was to restore the old order, keeping however the positive or non-disposable elements that new ideas and new times had generated.
At any rate, generally speaking the following were reaffirmed, at least substantially: the religious and strictly paternal concept of authority at all levels: ecclesiastical, civil and domestic; the observance of law and obedience as an essential balancing element in interpersonal relationships; the well-being and happiness of the people looked after by a State administration expected to be solid, just and guaranteed by a strong centre; responsibilities and powers assigned according to the social, spiritual and economic prestige of the individuals called on to share them; and finally the social, regenerating power of Christianity.
Nevertheless, along with absolutist orientations and repressive realities, innovation also made a strong showing. England, France, followed by Norway, the Netherlands and some German states, made their importance felt in this matter.
The restoration of all the legitimate powers did not mean a return to a pure and simple old order. This was the suggestion made by Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, the intelligent French representative at the Congress of Vienna. Making his point, the French representative said: “Universal opinion today (unlikely to falter), is that governments exist only for the people… and that a legitimate power is the best power suited to guarantee their happiness and peace… And it is no less advantageous to the sovereign than to his subjects to set up the government in such a way as to avoid all possible motives for fear”.21 Pope Pius VII held the same belief in 1816 in his re-organisation of the administration of the Provinces of the Papal State which had been recently ‘reclaimed’:
“A return to the old order of things in these provinces turns out to be impossible. New customs have replaced old ones; new opinions have crept in and are almost universally shared in various areas of the administration and public economy; new ‘lights’ have been accepted following the example of other European nations and these ‘lights’ demand the necessary adoption, by the aforementioned provinces, of a new system more suited to the present circumstances of the population, circumstances so different from the previous one.”22
A greater guarantee of order and balance for the future was sought after by some of the protagonists in Vienna through the Holy Alliance, drawn up on September 26, 1815 by the sovereigns of Prussia, Austria and Russia.
The Holy Alliance was guided by Christian principles as expressed by three confessions: Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran. It aimed at providing firm bonds of fraternity among those who signed it, and paternal bonds between them and their respective peoples, so as to ensure stability and peace for Europe.
The first two articles stand out as a synthesis of the 'preventive system' to be used on a political- religious level.
Article 1. In conformity with the words of the Sacred Scriptures which command human beings to deal with one another as brothers, the three contracting monarchs will remain
21 C. Talleyrand,Relazione al Re durante il suo viaggio da Grand a Parigi (June 1815), in Mémoires, 3, 197ff, cit. by C.
Barbargallo, Storia Universale, . 5V, Part2: Dall’età napoleonica alla fine della prima guerra mondiale (1799-1919),
(Turin: UTET 1946), 1089. Guizot, Cousin, Royer-Collard etc., are along the same lines.
22 Moto proprio della Santità di Nostro Signore Pap Pio settimo in data delli 6 luglio 1816 sulla organizzazione
dell’Amministrazione Pubblica esibito negli atti del Nardi Segretario di Camera nel dì 15 del mese ed anno suddetto.
(Rome: Presso V. Poggioli Stampatore della Rev. Cam. Apost. 1816), 5.