LETTER LXXXII.

Vienna.

On arriving at Vienna, the postillions drive directly to the Custom-house, where the baggage undergoes a very severe scrutiny, which neither fair words nor money can mitigate. As nothing contraband was found among our baggage, it was all carried directly to our lodgings, except our books, which were retained to be examined at leisure, and were not restored to us till some time after. The Empress has given strict orders, that no books of impiety, lewdness, or immorality, shall be allowed to enter her dominions, or be circulated among her subject; and Mahomet himself dares as soon appear publicly at Vienna as any one of them.

Unfortunately for us, Sir Robert Keith is lately gone to England, and is not expected back for several months. We have reason to regret the absence of so agreeable and so worthy a man; but every advantage we could have received from him as a minister, has been supplied by his secretary, Mr. Ernest, who has introduced us to the Count Degenfelt, ambassador from the States-General. This gentleman furnished us with a list of the visits proper to be made, and had the politeness to attend the D—— of H—— on this grand tour.

The first day we waited on Prince Kaunitz, we were invited to dine, and found a very numerous company at his house, many of whom, as I afterwards understood, had been prepossessed in our favour, by the polite and obliging letters which the Baron de Swieten had written from Berlin.

Some of the principal families are at their seats in the country, which we should have more reason to regret, were it not for the politeness and hospitality of the Count and Countess Thune, at whose house, or that of their sister the Countess Walstein, there is an agreeable party every evening; among whom is the Viscount de Laval, brother to the Marquis, whom I had the honour of knowing at Berlin. The Viscount has been as far north as Petersburg, and intends to make the tour of Italy before he returns to France.

The city of Vienna, properly so called, is not of very great extent; nor can it be enlarged, being limited by a strong fortification. This town is very populous: It is thought to contain above seventy thousand inhabitants. The streets in general are narrow, and the houses built high. Some of the public buildings and palaces are magnificent; but they appear externally to no great advantage, on account of the narrowness of the streets. The chief are the Imperial Palace, the Library and Museum, the palaces of the Princes Lichtenstein, Eugene, and some others, which I know you will excuse me from enumerating or describing.

There is no great danger that Vienna will ever again be subjected to the inconveniencies of a siege. Yet, in case the thing should happen, a measure has been taken, which will prevent the necessity of destroying the suburbs: No houses without the walls are allowed to be built nearer to the glacis than six hundred yards; so that there is a circular field of six hundred paces broad all around the town, which, exclusive of the advantage above mentioned, has a very beautiful and salutary effect. Beyond the plain, the suburbs are built.—They form a very extensive and magnificent town of an irregularly circular form, containing within its bosom a spacious field, which has for its centre the original town of Vienna.

These magnificent suburbs, and the town together, are said to contain above three hundred thousand inhabitants; yet the former are not near so populous, in proportion to their size, as the town; because many houses of the suburbs have extensive gardens belonging to them, and many families, who live during the winter within the fortifications, pass the summer months in the suburbs.

Monsieur de Breteuil, the French ambassador, lives there at present. The Duke and I dined at his house a few days ago. This gentleman was attached to the Duc de Choiseul, and had been appointed ambassador to this court, in which character he was about to set out from Paris, when that minister was dismissed by the late King of France; upon which M. de Breteuil, instead of Vienna, was sent to Naples. But since the new King’s accession, he has been established at the court for which he was originally intended. He is a man of talents, and not calculated for a situation in which talents have little or no room for exertion.

About a week after our arrival at Vienna, we had the honour of being presented to the Emperor. The Count Degenfeldt accompanied us to the palace between nine and ten in the morning. After walking a few minutes in an adjoining room, we were conducted into that where the Emperor was alone. His manner is affable, easy, and gracefully plain.

The same forenoon we drove to Schonbrun, a palace about a league from Vienna, where the Empress resides at present. I had no small curiosity to see the celebrated Maria Theresa, whose fortunes have interested Europe for so many years. Her magnanimity in supporting the calamities to which the early part of her life was exposed, and the moderation with which she has borne prosperity, have secured to her universal approbation. She also was alone when we were presented. She conversed for some time with the D—— of H—— in an easy and cheerful manner, and behaved to all with an affable dignity. She now possesses but small remains of that beauty for which she was distinguished in her youth; but her countenance indicates benevolence and good-humour. I had often heard of the scrupulous etiquette of the Imperial court, but have found every thing directly opposite to that account.

Prince Kaunitz having seen a young English gentleman scarcely fourteen years of age, whom the D—— of H—— patronizes, and who has accompanied us on this tour, the Prince desired that he also might be presented to the Emperor and Empress, which was accordingly done, and they both received him in the most gracious manner. I mention this circumstance as a strong proof how far they are superior at this court to trifling punctilios, and how greatly they have relaxed in ceremony since the accession of the Lorrain family.

Two or three days after this, we were presented, at a full court, to the two unmarried Arch-Duchesses, their sister the Princess Albert of Saxony, and the Princess of Modena, who is married to the Emperor’s brother. The last couple are lately arrived from Milan on a visit to the Empress.

The Imperial family are uncommonly well-looking, and have a very strong resemblance to each other. They are all of a fair complexion, with large blue eyes, and some of them, particularly the Arch-duke, are distinguished by the thick lip so long remarked in the Austrian family. The beautiful Queen of France is the handsomest of this family, only because she is the youngest; some people think that her sister the Princess Albert has still the advantage.

One of the unmarried Arch-duchesses, who formerly was thought the most beautiful, has suffered considerably by the small-pox.—A lady of the court told me, that, as soon as this princess understood what her disease was, she called for a looking-glass, and with unaffected pleasantry took leave of those features she had often heard praised, and which she believed would be greatly changed before she should see them again. The diminution which the small-pox has made in the beauty of this Princess, has not in the smallest degree impaired her good-humour, or the essential part of her character, which by every account is perfectly amiable.

When the King of Prussia saw his army defeated at Cunersdorf, after he had written to the Queen that he was sure of victory; or when any of those monarchs, of whom history gives examples, were dashed from their thrones to a state of dependence or captivity, unquestionably it required great strength of mind to bear such cruel reverses of fortune; but perhaps it requires more in a woman, whose beauty is admired by one half of the human race, and envied by the other, to support its loss with equanimity in all the pride of youth.—If those veteran beauties, who never had any thing but their faces to give them importance, whom we see still withering on the stalk, and repining that they cannot retain the bloom of May in the frost of December, had met with such an accident, it would probably have killed them at once, and saved them many years of despised existence.