government at home. To meet the emergency, a Congress
was summoned in the first instance at Vienna, and afterwards at Verona.
Thither came the sovereigns of Europe, great and small, accompanied by
their chancellors and ministers. The Czar Alexander was attended by
Count Nesselrode and Count Pozzo di Borgo; the Emperor Francis of
Austria, by Metternich and Prince Esterhazy; the King of Prussia
(Frederic William III. ), by Count Bernstorff and Baron Humboldt. George
IV. of Great Britain, and Louis XVIII. of France, being elderly and
gouty, sent as their plenipotentiaries the Duke of Wellington and the
Vicomte de Montmorenci, accompanied, and, finally, superseded by, the
French ambassador, M. de Chateaubriand. Thither, too, came the smaller
fry, Kings of the Two Sicilies and of Sardinia; and last, but not least,
Marie Louise of Austria, Archduchess of Parma, _ci-devant_ widow of
Napoleon, and wife _sub rosa_ of her one-eyed chamberlain, Count de
Neipperg. They met, they debated, they went to the theatre in state, and
finally decided to send monitory despatches to Spain, and to leave to
France a free hand to look after her own interests, and to go to war or
not, as she was pleased to determine. There was one dissentient, the
Duke of Wellington, who refused to sign the _proces verbaux_. His
Britannic Majesty had been advised to let the Spaniards alone, and not
to meddle with their internal affairs. The final outcome of the
Congress, the French invasion of Spain, could not be foreseen; and,
apparently, all that the Congress had accomplished was to refuse to
prohibit the exportation of negroes from Africa to America, and to
decline to receive the Greek deputies.
As the _Morning Chronicle_ (November 7, 1822) was pleased to put it,
"the Royal vultures have been deprived of their anticipated meal. "
From the Holy Alliance and its antagonist, "the revolutionary stork,"
Byron turns to the landed and agricultural "interest" of Great Britain.
With the cessation of war and the resumption of cash payments in 1819,
prices had fallen some 50 per cent. , and rents were beginning to fall.
Wheat, which in 1818 had fetched 80s. a quarter, in December, 1822, was
quoted at 39s. 11d. ; consols were at 80. Poor rates had risen from
? 2,000,000 in 1792 to ? 8,000,000 in 1822. How was the distress which
these changes involved to be met? By retrenchment and reform, by the
repeal of taxes, the reduction of salaries, by the landlords and
farmers, who had profited by war prices, submitting to the inevitable
reaction; or by sliding scales, by a return to an inflated currency,
perhaps by a repudiation of a portion of the funded debt?
The point of Byron's diatribe is that Squire Dives had enjoyed good
things during the war, and, now that the war was over, he had no
intention to let Lazarus have his turn; that, whoever suffered, it
should not be Dives; that patriotism had brought grist to his mill; and
that he proposed to suck no small advantage out of peace.
"Year after year they voted cent. per cent.
Liberals were in the ascendant, and, as Chateaubriand puts it, had
driven King Ferdinand into captivity, at Urgel, in Catalonia, to the
tune of the Spanish Marseillaise, "_Tragala, Tragala_" "swallow it,
swallow it," that is, "accept the Constitution. " On July 7, 1822, a
government was established under the name of the "Supreme Regency of
Spain during the Captivity of the King," and, hence, the consternation
of the partners of the Holy Alliance, especially France, who conceived,
or feigned to conceive, that revolution next door was a source of danger
to constitutional government at home. To meet the emergency, a Congress
was summoned in the first instance at Vienna, and afterwards at Verona.
Thither came the sovereigns of Europe, great and small, accompanied by
their chancellors and ministers. The Czar Alexander was attended by
Count Nesselrode and Count Pozzo di Borgo; the Emperor Francis of
Austria, by Metternich and Prince Esterhazy; the King of Prussia
(Frederic William III. ), by Count Bernstorff and Baron Humboldt. George
IV. of Great Britain, and Louis XVIII. of France, being elderly and
gouty, sent as their plenipotentiaries the Duke of Wellington and the
Vicomte de Montmorenci, accompanied, and, finally, superseded by, the
French ambassador, M. de Chateaubriand. Thither, too, came the smaller
fry, Kings of the Two Sicilies and of Sardinia; and last, but not least,
Marie Louise of Austria, Archduchess of Parma, _ci-devant_ widow of
Napoleon, and wife _sub rosa_ of her one-eyed chamberlain, Count de
Neipperg. They met, they debated, they went to the theatre in state, and
finally decided to send monitory despatches to Spain, and to leave to
France a free hand to look after her own interests, and to go to war or
not, as she was pleased to determine. There was one dissentient, the
Duke of Wellington, who refused to sign the _proces verbaux_. His
Britannic Majesty had been advised to let the Spaniards alone, and not
to meddle with their internal affairs. The final outcome of the
Congress, the French invasion of Spain, could not be foreseen; and,
apparently, all that the Congress had accomplished was to refuse to
prohibit the exportation of negroes from Africa to America, and to
decline to receive the Greek deputies.
As the _Morning Chronicle_ (November 7, 1822) was pleased to put it,
"the Royal vultures have been deprived of their anticipated meal. "
From the Holy Alliance and its antagonist, "the revolutionary stork,"
Byron turns to the landed and agricultural "interest" of Great Britain.
With the cessation of war and the resumption of cash payments in 1819,
prices had fallen some 50 per cent. , and rents were beginning to fall.
Wheat, which in 1818 had fetched 80s. a quarter, in December, 1822, was
quoted at 39s. 11d. ; consols were at 80. Poor rates had risen from
? 2,000,000 in 1792 to ? 8,000,000 in 1822. How was the distress which
these changes involved to be met? By retrenchment and reform, by the
repeal of taxes, the reduction of salaries, by the landlords and
farmers, who had profited by war prices, submitting to the inevitable
reaction; or by sliding scales, by a return to an inflated currency,
perhaps by a repudiation of a portion of the funded debt?
The point of Byron's diatribe is that Squire Dives had enjoyed good
things during the war, and, now that the war was over, he had no
intention to let Lazarus have his turn; that, whoever suffered, it
should not be Dives; that patriotism had brought grist to his mill; and
that he proposed to suck no small advantage out of peace.
"Year after year they voted cent. per cent.
