his departure was prevented by his death on August 12. He was succeeded
by Wellington as plenipotentiary, and by Canning as foreign secretary.
The change was, however, one of persons rather than of policies. Canning
was less conciliatory in manner, and had less sympathy with the
principle of European congresses, but was prepared to carry on
Castlereagh's policy on the questions which for the time being agitated
the world.

[Pageheading: _THE CONGRESS OF VERONA._]

The Spanish question was, as a fact, the one question which occupied the
attention of the powers at Vienna and Verona. In consequence of the
efforts of Strangford at Constantinople and his own growing
dissatisfaction with the Greeks, the tsar was willing to allow the Greek
question to drop; at the same time the kings of the Two Sicilies and
Sardinia themselves desired the continuance of Austrian occupation, and
thus postponed the Italian question. As in 1820, Austria held the
balance between two rival policies. She had then thrown her weight on
the side of non-intervention, and, had the Spanish question stood by
itself, she would probably have done so again. But in Metternich's
opinion the Spanish question was of less importance than the Eastern,
and it was important that the tsar should not doubt her loyalty to the
principle on which she had persuaded him to refrain from an attack upon
the Porte.

On passing through Paris on his way to Vienna, Wellington found Villele
desirous of avoiding war, but counting on it as a probability. He
arrived at Vienna too late for the actual conference, but in time to
have some conversation with Metternich and the tsar before leaving for
Verona. So far it appeared that Montmorency, the more active of the
French representatives, though professing to desire a peaceful
termination to the dispute between France and Spain, advocated French
intervention, if intervention should be necessary, but was opposed to
the passage of foreign troops through France. Metternich and the tsar
distrusted French troops when brought face to face with revolutionists,
and Metternich was therefore opposed to intervention, while the tsar
still desired to be allowed to march a Russian army on behalf of the
combined powers through Piedmont and southern France into Spain.
Metternich of course did not wish to see any Russian troops to dispute
Austria's supremacy in Italy. But all three desired the suppression of
the Spanish constitution, if they could fi