"The King", wrote Friedrich von Gentz to the Hospodar John Caradja on 1 December 1814, "himself enters the houses of his prime ministers, arrests them, and hands them over to their cruel enemies"; and again, on 14 January 1815, "The king has so debased himself that he has become no more than the leading police agent and prison warden of his country."
The immediate result was the title of imperial councillor, with a yearly salary of 4000 gulden (6 December 1802); but it was not until 1809 that he was actively employed.
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Disillusioned and cynical, though clear-sighted as ever, he was henceforth before all things an Austrian, more Austrian on occasion even than Metternich, e.g., when, during the final stages of the campaign of 1814, he expressed the hope that Metternich would substitute Austria for Europe in his diplomacy and—strange advice from the old hater of Napoleon and of France—secure an Austro-French alliance by maintaining the husband of Marie Louise on the throne of France.
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