1920 CONGRESS OF VERONA, 1822 207 unexpected that happens. That document was among the papers tabled in our houses of parliament, and we are at once led to inquire how that came about. The silence was broken by the indiscretion of Chateaubriand, who had succeeded Montmorency as French minister for foreign affairs. In his carefully elaborated oration of 25 February 1823 the foreign minister of France proceeded to quote a paragraph from Wellington's paper word for word.^ From the moment of the delivery of this speech, the publication of the entire text of this document was inevitable. It became clear even to Wellington that it would have to be included among the official papers which the government were about to lay before parliament.^ If Wellington was untrue to his colleague, of whose policy he disap- proved, he had no wish to appear false to the foreign ministers at Verona. How greatly he was perturbed at the indiscretion of Chateaubriand is clear from three letters he addressed to Canning on the matter. These letters were written on 20, 21 March, and 5 April, and they show how anxious he was to clear himself of the imputation of bad faith. ^ ' I engaged ', he tells us, 'that it should not be produced, and the government must either perform the engagement or disavow my right to make it ', and I entreat you to write to the Allies before my paper of the SOth of October is laid before Parliament. It will never be believed that Government could have made this paper public notwithstanding Mons. de Chateau- briand's conduct in misquoting it, without making some communication to the allied courts, if what passed in conference on the 20th of November had been known.* If there was any doubt in our minds as to the virtual withdrawal of this protest that doubt is dispelled by the perusal of these letters. 2. So much for Wellington's protest of 30 October. Two other protests remain, and they can be dealt with very briefly. On 19 November the continental powers concluded a secret treaty against the revolutionary government of Spain. The treaty was not signed before its contents had first been shown to Wellington.^ This treaty, together with the formal organized
- Arch. Pari., 2* s^rie, t. 38, p. 423. The passage complained of referred to Welling-
ton's approval of the substitution of an army of observation for the sanitary cordon. Chateaubriand introduced the quotation as follows : ' Dans une note officielle de S. G. le due de Wellington, pr^sent^e au Congres de Verone, se trouve ce passage, " En considerant qu'une guerre civile est allumee sur toute I'etendue des frontieres ",' &c. ' Wellington, Suppl. Desp. ii. 75 : 'If you are determined to produce this paper, as I think you must,' &c.
- 1823 ; see ibid. ii. 72, 74, 87.
- It was not really a case of misquotation. What Chateaubriand did was to tear
from its context one single paragraph, and thus create an entirely erroneous impression with reference to the whole.
- Wellington's Suppl. Desp. i. 563, Wellington's dispatch of 22 November.
