the assembled plenipotentiaries were far from happy with the concept of equality they implied. The matter was discussed more fully at the conference of the Eight on 9 February. Palmella and Labrador suggested that all political units be classified into two categories, according to their power status, arguing that it was absurd to treat the ambassador of a tiny principality as if he were on a par with that of Russia or Britain. Nor did they think that republics should enjoy the same consideration as ancient kingdoms. Razumovsky, Talleyrand, Metternich, Löwenhielm and Humboldt argued that there
...more