On our way we chatted about the pastimes and diversions of Vienna, and he gave me a rapid picture of them, for it could be said absolutely of him what he said of Casanova: ‘Each word is a sketch, and each thought is a book.’
‘Fitly to describe the fairy scenes succeeding each other here without interruption would want an Ariosto, that magician of poesy,’ he said. ‘In fact, I shall not be surprised at the festal committee shortly issuing a proclamation, to the sound of trumpets and through all the towns and villages of the monarchy, promising a prize to the fortunate man devising a new pleasure for the assembled sovereigns.’
‘Thoroughly to enjoy oneself in Vienna, prince, one ought to know German somewhat better than foreigners as a rule know it,’ I answered. ‘Their want of familiarity with the language prevents them from catching the subtle shades of the joys and manners of a class of the population which, though not the foremost, is unquestionably not the least interesting to study and to observe. In connection with this, I may be permitted to quote the reply of Bacon to a young man, who, not knowing any foreign language, consulted him on his plan of travels. “Go to school, young friend, and don’t go travelling,” remarked Bacon.’
‘What would he have said to Metastasio, who, after living for twenty years in Vienna, had not mastered as many words of German, which quantity he considered sufficient to save his life in case of need?’ laughed the prince. ‘Besides, you find your own tongue the only one adopted here, not only in society and at all the festive gatherings, but also at all the conferences of the Congress. That much, indeed, was due to its precision and its universal use. It was necessary to establish a general means of communication between so many strangers; without this the Congress would have become a Babel.’
‘And also, prince, because no language lends itself more easily to the biting epigrams and sparkling repartees which are, as it were, like a bottle of champagne that’s being “uncorked,”’ I replied. ‘The proof of it is in your recent answer to the Baron de ----, when he told you that the emperor had made him a general. “He has appointed you to be a general, he could not make you one,” is a fair sample of the pliability of French.’