take place at the two towns of Münster and Osnabrück, in Westphalia, both to be declared neutral territory for the time being. It was out of a remnant of mistrust between the opposite parties of the war that two places were chosen instead of one; but to destroy the appearance of this inimical spirit, it was settled at the same time that these dissevered assemblies should unite in their deliberations. The 25th March, 1642, was appointed to be the solemn day of opening for the great international meeting. Thus the curtain appeared at last to unroll before the first real Congress of Modern Europe,—
THE CONGRESS OF MÜNSTER AND OSNABRÜCK.
Difficult as had been the travail hitherto, it was not yet to be finished. The 25th of March, 1642, came, and not a single commissioner made his appearance either at Münster or Osnabrück. The possibility of arranging political and religious dissensions in this novel manner seemed not to be believed as yet at any of the European Courts, and suspicion was still as rife as ever. On the part of the people, however, the cry for peace had by this time become all-powerful; it was twenty-four years now since the most hideous war that the world had seen since Attila’s times had begun to ravage Europe, threatening the destruction of all civilisation. The princes themselves at last dared not to turn a deaf ear to this unanimous cry; and, overcoming their mutual distrust, it was once more settled by another solemn treaty that the Congress should commence at the appointed places on the 11th of July, 1643. This time—to set a good example to their brother plenipotentiaries—the ambassadors of the Kaiser, Count von Nassau-Hadamar and Dr. Volmar, arrived as early as the middle of May, 1643, at Osnabrück; but they had to wait seven months before a commissioner from any of the other belligerent parties appeared on the spot. It was not till the beginning of the month of December that the Swedish envoy, John Oxenstierna, son of the famous Chancellor, took up his quarters at Münster; and not till April of the year following that the French, Spanish, and Papal ambassadors appeared. Suspicion, pride, and continued unbelief in the capabilities of a Congress were the main causes of this renewed delay. The last-named motive became curiously visible on the arrival of the French and Spanish commissioners at Münster. Both were ordered by their respective Courts to make their appearance at the seat of Congress on the same day; and great, therefore, was the perplexity of the two noble gentlemen as to which should take precedence of the other. To solve this difficulty, the French commissioner finally hit on a luminous idea; he engaged twelve horsemen, armed with sharp scimitar-like swords, and gave orders that they should precede his coach, and in case the Spaniard should attempt to “devance” him, cut the ropes of the horses on his carriage. This device, which for some time was kept a strict secret, was eminently successful; for, being informed of it in a semi-official manner on the morning of the eventful day, the Spanish ambassador at once resolved not to ride into town at all, but to walk on foot rather than risk his dignity.
By the end of the year 1644, the different plenipotentiaries at last arrived at the two seats of Congress. Both towns were crowded to suffocation with the numerous followers whom these gentlemen brought in their suite. Never before had Europe seen such a brilliant assembly of statesmen. There were on the part of the Kaiser of Germany Count Nassau-Hadamar and Count Trautmannsdorf, together with the Aulic councillors, John Crane and Dr. Isaac Volmar; on the part of France, Count D’Avaux and Seigneur de la Roche-des-Aubiers, the latter secret agent of Cardinal Mazarin; on the part of the Pope, Fabio Chigi (who became afterwards Pope himself under the name of Alexander VII.); on the part of Spain, Count Guzman de Peneranda and Joseph of Bergaigne, Archbishop of Cambray; on the part of Sweden, John Oxenstierna and Baron d’ Oernholm; on the part of Denmark, Justus Lippius and Dr. Langerman; on the part of Portugal, Louis de Castro and Count Andrada Leitao; on the part of the Netherlands, Willem de Ripperda and Adrian van Stedum; on the part of Venice, Count Aloisio Contareno; on the part of the Duke of Savoy, Claude de Chabot, &c., &c. Besides these representatives of greater States and their assistants, there were some fifty or sixty more envoys from the smaller princes of Germany, among them Adam Adami, the learned historian of the Congress; and even deputies from the thirteen cantons of the Swiss Republic. The whole civilised world soon began gazing with wonder and astonishment at this galaxy of distinguished men, curious beyond expression, whether they would succeed in solving the great and unusual task which they had undertaken.
The commencement was not very promising. First, there arose disputes, extending over months, relative to dignity, rank, and precedence; and when these, at last, had been settled—thanks to the hearty efforts of a few commoners, men like Dr. Volmar, Crane, and Adam Adami—new quarrels began respecting the order in which the successive propositions should follow each other. This, also, at length was satisfactorily arranged, after an interval of another six months, and now, at last, the real work of the Congress was commenced. The manner in which the affairs were treated was as following. The French, in the first instance, remitted their proposals in duplicate copies to the Papal Nuncio and the Commissioner of Venice—the one residing at Münster and the other at Osnabrück; and these commissioners having taken cognisance of the papers made them over to the representatives of the Kaiser and of the Princes of the Empire. Next came the turn of the Swedish ambassador, who followed another mode of procedure by having his proposals (written in Latin, on elegant parchment,) carried direct, by a solemn deputation, to the imperial envoy, and distributing copies afterwards to the commissioners of the various states. Other forms, equally slow and stiffened with etiquette, were adopted by the rest of the envoys of the belligerent powers, all of whom had the right of making proposals; and it, therefore, was by no means astonishing that, under these circumstances, the transactions should have been spun out to an