assed, or
were passing, away, Francis II stood somewhat low among the
mediocrities on whom fell the strokes of destiny. He was a poor replica
of Leopold II. Where the father was supple and adroit, the son was
perversely obstinate or weakly pliable. In place of foresight and
tenacity in the pursuit of essentials, Francis was remarkable for a more
than Hapsburg narrowness of view, and he lacked the toughness which had
not seldom repaired the blunders of that House. Those counsellors swayed
him most who appealed to his family pride, or satisfied his other
dominant feelings, attachment to the old order of things and a pedantic
clinging to established usages. But the weakness of his character soon
became so patent as to excite general distrust, especially as he was
swayed by the wayward impulses of his consort, a daughter of
Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Naples. From her mother she inherited
a hatred of French principles and the bent towards intrigue and
extravagance which wrecked the careers of that Queen and of her sister,
Marie Antoinette. Francis II and his consort longed to stamp out the
French plague; but they lacked the strength of mind and of will that
commands success. Our special envoy at Vienna, Thomas Grenville,
questioned whether the Emperor "had steadiness enough to influence the
Government."

According to the same competent judge, the Chancellor Thugut was the
only efficient Minister, being very laborious in his work, and indeed
"the only man of business about the Court."[338] Yet Thugut was rather a
clever diplomat and ideal head-clerk than a statesman. In forethought he
did not much excel his master. Indeed, his personality and his position
alike condemned him to aim at cheap and easy gains. His features and
figure were mean. Worse still, he was of low birth, a crime in the eyes
of nobles and courtiers who for nearly half a century had seen the
prestige of the Chancery enhanced by the lordly airs and whims of
Kaunitz. Fear of courtly intrigues ever obsessed the mind of Thugut; and
thus, whenever the horizon darkened, this coast-hugging pilot at once
made for the nearest haven. In particular, as the recovery of Belgium in
the year 1793 brought no financial gain, but unending vistas of war, he
sought other means of indemnity, and discovered them in Alsace-Lorraine,
South Poland, and Venice. The first was a concession to the pride of
the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine; but Thugut saw in Venetia and in the
lan