The British view of Austria during the Congress of Vienna

I write, as the famous Castlereagh, to explain my views on the Austrians at this date, especially the wily Prince Klemens Von Metternich. Although we do have a good relationship, Metternich and I, we differ on some things. In terms of agreements, we both believe that Russia must be kept out of the European picture and that independance is the key for many lands. The Austrians know what they want, namely Italy and certain German provinces, and I respect them for not becoming greedy. However, when it comes to the general grouping of the German Confederation, we differ greatly on opinions. While Metternich feels that Austria should dominate the Confederation, preferably weakly, we believe that it should be a strong Confederation with Austro-Prussian lead. I do not feel that we are being unfair, for we are ceding the lands to other nations. However, the Austrians seem to be particularly stubborn here, even though we are willing to give them their wishes in Italy. They worry about Prussia's influence and a subsequent relationship with Russia. We simply feel that we cannot allow Austria to gain this power, because it would upset the overall balance. Hopefully this issue does not sour our relationship, because the Austrians will surely be a key ally in trying to grant independance to many Eastern European areas.